46LX177 Viewing Tests and Conclusions
We viewed a lot of material on this display and for the most part it looked very good. There was one anomaly we witnessed regarding the black level capabilities of the display. A halo effect surrounded the borders of the display whenever a dark black pattern or video was present. The edges of the backlight seemed to bleed through and kill any hope of a crisp, clean black edge. The system also failed to pass a blacker than black test pattern.
Despite our pickiness, movies and television looked excellent on this display. After all, we do watch more than just test patterns around here...
BD:
The
Fifth Element
(Revised Version)
The
revised edition of this movie sports excellent picture quality and
looked fabulous on this display. Bangalore's looked perfectly
textured and realistic with incredible detail and color, while the
skin tones of the airline stewardesses will have the woman of the
house able to guess what type and brand of lipstick and eyeshadow
they were wearing.
Colors absolutely popped on this display, despite the apparent green deficiency shown in the CIE chart. I flipped between 120Hz ClearFrame mode and saw a difference on the flying cars scene but not too many other places. For the most part the effects were vague as the display attempts to interpolate a hybrid cross-frame blend of two 60Hz frames. With the 24p mode engaged I wasn't really certain what was happening in terms of the combined video processing modes, and only noticed that judder was all but gone.
Xbox
360: Bioshock
and Timeshift
Black
levels? Check. Dark corridors with lots of detail and inky black
shadows? Check. Bioshock
has them all and was a great game to test out on the Toshiba REGZA
display. While I felt the black levels could be a tad deeper, the
range of detail was present and the system seemed capable of
providing a very detailed and pleasing picture overall. Timeshift
was equally compelling, with it's strengths being over-the-top game
detail and lots of explosions to check banding and white level
detail.
HDTV:
Bones
This
show is in its third season and I've always enjoyed the opportunity
it presents to observe good clean environment set detail as well as
outdoor scenes which tend to appear at least once or twice per
episode, often at night. I grabbed a couple of screen captures which
showed some real-world scenes which would test the 46LX177's ability
to render moire-free lines as well as posturization-free facial
texture.
HDTV: Prison Break
Who doesn't like a good show about tough smart guys wrongfully imprisoned and trying to break their way out before a corrupt government can have them killed? Mix, stir, change the season number to 3 and you have this show in a nutshell. They keep you guessing, though and the sets are designed incredibly well, with plenty of test fodder for any display reviewer to love. I especially like this year's constant juxtaposition of colorful outdoor sequences mixed with dark interior scenes.
John
Leguizamo's love child? (right)
HDTV:
DiscoveryHD
I don't
even know what this show was about, but it looked cool and I snapped
off a shots. The leaves in the trees were pristine as was the subtle
texture of the water. The greens here are slightly accentuated due to
the camera setting, but the vivid colorful tone of the scene made me
reach for the camera.
Conclusion
This is a very pleasing display to look at overall. I was disappointed by the lack of standard definition video performance and I can't say that the 120Hz mode was definitive enough to make me say it's now a must-have feature in LCD TVs. It certainly seemed promising and with the right video processing seems to be the answer to a lot of challenges in the software playback arena. Black levels should be a tad better in a premier-branded LCD display and contrast ratio for this display was well below what we'd expect or look for. Overall I'd rate this a sleek-looking display with some very cool network features. If that's your bag, then fill it with this. If you can spend a little more and want better performance you will be able to find it.
Toshiba
REGZA 46LX177
Street
Price: $2699
http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/
800-631-3811
About
Toshiba Digital Electronics
Toshiba
America Consumer Products, L.L.C. is owned by Toshiba America, Inc.,
a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, a world leader in high
technology products with subsidiaries worldwide. Toshiba is a pioneer
in HD DVD, DVD and DVD Recorder technology and a leading manufacturer
of a full line of home entertainment products, including flat panel
TV, rear projection and direct view televisions, combination products
and portable devices. Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. is
headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. For additional information please
visit www.tacp.toshiba.com.
The Score Card
The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:
Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.
Audioholics Rating Scale
— Excellent
- — Very Good
- — Good
- — Fair
- — Poor
| Metric | Rating |
|---|---|
| Detail and Resolution | |
| Deinterlacing & Scaling | |
| Contrast and Black Levels | |
| Color Reproduction | |
| Noise Reduction | |
| Calibration Options | |
| Build Quality | |
| Ergonomics & Usability | |
| Ease of Setup | |
| Features | |
| Remote Control | |
| Fit and Finish | |
| Performance | |
| Value | |
See also:
MDS;356840
So now to add insult to injury Toshiba is releasing a whole slew of new models starting February. I've already proven I can go 6 months without TV so maybe I'll wait a little longer to see what these new models can do.
Anyone wanna bet that I'll get my whole house tiled before I pick another TV?
From what I've seen at AVSforum, I'd be surprised if their new models were any different. Both the HL167 series and LX177 series had this issue of not being adequately set from the factory. They didn't want to address it before and I'm loathe to believe they will address it now. I guess we can wait till the new model line is reviewed to see how much work they have to do to get an accurate picture setting. Why they can't just put the setting necessary to calibrate the set accurately in the user's control is beyond me. Hell, add a new button on the remote....all reset. Brings all setting back to the factory defaults. Make it one of those buttons that you have to press with a safety pin so it's not easily activated and there you go.
mtrycrafts;356721
Because the 'general public' has no idea and don't care if they were impressed with what they saw in the store thinking falsely that is how it is supposed to be.
And, it is the 'general public' that buys most of the sets, not us.
I want to be part of the general public.
I am sick to death of this process of choosing a TV. As I've said the Toshiba was mostly pretty good to my eyes with the exception of the few cases where there was excess green when I thought there shouldn't be (I don't think it qualified as 'green push' where you saw green in the blacks - I never saw that). It was mostly the SD quality that annoyed me and with my limited experience with actually owning an HDTV for all I know that is all you can expect.
So now to add insult to injury Toshiba is releasing a whole slew of new models starting February. I've already proven I can go 6 months without TV so maybe I'll wait a little longer to see what these new models can do.
Anyone wanna bet that I'll get my whole house tiled before I pick another TV?
MDS;355954
... no TV in the history of mankind has been shipped with an accurate gray scale (to the D6500K standard).
Because the 'general public' has no idea and don't care if they were impressed with what they saw in the store thinking falsely that is how it is supposed to be.
And, it is the 'general public' that buys most of the sets, not us.
avaserfi;356687
Most source material isn't necessarily 60Hz for example most film is done in 24Hz.
LCDs suffer from image blur where a fast moving image stays on the screen slightly (but visibly) longer than intended. Sometimes known as trailing this problem is due to the nature of LCD technology - having a faster refresh rate helps this problem by in a sense erasing the screen more often.
Another plus of properly done 120Hz refresh is that if your player does 24Hz output rather than having to deal with 3:2 pulldown to make the 24 frames match up to 60 you can just show the same frame 5 times and have less video issues.
Where you don't have 24Hz output though, doesn't the faster refresh rate just reapply the same image more frequently?
Thunder18;356448
... I have to say I was a lot more easily satisfied before HD. I couldn't see any difference and honestly I didn't really care at that resolution. Now that I can see the grease in the pores on the actors faces I can clearly see something is wrong and it bothers me to no end.
See what happens to us when we know a bit more
