Panasonic is now the only manufacturer still making 37-inch plasma TVs, and the Viera TX-P37X20B is the only offering of that size in the company's 2010 plasma range. Therefore, if 37 inches is your preferred screen size, and plasma rather than LCD technology is your bag, the HD Ready TX-P37X20B is now your only option. This entry-level TV is available for around £600.
Flair-free design
The TX-P37X20B certainly doesn't offer designer looks. The black bezel feels rather flimsy and the whole set has precious little flair.
More annoying, though, is that the TX-P37X20B's lowly status denies you a D-Sub PC port. You can use one of the set's three HDMI ports to hook up a computer, but the video formats supported via this route are limited. This won't matter if you never intend to connect a PC to the TV, but there's no denying that the vast majority of other TVs, including budget models, do carry dedicated PC inputs.
While we're on the subject of connections, the TX-P37X20B also doesn't have a USB port for multimedia playback. But there is, at least, an SD-card slot capable of playing back JPEG photos and AVCHD videos.
Viva la resolution
Unlike similarly sized LCD sets, no 37-inch plasma TV has ever squeezed 1,920x1,080 pixels into its frame. Indeed, the TX-P37X20B's 1,024x720-pixel resolution will instantly put some people off. The TV does have a huge claimed contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1, though. That's the sort of figure that you'd be extremely hard-pressed to find in a budget LCD TV.
Panasonic also says that the set is 'viewing-angle free', and it's not just marketing fluff. You really can watch the TX-P37X20B from pretty much right angles without its pictures losing contrast or colour in the way routinely seen with LCD TVs. That makes this TV a good choice if you have a small living room or large family, and someone will regularly have to watch TV from an angle.
The TX-P37X20B also offers 100Hz processing. On one level, this judder-reducing, stability-boosting feature is pleasing to find on such an affordable 37-inch TV. But, at the same time, all the models further up Panasonic's new range offer 600Hz sub-field processing.
Once you go black, you never go back
The TX-P37X20B delivers a rather mixed performance. Its greatest strength by far is its contrast performance, or, more specifically, its ability to reproduce convincing, deep blacks.
This plasma-related strength gives the set an immediate and key advantage over any affordable LCD model, especially if you love Blu-ray movies, which routinely feature extreme contrast levels. As well as letting dark scenes look more natural, the TX-P37X20B's black-level prowess helps it produce more subtle detail in dark scenes than your average LCD model. Plus, there's absolutely no sign of the backlight inconsistencies common to LCD TVs.
The TX-P37X20B also defies expectations with its sharpness when showing high-definition sources. Good-quality Blu-rays really don't look any less sharp on this HD Ready set than they do on the vast majority of affordable 1080p LCD TVs. In fact, with plasma technology's ultra-fast response time helping the TX-P37X20B avoid the motion-blurring that often afflicts LCD TVs, there are times when its HD pictures actually look sharper than those of 'Full HD' LCD sets.
For an entry-level TV, the TX-P37X20B is able to render colours shown in HD material with impressive subtlety and reasonable accuracy. The set's colour performance declines markedly, however, when you switch to standard-definition material, with some rogue tones creeping in.
Other issues are a degree of judder when showing horizontal motion, despite the 100Hz processing, and two problems which might make the TX-P37X20B an unsuitable option for people with bright living rooms: a lack of brightness once you've calibrated the image properly, and a tendency for the screen to reflect lights and objects in your room.
The TX-P37X20B's audio is rather hit and miss too. It produces distortion-free sound, but it's limited in the amount of bass and treble it can produce.
Conclusion
The Panasonic Viera TX-P37X20B won't suit everyone. But it's still a good HD performer, and the advantages of its now unique 37-inch plasma screen should be enough to persuade many people to part with their cash.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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Starfleet 12 May 2010
Good: Superb Standard def/ Hi def images, fantastic viewing angles, great sound!
Bad: Lack of a USB port, and plain gloss black bezel - could do with a bit more sparkle
Comment: I've had this set (TX-P37X20B) for just a few days. However, I've tested every function on the set and I'm bowled over by the performance of this Plasma tv. I've fiddled with it, and watched more TV in the last few days than I ever thought possible to arrive at this conclusion!
For starters I find the picture quality to be just amazing, with bright crisp colours and fantastic deep blacks like you won't see on any other set except a Pansonic Plasma. My high end LG LCD set looks positively aneamic compared to it. This Panasonic, as ever has very clear life like images and colour. It came setup very well from the factory with few changes needed to this aspect. Like many flat panel tv's, there is some slight variation with colour on Freeview at times due to poor quality broadcasts but it's virtually unnoticeable to most people, and it is considerably better than my other 100hz LCD full HD. If you need to tweak the picture or colours, you have an amazing menu system to enable you to get it just to your liking. And, being a Panasonic plasma, you can REALLY see the picture from any angle without any noticeable loss of quality at all. LCD's just can't match that. As the main reviewer says, don't worry about the fact that it is 'just' HD ready with 1024 X 720 resolution. I concour with this comment, I defy anyone to easily tell the difference between it, and a full HD set, watching SD or HD pics. Very little picture noise even on Freeview, and even this can be mostly tuned out with the multiple picture features the set has. Virgin media Cable TV brings the screen even more to life without any picture noise whatsoever in SD or HD mode. No judder or blurring seen. It really is that good! And you save a packet of money in the process if you go for this set compared to a full HD one.
I disagree slightly with the main reviewer concerning sound. I rate this aspect of the tv as brilliant. This Panasonic plasma has a GRAHIC EQUALISER built into the software, in addition to other sound tweaking features. Couple this with it's quality speakers, and you have a powerful, dynamically clear sound system with plenty of bass and treble and with everything else you need inbetween. In surround sound mode It is easily well ahead of virtually any other flat panel tv I have owned or demoed!
Power use for a plasma tv of this size is very good indeed and is inline suprisingly...with most LCD's with an average power on use of 115-120watts. This is due to the power saving features. Maximum rated power use is 190watts.
Shame no USB port but it has SD card slot. TV case a bit boring to look at in plain gloss black but very functional. Overall, this is a good allrounder doing mostly everything better than the LCD full hd sets I looked at. If yoiu don't believe me, go and see one at your local store and check it out. It's not perfect as you can see but it's very close for the money!
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