Panasonic CT-20SL14 20" Pure Flat TV (Silver)
It works right out of the box
This is my opinion only about my recent experience purchasing a new 20\\" TV.  <br /> <br />I needed to buy a new 20\\" TV for my exercise room. I tried out two Toshiba 20AF44's (being the satisfied owner of two Toshiba flat screen TV's already, the 20-inch 20AF41 and the 14-inch 14AF??, both of which have superb video quality) but was dissatisfied with the 20AF44's (see my review of same). I tried out a Sony 20 incher but was dissatisfied because it was too dark and contrasty and I was not going to fiddle with the service menu. So I returned everything and bought the CT-20SL14. <br /> <br />I was more or less committed after I got the box home because the TV has no handles on the cabinet and I couldn't lift it out of the box (it's about 56 pounds, I believe) without slicing the box apart first to get access (once you slice the box, you can't really return the TV). <br /> <br />I won't describe the features of the TV since you can find that on the Panasonic website. The fit and finish of the TV is excellent, no scratches or anything on the exterior. The glass has a slight haze on it from the manufacturing process so use some glass cleaner, and the haze comes off easily.  <br /> <br />The audio quality is better than the Toshiba. It's not rich and lush like a fine stereo system but it's ok, a sterile kind of sound that is common in smaller TV's. Speech intelligibility is excellent. I don't use the surround sound setting because while the mono portion of the sound doesn't get changed, the difference information is presented vary loud and it unbalances the loudness levels between spoken dialogue (which would be mono) and the music and sound effects.  <br /> <br />The video quality is very good, and screen geometry is excellent. But I have to say that older Toshiba flat screen TV's (not the current 20AF44, which I feel has too aggressive velocity scan modulation which makes for unnatural edge detail and distorted text) and Sony TV's have the best, most natural-looking imagequality. The Panasonic doesn't look quite as natural in both detail and colour tonality. I have a 14-year old 27\\" Panasonic \\"Superflat\\" TV (it's actual slightly convex) and it has the same tonal quality as the CT-20SL14, very good but not quite as natural as a Sony. There's supposed to be circuitry to enhance the sharpness of images but they have no effect on text quality, unlike the Toshiba 20AF44 which causes text to become fat and rough from the velocity scan modulation and edge detail is unnaturally sharp. The sharpness of the Panasonic is less than the best from Toshiba (e.g. the 20AF41) or Sony TV's, and I wonder if Panasonic does it on purpose because they don't want to overemphasize noise.  The remote control is rather basic compared with the Toshiba or Sony.  <br /> <br />So all in all, I'm satisfied with the product. I deducted one point because the video quality, while very good, isn't quite as natural looking as the best that Toshiba or Sony has ever offered in the 20-inch range, but then I found problems in the Toshiba and Sony TV's I tried out before buying the Panasonic, and the Panasonic worked right out of the box. <br /> <br />