Direct-View and PTV Televisions

The Grand Wega KF-60DX100 performed well on most standard-definition tests using test patterns from the Video Essentials DVD. Overscan measured 3-5% on all sides, horizontal resolution was in excess of 500 lines, and geometry was excellent. The DRC scaler did a respectable job: Its 3:2 pulldown performance was satisfactory though not exceptional. Color performance was consistently good;

I saw no obvious color splotches on a full white field. There was no visible color shift from left to right—a common failing with rear-projection CRTs—and the illumination was uniform across the screen, without visible hot spots. Blacks, however, were noticeably gray, a characteristic easily visible on the PLUGE pattern (chapter 17-2), which was overlaid by a milky haze.

I measured a full-on/full-off contrast of 76. (Full-on was read center screen on a 100 IRE full white field. Full-off was read center screen with an open input.) Our 100 IRE contrast reading—comparing the output at the center of a 100 IRE window with the average of five readings in the middle of the black field surrounding it—was 127. These measurements, though made with a Minolta LS-100 laboratory-grade digital light meter, were taken in a darkened, normally furnished room.

Before calibration, the gray scale measured in excess of 8000 kelvins in the Normal setting and over 12,000K in Cool. The Before (Warm) setting is shown in the accompanying graph, along with the post-calibration readings. Except at the very low end of the scale (20 IRE), the actual post-calibration points were very close to the correct points for D6500. (6500K is actually a curve on the color chart; the D6500 setup standard is an exact point on that curve.)—TJN