LCD TV Reviews

Real-World Performance
Starting with Mission: Impossible III on HD DVD at 1080i, there was moderate moiré in the pan across the staircase. Shadow detail in the catacombs was quite good, but the black tuxedos at the party looked a bit flat. Black level was excellent—I could easily ignore the letterbox bars.

Frame interpolation can cause shimmering in a couple of spots at the beginning of the Star Wars VI DVD, but not on the 52XV545U. However, SRT did introduce a bit of shimmering in the fine vertical stripes on the side of the landing bay as Darth Vader's shuttle approaches. SRT also sharpened the image considerably, even at a level setting of 2. I decided I could live with a few artifacts for the sake of a sharper DVD picture.

Staying with DVD, high settings of SRT resulted in obvious edge enhancement on Topsy-Turvy, but Mode 2 Level 2 minimized it while clearly sharpening the image. Shadow detail wasn't bad in the carriage on the way to the opera, and color was surprisingly good, from the over-the-top sets and costumes to the more subdued real-world colors, though the green wallpaper in Sullivan's bedroom was a bit too green.

One shot that's murder on frame interpolation occurs when Lightning McQueen is profiled during the Piston Cup race at the beginning of Cars on Blu-ray. McQueen appears in front of an array of bright blue lights, which can look smudged with frame interpolation turned on, but not in this case. Overall detail was excellent, and colors were rich and well-saturated.

The black of space in Independence Day on Blu-ray was nice and deep, and detail in city skylines and spaceship hulls was sharp and clear. Colors were generally natural, except for neon-green foliage, and blue skies, which looked a bit too saturated.

Next up was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe on Blu-ray. Various shades of white in snowbound Narnia were well-differentiated, and detail was excellent—snowflakes and each hair in Aslan's mane were clearly visible. Colors were rich and natural except, of course, for greens like the grass at Aslan's encampment, which seemed a bit too intense, as did the red tents and blue sky. Shadow detail in Tumnus' house was very good.

I'm afraid the 52XV545U's onboard audio quality is sub-par. It was very boomy out of the box, which was helped by turning down the Dynamic Bass Boost control. (Turning it off altogether made the sound way too thin.) Dialog intelligibility was not great in any case.