Sharp picture, great sound

none

This is a fantastic TV. I was trying to decide b/w this one or the toshiba one. The picture of this one was sharper by quite a margin. The toshiba had component video but there wasn't that noticeable of a difference b/w that and s video. Another thing about this TV is that it a lot flatter than the toshiba.

I got this TV in May of '98 for a great price ($400). 27" is smaller than I wanted but I figured why pay much for what will probably be my last NTSC TV. By the way, how many of you out there would buy just a monitor if available? I already have a good NTSC tuner in my VCR and sure as hell am NOT going to use the built-in speakers and amp. Anyway, just for kicks I compared it to a 27" Sony XBR (this was pre-Wega). Surprizingly, with DVD (S-Video) the Panasonic was much closer in quality to the XBR than I expected! The Panasonic seems to have a weak power supply, as the blacks lacked the detail of the XBR, but otherwise it looked virtually identicle. With the RF input viewing cable TV, the XBR clearly has a better comb-filter, but if you have DBS with S-Video, who cares? This was the stripper model in the SuperFlat series and lacks PIP and most bells and whistles, but I don't care about any of that stuff. Panasonic calls this a "data-grade picture tube with 700 lines of resolution". I don't believe the marketing hype and know NTSC is a 525 line format (about 480 viewable) but I will say this; the pixels are indeed smaller than most other 27 inchers and I can sit closer to the screen without seeing scan lines. So far sounds pretty good, right? There is a problem though. Last week it refused to turn on, and it is out of warranty. I would like to fix it, but if it is more than a few hundred dollars maybe I'll just buy an el cheapo 32" until the HDTV format shakes out. Until last week I would have rated it a solid 4+. Now I must give it a 3, it is after all supposed to be a high-end direct-view (for Panasonic anyway). I know mass produced products have their share of duds, but I think Panasonic should offer a better warranty on SuperFlats, as Sony does on ES audio and A/V gear.

Sharp picture, relatively small pixel elements, flatter picture tube DOES make a difference

Weak power supply, no component video input, could use another S-Video input

Just an update. I had it fixed for only $57. It took less than 10 business days. However it still buzzes sometimes when there is a lot of high frequency information in the picture. This, and the inability to resolve fine detail in dark scenes is due to the wimpy power supply. This is a shame because this is an otherwise execellent TV. When I eventually buy a wide-screen HDTV it probably won't be a Panasonic unless they use a more robust power supply.