Tevion MD 30132

The arrival of affordable large-screen flat-panel televisions has caused a stir in the home entertainment market, with most technology manufacturers now offering their own spin on the thin TV.

The difference between LCD TVs and flat-screen TFT computer monitors is the inclusion of a television tuner which is built into the display and, as the name suggests, allows you to connect a standard TV aerial and watch television programmes.

Tevion's MD 30132 is a 32in widescreen model selling for £750, the lowest-priced LCDTV at this size we've seen. The cheapest competing 32in models we could find were about £100 more expensive from independent retailers and £250 more expensive from high-street shops.

The price sounds great, but it sent alarm bells ringing as to what corners may have been cut to keep the costs down.

On paper Tevion's offering is loaded with some topnotch specifications. First to mention are the input connections. Even though it lacks HDMI, there are two Scart sockets for analogue input and one digital DVi, which means you can get a pure digital picture from a DVI-equipped DVD player, set-top or satellite box. You can also connect a PC if the graphics card has a DVI socket.

The MD 30132 is also fully compatible with High Definition TV (HDTV). Although the UK won't have access to this new and improved broadcast format until next year, this TV will be ready for it when it arrives.

There will be two versions and the Tevion can display one type with no adjustments while the other will require only a minor change to its resolution setting. Our test HD DVD showed that the Tevion coped well at both resolutions.

Another key inclusion where DVI is concerned is the MD 30132's support for HDCP, which again shows that this LCD TV has been built for the future.

It will also display picture-in-picture (two channels at the same time) and has a good viewing angle, which means you don't have to be right in front of the screen to see the picture.

There are S-Video and Composite inputs hidden behind a panel on the front that can be used to attach other devices, such as games consoles and digital camcorders.

For the most part, image quality was reasonably good. The colours are rich, it's bright without being overbearing and the black is very solid, all of which help to produce a decent picture.

However, we did notice some blurring, or 'smearing', with fast-moving images and the edges of some objects were quite jaggy, even when using the DVI connection. Of course, you can't expect too much from such a cheap LCD TV but these negative points reaffirm our suspicion that something had to give at this price.

The sound quality is comparable to that of a basic television set, so if you're a movie fan you'll need to hook up a 5.1 sound system to your DVD player. It can be wall-mounted but no bracket is supplied.

It's an affordable way to get a big screen LCD into your home and will be equipped for HDTV when it hits these shores. Picture quality isn't the best we've seen but, considering the rest of the specifications for this price, it's hard to complain too much.