Plasma HDTV Upstarts Go Head-to-Head

Dell, HP, and ViewSonic introduce high-def plasma sets.

"Three PC companies walk into the TV business..." This may sound like the setup to a tech joke, but three PC industry veterans have taken the plunge. And two of them--Dell and HP--have introduced high-definition plasma panels that deserve to be taken quite seriously.

When turned off, the Dell W4200HD, the HP PL4245N, and the ViewSonic VPW4255 look similar. Each modestly priced 42-inch monitor comes with side speakers and a stand. The ViewSonic model swivels about 30 degrees in either direction on its stand; the others don't move. All three can be mounted on a wall with optional mounting kits.

Once we brought the three TVs into our lab for testing, however, the differences became apparent. With the power switched on, the ViewSonic quickly revealed poor color. No matter how our lab tweaked the settings, we simply were unable to remove a yellowish tint from the screen--not even from black-and-white sequences on the Kill Bill, Volume 1 DVD.

The ViewSonic unit also displayed feeble reds. In Seabiscuit, for example, Toby McGuire's red cap and jersey had an orange hue. And we got no solace as that scene faded to black, because the ViewSonic showed only a deep gray, covered in a haze of red, green, and blue flecks. We saw similar color noise in flesh tones and in the dark portions of other content. (The VPW4255 does allow you to adjust reds, greens, and blues.)

The Dell and HP models, on the other hand, are very capable. After calibration, the two panels displayed colors almost identically. Each reproduced the saturated hues of Kill Bill, Seabiscuit, and recorded HD clips from the George Lopez Show. They also did a good job with the somber scenes in Mystic River and with the makeup-free complexions of interviewees in an HD news segment.

The Dell does have some subtle advantages, putting a touch more brightness in highlights, such as the glint in an eye or the sheen on hair. We would have tried to match those effects on the HP set, but you can't tweak the contrast on that model while it's receiving DVI input (which we use for our side-by-side tests). The Dell also beat the HP at displaying blacks. Portions of Dell's screen depicting black were as dark as when the TV was off. The HP, however, sometimes showed too much light in dark regions, as well as a touch of color noise.

That's not to say that either TV was perfect. Neither offered a color temperature preset that came close to the magic number of 6500 kelvin--the color standard for displaying TV and DVD material. For example, the Dell's default Normal color temperature preset had a slight reddish glow. We saw better colors with the Natural preset, despite a bluish tint. Though this setting looked fine in our test group, the image quality on these TVs might not hold up against that of pricier sets.

Dell's W4200HD is the only model here with a built-in ATSC digital tuner for receiving HD broadcasts by antenna (unfortunately, it lacks a CableCard slot); it does come with an NTSC tuner for analog standard-definition programs. The HP model receives only NTSC on its internal tuner, but like the Dell, it includes two tuners, for picture-in-picture viewing. The ViewSonic unit, meanwhile, lacks any tuners--both it and the HP require a separate tuner box or a cable or satellite service to receive HD content.

We ran into one little annoyance with the Dell: Its slim remote stopped working after half an hour. Dell representatives confirmed that some models shipped with faulty remotes; the company will send replacements, however.

Saving money often involves making some sacrifice in quality. In the case of the ViewSonic VPW4255, the sacrifice is too great. But both the Dell W4200HD and the HP PL4245N deliver reasonably good quality for the price, with the Dell television offering the best value.

But the Dell and HP units outscored the ViewSonic Model in our image-quality tests.

Chart notes: Products are listed by star rating, which considers image quality, features, usability, and support. See "Screen Tests" from the October issue of Digital World for information on how we test HDTVs.

			Format Scored			DW Verdict
	42-inch Plasma TV	Features	Standard-definition	DVD	HDTV
1	Dell W4200HP $3499	Very Good	Very Good	Very Good	Very Good	Good color and rich blacks earn this model our DW Choice award.
2	HP PL4245N $4000	Good	Very Good	Very Good	Very Good	Deeper blacks and better user controls would make this a first-rate TV.
3	ViewSonic VPW4255 $3000	Fair	Fair	Fair	Fair	TV Disappoints with inaccurate colors, dark gray "blacks," and heavy video noise.

Sen Captain