Panasonic Viera TH37PV500 review

Panasonic Viera TH37PV500 Review

Reviewed by: Guy Cocker

Reviewed on: 21 February 2006

Features
The inclusion of an integrated Freeview tuner may not be that rare these days, but a TopUp TV slot is a definite Brucie Bonus. Not many people subscribe to the extra channels offered by this service, especially since E4 moved to Freeview, but it's great to have the option. And if you plug the subscription card in, all the extra channels appear automatically on the EPG.

The analogue channels take slightly longer to tune in than the digital ones, but when it's all completed both tuners prove to be equally strong. We've seen Freeview reception break up on lesser TVs that feature integrated digital tuners, but this was able to find all channels and hold a consistently strong picture throughout.

The panel resolution of this Viera might be lower than average at 1,024x720 pixels, but it is still fully high-definition compatible. The TV will accept HDCP-enabled content such as Sky HD via the HDMI input, and non-protected content such as the Xbox 360 or HD DVD via component inputs. The television supports both 720p and 1080i broadcasts, although there are no benefits from using 1080i because of the 720-line panel resolution.

The Viera Colour Management system produces some incredibly impressive results, with greens and reds that are more vibrant than we've ever seen before. The system boasts some 8.6 billion colours, which is five billion more than the previous, seventh-generation screens were capable of. Impressive stats, and when you see the colours jump off screen you'll see it's one of the most impressive processing technologies available.

Panasonic has included a few more improvements to its picture processing. The engine can control up to 2,084 shades of greyscale and adjusts pixel brightness individually, resulting in a much more dynamic picture than before. Overall brightness has also been improved by ten per cent, and the screen looked just as good under the bright lights of the office as it did in the home cinema room.

Performance
Nothing can quite prepare you for the gorgeous colour reproduction of this Viera television. Colours appear natural but are so vibrant that they seem to drip off the screen. This succulent performance is complemented by an awesome contrast level -- the dark scenes of the Mission: Impossible 3 trailer proved to be no problem. Dark colours remained black and never muddied into a grey mess -- we lapped high-definition video up on the Viera.

Having said that, high-definition content is rare at the moment, so it's more relevant that the Viera is also an excellent standard-definition performer. The integrated Freeview tuner is a high quality one, and even during the Winter Olympics, where skiers flew by the camera, the action remained solid and detailed. You won't find a more solid Freeview performance away from a high-quality CRT screen.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide