Home > Consumer Reviews > 26" LCD TV with Integrated Digital Tuner

In VIERA LCD Panasonic introduced extra deep black screen and totally independent colour correction technology both of which go to image subjectively clearer than plasma ever did. But neither these nor HDTV resolution standard are really important. What makes the new Panasonic so special is its rather "traditional" balance or picture quality. In this case the choice of brand is crucial since you're dealing with an LCD, no CRT or plasma. LCD designers world-wide are fumbilng with the problem of shade or tint prominence against the "main" colour aggression. You might not give a damn, but it's shades and tints that render volume to images and depth to planes. They - and the contrast - determine how much "cinermatic" you will go. Many brands star black screen, some type of gamma correction to coulours and HDMI, but Panasonic gets progressively hi-definition without compromizing on that "warm and soft" comfort (provided you don't rape the colour saturation level).

Have owned one of these TV's for about four years. In the past twelve months it has developed two irregular black patches. One near the top right hand corner and the other about halfway down on the right, both patches are horizontal and fade as they reach the centre of the screen. They appear as black, but when faces are viewed on screen it looks like they have been in the sun too long! Its such a shame as the TV has fantastic depth of colour, especially when viewing underwater scenes, but its impossible to watch now as each picture is spoilt by these patches.