Sleek and stylish panel design; energy efficient; various interactive and streaming features; controls local dimming; better off-angle view; most accurate color; great shadow details; the deepest black level as compared to other TVs.

Thumbs Down:

Expansive price tag; stray illumination problem; difficult to discern 240Hz refresh rate; customizable dejudder settings are not so useful.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The LG Infinia 55LE8500 is 1080p LCD TV based on LED Backlighting technology. It has 1920×1080 pixels resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, and 16:9 image aspect ratio. The horizontal and vertical viewing angle is 178°. The 55LE8500 features XD Engine, Sleep timer, V-Chip control, closed caption capability, parental channel lock, and line doubling progressive scanning.

Four wide-screen modes are: Conventional 4:3, Cinema, Zoom, and 16:9. The picture adjustment modes include Game, Sports, and Cinema. The LG Infinia 55LE8500 has three video interfaces: Composite, Component, and HDMI. The input video formats are 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. There are two right/left 10watt stereo speaker inbuilt speakers. The 55LE8500 TV features invisible speaker system and inbuilt Dolby Digital decoder.

The LG 55LE8500 supports MP3 audio format, JPG picture format and DivX/DivX HD video format. The connectivity options are USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet. The connector set includes 1×Composite video/audio input (RCA phono×3), 1×HDMI (19pin HDMI Type A), 1×Hi-Speed USB (4 pin USB Type A), 1×VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)), 1×Serial , 3×HDMI (19 pin HDMI Type A) , 1×Component video input (RCA phono×3), 1×Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm) , 1×Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK) , and 1×Headphones (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm).

The LG Infinia 55LE8500 is EPA ENERGY STAR qualified and compatible to HDCP. Its Greenpeace policy rating is 5.1.

Razzle Dazzle:

The LG Infinia 55LE8500 is 31.6 inches tall, 50.8 inches wide, and 1.4 inches deep and weighs 78.9 lbs. With stand, it is 34.4 inches tall, 50.8 inches wide, and 12.3 inches thick and weighs 96.6 lbs. The 55LE8500 TV looks sleeker and has an appealing artistic aesthetic.

Inside Dope:

If you talk about televisions, every one will be attracted towards the LED backlights and 3D in this year. The LG Infinia 55LE8500 TV costs $3149.99 and features full-array backlighting with local dimming. It means the screen has hundreds of hidden cells that dim or brighten independently to improve the output picture quality. The 55LE8500 TV has ability to adjust the dimming of a complete array by dividing into zones. You will not find this ability in the most of LED backlit televisions available in the market. If you can afford an extensive price tag for an excellent performing LCD TV and do not mind lack of 3D capability, then the Infinia 55LE8500 TV will be the best choice. Noteworthy that features, performance and specification of 47-inch LG Infinia 47LE8500 are quite similar to that of the 55LE8500.

The remote control is 9.2 inches tall and 1.8 inches wide. Four-directional toggle with middle Enter button is surrounded by Menu, Netcast and Q.Menu buttons on its top, and Back, Widgets, and Exit buttons on the bottom. We like the well positioned buttons on the remote.

The LG Infinia 55LE8500 has glossy screen and 240Hz refresh rate. Its main selling point is the full-array LED backlighting with local dimming like the Samsung 8500 and the LG LH90. According to LG, the LE8500 series TVs has 216 dimmable independent zones while the Infinia 55LE8500 has 240.

The company also ships LG Wireless Media Box that enables to connect HDMI, Wi-Fi connection and other gears. The available streaming media services are Netflix, Vudu, and YouTube. We will prefer to access BlockBuster, CinemaNow, Pandora, and Rhapsody. The LG Infinia 55LE850 is DLNA compliant that means it can stream the photos/video/music tracks on DLNA compatible networked computers. You can connect the external drive on USB ports and playback the stored photo/music/video files.

LG has also included some Internet applications including Stocks, Sports, News, Weather, Skype, Picasa, Flickr, Twitter, and Yahoo! Widgets. You have to purchase separate microphone for using Skype. What’s more – you can play the games included on Yahoo! Widgets like “Whack a Mole” and “Sudoku”.

We appreciate the LG to improve the picture controls and to include the option for adjusting dejudder processing like Samsung. LG has included Blurr and Judder labeled sliders. The LG Infinia 55LE8500 allows customization of antiblur effect, dejudder and smoothness using its TruMotion processing.  This de-judder system resembles that of Samsung, but the 55LE8500 does not allow full motion resolution.

The included picture settings are Color Management System, 10-point fine color temperature controls, three color temperature presets, five standard-def aspect ratio modes, three high-def aspect ratio modes, fine dejudder control, two-dejudder presets, independent memories per unit, three gamma presets, and six adjustable picture modes. The other settings are 2THX modes, 10-point and 2-point IRE systems, and guided “Picture Wizard” setup. The picture mode options are Expert 2, Expert 1, Game, Sport, THX Bright Room, THX Cinema, Standard, Vivid, and Intelligent Sensor.

More to like – 1) On-screen user manual to provide details of all settings, 2) Ambient light sensor that can be engaged by selecting Intelligent Sensor picture mode, and 3) Power-saver mode – “screen-off” adjustment that turns off picture to get only sound. This mode reduces the total power consumption to 36 watts.

The back panel has three HDMI inputs, a composite video input, one VGA-style PC input, two component video inputs, one optical digital output, one RS-232 port, one RF input, a wireless control port to connect Media box, and an Ethernet adapter. The side panel has one HDMI input, a composite video input, two USB ports, one component-video input, and headphone jack.

While testing, THX Cinema provided the best and most accurate picture settings that produced excellent accuracy, gamma linearity, and grayscale. The Expert Mode also delivered very fin results by improving the gamma from 2.28 to 2.21, revamping the shadow details with large numbers of the deepest black levels and evening out the grayscale, especially for dark areas.

We tested the LG Infinia 55LE8500 with (1) plasma Pioneer PRO-111FD TV, (2) local dimming LED TVs – the LG 47LH90, the Samsung UN55B8500, and (3) edge-lit LED TVs including the Sony KDL-52NX800, the Samsung UN46B7000, the LG 47LE5500.

The LG Infinia 55LE8500 produced the deepest black level which we had seen on any TV. It surpassed the Samsung UN55B8500 and other sets including the Pioneer plasma model. The black levels remains the deepest even in low-light scenes, but the difference is visible in low and bright areas. The 55LE8500 preserved the excellent shadow details and provided the realistic displays than others. However, the Samsung UN55B8500 handled dimming a bit better than the LG 55LE8500. In contract, there were no fluctuations of backlight on the LG model.

After some calibration, the LG Infinia 55LE8500 produced the most accurate color accuracy and grayscale as compared to others. The color was consistent in both light and dark areas. The Samsung UN55B8500 provided the better de-judder control and motion resolution than the LG 55LE8500.

We received the excellent uniformity on the LG Infinia 55LE8500 around the complete screen as compared to other local dimming LED TVs. Moreover, it provided the better off-angle view than the Samsung UN55B500.

The 55LE8500 performed well for stand-definition sources and delivered each line of DVD with sharp details and less jaggies. Its noise reduction performance was also good and it switched into 2:3 pulldown accurately and quickly.

However, the LG model reflected the bright objects in the room due to its glossy screen. On the contrary, the 55LE8500 performed fine in PC connectivity with both VGA and HDMI connection.

Nitty Gritty:

If you can afford extensive price tag and need the deepest black level and most accurate colors, but do not mind limited dejudder processing and lack of 3D at such a high cost, then go for – LG Infinia 55LE8500 TV.

• Deep black levels are better than any other LCD in this class.
• Color is relatively accurate
• Picture control options are extensive
• Attractive design

Cons:

• Lacks side panel inputs
• Expensive as compared to other models in this size

Bottom Line:

Samsung LN26B360 may not have as many features but it makes up with is excellent picture quality.

Manufacturer’s specifications:

Samsung LN26B360 is a 26 inch wide screen TV, resolution is 1366×768 pixels, display format is 720p, LCD refresh rate is 60 Hz, response time is 8ms, dynamic contrast ratio is 30000:1, wide screen mode options include Conventional 4:3, Wide Zoom, Auto Wide, Zoom, 16:9.

Video interface options are Composite, Component, and HDMI. Input video format options include 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i. Supported resolutions for computer are 1280×1024 (SXGA), 800×600 (SVGA), 1024×768 (XGA), 640×480 (VGA), 1360×768, 720×400, 640×350. Speakers are 2×5 watts.

Connector types include 1x Headphones (mini-phone stereo 3.5mm)- Rear, 1x Composite video/audio input (RCA phonox3) – Rear, 1x Component video input (RCA phonox3) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear, 1 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-in ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) – Rear, 1 x VGA input ( 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ) – Rear.

Design:

Just like most entry level HDTVs in this price range, the Samsung LN26B360 has a glossy black frame but there are some classy touches that make it apart. On the bottom edge there is a slight protrusion or the ‘lip’ that comes out of the panel. This lip goes well with the oval stand.

Inside Dope:

There are a lot of LCD panels for this category of small TVs and among the many that we have reviewed; we found that Samsung LN26B360 is the best in picture quality. The black level performance is commendably and it leads in other areas too. The downside is that it lacks features that you expect to find in such TVs and it’s also a bit expensive as compared to competition. If money is not a question for you and if you want the best picture quality in this size, we would recommend you this TV.

Samsung LN26B360’s menu system and remote are both simplified and smaller as compared to its larger siblings. The options are the same that you get in Toshiba’s AV502U series but the interface is more user friendly. Keys are differentiated by color and size and it has all the buttons that you’d expect.

On the menu, the layout and the simple icons are just the same as higher end models and we really liked it. There is a Tools menu which offers quick access to the functions that are most frequently used. We also liked that there are text explanations along with the items. You get a Self-diagnosis along with internal patters which are designed for quick trouble shooting. you get a diagram for the common connections and Samsung contact page which contains Website, phone number and guide to the firmware update section of the site.

Just like most entry level panels, the Samsung LN26B360 h as a 1366×768 pixel native resolution or 720p as compared to the 1080p resolution on higher end models. We won’t complain about the non-1080p resolution of the panel because a 26 inch size cannot exploit the offerings of a 1080p resolution.

When it comes to picture adjustability, only LG is better than Samsung and this panel too is no exception. There are lots of ways to fiddled with the image like 3 adjustable picture modes which are all independent per input. There are also options for controlling the color temperature in order to enhance the 4 presets. The white balance controls have six adjustment options which are seldom found in such entry level models.

There are other adjustments like color and gamma space along with black tone, dynamic contrast, edge enhancement and flesh tone. Finally there is a film mode, three levels for noise reduction and HDMI black level.

In all, there are four settings for aspect ratio for both SD and HD sources and you can adjust 2 among them. Energy Saver setting limits the light output from the panel and this gives you power savings. Samsung LN26B360 also has a game mode which minimizes the processing of video and prevents possible lag between the onscreen action and controller.

Connections on the Samsung LN26B360 are not in plenty, and the biggest issue is the side panel which doesn’t have any inputs. On the back, there is 2 HDMI, one VGA, one component video, one RF input with analog stereo and optical digital audio outputs and one AV input with composite video.

As mentioned earlier, this panel stands out amongst other LCD TV in this range with is solid picture quality and deeper black levels. There are a few issues with the color aspects but that can be forgiven at this price range.

We compared this panel other TVs in this range, we had Westinghouse SK-32H640G, Vizio VO302E, Toshiba 32AV502U, Sony KDL-32L5000, Sharp LC-32D47U, and Panasonic TC-32LX1. For black level tests, the Samsung LN26B360 was the most efficient, the panel gave us the deepest shade of black. It went passed the Sony, Sharp and Toshiba panels by a bit and rest all the displays were far behind. In the brighter scenes, there was less difference between Samsung and other panels were lesser. Shadow detail performance too was good on Samsung panel but it wasn’t as good as Sony.

When tested for color accuracy, Samsung LN26B360 was decent. Performance was as good as Vizio and was second to only LG. The black levels on the Samsung panel were deeper which led to superior saturation. The very dark and black areas weren’t as neutral as that on Sony but still they were better as compared to others.

Samsung LN26B360 was the best in SD video quality as compared to other models. The details looked sharp and every line of DVD format was resolved. For computer tests, we hooked up this panel to a PC and tested through both VGA and HDMI jacks. We got the full 1360×768 pixel resolution on both the ports. The text and video both looked crisp.

Ergonomic remote control; good menu navigation; inbuilt Wi-Fi; accurate colors; monolithic exterior; excellent stylish design; energy-efficient; Yahoo! Widgets; and internet services like Amazon VOD, YouTube and Netflix.

Thumbs Down:

Glossy display screen reflecting ambient light; low screen uniformity; unable to adjust much de-judder processing; darker areas distorted with blue; reproduces light black level; expensive price tag; worst Netflix picture quality.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 is 46 inches wide-screen LCD HDTV based on LED backlight technology. Its 1080p display has 1920×1080 pixels resolution, 16:9 image aspect ratio, progressive scanning and 240Hz refresh rate. The horizontal and vertical viewing angle is 178 degrees. The 46NX800 has V-chip control, 3D digital comb filter and composite video analog signal.

The additional features of Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 are Auto power off, LightSensor technology, Motionflow technology and Sleep Timer. Display Menu languages are English, French and Spanish. Television has one analog/digital combo tuner, secondary audio program, MTS stereo reception system and Picture-in-picture multi-channel review. Analog tuner is NTSC and digital is ATSC and QAM. The channel coverage is Cable:1-135, UHF:14-69 and VHF:2-13.

The video interfaces of Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 include Composite, Component and HDMI. The television features invisible speaker system, SteadySound audio volume, stereo surround sound, closed caption capability, parental channel lock and onscreen TV guide. Input video format options are 1080/60p, 1080/60i, 1080/24p, 720/60p, 480/60p and 480/60i.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has two inbuilt 10 watt left/right channel speakers. The connectors are 1 x Network ( RJ-45 ) – Rear, 1 x USB 2.0 ( 4 pin USB Type A ) – Side, 2 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Side, 2 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-in ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ) – Side, 1 x VGA input ( 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ) – Side, 1 x Digital audio output (optical) ( TOSLINK ) – Rear, 1 x Composite video input ( RCA phono ) , 1 x Composite video / component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ), 1 x Audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Side and 2 x Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 supports JPG images; MPEG4, AVCH and AVC videos; and MP3 audio. The PC connectivity options are: wireless, Ethernet and USB. Connectivity protocols are: IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi and USB.

The television has Sony RM-YD037 remote control and swivel stand. The operational power consumption is 158 watt and sleeping/standby consumption is 0.17. Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 is complaint to the EPA Energy Star and HDCP. Sony provides one-year limited labor-and-parts warranty with the television.

Razzle Dazzle:

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 is 28 inches tall, 44.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches deep and weighs 54.7 lbs. With stand, it is 29.2 inches tall, 44.5 inches wide and 12.6 inches deep and weighs 63.5 lbs. Sony has revamped the exterior in monolithic style of some space theme like orbiting Jupiter or Tycho crater. The backside is glossy black. The input connector panel is hidden behind removable cover at back. The swivel base stand is attached at the bottom. Moreover, you can mount the television on the floor or table using stand at the back.

Inside Dope:

Sony has launched its LED-based Bravia KDL-NX800 series LCD TVs. The LED backlight technology comes in some different varieties. Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 performs better than other LCD TVs in its class including Samsung’s UNB7000 series. The KDL-46NX800 has inbuilt Wi-Fi to access Internet services as found on Sony’s 2009 models. It designed for people for whom style comes first.

Sony has also revamped the remote control of its Bravia KDL-46NX800 and this remote is the best one we have ever used. It has perfect arrangement of buttons with their logical size. All the keys are sleek and flush. The remote control has concave shape which makes the buttons easy to use. The company has also added blue backlighting to the remote control.

The company has added its XMB interface to Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 with some new features. This interface offers inputs, settings, widgets and Internet services in logical fashion. We would prefer to more customizations in this interface. In addition, the dashing navigation looks reminiscent of the PlayStation3. We like that manufacturer has included separate Favorite section that consists of frequently accessed inputs. You can also manually add some options to this section. There is an Options section that provides instant access to Netflix options, MotionFlow settings and scene modes.

Sony has used energy-efficient LED edge-lit technology instead of CCFL backlights, which also helped in keeping thin TV panel. But it has affected the picture quality and performance as compared to local dimming technology in Sony XBR-NX800 series.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has inbuilt Wi-Fi to connect to internet via your local wireless network. The company had started offering Netflix in 2009 and it did not have any new addition. On the contrary, Samsung, LG and Panasonic announced to include Skype service in 2010. Vizio and Samsung are also going to introduce platform based applications. Following the same tradition, Sony is going to launch QRIOCITY – online movie service.

Netflix will draw main attention in various features of Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800. But it did not produce appreciated image quality in our tests. While playing one streaming video, it provided soft video with more artifacts and pixilation than LG 47HL50 and Roku Player. Moreover, the streaming bit rate was also low. These results were same for both wireless and wired network. We also tested Amazon VOD and YouTube. The streaming video quality for Amazon Video on Demand was good, but not for YouTube contents on viewing at full screen.

Sony has also added keyword search for extracting the information from TV Guide EPG. It will be more useful if company encompasses the search for Netflix, Amazon and YouTube. You will also find Yahoo Widgets for Dallas Mavericks, FrameChannel, TV Guide, USA Today Sports, Quizzmaster, Sudoku, Yahoo sports, Yahoo video, finance, news and local weather. We did not see first two widgets on any Yahoo specified TV. FrameChannel provides contents from numerous outlets such as CNET Crave blog, BBC, NewYork Times, People magazine, Picasa, Facebook and forth. Sony had not updated the Yahoo! Widgets which resulted in slow performance. You can move Yahoo! Widgets around the screen without any problem. Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has more widgets than LG, but still lesser than Samsung.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has Slacker Radio – music service instead of having Pandora found on Mitsubishi LT-249 series. But it is capable of streaming videos, music and photos from networked computer via their DNLA standard software like Windows Media Player 11.

Like Vizio, Sony is providing inbuilt Wi-Fi and Ethernet on its KDL-NX800 series including Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800. It was child’s play easy to setup both Ethernet and Wi-Fi networks. Most of other televisions require USB or Ethernet connection to setup wireless network, but the 46NX800 performs it directly using integrated Wi-Fi antenna.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has 240Hz refresh rate like other high-end LCD TVs launched this year. Unlike the implementation of Toshiba and Samsung, you cannot take its benefits to reduce blur without engaging de-judder processing also. Sony includes and calls the de-judder processing as MotionFlow that is available in two types. You can also turns off the MotionFlow.

Sony had also re-structured the picture setup memory scheme and added a capability to apply user-defined settings to either all inputs or current input. The user-defined customizations will be applicable to any one of basic picture modes including Standard, Vivid and Custom. For each input, you will have three different selections of picture options. Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has seven Scene modes including PC, Cinema and Game. However, these modes cannot be accessed via main picture menu. You can press the Theater mode button for entering Cinema scene mode.

You will also get various advanced picture settings such as seven step gamma control, CineMotion option, two noise reduction options, full white balance, four temperature controls, a Reset option for both advanced and standard options and more. Sony has also added text explanation for each of the option.

For high-definition sources, Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has four aspect ratio options plus one Full Pixel option for displaying 1080p content without over-scan or scaling. You can use this Full Pixel option on noticing some interference across the screen’s extreme edges. The user-defined settings can be applied to only current setting or to all.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 has Eco menu – power saving option that limits the brightness level. This LED based LCD TV also has room lighting sensor, mode to turn off TV after being inactive for particular period and one mode to turn off screen without turning off sound. Not only these modes, but you will also get a power button to eradicate its power standby mode and enables to remain awake for downloading automatic updates.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 also has onscreen Electronic Programming Guide that display information about cable channels and antenna. It will be the additional benefit for the users who are only using guide of their satellite or cable box. The television also has onscreen user manual to explain all of its features. It will be useful for everyone to select the options easily. In addition, it will also provide the support information section containing phone numbers and Web site for service center. This section also displays the software version and serial number of the product.

There are plenty of connectivity options available on Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800. The side panel has an AV input with composite or component video, USB port for sharing, VGA analog input and two HDMI ports. Other two HDMI ports are located behind a cover on the back. You will find few analog audio ports, Ethernet jack, RF input for cable or antenna connection and composite video input on rear panel.

We were disappointed that Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 did not perform better than other LCD TVs in its class. The color accuracy was overall good and solid. The picture is equal to Samsung edge-lit LED TVs. The most accurate setting was only in Cinema scene mode. The display screen provided 2.2 gamma levels, but maintained to have smooth grayscale. Occasionally, it dove in blues in some dark areas.

We played a movie on Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 and compared it with dimming KDL-52XBR9, LG 47LH90; plasma Pioneer PRO-111GD and edge-lit LED based LG 42SL90 and Samsung UN46B7000.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 delivered some light black shades after calibration, whereas SL Sl90 was worse overall. The B7000, the XBR9 and Pioneer plasma delivered darker shadows and black areas than the 46NX800. Moreover, Sony model provided more natural look in details than the XBR9, but not better than others.

On disabling Auto Contrast Enhancer, we noticed an improvement in black level performance of Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800. It provided dim backlight in dark scenes, but increased in bright light, like Samsung B7000. The bright areas and lighting looked dull in dark scenes.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 provided solid color accuracy except bluish black areas. This problem was similar to other LCDs during test, but the 46NX800 displayed blue tinge crawling only into extreme dark areas and shadows. On the contrary, the colors and skin tones looked natural with rich color saturation. Its secondary and primary colors were solid.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 provides only High, Standard and Off options for MotionFlow de-judder processing. We preferred to turn off this processing for Blu-ray movies. Like Samsung and LG, the lowest mode – Standard provided less video like look. Unlike Sony NX800, Samsung allows to tweak the smoothness. There were noticeable artifacts in each de-judder modes; still the Standard mode had less artifacts.

The motion resolution tests revealed that Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 performed better than other 240Hz TV sets like the XBR9. The KDL-46NX800 registered 900 to 1000 lines with MotionFlow engaged in any mode. On turning off the MotionFlow, it resulted in 300-400 lines. The 1080i de-interlacing handled both video and film based sources.

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 could not maintain the same image across the display, unlike its competitors. Sony has selected glossy screen instead of matte one. As a result, it shows the reflections of room objects, unlike LG LH90 and the XBR9. This reflection was less than that of LG SL90 and Samsung screens. Moreover, the KDL-46NX80 preserved more black levels than LG SL90, but lesser than the XBR9 or Samsung.

For standard-definition sources, Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 performed average. The details were softer than Samsung UNB7000 while playing a DVD video. The noise reduction was good to remove artifacts and noise. It also engaged 2:3 pull-down with some delay as compared to others.

In high frequency test patterns, we received excellent look with a bit flicker on Sony Bravia KDL-46NX80 via analog RGB. But we did not get any flicker via HDMI output.

Nitty Gritty:

Sony Bravia KDL-46NX800 performed good in our tests. If you do not mind the light black levels, glossy and reflective screen and few settings for de-judder processing, then you can buy this LCD HDTV. We will recommend you to check other edge-lit LED based LCD TVs also.

FLO TV attracts the television fans to provide uninterrupted great shows without cellular or Wi-Fi reception.

Thumbs Down:

FLO TV does not have features like iPod and Zune.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

FLO TV is a portable television. Its input method is touch screen user interface. It is based on FLO TV Multicast Network. Its software platform is Flash-based FLO TV user interface.

3.5 inches diagonal capacitive touch screen display has a resolution of QVGA 320×240 pixels. It features auto backlight control and ambient light sensor.

The features of FLO TV include inbuilt adjustable stand, integrated stereo speakers, touch screen and Live Mobile TV. It has 1500mAH lithium ion battery that has a life of 300 hours of idle standby time.

Accessories supplied inside the package include TV, battery, 3.5mm headphones, screen cleaning cloth, power adapter, micro-USB cable, quick start guide and promotional insert.

Razzle Dazzle:

FLO TV is 3 inches tall, 4.4 inches wide and half inch deep and it weighs around 156 grams. It is heavier than iPod Touch or Zune HD. FLO TV comes in silver and black colors. Our test model had black color.

Inside Dope:

Everyone likes to have a portable television for entertainment. Some persons record their small programs on Zune or iPod and watch them, but that does not deliver much excitement. Now, FLO TV is available in the market for $199 that includes 6 months of free TV service subscription. You can view maximum 16 channels for $14.99 per month. FLO TV is so build to replicate home television experience at a portable machine. It will appeal all TV fans that need a small television. Zune HD or iPod Touch provide more features than FLO TV at the same price, but they cannot show you TV channels.

FLOT TV has 3.5 inches touch screen display that has 320×240 pixels resolution. The touch screen is capacitive and features ambient light sensor. You will find home button and rocker switch on the front. 3.5mm headphone jack, dedicated mute button and volume button sits at right side. Combined micro-USB port for charging through power adapter and USB connection is also located on the right side.

Battery life indicator button and power button are located on the top edge of FLO TV. There is a black hinged flap kickstand located at the back. You can use this kickstand to place the device on flat surface for watching TV. Integrated stereo speakers are also located on the back and delivers louder sound than speakers of Zune HD and iPod Touch.

FLO TV does not have any internal memory to store your favorite songs, video files and photos. It simply acts as TV tuner for subscription television service. Its service has one package only that offers 16 channels including 2.FLO channel, Adult Swim, CNN, Comedy Central, Disney, MTV Tr3s, MTV, Nickelodeon, TLC, Fox News, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC, ESPN, CBS and ABC.

You can press the button on TV’s front to show a guide, in which you can go through channel broadcasts. You can also schedule a reminder for TV show. On the dark side, the FLO TV does not have on-demand service, recording capability and pause button. It is worth to mention that the FLO TV does not show live TV broadcast, which you find on conventional television. A Program Guide is available online at FLO TV website. You can also apply the parental lock at the mature shows on the FLO TV. We agree that FLO TV works like portable TV; still it does not have some needed functions and internal memory.

The display of FLO TV has low resolution, due to which its video quality also effected. The resolution fluctuates while watching streaming videos, even when we are standing still. The screen brightness is overall conservative. The screen goes into sleep mode occasionally while playing TV shows. There is also no option to disable or adjust the sleep mode inside settings. However, you can plug in the charger to disable the sleep mode.

FLO TV utilizes signal from old UHF TV spectrum that allows it to be consistent. It is better the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cell phone signal reception, which breaks any where. You can not use the FLO TV on airplane and subways. This point will give a lead to PSP, Zune and iPod for continuous portable entertainment.

FLO TV has 1500mAH lithium ion battery that has a rated life of 5 hours of continuous watch time and 300 hours of idle standby time.

Nitty Gritty:

FLOT TV will attract TV and sports fan who 24/7 need feed of television content. If you need a portable device to watch streaming TV shows, then you can buy this FLO TV.

Accurate colors in the Custom-mode by manual adjustment; great black-level performance and perfect shadow details; handles 1080p/24 sources excellently without much flickers; wireless connection between the components and the TV works fine; very slim panel design; improved bright picture quality; solid color saturation; a lot of connectivity features – one computer-input and four HDMI slots; and VieraCast to access Internet services.

Thumbs Down:

Little video-processing problems; more power consumption than other HDTVs; limited picture controls; expensive; not much accuracy in secondary and primary colors in non-THX modes.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 is a member of Viera series.  It is 32.3 inches tall, 51.3 inches wide and 1 inch deep without the stand. The TV with stand is 35.2 inches tall, 56.3 inches wide and 15 inches deep. This plasma TV has a 54.1 inch widescreen display based on Plasma (PDP) technology that has 1920×1080 pixels resolution. The total pixels of the display are 2,073,600 and the display format is 1080p. Image aspect ratio is 16:9 and image contrast ratio is 40000:1.

The widescreen modes include Conventional 4:3, Normal, Zoom, Just and Full. The pixel pitch is 0.624mm. The additional features are Progressing scanning (line doubling), 3D-Y/C digital comb filter, Motion pattern noise reduction, VieraLink, VieraCast, Viera Image Viewer, Ultra-thin design, backlight life of 100,000 hours and Screen coating filter. The display menu is available in Spanish, English and French.

The analog video signals are S-Video and composite video. The digital TV tuners are ATSC and QAM, and the analog TV tuner is NTSC. There are four supported video interfaces: Composite, Component, S-Video and HDMI. The analog video input signal is NTSC. Input video formats include 1080p, 1080i, 720p and 480p.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has 4×left/right channel speaker that are surround sound and detachable. The TV has BBE ViVA HD3D sound effect. The total output is 20 Watt and the audio controls are Treble, Bass and Balance.

The connectors in Panasonic TC-P54Z1 are 1×digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK), 2×Component video input (RCA phono×3), 1×VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)), Audio line-in (RCA phono×2), 1×S-Video input (4 pin mini-DIN), 1×Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm), 2×Composite video input (RCA phono), 1×HDMI output (19 pin HDMI Type A), 1×HDMI input (19 pin HDMI Type A), 3×HDMI input (19 pin HDMI Type A), 1×VGA HD-15.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 also has closed caption capability, HDCP compatibility, parental channel lock function, digital video playback and digital photo playback. The supported video formats are MPEG2 and AVCHD, and supported picture format is JPG. The HDTV supports the EPA Energy Star and UL6500/C-UL energy standards. The power consumption is 293 watts. The accessories supplied inside the package are reference material, stand, power adapter and remote control.

Razzle Dazzle:

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has black colored glossy plastic finish over silver metal-strips below and above the screen. In addition, the vertical bands are also glossy black combined with silver color to create an illusion of one wider – wide-screen TV panel. The P54Z1 has classy unique appearance that conveys the luxury in high price-range. Both the speakers and the stand are detachable.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 is just 1-inch deep and thinnest plasma TV available in the market after beating Samsung PNB860 series by 0.2 inch. The other major difference between the TC-P54Z1 and flat-panel TVs is color quality. The detachable speakers have the same silver color like the frame and contrast the black glossy vertical strip. Wireless receiver sits underneath left-side of TV panel. The stand also has the same silver color as per TV’s color theme and supports the thin TV panel, but doesn’t have swivel feature.

Inside Dope:

Panasonic TC-PV10 was our favorite in plasma TVs. Now, Panasonic come up with TC-P54Z1, which is the most expensive TV to date, by the company. The TC-P54Z1 is one inch deep is one-inch deep panel and has wireless capability which is the reason behind its high cost. The Z1 is a good combination of style, picture quality and features, which is enough to earn high scores. Panasonic deserves the credit for presenting a great plasma art in all its models, especially in the TC-P54Z1 and TC-PV10 series. The design and most of the features are same in TC-P54Z1 and TC-PV10 series.

The included wireless access tuner box has a size like standard Blu-ray player or DVD. Wireless transmitter looks like small antenna. Moreover, wireless receiver sits on the rear-side of the TV panel and glances out beneath its left-side. This receiver increases the TV depth by one-inch.

Remote control of Panasonic TC-P54Z1 communicates with tuner box through radio frequencies, but it does not use infra-red. It has extensive backlighting and glossy finish, unlike previous Panasonic models. The three new prominent buttons – VieraTools, VieraCast and VieraLink – sits above the cursor control. The style, shape, color and size of the buttons on remote control gives an impressive look. It cannot control other gadgets through infrared, but you can control some compatible devices via VieraLink, which are connected to Z1 TV.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has better menu design than its predecessors. It has similar yellow-on-blue color-system format and straightforward navigation. However, main menu has new icons. We would like to see onscreen explanation for the menu options. There is a new addition – Tools menu, which have all the settings including VieraCast and THX mode.

The most expensive Panasonic plasma TV, the TC-P54Z1 has wireless connection between TV panel and source components. External tuner’s box contains Ethernet, AV, HDMI and other ports for the TV. It communicates with the TV display via wireless transmitter. The TV has a similar receiver that pipes the signals to TV’s HDMI and then to speakers and screen. There is a requirement of line-of-sight between the receiver and transmitter.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has some identical features of V10 series. The screen refresh rate is 96Hz and allows maintaining the film’s cadence from 1080p/24fps source, especially from Blu-ray player. For non-1080p/24fps sources, the refresh rate is 60Hz. There is another 48Hz setting that can flicker the screen. Like all plasma models of Panasonic, the spec sheet of the TC-P54Z1 mentions a 600Hz sub-field drive to display a bit improvement in the motion-resolution, but this effect is not visible.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has THX Display-Certification. You can select THX picture-mode to improve the shadow detail, color accuracy and various other picture settings. This THX mode will provide the best default setting without any manual adjustment. The THX-mode is similar to “one-step calibration”, but it is not so effective as compared to Pro adjust and Custom settings.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has a Digital Cinema Color to show wide color space as compared to that of other traditional HDTVs. The VieraCast is a Panasonic interactive TV feature that was introduced for the first time in TH-PZ850U in 2008. VieraCast offers the access to local weather, headlines and stocks from Bloomberg, photos stored on your Picasa account and YouTube videos. It also connects to Internet through Ethernet port, which is located at the backside of TV. The company has not included wireless capability and also does not sell any wireless dongle for the TC-P54Z1. However, the wireless adapters or bridges from third party will work for the TV as per Panasonic.

Panasonic has included VieraCast with which you can view Amazon Video on Demand and access high-definition content through it. It also integrates the TV service and pay-per-view service in the TV. VieraCast provides large catalog to supplement the satellite PPV or supplant the cable offerings. We appreciate that Panasonic’s VieraCast allows previewing the content before purchase, unlike other implementations of the Amazon VOD. VieraCast disables various aspect-ratio settings and THX picture-mode, which is its only one drawback. However, all other picture modes are available and completely adjustable. Panasonic Viera TC-P54Z1 offers the capability for connectivity with compatible network cameras to enable complete TV system for the household monitoring.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has few picture adjustments as compared to other HDTV models. However, it has advanced adjustments including the menu for Pro Setting.  We liked five-global picture modes with Studio Ref., THX and Standard mode. The other sixth Custom mode is independent-per-unit. The Game mode of Panasonic is a picture mode basically, but does not extinguish the video-processing like that of other HDTV models. Studio Ref. mode delivers image quality of one studio monitor and it is not available on other HDTVs.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has five presets of color-temperature and out of which, the Warm2 is close to D65 standard. Pro Setting menu is available only in Custom mode and has white-balance function to set grayscale, but this control is not complete like other HDTVs. Pro Setting menu also has gamma control function with other settings to improve the picture quality on TV.

In each picture mode, the adjustments are available with a C.A.T.S. function. This function senses an ambient light and then adjusts picture quality accordingly. There is one toggle for Color management that makes color-decoding worse and one trio of Off/On settings that affects video noise. There is also a setting for controlling the 2:3 pull down that affects both high-definition and standard-def sources.

There is a selection of five aspect ratio options for high-def sources that includes Zoom mode to adjust the vertical and horizontal position. If you choose HD Size 2 option in Advanced Menu, Full mode matches the pixels of 1080p and 1080i sources. In THX mode, HD Size 2 option is named as THX. We recommend you to use this setting when you see any interference around the extreme-edges.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has options to avoid the temporary retention of image. An orbiter pixel slowly shifts picture around the display and allows it to happen in user-defined periods or automatically. You can select dark or bright gray bars across any 4:3 program. You can also sweep white bar alongside the black screen and clear it after sometime. We liked that screen-saver to come up after leaving the VieraCast menu in idle and inactive state for few minutes.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has NEO PDP panel that consumes more power. There is an ECO menu that only turns off the automatic functions and does not offer power-saving specific mode. The TC-P54Z1 cannot freeze picture on temporary basis and lacks in the area of picture-in-picture. It accepts SD cards into the expansion slot located on left side that allows to playback the digital photos on the screen.

Panasonic TC-P54Z1 has four HDMI input ports: three at the backside of tuner box and one underneath the flip-down cover at the front of the box. The other connections on back-panel are an RF input for antenna or cable, AV input with S-Video and component video, RS-232 remote port, digital audio output, Ethernet port and two component video inputs. Moreover, the front panel of the box has VGA style computer input, SD card and second AV input with composite and S video.

The transmitter, receiver and tuner box of Panasonic TC-P54Z1 consumes more power, so this TV is not so energy efficient as Panasonic 54-inch S1. The annual power consumption cost of the TC-P54Z1 is $59.40 for default picture setting and $69.55 for calibrated picture settings. This power-consumption cost is much more that that of Panasonic TC-P54S1 and Samsung PN50B650.

Nitty Gritty:

Panasonic’s flag-ship model, TC-P54Z1 falls beyond the price range of most buyers. It is the thinnest model available in the market and the only plasma TV to provide wireless communication to its components.

LG SL80 series has good look with thin bezel. LG 47SL80 has 1.8-inch depth glossy glass, extensive picture controls with unique Picture Wizard and accurate color. It has four HDMI ports with PC input.

Thumbs Down:

LG SL80 is light on black levels. This panel does not separate anti-judder and anti-blur working. It does not deliver complete usage of 240Hz. The glossy screen tends to reflect the ambient light. The off-angle view is below average.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

47-inch LG 47SL80 is a member of SL80 series by LG. It measures 43.7×1.8×27.1 inch and weighs 51.8 lbs without stand. The measurement comes to 43.7×11.3×29.6 inch and weighs up to 62.8 lbs with stand. The LCD display is based on S-IPS technology and has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. The display format is 1080p and the refresh rate is 240Hz. The LCD pixel response time is 2.2 ms.

LG 47SL80 is a full HD TV of 1080p display format. It has 16:9 image aspect ratio and 10-bit color depth. Both horizontal and vertical viewing angle is 178 degree. The display menu language is available in Spanish, English and French. The backlight life is 60,000 hours. The LG HD TV has V-chip control, HDCP compatibility, progressive scanning and composite video analog signal.

The digital TV tuner is ATSC and QAM, whereas the analog TV tuner is NTSC. The stereo reception system is MTS. LG 47SL80 also has secondary audio program, parental channel lock and closed caption capability.

The video interfaces are Composite, Component and HDMI. The input video formats are 1080/60p, 1080/30p, 1080/24p, 1080p, 1080i and 720p. LG 47SL80 has inbuilt 2× (10 watt) right/left channel speakers with stereo surround sound. The built-in decoders are Dolby Digital and the sound effect is SRS TruSurround XT. The audio controls are Balance, Treble and Bass. The additional sound features include invisible speaker system and auto-volume adjustment.

The connectors on panel include 1×Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm) – Rear , 1×Serial (nine-pin D-Sub)–Rear, 1×VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15))–Rear, 3×HDMI input (19 pin HDMI Type A)–Rear, 1×Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK)–Rear, 2×Audio line-in (RCA phono×2)–Rear, 2×HD component input (RCA phono×3)–Rear, 1×Component video input (RCA phono×3)–Rear, 1×Hi-Speed USB(four-pin USB Type A)–Side, 1×HDMI (19 pin HDMI Type A)–Side and 1×Composite video/audio input (RCA phono×3)–Side.

LG 47SL80 has functionality of VGA (HD-15) PC interface, digital photo playback and digital audio playback. The supported audio format is MP3, video format is DivX and picture format is JPEG. The 47SL80 has swivel stand measuring 200×200 mm.

LG 47SL80 flat-panel LCD TV is based on ISFCCC and EPA Energy Star complaint standards. The power consumption is 250 watt and idle standby/sleep power consumption is 0.36 Watt. LG is providing one-year parts-and-labor limited warranty on 47SL80.

Razzle Dazzle:

LG SL80 series has big size flat and thin panel LCD TV. Its main appeal is its minimalist and stark appearance that forecasts “all-picture” look, which is introduced at CES 2010 in models such as LE9500. Both the screen and slim black frame around it are fronted by same glass that extends up to all the edges of flat-panel. Whereas, dark gray strip at bottom edge gives some accent. The swivel stalk of the stand has stainless steel color to serve the purpose of providing impressive look to this stylish flat-panel.

Inside Dope:

LG has launched its SL80 series of thin-panel and slim-bezel models. The LG SL80 series has sleek, compact and stylish design. The HDTVs of this range are highlighted with glossy glass-screen on the front. The LG 47SL80 lacks extensive and interactive features as found on other TVs in same price range. Its picture quality is short and there are some blacks on picture, which are not deep. The glass screen of SL80 reflects ambient light. If you prefer a good design and can compromise on these issues, we will recommend you to go ahead for this panel.

LG has improved the remote for its high-end SL80 series. The remote has more spacious, backlit and logically grouped buttons. We appreciated that most of the functions had dedicated keys except that for aspect ratio. However, the similar shape and sizes of all the keys do not look good from ergonomic standpoint. You can press “Energy Saving” button to provide energy-saving graphics on the HDTV. The remote of LG 47SL80 is capable of controlling new gear through HDMI while the remotes of other TVs do not have such capability.

LG 47SL80 series has quite extensive menu system that has easy-access menu for sound modes, timer, picture, aspect ratio and other often used functions. The main menu is similar to that of previous models of last year. It has a new addition – Simple Manual that provides basic function and setup. We would like to see onscreen explanation of basic and advanced menu options.

LG 47SL80 lacks interactive and extensive features as found on LG LH50 models; however, its basic feature set is similar to that of LG LH55 series including 240Hz refresh rate to combat blur in motion. There are two forms of 240Hz refresh rate and LG employs “scanning backlight” form that augments usual technique of 120Hz to double 60 frames standard signal using a backlight. It flashes rapidly off and on to reduce the blurring in motion. Both Vizio and Toshiba employ this technique also. The other 240Hz technique to quadruple standard signal is used in the models of Samsung and Sony to provide better results than LG, Vizio and Toshiba.

The implementation of LG SL80 series for de-judder processing is quite similar to its previous 120Hz and 240Hz displays. If you select the option to reduce the blurring in motion, then SL80 series force you to only engage in smoothing the de-judder effect like previous models. The 2009 models of Toshiba and Samsung allows separation of these two options of 240Hz. The SL80 series offer two strengths of de-judder – Low and High. It also has separate “Real Cinema” option that works with 1080p/24.

LG SL80 series has picture controls that are similar to other LG TVs. Last year, LG has introduced some adjustments like Picture Wizard. This Wizard uses internal test patterns to assist you for selecting basic calibration controls for backlight, vertical and horizontal sharpness, tint, color, contrast and brightness. You can save these selected options in one of eight-Expert picture memory slots.

One independent input is associated for each picture memory slot. This group of Eight-expert slots has two slots for storing default settings. Intelligent Sensor is the ninth mode that sets picture-parameters and reacts to ambient light conditions accordingly. Even the non-expert modes has advanced controls including three-color temperature presets for noise reduction, dynamic color and contrast, black level control, standard and wide color spaces, three levels of gamma, edge enhancement and room lighting sensor. There is also an eye-care setting in non-expert mode that prevents the screen from being too bright. This setting is disabled in Cinema and Vivid modes.

Imaging Science Foundation expert modes has more controls. Our favorite control is 10-point white balance control to get accurate grayscale, which was introduced by LG last year. LG has added capabilities for internal test patterns, 2.2 gamma and color filters for red-only, green-only, and blue-only to set color balance. There is a full color management system on the tap. We like the facility to apply Expert-settings one at a time or to all inputs. Most of the settings will appeal HDTV geeks and pro-calibrators, but do not attract normal end-users. However, LG’s new models offer the complete package of user-menu picture adjustments.

LG has touted the efficiency of SL80 series. We found the same in our tests. LG has included both store-demo and home-use settings as per Energy Star 3.0. In addition, there are Energy Saving settings to reduce backlight that saves light output and consumed wattage. These settings will disable the standard backlight control.

The SL80 series does not have picture-in-picture option, but has various aspect-ratio controls including five modes for HD sources and four modes for standard-definition. There are two modes for adjustable zooms and one set-by-program mode to choose the aspect ratio setting automatically based on signal. There is also a Just-Scan mode with 1080p and 1080i to assure zero over-scan and proper 1:1 pixel ratio for SL80 series model having 1080p display.

The connectivity on SL80 series is extensive because of four HDMI ports – one at the side and three on the back. The back panel has an AV input with composite video, two-component video input, an RF input for cable or antenna, an RS-232 port for custom installation, an optical digital audio port and an RGB style analog PC input. The side panel has fourth HDMI port, a USB port and second AV input with composite video. The USB port is used for playing MP3 music files and displaying digital photos.  The only one connectivity component for S-video input is missing.

While testing LG SL80 series has provided good performance, numerous adjustment options, good video processing and superb color.  However, the glossy LCD screen tends to collect the ambient light worse than matte screen.

The picture setup of the LG SL80 series has accurate initial settings that include Expert controls and defaults in both Cinema and Expert modes. 10-point IRE system has helped to bring grayscale to extremely flat-level and ended up with similar flat gamma. LG SL80 series turned blue completely at 5% like other usual LCD TVs. However, primary and secondary colors were superb. In addition, the colors decoding was nice.

We played a movie “The Dark Knight” on Blu-ray disc on LG SL80 series with some LCD TVs like Samsung LN52B750, Sony KDL-52XBR9, Mitsubishi LT-46249, LG 47LH59 and Pioneer PRO-111FD plasma.

The shadow detail was good; however, the background details and black color appeared lighter than that of other displays. The difference between SL80 series and other LCD TVs was visible except LG LH50 that appeared a bit darker.

The LG SL80 series resolved 700-800 lines of motion-resolution in our test whether the TruMotion 240Hz was set to either High or Low mode. However, Sony and Samsung resolved 900-1000 lines while testing. LG 47SL80  registered 300-400 lines after disabling the LG’s processing that was a standard of 60Hz LCD TV. The motion blur seen in test patterns was difficult to notice in real environment. It is impossible to get better motion resolution of anti-blur effect without engaging de-judder processing.

The motion looked like video even in Low settings, which was equivalent of Standard on Samsung and Sony. The artifacts were not exceeding in Low mode, but they appeared more frequently in High mode. The amount of artifacts in SL80 series is more than that viewed on Samsung and Sony at their respective Smooth and High modes. We will recommend you to turn off TruMotion 240Hz while watching movies on LG 47SL80.

LG 47SL80 delivered completely de-interlaced video-based sources with every line of static-resolution. LG 47SL80 model displayed average uniformity on the screen with little dark areas around corners and edges, but it did not show backlight or bright spots. The off-angle view was completely washed-out on LG SL80 series, but not on Sony and Samsung. The glossy screen was showing the reflections of each bright object like lamps, windows and even bright cloth-and-accessories worn by us. However, the LG LH50 and Sony had better matte screen that did not reflect so much. LG SL80 series did not preserve black-levels in bright environment better than matte-models.

LG SL80 series delivered fine performance with standard-definition. LG 47SL80 resolved the every line of DVD-format. The noise reduction also worked well. LG 47SL80 worked well with computer sources and delivered every resolution-line from 1920×1080 pixels input with neither edge enhancement nor over-scan through both VGA and HDMI.

LG 47SL80 was efficient in default settings and scored average in bright picture as compared to other models. It worked better than plasma and non-LED based models.

Nitty Gritty:

The LG SL80 series has stylish look and energy saving features. However, the performance is poor. If you like the style more than performance, then you can go for this LCD TV.

Thumbs Up:

Great video quality, awesome speakers, includes Vudu service.

Thumbs Down:

Lacks VGA port for computer connectivity, needs to improve in remote control and main menu system, and needs a subwoofer to get the best out of speakers.

Inside the Trunk:

Universal remote control – Infrared

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Mitsubishi LT-52249 is a 52 inch wide screen TV with full HD resolution of 1920X1080, 1080p, Image aspect ratio is 16:9, LCD refresh rate is 120 Hz, it also has features like SharpEdge, PerfectColor, Integrated sound projector, UltraThin frame.

Input video formats include 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i. Computer resolutions which are supported are 1280 x 1024 (SXGA), 800 x 600 (SVGA), 1024 x 768 (XGA), 640 x 480 (VGA), 1920 x 1080, 1365 x 768, 1280 x 720, 1064 x 600, 898 x 480. The TV has total audio output of 52 watts. The TV doesn’t have a VGA input so computers can be connected only through HDMI.

Connectors on the panel include 2 x HDMI input ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, 1 x Digital audio input (coaxial) ( RCA phono ) – Rear, 1 x Fixed/variable audio output ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear, 2 x Audio input ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear, 1 x Composite video / component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Bottom, 1 x Composite video / component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Side, 1 x USB ( 4 pin USB Type A ) – Side, 1 x Composite video / component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) – Rear, 1 x Subwoofer output ( RCA phono ) – Rear, 1 x Digital audio output (coaxial) ( RCA phono ) – Rear, 2 x HDMI input ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Bottom, 1 x Audio input ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Bottom, 1 x Audio input ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Side.

Razzle Dazzle:

Normally TVs in this class sport hidden speakers and on the front, all you get a clean sheet of black glass. Manufacturers hide speakers in order to make it pretty. Mitsubishi LT-52249 however, doesn’t care about what other TVs are doing; they have come up with speakers in the bottom of the screen. This definitely looks a bit ugly but the 16 speakers in the front have excellent sound quality. The presence of this panel of speaker also makes the TV tall. The frame of the TV and the base stand is glossy black but we don’t mind that much since this glossiness won’t attract a lot of fingerprints since you don’t touch the TV much.

Inside Dope:

Mitsubishi LT-52249 is the company’s latest offering in the high end range and the company really does it in style with the included speakers. Usually we avoid talking about speakers in TV reviews because they are pretty entry level. If you are really an audiophile you would ditch the TV speakers and invest in a separate audio system. However, this TV has a panel of speakers below the display which give mind blowing out put of 52 watts. However, the presence of the speakers ruins the look of the TV to a certain extent.

One of the TV’s worst features has to be the awful remote. All the keys look the same and it is difficult to tell them apart by their feel. There is no separate aspect ratio button on the remote. The bundled remote is universal and it control four gadgets at a time but with such a poor remote we doubt if you will use it. The main menu is as poorly constructed as the remote control. It often lagged and we were staring at the screen waiting for the hourglass to disappear. What was even more frustrating was that the TV lagged even for simple functions like volume control.

On the bright side, there is “More” button that has shortcuts to the features like video and audio presets which we use a lot. Overall we think Mitsubishi has a lot of catching up to do with other brands when it comes to remote and menu design.

The speakers on the TV are great and deliver awesome sound quality. The external bars on the TV have some advanced setup options. You can change the layout and room dimension information, change levels and adjust angle. There is an output for subwoofer which is used to connect an external subwoofer and there are preset modes like night, stereo and surround.

Interactive features on the TV, just like the speakers, is another highlight of the panel. Mitsubishis interactive features include movies from Vudu, TV shows on pay-per-view basis and stream on-demand capability. LG was once the only TV which has Vudu service but now Mitsubishi has joined the bandwagon so LG is no longer enjoying a competition-free market. We checked out Vudu on LG panel when the latter came in our test center, the video quality was like Blu-Ray, absolutely superb. The highest quality movies are all housed in HDX category but it comes at a price and you need a high speed internet connection to exploit these services to the fullest.

This TV doesn’t support streaming videos from sites like Netflix or YouTube however it does a lot in the internet section. We tried Pandora, a free internet based radio service and were stuck on it for hours because of the brilliant speakers. If you are a shutter bug freak you will the support for Flickr and Picasa. Other fun features include games like solitaire which is available in 2 varieties and On Demand TV – a video service that is made up of podcasts and short clips. “Now Being Watched” gives you a Google Map of the United States and it shows who all are using Vudu service right now, though we don’t know why this is done. We think the latter feature is more of a gimmick with Mitsubishi trying to say “look what we can do!”

For picture controls, the TV has 5 picture modes, two of them are known as ADV which, as the name suggests, are for the advanced users. The other three are basic adjustable features. Basic controls include Film Mode setting for 2:3 pull-down processing, setting called PerfectTint for hue tweaking, PerfectColor features to decode adjusting color, Deep Field Imager to tweak brightness and contrast, edge enhancement selection, three-position noise reduction feature and two presets for color temperature. The ADV mode contains settings for advanced users like controls for color temperature fine tuning, color management scheme and gamma presets.

For high definition source input, you get 4 options for aspect ratio and for standard definition, there are 6 options. There are no power saving features that big TVs these days are known to have. However there is an option to switch off the display and listen to just the audio. This is great if you are putting in an music disc or listening to Pandora. There is a fast Power On feature which boots the TV really quickly (normally it takes 20 seconds) but this increase the power consumption.

For connectivity, the back panel has four HDMI ports, antenna input, 2 component video inputs and digital coaxial and analog stereo audio outputs. There is a separate bay which houses a component input, an antenna input and 2 HDMI ports; this panel is located on the bottom so as to provide easy connectivity when mounted on a wall. Finally there is a side panel which has a component video input, USB port and Ethernet jack however it doesn’t have an HDMI port or VGA port for computer connection.

The TV had great video quality, the color representation was accurate and the black levels were deep. The sound quality undoubtedly was one of the best we have ever seen in a LCD TV but for best results use a subwoofer.

Nitty Gritty:

Mitsubishi LT-52249 belongs to the high end family of LCD TVs which means it comes at a premium. However with the great sound, Vudu service and finally great video quality we think it is worth it.

Thumbs Up:

Shadow levels and deep black levels are good, color saturation is good, plenty of connectivity options (3 HDMI and 2 component video inputs)

Thumbs Down:

More on power consumption, picture controls are skimpy.

Inside the Trunk:

Power cables, infrared remote.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The TC-P54S1 is a plasma TV which has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 or 1080p. Image Aspect Ratio is 16:9 and Image Contrast Ratio 40000:1, Dynamic Contrast Ratio is 2000000:1. Widescreen Modes include Zoom, Just, Full, Normal. Display Menu Languages are French, Spanish, English. Additional features – Viera tools, Viera cast, Viera link, SD memory card slot, Anti reflective filter

Speakers of the TV are 2 x Right/left channel speaker, 10 Watt each (total output of 20 watts) Additional features include stereo output, surround sound.
Audio Controls include Bass, treble, balance. Response Bandwidth is 150 – 16000 Hz

Connectors on the panel as follows – Connector Type 2 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Rear, Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Rear , 1 x Composite video input ( RCA phono ) – Side, Audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) – Side, 2 x Component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ), 1 x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Side, 1 x Composite video input ( RCA phono ) – Rear, 1 x S-Video input ( 4 pin mini-DIN ), 1 x VGA input ( 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ), 1 x Digital audio output (optical) ( TOSLINK )

There is also a SD memory card slot for putting in your memory cards. The TV ships with standard infrared remote control. The TV is 57.5 inches wide, 13.1 inches deep, 37 inches high and weighs 105.8 lbs

Razzle Dazzle:

Panasonic TC-P54S1 has glossy black exteriors, something that we are used to seeing in such TVs. The most attractive feature on this panel is the thin sliver strip at the bottom of the panel which rocks. Apart from the sticker of Energy Star, there are the Viera and Panasonic logos, along with the power button, indicator light that go very well with the exteriors of the display. The looks of the panel is traditional and nothing out of the box has been done apart from the silver strip.

Inside Dope:

LCD and plasma TVs have been locking horn over the years and now plasma has been relinquishing and LCD seems to have won the battle when it comes to TV market. LCDs are now available in 65 and 55 inch sizes which has led to plasma screen lowering their prices (and thus, lowering the features) in order to lure customers. Panasonic is a giant in this game and has been making versatile LCDs and plasma panels time and again.

We got 54-inch Panasonic TC-P54S1 and there are other sizes available for this series like 65 and 58 inch. The features are all the same and apart from the screen size, there are no differences. This TV is full HD plasma TV and is capable for 1080p resolution of videos but no 1080p/24 reproduction which is preferred by videophiles.

The remote is good but we didn’t like the three buttons Viera Tools, SD Card and Viera Link which hog the surface and don’t give enough room for more important buttons like menu. We think the three keys are not that use full and don’t deserve the big size. The keys are good to feel and press; we liked the shape, color and size of the keys.

The menu system is a bit changed but not altogether different from previous menus. The navigation is the same and there are some icons on the main menu and we wish Panasonic had given a bit of explanations for some of the advanced features on the screen itself.

Plasmas are a turn off because of their high power consumption as compared to LCDs. The power consumption of this TV is reduced significantly but it still remains an electricity guzzler. There are not a lot of picture adjustments but then you can’t expect everything from such an entry level TV. There are a few like 4 global picture mode which we liked a lot and the game mode is a basic picture mode. We expected the game mode to provide video procession elimination like other panels’ game modes.

There are three presets for color temperature but you can’t play with the gray scale because there are no provisions. There is also a C.A.T.S. feature that adjusts the picture according to the light in the ambience. There is advanced settings like color, gamma management. There are five options for aspect ratio which include Zoom mode for adjusting vertical position and horizontal size.

The TV also has a card slot on the left side which takes SD cards for watching photos on a big screen. Other connectivity options include 3 HDMI ports, (one on the side and other two on the back), AV input, two component-video inputs, RF input for antenna or cable and an AV input with composite and S-Video. There is no VGA port for computer connectivity but you can connect a PC through HDMI.

The picture quality on the TC-PS1 is quite good but don’t expect great quality since this is an entry level product. The shadow detail is realistic and deep black levels are all good which deliver together to give you good video. The picture quality of this TV is quite similar to TC-P42S1 also from Panasonic. For video testing, we also checked out a few Blu-ray movies on this screen.

Nitty Gritty:

Performance of the Panasonic TC-P54S1 is good but the video quality is not the best. However this is an entry level plasma TV so this quality is acceptable. Buy it if you are willing to compromise on quality for a smaller price.

Thumbs Up:

Great looks, good picture quality.

Thumbs Down:

No side panel inputs.

Inside the Trunk:

Power cables and reference material.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The dimensions of Samsung LN26B360 with stand is – 26.4 in x 8.5 in x 19.5 in x 18.5 lbs and without stand, it is 26.4 in x 3 in x 17.9 in x 15.4 lbs. It is a TFT active matrix panel which has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels(720p), Refresh Rate 60Hz, pixel response time 8 ms, image aspect ratio 16:9, dynamic contrast ratio 30000:1, Widescreen Modes Auto Wide, Conventional 4:3, 16:9, Wide Zoom, Zoom, V-Sync Rate at Max Resolution is 60 Hz

Supported resolutions for computer input are 1280 x 1024 (SXGA) 800 x 600 (SVGA), 1024 x 768 (XGA), 640 x 480 (VGA), 1360 x 768, 720 x 400, 640 x 350. Input Video Formats are 480i, 1080i, 720p, 480p.

Speakers are 2 x Right/left channel speaker – Built-in – 5 Watt
Other features include – surround sound, SRS TruSurround, HD balance , sound mode equalizer.

Connectors on the back of the panel are 1 x Headphones (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm) – Rear, 1 x Composite video/audio input (RCA phono x 3) – Rear, 1 x Component video input (RCA phono x 3) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-out (RCA phono x 2) – Rear, 1 x HDMI (19 pin HDMI Type A) – Rear, 1 x Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm) – Rear, 1 x VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) – Rear.

Razzle Dazzle:

Samsung LN26B360 is a sexy black sheet of glass which rests on a round stand. The TV is attractive with the shiny and glossy exteriors. It looks like a typical LCD TV that you see. The most beautiful part of the TV is the bar of transparent glass that overflows at the bottom of the panel.

Inside Dope:

Samsung LN26B360 is an entry level 26 inch TV and there is stiff competition in this section for price between the rivals. The screen gives good picture considering this is a HD ready panel, in fact we found that this TV had the best picture quality in this price range. This TV is available in sizes of 32, 26, 19 and 22 inches. The image quality and features are the same but 22 and 19 inch models have lower contrast ratio.

The Samsung LN26B360 looks like a typical LCD but still makes it very attractive. We liked the thin glass bar peeping out from the bottom of TV. The TV swivels on its sides.

The TV is smaller as compared to full size HD panels. The TV is made for people who are not potato couches but for light viewing. This is reflected in the remote control of the TV which has simple controls as compared to those bigger TVs. The interface is not much complicated and you wont need much time to get used to it. The remote looks bright with the buttons all separated with various colors and all the buttons that you expect in a LCD TV remote are there.

The menu icons of the Samsung LN26B360 are simple just like bigger Samsung TVs which we appreciated a lot. There is a discrete Tools menu which gives you easy access to the functions that you are bound to use often. There are text explanations under the items in the main menu which will go great with newbies.

The LCD is 26 inch big and it is not full HD but gives you 1,366×768 pixels, a 720p resolution. But then full HD resolution would not look great on such a small panel either. You need about 47 inch size or more for full HD and these two features would make a panel great for watching full HD movies. But as we said earlier, this panel is not for a movie bluff but for someone who occasionally watches TV.

When it comes to adjustability of picture, only LG is better than Samsung. And this TV too delivers great on this feature; the menu gives you lots of ways for image tweaking, like three adjustable picture modes. There are also controls for color temperature for the four presets and controls for white-balance has all the six adjustments.

You can also adjust the color space and gamma, black tone, dynamic contrast (the latter two automatically adjust the picture), edge enhancement and flesh tone (for decoding of color).

For saving power the LN26B360 has a cap for light output which saves power for you. There is also a feature called Game mode which reduces video processing and thus in turn reduces the lag between the controller and the video.

We tested the LCD in bright light and we noticed that there was no significant difference in what other LCD screens perform under bright light. The video quality lowers a bit in bright lights just like other screens.

The Samsung LN26B360 gives very good quality for standard definition. We tested the TV with a couple for DVDs and we were quite impressed with what we saw. Standard definition representation is excellent.

The TV has a VGA input in the back panel which means you can plug in your computer to the screen to watch movies or to play games. If you have a small monitor for the computer then you can dump it for watching it on a bigger screen like this. Picture quality isn’t the best because it is a 26 inch panel and not full HD but we played a few games and the experience was OK.

The TV doesn’t have any connection ports on the sides and all the ports are located behind. There is room on the panel on the sides and it is quite flat. It looks like Samsung were planning to put an input panel but ditched the idea in the last minute. On the back of the panel there is a VGA port, two HDMI ports, RF input, AV input which has only composite video and there are optical analog and digital stereo audio outputs.

Nitty Gritty:

Samsung LN26B360 is not the best one when it comes to entry level TVs because it is low on features. But we will still recommend this for the price it is offered.

Thumbs Up:

Plenty of picture adjustment settings, USB input for music playback and pictures.

Thumbs Down:

Glossy exteriors, bad picture quality.

Inside the Trunk:

Power cables.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

42 in – Widescreen, Panel without stand – 40.6 in x 3.5 in x 25.8 in x 34.4 lbs, Panel with stand – 40.6 in x 11.7 in x 28.2 in x 38.4 lbs
Color – Gloss black
TFT active matrix, Resolution 1366 x 768, Display Format – 720p, LCD Refresh Rate 120Hz, LCD Pixel Response Time 5 ms, Image Aspect Ratio – 16:9, Dynamic Contrast Ratio 30000:1, Widescreen Modes – Just, 16:9, Cinema, Zoom, Conventional 4:3, Color Temperature Control, Viewing Angle – 178 degrees, Viewing Angle (Vertical) – 178 degrees, Display Menu Language – French, Korean, English, Spanish, Backlight Life – 60,000 hour, V-Chip Control

TV Tuner
Tuner Qty – 1x analog , 1x digital
Digital TV Tuner QAM, ATSC\
Analog TV Tuner – NTSC
Stereo Reception System – MTS
Secondary Audio Program (SAP)

Video Interface
HDMI, Component, Composite

Input Video Formats
720p , 1080i , 1080p

Other features
Parental Channel Lock, Closed Caption Capability

Speakers
2 x Right/left channel speaker – Built-in – 10 Watt, Total Output 20 Watt, Surround Sound, Dolby Digital, SRS TruSurround XT, Audio Controls – Bass, Balance, Treble, Sound mode
Additional Features – Auto volume adjustment , Invisible Speaker System

Connector Type
1 x USB , 2 x HDMI input (19 pin HDMI Type A) , Composite video/audio input (RCA phono x 3), , 1 x HD component input (RCA phono x 3), 1 x VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)), 1 x Audio line-in (Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm), 1 x Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK), Audio line-in (RCA phono x 2), 1 x Serial (9 pin D-Sub), 1 x Composite video/audio input (RCA phono x 3) – Rear

PC Interface
VGA (HD-15)

USB Port
Media card reader

Remote control
Infrared

1 year warranty

Razzle Dazzle:

Looks wise, LG 42LH20 is just like a standard television and doesn’t have anything out of the box in the looks department. The exterior of the TV is all glossy which attracts a lot of finger prints. But we don’t mind a glossy LCD because you don’t touch it that often and even if you get finger prints on it, you will clean it up using a cloth. Fingerprints on glossy panels don’t go well with people who like cleanliness, but they won’t complain much you seldom touch a panel. The prettiest part of the TV is down on the right where the power indicator resides. It peeps it way from the exterior of the screen and the lighting and placement look great.

Inside Dope:

LG 42LH20 is a product from LG which is for people for stiff budgets and still want a HDTV for their homes. The TV is one of the least expensive panels that you will ever come up against and we found it good for the features that it offers. This same panel comes in sizes of 37, 42 and 26 and other than the size of the screen nothing is different.

The TV swivels on the stand; something that we were glad was accommodated in an entry level TV. But swiveling will come at the cost of touching the TV and getting your finger prints all over the exteriors.

We were looking forward to checking out the USB input of the TV. Yes! The TV, at this price range has a USB port in it so you can put music and pictures on a thumb drive and play it on the screen. Once we heard of this feature we wished there was video support too, but that is not possible at the moment. You get a preview for the pictures on the screen and further see them on a full screen mode. Watching full size pictures on this screen was gorgeous, but it cannot match a 1080p screen.

We are not complaining that this screen is not a 1080p because of the small size of the screen. Full HD resolution would not have been much pretty on a small screen like this. Full HD is in all its glory for 47 inches or bigger screen.

There are lots of settings for picture adjustments and you can play around with them for better picture. Again, we were surprised to see a budget TV like this have so many settings to play around with.

The back panel of the TV is crowded like in other TVs but it is all for your attachments. There are the standard yellow, white and red cables for AV input on the sides and also the USB port that we talked about earlier. Other than that there are two HDMI connections on the back of the panel and also a VGA port for PC.

When it comes to performance we must say that we have seen better. Firstly this panel is not a full HD panel, it can give video out put of 720p which is standard resolution. But again it would be crazy to ask a full HD panel at this price. All we are saying is that picture quality is not good. The issue is with lighter black levels and the picture looks relatively washed out. But this screen was good by the standards of a 720p TV.

LG does it two bits for keeping the planet green. The panel has settings for Energy Saving which make the backlight dim and thus you save on power consumption.

Nitty Gritty:

The TV is good considering the price it is offered for, but it is not Full HD so watching movies on a Blu-Ray player will not be much of treat for your eyes. We liked the picture adjustments settings that the TV had in it, it is rare to find so many settings in a low end panel. Among the drawbacks we must mention the inferior picture quality. If you don’t need a full HD panel, this is the best TV that you can get at this price.