LCD TV Reviews

At last year's CEDIA Expo, Sharp unveiled it's first LCD TV with LED backlighting and local dimming. Not only that, it's ultra-thin—about 1 inch at the top and side edges, thickening to 2 inches in the middle. The image it produced on the show floor was stunning, with deeper reds and darker blacks than most LCDs are capable of.

Price: $2,600 At A Glance: Excellent detail, blacks, shadow detail • SRT sharpens DVD material surprisingly well • Mediocre video processing • Poor onboard audio quality

Upscale Performance

With the format war behind it, Toshiba is concentrating on improving the look of standard-definition content on high-def displays. A new upconversion-enhancement technology called Super Resolution Technology (SRT) is now available in some of Toshiba’s latest LCD HDTVs, including the top-of-the-line Cinema Series. The largest of this series is the 52-inch 52XV545U reviewed here, and 46- and 42-inch versions also available.

Vizio is the little company that could. Founded only six years ago, it has risen to be ranked number two in US flat-panel sales. How can this be? A combination of good performance and low prices, that's how.

This review is part of a four-way Face Off. Read the introduction and conclusions of the Face Off here.

Two of the LCD sets in this Face Off, including the Samsung, produce black levels that were unheard of in LCD flat panels until recently. Like the Sony in this group, the Samsung LN55A950 uses clusters of multicolored LEDs as a backlight, together with local dimming of the individual clusters as required by the program material. The LN55A950 is the larger of Samsung’s second generation of LED local-dimming sets.

Price: $5,000 At A Glance: State-of-the-art black level and shadow detail • Superior color and HD resolution • 480i video processing could be better • Poor off-axis viewing

XBR Goes LED

LCD flat panels now dominate the television marketplace. But despite their popularity, they have been notably inferior to the best plasma sets in the depth of their blacks and the quality of their shadow detail.

With the format war behind it, Toshiba is now concentrating on improving the look of standard-definition content on high-def displays. A new upscaling-enhancement technology called SRT (Super Resolution Technology) is now available in some of Toshiba's latest LCD TVs, including the top-of-the-line Cinema Series.

As you may well know by now, LED backlighting is the Next Big Thing in LCD TVs. Samsung's <A href="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/flatpaneldisplays/samsung_ln55a950_lcd_tv/"... and its 46-inch sibling are the company's second-generation offerings, and others are following suit.