This portion of the review details how the Mitsubishi LT-46148 LCD HDTV performed on the test bench. Please read the Mitsubishi LT-46148 LCD HDTV Review Essentials, if you have not already. Below Black Video RGB 0-255 can't pass below black because black is 0. Unfortunately the same goes for YPbPr 16-235 yet with that video signal black is 16 so it could if designed to do so. Bottom line, no below black signals will pass.

While not a severe error, it is one that Videophiles should take note of since some small portion of consumer video content will exceed 16 or 235 by a few notches and an ISF calibration would setup a display to account for that anomaly. This one can't for black.

Using the SMPTE RP133 pattern from DVE the 1920 and 960 boxes clearly showed a blue shift along with the 1080 box showing the same although less in level. This is HDMI YPbPr so the display has a component processing chroma error even though it passed the luminance correctly.

Using that same pattern output as component YPbPr 1080i there was no chroma error but the 1920 response was lower in contrast level. Over Scan Using the Full Native aspect ratio there was 0 over scan. If the digital input you are using is labeled as PC this will activate a different set of aspect ratios, one being 1:1 pixel mapped centered output for scan rates below 1920x1080 with 0 overscan.

Per the owners manual it supports 9 different pixel matrices. In testing with a Sencore VP403 set for PC Mac 640x480 and 1024x768 was not pixel mapped. I also tried the HDTV section at 480p and was greeted with a correct 16:9 aspect ratio. All three of these displayed quite well without any ringing in any of the bursts although they were not pixel mapped.

Only the HDTV 720p, 720x1280, pixel mapped as a centered output. Color Resolution Using HDMI via the Accupel Burst pattern encoded as 4:4:4 color at 720p with the display input label set for PC provided the correct response.

Setting the input label for another input type takes it out of 4:4:4 color mode. Using the same pattern at 1080I the response was OK. As resolution increased color saturation decreased. 120 lines was well saturated, 240 showed a drop, 480 was greatly reduced, 960 was barely noticed and of course 1920 was missing in action as it should be rather than creating a chroma error since HDTV is limited to 960 or half of luminance.

Using component via the Accupel Burst pattern encoded as 4:4:4 color at 1080i the response varied. The 480 line response was actually more saturated than either the 240 or 960 line response. The 960 line response faired better in saturation than HDMI. The 1920 line response was completely saturated, an error, but video YPbPr is limited to 960 lines so this should not be a problem.

Either response is a case of choose your poison since either input type comes with errors. My preference would be HDMI. DVI RGB versus HDMI YPbPr Video Levels Typically any DVI input will be setup for RGB at the source and this display is designed specifically for DVI PC video levels, 0-255 when ever any digital RGB video signal is used. Conversely an HDMI source is typically digital YPbPr and uses consumer video levels 16-235.

According to the manual you must name the HDMI input you are using for your computer, PC, "It is important to use the name PC so that the TV can process the video signal correctly". This will change the formatting or aspect ratio options along with color resolution and response but it will not adjust the video levels back and forth from consumer video 16-235 to PC video 0-255.

Component YPbPr yielded the correct response. Calibration, Test Results and Factory Settings The factory service menu is extremely limited from the controls offered to how they affect the image. The bad news is this display does not favor ISF display calibration one bit.

The display offers three factory presets that change overall response, BRILLIANT, BRIGHT and NATURAL along with two color temperature settings of HIGH and LOW. The good news is selecting NATURAL and LOW yields some very good results. While not accurate these settings provide a decent response envelope as you will see.

BRILLIANT, as with all displays, represents the out of box sales mode settings from the manufacturer to compete against others and induce your purchase. This is the setting you will likely encounter at the retailer when shopping. BRILLIANT pumps up the gamma and expands the color space to its maximum. BRIGHT pumps up the gamma providing correct color space. Only NATURAL provides nearly correct gamma and color space.

Gamma for BRILLIANT and HIGH color temp 0 IRE - NA 10 IRE - 3.2 20 IRE - 3.3 30 IRE - 3.3 40 IRE - 2.5 50 IRE - 2.0 60 IRE - 2.2 70 IRE - 1.5 80 IRE - 1.3 90 IRE - 1.2 100 IRE - end To provide artificially dynamic images the BRILLIANT gamma is setup to expand the black and the natural consequence is the crushing of white.

This leads to video processing artifacts related to pixilation along with a flat dynamic response from 70 to 100 IRE as noted in the review. Gamma for NATURAL and LOW color temp 0 IRE - NA 10 IRE - 2.2 20 IRE - 3.0 30 IRE - 2.9 40 IRE - 2.4 50 IRE - 2.2 60 IRE - 2.2 70 IRE - 2.1 80 IRE - 2.2 90 IRE - 2.2 100 IRE - end While still climbing strongly out of black at the 20 and 30 IRE points the rest of the response is text book.

Like lamp based front or rear projection displays LCD technology has no issue with this and maintains the same response regardless of IRE levels or the amount of screen area provided for reproduction. This is one area of performance where plasma technology suffers dramatically.

Delta C is provided instead which shows how far off from D65 the response is. The target is less than 1. Less than. 5 error is considered quite good approaching a reference response. RGB response charts are included providing a much better understanding of response errors. Delta C for BRILLIANT and HIGH color temp RGB for BRILLIANT and HIGH color temp As expected the grayscale response is heavily shifted towards blue which also significantly shifts all color information towards blue.

Delta C for NATURAL and LOW color temp RGB for NATURAL and LOW color temp For grayscale calibration the product "appears" to be limited to RGB gain controls only for peak white and does not include necessary controls for peak black. The obvious problem is the sloped red response. Trying to calibrate the product I found out that the gain controls do not function as a calibrator would expect.

I tried to flatten out the red but all the gain control does is move that response up or down as is in its entirety. In the world of grayscale calibration we would not call this a gain control yet as an engineer, using the word gain is correct in the generic sense of any electronic adjustment. The controls we are looking for are in there somewhere but Mitsubishi, as usual for many years now, has decided to lock them out.

The response is what it is and ISF calibration can't do anything for this aspect of performance. The human eye is more sensitive to color at peak black rather than peak white so ultimately it is set for the best overall response. That is not a passing grade though because the response you see did not happen by accident, it is calibrated, and the only reason to leave it with these errors is that a correct response reduces light output.

It is possible to have correct color space and incorrect color decoding. Decoding is tested using patterns that provide complex phase angles. The display does not provide any red, green or blue gating feature to properly test this response. Overall decoding via HDMI is quite good using the NATURAL setting if not spot on except for magenta. Via component YPbPr the errors increase slightly. HDMI has the better response.

Source: http://feeds.hdtvmagazine.com/click.phdo

Keywords:
color, color space, color temp, color decoding, brilliant color, low color, bt color, havoc color, color response, color temperature

While Mitsubishi is far better known for rear projection DLP since the demise of CRT, market forces can't be ignored and consumers remain spellbound by the flat panel concept in their homes. Let's see what Mitsubishi has to offer and how their LCD products compare. Since last year Mitsubishi has offered 40", 46" and 52" models and the LT46148 is part of their current line of 1920x1080 displays. Common Features Black cabinet finish with swivel stand Auto-sensing inputs Back panel - 4 HDMI 1.3 with Deep Color, X.V.

It does take a minute or two for the display to recognize the connection and perform this function for you. After setting up the input it will ask about setting up the remote for NetCommand which I skipped. As with all display products you get sales mode from the manufacturer which is their calibration to induce your purchase having nothing to do with performance imaging and video standards. My son joined me on this first look and both of us quickly grew weary of the artificial artifact ridden response.

Having experience with Mitsubishi products I set the picture mode to Natural, color temp to Low and Video Noise to off creating a perceptually pleasing response similar to what we would expect with video standards. As we went channel surfing, first impression was intermittent jumping or skipped frames. We finally settled in on a 20 year old movie on HDNet.

This led to a discussion of how this movie did not look its age as if it had just been shot with an HD video camera. My son followed up with comments of how so far it looked like computer generated images along with an artificial motion response. I went into the menu and turned off the Smooth 120 Hz LCD processing making the movie finally look like film, removing the CG motion artifact as well.

We played with this feature some more and spent about 10 minutes on one particular scene using the TiVo DVR function. The Smooth 120 Hz LCD processing has three settings, off, medium and high. High provided the most artificial response and quirky motion totally un-natural. Medium was little improvement. While this feature did remove motion blur for the most part it would intermittently lose cadence lock jumping a frame or blurring for a moment.

We both agreed the best setting was with this feature turned off. Some more surfing and testing of the Smooth 120 Hz feature brought us to another HDNet Movie from 1996. Ultimately we found the imaging seductive along with the movie being entertaining and involving so we turned off the feature and ended up watching the movie all the way through.

Gallery Player A big attraction of flat panel displays is the ability to mount them on the wall, which also lends itself to looking like a picture. For a number of years, services have come to market to provide static high definition images for flat panel displays when you are not watching them.

GalleryPlayer is the first service to directly support this for a number of manufacturers: Mitsubishi, Panasonic and Samsung using a USB flash memory card. They offer a huge library of professionally captured paintings and photographic images. First step is to visit www.galleryplayer.com to download and install the software. My install was not smooth creating a pop up error window. After messing around for a while I was able to set up an account and get logged in. I also sent GalleryPlayer an email for support.

I installed the USB card on the TV and entered the setup menu to create an encoded account on the card and then connected the USB card to my PC and burned the free High Definition Showcase provided.

I put the card back on the TV and was greeted with other images from other files unable to access the GalleryPlayer content. Putting it back in the PC I removed the other files. Plugging it into the TV I finally had GalleryPlayer working. The feature requires a USB card dedicated to GalleryPlayer due to this limitation along with the fact that the TV does not load the images into an internal ram.

Fortunately USB cards are relatively inexpensive. Unfortunately the images are encoded for PC video 0-255 and this input is setup for consumer video, 16-235, and that means that upper whites and lower blacks are crushed delivering images with artifacts appearing overdriven with highlights washed out, blacks cut off, devoid of color or wrong color. For those who know what good video should look like it will be obvious yet those who do not know any better may be potentially satisfied.

Using a PC The display does not offer a VGA PC input requiring you have a DVI or HDMI digital video output instead from your PC. According to the manual you must name the HDMI input you are using for your computer, PC, "It is important to use the name PC so that the TV can process the video signal correctly". This setting is critical if you want the most out of your PC because it allows 4:4:4 color processing.

This also changes your aspect ratio options adding a 1:1 pixel mapped centered output with some scan rates. If you select PC for the input name the display expects PC progressive scan rates at a 60 Hz frame rate. It won't display 1080i as an example if you are using your PC for DTV outputting native 1080i. If you expect to run a PC Blu-ray player in the future it won't accept 1080p24 frame properly either telling you this scan rate doesn't work.

Although it will show an image, after downsizing it with black borders all around, your 1:1 pixel map is destroyed. Noise One of the quietest displays I have had in my presence. This is to be expected of LCD in general. Maintenance None that I am aware of.

Problems During the HQV Benchmark Blu-ray test I was checking how the 120 Hz processing was responding to the panning stadium test which requires bringing the menu up and multiple cursor key presses to navigate to the setting finally exiting from the menu to view the image. On one occasion the menu was stuck on the screen and all controls locked out with no way to recover without pulling the AC cord from the wall.

I just let it sit and fortunately within about 1 minute the display recovered returning to normal. Viewing Angle The display offers a wide horizontal left to right viewing angle without the typical washed out look of older generation LCD panels. It does slightly change the black levels and slightly discolors at extreme angles. Vertical angles were another story and in that case the display did significantly wash out and discolor.

If you are installing the display over a fireplace for example you will want to use a mount that tilts it downward to try and maintain a 90 degree viewing angle to your favored sitting position.

If you are using the display at a normal screen height lined up with your viewing positions, either mounted on the wall or using the supplied stand, you should be fine. If viewing angle is important in your application there are other brands that perform better in both the vertical and horizontal planes. Subjective Viewing Results As noted in the bench testing portion the display is not inclined towards ISF calibration but does provide a surprisingly good response with factory settings.

The only time calibration errors were clearly visible was when viewing content I am intimate with limiting such perception to test materials or menus from sources. With the Smooth 120 Hz LCD Processing turned off, a variety of material and sources were viewed for over two months with not one complaint. There were rare occasions where having Smooth 120 Hz turned off revealed significant motion artifacts with 24 or 30 frame sources.

Nobody in the house wanted it turned on due to the artificial CG outcome of the feature and I was the only one who ever noticed the occasional motion errors. The display has ample light output, a great contrast ratio and the appearance of deep dark blacks. The unique back lighting design provides a wide range of light output to match your viewing environment. Image details were sharp and crisp.

HD sources looked fantastic along with upscaled SD content from DVD or from a TiVo Series 3 DVR and cable service.

Source: http://feeds.hdtvmagazine.com/click.phdo

Keywords:
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GAINESVILLE, FL, March 17, 2009 . While there has been a lot of talk about the digital transition and the impending deadline on June 12, 2009, there are still those who are confused as to what all the fuss is about. Digital broadcasting is a brand new kind of broadcasting technology that enables broadcasters to transmit information to their audiences much more efficiently.

Analog broadcast technology is not able to carry as much information and this results in a screen resolution that is significantly lower than that of digital broadcasting. The clarity of the image and sound on the TV set is much clearer and it is able to provide a more entertaining experience because the viewer can see and hear more details than was previously possible.

Not only that, but it is also able to provide interactive video services that would not be possible with the traditional analog technology. Imagine being able to cast your vote on American Idol right from your TV remote instead of having to text it in with your cell phone or even voting on what happens on your favorite TV show after the commercial.

With DTV, it's possible. Parts of the analog spectrum that will be freed up will also be given to police departments and to other public safety organizations and what those organizations do not use will be auctioned off to the highest bidder for companies to provide new wireless broadband services.

Verizon Wireless is anxious for the transition in June so they can deploy their new LTE or 4G wireless broadband network, which will be faster and more reliable than the current 3G network. If you have cable or satellite television, it isn't very likely that you will be affected by the transition because your provider in most cases will give you the equipment that you need to make the switch.

If you live outside the city limits where there is no cable service and you do not subscribe to satellite services, you will need to purchase a DTV converter box or a television that is DTV compatible. To be able to view HD transmissions in locations that are not subscribed to cable or satellite service, an HD antenna and HDTV will be required.

Federal law mandates that all stations that are considered to be "full-power" stop their analog broadcasts after June 12, 2009, but those stations that are considered "low-power"will not be required to make the switch. There are many low power stations throughout the United States that serve only a small area.

Source: http://24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/the-dtv-transition~.php

Keywords:
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