Flat Panels

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio—810:1; ANSI Contrast Ratio—998:1

Measured Resolution with the Leader LT-446: 480: 480 (per picture height) 720p: N/A (see text below)1080i: 430 (pph)

DC Restoration (poor, average, good, excellent): Good

Color Decoder (poor, average, good, excellent): Good

Measured Color Points: Red Color Point: x=0.657, y=0.333 Green Color Point: x=0.280, y=0.651 Blue Color Point: x=0.155, y=0.064

The left chart shows the TH-42PD25's gray scale relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the warm color-temperature mode and the cinema picture mode, measures very cool with the darkest of images but fairly accurate with the rest of the gray scale. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures fairly well, within 360 kelvin of D6500, the accurate color temperature, across the entire range.

The right chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display's red, green, and blue phosphors. Blue is slightly purple, red is slightly oversaturated, and green is oversaturated and slightly bluish-green.

Using a full-field 100-IRE white (18.64 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.023 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 810:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 998:1. A 100-IRE window produced 30.8 ft-L. It is normal for a plasma to have lower light output on a full-field white versus a white window. The component video input will not accept a 720p signal.—GM