Panasonic CT-27SX12 27 inch TV

This all started out because I was saving up for an expensive electronics component. The way I save for this is usually to buy gift cards for myself and keep accumulating. Anyway, I got up to about $375 in Circuit City gift cards when I noticed the small print written on the backs of the cards. They read that after a year they start depreciating by $2 a month.

Well, I think I was just about there, but when I called to confirm the balance, I still had the full amount to spend. In any case, this means that I was forced by Circuit City to make a purchase very quickly. I sort of knew what I was looking for. I knew I wanted a 27", that had very good sound. This is for my bedroom, so I am not hooking up a receiver to it, just a DVD, a Satellite receiver & Play Station 2/VCR. This TV that I bought had to bring the performance without the aid of a receiver.

I was looking at an RCA & this Panasonic model. I chose the Panasonic even though it was approximately $100 more than what I had saved in gift cards, because of the flat screen, and the BBE sound.

I have a JVC DVD player that I hooked up to it. Luckily, my DVD Player had the Y Pb Pr (red, green & blue) component connection capabilities. This is supposed to be a better picture quality than the S-Video, and I believe it is. The picture looks amazing with my DVDs. A subtle improvement than when I watch my Dish Network satellite which is also a perfect picture.

My Dish Network is hooked up in the back via RCA audio cables and an S-Video connection. With the flat screen the reflection factor is minimal. The only reflection it would pick up are the lamps on the night stand, which I haven't noticed so far, and that kind of thing would usually catch my eye right away.

My PS2 is hooked into the only remaining input which is the front panel inputs, I made sure it had this feature when I bought the television. My PlayStation looks great.

All of my connections are hooked up by just RCA cables for the sound. Just analog, but the BBE sound delivers the goods. The sound is full, wide and loud. I have turned it up pretty loud and I get no distortion. It's perfect for my bedroom.

The channel selector I don't use, because I never change the channel on the TV. The only thing I use is the TV/Video button to navigate between the DVD, Satellite & PS2.

The remote was easily able to control most of the functions for my Satellite receiver and my DVD player. It's set up very smart. It makes it easy and a monkey can operate it. Whatever you need to operate, once you set up as your universal remote, you press one of the four buttons on top and then use the controls displayed on the remote. It has TV, VCR, Cable/Satellite, and DVD. I especially love using this remote for my DVD player, because my DVD remote sucks, and now this makes it so much easier.

I like the remote because it resembles my satellite receiver remote a lot so I was already knew where the buttons were instinctively. It's nice, attractive, small and easy to use.

I had used my Sound & Vision Home Theater DVD to calibrate my television's colors, brightness, and sharpness. It looks awesome. I recommend this DVD for anyone who wants their picture to look the way it is supposed to.

It also has the V-Chip that I do not utilize at the present time. It finds the ratings of all TV shows, DVDs, VCR tapes and will lock the television where you set the rating limit. If you do not want the television accessed to rated R movies, or television shows rated TV-MA, or whatever you want to set the controls for, it will only display the message to input your 4 digit code to authorize the programs or movies. This way it will always be supervised.

Anyway, this television was maybe the easiest to set up and operate that I own. The price has come down pretty significantly from what I had spent, so it makes it a great deal. If you search you can probably get this for under $300.

UPDATE 03/24/2010 - What is TAU mean?
This Television is part of Panasonic's TAU Series.  I had since given this TV away to a buddy of mine, and he asked me what TAU stands for.  Since I didn't know, I decided to call Panasonic and ask them.  I spoke with a pleasant sounding woman named Kay, and when she couldn't answer, she switched me to Al from Technical Support.  He didn't know either and he placed me on hold for only about five minutes and he came back with an answer.  He told me that it doesn't mean anything, it's just a name brand and he gave me the example on how their plasma sets now have the name Veria, and that it's the same premise as this.  This is just in case you were wondering, I know I was for about 10 minutes today. - MS.