We’ve been doing some rather expensive high-end stuff this month, especially in TVs, and that includes a new plasma model by Hitachi that we covered just last week. The others are stalwarts of the LCD realm, and no prizes for guessing the names: Samsung and Sony.
So now the time has come to play god, incite a war and reap the benefits. (That’s world history for you.) We're about to pitch the Hitachi P50X01AU, the Sony Bravia KLV-46X350A, and the Samsung LA46F81B. No tickets or fees required; anyone reading this is already ringside...
Sony Bravia KLV-46X350A
Rs 2,49,990
This monster, reviewed individually here, is one heck of a panel, with the great processing Sony's famous for. It’s a 46-inch full-HD LCD, which means 1920 x 1080 pixels. 2200:1 is the native contrast ratio. Brightness is 550 cd/m2.
The design is classy all right. There's a glass rim as border, with touch panel buttons that light up. These things differentiate the unit from lower models even before the TV is turned on. Featurewise there is everything the LCD market has to offer: 24p mode, 100Hz frame doubling etc. 3 HDMIs, and other team members of components etc.
Once switched on, there's no raw deal here. The color was spectacular, really very vibrant and lifelike. Even the detail aspect was more than satisfactory, it surprised with minimal amounts of jaggies and artifacts. In motion you may see a little negativity, but that’s if you look really hard. ‘Clouding’ (variance in black level) is there though, and overall the price itself is way above the fair value level.
Samsung LA46F81B
Rs 2,00,000
When I reviewed the LA46F81B on its own, I considered it expensive and compared it to the Bravia; though it turns out that this one wins in price, at least against the Sony.
Lookswise this is as good as the Sony, and I would say quite similar. They look like brothers, after all they're partners in panel manufacturing, and so the factory can be called the common womb... but you get the drift. Touch-sensitive symbol buttons, glass strips on the bezel... this one makes me wonder who copied whom.
Feature-wise it is rich, with the DNIe proprietary stuff going on once you turn on the menu. Dynamic (not native!) contrast ratio is 25000:1. It’s full-HD of course, 16:9 panel. The connections are good, with 3 HDMIs, USB-in, component-ins and the rest.
The image is very clean, with minimal judder, graininess and other artifacts. The level is the same as the Sony, so I can't pick a clear winner here. In color too it's a close contest, but contrast and black levels? Sony takes these. This is really a play of the processing power and circuitry of the LCDs, and Sony just beats the Samsung in depth of black. But don't overlook the huge difference in price!
Hitachi P50X01AU
Rs 1, 99,990
Things get exciting with the arrival of this contestant. This is because this one’s plasma, so we have another technology. I wouldn’t say its the best of both worlds, but in plasmas we get fewer devices to review, and price-wise they match.
The design is basic, but good to look at nonetheless. The speakers are at the bottom, and connections include 3 HDMIs, 2 components and the rest, though this one has an optical (digital) audio out too.
The video performance shines with very deep blacks and overall vivid picture when it comes to the contrast /brightness domain, and color is very good too. In this realm it beats the LCDs through and through. But it suffered a bit in detail and cleanliness in the image. Graininess and artifacts around borders were encountered here and there.
Match ResultsThese are the categories, and the winner in each:
Blacks/contrast: Hitachi
Detail/sharpness/cleanliness of image: Sony
Connections: Tie (all three contain most important connections)
Design and aesthetics: Sony and Samsung
Features: Sony
Color: Tie (all are very good)
Motion images (film): Sony
Motion images (animation and game): Samsung and Sony (though the Hitachi looks better statically)
Price: Hitachi and Samsung
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