LCD TV Reviews

Price: $1,300 At A Glance: 240-Hz-like operation with 120-Hz refresh • Outstanding calibration adjustments • Sub-par contrast and black level

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.

The entrance of computer companies like Dell and Hewlett-Packard into the HT space has raised a few eyebrows. Will the computer giants drive home theater prices down into the realm of computer componentry or, instead, drive themselves out of the HT arena?

Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Accurate color
Good contrast
Inexpensive
Minus
So-so shadow detail

THE VERDICT
Vizio’s E65-C3 is a very good HDTV that delivers considerable bang for the buck.

Let’s hear it for the good, old-fashioned HDTV. You know, the sort that once wowed us with its ability to display crisp, highdefinition broadcasts, Blu-ray Discs, and other next-gen sources of home entertainment. In recent years, however, HDTVs have been upstaged by Ultra HDTVs— fancy-pants upstarts that promise compatibility with all manner of future innovations, from UHD Blu-ray to High Dynamic Range (HDR) video. It should come as no surprise, then, that such sets cost on average 50 percent more than their regular HDTV brethren.

While it may not have the head-scratching cosmic significance of the classic choice between Goobers and Raisinettes, or even the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war, the LCD vs. plasma question remains a hot topic. The casual shopper may simply want a flat panel TV no matter what the technology, but the serious videophile wants to know more.

Price: $900 At A Glance: The price is right • Good detail • Mediocre black and shadow detail

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.