Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U Review

When it comes to Plasmas, Panasonic is one of the best. Its different suites of models given their excellent quality and wide range of features, outsells other competing brands in the HDTV market. The Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U is another set that Panasonic is offering its costumers. It has improved black-level performances, which is very important in home theater image quality.

The 46-inch Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U produces some of the deepest black levels ever seen on any display. It’s not the total package however, but to some people who can tolerate slight flaws, the TH-46PZ85U’s deep blacks are easily worth the trade-offs.

First of all, the TH-46PZ85U is not as beautiful as other sets in the market. It is still encased in a standard HDTV glossy black panel but the Panasonic has a bottom frame that rounds slightly downward that protrudes with downward-firing speakers. The included stand doesn’t swivel, and it lacks a trim, attractive pedestal supporting the panel. Overall, the set measures at 46 inches by 31 inches by 15.3 inches including the stand and 46 inches by 28.9 inches by 3.7 inches without it, and weighs 81.6 pounds and 772 pounds, respectively.

As most plasma sets from Panasonic, the the TH-46PZ85U has a native resolution of 1,920×1,080 pixels, or 1080p. The 1080p resolution is fast becoming a standard to most flat-panel HDTVs. Picture controls on the TH-46Z85U aren’t as extensive as seen on many HDTVs. Extra picture controls worth mentioning include a color management control that does improve color decoding slightly; a “C.A.T.S.” mode that changes contrast on the fly and so should be left turned off; two species of noise reduction; and a black level control.

The TH-46PZ85U also includes five aspect ratio controls for HD sources. There’s also a setting that lets the TV display every pixel of 1080i and 1080p sources without overscan. The same selection of five modes is also available for SD sources.

As for its connections, the TH-46PZ85U has pretty much the standard collection of options, including two HDMI inputs on the back panel and a third to the side. A VGA-style PC input is also on board. It also has two component video inputs, an AV input with composite or S-Video, an RF input for antenna or cable, as well as an optical and an analog audio output. In addition to that last HDMI input, the side panel also sports a second AV input with composite and S-Video.

As mentioned, the Panasonic did give excellent black-level performances. Despite this, picture quality is still not that impressive and needs a little bit more of something. Maybe its because of its ineffective noise reduction or maybe its less-accurate color reproduction.

The TH-46PZ85U exhibited the deepest shade of black seen even from any Panasonic plasmas. Those deep blacks lent punch and dimension to both dark and brighter scenes. Details in shadows, however, appeared a bit too bright and thus less realistic.

The Panasonic’s main flaw could probably be its color accuracy. Its color temperature measured a tab bluer than the standard, which introduced a hint of paleness into skin tones and other delicate areas. The Panasonic’s superb black levels helped keep the colors punchy.

As for standard definition content, the TH-46PZ85U did not quite do a very good job with it. Details are relatively soft, and the full resolution of the DVD format, was not displayed. The Panasonic did an average job of removing jagged edges from moving diagonal lines, and, as with high-definition sources, its noise reduction wasn’t as effective at cleaning up snowy-looking material.

Sources:
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