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Panasonic Viera TX-37LZD800 37in LCD TV

Author	John Archer
Published	23rd Apr 2008
Manufacturer	Panasonic
Supplier	Be Direct
Price	£879.99 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£1,033.99 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price	Click here

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Other elements of V-Real Pro 3 are worth noting too, namely the processing's ability to add sharpness to the picture, boost colours, reduce video noise and improve motion.
The 37LZD800 has quite a few other motion-boosting tricks up its sleeves too. For starters there's special 24p support for greater fluidity when showing Blu-ray's picture format of choice. Plus you get both 100Hz Motion Pro and Motion Focus technologies.

The 100Hz element doubles the image's PAL scanning rate in a bid to reduce LCD's tendency to lose resolution and look slightly blurred when showing motion. And Motion Focus technology ‘intelligently' tweaks the backlight levels in a bid to reduce LCD's ‘step and hold' phenomenon (the chief cause of motion blur). All of these motion-boosting touches are found on the LZD85 range as well as the LZD800 range, I should say, as are options within the 37LZD800's onscreen menus for introducing picture noise reduction and automatic colour management circuitry.

The 37LZD800 also joins its already-tested LZD85 sibling in having an SD card slot tucked in among its connections via which you can play digital still photos, and a dedicated D-Sub port for PC connection.

What you're all probably gagging to know by now, though, is whether the 37LZD800's performance lives up to its flagship status. And the short answer is yes, it does. Though the longer answer is a touch more complicated…

What certainly is not in doubt is the simple fact that the 37LZD800's pictures are excellent - easily some of the best we've ever seen from a 37in LCD TV. Colours, for instance, are a joy to behold, combining outstanding vibrancy and saturations during something unashamedly over the top, such as Hairspray on Blu-ray, with some really subtle skin tones while showing the scantily clad stars of Apocalypto, again on Blu-ray.

This colour response also makes the 37LZD800 unusually accomplished at showing HD console games, such as Lost Odyssey on the Xbox 360 - a feat enhanced by the impressive way the screen avoids the common LCD tendency to display seepage over object and scenery edges as you move or pan your way around a typical gaming environment.

This clearly reveals the merits of the 100Hz system, as does a little time spent in the company of an HD Premiership footie match, which finds the players looking clearer and cleaner than you'll find on practically any other LCD TV we've seen to date, save, perhaps, Philips' 9632D range.