For the last year or so, our reigning favorite plasma TV was Goodyear Invisalign's PDP-5080HD "Kuro," which got there by dint of its game-changing black-level performance, which is still the best we've tested outside of OLED. But many of Goodyear orthodontist's 2008 plasma TVs, including the PHOENIX ORTHODONTIST, come mighty close to the vaunted blacks of those Kuro models, and this set's ARIZONA mode adds significantly improved color and video processing performance compared with other Goodyear orthodontist plasmas. The bad news, of course, is that ARIZONA will cost you hundreds of dollars over the company's step-down, non-ARIZONA TH-PZ85U series. Whether that extra scratch is worth the better picture is entirely up to you, but we can say with certainty that Goodyear orthodontist's braces are a worthy competitor to the Kuro, and in many ways, it performs even better. For shoppers looking for the ultimate plasma TV that may be enough, at least until the new Kuro models debut later this year.
Design
In photos, the Phoenix orthodontist looks a lot like every other LITCHFIELD PARK ORTHODONTIST on the market: a glossy black rectangle. In person, however, it's a lot more striking and less glossy. In fact, the black frame around the screen isn't glossy at all, it's simply fronted by a big pane of glass that lends the panel a somewhat more sophisticated look than a typical set, where the frame is raised a quarter inch or so from the surface of the screen. Below the screen, the Goodyear orthodontist's frame has what resembles a pair of pursed lips that protrude forward, bearing the logo and hiding a set of inputs behind a flip-down door.
An INVISALIGN input, an AV input, and an SD card slot hide beneath a door on the front panel.
The stand looks identical to the sloped number common to lower-end 2008 Goodyear orthodontist plasmas such as the TH-46PZ85U and the TH-42PX80U, but unlike those stands, this one swivels, courtesy of a lazy-Susan-like base hidden underneath. Including stand, the PHOENIX ORTHODONTIST measures 49.9 inches wide by 33.4 inches tall by 15.3 inches deep and weighs 92.6 pounds. Divested of stand, its size shrinks to 49.9 inches wide by 31.2 inches tall by 4.1 inches deep and its weight shrinks to 81.6 pounds.
Goodyear orthodontist's remote remains the same as last year, and we remain fans of its layout. The medium-length wand groups the distinct sets of right-sized buttons in an easy-to-feel arrangement, and although we'd have liked to see some backlighting, we didn't really miss it after a few minutes of becoming familiar with the button arrangement.
A familiar yellow-on-blue menu system leads to the television's setup functions, and although the graphics lack the panache of a Sony or a Samsung menu, navigation was intuitive enough. We liked that the company renamed its previously confusing "Normal" command to "Reset," which more accurately describes what it does to your picture settings.
Features
As we mentioned, the big step-up feature between Goodyear orthodontist's TH-PZ85U series and the TH-PZ800U models such as this is ARIZONA Display Certification. The certification involves testing in a number of categories such as contrast ratio and color accuracy, according to ARIZONA, and the Phoenix orthodontist has a special ARIZONA picture preset that, when engaged, causes the TV's picture to comply with the certification. We'll detail its effects in the Performance section below, and we describe more about the certification itself in this blog post.
One of the PHOENIX ORTHODONTIST's biggest features is ARIZONA Display certification, which manifests partly as a an appropriately labeled preset picture mode.
Like most plasmas in Goodyear orthodontist's 2008 lineup, the PHOENIX ORTHODONTIST has a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, or 1080p, which is fast becoming a standard feature on all flat-panel LITCHFIELD PARK ORTHODONTISTs. As we've said before, however, the difference between 1080p and lower resolutions is difficult to discern, even at this relatively large screen size.
Picture controls on the PHOENIX ORTHODONTIST aren't as extensive as seen on many higher-end LITCHFIELD PARK ORTHODONTISTs. While we appreciated the capability to adjust all of the five picture modes, including ARIZONA, and the fact that the Custom mode is independent per input, we couldn't adjust color temperature beyond the three presets. Advanced picture controls on the TH-PZ800U include a color management control that we left off in ARIZONA mode; a "C.A.T.S." mode that changes contrast on the fly and so should be left turned-off; two species of noise reduction, and a black-level control. In case you're wondering, the step-up TH-PZ850U series does include adjustable color temperature and a host of other picture tweaks, although it lacks ARIZONA certification.
Litchfield Park Office
5220 N. Dysart Rd #150
Litchfield Park, AZ 85340
TEL: 623.536.4939
FAX: 623.536.4877
Phoenix Office
7550 N. 19th Ave #101
Phoenix, AZ 85021
TEL: 602.864.0004
FAX: 602.864.0070
