NEC 42MP 2

...be aware that the above NEC 42 MP2 and NEC 42 MP3 ranges are in the process of being superceeded by NEC 42 VP4 range. So although you can still buy this screen online it will become increasingly difficult to do so. One advantage of a soon to be discontinued item is that I notice the cost on this one has come down to as little as £1,750 (inc. VAT) - half what I paid when this model first appeared on the market back in 2002. I say grab one if you can ...
...down to just two, the NEC 42MP and the Panasonic 42PWD - both of these screens got great reviews in all the usual guides, like What Cimema and What Hi-Fi.

Caution: On taking your screen home from the shop make sure it remains in the upright / vertical position as I understand the plasma particles can be messed up if left horizontally. Also take care when driving over speed bumps - the bloke who delivered mine said he couldn't believe ... more

Before reading any further on this review you should be aware that the above NEC 42 MP2 and NEC 42 MP3 ranges are in the process of being superceeded by NEC 42 VP4 range. So although you can still buy this screen online it will become increasingly difficult to do so. One advantage of a soon to be discontinued item is that I notice the cost on this one has come down to as little as £1,750 (inc. VAT) - half what I paid when this model first appeared on the market back in 2002. I say grab one if you can and while you still can because even against more recent advances being made on plasma, I think this is still one of the best screens around.

If you're anything like me, this will be one of the most expensive items you'll ever purchase for your home - a once in a lifetime extravegance - so you have to get it right. I spent over 6 months researching various plasmas before narrowing it down to just two, the NEC 42MP and the Panasonic 42PWD - both of these screens got great reviews in all the usual guides, like What Cimema and What Hi-Fi.

Caution: On taking your screen home from the shop make sure it remains in the upright / vertical position as I understand the plasma particles can be messed up if left horizontally. Also take care when driving over speed bumps - the bloke who delivered mine said he couldn't believe the number of screen that cracked on delivery. You must ensure a specialist transports these screens.

Easy set-up: The screen was playing less than 2 minutes after taking it out of the box. Far simpler than setting up a TV, just plug it in to your DVD or video player and away you go, a stunning picture appears. The factory default settings are more than adequate to allow you to enjoy your screen immediately.

Sound: The MP 2/3 range does't have built in speakers like many of the more recent plasmas do. For me this was an advantage anyway as I wanted the screent o play thorugh my existing hi-fi speakers. Optional NEC slim-line speakers that fit the screen are, however, available as an add-on, for extra cost (approx. £250) if you need or want them.

Picture Perfect: The picture quality on this screen is just superb and best appreciated when playing DVDs where the medium quality matches the screen quality. You need to walk right up to the screen (say 6 inches away) before you can truely see the pixels of the image. The screen also copes superbly well with movement and dynamic motion - some cheaper screens do not deal with this aspect well at all and a shadowy or frozen type image is seen. But this NEC series was one of the first on the market to tackle this problem and they did it well and fast images play without a hitch.

Colour definition: If there's one thing that's a negative about this particular screen it's the fact that it's black contrast is not quite as good as it's rival Panasonic's. Getting balck to appear as a true black was a real stumbling block for manufacturers of plasma screens for a long time. To be honest, you probably would even notice and besides, it is possible to compensate by playing with the colour, contrast and brightness levels to get the balance you need.

TV hook-up: You will notice a clear drop in image quality on switching from DVD viewing to some TV broadcasts (particularly the older shows) simply because the resolution of the media and the signal for TV transmission is pretty poor by comparison to the resolution of a DVD image. Most TV was not made with a 42 inch viewing screen and high resolution viewer in mind and many are analogue broadcasts and not digital etc...Obviously this does not reflect in any way what-so-ever on the superb quality of this plasma and when quality films ro programmes are broadcast on TV you get your great picture.

Heat: Plasmas, by the nature of how they work and their relatively high power ratings, can get pretty warm / hot during use. This screen does start to get pretty warm after 2-3 hours of playing. It's coolers are practically silent though (this was an improvement on the previous MP1 range). Yet I suspect that the newer NEC, or other plasmas, now coming onto the market will have found ways of reducing this heating effect even more by now.

The remote: This is a modern slim line remote measuring only about an inch wide by about 7 inches tall and is nice and slender to handle and easy to use and quite distinct in size and shape so easily recognisible against other remotes you may have and get mixed up with. It is easy to switch between the functions (such as the Video 1 and Video 2 AV options) with a single push of a button.

Connections: This screen has a really impressive range of links and socket connections which are nicely positioned, out of view, along the left hand side, hidden from view by the frame border. Connections include some PC links so that you could use the screen for Powerpoint presentations from your laptop for example. Bearing in mind this screen was still mainly sold to buisnesses and exhibitions when it first came out in 2002, it has kept that user in mind more than the home user and this is an advantage as it provides some 18 sockets for the user. Amoung these is the usual s-video connection (providing the quickest link to your DVD player) but also 5 BNC sockets (not seen too often these days) which can be used for 3 RGB connections and 2 video or audio links. The standard range of RGB visual and LR audio style sockets are also available.

The Look: The frame on the MP range is a matt black border measuring about 2 inches around the glass screen. Except for a feint NEC logo bottom centre and an LED on/off indicator on the bottom right, there are no other visible buttons or distractions on the frame which is good. All the buttons are hidden very neatly on the underside of the screen base and once set to your taste they do not need to be fiddled with ever again really.

Hang 'em high: Many sites advertised this screen as coming with a mount (two feet, about 6 inches high) so you stand the screen on a shelf or table top. Mine arrived without this and the manufacturers told me that in fact it was not standard issue with this model and I had to in-fact buy a mount for the screen. I decided to buy a wall hanging mount in the end to keep the screen high and safe away from likely damage.

Warrenty: My screen came only with a one year manufacturer's warrenty however I see some sites /shops offering a three year one as standard now (such as John Lewis) so that's worth looking out for.

As I said at the start of the article - the NEC MP range is almost discontinued now so it's an ideal chance to grab or negotiate a bargain price on a superb screen. Get one while you still can and enjoy! 

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