Projectors Reviews, price and comparision

As HDTVs become more and more talented, including features like integrated Wi-Fi, Web apps and video streaming, and energy-efficient LED backlighting, it's hard for any one to stand out. Panasonic's TC-L42E30 42-inch LED LCD HDTV, for example, doesn't have one particular feature that sets it apart. But with a price of just $1,099.95 (direct), a solid selection of Web apps, satisfying picture quality, and excellent power-consumption stats, it's a solid choice for anyone looking to outfit a home theater on a budget. Just don't expect 3D, integrated Wi-Fi, or any other high-end HDTV tricks.

Design
Plain, but functional, the TC-L42E30 comes with a flat black bezel and a flat black base. There are no real aesthetic flourishes beside the Panasonic logo in the center of the bottom edge of the screen, giving this HDTV a very utilitarian feel. Fortunately, what it lacks in form it makes up for in function. The left side of the HDTV holds an HDMI input, a USB port, and an SD card reader, while the right side contains a handful of control buttons. The bulk of the screen's inputs live on the left side of the back panel, and include three more HDMI inputs, another USB port, composite and component video inputs, an Ethernet port, a digital audio output, and a DVI video input.

The 8.4-inch remote is almost identical to the one bundled with the Panasonic TC-P50ST30 ($1,499.95, 3.5 stars), with only a few small differences. Unlike the more-expensive plasma HDTV's remote, the L42E30's remote isn't backlit and lacks a 3D button. Still, it's very well-designed, with large, easy-to-identify buttons with distinctly different shapes for the number pad, the Volume/Channel buttons, and the menu/navigation pad.Audio on the TC-L42E30 is the same sound you get from nearly every other HDTV: two 10-watt stereo speakers providing a decent but not spectacular listening experience. If you really value audio quality or power, consider getting a soundbar or surround sound system to replace the built-in speakers.

Like the TC-P50E30, this set offers plenty of online apps through Panasonic's Viera Cast service, including Netflix, Pandora, Amazon Video On Demand, Napster, CinemaNow, and others. But you'll need to connect the set to your network via Ethernet. (Wi-Fi is only available with an optional adapter.) The TV also includes the Viera Image Viewer, a photo and video player that can load media from an SD card, and the HDTV is DLNA-enabled, so you can play media from compatible networked devices.

Performance
To determine image quality, we use the DisplayMate testing software and a chroma meter to measure brightness, black levels, and color temperature. According to our tests, TC-L42E30 puts out an impressive 473.50 cd/m2 at peak brightness. While it doesn't get quite as dark as the Editors' Choice LG 47LW5600's ($1,699.99, 4.5 stars) 0.01 cd/m2 the TC-L42E30's black levels reached a respectable 0.04 cd/m2, still very good for an LED-backlit HDTV and producing a very impressive contrast ratio of 1:11,838. Colors were generally decent, but the red and green channels tended to run slightly cool, even when set under the Warm color temperature setting.

In my tests, Predators on Blu-ray looked great on the TC-L42E30, with plenty of color and excellent highlight and shadow detail. Like most HDTVs with motion modes that go past 60Hz, the screen's 120Hz mode made the action look smoother to the point of artificiality, with camera pans and movements looking almost superhuman. Once again, I recommend just turning off all motion-smoothing features to make the video look more natural.

We used a power meter to measure the TC-L42E30's energy consumption under an average load— in this case, the Blu-ray of the movie Predators. The HDTV consumed an average of 78 watts, very good for any screen (and far, far less than the 280 watts devoured by Panasonic's 50-inch TC-P50ST30 plasma), but not quite reaching the power-saving levels of the 46-inch Sony Bravia KDL-46EX720 ($1,599.99, 4 stars), which used just 67 watts with its power saving mode enabled. On the other hand, the PTC-L42E30 showed low power consumption while still running the backlight at fairly bright levels, which the Sony could not do. These numbers earn the TC-L42E30 our GreenTech approval.

Considering it costs just over $1,000, the Panasonic TC-L42E30 is a solid 42-inch LED HDTV. It's very bright, can get sufficiently dark, and while its colors aren't perfect, the overall picture will please the vast majority of users. If you're looking for an inexpensive HDTV with plenty of features, pick up this set. If you're open to paying a little more for a better picture and larger screen, take a look at the Editors' Choice, 47-inch LG Infinia 47LW5600 for more screen real estate and incredible color and black levels along with 3D support. If you want to up your Web functionality, consider the Sony NSX-46GT1 Internet TV, the 46-inch version of the NSX-32GT1 (4 stars, $799.99). It's only $100 more than this Panasonic set, but comes with a slick design and integrates Google TV.