I just bought a new HD sat-receiver and I want to buy a new Plasma. I heard from a lot of people the Panasonic is the best, but what model should ik get to enjoi HD? I want a 42 inch model.

If you want FULL HD you have two choices with Panasonic.

The 42-THPZ700 or 42-THPZ70/B.

Both models offer full 1080p (1920x1080) natively.

What's the difference between the two models other than price? The 42-THPZ700 is around £300 on average more expensive than the 42-THPZ7/B.

Firstly, the 42-THPZ70 does not have the same audio facilities compared to its more expensive sibling the 42-THPZ700. But if you're already using a 5.1 sound system this is irrelevant.

The 42-THPZ700 has a contrast ratio of 5000:1 whereas the 42-THPZ70/B has a higher contrast ratio of 10,000:1 which brings the model in line with 42-PX70/PX700 range. This means deeper blacks and a more wider colour range.

Additionally the 42-THPZ70 has two HDMI ports whereas the more expensive 42-THPZ700 has three.

Other than these differences the two models are identical.

I'm fortunate in having seen both models. SD (Freeview) is okay but owing to the TV upscaling the image to fit its 1080p screen, IMO the images are a bit rough and frankly slightly disappointing. But this is true for most TVs of this size.

Watching SKY or even SKY/BBC HD is really where both models shine as expected.

If you're contemplating Plasma you ought to view the new Pioneer "Kuro" Range; PDP-428XD and/or PDP-4280XD.

Again, I've been fortunate to have a side-by-side demonstration of the Panny 42-THPZ700 against the PDP-428XD using my all-time favourite film "Star Wars IV - A new hope" as a comparison aid.

The opening credit sequence where Darth Vader's ship encompasses Princess Leia's ambassador's ship is a good scene as it ably demonstrates blackness levels between the two plasma sets.

The Pioneer PDP-428XD simply pisses from a great height over the Panny.

The space background on the Pioneer is really really black and the stars are simply white pin-pricks. Whereas the Panny 42-THPZ700 the black ground is really a dark tepid grey. Simply, the Pioneer results in a true cinematic experience whereas the Panny compared to LCD's is impressive but falls considerably lower to the Pioneer.

However, I'd imagine the 42-PZ70 will give a better account of itself owing to a better contrast ratio of 10,000:1 compared to the Pioneer's PDP-428XD having a contrast ratio of 16,000:1.

So far, I've been really impressed with the Pioneer KURO range and I'm very very tempted to buy one.

My dilemma is that the Pioneer is not natively 1080p (though the TV will accept 1080p signals which are downscaled) whereas the Panny's are.

I'm attending the London Sound & Vision show in the hope that I'll see both TVs to decide my purchase.

Thanks for the info. Pioneer does have indeed some very good screens (especially the new Kuro series) But I made the decision to buy the Panasonic 42-THPZ700 which I still didn't regret! Especially with my new HD receiver this really rocks. The picture quality is excellent (also with dark scenes) for example BBC HD really looks excellent, very sharp & detailed.
The upscaling is indeed not the best, but luckily I have most of my movies in 1080p quality

Have you had the opportunity to look at the Panny th-42pz70?

Also, which HD format have you chosen to watch your movies on - Blu Ray or HD-DVD?

I'm intending to buy the XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on.

Sadly, most shops over here didn't have the th-42pz70 on display, so no...

I watched several HD DVD & Blu-ray movies I've downloaded to my HTPC, also X264 files, which look brilliant!