Reports

LCD and plasma TVs 39

E-readers 40
3D camera 41
Detergents 42
Dryers 45 Lab tests
Big TVs for less A1 Samsung

If you have a TV budget of $1,000,

you won’t have to compromise on
screen size or picture quality or settle
5 Excellent
for a bare-bones set. Just don’t expect
all the newest high-end features. Select Ratings 4 Very good
3 Good
In our current Ratings of LCD and Best choices from our tests
2 Fair
of 85 models.
1 Poor
plasma TVs, 17 of the 40-inch and
larger sets we recommend cost $1,000
Brand & model Price Overall score Test results Ease HD- Energy
or less. The plasma TVs offer bigger of use capable cost
screens for the buck, but most have inputs per yr.
720p resolution. The LCD sets in this
Recommendation
Rank

High definition
Standard definition
Viewing angle
Sound quality
Remote
Onscreen menu

Highest frame rate

HDMI
Component-video
price range all have 1080p resolution,
but the screens are smaller. Still, all
of the sets here, including the 720p
TVs, have excellent or very good pic-
ture quality. You won’t see much dif-
ference in detail with most video.
A LCD TVs: 46- and 47-INCH All tested sets have 1080p resolution.
Other differences n
d 1 Samsung LN46C630 $1,000 74 &Z &X &C &C &Z &Z 120 4 2 $44
All of the plasma sets have the excel- n
c 2 Toshiba Regza 46XV645U 800 72 &Z &Z &C &C &C &X 120 3 2 57
lent viewing-angle scores expected
with that technology, so picture qual- B LCD TVs: 40- and 42-INCH All tested sets have 1080p resolution.
ity won’t change if you view the n
d 1 Hitachi UltraVision L42S503 750 73 &Z &Z &C &C &X &X 120 4 2 38
screen from an angle. Most of the LCD 2 Toshiba Regza Cinema Series
sets were judged good for viewing
n
d 40XV648U 750 71 &Z &X &C &C &C &X 120 3 2 47
angle, indicating that we saw some n
d 3 Toshiba Regza 40XV645U 700 71 &Z &Z &C &C &C &X 120 3 2 46
deterioration in the picture, with
changes in color, contrast, or bright-
n
d 4 Sony Bravia KDL-40EX500 800 71 &Z &Z &C &C &C &C 120 4 2 37

ness as we moved away from center. n

d 5 Vizio SV422XVT 900 70 &X &X &X &C &C &C “240” 4 1 42
All but three LCD sets have a 120Hz n
d 6 AOC L42H961 700 69 &Z &Z &C &C &C &X 60 4 2 33
or quasi-240Hz refresh rate, which n
c 7 Sanyo DP42849 600 67 &X &X &X &C &Z &V 60 3 2 44
has generally minimized motion
blur in our tests. (Plasma sets don’t
n
d 8 Sharp Aquos LC-40E67UN 700 67 &X &X &C &C &X &X 60 4 2 40

display noticeable motion blur.) Most

of the TVs have three or four HDMI
C PLASMA TVs: 50-INCH All tested sets have 720p resolution.
inputs, ample for most users. n
c 1 Panasonic Viera TC-P50C1 800 71 &Z &Z &Z &V &X &C 2 2 36
Other features haven’t trickled n
c 2 LG 50PJ350 800 67 &X &X &Z &C &C &X 3 2 52
down to this price yet. The only TV
with Internet connectivity is B5 D PLASMA TVs: 42- and 46-INCH D1 and D2 have 1080p resolution; the others have 720p.
­Vizio, which offers movie-streaming
services from Amazon, Netflix, and
n
d 1 Panasonic Viera TC-P42S1 800 77 &Z &Z &Z &C &X &C 3 2 58

Vudu, along with built-in Wi-Fi. n

d 2 Panasonic Viera TC-P46S1 850 76 &Z &X &Z &C &X &C 3 2 55
Energy-­efficient LED backlighting, n
c 3 Panasonic Viera TC-42PX14 630 72 &X &Z &Z &C &X &C 2 2 30
G e tt y i m ag e s

rather than fluorescent backlight-

ing, hasn’t made its way to low-
n
c 4 Panasonic Viera TC-P42X1 650 72 &X &Z &Z &C &X &C 3 2 42

priced big-screen sets such as these. n

c 5 LG 42PJ350 600 70 &X &X &Z &C &X &X 3 2 37

july 2010 w w w.C o n su m e r R e p o rt s. o rg 39

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