Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 3839:1:1

All of the measurements here, except as noted, were taken in 2D in the Movie 2 mode.

The full-on/full-off contrast ratio was obtained with a backlight setting of 50, a contrast setting of 80, a brightness setting of 2, and a Static Gamma setting of 5. At these settings, the peak white level (15 percent white window) was 30.71 foot-lamberts and the black level was 0.008 ft-L. (Turn DynaLight off, however, and these results changed to 41.55 ft-L and 0.045 ft-L, respectively, for a full-on/full-off contrast ratio of 923:1). The settings were later adjusted somewhat for more comfortable viewing in a darkened room, but any contrast setting of 75 to 80 and backlight setting of 35 to 50 worked well for me.

The RGB balance charts show how well a display adheres to the D65 standard white point; the closer the three colors are to the same value, the nearer the result is to D65. Both charts here were taken at the zero color temperature setting. Pre-calibration, the white balance Delta E ranged from an acceptable 1.98 at 20 percent peak white to a poor 12.52 at 100 percent. After calibration, all the values were under 1.0. Delta E is a figure of merit showing how close the result is to the standard D65 white point. Most experts recommend a Delta E value of 4 or less, though some recommend a Delta E of no more than 3 for a visibly ideal result.

The gamma at a Static Gamma setting of 5 measured a low of 2.41 at 20 percent white to a maximum of 2.49 at 50 percent, with an average of 2.44.

The CIE chart shows that the color points are relatively close to the desired values. But the color deviations (also in Delta E form) averaged a relatively high 8.5. The set’s ColorMaster (color management) controls proved so fiddly and interactive that it can take hours to produce a visibly marginal improvement. (I know from experience!).

The 3D calibration, not shown, also produced good results, with a comparably tight RGB balance (the 3D color balance was even bluer than the 2D before calibration), an average white balance Delta E of 0.53 (!), an average gamma of 2.22 at the same Static Gamma setting of 5, and a peak white output of 14.56 ft-L (at the measured settings, more backlight range remains available for even higher brightness if you feel the need). Oddly, the 3D color gamut readings were tighter than in 2D (still without resorting to ColorMaster), with an average color Delta E of 3.38.—TJN