Panasonic CT-27SX12 27 inch TV
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- Screen Size: 27 inch
- Screen Type: Flat Screen
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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The Tau Of Television
Pros
Size, Picture Quality, Component Inputs, Panasonic Quality
Cons
Lotsa Red, Input Switching, Heavy
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you need a 27", and high-def isn't an option, this is the best-looking set out there. Period.
Well, we decided to buy a new television after our 25" RCA started giving us all sorts of strange power cycling problems. We did some research, and found out the the RCA that we owned had a lot of cold solder joint problems in the chassis (to the tune of a class action lawsuite against RCA), and that repair shops were charging 50-70% of the purchase price to fix it. So, we were shopping for a new TV.
Our requirements were probably a little different from most. We weren't driven primarily by price. I truly believe that with the amount of time we spend in front of the TV, the cost of movie rentals, and the quality achievable through today's DVD playback, it's hard to go "overboard" on video monitor purchases. Also, we've got a complete 5.1 surround setup and receiver, so the speakers would be disabled, and audio response wasn't an issue. Our old TV had PIP, and we never used it (after the first 2 days of playing with it), so that was not a factor.
The big constraint, though, was that we did not want to buy a new entertainment center to house A) all of our movies B) two playstations C) a TiVo D) DVD E) VCR F) CD Player and G) receiver when we bought the TV. We've got a pretty decent setup, and wanted to keep it. However, the center is a bit old, and has a width limit of 27 1/8", which was the reason we had the 25" RCA at the time. When we bought the RCA, 27" TV's were a lot wider. Now, there are a few sets that have broken this barrier and allowed us to start looking at 27" sets.
The contenders, based on the width restriction, were the Tau, a Samsung, an Apex, and a 24" Sony. The Sony was the baby of the bunch - the rest were all 27" flat screens. I considered the Sony only briefly - the XBR's are considered pretty much the "reference standard" of tube TV's (until recently - read on), and the little Sony had a lot of featuers. I just couldn't take off the 3" for (and even 1" from my current RCA!) for the same money.
The Apex was simply a lower-end model than the Tau. Picture quality was decent, not at the Panny/Sony level, though, and the whole thing looked a little cheap. Coming off of the RCA debacle, I just didn't want to "cheap out" on a new set.
The Samsung was a nice set. It had good features, but in the end was hurt by A) not offering S-Video inputs in the back B) having less picture quality than the Tau and C) not having the reliability and reputation of the Panny.
We got the beast loaded and delivered home (not an easy chore - these larger tube sets are heavy - this one is over 100 pounds). I put it into the entertainment center and powered it up. Yow! Retina burn! Very bright, and very RED! Not its-broken-take-it-back red, but obviously the default color setup was tuned to standing out in stores, not faithfully reproducing source material.
So, for a quick pass at it, I pulled out the THX Optimizer disc. After getting the brightness, color, and sharpness down to reasonable levels, the picture was outstanding. I head to take the color down to like 10% - it was that red. I'm still seeing some very "rich" reds on some sources, I need to get some filter paper and calibrate completely, but have not yet. The sharpness is all the way down, and the brightness is not as low as the color, but in the bottom 1/3rd as well.
Component playback of my DVD's are great. Toy Story, sort of the house "reference standard" is incredible - nearing the "comic book" look of high definition playback. S-Video from the TiVo looks great, and the tuner isn't bad. Channel changes are fairly quick with the built in tuner, and setup was pretty easy.
As I mentioned, the main reason I bought this set was picture quality, and it is great. We're seeing some details on movies and other sources that we literally did not see before. It's quite amazing. And even at the lowered brightness and color settings, it is rich and sharp, and my whole family loves it.
The remote control on the setup screens was counter-intuitive to me: you used the "action" button in the center of the remote to go "back" when you were done. The most common function of action buttons on my other remotes is to "commit" the setting - I lost quite a few settings changes this way. Other than that, most of the settings were obvious and functional.
Big kudos to Panasonic for including fixed and variable audio outputs. This is quite handy if you are a home theater newbie, or if you have a significant other that refuses to learn another remote. You can then control the receiver volume by using the remote control for the TV and changing the output on the RCA jacks on the back of the TV. We're past that stage, but it was a marriage saver when we first got the 5.1 receiver.
If you're looking for toys, this set won't have them. It's got input labeling and channel ratings, but that's about it. For instance, there is no PIP, no channel labels, no freeze frame, etc. This set is all about picture quality, and that's where it delivers. These are features we have found that get played with in the first few weeks, then forgotten, anyway, so it wasn't critical for us.
The biggest disappointment on this TV is the flexibility of the inputs on the back. There are two sets: a composite/component input, and an s-video/composite input.
Naturally, I first plugged the DVD player into the component inputs, and my S-Video and Composite inputs into the second set. The problem is that if you have an S-Video cable plugged in, even if you aren't feeding it a source, it ignores the composite feed. So, now, I need to either A) disconnect the component video and use that input for composite or B) run ugly cables around to the front of the TV for composite inputs. Neither one of which make me too happy. My receiver has front inputs - why can't TV manufacturers, especially on higher-end models, give the flexibility of a second set of inputs that duplicate the front inputs on the back, and select between them? I could care less about front inputs, and need the extra source, since they designed out the capability to switch between s-video and composite as needed.
The other little bugaboo, and this probably won't be an issue for most people, is that input switching is controlled by a TV/Video button, and you have to cycle through them to get to the source you need. Not a big deal, until you try to program macros into your remote. There aren't any "discrete" codes for input selection (e.g. ability to have a particular remote key select "Video 2"). This wreaks havoc with remote macros. Fortunately, there are workarounds (ch , ch-, then tv/video as many times as required), but it's a kluge and the macros take longer.
Overall, though, we are completely happy with this set. The picture is beautiful, which the primary goal of any set, and the rest is just fine.
Our requirements were probably a little different from most. We weren't driven primarily by price. I truly believe that with the amount of time we spend in front of the TV, the cost of movie rentals, and the quality achievable through today's DVD playback, it's hard to go "overboard" on video monitor purchases. Also, we've got a complete 5.1 surround setup and receiver, so the speakers would be disabled, and audio response wasn't an issue. Our old TV had PIP, and we never used it (after the first 2 days of playing with it), so that was not a factor.
The big constraint, though, was that we did not want to buy a new entertainment center to house A) all of our movies B) two playstations C) a TiVo D) DVD E) VCR F) CD Player and G) receiver when we bought the TV. We've got a pretty decent setup, and wanted to keep it. However, the center is a bit old, and has a width limit of 27 1/8", which was the reason we had the 25" RCA at the time. When we bought the RCA, 27" TV's were a lot wider. Now, there are a few sets that have broken this barrier and allowed us to start looking at 27" sets.
The contenders, based on the width restriction, were the Tau, a Samsung, an Apex, and a 24" Sony. The Sony was the baby of the bunch - the rest were all 27" flat screens. I considered the Sony only briefly - the XBR's are considered pretty much the "reference standard" of tube TV's (until recently - read on), and the little Sony had a lot of featuers. I just couldn't take off the 3" for (and even 1" from my current RCA!) for the same money.
The Apex was simply a lower-end model than the Tau. Picture quality was decent, not at the Panny/Sony level, though, and the whole thing looked a little cheap. Coming off of the RCA debacle, I just didn't want to "cheap out" on a new set.
The Samsung was a nice set. It had good features, but in the end was hurt by A) not offering S-Video inputs in the back B) having less picture quality than the Tau and C) not having the reliability and reputation of the Panny.
We got the beast loaded and delivered home (not an easy chore - these larger tube sets are heavy - this one is over 100 pounds). I put it into the entertainment center and powered it up. Yow! Retina burn! Very bright, and very RED! Not its-broken-take-it-back red, but obviously the default color setup was tuned to standing out in stores, not faithfully reproducing source material.
So, for a quick pass at it, I pulled out the THX Optimizer disc. After getting the brightness, color, and sharpness down to reasonable levels, the picture was outstanding. I head to take the color down to like 10% - it was that red. I'm still seeing some very "rich" reds on some sources, I need to get some filter paper and calibrate completely, but have not yet. The sharpness is all the way down, and the brightness is not as low as the color, but in the bottom 1/3rd as well.
Component playback of my DVD's are great. Toy Story, sort of the house "reference standard" is incredible - nearing the "comic book" look of high definition playback. S-Video from the TiVo looks great, and the tuner isn't bad. Channel changes are fairly quick with the built in tuner, and setup was pretty easy.
As I mentioned, the main reason I bought this set was picture quality, and it is great. We're seeing some details on movies and other sources that we literally did not see before. It's quite amazing. And even at the lowered brightness and color settings, it is rich and sharp, and my whole family loves it.
The remote control on the setup screens was counter-intuitive to me: you used the "action" button in the center of the remote to go "back" when you were done. The most common function of action buttons on my other remotes is to "commit" the setting - I lost quite a few settings changes this way. Other than that, most of the settings were obvious and functional.
Big kudos to Panasonic for including fixed and variable audio outputs. This is quite handy if you are a home theater newbie, or if you have a significant other that refuses to learn another remote. You can then control the receiver volume by using the remote control for the TV and changing the output on the RCA jacks on the back of the TV. We're past that stage, but it was a marriage saver when we first got the 5.1 receiver.
If you're looking for toys, this set won't have them. It's got input labeling and channel ratings, but that's about it. For instance, there is no PIP, no channel labels, no freeze frame, etc. This set is all about picture quality, and that's where it delivers. These are features we have found that get played with in the first few weeks, then forgotten, anyway, so it wasn't critical for us.
The biggest disappointment on this TV is the flexibility of the inputs on the back. There are two sets: a composite/component input, and an s-video/composite input.
Naturally, I first plugged the DVD player into the component inputs, and my S-Video and Composite inputs into the second set. The problem is that if you have an S-Video cable plugged in, even if you aren't feeding it a source, it ignores the composite feed. So, now, I need to either A) disconnect the component video and use that input for composite or B) run ugly cables around to the front of the TV for composite inputs. Neither one of which make me too happy. My receiver has front inputs - why can't TV manufacturers, especially on higher-end models, give the flexibility of a second set of inputs that duplicate the front inputs on the back, and select between them? I could care less about front inputs, and need the extra source, since they designed out the capability to switch between s-video and composite as needed.
The other little bugaboo, and this probably won't be an issue for most people, is that input switching is controlled by a TV/Video button, and you have to cycle through them to get to the source you need. Not a big deal, until you try to program macros into your remote. There aren't any "discrete" codes for input selection (e.g. ability to have a particular remote key select "Video 2"). This wreaks havoc with remote macros. Fortunately, there are workarounds (ch , ch-, then tv/video as many times as required), but it's a kluge and the macros take longer.
Overall, though, we are completely happy with this set. The picture is beautiful, which the primary goal of any set, and the rest is just fine.
