LCDs for the Living Room Flat Panel TVs from JVC, ViewSonic and

By Joe Paone

LCD TVs have come a long way in a year. They’ve become larger, less expensive (though still hardly affordable for most), and most importantly, much better at reproducing video.

To get an idea of how quickly and how sharply prices have fallen, consider this: In April 2002, LCD market leader Sharp introduced its first 30-inch set at $7,999. Less than two years later, its latest 30-inch panel sells for just under $3,000—a highly encouraging trend for consumers. The entry of numerous brands, with names both familiar and unknown, is driving prices even further down. January’s Consumer Electronics Show featured booth after booth of LCD brands, and they all should be lining store shelves by year’s end.

Screen sizes have expanded, too. Previously, most LCDs came in under the 20-inch range, which is best suited for secondary roles in kitchens and other household nooks. Now, numerous panels in the 30-inch range bode well for widescreen LCDs’ mass-market future as replacements for the bulky 32-inch CRTs that currently reside in many American living rooms. While prices are still prohibitive, the quality is very encouraging; these sets will truly be ready for prime time when they hit appropriate price points (our guess is by 2006). In the meantime, those with the coin would do well to check out all three of the sets we reviewed, and others of similar size.

Although form factor is their most obvious selling point, LCDs aren’t just stylish space-savers. They’re also true digital televisions, capable of natively displaying 480p DVDs and 720p HDTV programs (1080i programs are de-interlaced for 720p display). Your lousy analog cable connection will still look lousy; it may even look lousier than you’re used to. That’s because 480i images have to be “scaled up” to fit the additional lines on these LCD screens, so the panel has to make an educated guess as to what colors to add. That can lead to some blotchy-looking TV content. An investment in a good outboard video processor might be in order if you’re going to watch a lot of standard cable TV on these panels—or by all means, acquire cable or satellite HDTV service. Your DVD movie viewing, however, will take on new dimensions if you have a progressive scan player. LCDs, at least in the case of these three, handle composite video signals much worse than CRTs do. The performance improvement with component video is striking. As my normally gloriously jaded girlfriend said, “I can’t believe I’m watching a crappy action movie like XXX, but I can’t take my eyes off the damn thing. It looks amazing.”

None of the sets below have built-in ATSC (digital TV) tuners or CableCARD slots (those are coming in new TVs this year and will enable you to easily hook an HDTV up to any cable HDTV service). But you can connect an HDTV receiver or HD cable box to any of these via DVI, and soon you’ll be watching TV shows and sports like you’ve never seen them before.

LCDs are becoming as large as small plasmas—large enough to cause some confusion as to what’s an LCD and what’s a plasma. Plasmas tend to reproduce video in a more pleasing fashion, with a softer, brighter, higher-contrast picture and less image fragmentation than LCDs. LCDs provide more vibrant (or, in the case of some less-than-adequate panels, harsh) colors, but they generally don’t handle video quite as well as plasmas, especially when it’s of the high-motion variety. They excel, however, in displaying animation and computer-generated content. So while LCD might not perform as well as plasma or CRT in reproducing live-action video, it’s still very good at it and getting better every year. And frankly, the “wow” of LCD’s ultrathin form factor far outweighs its slight deficiencies at this point.

Viewing angles of 170 degrees are now fairly standard with LCD; all three of these TVs have them, and you should settle for nothing less. You should clearly see pictures on the screen from virtually any angle—from either side of the set, from above the TV or while you’re lounging on the floor, with no screen door effect or color changes. All three of these TVs also boast NTSC tuners, aspect ratio controls, 500:1 contrast ratios and 500 cd/m2 brightness. This is all typical for LCDs these days.

The quality, design and user-friendliness of LCDs vary from brand to brand, and we recommend some intensive comparison shopping before you buy one. The three LCDs here have little in common except for their reasonably good video performance. Keep in mind that these panels can all be had for hundreds below list price.

JVC LT-26WX84

JVC, a big player in CRT direct-view and rear-projection TV, has moved more tentatively than its rivals into the flat-panel world. Recently, it introduced its very first flat panels: Two 42-inch plasma displays and this 26-inch LCD. JVC’s patience has been a virtue, as this LCD set performs at a level you’d expect from the respected brand.

JVC has always sought to stand out with its looks (check out its consistently crazy audio mini systems!), so it’s no surprise its initial LCD offering isn’t another face in the crowd. While almost all LCDs these days seem to sport silver bezels, the LT-26WX84 has a black plastic bezel with a silver grill underneath housing its stereo speakers, as well as a silver stand and base. The black bezel provides extra contrast, and even lets you see your reflection in it. You can easily swivel the base left and right, but it’s a little trickier to move up and down. A blue “power on” light in the bottom right corner could prove somewhat distracting to some viewers. Basic controls and a headphone jack are hidden on the side of the set.

The remote provided more shortcuts to individual functions than either of the other two remotes we reviewed, although you’ll have a hard time memorizing button placement, as many of the buttons more or less feel the same. There’s a button for aspect ratio (Panorama, Cinema, Cinema Zoom, Full, Regular/4:3, HD Panorama); for sound settings; for JVC’s Theater Pro (basic color temperature control) and Natural Cinema (3:2 pulldown) functions; and a section of five Multi Screen buttons for picture-in-picture functions including Split (two channels displayed at once), Index (12 channels onscreen at once to aid in channel selection), Freeze (freezes the signal on one half while the program continues on the other), Swap (switches the primary channel in a split-screen situation) and Select (changes channels in split-screen situation). Each input jack can be selected through its individual button. The remote’s backlight bathes all of the buttons in a pleasing blueish hue. The Video Status button allows you to switch between Dynamic, Theater and Game preset display modes, and the remote can be universalized to control VCRs and DVD players. The old-school graphics of the on-screen menus are a little clunky, but relatively easy to navigate. Within the menus, there are rudimentary digital noise reduction options.

Inputs are housed behind plastic casings on both sides of the set’s rear. For video, there’s an RF input, one set of component ins, two sets of S-Video ins, DVI in and three composite ins, as well as composite monitor out; all are paired with L-R analog audio jacks. Unlike many LCD TVs, the LT-26WX84 is a TV all the way; there’s no VGA input, and its DVI/HDCP input is only compatible with digital TV signals from an HDTV receiver or DVD player. It doesn’t work with PC video signals. Included is a V1 “smart input” which can automatically detect signals from any components attached to a connected A/V receiver.

Calibrating this TV was somewhat more frustrating and beguiling than calibrating the other two. It was impossible to get contrast high enough and brightness low enough to pass our tests, and color saturation became garish and fuzzy. The TV actually looked better with the factory presets. Colors were vibrant and rather rich, and detail and black levels were good, although there was a strong red push in evidence, which tells me someone needs to dial down that color saturation setting!

JVC includes audio features for enhancing the performance of the unit’s front-firing 2×10-watt speakers—BBE High Definition Audio, Advanced HyperSurround (a surround sound simulator) and Active Hyper Bass. These controls didn’t do much for me, but overall, the built-in sound was the best and most powerful of the three LCDs. However, during some bombastic soundtracks, the speakers began to buzz. Get thee to an A/V receiver and a set of good speakers! The LT-26WX84 is an above-average, attractively priced LCD TV with a distinctive look.

JVC LT-26WX84

$2,999

26-inch 15:9 LCD TV

No VGA (PC) input

16 ms response time

41.8 lbs.

Energy Star-compliant

www.jvc.com

ViewSonic N2700w

ViewSonic is known more for PC monitors than TVs, so it’s no surprise this set feels like less of a TV than the others, especially with its cabling setup. Neverthless, it’s a good TV.

Unlike the JVC, the silver, sleek ViewSonic can also act as a computer display. In fact, it looks like little more than a computer display on the back panel. There’s nothing but inputs for VGA and DVI/HDCP, and mini-audio in/out jacks; beyond DVI, no traditional A/V inputs are in sight. But there’s a mysterious input called VXP. This is where we attached the included VXP25 TV module, which houses RF, component and composite inputs (S-Video is included only on a sister module model, the VXP10). The VXP25 isn’t a snazzy outboard A/V connections center (á la the handsome component that comes with Sharp’s 37-inch LCD), but looks much like a simple RF adapter. It nests in a somewhat awkward “clip-in” attachment on the back of the set.

Response time is 25ms, higher than the 16ms response times of the other two sets and more evidence this panel comes from a PC monitor heritage. Higher response times mean more video “lag” during high-action sequences.

Like the JVC, there’s a blue power-on button on the front, this one in the shape of a disc on the bottom center. Side-attached 10-watt speakers, combined with a true 16:9 aspect ratio, make the set appear extra-wide compared to the others. There’s a carrying handle on top, too.

The N2700w is best suited for a PC user who likes to set up shop on the couch in the living room, and who would like to occasionally view TV. Because this display is larger than the average PC monitor, ViewSonic recommends you sit at least 30 inches away from it during use. The N2700w even possesses sliding backlight and red/blue/green controls akin to those found on PC monitors. ViewSonic is promoting the N2700w not so much as a TV as, in its words, a “versatile multimedia center,” allowing you through its Picture-over-Data function to, for example, watch TV while you surf the Internet or fill out a spreadsheet—something you can’t do with the JVC. You can view up to nine channels at once with its multiview function. However, the relative dearth of traditional A/V input selections, in our view, restricts this multi-source utility a bit, particularly when it comes to connecting digital cameras, camcorders, video game consoles and other A/V components. Aspect ratio controls are a bit lacking, as well.

Still, the N2700w was no slouch at live video. The set performed well in terms of video quality against its competitors. But those looking for a set exclusively for high-quality TV and DVD viewing would fare better with a similarly-priced set designed from the ground up for nothing but that purpose.

ViewSonic NextVision N2700w

$2,499 estimated street price

27-inch, 16:9 LCD TV

25ms response time

Net weight 30.8 lbs., gross weight 40.5 lbs.

www.viewsonic.com

Westinghouse W33001

The well-known Westinghouse brand entered the LCD fray with Taiwanese-produced products in late 2003, including this 30-inch (more accurately, 29.54-inch) set. Get beyond its somewhat quirky setup and you have a pretty nice product.

The silver W33001 looks quite stately, with its side speakers also serving as “feet” used to place the unit on a table or other piece of furniture (as opposed to the center-based stands on the JVC and ViewSonic panels). Beyond the unobtrusive Westinghouse logo and a green power light, nothing really distracts you from the screen.

The power input is located underneath the set, great for wall-mounting (brackets are optional), but awkward for tabletop installation. Inputs are on both sides of the unit and include DVI/HDCP, PC VGA and audio inputs, RS232, L/R audio out, two sets of component inputs (YCbCr and YPbPr), S-Video in, composite in and two sets of L/R audio ins. There’s dual-tuner, 13-channel picture-in-picture capability, and like the ViewSonic, you can do picture-in-picture with both TV/DVD and PC signals, and you can swap audio between the selected picture-in-picture windows. Aspect ratio settings are Normal, Fill All, Wide and Panorama.

The remote is the bulkiest of the three and beyond direct access to the different inputs, doesn’t provide many remarkable shortcuts or ergonomic friendliness. Most functions must be accessed through the Menu button. The on-screen menus are clear and laid out adequately, looking somewhat similar to—but cleaner than—the ViewSonic’s. The remote also features a slide-out area with some little-used buttons.

Viewing angles are good but this larger panel proves a bit less robust on sharp angles than the other two. Component video looked terrific—majestically so—but lesser signals combined with the larger screen size added up to a less pleasant viewing experience compared to our two smaller panels. The audio is a bit weaker than the other two panels, too, with eight-watt side speakers that really don’t pack much sonic punch. However, there’s a subwoofer output on the set, which is an unexpected and nice touch.

While the Westinghouse panel performs very nicely, it isn’t the best 30-inch LCD out there. But I don’t know anyone who would complain about owning one. Such is the allure of LCD.

Westinghouse Digital W33001

$2,599

30-inch 15:9 LCD TV

16 ms response time

40 lbs. with base, 37 lbs without base

www.westinghousedigital.com

Truth and Lies about Aspect Ratios

One pet peeve of mine when it comes to LCD is the inaccurate descriptions of aspect ratios. You might think all “widescreen” or “16:9″ LCD TVs do, in fact, actually have the proper 16:9 aspect ratios. You’d be wrong. In fact, last summer, research company DisplaySearch said 15:9 (or 5:3) LCDs accounted for around three of every four LCD TVs sold. Unfortunately, this is rarely acknowledged by the manufacturers, and no matter whether it’s a deliberate attempt to mislead, a simple (but completely irresponsible) form of miscommunication between engineering and marketing, or simply not a terribly big deal, I find it unacceptable to incorrectly describe a feature so basic in products that cost thousands of dollars.

As a rule of thumb, try this. If the resolution of the flat panel is 1280×720, or 1366×768, it’s a true 16:9. If it’s 1280×768, it’s a 15:9. Or you can take a tape measure and see for yourself.

We did, just to be sure. Sure enough, the JVC and Westinghouse panels, both with 1280×768 resolution, measured 5:3/15:9—the JVC screen was 22.1 inches wide by 13.2 inches high, the Westinghouse 25 by 15 inches. The Viewsonic, meanwhile, has 1280×720 resolution and measured 23.5 by 13.2 inches—a true 16:9.

JVC describes its display as a 16:9 in its product literature and even in its manual, which is completely inaccurate. Westinghouse doesn’t tout its product’s aspect ratio, but deep in its literature admits that its 30-inch LCD has “an aspect ratio of 5:3, which is in between NTSC [traditional 4:3] and HDTV, providing the best of both worlds”—an interesting rationalization that nevertheless actually carries a bit of logical weight.