Let’s dispense with the foreplay, the Z1 streams 1080p24 wirelessly. Full HD Blu-ray video with no wires whatsoever. That’s enough. Job done. Five stars. Now comes the padding.
Sitting at the top of Panasonic’s Viera TV range, in both price terms and specification, the P46Z1 is an object of tech beauty. It’s sleek, svelte and unashamedly trendy. A metallic finish equals high-end in the TV business these days. And I approve.
To be honest, though, the Z1’s aesthetic elegance comes as a bit of a shock. Panasonic is not generally known for its fashion sense. Cutting-edge kit, yes. Dependable devices, more often than not. Indeed, the company puts a lot of stock in functionality and we applaud the gesture – as the swathe of HCC Best Buy awards testify. However, as natty as they perform, they’re normally shrouded in blocky, placky, black boxes. Built by inventors, designed by undertakers...
First published in Home Cinema Choice 172
You can also download the pdf here
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited
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In the latest Home Cinema Choice:
A Plasma LCD eh? That's a
Mr Tracey (not verified) - 7 November 2009 - 2:07pmA Plasma LCD eh? That's a first...or is the title a little wrong?
Premium Home Cinema mag
Alan Smithee (not verified) - 7 November 2009 - 3:44pmPremium Home Cinema mag can't tell the difference?
Whoops!
Rik Henderson - 8 November 2009 - 2:15amThanks for pointing out the error made when posting the review. It's been corrected now.
Rik Henderson
Deputy Editor
Home Cinema Choice
Panasonic P46Z1
Garry Davidson (not verified) - 11 November 2009 - 10:44pmTechnically brilliant it may be - but why would anyone consider paying even half the projected price, for what looks, under normal viewing conditions, as if it displays permanent black side bars - the biggest and most annoying side effect we have had to endure in our search for the perfect picture - now who's bright idea was that?
With the PDP-434, Pioneer introduced the piano-black bezel and, over the last 6 years, every manufacturer, including Panasonic, has followed suit, differing only in the thickness of the bezel and the various bits of chrome and plastic they add, in search of their own identity. Currently, around 90% of decent sets on the market look like this, although some favour matt surrounds - and there's a reason for it - they look better (less obtrusive) when they're off and better (improved perceived contrast) when they're on. What next - candelabras - solid oak surrounds - and don't get me started on Philips Ambilight - Pioneer Kuro, Sadly missed, R I P.
Plasma displays are bright ,
cissp (not verified) - 15 December 2009 - 7:11amPlasma displays are bright , have a wide color gamut, and can be produced in fairly large sizes—up to 381 cm (150 inches) diagonally. They have a very low-luminance "dark-room" black level compared to the lighter grey of the unilluminated parts of an LCD screen. The display panel is only about 6 cm (2.5 inches) thick, while the total thickness, including electronics, is less than 10 cm (4 inches). Plasma displays use as much power per square meter as a CRT or an AMLCD television.[citation needed] Power consumption varies greatly with picture content, with bright scenes drawing significantly more power than darker ones, as is also true of CRTs. Nominal power rating is typically 400 watts for a 50-inch (127 cm) screen. Post-2006 models consume 220 to 310 watts for a 50-inch (127 cm) display when set to cinema mode. Most screens are set to 'shop' mode by default, which draws at least twice the power (around 500-700 watts) of a 'home' setting of less extreme brightness. Panasonic has greatly reduced power consumption by using Neo-PDP screens in their 2009 series of Viera plasma HDTVs. Panasonic claims that PDPs will consume only half the power of their previous series of plasma sets to achieve the same overall brightness for a given display size. The lifetime of the latest generation of plasma displays is estimated at 100,000 hours of actual display time, or 27 years at 10 hours per day. This is the estimated time over which maximum picture brightness degrades to half the original value.