Humax LP32-TDR1 review

Picture in picture is supported, although curiously you can't use the second tuner for this if you're watching something via HDMI and recording a Freeview channel. When you aren't recording, you can have two Freeview channels on-screen at once, either one in the other or one next to the other -- known as picture by picture. A third mode, called picture out of picture allows one channel to be displayed large, but with the second channel shown next to it, although this leaves a portion of the screen totally blank.

Performance
Recording quality was as good as we would expect for a Freeview PVR. Recordings didn't significantly differ from the original broadcast. The television does allow you to increase the compression if you desperately need to fit more on its 160GB hard disk, but we suggest you avoid further reducing the already slightly ropey quality of Freeview.

The remote control is fairly basic and pretty ugly

Standard-definition performance on the television was good. Colours were bright and the image was neither too soft nor artificially sharp. We were able to see the usual Freeview picture problems, but the Humax doesn't exaggerate them or use unpleasant processing to hide the problem.

The back levels of this set are a little off. It's especially noticeable when you move to the left or right of 'dead centre', where black looks a little blue, but even when you are looking at the screen dead-on, you can tell that blacks aren't perfect. Adjustment of the backlight level can improve this, and anyone buying an LCD should remember that the factory default for the backlight is often far higher than necessary. Reducing the brightness is especially important for watching in darker rooms where the light bleed is far more obvious.

On high definition, the picture quality was good overall. When watching Talladega Nights, we did find that the picture looked slightly blue during dark scenes. Again, this can be reduced by adjusting the backlight and brightness; the trade-off is that some of the detail is lost from dark areas. A viewing of Black Hawk Down on our Samsung BD-P1000 was suitably gritty, and the picture had lots of detail.

The sound quality of the television was fairly good. We could hear dialogue clearly, bass was audible, although, like most LCDs, a little weak at times. For built-in speakers we doubt anyone will have any serious complaints, but for serious movie viewing you'll probably want to get a separate surround-sound amp.

Conclusion
We've seen better performers in the high-definition picture-quality stakes. While we weren't disappointed by the picture quality from HD sources, it didn't take our breath away either. This makes this set ideal if you just want a flat screen for watching regular standard-def TV.

Ultimately, if you're trying to cut down on the clutter in your front room, buying this TV with a built-in Freeview PVR will be just what the home electronics doctor ordered. Otherwise, take a look at some of the other PVR-less options available.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Kate Macefield