Excellent.

Superb TV. Outstanding HD picture, turn on the BBE ViVA HD3D Sound and enjoy the ride. Ordered on Weds 4:00pm, delivered 3:00pm Friday. Excellent service from Amazon and Pixmania. Set up is a doddle and tested with upscaled 'The Matrix' on scene 29. SD delivery is also good, Freeview depends on what is showing. Adverts tend to look good... only con is the AV input has to be input manually.

The best 1080p LCD on the market

This is one amazing set. I had gone for the cheaper 46xf355 from Toshiba but had to send it back due to a really annoying fan noise. While I had it though even without the noise the picture quality was good but not great - watched Dantes Peak on HD DVD and some jaggies appeared in places at 1080/24.

No such thing on the Sony. The 100mhz is perfect no handy cam effect here. The theatre button on the remote is brilliant for films getting one of the best D65 pics out of the box.

Very cinematic watched Italian Job from Sky HD and was blown away by the picture.

If anything lets this tv down it would be its speakers they're okay but I must admit I would say the Onkyos of the Tosh were better. But hey what do you mean you dont have separate 5.1 anyway. They are good enough for normal tv viewing.

Its expensive in comparison (the 46xf355 was cheaper) but after seeing this I rather have less but of better quality. Trust me on this, buy one your eyes will thank you.

High quality sound investment

Deciding to join the high definition (HD) bandwaggon, I have bought a 42" Panasonic Viera plasma panel PZ800B television set and I am absolutely delighted with it. It has replaced my ageing, but extremely reliable, 25" Sony Triniton cathode ray tube model which has provided trouble free viewing for the past 8 years.

Given the confusing mass of information generated in respect of HD, I spent the last couple of months visiting showrooms to view TV sets and browsing the internet to help me make up my mind what best to buy. Early on it became clear that, due to the higher definition quality now available, I could start looking at TV sets with screens measuring circa 40" diagonally without damaging my eyes or spoiling my viewing pleasure. This measure, strangely enough, is, at the same time, about the higher range of the new liquid crystal display (LCD) models and at the lower range of the plasma models currently available. Although all the leading brands got my early attention, my short list eventually narrowed to a straight choice between two specific models; my new Panasonic and the 40" Sony X series 3500 LCD model. Not only did I pore over the tech specs for both sets, but I went as far as downloading and reading through the respective manuals. My final decision was reached only after further visits to various showrooms to allow personal audio visual comparisons of the two sets.

The Panasonic won hands down on both acounts!

Shortly before buying my Panasonic from Amazon, I was concerned to see that a new, middle of the road review had been submitted as regards the PZ800B. I needn't have worried, however. Clearly my eyes and ears had not been deceiving me. It quickly became obvious that the 'Reviewer' had never actually even taken the trouble to go and see the set in the 'flesh' and that the 'Review' was not really about the set at all, but about an error in editing made by Amazon. Part of their UK web page had been lifted from their American site and they had omitted to remove the phrase 'THX certification' from their final UK presentation. Much ado about ...! Those who haven't heard about THX can get a reasonable explanation on the Wikipedia site. Briefly it deals with sound quality. It is not a UK standard, let alone an internaltional one. If not having a TV with this certification really freaks you out, you will have to buy one in the USA. Then you will have to ship it home!! Panasonic were the only firm I found in the USA to have this certification on their PZ800U set. Surely there must be a few others? Of over 300 DVD's in my personal collection, only 4 are produced in THX. Panasonic UK do not suggest that the PZ800B has 'THX certification' and the lack of it on my sweet sounding Viera is no big deal.

I decided to use the stand which with came with my Viera rather than use optional wall fixtures. The set weighs over 6 stones and you will need a hand to rig it to the stand. Otherwise the set-up is straightforward.

I live in an area where satellite reception is necessary to get a TV picture. After 8 years, I decided to retire my Sky box and chose to link a Humax HD set top box which provides the new BBC/ITV Freesat images. The decision was a good one! I find that I am getting great quality pictures on standard definition (SD) reception and those on HD are quite amazing! The savings on my Sky subscription will quickly pay for my new purchases.

Additionally, I have added a Panasonic Blu-Ray player which gives really first class viewing of my collection of DVDs, by means of the up-comparison feature, while watching Blu-Ray discs is really stunning.

It is a possibility that I may, in the future, decide to add a Blu-Ray sound system to my present set-up, and I have the Panasonic SC-BT100 in mind, although, at the moment, I find the 32 watt presentation afforded by the PZ800B, through both tweeters and woofers, most acceptable. I'm not yet certain that I want to be blown away by a cinema style set-up!

My only disappointment to date was the time it took Amazon to ship my expensive and sensitive Viera. It was 'in transit' for 11 days and lay in one facility for 8 days. This is something you might wish to bear in mind before ordering.

Buying a 'large' telly is a very personal decision. Reviews might prove helpful, but do go out and look at the different models available in the 'flesh'. Buying a particular type and brand should always remain a very personal decision.

Excellent - purple not a problem

Sony KDL-20S3040 - 20'' Widescreen Bravia HD Ready LCD TV - With Freeview - Mauve
My new Sony TV arrived today. Within 5 minutes it was out of the box plugged in and showing an excellent picture on Freeview. It took me a while to decide between the purple and the silver/black models. I saved about £10/£20 buying this colour. The colour is on the plastic surrounding the screen and on the front half of the stand. It is not garrish, in fact I think it sets off the picture very well. It is more of a Royal Purple colour, Google"Hex triplet #6B3FA0" to see what I mean. The size of the TV is ideal for a bedroom the actual viewing screen measures 45cm long x 25cm high. Sound quality is excellent much better than my previous Samsung. Hope this helps with your decision.

Excellent Television

I think this television is excellent for an LCD. I have been unimpressed with the quality of standard definition on LCD's but this one still gives a decent picture on SD from sky digital box. HD gives a almost perfect picture too i was suprised when i received it. I have played blue ray discs and drakes fortune game from ps3 on it and it gives a excellent picture. The only problem i can see with it is the viewing angle which is not very good when you look from the side. The sound from the internal speakers is also very good decent for a small room. I was thinking about getting philips or samsung but didnt see reviews which were as good as the reviews for the sony. For pq sony is usually best imo. I decided to pay more for the sony im happy that i did.

TH-50PZ800B UK Version NOT ---> THX <---

After reading a few online reviews and seeing online retailer's product descriptions it does seem the PZ800 is a very nice plasma indeed. But, the US version the TH(42-50)PZ800U is THX certified and the UK version the TH(42-50)PZ800B"isn't". What a lovely kick in the teeth from Panasonic. After phoning Panasonic UK's customer services they confirmed the 800B's are not THX certified, and was glibly informed THX isn't a UK standard, to which I added"you better start telling all those UK cinemas there needlessly spending thousands of pounds to be THX certified then". Yes sarcasm, but it had to be said. When I pushed the telephonist I asked,"so did Panasonic just not bother with THX for UK customers?", he replied"it doesn't look like it".

In my humble opinion the whole point of having a high-spec"huge" screen (try not to think of a freudian explanation) in your living room is the"home cinema experience"

So why wouldn't Panasonic"a maker of impressive plasmas" put the 800B's in for THX certification?.

Panasonics UK customer services informed me that the specification on the 800U & 800B are different. It does beg the questions,

How much difference is there?
Would the 800B not pass THX testing?
Or are Panasonic just saving money?

The main problem is there are a lot of online retailers who are mixing up the specs in the"Product descriptions" Including Amazon, there listing states"THX Certification on PZ800 and PZ850 series", true enough just not the 800B, the UK version.
If I had spent a whopping 2k on what I thought was a THX plasma, and then later found out it wasn't, I would be a lot more than cheesed off. Buyer Beware!

sony bravia 26s

This review combines my feelings as regards Amazon's service and also the Sony wide screen LCD Tele'.

Amazon I can not fault, three days from order to delivery for both the stand and television coming from different suppliers, keep this up Amazon!!.

I know we as customers pay a little more for Sony because of the name, but in my wife's and my opinion, this is justified because of the visual and audio quality simply screems out from the set, with small adjustments to the colour temperature and contrast, the result is truly fantastic, far far better than any CRT I have ever seen.

Panned movement in films is also much more natural even at 50Khz timing, and the contrast adjustment through the menu system is so easy, I have my Tele. set to contrast 'vivid', and colour temperature 'cool', even with old B/W and colour films.

A real pain

I have had this set for 4 months and it regularly locks up once a month whereas you have to switch the set off for about a minute or so and then switch it on again before it works properly. I also have added other devices, recorders and players etc and find that working these devices you cannot alter the volume with the handset provided. With these devices i.e. DVD player etc. one has to use the TV control only which I find to be a real pain using two hand controls when I can usually use the one.
The programming feature is also a pain to use. It is so antiquated and difficult to use when compared to other Japanese sets I have had.
The spacial sound is no different to mono sound and as for the ambilight feature you either like it or hate it. Just a gimick in my opinion.
My advice ----- buy a good japanese set.
I used to work for a Philips subsiduary and never did get on with Philips TV or Hi Fi and why I bought it I shall never know Maybe because I got mine cheap and now I can see why.

very happy so far

Hi,

I intend to edit this review over time to give a long term review. As of time of writing I have had the set just over a week.

Colour: good
Brightness: excellent
contrast: so so
standard definition upscaling: excellent

This TV was an unexpected purchase as I was intending to get a Sony kdl40d3500 or kdl40v4000. However two things concerned me, the SD reproduction on the d3500 is rather grainy, whilst the v4000 is also rather pricey. By chance I saw this set for a similar price to the 40v4000, but most impressive was the SD picture on the Sharp. When I first saw it it was playing a blue ray disc, which looked good, but I then asked them to swap it for a DVD. To my amazment there was no difference?? I think this suggests that the HD picture on this set is not as good as the cristal clear reproduction on the sony, but also it was clear that the SD picture on the Sharp was head and shoulder above anything I had seen (panasonic sets look blurry with SD) on any other TV.

Now I have had the TV at home for a few days I can confirm that the SD picture is excellent. The first thing we watched was Braveheart on film 4 , it was truly cinematic. I simply could not believe how clear the SD picture was on such a large screen. We use cable, and I guess a good SD signal is key as some of the lower quality channels and older recordings are obviously poorer quality.

I have yet to connect an HD source to this set so I reserve final judgement on how it will perform, but for now the SD picture is alone anough to recommend this TV.

There are some negatives though:-

the freewview tuner interferes with the picture from cable as a blue box keeps popping up every minute or so, to stop this just remove the aerial lead (i think freview will work fine, this is just a problem if you use sky or virgin as well as freeview).

Contrast, it is OK especially with the contrast enhancment. Sharp quotes 2000:1 (which is very poor these days), but on the front of the set it says 10000:1 (which is OK, but compare to SONY 40V4000 33000:1). I think this latter figure is with the contrast enhancement on. The result is that bright scenes can look washed out, and dark scenes look grey or smokey. Contrast enhancment (my guess) is basically adjusting backlight brightness to compensate for light and dark pictures, so in scenes with half dark half light images the contrast enhancement can't help (incidentially I believe sony has used this trick as well).

The manual, well all three actually, the TV comes with three very thick manuals, which frankly do not help much at all. This TV has numerous options in a well thought out pull down menu style, but the manual does not explain thier function at all. How does contrast enhancment work, what does OCP acutally do, what is Y-C enhancement, motion control etc. etc.? All these options they have spent time and money including and the end user is left guessing. All the manual can tell you is how to turn them on and off. Most frustrating it turning the TV on and off, with standby 2 enabled (?) the TV can take minutes to come on from standby, but the manual does not say how long is normal to wait. In short be prepared to surf the net for others opinions on how to use your rather complex TV.

Colour (like no other?) well it is rather hit and miss, set the colour for one scene and you will find it swamped by the OCP varying brightness. Again with so many unexplained options I am still looking for the best settings to use. Sharp - please add independant RGB control this would help enourmously to calibrate the set which IMO is not set up as best it could be.

In theory this TV can have its firmware updated, but I doubt Sharp will bother.

Will let you know more soon