Panasonic TX-L42DT65B Review

Panasonic’s assault on the LED TV market continues with the TX-L42DT65B – the 42in model within the Viera DT65 series – that we’re reviewing today. In case you’re wondering, the UK-exclusive DT65 shares nearly identical specifications with the DT60 which the rest of Europe gets: the change in numerical suffix apparently reflects not only the set’s premium status, but also restricted availability through authorised dealers.

Within the Japanese TV manufacturer’s ever-expanding lineup of LED-lit LCD televisions, the Panasonic DT65 sits merely one rung below the flagship WT65/WT60 series. Besides this 42-inch version, three other screen sizes are available, namely the 47-inch Panasonic TX-L47DT65B, the 55-inch TX-L55DT65B, and the 60-inch TX-L60DT65B. This review will deal with the baby of the bunch (and probably the most popular, given the smallish average British home size), then.

Of course, there’s a significant change in display technology (and by extrapolation, the underlying LCD panel) between this year’s and last year’s Viera DT series. Because of a decision by Panasonic to adopt passive 3D across its entire 2013 LED LCD range, the TX-L42DT65 is equipped with FPR (film-type patterned retarder) polarized 3D LCD technology provided by LG Display, instead of the active-shutter glasses (ASG) system found on last year’s DT50. With this in mind, let’s see what the TV is capable of!

Design

Upon unboxing the TXL42DT65 and inspecting the accessories, we can’t help but feel that silver is the order of the day – the designers at Panasonic HQ must have received a memo declaring this to be the new black. First, the slim bezel is beautifully chiselled and finished in gleaming silver, which may appear a touch reflective in a brightly-lit viewing environment. This is matched by the highly polished V-shaped, swivel-capable stem that supports the television on a brushed metallic – yes, you’ve guessed it – silver rectangular base.

Even the two supplied remote controls are silver affairs. The first is a traditional one that sports large legible keys and can be backlit; while a secondary touchpad controller – featuring an inbuilt microphone and an innovative “trigger finger” button – aims to complement the impressive array of Smart TV functionalities including voice control on the Viera DT65.

The TXL42DT65B ships with 4 pairs of polarized 3D glasses, which is double the number of active-shutter eyewear included with this year’s Samsung 3DTVs, and Panasonic’s own active 3D plasmas.

Calibration

To get an idea of how accurate the Panasonic 42DT65 can be out of the box, we switched [Viewing Mode] from the default of “Normal” to “True Cinema“, and measured away.

Greyscale

Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

The TV didn’t fare too badly here, although blue channel was underfilled, causing on-screen images to appear a touch too warm. A quick trip to the [White Balance] submenu (which houses the 2-point WB controls) sorted this out – we didn’t even need to do much tweaking to the 10-point controls (accessible via the [More Detailed Adjustment] option) to obtain what we would say is an excellent result:

Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [Professional1] mode

Delta errors (dEs) were suppressed to below 3 (widely considered to be the human perceptible limit), ensuring that greys remained tint-free which, believe it or not, is a key element for accurate colour reproduction. Near-black areas – transmissive display technologies like LED LCDs cannot render true blacks on a per-pixel basis – took on a purplish shade, which is a common trait of IPS (in-plane switching) panels.

Gamma

Perhaps to draw attention away from the not-so-deep black level (a known weakness of IPS LCD panels), Panasonic’s engineers seemed to have tweaked the default gamma on the Viera TX-L42DT65B such that brighter portions of the video appeared darker than they should be. This creates a punchier image, but can look slightly unnatural due to uneven tonal transition.

Pre-calibration gamma tracking (avg 2.45)	Post-calibration gamma tracking (avg 2.25)

Greyscale calibration improved (but did not completely eradicate) the issue. Since the DT65′s black level measured above 0.1 cd/m², we lowered our target gamma from the 2.4 we usually aim for (this is the reference stipulated by ITU for flat-screen HD studio monitors used in a dark room, but then their blacks are quite a bit better than 0.1cd/m²!) to 2.2, so that shadow detail was not crushed. In case you’re wondering why we didn’t take advantage of the 10p gamma controls on offer to flatten the tracking, that’s because we noticed sporadic posterization in real-world viewing with their use.

Colour

We found red to be undersaturated on our Panasonic TX-L42DT65 review sample, not only at 100% saturation point, but also at 25%, 50% and 75% points which CalMAN 5 now lets us track. Blue also suffered from a similar problem at sub-100% saturation points.

Pre-calibration CIE chart including saturation tracking

[Colour Management] to the rescue. Panasonic’s HSL-based (hue, saturation, luminance) CMS (colour management system) is effective, but there’s a fair bit of interaction between the parameters (for example, adjusting luminance will affect saturation to a degree, and vice versa) so care must be exercised. As per our current workflow, we prioritised getting colour luminance/brightness/intensity spot-on to wipe out any decoding error (not that there was much in the first place):

Post-calibration colour luminance (coloured bars=targets; black bars=measured values)

… and then gently used the [R-Saturation] and [B-Saturation] sliders to minimise red and blue inaccuracies respectively across the 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% saturation tracking points, while also using other controls to touch up the secondary colours. Trying to correct the slightly deviated RGB hues at 100% saturation would unfortunately also skew the sub-100% colour points, so we decided to leave them be since these hue errors were undetectable in real-life content.

Post-calibration colour saturation tracking

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels	None
Screen uniformity	Mild “dirty screen” effect
Overscanning on HDMI	0% with [16:9 Overscan] set to “Off“
Blacker than black	Passed
Calibrated black level (black screen)	0 cd/m2 (LEDs shut off)
Calibrated black level (ANSI checkerboard)	0.156 cd/m2
Black level retention	Auto-dimming with full black screen
Primary chromaticity	Very good
Scaling	Excellent
Video mode deinterlacing	Effective jaggies reduction
Film mode deinterlacing	Passed 2:2/576i & 3:2/480i with [Film Cadence Mode] on
Viewing angle	Very good for an LCD; washout occurs after 60° off-axis
Motion resolution	900-1080 with [Intelligent Frame Creation] on; 300 off
Digital noise reduction	Defeatable
Sharpness	Defeatable edge enhancement
Luma/Chroma bandwidth (2D Blu-ray)	Full luma; full chroma with [1080p Pixel Direct] engaged
1080p/24 capability	No judder in 2D or 3D
Input lag (high-speed camera)	33ms compared to CRT TV
Leo Bodnar input lag tester	36ms with [Game Mode] engaged
Full 4:4:4 reproduction (PC)	Yes, with [1080p Pixel Direct] engaged

Power Consumption

Default [Normal] mode	49 watts
Calibrated [Professional1] mode	38 watts
Standby	<1 watt

Picture Quality

If you’re familiar with the different characteristics of various types of LCD panel technology, then you’ll know what to expect with the Panasonic TXL42DT65B which uses an IPS panel. Bearing that in mind, first let’s talk about this television’s Achilles’ heel: at 0.156 cd/m², its native black level was relatively bright compared to VA-based LCD displays (such as Samsung’s Series 7 and Series 8 LED TVs, or Panasonic’s own 42E6 model), let alone plasma TVs from these two companies that are capable of supremely deep blacks.

To be fair, the mist of greyness that pervades where it should be black was only apparent when watching predominantly dark scenes in a dimly-lit viewing environment. The presence of moderate-strong ambient light (i.e. during daytime) or some bright elements on screen went a long way towards deflecting from the less-than-impressive black-level response – we actually found the TX-L42DT65 very watchable under such conditions.

With that out of the way, it’s mostly good news when it comes to the Panasonic DT65′s picture performance. The Japanese TV manufacturer has developed a reputation for delivering high-quality video processing, while knowing when to hold back on any tinkering urge, so that already pristine HD detail can shine through unblemished. That’s exactly what we got on the Viera TX-L42DT65B, with first-rate standard-definition handling (the set even passed our Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason PAL DVD torture test with flying colours) and judder-free 1080p/24 Blu-ray playback among the virtues that brought a smile to our face. Of course, a lot of credit needs to go to Panasonic’s generous provision of useful calibration controls, which helped us achieve highly accurate greyscale and colours on the TXL42DT65.

As with most edge LED televisions, a mild “dirty screen” effect (most noticeable during panning shots) was unavoidable due to the way LEDs mounted along the borders are required to illuminate the whole screen with the aid of light guidance plates. Motion quality was clean (another strength of IPS technology) without any sign of low-tone motion smearing that can afflict VA panels. Engaging [Intelligent Frame Creation] would bump motion resolution from the baseline LCD level of 300 to in excess of 900 lines – we certainly advise setting it to “Min” for video-based content to boost the clarity of moving objects. In the past we’ve found Panasonic’s motion-compensated frame interpolation (MCFI) technology to exhibit less glitches than similar systems implemented by rival TV brands, and our 42-inch DT65 sample remained true to this trend.

IPS panels are revered too for their wide viewing angles (at least within the LCD circle), a trait that was immediately apparent on the Panasonic TXL42DT65B. Colours held on to their saturation as far as 60° off-axis before any significant washout occurred, although blacks – which were not great to begin with – became brighter earlier than that. Either way, this is a notch better than LED TVs that use VA-type LCD panel.

Since the L42DT65B uses an FPR polarized 3D LCD panel sourced from LG Display, we already knew what we’re getting in the third dimension based on our experience withprevious 3DTVs featuring the same technology: bright extra-dimensional images that are free of flicker, low on crosstalk, and deliver bags of depth. All three frame rates (50hz, 60hz, 24Hz) were handled impeccably without judder in 3-D mode – another testament to Panasonic’s video processing prowess.

Our sensitive eyes could pick up dark horizontal scan lines through the passive 3D glasses – an inevitable side effect of the polarized filter/lens – from as far as 6 feet away. Obviously sitting farther away from the screen can make the scanlines/ lessened vertical resolution dissolve away, but then so would the tri-dimensional detail and immersiveness.

Another thing to note with passive 3D televisions including the Panasonic DT65 is that the vertical viewing angle is fairly limited – watching the screen from anything more than 15° above eye level would result in an intolerable amount of ghosting/ double images. This is of particular importance for owners who wish to enjoy three-dimensional content on their wall-mounted TX-L42DT65 – make sure the TV is installed at eye level.

Conclusion

Panasonic has worked its magic on the TX-L42DT65B to make the best of an IPS LCD panel whose strengths (wide viewing angles, no motion smearing) and weakness (less-than-impressive blacks) are common knowledge. Video processing for standard definition and 3D content is excellent, and the Viera DT65 – like most of the company’s non-entry-level HDTVs this year – can be calibrated to within an inch of its life, owing to their engineers’ deep understanding of what constitutes an accurate image, coupled with the inclusion of a comprehensive array of advanced calibration controls.

The TX-L42DT65 is really only let down – as all IPS panels do – by its black-level response, which makes it more suitable as a bright-room television than for critical viewing in a dimly-lit viewing environment. Had Panasonic paired its TV-making know-how with an LCD panel capable of producing deeper blacks (such as the VA one used on the TX-L42E6B), the result might have been spectacular, although the company would probably have to reverse its stance of “only passive 3D on LED TVs”. Perhaps next year?

As things stand, the TXL42DT65B’s stylish design, accurate images, easy-on-the-eye 3D and excellent Smart TV platform earn it a spot in the “Recommended” category, even though those who are seeking the best value for money are better served by the ET60 series which delivers essentially similar picture quality at a lower price.

Forget Netflix, forget LoveFilm, Sky wants Now TV to be the service you choose when it comes to streaming movies online to your computer, phone, games console, or set top box. But is the new service "powered by Sky" good enough to impress? We had a quick play on a number of different devices ahead of the UK launch.

We had a play with Now TV on YouView, on an Xbox 360, on the iPad, on an HTC Android device, and a MacBook Air. The key takeaway to tell you is that the interface is clean, crisp and very clear.

It's still very bare bones at the moment, it's not even day one yet, but the functionality is there or promised.

The idea is twofold: option one is that you dip in and out of the Sky Movies catalogue, buying movies a la carte when you fancy watching them - as if you were heading down to the local video shop. Movies are priced between 99p and £3.49 and after pressing the rent now button the movie starts streaming almost instantly; option two is to pay a set monthly fee (£15) and watch as much as you want, when you want.

Thanks to technology already used on the company's Sky Go service there is no waiting for downloads to occur and the service on all devices bar YouView works out the best bit-rate quality to stream to your device, so you get to watch it rather than just watching a download bar.

If you are paying a la carte, once you press play you have 48 hours to watch the film, or if you are loading up your choices for the weekend, 28 days before it disappears. It's the same as Apple's iTunes offering and makes sense. After all, you aren't buying the movies you are merely streaming them.

Movies are currently available in SD rather than HD, although Sky has told Pocket-lint that it hopes to offer HD in the future and you'll be able to register two devices with the service.

As for the catalogue, there are around 600 movies available at any one time, and the catalogue, like that for Sky Movies subscribers, is constantly moving and changing with new releases being added every Friday.

The service will be available only to UK residents, and you can stream it only in the UK. No dialling in from abroad.

Now TV on YouView

Like other catch-up services, YouView has allowed Sky to keep the Now TV interface (seen above) and that means once you've used the service elsewhere you'll know exactly where everything is. Not that it is confusing.

Users will be able to scroll right to left to reveal films available and at no point will you be offered a long list of titles. The interface is all about showing you the covers, and it's easy to pick the one you want.

To make it easier films are split out into genres, either the typical ones you would expect, or collections like "Teenage kicks", or "Toon in" for example.

YouView users will also be able to see the movies they've already watched in the My Movies section, which is handy if you've queued a film from the web browser at work or half way through a movie, or Search for a film if you are after something more specific to the ones listed on the home pages.

QUICK VERDICT: Having a movie service that doesn't require you to pay a monthly subscription is a big win for YouView, and YouView customers are likely to flock to the new service. While YouView has said that it is trying to court Netflix and LoveFilm for the service as well, having five new movies every Friday night to choose from is going to be a big appeal.

Now TV on Xbox Live

Now TV on the Xbox works in a similar way to the YouView experience, although it will add a couple of other features when it launches later in the summer. The key bonus here is that you'll get full Kinect voice and gesture support to whizz through the movies.

Xbox users will also get a Live TV feature that lets you see what is on Sky Movies at the same time, if you've paid for the Monthly Sky Movies Pass option. As the service is on-demand that's not really a massive plus, but it will help guide those who can't decide to what to watch.

The Xbox experience is otherwise all operated via the Xbox controller and moving through the interface is easy.

As with other iterations of the service on other devices, the focus of Now TV is new and exciting. It's trying to push the fact that there is always something new to watch rather than some random French film that you remember seeing a decade ago and want to watch again.

It's about quality of content rather than quantity.

QUICK VERDICT: Now TV is going to have the toughest challenge to impress on the Xbox, as the entertainment console is already very good at offering plenty of ways to get content from the likes of Netflix, LoveFilm, Xbox Video, Sky Player (which is staying) and others.

The appeal here is going to be the latest movie selection. It's a far better, more useful catalogue than Netflix or Lovefilm, however without TV, Netflix still wins out if you are hoping to watch the latest episode of Californication or Dexter, for example.

Microsoft tells us the delay after launch in getting Now TV on the Xbox is down to the app having to go through the usual app approval process.

Now TV on iPad and iPhone

For those who travel, the Apple iPad or iPhone experience is likely to be one of the key ways you watch Now TV. The iPad and iPhone apps are still awaiting approval from Apple, although we managed to play with the yet to be approved app at the launch event. It's very white, and very picture focused.

Pressing on a movie poster reveals the pricing details and a small blurb about the movie and you'll be able to set a passcode for movies over a certain age rating to stop your little ones watching something they shouldn't.

As with the Sky Go app, you'll be able to jump back 30 seconds if you missed a crucial plot point, and jumping to a specific spot is simple and easy. There is no need to wait for the whole movie to download first.

The iPad and iPhone apps support resume, so you can break and come back to where you were, Unlike Netflix, however, this feature doesn't work across multiple devices, but is promised for some time in the future.

QUICK VERDICT: The iPad and iPhone apps are easy to use and will offer you the chance to rent and watch movies quickly. You won't be able to rent new movies from within the apps if you choose the pay per view option, but can queue them from a web browser on the same device.

We expect this experience to work in the same way the Amazon Kindle app already does and is probably a move to stop Apple taking a slice of the movie rentals via in-app purchases. If you opt for the Sky Movies Monthly Pass you can watch what you like when you like.

The service will need an internet connection (Wi-Fi or 3G) to work, so if you are hoping to stack up on films before getting on a flight iTunes is still the better option.

Now TV on Android

Now TV will work on a handful of devices, the same handful of devices Sky Go works on in fact, and that sadly means no Ice Cream Sandwich support until the end of July, and no Jelly Bean support for the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 devices.

Sky Go is supported on the following Android smartphones running on 2.2 & 2.3 operating systems: HTC Desire, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire HD, HTC Incredible, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XE, Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Galaxy S II.

It's not sure at this time whether the app supports HDMI out so you can stream to a TV from your smartphone.

QUICK VERDICT: Using the app is easy and works as we would expect, and with the most popular devices supported you should be okay.

Sadly for Sky, Google constantly moves the goalposts, and that means you won't be able to use the service on the new flagship tablet, the Nexus 7. That's frustrating and something that Sky should make a priority in fixing. We are sure it will.

Now TV on a MacBook Air

Quick and easy to use laptop users don't get any additional features over those we talk about above with other devices, aside from being able to stream the content to a TV - handy if you go to your parents' house and they don't have Sky.

With OS X Mountain Lion adding 1080p HD streaming via an Apple TV, this could be one of the easiest ways to get movies to your television.

QUICK VERDICT: If you've not yet got a capable smartphone, Xbox, set top box, or iPad this allows you to not miss out on the fun and games and share it on your television. That might be a little more geeky than you were hoping, but needs must and all that.

First impressions

From our brief play with Now TV on several different devices at the launch event it is clear that Sky has created a great service that will offer plenty to a stack of new users who, until now, have been scared to tie themselves into a contract.

Like Netflix, the success here is that you can enjoy the service for a month - say at Christmas - and then ditch it in January. The streaming quality is excellent and the lack of having to wait for downloads certainly appealing to those who just want to watch something straight away.

Sky is clearly hoping people will be wooed by having access to the latest films, and that's likely to be true - Netflix users will tell you that they just don't use the service for movies at the moment.

Where the service is at its weakest however, is when you look beyond films.

While Sky has promised content from Sky Atlantic and Sky Living, if you look at Sky's Sky Go on-demand offering of those channels, the service is more of a catch up of the latest shows rather than the Netflix approach of offering huge back catalogues of TV shows so you can start from the beginning. Sky hasn't detailed its plans for TV as yet, but we would expect it to be the same here.

As a movie proposition Now TV looks like it will quickly be the de facto offering for many people, the catalogue is fresh, and the interface clean, streaming was very good even though it's not HD at the moment. However Netflix and its huge collection of American TV shouldn't have anything to worry about if TV is your thing. 

Just Show Me: How to disable Photo Stream on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

Today in Tech – Mon, Mar 26, 2012Welcome to Just Show Me on Tecca TV, where we show you some tips and tricks for getting the most out of the gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you how to turn off PhotoStream on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. This is a good way to save some data on your mobile plan, especially if you're worried about your bandwidth getting capped.

Take a look at these other episodes of Just Show Me that'll help you become an iPhone master:

How to update your iPhone's appsHow to take HDR photos on your iPhone

For even more episodes of Just Show Me, check out all our Just Show Me episodes. If you have any topics you'd like to see us cover, just drop us a line in the comments.

This article was written by Ashley Esqueda and originally appeared on Tecca

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