If you're in the market for a new TV set, you're sure to have run across the terms "plasma" or "flat panel." These new sets have become derigueur in home entertainment over the past few years, and for good reason. They are extremely environmentally friendly and certainly go a long way in keeping that decor-conscious mate happy.

When I say "environmentally- friendly," of course I mean that they blend well into virtually any environment. Simply hang it on a wall, and forget about those archaic days when you needed 30 or more inches of floor space depth when installing one of those gargantuan big screens or a huge armoire to house a huge set with only a 32-inch 4:3 square screen. Now you can have a wide 16:9 widescreen picture without having the footprint (or cabinet costs) to match. As with anything, this pleasure comes in all sizes, and one of the most practical I've seen of late is Panasonic's new 37-inch monitor. This is a great size for bedrooms or dens that are more on the diminutive size, and it's packed full of features and performance (and just as importantly, the price is right). It's quite a bit smaller (only 36 inches wide) than a 50- inch panel, and just barely smaller than a 42- inch panel, but quite a bit more affordable than most similarly equipped 42-inch panels. Hopefully the performance is up to the same high levels of the best 42-inch panels out there. Read on to find out.

Unique Features - The Panasonic 37-inch panel comes with some fairly nice features in such a well-priced package. First, the monitor comes with a pair of speaker outputs, allowing the installer or user to hook a pair of speakers up to the TV directly. Since it's a plasma, and so many of these panels are wall-mounted, a nice way of installing it is with a pair of in-wall speakers flanking the set on either side, making for a completely custom installation, but generally giving much better performance than the optional speakers made for the TV (and probably cheaper, too). This addition of speaker jacks also gives the option of not needing a separate audio/video switcher or receiver, since you can run all of your audio and video signals right into the Panasonic directly. However, you may run out of inputs fairly quickly, as there are only enough for two connections (DSS and DVD, for example). Another nice feature is the inclusion of a dedicated PC input, allowing for the very convenient connection of a VGA cable to the monitor, making for double duty as a computer monitor.

Panasonic also claims a 3000:1 contrast ratio for their plasma models, which means that there are theoretically much better black levels produced by this monitor. Many plasma sets have a sort of "washed out" look to them, creating a gray appearance in night scenes that should be much darker. Panasonic has improved on this handicap of plasma, producing realistic black levels in its plasmas.

Installation/Setup/Ease of Use - Setting up the panel is very easy indeed. Because the monitor only weighs about 55 pounds, the optional wall-mount bracket is not so cumbersome. Once the bracket is securely in place, the panel fits on nicely, and
it's a simple case of connecting the cables. The Panasonic panel includes component and S-video connections, so whether you are going to connect your source equipment (such as DSS or DVD) directly to the TV's video inputs or route them through an audio/video receiver or preamplifier, it's very simple indeed. In my case, I routed them through my new Sunfire Ultimate receiver, running the component outputs from my DVD player and HD satellite receiver to the receiver and then to the Panasonic plasma's component input. The S-video connection also came in handy, as I connected my TiVo and my laserdisc player that way. Once it was all connected, it was just a matter of balancing the color and brightness on the monitor, and then I was off to the races. Using the trusty Video Essentials DVD, I set the color in no time at all, and the result was very impressive. The included remote control is very nice, with a well-laid out design and an easy fit in the hand. The one complaint I have is that there are no direct input buttons, rather there is one "Input" button, letting you toggle between them. It's not a big deal, until you go to program a universal remote with macro commands to turn on and off the monitor, and select the correct inputs. It's certainly more cumbersome, to say the least.

Final Take - When buying a plasma TV, the most important feature has to be performance, so let's get to it. The performance of this panel was, in a word, incredible. On 16:9 anamorphic DVD material, the clarity and detail produced by the 37-inch wunderkind was astounding. Colors were vibrant and punchy, without seeming cartoony. On 16:9 video material such as Peter Gabriel's difficult Secret World Live DVD, detail was right on, and the black levels were perfect. The Panasonic plasma lent a "tube TV" look to its picture (a good thing) making it a great performer. On color-laden scenes like on "Shaking the Tree," a vibrant blending of greens, reds and black, the DVD picture was so natural and beautiful to look at that it felt like high definition material. Fleshtones were also very natural and realistic, which is always a good thing (but not always true of all the actors we see on screen). On actual high definition material, such as DirecTV's HDNet, the resolution was startling. Coupled with the great contrast ratio, this TV has impressed everyone who has seen it. The picture just seemed to jump off the wall, and on events like hockey or baseball games, it really felt like my guests and I were there. With this Panasonic's magnificent picture, we even watched flowers and leaves on our local HD PBS feed, as at that point it didn't matter what we watched--we were happy just to stare! On TiVo material via my Sony SAT-T60 DSS/TiVo personal video recorder, the picture produced was excellent. Through the S-video connection, the picture looked vibrant and smooth, making for a very pleasing experience.

If you're in the market for a new plasma and have seen the products that other manufacturers have produced, but haven't yet auditioned Panasonic's panels, run, don't walk, to do so. These are the best panels for the money, and will be an excellent performer for years to come.

Panasonic TH-37PWD4UZ 37-inch
HDTV Plasma 1V
Screen Size: 37" diagonal
Screen Aspect: 16:9 Wide
Number of Pixels: 408,960 (852 x 480) pixels
Pixel Pitch: 0.96 mm
Displayable Colors: 16.77 million colors
Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
Audio Output: 16 Watts (8 Watts x 2)
Terminals: 1Video Composite Input, 1 S-Video
Input, 1 pr. audio inputs for video input, 1 RGB
Input (PC), 1 M3 stereo plug for audio input for
PC, 1 component/RGB input for
HD or component video
Dimensions (W x H x D): 36.2" x 21.7" x 3.5"
Weight: 55 lbs.
MSRP:$4,999