HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality fell short. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. We did note some added edge enhancement processing, but it wasn't distracting. Picture performance was limited by color accuracy which tended towards a pink tone, with color temperature on the cool side. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—was good, so images had depth and dimension. Black level was generally good, but we noted some quirky behavior on this model. When we turned on the TV the black levels would sometimes yield a visible loss of near-black shadows. But cycling the power off then on brought things back to normal. We could not reproduce this quirk reliably (Also depth of black level does degrade as you move to the sides - see viewing angle). Image brightness was good (with the backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for most rooms. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. There was slight display non-uniformity that created brighter cloudy areas most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie). We routinely see this issue with LCDs and severity can vary from model to model. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Insignia has a narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs for this attribute. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. When we viewed the TV from the sides image quality degraded significantly. The picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out. Black levels visibly brightened, reducing contrast especially on dark scenes. When viewing the image from above or below eye level to the screen, the vertical viewing angle was very good. The picture showed minimal change in color, contrast, and black level.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY. Overall UHD performance was decent. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, was presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performs similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance is not effective. The display did not have the peak brightness capability necessary (by HDR standards) to enhance the realism of our test videos mastered for high dynamic range, while revealing little or no contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations, but some loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas was noted. Brighter colored objects remained nicely saturated.
MOTION BLUR. This Insignia TV has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests. This is better than average for LCD displays with the basic 60Hz frame rate. This model does not include a blur reduction feature.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has good sound quality; about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. Bass was adequate which added some fullness to the sound, but lacking in definition a bit, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was closed in. The speakers could play at a fairly loud volume level but quality does degrade at the highest settings. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Insignia provides a small, advanced remote with a built-in microphone and a reduced set of buttons that support on-screen menu navigation. The buttons are not backlit but the high contrast labeling is fairly readable in a dimly lit environment. It provides direct button access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and PlayStation Vue streaming services. Consider the TV's stand is 33 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides Internet capability with a selection of applications via its "Fire OS" portal with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Go and HBO Now. Includes built-in Alexa, a virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming via the remote's built-in microphone.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs—one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one composite input, and no component input. It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network.
WHAT'S INCLUDED. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. A detachable power cord. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
