ET Review: Moser Baer ICE TV

Rating HHHHH

FEATURES

24-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) LCD panel
15000:1 contrast, 16:10 aspect ratio
HDMI, S-video, VGA, component, composite inputs
Built in 3W x 2 speakers, 3.5mm headphone out

Sleek, bright picture, easy wall mounting

Rs 18,900 for ICE TV 24-inch


MoserBaer's ICE TV aims to make TV watching a personal affair. This is a TV that you wouldn't mind placing near your bed for a quick glance at your favourite TV show. The design is unusual for a TV; it more closely resembles the design of an all-in-one PC.

The folding stand at the back is permanently attached, and can be adjusted to alter the angle at which the TV stands. From a design standpoint, it surely draws attention, thanks to the slim 5.5cm design and flat front. It’s not too heavy either at 6 kg, so you can easily pick it up and move it around.

The wall-mounting system is simple too; the TV has a permanently attached metal rod at the back. With two nails on the wall, you can just hang it up just like you would hang a painting. Though you do have to make sure that the nails are embedded with fasteners into the wall to make them strong enough to hold the weight.

Coming to the performance; the ICE has dual 3 watt speakers. The speakers are smaller than what a normal LCD TV would have, and this becomes evident when you try to listen to audio at mid to high volumes. Thankfully, it does have a 3.5mm audio out so that you can attach headphones or even a set of amplified computer speakers for bigger sound.

Considering the ports, it can be used as both a TV and a computer monitor. As a PC monitor, it works quite well. But hook up a game console or Blu-Ray player with HDMI, and you start to realise that the panel itself is not top quality. The colours appear washed out at times, making us doubt the claimed 15,000:1 contrast ratio.

There are a few issues with the TV. For starters, the power supply is external, no doubt to maintain the slim profile. There is a fair bit of flex in the front panel of the TV, especially in the bezel around the display area. Not a big concern, but it raises questions about durability. Ergonomics, however, is a major concern.

The placement of ports is inconvenient; placed as they are, facing downwards on the folding desktop stand, you have to either tilt the TV down completely or pick it up to connect a cable. Even all the control buttons (volume, channel, source etc) are placed on the fold out stand at the back, hidden out of view. The designers obviously didn’t put a lot of thought into these details.

Apart from the 24-inch full HD version, the MoserBaer Ice TV is also available in 20-inch and 22-inch sizes for Rs 14,900 and 16,900, respectively. All three feature the same design and same inputs, but the 20-inch has a panel resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels while the 22-inch has a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels.

In terms of the 24-inch version - buy it if you need a stylish, full HD, dual use TV+monitor. There really is nothing else in this price range that is full HD. If the full HD panel resolution is not a consideration, you can get TVs in similar sizes with additional features like USB video playback for the same price.

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