Well the Panasonic certainly sounds good - but then it is the priciest, and I know that the stand it comes with is a bit of a brute. The Philips sounds promising though, and perhaps a bit of a surprise that LCD can do so well at this size.

I cant help but think that if the 43" Pioneer plasma had been in this test, the outcome would have been different............

I'm currently living in Poland, and see the TH-42PX600 marketed as TH-42PV600 (iam ssuming they are the same, as EISA identifies them the same).
The Panny next to the Pioneer looks better when it is turned on, with SD it is really excellent (90% of my TV in Poland will be SD for the foreseeable future). However, the Pioneer looks in a different class when they are turned off - which scores very heavily with my wife.
At this money, Panasonic should have made more effort to help us married men get the set into our living rooms!

If the problems im having ( see hd problems) are anything to go by i would leave the Pioneer well alone

Were you well impressed with the 43in Pioneer then icehockeyboy?

Its a pity you didn't compare the Philips 42PF7621D instead of the model chosen! This model has:

Freeview tuner
1366 x 768 resolution
dedicated PC and component imputs
2 HDMI inputs
USB, S Video, 2 Scarts
It also uses Pixel Plus 2 HD image processing
and a host of other picture optimisation features.
I have seen and compared the picture of this set alongside the Panasonic set in your test - and for me at least there is "no contest" The Philips picture is better both in terms of contrast,sharpness, and sheer watchability. So good in fact I bought one!
Whats more it came with a 5 year warranty (advisable in my opinion with Philips equipment) for a shade under £1600!
This model got a 93% "best buy" rating in What Home Cinema - when the listed price was £1800, and I wonder how it would have been scored at the price I paid!

Dave, ill just say its the best set ive seen to date, and i do trawl around lots of places that sell plasma and lcd's.
As for problems, ive not encounted any, unlike my Fujitsu, which developed an uncureable problem, in as much as despite replacing the panel, it developed the same fault, which, Fujitsu told me, would come back ad infinitum

The Fujitsu issue sounds bizarre - what was the model and what was wrong with it?

Cant recall the model number, HH 40 figures in it i think, but it featured in a group test of plasmas in whf? and scored highly, let that be a lesson to all who go by mag reviews!! Basically, it developed a pink hue, obviously prominent on white scenes, and this is the fault that Fujitsu said would return, and return, and return.............so, thanks to the nice folk at Sevenoaks in Nottingham, they refunded me in full, and i bought the Pioneer.

Full marks to Sevenoaks Nottingham, but it seems strange that they couldn't fix the Fujitsu - or replace it with a pink-free Fujitsu...