jwhitakr's Full Review: Panasonic PT-61LCX65 61 in. HDTV LCD TV
Background
I have owned this LCD projection TV for almost 5 weeks now, and it has gotten quite a bit of use during that time. It's set up in my basement as the foundation for my home theater. I've watched movies through my DVD player, sports, movies and regular shows on standard cable TV channels, and also watched movies, sports and HD shows on channels like HBO HD, ESPN HD, NBC HD, Fox HD, etc. I've hooked up my computer to the TV using the PC input on the front of the TV. I've also hooked up my Playstation 2 to the TV and tried a few games out using both the regular yellow, red, white RCA connection cable and then also using the component connection cable.
Basic Information on the Display Technology
With all of the various TV display technologies on the market today (Plasma, DLP, LCD, etc.), it is important to understand the basic pros and cons of the display technology used in this TV. The PT-61LCX65 uses LCD projection technology, and the LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. It is similar to the technology used for flat-panel LCD computer monitors, but due to the large size (this TV is the 61" model), it uses a lamp to actually project the image onto the screen. This is the main difference, as LCD flat-panel computer monitors and LCD flat-panel TV's do not use a lamp to project the image onto the screen.
Advantages of LCD projection technology include:
- Thinner and lighter than conventional CRT rear-projection TV’s
- Not susceptible to image “burn-in”, which is the possibility that an image, or part of an image, can become permanently "burned" into the screen
- No "rainbow effect" artifacts that are sometimes found in rear-projection DLP TV’s
Disadvantages of LCD projection technology include:
- Not as thin and as light as plasma TV's
- Possibility for seeing "screen door effect" artifacts
- Viewing angles may not be as wide as plasma TV's or CRT tubes
- Lamp bulb will eventually wear out and need to be replaced
Basic Features of a TV
Listed below are what I believe to be the important characteristics of any TV, along with my impressions / comments on the usefulness (or lack thereof) with the Panasonic PT-61LCX65.
- Big screen --- this TV has a 61" screen, which is plenty of real estate for your viewing pleasure.
- HDTV compatible --- this is a must have for any new TV. HDTV is slowly but surely becoming the standard for all TV stations, and if you enjoy watching TV, your experience is vastly improved by watching HDTV. This TV is capable of displaying 480i, 720p and 1080i HD signals.
- 16:9 aspect ratio --- a must have for watching DVDs and HD shows. After watching movies and HD shows on this 16:9 TV, I can't imagine going back to a regular 4:3 aspect ratio TV.
- Built-in HDTV tuner --- a nice feature that allows you to watch over-the-air HD channels (such as NBC, CBS, Fox, etc.) without the need to purchase an additional tuner or antennae. Included with this TV.
- Slim footprint --- I have limited space in my basement, and a tight doorway / staircase leading down to my basement. Therefore, I needed a TV that was a manageable size. This TV is not as big and bulky as the older CRT projection TV’s, but not as slim and light as a plasma. It weighs just over 100 lbs. and measures just 40.51" x 56.06" x 18.43" (H x W x D).
- Plenty of Video Inputs --- What good is a TV if you can’t hook up a DVD player, a PC, a Playstation, and all of your other gadgets to it? This TV has more inputs than I need: 3 component (all in the back), 2 S-Video (1 in front and 1 in back), 1 PC (in front), 3 red, white, yellow (2 in back, 1 in front), 1 UHF / VHF cable, and 1 HDMI input.
- Picture-in-Picture --- This is of very limited use to me, but is important to some people. The only thing I use it for is watching a show on one channel during a commercial on another channel.
- Progressive Scan (3/2 Pulldown) --- a must have for watching movies and I consider this a must have for any HDTV. Included with this TV.
- High quality sound --- not as important if you have a separate home theater audio setup, but definitely important if you do not. I am currently running all sound through my 5.1 home theater, so this is not as important to me. This TV has above-average sound quality coming from 4 speakers with a total 30W output. It uses BBE stereo and surround sound reproduction.
- Warranty --- important to protect your investment. This TV comes with a 1 year parts and labor warranty, except only a 90-day warranty on the lamp bulb. I would have liked to have a longer warranty, but am not willing to pay for an extended service plan.
My Experience with this TV
I've broken down my experiences with this TV into separate sections, as I realize some people may not be interested in all of this information.
Watching Regular (Non-HD) TV
When you first power on the TV, it takes approximately 10 seconds for the lamp to warm up. The picture fades in gradually during that time (this is true no matter regardless of the input source). I must say that when I first got the TV plugged into my cable box, and the channels programmed, my first impression when watching regular TV channels was somewhat disappointing. The large screen only amplifies the imperfections that come along with regular TV stations. For example, when I was watching an old episode of Friends on TBS, the images of faces were jagged and not clear. The colors were bland and overall the picture looked grainy. As I turned the channel to some newer shows, such as movies on HBO, the picture became better. The jaggedness was only slightly noticeable, and the colors were livelier. The image details were more clearly displayed, and I was happy with the resulting picture. I would say that the picture quality was comparable to my Sony 27" CRT flat screen, with the exception that the flaws carried by regular TV signals were more noticeable with this TV. After reading a few articles on the Internet, I also found that I was sitting too close to the TV. The imperfections became less visible after I moved back to the proper viewing distance.
Watching HDTV "WOW!" That is the response I get every time I switch from a regular TV station to an HDTV station. It is also the response that I get from people who have never seen HDTV (or they have only seen it at electronics stores). It is an amazing picture and the quality difference between regular TV and HDTV is like night and day. It is not possible to adequately convey the difference in quality between regular TV and HDTV, although I will give it my best shot.
The level of detail is absolutely stunning. When watching the National Geographic HD channel, for example, you can see the tiniest of bumps on a lizard's skin. You can see the tiny lines that run across a leaf as the lizard sits in a tree. This level of detail really gives you an appreciation for the depth of the images you are seeing.
The colors are amazingly vibrant. They almost seem to jump out at you while you are watching. When you watch a football game, for example, you can see the whiteness in the players uniforms as they are first coming out onto the field and you can tell that the uniforms are freshly washed. As the game progresses, you can see the dirt and grass strains accumulate on the player's uniforms. This really adds to the intensity of the viewing experience and makes it more lifelike.
Watching DVDs
Viewing DVD movies on the PT-61LCX65 is nearly as impressive as the HD channels. The level of detail is nearly as good as HD, but not quite as clear. There are some details that just don’t come through as crystal-clear as they do with HDTV. The colors are vivid, but not quite as lifelike. One nice feature of the TV is the black colored edging around the screen. It makes the picture appear to "float" when you watch movies in a dark room. Also, the large screen allows 6-8 people to watch the movie from a good viewing angle (depending on how your room is set up). The overall viewing experience allows you to become immersed in the movie, and I am pleased with the results.
Use of the TV as a PC Monitor
I have had mixed results with using this TV as a PC monitor. I was able to get my computer hooked up, but it took some fiddling with my PC settings in order to get the correct resolution to be displayed. Once I did, the images displayed on the TV looked fantastic. All of the applications and games I tried were projected without any issues. The videos, however, were not displayed correctly. There was some problem playing back videos, and the brightness and contrast of the videos became distorted. I didn't spend much time trying to fix this, so I'm not sure what the root cause was. I am betting it was a problem with either my video card settings or my video player settings, since all of the other applications and games worked fine.
Use of the TV to Play Video Games
I have had good results using this TV to play video games. I hooked up my PS2 to it using both the included regular yellow, white, red cable and also a component cable (I borrowed it from a friend). Again, I found that source signal imperfections are amplified by this TV. I saw jaggedness in the images and, in general, a lackluster level of detail. Switching to the component cable connection was helpful, and moving myself back to the proper viewing distance was also helpful. I should add that I experienced no delay or lag when playing March Madness 2005, Killzone or ESPN Fight Night. So far, my gaming experience has been even more fun while using this big screen TV.
Use of the Remote Control
There is nothing extraordinary about this remote control. It is shiny, silver colored with all of the standard buttons of a "home theater" remote. It allows you to program the remote to operate your DVD player, VCR, cable box, etc. using codes found in the user manual. This is somewhat useful if you want to consolidate your remote controls into one. I tried this with my DVD player and my audio receiver, and it worked fine (both are Pioneer brand components). One other useful feature of this remote is the "light" button. It is a feature that allows you to turn on or turn off the lighting of each of the buttons. This is useful if you need to use the remote in the dark (while watching a movie, for example), but it also allows you to turn off the lighting to conserve battery power. Another feature, which is really handy, is the ability to switch directly to a different input source or favorite channel without having to cycle through all of the other inputs. So, for example, I only need to press 2 buttons to switch to the input for my DVD player – one button press for "TV / Video", and then it displays all of the available input sources with a number next to each, and then one button press for the number next to "Input 2". If I want to switch to my PS2, it is still only 2 button presses since I can switch directly to "Input 3". The same is true for switching to my favorite channels. I just press the “Favorite” button, and then press the number corresponding to the channel I want to watch.
Use of the On-Screen Menus
The available on-screen menus are similar to the on-screen menus of other TV’s I have owned – they are pretty standard. They allow you to adjust or set up the picture, audio, timer, channel lock and memory card input. The user-interface is fairly intuitive, and you don’t really need to refer to the user manual in order to get the hang of the navigation. I won’t go into details for each menu, but I will mention that most menus have sub-menus that allow you to customize a wide array of settings for the TV. This is useful if you have the desire to adjust the various picture settings or sound setting of the TV. Also, the channel lock menu also allows you to lock out certain channels from your children (or perhaps from your spouse? ;-)).
Conclusion
Overall, I am extremely happy with this TV. I went to Circuit City and Best Buy and compared it to models from Sony, Samsung and Hitachi. It performs as well or better, and has as many or more features, dollar-for-dollar, compared to the other similarly sized LCD projection TVs on the market. I have not seen any “screen door effects” or other artifacts in any of the TV shows, movies or video games I have played. The slim design, clean appearance and black edging around the screen make it an attractive addition to my home theater set up. The only reservation I have with giving it a full 5 star rating is the 1 year / 90-day lamp bulb warranty. But since it has performed flawlessly thus far, I will give it a 5 star rating. I will update the review if any issues arise.
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