Panasonic TX-L42ET50B 3D LED LCD TV Review

Traditionally a Plasma company, Panasonic has been following industry trends lately, increasing the size and diversity of its “LED TVs” (LCD TVs featuring LED edge-lighting). In the (paraphrased) words of one company representative, the Japanese giant is still committed to Plasma, but it would be pointless to ignore the popularity of “LED TV”, which has absolutely won the flat-panel marketing war. Or, put another way, the TV manufacturer has a factory dedicated to pumping out Liquid Crystal televisions, and if that’s what the mass market wants, then it would be foolish not to utilise it.

The Viera ET50 sits two rungs below Panasonic’s top-end WT series of LED LCDs, and features support for “Progressive Full HD 3D” (unlike the cheaper Passive 3D system found in the lower ET5 series), 800hz Backlight Scanning to combat LCD motion blur, and 4 HDMI inputs. The Panasonic TX-L42ET50B we’re reviewing today also features an IPS panel, a type of LCD panel that has received a popularity boost thanks to Apple’s inclusion (and promotion) of it in many of its products, such as the iPad. IPS LCD panels tend to feature lower contrast performance (poorer black levels) than some competing LCD types, but its main claim to fame is its wide viewing angles: although nowhere near Plasma levels, colours don’t wash out as much when the screen is viewed from the sides.

Of course, “Smart TV” is also the new big thing on TV makers’ checklists; indeed, Panasonic has branded its lineup “SMART VIERA” to really push the message. Unsurprisingly, the TX-L42ET50 features built-in wireless networking for easy access to the internet and world wide web.

Let’s see if Panasonic’s LCD HDTV displays can hold their own against the competition!

Note: The specific model we tested was the Panasonic TX-L42ET50B which is the British 3-pin-plug version. While we did not review the larger, 47-inch TX-L47ET50B/ TX-L47ET50, there shouldn’t be any significant difference in picture performance given similar specifications within the ET50 range.

Design

Panasonic TX-L42ET50B

The Panasonic TX-L42ET50’s styling is breathtaking, and once again, appears to be heavily influenced by Samsung’s excellent LCD TV designs. However, Panasonic has actually improved on the source material both in terms of style and build quality. The LCD screen is surrounded by a gloss black border, which is in turn framed by silver. This two-tone combination is covered in glass-like acrylic, which protrudes by about 0.9cm outwards, meaning that the edge of the bezel takes on the colour of the viewer’s room. Build quality is excellent; squeezing the edges of the bezel doesn’t cause it to pinch or expand.

The stand is made from sleek silver metal, and assembles fairly easily.

Connections

The Panasonic TX-L42ET50B features 4 HDMI inputs, and with the use of provided adapter cables, SCART, Component, and Composite devices can be hooked up (one of each; in fact, the Component/Composite input is shared). Unlike the company’s European Plasma TVs, an analogue VGA input IS present, useful for laptops that don’t feature an HDMI output. There’s also an Ethernet port for hard-wired network connections, although the TX-L42ET50 features a built-in wireless receiver, so we didn’t use it.

Rear connections
Rear: 4 x HDMI, VGA, Component, SCART, aerial, ethernet & audio outs

Operation

The same user menus found on all of the 2011 and 2012 Plasma and LCD Panasonic HDTVs are present on the TX-L42ET50B, and the menus work perfectly. We’re happy to see that as on the recently reviewed ST50 Plasma, the “True Cinema” mode has been taken to a new level with extra picture calibration controls (which have to be unlocked in the Setup menu).

[Picture] menu
[Picture] menu

The workings of the picture controls on the Panasonic televisions varies depending on the display type (LCD/Plasma) and the model. The [Contrast] control on the TX-L42ET50 also adjusts the intensity of the LED light sources; unlike on many other LCD TVs, where backlight and contrast are two separate controls. In fact, the Panasonic ET50 crushes out all “above white” shades when it’s in the “True Cinema” mode (but not the others), which is fine, since there is some leeway in the correct way to set this control.

The “True Cinema” mode is the mode which Panasonic has designed to match a studio monitor as closely as possible – an accurate, hands-off mode which just passes through images without alteration. That’s not the only difference, though. On the Panasonic LCDs, selecting “True Cinema” disables the dynamic backlighting. Dynamic backlighting is where the screen illumination (in this case, the intensity of the LEDs at the sides of the screen) is raised or lowered to match the video. So, when a dark scene comes on, the lights dim, when a bright scene is shown, they brighten. This is done to enhance the apparent contrast performance of the LCD screen and provide deeper blacks, at the expense of shadow details and colour saturation during these moments. Panasonic has probably disabled it in the “True Cinema” mode because some video enthusiasts find the darkening and brightening effect distracting, although ideally the choice would be given.

 

19 comments

  1. hi David,
    nice review, honestely I wasn’t expecting much from this set, anyway, I’m lokking forward to the WT50 REVIEW, one review on the web is talking about the best LED TV EVER with the deepest back of any other TV on the market, even the Sharp ELITE, seriousely, I don’t know what I think, the ET50 et DT50 don’t sound promising at all and giving the fact that WT50 is just an EDGE LED TV with 16 local dimming zones, it’s just get very confusing, in your opinion regarding the ET50 performance what we should expect from the WT50?????

  2. David Mackenzie

    Given that IPS has never produced very good contrast performance, I’d be amazed if black levels like that were possible. So I look forward to seeing a WT50 at some point for myself.

  3. LCD sucks :)

  4. Hi,

    Thanks for the great review. I have this tv and was wondering if there was anyway that you could publish the exact settings that you calibrated it to please. Including the colour saturation and luminance.

    Thanks

  5. What’s the input lag in console gaming with IFC engaged?

  6. David Mackenzie

    @Daniel:
    Settings posted on our forum: http://forums.hdtvtest.co.uk/index.php/topic,7052.msg14838.html#msg14838

    @Martin:
    I didn’t meaure it, but I’d estimate it at around 50ms.

  7. How does Panasonic achieves the 8 segment scanning backlight in a sidelit LCD TV as illustrated at http://www.panasonic.net/avc/viera/led_lcd_us/index.html#topic01 ?

  8. David Mackenzie

    The page there (Euro centric version here instead of US, BTW: http://www.panasonic.net/avc/viera/led_lcd_eu/index.html#topic01 ) describes backlight scanning that is perfectly in sync with the panel updating. That, coupled with the motion-steered frame interpolation that we all, eh, love.

    Not sure if that was your question…

  9. This model is a rarity in this years range in that it features an LG panel I was told by Panasonic.

  10. How worse is the dynamic backlight in real use or is it absolutley useable?
    Is it more like you get an dark picture and after some time the backlight gets darker, or does it happen immediatley?
    And when somebody moves in one scene from a bright place to a darker place but you always see the person. Do you see the person getting darker?

  11. David Mackenzie

    Scott: those are good examples. Because the “Cinema” mode doesn’t promise accurate video (but has the dynamic backlight) I didn’t spend much time with it. The implementation seemed fairly good, but like you suggest, there will always be cases when the lighting doesn’t sync exactly with the panel and might draw attention to itself.

  12. Just couldn’t imagine 8 independent controllable (edge lit) segments without banding/homogeneity problems.
    btw will a segment duty cycle change for different backlight brightness and moreover will these segments even used for 1d dimming ?

  13. “If you don’t care for the third dimension, though, there are other LCD televisions with better black levels (allowing for a richer picture) for the same, or less money.”
    For example?
    Best regards.

  14. David Mackenzie

    @Alfonso: nearly anything from Samsung.

  15. @David was there any vertical banding present on your review unit, i.e when watching football?

  16. David Mackenzie

    There weren’t any visible vertical bars, no. But the uniformity wasn’t perfect either.

  17. (full chroma resolution) ” .. ultra-observant (and ultra-picky) videophile gamers will want to check out LCDs from Sony and Samsung … ”

    – which models? and do they also have low input lag like this panasonic being reviewed?

    i’m an ultra-observant (and ultra-picky) videophile gamer whose after a 40″+ lcd/led with low input lag and features that matter.

  18. @David was there any stutter in 50hz 3d content?

  19. David Mackenzie

    @Tom
    No, no stutter in any 3D modes.

    @Graph
    Nearly all. See the reviews on this site – as a rule nearly all of the Sony LCDs pass 4:4:4 in the Game or Graphics modes and the Samsungs can if the HDMI1 input is labelled “PC”.

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