NEC 42XR4A Brochure

BY ROBERT HERON 

T

he NEC 42XR4 ($3,995 list) is the

most impressive a 42-inch plas-

ma display panel that PC Maga-

zine has tested to date. It doesn't

include many extras, and its advanced

picture controls demand professional

setup, but with some tweaking, this

TV's accurate and faithful video repro-

duction is a pleasure for the eyes. 

Except for the power cord and remote

control, all accessories for the 42XR4,

such as speakers and mounting hard-

ware, must be purchased separately. The

benefit of this à la carte arrangement is

that owners don't pay extra for things

they may not want or use. The downside,

of course, is that they must consider their

setup needs and purchase the appropri-

ate hardware for the display. For our re-

view, NEC provided the remarkably

sturdy PX-ST2U ($292 list) swivel table

stand, which offers about 10 degrees of

rotation left and right (20 degrees total).

This is definitely not a plug-and-play dis-

play; securing the 60-pound 42XR4 onto

its new perch is best accomplished with

the aid of a second pair of hands. Com-

fortable handholds on the rear of the

42XR4 helped reduce the risk of damage

to the display (or to the people lifting it)

during setup. 

The 42XR4's thin black bezel has a

matte finish, which helps suppress the re-

flection of ambient light sources. Silver

trim outlining the edge of the display was

attractive yet not distracting. The on-dis-

play controls located under the left side of

the 42XR4 are slightly recessed into the

frame, keeping them out of sight but still

accessible. A small power indicator light

on the bottom right edge was appropriate-

ly unnoticeable unless you looked for it.

The included remote control is a slender,

comfortable device with relatively few but-

tons. The remote performed flawlessly

when we tried it from various angles and

distances, but as it has no backlight and the

keys don't glow, it's pretty hard to use in

dimly lit environments. 

All A/V inputs on the 42XR4 are

grouped on a downward-facing block

on the rear of the display. The selection

of connections includes two HDMI in-

puts, a pair of component video inputs,

and a VGA input for PC use. The tight

clearance between the inputs and the

top of the table stand required our pre-

mium cables to make a 90-degree bend

close to the connection. But this con-

figuration did prevent the cables from

being visible from the front of the dis-

play. The 42XR4 is officially labeled a

monitor, since it lacks a television tuner

(DTV or otherwise). For cable and

satellite set-top box users, the lack of a

tuner is mostly irrelevant. But an inte-

grated DTV tuner would have been a

useful inclusion for those who enjoy

the superb quality of digital broadcast

television. 

The 42XR4 has a native resolution of

1,024 by 768 pixels. That means that it

has 150,000 fewer pixels than a standard

720p broadcast signal. In general, 42-

inch plasma TVs such as the 42XR4 are

considered high-definition displays,

since they offer at least 720 lines of ver-

tical resolution. Horizontal resolution is

not a factor in the established definition

of what counts as "HD." 

After connecting our standard and

high-definition sources, I found the

42XR4's default brightness (black

level) settings caused the darker de-

tails of the picture to disappear into

the background. Color saturation ap-

peared good, but the monitor's default

color temperature resulted in whites

appearing a bit cool (bluish). The de-

fault picture settings for displays are

rarely optimal (except for standing out

on a store shelf ), so increasing the

42XR4's brightness and adjusting the

NEC 42XR4

THE INDEPENDENT GUIDE TO TECHNOLOGY

MARCH 22, 2006

EDITOR RATING

        VERY GOOD

“The NEC

42XR4 offers

the best

picture quality

of any 42-

inch plasma

TV we have

seen to date.”