Panasonic TX-L37G20B (TXL37G20B)

They are also a hundred thousand to one Contrast ratio.  Now, we have spoken before about how important it is to have a really good Contrast ratio on a TV - it determines how good the black level is.  The higher the Contrast, the inkier the black level; the inkier that black level, the better depth of field you achieve, the more natural colour palette, and the more detail in the darker areas of the screen as well.  So, good Contrast on this TV:  it is a hundred thousand to one.

It also uses Panasonic’s top-of-the-range Motion Flow Technology - its Intelligent Frame Creation.  It basically uses 100Hz technology but is interlaced with a - all LCD screens use a backlight facility; the backlight on this screen, basically it cycles and flashes a hundred times per second, in cooperation with the 100Hz technology as well, giving you the potential of sort of 200Hz scanning.  So if you are watching any fast movement - sporting, action scenes in movies - it is going to cope with that fast movement extremely well.  So, as I said, you are looking at the equivalent here to 200Hz scanning - it is Panasonic’s Intelligent Frame Creation - works extremely well with any fast movement at all.

The sockets on the rear of this TV we will deal with now.  You are looking at three HDMI sockets.  You have got two Scart sockets on there.  You have also got one USB on the rear of the TV.  There is also Component - which is the red/green/blue connection; things like Xbox 360s use Component - we have got that on there as well.  There is also a PC socket, which is the D-Sub socket.  There is also an Ethernet connection as well.  You have also got Digital Optical Out, so if you want to feed the sound out of this TV through an external amplifier you can do so with the Optical Socket.  We have also got Analogue Audio Out on there as well.  And there is also a Satellite connection on the back of this TV, which we will come back to in just a moment.

On the side of the TV you have got one USB connection - so you have got two USBs on this TV in total.  You have got an additional HDMI on the side - so you have got four HDMI sockets.  There is one Composite socket, which is the yellow/red/white socket.  And there is also a headphone socket and there is an SD Card Slot - so if you have got a digital still camera or an HD camcorder, you want to take the SD card out of there, slot it in the side of the TV - you can have all your footage on-screen directly through your SD card. 

So there is a multitude of sockets on this TV - you are going to want for nothing regarding connecting anything up to this range of sets.  There are plenty of sockets to go round.

So, as I said, just to recap, we are looking at a TV there which is basically 200Hz scanning, a hundred thousand to one Contrast ratio.  They are full HD as well so they come with 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  They have got Freeview HD built into them now - so if you just plug your TV aerial into this TV - just your standard TV aerial - you are going to get BBC HD, ITV HD, Channel 4 HD - without having to pay additional cost to any sort of Sky subscription or Cable subscription.  You have got a free HD service - it is built into the TV.

So it has got Freeview HD - but it has also got this satellite connection that we referred to before on the rear of the TV, which is Freesat.  So you have also got a free HD service - just connect it up to a standard Sky satellite dish - and you have got BBC HD, ITV HD.  You have got those services through Freesat as well.  So, two HD tuners.  So no matter where you are in the country, if you are getting poor sort of aerial reception so you can’t get any HD service through your aerial, then you have got the Freesat connections on here has well.  You have got both options built into this TV.

So, the specification is extremely high:  two HD tuners built into this set.

If we go through the Menu system - at the moment it is on our web page there:  As I said, you have got the D-Sub socket on the back of this TV.  You can connect this up through Ethernet.  If you get a wireless dongle you can put it into the USB port; you can connect it up to your wireless system at home wirelessly as well.  So, you know, extremely advanced TV.

If we just go onto the digital channels at the moment:  You have got your standard sort of digital TV on here now.  If we go into and show you the Menu system; on your remote control just press the Menu button on here - it takes us into the Panasonic Menu system.  Very good Menu system on the Panasonic; it is very straightforward to operate.

We have got Picture, Sound and Setup.  We just click the “OK” button on there - it takes us into the Picture Menu.  In the Picture Menu - we will start at the top:  We have got some pre-set modes from the manufacturer which are Normal, Cinema, True Cinema, Pro 1, Pro 2 and back to Dynamic.  In these pre-set modes, it is a pre-set determined level by the manufacturer to set the Contrast, Brightness and Sharpness levels to a predetermined level. However, you can still go into that and alter those levels - such as the Contrast, the Brightness and the Colour and the Sharpness to however you want them.

You have also got a C.A.T.S. system on here where, if you switch that on, it is an automated Contrast adjustment - there is a little photocell on the front of the TV there which will measure the ambient light of the room and will always keep the Contrast at optimum level for you as well.

If we go into the Pro Settings on this TV:  You have got Pro 1 and Pro 2 on there.  In those settings we have got the Advanced Settings adjustment where we can go into the White Balance, we can alter the red-gain, the green and the blue-gain - so you have got your three primary colours there which you can start to tweak up.  You have also got the cutoffs on there as well.  If you start to tweak around with these adjustments on here - as I said, we can alter the blue, the green and the red to however you want it, so you can tweak up that picture to your own personal preference - if you absolutely get completely lost in those settings, you can just go to Reset to Default and it will just reset everything for you.  So there is nothing you can do to sort of mess up the picture on there - you have always got that Reset to Default option.

If we come out of there - so you have got quite an extensive picture adjustment - you have also got a very good Sound System on this range of TV as well.  You have got settings for Music or Speech, which give you the basic Base and Treble adjustment, where you can alter the Base and the Treble to your own settings on there.  But you have also got, if we go into the User Mode, a Graphic Equaliser where we can alter the Base at this end of the scale - but we can also alter the Midrange adjustments as well.  And then at the top end here you have got the Treble adjustment.  So you have got a very good adjustment over the Base, Treble and Midrange adjustments using a Graphic Equaliser.

If we come down from there, we have then got different Surround Sound facilities we can put through this TV.  We have got Surround Sound Off - which gives just a standard stereo sound.  We have got V-Audio - which throws the sound then at a wider angle, giving you a really big sound stage.  And then we have got V-Audio Surround - which will attempt to throw the sound out and around you as well.  So plenty of adjustments there to tweak up the sound to however you want it.

We come out of those menus for a second and go down to the Setup Menu.  We have also got adjustments in the Setup Menu for the Guide System - there is a full TV Guide built into this TV.  With it being a Freeview HD TV, it has an inbuilt Guide System which I will show you in just a moment. 

You have also got things like Resolution Enhancer.  It is off at the moment - but we can have that on Mid or Max.  What that does - if you were just watching, say, standard BBC / ITV - whatever you are watching on there - if you switch it on to Mid or Max, it will sharpen up the detail in the image for you, almost giving you sort of a pseudo high-definition image, just through standard TV-watching like BBC or ITV.   So you have also got the Resolution Enhancer in those menus as well.

With the Guide System, to get the Guide System on the TV, you have got a button here which say Guide.  If we just press that Guide button it will then give us the full Guide onscreen for the channels down the side here - BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel Five and so on.  And then as we go along to the right then we can see the programmes changing for what is on later in the evening as well.  So you have got a full listing of programme content of what is on that day, and we can also skip ahead 24 hours as well.

So, we have done the 37-inch - which are extremely high specification; as we said, full HD, 200Hz scanning; uses the IPS panel, very high-quality LCD panel.  You have got wireless Internet capabilities built into the TV; a multi-ray of sockets…

It is a hard TV to find fault with - it is such a stunning set.  I would say if you want any more details on this, please give me a call.  My name is Chris - you can get hold of me on 01204 861 861 or go to our website which is www.soundandvision.co.uk - or just click the link at the side of the screen.

Thank you.