Panasonic Viera S20 (TX-P42S20B) review: Panasonic Viera S20 (TX-P42S20B)

The 42-inch, 1080p Viera TX-P42S20B sits at the lower end of Panasonic's NeoPDP range of plasma TVs. It still has one of the company's high-end panels, though, offering great black levels and incredible response times. Apart from a built-in Freeview HD tuner, the TV is largely free from the sort of extra features seen on higher-end models, making it ideal for people who care about actual picture quality, rather than flashy extras.

8.3

Panasonic Viera S20 (TX-P42S20B)

The Good

Decent price; good picture quality; integrated Freeview HD tuner.

The Bad

Three HDMI sockets is stingy in 2010; absence of Viera Cast is a shame.

The Bottom Line

The Panasonic Viera TX-P42S20B is a very sturdy all-rounder. We loved the picture, especially when watching the BBC HD channel and Blu-ray discs. The sound quality is passable for a small, flat TV, and will suffice for most casual viewing. There's virtually nothing to stop us recommending this as a great choice for your next TV, save the lack of fun extra features like Viera Cast. If you can get over omissions like that, you'll love this set

The TX-P42S20B is available now for around £770. 

Freeview HD happiness 
As with some of Panasonic's other TVs, the TX-P42S20B has a built-in Freeview HD tuner, but doesn't make a massive fuss about it. In fact, unless you've checked the Panasonic Web site, or actually pay attention to signs in shops, you might never know that the TV can get free, over-the-air high-definition channels.

The TV makes as little fuss about tuning into these HD channels as the box does about the feature in general. All you do is turn on the TV, let it automatically tune itself, and tell it you're in a house, not a shop. Then you're away. Telling the TV you're in a house is important, because it makes the picture less gaudy, and much more suitable for home use.

Viera Cast off
Panasonic hasn't opted to include its Viera Cast system in this TV. If you don't know what we're talking about, then you probably won't care about its omission.

If you are saddened by the lack of Panasonic's IPTV and widgets interface, then at least you can take solace in the fact that Freeview HD will probably get access to the BBC's iPlayer at some point. It's also possible that Channel 4 and ITV will launch their own catch-up TV services on the platform at some point in the future.

HDMI 1.4
The TX-P42S20B is also fitted with an HDMI 1.4 socket. On this TV, it serves no purpose other than offering an audio return channel. This is actually a really useful feature, but you'll need an AV receiver that's compatible with HDMI 1.4 before you can make use of it.

If you have all of the equipment, this feature will allow your TV to send audio, via HDMI, to a surround-sound decoder. This is especially useful for HD channels, which transmit Dolby Digital 5.1. On a 'normal' TV, sending this audio would require an optical or coaxial audio output, as well as an extra cable to clutter up your lounge.

With a 3D TV, HDMI 1.4 also allows the TV to detect when a 3D signal is being sent, and allow the screen to display it properly. But this TV isn't a 3D-ready model, so the benefits of HDMI 1.4 begin and end with the audio return channel.

HD is pretty as a picture 
There's one downside about the arrival of HD on Freeview. It makes standard-definition channels look like a dog's dinner. But that's hardly Panasonic's fault, and, to give the TV credit, it does a good job with a pretty dreadful picture, offering a decent amount of detail and reasonable colours.

Switch to BBC HD, ITV HD or 4HD and your eyes will almost certainly be delighted by what they see. Be aware, though, that, of those channels, BBC HD is the only one on which you're guaranteed HD all the time. We watched some HD election coverage on the TV, and were truly blown away by the sharpness of the picture. Children's TV also gets a wonderful boost too, because of the vivid colour that HD brings. We just wish there was more HD on UK screens.

Hooray for Blu-ray
If Freeview HD looks good, Blu-ray looks mind-blowing. We loved District 9 in 1080p on this TV. We opted to turn off the 24-frames-per-second smoothing mode -- to get the most cinema-like picture -- and that resulted in a small but bearable amount of judder. With the smoothing feature turned on, the picture looks much more fluid, but somehow loses some of the authenticity of film. It really comes down to individual preference, though, and we encourage you to play with the settings to get the best set-up for you.

There's a movie-optimised mode too, and it produces a good result with films. It mutes the colours slightly, but we're not fans of ultra-bright colours in the case of most movies. That's not to say that the movie mode spoils the richness of the landscape in movies like District 9 -- it just more closely mirrors the projection experience of seeing a film at the cinema.

Sound doesn't suck
Although the speakers on the TX-P42S20B are the kind we don't like --small and badly positioned -- we didn't hate their audio. We noticed that the HD channels were much quieter than their SD counterparts. Panasonic provides an offset volume tool to help with this, but we still found the difference to be quite annoying.

For most day-to-day listening, the built-in speakers are just fine. They'll also cope reasonably well with movies, but you won't get the best sound unless you invest in an external speaker system.

Conclusion
The Panasonic Viera TX-P42S20B really offers nothing to complain about. It's also decently priced, although, for a couple of hundred pounds more, you could lay your hands on a 50-inch LG 50PK590 plasma TV, upon which we recently bestowed an Editors' Choice award. If you do opt for Panasonic's TV, you'll have our blessing -- it's a great choice for general use.

Edited by Charles Kloet