JJ Lighting & Electrical - Home Electrical Centre

IN STOCK – £899 – DELIVERED, INSTALLED, DISPOSAL OF YOUR OLD SET.

Panasonic’s plasma sets of the last few years have been above reproach, and this new “Neo-PDP” model is no exception. It’s pitched roughly as mid-spec – all the features most people are looking for nowadays for their main telly, but without some of the more superfluous stuff that the majority of us won’t need to watch Top Gear or whatever.

So, what’s this new set like then?

Free high definition content from the BBC

As you’d expect from a set of this specification, all the basics are covered. There’s Freeview built-in, of course, but in common with many of the latest Panasonic sets there’s Freesat available out of the box too. This requires connection to a satellite dish – either an existing Sky one or a new one if you don’t currently have a dish – and offers the free-to-air high-definition service without needing an extra box or anything. At the moment this includes the BBC HD channel, as well as HD services from ITV and Channel 5, and more are planned for the future. Speaking of HD, this set has a “full 1080p” panel, a must if you’ve got a Blu-Ray player or a Playstation 3 games console. These two features are worth the money alone, but if not, there’s enough inputs to connect everything but the kitchen sink (well, mine doesn’t have a plug on it anyway!), a slot for an SD card to view your family photos in life-size, and a 600Hz panel. This last point is particularly important, offering smoother images and a lot less judder whether you’re watching the footy or the news. It’s also three times greater than the 200Hz panel a certain other company has been shouting about of late…

Like all Panasonic televisions, the viewing angle is excellent

That’s all well and good, but specification alone does not necessarily make a good TV. I’m happy to say that this plasma performs every bit as well as the features list suggests, though! Out of the box, the sockets on the back are well-labelled and easily accessible, and the familiar chunky Panasonic remote is easy to use. Unlike many sets these days there’s also a button to switch it off of standby if you so wish, not that it’s really necessary to do so anymore. Setup is quick too, the set finding the channels swiftly and even giving you its opinion of the aerial you’ve plugged into it. The Freesat system is even quicker to get going, and likewise will tell you if your satellite dish is up to par.

The picture is good from the off, but as always a little tweaking results in an image which is miles ahead of the competition, be it LCD or even other plasmas. This set has been given five-star reviews by many of the magazines and it shows, even on ordinary broadcasts through the aerial. Colours are excellent, vivid where they should be yet natural and realistic where you’d expect them. These plasmas have always been particularly good with getting people’s skin colour exactly right, and combined with the 600Hz feature it really knocks the average LCD into a cocked hat. There’s none of the blue-ish tint which afflicts many of the LCD sets either, dark scenes look…well, dark! You’d think this would be a given, but it’s amazing how many TVs with lesser panels struggle with this basic function! Switch to a high-definition signal from either a Blu-Ray player or the set’s own Freesat system and it really moves up a gear, combining all of the above with a detail and crispness which wasn’t possible as little as two years ago.

The sound of the built-in speakers won’t make the living room vibrate, but that’s true of all these modern flat-screen sets – their thin frames prevent them from using the big speaker cones of the tube sets from years ago. However, of their kind the speakers are very good and provide a decent weight to the sound with plenty of volume, fine for watching ordinary TV, though movie lovers may appreciate a home-cinema system. The usual options for “fake” surround sound are present, but as always don’t really convince, so just leave it in normal stereo for the best effect. Any tweaks which you do wish to make can be done easily using the clear and intuitive menu on the screen, which also incorporates a good built-in TV guide similar to the one found on Sky. Contrast, brightness and colour can be easily adjusted, or you can choose to leave them on the “Eco” setting and let the set decide how the picture should be depending on the light in the room. Saves you a bit of money in electricity, too!

More connections than you can shake a remote at!

All told then, this new set from Panasonic looks likely to continue the company’s excellent reputation for being at the top of the game. It manages to be both sophisticated yet easy to use, good with high definition but also capable of a remarkably good picture on ordinary TV. It’s not the cheapest telly you can buy, but the performance is so far ahead of the chasing pack that you can enjoy it for many years, the 100,000 hour panel life adding to our confidence in it. If you would still like further piece of mind, until the end of June there is a five year warranty available for free.

In stock with us now, pop in and have a look!