Having dominated the plasma technology market in recent years, it’s no wonder that each new generation of Panasonic plasma TVs is greeted with much anticipation. The latest one is no different: having been unveiled at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier in the year, rollout of the 10th-generation plasma began in Europe (it will soon follow suit in the US). in March 2007. I come across the Panasonic TH-42PX70 quite often in my profession, so I’ll give a brief summary of its capabilities.

Panasonic plasmas have an excellent reputation for unrivaled black level and shadow detail, and I’m happy to report that the TH-42PX70 is right up there with the best in this department. Batman Begins and unforgivable – both films suitably dark – would have absolutely killed any lesser competitor, but on the Panasonic TH-42PX70 I could still see fine shadow detail that could have easily been swallowed up by nothing.

Also, you don’t need to do much to make the picture look good – if all TVs were made this way, the ISF calibrators would soon stop working. To achieve the 6500 Kelvin (daytime) color temperature in which movies are shot and broadcast, simply go to your user menu, select “Cinema” (assuming you didn’t do this when you first set up your TH-42PX70) and then the “Warm” color temperature. By doing this, you ensure that you are seeing the film as the director’s vision.

Traditionally, image retention is a big problem with plasmas; not so with TH-42PX70. I had seen a slight hint of retention after posting still images (from my computer) for 10 minutes, but within 1 minute of resuming moving images, the retention was gone. I truly believe that as long as proper precautions are taken, image retention in plasmas is a thing of the past.

However, the TH-42PX70 has its own set of weaknesses. For starters, it still suffers from false outline issues where there should be fine gradation. Part of this is source-based, as the problem largely disappeared when viewing HD, but if you’re sensitive to this sort of thing, it might bother you.

Panasonic’s previous generation of plasmas were obsessed with what’s known as “purple snake” or “purple ants”, where purple bands or pixels appear around green areas with little gradient change. On the TH-42PX70 I couldn’t really see it when sitting 8ft away, but if I got closer to the screen to, say, 3ft I would notice it…YES I was looking for it. Just something worth considering.

When reviewing plasmas, I can’t help but mention hum, which is a typical trait of plasma TVs, especially with high-contrast scenes. In fact, I could vividly remember a mass shooting of plasma TVs I attended, where a pure white background was used to test how loud the plasmas hummed. In the case of the TH-42PX70, the buzz is more like a high-pitched hiss, which didn’t particularly bother me when the sound was on, but if you have ultra-sensitive ears, this is something to keep in mind.

To sum up my opinion as someone who watches and installs more than his fair share of flat screen TVs, the TH-42PX70 does most of the important things better than most TVs. Sure it has its flaws, but it’s such a wonderful plasma TV that you can set it and forget it if you were shopping for a new plasma TV you’d grab it in a heartbeat.