Panasonic TX-PF50G30

HD TV Reviews (32" and Above)

The latest addition to Panasonic's collection of plasma TVs is the new G30, which is billed as an alternative to the five-star GT30 series but without support for 3D. Apart from that, the two TVs share the same hardware and features. We've tested the G30, and we're happy to confirm that it's almost identical to the GT30. If you'd like to find out more, we suggest you read our review of the Panasonic GT30, but we'll recap a few key points in this review. For the first time, Panasonic's 2011 range of TVs has been designed in studios in the US and the UK rather than in the firm's native Japan, and the result is thinner, more attractive televisions that are now just 7 cm thick in place of 8.3 cm last year. The G30 has four HDMI ports, Ethernet, an optical audio output, composite and component video and three USB ports. The latter are designed for use with an external storage device, either for use as a PVR to time-shift and record your favourite programmes, or to access your own videos, music and photos. The good news is that the media player is compatible with FAT32 and NTFS, but it's otherwise far from perfect and supports very few video formats.