Which similar products have you used?

Sony KDL40W4000

Summary

bought this after much viewing in Panasonic, Sony, Comet, Currys stores, subjectively has a better picture than lesser Panasonic LCDs and plasmas even when compared side by side, this is the most expensive 37" TV at the moment, and I thought it was worth it, because I only wanted a 37", as I am only likely to watch SD, and the on board sound seemed promising - my last set - a Philips 29" 4/3 CRT with Pro logic had incredible sound with excellent detail, strong bass, and excellent volume with no distortion, and this - in theory - might equal it, as it happens the treble came near, but the bass - oh dear! emailed Panasonic customer (non) service twice to ask for an engineer to turn down the backlight and tweak the white balance so I might get some black, took 2 weeks to reply, by which time I had given up and returned it to the retailer for exchange - got a Sony KDL40W400 instead - very pleased - black levels, not dark blue levels PANASONIC TAKE NOTE are fantastic - picture much more det

How long have you used the product?

Less than 1 month

What are the strengths?

imposing appearance when "off" (reminded me of Darth Vader)
very clean picture with no noise (but see weaknesses too)
better than usual flat panel sound - treble very revealing - plenty of volume (but see weaknesses too)
nice substantial remote (but see weaknesses too)
4 HDMI - if you need all of them
freeview reception seems to be better than average in terms off lack of pixelation
remembers what input was being used when turned off
analogue text stores sub pages so you can switch at will without having to wait until the page cycles round again
VHS video is amazing considering it's own limitations

What are the weaknesses?

not so imposing when "on" due to no true blacks - only dark blues - even directly on axis - however does not get much worse even well off axis
over processing of picture gives waxy appearance to faces - not enough detail - over sharpened too - this cannot be turned off, only increased - you can only decide how much halo to have
back light far too bright and no user adjustment! - shows up panel un-uniformity
no user adjustment of grey scale
remote incredibly directional - has to be consciously aimed at sensor - this would be useful in a Panasonic showroom with lots of TV's - not so good at home when only likely to be one
bass distorts at relatively low volume
very reflective glass screen - at least as bad as a plasma
dynamic contrast enhancement very noticable - annoying
no per input settings - your calibration has to do for all inputs - incredible!