Performance
After intentionally cutting the superfluous content out of the design and features, and presenting a direct approach, we planned to review the TV for all its exquisite detail and features. Yes, the time had arrived to see whether aesthetic appeal is all the TV has, or if it actually could be a pillar in your future high-def entertainment rig.
We connected the PS3 and a Philips DVD player to the unit, the latter to play our PAL test DVD. The picture was indeed great. Our gamers were wrenching away at the controllers on a game called Heavenly Sword, and we were viewing it in 1080p, with all the detail and movement on offer. There were a few artifacts here and there, such as some jaggie lines and noise created by the screen itself.
We played our test DVD next in upscaled 720p, which was handled quite well. In component, however, we saw an obvious setback, something that cannot be repaired; basically it’s is not HDCP compliant for HD images through component, so we were back to 576p images.
But who needs that when HDMI terminal is present? (Not that analog component HD is bad, more on that later in an upcoming feature.) So we got back to the upscaled 720p through HDMI from our DVD and ran the tests as usual.
The brightness we found unspectacular, but definitely not bad. Most of the other artifacts arose from the DVD player, so overall the TV does perform well. Detail is awesome, contrast is great, and color is also up to the mark. The tint settings ideally need to be turned off though.
Conclusion
All said, this is a good TV, to say the least. It performs like a pro, and full HD is good thing (I can’t wait for the formats to arrive here in a big way). This device can be considered if budget is not a problem, though it performs best only in its native 1080 mode.


