Protocol Document

Review – NEC E464 46" LED Edge-lit Commercial-Grade
Display w/ Integrated Tuner
Wander into a big box store and you will see racks of LCD displays. All of them will be stocked
with features ranging from Smart TV apps, differing refresh rates, audio options, and backlighting
technology, but most of them have something else in common – a short duty cycle and a one-year
warranty. Enter the world of commercial displays, designed for signage, but perfectly at home as
well. The NEC E464 46" LED Edge-lit Commercial-Grade Display w/ Integrated Tuner is
designed for 12-hour-per-day operation, carries a 3-year warranty and has a TV tuner if you’d like
to use an antenna for free HD content.
This TV eschews lots of bells and whistles in favor of a unit engineered for everyday, all-day
operation. Its specifications include a native HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, and a 4000:1
contrast ratio, at 350 cd/m2 luminance level. It has enough inputs to satisfy just about any variety
of sources including 3 HDMI inputs, Analog video inputs include a VGA 15-pin D-sub, RCA (Y,
Cb/Pb, Cr/Pr) Component in. Audio options include HDMI Audio, Stereo Mini-Jack, and
External Control has the requisite RS-232C port. To export audio, especially derived from the
tuner, there is a SPDIF optical out. The built in speakers surprised us, as most of the units we
have tested have featured speakers whose key audio trait could best be described as “tinny” but
the E464 sports a 10W Audio Amplifier, with dual down-firing speakers.
The built-in tuner is a normal NTSC/ATSC analog/digital tuner; the menu options include
several variable picture modes (dynamic standard; energy savings; theater; custom); advanced
video/audio settings; sleep timer; built-in closed captioning; parental control (V-chip function);
power management; and a USB port. What’s more, it comes with a three-year warranty
covering parts and labor, including the backlight. The remote is full-featured, but sports only
the essential buttons, so it won’t require poring over the user manual to decipher. Nothing fancy,
but it does the trick.
The question remains: who would are this display’s target customer? The obvious answer is
anyone seeking dependable display technology, at a budget price. This includes schools, medical
facilities, boardrooms, restaurants and bars – users run the gamut. But is it appropriate
for home use? We thought about this question, and realized that despite the industry selling TVs
that are chock full of “smart” features, the fact is that many folks are turning to TV tuners (rather
than traditional cable service) to save money and get higher quality by utilizing over-the-air
stations. With so many Blu-ray players sporting Netflix, Hulu, and other apps, the need for the TV
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Review
NEC E464 46" LED Edge
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Grade Display w/ Integrated Tuner |
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1/3/2014
http://maceditionradio.com/node/5970

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