HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was Very Good, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Very Good, just shy of excellent. Color accuracy was Excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, look very natural and lifelike. Very Good contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images convincing depth and dimension. Image brightness was Good (with the backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for all but the sunniest rooms. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content was Very Good (minimal "jaggies") for deinterlacing 1080i video, and Excellent for detecting the film mode of 1080i film-based content. However, the black levels were merely OK and maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but fell short of the better TVs. The quality appeared worse as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below.
VIEWING ANGLE This Insignia model has a narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. We examined the image quality at various viewing angles—its image quality notably decreased as we moved away from the center position. With dark scenes this model doesn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on our vertical position. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly. 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 brightened significantly, and made dark scenes look hazy. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw Fair vertical viewing angle performance, with significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
