A chance to talk to FlatpanelsHD's reviewers.
#6611
The Bang & Olufsen Beovision 11 review is now online. The Beovision 11 comes with active 3D, Smart TV, and a surround decoder
http://flatpanelshd.com/review.php?suba ... 1354451016

If you have questions please use this thread.

Enjoy
By rob08
#6613
Thanks for the review.

Did you talk to B&O about the game mode input lag? Would that be possible to "fix" with a software update or is that hardware?

How about the SmartTV functions - I've seen that other SmartTVs have Netflix and also recently Plex. Will that also come to BV11?

Regarding the calibration options - it's good to see B&O to finally offer some more options, but unfortunate that they do not include RGB options to be able to do a "real" ISF calibration. Any word from B&O if they acknowledge this and may update it further down the road?
#6618
Is it possible for you to expand on the picture quality comparison with Samsung ES8000? It would appear the Beovision is somewhat inferior in terms of colour accuracy but is that difference very obvious? Also, how do they compare in terms of sharpness and detail? Finally, could you please just clarify your graphs a bit as when you say "20% White" the graph says 20% Gray....at least the way I am reading them...e.g. the Delta e graph!!!
Beovision has a lot of advantages but picture quality needs to be very close to best from competition. It's also very difficult to side by side comparisons. Thanks again for a very helpful detailed review.
Kind Regards,
Ash
#6619
B&O has not commented on the findings yet, but I can forward your questions regarding smart-TV, movie profile, and input lag. Other users have expressed that they see no problem with playing games on the BV11, so everyone might not agree that 100 ms is too much. I wouldn't hold my breath for fixes to the latter two, but the smart-TV platform is almost a guarantee for future updates. But again: don't buy any TV for its Smart-TV platform - they all suck. I really don't see any quantum leap in terms of usability any time soon, and the Apple TV run Netflix much better than any smart-TV out there anyways.

When I say "20% white" it is of course the lower 20% on the graph I refer to. The graph goes from 0 to 100, but in my mind it makes little sense to talk about 100% grey, when in fact the greyscale go from black to white.

I have yet to see an ES8000 with the same homogenuity of the backlight, which is really a dealbreaker for me, so in direct comparison the BV11 is superior. The human eye is a thankful device, so color inaccuracies are evened out to a large extend simply by looking at things for a longer period. In direct comparison you would see the difference between the BV11 and the ES8000, but we are in the range below a deltaE of 2-5 for most colors, so we are nit picking here. I would rate the picture quality of the BV11 to be among the very best on the market for Edge lit LCD-TV's. Compared to my own LX5090 it still has some way to go - which is why it only gets a "highly recommended" and not a "reference" award.

My main concern with the picture quality actually comes when looking at poor SD-TV, where the TV can loose cadence which causes comb effects. Especially on 4:3 shows broadcasted with black borders the problem was pretty consistent. One could argue that such programs should just bugger off, but older shows do find their way to my TV-screen once in while, and then its a shame that they don't look as good as they could.
#6620
Many thanks for the very helpful feedback. Do you think the cadence problem may be due to poor tuner design and if so, could the use of a SKY box help to improve the performance? Did you play any SD DVDs to see how they performed? Thanks again. It's looking increasingly likely that I will end up going for the Beovision 11 over the Loewe Individual. Kind Regards, Ash
#6625
One other question: how does the picture quality compare with the Panasonic GT50 Plasma set in terms of black level, overall contrast and detail? If Panasonic was get a score of 10 would the Beovision be 6-7 for example? Thanks again. Best Regards, Ash
#6632
The SKY box will fix the cadence problem if it de-interlaces the signal. I saw no problems when using a player that sent out progressive signals only.

I haven't seen the BV12 in surroundings similar to the ones we used to test the BV11, so it is hard to tell, but the color profile doesn't have a movie setting on the BV12, which is a huge con to me.

I would rate the BV11 about on par with the GT50, except that you can't turn off the dynamic contrast on the BV11.
#6649
Thanks for your comprehensive review of the BV11. I would like to know your opinion as to how the BV11 compares to the Sony HX850 with the dynamic contrast system on? They are both edge lit local dimming, but as you say the system cannot be turned off on the BV11. The panel uniformity and contrast of the HX850 (with system on) are well thought of in the U.S. reviews.

What is the quality of the BV11 processing? Is it the equal of for example, of Lumagen, DVDO, or the Oppo 103 (noise reduction, 1080i deinterlacing, scaling 720p/480i, etc.)? I have the impression that the BeoVisons have the unique ability to effectively adjust noise reduction,sharpness, and motion compensation automatically, in real time according to the
source. Is this correct?

I interpret your "Highly Recommended Award" is deserved because of picture quality. The superior build quality and audio are just the frosting on the cake.

Again, thanks for all your work on behalf of us videophiles!
#6650
Any dynamic backlight adjustment is a con in our book. It is visible during normal viewing conditions just as any other system and so far none of them are truly "local" dimming as the LED's sit at the sides. It does have an impact on black levels and for 2.35:1 material the black bars in the top and bottom can go completely black, which is a small comfort. I would go for the BV11 over an Hx850 any day (if the money was available). The BV11 has so much more to offer that the price actually seems right - if you fancy those features that is. We do acknowledge, however, that the Bv11 isn't for everyone. The price tag IS high, but overall I really do think you get your money's worth. It's kinda like buying e.g. a BMW - the extra quality doesn't come cheap, but you can feel the difference during operation.

I am not impressed by the de-interlacing of SD sources (I don't have any 480i - just 576i) as the Tv lost cadence quite often. That's not OK in 2013. The e.g. DVDO will be far superior.

Sharpness, noise reduction, motion systems etc. should be turned off no matter what, so even if they adjust dynamically they are unwanted features. If you like them on - fine - but they do not add anything positive to the picture quality. On the up side, the motion system is fairly good, so if you like these it doesn't add too much noise on the medium setting.
#6653
Thank you for your informative and rapid response to my post. I hope you don't mind if I further refine my questions.

In flatpanels review of the BV8 and BV10 there is extensive analysis of B&O "picture circuits". For example, "The attractive picture quality is the result of an extremely sophisticated picture circuit, better in fact than the majority of other manufacturers.", "High contrast pictures are converted in a different way than low contrast pictures" (unique to B&O?).
I understand these and the many other favorable comments refer to the panel's native rate, now 240 in the U.S., rather than adding frames (interloping).

In addition, the glass cover appears to be another unique feature of the BV's, "the screen glass adds to the picture quality.". The B&O website also speaks of a contrast screen.

The purpose of my questions are to see if these features still set B&O apart, and advance BV11's picture quality beyond its peers. Expanding on your analogy, besides the extra quality control is B&O enhancing the Samsung panel as Alpina enhances BMW handling and power?

As for turning off the automatic dynamic enhancements, I enjoy manually adjusting the picture to match ISF,THX, or SMPTE standards as I do manually downshifting while double clutching. My beloved would just set the transmission to automatic.

All the best
#7609
Not 100% sure to be honest but yes I would assume so. It may be a slightly tweaked panel but B&O has no reporeted any significant changes in panel type or manufacturer.