Panasonic VIERA TX-P42ST50 Pro Reviews

Excellent image quality from the moment you turn it on; the Viera TX-P42ST50B is a true Best Buy

The first of the 2012 Panasonic lineup that we’ve analysed, the TX-P42ST50, is an outstanding Plasma TV which sets a high bar for the GT50 and VT50 series still to come. Its deep blacks are not just the best we’ve ever measured at this price point, they’re some of the best we’ve ever seen, full stop: the contrast performance shown by the ST50 is the closest thing we have today to a large-screen, affordable OLED display. The new “2000hz Focused Field Drive” has brought about a visible decrease in fuzzy dithering artefacts during fast motion scenes. As it did last year, the “Infinite Black Pro” screen coating affords the picture a beautifully lucid appearance, managing to make images glossy while somehow keeping screen reflections to a bare minimum. The extensive picture setup controls allow the already very good “True Cinema” picture mode to be taken to a near-perfect level of accuracy.