Best TV for Movies and Home Theater; 2011/2012 Top 5 Recommended
A home theater or darker room is the best setting to show off an excellent picture quality in a TV. It allows for the best calibration setting without having to turn up the contrast or back light in order to combat ambient surrounding lights or windows.
We've reviewed TVs this way for 11 years now, but we also turn the lights up and let in window light to test for the average user though it's not our preference. The quality characteristics that are most important for a movie dark room type of setting are: 1) Accurate color calibrated to D6500K color temp. 2) Good video processing internal chip sets expressed in the TVs picture as low or no motion artifacts and dithering objects (this must be tested with both standard definition and High Def movies). 3) Clean clear image edges even with the Sharpness feature tuned down to get rid of glowing edge enhancement. 4) Very deep black levels and an excellent contrast ratio (in a dark room blacks that are not black really look washed out. 5) No judder during side to side panning (a frequent occurrence that the 120, 240, 480 Hz rate feature tries to correct on LCD/LED TVs. 6) Good side viewing angles without contrast being degraded. 7) Enhanced and easily audible voice dialog from film. There is nothing more annoying than not being able to hear voice dialog when background noise overwhelms. Obviously, this one is not applicable to those with surround sound.
Below are TVs that we think do either a great or very good job with these challenges:
Samsung PN64D8000 Editor's Choice: Quality
63" Plasma TV 
The new, one inch larger screen retains many of the pircture features from last year, it appears to be a case of not messing with a good thing. The Real Black Filter returns, providing rich, deep blacks that enhance all the other colors sharing the screen. The warmth and realism that the picture offers is nothing less than stunning.
For 3D the PN64D8000 uses active shutter glasses and is Full HD 3D, sending 1080 lines of vertical resolution to each eye. Some televisions sacrifice some resolution to show 3D images and Full 3D HD provides the best 3D experience.
Samsung UN60D7000
60" LCD TV
The UN60D7000 uses a 1080p, 240Hz LCD panel with LED edge lighting, the edge lighting is capable of local dimming for increased contrast in dark scenes and better contrast than LED or LCD televisions with constant back lighting.
These Samsung LED panels can get very bright and they produce rich, saturated color. Sometimes the colors can appear oversaturuated but many viewers like that look and broadcast and cable networks comply by oversaturating their content. Color leap off the screen but if you desire more realistic color you can use the wide variety of picture controls to tone down the appearace to one more suitable for your viewing.
Sharp LC-52LE830U
52" LCD/LED TV
The LE830 is the replacement for the popular LE820 series from Sharp's 2010 lineup. The TV contains all the best edge lit picture quality features that Sharp has except the panel is 120Hz instead of 240Hz. It is designed for those that want the best picture and a great looking set, but do not care about 3D TV inclusion.
Panasonic TC-P50ST30 Editor's Choice: Value
50" Plasma TV
Panasonic's ST30 line offers plasma picture quality and 3D capability at a very low price point. It lacks some features like internet connectivity but the overall performance of this TV scored highly when we had it in for a review.
Samsung LN46D630 Editor's Choice: Value
46" LCD TV
Alongside it's LED TV series, Samsung continues to offer traditionally backlit LCD televisions. The D630 series replaces 2010's C630 series. We liked the C650 series a lot when we reviewed it and found it to be a great value with a great picture. The 630 line was the same as the 650 without internet connectivity features. This year the 630includes WiFi and the new Allshare feature but is still doesn't go online.
