PICTURE QUALITY. It did a very good job displaying the fine detail of HD content. Color accuracy was acceptable, but below that of most models. Lack of contrast gave images a flatter appearance with little depth. Brightness level was only fair, dimmer than most, best-suited for a darker room. Black levels were generally good, though not as dark as better performers on the darkest scenes. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Sanyo has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions—say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. With brighter scenes, this model did a fine job maintaining accurate colors and contrast as we viewed it from the sides. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly. This model's wide horizontal viewing angle is best appreciated when the TV's picture is viewed at eye level.
MOTION BLUR. This Sanyo TV has only fair motion performance, with significant blurring on our motion tests. This is typical of LCD TVs with the basic 60Hz frame rate. Though this model includes Sanyo's "BMR120", a feature designed to reduce motion blur, we found it was ineffective. The visibility of blurring on typical program content is often subtle and may not bother most people, but keen-eyed viewers may detect some loss of texture and detail on scenes with movement.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. With movies, dialog was generally clear but overall a bit recessed with respect to background music and other sounds. Bass was lacking and a tad boomy, but treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was on the bright side, and closed in. The speakers produced a good volume so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, though quality degraded at the highest volume settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting, but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be distracting on some audio content. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system—but if this smaller-screen set is a secondary TV, you might find its sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. Overall, it was fairly easy to setup and fairly easy to do routine things. The dark labeling of the connectors on the TV console is very difficult to read. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. The remote's major function buttons were sufficiently large and have high-contrast labeling, making them easier to see and navigate. It lacks the ability to add custom labels to different input sources.
STAND ASSEMBLY. The TV's base does not come pre-attached, so some assembly is required. Mounting the support stand to the TV is straightforward, though the stand requires the assembly of one part before mounting.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV does not have access to the Internet.
CONNECTIONS. This model has two HDMI inputs and one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has one USB port, a coaxial digital audio out, a headphone out, a VGA video input. Note: HDMI and other cable connections made to the rear-facing panel will protrude beyond the panel's slim depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. A remote control without batteries.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check the quality of 4K streaming from Netflix or YouTube (if the service is supported by the TV), and how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
