Anyone interested in 3D is advised to think a little larger than 40-42-inches. Panasonic's 46-inch TX-P46VT20B, therefore, has the potential to be a real winner, especially as it uses 3D-friendly plasma technology.
Gas has consistently proved over the past few months to be better at handling active 3D's crosstalk noise issue than LCD, thanks to its inherently faster response time. Plus, in Panasonic's case, the development of a way of reducing the time it takes for the phosphors in a plasma cell to 'decay' after showing an image frame.
The TX-P46VT20B seeks to underline its potential appeal to 3D fans, moreover, with plenty of other features, including access to Panasonic's Viera Cast online service, playback of all manner of multimedia file formats from USB sticks, SD cards or networked PCs and even the option to record in HD to USB HDDs from either of the built in Freeview HD or Freesat HD tuners.
The VT20 series sits right at the top of Panasonic's consumer TV tree, just above the V series, which offers nearly the same spec as the VT20s, except for 3D readiness. If you want 3D thrills for less money, there's the P42GT20, which lacks the VT20's Infinite Black Pro technology for enhanced contrast, as well as its built-in subwoofer and supplied USB Wi-Fi stick.
With the next generation of 3D TVs nearly here, though, it's the potentially class-leading talents of the TX-P46VT20B that might well provide the best example of just what the new 3D wannabes are going to have to beat.
You'd think a flagship TV packed with cutting-edge tech would want to shout about its talents with every fibre of its being, but the TX-P46VT20B is rather a dour looking set. It lacks the svelte lines of so many of today's top screens and its sculpting is pretty basic. The best you can say is that the brownish colour scheme is quite unusual and that the set's bodywork feels more robust than most.
The TX-P46VT20B's high-tech innards only start to become apparent with its connections. For instance, all of its four HDMI inputs are built to the v1.4 standard, so they can play full HD 3D from suitable Blu-rays. It's also got a couple of USB ports you can use to play back a wide variety of multimedia file types, or for recording from the TV's digital tuners to certain models of Buffalo JustStore USB hard-disk drives (HDDs), or for inserting the USB Wi-Fi dongle that comes free in the TV's box.
If you don't want to go the Wi-Fi route, there's an Ethernet port for jacking into DLNA PCs or accessing Panasonic's Viera Cast online service. Or, if you're more an SD card kind of person, there's a slot capable of playing photo and music files.
Unusually, the TX-P46VT20B has a satellite LNB input as well as the predictable RF tuner jack. What's more, this LNB input isn't just connected to any old satellite tuner. Rather it feeds a true Freesat HD one, providing a means of receiving neatly packaged HD broadcasts for people ? and there are still plenty of them ? who currently live outside Freeview HD reception areas.
The Viera Cast online service is best described as fair to middling by today's 'Smart TV' standards. It has a decent amount of 'A-list' content, such as the AceTrax movie rental/purchase platform, Skype, YouTube, Twitter and Eurosport. But there's also a lot of pointless (for most UK residents, anyway) foreign language stuff.
For people more interested in cold, hard picture quality than fancy online TV stuff, the TX-P46VT20B appears to be a very compelling proposition. It's a plasma screen, which means it benefits from the technology's innate advantages in terms of viewing angles, contrast and reduced crosstalk with 3D material. The TX-P46VT20B also builds on all this by adding a special 'Infinite Black Pro' high contrast filter exclusive to the V and VT series and by introducing its proprietary rapid decay 3D technology, for further boosting plasma's already lickety-spit response time.
The panel at the TX-P46VT20B's heart is one of Panasonic's latest NeoPDP offerings, complete with redesigned plasma cells, improved phosphors and a more efficient discharge gas. The panel is driven by Panasonic's '600Hz' sub-field drive technology, too, a system that pulses each cell up to 12 times a second for increased image stability. It's not to be confused with the 100Hz and higher systems employed by LCD TVs to reduce motion blur.
As a flagship model, the TX-P46VT20B additionally benefits from both Panasonic's highest level of video processing (V-Real Pro 5 3D), with additional Intelligent Frame Creation (IFC) interpolation technology for reducing judder.
The TX-P46VT20B makes much more effort to accommodate both professional and serious amateur calibration efforts than previous generations of Panasonic plasmas, a fact that's been rewarded with endorsements from THX and those specialist AV calibration gurus, the Imaging Science Foundation.
Among the fine-tuning tools available are a reasonably full ? though not totally comprehensive and poorly presented ? colour management system, and various gamma controls.
The THX support has given birth to a THX preset within the various picture modes the TX-P46VT20B carries, and while this preset may feel marginally muted and soft for normal TV viewing, it represents an unusually good 'out of the box' setting for watching Blu-ray movies.
Other bits and bobs of note include brand new Resolution Enhancer circuitry designed to sharpen up standard definition, and a Vivid Colour mode that artificially boosts colour saturations.
Kicking off with 3D, the TX-P46VT20B quickly confirms that it's the leader of the 3D pack, setting such a high standard for a debut technology that it won't be at all surprising if rival LCD screens struggle to match it, even with second-generation products.
The single biggest reason for this is the TX-P46VT20B's almost complete freedom from crosstalk noise. This double ghosting issue plagues every single LCD TV to some extent, diminishing the sharpness and depth credibility of 3D images, even on those that handle it the best, not to mention giving you a pretty nasty headache if you're not careful.
So having crosstalk appear only extremely subtly and once in a blue 3D moon on the Panasonic TX-P46VT20B is a joy, enabling you to both watch 3D for longer periods of time with no ill effects and appreciate much better the whole point of active 3D's full HD resolution.
Leaving a chink of hope for LCD 3D TVs is the fact that Panasonic's first generation of 3D plasma TVs ? including the TX-P46VT20B ? do suffer a pretty serious reduction in brightness when you've got Panasonic's active shutter 3D glasses on. So much so that while black levels look astoundingly deep, some shadow detail can be squeezed into dark oblivion while an occasional dark colour tone can look a bit forced.
While the reduction in brightness could present a problem for people with bright living rooms, though, for most people the trade of brightness for crosstalk will be one they'll be only too eager to make.
The main gripe about the TX-P46VT20B's 3D performance concerns the 3D glasses. The lenses are much too narrow, allowing too much light and ambient room information to enter your eyes along with the 3D images. This may require you to slide them down to the end of your nose to get the right angle from your eyes to the TV screen, which is just silly.
Panasonic has been keen to stress that the technologies introduced to the TX-P46VT20B to aid its 3D performance also boost its 2D efforts. These are more than just idle boasts: the TX-P46VT20B is the finest 2D picture performer Panasonic has made to date, which is really saying something.
Particularly excellent in 2D mode is the TX-P46VT20B's black level response. So rich, deep and natural are the set's black levels, in fact, that it's tempting to think that the filter behind the new Infinite Black Pro technology is the most direct result yet of Panasonic's 'knowledge-sharing' deal with Pioneer ? the brand responsible for the legendary Kuro plasma TVs that still haven't been beaten for contrast two years after they were withdrawn from the TV market.
The TX-P46VT20B's black levels still aren't as good as those of the Kuros, but they're the best around among TVs you can still buy, especially if you factor in the way deep blacks retain shadow detail and can sit right alongside punchy bright image content. This is a combination of skills LCD TVs can only dream about.
The TX-P46VT20B's colours represent an improvement over previous Panasonic sets, and other models lower down Panasonic's current range. Reds, in particular, are much richer and, well, redder than Panasonic's previous slightly orange efforts and this improvement also filters through into better skin tones and a generally more dynamic and balanced palette.
The TX-P46VT20B's colours are reasonably punchy in 2D mode too; no match for the histrionics of a typical edge LED or direct LED LCD TV, perhaps, but strident enough to really emphasise just how much brightness the set loses when you don your 3D glasses.
Also excellent about the TX-P46VT20B's 2D pictures is its fine detail response, as it effortlessly reproduces the finest of picture information from top quality Blu-rays. What's more, the set's talent for reproducing detail in dark areas means this clarity remains consistent; you aren't suddenly faced with a sense of hollowness during dark scenes like you can be on many LCD TVs.
Motion is completely free of blur, meanwhile, and, finally in the plus column, a combination of Panasonic's NeoPDP technology and its most powerful scaling engine means that standard-definition material is sharp and clean, and retains colour tone much more satisfyingly than you see with many cheaper or older Panasonic plasma sets.
The few problems include some very minor dotting noise over skin tones if they're crossing the screen quickly and some apparent momentary colour lag at times if you're watching 50Hz, though this can be removed via the Intelligent Frame Creation circuitry.
Overall, though, the positives of the screen, especially as a purveyor of active 3D and Blu-ray, far outstrip its minor flaws.
Boasting bamboo speakers and a subwoofer, the TX-P46VT20B has clearly had more attention lavished on its audio than most slim TVs. And this pays off in some areas, as you can hear subtle details in a mix that are lost to most rivals; enjoy treble effects that don't sound harsh; and become embroiled in a mid-range of impressive dynamism and openness.
The only let-down is the subwoofer, which doesn't really provide as much of a bass undercurrent as expected.
Value
Although the TX-P46VT20B is hardly cheap for a 46in TV, it does happen to have definitely the best 3D pictures and arguably the best 2D pictures the 46in market currently has to offer. Plus, you get a couple of 3D glasses worth �100 each and a Wi-Fi dongle thrown in for free, as it were.
Ease of use
While there's nothing truly bad about the TX-P46VT20B's operating system, it certainly feels in need of a pretty major overhaul ahead of Panasonic's next TV generation.
The onscreen menus, for instance, are almost painfully bland, only showing the occasional hint of the sort of graphical flair increasingly used by other brands. For the most part, exploring the TX-P46VT20B is a slightly tortuous drudge through lots of text. Some aspects of the menu organisation feel unnecessarily confusing too, with the decision to shove the Intelligent Frame Creation options, Resolution booster and overscan on/off tools into a vague 'Other Settings' menu section rather than the main picture menus being particularly unhelpful.
The remote is also in need of a revamp. It's comfortable to hold and responsive, but aspects of its rather dated layout are starting to crumble under the assault from all the new features Panasonic TVs now carry.
After an uncertain start thanks to a rather desultory design, the TX-P46VT20B quickly starts to hit its stride.
Its connections are expansive and varied, for a start. The four v1.4 HDMIs should be enough to cater for even the most ambitions AV fan, while those of you already immersed in the new multimedia world will appreciate the video/photo/music flexibility offered via USB and SD card slots - not to mention the set's flexible DLNA compatibility.
You can also record from the set's onboard Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners to USB HDD, and take the TV online to explore Panasonic's fair-to-middling Viera Cast platform.
The TX-P46VT20B leaves no stone unturned in its quest for good picture quality, either. Obviously, its headline feature here is its 3D playback, which is the best currently around thanks to the way Panasonic's plasma technology suppresses the distracting crosstalk problem that blights 3D on LCD TVs.
But the screen's Infinite Black Pro technology also helps make it a stellar performer with 2D, producing the finest black level response seen since the days of Pioneer's KURO TVs. Other factors playing their part in the TX-P46VT20B's generally excellent pictures are its freedom from motion blur, rich colours, exceptional HD detailing, and impressive standard-definition upscaling.
Add some better than average audio to the heady picture mix, and you've got a really outstanding TV.
We liked
The importance of the TX-P46VT20B's ability to show 3D with hardly any crosstalk noise cannot be overstated. But even if 3D is only of secondary interest to you, the TX-P46VT20B still deserves your attention because of its generally superb picture quality with 2D material ? both standard and high-definition. Its multimedia talents are attractive, too.
We disliked
The amount of brightness lost when viewing 3D is annoying. There's also some slight colour bleed from narrow, bright picture elements when watching 50Hz material; Viera Cast is a little behind the best online platforms; and the TV's looks and operating system are both rather bland.
Final Verdict
Don't be fooled by the TX-P46VT20B's uninspiring looks. Tucked within the bronzed body are some real cutting edge moves, including, rather handily, 3D pictures that represent the current state of the art.
It's also a multimedia-savvy lover of 2D material, even taking standard-definition sources in its stride.
It's not the easiest TV to learn your way around and Panasonic would be well advised to both call in some serious design help and try and get a bit more brightness into its 3D pictures, but the TX-P46VT20B remains arguably the best 46-inch TV of the current generation.
Related Links
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techradar/allnews/~3/0nIs0KtYbr0/story01.htm
Monica Keena Anne Marie Kortright Paige Butcher Amanda Peet Xenia Seeberg
No comments:
Post a Comment