Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P42G10 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

This is based on my experience with the TC-P50G10, which is identical to P42 but with a larger screen. I bought it three weeks ago, and am very happy with it. I did a lot of research and tried out a number of TVs before settling down on this one, so I thought I would share some of the information and my experience with the TV, and hopefully make your decision in choosing the TV a bit easier.

First thing first. According to my research, the Panasonic G10 probably has the best picture quality among all TVs in mass production as of the time of this review (May, 2009). Most importantly it has pitch dark black level, scorching brightness, high color accuracy, and good motion processing.

I chose the Panasonic plasma over Sony and Samsung LCD for a few reasons. (1) Compared to 120Hz LCDs, Panasonic is significantly cheaper than Sony and Samsung. (2) I think the G10 is better in handling motion than the 120HZ LCDs. (3) The colors on the plasma are more appealing to...Read more

I have just received my new 42 inch G10 in the mail, and I must say, I am very pleased. I researched the living crap out of this set, so my expectations were pretty high. Upon opening the box my first impression was that the overall look of the TV is amazing. Just a solid design, without a whole lot of extraneous stuff. After removing all the stickers it really looks nice in my living room. Also pleased to notice the only light on this TV is a very small dim red light when it is on (I can't stand bright lights on my electronics).

Once I turned it on and started messing around with the settings, I was pleased at how smooth, and natural all the menus are. Very easy to understand, but there is plenty of advanced control for the more hightech custy. Personally I like to tweak my settings, and the Panasonic remembers each input and preset, so its pretty painless. I found THX to have the most accurate colors, although I did tweak the settings a bit for a little more light...Read more

Over the past month people have been discovering that their 2008 and 2009 Panasonic televisions are no longer performing how they were meant to perform. One of the major reasons why the Panasonic plasmas are (actually now "were") considered so fantastic is because they had excellent black levels, meaning the blacks look really black.

Well that's no longer the case because after a few hundred hours the black levels double and triple to a point where even a mid-range LCD beats it. Panasonic issued a statement that they knew the issue existed and that they were investigating it. Well today they issued a statement that the issue has been reviewed and that there will be NO FIX.

Now to be fair, black levels do rise slightly over time, but they do not double and triple. In fact the Panasonic Plasmas from 2007 do not have this problem. To further prove this, a 2007 Panasonic Plasma after a couple thousand hours of use has BETTER blacks than a 2009 Panasonic Plasma...Read more