HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was only decent. It did an very good job displaying the fine detail of HD content though some added edge enhancement processing was noted, but wasn't distracting. Color accuracy was acceptable, but below that of most models. Lack of contrast gave images a somewhat flatter appearance with little depth. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Depth of black level was below average, with darker scenes in particular looking hazy, with little contrast. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Sceptre has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
MOTION BLUR. This Sceptre TV has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests. This is better than average for LCD displays with the basic 60Hz frame rate. Though this model includes Sceptre's "MEMC", a feature designed to reduce motion blur; we found it limited the display's brightness so we turned the feature off. Turning on the MEMC feature also revealed a quirky performance bug. The picture brightened and oversharpened, and remained this way even after turning the feature off. The TV returned to normal after we turned off the TV, and back on (but make sure that MEMC feature is set to off).
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. Bass was notably absent, but treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was on the bright side, thin, and closed in. The volume from its speakers was limited -- just adequate for a smaller, quiet listening environment, but quality does degrade at the highest settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting, but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be distracting on some audio content. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system -- but if this smaller-screen set is a secondary TV, you might find its sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Sceptre includes a basic remote that has traditional button navigation controls and number keypad. Though the buttons have high contrast labeling, the text is very small, making it less easy to read in a dimmer viewing environment. It lacks the ability to add custom labels to different input sources.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV does not provide access to the Internet.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs and one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time) one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, a VGA video input. The cable connections on the rear panel are recessed with side or bottom-facing ports, so wires don't protrude beyond the display's depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. No printed manual is included.
