Incredible Picture especially with DVDs; 2 sets of component inputs AND 3 other complete sets of video inputs.

no 720p

Just got this set and appreciate all the comments below. As usual, my settings using Video Essentials are different from others mentioned. When adjusted, the picture is wonderful. DVDs really look spectacular.

When the HD DirecTV decoders come down in price, I am going to add that feature. I wasn't prepared to spend $650 more. The main reason for this tv was the picture and the widescreen capability for movies. Was going to get the RCA for value, but prefer flat tube picture and the RCA wouldn't fit on my current stand as it is too wide and deep. The Panny footprint was perfect. Besides, the guy offered me a terrific deal on the set.

I want to thank those who wrote reviews on this set (and have it). Not only did I get this set, but a friend of mine did too and he loves his too.

Similar Products Used:

Looked at RCA 38" widescreen, Sony 34" , Tosh 34" and Phillips 34"

Best direct-view picture on the market today. Outstanding color and clarity, second to none. Many options for viewing progressive-scan DVD output, as well as standard TV images. Plenty of connectability options, such as five S-Video and component video jacks (including in the front of the set). Enormous array of options for fine-tuning and tweaking this set.

Expensive; you had best bring a fat wallet if you are looking in this price range. Standard TV set speakers are not on the same level as the picture quality, but since most people would use this with a home theatre setup, this is really a moot issue. Set is very heavy at nearly 200 pounds; best to have movers or guys with muscles haul this puppy around. Setup menus feature a dizzying array of options which the manual only partially explains, but if you know what you are doing, this feature would be a plus, not a minus.

This review is for those of you out there who are not sure what to buy, as this was my dilemna for the last four months.

Ever since I saw HDTV demonstrated before my very eyes in the third quarter of 2001, I had the bug to get that technology into my home. The problems as I saw them were two-fold; one, to find something that would fit into my current entertainment center, as I was not willing to shell out another two grand to buy a larger piece of furniture in addition to all of the other costs I was about to incur; and two, to not bust my wallet in the process. I had a fair chunk of change to spend but not like ten grand or something, so I wanted to purchase the right set the first time. My budget for everything was in the $3,000 range.

I began my extensive research by both visiting local electronics stores in the Phoenix area and by looking at various internet sites. Pricegrabber.com, Dealtime.com and several others became frequently visited sources of information. Within a month, I had pretty much narrowed down the field to the following:

36" Sony XBR 450 Wega flatscreen 4x3 HDTV
36" Panasonic Tau flatscreen 4x3 HDTV
34" Panasonic Tau flatscreen 16x9 HDTV

Rear-projection HDTVs were ruled out as I have a very bright living room, with lots of large windows and patio doors. If you notice, all retailers house their rear-projection sets in darkened little alcoves off to the side of the store, with no windows and dim lights. In addition, the image of many rear-projection sets dims substantially unless you view it from straight on, at or just below eye level. The set for us had to be viewable from the sides, as well as from above and below the mid-point of the screen.

That left direct-view televisions. My entertainment center could only take up to a 35" wide set without structural changes, and up to 40" with extensive modifications made to the doors. After viewing the 34" Panasonic 16x9 compared to the two larger 36" 4x3 sets, we rapidly came to the conclusion that the 34" set had the best picture and would not require re-working the articulating doors of the entertainment center, which the 36" sets would require. The 34" Panasonic's picture was slightly better than that of the Sony XBRs, and was definitely better than other manufacturer's 34" 16X9 sets, like Phillips and others.

The only drawback to the 34" Panasonic set was her steep price. Locally, I couldn't find the set for less than $2,700 when you factor in sales tax and local delivery. Online with shipping ran about $2,200 to $2,500, which would blow a gaping hole in my budget. The 36" sets were hundreds of dollars cheaper, so I was really torn for quite some time. As Christmas of 2001 drew near, I started watching some Ebay auctions to see if perhaps I could snag a deal there.

Ebay's problem is that many sellers are nuts on there. Not only must you be cognizant of what the item can be purchased for from other online retailers (sometimes for the same price or even less than what the auction price has reached), but you must also be careful as to the reputation of the potential seller and the nature of the proposed transaction. Two tips for you: one, never buy from a seller who does not have a good track record of feedbacks with few or no negatives, and it is best to restrict form of your payment to credit cards only, as otherwise you have no protections. There is no way I was going to shell out thousands on a set from a seller with zippo feedback, or sellers who wanted a casher's check or money order only. Most Ebay auctions for the Panasonic 34" set were ending up at around $2,200 or more, so I was not titillated by most of the deals.

Finally, on December 22, I won an Ebay auction for $1,800, plus $195 shipping, for a grand total of less than $2k. Although this was a little more than I wanted to spend, it was definitely a smoking deal. The set arrived just after the first of the new year, and wow, was it beautiful.

Set up was painless and easy. The first time the set flickered to life, I knew I had not wasted my money. A few tweaks of the set and we were off to the races. Note that the set has a dizzying array of video and audio quality options, some of which I still don't quite understand. Having friends in the audio-visual industry certainly didn't hurt in this regard.

This is not a set that will dominate your room. If you are looking for a larger-than-life image, you will want to spend your money on something larger. But from 5-6 feet away, this set's picture is so detailed and colorful, you will be amazed. This set is about supreme image quality, not huge expansive size. Progressive-scan DVD images are the clearest I've ever seen depicted on any set or movie theatre screen, and I now find myself picking out all of the visual flaws on competing technologies or movie screens. Star Trek: The Motion Picture's Director's Cut DVD was simply marvelous, the lumbering Klingon warships depicted in superb detail, clarity and color. I actually find myself rushing home from work with new DVDs just to watch them on this gorgeous picture.

Ease of use: B+
Image quality and clarity: A+
Image colors: A+
Image size: A-
Audio capabilities: B
Features and options: A+
Price (the way I bought it): A

This set features the best image quality you can currently buy. Even non-HDTV images are better than most HDTV rear-projection images on this set. Regular TV images can be watched in their standard image (4x3 - resulting in black bars on either side of the screen), full (stretched to occupy the entire screen, but people look fat this way), Panasonic auto (takes up most of the screen and not bad) or zoom (fills the entire screen while reducing the image width so people don't look so fat), the latter of which being the preferred way we like to watch cable TV. The dual NTSC tuners are nice in what you can split the screen perfectly in half and watch a different TV channel on each side of the set.

Be forewarned that very few HDTV sets have built in HDTV converters or tuners, so you will have to shell out another $500 to $700 with most of these sets to get such a signal. Once you buy the tuner, you have two options: one, hook it up to an external antenna to grab HDTV signals from the air, or two, buy Direct TV. We are going the latter route.

All in all, a great purchase and a wonderful set. My friends come over and just drool over the superbly refined image and color clarity. Once the price of this set comes down, it will be a good value.

--don

Similar Products Used:

32" Sony Trinitron tube television (now about 4 years old and was relegated to the master bedroom when this one arrived).

picture quality, widescreen, great looks, good sound

price, difficult to locate in brick stores.

This is a question rather than a review.

I would like to purchase the Panasonic 34wx50 tv based on the reviews I've read on a number of sites and also after looking at in in a store a few months back. However, all the local brick-and-mortar stores near me like Best Buy, Good Guys, Circuit City and websites like J&R do not have this tv in stock. Good Guys and Best Buy said that they are not carrying the product any more (you can still find it on their .com site but they can't deliver to my area). The question I have therefore is "Is this tv being discontinued by Panasonic (and are they coming out with a new model)?

If so, then I might purchase the Toshiba 34" tv instead as that is currently available in my area.

Thanks and all the best.

Similar Products Used:

toshiba 34", sony 32" xbr450

Smooth picture - great line doubler and comb filter on analog cable make good cable signals look great. Great picture, great sound on progressive DVD component input. ( Also, don't need a splitter to watch two shows at once. )

Closed Caption (with sound on) only controlled by multi-button menu selection. XDS program information not decoded and displayable.

Phenominal picture at US$2200

Just to let everyone know, Panasonic will have the CT-34WX52 out Summer 2002. There was a Press Release on the Panasonic Web Site last week, but it is no longer there.
Check their web site now and then to see if more info about the 34WX52 becomes posted.

Clear picture, lots of customizations, nice looking set.

No 720p, and there are still black bars for the 2.35:1 movies!

This was actually my first set that I looked at.. and for some reason, I knew it was the one I was buying. I do plan on purchasing a new progressive scan dvd player (from pioneer - 434) and see the difference in quality. I mainly bought this for HD satellite and DVD movies.. but to my disappointment, there are still BLACK BARS on the top and bottom of the screen. In a way I feel ripped off, but I know that 16:9 will come in handy once I get satellite.

WideScreen HDTV capable, FlatScreen, Clear Picture (Better than the Sony XBRs), Lots of input/output jacks, Auto Calibration & WideScreen Display Sizing if you play a WideScreen DVD or an HDTV signal.

Remote is kinda cheezy and I don't like the joystick functionality for adjusting volume and changing channels.

Factory display settings are too red, but once you adjust them the picture quality is flawless.

Does 480 and 1080 but no 720.

I LOVE this TV! I compared and shopped for 2 weeks against the Sampo, Loewe, Sony XBR, Samsung, Toshiba Cinema, and Philips. My final decision came down to the Sampo, Samsung, and the Panasonic. The Sampo was awesome because it was able to do 480, 720, and 1080, but lacked front input jacks and had very few audio/video jacks in the rear. The Samsung produced a really awesome picture and the lowest price tag for an HDTV set (you can get it for $1800) but the Panasonic produced a slightly better picture and a better built-in line doubler. (You can tell the difference when you watch a Toy Story DVD). Plus, the Pansonic is a 34" and the Samsung is a 30".

For those that are wondering which TV to buy, don't look any further. You HAVE to buy this TV. It's sooo freakin awesome. This is one of the best purchases I made in a long time.

Similar Products Used:

Sony XBRs, Sampo, Samsung 30" HDTV, Toshiba, Philips

Panasonic Tau Series CT-32HX40
The CT-32HX40 is a 32 Inch PureFlat Television, part of the Tau Series from Panasonic. It's features: a dual tuner picture in picture, 3 line digital comb filter and surround sound. The CT-32HX40 is HDTV Compatible.

$$

While standard TV's have screens with aspect ratios of 4:3 (i.e., they're four units wide by three units high), the 34WX50, ready to display DTV broadcasts and anamorphic, "widescreen" DVD's, has a 16:9 aspect ratio, or ratio of screen width to height. Also, standard TV's are limited to about 480 interlaced lines of resolution, while the 34WX50 can handle the standard-definition digital television (SDTV) standard of 480p (progressive) and the high-definition digital television (HDTV) standard of 1080i (interlaced).

If the price tag of the 34WX50 seems a bit much for you, you might be interested to know that Panasonic has brought out another, very similar set, the CT-32HX40, which has a street price of about $1,500. The main difference between the two sets is that the 32HX40, instead of having a 16:9 screen, has the standard-size 4:3 screen shape. That's not really a big drawback though since, to watch 16:9 material, such as SDTV and HDTV broadcasts and widescreen DVD's, you can display them on a 4:3 screen using letterboxing, where horizontal black bands are projected onto the screen above and below the image, compensating for it being too wide to otherwise fit into the 4:3 screen.

Great set, except...

No 720 P

I have been lusting for a HDTV set for some time. From the reviews here this set looked like it was going to be the one.
No 720 P concerned me so I called all of the stations in the Houston area that are broadcasting now and found out that about 1/3 of the signals are in 720P.
I called Panasonic and what happens using their tuner is that the 720 P signal is reduced down to a 480 P. This set was designed when Panasonic was told that all stations would be broadcating in 1080 I. They even have another set in the works without 720P.
With this information this set is a no go for me. For $3,000 is require a set to do it all. thanks, DEE

Similar Products Used:

Sony XBR

Sharp,crisp,accurate film-like picture with progressive scan dvd. 1080i is like a 35mm photo. Two componet inputs.

VERY poor factory settings, no 720p support(not sure how important this is), bright silver faceplate,typical mediocre instruction manual.

I spent four hours on two different occasions at Best Buy looking at all the hdtv sets. Projection and tube.(they did not have a Panasonic) I left the store with no clue as to what I was going to purchase. I went down the street to Bernie's and saw this set within the first few minutes of walking around. The quality of the picture(1080i) spoke to me and I knew right there that this was the set for me! This set needs a break-in for the best picture.
For viewing dvds in a darkened room here are my settings:

Picture -10
Brightness -7
Color -24
Tint 20
Sharpness 10
Color Temp cool (gets rid of the excessive red push)
VM Gain 15
Black Extension 0
White Correct 4
Color Temp 0

Toshiba SD-6200 dvd player Progressive Conversion-Film Edge Enhance-Expand 1 Blacker Than Black-Off (only use on for setting Pluge) Invite some friends over and laugh when their jaw drops!(I do)


P.S. All my audio equipment ($7000.) is dark grey. I could only take that bright silver faceplate for sooooo long. I carefully painted it a dark grey to match everything else.(the room itself has shades of blue and grey) Now I am very pleased as the set looks like it belongs in the room. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

At Bernie's the Toshiba set was adjacent to the Panasonic. The very top(2 inches) and bottom not in focus.Also the overall picture not as sharp as the Panasonic.