Review: Panasonic Viera TC-37LZ800 LCD TV

MSRP for the Viera TC-37LZ800 LCD is $1,399

Not the cheapest LCD, but capable of putting out vivid color to every seat in the house.

Panasonic’s use of IPS (In-Plane Switching) in their LCD panels has been a favorite choice of ours for the simple reason that light output remains almost constant from all viewing angles. When you’re not the only one watching TV in a room, this can be a big deal. The TC-37LZ800 uses a newer generation of this technology called IPS-Alpha which improves upon earlier designs. Panasonic is the #3 plasma display manufacturer in the world (beat out of the #1 spot just this year), but the company seems to have a very good understanding of what makes a great LCD television.

Build Quality and Features
The face of the TC-37LZ800 sports a wide bezel with a piano gloss finish. The screen, inset about 1/4-inch into the unit utilizes a glossy “plasma-like” Plexiglas surface that is highly reflective but presents an incredibly vivid picture. The whole TV is less than 4-inches deep, not counting the little “chin” at the base of the monitor that adds maybe 1/3 of an inch. The right side of the television (looking at it from the front) has a membrane control surface for Power, Channel, Volume, Input and Demo functions. Nearby are the side inputs, which include HDMI, composite, analogue audio and an 1/8-inch headphone output. Just below is an SD/SDHC card (up to 16GB) reader for cards containing JPG, DCF, and/or EXIF formatted image files.

The back of the TV supports two HDMI inputs, two component video inputs, a PC input and a shared composite/S-video input. Separate stereo audio channels are included for use with all of the non-digital inputs (HDMI requires audio be sent over HDMI if you want to use the TVs internal speakers). One very important thing to note is that the HDMI inputs will be covered up if you use a full size traditional flat panel mount that includes a full face horizontal mounting plate.

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Product: Viera TC-37LZ800 LCD Television

Price: $1,399

Performance: 4 out of 5

Value: 3 out of 5

Pros:

• Respectable picture quality out of the box
• Fast channel changes
• Digital only channel scanning

Cons:

• Uneven backlight
• HDMI input positioning may interfere with mounts
• No advanced user-level calibration options