Speaker 1: You ever a runner has test TVs. Come on on the lab and I'll show you. So this room is where all that TV testing magic happens. I got 5 65 inch TVs lined up next to one another. I sit on this couch and I evaluate their image quality side by side. That allows me to compare TV shows, movies, and even video games. I also use specialized equipment to measure the screens so I can check out brightness, color, [00:00:30] and even things like video game input lag. All of those tests, measurements and observations allow me to help determine the best TV for you. Now, let's check out some of that really cool equipment.
Speaker 1: I'll start with one of my favorite pieces of equipment. This is the Konic Lenta CS 2000 Spectra Radiometer. It's about 28 grand, so it's no joke. The idea here is to really accurately measure brightness and color [00:01:00] so it measures test patterns. Like this white panel on the screen here sends it right to my software and gives me an exact measurement that allows me to determine how the TV ranks against my standard targets. So that kind of objectivity really allows me to compare the TVs on an even playing field. And note, I always do it in complete darkness so I can get the purest measurement. This little guy is the Meridia six G signal generator. It hooks up to the laptop as well, and the laptop controls the test patterns that it sends out. So I can use these test patterns again [00:01:30] to measure with my spectra radiometer, and again, determine color brightness and a bunch of other characteristics. I really like that this sends out signals in 4K HDR 10 P, what have you. So the full range of signals to measure. Let me show you one more meter here. This is the Icona Minolta LS 100 luminance meter. So the idea of this little guy is you can just hold it right up to your eye and you can measure the light output of pretty much anything. I like to sit on the couch and measure the screens in front of me [00:02:00] and just point it at a particular part of the image. Compare brightness. That way works really well.
Speaker 1: So you may be wondering how I get the same image on all these TVs at once. The magic happens with this AV Pro Connect eight by eight distribution matrix. That's a fancy way of saying it has eight inputs and eight outputs, and it can send any combination to any of the TVs. So I've also got a Blu-ray player here right below and a Blu-ray player above. Now you might be saying Blu-ray, super old school. Yeah, but Blu-ray is the highest quality source right now [00:02:30] that we can use. Other sources in the stack include a Roku and an Apple tv. So I have access to all the streaming that I need and that nice 4K HDR quality.
Speaker 1: So the software that I use for measurement is called Portrait displays. Cowman Ultimate, it's professional grade two. It controls the light meter and it also controls the signal generator, puts it all on a nice graphical format here. And I can measure pretty much anything from gray scale, light output, peak luminance color, six ways from Sunday, including color match HDR and gamut [00:03:00] measurements, all that stuff I put into something called the geek box at the end of the review. For all those measurements, you can compare one to the other and get a nice look at how the TV performs in all those parameters. So of course for this video, I have the lights on so you can see everything. But to do it all correctly, I gotta turn out the lights.
Speaker 1: So of course, in addition to all that picture quality testing, we also talk about design features, smart TV capabilities for streaming, and of course the remote. Because yeah, every [00:03:30] TV has a remote, and I have a lot of remotes in the TV lab. Believe it or not, this wasn't always a TV lab. You had to make some modifications. These windows are blocked off almost perfectly light tight with those big heavy curtains you see there. We also painted the walls a nice neutral gray so that color doesn't influence what we see on the screen. Finally, my favorite part, this curtain right here closes all the way. So the combination of all that light control means I can test in complete darkness and with the lights on to get a full picture of what the TVs look like [00:04:00] more behind the scenes action. Let me show you the box closet. That's right. These gigantic TVs come in gigantic boxes. These are all empty, all the TVs are in the lab, and of course, we pack 'em right back into these boxes and send 'em off to the manufacturer when we're done reviewing them. So that's a quick look at what goes into a TV review here at cnet. Yeah, a lot of data, a lot of analysis with the ideas to provide you with the best TV for your money. Now I'm gonna get back to work and watch some TV.
