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| |  | BIG Screen HDTV | Home » » Panasonic TC-P42S2 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV | | | | | | | Description: | | For the love of the game. VIERA® S2 Series Plasma HDTVs are great for sports and cinema-quality movies. Our Neo PDP technology delivers sharp, detailed image and remarkable brightness - all with lower power consumption. | | | Features: | |
• 42-inch Plasma HDTV with full 1080p HD resolution; 1080 lines of moving picture resolution
• 600Hz Sub-field Drive technology for superb full-HD motion; 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
• VIERA Image Viewer for JPEG image slideshows directly from an SD memory card
• Inputs: 3 HDMI, 2 component, 2 composite, 1 digital audio output
• Includes removable stand; measures 40.6 x 27.8 x 12.1 inches with stand
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 40.6 inches | | Product Width:
| 12.1 inches | | Product Height:
| 27.8 inches | | Product Weight:
| 55.2 pounds | | Package Length:
| 45.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 29.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 11.0 inches | | Package Weight:
| 62.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 79 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 79 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
164 of 165 found the following review helpful:
 A truly exceptional plasma televisionMar 13, 2010
By Joshua Pearl
I've owned this for 3 days now, and wanted to wait until I fully tested it to write a review. After seeing how it performs with videogames, blu-ray movies and basic cable, I feel I know the television enough to offer my thoughts.
Picture quality: Incredible. Blacks are as deep as the bezel surrounding the TV. Colors are bold - everything you'd expect from a top of the line plasma. I own a 62" DLP, a 26" LCD, a 50" panasonic 720p plasma and this plasma, and the plasmas are the only sets that really "pop." This model is head and shoulders above even the 50" 3-year-old model I own.
Video game play: There's a game mode, which bumps up the brightness and sharpness. It's great for PS3 games. I've played Demon's Souls and Wolfenstein on it so far, and both look amazing. The system touts "1080 lines of moving picture resolution" to help with motion blur. Honestly, I never felt plasmas had an issue with motion blur to begin with, so I'm not sure how much of a difference this feature is making, but from what I understand in doing research it helps to have it.
Cable: HD looks good - even the reds aren't blown out. Basic cable is standard definition - a thing on it's way out anyway, lol.
Aesthetics/connections: The TV is very sharp looking, and the anti-glare feature on the S model (as opposed to the U model) actually makes a difference. I rolled my eyes when I read the feature, but I'm watching it in the daytime in a well-lit room and the glare is really minimal. The only minor dissapointment is no VGA connection, but I'll figure out a way around that. Was going to use VGA to hook up my 360 (since I'm using computer speakers for audio at the moment), but will go the component route now. By the way, a TON of controls and an HDMI input are on the side of the tv, making it very easy to get to.
Burn-in/image retention/ghosting: Haven't experienced any signs of even ghosting yet. Had my game on pause for a few minutes a couple times to test it.
Audio: Haven't tested the TV's speakers, just using an external set of logitech speakers with subwoofer at the moment.
Overall: For the price, I highly recommend the set. Like I said, I own 4 televisions of 3 different technologies and this one shows off the best picture. I have a collection of almost 800 blu-rays, and stay up to date on all the high-def news, etc... I do extensive research before purchasing a product, and actually went into this thinking I was going to give in and get an LED. I don't want to get into an LED vs. Plasma thing here, but the LED's are simply LCD with different lighting, and it brings all the inherent LCD problems with it. They make catch your eye in the store, but once you get home and get into your environment, it's a different story. That said, this plasma in game mode gets the picture as close to LED as I've seen but with much better blacks.
Update 5/2/10: Just thought I'd add to this that I've had a videogame on pause for more than an hour a few times, and while I wouldn't make a habit out of it, there hasn't even been a hint of ghosting and certainly no issue with burn-in. Even so, the TV seems to have an auto shut-off function after 5 minutes or so of complete inactivity. There will be a message prompting you that it will shut off in 3 minutes and it counts down from there.
88 of 89 found the following review helpful:
Superb - Settled on this after a lot of research - DOES work with Mac and PCApr 27, 2010
By P. Cook
This TV really is something else.
I did research for months before finally settling on this. I was strongly considering the Panasonic G20 and G25 TV's, the 2010 steps up from the S2 series (which is a 2010 model as well, to be clear), but ultimately picked the S2, here's why:
First, only the G25 and S2 series have a 42" model (rumors of a 42" of the G20, but as of this review they were not available). Anything larger than 42" wouldn't fit properly in my space, so that knocked out the otherwise attractive G20 for me.
Let's talk about what features it doesn't have compared to the bigger brothers: First, it lacks the Panasonic 'Looks superb. The G25 series has the Panasonic "Infinite Black Panel" - the S2 does not, but I swear after watching the G25 in store and then watching a properly calibrated S2 at home, the average consumer cannot tell a difference. The blacks on this TV are very black, and merge well. The contrast ration on this is 2mil:1 vs the G25 5mil:1 if you want to know the numbers.
The other major features that this doesn't have over the G25 are the Viera Cast (youtube, netflix, twitter, etc) online features (there is no internet connection of any sort on the S2), and it also lacks the THX mode that the G20 and G25 have. Let me tell you why I'm not missing these, even as a filmmaker who might otherwise seriously consider the THX mode.
First, while the Viera Cast features sound nice and are convenient, they're essentially negating what my PlayStation 3 can already do in terms of online access. All I mean to say here is, if you're willing to use an external device (console, computer) to access these features a different way, then you can pay less and get this model. If you don't have a console or want the convenience of having these built in without another device, then set your gaze on the G25 (or a blu-ray player with the same features that the TV's have). Also, the THX mode does sound nice, but if properly calibrated, this TV looks masterful on it's own and is a true bargain for the price.
In the three days I've had it, I've tried PS3 games, Blu-Ray movies, Standard DVD movies, and streamed Netflix (one of the films they stream in HD, and let me tell you, it looked like Blu-Ray) and all three have looked truly superb. No shuttered motion (thanks to the 600Hz), great color reproduction and, folks, the brightness is fine. It really is. While this TV ***WILL*** have some glare if you have it in a room with TV's in the background, when the TV is on, any minor glare/reflection from lamps (etc) in the room will immediately be overcome by the image.
The sound is not masterful, but in no way is it bad. It's on the high end of "normal" from a TV, if you will. Absolutely worth listening to until you can get a sound system later, if you need or want to wait. I "want" a sound system, but it's not a priority, for what it's worth.
This TV does NOT have USB ports, but again, if you have a console you shouldn't miss it. A PS3 or XBox will substitute almost any need for a USB port. The Wii looks/works fine (I have one) but overall extended use should come from one of the HD systems if you have this TV (purely because the Wii lacks HD output, is all. Not knocking it!).
Some of the Picture modes are a little weak ("standard," for example), but with some adjustments or a true calibration you'll be fine. Nothing to shy away from at all.
Finally, ***BURN IN WORRIERS NEED NOT WORRY***. All the 2010 Panasonic plasmas have a pixel shifting technology that helps reduce burn in. They also have a "white wash" feature that erases burn in, and although I have yet to have need for it (burn in is worse typically in the first 100 hours of a plasma) - some other reviews I've read seem to think this feature will operate well as intended, IF you even need it.
My last thought is this: If you don't want to pay more for features you already have via another device, this TV is your best bet for 2010 model plasmas. For the cost of the 42" G25, I bought this TV, a Logitech Harmony One remote, an HDMI cable, a 4 year protection plan on the TV, and the Logitech device that makes the PS3 work with the Harmony One remote. All for under $1,200. That's outstanding, in my opinion.
56 of 57 found the following review helpful:
 For the most part, a pretty good TVApr 29, 2010
By Carl M. Coleman Jr.
I got this TV because it looked like the perfect fit for a price / performance ratio. Overall I'm pleased with my purchase, although there are a few things that Panasonic can improve on. I have seen and had lots of experience with the 2009 S1 model, as well as the 2009 G10. The 2010 S2 is better than the S1 but doesn't quite have the picture quality to match the G10. Its close though. So if you can find a G10 at the same price you may want to go with the G10. The reason I didn't go with the G10 is because Panasonic has had problems with some of their TV's losing a significant amount of their black levels in previous year's models. They said that they have addressed these issues in the 2010 model lineup. So to get a few more years out of my plasma, and sacrifice a slight loss in picture quality I decided to go for the S2.
Picture Quality
As far as black levels go, I have no quarrels with this TV. It has excellent black levels, and honestly I think this feature is a little over hyped in the industry. I do appreciate black levels but when TV's are this black, I much prefer color accuracy, which is where this TV has a few problems. Most colors look great and the red's specifically pop very well. Skin tones are also very accurate for the most part. But the greens don't look as good as other high end models and you can tell in a side by side comparison. Some of the HD sources I used to distinguish the picture quality of the TV are: Planet Earth, The Dark Knight (which is the best HD source that I've ever seen).Food Network (to accurately judge color), about a dozen video games, and a few other Blu-Ray movies. The fluid motion of action scenes is very good, and I couldn't really see any flaws as far as motion quality goes. The detail of the content that I viewed is pretty good, but you may notice a few flaws if you sit really close. Another complaint that I have about the picture quality is that sometimes the video processor doesn't handle older HD sources and doesn't do SD sources very well at all. SD sources, at times, look downright terrible, and the TV doesn't seem to clean up HD sources that were made four or five years ago as well as higher end models. This TV also seems to handle video games very well. There were only a few occurrences where I saw a difference in picture quality and they were minute. Overall, very good picture quality.
Sound
No one is going to mistake this for a good home theater setup, but to sound is pretty good for a TV. If you're serious about your audio, then you'll definitely want to get a home theater system to compliment this TV.
Features / Menus
It would have been nice to have an Ethernet port to get firmware updates, and have a few internet applications, but these apps are usually slow and I much prefer to use a set top box or gaming console. The Ethernet port is the feature that is any concern for me. As far as the menu goes, Panasonic has almost gotten it right. You'll have to go into the settings, and change a few things because the default settings are a little strange. They're also missing a few things like gamma, and an option to just turn up the brightness of the panel (not the picture). Mostly everyone will turn it on Vivid which may be a little to bright for some, but the alternative, Standard, is much to dim. It would have been nice to fine tune everything the way you like. The menus do a descent job of explaining what each setting does, which is a welcomed addition. They have also disabled some of the settings which is also a little strange. The remote is nothing special. They could have moved around a few buttons to make it easier to navigate but, I`ve seen much worse. The Viera Link feature (for me) is completely useless, and I can't imagine anyone using it very much. There is also a slot where you can put an SD card and show off photos. This is useful, but it is very slow going from image to image. It's also worth mentioning that this TV does have the ability to heat up a room.
Overall
This TV does what I want it to do. It has solid picture quality, and enough features to keep me satisfied. The fact is that technology changes so fast that it doesn't make sense to spend top dollar on hardware when that hardware will be trailing edge in a year or two. So, while I would love a higher end model, I am very satisfied with my purchase. With proper calibration it's hard to see the difference between this TV and higher end models unless you sit really close, so I do recommend this TV.
29 of 29 found the following review helpful:
It all started 'cause I wanted a new monitor for my Mac...Aug 06, 2010
By Erok of the Valley
I've had a 15" MacBook Pro for the last year and a half, and am smitten with its perfect, though diminutive, image. But when I saw that Fry's was selling a 24" ViewSonic LCD for $169, I jumped at it. Drove to the store that same day, bought the monitor, brought it home, set it up, and bathed myself in HD goodness. Games, movies, Internet--everything looked great.
That night, however, watching an episode of Lost, I realized that there was a brightness on the bottom and the top of the screen. No matter how dark the scene was, it always had this gleam to it. By the end of the program, I was positive that there was no way I could live with the defect, and resolved to bring the item back to the store.
I turned in the ViewSonic the next morning and immediately bought a Samsung, a top brand for HD. It wasn't on sale, but I was determined to get a perfect monitor, even if I had to pay twice as much. I brought it home, hooked it up--same damn problem. Even a perfectly black image was marred by this infernal glow. Maybe it's just something I have to live with, I reasoned, suddenly realizing that I just spent an extra $75 on a product that was no better than the one I had before in any redeemable way. I took it back that afternoon, and just my luck--truly mind-boggling, really--the same exact Fry's employee was there to take my return, giving me the stink eye ("Weren't you just here?").
After a little bit of research, I found out that the condition plaguing me was called "backlight bleeding," and it was endemic to practically all reasonably priced LCD monitors. Apparently, what I found intolerable was a standard in the industry. How much did I have to pay to get the 24" quality that I wanted?! Well, Apple was offering their LED Cinema Display for a mere $900. Apple, a company I've loved my entire life, was out of its cotton-pickin' mind!
I figured if I was going to spend anywhere near that for a monitor, I might as well go all the way and upgrade to a fullblown HDTV. I had waited long enough (my 27" Phillips CRT TV was hardly getting any use any more), it was time to hunker down, dive into the Interwebs and unearth a technological gem.
Plasma, in spite of the recent strides with LCDs, still seemed the way to go. Flawless viewing angles, zero motion blur, and--most importantly--black levels blacker than the blackest black that ever blacked. I have witnessed glorious spectacle from expensive LCDs, but I couldn't risk a third disappointment. Once I knew this, the rest became obvious. Plasma screens generally started at 42", which is perfect for my room--any larger would be bulky and obnoxious. I needed 1080p, because I had intended to use it primarily in conjunction with my laptop computer and I didn't want to chance the text being all fuzzy.
Panasonic is a well-respected brand, especially amongst HDTVs--appearing repeatedly in top 10 articles, including several from CNET and Consumer Reports. But I almost didn't go with this particular model because some yahoo, who may or may not be trolling for Samsung, made the rounds on all the vendors' websites claiming that it doesn't work with Macs or PCs.
I did read plenty of reviews declaring the opposite, but I couldn't find out for sure. I even brought my laptop to the store in hopes that an employee would let me hook up to the floor model, but was denied outright (I'm lookin' at you Fry's). Amazon offered a TC-P42S2 that was about $63 less than Best Buy's "sale price." I leaped at the offer, eagerly tracked the package, literally chased the UPS guy down, brought it home, opened the box... busted screen--completely shattered.
Props to Audio and Video Center, the actual seller of said package. The day after I told them about my problem, they sent me a brand new set by company truck, straight to my front door, taking back the broken one no questions asked. They even screwed the TV to the stand. Great peeps.
Naturally, the first thing I wanted to do was confirm whether or not I could hook up my Mac to my new toy. Let me declare in absolutely no uncertain terms: It works. Perfectly, and boo on anyone who says different. To pull this off, I used a Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, a comfortably long DVI cable, and a DVI to HDMI adapter. No calls to Panasonic, no programs, no fancy electronic gadgets. After all I've been through--all my tribulations, false starts and letdowns--it is an unparalleled joy to blow up giant pictures, to surf the Internet, to watch YouTube videos in all of their HD glory on such a colossal, crystal clear display.
Burn in is a threat with plasma TVs--especially new ones--because the fresh phosphors burn more intensely those first 200 hours. For the first one and a half weeks, I kept the contrast below 50, and left the screen on at night, my computer cycling through an ever-growing collection of 1920 x 1080 wallpapers every five minutes. Even now, I'm careful never to leave a single image on the screen, be it an icon or a pair of widescreen bars, for more than an hour at a time. Crisis averted.
My greatest gripe with the TC-P42S2 is the unforgiving variety of inputs. Obviously a single DVI input would have been welcome. But the lack of an S-video port or even a little something for analog audio is borderline negligent. Some of us are still happy with our $150 bookshelf speakers.
Speaking of audio, I've read a lot of reviews of people dissatisfied with the sound quality of the set. It's really not bad at all, completely passable. What television out there sounds as good as an actual stereo system? It's a non-issue; save up some bucks and upgrade.
The picture is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, and I defy anyone to quote me a price on a cheaper high-quality plasma that has full 1080p definition. The cinema mode (properly tweaked), is perfect for movies, and the game mode is perfect for video games. I obsessed over the purchase, sweated the details--loved and lost--but am completely satisfied with my initiation into High Definition Electronics, and am excited by the prospect of many years with this wonderful television.
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Beautiful display, great price, mediocre soundJun 24, 2010
By Andrew Keown
"Andy"
I received this TV from Amazon 2 days ago and so far I love it. I shopped around extensively, and it was by far the best value for a large plasma screen from a "name brand" manufacturer. The display is gorgeous. It creates a lush picture with dark blacks and vivid colors. I bought this to replace a 3-year-old 26" Panasonic LCD screen, and I am blown away by the improvement in picture quality. Now, I have to reprogram my DVR to ONLY record HD shows because they look so great; I never noticed that much of a difference between HD and standard-def with the old TV (which was probably only 720p while this new one is 1080p), but I can see a huge improvement with HD now! Overall, very impressive picture quality.
It has 3 HDMI inputs, so I could plug in my cable box, DVD player and Netflix Roku player with no problem. (How great to be able to ditch all those component wires!) Set-up was a breeze and the on-screen controls are intuitive. The remote control is very nice.
My only complaint with the TV is its poor sound quality. I suppose there must be a tradeoff for a $700 42" plasma, and if so, sound is most definitely that tradeoff. The speakers are tinny and echo-y. (By comparison, the speakers on the Panasonic LCD TV I replaced this with are much, much better... of course, I paid the same amount of money for that 26" TV 3 years ago, so I'll willingly take the larger, better screen any day.) I played around with the audio adjustments extensively, but could not find a sound setting that I considered acceptable. I am still giving this TV a 4-star rating because I assume most people purchasing this TV will also have a home theater system. Last night I purchased a Polk Surroundbar 2.1 speaker system, and I am happy with the sound now, but that was an additional $350. Before buying the Surroundbar, I was hoping to plug the TV into my Bose Sounddock, but the TV's ONLY audio output is optical audio, so you cannot make this TV work with inexpensive computer speakers or any speaker system that is not specially designed for home theater with optical audio capability.
As long as you're aware of the sound situation, then I highly recommend this gorgeous and well-priced TV.
See all 79 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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