Evesham Technology V32EMRO-ZE3 32-inch LCD TV Review

Final thoughts and right to reply

Final thoughts

There's little doubt that the Evesham V32EMRO-ZE3 offers an excellent range of input connectivity for a 32-inch LCD TV. HDMI (with HDCP) is a real bonus at the screen's £749 asking price - we'll be seeing a rash of HDMI-enabled source devices in the coming months, among them set-top boxes and high-def DVD players. Overall design is good if not cutting edge, and the screen's speakers are more potent than they look. More good is to be found with the flexible on-screen menu system and intuitive remote control.

Evesham also bundles in a comprehensive 3-year swapout warranty that's supported by its engineers, which is impressive given the low cost of the LCD TV. It's transferrable, so it adds significant value when other screens' standard 1-year warranty comes to an end.

The panel doesn't suffer from the smearing/trailing associated with ultra-cheap panels, and it's more than capable of displaying fast-paced action without any problems.

Aesthetics and design should always take second place to image quality. Here's where the screen's low £749 price tag is exposed. Image quality from standard-definition sources isn't as detailed or smooth as we'd like it to be, with greater blocking, artifacting and poor-ish colour reproduction from low-quality sources than we're accustomed to. The bane of most LCDs, relatively weak blacks, is also evident here.

Matters do improve with high-definition material. The extra resolution brings out the best in the CMO-manufactured panel. Detail is still a touch soft compared to the best in the price-class but the difference here isn't as noticeable as with standard-definition feeds.

In summary, then, an attractively priced and generously equipped 32-inch LCD TV whose spec sheet doesn't tell the entire story. Comparatively lacklustre image quality with SD feeds, where LCDs are poor in general, and average HD performance ensures that it's not the wonder product that it could have been. Reasonable but not great.