Panasonic TH42PX500U 42" Plasma TV

The Definitive High Definition Plasma
With the TH42PX500 plasma TV, Panasonic has achieved picture quality that is sure to blow you away. The TH42PX500 displays over eight billion (that's right... over 8,000,000,000!) colors and 2048 shades of gradation. The stunning 3000:1 contrast ratio ensures exceptionally rich blacks and terrific color. The result is arguably the most detailed plasma TV in the world. The TH42PX500 boasts the new Digital Access Pack: a group of features offering the essentials for digital and high-definition viewing. It includes built-in ATSC and QAM tuners to receive digital content over-the-air or via cable, so there's no need for a set-top box. And it's CableCARD ready, which makes digital cable reception as easy as inserting a card. Simply put, it's digital made easy. The Digital Access Pack goes beyond DTV reception. It includes HDMI, which enables the transfer of high-definition video and audio via a single cable. That means you can enjoy HD entertainment without the inconvenience of numerous tangled cables.

A Step Ahead
The PX500 series offers a few special feature that the PX50 series doesn't have. First off, you get the convenience of SD/PC card slots. These slots make it easy to view photos taken with your SD Memory Card-comaptible digital camera. You don't even have to connect a cable. There's also TV Guide. This built-in program guide provides a handy on-screen list for checking what's on the tube. It also makes it easy to set up the recording of a broadcast on your DVD recorder or VCR. A PC Input lets you connect your computer and view images on your plasma panel. Another handy feature is the Multi Window function, allowing you to watch two programs on the same screen.

Now Hear This
Incredibly slim and elegant, you'd never guess that the TH42PX500 includes an integrated speaker system. But just wait until you turn it on and crank it up. The TH42PX500's Smart Sound Speaker System uses four slim speaker units and two woofers for terrific sound. Placing the slim speakers beside the screen achieves an acoustic imaging not possible with below-screen speakers. With an improved aperture design, the twin woofers reproduce crisp and clear bass sounds. This inconspicuous speaker system delivers high-quality sound with clear definition and natural presence, with crisp, clear dialogue that seems to come from the center of the screen.

Making Great Things Even Better
Panasonic didn't stop at good enough with the TH42PX500. They went straight for exceptional, including technology to get the most out of this amazing television. The appearance of an object, as perceived by the human eye, is influenced by the colors of the objects surrounding it. This is known as the Mach Band Effect. The TH42PX500 features an M.B.E. enhancer, which utilizes the principals of this theory to enhance the brightness of objects on the screen, helping improve sharpness. A Gamma Enhancement System adds subtle nuance to dark scenes and gives images greater depth by increasing the number of gradation shades at low brightness levels. It employs non-linear signal processing to reproduce images that accommodate the high sensitvity of the human eye. Additionally, the system features the Panasonic Plasma AI function, which analyzes scenes and automatically adjusts peak brightness according to the brightness of the images. These are just a couple of the little things that make a big difference in the image quality of the TH42PX500.

Progressive Cinema Scan (3/2 Pulldown)
Progressive Cinema Scan (3/2 Pulldown) achieves exceptionally faithful movie reproduction through a sophisticated analog-to-digital conversion. Movies on film are converted to NTSC interlaced video (480i) for television by a process known as telecine conversion, in which the 24 frame-per-second film is converted to video at 60 fields per second. The fields are then paired to create 30-frame-per-second 480i video. Some of the frames will contain dissimilar pairs of fields derived from two different frames of the original film, which causes artifacts. Panasonic's Progressive Cinema Scan circuitry converts 480i video to 480p while restoring the original frames of the film for a more authentic movie reproduction. This widescreen TV features a width-to-height ratio similar to movie theater screens, providing a theater-like experience at home. View HDTV broadcasts and widescreen DVDs the way they were meant to be seen.

Panasonic TH42PX500U Specifications

Real Black Drive System
Advanced Deep Black Filter
Sub-Pixel Control
Motion Pattern Noise Reduction
Photo Viewer SD/PC Card Slots
1080i/720p Compatible
TV Guide
ATSC/CableCARD Tuner
Multi Window
Aspect Adjustments (Normal, Just, Zoom and Full)
60,000 Hour Lifetime
44.8" W x 28.74" H x 5.43" D
Weight: 88.18 lbs