Watching any flat-panel TV-especially those that have not had their out-of-the-box brightness tamed-in total darkness can lead to eye strain. The best way to combat this is to put a so-called "bias light" behind the set, which shifts your eyes' ...

The 47PFL9732D is a study in extremes. I really hate Ambilight when it's set to change color and brightness along with the picture, though I suppose there are many who will enjoy the light show. However, I love it when it's set to perform as a bias ...

The Olevia 747i is the first consumer TV to incorporate Silicon Optix's Realta HQV video-processing chip. Why is this important, you ask? All TVs have a video processor that performs essential tasks such as upscaling a standard-def signal to the TV's ...

Very few high-definition TVs achieve that elusive sense of looking out a window, but the Olevia 747i is one of them, delivering some of the best video images I've seen in a while. Granted, its blacks are not as deep as I'd like, and the shadow detail ...

Mitsubishi has every right to crow: the 52-inch WD- 52627 and its larger siblings are the first DLP (Digital Light Processing) RPTVs with 1920x1080 resolution to hit the market. DLP trails LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) in this regard, with several ...

Overall, I loved the connectivity, convenience, brightness, neutral grays, and lack of false contouring. This is the most pleasing DLP rear projector I have used to date. My only major disappointment is that the video processor does not measure up to ...

The LVM-37w1 is an HD monitor: there is no analog or digital tuner inside, which neatly sidesteps the FCC's digital-tuner mandate requiring all analog-tuner-equipped sets with screens of 36" and over to include digital over-the-air tuners as well. A ...

I was a little disappointed that the set offers only three aspect-ratio settings: STANDARD (4:3), FILL (HD or anamorphic DVDs) with about 4% "overscan," and ZOOM. There is no way to get a 1:1 ratio with no "overscan" using DVI or component- video ...

In Issue 64, I reviewed the superb new Sony KDS-R60XBR1 1080p SXRD rear-projection set and predicted that DLP competitors might be nipping at its heels this year. Little did I know just how true this would be-or how soon. But a week later, when I got ...

In most respects, the 62HM195 is better than any RPTV you could buy last year (except, perhaps, the $13,000 Sony Qualia 006). Its picture is bright, clean, colorful, and full of impact. But it's the deep blacks that make this set look good on more ...

Black level is critical to achieving the elusive "suspension of disbelief" when watching movies at home. A display with a high black level tends to look washed out, especially in dark scenes, serving as a constant reminder that you are looking at a ...

Looking at DVDs, the detail was surprisingly good, especially for a display with less than 1920x1080 resolution. On Moulin Rouge, the buildings in Montmartre and the cabaret itself were crisply defined. The riotous colors were faithfully reproduced ...

Pioneer is one of the most respected makers of plasma displays, so it's no wonder the company is the first to market a 50-inch model with 1920x1080 resolution. At $8000, it's among the most expensive 50-inchers out there, but if you want a 1080p ...

As we watched the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD, the detail test was slightly less sharp than other displays I've recently reviewed, but certainly not bad. The low-angle diagonals were quite good, as was the waving flag. Digital noise reduction and ...

Virtually all DLP-based rear-projection TVs are single-chip designs, using a color-filter wheel with red, green, and blue segments to sequentially separate the white light from the lamp. Mitsubishi has modified that paradigm in many of its latest DLP ...

The Mitsubishi WD-57831 produces a very powerful picture with superb detail, color, and shadow detail. The color saturation should be reduced below the technically correct value to render colors naturally, but once that's done, the picture looks ...

I've been waiting a long time to review Syntax-Brillian's Olevia 747i LCD flat panel. Why, you might ask? It's the first consumer TV to incorporate the Silicon Optix Realta HQV videoprocessing chip, which is based on the Teranex processing technology ...

With the Realta HQV video processor on board, I expected the set to ace the HQV Benchmark DVD tests, and it did. The NR (noise-reduction) control was very effective without degrading the picture quality, though I did notice a bit of motion lag in the ...

Video experts have long warned couch potatoes that watching TV in complete darkness can cause eye strain and fatigue. But that doesn't mean you should watch CSI with the lights blazing-the only thing that'll do is wash out the picture and prevent you ...

Taking the HQV Benchmark DVD for a spin revealed that picture detail was good overall but that there were jaggies in test patterns and images with lowangle diagonals (sharp, moving edges at nearhorizontal angles). In terms of digital noise reduction, ...