» HP PL5072N 50 inch and HP PL4272N 42 Inch High Definition Plasma TVs Review

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Editor's HDTV Pick

HP 47 inch MediaSmart 1080p LCD HDTV "Out of the box" digital media platform. Enjoy videos, pictures and music from home network + digital media delivered over your broadband Internet connection + 3 x HDMI

The the HP PL5072N and HP PL4272N are high definition with a WXGA (1365 x 768) resolution - probably due to HPs close association with PCs and monitors. In reality, it can be hard to distinguish WXGA from 1080p from over three meters out from the screen. An integrated ATSC/NTSC/clear QAM Tuner allows them to receive HD and digital shows from off air sources and cable.

The HP plasmas are an inexpensive HD plasma option still loaded with lots of excellent features. Added to the value-for-money is the long life rating (luminance is 50% compared to that of initial value) of 60,000 hours.

The HP plasmas have the natural advantage of higher contrast over LCD displays and HP have backed it up with adaptive contrast enhancement to deliver an excellent 10,000:1 contrast ratio. The adaptive contrast enhancement analyses every scene and automatically adjusts lighting to be optimal. With the excellent contrast ratio comes the richness of color expected.

HP’s 3D Color Gamut Mapping

A good contrast ratio brings improved color perception and to this HP have added Dynamic 3-D Color-Gamut Mapping, for optimization of color selection.

Gamut mapping is a technique for modifying the representation of a color image to fit into a limited color space of a rendering device eg. a color printer with a limited range of ink colors printing a color image. Color gamut, the reproducible range of colors, varies between different devices. So, there is a discrepancy in color gamut between an incoming color signal and the color reproduction of a display.

To improve color reproduction (accuracy) a display needs to perform a gamut mapping to properly convert a color signal and match the different color gamuts to improve a color reproducibility. This is the function HP’s Dynamic 3D Color Gamut Mapping performs. The 3D color mapping is a technique applied reduces the memory requirements and computational loads to make real-time application possible – for the rapid frame rate of a plasma display in this case.

It’s interesting to note that Color Gamut Mapping could also be applied to specialized applications such as for color-blind users. Colors could be transformed to make colors easily confused distinct from each other.

HP Video Processing – Visual Fidelity Engine

While high definition brings a crisp and life-like appearance to video it also magnifies any image defects including noise and image artifacts caused by poor video processing. A lower resolution is actually of some benefit in masking these image defects. Image noise and artifacts can also be introduced through the compression required to pack hundreds of channels within limited transmission bandwidth or during de-interlacing which is required to convert NTSC or PAL interlaced signals to progressive-scan for digital display.

Video processor performance is increasingly important to picture quality through the sophistication of video processing applications available to combat video noise. HP have put considerable thought into their video processing engine supplying a 3D Digital Comb Filter, HP Visual Fidelity Engine, 3D Color Enrichment, Video Noise Reduction, Photorealistic Sharpness Enhancement, film mode processing (3:2 Pull Down) and a Motion-adaptive deinterlacer. The HP Visual Fidelity Engine includes:

• Adaptive Contrast Enhancement - automatically adjusts picture contrast for each scene,
• Adaptive Color Saturation - automatically adjusts color intensity
  depending on picture brightness removing color noise,
• Dynamic 3D Color-gamut Mapping – Optimization of color selection for natural-looking colors and
• Advanced Edge Enhancement - smoothes out jagged edges for a sharper picture.

Sound

HP’s Virtual Surround audio processing technology is focused on enhancing both vocal clarity and bass performance. It’s output is through two 10W concealed stereo speakers. If more performance is desired then there is a Dolby Digital output for home theater surround sound with six channels of sound, five with normal speaker range (20Hz – 20,000Hz) and one channel (20Hz – 120 Hz) for a low frequency effects subwoofer.

Connectivity

Both the HP PL5072N and HP PL4272N have an excellent range of connection options including three HDMI (ver 3), twin Component in, twin Composite/S-Video and a PC input. For a full summary see the specification below.

Setup Wizard and Image Tuning

The HP plasmas have a Setup Wizard to make set up simpler. A setup wizard guides you through the steps. You can select from three preset picture modes or a user defined more as well as adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, and sharpness.
It’s possible to set video controls separately for each type of input, but not each specific input. So one setting could apply to all HDMI inputs, one to component and so on.

Further Reading

HP sells an excellent product to help cope with the ever growing storage and organisation requirements for photos, music and video to digital format. The HP MediaSmart Server was named as the winner of LAPTOP magazine’s Best of CES Award in the Best Storage Device category. Read our review of the HP EX470 and EX475 MediaSmart Servers.

If resolution is of primary importance, HP’s SL4278N and SL4278N MediaSmart LCD HDTVs are 1080p and will connect with your wireless home network (integrated 802.11n) allowing you to view videos, photos or listen to music stored on devices attached to the network. They also have a broadband Internet connection for accessing on-line media.

Specification HP PL5072N and HP PL4272N Plasma HDTVs