Panasonic TX-P50S20B Review

In a refreshing change from the torrent of LCD TVs we’ve reviewed lately, Panasonic have just delivered a review sample of their 50-inch S20 series Plasma TV. Designed to be cost-conscious, the Panasonic TX-P50S20 is a 50″ TV which, like its S20 LCD counterpart we tested last month, includes key features such as a 1080p resolution panel, and a DVB-T2 (Freeview HD capable) tuner.

The jewel in the S20 Plasma range’s crown, though, is that it includes Panasonic’s high contrast NeoPDP panel, previously only fitted to more expensive HDTVs. Unlike higher-up models, it lacks a satellite tuner, is not THX Certified, and doesn’t include the Imaging Science Foundation (isfccc) calibration controls. Let’s get stuck in and see how it performs.

Note: The specific model we tested was the Panasonic TX-P50S20B (which denotes the 3-pin-plug British version), but the terms Panasonic TX-P50S20, Panasonic TXP50S20 and Panasonic TX-P50S20B will be used interchangeably throughout this review to refer to the same Plasma television. While we did not test the 42-inch Panasonic TX-P42S20B/ TX-P42S20 or the 46-inch Panasonic TX-P46S20B/ TX-P46S20, we do not expect any drastic difference in picture performance.

Design

Panasonic TX-P50S20B Front

Just like the S20 LCD range, the Panasonic S20 Plasma displays feature a “grooved” design. Aside from this small detail (which has the advantage of detracting from any scratches that might build up on the gloss black bezel over time) and a small blue touch underneath the company logo, the Panasonic TX-P50S20B has a very understated design.

The Panasonic TX-P50S20B HDTV comes supplied with screws, an assembly diagram, and a circular stand. Assembly is easy, requiring the user to screw two metal poles into the base, lower the Plasma TV onto the completed stand, and finally attach the TV to the stand with the remaining screws. After assembly, the flat-screen panel sits firmly in place, and does not swivel.

Like every flat-panel television we’ve seen from the company, the build quality of the Panasonic TX-P50S20B is excellent. Perhaps not unsurprisingly for a Plasma display, the entire unit feels completely solid. Panasonic boast that the front of their PDP displays can withstand the impact of a flying game controller, something we haven’t tested ourselves.

Connections

In total, the Panasonic TX-P50S20B features 3 HDMI connectors, which is what we expected for a more cost-conscious display. Two of these are on the back of the unit (accompanied by the declining analogue interfaces and the RF aerial input), and the last is on the side, beside the Common Interface card slot, SD card input, headphone jack, and Composite video input (and accompanying audio jacks).

Connections on Panasonic TX-P50S20B
Rear: 2 x HDMI, Component, 2 x SCART, aerial, Ethernet & audio outs
Side: Common Interface slot, SD Card, HDMI, headphones & Composite video

The inclusion of the Ethernet port on the back of the plasma TV is somewhat mysterious, because unlike higher end Panasonic TVs, the TX-P50S20B does not feature the VIERA CAST online portal. It would appear that an Ethernet port is mandated for all Freeview HD capable products, in case any future Freeview HD services (a future version of BBC iPlayer, perhaps?) require internet access.

Operation

The Panasonic TX-P50S20B plasma television features the now-familiar 2010 VIERA menu, consistent with the rest of the company’s output this year (we’re glad to see that even cheaper models have received such updates, rather than lagging behind). Panasonic appears to place a high value on simplicity, so there are no sprawling menus or redundant video controls on this Plasma HD TV. Everything is grouped into one of three categories: “Picture”, “Sound”, and “Setup”.

The contents of the “Picture” menu are dictated by the first [Viewing Mode] setting, which allows the choice of “Dynamic”, “Normal”, “Cinema”, and new for 2010, “True Cinema”. “True Cinema” is Panasonic’s attempt at producing studio-accurate picture quality out of the box, and allows for control over basic image parameters such as Contrast, Brightness, Colour, and Sharpness. Naturally, we are delighted to see it across Panasonic’s range of displays rather than a feature confined only to high-end models. More is going on than first meets the eye, however: each viewing mode has different Gamma characteristics, and there are also differences in colour gamut between the modes.

Unlike the higher-end 2010 displays, there are no “Advanced” controls accessible to the user. This ultimately means that Greyscale calibration must be performed in the hidden service menu, and that there are no further controls for Gamma and Colour anywhere on the Panasonic TX-P50S20B Plasma TV.

[Picture] menu [Sound] menu
[Picture] menu [Sound] menu

As usual, the “Other Settings” menu, tucked away inside “Setup”, allows for the [Intelligent Frame Creation] system and [16:9 Overscan] to each be turned on or off. The IFC system is of limited use on a Plasma display (since PDPs have naturally excellent motion resolution with or without such processing). There is also a feature called [Resolution Enhancer], which adds some subtle additional sharpening to standard definition video.

Calibration

Note: Our Panasonic TX-P50S20B review sample was calibrated using Calman Professional, the industry-leading video calibration software.

Greyscale

Unsurprisingly, the “True Cinema” viewing mode measured as giving the most accurate, high quality pictures. This mode does not feature a [Colour Balance] control; instead this is locked to “Warm”. This makes sense, as video purists would find the option to select non-standard colour temperatures redundant, anyway. After verifying that other basic controls were correctly set, we measured the Greyscale performance of the “True Cinema” mode:

Pre-calibration CCT
Pre-calibration CCT in [True Cinema] mode
Pre-calibration RGB Tracking
Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

In this out-of-the-box configuration, the colour of grey featured slightly too much blue. Unsurprisingly, this out of the box performance (whilst fairly good for an uncalibrated TV) is not quite as good as on some THX-certified Panasonic displays.

Since the Panasonic TX-P50S20B does not feature user-accessible calibration controls, we had to enter the hidden service menu to perform Greyscale calibration. This is a process that many readers will be familiar with, but one that still warrants caution, as this menu does contain features which can render the TV useless if accidentally altered.

Refining this aspect of the TX-P50S20B’s picture quality took a long time. In the service menu, selecting the Greyscale calibration section increases the plasma TV’s black level slightly, and makes the measurements taken in this menu invalid for actual viewing. As a result of this, we had to enter the service menu, make an adjustment, return to user mode, re-measure to verify our changes, and then repeat. This process is not for the impatient!

Post-calibration CCT in [True Cinema] mode
Post-calibration CCT in [True Cinema] mode
Post-calibration RGB Tracking in [True Cinema] mode
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [True Cinema] mode

Of course, this process was worth the effort. After calibration, colour temperature was considerably closer to the industry standard D65 target and Delta Errors (dEs) were mostly cut to below the threshold of being noticeable.

Consistent with most Panasonic consumer Plasma TVs we’ve calibrated, Gamma tracking was somewhat crooked on the TX-P50S20B, meaning that the amount of light at each point in between absolute black and pure white was not quite correct. This is hard to detect without an accurate reference display for comparison, but is an inaccuracy in the image all the same. In fact, the average Gamma value measured at about 2.0, rather than the desired 2.2, meaning that the image looked a little lighter than on completely accurate displays. There is no dedicated Gamma control like there is on some of the more expensive Panasonic PDPs, but each [Viewing Mode] has a different Gamma curve, so there is a limited degree of control over this characteristic. For the interested, the “Dynamic” mode has a severely inflated curve, and the standard “Cinema” mode measures at around 1.8, looking less rich and vibrant as a result. Unsurprisingly, the Gamma curve inherent to the “True Cinema” mode, whilst imperfect, is the best available on the Panasonic TX-P50S20B Plasma HDTV.

Gamma curve in [True Cinema] mode Gamma tracking in [True Cinema] mode
Gamma curve in [True Cinema] mode Corresponding gamma tracking

Colour

After Greyscale calibration, the small hue errors previously present in Secondary colours disappeared. All colours were extremely accurate, with only minor Hue and Saturation errors remaining. After a small reduction of the [Colour] control, Luminance levels (a.k.a. colour decoding/intensity) also measured as being mostly correct. Whilst Green in particular was mildly oversaturated and slightly too bright, on the whole, the colour performance was excellent. This is fortunate, because the TX-P50S20B has no real advanced colour controls: the basic [Colour] setting, and the [Vivid Colour] switch (which, in [True Cinema] mode, only serves to skew the hue of Cyan closer towards Blue and thus serves no real purpose) are the only controls given to us to adjust colour.

Post-calibration CIE chart in [True Cinema] mode
Post-calibration CIE chart with reference to HD Rec.709
Post-calibration Luminance levels in [True Cinema] mode
Post-calibration colour luminance (coloured bars = targets; black bars = measured values)

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels None
Screen uniformity Perfect
Overscanning on HDMI 0% with [16:9 Overscan] set to “Off
Blacker than black Passed
Calibrated black level 0.02 cd/m2
Black level retention Largely stable, occasional subtle “floating blacks”
Primary chromaticity Excellent in [True Cinema] mode
Scaling Excellent
Video mode deinterlacing Good: 2/3 bars smooth on HQV test
Film mode deinterlacing Failed 3:2/ 2:2 cadences in all resolutions
Viewing angle Excellent (> 150°)
Motion resolution [Intelligent Frame Creation] “On“: 1080; “Off“: 900
Digital noise reduction [P-NR] is a spatial filter, very little effect
Sharpness Defeatable edge enhancement
Image retention Virtually none
Posterization Mild, though worse with poor source
Phosphor trails Yes; severity depends on individual susceptibility
1080p/24 capability Accepts 1080p/24 video signal; no telecine judder
Input lag Excellent, only 16ms slower than a lag-free CRT
Full 4:4:4 reproduction No, 4:4:4 input subsampled

Power Consumption

Default [Normal] mode 181 watts
Calibrated [True Cinema] mode 180 watts
Standby 1 watt

Power consumption measurements for Plasma displays are harder to compare than those of LCDs, since the amount of energy consumed depends on the brightness of the on screen content. The figures above were taken with a full screen of 50% grey. After calibration, the performance can be as little as 47 watts (black screen) and in rare cases, as high as 289 watts (full white screen).

Picture Performance

Black Level

The deep blacks that the best Plasma displays can produce is arguably the most compelling advantage in the “Plasma vs LCD” battle. Using a freshly calibrated Klein K-10 reference-grade colorimeter, we confirmed the Panasonic TX-P50S20B’s black level as a satisfyingly inky 0.02 cd/m2. As a result, the TX-P50S20B does not buck the trend of Panasonic PDPs producing some of the deepest blacks currently on the market. The only current flat-screen television displays managing figures deeper than this are either considerably more expensive and now discontinued (Pioneer KURO), or are “cheating” by using auto-dimming, which has some drawbacks. (Of course, Panasonic’s top-end 3D Plasma, the TX-P50VT20, will likely rock the boat even further, but it is considerably more expensive than the S20 series).

Being a Plasma display, there are no issues with “clouding” (uneven light distribution), no “pinching” around the edges of the screen, and no viewing angle issues like those found on LCD televisions: just deep, solid black, from any angle. The only somewhat-related warning we can think of with the Panasonic TX-P50S20B relates to its overall contrast performance in brighter viewing environments. This display does not feature a very effective anti-glare filter, and its on-screen images become slightly grey when faced with strong ambient light. Although it certainly doesn’t require a fully dark room, we specifically recommend against installing the Panasonic TX-P50S20B in a room where strong light will be present much of the time, such as in a conservatory.

Motion Resolution

Speaking of Plasma advantages, nobody will be surprised to hear that the TX-P50S20B produced very clear images even during motion. Its motion resolution of approximately 900 lines is considerably higher than an LCD TV’s, and is somewhat higher than LCDs equipped with 100hz/200hz motion interpolation systems. Since a Plasma TV’s high motion resolution is achieved naturally, it has the considerable advantage of not introducing any artefacts into the image, such as the kind we see with even the better interpolating LCD TV sets.

However, Panasonic have included the [Intelligent Frame Creation] control in the TX-P50S20B’s menu, and this can be enabled to increase motion resolution. The results of this processing are very similar to the [Intelligent Frame Creation] mode on Panasonic’s LCD TVs, with motion resolution being increased (in this case to a full 1080 lines!), but with some small processing artefacts creeping in. 900 lines of resolution is hardly something to sniff at, and we doubt anyone will notice the difference between 900 and 1080 lines outside of motion resolution test charts, so we left the processing off.

Standard Definition

We scrutinised the standard definition capabilities of the Panasonic TX-P50S20B by watching actual SD TV broadcasts, as well as verifying its scaling and deinterlacing performance with appropriate test patterns and sequences. There were almost no surprises, with its performance being completely consistent with the rest of Panasonic’s 2010 HDTVs so far.

To start with, we ran the HQV Test Disc on the Panasonic TX-P50S20B and assessed its video deinterlacing capabilities. The test patterns revealed that the display features good diagonal interpolation performance, and is capable of suppressing most jaggies during the deinterlacing of video material. In the “three rotating bars” test pattern, two of the three bars were smooth, and the bottom bar was somewhat smooth but with small jaggies. With real-world broadcast TV content, which is typically too soft to reveal such limitations, we had no complaints at all.

Like all but the most expensive Panasonic TVs, there is absolutely no film cadence detection at all. This isn’t ideal because it results in subtle jaggies during Film material broadcast on TV, but is rarely troublesome to the point of being annoying, since most broadcast material is, again, too soft to reveal the limitations to any great extent. Remember that the TV’s film cadence detection is only relevant when its own video processor is handling deinterlacing, it becomes irrelevant when an upscaling DVD or BD player is outputting Progressive video to the TV.

High Definition

High-def content looked amazing on the Panasonic TX-P50S20B HD TV. The accurate colour temperature and excellent Primary and Secondary chromaticities meant that the picture looked believable and involving. The stand-out feature of this display is of course the incredibly dark blacks which the NeoPDP panel is capable of producing, which, in most viewing environments, push the enjoyability of the TX-P50S20B’s images beyond what most LCD televisions are capable of. (Only some of the better S-PVA LCD televisions, like the higher-end Samsungs, can come close to matching this sort of contrast performance, albeit with a few issues of their own).

Serenity

When we input a 24p signal from our Blu-ray Disc player, we noticed that the [Intelligent Frame Creation] control was replaced by the [24p Playback Plus] control. (Interestingly, this is named differently to the [24p Smooth Film] option that appears on most Panasonic displays when they are fed 24p video). [24p Playback Plus] allows you to enable motion interpolation with 24p film material, causing it to appear slightly more video-like. The usual caveats of artificially increasing the frame rate of film material apply here, with small motion estimation glitches being visible during more complex scenes, and the aesthetic of the film arguably being changed from what was intended. We chose to leave it disabled, but the option is here.

We also input Luminance and 4:2:0 Chroma test patterns to the Panasonic TX-P50S20B, and verified that the TV had no bandwidth limitations in either area. This means that it is capable of reproducing all of the finest nuances of broadcast HDTV, Blu-ray Disc, and DVD material. Like many displays, it does not reproduce all of the chroma detail from a 4:4:4 input source (computers, games consoles), which is not surprising or hugely objectionable.

Console Gaming

Video games were great fun on the Panasonic TX-P50S20B plasma. We measured this HDTV as having only 16ms of input lag (compared to a lag-free CRT monitor) in the GAME picture mode. This is an absolutely excellent figure and means that games feel smooth, fluid, and fun. In fact, it’s the fastest display we’ve reviewed lately. Since a Plasma panel does not have to perform laggy response time compensation and can dive straight into drawing images as soon as it receives them from the video processor chip, PDP TVs generally feature much less input lag than their LCD counterparts (although there have been exceptions to this trend). This makes this result less surprising, but no less excellent.

Halo Reach

There is another issue especially relevant to gaming on Plasma TVs, and that is the issue of image retention. Image retention is a phenomenon related to phosphor-based display technologies, where “shadows” of static images persist on screen, even after the video signal containing them is no longer being displayed. Video games often feature static score counters and on-screen graphics which can highlight this issue on some PDP TVs. Fortunately, the Panasonic TX-P50S20B is almost entirely resistant to it. Only once did some on-screen text persist, and even then, it was visible only for about 70 seconds, and only on a completely black video signal. As a result, image retention on this Plasma display is effectively a non-issue.

All of the above traits mean that the Panasonic TX-P50S20B is a very appropriate TV for hardcore gamers. (The only disadvantage was that when I lost online games of Halo 3, I could no longer blame the TV).

Conclusion

The Panasonic TX-P50S20B is an excellent Plasma HDTV which produces performance far beyond that of most budget displays. The only measurable inaccuracy is with its Gamma tracking, which means that material viewed on the TV will look very subtly brighter (at points) to the way the producers intended. However, out of all the potential inaccuracies a video display could have, this is probably the most subtle one possible and is really not worth worrying about for 99% of users. Also, consistent with other Panasonic displays, the TX-P50S20B has no film cadence detection at all, which means that film material (except when input from an upscaling DVD or BD player) will suffer from a slight loss of vertical resolution.

Other than these minor issues, it’s a truckload of good news for this cost-conscious HD TV: excellent blacks, crisp motion clarity, perfect screen uniformity, fantastic colour accuracy, excellent greyscale tracking, and no input lag worth worrying about. Panasonic’s budget S20 series of Plasma displays is an excellent alternative to the cascade of lower-quality LCDs in this price range, and is a reminder that high quality Plasma performance is available to suit all budgets — not just to videophiles with deep pockets.

Highly Recommended

154 comments

  1. Hi, nice review. I’m looking for a panel primarily for console gaming and dvd/bluray. Fantastic that this has a low input lag and the standard high quality to be expected from a plasma but…..
    How does this panel fare with phosphor trailing? (I’m highly susceptible to it)

    Cheers.

  2. Thanks David!

  3. David Mackenzie

    This does have phosphor trailing, so if you’re susceptible to it, you will see it.
    Bizarrely and unusually, I think I’ve become LESS susceptible to it over time.

  4. You are getting these reviews out at a fantastic rate, but at no expense to quality and detail. The likes of Avforums and Trustedreviews could learn a few things from you.

    Cheers Dave

  5. Hi, in your review you say: Black level retention Stable in [True Cinema] mode. Does this mean that the tv does not suffer from the “floating blacks” problem that users are starting to report?

  6. What about the notorius black level rising? And is that wise to give higly recommended without acknowledge it?

  7. it has a very clear grey screen so deep blacks
    wont last much time..sorry !

  8. Hi and thx for the test of this plasma ^^

    i research un tv for gaming with a low input lag, and 16 ms it s perfect ^^

    but i have a question , the 42s20 have the same panel of this 50s20 ? , the same input lag so ?

    please thx you for your response

  9. David Mackenzie

    @Placemat: Thanks for the feedback!

    @John: As it happens, I didn’t spot the floating blacks issue during the actual review process, but as I was taking screen shots of a 2.35:1 letterboxed movie, the issue did appear. I’ve altered the Benchmark Results.

    @Gabe: At this stage, all we can really do is speculate on the black level outcome of the 2010 models. I wish I knew the ultimate outcome myself!

  10. Thanks for this review. Whaohhhh… deep in details.

    But if I’m an impatient and do not want going into calibration, etc, using service menu, will this HDTV still be a good one?

  11. David Mackenzie

    Yes. The uncalibrated performance in the True Cinema mode is better than most other uncalibrated TVs.

  12. David,

    I am about to buy a 42″ S20 and if you don’t mind I have connection question…

    I have a marantz Sr6001 AV receiver which will be connected to the Panny thru ah HDMI cable for video output, while all other video sources will be connected directly to the video inputs of the marantz. I have 2 SD video sources (a marantz dvd player DV6001 and the Wii) and 1 HD source (an HD sat receiver with HD broadcasting).
    The sat receiver will of course be connected to the marantz with an HDMI cable, while the dvd player is connected through component cable (although i could switch to HDMI with no big improvement i guess).

    My questio is about the upscaling quality of the panny and of the marantz: would it be better to keep the marantz dvd player connected to the marantz av receiver in component and let the receiver do the upscaling (recall: the av receiver is connected to trhe panny thru an hdmi cable) or would it be better to connect the dvd player directly to the panny via hdmi and let the panny do the upscaling?

    Thanks a lot.
    G

  13. David Mackenzie

    Good question on the Marantz. I looked at the spec sheet for that receiver but it doesn’t mention what video processing chip it uses, so I can’t make guesses as to the quality of its scaling. Do you have access to any test patterns, a copy of DVE maybe?

    The Panasonic has no Film cadence detection but great scaling. So, it would make sense to connect the DVD player’s video outputs to the TV, and set the output mode to Progressive Scan (480p/576p) via HDMI (or Component). Then the player will do cadence detection and the TV will do the scaling, the best of both.

    Of course, your Marantz’ scaling might be fine too.

  14. But if i connect the dvd to the marantz with component as it is now, and is indeed set to progressive scan also, the player is still doing cadence detection and the signal is then sent corrected to the amrantz who will upscale before sending it to the tv…

  15. David Mackenzie

    Yes, so if the Marantz has scaling as good as Panasonic’s, then that’s good. But, if the Panasonic’s very good scaling is better than the Marantz’, then you would be better having the Marantz output standard-def Progressive video for the TV to scale.

  16. Yes, i think there’s an option in the amrantz for enabling/disabling video conversion for each video input… I’ll give it a try tomorrow, when the panny arrive…

    thanks :-)

  17. david,

    could you update your Best HDTV list and the selector.. May be in the future some graphs and stats diagram could be lot of help.. thnx for all the wonderful reviews!!

    thnx a lot

  18. Thanks for the review.

    Can you compare for us only the picture quality of this tv to the one of the g20?

  19. David Mackenzie

    @Jordi: The G20 has marginally more accurate colour and gamma (although these could be specific to the individual review samples I’ve seen of both). From memory, the G20 picture stood up better to ambient light, with less contrast wash-out. They are very similar, though.

    @JazzGU: I’ll pass the message on! Thanks for reading and commenting!

  20. Great review David.

    Seem to be some bad vibes on these 2010 NEO PDP Panasonic Plasmas:
    Rising Black Level
    Floating Blacks

    Now obviously reviews on these Plasmas have without fail been very near flawless – so are these problems really something to worry about (in the long term) or do you feel a lot of it is just scaremongering??

  21. David Mackenzie

    The biggest problem in evaluating the rising black level issue is that the reviews only take place in the short term. Few (if any) review outlets can actually hang onto the TVs for the length of time required to keep measuring them (although CNET – the US branch, of course – did a good article by getting ahold of some used TVs to measure).

    Panasonic have promised that the ageing compensation responsible for the sudden rise has been fine tuned for the 2010 models, so hopefully these will fare well across their life. Regarding floating blacks: this is much less intrusive than, say, a dynamic backlighting system on an LCD TV. The change in level is subtle, but noticeable enough to warrant a mention in the updated review.

  22. I’m trying to choose between the S20 and the G20. The THX (or “clueless idiot”) mode and the numerous calibration possibilities are tempting, but as I don’t know much about video calibration anyway, I might be able to enjoy the S20 after all.

    On the other hand that means that I don’t have any calibration equipment, so I probably won’t be able to do whatever you’ve done in that hidden menu.
    Will you explain that any further, maybe including your settings?

    What about watching normal SD TV? Is it true that the G20 is better at that? I think I’ve read that the G20 has some kind of picture mode or chip the S20 doesn’t. Or is it just the worse anti-glare filter?

  23. I’m sorry but that gamma curve is rubbish. I personally wouldn’t touch this TV with a barge pole unless the gamma can be corrected/hacked like on the 2009 model.

  24. I’ve just realised that the S series in the US is advertised as having a neoPDP panel while in Europe it doesn’t… Whn i bought it yesterday I didn’t pay attention…

  25. And yes, I’m interested as well on an SD comparison between the S and G series, as in theory the G series should have v5 of the upscaler while the S series should have v4…

    Am asking just in case the upscaler of my dvd player (CDi by Faroudja), the marantz dv6001, will give bad performance…

  26. David Mackenzie

    @Confused: the “True Cinema” mode on the S20 is actually reasonably accurate and isn’t visibly worse than the G20 in terms of accuracy. Think of it as a very close relation to the THX picture mode.

    I noticed no major differences re the SD performance on the G20 vs the S20. Maybe I would if I sat them side by side. It’s just the worse filter, as far as I can see.

    @John: it’s hardly flat, I agree. The hacks done to UK G20s were to unlock the Gamma settings menu that was only available on Continental European models, but I don’t think the S20 has these settings in any territory. Even if it did, on the models that feature the menu, it’s not been possible to make an improvement from my experience, only to select a different curve.

    @Giovanni: the European model definitely has the NeoPDP panel.

    All of the Faroudja DCDi DVD players I’ve seen have had very poor scaling, with a lot of ringing. The deinterlacing has been good though. I’m very confident the Panasonic TV will have a better scaler than the DVD player.

  27. Hi how does this tv compare to the 2008 Panasonic tv Th42pz85b you reviewed way back in 14/04/2008. This is the Tv i have and im considering an upgrade to a 50″ display……

    Thanks Very much.

  28. David Mackenzie

    Ah wow – that’s going back a while!

    Vincent reviewed the TH42PZ85, but looking at his review and combining it with my experience of Panasonic PDPs from that era, the S20 has much better colour accuracy, much better SD scaling, and the black level will be much better too.

    I think it would definitely be worth the upgrade.

  29. Hi there, another excellent review, I don’t pretend to understand all of it but it does reaffirm my choice of TV that I’ve spent the last 6 months looking for! :) But I just wanted to echo the comments of confused where he asked if it would be possible to tell us how to get into the advanced menu and which settings you changed so that we proles can get the same levels of grayscale as you achieved without the expensive calibration equipment?
    It would be much appreciated, I know that the picture will look excellent in True Cinema mode out of the box but it would be nice to get to the same levels you did.

    Thanks very much in advance

  30. So why on the Italian Panasonic website there is no trace of neoPDP for the S20? Also on the bTv box there’s no sign at all of it. The UK website does advertise it as nepPDP though…

    Are you suggesting me to do the following then: set the dvd player to exit in HDMI progressive with upscaling off (480p), set the marantz receiver (which can scale only up to 720p) to perform no signal processing on the HDMI video input from the dvd so as to send a 480p signal to the TV, let the TV do the upscaling to 1080p.

  31. Hello all, and thank you verry much David for this review!

    Still, would you please answer these 2 questions:

    1) is the 42 inch moddel as fast (lag free) as the review moddel?
    2) is this TV faster than the G10 ?

    Thank you verry much for your answers!

    Best regards,

    Rene

  32. David Mackenzie

    @DavieHooks: with a Plasma TV, there is almost no point in copying other people’s Greyscale settings. I don’t think a solid test has ever been done, but it appears that the variances between individual TVs is huge so copying the review sample’s settings could actually make your Greyscale tracking worse. I really recommend you just stick with True Cinema – but if you really want I can dig the values out and provide instructions.

    If there’s any tech explanation needed, just ask!

    @Giovanni: I doubt the Italian model would use a different panel, more likely their advertising team made a mistake.

    Yep, you got it in one – do exactly as you said there.

    @Rene: I’ve not tested the 42″ version, but I imagine it is as fast.
    Vincent and I both use different devices for comparing lag (something we’re working on unifying). But, I did review a G20 for another site and measured that as 20ms. You will basically notice no difference in lag between the two.

  33. – Did you “hack” into the EEPROM (or whatever) settings or is there a simpler way to change those grey settings so I could test it out without too much fear of destroying stuff?

    – If you’ve reviewed both the bloody S20 and the cocksucking G20, didn’t you notice any differences in the SD performance? Someone on some stupid (I really like your reviews best by far!) basically said that the S20s SD performance was godfucking awful, while the G20 gets praised for it’s SD performance (by another author, of course). No, I can’t find the exact links right now. why would I be able to, just because it works with everything else than finding shit about stupid TVs?

    I’m from Germany, so SD is still important for me. We’re not allowed FreeHDTV yet, because you’re too envious of our football team’s success and your TV people still call us Nazis in every important EU panel. Or are we? Would i know? Maybe if i put a giant dish-thingy onto my house, fighting da power of da house idiots I’d get that exotic HD stuff even here? I’m confused, after all. Right now I’d just pay anyone 100 € just to put a gun against my head, forcing me to buy the G20 or the S20, as long as I haven’t to decide it. If you do that tomorrow (aka today/right now) I might not even remember this and it might just work. I could be happy playing Xbox 360 and watching HD-DVD-porn within three or four days.

  34. What a marvelous review – simply excellent. I’ve been eyeing this model for the last three days, and its pricepoint coupled with the prodigious image quality as described in this review have done much to sway me in favour of the TX-P42S20.

    I was wondering, however: You mention in your review that entering the service menu might be hazardous, as unwarranted changes in the settings there might render the TV entirely useless. Could you describe which settings these would be, and how changing them might render your television ‘bricked’?

    There is now no other choice. I will buy this TV. It must come to pass.

  35. David Mackenzie

    @Confused: no EEPROM hacking was done, no: just changing a few values in the service menu’s Greyscale control section.

    The “bloody S20” looked the same :) I don’t see how its performance with SD could be described as awful by any stretch.

    What’s the most you can spend, and is viewing during the day in a brighter room important? If it is, get the G20. But if you prefer to watch at night then the S20 would be OK.

    @Rowdy: thank you! There is a setting in the service menu that changes where the TV boots from: either its own memory chip, or from another location (Panasonic specialised test/repair equipment, I believe). I’ve heard of people killing their TVs in this way. There are also some hex values which can be altered and probably do all sorts of crazy stuff.

  36. While I could probably afford a G(W)20, I could also buy the S20 and use the saved 400€ to buy a PS3 as well as to really make a difference to education in Africa. It’s that kind of responsible thinking I was trying to drink away.

    I’m almost sure I’ll get the S20 now. Tomorrow I’ll try to take a look at it at some useless electronics store. The blueish greys worried me as I like to watch old films. I guess I could correct that then.

    Viewing TV during the day isn’t really my thing. The room doesn’t seem unusually bright to me. I just hope I won’t have to cheer at myself during the World Cup.

  37. Thanks for the information. My current entertainment corner is primarily regulated by a standby-killer, which measures the wattage used by my Harman/Kardon surround receiver (AVR139), and cuts off power to my DVB-T STB, H/K DVD player (DVD28) and Logitech Harmony PS3 Converter. (I’m a bit cautious placing my PS3 on such a block, as cutting off power before it’s finished shutting down might damage the system somehow. D’you know if this is true?)

    Anyway, I return with questions threefold: One, will the S20 provide higher quality output of SD material through DVB-T in comparison to my current EUROSCART-connected ‘Topfield’ dedicated STB? And can I use the SPDIF output on the Viera to output sound in this mode to my H/K set?

    Secondly, I read that the Panasonic plasmas, when turning off, still use 15 watts for a short period (give or take 30 seconds) before shutting down properly. Is this ‘cooldown period’, as I surmise it is used for, mandatory, and will cutting off power such as my standby killer would do during this period adversely affect the set in any way?

    And third, does the S20 range still feature physical ventilation fans? If so, are they noticeable at all? I remember putting my hand on top of an S20 at the shop two days ago, and despite having been on all morning displaying 1080p demonstration videos in a store-specific mode, it was not even as hot as our 3 year old Philips LCD model downstairs.

    I was also wondering whether you have any experience with Harman/Kardon’s 1080p upscaling DVD players – I surmise that, given the fact that the S20 is a newer device, it is likely that (as per your report) it will handle scaling better than the DVD28?

  38. Hi, You have done a great review. I’ve got a big problem with judder and I can see them in almost all 2009 plasmas but V10(on Bluray).
    I’ve heard people saying that G20 has more judder than S20(I saw more judder in G10 than S10´). Can you tell may anything about judder on this Tv vs G20? For me this is the key to buy a S20 or G20.
    Thanks a lot.

  39. So, ma 2 cents regarding the SD performance of the S20 and its upscaling capabilities.

    I set both my marantz dvd player DV6001 and my Sky satellite HD receiner (made by Pace) to original, which means: the dvd player will always output in 480p (so no upscaling by the dvd player but by the tv) and the sat receiver will output to either 576p for regular channels or 1080i for HD channels (therefore only for regular channels the tv is upscaling).

    DVD’s quality depends a lot on the age of the DVD: TOP GUN look just ok (maybe only a little contrast missing in the edges) while TERMINATOR SALVATION looks awsome (I wouldn’t say it was been upscaled). yesterday my wife “forced me” to watch I LOVE SHOPPING and quality was awsome as well.

    SD TV signal depends a lot on the channel: national channels, FOX RETRO etc. are very blurry at times (very old SIMPSONS episodes are really bad, not to talk about old tv series like ARNOLD, THE JEFFERSONS, A-TEAM and so on), but this depends sometimes also on the automatic aspect ration of the tv, where on top of the upscaling an extra streching is added to fill the screen (I don’t like leaving the black stripes at the sides). Recent SD signals are fine, but not as ok as a dvd of course, a few of them quite good, but I was still preferring them on my old SD plasma…

  40. David Mackenzie

    @Rowdy:
    The DVB-T tuner in the TV in theory will be better looking than the external decoder, but not enough to really be visible. The quality of DVB-T broadcasts are usually so poor (and they have so little clarity left) that it will likely not make any difference – assuming the SCART cable is good quality. I haven’t tested the S20 over SCART, however.

    A lot of devices have this gradual cooldown effect after shutting off. I’d imagine it’d be safer to let it do its thing.

    Good question with the fans – I didn’t notice any.

    Unfortunately, no experience with Harmon/Kardon. Do you know what video processor is inside? Some players advertise this.

    @Piramides:
    What sort of signals do you see judder with? Is it with everything or just Films? I didn’t see any judder out of the ordinary on the S20.

  41. Movies,Bluray with HDMI. For example, Avatar at the end of the movie just after it appears the name “AVATAR” when the camera is moving over the trees. There is a lot of judder.
    I’d like to know which one make better with the judder, G20 or sS20?
    Sorry about my english, It’s very poor.

  42. @Rowdy: I have 3 year-old marantz dvd player (dv6001 with farudja chipset) and I have tested both upscaling options: hard to tell the difference in my opinion… I know for sure that G20 has a better upscaling chipset than the S20, but this makes the difference only for poor SD signals (DVB-T) while there’s no big difference for DVDs (480p or 576p, depending on DVD’s zone) and digital satellite channels in 576p.

    In any case is all subjective: my wife claims to see no difference between SD and HD channels… ;-)

  43. btw, it looks like the DV28 can upscale only to 1080i and not 1080p, so you’d better anyway let the TV do the upscaling, although david could prove me wrong :-)

  44. Thanks for replying David, I understand that the settings probably won’t transfer EXACTLY, but I’ve got a THX certification disc and a good eye so I’m happy enough doing the Colour, brightness, sharpness, contrast et al, but it would be most appreciated if you could take the time to look out the greyscale settings you used. From reading your review and others it can hardly make it worse than the out of the box settings! :)
    So looking forward to getting the set and pleased to see your comments about the SD performance which one or two others had said was less impressive than on the G20 series.

  45. Thanks for that review guys! It’s amazing…
    I’d like to buy a plasma soon so I wanna know what do you prefer… I have a PS3 and a xbox360 so the game is the more important on it… But I also wanna see movies on this via my computer…
    I’m thinking these models:
    Panasonic TX-P50S20
    Panasonic TX-P42G20
    Thanks for your reply in advance.
    BR, Chris

  46. Hi,
    great review as always :D
    I’am from germany and got one question about the the HD DVB-C Tuner. Among the 2009 Pana Plasmas you must choose finland as location in order to get access to the DVB-C Tuner.
    Is that still a “problem” with the new G13 panels?

    Greetings!

  47. Awesome review as always!

    Glad that you switched to deltaE u’v’. Now the dE numbers makes sense.

    If only other sites (*cough*Avforums*cough*) could do the same…

  48. Just curious, about something that I’ve always wondered when reading your reviews, when you test console gaming on your TVs, do you set your Xbox 360 or PS3 to output at 720p or 1080p? I ask because I’m thinking that the input resolution might have some sort of effect on the input lag results.

  49. David Mackenzie

    @Giovanni: yes, avoid 1080i upscaling. It’s another hurdle for the TV.

    @DavieHooks: unfortunately I don’t have the settings any more – apologies. To give you a rough idea, the Greyscale tracking “Before” chart might help you if you want to have a go of estimating different Greyscale values. It may just make the Greyscale tracking worse, though. I’d advise you get a hold of a meter for the job.

    @Christian: thank you! The G20 is slightly better than this, so if you can afford it, go for it.

    @Tenjio: good question. We review the UK models which have no DVB-C capability, unlike the Multituner models sold in the rest of Europe. Maybe someone else who lives in another European country can advise.

    @Tony: my own Xbox 360 is outputting 1080p via HDMI. I imagine that the scaler in the machine is optimised for low lag. When I test input lag, I do so with a computer outputting 1920x1080p@60hz.

  50. Tenjio: Look at Panasonic manual. In 2010 models, Germany is one of the 7 country with DVB-C avaiable. I don’t understand, why Panasonic limits DVB-C to specific countries – Samsung and Sony DVB-C works with every selected country. I’m from Czech republic and have the same problem.

  51. Hi, great review as usual,

    I’ll buy a new tv mainly for playing PS3 and for view films and series in HD.

    Which of the Samsung LE40C650 and Panasonic P42S20 you’d recommend, the price is about the same, so it isn’t a problem.

    I don’t play a lot of FPS on console, i play mainly sports and action games so i think the input lag wouldn’t be a problem, right?

    Best regards,

  52. @David Mackenzie: Thanks for your answer to my last question. I have a new one…:) So what do you think about the Sony KDL40Z4500? Is it a better TV than the Panasonic P42G20?? And I’m still thinking about this TV (Pana P50S20) because it has a very big screen. So I’d like to know what do you think is the LCD better than the Plasma? And finally is it a good idea to wait until the end of this year to buy one?? Because as the 3D TVs appeared on the market maybe these model’s (normal LCD and Plasma) price are going lower and lower…
    Best Regards, Chris

  53. @Jirka: Thx a lot dude :D

  54. David Mackenzie

    @Pedro: the Panasonic TX-P42S20 because of its lower input lag, slightly deeper blacks, better motion, and untampered look.

    Input lag harms just about all games – action included.

    @Christian: I’ve not seen a 40Z4500 yet. But I seriously doubt it – or any LCD for that matter – is better than the Panasonic P42G20.

    I wouldn’t expect 2D-only TVs to fall in price so quickly. This year, 3D is really a high-end feature. So don’t wait to buy unless you care a lot about 3D.

  55. David, thanks for the info on the floating blacks. Can you please check, if you still have the TV, what is the FW number? It seems that G20 has the same problem with the floating blacks but it seems that there are users with Panasonic’s new firmware nr. 2005 that are not affected.

  56. Hi guys!

    Would you mind posting the settings post-calibration? Also, if possible, how to access the service menu, so we can apply these settings?

    I know, that there are variations from set to set, but your calibration is still better than the pre-defined modes.

    As always, kudos on a job well done!

  57. Hi David and thanks for this excellent review!

    I have few questions about your input lag test.

    How do you measure the input lag? With a PC in clone mode that scrolls a stopwatch and a camera?

    Have you tried many time and have you got 16ms each time?

    Thank you in advance.

  58. David Mackenzie

    @Thomas: yes. I use a DSLR set to a high shutter speed. I take about 15 pictures and average the results. 16ms is the value that kept popping up.

    Yes, we use a PC in clone mode with a stopwatch. I personally either use a lag-free CRT, or use a laptop which I know has no lag (compared against the CRT).

  59. Hi,
    i dont know very much about Plasmas…i would like to know if the PANASONIC TX-PF42S20 can really decrease PS3 games’ aliasing with it 600Hz “refreshing”…
    (i m really tired of that aliasing on my 60Hz LCD…)
    Does it improve the picture? (it would be the only reason for me to buy it…)
    thanx for the help

  60. Hi David!

    Would you mind posting the settings you have used?

    You usually do this in the other reviews, and I find it odd that you have not posted any settings for this tv.

  61. David Mackenzie

    @Dean A: unfortunately I can’t find the settings and the TV has been returned to Panasonic. However, if we make the assumption that your TV has similar Greyscale tracking to the review sample, you could maybe use the “Pre-calibration” chart to give you an idea of what to offset.

    On a PDP display, copying the settings from one TV to another would likely only give an approximate effect anyway, so me losing the settings may not be that big a loss. Sorry I couldn’t give you anything more exact on this occasion.

  62. @ David:

    That’s a shame, but thank you anyway. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.

  63. Hi, I just bought this Tv couple days ago and as a gamer I must say I am dissapointed. Previously I had 32” Samsung LCD and I could not stand blurring and “shaking” whenever I was turning right or left (I play mostly FPS and TPP games). Unfortunately this Panasonic tv suffers from the same “shaking” which is just unbearable to me, longer sessions in Bad Company 2 literally burn my eyes. I do realise though that many people don’t even notice said “shaking”, but it is painful to me. To tell the truth it doesn’t occur in games that run 60 frames per second, but only in those that run 30 frames. Is it typical for every HD tv out there or maybe there is at least one that handles camera movement (pan scan) without annoying distortions? I would pay every money for it…well, almost….
    Thanks in advance.

  64. Marcin – you don’t have Intelligent Frame Creation turned on, do you?

  65. Hi David, I do have IFC on and actually it helps in a way, but only during VERY slow panning. Picture is more stable and all vertical objects like trees, lamps etc. are less “shaky” than with IFC off, but only when I move camera around really slow. As soon as I speed it up a bit image starts doubling and it looks more or less as if I was watching a 3D content without proper glasses.
    Anyway I have tried every possible combination, with every enhancement and mode on/off and nothing seems to help.
    I bought it a week ago at Currys, but unfortunately they will not accept return as the tv has been opened and used and it is not faulty by any means.
    It seems that I will have to get used to it or sell it. I curse the day when I noticed judder for the first time as apparently not everyone can see it…guess I am over sensitive and now I see it everywhere…I also noticed some phosphor lags, but I can live with that, it’s judder that drives me nuts.
    Thank You very much for reply and I am looking forward to any suggestions You may have.
    Kind regards

  66. Marcin: 30fps is not enough for fluid motion in games, you need 60fps and with vertical sync on. It’s not HDTV problem, the same you can see in CRT computer monitor. But as the screen is bigger, the problem is more visible. Computer game renders all frames clear, without motion blur, so move look not as fluid as on film. On LCD, you see blur and shaking, plasma is fast enough, so you don’t see blur, but shaking remains.

  67. Hi
    i purchased this tv and have now a problem.
    i played xbox for around 3 hours (yesterday, street fighter 4) and now i stil got a bit of image retention. on a black screen the healthbars slightly remaining on the screen, even after i let a pure white picture for around half an hour being displayed.

    do i have a permanent image retention on my S20 now?

    i thought the new plasmas were much more resistent against image retention….

  68. Hey Jirka,Yes, I have noticed that 60 fps games like Call of Duty, Ninja Gaiden or Bayonetta run nearly flawlessly on this tv, the problem is majority of games run only at 30 fps. It’s my first plasma tv and I thought it could handle motion much better than my 2 years old LCD, but to be honest it looks worse due to its bigger size as the judder is much more visible. Not to mention how painful it is to my eyes.
    Right now I am thinking about getting a new telly, maybe Panasonic G20 or some Sony model but this time I will hook up a console to it before the purchase.

  69. @ Tenjio

    No it will only be temp image retention

    @Marcin

    if you talking about the xbox 360 or ps3 its probs limitation of the graphics cards and not the tv, if your talking about poc yu need a graphics card upgrade.

  70. I’ve just bought the TX-P42S20 after reading this review.

    I watch quite a bit of football and and put my Xbox 360 and Samsung BD-C5300 blu-ray player through it.

    As I don’t have any calibration software for it I have pretty much set the True Cinema setting on all the output devices.

    Can somebody tell me the best settings to have for the 360 and watching football via HD etc….

    Cheers!

  71. Hi David and thanks for this great review !

    I live in France and would like to trade my Sony W4500 for a plasma, and so far I’m interested in this one.
    Alas, I can’t find anywhere some seller able to confirm that the S20 serie comes with a NeoPDP panel.
    Some examples :

    http://www.lcd-compare.com/plasma-panasonic-2010-line-up-news-20.htm

    http://www.hifissimo.com/produit-33051-1.html?utm_source=LCD-COMPARE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lcd-compare

    http://www.panasonic.fr/html/fr_FR/Produits/Ecrans+Plats+Viera/Ecrans+Plasma/TX-PF50S20/Caract%C3%A9ristiques/3417234/index.html?trackInfo=true

    You’ll notice that even the official Panasonic site doesn’t put the S20 serie in the “neo PDP screens” but in instead in the “plasma screens” section.

    So what’s the deal? Did the S20 doesn’t pack any PDP system for us europeans or is it just some disinformation of some sort ?… Because so far, the second answer seems a bit odd.

    Thanks alot !

  72. Hi David and thanks alot for this review !

    I live in France and I was thinking about trading my 40w4500 for a bigger plasma screen and was interested in the S20 series.
    First, as you’ve already reviewed my current unit, do you think that the Pana will have the upper hand on the Sony ? I only use it for VG and upscalled DVD’s.

    On the second hand, and this is my principal inquiry, I can’t find any seller able to confirm me that the S20 comes packed with a Neo PDP panel. Here are some links :

    http://www.lcd-compare.com/plasma-panasonic-2010-line-up-news-20.htm

    http://www.lcd-compare.com/televiseur-PANTXP50S20-PANASONIC-TX-PF50S20.htm

    http://www.hifissimo.com/televiseur-plasma-panasonic-tx-pf46s20-33050-1.html

    http://www.panasonic.fr/html/fr_FR/Produits/Ecrans+Plats+Viera/Ecrans+Plasma/TX-PF46S20/Caract%C3%A9ristiques/3417947/index.html?trackInfo=true

    You’ll notice that even the offical Panasonic website doesn’t present the S20 as a “Neo PDP screen”, but only as a “Plasma screen”.

    So what’s the deal? Are we europeans stucked with an alternative, lighter version of your test model, or is it just some big disinformation campaign? Because so far, I can’t think of any other reason to justify the 300 euros of difference between the G and S series, apart from lacking one key feature…

    Thanks for your answer, and thanks for this site ! I’d be lost without it.

  73. Hi David,

    With the FIFA World Cup almost getting started I am strongly considering to buy the Panasonic TX-P50S20. But I have the same question as Anton, does the S20 feature the NeoPDP panel? And what is/are the main advantage(s) that place the G20 in front of the S20?
    Compliments for the good reviews, i’ve been following them since 1 year now. Keep up the good work!

    Regards, Epko

  74. This is for both Anton and Epko.
    The TX-P50S20, TX-P46S20, TX-P42S20 do feature the Neo-PDP technology.

    Here is the full line-up that has it:

    http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/2515721/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html

    I hope that clears things up. ;-)

  75. @ Richard :

    Thanks but you see, this is all the problem. Your links speaks for the UK & Ireland Model.

    In the meantime, this is waht we find on the french page :

    Full french Neo PDP line-up (doesn’t features the S20) :

    http://www.panasonic.fr/html/fr_FR/2186070/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html#anker_2186070

    Full french Plamsa screens line-up (features the S20) :

    http://www.panasonic.fr/html/fr_FR/600627/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html#anker_603077

    And this is the specific model page, watch for the main description, there’s CLEARLY less things for the french model :

    UK :

    http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/VIERA+Flat+Screen+Televisions/NeoPDP+TVs/TX-P46S20B/Overview/3759737/index.html

    French :

    http://www.panasonic.fr/html/fr_FR/Produits/Ecrans+Plats+Viera/Ecrans+Plasma/TX-PF46S20/Pr%C3%A9sentation/3417938/index.html

    And this is the OFFICIAL Panasonic pages we’re talking about, so, so far I’m lost.
    I’ve asked several employees who clearly didn’t understood anything to their job (didn’t knew what Smooth Films and THX modes were about), and NONE of the french sellers sites I’ve visited provided any info confirming the PDP presence on this specific model.

    Still looking for clues…

  76. I just bought this tv and was wondering what’s the optimal settings for this tv? I usually play xbox and watch hd-movies.

  77. I end up answering my own question…

    Well then for french users (don’t know much about EUROPEAN users, though it might be the same) …

    THE S20 SERIES DOES NOT COME PACKED WITH A NEO PDP PANEL.

    I got my hand on the official french user’s manuals :

    Here’s the S20 :

    http://medias.ubaldi.com/tv/televiseur-plasma/panasonic/televiseur-plasma-127-cm-full-hd-panasonic–tx-pf50s20.pdf

    Here’s the G20 :

    http://medias.ubaldi.com/tv/televiseur-plasma/panasonic/televiseur-plasma-127-cm-full-hd-panasonic–tx-pf50g20s.pdf

    So much for ranges uniformity.

  78. Just to state as well in the UK manual it doesn’t state a NeoPDP panel.

    http://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z4c18b7f1z3z2e2d6z656ez706466z22zfe9515301b597878fdd659ef51e316d260712433/tsn2/data/EU/TXP42S20B/OI/837953/TQB0E0935.pdf

    Although on the UK panasonic website it is in the NeoPDP lineup.

    http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/2515721/module/general/compare/productsCategory.html

    This has caused a lot of confusion for a lot of people. But I am pretty confident the UK model does have this technology.

  79. And now to complete the obscurity, open the specifications tabs and look at the paneldescription on the UK and Dutch Panasonic site.

    UK site:

    http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/VIERA+Flat+Screen+Televisions/NeoPDP+TVs/TX-P50S20B/Specification/3759867/index.html?trackInfo=true

    Dutch site:

    http://www.panasonic.nl/html/nl_NL/Panasonic+producten/Viera+TV's/Full+HD+Plasma+TV's/TX-P50S20/specifications/178961/index.html?trackInfo=true

    Both sites describe the panel as “G13 Progressive Full-HD Plasma Display Panel with Tough Panel” My conclusion, the S20 panels are all the same and do NOT offer NeoPDP technology.

    I bought the TX-P46S20E yesterday and for my opinion it’s an excellent screen. One question that remains at this moment: Why can’t I get 5.1 sound through the optical link?I have connected my Xbox360 via HDMI and use the optical link to transfer the sound to my (somewhat older) surround set from Pioneer which doesn’t support HDMI input/output.

  80. Anton & Epko:

    I’ve spent weeks trying to find an answer to this question, and I finally got it yesterday. It looks like that the S20 range has LAST YEAR’S Neo PDP panel. There has been a great misunderstanding in the marketing department of Panasonic, and except the US & UK sites all indicate the S20 as a non Neo PDP set, because it doesn’t include this year’s much improved version of the Neo PDP panel.
    So that’s it guys, you can be assured your telly has a NeoPDP panel, albeit the one that’s in the G20. The difference between the two is subtle, albeit visible.

  81. Hi!

    Thank you for the great review.

    I have one question though:

    We at a German HiFi forum have constantly been looking for a way to adjust the gamma settings of the S20 like it is possible with the S10 but nothing worked so far.

    As we have read that you managed to achieve a similar effect by calibrating the Greyscale, we’ve been wondering where exactly in the serviec menu the adjustments can be made (we’d be able to figure out the settings then).

    Thanks!

    Johannes

  82. Hi!

    Thank you for the nice review.

    I’m from germany and i wanna buy a plasma tv, but i can’t decide, if it will be the s20 or the g20. Is the higher price of the g20 justified? I don’t need all of the multimedia features of the g20 like viera cast. Is the picture quality of the g20 much better than the s20 in relation to the price?
    I need some help…

    Thanks.
    Nicolas

  83. David Mackenzie

    @Johannes: the menu is called “WB ADJUST” I believe.

  84. David Mackenzie

    @Nicolas: I’ve not compared two side by side, but the G20 is probably worth the extra.

  85. Nicolas:

    For a a couple of weeks now, I’m a happy owner of an S20, and I can highly recommend you this set, but as soon as you bring your tv home, there is not much difference between the G20 and the S20.
    In the showroom, where I could see the two sets next to each other, I was blown away by the picture quality of the G20, but S20 was pretty cose to it. Obviously in your home you won’t be able to make such comparisons, so you’re not going to be unsatisfied with your tv’s performance.
    In my country the price gap between the two models is about 30 % in 46″ size, which was not justifiable to me.
    I bought my 46″ S20 for 685 pounds, while a 46″ G20 costs 891 pounds…
    If you can find the G20 for less than this, than go and buy it, otherwise stick with the S20.
    Rest assured, you will be happy with either of them.

  86. First I wanna thank David and Barnaby for their tips. On saturday I bought the 42g20 for 848 € = 704.815766 British pounds, thanks to google! ;) When I was in the electronic shop with two of my friends, I couldn’t decide if i buy the 42g20 or the 50s20. My friends told me to buy the 42g20, cause its big enough for my living room.
    I’m using the g20 with a ps3 and we watched miami vice and the dark knight as blu ray, star wars episode V as pal-dvd. The g20 creates a deep black and nice colours, but I’m still thinking of buying the 50s20, because its bigger and creates a greater homecinema feeling. what are you thinking?
    The 50s20 costs 998 € = 829.447198 British pounds.

    Regards,
    xtreme

    p.s. sorry for my english…

  87. Im going to buy a new tv set but I stray between the s20 and the g20, The Tv will mainly be used for console gaming, and at this point the s20 has an advantage over the g20.
    What Tv should I choose

  88. Bjorn

    Go with S20, it has a lower input lag.
    The G20 has some processing even in game mode, hence it has 25-30 ms of lag instead of 16.
    I have an S20, and it’s brilliant for gaming!

  89. Thanks Barnaby, then its the s20 for me

  90. Hi Barnaby,

    which size has your s20? My tv is mainly used for blu ray movies, so does the g20 create a better picture qualtiy? Tomorrow is my last chance to bring the g20 back to the saturn market and change it for a 50″s20, but 848€ for a 42g20 is very cheap.

  91. Nicolas,

    I have a 46″ S20, and I’m watching it from 11 inches – 2.7 meters.
    The ideal viewing distance for a 42″ tv is around 2.3-2.5 meters.
    If you are sitting further than that, I recommend taking the bigger S20, because the small difference in picture quality is more than justified by the bigger screens advantages.
    Officially you should sit from around 1.8 meters of a 42″ tv, but I think that’s ridicolous.

  92. i meant feet, not inches sorry :)

  93. Fantastic reviews & very helpful replies to questions asked (been browsing this site for hours as a result on my iPhone & now have serious cramp! ;-) )

    Had pretty much decided on Sammy LE40C530/550 to replace my LE32R87BDX for PS3/ blu ray duties & until found this review hadn’t considered a plasma at all.
    Now not so sure, £150 extra for the plasma, but so many choices! ;-)

  94. Would it be possible to lift up s20’s gamma via computer? I’m watching most of my hd content through computer and gamma can be adjusted from my displaysettings, so I’m thinking that if i get 42″ s20, i would just lift up the gamma so that it would be > 2,2 all the time.

    Has anyone tried this yet? Does anyone know if this ought to work?

  95. Hi i just bought this tv yesterday and wanted to connect a pc to it but i have no picture whatsoever on it On my old samsung i just plugged cable in hdmi slot in tv and picture came out itself without any integration from my side Can someone help me how to do it?

  96. Hi everyone! i wondered if one of you experts would be able to help me.

    I recently bought this telly on this recommendation and have mostly enjoyed it. However, I use the tv mostly for gaming but have noticed that in GAME mode the picture becomes very grainy and this is very noticeable when receiving a black signal. Accordingly i would prefer to use the TRUE CINEMA mode but wondered what the input lag in this mode was like comparatively? Does anybody know this or anything about the grainy GAME mode image?

    Also, i am torturing myself about getting the calibration right. I am using a THX disc but this seems to be resulting in very high contrast levels, should the contrast be high and can this increase the likelihood of screen burn? Also does anyone know anything about the C.A.T.S (i think) option and what it actually does?

  97. GAME mode uses a strange Gamma setting which is why you’re seeing more PWM noise in dark areas. Use True Cinema instead – the input lag is the same.

    Leave the Contrast set to its default position (Mid way). Having it up too high will increase the risk of burn. Leave CATS off, it’s an ambient light sensor.

  98. This website has proven invaluable to me over the past couple of years, thanks David!

  99. Adam,

    the only option that increases input lag is intelligent frame creation, it should always be off when playing (in game mode it’s off and it cannot be changed), it can create some strange artifacts when viewing very fast moving objects / text.

  100. Has anyone bought the 42″ version?
    What’s the best price people have found?

  101. Hi,

    i have been reading the reviews on your site in great detail and am now hung up on two tv’s. I will mainly use it to watch TV and play games on the PS3. Which one to get: Sony KDL40EX703 or Panasonic TX-P42S20B? the price is identical right now as they seem to be replaced soon.

    thanks for any advice!

  102. Michael,

    I would definitely buy the Pani, has very low input lag which is necessary for gaming, and Panis always had better picture quality then other plamas in general.
    I own an S20, and I’m completely satisfied with it!

  103. I want to buy a TV that can also be used as a business tool, for viewing complex financial charts and spreadsheets from a distance of about 2.5 metres . The Panasonic shop tells me that, for maximum clarity and legibility, I will need a full HD plasma TV with 1920×1080 resolution. Is this correct, and does it mean that, when taking HDMI feed from a laptop, the laptop will also need 1920×1080 resolution in order to get the best from the TV?

  104. Hi! Wich would you recommend of these two:

    Philips 40 PFL 5605
    or the panasonic TX-P42S20E

    mostly for gaming and watch movies from the computer.

    Thanks!

  105. Argh! been hit by burn in issues with this set now :( Had this model since the end of august and i now have the kills/ score counter from halo reach permantly etched onto the screen! Tried everything to get rid of it but it’s just not going away. Is this something i’m just going to have to put up with or is there something i can do?

    The reason this has annoyed me so much is because apart from this problem i absolutely love this tv. IQ, motion handling and input lag is sooooooo much better than my previous tv. Please help me! :(

  106. I’m torn between this and the Samsung LE40C580, which one would you recommend ?

    I’ll mostly be using it for gaming and watching the occasional Blu-ray.

    Thanks.

  107. David,
    don’t buy a plasma for pc use, it’s gonna burn in, no matter what people say…
    Buy an LCD. Resolution is not really important because most likely you’re not gonna feed it with full hd resolution, so why waste more money.

    Jimbo,
    feed the tv with a constant white picture for half an hour.
    Also make sure that in settings>picture settingsside panel is set to white.

    Paul,
    buy the Pani.

  108. Hi good Review, i have a different question for you
    i hav found a tx-p50u20b(exclusive to comet) and hav been told that this tv is
    a copy of this reviewed one do u know anything about this tv
    is it a copy ?
    is it any good?
    is this one better?
    i cant find alot of details on the net about it

    Thanks

  109. Dear David…is possible calibrate my 46S20 without tech instrument ?
    i see service menu and value og G-R-B CUT and G-R-B DRV but i don’t know how if is necessary raise or lower current value to get a better grayscale and gamma/black level…
    i notice that cinema mode is a bit lighter and a little mild contrast and i really lower lightness to a range -3/-8 to obtain a darker image
    thanks for review and test

  110. Andy,

    the only difference between the S20 and the U20 is that the U20 has a 400 hz refresh rate, while the S20 has 600 hz.
    This is such a marginable difference, you barely notice it, if ever.
    The price difference between to the is about 1-2 %, so most shops didn’t even bother selling U20s, but your set is almost identical.
    S20 sets only come with NeoPDP panels in the UK, anywhere else, they use the same panel.

  111. Luigi,RGB CUT actually adjust dark part of the picture and RGB DRV is just a oposite – bright side of picture.Value can change with volume button on remote.But,unfortunatelly these mode change only CINEMA mode.So,are anybody know how to enter TRUE CINEMA in servicemenu?

  112. I am trying to choose witch one to buy:

    P42g20 or P50S20 .. The price is almost the same.. I will use it to watch Blu-Ray from my PC…
    There is no light in my room.. and i kinda like big screens…
    So will i lose alot in picture quality if i choose 50icnh screen.
    Sorry for my bad english…
    and one more thing … it will be 4 metters away from me.!
    thank you

  113. I’ve brought the s20 and the hd quality is brilliant but for some reason, the sd quality looks ugly, could someone give me some good settings for using this tv with sd? And can someone give me a tuturial on how to enter the hidden menu ?

  114. @Zoran
    many thanks

  115. True Cinema mode.
    And for SD, Sharpness set maybe 2-3 clicks from the far left.
    Can you say what looks ugly about it specifically?

  116. I’d just like to say I recently bought this TV (42″) on the strength of this review towards gaming input lag. (A very nerve racking gamble)
    My faith was generously rewarded though. I noticed no button delay whatsoever when playing NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PS1, N64, Dreamcast, Xbox 1, or Wii through this TV, and I am REALLY sensitive to these things.
    I didn’t try any HD consoles, but since they output in the native resolution 1080p I’m guessing there wouldn’t be any problem.
    What’s more I hooked up my laptop and thrashed some Quake III, it looks so awesome in 42″ with booming sound!

    Thank you David for guiding me to my dream telly, I love it to bits!

  117. Rohan,you can enter servicemenu by this steps:
    1.Turn the volume on tv to off.
    2.Press V- button on tv not on remote and hold.Press 3 times 0 button on remote.’Adjustment service menu’ note will be appear in left corner of tv.You are in service menu.Navigating through menu can be very difficult if you don’t know how to manage it.Also,Panasonic tv doesn’t have cadence for deinterlacing SD signal,and that’s the reason why the picture isn’t as good as on HD.’True cinema’ brings the best factory settings for these tv,RGB values are:green about 107%,blue about 100% and red about 70%.Undersaturated red also is reason for big DeltaE error,about 20 over the entire grayscale.Unfortunately,’true cinema’ is locked.
    P.S. I have europian version tx p42s20e

  118. Does anyone have a definite answer to this:

    Do the European models, the P42S20E have the 2009 NeoPDP panel, or not?

    @ Barnaby: first you said yes, but it isn’t advertised – but then you said no, only the UK models do…

  119. Great review! Thanks!

    I disagree on one thing though. The gamma tracking issue isn’t hard to notice, actually I noticed it on the first movie I watched. My panny has weird 1second delay and graduated step with the gamma tracking so it’s highly noticeable. First the tracking is just fine, and next second black colors suddenly brighten up. I do have the european model, could be some difference in it.

    This makes most of the movies unwatchable for me. Too bad, because I really enjoyed gaming with low input lag. Guess I’ll be trading this for the G20 if they still take this one back.

  120. According to the http://hdtelevizija.com/2010/04/21/recenzija-plazma-panasonic-tx-p42s20e-107-cm/8/ ,s20e have 2009 NeoPDP,because they found excellent values of black level,ANSI contrast in their measurements.They concluded that display have 2009 Neo PDP panel.Panasonic never confirmed that,and that’s the story about that.

  121. Thank you, Zoran!

  122. Thank you soo much for the review, i had to do quite a bit of research for a large gaming tv but im happy i cane about this review.

    brilliant infomation provided and especially the turn off overscan part, couldn’t find that without your help :D

  123. Correction above

    The problem isn’t gamma tracking, it’s the floating blacks that are driving me nuts. Will be taking this one back and not buying G20 :P

    If anyone is thinking about buying a Panasonic, I highly recommend not to

  124. thanks for your reply barnaby
    i ended up getting my p50u20b and am a little confused sum of my 360 games dont look good on it? there full of jagged edges instead of smooth ones? my mate has a cheap LG lcd and the same games look smoother on his set no jagged edges?
    i have changed the settings sharpness and game mode, and hav tried 720,1080I,1080p,, hdmi and tried component not to sure why this is happening can you shed some light on this for me please
    thank you

  125. Hi David
    I recently brought a P46S20 and was blown away by the picture quality compared with my PX80. ….until I started to watch some 2:35:1 films. I couldn’t believe how much the screen suffered from the floating blacks making it completely unwatchable. I then started to notice it on all material where there were opposing contrasts on screen, it would fluctuate constantly. This was particularly noticeable on Batman Dark Knight and The Pacific Blu-rays. I wondered seen as it has a great review from yourself and most users why this doesn’t seem to be really flagged as a problem? Do you think it could be a screen problem or are some people more susceptible to this? I tried every setting on/off to try and improve but have unfortunately had to return it as it’s just too distracting. I really hope that Panasonic bring out a screen without this “feature” soon.
    Cheers
    Fraser

  126. Hi Fraser
    It’s very dependent on what you’re watching, and the environment you’re watching in. We do have a repeatable ‘floating blacks’ test scene isolated now so we’ll be able to give more consistent information.

    Some people have suggested that this is Panasonic introducing meddling processing into the display. I don’t think that’s the case, it seems more of an unavoidable luminance fluctuation, not something Panasonic have introduced to be annoying. For what it’s worth, none of the Plasma displays I’ve reviewed recently have had especially stable luminance.

  127. Hi all,

    I now own a P42S20, bought from Romania(i live there). I was also curious about NeoPDP technology. So i’ve called Panasonic Romania. Here’s what they said:”There are some differences between UK models and european models. One of the differences is that in UK the S series feature NeoPDP from 2009, while in the other european contries the S series are not NeoPDP. Another difference is the lack of the Lan Port.
    I have one unanswered question: how can I turn ON the blue light from the bottom edge. I can not turn it on.

    Regards.

  128. Thanks for your quick reply …… Problem is what to get instead now :)

  129. Just wanted to add a word of warning to those non-UK buyers who might be mis-led by this UK-specific review.
    I compared the S20, G20 and V20 models side-by-side here in the Netherlands, and I can say with certainty that black levels are definitely NOT the same between S20 and G20.
    The difference in blacks was much more apparent between S and G than it was between G and V.
    The blacks on S20 are very, very poor, on a G20 they are on par with high-end LCDs, and on V20 they are superb.

  130. @Rusty
    I have the European S20E and the blacks on mine are definitely very close to that of the G20 in a completely dark room.

    Looking at both of them in a well lit room with a lot of sun the S20 does indeed look grey but those conditions are far from optimal and I wouldn’t even enjoy a G20 in those surroundings.

    Too bad we can’t have the calibrated settings to play around with.

  131. Hello, I have the TX-P42S20E and the software version is 1015-10000 and I saw on the same model the software version 1016-10000. How to update the software version to the latest ??? On the panasonic global site there is no firmware update for this TV !!! Thank you.

  132. I bought my TX-P50S20E a few months ago. Although it gives me perfect image quality, I couldnt say I am satisfied with it. Here are the reasons why:
    First: it makes “clack” noises on standbye mode. I have this TV in my bedroom and if I forget to pull the plug out before I go to sleep, the TV keeps me waking up at least two times per night by making those loud “clack” relay noises.
    Second: vibration noises from the back end of TV when on. When I watch the TV it makes those vibration noises, which are kind of loud, preventing me from watching movies quitely. I also cannot watch any picture dia-shows, cause this vibration noise just starts getting on everybody’s nerves in the room.
    I bought this TV in Germany and have a full 2 years warranty, however everytime I try to contact Panasonic service office in Germany and tell them about these issues, there is always some young girl answering the phone, which tells me that the vibration and the clacking noises are normal for Panasonic TVs and that if I was a technician, I would understand it.
    However, I am a technician and trust me, this is NOT normal

  133. @Mantas
    “clack” noise in standby mode is normal (even my old bravia lcd and zepto lcd made that noise in standby). Ive owned 2 Panasonic plasma and both had that noise even the buzzing sound from the back of the tv. (its even mentioned in g20e user manual). So i guess its normal.

  134. Hi can someone explain the difference to me between the TX-P42S20B and the TX-P42S20. Am I being dim in that they are effectively the same TV? :-)

    Cheers

  135. Hi Rob

    Yes they are effectively the same plasma… the suffix B simply denotes the British 3-pin-plug version.

    Warmest regards
    Vincent

  136. Could anyone please confirm whether the 46 inch version of this TV has internet capability? Above, it says that there is no VIERA CAST on this model, but I’ve seen a review of the 46 inch model which claims that it does have this. With an Ethernet port, presumably it’s possible to connect a WIFI adaptor and hook into a home network? Will it then be possible to view content from BBC IPlayer and the ITV and Channel 4 equivalents?

    Is it possible to take an audio output from the internal tuner to a home cinema system? And does any broadcast content include surround sound?

    Many thanks

  137. David Mackenzie

    None of the S20 displays have any VIERA CAST features. The ethernet port is a mandatory part of DVB-T2 for possible future expansion. But no such service is being broadcast on Freeview HD in the UK at the moment.

    Freeview HD channels can have 5.1 audio. I have to admit, I haven’t tested outputting it to a surround system.

  138. Derrick Atherton

    Hi
    Does the above TV have setting that remove image retention and screan burn that other makes have.

  139. Hey, I recently bought this tv after returning an LED which had terrible black levels and poor viewing angle. I certainly haven’t been dissapointed in that regard but there is something that is bothering me, “dithering”. up close (less than a foot) it looks like analogue snow. The problem is from 5 foot (normal viewing distance for 42″) I can still notice it pretty heavily making even the ps3 menu and TV menu look really grainy. This inherent grain definitely exacerbates the natural grain of blu ray movies, making a double layer of grain. For example – When I pause a blu ray the blurays natural grain freezes then I can see the tvs natural dither underneath.

    I know this because i’ve watched all my blu rays on both tvs and although the black levels really enhance viewing pleasure on the plasma the extra grain certainly does not – it has become very distracting.

    Is it normal to see dithering at 5 feet, with 20/20 vision? sitting even further back helps a bit but then I lose the HD detail. I didn’t buy a 1080p to sit over 7 feet away.

    Your advice is much appreciated.

  140. Hi Mark – yes, this is normal. The Panasonic TVs, by Plasma standards, actually have a very small amount of noise in the picture. The dithering is down to how the display is driven and is unavoidable on a Plasma. It should be very difficult to spot on a calibrated TV unless you’re very close to the screen. What picture settings are you using?

  141. Thanks for your reply David.

    I always use True cinema, sharpness at 0, the rest at 50% default and any post processing off.

    I must say despite the dithering I’am REALY impressed with everything else about this set! the LED I sent back was a LG 37le7900, technically I downgraded to the S20 because the LG was 5’000’000:1 CR and had a very slighty crisper picture (~4%) but the “budget” S20 wins in every other department the main ones for me being the viewing angle, black levels and input lag.

    Questions
    ————–

    1. Have you noticed dither reduction after calibration often enough to advise me to get it done? after the break in period of course. It’s not massive and sometimes it doesn’t bother me as much. I’m just one of those guys who finds grain mesmerizing, even small amounts on bluray.

    2. I see the G20 has 5000000:1 CR and you’ve had both, can you tell me the exact difference in picture quality between the two? does a higher CR give a crisper picture in this way? for instance does the g20 have more detail on blurays or is just for blacker blacks, whiter whites.

    3. I’ve noticed after playing the same ps3 games on both TVs, the alaising (jagged edges) is MUCH worse on the LED compared to the Plasma which I find interesting – Is this down to the plasma having some sort of image smoothing or maybe LCD is too sharp for its own good?

    Thanks in advance for answering my questions, it was actually this very review that inspired me to buy this TV. Which I’am grateful for, especially the halo input lag article. That was the icing on the cake.

  142. high
    getting this tv from costco for 599 with a discount voucher
    first off is it better than a 46 samsung c650 lcd ?
    and are you gonna publish your settings ?
    thanks in advance from angela

  143. hi could you tell wt the best settings are for watching movies and football on sky hd box because when i first bought the tv it was perfect the motion flow was excellent but then i changed the settings and cnt get it right again it would be very helpfull if u could tell me hw to get the best settings for sky hd and also gaming because it was like a 3d image at first i cant change it back to that many thanks ryan

  144. hi
    I am also thinking of getting this tv from costco io use with my ps3 for 599 with a discount voucher. Are there any known problems when gaming as i play a lot of fps games

    many thanks john

  145. Hi John. I’m reading this review again because I saw today my local south London Tesco Superstore are doing some boxed P42S20B’s @ £429.00; probably just a few. (also lcd L32S20BA @£329.00.) Also House of Fraser (tec 7 site), doing P42G20’s @ £599.00. Some P42V20”s still available around £730. I am only working part-time and don’t want to eat up my car repair money! I am still confused after reading these again. I have been looking 3 months to replace a great deceased CRT mainly for Freeview SD channels, PS2 driving games, live F1 in HD, and future PS3 and/or BR purchases. Would a later Digitalstream PVR with apparently a sensitive tuner and good SD scaling improve SD further. Similarly would a Panasonic dmr ex83 / 773 dvd/hdd pvr but with single tuner help. I don’t like SD on LCD/LED but really like their slow / still HD images. I had been waiting for 2010 prices to drop. I have some more good prices on Pan LED 25/28’s I’m considering. Like others here I cannot spend to get a set PDP / LCD calibrated, I live in a grubby rented flat anyway, and would like to understand easy adjustment procedures. I can find getting in to a service menu OK, and can buy THX specs etc. David McKenzie you are great! but I always find I still have so many questions. I would buy the P42VT20 if I could. I am also worried about getting a P42 in to my car upright, I have measured the boxes as OK, just; but am then left to myself getting it up flights, taking it out and putting a pedestal on while upright. HO HUM . What are friends?

  146. Hi David, Do you have any insight as to whether the newer P42U30 may have a similar / lesser / or better (G14) panel. I know you cannot review them all in short order. As far as I can see on their website also the new P42S30 has the same display, just more features. Do they all share the same 2009 NeoPDP panels (P42S20 included). The P42U30 is at a good price now. (I think I missed out on the Tesco 1 day price above for the S20). If the __30’s also all have better SD scaling? I could also stretch to a G30 available for around £670.00 or G20 @ 600.00. So P42S20, P42G20, P42U30 or P42U30 (I don’t need Freesat); oh and I still have an eye on a P42V20 . It would remain UNCALIBRATED, save for the purchase of THX specs and a DVE disc (thanks). If one had gamma control I could experiment. I need good SD performance and good gaming resonse (the higher end models get slightly slower!?). I understand and can hopefully adapt to the lack of an ambient glass filter. I don’t know how you have time to keep track of all these model forums, and understand if you miss these for a while. Kind regards. PS – how about L37D25/28B for gaming response and SD performance, ignoring the black levels; and I saw your review.

  147. David Mackenzie

    Hey Tony – I have no idea what the U-Series displays are like… they seem to be pretty elusive. If I had to guess, I’d say they’d be similar to the S-Series and probably also have very low input lag.

  148. Thanks David. I will have to take a dip in to the water and buy something soon. The Panasonic site you wil see shows the P42U30 has similar spec to the P42s20 minus a few features (24p) and conections. I think now I am mainly worried about undefeatable tinting on whichever Plasma I pick. I’ve seen tinting on most in the shops, including this years models, and what you say about the P42G30. — I was going to buy a P37X20B some time ago but worried about this heavy tinting on the displays I’ve seen. (I would then purchase a good upscaling FVHD PVR to go with. I’ll stop rambling, but there was a P37x20 on display in Harrods up tp recently on a Bose stand playing a Panasonic demo BR. It was absolutely stunning; but you would probably agree that it, and others on the Panasonic stand, had been calibrated to witiin an inch of their lives. If you have read this, can you recommend if a Pansonic DVD/REC with Chroma scaler, or a Humax or Digitalstream PVR would help with SD pictures. Seems the Digitalstream is good at this. Regards.

  149. David Mackenzie

    @Tony Madden
    I doubt any displays in stores will have been calibrated – they’re usually producing non-standard video so they can stand out in stores.
    You won’t get strictly undefeatable tinted images, ALL TVs can have White Balance calibrated if you can pay for the service (google for ISF calibrators near you).

    No idea about DVD Recorders I’m afraid, it’s been a while!

  150. Fine. I think I may end up with a fairly bog standard first LCD. With my financial, work and rented accomodation predicament it sounds like Plasmas wiil be too temperamental out of the box. I could wait for somewhere to test the now prevalent P42U30B (2011) available from £440.00; or if work increases shortly I may ust buy the G30 for under £700.00 because it has this new “clear __” SD film cadence recovery thingy, or else my dream machine P42V20B because it has a groovy extra speaker, pip of sorts and a pro filter and it looks cool. Then I will just keep my eyes shut after switching on and hope it will improve over time, or that I can adjust the gamma and colour thingies a little better. I only wanted to watch my favourite tv programmes and sport, what happened to technology in the last 10 years. If I spend £350.00 or so on an 100 hz LCD and try to live with its shortcomings (I could cope with the grey blackness issue) — are “jaggies”, “atrefacts” “colour saturation” “motion blurring ” physically infectious?, cos’ I’ll then have to spend money on special clothing. Where’s my medication? There’s no one left on this channel anyway. Shame but 2 years ago I could afford to be a Plasma purist, and had access to wealthy peoples sytems for comparison (domestic chauffeur -me) but i had no interest at the time. Signing off.

  151. David Mackenzie

    @Tony
    Don’t avoid Plasma because they need calibration to look their best. The same is true of any display technology.

  152. Hi i have just got a new TX P50S20B and need to connect a Laptop to it, what leads do in need, got a HD Fury lead but it does not appear to see the PC or Screen

    Help Please.

    Many thanks

    Jeff

  153. What is the difference between the TX-P50S20/C20/G20 ??? other than price !
    Thank you

  154. to say that image retention is almost non-existent is an outright lie. my set is 500 hours in on true cinema mode with everything at 50% I have so many logos from ps3 games and blurays permanently ghosted into the screen i’ve lost count. i played fifa 11 for just over one hour last month and even now I can clearly see an EA logo bottom left of the screen. absolutely ridiculous from an hours play and it wasnt even fully static the EA logo was only there inbetween football matches! this is my second panel of this model so I know it’s not just a faulty set. You have to babysit this tv so heavily to avoid this problem. god forbid you fall asleep with the tv on without setting auto standby. you’ll wake up with a defective TV. future buyers i swear to you this is not an exaggeration. I bought this TV after reading THIS review but you really should be honest about its problems. how can you give a TV that audibly buzzes from 6ft and has pretty severe IR on both panels a 5 star

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