Spike Lee Tells You Which HDTV to Buy

Which flat-screen HDTV is right for your living room? Miracle at St. Anna director Spike Lee tests the best.

CINEPHILE
Pioneer Elite Kuro HDTV PRO-111FD 50-inch Plasma $5,000
The Lowdown: Home theater obsessives swear by Pioneer’s best sets, which for years have produced deeper blacks than anybody else’s in the game. Well, hold your Criterion Collection—the new ’08 models make darks five times dark­er. An “optimum mode” uses light and sound sensors to automatically calibrate the brightness level and ambient light color in your porno lair, er, home theater.
Spike’s Take: “It’s not a scientific test, but obviously this set is gorgeous. Everybody knows about Pioneer Kuros. I have two of ’em in my offices.”

CLUTTER KILLER
Mitsubishi LT-46149 46-inch LCD $3,299
The Lowdown: You’ve traded your bulky boob tube for a flush flat-screen. But you’ve still got a rat’s nest of wires and speakers sticking out like a sore thumb. Mitsu solves the problem by packing a loud 5.1 surround system into a 16-speaker projector mounted under the TV; it detects your room’s acoustic signature and proceeds to blow your mind.
Spike’s Take: “You don’t want bulky speakers, so I see where they’re going. And it sounds incredible. But compared to the others, motion in Blu-ray video is blurry. Mitsubishi, I expected better!”

PRICE CHOPPER
Vizio SV470XVT 47-inch LCD $1,699
The Lowdown: Vizio peddles cheap HDTVs by the jillions at Wal-Mart; our nation’s economy depends on it. With their new XVT line, the brand goes upmarket by producing sets with specs that rival Sony’s high-end panels—and costs a few benjamins less. A 120hz refresh rate and motion interpolation prevent pixilation and artifacts during intense scenes.
Spike’s Take: “The blacks are deep, but the brights aren’t quite as bright as the others’—it looks a little dim. I know every­body can’t spend five grand, though. If you don’t got the dough—Vizio!”

NO BALONEY
Sony Bravia KDL-46Z4100 46-inch LCD $2,799
The Lowdown: Sports nuts and cinephiles tend to knock LCD screens, since motion tends to blur more than on a plasma. But Sony’s new 1080p Bravia LCD may win them over: Its 120Hz technology doubles video frame rates and reduces motion blur. Bummer if you wanna see trails coming off a soccer ball.
Spike’s Take: “The Sony’s no baloney! To my naked eyeball, I can’t tell much difference at all between this and the most expensive set [the Pioneer]. The whites are whiter, the darks are dark, and the tones are spot-on. I’m buying this one!”