The Vizio VOJ370F 37-inch LCD outperformed its competitors color accuracy.
(Credit: CNET)
Subtle dark brown coloring and a not-so-subtle reflective gold strip along the bottom of the frame earn the Vizio VOJ370F the title “Java” in the company’s LCD lineup, while excellent color earns it a high score among the less-expensive LCDs we’ve reviewed this year.
The 37-inch display boasts 1080p resolution–useless at this small screen size unless you want to use it as a big PC monitor–and plenty of picture adjustments. The most important are custom color temperature controls that let us tweak it to within an inch of grayscale perfection–no small feat for a small-screened LCD.
Want the full scoop, ground fine enough for espresso?
Read the full review of the Vizio VOJ370F
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Continue reading about Vizio’s ‘Java’ LCD brews accurate colors
Panasonic's 37-inch LCD turns out to be an average performer.
(Credit: CNET)
We’ve always given relatively high marks to Panasonic’s plasma TVs, but the company’s least-expensive entrant in the 37-inch LCD arena this year, model TC-37LZ85, didn’t quite measure up.
The main problem was this medium-screened LCD’s less-accurate grayscale, which tinged the picture reddish even in its most-accurate color temperature preset. Compared with the 37-inch Vizio and Hitachi TVs we reviewed earlier, the TC-37LZ85 just didn’t look as natural, especially in skin tones.
In other areas of performance, particularly black level and screen uniformity, the nonplasma performed quite well for an LCD. But compared with the company’s least-expensive 42-inch plasma, model TH-42PX80U, the Panasonic LCD couldn’t hold a candle in those areas. It’s also worth mentioning that the company’s 42-inch plasma actually costs a bit less than the 37-inch LCD. Granted one had 1080p resolution and the other doesn’t, but at these screen sizes that doesn’t matter for most viewers.
Read the full review of the Panasonic TC-37LZ85.…
Continue reading about Panasonic’s LCD can’t measure up to its plasmas
We review the Toshiba 46XV545U.
(Credit: CNET)
The difference between HDTV and standard-definition TV is pretty drastic, and there’s not much any device–television, DVD player, or cable box–can do to make standard-definition look like high-definition. But don’t tell Toshiba.
The 46XV545U, a 46-inch LCD TV, represents one of the company’s latest attempts to persuade buyers that with the right video processing, “all your DVDs and TV channels will be displayed in near High Definition picture quality.” If you believe that, I have a burning five-dollar bill I’ll sell you for a grand. Every company touts their upconversion technology, but Toshiba’s “SRT Super Upconversion” blares its trumpets louder than anything we’ve heard.
In our tests, SRT basically added artificial sharpness, aka edge enhancement, to standard-definition images. You may like the look (we didn’t), but you won’t confuse it with HD. Without SRT, the television’s standard-definition looked a good deal softer than other TVs in our comparison, for what it’s worth.
It is worth mentioning that, as with all other standard-definition processing, SRT is irrelevant if you use an external source that does the conversion itself. Such sources can include upconverting DVD or Blu-ray players, or cable box or satellite boxes set to convert everything to HD.
But enough about standard-definition video processing; how does this HDTV perform otherwise? Click through to find out.
Read the full review of the Toshiba 46XV545U…
Continue reading about Toshiba’s LCD can’t make HD wine from SD water
The Sony KDL-52XBR7 is the first TV on the market with a 240Hz refresh rate.
(Credit: CNET)
With CES fast approaching in January, and with it a look at all the new TV technology of 2009, we’ve heard inklings of the next big thing in HDTVs: 240Hz. Sony has beat the other big LCD TV players to the punch, however, with the first 240Hz TV, the KDL-52XBR7.
LCD TVs with a 120Hz refresh rate are common enough these days. They refresh the screen twice as quickly as typical HDTVs, allowing TV makers to add dejudder video processing that smoothes out the picture, reduces blurring in motion, and matches the frame rate of 1080p/24 sources like Blu-ray movies. Of course, dejudder can make film look like video and introduce artifacts, and the benefits of reduced blurring and 1080p/24 compatibility are difficult for average viewers to spot.
Judging from our review of the KDL-52XBR7, the benefits of 240Hz are equally difficult to discern. The set did score higher on motion resolution test patterns, but that didn’t readily translate into an obvious difference with regular program material.
What’s easy to discern is that the KDL-52XBR7 costs a bundle: about $4,100 list, or currently $1,100 more than its already expensive 120Hz counterpart, the KDL-52XBR6. The 240Hz XBR7 is an excellent-performing TV, it’s just too expensive compared to the stiff competition.
Read the full review of the Sony KDL-52XBR7.
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The Acoustic Research HDP100 transmits HDMI signals over your home's AC power lines.
(Credit: CNET)
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Continue reading about HDMI-over-powerline system works, but can’t match an actual cable
The VPL-HW10 is the cheapest SXRD projector yet.
(Credit: Sony)
When Sony’s SXRD technology came out in 2005, first in expensive front projectors and then in rear-projection models starting with the ridiculously overpriced Qualia 006, we liked it a lot. That basic evaluation hasn’t changed much over the years, but the realities of the market have, forcing Sony to axe its rear-projection SXRD line–along with all of its other RPTVs–and make the excellent KDS-A3000 series the last of the breed. But SXRD still has a place among front-projectors, and that’s a good thing.
The company’s VPL-HW10 represents a new low price point for SXRD projectors, but this PJ hits plenty of performance high notes. It evinced the same deep blacks we’ve come to expect from the technology, and it even improved on the color accuracy of last year’s excellent–and more expensive–VPL-VW60.
What’s not to like? Well, if you have a huge screen, don’t expect the little HW10 to get bright enough, but we’re talking larger than 92 inches wide. Even with that caveat, and some minor performance gripes, the “bargain SXRD” is easily the best projector in its price class we’ve tested so far.
Read the full review of the Sony VPL-HW10.
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Continue reading about Sony’s cheapest SXRD projector still scores well
(Credit: TVPredictions.com)Black Friday is still 11 days away, but for TV manufacturers looking to jump-start sluggish sales in the midst of a recession, it’s already here–and will likely continue in spirit right through the holiday season.
Word of current and impending HDTV price drops is spreading rapidly. The HDGuru reports, for example, that Sony, Samsung, and Mitsubishi are rolling out MSRP reductions across the board, with some cuts as high as $500 on expensive models like the Sony KDL-52XBR6. Samsung is offering $200 off rear-projection models like the HL61A750, which was already a solid value to begin with. Looking for hot-selling prices last Friday, the Guru found deals like the 42-inch Panasonic TH-42PX80U plasma for $649 (although when we checked Monday it was back up to $729 online–still a great deal).
Looking for more? The latest Black Friday price watch (PDF) over at TWICE includes advertised price drops that range from 11 percent for the Sony KDL-46Z4100 to a drastic 33 percent for the LG 32LG30–one of the best deals we’ve seen so far at $549 at Best Buy. When we saw that price, we immediately added the LG to our Best cheap LCD TVs list.
We suspect even better bargains are yet to come. In past years, the best deals were available after Black Friday, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, especially on name-brand TVs.
The combination of the holiday season, nosediving economy and the impending DTV transition may be creating a perfect storm of low HDTV prices, but are people actually buying new TVs as a result?
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Continue reading about HDTV price drops: Black Friday comes early, stays late
If you like your TVs like you like your, er, partners–slim, stylish and expensive–then you’re a good candidate for the Hitachi UT37X902. At a mere 1.5 inches thick, this thinnest of all LCDs costs a bundle but looks better turned off than just about any TV we’ve ever reviewed.
No matter how you slice it, the Hitachi UT37X902 is one thin display.
(Credit: CNET)
It’s no slouch when turned on either, with decent black levels and color accuracy for the 37-inch LCD breed, but (isn’t there always a “but”?) we couldn’t help but complain about one important aspect of its design. The UT37X902 is just a “monitor,” meaning it has no built-in tuner and, more importantly, includes just two inputs: one HDMI and one analog VGA for PCs. That’s fine if you just want to connect a cable or satellite box and forget it, but for other gear, you’ll need additional inputs. That’s where the optional AV Center, a $300 breakout box, comes in.
So how does the AV Center work? What other juicy details can we provide about the TV’s picture quality? And is that 1.5-inch number really accurate?
Read the full review of the Hitachi UT37X902.
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Continue reading about Ultrathin Hitachi LCD walks razor’s edge
Uniformity across the screen is one thing many flat-panel HDTV owners take for granted. Plasma TVs generally have perfect uniformity: the screen is the same brightness and the same color in all areas, and it looks the same from every angle. Most LCD sets, while less than perfect, have screens that are uniform enough to not distract from the viewing experience. Then there are models like the Haier HL47K.
The Haier HL47K (screen simulated).
(Credit: CNET)
This bargain-priced 47-inch LCD won’t wow anybody with its black levels or color accuracy, but for the money those aspects of its image quality are decent enough. Unfortunately, its screen uniformity is not. In our testing this set basically failed every aspect of our uniformity tests, suffering from brightness and color variation, backlight banding and poor-off-angle performance. To top it off, there’s even a stuck pixel!
On the plus side, the Haier is really cheap for a 47-inch 1080p HDTV, and its looks and connectivity aren’t bad at all. It also outperformed the dismal Honeywell we jut reviewed, so that’s something.
Check out the full review of the Haier HL47K.
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Honeywell’s Altura MLX, a budget 42-inch LCD TV with a 120Hz refresh rate, looks promising on paper but doesn’t quite live up to the promise in person.
This is one of the least-expensive TVs with 120Hz, and it even includes the smoothing processing, aka dejudder, that the kids seem to like these days. But we’re generally not big fans of the effect, so we like to have the capability to actually turn off dejudder. One problem with the Altura is that it doesn’t have that capability. Inexplicably, with this set it’s dejudder or bust.
We liked the Honeywell’s styling, but couldn’t find much to like about its picture quality. Lighter black levels and less-accurate color are big culprits, as is a very dark gamma that makes the whole picture appear too dull regardless of any adjustments we tried. In case you’re still interested, there’s plenty more detail after the jump.
Check out the full review of the Honeywell Altura MLX.
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Continue reading about Honeywell doesn’t do so well in review