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. This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the control turned up), so the picture was well suited for a very sunny room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. However, image detail was very exaggerated and made images appear less natural, despite our attempts to minimize this with the sharpness control. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images was Very Good with minimal "jaggies" (jagged edges) deinterlacing of 1080i video, and film mode detection from 1080i content, were both 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. But it revealed only a little contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights. The brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. In HDR mode this TV only allowed us to optimize the Brightness, Gamma, and Peak Luminance picture settings. All other settings were as they were for the standard-dynamic range (SDR) HD/UHD picture. 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, but we noted some 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.
