HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was very good. It did a very good job displaying the fine detail of HD content. There was some slight loss of fine texture likely due to noise reduction processing. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Contrast--the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites--was good, so images had depth and dimension. Black level was generally good, though not as dark as better performers on the darkest scenes (though quality 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. Film mode operation for HD film-based content was very good, with no visible jaggies along the edges of objects during motion scenes. Deinterlacing on the other hand was only good, with some jaggies visible when converting 1080i video content, such as from cable, to the display's native resolution.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Westinghouse 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 strong loss of color, so flesh tones looked very 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 good. The picture showed some change in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR. This Westinghouse 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 fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. Bass was lacking as was treble detail, and the overall sound was thin and closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, but quality does degrade at the highest settings with some audible distortion. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. It lacks the ability to add custom labels to different input sources. Westinghouse includes a traditional button keypad remote for control of basic functions. It includes buttons for direct access to streaming services including Netflix, VUDU, YouTube and Pandora. The high contrast labels on the buttons make them easier to read in a dimmer viewing environment. Consider the TV's stand is 26 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides basic Internet functionality with a selection of applications via its "Streaming" portal. Movie streaming services include Netflix and YouTube.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs and one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, a VGA video input, WiFi wireless networking.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries.
