Flat Panels

Shane Buettner
Two admissions: One, I knew what the four sets being evaluated were even though I didn’t know which were A, B, C, or D during the Face Off. Two, I own a Pioneer Elite KURO, and I think I could spot one blindfolded. Or something like that. It’s not surprising that the Pioneer came out on top for me. You simply can’t trip it up. Every set here had flaws that could be drawn out consistently with certain types of program material, except the Pioneer. But other things in this Face Off were very surprising, for both good and ill.

While Panasonic’s plasma had the most difficulty with 480p and 1080i material, it was amazingly good with 1080p sources at less than half the price of the other sets here. Blu-ray players that do a good job of upconverting DVDs are under $300 now. For someone willing to feed it a steady diet of 1080p, the Panasonic might be the best value I’m aware of in an HDTV. As for those LCDs, I ranked them second and third overall, but they were really too close to call a winner between the two. The Sony had killer blacks, but I thought the Samsung’s shadow detail was superior. The blacks and all-around performance are simply stunning on these large 55-inch sets. They don’t quite catch up, but when viewed on axis, they rival the mighty Pioneer in every aspect of performance, save one. While I know LCD sets suffer when viewed off axis, I was shocked at how little I had to move off center to see image degradation. The Samsung and Sony were side by side, and one seat was lined up dead center where the two sets met. Sitting in that seat, four picture heights away, it was almost impossible to even compare the two LCDs head to head because the off-axis performance of each was so affected. Still, local dimming has taken LCD to another level in terms of blacks and contrast. These sets were all varying degrees of excellent. One more point was driven home here. The differences in picture quality between the best DVDs and Blu-ray were simply huge on screens this size, and everybody saw it. Even the cheapest set here benefited tremendously, which I think is the opposite of what some people anticipate. Maybe Face Off #2 will be on smaller screens, and we’ll see if this distinction holds up.

It’s not surprising that the Pioneer came out on top for me. You simply can’t trip it up. Every set here had flaws that could be drawn out consistently with certain types of program material, except the Pioneer. But other things in this Face Off were very surprising, for both good and ill.

Barb Gonzalez
Years of educating people on how to look for picture quality in televisions prepared me for this Face Off. The current models we tested demonstrate how far technology has come toward creating a lifelike home theater experience. They also show how each manufacturer can still work to improve upscaling standard-def content on the big screen as well as work toward better detail, color realism, and black levels.

One of the biggest observations of the day was how the LCD TVs lost picture quality when viewed from even slightly off axis. Both the Sony BRAVIA and the Samsung HDTVs lost black level when viewed from any seat that was not centered in front of the TV. Whether the media was standard-definition DVDs upscaled in the TV, 1080i resolution, or full 1080p HD, these TVs’ black levels diminished off axis. This caused all colors to fade out, appearing almost foggy. During the 1080p Blu-ray Disc playback of The Incredible Hulk, Edward Norton’s sweater looked gray-green when viewed off axis on the BRAVIA. It was surprisingly more black and detailed when I moved directly in front. The fading was more pronounced on standard-def content like Legends of the Fall. I also noticed that there was considerable ghosting around people in the scenes on the LCD TVs when viewing standard DVDs.

The BRAVIA’s black level stood out above all the others. When there was no video signal, its screen was notably blacker than the rest. Likewise, its whites were exceptional. In the sampled scene from Madagascar, the animals’ eyeballs on a black background almost seemed to float in midair in the darkened room.

The Panasonic was the underdog being compared with TVs that were twice and almost three times its $2,500 price tag. Its performance was only slightly off the level of the other TVs. In the setting tested, it had a golden hue that diminished its black levels yet allowed for better detail in shadows. It handled the standard-def content with minimal graininess and was close enough to the quality of the others that I would consider it a great value for those who don’t want to spend more on the other models tested.

Overall, the Pioneer Elite plasma outperformed all others. The TV’s deeper black levels, truer gradations of color, and excellent handling of standard-def content set it above the rest. Its exceptional detail occasionally resulted in increased graininess, but otherwise, this is a beautiful set.

I rated the Pioneer as the winner by a length, but frankly, any of these TVs would be an excellent choice. The caveat is that if you will be sitting to the side of the TVs (as is the case in most living rooms) and you choose one of the LCD models, you’ll want to sit further back to reduce the effects of the off-axis reduction in quality.

The BRAVIA’s black level stood out above all the others. When there was no video signal, its screen was notably blacker than the rest. Likewise, its whites were exceptional. In the sampled scene from Madagascar, the animals’ eyeballs on a black background almost seemed to float in midair in the darkened room.

Claire Lloyd
Although I make my living reading reviews of consumer electronics gear, I don’t regularly get to spend the same time with the gear as our reviewers do. The last time I was at work with no copy to read, no table of contents to update, and nothing to do but spend an entire day evaluating HDTVs was three years ago. So it was quite a treat to see for myself how far HDTVs have come in that time.

My least favorite of the bunch was the Samsung. Although its color and detail weren’t bad, it really lagged behind the other sets in terms of black level and shadow detail. I was also surprised at how much the picture degraded when I sat even just a little off axis. I have a Samsung 750 Series LCD at home, and I can clearly see its picture from any spot on either of my two couches. Needless to say, I expected more from this display.

My third-place pick was the Pioneer. Its black level was outstanding—only the Sony’s was better, by a little. It also had awesome shadow detail and produced a very dimensional image. It did the best showing the dimension in Queen Elizabeth’s waved hairdo in Shakespeare in Love. I did notice some distracting artifacts with this display that I didn’t see with the others, though, so that knocked it out of the top ranking for me.