Panasonic Viera TX-L32E30B review

While we’ve been big fans of Panasonic’s plasma TVs, we’ve never been quite so enamoured with the LCD models; having found them to lag behind the competition in both quality and looks. This year, things could be different as Panasonic has completely overhauled its range.

The Viera TX-L32E30B that we have on review here is the first TV from Panasonic that we’ve seen to use the new IPS Alpha panel. This 32in side-LED backlit TV promises greater contrast ratios, deeper blacks and better motion than previous models, so we were dead keen to try it out. This model is also available in 37in (TX-L37E30B) and 42in (TX-L42E30B) sizes, using the same type of panel, though we can’t guarantee that image quality will be identical.

First impressions were very good, and we have to say that it’s a fairly attractive TV. With the bezel sliding from black to metallic-grey in the middle, there’s enough to make it look stylish without being too overtly in your face. There are no visible buttons on the front, although a dedicated power switch, volume and channel buttons are on the right-hand side.

Jumping straight into our Blu-ray tests we were immediately impressed with the new panel. Firing up Casino Royale, we were struck with the opening black and white scene. For an edge-lit display, there was a truly impressive contrast ratio, with the blacks looking deep and the whites bright and vibrant. There’s not quite as much detail in the darkest part of the image as with the top-end plasma TVs or local-dimming LED models, but it’s close.

Moving to a colour scene there’s plenty of options for configuration depending on how you like your image. With the Cinema or True Cinema preset modes selected, colours become more realistic and scenes have a bit more grit to them. Switch to the Dynamic mode and you get super-vibrant colours and a brightness than almost hurts, giving movies a completely different feel. Ultimately, it’s up to you which mode you prefer, but the fact that the TV can cope with both certainly gives options.

As well as improving contrast, the IPS Alpha panel has quoted viewing angles of 178 degrees horizontal and vertical. We found that if we were side on the colours appear slightly faded, but from every reasonable viewing angle in a lounge you’ll get perfect colours. It’s a 200Hz panel, although backlight scanning (called backlight blinking here) further helps improve movement. Combined with the intelligent frame creation (IFC), which creates extra frames, we found that movement was smooth and natural.

It’s one of the best frame creation engines we’ve seen, even coping well with difficult scenes, such as objects moving behind wire fences. On other TVs we’ve seen this kind of scene cause motion artefacts. Purists that want to watch their films in the original 24fps will be pleased that IFC can be turned off.

The IPS Alpha panel and LED backlight really come into their own with power consumption. Watching Casino Royale we measured power usage of just 44W, which is hugely impressive and means you should be able to save a chunk off your electricity bill.

Where the previous generation of Panasonic LCD TVs really let us down was with their handling of poor-quality inputs, such as low bitrate Freeview channels. This year we’re pleased to say that Panasonic has erased those demons once and for all. Watching BBC News on last year’s models, people’s faces and hair was smudged and blurred into obscurity; this year, that detail is back with the picture haing been sharpened to help bring it out. It’s not as good as the technology used by Philips for its LCD models, but it’s an impressive leap forwards and means that from normal viewing distances Freeview looks very good.

Not that you have to put up with low-quality standard definition Freeview for everything, though, as the TX-L32E30B has Freeview HD built in. Switching to BBC HD from the SD channel, the change is immediately noticeable and the footage looks absolutely stunning, with pin-sharp accuracy and brilliant colours.

IP TV is the big buzz of the moment and Panasonic has bumped up its online portal, upgrading from last year’s Viera Cast to this year’s Viera Connect, although the button on the remote control is erroneously labelled with the old term.

Viera Connect is a big step up from Viera Cast. For starters, it’s modular with an app store, allowing new content to be easily added and downloaded. At launch all of the apps available, including the games, are free, but paid-for content will be made available.

Perhaps the biggest change is that it now ships with BBC iPlayer built in. The interface for the catch-up TV service is brilliant. A home screen lets you view the featured programmes, while a search menu makes it easy to find the show that you want to watch. Both SD and HD streams are selectable.

We’re impressed with the upscaling of the SD stream, and we thought some shows looked better than many Freeview channels. The HD stream might eat more bandwidth, but the picture is much sharper. Control of a programme is through the standard remote’s DVD playback controls, provided the slider is set to TV rather than DVD/VCR.

We’d still like to see the other catch-up TV services available, but these can be added later. For movies on demand there’s the Ace Trax service, but no Love Film as of yet. As it stands, then, Panasonic’s IP TV platform isn’t quite as feature-packed as those on Samsung and Sony TVs, but it’s getting much closer and Panasonic finally has a platform that it can build on and add to.

UPnP media servers are supported and the TX-L32E30B managed to play the majority of our test video files including our DivX and XviD files. It struggled when faced with a 1080p MOV, but few people will use this format. It also wouldn’t play our test MKV file, which is a bit of a shame.

It’s good to see that you can also play media files from USB and SD card. There are three USB ports to make things easy and means that you can connect a flash drive, wireless adaptor and hard disk. An external hard disk also has the added advantage that you can use it to pause and record TV, turning the TV into a PVR. You can only record the channel you’re watching, as there’s only a single tuner, but it’s nice to be able to add a bit more functionality.

In terms of features and image quality, the TX-L32E30B is the ultimate 32in TV. Its picture quality is astounding for an edge-lit LED TV, with deep blacks and brilliant contrast. Admittedly the price is currently quite high, but at the time of review the set was brand new and most cheaper TVs were from last year’s range. What this will mean is that in a few months’ time the price of the TX-L32E30B will fall considerably, making it much better value. Even so, for pure image quality and range of features, it wins our Ultimate Award.