Customer Reviews

Sylvania 6842PE 42-Inch Flat Panel Plasma TV

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was showing a demo DVD in progressive scan mode and some basic analog cable signals. I bought it because it was in my price range and it had what appeared to be the best picture among the other cheapy plasmas on display and it did not have the visible integrated speakers. I wanted a very clean and simple look and did not want the extra bulk of integrated speakers. I do wish they had added some wire guides or something as it is difficult to hide the cables coming down from the back. The remote also appears rather weak and flimsy, it was probably meant to be replaced by a Universal remote.

It took me a few days of tuning before I finally got the picture to my liking. I tested with some anamorphic DVDs and initially the image was sub par, decent contrast between darks and lights, but blacks appeared to be washed out with no detail and quite a bit of contour banding. The lights were still very nice. This was using 480i and S-Video from a standard DVD player. I then switched to a component cables and turned on progressive scan

Image quality improved, with bright colors details standing out vividly. I tested with Moulan Rouge and Hero (the Jet-Li original DVD Chinese release) both have some spectacular complex scenes... Both looked very good but I still thought the darker shades still lacked a lot of detail. On a hunch I bought some really expensive true 75ohm components cables... and bingo, suddenly darks came alive. I tested with Matrix and Heat, both containing a lot of dark scenes... though the blacks are still not up to the quality of Panasonic's Real Black Drive system. It was very acceptable to me.

Contrast ratio is stated at 1000:1, Compared to Panasonic's claimed 4000:1 it is noticeably dimmer. If I had a little more money I would have bought the Panasonic EDTV equivalent. But the Sylvania branded Funai Plasma is still a decent plasma definitely better than the AKAI, Daewoo, Gateway models I looked at. If you have the extra $500-$1000 dollars go with the Panasonic, JVC or Mitsubishi EDTV, but if your budget constrained, this plasma, with the proper set up, will provide decently.

I can't comment on it's performance with HDTV signals, but HDTV looks good on almost everything.

I found the TV was easy to setup. I think the picture quality is excellent. I have two issues with TV. The Standard 5W speaker are not just bad they are an total embarrasement. I can't believe someone would build a $2k TV with such bad audio. Be preparded to invest in a home theater system. The good picture is just nothing worth without the sound. I got me a Bose 321 and now I'm really happy!

I am still struggeling finding out the remote programming code for the TV. None of the codes provided by Bose seem to be working. I called Funai customer service and they told me to try Sylvania, Funai and Emersons codes as well, but still no success.

we bought this tv after looking at a ton of tv's, the 42 in size was perfect for what we needed. since i am not going to paying to recieve HD, i figured for the money this was perfect for us, we paid 1299.00 andanother two hundred for a decent surround sound which is a must. it was easy to setup, you need component cables to hookup DVD, we are on sattelite so we get a good picture,the sound is horrible as stated in other reviews,besides you got to have surround if you get a big screen. stil haven't found the remote code so i can program one remote. if anyone ever figures this out please add to review.

We bought this TV in February of 2006 and have had it for a year now. It was side by side with a Panasonic HDTV and the picture was comparable. Maybe a 5% difference in sharpness but once we got it home you couldn't tell any difference. My brother has a 46" Samsung HDTV CRT and the picture on my Sylvania is hands down better. Of course thats comparing CRT to Plasma. I am running Digital cable with the HDTV package thru it and the picture is great.

Cons: - Speakers are horrible but I have it hooked up to surround sound.

- The remote is to basic. It has everything you need to run the TV and adjust it but it just seems cheesy.

- No HDMI connection