Home > Consumer Reviews > JVC LT40X887 40-Inch Flat Panel LCD TV

I just bought this item and got what I consider to be an excellent buy for the performance vs price ($1799 including tax). Set up was extremely simple...my 15 year old son and I easily got the TV out of the box. I connected it to my SA Explorer 8000 HD DVR using component cables, plugged everything in, turned it all on, selected the proper input and was watching high-def cable TV within 10 minutes. The picture, especially when receiving an HD signal, is spectacular and I'm impressed with the verstility of the different display modes (theater, dynamic, game, and standard)in making the picture the best it can be (depending, of course, on the quality of the original broadcast). I find I can get a very satisfying picture on just about anything I watch with just the touch of a single button on the remote which switches between these modes. And each mode is further customizable by changing the individual settings for color, picture, brightness, and detail. So far, best results for me in each of the modes comes when I decrease the color setting below the halfway point and set the tint at -02. The audio through the speakers is significantly better than my old 27" CRT TV, with solid bass tones you can feel through the floor -- and that is without connecting to a separate home theater system (that's my next big buy!). I've heard some complaints about the JVC menu system, but I find it very easy to navigate. I do think, though, that it would be nice to be able to go directly to one of the many inputs instead of having to scroll through them in series to get to the one you want (at least the Return/TV button takes you directly to the top of the list - that helps). This TV is capable of 770p native resolution and will convert incoming signals to 1080i, for an outstanding, finely detailed HD picture. I've found that some SD broadcasts approach the quality of an HD picture, while others are more pixelated and grainy, a direct reflection of the quality of the original broadcast and the large size of the screen (mine is 40"). The 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen means that most SD broadcasts are displayed with black vertical bands on either side of the 4:3 picture, but one touch of the Aspect button allows you to get a panoramic rendering of the same image which fills the screen without losing significant amounts around the edges of the picture. You can also hit the Aspect button again to get a Cinematic zoom but I find this is too much for me and cuts off too much of the image for my liking. I'm sure there are certain broadcasts for which that setting is ideal -- I just haven't come across any yet. The Full setting works great for HD broadcasts, but stretches an SD picture too much for comfortable viewing. The TV also features a convenient light sensor which, when turned on, lowers or increases the brightness of the screen, depending upon the level of ambient light in the room. This is a really great feature in the evenings when the lights are down. Until I discovered the setting, I found the TV was far too bright and hard on the eyes at night. Now, it's just right. Speaking of lights, the non-reflective nature of the LCD screen means I no longer have to swear at the reflections of background lamps in the TV--they simply cannot be seen! Lamps and other lights do not affect the viewing experience at all now--I'm thrilled. As for the specs: There are two HDMI inputs, two firewire, 2 S-video, 1 RF, 1 PC (VGA), at least 2 component inputs, and 1 digital audio (optical)input. I also connected my DVD player using first S-video, then component cables. The component connection yielded a slightly better overall picture for DVDs. Note: If you've tweaked your DVD player's settings to enhance detail on DVDs, be sure to reset that to the default settings. Otherwise, you'll get a terrible picture. The TV's circuitry through the component inputs does a great job by itself. All in all, I'm very pleased with this JVC LCD HDTV. I compared it's picture to that of a Sony and a Samsung sitting in the store right next to it and found the Sony's picture to be slightly better, but not worth the extra $1000 the set would have cost me. The Samsung's picture was also very good (too close to call for me). I went for the price and am very happy with my purchase. Take it from me--the JVC is a great value!

I got this TV for Christmas this year and it's amazing. The picture is incredibly clear, and as the previous poster stated, the setup was extremely simple. Watching TV is an experience on this model. I love it.

I bought the 37" version (LT37X887) but I believe my comments are totally relevant to the 40" version. The picture, as the other viewers point out, is superb! Sound is very good. It's New Year's day and we had a party New Year's Eve with 22 adults. Almost all commented on how crisp and detailed the picture looked in HD. This includes my son who went for the 50" Pioneer plasma and my neighbor who has the 37" plasma from Panasonic. My son can't believe it's an LCD, the picture being so crisp and clear. No apparrent problems with "black detail" or blurring with fast action scenes. On Christmas Eve, we had the burning yule log on the screen with just music playing. When my wife first saw it, she thought we had a fire in the living room.

Makes you wonder about all the discussion of Plasma versus LCD!

I was first extremely attracted to the sexy, elegant and understated looks of this LCD TV but the rest seemed to have one important better feature... the higher contrast ratio. Until one day I saw it at Best Buy next to a super expensive LCD TV, famous brand name and they were both side by side playing the same program when I noticed blacks and grays looked exactly the same on both televisions. It seems JVC LCD tv's have an extra feature to boost blacks that is not accounted for only in the contrast ratio numbers. I WAS SOLD! After taking it home I only found a lot more to like about this tv. It has become my new computer monitor since, dvi to hdmi (computer to tv hdmi) yields an AMAZING picture... no you can't see any pixels not even if you get as close as possible, at least not with windows vista and GeForce 8, you even get the post (computer startup before logon and bios settings)! Another EXCELLENT feature I haven't seen on any other LCD TV of this size is the capability to pivot it side to side and having the circular design in the front it never seems out of square even if it's facing towards one side. The settings are endless and I'll stop here or I'll never finish. All I can say is you'll never regret this purchase!

Pro: The picture & sound are great.

Con: when you change the channel in HD mode, you have to wait for that channel comes on before you can jump to the next one. For example: change channel 2 to 4, you have to wait for 4 comes before you can move to 5, 6 etc.