720P/Progressive Component compatible, Great Pix w/ anamorphic DVD's, very decent line doubler on NTSC

Poor out-of-box alignment, No user multi-point convergence adjust, Input selection sucks and slow

I've been examining HD capable Rear Projection TV's ever since it's introduction, and hadn't found a set that was acceptable until I saw this Panasonic. Most HDTVs produce a good picture with HD material, but had terrible line doublers built in. The Mitsubishi sets in particular look horrible watching NTSC broadcasts; the broadcast in OUTER LIMITS "Galaxy Being" looked better! Major yuk. All others in this price class looked unacceptable to me. Since I wasn't planning on blowing another $1K on a HD Receiver anytime soon, I primarily wanted the best set for Widescreen Anamorphic DVD's ("enhanced for 16:9 TV's") and standard cable TV viewing.

Back in May, I concluded that this set had all main requirements I was looking for: Native 720P display, Progressive Scan Component inputs (both of which should display a motion-artifact free image, IMHO much better than 1080i) and good picture with NTSC sources). Since no other sets had 720P/Progressive Component at the time, I figured it was worth the $5K that they were asking, as this TV shouldn't be obsolesced anytime soon. Unfortunately, the List Price dropped a grand within a couple months after I bit (ouch!), and I've seen it for well under $4K in a few places.

Unfortunately, the as-delivered picture settings were/are hosed. There's no (user) way to adjust the convergence so that the center AND corners are in alignment. The picture is positioned too far "down" and needs centering. And, the focus may need tweaking. Color settings are definitely NOT 6500K, and saturation levels are too high. So, I'm in the process of finding an ISF certified tech to give this baby a major makeover. I figured it would be worth the several hundred $$$.

Don't know if the remote is "learning" type, and it's a pain to switch channels and change volume. I have to be in TV mode to adjust volume, but then need to change to CABLE mode to switch channels. I guess I'll have to read the manual, which is piss-poor.

Also, severe noise induced by crappy MEDIA ONE cable installation; obnoxious rolling, horizontal ghost line whenever the RG cable connected to Cable TV box; probably a nasty ground loop. Anybody know where I can get a suitable RF/DC isolation transformer?

Conclusion:
All things considered, I'm still glad I bought this set. I can't wait till I get a pro to optimize the picture, and get a good DVD player w/ Progressive outputs (Pioneer's new DV-434 a great value @ $350 locally). It's still damn impressive, especially watching enhanced widescreen DVD's. The only other set that comes close is the new Pioneer elite RPTV's, but those were thousands $$ more.

System used:
Panasonic PT-56WXF95 16:9 RPTV
Sony 24" Wega TV
Denon AVR-3300 Receiver
Sony DVP-S3000 DVD player
JVC HRS-9500 SVHS VCR
Paradigm Mini-Mk3's Front, CC-300 Center, Titans Rear and PS-1000 Powered Sub

Similar Products Used:

Replaced 10 yr old Sony 53" set; was the best at the time.

Picture quality, appearance

Video switching

My advice to you HDTV buyers, regardless of the brand you buy, you must get a DVDO iscan plus2 line doubler ($500). This thing turns all your signals (Satellite, VCR, DVD, ANT) into 480 PROGRESSIVE!!!! Its absolutly awesome. So the question remains, do you spend $5,000 or $6,000 on a Pioneer or Mitsu OR do you buy this Panasonic for $2900 and add the line doubler. You will not find a better picture than what the panasonic offers when you add the DVDO iscan plus 2.

Great TV for a great price.......don't pay extra for the brand name, ITS NOT WORTH IT. Save your money, invest into the DVDO, and a pair of kickass speakers. ENJOY!!!!

Awesome picture with proggressive scan dvd,componet video,720p

slow mode switching,lousy manual.

This tv coupled with a progressive scan DVD player is quite simply......awesome. Far and away the best picture I have seen yet. Dss leaves a little to be desired..but i can tweak that. I looked at the Mitsubishi's but the picture just wasn't there. The Pioneer elites were impressive,but just too expensive. Overall I am very happy with this set. Watching DVD's is a whole new experience. Just awesome!!!

Similar Products Used:

none

Has 720p capability

Full lock-on mode with component inputs

I had been wanting a widescreen set since purchasing my first DVD player. I was debating between this set and the 56 inch Toshiba widescreen. I went with the Panasonic based on it's lower price and 720p capability. I do not have the HDTV tuner so my experiences are with DVD, VCR, and regular television brodcasts. VCR and TV look about the same as other non-HDTV rear projection sets I've seen. Where this set really performs is when paired with a PROGRESSIVE scan DVD player. I bought a Toshiba 5109 when I bought this set and the result is fantastic. With the progressive component input there are no scan lines even when sitting as close as 8 feet away. The picture is very crisp and clean. The only problem is that when using the component inputs the user can't switch between aspect ratios. This is not really too much of a concern unless the DVD is non-anamorphic. Most DVDs now produced are anamorphic (enhanced for 16X9 TV) so I wouldn't put much emphasis on this. When watching a non-anamorphic disc I switch to the S-Video input and adjust the picture accordingly. Also, don't be dissueded by Panasonic's advertised resolution of only 850 horizontal lines. It was explained to me by an unbiased home theater enthusiast that other manufacturers advertise the "total" number of capability and Panasonic's numbers reflect the lines per picture height. So, 850 lines per picture height is 850x(16/9)=1511 "total" lines which puts it right there with Toshiba's 1600 lines.

As with the other reviewers there was some adjustments needed right out of the box. I recommend using either Avia or Video Essentials for setting up the picture. If you can afford it, have the set professionally calibrated. I've been told it makes a very noticeable difference.

I'm definitely enjoying my decision to buy this set.

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none

Picture, Suports 480p, 720p, 1080i HDTV

Cheap looking Cabinet

I bought the Panasonic PT-56WXF95 HDTV because it's one of the few HDTVs out that support both the 480p, 720p, and 1080i formats (i=interlaced, p =progressive). When connected to a progressive source, such as a DVD player with progressive outputs, the picture is truly outstanding.
In addition, this TV has two tuners so I can watch two NTSC programs at the same time, side by side (sound from one program only). The speakers of this TV can be connected to an amp directly, (for use as a center channel speaker). This TV also has 2 cable inputs and many other different video inputs (YCrCb, S-video, and composite) - the most I've ever seen on a TV. It also supports many different aspect ratios, so you can zoom in on a 4:3 picture on a 16:9 set.

I have had the TV for about a week now. My previous experience has been only with tube TVs. This is my first Rear Projection TV. I found that to get the best picture, a lot of calibration was necessary. I rented the Video Essentials CD and it really helped the picture. Because a Rear Projection uses 3 CRTs to focus an image, I found that I needed to calibrate the set quite frequently. It's very easy to do and very fast but it is annoying, in that I never had to do this with a Tube set.

Another thing about Rear Projection TVs is that you have to sit in front of it - there is a rapid fall off of light as one looks at the TV from an angle. Therefore, you have to sit in front of it - it's not as useful if you're planning to use it watching side ways (like from a kitchen).

Having such a wide picture makes DVD filmed in wide format really stand out. It's amazing in how much you miss when films are formatted to a 4:3 format (pan & scan).

If I had to rate this TV, I'd say it has a great picture and good speakers. For the price, there are no better HDTVs that I've seen that also support progressive video inputs. The cabinet is pretty cheap looking (Pioneer are better).

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Toshiba SDTV

Excellent picture, competitive price and native 720p display capability. Ability to improve picture quality of poor NTSC sources by changing SCAN mode.

Poorly laid out instructions manual. No seperate memory settings for video 1,2,3.

Bought from Sears for a great price of $4250 including taxes and delivery! Picture quality is better than several other products priced higher. Beware of several manufacturers who sell HDTV compatible sets without a component video input! This TV has 2 sets of component inputs and memorizes the picture settings for each of them.
Even the color matrix setting can be programmed for high definition source, a big plus.

By far the most interesting and useful feature of this TV is to change the scan mode to interlaced(!!) from progressive. Even though I may be wrong on technological grounds, I watch all NTSC sources except DVD in the GAME mode. This somehow turns the progressive scan converter(the line doubler) off and you can now see the fine horizontal lines on the screen when standing close to the set.

You might wonder why I want the so-called doubler off. Truth is that all currently available HDTVs have poor quality internal line doublers(not counting Faroudja!). This is the sore spot since these TVs do not display regular cable, DSS etc. even as good as some of the primitive rear projection TVs as the progressively scanned picture is fuzzy and without sharp outlines(makes you wanna go to your optometrist!). However, if you turn the TV mode on this set off and go to GAME mode, picture is as good as Sony XBR RPTV when watching DirecTV!

Like others have pointed out-and is true for other HDTVs-watching DVDs(from regular and from progressive players) is a whole new experience. Take a look yourself.

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None.

Nice color (when TV is working)

To much red color, slow video input changes, terrible service,cheap look

working good out of the box. Little to red colors.
After 2 weeks problem with blinking menu and
finaly totaly dead after 3 weeks.
In service for 6 weeks (2 places) with no success
Panasonic refound money ( i wanted repleacement)

Finaly went with Pioneer SD582HD5 :) (happy) no problems so far

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer

Price, Performance and HD processing

Not many adjustments can be made in regular user mode! I
wonder if it can be tweaked via advanced mode like service mode! Also S-video exhibits problems.

Excellent picture on HD source! Ordinary SD signal looks
better than Mitsu. Even DVD looks very sharp (480i).

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Considered buying Mitsu platinum series but after reading
a good review at etown and good reviews at this site I went for Pana!

Great picture, Progressive DVD blows your mind, nice finish, good sound, (Great with 5.1).

Remote, owner's manual, ease of calibration.

Great TV. Bought last model that Ultimate Electronic's had in stock. Was supposed to be a floor model but was still in-box. Just as new. Great picture. Wonderful TV. Price...well, that's completely unbeatable and I knew that, so I took it. I never had any intention of buying a bigscreen HDTV. Then I ran into an old friend who sells electronics and he talked me into taking this set from him. Absolutely one of the best decisions that I have made, even though I didn't necessarily have the money.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi WT46807, Sharp 3176, Sony KV-36XBR400, RCA MM36110, RCA MM32110.

I have to sell a pioneer pro-610. I am looking for about $4000 but I will take best offer. I am in staten island, New York. It is about 3 months old. Call me at 212-278-7634 or email me at joecus@si.rr.com