LG INFINIA LX9500 3D LED TV - Ad Infinitum!
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DisplayMate & HQV Tests
Calibration - Spyder3TV Report
To maintain a standard across our review units, we calibrated the LG LX9500 with the Spyder3TV Home Theater Color Calibration kit prior to our display tests. This is to ensure we assess the HDTV based on optimal display settings, and not purely on visual estimation alone. At this point, we've also disabled all the necessary bells and whistles such as color and edge enhancement features. After the calibration process, optimized values were as recorded as such: Brightness at 43, Contrast at 98 and Color at 53. Black and white luminance readings were measured as 0.020 cd/m2 and 203.497 cd/m2 respectively. Such white luminance levels can be overwhelming on the eyes in a dark room, otherwise, you'll probably need higher levels of brightness to overcome the reflective screen. If you were to compare LG's results to the Sharp Quattron LE820M which uses edge-lit LEDs (0.133cd/m2 and 191.098 cd/m2), it is apparent the LG LX9500 has a darker black luminance and brighter white luminance figures on both counts. We shall see how the LX9500 performs with our remaining display assessments; with and without its local dimming feature to aid it.
DisplayMate Tests
DisplayMate is an application which generates a sequence of test patterns to determine the capabilities of imaging devices like color and gray-scale accuracies for example. For our tests, we've hooked up the LX9500 to our display test-bed PC via its HDMI connection. To be fair across the board, we have also disabled all visual enhancements on the TV in order to reduce the variables involved. Here are some findings based on the relevant and critical test patterns:-
Screen Uniformity
The TV's panel displayed constant uniformity with the brighter images, such as white and colored test patterns. However, given its strongly illuminated BLU (backlight unit), black levels were sacrificed with visible backlight bleeds across the screen. Fortunately, enabling the display's local dimming option did help improve black levels by quite a fair bit.
Dark Gray Scale
The LX9500 was adept at reproducing uniform gray tones across the entire surface of the display panel. Again, black levels were observably deeper with the TV's local dimming feature turned on. On the contrary, light leakage from the segmented backlight arrays became apparent when the TV is viewed at obtuse angles. We are hoping LG would reassess their panel's light diffuser for this minor glitch.
Color Scales
We didn't encounter any Color Tracking Errors based on the TV's standard color temperature presets. More importantly, the IPS panel managed to deliver true colors although they appeared more warm than cool. Intensity gradations were excellent across the color spectrum as well. Subtle and uneven gradients usually present with regular HDTVs did not manifest themselves here.
256-Intensity Level Color Ramp
Two key observations. Similar to the Color Scales patterns, the LX9500 rendered shipshape gradients and bold colors, although there is a tendency for overly saturated hues. However, we'll have to warn you that the INFINIA is very much susceptible to contrast shifts with wider viewing angles.
IDT HQV Tests
IDT's HQV Tests are designed to assess image quality and the handling of digital displays and players through a variety of video signal processing tasks which includes decoding, de-interlacing, motion correction, noise reduction and film cadence detection. We've programmed the Blu-ray player to playback in 1080i in order to stress the TV's video processor. This compels the TV's processor to convert interlaced signals into progressive to accommodate the HDTV's panel. Here are the results we noted on a few of the most crucial tests:-
Digital Noise Filtering
The LX9500 struggled to reduce noise and grains even with its filters revved at the max. LG has incorporated two noise filtering algorithms, including one for digital noise reduction. Unfortunately, visible traces of noise were still apparent with the "High" option.
Diagonal Filter Test
On the bright side, here's where things start to perk up. The INFINIA de-interlacing finesse was commendable. Not only was the rotating bar free of unwanted "jaggies", it was also spinning smoothly with little blips or stutters. In simple words, two thumbs up to LG's video processor for its diagonal interpolation mastery.
Film Resolution Loss Test
Many HDTVs tend to falter with this assessment. LG, on the other hand, was a lucky survivor. Strobing on the SMPTE test pattern was obvious without the TV's 24p feature. Simply put, the video processor had some trouble with "3:2 cadence" decoding by default. However, its outlook improved vastly when we enabled the LX9500's Real Cinema option. Now, that's not to say its inverse telecine process was perfect either since one 'box' was left strobing at the end of it.
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