One rumour that is doing the rounds is that electronic brands are likely to become cheaper in the coming days. The notion is particularly thrown into doubt with Japanese electronics manufacturers, however, as new reports show many major Japanese electronics brands might have to raise prices on account of the strong yen. with other rumours saying more pronounced in the case of the Japanese makers who apparently are trying to do whatever they can to attract customers in this tough economic climate. Despite all this negativity what is heartening is that there is no lull in the TV market, which rather surprisingly witnessing brisk business. Moreover, the rumours notwithstanding, Samsung’s latest offering, the LE40A558 40in LCD TV, is a true steal. This is especially true when you see the amazing richness of features that it has on-board as well as the flawless performance that it delivers.

However, you must also tone down your expectations of the deck, and not expect features like Internet connectivity or Content Library functionality that are sported by high-end products like the A756 series.

The 40A558 does a superb job when it comes to connectivity and consists of a respectable three HDMIs, and importantly has a USB port as well which makes it really convenient on your part to try your MP3 library and view your collection of JPEG stills. The Samsung LE40A558’s arrangement is helped by a dedicated D-Sub PC port that seamlessly blends with the other component parts of the deck.

Meanwhile, user flexibility is also taken well note as the deck includes an intuitive trawl that ensures well presented onscreen menus. You can also benefit from stuff like a black adjustment, an optional, multi-level Dynamic Contrast system, gamma adjustment, et al.

The state-of the-art screen of the deck is another of its major attractions, and is capable of delivering the Full HD resolution, and has a solid contrast ration of 30,000:1, i.e. when the Dynamic Contrast feature is activated.

Philips at the moment is having a firm grip over the premium TV market, as its stellar 9632D range and 9900 ‘Aurea‘ models make customers swoon over the brand. The models are especially noticeable for their use of the innovative light frame technology which provides them a definite edge over their contemporaries. The latest to come from the company ranks, however, is not any of these premium models, but instead is no-nonsense unit that promises to deliver 37 inches of screen size at a price that is exceptionally low.

The deck not only comes cheap, but it is well built as well which at many times give a complex to other budget players. The presence of the dynamic backlight system is a real revelation as it helps the Philips 37PFL5522D to produce some stunning black levels, usually the domain of the expensive breeds. The black levels are well supported by a high contrast ratio of 7,500:1.

The above features are to an expected, but what really gets you excited is the company’s Pixel Plus HD image processing technology which comes adorning the set. The depressing thing however is that the technology is not he latest one, and if rumours are to be believed it may not be long before it become obsolete!

The picture quality of the TV is an impressive aspect as you are assured of images that are sharp and have a lot of detail, to go with a pleasant amount of natural hues. The picture quality is further boosted by a native resolution of 1,366×768 pixels, though not 1,920×1,080 pixels, and the experience you feel while watching moves simply belies the fact that you are actually watching them on a budget deck.

A stand out aspect of the unit is that it comprises two HDMI inputs, at a time when most of its contemporaries are offering only one. There are many who may scoff at the advantages of this extra input option, but that aspect can be easily handled by assuming that your next DVD player and set-top box will use HDMI instead of Scart. The Humax LGB32DST’s extra HDMI input is even more impressive when you take into account the compatibility of consoles like PS3 or Xbox 360, which mainly use the HDMI feature.

The impressive 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, on the other hand, means that you can enjoy your movies in true HD style.

The unit’s connectivity is another of its many strengths, as it has a host of connectivity options, including a couple of RGB Scarts, a set of component video inputs and even a PC input, in addition to stereo audio connections, a composite video input and a S-video port.

The unit’s audio component is also no less impressive and is boosted by an in-built Surround sound module to supplement its built-in speakers. Then there is an output for routing a Dolby Digital soundtrack into a home cinema amplifier at the rear.

The unit weights a little over a pound, and the styling with its primary purpose in an office or living-room context in mind. But the remote does look a bit drab compared to the projector. It is also impressive when you discover that the buttons are carefully designed to grant you an unobtrusive access while resizing the picture, in addition to its wide array of OSM functions. Then, there is also fast access to rear- and ceiling-mounted projection options, as well as picture quality controls.

Though the unit lacks an optical zoom feature, this is not a severe problem as you can digitally adjust the image size down to 80 per cent of its native resolution. There is an obvious degradation in image quality as a result of this, but at this price you can hardly find anything better. Moreover, like all Toshiba products, its components, and projector bulb are designed to last; which ensures you will not have to purchase a replacement bulb, like the Toshiba TLP LV3, for quite some time. A host of dedicated digital keystone buttons are also included, which will be helpful in case you quickly and easily want to compensate for the distortion and produce a straight-sided image.

The brightness levels of the unit stand at 1,200 ANSI lumens, and are suitable for dark rooms where the picture appears rather sharp and the colours are well saturated. You, however, need to ensure that stray light doesn’t creep inside and spoil the image quality.

Simplicity seems to be the corner stone of the unit, and it therefore allows you unobtrusive access to its various features; making operating the unit a great pleasure. Then there are the component inputs which are fully progressive-scan compatible, and give the television a distinct edge over LCD rivals. Although admittedly, the television’s greatest advantage over its rivals, like the Samsung LE-40A786, is its low price. Furthermore, the Akai television also has a reasonable panel resolution of 1,280×768 WXGA, which supports high-definition video, and thus endows you with the leverage to download clips from the Internet.

The unit bears quite a striking resemblance to the ViewSonic NW2750w, as far as its design is concerned, especially with the odd and unintuitive looking remote control. These factors aside, the remote functions normally and is convenient. The connectivity of the unit is another weak point and you will on occasions have to do with make shift solutions.

The unit is well bestowed with a host of typical outputs, including component video, S-Video, composite video, and analogue audio, plus both types of digital audio output (optical and coaxial). This is actually somewhat remarkable, considering most budget players, like the Panasonic DVD-LS82EG, only have one digital audio output. Furthermore, it also features contemporary features like solid progressive-scan processing, which adds to the device’s overall coolness factor. The unit is fitted with the versatile HiMat file compatibility feature, which supposedly makes reading digital photo and music files more streamlined.

Disc compatibility is very good and the player plays virtually all formats available in the market, including DVD-Rs, -RWs, +Rs, +RWs, CD-R/RWs and enhanced CDs.