Samsung Bordeaux Plus LA37R81B Review

The increasing of LCD TV market is aswered by Samsung with launching its products variant with various features according to consumer enthusiasm. One of the Samsung new LCD TV is Bordeaux Plus LA37R81B (R8 series) what is present with widescreen and having 16:9 ratio. This 37” inch product still brings 1366x768 pixels resolution that is supporting HDTV display, but none Full HD.

Like other products before, Samsung also participate to carries DNIe graphic processor to present more detail picture. Now the physical touch is also made perfect so that more sparkles and felt luxuriant to be placed in desk or hung to wall. One of main strength of this product is on the very high dynamic contrast ratio level (reachs 8000:1), really gives dramatic impression. From the specification side, this product actually is equivalent with LG 37LC4R which also have 37” dimension. But, Samsung tries to coming up slimer, lighter, and brighter compared to LG LCD.

Even figures in the remote control, LA37R81B is can also arranged through touch button which hidden in monitor right side. At this remote you can found an unique Game button. An useful mode for activating better display to play at game. At this mode, dark area will become brighter. Sound is also made more realistically because the usage of SRS TruSurround XT speaker surrounds system. For the LCD connection, LA37R81B has prepared many ports, start from D-sub until HDMI port which able to be connected to future digital peripheral.

Bordeaux Plus LA37R81B can be assumed as a product which offering complete entertainment at middle LCD TV categorize. The dispay quality with high contrast and great audio performance become its excellence. Even good to play at game, but we confess that this monitor is more suitable for watching the movie. Unhappily, as a new product, this product still has expensive price compared to its competitor.

Samsung Bordeaux Plus LA37R81B Review
Price Range: $1350
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Wacom Cintiq 21UX: Touch a Screen for Instant Creativity

CTL 220UW Review: Plain Looks, Dazzling Picture

HP w2408: A Brilliant Widescreen Display

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CTL 220UW Review: Plain Looks, Dazzling Picture

Are you searching for a great-looking monitor or a monitor with great picture quality? If the latter is paramount, the CTL 220UW may fill the bill. This 22-Inch, 1,680-by-1,050 widescreen LCD won’t win any points for stylishness. It’s more expensive than much of its competition, and its maneuverability is severely limited, but the on-screen view is sweet.

The 220UW’s enclosure is nondescript. Its base can be tilted forward and backward but lacks height, swivel, and pivot adjustment. The embedded speakers can handle only low volumes without distortion. But the digital input is HDCP-compliant, so you’ll be able to view copy-protected HD movies. All necessary cables for the 220UW’s audio jack and DVI and analog inputs are included in the packaging.

This LCD has a wide viewing angle. In testing, it did well when displaying dark grays, though light grays looked white. Color quality was quite good, with no evidence of tinting. The panel easily displayed small fonts. Movies looked splendid, and games were free of significant stutter or ghosting,

Along with performance, another strong point is the 220UW’s warranty: You get three years on parts and labor, whereas many vendors offer only one. If you don’t care about snazzy looks or extra features, the 220UW is a good choice for a home or small office. This ugly duckling is really a swan in disguise.

CTL 220UW Short Review
Price range: $375.70

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LG L1760TR: Touch Button LCD

Wacom Cintiq 21UX: Touch a Screen for Instant Creativity

HP w2408: A Brilliant Widescreen Display

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LG L1760TR Review: Touch Button LCD

This L1760TR series actually looks like LG Flatron L1960TQ series which have touch sensor unique feature, but in smaller size (17-inchs) and a few differences at the specification.

Came up with beautiful body, L1760TR also offers touch sensor feature. Don’t need to press; to turn on monitor, just touch your finger in button power and it blue LED lamp will shine as indication. The panel to arrange monitor activity is hidden sweetly at screen right side.

With unique technology of LG at F-Engine and DFC (Digital of Fine Contrast) feature, this monitor can present realistic and accurate colour, so nice if applied to look on film and plays at game. Response Speed 2ms is assists to presents picture without bothering ghosting effect. With support of high contrast ratio (3000:1) makes dark and bright setting can be presented perfectly.

LG L1760TR truly attractive to everyone. Sharp picture quality, the beautiful design, plus interesting feature like touch button make this LCD well-matched for PC users which need cool LCD monitor.

LG L1760TR Short Review
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Wacom Cintiq 21UX: Touch a Screen for Instant Creativity

HP w2408: A Brilliant Widescreen Display

Gateway XHD3000: The Videophile’s Grand Display

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Wacom Cintiq 21UX: Touch a Screen for Instant Creativity

The flashiest upgrade for any computer is a big, beautiful LCD monitor. It’s something everyone will notice. But not everyone will catch on that the Wacom Cintiq is so much more than just a 21.3-inch looker-at least, not until they see that cordless stylus next to it. Then you can reveal the truth: It’s, an interactive, pressure-sensitive (to 1,024 levels), pen-driven display that you need for your art.

Upgrading is easy. Just plug the Cintiq into your DVI (Digital Visual Interface) port (or VGA port with the included adapter) and into an open USB port - it uses the latter for data communication with the computer. The stand lets you orient the Cintiq like any monitor, or place it almost flat on the desk for some serious work by hand, whether you’re using it as a tablet for writing or illustrating the next great Web comic. As with any drawing tablet, the harder you push with the stylus in a paint program like Adobe Illustrator, the darker the line. But with the Chitiq, your line appears right where you make it on the screen, separated only by a layer of glass between the pen nub and the screen pixels.

Cintiq is many a starving artist’s dream: infinitely desirable, because it’s an incredibly useful tool and the best possible way to integrate visual art and computers; inaccessible because, at $2,499, it costs a good bit more than Sharpie markers and a pad of paper- or just about any other tablet. For the same amount of money (or even less) you could get an entire tablet PC- but then, no tablet PC provides 21 inches of drawing space. When you raid your bank account, just remind yourself that the best equipment always comes at a cost.

Wacom Cintiq 21UX Short Reviews
Price range: $2,500
www.wacom.com/cintiq

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HP w2408: A Brilliant Widescreen Display

Gateway XHD3000: The Videophile’s Grand Display

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HP w2408: A Brilliant Widescreen Display

Although the HP w2408 has a vastly different design from last year’s HP LP2465, both share an impressive image quality and feature set. The w2408 is a 24-inch widescreen monitor with a brilliant screen that allows for flexible viewing options. Its panel boasts a 1,920-by-1,200 resolution and a very wide (92 percent) NTSC color gamut (the range of colors a monitor can show) for a consumer display. This makes for much bolder and sharper colors, and a brighter image, than are found in the model it replaces.

The w2408 has an HDCP-enabled DVI port, an analog input, five USB ports, and an audio jack for the rear-mounted speakers. But I’m puzzled by the lack of extra A/V inputs such as S-Video and component video. HP bills this as a model for entertainment as well as home office use, so those ports would make sense.

On my tests, primary and secondary colors appeared uniform and ramped evenly from dark to light, and there be no color tracking errors or signs of tinting. The panel’s 5-ms pixel response (black to white) delivered a bright, smooth widescreen video and gaming experience. The action was fast and furious (and smooth) when I played a round of F.E.A.R., while my favorite DVD movie, The Departed, looked spectacular, with no evidence of motion artifacts or ghosting. The w2408 doesn’t do quite as well at showing grays, with some blurring at the brightest and darkest shades.

Despite its shortcomings, the w2408 is a good choice if you’re looking for a big, bright display for work or play.

HP w2408 Short Reviewss
Price range: $570

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Gateway XHD3000: The Videophile’s Grand Display

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Gateway XHD3000: The Videophile’s Grand Display

Until recently 30-inch display, while offering high native resolution and excellent image quality, fell short in terms of video processing (the ability to scale videos at other resolutions to fit). All that has changed with the XHD3000, Gateway’s newest 30- inch display.

Although most PC displays have a video processor built in, before the XHD3000, none were able to scale content properly to 2,560-by-1,600 for 30 inch displays. Instead, this function was handled by the PC’s graphics card. The XHD3000 incorporates the Silicon Optix Realta chipset, a high-end video processor, making it capable of scaling, deinterlacing, and reducing noise on both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) video streams.

The XHD3000 has inputs galore. You can connect up to six devices if you use S-Video and composite connections. You can also hook up a PC, a game console, and an HD disc player and switch easily between them with the included remote control.
One of the XHD3000’s best features is the way it handles picture-in-picture (PiP): You can scale PiP to a variety of resolutions and make it partially transparent. PiP enables you to have a video playing on your desktop yet still have access to all your PC’s desktop functions.

The XHD3000 did an excellent job of displaying games at varying resolutions without graininess. Motion performance was very good, though with a bit of smearing under very high-speed action.

One shortcoming is that the XHD3000’s panel doesn’t show as wide a range of colors as its competition. Gateway used a 72 percent color-gamut panel as opposed to the 92 percent panels that Dell and HP are using. That’s fine for consumer-level photo and video editing, but not for professional graphics work. Another flaw is that its backlighting isn’t uniform, and some backlight bleeding was visible in a darkened room.

Gateway’s 30-inch widescreen flat-panel LCD is pricey, going for a couple hundred dollars more than its competition. But if you want to hook multiple devices up to a big, high-resolution display that you plan to use more for HD video and gaming than for editing still images, this 30-inch display can’t be beat.

Gateway XHD3000 Short Review
Price range: $1,699.99

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Viewsonic VX2255wmh: High Definition plus Webcam

Prolink PRO201TW: Complete Multimedia Feature

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Viewsonic VX2255wmh: High Definition plus Webcam

ViewSonic Breakthrough now is really different. If before all LCD monitor present the display only, hence through the VX2245wrn and VX2255wmh series, ViewSonic gives plus meaning than a monitor. This time we only try VX2255wmh series which having 22“inch wide screen.

One of VX2255wmh series plus point is it integrated 1,3 megapixel Webcam (plus microphone) which would be useful if you often doing video chat through the local network or internet. In order to give more acurately webcam view to user, the monitor stand height is also can be arranged til 3,2 inchs and can be turned horizontally.

Monitor design seen so minimalis with only provides power button and microphone. Other four buttons setting is hidden at the right side of monitor body. To support video chat, VX2255wmh also has 2 watt (RMS) internal speaker and equiped by port for earphone. With 22” inch screen, monitor display seen really relieved and very ideal to play game or watch movie. According to us, the picture quality which yielded is seen bright, sharply, and natural.

The feature at Viewsonic VX2255wmh of course supports function of video chat without buy separate Webcam. The resolution reach 1680x1050 pixels which make it can support High Definition (HD). The only negativity factor possibly comes from the expensive enough prices.

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Prolink PRO201TW: Complete Multimedia Feature

Asus PG221: LCD for Gamer

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Prolink PRO201TW: Complete Multimedia Feature

Wide screen monitor era is greeted by Prolink with this Pro201TW product. Besides 20,1 inchs widescreen format, what is special of this monitor is the complete multimedia feature, starts from digital and analogue connector, speaker, TV Tuner, and RCA video-in. Mean, you can position Pro201TW as monitor, television, and multimedia peripheral that is connected with DVD Player and Playstation.

Its luxuriant designs seen in face which using black and silver color combination. To arrange its display, provided 7 monitor access button pinned to display area underside for manual configuration. But if you refuse to get difficult with manual setting its provided auto image adjust and auto color button.

From the sharpness angle dan picture brightness, this monitor looks not bad. The colors which produce seen natural, though its ratio contrast seen not maximum. Its resolution reaching 1680 x 1050 pixels also makes view area yielded seen wide.

If your room is too full with lot goods and you hungers for a double function peripheral, tries considering this Prolink Pro201TW. Besides widescreen, its complete facility is also makes you can enjoy your audio-video briefly and practical. Picture quality produce of course not counted special, but with competitive price, this product it’s good to have.

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Samsung LN-T5265F: An HD Detail Destroyer

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Asus PG221: LCD for Gamer

Asus probably more knew as component producer like motherboard and graphic card, but now they increasingly serious to enter other market, including LCD monitor market. Its arious product is more various, and also targeting to various segment. One of the example is Asus PG221, 22 inchs widescreens monitor and targeted as monitor for gamers.

This is the second PG series monitor after before Asus already launch PG191. Besides its larger size, both monitor having similar design. The most unique looks from the LCD are the speaker and sub-woofer placed in LCD rest, makes it seen big and gallant at the same time. This monitor is also equiped with camera which placed in upside the monitor.

Looks from front side, this monitor seen minimalis with touch model button to activate various LCD function. One of button functions is to activate Splendid, which is picture mode choice for certain program type like music or film.

As a whole, PG221 performance is good enough, mainly in color accuration and gradation which presented. With support from 2ms time response, picture movement is looks smooth without ghosting effect. To plays games, and looks on film, PG221 seems can give good quality picture and voice.

Asus PG221 can give complete required from the users which needed one monitors with good multimedia feature. With good picture quality and support from unique internal speaker makes this LCD becomes good choice for user though with expensive enough price.

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LG L1770HQ: Futuristic Design

Westinghouse TX-47F430S: HDMI Ports Galore, and More

EIZO FlexScan S2111W: Stunning Monitor for Imaging Pros

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LG L1770HQ: Futuristic Design

One of excellence from LCD monitor is its slim shape, so more efficiently, but LG L1770HQ can be said brings separate enchantment because of its slim. The panel is only has 21 mm thickness, one of the slimmest which you can found. Its screen rest is also unique, because can be arranged the height and inclination with easily. With synchronization of classy black color and silver, no wonder if this monitor got award from Reddot and iF Product Award in 2006.

The front side of this LCD it so minimalists without manual setting button. Seemingly the manual setting button is hidden in its display. Auto adjust image configuration setting its still available even you not guaranteed to like the result. Like other LG LCD newest model product, location of D-sub port, DVI and adapter, impressed restrained from body monitor by the way putting down this connection at bezel backside.

As usual, LG applies f-Engine and DFC (Digital of Fine Contrast) technology to present natural colors which so fascinating in every movement of picture. Movement also seen is pleasant cause 2ms response time and 3000:1 contrast ratio which so high.

As a whole, LG L1770HQ offers accurate color gradation that expressing quality of this monitor. Sweet design, futuristic and excellence of technology is good point for this LCD. The price of course is rather expensive and it’s not having widescreen format but the beauty of the design and technology making LG L1770HQ its good to decorate your workbench.

Price range
LG L1770HQ: $265

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Westinghouse TX-47F430S: HDMI Ports Galore, and More

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Westinghouse TX-47F430S: HDMI Ports Galore, and More

There’s no disputing that HDTVs look their best when displaying high-definition video, and the ideal way to transmit this pristine high-def signal is over an HDMI cable. That’s the draw for Westinghouse Digital’s affordable new 47-inch LCD set. This well-priced TV boasts a total of four HDMI ports for your viewing pleasure.

The TX-47F430S measures 31.4 by 46.1 by 9.8 inches (HWD) with its base attached, and weighs in at 71.6 pounds. On-display controls consist of a series of thin buttons along the right side of the TV’s frame. A lone Westinghouse logo adorns the bottom bezel, as does an unobtrusive blue power-indicator light. The TX-47F430S’s two integrated 10W speakers are concealed within the TV’s frame along the bottom edge and fire downward. The set delivers ample volume for a large room, and an integrated subwoofer (15W) helps balance the system’s otherwise bright sound.

Watching standard-definition video using DVD and satellite television sources revealed that the TX-47F430S’s picture was a bit too colorful. Light skin tones were excessively green, and grass lawns tended to look eerily electric, likely a “feature” designed to grab the attention of outdoor sports fans. Also distracting, at viewing angles of 20 degrees or more, was screen glare that overwhelmed the corners and edges of the picture, resulting in decreased image contrast. Apart from that, the set’s results on the HD HQV Benchmark test DVD were among the best I’ve seen; I recorded perfect performance within the HQV’s film resolution loss tests. In fact, the TX-47F430S is one of only two HDTVs I’ve reviewed that properly process 24p video material encoded in 1080i format.

Sadly, contrast was another story. I configured the TX-47F430S for dark-room, eye-friendly viewing by lowering the backlight control, which produced a respectable but still relatively bright 0.25 Cd/m2 black level with a nearly identical contrast ratio of 463:1. Power consumption measurements put the monthly operating cost of the TX-47F430S at a relatively pricey $10.65 with the backlight set to maximum. I based my calculations on 8 hours of daily operation with a kilowatt-hour cost of $0.13. This was more than $3 higher than any similarly sized LCD I’ve measured to date.

Despite the set’s competitive price, videophiles may be put off by the TV’s oversaturated green, relatively poor black levels, low gamma response, and lack of video noise reduction controls. I did find the TX-47F430S’s picture quality more appealing, however, once its color was calibrated to realistic levels.

Price
Westinghouse TX-47F430S: $1,799.99

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EIZO FlexScan S2111W: Stunning Monitor for Imaging Pros

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EIZO FlexScan S2111W: Stunning Monitor for Imaging Pros

Not your typical 21-inch widescreen monitor, this 1,680-by-1,050 resolution LCD offers outstanding image quality. Just fire up the EIZO FlexScan S2111W and you’ll see one of the brightest monitors around, with color and grayscale reproduction perfectly suited to the graphics professional.

The S2111W’s superior performance comes from using a Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (SPVA) panel instead of the Twisted Nematic (TN+) film technology in must LCDs. Although the pixel response times of an SPVA panel don’t quite match those of a TN+ panel, the SPVA panel does allow the S2111W to display even the subtlest shades of light and dark gray, as well as primary and secondary colors that are vivid and rich in tone. Other EIZO technologies such as Outline and Contrast Enhancers make still images even sharper and more detailed.

Supporting the S2111W is an ArcSwing2 stand, which lets you tilt, swivel, and adjust the height of the screen but not pivot it to portrait mode. Two HDCP-compliant DVI ports and an upstream USB port are located behind the panel.

The S2111W comes with a generous five-year parts-and-labor warranty, but even so, the one-grand price tag is pretty high for the average consumer. For the imaging pro looking for outstanding performance, however, the S2111W is worth every penny.

Price
EIZO FlexScan S2111W: $1,099

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Samsung LN-T5265F: An HD Detail Destroyer

Westinghouse L2046NV: Light-duty LCD

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Samsung LN-T5265F: An HD Detail Destroyer

Here’s a set that proves that 1080p resolution doesn’t always guarantee a great picture. Though on paper this colorful and high-contrast 52-inch LCD HDTV has everything needed to produce a stunningly sharp picture, out of the box its high-def imagery was fuzzy, and efforts to solve the problem through a software upgrade further complicated the situation.

Removing the LN-T5265F from its factory-sealed cardboard box revealed a fully assembled HDTV complete with a rectangular-shaped swivel stand. The LCD’s glossy black bezel sports an unobtrusive Samsung logo and soft blue light centered along the lower edge. But when checking the viewing ingle, I saw noticeable loss of color saturation at 15 degrees off-axis that became worse at 20 degrees.

Samsung’s new T-series LCD now contains some menu options that were long overdue. At the top of the list of new items is a Just Scan picture size mode that attempts to display every pixel of an HD video signal. I say “attempts,” because initially I found that 720p, 1080i, and 1080p60 HD video delivered via HDMI was cropped by two or three pixels around the TV’s perimeter. Also, the HD component video input displayed an unacceptable 7 percent over scan of the screen. Only VGA input at 1080p60 and HDMI input at 1080p24 produced an image that exhibited no signs of this picture- softening over scan.

Although the LN-T5265F proved itself capable of delivering good color and contrast post-calibration, during my first round of tests its video processing unacceptably degraded the quality of HD video. My HD HQV Benchmark test results revealed that the I.N-T5265F's HDMI input was sacrificing up to half of the visual information contained within the signal of video and film-sourced content. Testing with a selection of HD DVD and Blu-ray movies confirmed that the LN-T5265F’s missing picture detail softened the image to the point of being blurry. To address this, Samsung provided me with a firmware upgrade. This update corrected the LN-T5265F’s most severe video-processing errors with 1080i HDMI input and also enabled underscan for HD component video. But folks, don’t get too excited. Unfortunately, the new firmware shifted the LN-T5265F’s 1080i HDMI problems to the TV’s component video inputs.

In Samsung’s defense, the company stated that models shipped after mid to late July 2007 should feature the updated firmware; affected owners can also call the Samsung service center and request the latest firmware available. Still, there’s no way I can recommend a $4,000 HDTV that delivers a blurry, practically half- resolution picture either over HDMI or component video connections.

Samsung LN-T5265F: $3.999.99

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Westinghouse L2046NV: Light-duty LCD

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Westinghouse L2046NV: Light-duty LCD

Users in the market for a general purpose 20-inch LCD and not in need of a lot of features should find this monitor worth a look. But although the Westinghouse L2046NV handles motion and small text well, some flaws in its overall image quality prevent me from recommending it to users who require color accuracy.

The monitor, which has both analog and digital inputs, maintains a traditional 4:3 aspect ratio and has a maximum resolution of l,400 by 1,050 pixels. Thanks to the panel's 5-ms (gray-to-gray) pixel response time, moving images were tendered decently, with only minimal noise and ghosting-not enough to distract someone from a game. DVD movie playback was also good, with just a trace of motion artifacts that were noticeable only when the screen was mostly dark.

A more serious flaw was the monitor's inability display shades of dark gray. This not only made it impossible to differentiate between dark grays and black but also made darker primary colors took too dark.

I’ll give the Westinghouse L2046NV points for its handling of small text. Its multimedia capabilities arc also mostly up to par, but image quality left me disappointed.

Westinghouse L2046NV: $279

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HP w2007: A Well-Rounded Widescreen Display

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HP w2007: A Well-Rounded Widescreen Display

This widescreen monitor won’t wow you with state-of-the-art features, but it will bring solid performance to your desktop. Geared to the home or home-office user, the HP W2007 has a bright, 20-inch panel with 1,680-by 1,050-pixel resolution and a quick pixel response rate. Some users, however, may find the glossy screen overwhelming. A pair of light-duty 2W speakers is embedded in the rear of the case.

On our standard quality tests, the HP W2007 reproduced all shades of dark gray without difficulty, and black levels were also good. Light gray performance was not as thorough, but I saw no tinting or color-tracking errors.

HP’s BrightView screen technology provided a sharp image. DVD movies looked fine on this monitor. But while viewing darkly lit scenes, I thought the shiny coating was too reflective, as it took on a distracting mirror-like quality. Text readability, on the other hand, was impressive: The w2007 had no trouble displaying Arial fonts set to 5.3 points.

Despite a few flaws and a chintzy warranty, the HP w2007 is an excellent choice as an affordable midsize widescreen display.

HP w2007: $260

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Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA: Disappoints in Standard Def

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Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA: Disappoints in Standard Def

More pixels mean a more detailed picture – but only if those dots are driven by a capable video processor. Fortunately, Toshiba's new 37-inch LCD HDTV offers a detailed and colorful picture that delivers an immersive viewing experience when displaying HD video. Still, during testing, distracting artifacts did crop up when I was viewing standard-resolution content.

The 37HL67’s traditionally modern styling features a glossy black bezel with fixed bottom mounted speakers (2 x 20W). Along with the usual selection of A/V connections, the set boasts three HDMI inputs-a welcome sight indeed. You can use these inputs to connect up to three high-def devices at once.

Using a checkerboard test pattern, I found the REGZA to have an average low luminance of 0.15 cd / m² (in essence, its average darkness), with a contrast ratio of 722:1. That's a very good result in TV configured for eye-friendly viewing in a darkened room. Color and grayscale performance were above average, too, compared with those of most LCD HDTVs I’ve seen. In fact, primary and secondary color measurements showed accuracy and saturation almost perfectly aligned with the HD color spec.

On the other hand, my standard-definition video (480i) tests using a selection of DVD movies gave rise to some concerns about the 37HL67’s processing of interlaced video. Scenes containing fast motion exhibited significant combing artifacts, which appear as thin horizontal lines along the edges of moving objects. Looking at the results of my HQV Benchmark DVD test series confirmed what I had seen. Significant scan line artifacts (flicker, moiré. and jagged edges) were plainly visible in the waving flag and racetrack scenes.

Rerunning the standard-definition (SD) tests using a Toshiba HD-XA2 player configured to scale the video up to 1080i resolution showed marked improvement across the board. This indicates to me that the 37HL67 is best paired with set-top boxes that can feed the TV an HD signal-up converted or otherwise.

There's no doubt that the Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA LCD TV provides a compelling set of features for the HD enthusiast, including a trio of HDMI inputs plus impressively accurate, well saturated color. The TV’s poor standard-definition video processing, however, is disappointing. If you plan on watching lots of SD content, you may want to pass this set by.

Toshiba 37HL67 REGZA: $1.199.99

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Samsung HP-S4273: A Media- Savvy Plasma HDTV

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Samsung HP-S4273: A Media- Savvy Plasma HDTV

This 42-inch Plasma HDTV from Samsung may have fewer pixels than some of the latest high-resolution flat-panel displays, but it compensates for that with its superb contrast and easy multimedia file support.

Weighing 89.7 pounds, the TV has a glossy black frame that features an unobtrusive Samsung logo and an illuminated circular power button centered on the lower bezel. Most notable among the HP-S4273's many connections are a CableCARD slot along with a USB port and two flash memory card slots that provide easy access to digital images and music using the TV’s integrated player.

While viewing the set, I was disappointed to find that it couldn't stretch widescreen programming (SD or HD) to fill the entire screen. Also, some video noise cropped up in the darkest grays and was evident during some dark movie scenes. Color accuracy was average, with red tones shifted slightly toward orange and green shifted significantly toward cyan. (TV manufacturers often set green tones to look mow bluish in order to grab the attention of sports fans, as this adjustment has the effect of making half-dead lawns look lively and the turf of a stadium "pop.") Another phase of my testing revealed that the HP-S4273 was capable of impressively dark black levels (0, 09 Cd/m2), which allowed it to produce an average contrast ratio of 1,190:1- an excellent result.

Standard- definition (SD) video can look terrible on an HDTV that lacks effective video processing. I gauge the SD video-processing prowess of HDTVs using a selection of popular DVD movies and DVD-based test materials, including the Silicon Optix HQV benchmark test DVD. When it was fed a 480i signal over component video cable, the HIP-S4273’s performance was quite good at minimizing jagged edges that can appear when interlaced video is displayed. The HP-S4273 had fewer jaggies than the value-priced 42-inch Vizio VP42 plasma television, an Editors’ Choice winner. Aside from that, however, the Vizio - as well as the amazing and expensive 42-inch pioneer PRO-940HD- delivered a more detailed picture when displaying HQV’s challenging bridge scene and the faces of actors.

The HP-S4273 was also slow to detect film sourced DVD movies, leaving obvious jagged edges and moiré artifact visible until it finally locked on. Moreover, the TV failed one of the two film mode tests on the HQV test disc. The HP-S4273's handling of the HD HQV benchmark rest resulted in a barely above-average final wore, with points deducted for some minor jagged artifacts and half-resolution (single-field) processing of the 1080i material.

Still, it was a decent performance. Aside from some problems screening film- sourced DVDs and dark scenes, the Samsung HP-S4273 is an excellent HDTV option.

Samsung HP-S4273: $2,799


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VIEWSONIC N3751W: HD DONE CHEAPLY

SHARP AQUOS LC-52D92U: IMAGE CLEAR BUT TORN

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VIEWSONIC N3751W: HD DONE CHEAPLY

One of the most affordable 37-inch LCD HDTV’s available, the ViewSonic boasts a nice, bright picture and amazingly high contrast, but it has serious trouble with standard-definition video. Connections include three HDMI ports, a component video input, separate RF inputs for antenna and cable tuning, and a VGA input for PC use.

Producing a very bright picture, the TV delivered a peak contrast ratio of 1,406:1, an extremely high reading. Unfortunately, the sets fixed backlight managed a less impressive contrast ratio of 317:1, which translates to lighter black levels, especially in low-light conditions. Worse, when showing a selection of film-sourced DVD videos, the N3751w was slow to engage film-mode processing, which caused distracting moiré and flicker artifacts. Ghosting and image smearing was evident in fast-motion scenes. Furthermore, I noticed distracting jagged-edge artifacts when watching interlaced video.

Basically, the ViewSonic N3751w is a tease. Though inexpensive, it lacks the ability to produce a convincing picture in a darkened environment and stumbles when performing common video processing functions.

ViewSonic N3751w: $1,199 list

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SHARP AQUOS LC-52D92U: IMAGE CLEAR BUT TORN

Sharps new flagship 52-inch liquid crystal HDTV offers an amazingly detailed and colorful picture and the greatest number of digital video inputs I’ve seen on an HDTV to date.

The LC-52D92Us 1080p screen is surrounded by a glossy black bezel trimmed in cool chrome accents. A bundled remote features a fully backlit keypad that makes up for its smallish buttons. In addition to three HDMI inputs, the LC-52D92U also provides a DVI- I connection for PC use, an RF input for cable/antenna reception, and two component video inputs.

As far as picture quality goes, color saturation and image detail were good, but I noticed jagged edge artifacts (jaggies ) in objects like folds and creases of clothing. I was impressed, however, with how dark the black bars of letterboxed movies appeared nearly indistinguishable from the displays black bezel. Even better was the measured contrast ratio of 1,426:1one of the best I’ve ever seen.

All in all, the Sharp Aquos LC-52D92U offers superior image contrast resulting in one of the most detailed pictures I’ve seen in a 1080p display. Unfortunately, this exceptional sharpness highlights a weak video processor that created too many jagged edges for my taste.

Sharp Aquos LC-52D92U: $5,299.99

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