Panasonic PT-53WX42 53 in. TV
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- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 14:9
- Weight: 177 lb.
- Screen Size: 53 inch
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Great picture, even better value
Pros
High quality picture Low price
Cons
Plastic cabinet limited user level convergence adjustment
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Excellent picture; Even better value
I spent several months researching various RPTVs and finally settled on the PT53WX42. I didn't buy this set because it was cheap. I had a few good choices for the same money. I chose this set because it had exactly what I wanted; no more no less. Why pay for features you're never going to use?
I had originally intended to get the "47 model, but after taking one last look at it my wife(!) decided that we should go bigger. The "53 looked just small enough to make the sharp turn from the hallway into the den, and sure enough, it barely made it. It took a few minutes to hook everything up, then, after turning down the contrast, I allowed the set to warm up for about an hour before making any further adjustments.
I took a good look at the set to make sure nothing was damaged. The cabinet is made of a moderately thick plastic. In my opinion it could have been thicker; it seemed a bit flimsy in certain places. While it is more than strong enough, the cabinet doesn't compare to the solid, furniture-like cabinets found of say, a Mitsubishi or a Pioneer Elite. Then again, neither does its price, so I can't complain. After all, I didn't buy the set to look at the cabinet. It's strong enough to hold a modest center speaker. One thing which worried me when I first saw it; the lower left and right corners of the frame sag very slightly. I didn't notice it for almost a month. It turns out that this is part of the design, so don't bother calling Panasonic. It's not a problem because you really have to look very carefully to see it. I don't even notice it anymore.
The 53WX42 comes equipped with 2 component video inputs, 2 S-Video inputs and 4 AV inputs. Unlike some low priced RPTVs, BOTH of the component inputs are wideband 480P/1080i. This is important as increasingly consumers are likely to have more than one HD source.
The set's remote is simple but efficient. It's nothing fancy, but it is easy to use and gets the job done.
The 2 speaker sound system is adequate for casual viewing and the "surround mode" setting is okay, but nothing special.
I ran through the convergence setup, turned off svm and something called "natural color", and set the color to "Warm".
Let's get right to the heart of the matter; the picture. Out of the box, the 53wx42 looks quite good; better than last year's model. There was no obvious red push and the "Warm" setting looks fairly close to 6500K, which was a bit of a surprise.
I got out my Avia disk and started adjusting the picture. Except for contrast, no major changes were necessary. Oddly, the "Sharpness" control didn't seem to do much except at the "15" setting, so I left it there. I adjusted each mode (you have 3) then popped in "The Fifth Element" to check the results. The picture at this point was clear and near film-like, with no trace of edge-enhancement or over saturation, two problems which plagued my old set. But I wasn't satisfied, so I jumped into the service menu. (WARNING: this is a REALLY BAD idea if you don't know what you are doing!!! You can EASILY damage your set! When in doubt, hire a professional!). To make a long story short, I adjusted geometry and overscan and performed a fine convergence in both 480p and 1080i. Then I fired up "The Fifth Element" again. Whoa! The scene where LeeLoo jumps off the ledge gave me vertigo! The picture was very film like with lots of subtle detail, even in the shadows. The gray-scale on this year's models is clearly better than last year's. The blacks were rich and pure and the colors were clear and accurate to my eye. For the next few days, I watched a couple more films, including "Lord of the Rings", "Star Wars Episode II" and "Minority Report". In each case, the picture was excellent.
My HDTV cable box arrived a few days later. I got it set up, then turn to the PBS HD demo channel. All I can say is, HD is the only form of TV worth watching. In a scene showing closeups of flowers, I literally felt I could reach out and touch them. The Panny's HD performance is superb.
The long and short of it is, picture-wise the 53WX42 is the equal of sets costing many times as much and far surpasses anything in it's price range. If you don't need features like DVI or Firewire, and you have a good AV system to provide sound, the Panasonic 53WX42 is an excellent choice.
I had originally intended to get the "47 model, but after taking one last look at it my wife(!) decided that we should go bigger. The "53 looked just small enough to make the sharp turn from the hallway into the den, and sure enough, it barely made it. It took a few minutes to hook everything up, then, after turning down the contrast, I allowed the set to warm up for about an hour before making any further adjustments.
I took a good look at the set to make sure nothing was damaged. The cabinet is made of a moderately thick plastic. In my opinion it could have been thicker; it seemed a bit flimsy in certain places. While it is more than strong enough, the cabinet doesn't compare to the solid, furniture-like cabinets found of say, a Mitsubishi or a Pioneer Elite. Then again, neither does its price, so I can't complain. After all, I didn't buy the set to look at the cabinet. It's strong enough to hold a modest center speaker. One thing which worried me when I first saw it; the lower left and right corners of the frame sag very slightly. I didn't notice it for almost a month. It turns out that this is part of the design, so don't bother calling Panasonic. It's not a problem because you really have to look very carefully to see it. I don't even notice it anymore.
The 53WX42 comes equipped with 2 component video inputs, 2 S-Video inputs and 4 AV inputs. Unlike some low priced RPTVs, BOTH of the component inputs are wideband 480P/1080i. This is important as increasingly consumers are likely to have more than one HD source.
The set's remote is simple but efficient. It's nothing fancy, but it is easy to use and gets the job done.
The 2 speaker sound system is adequate for casual viewing and the "surround mode" setting is okay, but nothing special.
I ran through the convergence setup, turned off svm and something called "natural color", and set the color to "Warm".
Let's get right to the heart of the matter; the picture. Out of the box, the 53wx42 looks quite good; better than last year's model. There was no obvious red push and the "Warm" setting looks fairly close to 6500K, which was a bit of a surprise.
I got out my Avia disk and started adjusting the picture. Except for contrast, no major changes were necessary. Oddly, the "Sharpness" control didn't seem to do much except at the "15" setting, so I left it there. I adjusted each mode (you have 3) then popped in "The Fifth Element" to check the results. The picture at this point was clear and near film-like, with no trace of edge-enhancement or over saturation, two problems which plagued my old set. But I wasn't satisfied, so I jumped into the service menu. (WARNING: this is a REALLY BAD idea if you don't know what you are doing!!! You can EASILY damage your set! When in doubt, hire a professional!). To make a long story short, I adjusted geometry and overscan and performed a fine convergence in both 480p and 1080i. Then I fired up "The Fifth Element" again. Whoa! The scene where LeeLoo jumps off the ledge gave me vertigo! The picture was very film like with lots of subtle detail, even in the shadows. The gray-scale on this year's models is clearly better than last year's. The blacks were rich and pure and the colors were clear and accurate to my eye. For the next few days, I watched a couple more films, including "Lord of the Rings", "Star Wars Episode II" and "Minority Report". In each case, the picture was excellent.
My HDTV cable box arrived a few days later. I got it set up, then turn to the PBS HD demo channel. All I can say is, HD is the only form of TV worth watching. In a scene showing closeups of flowers, I literally felt I could reach out and touch them. The Panny's HD performance is superb.
The long and short of it is, picture-wise the 53WX42 is the equal of sets costing many times as much and far surpasses anything in it's price range. If you don't need features like DVI or Firewire, and you have a good AV system to provide sound, the Panasonic 53WX42 is an excellent choice.
