Sharp picture quality, brilliant color and resonating sound are just a few immediate benefits that you will experience from the PT Series of Panasonic projection televisions. With many sophisticated features and fine-pitch viewing screen with advanced screen shield, this TV set is just an exemplary product of the quality such televisions should provide.The PT-53X54 boasts a new cosmetic design that makes it an attractive part of any home theater. Its 1080i/540p monitor, new HD chassis, with auto convergence and sharpness and digital noise reduction, give it beautiful video rendering capabilities. The PT-53X54 includes HDMI inputs, two HD component inputs, four A/V inputs (one in front), and three S-video inputs (one in front). The PT-53X54 has new motion adaptive 3D digital comb filters, the first surface glass mirror, and 30 watts of total output with the BBE High Definition Sound System with fixed and variable audio output.
A big screen doesn't have to mean big money. And Panasonic's 53-inch PT-53X54 projection television offers not just outstanding picture quality but a wealth of inputs and picture-enhancing features. The set's huge, high-definition screen (1080i, 540p capable) lets you view HD or enhanced-definition (ED) TV programming from an optional DTV set-top box or a progressive-scan DVD player or digital video recorder. The set's broad, 0.52 mm fine-pitch screen is configured in a 16:9 aspect ratio, the standard for HDTV broadcasts and for most widescreen DVD movies.
Two-tuner picture-in-picture with split-screen display lets you view 2 programs at once by dividing the screen in half down the middle. Each program is shown at full height, with one program on the left side and the other on the right.
Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional video picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts. Panasonic's Progressive Cinema Scan (3:2 pulldown reversal) provides faithful reproduction of film-based materials. DVD mastering introduces a common distortion when adjusting 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video; Progressive Cinema Scan digitally corrects this distortion, removing the redundant information to display a film-frame-accurate picture.
A motion-adaptive 3D-Y/C digital comb filter displays bright colors and action scenes with incredible clarity by minimizing the "color rainbow effect" in closely spaced patterns, compensating for the motion that occurs between fields. Digital velocity-modulated scanning improves definition at picture edges, creating sharper images by slowing the CRT (cathode-ray tube) beam's horizontal scanning during demanding work--say, when rendering transitions from light to dark parts of an image--and speeding it up when scanning easily rendered sections, like broad dark areas.
The set sports an external shelf mounted on top, a great place to position an HDTV receiver, a satellite receiver, a cable box, a DVD player, a VCR or a center-channel speaker. (Whatever you put there, its weight must not exceed 25 pounds.)
For connections, the set offers 4 composite-video inputs, including 1 in front for easy hookup of a camcorder or gaming console. There are 3 S-video inputs (including 1 in front) and 2 sets of high-definition/progressive-scan component-video inputs. The TV is also equipped with a direct digital HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) with HDCP copy protection.
HDMI is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link the set with any AV source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or A/V receiver). HDMI supports standard-definition (SD), enhanced definition (ED), or high-definition (HD) video, plus multichannel digital audio--all using a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports up to 8-channel digital audio, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements.
Other TV features include horizontal and vertical edge correction, Artificial Intelligence Sound (minimizes variances in sound level), video noise reduction (compares individual pixels of two consecutive fields, then removes noise), BBE High Definition Sound (improves speech intelligibility and restores musical dynamic range), 9-point user convergence capability, and a light-disk remote control. An easy-to-clean screen shield protects the screen from nicks, scratches, and fingerprints.
What's in the Box
TV, a remote control, remote batteries, and a user's manual.
1 GREAT TV, HD IS WONDERFUL
regular tv, is ok, digital cable feeds from comcast are better, hd and dvd are wonderful. the pix is great. sound is good. saw no difference using hdmi cable. I got it at Boscov"s before superbowl for $1299.00. for the price, it is a great TV
2 Outstanding for HD & DVD......Average for Regular TV.
I have owned this TV for about 4 months. As my title says this TV is great for watching DVD's and HD programming. I have Comcast Digital cable with HD and a Panasonic S27 DVD player connected. As for regular TV the images are fuzzy and stretched if you do not watch it in 4:3 mode(4:3 mode you have black bars on the right and left sides of the screen). I do not fault Panasonic for the way regular TV broadcasts looks on this set because I see how it performs with DVD/HD. Comcast needs to improve the quality of the signal it broadcasts.
Another feature I like is the shelf on top of the set, it holds my cable box and DVD player nicely. The sound on this TV is excellent. The set is heavy but rolls easily on the bottom wheels.
Overall, I am satisfied and can't wait for more HD programming, it is amazing!
3 Best bang for the buck HDTV
Rear projection HDTV is the perfect solution for those of us who want HDTV - a BIG HDTV on a well, not so big budget. We love this - big bright picture, amazing HDTV clarity, and a decent sound system built-in.
-Plenty of connections including HDMI. Check your receiver - most are DVI right now, but there is a conversion cable available for under $40 Use the HDMI connector for the best picture.
- Huge screen. Plenty of real estate for Monday Night Football, but beware - this TV is not thin. It takes up some considerable real estate in the den as well.
- Split screen, but no PIP. I never use it.
- Great on-screen menus make adjustments a breeze. The Auto Converge feature is nice, but it's not perfect. You will still need to tweak it manually. I find if I do a convergance about one a month, the picture is great.
- Remember, rear projector are prone to burn-in so dont watch it in 4:3 mode if you can help it.
- Additional A/V connectors on the front lower right corner of the TV make it easy to use a video camera or other input device. Very convenient.
- Despite its large size, its easy to move around (it has wheels!)
Recommended to those who want HDTV on a budget.
