Should i go for panasonic viera THL42U30D?

[db123]

Should i go for panasonic viera THL42U30D?
Have been reading quite a lot about LED/LCD/Plasma TVS. Lastly, I zeroed on Panasonic viera THL42u30d. Below are the reasons I wanted to go for this model

1. Was looking for 40" or more in screen size
2. Wanted to go for LCD as LED technology is at nascent stage and current LED TVS are not full LEDs. Picture quality doesny differ much
3. U30d is wifi, provides 3 HDMI, SD slot and uses IPS panel
4. All LED models looked to me pricey
5. I am skeptic about plasma. they are made for dark rooms and may not be suitable for daily TV watching in myt living room
6. sony as always gives me 2 inces less in screen size at the same price

I want to ask if this Panny model is not a very old launch and so should not be bought? If it has got any strong flip sides? is it a good buy ? any other LCD model better than this one? Please provide your views


Thanks!

 

[ontherocks]

This is an excellent TV. I bought it recently due to lighting conditions in my room. Though a 2011 model, it beats hands down to the latest 2012 similar Sony Bravia (just as a comparison). My neighbor bought the latest 2012 40 inches Sony Bravia at the same time. We both have Tata Sky HD. The HD performance is similar(excellent) but Panasonic beats the Sony Bravia hands down in SD content. SD channels are horrible to watch in his Sony Bravia. Never expected this from Sony.

Moreover I have calibrated the TV and now the black levels are so good, for example with contents that have black bars on top or sides, it's indistinguishable from the switched off state.

1080p contents play flawlessly through USB flash drives. I have played mp4, mkv and avi containers. The only caveat here is, mp4 & mkv have to be encoded in H.264 if they are not, which I had done easily with Handbrake.

It's Wi-Fi ready, not in-built Wi-Fi. So you will need a USB Wi-Fi adapter, which comes around, I think Rs.3000 or so. Else you could use a cheaper router in repeater mode with an ethernet cable.

It's a total VFM model.

 

[mjain916]

try panosonice xt50 with 3d
supab

 

[db123]

Hi Ontherocks,

Thanks very much for your feedback. I was also looking for big size VFM LCD. The only issue i got here is about those black bars on top and sides. Are they really of so much a problem without the black level settings you have done. Is this mkodel available in any other color options?

 

[ontherocks]

The only issue i got here is about those black bars on top and sides. Are they really of so much a problem without the black level settings you have done.

Absolutely not.
It all depends on you. If you are satisfied, why care? It's you who will be watching the TV, not anyone else. So your satisfaction is of prime (or rather only) importance.
I wanted to squeeze the most out of the TV, so I calibrated it.
BTW, you can do it easily yourself for free and it takes about 15 min or so.

Is this mkodel available in any other color options?

You mean bezel color? If so, I am afraid only black is available. I don't think you get any TVs with bezel color other than black, except for a few LGs and Panasonic Plasmas.

 

[niftian]

avoid buying plasma's or flat panel for that reason , see the links below how fragile they are and company's dont honour warranty as well saying it is a physical damage.. i just lost my panasonic 50" costing 65k.


Quote 1
PLASMA CRACKED FROM INSIDE (spider web) - CNET Samsung Forums
Internal Crack on my TV panel - CNET Samsung Forums
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1401206/plasma-screen-cracked-panasonic-60s30
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1405049/internal-crack-on-my-46-panasonic-plasma
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1289851/p...g20-developed-internal-screen-crack-by-itself
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1401206/plasma-screen-cracked-panasonic-60s30#post_21811102
3/23/12 at 12:26pm confirmed the component failed
Reasons for a Plasma TV Screen to Crack | eHow.com
http://www.avsforum.com/t/986862/my-42-lg-plasma-screen-cracked
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1233575/plasma-internal-screen-cracked-by-itself-while-watching-tv
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1348871/new-lg-plasma-mystery-crack-inside
panasonic hd plasma - CNET Home audio & video Forums - similar case customer got refund immediately in this case knowing it is manufacturing defect
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1393327/new-plasma-cracked
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1135400/plasma-cracks

below quote 2 explains the situation further

Sometimes and internal component can suddenly blow with enough force to crack the plasma panel from behind. That would have been the loud boom (probably more like a pop or snap). It has historically happened mostly on Samsung and LG plasmas, and there have been a few reports of it happening on Panasonics as well.

the outer glass is intact and the inner (plasma) glass is what's broken, then that's good evidence that a component failure cracked the glass.

Boards fry, panels break.

Along with other serious researches and quotes as below

Quote 3

Thermal fatigue is the most important failure mode in plasma screen casting. Thermal fatigue cracks may be classified by their appearance in heat checks and stress cracks. The characteristic feature of heat checking is a net-shaped crack pattern which occurs predominantly on level surfaces due to change in surface tensile stresses. Stress cracks mainly appear as individual and clearly pronounced cracks as a result of stress concentrations due to the configuration of the cavity. Generally, thermal fatigue cracks will already appear after a few thousand cycles or even much earlier, i.e. in the low cycle fatigue regime.

Quote 4

Since glass is brittle and thermally insulating, significant thermal stresses, especially in larger components often lead to catastrophic failure. The warm expanded glass inside pushes outwards on the outer layers of glass, forcing them to be stretched with very little tolerance for being stretched and cannot expand very far without breaking. Any existing microscopic crack on a stretched surface will grow all the way through the thickness of the glass, abruptly.