Compare Panasonic TX-P42S30B Prices
- 42" Full HD Plasma TV
- Freeview HD
- Wi-fi Ready
- 600Hz Motion
- Viera Cast
Today's Best Price
£449.99
inc. Free Delivery
At Electrical Experience
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Full HD TVs are capable of showing high definition images that are up to five times as sharp and detailed as old style 'standard definition' images. You'll need to have an HD source, such as a Blu-ray player, games console or HD TV to be able to really see the difference though. All TVs on sale today are HD-Ready. A Full HD TV has a letter p after it and this means that the picture is shown in the best possible quality.
1920 x 1080 is the highest resolution available on a television. Often shortened to 1080p, it refers to the number of pixels a screen can display and the level of detail it can show.
The P42S30B has 3 x HDMI inputs. HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface and is a standard used for audio / visual equipment. Like the older scart, HDMI is a port that allows you to connect things like Blu-ray players and games consoles to your television. Unlike scart, they're very easy to plug in - and take up a fraction of the space scart leads do. HDMI allows for HD devices to send high resolution information to the television. HDMI is an uncompressed digital signal, as opposed to previous analog interfaces such as S-Video, component video and composite video. In short, HDMI is the best way to connect your AV equipment and is going to be with us a good way into the future. There's a really good blog post over at Hi-Def hardware if you'd like to find out more.
If the idea of paying a subscription fee each month for HD television programs doesn't appeal then you'll be pleased to know that the Panasonic TX-P42S30B comes with Freeview HD built in. Freeview HD is the high definition big brother to Freeview and allows you to enjoy completely free access to HD stations such as BBC HD and many more. There are currently over 50 Freeview HD stations, with the line-up constantly being revised and added to. Find out what you can watch on Freeview HD here.
If you're into gaming then you'll appreciate the special game mode offered by the P42S30B. Game mode alters the way the TV processes the picture from your games console and means faster response time, and better quality images. This is especially noticeable on an HD gaming console. Game mode optimizes image and sound quality making for the perfect gaming experience. It enhances dark areas and sharpens the picture as well as speeding up image processing.
V-Audio Surround is an audio technology used in Panasonic TVs, such as the Panasonic TX-P42S30B, that creates the same effect you'd get from a surround sound speaker system from the TVs built in speakers. It aims to replicate the same sound you'd get from a multi-channel surround sound theatre system and deliver a rich sound, with deep bass and clear detail, from only two speakers.
Most modern TVs have some form of virtual or '3D' surround, with each manufacturer having their own name for the technology. Virtual surround is ideal for games, movies or listening to music. You can customize, or disable it in the TV's settings if you decide it's not for you.
There's a lot more info on the V-Audio page at Panasonic and some details on both V-Audio Surround and V-Audio Pro Surround at the Veira Exerience website.
Viera Cast is a technology from Panasonic that lets you stream videos, photos and music from the Internet to a Panasonic Television or Blu-ray player. It was first announced in 2008 at the CES show. Examples of things you can watch and do with Viera Cast on are:
Viera Cast has an easy-to-use interface that lets you choose what you want to watch. One user at AV Forums commented:
"...the interface is superb, it quick and easy to find just what you want, and, the vids themselves actually look pretty darn good on the panny even in full screen. thats variable of course, but most the content i watch handles the full screen very well indeed."
Viera Connect is a service offered by Panasonic to owners of their Smart TV range. It allows users to download and install Apps from their App store. Users of Apple products such as the iPhone will be familiar with Apps. These small programs can be in a number of categories from games to productivity tools. Categories of Apps available using Viera Connect include sports, social networking, Youtube, Games and much more. As with other stores, there's a range of free and paid apps that will appear on your Panasonic TX-P42S30B's home screen once installed. Here's a video showing the Viera Connect App Store in action.
The Panasonic TX-P42S30B has features that use content from the Internet. To use these extra capabilities, you'll need to connect your TV to the web. This can be done via your existing home Internet connection using the router supplied by your service provider.
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