Panasonic Th 37PHD8UK Plasma Tv 90CM

Panasonic’s entry level EDTV plasma range launched in 2005 includes the TH-37PWD8UK 37-inch, reasonably priced plasma.   In a recent top-ten EDTV chart, its bigger brother, the 42-inch screen came up trumps.

Design

A less is more design spec has left the 37PWD8UK looking sophisticatedly simplistic, making it fit in perfectly in almost any room.  It’s no-gloss charcoal black design means there are no distractions from the screen.  The screen itself can be wall mounted, either vertically or horizontally to display a portrait image.  Alternatively, you can mount it on an included bezel, which houses 5 buttons providing instant access to all major functions via an easy-to-read on-screen menu.  Its dimensions are 36.2 x 21.7 x 3.5-inches.  As soon as you lose the box, you’ll see that no speakers have been included – you’ll have to get them separately. 

For the price, this TV is full-featured, with a long and professional spec list.  To explain the EDTV part, the TV only has a native resolution of 852 x 480 (EDTV) so the view won’t be as good as that on a HDTV.  It has a 4000:1 contrast ratio, and 408,960 pixels on screen, so you won’t be short of an above-average picture performance.  With a 160 degree viewing angle, you’ll be able to see the screen from almost anywhere in the room too.  Picture enhancing features include 3D colour management, which works in a matrix with hue, brightness, and saturation levels rather than the previous and less effective 2D management.  There is also an improved deep black filter on the front glass, this means the front protective glass of the plasma display panel incorporates a Deep Black Filter that suppresses light transmittance and slashes the amount of external light reflected. This helps Panasonic plasma displays achieve the industry's highest level of contrast when viewed in bright surroundings.  The digital contour enhancer claims to improve picture sharpness and brightness levels by 10 percent.  With 2,048 shades of gradation on more than 8 billion colours, you’re guaranteed a colourful show. Users can choose to zoom in to a part of the screen using a 4x zoom option available on the included remote control.   A fair handful of energy saving features really gives this plasma the ‘green machine’ benchmark that it was after.  After 10 minutes of the TV not receiving a signal, it will automatically shut off, and when the TV is on stand-by, the stand-by power-save mode reduces power consumption.  This is also done with a reduction of brightness were necessary too, in order to save energy.  The last eco-warrior feature is the ‘Display Power Management Signaling’ (DPMS), here power is automatically turned on or off in response to a sync signal from the PC connected to the built-in PC input terminal.  Finally, with a 60,000 panel life, this TV should receive a carriage clock before it finally pops its clogs.  HDMI-free connectivity always brings a tear to my technological eye, but once I’d wiped the tears away I could see that these basic connections have another level to them.  You can add or remove connectivity boards as you wish, adding more connections to your TV.  Panasonic’s website will provide more info on what’s available.   All the usual suspects are present, what with composite video, S-video, component video, VGA RGB signal, 2 Stereo Audio-In and PC Audio-In.

Four of us sat on the testing couch to pull this one’s performance to pieces against our stringent testing criteria, and by the end there were four impressed people sitting on the couch.  All the ‘extra 3D this, and 8 billion colour that’ has really paid off for Panasonic.  The analogue picture performance was one of high quality.  Colours jumped right out of the screen, with great reds, oranges, yellows and blues, just to mention a few.  And black levels were above average for a 4000:1 contrast ratio spec.  We watched Oceans 11 on the Panasonic DMR-EX85EB-S DVD Recorder and HDD Recorder.  In a scene where George Clooney was in a lift against a dark background we could still see a great outline of Mr C’s dark suit.  This was just what we were looking for.  Motion handling did show a few signs of struggle, with a noticeable smear here and there. 

Apart from the slightly annoying motion slip-ups, we were impressed by the overall performance.  The easy set-up, simplistic design, and extra connectivity options make it the perfect companion for anyone, whether they are in the tech-know or not.