Panasonic TX-L47E5B review

For this review we tested the 46in model in the ES6540 range, but it’s also available in 32in (TX-L32E5B), 37in (TX-L37E5B) and 42in (TX-L42E5B) screen sizes. All models have identical specifications except for their dimensions and power usage. We’re confident that image quality will be practically identical across the range.

When it comes to TVs, Panasonic is probably best known for being one of the last big supporters of plasma technology. Plasma screens have phenomenal picture quality that set them apart from LCD TVs, but unfortunately they also come with increased power consumption and can be more expensive. For a more budget-orientated home cinema setup, the TX-L47E5B LCD TV should provide a middle ground between the two, with an LED backlight which uses less energy than plasma, and an IPS panel which creates superb 178-degree viewing angles.

The simple black bezel and stand aren’t exactly the definition of style, but at least they don’t distract from what’s on screen. The TV has a Freeview HD tuner and multiple inputs for games consoles, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players; four HDMI ports, component or composite video through a single adaptor and a VGA PC input should be more than enough for most setups. Audio support is more limited, with just one digital optical output and a single 3.5mm auxiliary in. Finally, two USB ports, an SDXC memory card slot, Ethernet and a common interface slot complete the back panel.

As this TV is towards the cheaper end of Panasonic’s range, you don’t get integrated Wi-Fi – only wired Ethernet. If the TV is nowhere near your router you could buy the official Wi-Fi dongle (DY-WL10E-K, £44 from www.amazon.co.uk) or simply use powerline networking. The TV has a DLNA media receiver that can play multimedia files from a connected PC or NAS device. File format support was superb, letting us play all our test videos including MKV, DivX and XviD files.

Panasonic’s VIERA Connect service isn’t the most comprehensive smart TV portal we’ve used, but it still has plenty of apps to choose from. As well as BBC iPlayer, you also get the BBC’s news and sport apps as well as YouTube for streaming video and the choice between Netflix and AceTrax for on-demand movies. There’s also a market for downloading additional apps, but there aren’t many must-haves to be found between the internet radio stations. The one exception is Skype, which lets you make voice and video calls from your sofa, as long as you buy Panasonic’s expensive external camera (TY-CC20W, £79 from www.very.co.uk).

The L47E5B coped well with both standard- and high-definition TV broadcasts. Even when stretched across the 47in full HD panel, there was minimal digital noise and motion was reasonably smooth. It’s easy enough to spot noise artefacts from up close, but from a more normal viewing distance Freeview HD in particular looked very sharp, with plenty of smaller details preserved.

Unsurprisingly for this price you don’t get 3D support, but Blu-ray discs still looked incredibly defined, with sharp lines and incidental details preserved. Colours were overly vibrant at the default settings, but we got much better results using the True Cinema pre-set. You can further tweak brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness values individually, although there are fewer advanced options than on Panasonic’s more expensive TVs. Noise reduction and Clear Cinema up-scaling are pretty much all you get. Black levels were reasonable for an edge-lit set, although we had to turn off the lights to get the most vibrant colours and there was still a bit of backlight bleed.

One area that failed to impress was audio. The two 10W speakers were merely average, producing reasonable volume and a clear mid-range, but the high end became slightly sharp at higher volumes and there was a constant lack of bass regardless of the settings we chose. It works best for the news, but not much else – if you’re into films you’ll definitely see the benefits of an external speaker system.

Considering it’s one of Panasonic’s less expensive TVs, the L47E5B has plenty of features and is very competitively priced for a 47in panel. However, it can’t compete with more expensive plasma sets in terms of picture quality, and its range of calibration settings are limited, which can make it difficult to tweak the picture to suit your personal tastes. There’s also no 3D support, but if you like the idea of near-perfect viewing angles but can’t afford a plasma set, this is a good choice.