Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic CT-30WX54 30" Widescreen Pure Flat HDTV-Ready TV

The old 27" Hitachi stated to fade. We purchased a Phillips first but took it back due to a wavy screen. The choice was the Panasonic or Sony, the Panasonic had PIP. Once you have the digital cable, with HD set-up, the picture is amazing! Movies from our Sony Multi Scan DVD player are top notch as well. Even regular TV does not look bad on this set. For the cost involved this set offers a lot of features and was easy to set-up with the on screen displays. Highly recommended.

I read dozens of reviews before buying this set. I've had it for about 2 months now and can't get over how great the picture looks. Whenever friend's come over and see it for the first time they are totally amazed. I got this set because I wanted improved picture quality over my 27" Wega but couldn't afford Plasma or LCD. Widescreen is the way to go if you watch a lot of dvd's or HD. I watch programs I wouldn't normally watch just to see the HD picture. I got the HDMI cable which connects to my Comcast cable box and digital audio connections from the cable box and dvd player - I also upgraded to a progressive scan dvd player which works better with an HD set. I often use my Panasonic home theater system for sound but the speakers do sound really good. My only criticism besides the size of the set (no surprise there - you know what you are getting - and don't try to lift this thing yourself) is that the yellows and greens are just a tad off which I notice most when watching football with the green grass and yellow first down marker - I can't seem to get the yellow perfect with the tint control. I wish sets had individual color controls - if we can send a man to the moon this doesn't seem impossible. When you watch anything shot in HD it really is like looking through a window. Like going from dial up to DSL once you see HD there is no going back. I only wish I ahad this tv to watch my Sox win the World Series but I'm sure they'll do it again. I got my set at Circuit City for $850 with free delivery which came 2 days later right on schedule.

My first and only TV was one I bought about 7 years ago, a 19" RCA. I felt it was time for an upgrade, and gave that to my parents. Being on a budget, I only wanted to spend about 1000$ on a HD/widescreen set. I heard bad things about Samsungs, so i looked into Sony or Panasonic. I have to say, it was really a coin flip between the two units, but i finally settled on the Panasonic, because i frankly wasn't sure whether the Sony at the same price had PIP. I brought it home (it definitely weighs more than the listed 140 lbs!), bought a Monster Video 2 component cable, Panasonic 600 watt home theater system. The setup is great. I watch Black Hawk Dawn on it and it looks and sounds amazing. I highly recommend this TV!

Panasonic Widescreen: Take 2.

Our 16:9 Panasonic CT-30WX52 bit the dust after 2 years, and was replaced under warranty with this new CT-30WX54 in December 2004. Instantly my wife and I noticed a huge difference with the colour quality, richness and clarity. However, the new TV is larger, heavier, and much uglier than our beautifully designed 30WX52, and, we also did find problems with the TV on the very first day.

Problem #1.
The ZOOM setting did not function as it was designed to. When we watch widescreen shows such as "ER", "Enterprise" and "Everybody Loves Raymond", we use the ZOOM setting to achieve widescreen. But the picture was being compressed vertically (stretched horizontally). The TV was immediately sent back to the store and after 8 long, agonizing weeks, it was returned to us, still not fixed. Emails to Panasonic customer service failed to resolve the problem and the technician from the store had to come directly to our house to try and fix the problem. After a very complex procedure on our own remote (I watched him do it), he was able to access a secret factory menu and adjust the screen setting. We are now pleased that the picture is accurate in ZOOM mode. If you own this TV, and notice stretched images (people look unnaturally fat) it is likely your TV was not set up properly at the factory as well.

Problem #2.
This is not so much a problem as it is a lack of a feature that the old CT-30WX52 had, and I miss. This new model does not have a Degauss feature, which is surprising because it does still have the geomagnetic correction, which is very useful.

So, due to the very inconvenient incorrect ZOOM set-up, and the lack of the Degauss feature, I can only rate this TV 4 stars for now, and only time will tell if it deserves that fifth star, or if the picture tube fails on this one, just like our last one.

Because of our past experiences, I am not confident in Panasonic's ability to create reliable electronics, but so far this TV is faring well.

This 30" TV wasn't as big as I wanted, but I couldn't pass on the price. The picture is amazing, although it did take some tweaking on the color (a little hot on the factory setting) and sharpness. And that's on standard TV. I'll be interested to see what HDTV looks like. One thing not mentioned is the sound is great! The console is heavy also. Overall this TV is as good as any of the other major brands but costs a LOT less.