The battle between LCD and plasma has never been much of a head-on conflict, as LCD has staked out the smaller panel ground and plasma has traditionally been the only choice for larger displays. Add to that the greater difficulty that LCD has had with black level (blacks that actually look gray), and there really has not been that much competition. Things seem to be changing, and there has been a development in LCD panels that has added a new twist to things.

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• Read more LCD HDTV reviews by HomeTheaterReview.com's staff.
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Unique Features
Until now, the most resolute fixed pixel, flat panel display (i.e. LCD or plasma) that you could buy for use as a home theater display was 1366 x 768, a resolution found on many LCD panels in the 20- to 40-inch range, and in plasma panels of 50 to 60 inches. BenQ, a relatively new player in the home display front, has released one of the first 1920 x 1080 panels. Yes, you read that right, a panel that is capable of a full 1080p resolution! Not only that, but it is available only in the two larger sizes: the 37-inch and the 45-inch displays. If this sounds like LCDs are starting to encroach upon the territory of plasmas, you're catching on. It's not that huge a jump to read the tea leaves and realize that a 50-inch or larger 1920 x 1080 display is probably not that far off.

For my first taste of this new series of panels, I reviewed the BenQ DV3750, which surprisingly costs only $2,299. I say surprisingly because once you read the feature list, the price starts to look quite aggressive. Not only does this panel have the aforementioned 1920 x 1080 resolution, but it comes with the Faroudja de-interlacing and scaling chipset to upscale all sources to the native 1080 resolution of the panel. This was an excellent choice, as Faroudja has traditionally been one of the better solutions for these purposes. Add in BenQ's proprietary Senseye processing for color and contrast enhancement and an 800:1 contrast ratio, and the BenQ starts looking very good on paper.

Installation/Setup/Ease of Use
The first disappointment comes when pulling the display out of the box. Instead of coming with the speakers already attached, BenQ sends them separately and makes you attach them yourself. This did not take long, and it wasn't a major ordeal, but it was mildly annoying. The second disappointment comes in the look of this unit. It's not ugly, but no extra money was wasted in making it look sleek, pretty, or stylish. It has the trendy, silvery-aluminum finish, but it is rather plain and utilitarian-looking. Fortunately, once attached, the speakers actually help to give the display a bit of texture and style.

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