CT-27XF37 GAOO (Canadian model #)

Since I could not find the Canadian model # CT-27XF37, I'm putting my review of that model here. So let's begin...

I recently decided that I needed a new TV. Initially, I had my heart set on a Sony Wega, however, my price range was to not exceed 600 dollars (Canadian, of course), so that limited the Sony's to the KV20FS12 (20 inch Wega ) or the KV27S42 (27 inch Trinitron). Anyway, to make a long story short, a salesman showed me the Panasonic CT-27XF37 that was on sale for 599.99 (retail was 999.95!!). Needless to say, the screen was 7 inches larger than the Wega, and the picture was near the same quality. So that left me to choose between the Sony KV27S42 and the Panasonic CT-27XF37. It was an easy choice to make. The CT-27XF37 had a much better picture thanks in part to the 3-line digital comb filter (the Sony only had a 2-line filter). The screen on the CT-27Xf37 was also much flatter than that of the Sony. Also, when I purchased the set, the salesman gave me 3 years on my warranty and he told me that the Sony only had 12 months (verified by going to the official Sony homepage).

When I got the TV home I had some issues during set-up. At first, I could not get the PIP to work, but I attribute this problem to my receiver (the infamous Sony STR-G3 with the "mouse" remote commander), and not the television itself. The on-screen menu was easy to use and allowed me to adjust picture settings quickly.

Another great feature was the variable-audio out with the TV speakers off. If you hook up to your sound system, you can control the volume output to the receiver with the television remote! Now, for those of you who have used the STR-G3 receiver, you will know that it is a pain to set-up and get working properly. In any event, the sound is great now (although not technically being put out by the televisions own speakers), and the picture is excellent.

However, I will have to say that the "spatializer" audio function is not very good if you do have a home theater set-up. When I turned it on while using my receiver, it put out fine sound through the front speakers, but in my rear surround speakers it output ALL of the sounds (i.e. dialogue, explosions, etc.)!!! Now how ridiculous does that sound??!!?? But, for every day TV watching without a home theater set-up, the spatializer function works ok.

PIP is a nice feature, but it was not a necessity. What is neat about it though is that you can turn it on while watching a movie (for those of us who MUST see the score while the girlfriend is making you watch some sappy movie!!!)

One thing about the remote. The remote is not really all that 'lighted'. Only a very few of the top buttons can be lit up making this feature on the remote nearly useless.

Currently, I don't own a DVD player, so I can't tell you how the TV would function/look like while using one. However, the component-video inputs will allow me to get the best possible picture out of the dvd when I do have that chance. What I can tell you is that my VHS movies look better than ever and even plain old cable looks great!