Panasonic TH-46PZ800U Plasma TV Review

Picture quality is what Panasonic TH-46PZ800U seems to scream back at you. As it is seen with many plasma TVs, good black levels, and extremely accurate colors are part of the deal, and that is why no one is disappointed with the way high definition television is displayed on such a screen. Panasonic TH-46PZ800U has no issues with screen uniformity, being a plasma TV, and it is listed as one of the high end plasmas that are currently sold on the market. There are little reasons that can keep one’s hands from Panasonic TH-46PZ800U and one could be the price, which, at the time this article is being written, is quite high. Another reason for which Panasonic TH-46PZ800U is left behind by other plasma models is that, even if its black levels are great, they are not the absolute best. Pioneer Kuro models have better black levels, however they are also more expensive. Even more important, Pioneer Kuro models don’t come in 46 inch variants.

Specifications

• Screen size: 46 inches
• Resolution: 1920×1080 (1080p/Full-HD)

For all of this product specifications, you can see its page on the manufacturer’s website.

Picture Quality

The THX certification that Panasonic TH-46PZ800U comes with enhance the performance of this plasma TV. This mode allows your HDTV to show more accurate colors, and video processing becomes a child’s play. They also contribute to the ease of obtaining a great looking picture for the user, as THX certifications are a warrant for having great colors and picture quality out of the box. As a high end plasma TV, Panasonic TH-46PZ800U performs greatly, grace to THX mode, and that gives it the upper hand when compared with other models in the same range. Plus, it leaves little to do in terms of adjusting contrast and brightness, which, for many people can count as a big plus.

Black Levels

Black levels are something that Panasonic TH-46PZ800U has no problem reproducing on the screen. As you may well know, black levels play an important role in picture quality, as they are responsible for showing a realistic image, when you watch television, be it movies or other programs. These black levels and shadow detail (which is strongly connected to the black level performance) allows us to have a great experience when watching TV. Panasonic TH-46PZ800U has excellent deep black levels, but, as mentioned earlier, they are not as black and as deep as they are in other top-of-the-line plasma HDTV models.

That should not bother you, however, as the difference between this model and Pioneer Kuro models is not huge. Pioneer plasma TVs are able to produce the best black levels and they are visibly better compared to Panasonic plasma TVs, however the price difference isn’t worth it for everybody. One argument in favor of this statement is the enthusiasm with which Panasonic TH-46PZ800U was received by those that bought it. Its regular five star rating given in users’ reviews is more than self explanatory. Many expert reviews also consider that the black levels of TH-46PZ800U is exceptional and certainly a strong point of this TV, even if it isn’t the best.

Color Accuracy and THX Certification

While black levels can still strip Panasonic TH-46PZ800U of the shiny medal of being the first and foremost plasma on the market, color accuracy stands by its side. Colors are clear, crisp, fresh and the images showed on the screen are hard to be matched in terms of picture quality. They are also well complemented by the competitive black levels, as bright scenes still hold on to their true colors, no matter the amount of light involved. Even if you tweak with the brightness levels, you will still get great looking colors on Panasonic TH-46PZ800U. You can still get the same great effect for landscape images, as well as people skin tones, with no weird looking colors for either.

Screen uniformity

Screen uniformity is not an issue for most models of plasma TVs, and Panasonic TH-46PZ800U is not an exception. The viewing angle is perfect, and you will not lose detail or color accuracy when watching your HDTV from different angles. False contouring is also reduced greatly, and one will hardly notice such an issue with this model. The image remains true to its colors and uniformity on every inch of the screen. Normally screen uniformity and viewing angle don’t appear in plasma HDTV reviews because this type of TV is not affected by them. However, for those who don’t know much about the differences between plasma vs LCD, I am adding this information.

SD Quality

If you want to see how well Panasonic TH-46PZ800U does with displaying standard definition content, you need to put those THX modes to work. Even so, the performance of this plasma TV regarding the reproduction of SD content is only average. Jagged lines can be easily removed from diagonal lines in motion, and this is where our model performs well. On the other hand, when you watch scrolling titles, some artifacts may appear on the text. This is not so good when you like to watch stock prices, or news that are shown on a moving scrolling bar on the bottom of the screen, as the text is projected against a filmed source. For video sources, this is not an issue, however.

Panasonic TH-46PZ800U also does not perform too well, when there is a need for 2:3 pull down detection. It may take up to two seconds for the screen to lock up to the film cadence, when other models do that in less than one second.

In all fairness, upconverting and de-interlacing capabilities of Panasonic TH-46PZ800U can do a fine job when you want to watch DVD’s or regular SD content on your plasma. Noise reduction is also something that this plasma model can deal with effectively, and that is where the THX modes work their magic.

1080p/24 Performance

Blu Ray discs can be a real treat when watched on Panasonic TH-46PZ800U. But there are some issues related to the way 24 FPS (frames per second) content is displayed on this plasma screen, that cannot be put away. The model comes with an embedded Cinema Mode, especially designed for displaying 1080p/24 signal (which is used by Blu Ray technology). What Panasonic TH-46PZ800U does, in order to show the image on the screen is to display the image at 48Hz, by flashing each image twice for each frame with a quick black frame in between. That causes a flickery artifact to appear each time this happens, especially visible for areas of the screen where bright pictures were displayed. This actually renders the 1080p/24 mode useless, as it is better recommended to watch such content in normal 60Hz mode, than trying to get away with that flicker effect.

Anti-Glare Performance

LCD TV’s usually score better in anti-glaring capabilities than plasma TV’s, which is why plasma manufacturers try to narrow the gap with each new model they launch on the market. This model performs very well in a room with a lot of light. The reflections are reduced a lot by the efficient anti-glare screen. Even though it is a plasma TV, it outperforms many LCD TV models when it comes to glare.

Features

THX Display Certification is one of the features that makes the PZ800U series from Panasonic to boast with pride. Out of the box perfect colors and contrast ratio are due to this special feature, and many appreciate the ease of use granted this way. This type of pre-set calibration makes tweaking redundant, and spending more on calibration would be rather a matter of choice than of necessity, as you can enjoy a great experience with this plasma, from the moment you took it out of the box and placed it in your living room.

Controls

This model comes with five picture modes that can be easily adjusted. Yet, the ease of watching with no tweaking necessary comes with a price, as color temperature, for instance, has only three presets. There is enough color control to go around, as well as noise reduction and black level options. Five aspect ratio options can also come in handy. A good thing is that the company tried to address, with this series, the problem of burn-in, which may happen to plasma TV’s, when the same picture is displayed on the screen for too long (like when you are playing video games). They introduced an image retention menu, from where you can “wipe” the screen with the help of a scrolling bar that refreshes the image to avoid burn-in problems.

Connectivity

Panasonic TH-46PZ800U has three HDMI ports installed on the back and another one in the front. A VGA input is also available, so, if you want to hook up your PC to your plasma TV, you can do so, as this model supports up to 1366×760 resolution.
Among other connectivity options, we can also mention two video inputs, an AV input with S-Video, an input for cable (or antenna), an optical output and an analog audio output. There is also an SD card, so, if you want to see your picture on the big screen, then you can do that.

Panasonic TH-46PZ800U vs TH-46PZ850U

The battles between HDTV manufacturers is sometimes held in their own yard, as well. With each series, they try to bring something more, that will catch the potential buyer’s eye. But is PZ850U series from Panasonic any better than PZ800U? We have seen that Panasonic TH-46PZ800U can be a very good acquisition if you are looking to buy a high end plasma. Logic may tell us that Panasonic TH-46PZ850U should be better, as it is newer, but logic may fail us this time.

We will not talk about the difference in price here, even if, for now, Panasonic TH-46PZ850U is more expensive than Panasonic TH-46PZ800U. I am used to massive price fluctuations and depending on which model is more popular or which series the manufacturer wants to promote more, the TH-46PZ850 might actually be cheaper in some stores (including online).

What is more important is picture quality, as we can tell, hand on heart, that Panasonic TH-46PZ850U has nothing above the older version. On the contrary, color accuracy is not as good as in the previous series, and it still does not cope with the difference in black levels performance, when compared with other brands that produce plasma TV’s. Also, the flicker in 24p mode still exists, so that was not solved either.

The main conclusion is that even if Panasonic TH-46PZ850U gets cheaper than its older brother from the PZ800U series, your choice should still be balanced towards the latter.