Your guide to buying a Plasma TV for cheap

PANASONIC TH-42PA20U 42-inch Plasma HDTV Review
MSRP: $4,095

Note: Be sure to read the Panasonic TH42PWD6UY review before continuing with this special review.

Overview:
The TH-42PA20U is Panasonic's consumer version of their TH42PWD6UY commercial-model 42-inch Plasma TV. The consumer version sports a few main differences compared to the commercial version. Rather than giving a full review, we will list the advantages and disadvantages of the consumer TV compared to it's commercial sibling. Keep in mind that the majority of functionality between the two versions is quite similar, other than the differences listed below, and for the average viewer, there will be little difference in overall picture quality.

Advantages:

-In-Home Warranty - Perhaps the greatest advantage of the consumer model is Panasonic's 1-year in-home warranty. Should you have any technical issues with the TH42PA20U unit, you will be able to easily contact Panasonic to have an authorized technician make any repairs right in your home. By comparison, with the commercial unit, you would need to send in the TV to one of several Panasonic authorized service centers around the country.

-Integrated Speakers - The TH-42PA20U also includes integrated 8-watts per channel stereo speakers. Although surely not comparable to even the lowest level of home theater setups, the integrated speakers are useful for watching standard TV broadcasts where high volume, bass or surround sound are not needed. It does include a subwoofer output if required, but a home theater receiver is recommended for managing this.

-Integrated NTSC Tuner - The consumer version includes a built in standard television tuner, allowing you to watch directly from an antenna source. The commercial version requires standard television to be tuned in through a VCR or cable box.

-Additional Inputs - This is an important advantage for those that are planning to make use of a DVD, HD tuner, TiVo and/or game console like a Microsoft Xbox. The TH-42PA20U includes two component inputs, two additional S-video inputs, as well as a DVI-HDCP connection. The DVI connection is especially useful, and forward-thinking. DVI-HDCP is quickly becoming the standard for HD tuners, since all signals are transmitted to the TV completely digitally, rather than being converted from digital to analog, and back to digital. The HDCP designation means this TV will work with the proposed digital encryption technique designed to prevent piracy.

-Included Stand - The TH-42PA20U consumer TV includes an upright stand allowing you to place the TV on any television console or table that fits your needs. For those planning to wall-mount their Plasma TVs, this is not an advantage, but saves around $150-200 for those planning to use a stand.

-Closed Captioning - If closed captioning is a requirement, only the TH-42PA20U consumer Plasma TV offers this feature.

-Additional EMI Protection - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the amounts of electromagnetic interference a device can emit. EMI can interfere with radio and television transmission. The TH-42PA20U is rated as Class B, a higher protection rating compared to the commercial model's Class A rating. Both should generally be satisfactory for in-home use however.

Disadvantages:

-Price - The TH42PA20U consumer unit will generally cost around $150-300 more than the commercial unit. It is also not as easily found via online retailers. Assuming you make use of the included TV stand, this is basically a wash however. Surely note that online retailers also generally sell at lower prices compared to offline stores.

-720p Native - The consumer version does not offer native support of the 720p HD format. Currently, only a handful of channels including HD-Net and Fox currently offer 720p, but those sources would see slightly improved picture quality with the commercial unit. The consumer unit will instead convert these sources, generally resulting in some minor loss of sharpness, color or detail. Depending on your viewing source, native 720p support could be of differing value.

-9-Point Digital Zoom - The consumer version lacks this feature, which allows you to pan and zoom in on any area of the screen, and increase picture size to be 2 to 3 times the original source. A nice feature for pausing and viewing close plays in sports.

-Video Settings Per Input - The TH42PWD6UY commercial unit offers video setting memory for each of the inputs. This allows you to set different color, sharpness, brightness, etc. settings for each signal source. With the consumer model, you have one memory for all settings, and will need to adjust manually each time you view a different source if it is needed for picture correction.

-Other - Several other features such as advanced picture settings (black extension, gamma settings, etc.), picture size and position controls, and multifunction slots, allowing you to upgrade the unit with additional features/inputs.

Final Thoughts
A few other small differences between the TH-42PA20U and the commercial version include the color of the TV itself. The TH-42PA20U comes with a modern-looking silver bezel. The commercial unit is dark gray. It should also be noted that the commercial version saves a few inches in width since it lacks integrated speakers, allowing it to fit into smaller areas.

For the majority of buyers, the consumer TH-42PA20U model is probably the correct choice. Panasonic has done their home work, integrating in the most useful features, especially the additional video inputs and the forward-thinking DVI input, and the in-home warranty adds considerable peace of mind. It does lack a few features that would have been nice, mainly the 720p native support and the advanced picture settings. In either case, both of these units are exceptional Plasma TVs, cheap for the picture quality and features they offer, and make great buys.