JVC BlackCrystal JLE47BC3001 LED HDTV Review

Motion Performance

We turn on any motion processing functions during our motion tests to give each television the best performance possible for scoring. However, we also recommend that when watching actual content, you probably do not want these functions engaged. Often, motion processing functions, like CrystalMotion found on the BlackCrystal JLE47BC3001, make film-based content look overly smooth. The result makes video look like something shot on a home camera, or just cheaply made like a Soap Opera.

For testing, the CrystalMotion function helped moving images retain detail and reduce jagged edges, but the overall performance was not so winning. Faces in moving photographs blurred a little, though detailed lines remained separate. Colors trailed as they moved across the screen. High frequency patterns picked up significantly more jagged lines throughout the pattern. In all of these tests, the outline of the object skewed in motion. This shows that the internal processor cannot render a moving object quickly enough to catch the top part of the object up with the bottom. Though not awful, the motion performance was not striking like you see on some of the top-tier brands. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

The Film Mode setting on the JVC BlackCrystal JLE47BC3001 significantly reduces flicker in 24fps content. However, it does not completely eliminate it. This suggests that Film Mode uses a 3:2 pulldown method, a process that interpolates frames to match 24 to a factor of 120, the refresh rate of the screen, rather than changing the refresh rate to 24Hz to match the content exactly. In our tests, Film Mode, set to Auto, worked really well, reducing flicker and judder for film content produced at 24fps, like what you get from most Blu-ray videos. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

The JVC BlackCrystal JLE47BC3001 displays natively at 1080p, though much of the content being input into your TV comes at a different resolution, often 720p for HD broadcast stations and 480p for standard definition. In 1080p, we noticed some false coloration to high frequency patterns, i.e. anything with a heavy detail. Otherwise pictures were manifested beautifully. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

In 480p, we could not get rid of the 3% vertical and 2% horizontal overscan. This clipping is fairly normal when switching from 16:9 HD format to the 4:3 standard format. When we ran the resolution tests, the overscan did not cause any of the usual problems, such as banding of high frequency patterns. All patterns were displayed with full detail.

720p

Everything displayed perfectly in 720p. There was no banding or mushing together of detailed images. Being professional sticklers, we took off a fraction of a point for text, because the smallest text was not as clearly legible as it could have been.