HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was Excellent. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent. Color accuracy was Excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Excellent contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images great depth and dimension. Black levels were Excellent, and delivered very deep blacks that enhanced contrast in dark scenes. Image brightness was Very Good (with the Luminance control turned up), so the picture was well suited for a brighter room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. There was notable display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most visible on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images fell short with some visible "jaggies" (jagged edges). However, deinterlacing 1080i video, and film mode detection of 1080i film-based content, were Excellent.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was Excellent. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was all there. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance had limited effectiveness. In our tests, the display showed Good peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) and did a fine job displaying the benefits of our HDR 4K content. It could not reveal much contrast between the moderately bright and very bright highlights, while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail, from black to white, with no obvious banding within the gradually shaded areas. There was no visible loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas. Brightly colored objects remained nicely saturated.
VIEWING ANGLE This display has very wide viewing angle, better than most TVs we've tested. This helps make the TV a good choice for large group viewing. Our examination at various viewing angles indicated Excellent consistency. Contrast and depth of black level were largely unchanging from any viewing position. When we viewed the TV from the sides the picture showed a slight shift in color tone, but overall color remained consistent with no degradation in overall image quality. We viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw Excellent vertical viewing angle performance, with no significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
