I actually decided to put this review up for
my Panasonic CT36XF35 GAOO since it is quite similar
Amazing Picture Quality; Well Worth the Money
I'm pleased 100%.

A crackle in the sound whenever a movie presents an
entire white frame (ie. camera flash in movies, some
intros that change frames rapidly, present a single
frame comprised totally of white). The problem is
caused by a small design flaw (possibly in the just
my TV) where the speaker amplifier is too close to
the screen. When a white frame is presented the static
discharge from having every pixel illuminated causes
a crack in the sound. However, such frames do not occur
in movies very often and never on TV. Furthermore,
by turning off the speakers (as you would do if you
had a surround sound system) prevents the crackle
entirely.

TV is perfect other than the mentioned weakness.
If you're planning on having a surround sound
system complement this TV go for it! You won't be
sorry, it's a great TV.
But if you're planning on relying on the
TV's own sound you should check out the defect in
the store first. (the original Star Wars is a
great movie to use for this purpose, the phaser
fire presents alot of these so called white frames).

Sharp and clear picture

none

A beautiful TV. I was looking originally at the superflat 32" model, but this one was on close-out and I got it for very close to the price of a new 32" superflat model. I was very interested in the Sony Wega TV's but the only one which had as nice a picture was the XBR series which was MUCH more expensive. If you can pick up the 36" model now, you probably can get a very good deal on it. 36" tv's are a great size for DVD movies (in letterbox). One note - the Panasonic super-flats are NOT as flat-screen as the Wegas, but still a very flat screen compared to other 36" tvs. Highly recommended - especially if you can get a good deal on them now.

I recently purchased this unit. I really do like the picture quality and the remote. All are very easy to use. The connections in the back are absolutely super!

THIS REVIEW IS FOR CT-36XF37CB "GAOO" MODEL.
Component input, 800 lines of resolution, 480 progressive scanning, digital comb filter, big almost flat screen, excellent color accuracy, sharp picture, geometry is good, great asthetics (granite finish), lots of input/output options with input labeling on screen.

Glare on screen in bright rooms, factory picture settings are just ugly, corners of screen are slightly brighter, no way to restore favourite settings, a slight lack of very fine shadow detail, SVM circuit should be dissabled and should be an option in the user settings.

When I saw this set next to a Sony Wega of the same size in the showroom I could not justify paying $1000 more for the Sony, they looked about the same in terms of picture quality. So I bought the Panasonic and have never regretted it.
The picture is not very pretty straight out of the box. I had to adjust the picture because the factory settings are overly bright and hard on the set. I ended up purchasing the service manual because the SVM circuit was really degrading the picture quality and I needed a way to shut down the SVM circuit. See below on how to dissable it.

Once I had this set adjusted properly I was very impressed! It looks amazing and DVD's are incredible on this set. Some cable channels really look bad on this set but this is because this set needs a good quality signal. I wish I had a digital signal. Colors are very accurate with a minor amount of "red push".
A slight annoyance is when viewing wide screen DVD's in complete darkness, the four corners of the screen appear slightly brighter than the rest of the screen.
There is no way to change video settings for each input and there is no way to store multiple settings, so I am always adjusting brightness levels.
Sound is not bad for a television. The large cabinet gives some bass to the sound, but has some echo. AI sound seems to keep the sound levels constant.
A speckle finish makes the TV look like it's carved from granite and it weighs as much too. Don't try and move it yourself.

All in all I am extremely happy with this television. Once adjusted correctly it gives a fantastic picture, the best I have seen in a direct-view non-HDTV set. With the 480 progressive scan and component input this set is HDTV ready with a set-top converter.

-----------------------
The Scan Velocity Modulation circuit in this set is just horrible and the picture can be improved %100 with this adjustment.

Use this at your own risk. Write down all the original parameters before you adjust. Exiting service mode will restore all user adjustable features to factory default. So write down your colour settings and other menu settings before going into the service mode.

1. Go into the SET-UP icon and select CABLE mode if not already selected.

2. Go into the TIMER icon and set the sleep timer to 30 minutes.

3. Press ACTION twice to exit menus and tune to channel 124.

4. Adjust VOLUME on front panel controls to zero and hold until the letters CHK appear in the top left corner.

You are now in service mode. Turn OFF the SLEEP TIMER if you think this might take you more than 30 minutes. Be carful not to adjust any other settings.

5. Press the POWER button on remote and a blue box with hex codes will appear in the bottom right corner. The first mode is B.

6. Press the POWER button 5 more times until the code changes to Y. Now you are in the code set that adjusts the comb filter.

7. Press and hold the CHANNEL UP button until the code Y 4D appears (VM Freq. SW). Press the VOLUME DOWN button to change the value from 1 to 0.

8. Press the CHANNEL UP button twice until the code Y 4F appears. (VM Limit Level). Press the VOLUME DOWN button to change this value all the way down to 0 (zero).

9. You have now shut off Scan Velocity Modulation. On the front panel on the set, press and hold the ACTION and POWER button until the set turns off and back on, then release. Factory defaults and a rather loud preset volume level are set automatically.

10. Reset all your own personal preferences. Although I like my video settings as follows:

COLOR 13
TINT 31
BRIGHT 36
PICTURE 20
SHARP 31

COLOR TEMP: NORMAL
AUTO COLOR: OFF
AI PICTURE: ON (for cable, OFF for DVD)
3D Y/C FILTER: ON

You will now notice that white text on black does not have the "dancing rainbow" effect (extremely annoying when watching credits) and the picture looks less "artificial" and "grainy".

Similar Products Used:

10 year old Electrohome 27"

Remote control

Picture, no component inputs

I purchased this TV a year ago after considering a Sony Vega but decided on the panasonic based on the price and compatability with my panasonic DVD player and Technics receiver. The first unit I had was returned for a replacement because the picture was crooked when watching wide screen programs. The replacement didn't have this problem it had another problem with horizontal lines appearing during action scenes with a light background. These lines start from the edges of the screen and curve slightly till they reach the center of the screen. They are more pronounced on the edges and are equidistant from each other. I returned this unit after a technician stated the picture tube would have to be replaced. The replacement unit had the same problem with the lines. I gave up at this point and just accepted the anouying lines and wish I had just got my money back at the start.