LCD TV Reviews

I have to say this TV surprised me, although, to be honest, it really shouldn't have. At first glance, there is nothing to set it apart from the innumerable other LCDs on the market. It has a narrow black bezel, it's thin, it's bright, has a remote, turns on; you know, all that stuff that LCDs usually do. Then I started throwing test material at it, and it started doing things that LCDs typically don't but JVC TVs typically do. And I mean that in a good way.

With flat panel sets now available in increasingly larger sizes, a 46-inch display is almost petite for a home theater setup. But it's a popular size with buyers as its ratio of size to price is often attractive.

Last year when I reviewed the 1080p <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/flatpaneldisplays/806sonykdl46/">Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR2</A>, I concluded that it "really knocked me out." Now we have the new Bravia KDL-46XBR4. It's similar in many respects to the 46XBR2, but offers significant improvements. These include better black levels, a new, slick on-screen menu system, and 120Hz operation&mdash;a feature that's showing up in more and more high-end LCD sets. Depending on its implementation, a 120Hz refresh rate can reduce image smear with moving images&mdash;one of the lingering problems of LCD display technology.

Samsung has been pushing hard to improve LCD flat panel televisions. Though the company still makes plasmas, its LCD R&D department, judging from the cutting edge technology demonstrated at last January's CES, must be busy. With 120Hz operation, segmented illumination of the image, and LED backlighting, LCD technology at Samsung is big priority.

Things are changing rapidly in the television market, and changing rapidly at Toshiba as well. Only a couple of years ago that company's line was dominated by rear projection DLP designs. Today, flat panel LCDs are pushing those sets aside.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: The performance gap between LCD TVs is shrinking. Of course, there are enough differences to keep us reviewer types employed (at least for now); we see variations in color temperature, black level, light output, and processing. Still, it's been a while since I encountered an LCD that simply performed poorly, at least from a reputable manufacturer. Let's face it—you really have to screw up to make HDTV and high-definition DVD look bad. As you try to decide which LCD deserves your money, it has become less a question of good versus bad performance and more a question of fit and price: Which model offers the performance and features set to suit your needs at a price you can afford?