LCD TV Reviews

Black: 0.008
White: 25.94
Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 3,243:1

The measurements here were taken in the Cinema mode, through an HDMI input except as noted, with the set adjusted for the most accurate picture in a darkened room.

The Sony had the deepest blacks and the highest full-on/full-off contrast ratio in the group. As most of the panelists reported, it edged out the Panasonic plasma for top of the heap in those categories—a result that the plasma fans among us would not have anticipated. The Sony also put out a peak brightness level of 115 foot-lamberts in its Vivid mode.

Out of the box, the Sony was at its best with the Color Temperature set to Warm. The Before Color Tracking had a Delta-E ranging from 4.2 to 7.0. (Delta-E is a figure of merit that indicates how close the color temperature comes to the ideal white point of D6500. The lower the number, the better. Experts generally recommend a maximum of between 3 and 4 for results that are visibly indistinguishable from lower values.) After calibration, the Delta-E was 2.3 or less from 30 IRE to 90 IRE, increasing to 4.5 at 20 IRE.

The set’s color gamut shows a trace of undersaturation in red and oversaturation in green, but these deviations are minuscule. The result is shown by the white triangle on the CIE chart and is very close to the ideal Rec.709 HD color gamut (the black triangle).

As you can see in the accompanying Video Test Bench chart, which is primarily HD but includes a single SD test (scaling from 480p to 1080p), the Sony’s overall video processing was the poorest of the group. It is definitely at its best with 1080p inputs, but even there it had some luma and chroma resolution quirks. On the highest frequency bursts (lower bursts were fine), its vertical luma resolution failed, but its horizontal luma passed, while its vertical chroma resolution passed and its horizontal failed. It also failed the M:I:III Vatican deinterlacing tests (the brick wall in chapter 7 and the stairs in chapter 8, with the player set to output 1080i). But it did pass a separate test for 1080i component horizontal resolution (not shown in the chart).—TJN