Panasonic Viera TC-L42E50 LED TV Review

Introduction

The E50 sounds good on paper, but does it actually produce a good picture? I'm happy to report that yes, it does the basics very well. The E50 performs strongly in both color and viewing angle. There were some hiccups with contrast and I have some squabbles with Viera Connect, Panasonic’s smart platform. Overall, though, the E50 is a solid performer, not to mention a looker.

Design

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The Panasonic E50 is all class.

The Panasonic Viera TC-L42E50 is a classy-looking TV. This thin LED TV's sleek black bezel is accented by a strip of clear plastic that adds a hint of elegance to this display. The way the TV sits on the base gives it the appearance of floating, which will definitely impress the neighbors.

There are an ample amount of connections on this Panasonic. There are four HDMI ports, two USB ports, a component/composite adapter, a VGA input, an antenna input, an S/PDIF output, and an Ethernet connection. There is even an SD card slot, which seems to be a staple of Panasonic’s mid-range and high-end TVs. The exclusion of any kind of Wi-Fi on an internet-capable TV is rather odd, though, especially in 2012.

{{photo_gallery "Design Landing Page Photo", "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo"}}

Smart TV Features

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Viera Connect is a decent, if somewhat sparse, platform.

Panasonic designed a great menu interface. Everything is labeled clearly and laid out in an easy-to-find fashion. Menu options are separated into six categories: Picture, Audio, Network, Timer, Lock, and Setup. Highlighting an option will show a description of what it does. This interface is a joy to use.

Viera Connect is Panasonic’s smart TV platform. As far as internet platforms go, this one is pretty basic. Pressing the “internet” button on the remote takes you to the smart TV interface where you can access apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video. Panasonic has an app store, but there are not many interesting apps to find on it because most of the good ones (like the aforementioned video streaming apps) are already installed.

One feature that is strangely absent from this platform is an internet browser. I won’t shed too many tears over this—Panasonic never had a good browser to begin with.

{{photo_gallery "Software and Internet Landing Page Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Browser 1 Photo", "Browser 2 Photo", "Browser 3 Photo", "Apps 1 Photo", "Apps 2 Photo", "Apps 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo"}}

Picture Quality

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Great color performance, but this is one bright television.

The Panasonic E50 impressed in a few performance areas. The main draw here is the excellent range of colors that this TV can produce, which is almost identical to the industry standard for HDTVs. The result is a picture that is bright and vibrant. The E50 also has the added benefit of a decent viewing angle, so viewing it off-center will not degrade its excellent picture too much.

Motion performance was just average. There was minor blurring that occurred when an image moved across the screen and there was some minimal color trailing. Vertical lines moving across the screen had some jaggedness, although these artifacts didn't affect the overall image quality of a movie too much.

The E50 did not have the strongest contrast ratio, although it wasn’t terrible by any means. The screen gets exceptionally bright, but the black levels are also on the brighter side. This means that the E50 won't be as detailed at darker levels. Overall, this Panasonic had an admirable performance.

Conclusion

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A solid smart TV that doesn't force 3D on you.

Panasonic knows how to craft a handsome TV, although the TC-L42E50 is more than just looks: it is a solid performer when it comes to color and viewing angle. We’re also fans of Panasonic’s easy-to-use menus.

The E50 isn’t a complete joyride. The black levels on this TV were unimpressive, while the audio suffered from a lack of bass. As far as smart TVs go, the Viera Connect platform isn’t the worst, but it has a very sparse interface and apps that aren’t that useful.

Luckily, the E50 hits most of the right notes. It’s refreshing to see a TV that has internet content like Netflix and Hulu Plus, but doesn’t force you to commit to 3D (a feature of limited usefulness compared to its significant expense). If you are looking for a solid performer and a TV that looks good enough to impress your friends, the Panasonic Viera TC-L42E50 is definitely worth checking out.

Science Introduction

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The most impressive aspect of the Panasonic Viera TC-L42E50 was its highly accurate color gamut. The viewing angle was also an area that excelled, while the contrast was merely average thanks to an overly bright screen.

Color

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Truly great colors

This is a great color gamut. The reds are almost identical to the industry standard gamut for HDTVs. If we were to nitpick, we would say that the greens are ever-so-slightly undersaturated and the blues are oversaturated by a hair. The white point is where it belongs, which means that whites will not look discolored. More on how we test color performance.

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Viewing Angle

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A good viewing angle for an LCD television.

The E50’s total viewing angle of 45° is decent. It bested the Sony Bravia KDL-46HX750 and was comparable to the Insignia NS-50L240A13, although it can’t touch the higher-end Panasonic Viera TC-L47DT50. More on how we test viewing angle.

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Contrast

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The black levels produced are too bright.

The E50’s contrast ratio of 1123:1 is just average. Sony’s "KDL-46HX750":https://reviewed.usatoday.com/televisions/content/Sony-Bravia-KDL-46HX750-3D-LED-LCD-HDTV-Review.htm and the "Insignia NS-50L240A13":https://reviewed.usatoday.com/televisions/content/Insignia-NS-50L240A13-HDTV-Review.htm both had superior contrast ratios, while the "Panasonic TC-L47DT50":https://reviewed.usatoday.com/televisions/content/Panasonic-TC-L47DT50-LED-LCD-HDTV-Review.htm, the L42E50’s big brother, only had a slightly better ratio. The reason for this is the really bright black level produced by the E50, which was measured at 0.24 cd/m² . While the DT50 also had a bright black level, its peak brightness of 269.57 cd/m² was much brighter, as well. More on how we test contrast.

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Other Tests

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