Panasonic TC-26LX60

Summary: The Panasonic TC-26LX60 represtents an amaxing value in an LCD television. Picture quality rivals that of plasma in colour, contrast and brightness.

I looked at nearly every model available through every consumer manufacturer. What sold me on this was when I saw it at one
particular vendor that had all the 26" TV's set up on a single wall. It allowed me to easily compare it to the competitions LCD's and Plasmas at a glance. I even played with colour controls on the closest models to ensure the great picture wasn't an illusion based on settings. It wasn't. It easily produced the same picture quality colour and contrast as the tubes and plasmas on the same wall. Plus, being an LCD, it doesn't have the
reflective screen glare of the glass on a tube or plasma. This in my opinion allows the user to experience an even better picture especially in well lit rooms.

Once home, Picture quality even on a marginal cable signal is amazing. I was considering buying a digital cable box, but am not sure that one is needed now. Colour quality out of the box is great, but slightly saturated. With a little tweaking, it looks even better.

One nice feature is the ability to set and save three standard colur setting groups for each of the tv's 6 inputs. Another is the audio leveler, which keeps you from beeing blown out of the room with commercials. This feature needs to be turned off for music because it seriously reduces dynamic range. You can also adjust input volumes independantly so output level remains constant when switching inputs.

The sound is better than most tv's but over equalized to produce better sound. Highs are hissy and shrill. Upper midrange is reduced. Sounds very reminiscent of a real cheap getto blasters attempt at widening frequency range of poor quality speakers. This can be adjusted some with bass and treble controls, but not to the extent that I would like.

A universal remote comes with the TV but has limited functions for additional equipment. It has basic buttons only for dvd and vcr players. There are no menu or setting options available for additional components so in most cases the original remote is needed.

Overall though, the TV offers a great value by providing amazing picture quality. My only real regret is that Panasonic maxes out their LCD line at 32"s. I would like a 37" to 40" for my family room and need to look at other models that I consider inferior to this one. I'm holding out for now, and hoping that Panasonic changes their model line soon to provide some larger LCD units like this one.