Tuned in: The small fortunes people spend on television antennas or television sets can be a waste of money if both products are not of a similar quality. Panasonic looks to solve this problem with its new compact LCD high-definition TV, the 17-inch Viera TH-L17F1. The key to this innovative set is that it comes with four built-in digital terrestrial antennas. These team up with a new tuner that takes the signals from the four antennas and combines them into a single image. Panasonic claims that this system creates a top-quality picture. The TV can also be switched to operate off the 1Seg portable system if you are in an area that does not receive regular terrestrial signals, though be warned: The picture quality of 1seg television is very low.

The set offers the additional benefit of removing the need for any kind of antenna. This in turn frees the TV from its antenna socket, allowing you to put it anywhere in your home that has mains power. The TV also features a clear rectangular plate sticking up from behind the TV — part of its LED backlighting system — an eyesore that may take some getting used to. Beyond the innovative antenna setup, the TH-L17F1 comes across as a standard model with a 1366×768 resolution and, as you would expect from Panasonic, a sleek and stylish look, protrusions aside. The body is only 17.4 mm in depth and the whole unit weighs 5 kg. It comes with Ethernet and HDMI connections. It also has an SD card for displaying photos and video on the TV directly from a memory card.

The TH-L17F1 hits the market March 20 with a price tag of ¥89,800. Just how good Panasonic's creative antenna system is, only time and viewing will tell — but if it works as advertised it will be a real asset. Whether it is worth going to so much trouble for just a 17-inch screen is debatable. This is particularly so when it is so easy to buy a computer with a similar or greater screen size that includes a TV tuner. Panasonic might be better served incorporating this innovation in larger models in the future. panasonic.jp/viera/products/f1/