My current top choices for different types of 1920x1080 displays based on both performance and price would be:
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PROJECTOR: Panasonic AE1000 N/A LCD (~$4,000)
RPTV: Samsung HL-S6187W 61" DLP (~$2,000)
DVTV: [COLOR="Red"][b]Sony Bravia KDL46V2500[/b][/COLOR] 46" LCD (~$2,500)
WARNING: For Christmas I bought my parents a new TV, the 46" Sony Bravia KDL46V2500 DV-LCD, and after installing it and calibrating it, I noticed severe Mura uniformity artifacts.
There are a few different types of Mura artifacts that can show up on some LCD panels, and in this case it appears to have a combination of two of them, but mostly it appears to be from a manufacturing error where the LCD panel is improperly sealed causing to much pressure on the liquid crystal cells in isolated areas on the panel. The effect of this are noticeable gradient "clouds" of gray that can be easily seen when the display is showing large areas of black. This defect is often referred to as a backlight uniformity artifact.
While this type of artifact is normal for LCD displays, it should not be easily seen by the human eye, and in most cases, requires specialized equipment to even measure it. Even when LCD panels have noticeable Mura artifacts, in most cases they are caught by the manufacturer in quality control and testing, and are discarded.
This was unfortunately not the case with this particular unit! The uniformity was so bad that it created very noticeable gradient "clouds" of gray which became slightly more pronounced the longer the display was left on... which is also normal with LCD, only that even then the effect is rarely ever noticed by the human eye under normal viewing conditions.
Before sending it back for a replacement, I did some more tinkering with the settings, and by adjusting the backlight control to '0' for each video input and then recalibrating the video settings for each input, I was able to remove most of the gradient cloud artifacts, but not entirely.
My parents were not in the least bit concerned, and after my adjustments, unless the image being displayed was pure black, even I found it difficult to notice the artifact. 👍
However, I still wanted to give my parents a defect free display so I returned it for another unit, but it to showed similar gradient cloud artifacts. 👎
This prompted me to make some inquiries with Sony as well as Samsung, who actually manufacturers the 1920x1080 LCD panels used for this and the other Bravia 1080p LCD TVs for Sony, including the XBR line. While both Sony and Samsung admit there is a problem with some of these panels, neither is saying what percentage of units is having this problem, nor have they given me a satisfactory answer as to why these panels slipped through unoticed by quality control.
For the time being, I have decided not to return the 2nd unit, as I have made the necessary adjustments that have for the most part eliminated the Mura artifacts and even before I did that, my parents were very impressed by the quality of the picture, and may have never even noticed the artifacts had I not pointed it out to them.
If you own or are considering purchasing any of the Sony or Samsung 1080p LCD TVs, my recommendation is to immediately check the set to see if it has any gradient cloud artifacts, and if so adjust the backlight control to '0' for each input, and then calibrate the set from there.
Other than this issue, I still highly recommend these sets, as the picture quality is absolutely stunning. 👍