JVC LT-40X776 40" LCD TV

May 20, 2006
OK so now that my rant is over and the realization has sunk in that I'm stuck with this tv, I've come up with a plan that'll give me an EXCELLENT Home Theater set up with only a bit more of an expense. As I was planning to upgrade my receiver anyway, I'll be getting one that will give me all the inputs I need and one that will make up for this TV's inadequacies. I'm planning on buying one of the best and yet under rated receivers out there, the Outlaw 1070. The Outlaw 1070 is about $1000 with shipping and everything (only available online) but they compete with $4000 recievers you'd get from high end audio stores. There truly is nothing on the shelf at Best Buy, Circuit City, or Future Shop that would compare so the way I figure it, another grand and I'm laughing. As I've said before, the JVC LT-40X776 is an absolutely amazing picture, once you set it up properly. I plan on going through the THX calibration one more time and I'll release the settings so everyone can set there's up quickly and easily. I finally see a light at the end of my home A/V tunnel, and hopefully it'll be Home Theater Heaven.
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May 17, 2006
It's now been 2 months with this TV and I'm starting to really regret this purchase. What I'm noticing now in the summer months is the amount of heat this thing throws off! I looked at many different models and it was the quality of the picture that got me. This set still have a great picture, but the rest of it is terrible. The lack of inputs, the heat, the menu, the lack of customizing to the input labels, all bad.
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April 23, 2006
It's now been 1.5 months and I'm starting to really dislike the lack of a front A/V input. If you're a parent and you like to connect your digital camcorder or digital camera to your TV, this might upset you as well. Reaching around the back to plug in the appropriate cable is a real pain in the a**! It's still a great picture, but basically it comes down to the LCD panel itself is great, but the rest of the chassis is terrible and poorly designed. I'd strongly advise those with peripherals to think about this.

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I've had this TV a week now and once I used a THX Optimizer (can be found in the "Extras" of some DVD's), I'm very happy with it. If you're looking for bang for the buck, this is a good buy.

True HD programming looks so amazing! Watching some of the PBSHD and Discovery programs in HD is truly a new experience, but if all you get is Analog TV, you will be an angry man/woman. Analog looks terrible, but that's true for every flat-panel TV out there so like I said, if that's all you get, keep your CRT for a few more years.

DVD movies look great, and I'm sure the new Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs will look even better. Your system is only as good as your weakest component so here's what your going to need:
HD TV (obviously)
HD cable box or HD Satelite box
DVD player (hopefully with Progressive Scan)

Those are the obvious things, but what you may not think of is what those devices are using to communicate. You HAVE to use either HDMI or Component video cables to get HD, S-Video won't cut it. If you want great sound, you should be using Toslink (fiber optic) audio interconnects. Not everyone has to go out and spend their retirement money on all this stuff, but i figure once you spend almost $3,000 for a TV, you're probably going to get the rest to make it worth while.

One good thing to note, the bezel around the screen is black. This was a big thing for me because it frames the picture which makes it easier to view in my opinion. The bezel is shiny but it hasn't been a problem, so far.

Inputs, too few. The LT-40X776 only has one HDMI, one component, and one Toslink input. There are no inputs on the front which is really bad if you like to connect your camera or camcorder to your TV. The fact that it has one Toslink is better than most TVs, but if your going to put the technology to have one there, you may as well put two.

The Remote is pretty much what I would expect for a TV like this. It has a LOT of buttons, but it's fully lit. The button labels are not all on the buttons which makes the backlighting somewhat useless, but it's better than nothing.

Out of the box, it's default settings have an extremely annoying, bright blue light that is supposed to light up the JVC name, but you can turn it down (mine is turned off). You can also turn the blue LED that shows that it's on down (I'm pretty sure most people can figure out if the TV is on).


The menus are the worst out there. When I looked at this TV next to the Sony Bravia and Sharp Aquos, I found the LT-40X776 to have a better picture, but the menus are so ugly, so archaic that it almost made me choose a different model. JVC has this same ugly menu which looks like it's from back in the DOS days. In fact, the menu look is the same as the 20" I bought in 1993, seriously. The menu also has an area where you can set the Input Labels, but I've done it several times and it still says "Video-1" and "Video-2" etc. Lame. You won't be able to go from one input straight to another unless it's next in line. To go from Video-1 to Digital-In, you have to cycle through Video-2 and 3 which is slow and painful. You also can't turn off inputs if you don't have a device connected (like the Sony. Thank goodness I won't have to look at the menu system very often.

Over all, I'm happy with it and I would recommend it. It all comes down to how much you're willing to spend. For less than $3K, this is a good one to go with. If you have more money to spend, you can a TV with a lot more "bells and whistles"