The Short Form

$2,600 / JVC.COM / 800-252-5722

Snapshot

An all-new onscreen menu design and solid 120-Hz processing distinguish JVC’s new LCD set

Plus

• Crisp high-def picture detail • Excellent screen uniformity and viewing angle for an LCD • Transparent 120-Hz upconversion

Minus

• Overly rich out-of-box color (even in Theater mode) • Can’t separately adjust Video Status presets for each input

Key Features

• 120-Hz display • TV Guide On Screen program guide • HDMI 1.3 connections with xvYCC support • 1080p/24 input-capable •Inputs: (3) HDMI, (2) component-, (3) composite-, and (1) S-video; RF Ant/Cable; RGB PC, USB, and RS-232C • 44 1⁄4 x 28 5⁄8 x 5 1⁄8 in, 75 lb (with stand)

JVC plays things pretty low-key for a TV company, releasing only a handful of new LCD models annually. Of these, the high-end Procision sets are the ones we at Sound & Vision look out for, since they feature the company’s Clear Motion Drive 120-Hz display technology, now in its third generation. The last JVC LCD that I reviewed, the LT-47X898, impressed me with its clean video processing and upconversion — something I couldn’t say about all the other 120-Hz models I’d evaluated up to that point. Naturally, I was curious to see how the company’s latest 47-incher, the LT-47X899, would check out.

With a 5-inch front-to-back panel depth and a 11⁄2-inch-thick bezel, the LT-47X899 isn’t as slim or sexy as some of the other supermodel-thin LCDs I’ve had my hands on recently. Still, the JVC’s got an appealing look, with a gloss-black bezel and base, as well as a bottom-mounted speaker bar that angles in slightly at the edges. Along with its 120-Hz display, the TV uses an IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel to maximize the viewing angle for anybody sitting way off to one side of the couch. And its all-new onscreen menu is a huge improvement over the archaic one featured in previous JVC TVs.

The set’s input array includes three HDMI 1.3 and two component-video connections. You also get an RS-232C port (for hookup to a home-control system), as well as RGB PC and USB ports. Strangely, the latter are tucked away on the set’s back, making it a hassle to connect a laptop computer or USB mass-storage device for viewing digital photos.

The set’s remote control has a fully backlit keypad, and the buttons on its surface are large, clearly labeled, and laid out in a clean, simple arrangement. Yet another remote-control highlight is a full set of direct-input buttons, which lets you quickly switch sources without having to sort through an onscreen menu.

Pressing the Aspect button allows you to toggle through the set’s display modes. When watching high-def programs, you can choose Full, Full Native (displays a 1080i/p image pixel-for-pixel with no overscan), Panorama (picture zoom with horizontal stretch), and Cinema Zoom (picture zoom with no stretch).

SETUP

Settings for the JVC’s six Video Status modes (picture presets) can be tweaked to taste, and the set stores your changes. (Adjustments can be made independently for both standard and high-def signals.) In addition to basic picture settings, you get the option of adjusting the TV’s variable backlight for each mode, as well as activating Dynamic Gamma (automatically adjusts gamma to optimize shadow detail in dark scenes) and Smart Sensor (automatically adjusts picture brightness according to the room’s ambient light level). One drawback is that any adjustments you make are global; the set’s Video Status modes can’t be tweaked separately for each input.

With either the Theater or Custom 1 and 2 presets active, you get a range of additional picture settings to play with. These include Horizontal and Vertical Sharpness, Color Temperature, and an extensive set of Color Management settings to tweak the tint and saturation levels independently for red, green, blue, yellow, and cyan. Using the advanced color-temperature adjustments in the
Theater Pro II submenu, I was able to get the TV’s Low color-temperature preset to pretty accurately track the 6,500-K standard in Theater mode (see Test Bench). But the Color Management adjustments, which get almost no explanation in the owner’s manual, proved more difficult to work with. However, a high level of interactivity between the various Color Management settings ultimately made them more frustrating than helpful, and I only ended up using them to slightly tone down saturation for the color red.

PERFORMANCE

Watching The Counterfeiters on Blu-ray Disc, I was immediately grabbed by the TV’s crisp 1080p picture. In scenes like the one where Herzog (Devid Striesow) busts into the pad of artist/counterfeiter Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) to arrest him, the TV’s sharp detail brought the large array of objects cluttering the space into crisp focus, with the fine texture of the future Sturmbannführer Herzog’s tweed overcoat in particular conveying a solid, 3-D feel.

Reds initially looked oversaturated and cartoonish on the JVC, and skin tones had a too-warm cast. But after making extensive tweaks (including reducing the set’s red level in the Color Management menu), the color rendition improved. Watching a scene from The Counterfeiters where Sorowitsch gambles in a private room in Monte Carlo, his face, and those of the European aristocrats surrounding him, displayed a natural-looking skin tone. And when I checked out a Clemson vs. Alabama college football game recorded from ESPN-HD, the sea of bright-orange-clad players and fans looked balanced, as opposed to lurid — which is how they initially looked before I made my adjustments.

Shadow detail and depth, while not on the same level as that of the plasmas and better LCDs I’ve tested recently, was mostly good. When Sorowitsch gets transferred in a squalid train compartment to a different concentration camp, the TV managed to illuminate a fair amount of detail in the dank interior, such as wooden slats lining the walls and grungy straw covering the floor — not to mention the half-starved young art student in the corner whom the counterfeiter helps and befriends.

The set’s Clear Motion Drive III 120-Hz processing for the most part worked very well. With my Blu-ray player configured for 1080p/24 output to the TV, shots with diagonal camera pans looked smooth and relatively judder-free. The set’s noise-reduction modes also proved effective (I’d recommend setting the VNR mode to Auto and leaving it there), although a slight amount of detail reduction could be seen when MPEG NR was set to High.

BOTTOM LINE

JVC’s latest 120-Hz LCD offers some improvements over last year’s models, particularly in the areas of onscreen menu design and ergonomics. And while this TV’s black level, shadow detail, and color accuracy are only average compared with that of the flat-panel competition, its 120-Hz display delivered crisp and smooth-looking pictures with all manner of programs — and it did so over an impressively wide viewing angle.

TEST BENCH

Color temperature (Custom mode/Warm2 color temperature before/after calibration):
20-IRE: 8,042 K/7,042 K
30-IRE: 7,516 K/6,475 K
40-IRE: 7,176 K/6,345 K
50-IRE: 7,078 K/6,342 K
60-IRE: 7,000 K/6,387 K
70-IRE: 7,151 K/6,329 K
80-IRE: 7,261 K/6,525 K
90-IRE: 7,459 K/6,757 K
100-IRE: 7,534 K/6,579 K

Brightness (100-IRE window): 19.5/39.8 ftL

Primary Color Point Accuracy vs. SMPTE HD Standard

Color	Target X	Measured X	Target Y	Measured Y
Red	0.64	0.79	0.33	0.35
Green	0.30	0.24	0.60	0.77
Blue	0.15	0.11	0.06	0.03

The JVC LT-47X899’s Custom picture preset delivered the most accurate color when also in Theater mode with Low color temperature selected. With those settings active, grayscale tracking ended up being +/- 1,034 degrees K of the 6,500 K standard from 30 to 100 IRE, which is pretty far off the mark. Manual white balance adjustments made in the set’s Theater Pro II submenu improved grayscale tracking to +/-257 degrees K from 30 to 100 IRE. The Theater preset’s peak brightness  was a relatively dim 19.5 ftL. Fortunately, since this preset’s individual settings can be adjusted, I was able to boost light output to roughly twice that level during calibration.

Color decoder tests revealed only a minimal –5 percent green error on both the HDMI and component-video inputs in Theater mode. As compared to the SMPTE HD specification, the set’s red, green, and blue color points all showed high levels of oversaturation.

Overscan — the amount of picture area hidden behind the edges of the TV’s screen — measured 0% for 1080i/p-format high-definition signals with Full Native Aspect mode selected and 5% in Full mode. The set fully resolved 1080i and 720p test patterns via its HDMI inputs, although the same patterns looked both softer and noisier with a component-video connection. Screen uniformity was excellent for an LCD display, with gray full-field patterns showing no sign of tinting or uneven brightness. Off-axis viewing was also excellent for an LCD, with picture contrast remaining solid and uniform over a 90-degree window.

Tests of the JVC’s video processing delivered mixed results. The set passed all of the tests contained on the Silicon Optix HQV high-def test disc (a bit of flicker could be seen in vertical lines from the film resolution pattern, most likely caused by the set’s 120-Hz upconversion) but it failed several tests on the DVD version of the same disc. It did pass the important film frame (2:3) pulldown test, although the processing was slow to kick in — something I also observed when watching movies. The set’s Auto Digital Noise reduction setting worked well; you could leave this switched on permanently and not have to worry about picture detail loss. The MPEG noise reduction adjustment also proved effective at cleaning up pictures without significant detail loss at the mid and low settings.