This is the best that LCD has to offer—and it’s nothing to sneeze at

The only problem was the black level in scenes such as the opening of Master and Commander, which took on a dark-gray cast. Outer-space shots also lacked that inky black quality, which is nearly impossible for LCD flat panels to achieve. Shadow detail was also not quite as good as I’ve seen on the best of other technologies, though it was certainly better than most LCDs in my experience.

The other Achilles’ heel of LCD flat panels is viewing angle, and the HTL40 is no exception. I often perform a series of back-stretching exercises on the floor in front of the TV; doing so in front of this one, I immediately noticed an increase in black level and a color shift toward green in the dark parts of the image. This was also evident off to the sides of the screen. But in my normal viewing chair, these problems were minimized.

On the other hand, the HTL40’s performance in the presence of ambient light was exceptional. During a New Year’s Eve party, I played Animusic before switching over to Dick Clark at the stroke of midnight. This wonderful DVD is a series of computer animations of fanciful musical instruments playing themselves. It looked just fine with the lights on as people wandered through the house.

Conclusion

All in all, the HTL40 LINK is a joy to watch, especially with HD material. It definitely presents that elusive “looking through a window” quality with all the three-dimensionality you could hope for from a two-dimensional image. DVDs and high-quality standard-definition broadcast programs don’t quite reach that level, but they are rendered quite beautifully for what they are.
The black level and shadow detail are not quite the best you can get from other technologies, and you must be careful with the viewing angle. Also, $10,000 is a lot to spend on a 40-inch flat panel. But if you want to put such a display in a room with uncontrolled ambient light, there is no better solution than the SIM2 HTL40 LINK.