LT-46148 Setup and Menu System
One of the big positives of this display is its options for connecting all your favorite sources. The back panel contains 4 SimplayHD certified HDMI 1.3a inputs (with Consumer Device Control); 2 component video (YPbPr) inputs (one input doubles the Y input for 1 of the 2 composite video inputs); 2 antenna inputs which can receive digital and analog OTA channels or non-scrambled digital/analog cable signals (QAM); and a third component input on the side of the display. The back panel also offers an IR NetCommand Output/External Controller Input to assist with control of other IR remote controlled devices.
Menu System
The menu system is pretty straightforward and easy enough to navigate. The top of the display cabinet contains hard buttons for the most commonly used control functions including: Power, system reset, Volume +/-, Channel +/-, Format, Menu, Guide, and Input. While having access to commonly used controls in some form other than the remote is a nice idea, placement along the top of the cabinet may put them out of reach in many installations.
The menu you need most (A/V) is the first option in the menu. The video submenu holds all the typical user controls for picture control (Contrast, Brightness, Color, Tint, Sharpness, Color Temp, Backlight level as well as the PerfectColor controls and the 120Hz options. Each control is a numerical on-screen slider ranging from 0 (minimum) to 63 (maximum) with 31 set as the mid-point for each video control. On a positive note, all the changes made in each of these submenus are stored independently for each source and mode. On the downside, the video controls offer no user adjustable RGB controls. For a display in this price range with features that include x.v.color support and Deep Color I would expect user controls that allow you to dial the white balance in. More on this in the calibration section of this review.
Also included in the video menu are the four available video modes: Brilliant, Bright, Natural, and Game. The color temperature setting allows only two options - high and low. Mitsubishi states in the Owner's Guide that the low setting should display video at approximately 6500K - however we were never able to produce 6500K during this review.
One of the other submenus under the video Menu is PerfectColor. According to the marketing material this 6 color control is suppose to offer you greater ability to adjust the intensity of all 6 colors (red, blue, green, cyan, yellow, magenta) the display can generate. I was excited to test out exactly what these controls offer, but was disappointed when I figured out that regardless of how you set these controls, you can only reduce the colors the display is capable of making - nothing I did increased the deficiencies we measured in particular areas. My advice is to leave these color settings at the factory default.
Other submenus available when you select the menu button on the remote control include: Captions menu, Setup Menu (basic set up stuff here like language, channel naming, setting the clock, energy menu for those conservationists out there, timer, etc.), Inputs Menu (allows you to name all the inputs, change the order of inputs, and to perform NetCommand IR learning), and the lock menu. The lock menu gives you the ability to block shows that may not be age appropriate for the children living in your home. You simply set the program ratings you want to allow or the time of day, set a pass code and anytime something outside the parameters you have already "approved" come up, you have to enter the passcode to get the program to display. Another bonus is it disables the control panel buttons, which keeps the other junior calibrators in your home from monkeying around with your settings.
One last feature not really related to television or movie viewing was the Gallery Player. This feature allows you to view photographs (up to 5 megapixel) in a slide show view. I had pretty much passed this off as a side feature and was not going to include it in this review. Luckily a friend and fellow reviewer said I should try it out, so we loaded some of my favorite photos onto a USB thumbdrive. I’ve got to say, as an amateur photographer it’s pretty cool to see your photos that big. I’m not sure it’s a terribly eco-sensitive option since it would entail running the display as a "live" picture frame, but it's certainly good-looking.
