Great image / video quality, but subpar UI and overall polish
590669
This feels like an unfinished product for several reasons. The first is that the instruction manual is fairly useless. Second, the in-camera menus are problematic and not designed well at all. That said, the video functions and still images captured by the camera are excellent. I wish the rest of the design had far more polish. Overall this feels like an unpolished device that would really benefit from a few more rounds of tweaking the User Interface (UI).

For the price, I expected a more polished product.
2327230
The webcam itself works as expected, 1080 @ 30fps, 720 @ 60fps.  The image is pretty crisp.  However, the ChromaCam technology is pretty horrendous at this point.  The automatic background removal hardly works, and I have tried many a different professional lighting setup.  I ended up just using a green screen and handling chroma key myself.

It's unfortunate, because I wouldn't have gone with this particular webcam had I known I would be using a greenscreen anyhow.  I don't mean to complain about the product, I just hope I can warn others before making the same mistake and assumption I made: thinking ChromaCam technology was anywhere near a professional level.  The other issue I noticed is that, even if ChromaCam did indeed function as advertised, there are major frame drops and noticeable delay when utilizing the software.  Now, before I catch any flack for not having the right system requirements, I am running with a 6-core intel i7, 32gb of ddr4 ram, and a Geforce GTX 970.  I have no problem with real time rendering or heavy GPU and CPU oriented tasks.  It seems, simply put, the software just isn't quite where it needs to be yet.
2462655
I purchased the 27'' 1080p version of this monitor.

Connectivity:
2 HDMI, VGA, 3.5mm PC audio out, headphone out.
Connection options are excellent, though I find a small issue when switching to my HDMI connected laptop (windows 10). The monitor randomly will refuse to connect to my laptop when switching from my Roku Stick. The screen will show static accompanied by loud muffled distortion. Sometimes it never happens, other times its bad enough that I have to turn the monitor on and off repeatedly to get it to connect. This is something I had to get used to, but its not really a deal breaker.

Image quality:
It produces a very well balanced image with great colors and good enough contrast. There is really nothing to complain about in the image quality department and the adjustment options are a bonus. Speaking of options, there are several picture modes that you can apply with a single touch of the convenient S/A button on the front of the monitor. You can adjust each of these modes as well if you wish. This monitor is plug and play friendly for those that hate menu diving to change the picture.

I could only wish for an actual Gamma adjustment; This monitor handles darker details quite well for an IPS panel though, so its only a minor gripe. Running in 1080P, the resolution is razor sharp with no oversharpening or visible artifacts of any kind. The best word to describe the image quality is pure. Its not going to wow the videophile or the torch mode enthusiast, but if you value image accuracy without glaring flaws, this monitor will definitely please.

Audio:
Not much to talk about here, since Asus kept it simple as possible. There is a 0-100 volume control, but there is NO audio adjustment what so ever. This is both good and bad.

Its bad because I find the audio quality just average. The sound is on the warm side; bass oriented with a decent midrange, but with the high frequencies quite muted or dull sounding. The good? The sound is still quite powerful for gaming and movies and it will get the job done for most people.

To wrap up the review, here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
-2 HDMI and 3.5mm PC audio output are huge pluses and rare
-VERY attractive design
-Plug and play (the monitor auto-selects inputs with connected devices)
-Well balanced and accurate image with no glaring flaws. Picture is adjustable in the menus
-Powerful sound

Cons:
-Connecting via HDMI to a Windows 10 PC is wonky at times (may vary per user)
-No Gamma adjustments
-No audio adjustment options, only volume control
-Sound is somewhat muffled, but at least its not tinny or weak
-Not really a con, but a remote would have been nice

Oh, did I mention its gorgeous?
977420
The good: the pixels are perfect (no "stuck" pixels), and the image is excellent.  Windows 7 recognized the built-in speakers without the need for software installation.  The monitor packaging is excellent, and Amazon did a great job of providing an outer box to protect the monitor's original packaging.  Also very good is the complete connection choice:  HDMI, DVI, and VGA.  The IPS (in-plane switching) technology does provide for a very wide viewing angle.  Very nice built-in horizontal screen adjustment.  I was just asked about color adjustment, so in case you don't see the comment, I'll say it here:  The color adjustments are: sRGB, Bluish, Cool, Native, Warm, and User Color. The User Color gives you complete freedom to dial in whatever you want, in case one of the presets doesn't work for you.

The not so good: the controls are tucked in below the screen and are hard to get to.  If you are someone who changes your monitor settings frequently, you may not be happy.  I adjust it once and forget it, so it wasn't a significant problem.  There is no vertical height adjustment; mine's sitting on a phone book ;).

The other issue is the default settings are alarmingly bright.  I turned down the brightness with the built-in controls as much as I could (leaving the contrast setting towards the high end) and it was still too bright.  I then turned down the brightness using my graphics card software control, and got a picture I am happy with.  Even with that, however, the black level is not as good as a 23" Samsung LCD panel sitting with another computer six feet away.  I use a "blank" screen saver, which is pure black, and the black level of the Samsung is deeper, even though I have the brightness about as low as you can get with the ViewSonic.  I didn't do a full-blown calibration of the monitor, like a serious photographer would do, so maybe that would help the black level of the ViewSonic.  The black level is an issue only when the screen saver is on and I compare it to the Samsung; otherwise, the colors are very rich and saturated in the ViewSonic.

To summarize, aside from control accessibility and screen saver black level, the image of the ViewSonic is great, and I'm very happy with the purchase.
1526602
The quality of the video isn't good. There are moving vertical lines on each of the 4 pictures. I had them send a new unit and it still the same problem. I'm wondering if it's quality of the camera or the cable? I'm planning on troubleshooting this further. But right out of the box it's pretty much opposite of what's advertised about the 720p clear video. The menu and programming of the box is good though.
2538614
I've struggled with deciding on a rating for this camera (3 or 4 stars)  because there are so many features on this camera to like, and I really want to like it more than I do.  Actually, for my purposes, it's a 4-star camera, but for most, I believe it will only achieve 3-stars, and that's based on a few simple observations --

1)  Low light (indoor) performance can be very grainy, especially since the light source/flash only works with stills:  with this camera, the brighter the shooting environment the better (up to a point).

2)  Autofocus can be very slow.  If you are mounting this camera on a tripod, mainly focusing on details in the distance with very slow, deliberate movements and focal changes, you'll be fine.  This is my main intended use for this camera.  However, if you want to use it as a "handy-cam," you may be disappointed.  In filming indoor, close-range action of family members, the lens will take anywhere from 1/2 second to 5 seconds with any significant focal change.  The 5-second episodes are where the lens corrects in the wrong direction, goes all the way to the end of that focal length, only to turn around and come back.

3)  Size of shooting frame:  this is not really a ding on this camera but to most HD cameras.  If you're filming at a distance, you're fine, but for close-ups with people, you may find you're clipping torsos or heads.  Keep in mind that at a distance of 6 ft, the size of the 2D plane that you're capturing is roughly 5ft by 1.5ft (~60in x ~34in = 16:9 HD ratio).  Thus, for most, the 10x zoom is nice, but a wide-angle addition (say 0.7x) would really be much more helpful.

4)  There is no 720p mode -- only 1080i/p and 480.  However, there is a really neat slow-mo feature (in SD only, unfortunately) where one can film a 10 second clip and play it back at 1/5 speed.

5)  The sound quality is quite good, but, probably to avoid operator hand-noise and breathing, they've mounted the mics on the bottom of the unit.  This is fine in many situations, but if you're filming while walking, the "clomp clomp clomp" of your footsteps is VERY loud.

These are the main factors I'd consider crucial in determining if this is the camera for you.  For me, it's quite good, with great optics; wonderful picture quality, color, and sharpness (if filmed in good light); tons of features; and a great docking bay that lets me plug it into an HDMI cable directly to my&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Panasonic-Viera-TH-42PZ85U-42-Inch-1080p-Plasma-HDTV/dp/B00142JKRW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85U 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV</a>.

Without going into micro-technical detail....  For my purposes -- making HD recordings of concerts (BTW, the external mic input works great), filming students in music lessons with the ability to simply plug in their SDHC card when they start and pulling it out for them to take home when they leave, filming myself for self-critique of my playing, etc., ALL from a tripod, this camera is more than adequate.  However, if you're doing a lot of mobile camcording, you might want to consider some of this camera's limitations that I've outlined here.  Good luck with your deliberations and product comparisons....
1876
ORIGINAL REVIEW:

My Optoma HD66 was delivered on December 15th with two green stickers on the box displaying the NVIDIA 3D Vision Ready certification.  So for the gamers out there, the newest version of HD66 has finally been updated.  OK, since I don't game I can only write about the movie experience.  First, I ordered the Vivitek D510 for its low price and the fact I only needed it for business presentations.  After trying it out, its 800x600 native resolution was not that crisp for small text reading on a 50" screen.  Also, when experimenting with cable TV or DVD playback, its picture detail and color accuracy was very poor.  Since I didn't want to spend a lot more money and after doing further research, I decided to try the HD66 because it was entry level high definition with 2500 lumens which is useful for business presentations.

Optoma HD66 works as advertised.  It's a compact machine and with some tweaking with the color adjustments, it gave a very good and crisp picture quality.  A good test came by streaming a movie from VUDU which can display all three versions in picture formats: 1080 HDX, 720 HD and SD (standard definition).  SD was clean and clear but lacking the detail and contrast depth of HD.  720 HD was much better than SD and approached the HD66's native resolution of 1280x800; but VUDU's 1080 HDX had superb detail and color saturation even though the Optoma was down scaling the resolution.  While I was very satisfied with the HD66 picture quality, it DOES NOT equal my Samsung HD flat screen's vivid picture.  For buyers looking for a projector that can display a HD flat screen experience, I am convinced that the 1080p projectors, like Optoma's HD20, is the way to go and well worth the extra cost.

****************************************************************************************************************************

UPDATE: JANUARY 22, 2014

So, after 3-years of owning the Optoma HD66, my projected picture is beginning to look like the Milky Way.  Hundreds of stars shining on my screen.  I see that I'm not alone based on the numerous complaints within the Amazon reviews.  It's too bad because the picture quality without the stars was very good for the price.  But there you go, you get what you pay for.  And for that reason, I have lowered my rating on the Optoma HD66 from four stars to two.  Actually, I should give it a hundred stars because that's whats being projected, and I'll be certain to replace the Optoma with a more reliable brand.
196299
Awesome camera, great video capabilities, user interface.
3174644
I just purchased this TV a few days ago and I have mixed feelings about it.  Here's what I like and dislike about the set.

Likes:

- Aesthetically it is one of the nicest flatscreen TVs I've ever seen.  I also purchased the SANUS Flat Panel TV Stand for the set and it looks fantastic on the stand
- Picture quality is stunning Dynamic mode.
- Sound quality is above average for a television
- Excellent value for the money, 50" 1080P for under $2400--what a steal!

Dislikes:

- picture quality (PQ) on older non-HD channels is terrible.  I was watching an old NBA game on ESPN Classics and it was unwatchable.  I tried tweaking the settings, but nothing really improved the picture.
- the PQ was about the same--and at times--not as good as my wife's Panasonic 720p Plasma.  I'm hoping it was due to a weak cable signal.
- The picture seemed somewhat washed out while using "Movie" mode
- Phoned Samsung for a minor issue and they were no help

Conclusion:

I'm on the fence about this TV and will probably swap out my TV cables and try some setting I found on the Internet.  I'll update this post with my results.

Updated on 8/21/07:

The PQ on HD channels is mesmerizing; especially, Discover HD and NFLNet.  I find myself watching these channels more and more because of their excellent PQ.  I've decided to deal with the poor PQ on the non-HD channels since they'll probably be going away in the year or two.  Also I'm planning on purchasing a Blueray DVD player to experience the full potential on this set.

After a couple of weeks and endlessly tweaking the settings on the TV, I've come to the conclusion that the default settings provide me with the best PQ.  However, I did change the following setting:

Color Tone: Cool1
Digital NR: Auto
DNIe: On

Under the "Detail Menu":
Black Adjustment: High
Color Space: Auto
Edge Enhancement: On

Hope this Helps
4315906
Not perfect, but great for the price.  More resolution would be desirable.
3087406
This TV is very good and could have been great if it were not for the crappy internet experience. The form factor itself is quite nice; very thin, light and sturdy, with a small bezel. It sets up very quickly and easily. The picture in HD is stunning: beautiful color, very sharp with very black blacks. However SD pictures are frequently fuzzy and a bit washed out which makes watching SD a drag. My 3 year old 32 inch Sony does SD much better than this one. The viewing angle is just ok. Looking straight on, the TV looks great.  As you move to the side the pictures degrades quickly. At first I thought that the sound was below average. After tweaking the settings it now sounds quite good. If you are and audiophile you will however need an amp with separate speakers. I have not had a problem with the 60 hz refresh rate. I suppose it might be somewhat of a problem if I watched more sports.  It is the internet interface which is the weakness of this TV. I have the 40EX523 with built in Wi-fi. No need for a separate dongle on this one. Loading times for most of the internet programs are quite slow - much slower than my beloved Roku box. Netflix interface is very poor. You can't search and it's even hard to see the titles of many of the movies on the screen because they are so small. The Sony Netflix picture is much worse than Netflix on the Roku box. Colors on the Sony Netflix are a bit washed out and the picture is not crisp. The Sony picture on both Hulu and Amazon seem almost as good as the Roku. Again the interface for both Hulu and Amazon is far worse than that of the Roku. Crackle is not even worth using. It takes forever to load, then has to keep re-loading despite fast internet download speeds. It's almost impossible to get back to where you left off on a movie. It operates so poorly that I am amazed that Sony includes it in the first place.  They should make it work well or get rid of it. I would recommend buying this TV without internet connectivity (40EX520) and don't bother with the severely overpriced internet dongle. Do yourself a favor and buy a Roku box for $79 and use that for the streaming of TV shows and movies. It is far superior to anything that Sony has to offer on this TV. Sony engineers should study the Roku box and interface and use what they learn to improve this rather pathetic internet offering. Other than the internet, this really is a very good, satisfying TV.
4202601
I did a lot of research before buying, I read reviews and watched videos - but I was not happy with this purchase in the end. I've talked to a lot of other XBR owners, and it seems like it's somewhat of a lottery. You may get a decent screen, and if you do, you'll LOVE it.

I've had to exchange 4 Sony TVs in the last year, so getting a poor screen is common in my case. If you get a bad one, the screen uniformity is terrible, it has too much vertical and horizontal banding (looks like dark lines, or blobs, either going up and down or left and right, especially on grey screens.)

I've given it 3 months now, trying to get used to it ... I don't think I'm going to keep it.

I use my TV mostly for playing Xbox One games and watching Netflix.  It sometimes feels like I'm using a projector on a wall, not watching on an expensive 4K screen. 4K doesn't matter when the high resolution image that you are seeing is super dirty.

I'd rather save thousands of dollars and have a non-4K TV with a more uniform picture than a 4K screen with so many distracting flaws.

The most noticeable problem with this TV is that it suffers from really bad light leakage. I've attached some screenshots of the light leakage on the edges. It's pretty bad, the last 2-3 inches of the screen are discolored pretty badly. It looks like the screen is "glowing" on the edges.

The design of this TV is beautiful... it looks awesome on the mantle, much better than the wedge design of previous years. It has great viewing angles and the Android TV is fast, responsive and opens up a world of cool apps on the TV.

Setup was a breeze, and Sony is constantly pushing out software updates.

I actually didn't get one of the new touch/voice remotes with my TV so I have no input on that.

I did a full video review on this TV experience here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuT6ZKr7s_M

Unfortunately, all of the pros don't outweigh the cons of a poor image. if you do get this TV and decide to keep it, here's a couple of settings you'll want to change out of the box.

Advanced Contrast Enhance comes automatically turned on, which adjusts the contrast depending on the light in the room AND the light onscreen.  I thought my TV was broken because when scenes would switch between light and dark, the TV would dim itself between scene cuts and sometimes midscene. If you are watching TV in a dark room, this is extremely distracting, you'll think your TV is broken because it noticeably dims and lightens constantly.

Advanced Contrast Enhance ... turn that off.

It's also got some really great features like plug and play peripherals and Screen Mirroring. When you are connected to WIFI you can play movies and media easily from your computer to your tv with no real setup required. It works seamlessly with the youtube and netflix apps on your phone.

The software aspect of this TV is on point, but again if you get a bad screen, all of the added features mean nothing.
835437
I've had this camera for a month now.  I actually bought it to film our 20 month old.  Seemed like HD was the way of the future as we have a 50 inch plasma at home and want our memories to be in 1080i.

The Good - Amazing picture quality, very easy to use, small and easy to handle and plenty of recording time with an 8 gig flash card.  5.1 audio seems cool if you can get it to work on your system.  Also like the fact that it can shoot 3 stills while filming and shoots stills in both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios.  Very good quality stills (but see color saturation problem discussed below).  I've heard people complain about the battery life of the battery that comes with it but I find it to be fine.  Even with 8 gb of memory you are really only getting about an hour of footage at the highest quality recording.  The battery easily lasts that long.  In any event, I think less recording time is a blessing as it forces you to not bore your viewers with 30 minutes of your baby sleeping!

The Bad - AVCHD is a decent format for recording and storing compressed HD on flash but I can't find any software which will edit it on my MAC.  Both iMovie '08 and Final Cut Express convert it into Apple Intermediate Codec.  Once converted the files are huge unless you are willing to drop to non-HD or barely HD resolution.  Thus, when I plug my camera into Plasma and watch the raw footage it is amazing, but after I've finished editing it with the mac and turn it into quicktime it looks at best to be DVD quality and usually a bit worse.  While AVCHD can be played in a Playstation 3, you would only be playing the raw footage on your memory card (or burned to Blue-Ray IF you have an HD-Burner) not your edited movie.  Unfortunately, Sony's software does not work with a MAC.  Furthermore, I haven't been able to figure out how to take advantage of the 5.1 audio recroding since all the programs on my MAC automatically convert the 5.1 to 2 channel audio upon import.  A definite bummer and something to think about.  One other note on the photos it snaps.  They tend to be a bit saturated with color (e.g. make grass look like astroturf).  This problem does not occur with the video so much however.
572761
This TV is in our living room where our older 46" LCD Sharp Aquos used to be.  That one is now in our basement.  I understand that opinions on image quality are subjective but I don't understand some of the complaints I'm reading here.  Out of the box, the image is beautiful.  The 4K Revelation upscaler does a great job on HD images.  I also find it does a great job with fast motion in video games like NHL 15 on my PS4.  I can stream 4k videos from my phone to my TV easily with the Miracast functionality.

Now, I do think the documentation is weak and the remote really does look and feel like a toy.  But that's not enough of a complaint or inconvenience to knock the rating down a whole star.  After all, who uses the stock remote anyway?  I have Verizon FIOS and use the Verizon remote to control everything.

When you factor in that this is a 4k 50" tv for $799, it's easily one of the best values on the market right now.

Would I have liked native 120Hz refresh?  Sure.  But on a 50" screen in my 18' living room, the Sharp Active Motion 120 more than makes up for the 60Hz refresh.  Whether you're an "average" consumer or someone who is particular about the kind of display you use for movies and gaming, this is a great image at a great price.
376521
Well, had the LN40B550 foracouple of days, and must say was very diappointed with the picture quality. I did some more research outside of Amazon, and found this thread on AVSForum ([...] where many other users are experiencing the same picture quality issues, mostly blurring and ghosting (using digital cox cable with component connection). HD content looks good, but still grainy for some reason. Also, many other users has had requested technicians to come out and see if they can make any repairs, with most of them replacing the screen itself. But does not quite the fix the problem. My Vizio 32" LCD seems more crisper than this TV. I even upgraded the firmware, and adjusted the pitcure settings, but I'm just not satisfied with this TV. I will be returning it, and shop for another TV. Hope this helps.
2570914
It came in perfect conditions. They include many options and the image quality is pretty good. Howerver, I wouldve like a different box. Also some of the menus look weird. But I had a great experience watching them.
4280583
Image was disappointing. Poor resolution support.