TEST BENCH:

Color temperature (Warm color temperature before/after calibration) Low window (20-IRE): 8,205/7,988 K High window (80-IRE): 6,667/6,485 K Brightness (100-IRE window before/after calibration): 99.3/56.5 ftL

Though the reported numbers don't show it, the HD50LPW175 benefited greatly from service-menu calibration. While the color temperature at 20 IRE remained very blue (almost +2,500 K!) even after calibration, I was able to get color temperatures from 40 through 90 IRE to within 60 K of the 6,500-K standard. Plus, overall grayscale linearity improved from ±422 K before calibration to ±248 K afterwards (Calibration needs to be performed by a qualified technician, so discuss it with your dealer before purchase, or contact the Imaging Science Foundation at imagingscience.com or 561-997-9073.)

The TV was very bright out of the box. In the Professional preset, it reached 140 ftL, though it was a little more tame in the Cinematic preset, which turned in 99.3 ftL. Even after calibration, I couldn't get it down further than 56.5 ftL. Resolution tests showed that the TV doesn't fully resolve 720p HDTV test patterns. Color decoding was very accurate, measuring 0% red or green push on the Avia DVD's color-decoding-error test pattern. Overscan was 2.5% through the TV's HDMI input, and picture centering was near perfect.