If you're ready to make the foray into high-definition TV, a big and beautiful 42-inch plasma set could be just the ticket. But which one? Famous makers enjoy trusted reputations, and they offer sets with fancy features and eye-catching designs. Those factors make it easier to justify paying over $2000 for an HDTV. Newcomers to the scene may not have name recognition or supply the cushy extras--in fact, their offerings may be downright rudimentary--but some deliver the HD goods, without charging a premium.
A 42-inch HDTV is a natural fit for many living rooms. "It's basically a similar size in screen height to the 34-inch CRT, so it's a size people are very comfortable with," says Ross Young, president and founder of research company DisplaySearch. And plasma vendors don't just want you to buy a plasma--they want you to buy a 42-inch plasma. "The panel factories are optimized for 42-inch panels, so they can make as many 42-inch panels as 37-inch," says Young.
As Young observes, "the plasma manufacturers aren't going after a lot of sizes." They're concentrating on 42- and 50-inch screens. Even though a 42-inch plasma's resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels falls a few columns short of the perfect high-def aspect ratio--a problem that 42-inch LCDs don't have--plasmas get little competition from LCDs in the 42-inch arena. Few LCD factories make 42-inch panels, instead leaving plasmas to battle with one another. This competitive market brings buyers a wide selection and low prices.
To help you select which of these myriad plasmas is right for you, we tested five 42-inch HD plasma models with 1024 by 768 resolution. Representing the better-known--and pricier--end of the spectrum are the $3000 LG Electronics 42PC1DA and the $2399 Philips 42PF9631D. The group's cheaper challengers are the $1700 AOC A42HD84, the $1800 Maxent MX-42HPM20 plasma monitor, and the $1599 Vizio P42HDTV.
And the Winner...
Good picture, great price: Vizio's P42HDTV is our Best Buy.On our value-based chart, the attractively priced Vizio P42HDTV soars to the top and wins Best Buy honors. Price alone doesn't determine chart placement, of course; the Vizio earns its laurels with strong image quality for the price. Its bright screen showed details well in our tests. In fact, this low-cost powerhouse's overall performance score just trailed that of the $2399 Philips model and earned a rating of Good. Our only complaint about the P42HDTV's screen was that it had a tendency to oversaturate greens.
You might suppose that a $1500 HDTV would take it easy on the features--and you would be right. The Vizio offers only a handful of menu settings (on the plus side, this minimalist approach prevents confusion over a plethora of options) and a basic remote control that requires a sharpshooter's precision to register on the TV. Vizio provides no weekend tech support, but the thorough manual and setup poster should suffice for typical installations. One surprising bonus: The P42HDTV's picture-in-picture function offers multiple options, letting you decide the size and position of the inset image.
Even at its $3000 asking price, the LG 42PC1DA gives the Vizio a run for its money. This sleek beauty won our juried image-quality tests handily, earning the only Very Good score for overall TV quality. Its realistic color and sharp contrast received our highest rating of Superior.
Visible, easy-to-reach inputs distinguish the LG model (top); the Vizio set's inputs, though harder to reach, are color-coded.The LG led the pack in features and design, too. This HDTV set is a breeze to set up, thanks to clearly labeled, widely spaced, horizontally positioned ports. Selecting screen settings is easy as well, through its advanced tweaking options and hugely useful adaptive picture mode. This mode shows the screen in four panes, applying a different setting in each. Picking the version you prefer is much simpler this way than via the usual optometrist-like "Which looks better, number one or number two?"
Every plasma on this chart includes speakers, but only the LG's delivered rich sound that made us sit up and take notice. And of all the plasmas in our review group, only the 42PC1DA includes a CableCard slot. With any of the other models, cable subscribers will need to make room for a digital cable box.
Good, better, best (from top): Vizio's plain-Jane remote, LG's spiffier device, and Philips's long remote with lighted buttons.Another well-designed set, the Philips 42PF9631D, includes a comfortable remote with lighted buttons--very easy to use in a dark room. The set's most unusual feature, Ambilight, casts colored light on the wall behind the TV; you can program the lights to respond at different paces and intensities optimized to complement the action on screen. Not only does this look nifty and make movies more engaging, but according to research that Philips cites, it might be better for your eyes. (That said, if you find Ambilight a nuisance, you can turn it off.) Impressive sound accompanies the visuals, too: The 42PF9631D includes digital audio inputs and outputs so that you can obtain high-quality digital sound when getting it through HDMI isn't an option.
The Philips scored second overall in image quality, earning a rating of Good. It outscored all of the other sets in our bright-lights test, maintaining vivid colors and strong contrast under bright lights. Though its price is the second highest of any plasma set on the chart, bear in mind that this model wasn't available on our pricing date, so we had to go with its $2399 list price. Street prices are usually lower, often substantially so.
Not Ready for Prime Time
AOC's $1700 A42HD84 suffered from weak colors, with the reds and greens appearing especially feeble. Our test jurors called its picture "pale" and "washed out." Though this model is an HDTV, it puzzlingly forgoes a high-performance HDMI input. HDMI is customary on HDTV units; all the other plasmas on this chart include it (in fact, the LG and Philips models each offer two HDMI inputs). However, the AOC is also the only one of these plasmas that offers DVI input, which is handy for connecting to a computer. Perhaps this port could be useful for attaching to a living-room PC, but given this TV's image quality, a conference room setting seems a better bet. The image quality may lose a bit of Lost, but it's fine for PowerPoint.
Maxent's MX-42HPM20 isn't actually an HDTV--or any kind of TV, for that matter. Since this $1800 model has neither an analog NTSC nor a digital ATSC tuner, it's technically a plasma HD monitor. If you already have a separate tuner (on a cable box, for instance), this omission may not be a problem, but you should understand the difference before plugging in this plasma and settling down with a bowl of popcorn. In this regard, the MX-42HPM20 is like its 50-inch cousin, the MX-50X3, which we reviewed in our July issue.
Unfortunately, this Maxent fared less favorably with our jury than the 50-incher did. We found its screen dark and its colors off, showing reddish skin tones and unrealistic greens. This plasma is reasonably simple to use, though that's due in large part to a dearth of features. Worse, its menus display and respond very slowly, so changing the few settings that exist is time-consuming. Even if you are on a budget, you can find better bargains elsewhere.