The set's red and blue color points were also very accurate. Green, on the other hand, looked oversaturated and slightly yellow.

Color-decoder tests revealed a +10% red error for both the HDMI and component-video inputs. The set's HDTV color points, meanwhile, were very accurate.

5 foot-lamberts before calibration and 31.0 ftL after; users may want to use a different, brighter preset (Sports or Standard) when ambient light is strong.

•Vibrant, natural color

•Poor handling of noisy cable programs

Though not flawless, Toshiba's 47LZ196 delivers an excellent picture that puts it in the top tier of late-generation LCDs. What's more, its innovative features, sophisticated adjustments, and thoughtful remote are in a class by themselves.

Our measurements also showed a green deficiency throughout the set's grayscale, although color decoder tests showed only a -5% green error and 0% red error for both its HDMI and component-video inputs. The set's color points, meanwhile, were ...

That's outstanding performance, although a considerable degree of color decoder error (-20% red and -10% green) showed up in Movie Mode via the HDMI and component-video inputs. Color points, which describe the accuracy of the red, green, and blue ...

5 foot-lamberts, which is perfect for a completely dark room. After calibration I was able to improve the grayscale slightly, but overall it didn't require much tweaking at all.

The Low-Mid color temp setting was off an equal amount toward blue, so I stuck with the Low setting and performed a service-menu calibration on the TV that brought it right into spec. Still, even without service-menu adjustments, either setting would ...

User adjustments allowed calibration for greater accuracy in this range, but at the expense of inaccuracy below 50 IRE, where the color temperature leaned toward red. This could be evident in skin tones and in dark scenes despite fairly accurate color ...

The component-video inputs, in contrast, showed only a mild -5% red error. Red and blue color points proved reasonably accurate, although green measured as more of a yellowish green.

•Great price

•Some false-contouring artifacts

It wasn't all that long ago that I found myself amazed at the prospect of 42-inch plasma TVs dipping below $2,000. But now that the Vizio P50HDTV 50-inch plasma HDTV has hit the streets, I'm going to have to adjust to the idea of 50-inch models ...

Color points were reasonably accurate. Overscan - the amount of picture area "hidden" behind the edges of the TV's screen - measured 0% for both the HDMI and component-video inputs with the Full Pixel modes active, while the set's other overscan ...