Home
Sharp Aquos LCDs
Sony LCD TVs
LCD TVs
Other LCD TVs
Panasonic TVs
Philips TVs
42' Plasma TVs
43
50
VERSUS
HDTV Antennas
Wall Mounting
HDTV Charts
HDTV faq
HDTV Link
Site Map

NEC consistently produces some of the best flat screen TV 's

The NEC 42VR5 flat screen TV (plasma TV) produces a very realistic three dimensional picture and represents good value amongst the various EDTV offerings available at this time. Its main competitor is the EDTV Panasonic reviewed elsewhere on this site.

The Panny offers deeper blacks but the NEC has a better stretch mode and more of a 3D picture. We'll present the data-you can make the decision.

Let's cut right to the chase and discuss the blacks. Although NEC doesn't publish its contrast settings there is no issue with the contrast, either in dim light or daylight. Blacks are quite solid and we never thought that the picture was lacking.

We viewed this with the brightness and contrast dialed pretty far down, low 20's (new TV that was not broken in). So the blacks levels are good (but still not as good as the Panny's). We feel the black levels on NEC flat screen TV 's are not really an issue.

If you need to adjust for the blacks  it is easy to lower the contrast, brightness and color to suit your lighting conditions. Our suggestion is to try and find the specific displays you are interested in purchasing and take the time to critically evaluate them with as wide a range of viewing options as is available.

You are the only one able to make the decision regarding whether or not you can live with a particular flat screen TV.

The NEC VR5 has a host of adjustments that allows you to tweak its settings. For example, it allows you to adjust and set all parameters of the picture, specifically for each of its inputs and it permits you to set 6 picture memory settings independently.


This is in addition to the "picture mode" settings that quickly allow you to tailor the picture to the ambient lighting of the room with Theatre 1 and 2 (for dark rooms), Normal (for bright rooms), Bright (brighter than Normal) and Default (for factory default settings).

Standard Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Color and Tint controls are included, as well as Noise Reduction (3 levels). The color temp function offers 4 standard settings

  • Low (redder)
  • Middle Low (slightly red)
  • Middle (standard - slightly bluer)
  • High (bluer)

The aspect ratio adjustments is where the NEC flat screen TV surpasses the Panny's

The picture stretch modes for the Panasonic are truly irritating. People all have fat heads - whereas the NEC algorithm method leaves the center of the picture untouched. If you plan to watch a lot of TV this may be a consideration.

These are the useful A/R settings for the NEC flat screen TV

  • Anamorphic is best for DVD (16:9 movies) and HD. It shows the full picture with bars on the top and bottom. (Anamorphic fills the screen with no loss of picture)
  • Stadium shows the whole picture with smaller bars, but it's stretched slightly, vertically. The Stadium stretch mode is very acceptable for SD TV watching. (Stadium fills the screen but cuts off a little on the top and bottom)
  • Zoom fills the screen but is stretched too much and you lose more picture. (Zoom cuts off more of the top and bottom)
  • 2.35:1 is zoomed but not distorted, it fills the screen but you lose a fair amount on either side (2.35:1 cuts off on all sides)


The biggest drawback to the NEC is its inability to display the deep blacks of the Panasonic line. To a lesser extent we noted theses deficiencies

  • the NECs are sensitive to feed cable quality (don't skimp on your cables)
  • daytime viewing sometimes produces glare
  • no PIP features for you sports fans
  • the NEC 42VR5 has only one set of S-Video inputs

Overall the NEC 42VR5 is a solid performer with some neat extras on the side (excellent quality stretch modes, great shadow detail). There's a greater level of picture adjustment control capability on the NEC.

The NEC 42VR5 flat screen TV is an incredibly versatile and adjustable display - one that with a bit of work will yield gorgeous pictures. The SD (standard TV) picture on the NEC 42VR5 is excellent. The NEC doesn't require extra "blades" etc to get DVI input.

There are actually two EDTVs by NEC. The NEC 42VR5 is considered a residential flat screen TV, the NEC 42VM5 is commercial. The main difference is the NEC 42VR5 has a 3 year warranty versus and a 6-memory picture adjustment. 1 year for the 42VM5 flat screen TV.