The Envision L32W761 is a 32-inch, liquid crystal display television.
Compared to other liquid crystal display TVs on the market, it is
relatively inexpensive at around $775. This TV is an LCD display,
which is generally the best kind of flat-panel screen for viewing in
brightly-lit rooms.An ideal HDTV, regardless of price, provides a set
of A/V connections that accommodates the current and future needs of
its owner. And, of course, a decent HDTV also delivers well-contrasted
imagery with colors that appear naturally saturated and accurate. The
AOC Envision L32W761, a 32-inch LCD HDTV, comes close to this ideal
and grabbed my attention with its bright picture, realistic color, and
easy setup.The main A/V connection on the L32W761 is located at the rear of the
display, facing downward near the lower edge. The TV’s HD-compatible
video inputs include one HDMI connection, two component-video inputs,
and a VGA input for PC use. A side-accessible input block provides
composite and S-Video input with RCA-style stereo audio connections,
as well as a mini-jack port for use with earphones. I feel that the
L32W461 could really use a second or third HDMI input, but its
relatively low price makes its limited selection of digital inputs a
little easier to accept. The set’s native resolution is 1,366 by 768
pixels progressively scanned (768p), and it produced crisp-looking
imagery when fed the common PC resolution of 1,360-by-768 via VGA
input. The same resolution fed from a PC via HDMI, however, produced a
slightly underscanned image.
All in all, the Envision L32W761 offers generally good color quality,
but its sacrifice of darker picture details will cause many owners to
crank up the brightness. Doing so, however, adversely affects image
contrast and causes colors to appear less saturated. It’s possible
that the TV’s service menu provides the adjustments needed to correct
this detail issue without increasing brightness, but a TV at this
price doesn’t justify hiring a calibration professional to get it to
appear “just right.” I look forward to seeing AOC’s next 32-inch HDTV,
and I hope it addresses these image-quality concerns while adding a
few more HDMI inputs. Until then, I suggest people spend a little more
and get a Sharp or Sony for their superior color quality, a better
selection of A/V connections, and none of the black-level blues.