Customer Reviews:I bought this plasma from a local electronics store [...]. This is the second flat screen I have purchased in as many days.
I first bought a Samsung LN40C650 LCD but returned it the next day because of a few issues that I couldn't get past. It had very light vertical banding in some spots (It's possible that I just got a bad one on this count), the image washed out when viewing from anywhere other than straight on, and I didn't like the way the tv dealt with motion (whether the auto-motion was turned on or not). Also, the colors didn't seem very natural although it's possible that after adjustment this would have improved.
So I decided to try the Panasonic TC-P42G25, a Plasma tv, which supposedly has none of these issues (but maybe its own inherent issue, read on). I brought it home, unboxed it, attached the stand and hooked everything up. I was able to accomplish this myself but I would recommend getting some help to do this step. The stand does swivel which is a nice feature to have. I turned it on and after a short setup wizard everything was ready to go. I live in Chicago and the tv had no problem finding all the digital channels from my indoor/outdoor antenna which you can see here - [...]
At first this tv looks a bit dim, but this is because by default the tv is set to standard brightness mode which is the least vibrant of the settings. I flipped through some of the other picture modes and THX seems to be bright and accurate, though I decided to leave it in standard mode for the first few days during the plasma "break in" period.
I popped the dvd Ashes of American Flags (concert film, rock band Wilco) into a bluray player that I borrowed from someone. This film has a lot dark areas in the concert scenes which allowed me to check out the black levels. The tv automatically recognized that I was playing something and switched the source to receive video from the bluray player.
If I had to describe the picture quality on this tv in one word it would be "amazing". Screen uniformity is perfect, no light or dark places anywhere. Colors appear natural and realistic to me. The black levels are very deep on this tv when you dim the lights a bit or close the shades in the room. Motion appears fine to me (I found the motion looked better with the blur reduction in settings turned off).
The default setting for this tv is to have C.A.T.S. turned on in the settings. This adjusts the brightness of the picture depending on how much ambient light is in the room. Some people may like this feature but I turned it off.
The sound is good for normal tv viewing. It sounded better to me when I turned on bass boost in the sound settings; It is possible to adjust the treble and bass also.
One issue that this tv has (as well as Plasma's in general from what I've read) that LCD's don't is that the black levels don't look their best in a brightly lit room. This is not a problem for me as I prefer watching in a dim, but not pitch black, environment. To my eyes the black levels look deeper than I've ever seen on an LCD.
I have not tried the network feature on this tv yet. An earlier reviewer said some of the network features may not be available yet. It won't really matter to me if this is still the case. I just want a flatscreen that does what it is supposed to do, and does it very well; This plasma delivers that.
This is a polished product from Panasonic. Please Panasonic, don't ever stop making Plasma's!
****Quick update**** 4/26. When I said that the TV automatically switched the source to receive video from the bluray player, It may have done this because the bluray player that I borrowed also happened to be a Panasonic product. As to whether or not it will automatically switch the source for another brand of bluray player, you'll have to find that out for yourself.
****Second update**** 6/20/10. Someone had their G25 professionally calibrated and posted the settings on avsforum. I used these settings (except for the service menu offsets which are not available in the normal picture menu and I would not recommend trying) as a good starting point for THX and Custom modes. Everything below this sentence is copied and pasted from that website:
TC-PxxG20/25 Reference Settings
Picture:
Picture Mode: THX
Contrast: 57
Brightness: 56
Color: 49
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 10
Color Temp: Warm2
Color Management: Off
x.v. Color: Off
Photo Enhancement: Off
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off
Blur Reduction: Off
Advance Options
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Black Level: Light
3:2 Pulldown: On
Service Menu Offsets
WB-ADJ MENU
R-DRV: -1
G-DRV: -8
B-DRV: +4
R-CUT: -8
G-CUT: 0
B-CUT: +3
Note: These offsets must be entered for both Color matrixes. You access the different matrixes by using a 1080i/p signal for the HD matrix and 480i/p signal for the SD matrix. The WB Method Select option should be set to 00 instead of 03.
Picture:
Picture Mode: Custom
Contrast: 87
Brightness: 68
Color: 35
Tint: -3
Sharpness: 11
Color Temp: Warm2
Color Management: Off
x.v. Color: Off
Photo Enhancement: Off
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off
Blur Reduction: Off
Pro Settings:
W/B High R: 0
W/B High B: +2
W/B Low R: +2
W/B Low B: -4
Black Extension: 0
Gamma Adjustment: 2.2
Panel Brightness: Mid
Contour Emphasis: Off
AGC: 0
Advance Options
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Black Level: Light
3:2 Pulldown: On
Note: These settings must be used with the offsets listed for THX mode
++++
Although I have been working in the AV industry for many years I have been holding back - seen a lot of feature hype and hoopla go by but this is the first flat screen plasma I liked with a price that was reasonable.
For a couple of years now I have been looking for an HDTV with wide viewing angels - worked well in dark or well lit room without too much reflection - rich accurate color reproduction - Works well with games or sports motion - works well with over the air/cable SD signals or SD DVD play back - ease of use - easy break in - Minimal chance of image retention - Multiple input/outputs - reasonable price.
We have had our 42G25 now for several weeks and have been very pleased with our choice - did have to buy the component cables for our Wii which improved the picture quality fairly well for an SD video game. We also purchased a Panasonic Bluray player with the TV it works nicely with SD or Bluray playback - The TV's THX certified picture setting is very pleasing and color accurate for movies - I use the Custom setting for over the air and cable TV watching with a few minor adjustment tweaks I got excellent results. Both the TV and player have internet abilities - I have used utube so far works fine. Also I was easily able to updated the firmware for both TV and player. Bought a Mini DVI to HDMI adapter to use my 2 yr. old MacBook computer works fine @ 1920x1080p resolution streaming Hulu etc. There is an RGB port on the TV but only lower resolutions work - since RGB is limited anyway I would use the HDMI port if your computer is 1080p capable. The sound is a little on the tinny side for me but my wife doesn't seem to mind it personally I usually use the AV amplifier when watching TV or Movies. The TV remote is easy to use and lights up. The BR player remote is also easy use but does not light up not sure I get that - it makes it very awkward to use in the dark. So I just put everything on our Sony universal 2100 remote and the wife was happy controlling all sources with one touch screen remote that lights up.
One last thing - I'm keeping an eye on the alleged "rising black levels" but I have not notice anything yet. I'll repost if anything comes up. However I do recommend this TV to all it's a good value, sharp accurate picture and a great product.
UPDATE 11/17/10 I promised to give an update if I noticed any alleged "rising black levels" Well I must have a couple of thousand hours on the set now and have not been able to detect anything significant. The black levels now look the same as the day I purchased the TV. I ran a few simple tests the day I bought the set and just the other day (won't bore you with details) so far the black level tests when compared are the same. I do expect there will eventually be some minor rise in black levels but this is true of most plasma sets anyway because of phospher life and built in bios adjustments - yawn - yawn etc. etc. -- but were talking thousands of hours here and years of viewing time. Yet at the same time if there are any changes I expect them to be very minor not so noticeable by the naked eye when viewing TV or Movie content.
++++
I already have a Panasonic 58" since 2006, and it is in my opinion one of the best TVs on the market. I wanted to replace -in the second smaller family area upstairs - a TV replacing our old 32". I bought first a Samsung 46" LCD (not LED) and the screen seemed too big for the area. Maybe this was a subjective impression, because the view from sides was full of spots tainting the picture. They disappeared only if one sits right in front of the TV. I returned the TV next day.
I looked at all Panasonic plasma. The large electronics store and Costco sell cheaper 720p versions. Even the model S2, one step below G25, although it is a 1080p, it does not have the "infinite black" feature. I located the Panasonic G25 42" in another electronic store. The difference between S2 and G25 was day and night for me. The sound is more than good for me. One feature G25 has and S2 doesn't is the swivel from the base. Little detail, but significant in smaller rooms.
The price on Amazon was good. The reputation of Amazon is re-assuring even when buying a large item like a TV. However the G25 is sold by an Amazon third party. In the remote possibility that I need to return the item, I know from experience, Amazon policy is to redirect the buyer to the seller, and only if the authorized seller does not solve the problem, the Amazon will return the money. The process works, but it may take months.
This is the reason I purchased the Panasonic G25 locally. I highly recommend to anyone considering a TV.
Added June 18, 2010: Amazon offers this TV directly. This gives most buyers a reason to purchase from Amazon.
Panasonic VIERA TC-P42G25 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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