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Panasonic have been at the forefront of plasma TV production since plasma and LCD TV's began to take over from CRT's. In the past it has been widely thought that LCD TV's have a slight edge in terms of picture quality. With their newer models, Panasonic have challenged this opinion.

The TH-46PZ85 is quite simply a stunning TV. The 46 inch screen will make any living room come to life with its incredible picture quality and immersive sound. Looks wise, this TV is not unattractive, but perhaps more functional looking than some other brands. The finish of the TV is a glossy black, which is the current trend for the majority of manufacturers. It also features a silver strip which sits just below the speaker.

This TV is a full HD 1080p 100Hz set with built in Freeview. The 100Hz frequency of the TV is a major plus point; this means no matter how fast the action on the screen is moving, you won't get any blurriness between frames. Panasonic have also included a new feature called 'Intelligent Frame Creation'. This adds extra frames to to the video to reduce any juddering found when watching movies recorded at 24 frames per second. Whether you like this feature or not is a personal preference, but there is no doubt that it is one of the best implementations of this system yet found on a TV.

The TH-46PZ85 has a contrast ratio of 30,000:1. In real terms what this means is that blacks are very black and whites are very white. This is certainly noticeable in my opinion - the image has a fantastic contrast between white and black, providing the deepest blacks you could hope for. This is something that plasma TVs can do very well, and the TH-46PZ85 is no exception.

Often, sound is a feature that is overlooked on large TVs, people tend to focus on the picture size and quality. It is worth noting however, that this TV includes a BBE ViVA HD3D speaker, which does an excellent job in producing a surround sound effect, so you won't need to invest in a surround sound system as well.

The Freeview quality of the Panasonic is good, but not fantastic. This TV was built for HD and it is here where it really shines and where you will see its real quality. Anything from HD games to Blu-ray will look absolutely stunning on the TH-46PZ85, and the 3 HDMI connections mean you can have several HD sources connected at once.

Also included (as with all Panasonic equipment) is the VIERA system. This allows you to connect any other Panasonic products (like a Blu-ray player) which can then all be controlled together.

In summary, the TH-46PZ85 is a fantastic TV, the picture and sound quality are truly excellent. The blacks look as deep as they can be, and motion looks incredibly smooth with the the 100Hz mode. You will be hard pushed to find a better value set out there.