The BIGGEST of big toys (Panasonic TX-28PL1)

Member Name: dave27

Product:	Panasonic TX-28PL1
Date:	20/01/03 (1134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's all enormous

Disadvantages: The aspects

My output on this site these last two or three weeks has been a little less abundant than usual, and much of the reason behind that are down to the exceptionally material memories I have of the now distant Yuletide season. I've already offered a number of thoughts on this site about some of the lovely pressies I pampered myself with, and tonight's offering is probably the BIGGEST of the lot. Now read on....


There's been a huge trend this last three or four years to go for fully functional home entertainment packages, with the advent of the DVD and the home cinema, and inevitably at the heart of that assemblage of shiny bright things is the glorious bit of technology known as a wide screen television. I've fought shy of this particular goodie for an awfully long time because it always seemed to be such a huge luxury to me, and very expensive.

However, this Christmas the dave27 clan splashed out on a DVD player and a number of other treats and with both Sky TV and a DVD player comes a nasty little itch for an enormous screen upon which to play out the dramas. We were in the market for a widescreen TV, and we weren't afraid to prove it.

Before we get onto the details of this particular marvel, just a few words on widescreen televisions in general.

Widescreen movies demand that you have such a set because otherwise you miss out on the stuff at either side. Inevitably these days, films are designed for the huge cinema screens with their wraparound feel and surround sound experience, and TV's are being adapted to match their bigger counterpart. You can change the perspective on most screens but then you get that odd postbox-type effect which makes the picture look so weird. However, I remain just that little bit dubious about the odd effects you get with a widescreen unit.

You get a wide range of different screen settings, but all of them seem to have a problem of some sort. The 4:3 setting
allows you to see the whole of the screen, but it means that it's a small picture, with two nasty black margins up either vertical side of the screen. Not recommended, although at least people look to have the right vertical and horizontal dimensions. Next up is something called zoom, which according to Panasonic magnifies the central section of the picture: "The picture can be moved and enlarged vertically using the coloured keys. The former adjustment is useful for viewing any sub-titles which may appear outside the picture." Unfortunately, people look very short and squat with this setting, resembling Mrs D more than a little. Quite a nice setting, but will make you feel a little sick. Then comes 16:9, which stretches out the zoom version and makes people even more gnomelike - now this one should get the toilet filling up nicely with carrots. 14:9 improves things, but you get the black vertical bars and miss bits of the picture at the top and bottom. The Just aspect: "Just mode will display a 4:3 picture at maximum size but with aspect correction applied to the centre of the screen so that elongation is only apparent at the left and right edges of the screen. The size of the picture will depend on the original signal." Still a bit sawn off, I'm afraid. Finally, the auto setting "determines the best aspect ratio to use to display the picture you are viewing. It does this using a four step process to determine if the picture being viewed is a widescreen picture". I remain to be convinced by any of these, but you pays your (considerable) money and you takes your choice. Right, moaning over...


We set out with the intention of getting a 28 inch screen and were already convinced that Panasonic was the best choice, as we've always been extremely impressed by their offering, and it was a relatively straightforward choice to go with the TX-28PL1, despite the testing price tag of £649. Still, deep breat
h, it is worth the money, and you will never go back to one of those 12 or 16 inchers, which just feel like kiddies' TV's after you've experienced the real thing.

This particular set boasts a refresh rate of 55Hz, which I'm told guarantees a clearer, sharper, more reliable picture, and I've been suitably convinced by that argument, although I think it's more down to snob value than anything else.

The set up of your system is extremely straightforward and simple and there's a well laid out and simple instruction manual which means even a child could handle things. There are three AV connections, two SCART connections, sockets to connect up to a stereo or speaker system and the integral speaker set up itself is very capable. You can connect your digital camera or videocam to the front sockets and you get the obligatory teletext although I've never really been much of a fan.

Visually, the TX-28PL1 is sleek and stylish, big and silver and plush, coming with a futuristic looking silver and glass base unit, although we didn't bother with it, just dropping the monster on top of our existing unit. It's a rare thing of beauty and you will never fail to be impressed by it sitting impressively and unblinkingly there in the corner of your room. Crank up the volume via the stereo, switch off the lights and relish the huge big screen cinematic experience ... there is nothing like this feeling, I love it.

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