Panasonic Viera TC-32LX85

The good: Reproduced deep black levels for a lower-priced LCD; accurate grayscale and primary colors; solid connectivity including three HDMI inputs; smart, unobtrusive styling.

The bad: Color decoding pushes red slightly; doesn't accept 1080p sources via HDMI; no PC input; so-so standard-definition performance.

The bottom line: The 32-inch Panasonic TC-32LX85 delivers surprisingly impressive picture quality for a small-screen LCD TV.

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Description: The Panasonic Viera TC-32LX85 is a 32-inch, LCD television. Compared to other LCD TVs on the market, it is very inexpensive at around $575. This flat-TV is an LCD display, which is generally the best kind of flat-panel screen for viewing in brightly-lit rooms.

Pros: This unit can display images that are sharper and more realistic than standard definition television when mated to a high definition signal. The 3:2 pulldown feature of this set reduces artifacts that can occur when motion pictures are transferred to a digital format such as DVD.

Cons: None noted, given available product data.

Suitability: Appropriate for an small to medium sized apartment or condo living room. In general, a wide aspect TV such as this one is well suited for DVD movies recorded in the popular 16:9 format, as well as high definition programming.

Value: In general, this TV's features are as expected for this price. However, you would typically pay around 45% more to get a LCD TV with similar viewable size.

Suggestions: (1) For assistance in shopping for a new HDTV, review CNET editors' Ultimate HDTV Buying Guide . (2) If donating or repurposing your old TV is not a viable option, CNET encourages households to recycle their electronics. Please explore the following website to find a recycling center in your area Electronics Take Back Coalition .