MSRP: $4,545.99 (USD) Slowly but surely becoming a household name, one of the latest offerings from the fine stable of home theatre televisions from Nexus is the NX4703 LCD TV. Boasting 47 inches of full HD power (1920 x 1080 resolution), along with not one, not two, but three, count them, three HDMI 1.3 inputs, plus two Component inputs, you'll have no trouble getting connected and experiencing full-throttle, HD power from the comfort of your own home. FIRST IMPRESSIONS - Nexus HD LCD TVStyle & Appearance Reverting back to the predominant styling scheme for most home theatre LCD televisions currently on the market, Nexus has decided - at least temporarily - to scrap the matte finish, and go with a glossy black piano finish with silver trim. While I was initially a big fan of the glossy finishes, I've since come around to the matte way of things, which seems to draw less attention to itself when it's being watched. Nonetheless, and opinions notwithstanding, I will at least admit to the fact that the glossy piano finishes do indeed register more style points than their matte counterparts, and most people do in fact prefer this. Size-wise, the NX4703 HD LCD TV weighs in at a hefty 72.75 pounds (33 kgs.), with dimensions of W:45 x H:32 x D:12.5 inches(or 114.3 x 81.3 x 31.8 cm). In terms of the frame bezels around the unit, they measure in at two inches, while the screen width (not including the TV stand)b is a delightfully slim five inches. The bottom right-side of the unit finds the standard TV control functions such as power, volume, and channel control. For those who prefer to make those subtle little TV viewing adjustments without having to physically move the TV or the stand that it rests on (and who doesn't?), the NX4703 LCD TV features a removable TV stand, but, unlike their prior home theatre LCD models, this one unfortunately does not feature any swiveling capabilities. As it is, you'll have to find the right stationery position to avoid having to move the entire TV and/or stand all the time. Getting Connected Making up for the no-swivel TV stand option, while some televisions say that they offer great range and versatility when it comes to input connectivity, very few actually deliver the goods. The NX4703 HD home theatre TV definitely delivers the goods. When facing the TV head-on, the right-hand side gives you all the HD connection goodness you need, plus a bonus treat. It houses three HDMI 1.3 inputs, two Component connections, and even a VGA input. The bottom rear center of the TV offers you all the rest of the inputs connections that you know: S-Video (one), Composite (two), and the added bonus touch of an Optical Audio input. If that wasn't enough, all of the rear and side inputs are laid out well and clearly labeled to avoid any kind of input confusion.
PERFORMANCE - Nexus HD LCD TVSet-Up Now that you've got your NX4703 HD LCD TV unpacked and placed just where you like it, it's now time to get familiar with the menu operations of your home theatre television. Or is it? One thing that can sometimes be neglected when you buy and set up your television is where you place it. Whether limited by our room's space or layout - or even our own preconceived notions of where the TV should go, we often ignore placing the TV in the ideal viewing position. While this may sound arbitrary, if you've been studiously reading my prior reviews on the NX4202 or NX3202 and taking copious notes, you'll now be intimately familiar with the "5 to 2" principle. This useful and researched principle necessitates placing the TV no closer than two (technically 1.54) times the TV screens horizontal viewing size, and no further than five times the TV screens horizontal viewing size. Being the gentleman that I am, I've done all of the cumbersome math for you, and here are the results for your viewing pleasure: the NX4703 should be placed no closer than 69.3 inches (5.8 feet), and no further than 225 inches (18.8 feet) away. Ultimately, these are just general guidelines to help you out, and by no means need to be followed like the Gospel. Another consideration is viewing angle, and this is more of a concern when dealing with LCD televisions (all makes and models) as they tend to experience edge brightening from extreme viewing angles. While LCD technology has improved ten-fold in this regard, it still is a legitimate concern, so it's always best to keep the TV positioned in a narrower viewing angle for maximum enjoyment and image quality. Now that we've covered all of that, let's take a look at the user menus that are featured with the NX4703. A quick observation and some general comments about these menus: simple, intuitive, and easy to use. If you've owned any of the more recent brands of televisions, you'll be familiar with the menus. They feature menus for Video, Audio, Setup, and Parental, each of which feature their own sub-menus for additional adjustments. Pictured below you'll find the Picture and Audio menus with their various options.
Out-OfBox Picture With the promise of delivering full, 1080P HD power in glorious 1920 x 1080 resolution, with a new and improved video chip set no less, I was licking my chops (not literally) in anticipation to see what this Nexus NX4703 LCD TV could do. I used a PS3 for HD Blu-ray playback, featuring BBC's Planet Earth via a 1080P HDMI connection. Out-of-box, as is the case with most home theatre TVs, I was anticipating being underwhelmed with the performance, but the folks at Nexus had other ideas it seems. Off the hop, black levels were good, color gamut deep and expansive, and image detail in the brighter scenes was rendered quite well. When the proceedings switched over to darker scenes - particularly the ones that called for large segments of one color - color saturation was just off the mark, and some of the images fell under the spell of digital noise. This was by no means something so egregiously obvious and constant that it took you out of the viewing experience, but it was definitely time for some tweaking. I adjusted the picture settings as follows:
In the Advanced section of the Video menu I kept most of the default settings intact, but I did adjust the DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) from Medium to OFF. In theory, the higher you set the DNR, the softer your image, because its purpose is to remove any image artifacts that come with video compression. For my personal tastes though, I find it a bit on the artificial side as it can sometimes add to the digital noise, and prefer having it off. Armed with said changes in tow, I re-watched Planet Earth and noticed an improvement in overall image quality. Contrast detail improved in the mid-range to bright scenes, there was less noise and color saturation issues in the darker segments, the blacks got blacker, and the whites appeared richer and more vivid. Now it was time to see if calibrating this HD LCD home theatre TV would net even further image improvements. Calibration In my experience, I generally find that the televisions or projectors that perform the best out of the box tend to calibrate easier, and are more in tune with any of the image adjustments that are done prior. Not surprisingly, the Nexus NX4703 was just such an example. From pre-calibration, eyeball video settings, to post-calibration, adjusted settings, all of the numbers were virtually spot-on. In the lower, sub-20 IRE ranges, I was able to settle into a color temperature just below 6500K with just a marginal increase in red and blue color offsets. In the higher, 70-plus IRE range, the red and blue saw a greater boost before settling into the 6580K mark. In terms of what impact all of this had on the actual image quality, the most noteworthy areas of improvement were color saturation and contrast detail. Everything looked just a little sharper and more on point. While it’s hard to say one way or another whether you should choose to calibrate or not, I will say that for all the techies out there that want complete and total control over all aspects of their viewing experience, there is something to be gained by calibrating the NX4703. For everyone else (average, everyday consumer), with the out-of-box performance as it is, combined with a really nice assortment of image options in the standard user menus, there’s no real or pressing need to calibrate as you’ll be more than satisfied with what the Nexus NX4703 has to offer you. Audio From an audio standpoint, Nexus appears to have cornered the market on exclusively featuring a speaker panel that runs along the bottom of the TV as opposed to the sides like most other television manufacturers do. Whether this is for technical concerns, or merely trying to stand out from the competition stylistically, it appears to have served Nexus well over the years, as this LCD TV does a really good in the audio department. While by no means offering the rich and engrossing soundscape that you'd get with a digital audio receiver (no TV by itself can), I was very impressed with how clear and crisp the audio was, even when the volume was raised significantly. The Audio menu allows you to adjust for all the standard things such Balance and Sound Surround, while the audio mode has options for Standard, Speech, User, or Music, all of which are specifically catered to the type of programming you happen to be watching. There’s even an Equalizer feature that allows you to adjust between five different sound ranges on a scale of -10 to +10. Bottom line: If you don't plan on springing for an audio receiver anytime soon, rest assured that you'll get a more than satisfactory serving of audio goodness. FINAL THOUGHTS - Nexus HD LCD TVNexus appears to have scored yet another winning run in the home theatre market with their NX4703 HD LCD TV. The benefits of true, HD, 1920 x 1080 resolution are obvious, as is superb connectivity by way of three HDMI 1.3 and two Component inputs, but what continue to impress with the Nexus line of home theater televisions is how they continue to make a name for themselves by consistently putting out a great product. The NX4703 is no exception and would certainly make a great addition to anyone’s home theater.
DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS - Nexus NX4703 HD LCD TV
Manufacturer Homepage: www.nexuselectronics.com Verdict recommendations are ranked from best to worst as follows: Highly Recommended Latest HDTV Reviews and Products
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