Summary

This is one of Panasonic's highly regarded "GAOO" CRTs. GAOO was the model name that Panasonic used on their high end CRT TVs in Canada in the 90s and very early 2000s. In the U.S. these were known as Panasonic Superflat sets.

This TV uses the M68KTY161X tube. Panasonic used this tube in several of their 27" GAOO models in the 1990s. This model, made in 1997, was the last Panasonic GAOO/Superflat model to use this tube. In 1998, Panasonic released their next GAOO CRT TV model that used a different tube and different electronics. There were two other CRT TV models in the 1990s that used the M68KTY161X tube and they were the JVC AV-27BX4 (released in 1993) and the Mitsubishi CS-27503.

Notes

To access the service menu there are several steps. First, go to the user menu, select the timer icon and set the sleep timer to 30 minutes. Then tune to channel 124 and turn the volume down to 0. Then press the "volume down" button on the TV and red letters "CHK" will appear on screen. Now press the "power" button and this will take you to the service menu. Use the channel "up/down" buttons to select an item and the volume "up/down" buttons to make an adjustment to that item. To exit the service menu and save your adjustments, press the action and power buttons on the TV at the same time for approximately 3 seconds. The TV will power off and then power on.

This set has one of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen on a consumer CRT TV. The picture is super sharp and bright and the colors are really vibrant.