Toshiba 46XF550 vs Sony KDL-46Z4100

[OleMiss]

Looking to compare these two 46 inch units. Both are narrow bezel and total width is less than 43 inches wide and either unit will fit in existing cabinet. I am having difficulty with making a technical comparison. Toshiba has "Pixel Pure 4G 14 Bit video processing", 10 bit panel Rate and "Dynamic Backlight control" Sony has "10 bit processing with a 10 bit Panel", "WCG-CCFL Backlight". What does this mean and how do these elements affect picture quality? Has any one seen these in side by side at the CE show? Have had both brands in electronics and do not have a brand preference, what are the pros and cons of each unit.

[eliwhitney]

HI OleMis - And, another " Welcome aboard" , new member !

Rather than "boring" all with a repeat, please do read the other one (today's pwcracer - 37") about old cabinets , required clearances, voiding warranties ....

To the selection of which HDTV .... you might be persuaded by the Sony 5 Year In-home, All-inclusive Plan @ $ 249 - $ 319, depending upon display size/costs .. It does replace a HDTV IF it can not be repaired in 3 or 4 years from now due to a then- unavailable special component . Here -

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... fier=S_ESP

It is available separately, directly @ Sony via web store or "877" telephone for up to 59 days after the purchase of TV from any authorized dealer, including Amazon, SAM's, Costco's, etc..

Most of those intricate design attributes of which you posted {either set} will actually only come into to play WHEN you use the very latest PS3 or Blu Ray Player - with it's latest firmware patch - plus the best of the available, very latest, associated discs. It also means a certified 1.3a, cat 2 only HDMI Cable. Otherwise, the majority don't come into play during regular HD commercial broadcasts.

eli

[Richard]

Toshiba has "Pixel Pure 4G 14 Bit video processing", 10 bit panel Rate and "Dynamic Backlight control" Sony has "10 bit processing with a 10 bit Panel", "WCG-CCFL Backlight". What does this mean and how do these elements affect picture quality?

10, 12 or 14 bit processing refers to the internal scaler of the display. The more bits the better for reducing contouring artifacts. As an example, a landscape shot with blue sky and the sky varies in light output and color depth - the artifact would be visible lines at each gradation of difference.

WCG = wide color gamut
This is all about how deep your color primaries and secondaries will appear and is required if you want accurate color. Standard back lighting in a side by side would appear as if the color control was turned down - less saturation. Very common LCD panel problem until about 2 years ago and the intro of WCG back lighting.

CCFL = Cold Cathode Fluorescent lighting
Sounds good for marketing for the most part.

Dynamic Backlight control = the ability to turn up or down the light output of that CCFL. Highly recommended especially if you want to watch in a darkened room. It also allows a real day/night setting for light output. If you are into performance then any LCD you would consider should have this feature.

[eliwhitney]

Hi Richard -

Many thanks for correcting / defining what is what / how it WILL do more than strictly Blu Ray DVDs!

Appreciate it.

eli

[Richard]

I first saw WCG backlighting at the 2004 Infocomm. NEC was showing off their new LCD WCG back lighting by showing standard panels along side the new ones. It was also one of those eye trick deals because the LED stuff looked over saturated but only because you had the plain janes along side them. Same thing happens during calibration - my PC is way blue so when I go from that to the calibrated display the gray scale looks yellow until my eyes recover. I close the lid on that puppy so my eyes aren't polluted during the final...

Funny thing is the LED version never took off - price was a big deal as I recall and the talk was that others were working on future CCFL versions.