Black 0.004
White 31.55

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 7,888:1

All the measurements here, unless noted otherwise, were taken in the Custom Picture Mode, through an HDMI input, post calibra- tion, Smart Dimming engaged, and with the controls set as required for the most accurate image in a darkened room. There’s head- room to spare if you prefer an exceptionally bright image, but we’ve found that a peak brightness level of 30 to 40 foot-lamberts offers the most comfortable viewing in subdued room lighting—an ideal environment for the best performance from any set. A brightly lit room will render a set’s visible black level, and thus its mea- sured contrast ratio, meaningless.

As noted in the review, the black level was often higher than totally black, and often unpredictably so. When totally black, with the LED edge lighting completely off, the full-on/full-off contrast ratio would be infinite (and meaningless). The black level shown here, which I’ll call the illuminated black, indicates the more typical full-screen black, measured at center screen. Even though not totally black, it’s still competitive with the best sets currently on the market. Because the edge lighting is uneven, the illuminated black level varied; I measured 0.007 ft-L on the far right (at the vertical center) and 0.010 ft-L on the far left (also at vertical center).

With Smart Dimming turned off and no other changes in the settings, the full-on/full-of contrast ratio measured 4,625:1 (37 ft-L white, 0.008 ft-L black, measured at center screen). This is still a good result, although we found no downside to using Smart Dimming when available (it is not available in 3D).

The Before Calibration color tracking, out of the box in the Normal mode, was relatively poor, with Delta E readings ranging from 10.4 to 14.7. After Calibration, the Delta E ranged from 0.55 to 1.65, which indicates exceptionally good color track- ing. Any Delta E below 3.0 is considered very good.

The set’s gamma averaged around 2.26 in the low to mid brightness region and about 2.35 on the brighter end. A consistent gamma is usually desirable, and most experts recom- mend a value of between 2.2 and 2.4. This is a good result. While we like to see a selection of gamma settings, this fixed value worked well with all of the program material I watched.—TJN