Flat Screen TVs

Sony KDL-40XBR2 40″ Bravia XBR 1080p LCD HDTV

The good: Reproduces deep blacks with excellent shadow detail; picture stays true from off-angle compared to other LCDs’; myriad picture controls; resolves every detail of 1080p-resolution sources; superb connectivity with three HDMI inputs and a PC input; unique, eye-catching styling; optional designer-colored bezels.

The bad: Expensive; subpar picture via standard-def inputs; wider than many LCDs; no picture-in-picture.

The bottom line: Sure the high-end Sony KDL-40XBR2 offers a commendable picture with more tweaks than you’ll ever use, but let’s face it: style is this LCD’s main weapon.

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Samsung LN-T4665F

The good: Flat-panel LCD HDTV produces deep blacks with excellent shadow detail; accurate color after adjustment; clean image; solid off-angle viewing for an LCD; numerous picture controls; beautiful styling.

The bad: Shiny screen collects excessive ambient light; edges slightly brighter than the middle in dark areas.

The bottom line: Despite a shiny, reflective screen, the picture quality of the Samsung LN-T4665F exceeds that of any LCD we’ve tested so far.

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Basic

You can do a lot to improve your picture using the simple adjustments found on all televisions. Taking the steps below will make the picture look more realistic and closer to what the director intended.

Room lighting

Since most people turn down the lights to watch a movie, our recommendations are designed to deliver a better DVD picture in rooms with controlled lighting. Unless you have a big-screen projector or you’re sitting at the minimum viewing distance, you shouldn’t watch movies in complete darkness–it can cause eyestrain. For bright plasmas and smaller direct-view sets, the ideal setup is to place a dim light directly behind the TV and leave the rest of the room dark. Look for special “daylight” bulbs that glow at 6,500 degrees Kelvin. You should also prevent any light in the room from reflecting off the TV, as glare will hamper image fidelity. Watching at night is best, but if you watch during the day, thick curtains will really improve the picture.
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In a recent interview with the New York Times, Mitsubishi’s vice president for marketing Frank DeMartin, revealed that his company will be showing off its very own laser TV at CES 2008.

In the interview, Mr. DeMartin explained that “[Laser TVs] will spawn a new category for the premium end of the market.”

And while his words are true, does Mitsubishi (or any other company for that matter) really want to be known as the “premium end” in a market that is being dominated by companies who are trying to drop prices as quickly as possible? The current state of the HDTV market, much like the cell phone market, dictates the best possible quality at the cheapest price. Next time you hit up a Costco or Sam’s Club, take a look at the $3000 Sony and the $1700 Vizio. Can you tell a difference? And if so, how many times does the Vizio look better than the Sony? If my tastes are the same as yours, you would probably say 99 percent of the time.

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Normal analog TVs, as opposed to digital TVs, have just a few factors that affect picture quality. When shopping for a TV, look for these features or characteristics and disregard other features that sound good on the surface but in reality are just marketing ploys.

• Comb filter. If a television does not have a comb filter, its resolution will be limited to about half the full potential of DVD. Most sets with comb filters can provide all of the resolution of DVD. The types of comb filters you’ll see advertised, in order of lower to higher quality, include two-line, three-line, digital, and 3D YC varieties. They provide incremental improvements in performance, especially in reducing rainbows that can appear in fine detail, such as a talking head’s suit coat. Comb filters affect only composite-video or RF connections.
• Color-temperature settings. Many televisions have presets for color temperature, which is basically the color of gray. A neutral gray is ideal, but most TVs have an extremely blue gray to make the picture brighter in the store. TVs with color-emperature presets allow you to choose the color of gray; generally, you’ll want the reddest or lowest setting available.
• Color decoder. Most TVs’ color decoders are set to be too red to counteract the blue color temperature described above. TV makers don’t advertise accurate color decoders, so you’ll have to judge for yourself or trust a reviewer. In the store, look for pale skin tones that don’t appear too flushed and reds that don’t bleed into other colors or otherwise seem more intense than the rest of the palette.
• Geometry and convergence. Most TVs get bumped around in shipping, so it pays to check convergence before you take yours home—or at least before the warranty expires. Look toward the edges of the screen, preferably with graphics or other straight lines (CNN’s crawling ticker works great), and see if the lines are actually straight. To check convergence, look at the corners with white material, preferably lines again, and see if faint halos of color surround the white—ideally they shouldn’t.