Customer Reviews

Panasonic VIERA TC-L32U3 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This TV hooked up to my PC's HDMI port without problems, and produces a crystal-clear, sharp picture. For people complaining about 'halos' around screen fonts etc., turn down the 'sharpness' setting in the picture settings. If you have overscan issues and the edges of the screen appear cut off, switch to 'HDMI2' mode in the settings and your screen will display properly.

Wanted, if possible, to get a display device to be both a HD television and a great monitor. This would satisfy the want to have both in a small study. I am an avid photographer using very high resolutions with high end Nikon cameras. Also do HD video (1080p & AVCHD) as well. Needed to get a display to handle editing for both. Definitely wanted a monitor with an IPS panel to assist with very good color, better viewing angles, etc. Looked at the LG's (hit or miss IPS panel in some of the 32"), Samsung's (not an ISP panel), etc., as well. Went to several local AV stores in the local area and was able to see many of the models I was interested in. Hands down this Panasonic was the standout of the 32 inchers! Made the purchase several days later and connected everything up yesterday. All connections were as simple as could be. On HDMI1, I connected the Comcast HD cable box. Excellent picture right at the start (after going into the picture menu and turning the C.A.T.S to the "OFF" position). Color, sharpness, brightness, contrast, etc., were fantastic. At this time, have no reason to adjust this input.

Now, for the computer part. Powered down all devices, then connected my HP HPE 390t with the 1.8GB nVidia Geforce GTX 260 video card with an HDMI out to the HDMI2 input on the Panasonic. Powered both TV and HP computer back up. WOW...as the computer began to load, the color, fidelity, etc of the windows blue intro screen was fantastic as was the HDTV portion when I first turned on the cable. After logging in, my screen background photo (photo of wife and I in front of a glacier and mountain in Alaska) just blew me away. No other monitor I have had (and its been several) since 2008 (date of our trip and photo), was able to display it so well. NOW comes the important part. This TC-L32U3 DOES handel the PC very, very well, but a few minor adjustments needed to be made: 1)the computer displayed the background larger than the TV screen size. NO problem. Went into Windows 7 control panel and made sure the video card was set at 1920 X 1080, the refresh rate at 60Hz, and color depth at 32 bit. ALL was good there. Next went into the TV's menu and did the following: using the TV's remote, I entered the picture mode; scrooled down to "Aspect adjustments" and hit enter; left the "Screen format" at "Full", but adjusted the "HD size" to "Size 2". Pure Magic!!! The PC now displayed the correct resolution beautifully!!! NO issues. 2.)At the advice of another reviewer, I did knock down the sharpness alittle, but not sure I needed to it, because I saw NO issue with being able to read the text, being already sharp and clear. Just keep in mind that this is not a high end monitor only, but on this 32", it is very good. 3.)I also adjusted TV's "Black level" to "Dark" (just my preference).

I now use these minor changes on both HDMI1 and HDMI2 inputs. I also kept the pictue in "Standard" mode, which I have hardly ever done on many past TVs. Always had to adjust them to get more vibrant color, etc. Not with this set. The "Standard" was exceptional right out of the box (again, you have to turn the C.A.T.S to off, so your room lighting is not the changing the brightness on you). Have NO intention of calibrating at this time (I do have a calibrater stored some where).

On page 38 of the owners/operation manual, Panasonic puts in the disclaimer, "use with a PC is not assumed". That is probably true in some respects. You apparently have to have compatible equipment. If you try this display, you will not be disappointed. But the PC's video card must be compatible. Excellent display on both my HD cable and PC inputs.

This tv is awesome!! ..I waited for the new "alpha panel" ( as stated by cnet and is used on higher end tvs) rather than panasonics old lcd panel; and it is worth the wait!! The colors are NOT washed out as one reviewer stated and are very good..The screen is a BIT slightly draker but that brings out the color better in my opinion ... They even improved on the angle viewing so its not faded looking from the sides...My friend brought one to. I think the last reviewer got a bad one.. There are good reviews on this unit from cnet and best buy and even the first person on this page said so minus pc hookup thou...Way to go panasonic!!!

This is the second Panasonic Viera TV we have bought, and both are excellent in both picture quality and value. The HD picture rivals that of our 58" plasma in detail, and there is no artifacting with fast movements. We find the menu to be very "user friendly" and set-up was fast and easy. The only thing that could be improved is the built-in speakers. If you are using the TV in a large room, or a room with extraneous noises, you will want to run the sound through a sound system. The on-board speakers just don't put out a lot of volume. We have this TV set up in a small room, and the sound volume is no problem.
This is a lot of HD TV for the money, and I highly recommend this product.

I use this in my studio as a video editing monitor and have no complaints except that it does not include a S Video port. S Video is a now well past supporting, but while transferring older material it would be useful FOR ME. I transfer using composite, which is ok for the short while I need it. Obviously it looks great and matches color very well. This outputs full 1080, which I needed and shows me the under-scanning I need to prove to me that I have a full frame. I recommend it for any TV and monitor use. It is very light and a breeze to wall mount.

My first HDTV, so I have nothing to compare it to. With that said, I'm really liking the TV so far. Excellent picture with 1080i over-the-air channels as well as 720p videos through AppleTV. No Blu-Ray test yet. Black levels seem pretty good (I've definitely seen worse while browsing at BestBuy) and colors seem good as well. I did some slight adjustment to the picture with the THX Optimizer system on a Pixar DVD..

Negatives: I wish there was an over-the-air channel guide like my Insignia DTV converter has. Also, I wish there was an "enter"/"ok" button near the numerical keypad for changing channels. You have to type the channel number (bottom of remote), then regrip and hit "ok" at the top of the remote - pretty awkward. Both of these issue are admittedly minor.

Also, I've read many negative comments on the speakers on 2010 and older Panasonic TVs. I think they are reasonable quality for standard built-in speakers.

Something else to add is that this TV was originally listed by both Best Buy and Amazon as having an LED backlight. That info has now been removed from both. The Panasonic website does not list this under their "LED LCD" category (just the standard "LCD" category, implying a CCFL/EEFL backlight), but makes numerous mentions in the product description as having an LED backlight. I originally ordered this when Amazon, Best Buy and Panasonic themselves had it listed as having an LED backlight, so I assumed that's what I was getting.

The LED info never seemed right to me as this TV has nearly the same thickness, contrast ratio and power consumption as the 2010 model Panasonic TVs which ARE listed as having an EEFL (CCFL) backlight. After I got the TV, I looked through the ventilation slots on the back and can see a sticker with a high-voltage warning on it that says "Fluorescent Lamp in Color LCD contain Mercury..." I have real doubts that this TV has an LED backlight.

Overall I'll give it 5 stars. Bottom line is that it has a great picture for a $500-ish TV.

Gaming:

BAD NEWS: First let me say that if you are looking to be a MLG pro and have the absolutely 0 input lag, you shouldn't buy this TV. Most TV's above 32 inches will have some kind of input lag. I would advise you to buy a 23" monitor for around ~$200 if you are looking for no delay at all. This TV is no different in that if you play competitively, you will notice a difference. I have tried HDMI, Compnent, and VGA...all play almost no affect with VGA "feeling" the least laggy. If you are looking to play any FPS competitively, I suggest buying a PC monitor as lag will be non-existent. The "Game Mode" is lame. It turns off all the post-processing options (you can turn off manually), but for some reason it seems to lag more than just leaving it on standard.

GOOD NEWS: This TV does not have as much input lag as other brands I have had in the past (Insignia, Sony, LG). If you are a casual gamer who plays fps/sports/adventure games than this TV may be right for you as the input lag is not noticeable to the average player.

Movies:

BAD NEWS: There is only a digital Audio Optical Out. I was hoping for RCA Audio out so I could connect it to my 2.1 speakers that only have RCA and 3.5mm input. (This is more of a personal Bad News than a Con of the TV)

GOOD NEWS: The TV works fine and looks beautiful. Movies/Sports are crisp and they sound descent out of the TV speakers.

PC:

BAD NEWS: I wouldn't use is as a dedicated monitor for gaming for the exact reason stated above. It feels slow, but maybe I was just to close to the screen.

GOOD NEWS: If you are going to use this as a secondary monitor to watch movies on or do off screen work (Monitor Stocks, watch streams, etc...) it works great. If you want to hook up a wireless mouse and keyboard and watch some netflix or browse youtube, it works great.

CONCLUSION:

The TV is a great TV for $400. It doesn't have as much delay as some of the other units I sampled and feels pretty solid for my gaming experience. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because it isn't input lag free (ERRR game mode blows) and it also didn't have RCA out. The complaints are small, but I feel they warranted a star down. I would recommend this TV to a average gamer who is looking for something that is a bit bigger in size and also allows for games to be played enjoyably.

Games Tested:
Halo Reach (Xbox)
Black Ops (Xbox/PS3/PC)
Killzone 3 (PS3)
NCAA 12' (Xbox)
MVC3 (Xbox/PS3)
HoN (PC)
BF:BC2 (PC)

Movies Tested:
Back to the Future (Blu-Ray)
40 Yr Old Virgin (DVD)

Any Questions, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Bought this TV as we finally upgraded to digital cable with HD channels. We had good experience with Panasonic in the past, and this TV has been great so far. The picture is absolutely fantastic with the HDMI connection to our HD DVR. Added a Panasonic blue ray player to the set up, and there is a 3rd HDMI input on the side for our laptop or anything else. Optical digital audio out really finishes off the set up. Great TV, and it fits in the 36" opening in our entertainment center.

This is a very good TV, HD picture is awesome, nice looking, very quite and has all necessary features, inputs etc etc.

So any one just looking for a great 32 inch 1080p HDTV, price wise, this cannot be any better as of now.

Howver, if anyone is planning to use this as a computer monitor and do any text work, i would not recommend it at all. The text on this TV is just bad. HDMI, powerful video card, millions of tweaking and etc did not help the quality and sharpness of the text on this TV. It stays always fuzzy and not crisp and eventualy will hurt eyes and make one blind i guess. I think the gap is the TV does not have a dedicated PC usage mode where at 1080p and HDMI, the TV itself somehow enhances the text quality. Toshiba and some other LG models of 32 inch 1080p has something like that.

Overall very very good TV for TV purpose only but not usable as a PC monitor for any text based work.

I have owned the 32-inch model of this Panasonic TV for about one week and am very happy with it. I bought the TV for a master bedroom and the size seems good for sitting five to six feet away. I am still getting the picture "dialed in" but for most programs I have viewed through my satellite TV service the picture has been outstanding.

The picture is very good and very customizable. I have settled on using the cinema setting with big adjustments to back lighting, contrast, and color. I turned off a variety of automatic picture adjustments including the automatic ambient light sensor. The black levels on the TV seem ok to me. I read a few reviews that mentioned this set had sub-par black levels, but I think they are fine. The picture is outstanding on all of my HD channels and with the attached Panasonic blu-ray.

I am not seeing the wide viewing angle that others report. This is not a problem since I rarely watch other than when I am sitting in a chair directly in front of it, but the picture seems to wash out pretty quickly when I stand up or move to the side. It is better than another lcd TV I had in the past, but I still don't think it meets the manufacturer's claims. This could just be particular to my setting and my eyes, however. Your mileage may vary.

The TV's sound is ok for me. It is not super good or super bad. Basically, I don't notice the sound as an annoyance while watching a show, so I guess that means it is ok. It is clearly not as good, however, as the three or four year old Panasonic plasma I have in another room. I don't think the sound should be a deciding factor in purchasing this TV. I cannot imagine that you will get great sound out of a 32 inch TV, so this set is probably little different from most others on this count.

The screen does a good job of not reflecting bright lights. Mine sits directly across from a window about seven feet away and the reflection is noticeable only in dark scenes. What does reflect, however, is the bezel around the screen. While the screen has a matte finish, the bezel is very shiny and very reflective. I find it just a bit annoying.

The only other thing that bothers me about the TV is the small red light that indicates the TV is on. The light is in the middle of the lower bezel and is seems bright to me, especially sitting fairly close in a dark room. I solved this problem by putting a very small piece of gray electrical tape over the light. The tape lets a small amount of light through and does not look too out of place. Before putting the tape over the light, I would find myself thinking more about the light than the show I was watching. Sad. :)

In spite of the few small annoyances, I still love the TV and recommend it highly. I think you will have trouble finding such a good picture for the same price in another set.