Panasonic Viera TX-P42V20

The V20 is described by Panasonic as a 2D version of the VT20, meaning it doesn't come with 3D Ready support.  On the other hand, it has all of the other features we found on the manufacturer's 3D TV, including a Full HD NeoPDP plasma display with Infinite Black Pro technology to provide unrivaled contrast.

Other features include a Freeview HD tuner, 600 Hz SFD and 24p Real Cinema, the equivalent of MotionFlow and Motion Plus from Sony and Samsung respectively.  These filters improve the fluidity of fast-moving objects in video shot at 24 fps and smooth out jerky movements.  As with all new Panasonic TVs, the V20 is compatible with DLNA networks and can access VOD services with VieraCast.  It can also double up as digital video recorder and has two USB ports for plugging in external peripherals with multimedia content like photos, videos and music.

Build Quality and Design

Panasonic has played a very strong hand by including a huge number of features in this TV.  What isn't as innovative, though, is the external design, with the bezel looking disappointingly dated.  Two years ago, the V20 would have been a very good-looking TV, and the grey plastic and build quality are both excellent.  However, the frame is too bulky for our taste, and the stand pretty ordinary-looking.  Most of the big Korean manufacturers have begun to stand out with much more attractive designs.  The remote is another disappointment, and hasn't been redesigned for years.  We would have expected a more refined, back-lit remote with such an advanced TV.

Other features include built-in Skype video-conferencing, along with the very best of Panasonic's TVs from last year: four HDMI inputs, Internet connectivity for accessing online content via the Ethernet port or WiFi, motion blur reduction, THX certification and a media player.  This last element is less attractive than it might seem though: only storage devices formatted as FAT32 and a handful of video file formats are supported, with no NTFS.


Connecting it to a computer worked perfectly.  Better still, in THX and gaming mode, the input lag is just 0 ms compared to a CRT monitor.  That means gamers won't be held back when enjoying the action on such a big screen.  This particular stat isn't important for anybody else.

Built-in DVR

Just like the VT20, the V20 can be turned into a digital recorder thanks to a feature similar to Samsung's PVR-Ready.  Once you've added some storage like a USB key, you can format it for use with TV programmes you record.  During this phase, the external storage device is tied to the TV using DRM to prevent you from sharing the files you've recorded. 

Image Quality: Factory Settings

Manufacturers usually configure their TVs up with factory settings that produce striking results.  That's the case here, but that isn't, of course, representative of what the V20 is really capable of.  By default, it doesn't reproduce colours accurately and has an average deltaE of 6.5.  The distribution of luminance is also off, with the average gamma of 1.9 instead of 2.2.


Image Quality: THX Mode

Fortunately, though, moving to 'THX' mode gets rid of most of the problems we found in 'Normal' mode.  However, we found that it produced a rather dark picture for day to day use.  We suggest you turn the contrast up a little once you're used to the TV.  In our case, we turned it up to try and get whites of 200 cd/m², but the V20 couldn't get beyond 200 cd/m².  That means that the picture might seem a little dull in a particularly bright room, so be careful if your living room faces south on a sunny day.


Set up this way, the V20 has a contrast ratio that's almost as impressive as the VT20's.  With our test cards made up of 1% and 35% white, it produced a ratio of 24245:1 and 3290:1 respectively, or an average of 13767:1.  Our equipment showed a deltaE of just 2.5, which is an excellent result.  This is a measurement of the difference between the colours that should be displayed and what's actually shown on screen.  The discrepancies are usually thought to be invisible when this score is below 3.0.

Upscaling SD sources can be a little too imprecise, leading to some blurriness.  On the other hand, HD content looks quite simply perfect.  In THX mode, the IFC system, which is supposed to make for more fluid movements, is turned off.  We reactivated it and did it a great job of improving the display of sequences with lots of fast movements.  The downside, though, is that artefacts are sometimes visible around fast-moving objects.  Despite this small problem, the overall image quality is excellent, and this TV is almost perfect.

Overall, we were very impressed by this TV.  Watching it is a real treat, and one that everybody can enjoy—because this is a plasma, the viewing angles are very wide.

Audio Quality

We don't often find impressive sound on a TV, but the V20 is the exception that proves the rule.  It produces audio that's much better than what we're used to hearing.  It's nothing like a real Home Cinema system, of course.

Energy Consumption

We'll end with the real downside of plasma TVs.  Although it consumes very little while on standby—just 0.1 W—the V20 is very greedy when you turn it on.  Our equipment revealed average consumption of 309 W for the 42'' TV, which is two to three times more than an equivalent-sized LCD.