The Panasonic 42C10:
Dvd/Blu-ray
We tested the DVD performance of the C10 using the new "Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans" movie and we immediately observed the T.V's deep blacks and rich colors. For the most part, picture defenition remains clear and clean, screen uniformity was near perfect, as expected from a plasma. Blu-ray at 720p, playing "Transformers" was a total blast, fast moving scenes were handled with no traces of motion blur, pixelation, and picture breaks that are commonly associated with lower bracket LCD's. Over-all movie defenition was brighter than the previous models like the PV8/80, without compromising the inky blacks we've come to admire with Panasonic's line of plasma's.
PS3:
Running a 720p native game like "Street Fighter 4" demonstrated razor sharp input response times that will surely impress even the most "hard-core" precision savy gamers. As expected, I saw flashes of the notorious green trails (known to techies as "The Phosphor Lag") during quick pans of first person shooters like "Resistance". However, it won't derail your senses because the over-all picture presentation remains strong, with vibrant colors, less the eye strain - Something very much welcomed for those who would want to
bed with their plasma's and their ps3's.
The PV8 and PV80 factor:
I, for one laments the demise of these two legendary models, but the arrival and the subsequent performance of the C10 gives you a feeling that Panasonic really knows how to come up with evolutionary means to sustain the technology in a sea of high tech wonders like the 120hz LCD, LED and OLED. Though the difference in picture quality between the C10 and the PV8/80 are not miles apart, the C10 is your best bet for a solid 720p performance - If you skipped the 2008 wonders. So let the PV8 and 80 (though legends they are) rest in the halls of Valhalla - A worthy successor has arrived! Did I mention that the C10 is only around 50k?
"But it's just a 720p T.V???" factor:
Sure, the C10 is a "mere" 720p native T.V tuned for a 1080p/24p performance, but I can honestly say that it beats the Samsung FULL HD A550 in the area of color accuracy and over-all movie picture performance. It even trumps above my A650 FULL HD T.V in-terms of black levels and screen uniformity. Not bad for a "mere" 720p T.V right? Crispy video game detail/s presentation, unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it) still belongs to the FULL HD panels where pixel and polygon counts really matter.
Pro's
+Very good blacks
+Rich and vibrant colors without the "eye strain"
+Near perfect viewing angles
+Well priced
Con's
-The usual green trails
-Some minor image retention after video game play (I need to look at this again because my eyes were already tired from the test)
-Fuzzy game detail compared to FULL HD units like the A550,A650 and PY800.
More on this tomorrow, but so far the C10 is looking good from all angles that truly matter on a T.V
Sorry but this was one very quick typing spree^
