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By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Jun 30, 2008

The TX-37LZ800M is Panasonic's latest flagship flat panel and its first LCD 37-incher. Like all the Japanese company's 2008 HDTVs, this comes in a new facelift quite unlike any of its past offerings, plus a couple of customary refinements including an updated Viera video engine. Interestingly, there seem to be moderate benefits in terms of enhancing performance from what we've gathered on paper. Nevertheless, here're the highs and lows based on our unbiased assessment.

Design

While beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, this Viera exudes a simple yet elegant charm which draws one over time. It could be the bezel's sweeping arched bottom or the subtle mouth-like grille that adorns its gun-metal and glossy black front. Whatever it is, it's definitely a lot less boxy than its past offerings, though we miss the series' signature diamond pedestal stand. This has been replaced by a down-to-earth "T" equivalent which retains its swivel ability via a hidden base plate. For those wall-mounting this light 23kg unit, an optional bracket is available.

When it comes to ease of use, Panasonic has it right this time by clustering all the onboard controls and side A/V inputs on the right. These include an HDMI port for your HD gears and an SDHC card slot exclusive for its higher-end models. Like the LX700M, the latter is housed underneath a flip cover and neatly tucked away from preying eyes when not in use. There’s nothing much to talk about regarding its highly perforated and well-ventilated rear, except that you could utilize a rudimental cable tie attachment for cable management--still better than nothing, we reckon.

It was déjà vu when it came to the bundled remote controller. You get the same matching shade, keys and layout, right down to the flap that conceals the auxiliary keys found on the 2007 model. In fact, it's the same case for the multifunctional VCR/DVD/HTIB playback controls locked for compatible Panasonic products with no love for any other brands. Just to recap, it does offer a good deal of tactile feedback, responsiveness and ergonomics. Furthermore, the dual TV and A/V input keys are nice touches, but still not quite up to the mark due to their cumbersome toggling.

The embedded software menu is a double-edged sword which appeals mainly to first-time panel owners. That’s because there are very little extras to tune beyond the fundamental configurations, such as sharpness and contrast nested within four picture presets. These include an Eco mode for simplified room lighting-based automatic optimization. To be fair, we’ve come across advanced variants such as noise reduction and film frame rate processing within the well-structured menu, but nothing substantial to offset the backlight control and manual color management omissions.

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