Panasonic TC-L42E50

Panasonic TC-L42E50

 

I shopped around a lot comparing features to every TV out there before I made the decision to buy this TV.

I narrowed down my choices in the following order of priority:

1) Size
2) Picture (image quality, colors & refresh rate)
3) Sound
4) Screen resolution when Connected to computers
5) Sound Output (Auxilarry, Digital or Co-axial)
6) # of HDMI ports
7) Component jacks
8) Smart apps & wi-fi

Panasonic TC-L42E50

Size is something that every individual will have their own preference on. My comparison came down to Sharp LC42LE540U, Toshiba 40L5200, Samsung UN40EH6000FXZA & Panasonic TC-L42E50. Out of these 4, Sharp had the best picture quality.

Panasonic TC-L42E50

Picture & Refresh rate: Hardware on Sharp, Panasonic & Samsung is 120 Hz whereas hardware on Toshiba is 60 Hz. Toshiba presents this TV with 120 Hz refresh rate but truly hardware is 60 Hz. I am a die hard football fan so I made sure I watched some really quick forward passes on this TV before I picked it. ClearFrame technology works good on this TV. You may see a few kinks but overall, you will not notice a difference. The image n this TV however was second to Sharp. It was more true. Samsung image appeared good but it was too bright, looked almost like made up image. Picture on this TV looked real as if I was looking through my window.

Panasonic TC-L42E50

Computer Connectivity: Sharp was a better choice in terms that it allowed connection to computer using a VGA cable and it's screen resolution was 1080p for computers using VGA port. Panasonic & Toshiba only provide resolution up to 768p (also commonly called 720p). 768p is higher than 768p but it is easy for people to understand. Samsung had no VGA port.

Panasonic TC-L42E50

Wi-fi: Sharp had in-built wi-fi. Panasonic was wi-fi ready. You need to purchase a Panasonic Wifi Dongle to connect to the only USB on TV. Samsung & Toshiba both do not have wi-fi. I was not worried of the Wi-fi because I was going to connect Apple TV to make it wi-fi enabled.

Panasonic TC-L42E50

Sound: The choice all came down to sound quality for me. I understand that using a Sound bar is cool thing to do with TVs but I want my TV to be able to work without Sound bars too. Sharp was the best choice in every other department except for its appearance and sound. The sound out of sharp was muffled and not easy to relate to. Panasonic on the other hand was barely audible on max vol. Samsung had decent colume coming out but Toshiba was so loud and clear on 34 vol (max 100).

Panasonic TC-L42E50