Panasonic TH-46PZ85U Expert gives reasons why this plasma was chosen over LCD

I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in being able to pick and choose television displays. I run a Home Theater website, have gone to numerous consumer electronic shows, and have been very critical in the type of display I choose for myself, family and friends.

For the past few years I have owned a 1080p DLP display.

This year my brothers and I wanted to buy our Mother her very first flat panel display. It was a very difficult choice as to what we should pick. Her living room is surrounded by windows and for that reason, I felt that an LCD display would be the better choice. LCD screens do not reflect light in the manner that plasma does.

So, we went out and bought the Sony KDL-40V4100 40" LCD television (see my review on Amazon). Unfortunately, the display was defective out of the box and it had to be returned. I did have the opportunity to do a bit of viewing with the LCD and I was not particularly happy with what I saw. The LCD picture exhibited jagged motion and decreased quality when viewing from an angle. These are all problems inherent with LCD technology.

We knew we had to exchange the defective set, and made the choice to go plasma instead, despite knowing there were a few drawbacks with that technology.

It was my decision to go with Panasonic. Having attended consumer electronic shows year after year, I have had the opportunity to measure Panasonic plasma quality against other manufacturers. The best plasma displays come from Pioneer, Panasonic and Samsung. If you factor in price, Panasonic gives you best bang for the buck. Their plasma displays offer superior quality at a price that will not break your pocketbook.

We went with a 46" this time around, and picked up the TH46PZ85U.

Setup of the the display took the efforts of two people. Weighing in at about 82 pounds, it's nearly impossible for one person to assemble the stand, slide it into the bottom of the display and then place it on a stand or wall.

The display is very attractive with its black piano finish. Within a day we noticed that this baby is a dust magnet. It will be necessary to continually clean it in order for it to keep its sheen. A small cleaning cloth is included in the box.

The TH46PZ85U offers 3 HDMI inputs which is more than enough to hook up a cable box, DVD/Blu-ray player and whatever else you wish to add.

By far, plasma displays are the best choice for overall picture quality. They offer better color reproduction and saturation as well as deep blacks, which give the picture texture. LCD displays don't come quite as close. If this purchase was for me, I would have immediately picked a plasma. The big reason we decided not to pick plasma as our choice of display for our Mother, was the fact that plasma displays have to babied. You need to take careful steps in order to prevent any long-term damage.

For the first 100 hours of use you need to bring down the picture and brightness levels considerably. Put the display in CINEMA MODE with PICTURE and BRIGHTNESS at 50 or less. You also need to mix up your television watching not letting the display sit for hours on material with black bars on the top and bottom or sides. Doing this will prevent any possibility of "burn-in." After the initial 100 hour break-in you can bring up your picture levels again.

Television manufacturers claim that "burn-in" is no longer a problem with plasmas, but it does pay to stay on the side of caution. You can do a GOOGLE search to learn more about plasma "burn-in."

So, let me get to the meat of this review and talk about the picture quality of the TH46PZ85U.

In a word, the picture is REMARKABLE. We are breaking in the television at the moment so its settings are turned down below normal. Though I was not viewing the Panasonic in optimal calibrated settings, I was still impressed with the improved picture quality over LCD. The image was morefilm-like, with natural and relaxed colors. Though I was surprised by the quality of the black levels on the LCD display, they were noticeably better on this plasma. Looking at a picture on a plasma is very much looking at a deeply
detailed painting. I never got that feeling watching LCD.


Since we were not hooking the TH46PZ85U to a surround system, we relied on the built-in speakers which offered remarkably full audio. The advanced sound settings allows you to tweak the treble and bass levels, with an optional bass booster setting. Sound was quite good, though as I applied more bass the audio became distorted at louder levels.

Reflection on a plasma display can be a problem. I did find when watching the Panasonic at night that all lights in the living room needed to be off if we didn't want to catch a distracting reflection. During the day, sitting in a room surrounded by windows, we did get get lines on the television from sunlight creeping in through open blinds.
These are factors you should consider when picking plasma over LCD. The Panasonic display does have an anti-reflective screen which works fairly well for daytime viewing. Honestly, I suppose the reflections we saw could have been far worse. We were easily able to watch television during the day without being distracted.

Having the ability to view LCD and PLASMA in my home was a huge learning experience. I learned that LCD is perfect for those that don't want the hassle of having to baby their display, and having a hugely bright picture in their sunny room without the fear of reflection. The only downsides to LCD is its ability to handle fast moving motion and decreased quality at certain viewing angles.

If you want the very best quality that these type of flat panel displays offer, you want to go PLASMA. Hands down, they offer rich, natural colors with deep black levels. The only downsides are reflection and the fact that caution must be taken in the way you watch television.

The Panasonic TH46PZ85U exhibits picture quality that is nothing short of nirvana. You will be amazed by its ability to deliver uncompromising picture quality to your home.