Customer Reviews

Panasonic CT-36HX42 36" PureFlat HDTV-Ready TV

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After doing MONTHS of research, I went out and bought this unit.

Here are my main impressions:

1. The Picture quality is FANTASTIC. I have played both normal and progressive scan DVD players on this unit, as well as a XBOX, VCR, and Cable Box. The store "floor model" does not do this justice, you have to get it home and run through the "set-up screens". The only downside is if you are in a bright room (lots of windows, etc), as the brightness of the room will kill the picture. As most entertainment rooms are not bright this should not affect most people.

2. The remote needs some work. It does not have "full" control over my Cable Box like it should. It is not able to access the on-screen guide (SA3000 Model). I was told that that HL42 (The one with the sub-woofer) model has a higher grade remote and controls the cable box. Why they did not include this remote in this model TV is just stupid. The remote is also not "feel" friendly. It takes ALOT getting used to certain buttons. That said, get a "all-in-one" like I am going to.

3. As most channels are not in HD yet, don't expect to see that many. My cable company (COX) is coming out with HDTV in mid-Nov...so I should be able to see alot more. But, as the technology moves forward, I see almost ALL channels starting to have a HD option.

Closing....best buy for the money (and HD's are not cheap). But, this unit gives you all you need in a good home TV with HIGH QUALITY results!!

I bought this TV as a replacement for an RCA 36" HDTV that I had had some problems with.... While I don't have the same problems with this TV, I do have some other annoyances....

I have the RCA DTC100 hooked up through a VGA to component video adapter, and two problems appear:
1. The TV always defaults to a 16:9 aspect ratio, even though the TV, picture source (satellite or local broadcast), and satellite box are 4:3. You can manually go into the menu and change this each time you turn the TV on, but it's a mess. Panasonic told me there is nothing they can do to make sure the TV senses the right aspect ratio or that it "remembers" the aspect ratio that you entered when you turn the TV on the next time.

I am thinking about buying a new HDTV box, but I'm not sure that would solve the problem. The output of the DTC100 is a 1080i output, which is inherently 16:9, from my understanding. Some of the other satellite boxes allow you to choose different outputs, such as 720P or 480P, but those should also be a 16:9 aspect ratio inherently as well - causing the TV to still default to the incorrect aspect ratio when watching standard definition TV. The other concern I have with the TV is that I changed the DTC100 to the 16:9 aspect ratio, but the result was a 16:9 within a 16:9 (the resultant picture filled out the width of the TV, but was only 1/4 the height...).

2. The second problem I've had with the DTC100/Panasonic combo is that when viewing a HDTV picture that has a distinct line between a dark part of the picture and a bright part of the picture, such as a landscape/sky picture, the edges of the picture, right around the transition of the light/dark objects, starts waving around and shrinking from both sides of the TV edge by a couple of inches or more. The rest of the picture looks fine, and the center part of the lines that are shrinking looks fine - it's just that one part of the picture that has a problem.

I've made all the recommended adjustments, and nothing has any affect on this wavy edge. I have a service guy coming later this week to look at it, so I'll update this review if I have any luck.

I did a lot of research on these TV's before buying the Panasonic, so it's very frustrating that these minor problems exist. The picture is outstanding, most of the time, but there are times where the wavy lines get really bad, and you can't focus on the story line of what you are watching. And their service number is ridiculously slow - I waited over a month for them to research the issue #1 above, only to have them tell me I was SOL and it was my fault, not theirs...

I did a lot of research before buying this TV, and concluded that this Panasonic is the best 36" HDTV monitor for the money. It has great picture quality, more than enough A/V inputs, and the cosmetics of the cabinet is great too!
I was a little disappointed to find out that they offer a better remote with another similar model, one that operates more devices, but I wouldn't pass this TV up for that minor issue.
I totally recommend this TV to anybody!

I agree with the favorable reviews of this TV. The picture quality and features are/were great. But after only 5 years of service, the TV no longer works. The unit will no longer turn on. Working one day, not working the next. Over the past five years, we have had many instances of this happening with this unit but a quick unplug-and-plug-it-back-in reset it and it worked again. No longer the case. Searching the net, I see that this is a common problem with this generation of Panasonic. Lack of power indicates that the unit's power-protection circuit has been activated and there is a short somewhere in the system. Weighing over 200 pounds, you can't exactly lug this thing into the repair shop and in-home service will be expensive. So faced with a large repair bill, I guess it is time to pony up for an LCD, but all you can buy now are widescreens and I wanted a standard 4:3 picture. Oh well, I guess the days of expecting an expensive TV to last 10 or 15 or 20+ years are over - and I won't be buying Panasonic this time.

It is now 2005 and the 1080 is absolutely stunning. There is still not a plasma or LCD that can do better than this picture in my opinion. I read the first reviews and boy did he have it hooked up wrong..anyway...if you want the best, that is what you get with this set. I want a thinner set and have been shopping and checking out the lcd's and plama's, the very expensive one's are close but not there yet. Yeah..this set is my standard of what quality I insist on the next time.Hoped this helped. I am bummed this was before dvi-d...oh well, but the component is still pretty fabulous