AOC L32W861 32" LCD TV

AOC- L32W861 LCD HDTV 32"  http://us.aoc.com/

Whatever you buy, you always want to get the most out of your money. So when I saw an LCD HDTV for only $400. I had some doubts about whether it was a quality product. Especially since there is always concern about buying a brand name that the average consumer knows little about. Then I did some research on the AOC company. They are better known as Envision who are the world's largest display manufacturer. This AOC L32W861 TV has the words " Envision Series" on top.

After seeing this close up in a brightly lit store. I knew if it looked good there it should play well in my home. However it was playing with a blu-ray demo dvd. So I needed to see how it played in my home using cable TV. Knowing that Radio Shack has a 30 days No Hassle Refund Policy helpled to reassure me with my purchase. The multi language manual could have been alot better written. For example the TV remote has a EPG button. There is no detailed explanation of this feature anywhere in the manual. So, I am guessing that EPG is an electronic programming guide button which this model does not support. However the set up was very easy. After I unpacked everything, the base had to be attached. It aligns with two plastic tabs and firmly attaches with the four included small Phillips head screws. A nice feature is that the base also allows the unit to swivel for a good viewing angle at any position in the room. Although to be best appreciated I would recommend sitting about five feet away from the TV. After that your viewing angle should be fine from anywhere in the room.

The AOC 32W861 has a piano-black finish and is wall mountable. It has two 10 watt speakers on bottom. After plugging into AC outlet a red standby light appears and it takes a few seconds for the picture to appear once the TV power button is pressed.The AOC L32W861 is a 720p HTDV, it has a 32" widescreen display that delivers an accurate 16:9 aspect ratio and up to 1366x768 resolution. This new model now has two HDMI connections which should be enough for most users. If not,you could always purchase an inexpensive HDMI adaptor to add more inputs.  I attached the TV to an HD cable box and an upconverting DVD player using two HDMI cables from Monoprice.com. The remotes source button makes switching between your various devices (DVD player, Cable Box, PC, TV)  extremely easy. It brings up a list of the AOC's inputs. The current active input is higlighted in yellow. There are also buttons on the remote for each individual source input. Using the RF input for my buidings over the air antenna brings in over the air free HD on about 20 HD channels.

The AOC L32W861 has your usual HDTV zoom and stretch controls. This is for use when you are watching non-HD programming. I recommend using the stretch feature which works very well. The Zoom control cuts off the bottom part of the picture. Channel switching from SD to HD channels can be somewhat slow. However that is common with most HDTVs and HD cable boxes. The menu is easy enough to use to tune the AOC L32W861 picture and sound to your preferences. Using the remote , you are able to individually adjust each sound and pictures menu control without having the entire menu on screen.

Out of the box I raised the sharpness and the backlight level. Then I adjusted the color temperature to cool and set the video noise reduction to off.  The AOC has an auto contrast detection which automatically and accurately adjusts the picture. With the auto contrast detection set to on, the AOC's brightness and contrast controls seem to have little effect on the picture. The sharpness control does a fine job without adding any video noise. The picture is very detailed with the sharpness turned up just half way. Overall ,the AOC32861 shows extremely accurate and vivid color, with excellent brightness and contrast. The 8ms response time means the screen has no trouble with fast-moving, full-motion images. This is a very important feature when watching sports or action movies.

HD TV cable programming looks phenomenal. I get vivid color, and a bright and well detailed picture on this set. DVD's upconverted to 1080i look very well defined. The sound is a bit low with DVD's but it can still be set to adequate level for a standard size room. There's also a headphones input for private listening. The AOC also has a VGA input for use as a PC monitor. I have not used it that way. However I have seen videos of it on Youtube.com showing it working very well as a PC montor. 

The AOC L32W861 delivered very detailed black levels when I viewed The Dark Knight DVD on a 1080i upconverting Panasonic DVD-S54 DVD player. While watching the nighttime scenes shadow detail was very good. I could easily make out details in the Batmans black suit as he stood in the darkness. The AOC's accurate color helped make the different flesh tones very accurate. The few sunlit outdoor scenes from The Dark Knight look very bright and sharp.

However, since this is only a $400 LCD HDTV it does lack some more advanced audio video features. It has Freeze Frame which works well. It does not have any audio or video presets. The Audio menu contros are limited to Bass, Treble, Balance. The Video controls include dynamic auto contrast (on/off), backlight , color temperature (Normal, Cool, Warm) video noise reduction (on/off , low, mid, high). The Auto Dynamic Contrast control is set to on by default. For best results, I would leave it set to on. 

With this AOC TV you should be spending more time admiring the picture, than tweaking some unecessary video controls. The AOC has 1366x768 resolution, with conservative specifications of 500 cd/m2 brightness and a 4500:1 dynamic contrast ratio to help ensure the best picture possible. However, I wouldn't be overly concerned with this AOC TV's specifications. You will really need to see this TV and try to compare it to the major brand models costing about $150 more. If you do a blind test comparison, where you're not told which one is the more expensive. It would be difficult to tell the difference between the others. You might even pick out the AOC as the one you like best.

This AOC HDTV is rated among is rated among the top 10 LCD HDTV's by Consumer Reports (3/09). In addition to everything else this AOC HDTV earns a Energy Star logo. As of November 2008, the EPA and Department of Energy proprietors of the Energy Star logo have established more stringent guidelines for TVs in standby and active modes in an attempt to reduce power consumption. Tech Support is excellent by email. I had a question about closed captions using HDMI cables and it was answered the next day. They also have a group on Facebook if you need to contact them.

Ratings
Performance: 4 Stars :
It gives a bright and accurate colorful image. If color accuracy and purity what you look for in a HDTV, then this is the HDTV for you.

Features: 3 Stars :
For $400 it's really not fair to expect a HDTV to have a lot of advanced features. It does have freeze frame, two HDMI Inputs , optical audio output,a PC input to use as a monitor. There is No PIP, no USB or Ethernet ports.

Ease of Use: 4 Stars :
It's basically Plug and Play TV.

Specifications:
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Response Time: 8 ms
Signal Compatibility: 720p , 1080i
Input Video Signal: NTSC ATSC QAM
Speakers: Yes (2x10W)
Inputs: PC Audio In, PC Video, RF Input ,S-Video, Component, HDMI ,Composite Video : Outputs: Analog Audio, Headphone, Digital Optical Audio Out

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