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Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV
 
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Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

by Panasonic
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)

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  • 24-Month Special Financing: Purchase this item with the Amazon.com Store Card and pay no interest on your entire order if paid in full within 24 months. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional balance is not paid in full within the specified time. Minimum monthly payments required. Applies only to qualifying orders including an eligible HDTV sold by Amazon.com. 1-Click and phone orders do not apply. See details and restrictions.


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Customers buy this item with DVI Gear HDMI Cable 2M (6 Feet) $1.88

Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV + DVI Gear HDMI Cable 2M (6 Feet)
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  • This item: Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping and free returns. Details

  • DVI Gear HDMI Cable 2M (6 Feet)

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    Ships from and sold by QuickAutoHouse Co.
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Product Specifications
Brand Name:Panasonic
Color Name:Black
Specification Met:Enery Star

Technical Details

  • IPS Panel
  • 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 4
  • VIERA Image Viewer
  • Fine Black Panel
  • Wide Viewing Angle
  See more technical details
FTC Energy Guide for This HDTV
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Product Details

Manual [PDF]
  • Product Dimensions: 40.2 x 11.4 x 26.3 inches ; 41.9 pounds
  • Shipping Weight: 48.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
  • Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
  • ASIN: B004M8SBHU
  • Item model number: TC-L42U30
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #562 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

(March 2011)

With 120Hz Motion Picture Pro 4, VIERA® U30 Series LCD HDTVs are great for viewing your favorite sports teams or action movies. You can also share your favorite digital photos on the big screen.

TC-L42U30

Panasonic Features

VIERA Image Viewer
VIERA Image VIEWER™

Equipped with an SD card slot, VIERA makes it easy to view full-HD photos and motion images that you shot yourself. Simply insert the SD memory card into the slot, and you're ready to view your photos and full-HD videos on the big screen. You can make your slide shows even more impressive by adding background music and attractive frames. With VIERA's big screen and superb image quality, family and friends will love sharing your memories.

VIERA Link
VIERA Link™

VIERA Link simplifies the operation of a variety of AV devices, so you can operate them all using only the VIERA remote control. Setup is easy—simply connect the devices to each other via HDMI cables.

Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel

Panel reflections have been reduced to half those of conventional panels, to sharpen images and reduce glare.

120Hz Motion Picture PRO 4
120Hz Motion Picture PRO 4

120Hz Motion Picture Pro4 displays all video signals at 120 frames/second—double the native frame rate. This increases the frame count to allow more natural frame-to-frame transitions, for smoother motion images with higher resolution. Motion Focus Technology reduces flicker and effectively suppresses blurring and afterimages.

Key Specifications

  • Series: U30
  • Screen type: LCD
  • Screen size: 42 inches
  • Native resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels
  • Moving Picture Resolution: 900 lines
  • Filter: Fine Black Panel
  • HDTV display capability: 1080p, 1080i, 720p
  • EDTV display capability: 480p
  • Speakers: 2 full range, 20W total power, Surround Sound Capable
  • Image viewer: JPEG playback
  • Aspect control:480i/p: Full, Just, 4:3, Zoo1080i/p: Full, H-Fill, Just, 4:3, Zoom
  • Optional wall-mounting bracket: TY-WK3L2RW (US only)
  • Multi-lingual menu: English/Spanish/French
  • Energy Star qualified: Yes

Connections

  • HDMI: 3 (1 side)
  • Component (Y, PB, PR): RCA x 1 (common with Composite)
  • Composite A/V: 2 (1 side); each with audio input
  • PC input (15-pin, D-Sub): 1
  • Digital audio output: 1 (5.1 ch)

Dimensions

  • TV with stand: 26.3" x 40.2" x 11.4" (H x W x D); 41.9 pounds (1,021 mm x 666 mm x 288 mm; 19 kg)
  • TV without stand: 24.9" x 40.2" x 4.3" (H x W x D); 37.5 pounds (1,021 mm x 632 mm x 107 mm; 17 kg)

Panasonic 2011 LCD HDTV Comparison

Series:
DT30
D30
E30
E3
U30
U3
X30
C3
C30
Models:
Panel Type
IPS Alpha LED LCD
IPS Alpha LED LCD
IPS Alpha LED LCD
IPS LED LCD
IPS LCD
IPS Alpha LCD
IPS Alpha LCD
IPS Alpha LCD
IPS Alpha LED LCD
HD 720p
--
--
--
--
--
--
Full HD 1080p
--
--
--
3D Ready
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
Filter
Clear Panel
Clear Panel
Clear Panel
Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel
Fine Black Panel
Moving Picture Resolution
1080 Lines
900 Lines
900 Lines
300 Lines
900 Lines
300 Lines
300 Lines
300 Lines
300 Lines
VIERA Connect
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
Easy IPTV
--
--
--
--
--
--
DLNA
--
--
--
--
Wireless LAN
Ready
Ready
Ready
Ready
--
--
Ready
--
--
Ethernet
--
--
--
--
HDMI
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
Component (Y/Pb/Pr)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Composite A/V
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
Digital Audio Output
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
Optical
PC (DSub)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
USB 2.0 Port
3
3
2
2
--
--
1
--
--
JPEG Playback
MP3 Playback
--
--
--
--
MPEG Video Playback
--
--
--
--

What's in the Box

Panasonic U30 series LCD HDTV, removable stand, remote control (with batteries), operating instructions

Product Description

Equipped with an SD card slot, VIERA makes it easy to view full-HD photos and motion images that you shot yourself. Simply insert the SD memory card into the slot, and you're ready to view your photos and full-HD videos on the big screen. You can make your slide shows even more impressive by adding background music and attractive frames. With VIERA's big screen and superb image quality, family and friends will love sharing your memories.


 

Customer Reviews

57 Reviews
5 star:
 (44)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (57 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

182 of 186 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Mid-Range HDTV!, April 23, 2011
By 
Allen (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV (Electronics)
I wanted to purchase an tv that didn't break the bank, but met my criteria of
40-42", multiple HDMI input, PC input, 1080p, 120hz and this fit the bill. I stayed away from plasma because to me the LCD picture quality is much crisper and I stayed away from LED because for the same sized LCD I can get a bigger screen.

Note: The room that this tv resides in is 11' by 15' and it sits 8' away from the couch. The size is just right for the room.

Initial Setup

Setup was very easy and I was up and running within minutes of taking the tv out of the box. I had to install the included stand and then set a couple of options and the date once the unit was powered on. The stand base is made out of plastic but is connected to the tv with a metal bracket. That said, when we first set the tv on the console it wobbled and I was concerned at first, but after a few days, I already forgot that it initially wobbled, so this was a non-issue. The unit itself is beautiful with a black plastic frame with a glossy finish. It should be noted that the tv monitor itself sits very low with the stand, once installed, there is a 1.5" clearance from whatever the tv is sitting on and the bottom of the monitor itself, there is no way to adjust the height.

Remote Control

The remote control is standard, nothing fancy. I like the over-sized volume and channel buttons, very easy to find without looking at the remote.

Sound

Please keep in mind my room size above. The sound from the speakers are very good. Volume ranges from 0 to 100. When I want to immerse myself in a movie, I set the volume at 45, otherwise I set the volume between 25 and 30. Just don't expect surround sound from them and you won't be disappointed.

Presets

There are 5 presets in the Picture Menu: Standard, Cinema, Game, Custom and Vivid. I wasn't a fan with the Standard, Game and Cinema presets. After playing around with the settings, I settled on a Custom preset I liked.

Picture Quality

I have my PS3 connected via HDMI and watching 1080p movies on this tv is stunning. I watched Pixar's UP on blu-ray and the quality is surreal, it's so life-like that it almost looks 3D, I noticed myself paying attention to little details in the movie that I never saw before. Even watching non-1080p video is great, 120hz just makes everything smooth. I also have my Roku connected via HDMI and streaming HD content is great, the only downside with HD is that when you watch non-HD content, it's quite noticeable, but very much watchable on this tv.

Games

There is a Game preset and the tv states that this is optimized for gaming, however, I found that I preferred playing games on my Custom preset. I played FF XIII and Uncharted 2 and the quality is great. My guess is that the "optimized for gaming" is mainly for games FPS games, where every millisecond counts... but that's just my guess.

Turning Off 120hz

A frequent complaint I've been reading regarding 120hz units is that it looks like a soap opera. I can confirm this initial impression, but you do get accustomed to it and I actually like it now. There is an Advanced picture option Motion Picture Pro 4 that can be set to Off, Weak or Strong. I like it, so I leave it on Strong.

Viera Tools

The remote control has a dedicated Viera Tools button and when pressed, it shows you 5 options: Viera Link, Slideshow, Viera Image Viewer, Game Mode and Eco. Here's my thoughts on those options...

1. Viera Link: since I didn't own any compatible products, I don't have any feedback on this tool. I guess to me it's useless.

2. Slideshow: the unit has an SD card slot, so you can load pictuers and run a slideshow. You can set the soundtrack of the slideshow to one of 5 music tracks built-in to the tv. Other slideshow options you can set are transition effect (11 types, including collage), photo effect (sepia and gray scale) and display interval. Display interval is the speed of the slideshow, it can be set to Fast, Normal, Slow, Very slow and Short. Setting this option to Short would transition the 9 MP photos I have on my SD card every 8 to 9 seconds, which seems like good performance for a tv.

3. Viera Image Viewer: this previews the photos in the SD card, which is pretty fast. You can sort by month, folder or date and then run the slide show based on the sort. Neat.

4. Game Mode: You can either choose Game or Standard. Selecting Game just sets the preset to Game. Unless it does something more then I'm not aware of it, then it seems useless.

5. Eco: You can set options for "No signal for 10 minutes" and "No activity for 3 hours". Basically, you can set whether it stays on or turns off for those options.

Of the 5 tools above, it is the Slideshow that I found most useful and would likely use frequently. It was just so easy to load pictures on the SD card, press the SD Card button on the remote and run the slideshow with the soundtrack. It can also detect landscape versus portrait, so the pictures are shown with the correct orientation. My wife and I watched our wedding photos through this tool, we easily got lost in great memories... :-)

PC Input

This is not Plug and Play (PnP). When I attached the VGA cable from my netbook, the screen size defaulted to 1024x768. After searching through the menu options, I was able to find the PC adjustments section that allowed me to change the resolution to one of the following: 1024x768, 1280x768 and 1366x768. I tried it on 1366x768, but I was getting some noise at the bottom of the screen, setting it on 1280x768 input resolution worked fine, though I had to adjust the horizontal and vertical position to see the entire screen.

Timer

This was a nice unexpected feature. I can set 5 different times when the TV either turns on or off. I will use this feature when I am out of town and want to make it seem like someone is home.

Unused Features

I already mentioned that I do not use the Viera Link tool, as I do not have compatible devices. Other features I will not use are the Closed caption and Password setting. The password feature would be useful for parents. If set, access to channels/shows can be disabled based on content. So if a particular channel has a program that is TV-14 that has Sexual or Violence content, it can be blocked. Access to input selection can be password protected as well. Pretty neat.

Overall

I am very happy with this purchase. The picture quality is great, especially 1080p content. The sound from the built-in speakers is very good. The slideshow tool that allows the tv to show pictures loaded in the built-in SD card slot was a welcome feature and performance was surprisingly good.

Note: For those concerned with heat, it gives off fairly little heat for the size of the unit. When LCD's first came out, I purchased a 26" unit and that sucker was able to heat up my entire bedroom.
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68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very happy!, May 5, 2011
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV (Electronics)
Had it for about a week now. Excellent TV.....exceeded my expectations! The HD feeds from the networks are blowin' my mind! Beautiful color and black levels. I'm a newbie there so keep that in mind but it looks great and can really mesmerize me. Before this, I bought a 1080p vizio 22" LED for my bedroom.....thought that was great and that the larger screen would not hold up in comparison....but it's so much better!!! And great fast service by Amazon!

Pros: Beautiful colors
Deep Blacks
Motion Pro works well
Even light across screen
Energy saver!!!
Just the right size for up to 10ft. Viewing
Great viewing angle
And of course, Blu Ray looks beautiful

Cons: Optical audio out only.

Other thoughts:

Motion Pro 4 : I think it works well. You can set it to strong, weak or off. On the strong setting, yes, some moments in film look like video....it's not that it's not pleasing, it's more like it's distracting at first because I keep noticing it. I turned it to strong for the Amazing Race the other nite and it worked well with all the action and camera cuts. For general viewing, I've settled in on the weak setting which is perfect for me.

Power Consumption: I've found by using a watt meter that the backlight is the main variable in using more or less power. Power consumption can easily be tuned down to as little as 50 or 60 watts....and a setting that uses the advertised 80 watts looks relatively good.....however, my favorite setting with the deepest blacks has the backlight pumped up and uses about 135 watts. I can compromise at 80 or 100 watt setting and pump it up when watching a movie or fav show.

A.I. picture: Enriches black areas without affecting brightness of overall picture.....I think it works well and I leave it on.....does not seem to affect power consumption

C.A.T.S. adjusts for ambient light....doesn't do much during the day but at night, it significantly reduces brightness and I don't like it so I leave it off.....does save some energy.

ECO mode: In Viera tools....standard looks better....saving is less bright but saves energy.

There's other settings to play with.

My custom settings for average viewing that uses about 100 watts:

Back Light 50
Contrast 85
Brightness 65
Color 40
Tint 0
Sharpness 50

A.I. On
C.A.T.S. Off
Motion Pro 4 set to weak
ENJOY!



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56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased by both price and product quality., April 16, 2011
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U30 42-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV (Electronics)
Having both sold and owned a multitude of electronic devices that included Sony, Panasonic and others too numerous to mention and I freely admit to being a Sony lover until this purchase. This set replaces a Sony rear projecting Sony flat screen that required a blub replacement, the cost of which was over 30 percent of what the new set cost me. After comparing the picture quality and features offered by various brands including LG, Sharp and Sony among them, I found Panasonic equaled or exceeded what the competition offered and till now I have no reason to regret my dissension to buy it.

That being said, I am very pleased with Amazon as a seller. Having been a retailer who considered service of prime importance, I hate Box Stores approach to merchandizing that relies on the Hard Sell by their employees and considers the obligation ceases once the item moves out the doorway and becomes the buyers responsibility should a problem surface. Not only did Amazon have my purchase delivered free to my living room in perfect condition, but also guaranteed a replacement should it be defective without the hassles one can expect when dealing with WalMart, Best Buy and others like them.

Would I recommend both the product and the seller? Yes!
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