Panasonic TH-85VX200 review

The ultimate 3D display is as expensive as it is vast

Panasonic TH-85VX200B
Out of the price range of us mere mortals, the TH-85VX200B is a showcase of what Panasonic engineers can do when let of the pricing leash

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Panasonic th-85vx200b

The TH-85VX200B's screen-only nature means it doesn't have any integrated speakers, so you'll need to invest in a separate audio system.

Value

The simple fact is that its £42,000 price tag is a vast amount of money for any screen and places the TH-85VX200B beyond the means of almost everyone.

It's also impossible to ignore the fact that you can get a decent 3D projector system able to produce pictures more than 100-inch across for as little as five grand, including a decent screen. Plus, of course, Panasonic's P65VT20 costs just £5k, meaning you're paying £37k for the TH-85VX200B's extra 20 inches and 'pro' picture features.

On the other hand, the TH-85VX200B is destined for custom installations where money is no object. In this context, its ability to deliver the finest home 3D pictures yet seen together with stunning 2D on an 85-inch scale and without the faffing associated with a projector makes the TH-85VX200B a truly tempting proposition.

Ease of use

It's immediately reassuring to find that the TH-85VX200B is operated by a surprisingly normal remote control, the layout of which is even slightly more intuitive than Panasonic's normal zappers, as it doesn't have to accommodate multimedia features.

Things aren't quite so rosy where the onscreen menus are concerned. The best that can be said about them is that they are 'professional'; the combination of reams of white text against ugly blue boxes hardly create the comfortable user experience found with some of the latest onscreen menu systems.

The apportioning of some features to different sub-menus doesn't always seem logical either, leaving some things tricky to track down. Some of the menu positioning also proves less than helpful during calibration.

If you're going to spend more than 40 grand on a screen, then, unless you're extremely confident about what you're doing, you really ought to consider coughing up a relatively small amount extra to get your TH-85VX200B professionally calibrated, then just stick to using the basic functions for everyday use.

John Archer
AV Technology Contributor

John has been writing about home entertainment technology for more than two decades - an especially impressive feat considering he still claims to only be 35 years old (yeah, right). In that time he’s reviewed hundreds if not thousands of TVs, projectors and speakers, and spent frankly far too long sitting by himself in a dark room.