Panasonic VIERA C12 Series TC-L32C12 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV...

The Best Way to Watch Movies at Home. Ever. With superior video resolution as well as audio playback, Blu-ray Discs are six-times better than DVDs. Not sure which players are BD-Live enabled? Or of what BD-Live even is? Visit your newly redesigned High-Def Headquarters to find out more and get in the know. This TV was just recently released as of the time of this review, and it's one of the best TVs under $500 you can find on the market. I did a LOT of research looking for what I wanted in a TV. I've been wanting a nice flatscreen for a while now. I've been holding out as and quality has been improving while prices have been dropping. I finally settled on this Panasonic.

I wanted a TV for primarily movies (Hi Def and standard or upconverted Def) and video games (Hi Def and standard def). I do not have a cable subscription and am not curious in HD cable services. That being said, I wanted a TV that would double as a humongous PC monitor. I'm pleased to say this TV meets and exceeds my needs so far. It's a big upgrade from the 20 inch tube TV I was using before the VIERA.

The LCD TV is nice looking and has a variety of cable inputs. Both the remote and menu systems are top-notch and useful. This TV puts out true 720p resolution and has 4:3 ratio (standard, full-frame) and zoom scaling as well. For TVs 32 inches and under, 1080p (while nice) is not necessary, as you'd be hard pressed to notice a dramatic difference with your HDMI or component sources. The picture is super sharp, and the image control obtainable with this TV is pretty impressive. You can really play with the picture and color. I was laughing at the efficacy to essentially reproduce that 60's Technicolor supersaturation if you want. It really brings films to life. You can make up to 4 preset color choices, too- One for films, one for sports or live action TV, one for video games, one for kid's cartoons, etc, etc.

There is 1 stuck pixel on the TV. This is to be expected, and is not noticeable unless you're looking for stuck or dead pixels from about 18 inches away. I cannot look the pixel when watching, though, exclusively when I'm up close on the screen. This is not an issue at all. You cannot pick out 1 dead pixel on a TV of this resolution. 1 out of over 1 million pixels, the rest are flawless.

I've just gotten this, and haven't fully tested completely the bells and whistles, like the SD card port or the VIERA Link HDMI software (waiting for 1080p media player, coming in the mail). PC to TV was effortless and looked great. Even my old PS2 looked pretty good, albeit jaggy. I think that's more the game than the TV, though.

I almost went and got a $300 or $375 no-name tv at Walmart or Target, but I'm glad I paid a bit more for a higher-quality product. This Panasonic is really, really, well built, and is a near-perfect 32 inch TV. I'm more than happy with my purchase. As I test it out more, I plan to update this review, but so far, I'm loving it! This Panasonic is a great TV at an affordable price point, and 32 inches is complete for most small to medium sized rooms.

Also, if you have any certain questions, post 'em and I'll do my best to answer.

**UPDATE**

I've had the TV for a while now and still love it. I got an upconverting Sony DVD player (model DVPNS710HB ) that puts out 480p, 720p, and 1080i upconverts of standard DVDs. I bought a $3 HDMI cable from buy.com (skip the $100 monster cables, trust me) and the picture is fantastic. The trick is that since the TV displays 720p, by switching the DVD player to send the data in 720p, you get a native resolution that lets the image look its best on the TV. While the TV has a scaler built in, having the DVD player scan and scale and then transmit via HDMI produces a signifigantly clearer picture. Some of the DVDs I have that were shot on digital video look very, very close to HD programming. My digitally remastered James Bond DVDs look signifigantly better than through a component DVD player. I was impressed.

As for the other features- the SD card reader is slow for my tastes. It takes a couple of seconds to load each picture. Of course, I have a VGA connector hooked up, so its much more convenient to load the pictures to my PC and view them thru windows. HQ images look AMAZING on this TV, though. I had always shot digital pictures at high resolutions, but couldn't really see them as they were meant to be seen, only having a 15 inch LCD. With the early TV as my monitor, my pictures now look 100 times better.

Another cool feature- through Viera Link, the HDMI Sony DVD player works with the Panasonic remote- no programing needed. I simply went into the Viera Link menu and selected the HDMI DVD player, now my DVD player will initiate and interrupt when I power on the TV and I can control it all from my TV remote. Very cool.

I'll post some more updates if I have anything else to say or if anyone has any questions.

Tags: Panasonic VIERA C12 Series

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LG 32LH30 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Gloss Black...

Think there's no such thing as an affordable 1080p TV with great features as well as technology? You'll think again when you take a look at the LH30. It delivers a stunning picture in Full HD 1080p and LG's innovative Core Technologies deliver an enhanced audio and video experience. With the LH30, affordability does not mean compromise. It means getting a great HDTV---period. See for yourself.The LG 32LH30 32-Inch 1080p replaced a 720p 32 inch Samsung which I returned because of erratic sound quality. The LG provides a clear picture for upscaled DVD movies and over the air digital signals. The speakers provide excellent sound for a small living room although the addition of a house theater system would substantially increase movie enjoyment. Standard definition signals reproduce a stable clear picture. Colors are very great and the set provides sufficient tools to tweak the picture for personal preference. I have not used it for bluray as yet but HD from satellite is very good. The features of this unit described on the Amazon specifications list accurately describe its features and can be relied upon. I am not a hard core cinema/video buff but I cannot imagine that this unit'll not satisfy most viewers who want a well priced midsized flat screen high definition TV. My five stars are based upon what I expect in similarly designed and priced units for a

Tags: LG 32LH30 32-Inch

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Samsung LN40B630 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

With the Samsung 40-inch LN40B630 HDTV, you're investing in a high-quality LCD TV that offers top-of-the-line picture quality with 1080p high definition resolution. Enjoy the sharpest details and vivid color with an 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for more realistic images and Samsung's Wide Color Enhancer 3 technology for a more natural rendering of colors. It also incorporates some innovative features to reduce the motion blur and image judder, which traditionally plague LCD HDTVs when displaying fast movement. This B630 series HDTV combines an ultra-fast 4ms (millisecond) response time with Samsung's Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation technology, which utilizes a 120Hz refresh rate helps assure crisp, easy viewing of sports, video games and movies.
Being the first to review the 2009 Samsung LN40B630 on Amazon was purely an accident in that I actually bought the new Sony KDL-40V5100 on April 2nd. At that time, the Samsung B650 had just come out, but its high gloss panel would not have performed well in my brightly lit room. My high definition projection TV had kicked the bucket after 8-years, but I rarely enjoyed watching HD because the daylight glare would wash out the picture. The Sony's non-glare screen performed well except when the picture would black out during dark movie scenes. I discovered that many of the V5100 series have had this glitch and Sony had no fix for it at that time. To Best Buy's credit, they cheerfully exchanged the Sony under their 30-day return policy and delivered the Samsung B630 model which has a non-glare screen and is similar to the fashionable B650.

My expectations of the new Samsung were that it would perform much like the Sony. I could not have been more wrong. The B630 was like viewing another huge leap in a television experience, while the Sony seemed to be of past technology. The depth and breadth of Samsung's visual color tones are astounding and mesmerizing. A perfect example of that came from viewing scenes of the Caribbean Sea. The Sony could not match the Samsung's Wide Color Enhancer 3 processor with its three dimensional qualities and vibrant tones of turquoise, sea green, cobalt blue, coral pink and white sand clearly seen under the sea. It literally was like being there.

The Samsung's dynamic contrast of 80,000-1 was visibly superior to the Sony's 50,000-1 and convinced me that Samsung's contrast rating was more than a marketing numbers game. The viewing angle of the Sony was horrific when moving away from center by seeing flesh tones morph into green. Samsung's viewing angle was far better by maintaining the proper color tones, but it did lose contrast and brightness. Of course, a slight turn of its swivel base helped to alleviate Samsung's viewing angle issue.

The downside to Samsung's advanced technology was that every movie appeared as video and lost its magical cinema quality. Sony was superior in dealing with this issue. To address that problem, the backlight and contrast settings have to be toned down to soften the picture and to preserve a film's attributes. Most importantly, an adjustment to the 120 Hz Motion Plus feature must be done in order to keep movies from appearing surreal. While many recommend turning the 120 Hz off, I found video blurring far annoying and placed the Auto Motion Plus to a custom setting of 6 for blur and judder reduction. That seemed like a good compromise without losing much of the film's realistic movement. Experiment with every adjustment to find your best settings and calibration instructions are easily found on [...]. It all came together beautifully for me and hopefully this information could be helpful to you.

One bad design feature was the power and channel functions on the TV itself. You cannot look where they are unless you have light shining directly on them. As long as you use only the remote control, it might be a non-issue. By-the-way, in case you were wondering how effective the non-glare screen was on the Samsung B630; it was perfect. I experienced crystal clear high definition TV -- Day or Night.

Tags: Samsung LN40B630 40-Inch

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Sony BRAVIA XBR Series KDL-52XBR9 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV, Black...

Experience powerful effectiveness and superior design with the Sony BRAVIA XBR9 HDTV, featuring Motionflow 240Hz technology for maximum motion detail and clarity, plus broadband internet connectivity with built-in BRAVIA Internet Video1 capabilities that let you view select on-demand movies, TV shows, music and more, and even lets you personalize your entertainment experience by selecting and positioning widgets containing the latest news, weather, sports and more directly on your TV screen.This is my first ever review and my first leap into the hdtv arena. I've been waiting for quite many time to buy an "almost perfect" tv at a great price. Had my eye on the 55xbr8 which probably has a superior picture caused by its LED backlighting. Also in the running was the super slim Samsung B8000. I ruled out the Samsung because of its limited connectivity and a review written by the owner of one which stated that the edge backlighting caused a halo effect around the tv in a darkened room. I decided to go with the 52xbr9 because of its moderate depth, hidden speakers, built-in internet video and widgets, and much more resonable price than the 55xbr8.

I've had this baby for 3 weeks and I'm still in the process of learning about how to get the best out of it. Out of the box, I was blown away by how great the picture looks. HD channels really come alive. SD channels are just ok. DVD's look great, with a little added support from my Oppo dvd player. Haven't purchased a blu-ray player yet. Built-in internet video quality ranges anywhere from outstanding to extremely poor. That completely depends on the source content and your connection speed. Because of its florescent backlighting, this tv generates a lot of heat. The longer it's on, the warmer the room feels. The owners manual warns against enclosed installations and advises a free air space of 4 inches on boths sides and bottom and 11 7/8 at the top to preclude heat harm or possible fire. If you've been thinking about putting this tv in a tight spot, please don't.

I wall-mounted this tv in my bedroom above the dresser in place of the mirror. My bedroom is 12x12 and no, this tv is not too big. Keep in mind that probably half of all viewing on a widescreen tv will not fill the entire screen without distorting the picture, so the bigger the tv, the happier you'll be. My favorite thing of all is the pc input. I have it connected to a pc in the next room which has dual monitor display capabilities. The pc display quality is outstandingly sharp. I'm now able to lounge in bed and surf the net on the big screen using my Gyration wireless compact keyboard and air mouse ( all purchased from Amazon at a great price btw). I'm also able to stream all the Netflix movies I want via pc at no additional cost than my $8.99 monthly membership. Surprisingly, Netflix streaming video quality is usually good.

The bottom line....This is a fantastic tv. Sound quality is very good for a flat panel, especially in surround mode. Speakers are on the bottom of tv (not the back) and are of decent size. Amazon had the best price and more importantly, they can be trusted. Black levels aren't quite as dark as with tvs with LED backlighting but the picture is still quite good. Shipping was fast. Amazon's customer service kept me well informed with the status of my shipment and Pilot delivery service was very well-to-do to work with. If you've been playing the waiting game to purchase a great HD television as I have...you need not wait any longer.

UPDATE...August 1, 2009...Netflix will be coming this fall to Sony Bravia. They've already added the Netflix icon on the internet video menu of my tv. That's one more reason to buy this remarkable television.

Tags: Sony BRAVIA XBR Series

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