Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U

The good: Relatively inexpensive; produces a deep shade of black; accurate initial color temperature; solid connectivity with three HDMI inputs; handsome, understated exterior.

The bad: Color decoding accentuates red; inaccurate primary color of green; ineffective noise reduction.

The bottom line: Panasonic's TH-42PX80U 42-inch plasma sets the picture quality-to-value standard for entry-level flat-panel HDTVs.

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Description: The Panasonic TH-42PX80U is a 42-inch, plasma television. Compared to other plasma TVs on the market, it is very inexpensive at around $1,075. In general, a liquid plasma display can recreate more realistic black-levels than an LCD display can.

Pros: This unit can display images that are sharper and more realistic than standard definition television when hooked up to a high definition signal. The 3:2 pulldown feature of this unit reduces artifacts that can occur when motion pictures are transferred to a digital format such as DVD.

Cons: Has only a 42-inch screen size. This is not out of line with the product's price, but is smaller than the average TV on the market today.

Suitability: A plasma TV, suited for personal entertainment and home theater.

Value: Given its very inexpensive price, this TV has good features for the money. For example, when it comes to viewable screen size, the average price of plasma televisions with comparable viewable size is considerably more -- right around $1,460.

Suggestions: (1) For assistance in shopping for a new HDTV, read CNET editors' <ref type="link" url="http://cnet.com/hdtv-world/?tag=arw">Ultimate HDTV Buying Guide. </ref> (2) If donating or repurposing your old TV is not a viable option, CNET encourages households to recycle their electronics. Please explore the following website to find a recycling center in your area Electronics Take Back Coalition .