LCD now has CRT's grip on the nation's front-rooms squarely in its crosshairs, and this latest set from JVC is looking to pull the trigger. The LT-26D50BJ is a DIST (Digital Image Scaling Technology) job and, while the technology has so far failed to ignite critical imagination in the same way that Philips' Pixel Plus or Sony's Wega picture processing have, the company is due a hit.
The looks are certainly on the money, the designers having kept faith with an elegant, lacquered surround and silver chassis with bottom-mounted speakers. The back panel also makes for pleasing perusal, with two RGB Scarts and a component video input as well as the 'secondary' jacks (S-video, composite video and stereo audio in and outputs).
The intended setting is obviously the front-room, but a PC port caters for those with a 26in computer monitor in mind. You'll also find a pair of RF inputs, one of which serves the set's integrated Freeview tuner, while the other feeds an analogue version. There's even an intriguing, unoccupied slot that hints at a possible CAM (Conditional Access Module) upgrade for Pay TV.
The pixel count of 1,366 x 768 is highdef ready, and this makes the absence of an all-digital HDMI or DVI input mildly frustrating, although there's no guarantee that other content providers (other than Sky) will insist on it and high-def video discs and tape are still accommodated.
Operation is pretty simple, although newcomers to digital TV might find the differences in function, look and feel of the set's main menu system to its Freeview counterpart a little baffling at first. Broadcast pictures have never looked quite right on LCD, and once again, good work in the colour department is compromised by noise and ghosting.
Details count
It's adequate for most purposes, but look to DVD for a better demonstration of this set's quality. Stick in a disc and you'll enjoy an accurate, nuanced palette, with lush, cinematic fare such as The Last Samurai looking gorgeous. Detail is exemplary, with the LT-26D50BJ eking out every last drop from even the most complicated scenes.
The cityscapes in I, Robot, for example, are picked out with awesome clarity and check out the warehouse filled with serried ranks of robots for a taste of what this set can do with minute elements contained within wide, sweeping vistas.
