By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
09/05/2007
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0,39037585,40515656p,00.htm

There is no letting up for the big three behind plasma TVs, with Pioneer and its full-HD PDP-5000EX leading the pack in Asia. Making a late entry into the 1080p scene and months behind the others is Panasonic, which recently refreshed its plasma lineup consisting of five models from two different series. At the top of the echelon is the PV700s, an upgraded panel with beefed-up connectivity and features but laden with near-identical paper specs.

Design
The PV700 bears a nostalgic look staying true to its lineage and signature curves. Rather then caving in to the now-raging black piano dressing, black and silver are still the preferred choices of hue for this 2007 edition. In the same light, its onboard speakers are mounted by the sides and not the underbelly. They do add to the overall length of the chassis, though by an insignificant proportion, thanks to their streamlined design. You will also have plentiful installation options, ranging from a swivel desktop stand to a wall-mounting kit at no extra cost, to an optional TV cabinent at S$699.

Unlike most other flat panels we reviewed, the TV controls and easy-access A/V sockets are situated on the front, below the panel frame and concealed behind a flip cover. This approach extends well to its SDHC card slot, too, which glows in blue when activated. There's a minor tradeoff, though. Accessing them may be a hassle with desk-bound center speakers standing in their way. Furthermore, to keep the cords tidy at the rear, the input panel is mounted within a deep recession. This has additional provisions for snap-on anchors to facilitate cable management.

The company is bundling a matching remote for the PV700. Ergonomic and comfortable in hand, the stick is both handsome and versatile with inbuilt multifunctional capability. Dedicated playback buttons enable simple DVD, VCR and HTIB operations compatible with selected Panasonic models. However, there are no dedicated keys assigned to each of the eight inputs, which can be a drag for video switching. Layout-wise, the buttons are right about where they ought to be, offering tactile feedback and an intuitive mixture of textual and symbol labeling.

	Front TV controls and jacks concealed under a flip cover. (Click for larger image)

There is also little to get excited over the software menu which is near-identical with the LX700 LCD TV. Nested within the video submenus are all the necessary fundamental settings to get you started on fine-tuning. What we felt lacking here was the limited advanced variants, a glaring omission which is otherwise common in its competitors' high-end offerings. A quick fiddling within the structured menu only narrowed down noise reductions, treble and bass functions. Some user intervention on the onboard video processing is definitely a welcome change for starters.

Features
At the heart of the HD-compatible Panasonic is a newly developed G10 HD plasma panel. This has a modest 1,024 x 768-pixel resolution and is capable of delivering a high-contrast ratio factor of 10,000:1 matched with 29 billion colors. Though these figures are less tantalizing than the Samsung and LG, the PV700 does offer a proprietary anti-glare coating effective at suppressing reflections. Similar in appearance as the LCD's surface in matt finish, the overlay rejects ambient lighting readily, substantially reducing washed-out pictures during daytime viewing.

Besides the panel upgrade, the PV700's onboard video processor has also received a timely 1080p overhaul. The latest V-real II engine is now capable of handling this high-resolution signal at its native format, while performing video upscaling and deinterlacing for standard-definition sources. Other picture-enhancement functions catered by the new chip also include motion pattern noise reduction, advanced 3D color management and sub-pixel control. The former is designed to minimize false contouring that may sometimes occur in fast-motion images.

Another value-added capability is its onboard JPEG playback. Implemented via a single-slot card reader, the Photo View Mode is compatible with regular SD and MMC plus high-capacity SDHC up to 4GB in storage. Conveniently called up when a flash memory card is inserted, the system displays a snapshot of the digital album in a 4 x 3 grid complete with handy information such as date and resolution. Apart from the customary rotation option, you can also put on a slideshow with the added flexibility of programming time interval and repetitive looping.

	Three 1080p HDMI terminals: Two on the rear and on in front. (Click for larger image)

Connectivity junkies will appreciate the wide selection of jacks available on this Panasonic flat panel. Most notable is a triplet of HDMI terminals with 1080p (50 and 60Hz) and Viera-Link compatibilities. One of these is situated in front for impromptu interface with HD video cameras. If that's still not enough, a pair of 1080i-ready analog component-video sockets is available as high-def backup. Another rather unique addition here is a digital optical audio output, channeling digitized stereo signal (PCM) to external audio equipment for enhanced sound reproduction.

Performance
Calibrating the Panasonic with a SpyderTV Pro was a walk in the park for most parts, hooked up to a Toshiba HD-XE1, Pioneer DV-S969AVi and Sony PlayStation 3 via quality Monster cables. First up, we got the set locked on the local standard-def TV broadcast, rendering sharp and relatively dot crawl-free visuals much to our delight. That said, any nitpicking would definitely have to be due to the higher-than-expected noise floor. This was characterized by visible background grains which tended to be accentuated depending on the individual station's signal strength.

Moving onto the Avia test patterns, the PV700 exhibited a mild black crush, having problems differentiating deeper dark shades. The panel did, however, redeem itself by putting on a perfect showing during the color decoding run. For verification, we fired up a DVD copy of X2: X-Men United. While the X-men leather suits were painted in inky blacks, we had problems making out the tinted canopy from the stealth jet's grayish hull. On the brighter side, the performance of the onboard HD scaling was pretty good with no visible artifacts and jaggies.

Our initial reservation on the pixel count shortfall was quickly dismissed by its strong HD film presentations. Running off 1080p feeds from HD-DVD and Blu-ray materials, we were amazed by the clarity demonstrated onscreen. Both HD renditions of The Phantom of the Opera (yes, we are format neutral) were dished out in striking colors with surprisingly natural skin tones and average depth-of-field. Fast-motion reproduction was apparently second nature for this plasma as evident in Ridge Racer 7, though jaggies were a noticeable issue for finer text and graphics.

	Razor-sharp JPEG playback through an onboard SDHC card slot. (Click for larger image)

Photo playback is another forte of this 42-incher tested using a SanDisk 4GB SDHC card. Not only were the previews generated instantaneously, we also managed to clock a respectable 5-second loading time in between 5-megapixel test shoots. Pictures displayed onscreen were razor-sharp, presented in their original aspect ratio. This was unfortunately not the case when the set was supplied with an XGA signal through its analog PC input. Text was generally soft and a major turnoff considering the pixel-to-pixel mapping with the plasma panel's native resolution.

Panasonic's decision to outfit the set with an elaborated two-way, four-speaker audio subsystem paid off in this instance. It reached reference-level loudness comfortably at a third of the maximum volume, piping out abundant clean mid-bass. This was further complemented by smooth vocal and extended treble, delivered in fine stereo imaging and spacious soundstage with SRS TruSurround XT engaged. Rerouting audio through the digital audio output brought sound quality to another whole new level, limited only by the performance of the interfaced equipment.

This rare made-in-Japan set is definitely a strong contender in the market and a potential candidate for Editors' Choice. We had little issue with its strong feature set and A/V performance but was taken aback by its overly simplified software menu. In hindsight, Panasonic could have done better with more tweaking options for the performance-oriented crowd. After all, those who are willing to fork out extra cash over the PV70-series will probably be chasing after picture quality rather than JPEG playback or an extra HDMI.