Those manufacturers jealous of Panasonic's impressive plasma screens will be hoping that this review will give the manufacturer a thorough shoeing. But Panasonic has done it again with an excellent mid-range 42in plasma TV.

The Panasonic TH-42PX700's gloss black screen surround and silver trim flags this screen as being a cut above the 'none more black' PX70 entry-level models. Within this grey undersection, the TH-42PX700's first surprise can be found: a slot for SD and high capacity SDHC cards, for showing friends and relatives your digital snaps.

Triple play

Panasonic has given this TV three HDMIs, all with Viera Link. This allows other Viera Link-compatible equipment to be controlled using the TV's remote.

Other connections include three Scarts (two of which are RGB-enabled), component video and D-Sub PC inputs, and stereo audio and digital audio outputs. Basically, all bases are covered - except one.

Although the TH-42PX700 has a digital tuner for receiving Freeview broadcasts, it doesn't have a common interface slot needed for the smartcard and CAM used to decode the pay-TV service Top Up TV.

The TH-42PX700's specification similarly covers all bases, with an HD-ready resolution of 1024 x 768 and a sizable claimed contrast ratio of 10000:1.

As you might expect, the TH-42PX700's feature count is lengthy. There's an Advanced Smart Sound Speaker System, speakers that Panasonic claim deliver greater clarity, bass and mid-range sound localisation, Viera V-real 2 image processing engine, along with various processing tricks up its sleeve, the ability to accept 1080p sources, and also remaster non-1080p sources for greatly improved images.

Also on list are a digital optimiser for removing noise common to digital video signals; Motion Pattern Noise reduction facilities; Panasonic's Real Black Drive system and Deep Black Filter, and Advanced 3D Colour management.

But an impressive feature list doesn't always mean impressive pictures.

Reputation upheld

Upholding the tradition of Panasonic's legendary black levels on their plasma screens, the inky blackness of space in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy appears inky, thanks to black levels that are astonishingly deep without a trace of grey. Similarly, in the darkest corners of the interior shots of the Vogon Constructor fleet, there's great shadow detailing, giving scenes a deeply convincing sense of scale.