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HDTV via LCD-best of the best
Pros
Brightest, lightest, smallest & most colorful HDTV out there.
Cons
Vertical viewing angle-picture fades if you stand up and look down at it.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you are in the market, compare this set to all the others in a store. I believe you will agree with what I have written.
I had been looking forward to the day I could finally take the plunge into HDTV. The only problem I have had, at least up until now, has been the selection. Face it, the last 5 years have shown us gigantic size HDTV sets larger than a fridge, at 200 lbs. and more. If I viewed one of these in a darkened room, then it looked good. But, I did not want to purchase a tv costing me thousands of dollars, taking up a large chunk of my living room, only to be able to watch it with the blinds drawn. Plasma has not been an option purely because they are too expensive.
I was in a store some 4 months ago and saw a few DLP-based HDTV's. I was immediately impressed and intended on buying one in the next few months after I had saved up enough. When I was ready to purchase, I happened to glimpse a Panasonic LCD set at the store right next to a DLP set. I was blown away. I finally purchased the Panasonic after more in-depth research and comparison. FYI, this is a projection LCD set, not a true LCD set. The difference being that projection LCD sets project light through very small lcd panels onto a screen. True LCD sets are super thin and resemble computer LCD's. The true LCD HDTV's are also super expensive.
There are 4 different flavors of HDTV sets out there that I considered, and here are my reasons for going against all but the LCD:
1. Plasma. These look great, but in order to get true HDTV, meaning a signal better than 480p, you have to shell out $4000 or more, and that's for a 42" tv. Don't be fooled by the plasma sets advertised for $2k-3k. These are most likely ED displays, which is standard definition(no HDTV).
2. Projection CRT. Good old-fashioned sets that have been around forever, with tried and tested technology. These things are simply far too large and heavy. Period. I also don't want to make a room darker just to watch tv-if I had wanted to do that, I would have bought a projector. Lastly, if you have the same image on the screen for quite some time, you can end up with screen burn-in.
3. DLP. These are very similar to the projection LCD's, but cost some $1000 more. I really like the picture on the DLP sets, but after a bit of adjustment, I believe my LCD looks just as good.
4. Projection LCD. These just had an excellent picture quality compared to all the others, and while more expensive than traditional projection CRT's, I still think they have a higher intrinsic value.
The internet is a great source of information on HDTV, as there are thousands of pages of information out there. I can't explain all the terminology or technology, but I can give a few of the differences I saw while comparing the Panasonic.
First of all, LCD based HDTV's typically have a fixed resolution, much like the lcd monitors sold for computer systems. The "native resolution" of this Panasonic is 720p, which means that other resolutions will be up or downconverted into the native 720p. Most of the projection CRT units can display true 480p, 720p and 1080i. Some more, some less. I can't say which is the best, and not one person anywhere can. This is purely based on opinion, and there are thousands of them out there on this subject. Suffice it for me to say that I really enjoy the 720p resolution on the Panasonic.
Secondly, I am really impressed with the features found on the set. One of the features I had to have was a built in ATSC tuner. For those who don't know, the ATSC tuner allows a tv to receive local HDTV or SD broadcasts. The vast majority of sets out there do not have this built in, which means another $200-500 for a clunky set-top box tuner. The variety of ouputs and inputs surpasses literally every HDTV I have seen out there:
1x digital audio out: connect directly to any Dolby Digital equipped receiver/stereo system.
1x DCM(cable card POD) interface: these are small cards similar in size to a PCMCIA card which will be offered by cable companies by summer of 2004, which will replace the need to have an external set-top cable box.
2x antenna input (antenna A & B): I have a cable feed connected to one & my OTA HDTV antenna to the other.
1x RGB input: this is used for connecting PC's and other components with this type of output. Supposedly better than component video.
1x HDMI input with R/L audio inputs: the next version of DVI. Backwards compatible with DVI, although unlike DVI, HDMI includes video AND audio.
3x component video inputs with R/L audio inputs: connect other video sources such as gaming consoles & DVD players.
2x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs: basic video and audio, typically a VCR setup.
1x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs
On the front of the set:
1x SD card slot: if you have a digital camera that uses SD memory cards, you can plug it into this slot to view your digital photos onscreen.
1x PC card slot: if you don't use SD memory, like myself, you can simply put your memory into a PC card adapter and plug it into the set to view your digital photos.
On the side of the set:
1x RGB input
1x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs
Use of the set is quite easy and straightforward, which should appeal to many people not wanting to complicate their lives. The remote is fairly standard, with a button which will light up every button in a dark room & controls for all the other devices hooked up to the tv(or not). I was easily able to program the codes for my DVD, receiver & VCR into the remote. Sure makes life easier when you only have to deal with 1 remote. The built-in menus on the set are very good, easily understood & quite a bit of adjustment can be had. The settings for each input are remembered, such as no sharpness for the VCR & a bit dimmer of a picture for the DVD. I believe the manual explains all of the options and features quite well, although some of the terminology may sound foreign to some.
In interest of keeping this short, let me just throw in a few more things you will hear about if researching this set. One of the most popular arguments against this set, and projection LCD technology as a whole, is the lack of a true shade of black. I have adjusted mine a few times, watched a number of movies with space as the background, but have yet to find any instance of the black level not being dark enough. This is purely up to the shopper, as it is entirely opinion based.
Another argument against projection LCD technology is that a person will find dead pixels on their set. This is inherent to LCD's, but some people have more of a problem with it than others. I would imagine I have some on mine, but after looking fairly closely at a pure black, white, red & blue screens, I could not find any. In my opinion, if I don't see them, then I have no problems.
Finally, I would like to point out that standard cable(not digital cable) only looks okay. Just remember that if it looks okay on your set now, when it gets displayed on a larger tv it WILL look worse. I don't actually have a problem with standard cable tv, but I do have a big problem with vcr output. I will officially give away my VCR now, as I have tried to watch a few tapes(never been opened) I had in my stack. That was a mistake. If everyone had a large HDTV, the death of the VCR would be instantaneous.
Hopefully I have offered some insight, or at least things to look for when shopping. If you haven't started looking yet, you will have a major information overload-there is so much information you need to be aware of that the only safe way is through research. My only bit of advice is to simply nod at whatever the sales associate is telling you, but don't believe what they say. When you are done with them, go home and research what you were looking at-you would be surprised by how many people have something to say about it. These people are the ones who own and use the sets, whose opinions are extremely valid(more so than some guy trying to make a buck by selling a tv).
I bought this set because of the incredible picture(bright & colorful), the extremely small size & light weight, the built-in ATSC tuner, the large number of inputs, the cable card slot for when my cable provider offers them and, lastly, the ability to pop out my microdrive from my camera & pop it into the tv to view my photos.
I was in a store some 4 months ago and saw a few DLP-based HDTV's. I was immediately impressed and intended on buying one in the next few months after I had saved up enough. When I was ready to purchase, I happened to glimpse a Panasonic LCD set at the store right next to a DLP set. I was blown away. I finally purchased the Panasonic after more in-depth research and comparison. FYI, this is a projection LCD set, not a true LCD set. The difference being that projection LCD sets project light through very small lcd panels onto a screen. True LCD sets are super thin and resemble computer LCD's. The true LCD HDTV's are also super expensive.
There are 4 different flavors of HDTV sets out there that I considered, and here are my reasons for going against all but the LCD:
1. Plasma. These look great, but in order to get true HDTV, meaning a signal better than 480p, you have to shell out $4000 or more, and that's for a 42" tv. Don't be fooled by the plasma sets advertised for $2k-3k. These are most likely ED displays, which is standard definition(no HDTV).
2. Projection CRT. Good old-fashioned sets that have been around forever, with tried and tested technology. These things are simply far too large and heavy. Period. I also don't want to make a room darker just to watch tv-if I had wanted to do that, I would have bought a projector. Lastly, if you have the same image on the screen for quite some time, you can end up with screen burn-in.
3. DLP. These are very similar to the projection LCD's, but cost some $1000 more. I really like the picture on the DLP sets, but after a bit of adjustment, I believe my LCD looks just as good.
4. Projection LCD. These just had an excellent picture quality compared to all the others, and while more expensive than traditional projection CRT's, I still think they have a higher intrinsic value.
The internet is a great source of information on HDTV, as there are thousands of pages of information out there. I can't explain all the terminology or technology, but I can give a few of the differences I saw while comparing the Panasonic.
First of all, LCD based HDTV's typically have a fixed resolution, much like the lcd monitors sold for computer systems. The "native resolution" of this Panasonic is 720p, which means that other resolutions will be up or downconverted into the native 720p. Most of the projection CRT units can display true 480p, 720p and 1080i. Some more, some less. I can't say which is the best, and not one person anywhere can. This is purely based on opinion, and there are thousands of them out there on this subject. Suffice it for me to say that I really enjoy the 720p resolution on the Panasonic.
Secondly, I am really impressed with the features found on the set. One of the features I had to have was a built in ATSC tuner. For those who don't know, the ATSC tuner allows a tv to receive local HDTV or SD broadcasts. The vast majority of sets out there do not have this built in, which means another $200-500 for a clunky set-top box tuner. The variety of ouputs and inputs surpasses literally every HDTV I have seen out there:
1x digital audio out: connect directly to any Dolby Digital equipped receiver/stereo system.
1x DCM(cable card POD) interface: these are small cards similar in size to a PCMCIA card which will be offered by cable companies by summer of 2004, which will replace the need to have an external set-top cable box.
2x antenna input (antenna A & B): I have a cable feed connected to one & my OTA HDTV antenna to the other.
1x RGB input: this is used for connecting PC's and other components with this type of output. Supposedly better than component video.
1x HDMI input with R/L audio inputs: the next version of DVI. Backwards compatible with DVI, although unlike DVI, HDMI includes video AND audio.
3x component video inputs with R/L audio inputs: connect other video sources such as gaming consoles & DVD players.
2x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs: basic video and audio, typically a VCR setup.
1x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs
On the front of the set:
1x SD card slot: if you have a digital camera that uses SD memory cards, you can plug it into this slot to view your digital photos onscreen.
1x PC card slot: if you don't use SD memory, like myself, you can simply put your memory into a PC card adapter and plug it into the set to view your digital photos.
On the side of the set:
1x RGB input
1x s-video/video inputs with R/L audio inputs
Use of the set is quite easy and straightforward, which should appeal to many people not wanting to complicate their lives. The remote is fairly standard, with a button which will light up every button in a dark room & controls for all the other devices hooked up to the tv(or not). I was easily able to program the codes for my DVD, receiver & VCR into the remote. Sure makes life easier when you only have to deal with 1 remote. The built-in menus on the set are very good, easily understood & quite a bit of adjustment can be had. The settings for each input are remembered, such as no sharpness for the VCR & a bit dimmer of a picture for the DVD. I believe the manual explains all of the options and features quite well, although some of the terminology may sound foreign to some.
In interest of keeping this short, let me just throw in a few more things you will hear about if researching this set. One of the most popular arguments against this set, and projection LCD technology as a whole, is the lack of a true shade of black. I have adjusted mine a few times, watched a number of movies with space as the background, but have yet to find any instance of the black level not being dark enough. This is purely up to the shopper, as it is entirely opinion based.
Another argument against projection LCD technology is that a person will find dead pixels on their set. This is inherent to LCD's, but some people have more of a problem with it than others. I would imagine I have some on mine, but after looking fairly closely at a pure black, white, red & blue screens, I could not find any. In my opinion, if I don't see them, then I have no problems.
Finally, I would like to point out that standard cable(not digital cable) only looks okay. Just remember that if it looks okay on your set now, when it gets displayed on a larger tv it WILL look worse. I don't actually have a problem with standard cable tv, but I do have a big problem with vcr output. I will officially give away my VCR now, as I have tried to watch a few tapes(never been opened) I had in my stack. That was a mistake. If everyone had a large HDTV, the death of the VCR would be instantaneous.
Hopefully I have offered some insight, or at least things to look for when shopping. If you haven't started looking yet, you will have a major information overload-there is so much information you need to be aware of that the only safe way is through research. My only bit of advice is to simply nod at whatever the sales associate is telling you, but don't believe what they say. When you are done with them, go home and research what you were looking at-you would be surprised by how many people have something to say about it. These people are the ones who own and use the sets, whose opinions are extremely valid(more so than some guy trying to make a buck by selling a tv).
I bought this set because of the incredible picture(bright & colorful), the extremely small size & light weight, the built-in ATSC tuner, the large number of inputs, the cable card slot for when my cable provider offers them and, lastly, the ability to pop out my microdrive from my camera & pop it into the tv to view my photos.
