Panasonic VIERA TC-L42E50 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz Full HD IPS LED-LCD TV

by Panasonic

Product Features

• IPS Full LED Panel with 1 Year Manufacture Warranty
• 360 Backlight Scanning
• Viera Connect, Wifi ready
• 120Hz screen refresh rate
• Thin LED design - 9.8" with stand, 1.6" without stand

› See more product details

Product Description

Size: 42-inch

The E50 series features the IPS LED panel, a slim design, and a brilliant picture. It is also Wi-Fi ready and Energy Star certified. VIERA Connect IPTV - More Fun Comes Via a Cloud Service VIERA Connect is a cloud service that provides apps in categories like video and music, social networking, games, news and lifestyle, sports, health and fitness. Learn more about the world of Smart VIERA and VIERA Connect here. Enhance your TV Experience with Popular Apps Popular apps on VIERA Connect include Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Facebook, Twitter, Wall Street Journal, and huluplus, all optimized for the best user experience. You can have an unlimited number of apps installed because those apps are stored in the cloud, rather than in the TV memory itself. Learn more about "smart" TVs, how they work, what services are offered by different manufacturers, and exactly what you'll need to get started at Amazon's Smart TV Center. Clicker - Video on Demand Cross Searching Find your favorite movies and video content easily with one-step searching, which allows you to cross search from multiple VOD services. For ease-of-use, use the quick keyword input on VIERA Connect to help retrieve your desired content faster. Customize your screen by grouping commonly used apps and displaying them on the screen for easier use. VIERA Remote App Support The VIERA remote app lets you use a smartphone or tablet device as a remote control. Tap and flick-based commands are intuitive. Use your smartphone as a gamepad for VIERA Connect game applications or your tablet as a touch pad to control what you do on the TV screen. Display the same web pages on both your VIERA screen and your smartphone with a simple flick. Simply "swipe" and share your favorite photos, music, and movies from your smartphone to your VIERA TV anytime.                 Communicate with Family and Friends The social networking TV app allows you to access social network sites and communicate with your loved ones while watching TV. Watch live sports games while upping the excitement by chatting with your friends as the game unfolds. Record an original message and set it as your answering voice message. Callers can record messages onto an SD Card (min. 512MB required), while you are away. *Skype camera not included with TV purchase Beautiful Images from Anywhere - Wide Viewing Angle The IPS LED Panel panel delivers a wide 178° viewing angle, you see clear, vibrant images from every seat in the room. The backlight features a wide transmission aperture that enhances contrast between light and dark and improves response to provide smoother motion images. Expressive, Lifelike Colors and Beautifully Reproduced Crisp Lines Diagonal lines and edges are detected with high precision for all types of images, and optimal correction is applied to achieve beautiful, noise-free lines. People's faces are detected and skin tones are corrected to ensure soft, natural complexions. The Perfect Smart TV Experience: A Suite of Technologies DLNA/Built-in Wi-Fi The E50 series has DLNA compatibility and is Wi-Fi ready. It requires a separate wireless LAN adaptor which is not included with purchase. 360 Backlight Scanning By increasing the panel refresh to 120Hz with a 3-phase backlight system, crystals are more active and responsive than 120Hz standard systems to minimize image softening under motion. 360 backlight scanning allows for smooth images, without flicker, even in fast-moving scenes. Afterimages are thoroughly reduced by finer blinking.  Operate Multiple Systems with Just One Remote Control through VIERA Link The E50 features VIERA Link, a technology that allows a consumer to operate all VIERA Link compatible AV components using only the TV’S remote control. Just point the VIERA remote at your TV, and the signal will travel over the HDMI wires to the right piece of equipment, like your Panasonic Blu-ray or DVD player or Home Cinema Surround System. This is both NTSC and Pal compatible. Environmentally Friendly  The new and improved high efficient LED/LCD panels reduce targeted power consumption up to 25% over the 2011 models. The E50 series is Energy Star certified and has a long-life panel.   Inputs/Outputs: 4x HDMI Audio/Video In (Side), 1x RCA Composite Video In, 1x RCA Composite Audio In (Bottom), 1x RCA Component Video In (Bottom), 1x RCA Component Audio In (Bottom), 1x VGA Video In, 2x USB 2.0 Audio/Video In and 1x Ethernet LAN In (Bottom).

2012 Panasonic VIERA LCD-LED HDTV Comparison Chart

Series	WT50	DT50	ET5	E50	E5	X5	U5	C5
Models:	47", 55"	47", 55"	42", 47", 55"	42", 47", 55"	32", 37", 42", 47"	24", 32"	42"	32"
HD Resolution	1080p Full HD 3D	1080p Full HD 3D	1080p Full HD 3D	1080p	1080p	720p/1080p	1080p	720p
HDMI/USB Port	4/3	4/3	4/2	4/2	4/2	3/1; 1/1	3/1	2/1
PC Input	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 SD Slot/1 PC	1 PC	1 PC
IPS LED-LCD Panel	Clear Panel Pro	Clear Panel Pro	Clear Panel	Clear Panel	Clear Panel	LCD Panel	LCD Panel	LCD Panel
178 Degree Viewing Angle						32" Only
VIERA Link
HDMI 1.4 w/ Audio Return Channel						32" Only
Media Player (SD, USB, DLNA)						32" Only
DLNA Capability (via LAN)
Wi-Fi Capability	Built-in Wi-Fi	Built-in Wi-Fi	Built-in Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi Ready	Wi-Fi Ready
Smartphone Remote Function*
VIERA Connect
Social Networking TV
E-Help
Skype Communication*
3D Real Sound
2D-3D Conversion	w/ Face Detection
Web Contents Smoother
1920 Backlight Scanning
24p Cinematic Playback
ISFccc
Pro Settings
VIERA Touch Pad Controller
Local Dimming
Multitask Function
360 Backlight Scanning
USB Player

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

759 of 785 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 2 things:IPS Picture quality, and Motion Picture Setting... April 22, 2012

By Btbluesky

Size Name:47-inch

As a programmer and a gamer, I have my share of expensive monitors (just ask my wife!). And the regular LCD TV never satisfy my quality standard; colors are either too cartonish, black is not black, and white is tinted blue. So I have only used plasma as TV. It's warm, have rich real color, it's perfect for movie night, there is no argument there.

So for my second TV, which in my study and music room, I want to try something else, since I keep hearing the LED LCD are the bomb nowaday (even most of them still do not look as life like as good plasma to me), the energy usage is low, thin and light. So I try my first LED LCD with this model after researching the latest 2012 models within my "2nd tv" price range.

Sales person kept pushing LG (got magic wand, apps, thin bezel.....), but for me, IPS is the magic word. For people who do not know what it is just google "IPS panel", if no time, just know this, IPS is supposedly the best panel you can get as LCD panel (I believe all big Apple monitors are IPS, no exception), color is more vivid and the view angle should be a perfect 178.

Got the baby home, set it up, hook up to my 15TB home server w/ HDMI, play some 1080p clips. Wow, it's so clear and real looking, this is some great monitor/TV I told myself. Flipped to the movies folder, open Avatar, wow, so this is 120hz, looking real smooth, real clear.

IN FACT, it's so real and clear, I double check my refresh rate (at 60hz from source) all the codecs. The images looks like a pre-rendered animation, totally flawless. But after the first 5 minutes, it feels kind of weird to me as the movie somehow look much smoother, but "cheaper" at the same time. Then I remember the stuff I heard....soap opera effect.

I never consider my eyes to be sensitive in any case (if anything, years of looking at multi 27" monitor should have desensitized me...), so whenever I heard SOE, I'd just brush it off as some people's sensitive eyes. IT'S NOT, it's very much noticeable to anyone, albeit some people just don't care about it when watching movies in the first place. In 300, all the grains are gone! Now it's really looking like animation, watching them fighting the monsters.

By now, 2 hours after I unpacked it, I'm panicking and start looking at all the menu items. After much google, some site suggested to use Game mode, so the TV wouldn't add additional frames by itself to smooth out the frames. BINGO, the movies are looking absolutely stunning, got the good colors, no bleeding, black is pretty black (not as black as the best plasma...but blacker than most mid price monitors out there, which is a tall order for this size and price). So I open up some calibration graphic test for monitor and tune it abit, I'm pretty much set -- happy.

BTW I have not try any apps in there, but I tested the iphone app remote, works great.

So to sum it up, if you just want picture quality with a good price in a LED LCD, not gimmicks like 3D, apps, hair thin bezel, this is it.

Make sure you understand the usage of GAME MODE, tune the brightness/contrast/color to watch movie, and use all the other ones for TV, personal videos, then it's good. OTOH, if the SOE do not bother you, doesn't matter then. The color and contrast will win you over in no time.

Edit:
Thanks to helpful reply, the setting to turn off the SOE is under Advance Picture->Motion Picture Setting. Good stuff.

873 of 938 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Everything not great, more problems... July 12, 2012

By Kevin Farrell

Size Name:47-inch|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is my first HDTV purchase. I waited a long time for them to come down in price, and am very happy with this TV so far. I've had it for about 3 weeks now and it is working great. I've watched various movies, the Euro Cup games, MLB All-star game, etc. As many have pointed out, it has a great picture, but may need some tweeking to get it how you want. This isn't hard to do if you have basic technology skills (i.e. finding the "Menu" button on remote and going to "Picture," then playing around with settings). Again, as others have noted, sound is okay. I'm not an audiophile or anything, but like good audio. I'll probably get a sound bar at some point, but it's just fine for now. I would not let others criticism of the sound deter you from buying this TV. I have not used the internet ready features, but will once I get a wifi blue ray player hooked up so can't comment there.

The biggest issue with the TV is what others have noted - Panasonic's shoddy packaging. This really surprises me considering the quality of TV. Spend a few more pennies to get an extra layer of card board in there! My box had several holes punched right through it (thanks Fed Ex), fortunately they were all in the back which had more room for error (extra inch or two of depth) than if it were in front where the screen was. If the holes were in the front, whatever punched through the box probably would've damaged the screen.

To summarize - excellent TV that I'm very happy about. Great price, especially with no tax and free shipping. I got the TV, the Mediabridge HDMI cable, and a 3 year warranty for less than what I would have paid for just the TV at a local big box store before tax! Not sure how Amazon does it, but I'm happy to benefit from their methods. The only thing here is you are rolling the dice having such a large item shipped. Be home when it arrives, inspect the box, give it a whirl. If it doesn't work or has damage then send it back. From the feedback I've read, Amazaon is very good about this. Fortunately I did not have to deal with it. I did take pictures of the damaged box though as a precaution.

I'll update this in the future if anything changes, but otherwise am very happy! Wait for it to go on sale and Prime it!

8/2/12 UPDATE - I've begun to notice vertical banding - vertical, translucent lines that almost look like shadows, and range in width from 1" to 4" across the entire screen. This is PARTICULARLY noticeable when I have been watching olympic soccer or baseball games with the green background when the camera is panning or following the action quickly. You see it at other times when there is a bright background and the camera is moving. I've also noted when objects move quickly in movies or shows there is some serious distortion. Other 95% of time picture is great. It is not an HDMI cable or input issue. This is a 120hz TV, so it should not be a refresh rate issue IMO. Here are some links on the topic as it appears to be a common problem w/ LCD and LED tv's.

[...]

[...]

Unfortunately, I'm past my 30 days to return it to Amazon. I bought the Square Trade warranty and talked to them first. They were very friendly and helpful, recommending that I use the Panasonice warranty and if they denied me to call back as they would service it. Initially Panasonic DENIED my claim for warranty service as their customer service determined it was not a "serviceable issue." They gave me information on how to dispute the decision. I ultimately asked for a supervisor, who cleared it to be serviced w/o me even talking to them. Technician is coming to my house next week and I look forward to seeing what he says b/c according to the links above it may just be a chronic problem LED/LCD tv's. Even if the tech says it is working properly, I'm still pretty happy with this tv. Panasonic's customer service is more up in the air at this point. I'd love to hear if anyone else has seen this problem with this TV?

I'll post again once I get it serviced and update this again...

8/7/12 UPDATE - I see they wouldn't allow me to include my links from my last update...oh well. So the technician came to my house today and noticed the problem right away. I guess that does make it a "serviceable issue." We enjoyed watching some of the Brazil and S. Korea match for a while. He tried a few things. We reproduced it on other channels and on a DVD. He said it's not the panel or backlight as he put it to a blue screen and everything was perfect. His best guess was something is wrong with the refresh rate for whatever reason, and noted that since it is a 120hz TV it should not be happening. He said he has not seen this particular issue before, and it looked comparable to what most 60hz TV's look like. He called it in and described it as a "noisy background." The person on the other end of the phone tended to agree so they are replacing the "main board" on the TV. On the receipt it is noted as a "Main PCB," and is a $262 repair. The part is being delivered to my house and repair scheduled for next week. I'll continue to update as it happens.

8/16/12 UPDATE - Same tech came back today and replaced the main board. This did not solve the problem. He tried adjusting settings, called into his office to talk to technician who is particularly knowledgeable about settings and calibration, still no luck. He did say that issues like this are not uncommon in LCD/LED TV's. Next step is to call Panasonic and see what they say. Problems seems undetectable to some, others notice it immediately.

9/23/12 UPDATE - Wow. Where do I begin. I'll start out with this - Panasonic's customer service is an epic nightmare. That's a pretty good summary. I'm now a month and a half into dealing with them. I've made 5-6 calls to them since my last post in August, spent hours in discussion with them, hours on hold, hours being disconnected, hours being re-routed to the wrong people and the wrong department. In a word, incompetent would be putting it nicely. The service company who came out to service the TV declared it non-repairable back in August. Panasonic claimed they never did this. And around and around we go. There are so many stories I don't even know where to begin. On one call I was told that I could not speak to a supervisor and that I could not leave a message for one. End of phone call. Seriously. It's just insane. This past Friday I spent over an hour with them on the phone as they told me my "TV was working to specifications and would not be replaced." It really took them over a month to determine this? When I asked for a full clarifcation as to why, again, they are cherry picking information from the repair company. The TV is working to specs, however, it also still has the screen issue and they have no idea how to fix it. This is clearly noted in the report. I was told I would need to call the repair company as they would not replace the TV unless the repair company changed their report. I called them (A&E Repair) and they were responsive, friendly, and competent. What a change. We now have an appointment for the same tech to come to my home on Wed. to verify the problem is still occurring (which it is). Then we are going to call Panasonic together and tell them the TV needs to be replaced. A&E said this way Panasonic cannot claim that the TV was never called in as unrepairable, again.

At this point Panasonic is at least guilty of incompetence in their customer service and warranty department. At worst, they are disingenuous, lying, and not standing by their product in an attempt to get me to give up my attempts at getting a working product. What they have yet to learn is that I'm pretty persistent and they've chosen the wrong customer to do this to. I've yet to decide if I will report them to the Better Business Bureau yet. That will depend on the outcome of my experience on Wed. Regardless, I will continue to update this post, my post on CNET forum, I plan to write a personal letter to Panasonic Corporate, and publish a lengthy post to their public Facebook page. That will be a start. To all others who are having the same problem from Panasonic (many of you have contacted me personally), I suggest you document everything - the dates, times, names and ID #'s of all employees in every interaction you have with them. Demand a supervisor as they are slightly more competent than the typical person who answers. And good luck, because you will need it. I will update again as this develops.

10/6/2012: I've now dropped my rating of this product to 2 stars. The TV has begun to have serious backlite bleed through - blotchy and ligther in some spots than others when on a black screen - especially in the corners. For the type of LED TV this is, my understanding is that this shouldn't be happening. I wish I could attach pictures. Maybe a video review is in my future to prove all of this. The original banding issue is still occurring. It's also down to 2 because of the overall terrible customer service - unexcusable.

Anyway, the technician never came to my house. He was in contact with Panasonic techs who told him that this problem is "normal." They even asked the warranty technician why he was still in contact with me and that he shouldn't be speaking with me anymore since the case is closed. They basically told the one person trying to help me to stop talking to me. Can you believe this?! I've never experienced anything quite like this. I actually spoke to someone at Panasonic that seemed to know what they were talking about in customer service and it's as simple as this - unless I can get someone to claim the TV as unrepairable, there is nothing customer service can do. Since my TV is "working to specs" and the problems people have actually acknowledged exist are "normal," nothing is going to happen. Read more ›

212 of 224 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All I had hoped for in an LED/LCD May 30, 2012

By StacyK

Size Name:42-inch

I bought this from a big box retailer, but have always found the Amazon community to offer great non-pro reviews of mid-level products often skipped by online review sites. Panasonic has picked up the mantle of plasma king since the demise of Pioneer and I hoped the TC-l42E50 would have close to the same impact on LED/LCD market. I have tried LED displays from other major brand names with a 3rd the performance quality of the Panasonic. Let's get this out of the way right now if you are expecting plasma level PQ (picture quality) namely black level performance out of this TV then pack it up and ship it back, because it is not happening. Panasonic has taken the Samsung/Sony approach to this television and offer a screen that pops with intensity, one of the sacrifices being black level performance. You gain a plethora of features that with the right adjustments can make this display outshine it's competitor's. Panasonic has taken great measures to ensure great motion performance with the addition of the 360 backlight scanning feature. This feature breaks the screen into 3 section in which a smart dimming function on the LED's switch them on/off very quickly (120hz frequency) to improve pixel response time and alleviate motion artifacts such as judder, trailing and ghosting/streaking. The math breaks down like this 3 sections x 120hz = 360hz (simulated) for the 360 backlight scanning. They offer an additional motion smoothing technology when set to weak offers no artifacting or Soap Opera Effect (SOE) often seen with this technology, but if gaming on this TV recommend turning off or set to weak due to potential controller lag. Speaking of gaming if you are a gamer than I cannot recommend this TV enough from racing games too first person shooters(FPS)this set can handle anything you can throw at it. I have tried everything from 120hz-480hz televisions and none can perform a third as well as the Panasonic at a about 50% less to the of the main competitors equivalent. Don't let all the fancy jargon confuse you it is all marketing speak. All TV's including plasmas are 60hz with scene interpolation of some kind that inserts frames in between existing frames to give the illusion of a higher refresh rate whether it is Panasonic's:600hz sub-field drive or Samsung's:Auto motion plus they are still a native 60hz. While shopping for a television let that be the last deciding factor, but let your eye's be your guide. Visit a big box store ask for a remote and immediately take it off the Vivid picture settings and set it for Cinema,movie or natural setting in the user menu to get a better idea how the set will function in the real world. This will turn all the post processing nonsense off in most case and let you see the true performance of the display, so you can make an educated decision. If you prefer the look though the Panasonic E50 can still deliver that performance, although adjustments aren't as robust as it's competitor's they are sufficient. Let's break it down.

Picture: While not as deep as a plasma display still impressive for an LED/LCD. Black levels are good, but not great colors are natural and accurate making movies and games really pop. Could use a few more adjustment option like a THX or pro mode for better white balance control, but certainly not the worse I have seen.

Sound: Like a few of the review have said nothing to write home about, but again not the worse I have heard. If you are in the market for home a theater and gaming set-up most likely a quality surround sound is already a consideration. Since I have a pair of wireless surround sound headphones TV audio quality is not a concern for me.

Connectivity: While wi-fi ready this display is not wireless out of the box, an additional dongle is needed for internet connectivity.

Build Quality: While this TV doesn't have the paper thin bezel made popular by LG & Samsung it would be right at home on a wall mount or traditional stand. It sports a 1 inch glossy black bezel with a quarter inch clear boarder around that for an all around attractive frame. Panasonic has manage to also avoid some of the pitfalls associated with Edge Lit LED technology namely light bleed and flashlighting. In a completely dark room the screen is solid black or really dark blue through the entirety of the screen with no areas of backlight bleed on any of the sides. There is also no pooling of light where the LED's are unable to reach certain areas of the screen. I have seen $4000.00+ LED TV's not be able to achieve this feat, so very impressive.

I hope I was able to give an overall impression of the Panasonic TC-L42E50 television.