Olevia 542i 42" LCD TV
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- HDCP Support: With HDCP Support
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:9)
- Display Resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels
- Response Time: 8 ms
- Broadcast Format Displayed: 720p (HDTV) 480p (EDTV) 480i (SDTV)
- Contrast Ratio: 1,600:1
![Tanpo P32etw 32\](http://di103.shoppingshadow.com/images/di/4e/78/58/484d55716e5856704d72444d67696f5a666c67-80x80-0-0.jpg?p=Y2ecIHjqpc&a=1&c=1&l=3057240&t=05%2F27%2F12%2009%3A13%3A12%20PM&r=3&d=214.28&rt=mr "Tanpo P32etw 32\")
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Great buy - Great Performance
Pros
Great picture, flexible inputs, low price, decent sound, recommended by consumer testing magazine
Cons
Remote's a minor issue
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A quality HDTV, a great price - exactly what I wanted. Can't predict durability, too new, so I'll give it 4 stars, but happy with the unit so far.
I'm not one to blindly buy by brand name and so I am happy to see when the leading CONSUMER testing service and magazine REPORTS that there's diamonds in the bargain bin.
We found our 42" Olevia 542i before Christmas in a free shipping and 10% off coupon discount at Target online. Delivered cost was only $1030 or so, including tax.
All flat panel TVs are about as homely as a foot, a big black rectangular slab, but when you hook it up CORRECTLY, magic happens. Wow. This picture's really worth a thousand words, most followed by exclamation points. There is some "light leakage" causing an easy to ignore static line across the extreme top of the picture frame, but only for non-HD programs, a common problem among numerous brands. It can probably be worked out by playing with the controls and some day when I have nothing better to do I may attempt that.
Even non-HD programs are 11% bigger on this screen without distortion. Built-in ATSC tuner means that a plain old TV antenna can be used as a secondary or even primary HD video source. It's fairly lightweight and can be hung on a wall. Do take some time to adjust the picture - it DOES make a difference.
This unit has a 1600:1 contrast ratio, a topic of much discussion among videophiles. (Some plasma's have a 20,000:1 contrast ratio.) Apparently that ratio determines the blackness of the black level on the display. I found the black levels on this monitor to be perfectly acceptable, deep enough, not gray or washed out. How black can black be? Manufacturers should provide real-life comparisons...a skillet, coal, Saddam's soul, the abyss...
Patch your satellite or cable box to the HDMI and your upconvert DVD player from the DVI to the VGA connection with an adapter. Supposedly the HDMI and DVI/VGA connection produce superior picture quality but the composite connection produces a great picture too. DVI is an earlier version of the HDMI, the only difference being that only video and no audio is carried by it. That's easily remedied by just patching audio to the TV with separate cables. You don't need fiber optic or coax Dolby digital audio to the TV - it only has two speakers, so a simple stereo audio connection will suffice. Use the digital audio connections to hook the cable box and the DVD player to your surround sound receiver for TV viewing "events", not just the daily spew.
The remote is programmable for everything and can run all my A/V gear (and I have a lot)...but because it's not a common brand name, you need to research the code sequences to make other brand remotes work this TV.
The 542i does not display 1080p - but NOBODY broadcasts 1080p and probably never will. Handles 1080i just fine, and that is all I will ever need. (I still know I'm watching a TV and not actually part of the program - it's a TV, not the Outer Limits!)
Overall, the BEST bang for the buck and seriously, I'm looking to buy stock in BRLC ($7 on the NAS) I think these guys are players and will be very successful as consumers demand quality HDTVs at more approachable prices.
We found our 42" Olevia 542i before Christmas in a free shipping and 10% off coupon discount at Target online. Delivered cost was only $1030 or so, including tax.
All flat panel TVs are about as homely as a foot, a big black rectangular slab, but when you hook it up CORRECTLY, magic happens. Wow. This picture's really worth a thousand words, most followed by exclamation points. There is some "light leakage" causing an easy to ignore static line across the extreme top of the picture frame, but only for non-HD programs, a common problem among numerous brands. It can probably be worked out by playing with the controls and some day when I have nothing better to do I may attempt that.
Even non-HD programs are 11% bigger on this screen without distortion. Built-in ATSC tuner means that a plain old TV antenna can be used as a secondary or even primary HD video source. It's fairly lightweight and can be hung on a wall. Do take some time to adjust the picture - it DOES make a difference.
This unit has a 1600:1 contrast ratio, a topic of much discussion among videophiles. (Some plasma's have a 20,000:1 contrast ratio.) Apparently that ratio determines the blackness of the black level on the display. I found the black levels on this monitor to be perfectly acceptable, deep enough, not gray or washed out. How black can black be? Manufacturers should provide real-life comparisons...a skillet, coal, Saddam's soul, the abyss...
Patch your satellite or cable box to the HDMI and your upconvert DVD player from the DVI to the VGA connection with an adapter. Supposedly the HDMI and DVI/VGA connection produce superior picture quality but the composite connection produces a great picture too. DVI is an earlier version of the HDMI, the only difference being that only video and no audio is carried by it. That's easily remedied by just patching audio to the TV with separate cables. You don't need fiber optic or coax Dolby digital audio to the TV - it only has two speakers, so a simple stereo audio connection will suffice. Use the digital audio connections to hook the cable box and the DVD player to your surround sound receiver for TV viewing "events", not just the daily spew.
The remote is programmable for everything and can run all my A/V gear (and I have a lot)...but because it's not a common brand name, you need to research the code sequences to make other brand remotes work this TV.
The 542i does not display 1080p - but NOBODY broadcasts 1080p and probably never will. Handles 1080i just fine, and that is all I will ever need. (I still know I'm watching a TV and not actually part of the program - it's a TV, not the Outer Limits!)
Overall, the BEST bang for the buck and seriously, I'm looking to buy stock in BRLC ($7 on the NAS) I think these guys are players and will be very successful as consumers demand quality HDTVs at more approachable prices.
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