Although it's more widely known for making plasma screens, Panasonic has also turned its hand to LCD screens with this 37'' Full HD model, which is also available as a 32'' version.  Both include a HD digital TV tuner which should allow them to keep up with the competition.

Simple and Smart
LCDs may be a break from tradition for Panasonic, but everything else looks very similar, right down to a sleek, smart case around the edge of the screen.  A matte finish on the screen itself prevents unwanted reflections, and the rotating base allows you to turn the screen round to face the audience to make the most of the viewing angles, which are already very wide.

In total, there are three HDMI ports, including one on the side, although the slot for SD cards is located away from the other inputs and outputs.


Switching it on, the menus are the same as on other Panasonic TVs: very simple and clear.  They do look a little dated, though, and the fact that you can't fine tune all of the settings is another concern.

Not Quite Black
Once the settings are correctly configured, the contrast generally fluctuates between 500:1 and 750:1.  This rather average score is mostly due to blacks which are stuck at a rather bright 0.25cd/m².  Without any way of adjusting the backlighting, we couldn't improve on this figure.  The only solution seems to be activating dynamic contrast, which has a negative impact on image quality.  With a DeltaE score of 5.2, the colors displayed are reasonably close to the ideal values, but a long way behind today's best TVs, which fall under 3 on this measurement.

Watching HD video shows off the LZD81FV in its best light, with a very detailed picture.  Be careful not to try and adjust the sharpness too much, though, as the result is often apixellated image with diagonal lines looking more like staircases than true diagonals. 

This effect is even more pronounced with Standard Definition sources like DVDs or non-HD digital TV, although in general the upscaling from 576 to 1080 lines is well managed.


We noticed a very small amount of ghosting on very detailed moving objects--most notably a shot on one of our test discs that zoomed into a page of text in an open book.  This TV has neither a 24p Real Cinema mode nor 100 Hz, which could have improved this problem.  Nevertheless, movement is generally well handled.

As with most TVs, a noise reduction filter works to cut distortion out of video, but it only has fairly limited results on the LZD81FV.  Turned up to its maximum setting, it just about manages to have the same effect as some others we've seen while running at their minimum capacity.  In any case, these filters tend to worsen the overall quality of the image, so perhaps it's not such a bad thing that Panasonic's implementation is rather subtle, as some others absolutely destroy the picture.

For connecting to a computer, you'll have no problems using a DVI-HDMI cable: your desktop should pop up automatically with no missing areas.  Unfortunately though, things aren't as sharp as they could be, and text in particular is a little blurred.

Sound: An Improvement on the Usual Poor Performance
We're happy to be able to finish this round-up of the LZD81FV by saying that the sound quality puts this TV at the top of the table, but still a long way behind a real Home Cinema sound system.