Compact, affordable, and great looking, Panasonic's 20-inch CT-20SL14 uses a Tau PureFlat picture tube, which not only looks better than a conventional, bulbous screen, but also provides a high-quality, high-contrast picture owing to the screen's ability to reduce reflected ambient light. The set may be small in size, but its 600 lines of horizontal resolution render high-quality images.
The CT-20SL14's 3-line comb filter further enhances resolution by removing blurred edges between colors and reducing dot crawl (tiny, moving dots of color along a sharp color separation in a vertical line, as in a depiction of a character's striped T-shirt). The set's horizontal and vertical edge correction sharpens the edges of pictured objects, working in conjunction with the dynamic sharpness control and velocity modulated scan to produce clean, crisp images and reduce video noise.
Through channel labeling, you can assign an ID of 1 to 4 characters (such as KIRO or WNET) to up to 30 different channels. This feature comes in handy when cable systems assign different channel numbers to familiar network stations. Channel banner captures information transmitted with each program and places it onscreen in a semi-transparent banner. This information includes TV station identification and the V-Chip rating for the current program.
The set gives you stereo audio from broadcast programming via Multi-channel Television Sound (MTS), which permits broadcasters to encode stereo audio within the video portion of TV programming signals. The CT-20SL14 also features a surround processing circuit which simulates spacious surround sound from the set's 2 speakers.
A component-video input grants optimum connection with a compatible DVD player, while standard composite- and S-video inputs accommodate all DVD players. You can choose between 2 sets of rear AV inputs and a set of front AV inputs for extra convenience, as when hooking up a camcorder or gaming console. A rear audio (switchable fixed-/variable-level) output lets you hook the set up with an integrated amplifier or surround receiver.
The set also features a trilingual onscreen display (English, Spanish, French), closed-caption display, V-Chip parental control, channel lock, GameGuard, a sleep timer, auto-off, and a universal remote control.
What's in the Box
TV, remote control, remote batteries, and a user's manual.
Panasonic's vision of the digital future is driven by the needs and aspirations of its business customers and millions of consumers around the world who use its products every day. The company shares their dream to live a fuller life by providing ways of working smarter and enjoying the rewards of technological advances.PRODUCT FEATURES: PureFlat picture tube;Color temperature control;3-line digital comb filter;Horizontal and vertical edge correction;Virtual surround sound;Artificial intelligence sound control;10-watt sound system;Component video input;Front A/V and headphone jacks;ENERGY STAR compliant.
1 Great TV but shipping so late
I bought this TV instead of my old Sanyo 20". The picture and sound really good. The remote is very difficult to set for using with my DVD player because the brand of my DVD doesn't have the code in manual for setting it. I need to trial and error for long time. Everything is very perfect but shipping is very bad. After I order this TV, I got a tracking number. I check the tracking number for a few day. It should be shipped to Chicago for 2 days after Amazon ships my order by using Eagle company. But they stop shipping to my address and I can't check my tracking online. They didn't update any information. When I called Eagle, their service was really bad. They did not ship to my address until next 5 days, eventhough, this TV are in Chicago. It didn't ship so fast like the first one comment it for one day. I'm very disappoint for this shipping.
2 Great Set for the money!
I just purchased this set the other day. Ordered it on March 1st, and it was delivered on March 2nd! How's that for service? It took me a while to hook up, but my problem was not with the set, but with my cable box. It worked fine, but could not get on demand, or the on line guide, or the time on my box. Cable company came the next day, and replaced the digital box and the set works twice as good as the day before. Hooked it up to a new Toshiba vcr/dvd combo unit. Took only 5 minutes for this hookup. Wow! I am impressed. The sound quality, the picture quality and the looks of this set is great for the money. It rates up there with sets that cost $50-100 more.
This is a large 20" set...It replaced a 21" set in my room. I had no problem picking up the old 21" and carrying it out into the other room. Like picking up a baby. However, this set is about 5" wider and a few inches taller than a normal 20". So, be sure to have the extra room for it. And,it was very awkward to get out of the box. Did that, but the set was very heavy and wide, and hard to lift for a woman. The set is heavy, about 60 pounds, and no handles to grab. I was going to get help on lifting the set onto a table, but I am of the "Can Do" spirit! After a few hours, I decided to do it myself...So, I managed to pick it up and put it on its stand. Just afraid I would drop it, but I managed it! However, if you are older (it was way too heavy for my 80 year old father) or you are a slight female, be sure to have help removing the TV from the Box!
I think Amazon called it the White Glove Delivery..And, after reading this statement, it said the delivery men would remove the TV from the carton. Wish I would have paid more attention to this before the set arrived. Be sure to ask the delivery man to take the set out of the box, and put it where you want it! I was ready to pay someone $20 to do this for me!
I am very pleased with the set. Stereo Sound is great, Picture is great, looks are great. I did not have more that $200 to spend on a set, and this is wonderful. Don't be afraid to purchase. I found out that Kmart also sells this set, for $10 more!
My Dad is a Sony and Toshiba nut, and he got a little upset when I told him I was buying a Panasonic. Well, after he saw this set, I think he ate crow! I know he has been watching my set when I was not home yesterday! The remote was not where I left it.
3 One of the best models in this price range
Before purchasing this TV I spent several weeks visiting three major national retail stores, read Consumer Reports, and searched for reviews on the Internet.
My criteria were lowest possible price, picture quality, and sound. While I knew a 20" TV was the best choice for where the set would be located in my home, I was open to a bigger model if the other criteria were met.
Here's what I found: In this price range the resolution on many models is sub-par. This is expecially noticeable when you view them side by side. I looked at Toshiba, RCA, Samsung, Philips, Magnavox, and others and found this to be generally true across the board when compared to this Panasonic. For a somewhat higher price RCA's model 20F67OT had a slightly better picture with more features. However, RCA does not have as high a reliability rating by Consumer Reports as Panasonic. Other than that no other TV came close in terms of picture quality in this price range.
When it comes to audio I have champagne taste and a beer budget. Still, I wanted a TV that would have the best possible audio with Surround Sound to watch my DVDs.
Only two models stood out in comparison to the Panasonic while all the rest were noticeably worse. Sony's 20FS120 has 10 watts per channel which is pretty good for a TV. However, it was substantially more expensive and, suprisingly, did not have as good as picture as the Panasonic! Samsung also has two models, TXP2036 and TXP2034F, with higher powered audio. However, despite being affordable and having a half decent image, Samsung just doesn't have that good a reliability rating from Consumer Reports. As for this Panasonic, the audio is very good. Not the best, of course, but good for a TV.
There are actually many TV models in this price range with 27" and 32" screens. However, across the board, what you get in size you lose in picture and audio quality. I only saw one single TV in this price range with a picture close to this model. True to form, it was a Panasonic! However, even then the audio was not nearly as good as what I heard from this TV.
As of this writing, the US is supposed to switch to HDTV in 2006. After that time anyone with an analog set will require a converter. If you've visited a store recently you will quickly see the vast difference between those models and analog sets like this one. But the prices are just too steep. My plan was to buy a quality inexpensive set now and then get a better one once the prices dropped on the HDTVs. This model, the 20SL14, fits the bill.
If you're on a budget and want a quality set this is the one to look at.
4 It works right out of the box
This is my opinion only about my recent experience purchasing a new 20" TV.
I needed to buy a new 20" TV for my exercise room. I tried out two Toshiba 20AF44's (being the satisfied owner of two Toshiba flat screen TV's already, the 20-inch 20AF41 and the 14-inch 14AF??, both of which have superb video quality) but was dissatisfied with the 20AF44's (see my review of same). I tried out a Sony 20 incher but was dissatisfied because it was too dark and contrasty and I was not going to fiddle with the service menu. So I returned everything and bought the CT-20SL14.
I was more or less committed after I got the box home because the TV has no handles on the cabinet and I couldn't lift it out of the box (it's about 56 pounds, I believe) without slicing the box apart first to get access (once you slice the box, you can't really return the TV).
I won't describe the features of the TV since you can find that on the Panasonic website. The fit and finish of the TV is excellent, no scratches or anything on the exterior. The glass has a slight haze on it from the manufacturing process so use some glass cleaner, and the haze comes off easily.
The audio quality is better than the Toshiba. It's not rich and lush like a fine stereo system but it's ok, a sterile kind of sound that is common in smaller TV's. Speech intelligibility is excellent. I don't use the surround sound setting because while the mono portion of the sound doesn't get changed, the difference information is presented vary loud and it unbalances the loudness levels between spoken dialogue (which would be mono) and the music and sound effects.
The video quality is very good, and screen geometry is excellent. But I have to say that older Toshiba flat screen TV's (not the current 20AF44, which I feel has too aggressive velocity scan modulation which makes for unnatural edge detail and distorted text) and Sony TV's have the best, most natural-looking image quality. The Panasonic doesn't look quite as natural in both detail and colour tonality. I have a 14-year old 27" Panasonic "Superflat" TV (it's actual slightly convex) and it has the same tonal quality as the CT-20SL14, very good but not quite as natural as a Sony. There's supposed to be circuitry to enhance the sharpness of images but they have no effect on text quality, unlike the Toshiba 20AF44 which causes text to become fat and rough from the velocity scan modulation and edge detail is unnaturally sharp. The sharpness of the Panasonic is less than the best from Toshiba (e.g. the 20AF41) or Sony TV's, and I wonder if Panasonic does it on purpose because they don't want to overemphasize noise. The remote control is rather basic compared with the Toshiba or Sony.
So all in all, I'm satisfied with the product. I deducted one point because the video quality, while very good, isn't quite as natural looking as the best that Toshiba or Sony has ever offered in the 20-inch range, but then I found problems in the Toshiba and Sony TV's I tried out before buying the Panasonic, and the Panasonic worked right out of the box.
