The popularity of plasma HDTVs continues to wane, but Panasonic's new display technology may give shoppers reason to reconsider. The company claims the updated panel on its 42-inch TC-P42S1 ($1,099.95 list) maintains perfect picture detail no matter how complex the on-screen action, and my testing on the set backs up that claim. Furthermore, this set and others in the S1 line are competitively priced when compared with same-size LCD models. And for a plasma, it's very energy efficient out of the box. The biggest problem with the TC-P42S1: It's less skilled than previous Panasonic models I've tested at upconversion, and cinema purists will need to calibrate the set for a more accurately colored picture.The simple yet stylish frame design includes a glossy black bezel with rounded corners and edges. On the curved bottom edge are an oversize, centrally located power button and a bright red LED indicator light. Internal bottom-firing speakers minimize the set's overall width. In my testing, I found sound quality was improved by upping the bass level in the TV's setup menu. The basic remote control's tapered backside provides a solid grip, and its large buttons are clearly labeled.
As befitting an entry-level set, the TC-P42S1 sports only a minimal selection of ports, including three HDMI (one of which is side-mounted), two component video inputs, an RF input, and an SD card slot (also side-mounted) for accessing and displaying digital images using the integrated photo browser. (There's no VGA port on this set, but you'll find one on Panasonic's THX-certified G10-series plasma sets.) We recommend using the HDMI ports for the full, 1080p experience; just know that if you want to eliminate overscan, the setting is buried in the TV's menus. And, if you're using component video or playing any format other than 1080i or 1080p, eliminating overscan is not an available menu option, and as a result you could lose up to 6 percent of picture detail.
In initial setup, the TV defaults to the Standard picture preset, which reduces overall brightness in order to minimize power consumption (more on that later). An energy-guzzling Vivid picture mode produces what may very well be the brightest picture I've ever seen from a plasma set. The Cinema preset most closely measures up to the color and detail standards used in video production, but its white balance was a bit too green, and there are no controls in the user menus to correct this.
The TC-P42S1 averaged a contrast ratio of 1,146:1 when viewed in a dark room; that's slightly lower than what we saw with last year's Panasonic TH-46PZ85U, which managed an average contrast result of 1,408:1 because it produced a darker black level. In a bright room, the set's relatively dark screen color and ample light output helped it maintain good apparent picture contrast compared with the otherwise excellent Vizio VP505XVT, which has a lighter-colored screen.
Previous Panasonic plasmas I've reviewed were terrific at upconversion, but the TC-P42S1 takes a big step backward. Its performance with the HQV Benchmark DVD revealed poor jagged-edge suppression and inconsistencies in detecting video originally captured at 24 frames per second (most movies), resulting in increased artifacts and loss of detail. Viewing a selection of classic DVD movies proved that the TV can maintain consistent color in bright and dark scenes, but some titles exhibited moiré artifacts that made some edge details appear to crawl. The set also failed the film tests on the Microsoft DVD Test Annex disc, which is more challenging than any typical video clip but is not designed to exceed the capabilities of the average HDTV.
Panasonic claims the TC-P42S1's Neo PDP panel technology maintains full video resolution with on-screen action of any complexity, and it showed more of the details of my motion-related test patterns and real-world content than any HDTV I've seen, including LED-backlit LCD sets such as the Samsung LN55A950 and Sony's KDL-46XBR8. One issue with Panasonic plasmas that remains unchanged is the presence of crawling jagged-edge artifacts when 1080i content is converted to 1080p. Considering how many 1080p televisions from other manufacturers get this right (for instance, the Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD), it seems odd that this problem has plagued Panasonic sets for several product generations.
The TC-P42S1's default picture setting reduces its picture brightness in order to earn the set an Energy Star rating. With this configuration, the set's average power consumption is 149W, with an estimated operating cost of $2.59 per month based on 5 hours of daily use at $0.1135 per kWh (the 2008 national average). LCDs generate more light output with the same amount of energy, but the TC-P42S1's consumption result is the best we've seen from a plasma set, and is lower than with many LCD televisions of similar size, including the LG 42LGX (207W) and the Vizio SV420XVT (195W). Ironically, configuring the TC-P42S1 to use its Cinema preset, which on most HDTVs reduces overall brightness and energy consumption, actually drew more power—an additional 41W—and produced a correspondingly brighter picture compared with the default setup.
The speedy pixels of plasma televisions have always delivered superior motion picture detail when compared with their LCD counterparts, and you get wider viewing angles with plasma. Some of the latest LED televisions can capture fast motion detail as well, but they're currently priced much higher than similarly sized S1-series plasmas. The Panasonic TC-P42S1's value does come at the expense of degraded upconversion performance and an unimpressive cinema preset, however. Still, this is a solid, energy-efficient plasma at a good price.
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