The TH-42PX81FV is a plasma TV that it's fair to say has a low resolution.  With just 1024 x 768, it trails behind 'true' HD-Ready screens which offer 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 pixels.

It's got plenty going for it, though, including a built-in digital tuner.

The version we tested had a 42'' inch screen, and Panasonic offer a 37'' version using the same model number.  When manufacturers do this, we usually offer information about the equivalent screens in different sizes, which are usually identical, but because the smaller screen uses a different resolution of 1024 x 720 pixels, what we say here only applies to the 42'' model.

Adopting traditional Panasonic aesthetics, the TV itself has a sleek, sober design, including an effective anti-glare coating on the glossy screen that combats reflections a lot better than some other attempts we've seen.

Although we normally criticize TVs that rest on a fixed base, plasma screens give such good viewing angles, we're not as troubled by it here.


When we took it through its paces in our lab, we found that the 42PX81FV performed almost identically to the 46PZ86FV.

The color space, gamma curve and color temperature all match pretty much exactly.

The only difference is a slight improvement in contrast, thanks to as slightly brighter screen, but the level of black is also a touch lighter, up to between 0.10 and 0.14 cd/m².

Although the technical scores are the same, the two TVs are a world apart when it comes to actual viewing quality.

Let's start with the screen itself, whose resolution of just 1024 x 768 has an obvious negative impact on the amount of detail it can show.

We even noticed some of the dreaded 'staircase' effect: having to scale a 1920 x 1080 source to fit onto a 1024 x 768 42'' screen just won't do.

Fortunately, upscaling from Standard Definition sources was almost as good as on our standard reference reference for this task, a PlayStation 3.


Another limitation of this TV is the fact that it doesn't have any kind of system to improve the handling of moving images.  Other manufacturers include systems like Motionflow and Motion Plus to increase the framerate by interpolation, and so does Panasonic on some of its other TVs.

Here though, the '24p Playback' setting means it's only compatible with 1080p/24 Hz sources.

As with the TH-26PZ86FV, we noticed colored fringes on one of our test scenes, but we have yet to be able to find a DVD or a TV program that replicates this kind of problem.

Finally, the speakers are pretty reasonable, especially given that this is an entry-level TV.  Very few models at this price point give such good sound.  It's hardly exceptional, but it beats most of the competition hands down.