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The TX-L32V10 is capable of producing some of the sharpest Full HD pictures we've seen at this size, but cinematic realism is rarer. Close-ups during our Band of Brothers Blu-ray test disc contained stunning detail, and with deep blacks and bright, white peaks the TX-L32V10 has all the right ingredients for HD glory.
Colours are not only bright and well saturated, but the palette contains some startling accuracy; the shades of browns, greens and greys help lend Band of Brothers a further dose of authenticity.
Subtle details, such as during the snowy scenes in the freezing forests of Bastogne, are presented with stunning accuracy, while there's little picture noise even in dingy backgrounds. Close-ups of Easy Company are similarly unforgiving, with every weary detail on the soldier's faces on show.
Inconsistent performance
But for all the TX-L32V10's devastating detail, somehow it doesn't always deliver. The panel's sheer brightness is impressive and genuinely lifts the snowy Bastogne scenes, but during daylit scenes it can be a bit much; an eco mode knocks the top off the pure whites and makes viewing more comfortable.
That's more than can be said for the TX-L32V10's 100Hz Intelligent Frame Creation, which even on its maximum setting can't rid Band of Brothers of noticeable judder during slow camera pans across no man's land.
It just isn't very effective, though for other high definition sources – notably from an Xbox360 console – the results are simply stunning.
A run-through of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 reveals a slight blue tint to dark colours and shadowed areas of the pitch, though edges are always tightly rendered and there's very little trace of motion blur.
Overall it's as precise an image as you'll find for HD gaming, with the TX-L32V10's Game Mode one of the few preset modes of its type worthy of the name.
Pictures from Life on BBC HD are similarly sublime in some areas (subtle colouring, impressive detail and above average contrast).
Decent SD pictures
Standard definition images – from both DVD and from some DivX video files – are cleaner than expected and don't suffer from being upscaled to fit the hi-res screen. There's obviously a very good scaler inside the TX-L32V10 that means pairing with a decent DVD upscaler probably isn't necessary.
The picture quality from YouTube an Eurosport is necessarily poor. Although you can easily and quickly watch anything in full screen mode, such web TV fare is best viewed in the enlarged thumbnail window; in full screen mode most footage is impossible to follow in anything resembling acceptable video quality.
YouTube, after all, is populated with 320x240 files that are not designed to be watched on a 1920x1080 pixel Full HD LCD screen. It's an unforgiving environment.
That's not an issue with Picasa (though the more popular Flickr would have been better, as featured on Samsung's Internet@TV platform). After logging-in to your account, it's possible to view your own – or other's, via a decent and very fast search facility – photo slideshows in high resolution.
The sheer scale of sources and qualities that's it's possible to get into the TX-L32V10 is quite something – and so to, in genral, is how it all looks.
Despite an occasionally lacklustre performance with Blu-ray – chiefly its ineffective 100Hz mode – the TX-L32V10 proves itself a versatile performer capable of all-round excellence.
