Once we got the LP32-TDR1 out of the box we started a thrilling game of "hunt the on/off switch" -- Humax keeps its power button well hidden. Eventually we discovered it towards the bottom-right of the screen.

Other than its secret power switch, the screen has a simple but pleasant design. The bulk of the TV is finished in a shiny "piano" black with the stand finished in silver. There"s a long speaker strip that runs along the front of the TV. We wouldn"t describe it as the best-looking TV we"ve ever seen as there"s a fair bit of cheap plastic used.

The usual connections are present on the Humax -- it features one HDMI input, component video in and two Scart sockets round the back. There"s also digital audio out for connecting the TV to your surround-sound amplifier. S-Video and composite inputs are located at the side of the TV under a flap. The solitary HDMI is a shame -- at some stage you"re going to want to plug more than one HD source into the telly.

The main feature of the Humax LP32-TDR1 is the Freeview PVR functionality offered by the television. Adding this to an HD Ready set for such a low cost -- typically around £800 at the time of writing -- is a boon.

Although the Humax sports two TV tuners, you can"t record two channels at the same time. The second tuner is simply there to make sure you can carry on watching a different TV channel when a recording is taking place. You aren"t even able to use the trick play features we"d expect to see, such as being able to pause and rewind live TV. Not the end of the world, perhaps, but it is worth knowing before you splash the cash on this set.

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.

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.

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.

It"s a common refrain: consumer electronics are too complicated and cumbersome for the average user. And even if you"re a "power user" who enjoys the latest and greatest tech gear, you"ve still got to deal with the inevitable rat"s nest of cables and wires that invades your living space once you connect two--let alone more--devices together. It"s those two problems--complexity and cable clutter--that the Humax LD2060 aims to eliminate. This 20-inch flat-panel LCD TV includes a built-in DirecTV satellite TV tuner, so subscribers can receive hundreds of channels of programming without the need for an external receiver.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the LD2060 looks similar to any other LCD flat-panel you"ll see--which is to say, pretty nice. The screen is ringed by a black border, while the stand and nonremoveable side-mounted stereo speakers are silver. Controls are split along the top and bottom edges: nine satellite control keys on the top side, five TV controls--volume, input, power, and settings menu--below. Of course, you"ll never have to touch those controls, thanks to the Humax"s unified remote. The well-designed clicker puts all the satellite and TV controls within reach. A slider on the remote toggles its controls between the built-in satellite receiver (such as scrolling through DirecTV"s onscreen programming guide) and the TV itself (picture and sound adjustments and so forth); it can also be programmed to control two other A/V devices, such as a DVD player or VCR.

Getting the Humax LD2060 up and running on DirecTV was about as easy and straightforward as we could hope. Because CNET"s New York office has an existing DirecTV subscription, we just popped the RF coaxial cable off our existing box and screwed it into the back of the Humax TV. After sliding the included access card into the slot on the side, a quick call to DirecTV customer service had us up and running in less than five minutes. (You"ll be charged the same for using the LD2060 as you would for adding a standard DirecTV box to your account--so if you"re replacing an existing box, it"s a wash.) All in all, the LD2060 delivers an experience that"s all but identical to a standard DirecTV receiver--you have access to the same onscreen guide and basic functionality that you"d get with a standard satellite receiver, as well as access to all of the same channels in your package--excluding any high-def ones, that is.

The Humax isn"t going to compete with larger and more expensive TVs in terms of picture quality, but it does offer a basic complement of picture controls, including four picture modes (dynamic, mild, standard, and movie) and five color-temperature presets (two warm and cool settings each, plus a baseline "normal"). We didn"t bother with a full calibration, opting instead to eyeball the basic picture-control settings (tint, contrast, color, sharpness, and brightness) on the Warm 2 preset. As to be expected with an LCD, black levels were lacking. We also noted a bit of red push, but edge enhancement wasn"t overly pumped up, and off-angle viewing was better than average for an LCD. In other words, picture quality was resoundingly fine on DirecTV programming and DVDs--the same that we"d expect from other non-HD LCD panels of this size and native resolution--640x480.

The LD2060 also offers a "="" rel="follow">vertical compression mode, so you can see the full resolution of anamorphic DVDs at their proper aspect ratio. What was annoying, however, was the lack of independent input memories: if you customize the settings for watching DVDs or video games, for instance, you"ll need to readjust them when you return to the DirecTV programming.

If you want to use the LD2060 to watch only satellite TV, just two wires need to be connected: the power cord and the satellite line. (Add a standard telephone wire to the equation if you want to take advantage of any of DirecTV"s pay-per-view offerings.) Thankfully, though, the Humax isn"t a one-trick pony: It has three other A/V inputs--one component and two composite--so you can connect as many as three other video sources. While that will certainly introduce more of the wire clutter that the integrated satellite receiver is designed to avoid, the flexibility to add, say, a DVD player, a VCR, and a game system will certainly be welcome for anyone building a mini-entertainment center. A single set of A/V outputs lets you record your DirecTV shows to a VCR or a DVD recorder, though anybody used to a TiVo or other DVR will lament the dearth of a built-in hard drive. Furthermore, if you buy the LD2060 and subsequently decide to dump DirecTV, the additional inputs guarantee that you"ll always have a usable flat-panel monitor--you can hook up a cable box or even a Dish Network receiver to any of those inputs. Interestingly, the component inputs accept 480p and 720p/1080i high-def sources. But given that they"re all scaled to the LD2060"s 640x480 native resolution--and the fact that it"s a small 20.1-inch screen to begin with--there"s no big advantage to using HD video sources. Likewise, you won"t find any DVI or VGA inputs on the LD2060, but the low-res screen wouldn"t be conducive to doubling as a PC monitor anyway.

While there"s a lot to like about the Humax LD2060, it"s worth remembering that it"s designed to appeal to a fairly small segment of the market: DirecTV viewers looking for a small, no-fuss, flat-panel television. At its original $700 price tag, the lack of wide-screen aspect ratio, high-definition display, PC monitor support, and a built-in DVR were all the more glaring.) By comparison, 20-inch LCD TVs from no-name and top-tier manufacturers are readily available for less than $400.) But Humax has since dropped the list price of the LD2060 to $600--with online pricing coming closer to $549. That makes this TV a much more palatable buy, and it"s a big reason we"re not grading it more harshly.

If you like the idea the of the LD2060 but want to hold out for an HD version, stay tuned: Humax is planning to release a 32-inch wide-screen LCD flat-panel HDTV with a built-in high-def DirecTV tuner in the fall, though pricing has yet to be set. In the meantime, if you"re a DirecTV viewer looking for a no-hassle second television--and you can find it at a discount--the Humax LD2060 is certainly worth your consideration.

Humax continues to rock the all-in-one bizness with its latest 32-inch LCD TV, the LP32-TDR1, which manages to cram a 160GB PVR with twin Freeview tuners into its otherwise unassuming set. The usual specs like resolution, contrast ratio, and response time are a bit hard to come by, but it is apparently equipped with a CI slot for subscription content, component, composite , s-video, and "PC" ports, (not sure if that means VGA or DVI), two RGB SCART jacks and, most importantly, an HDMI connector, something Humax"s earlier TVs lacked. Price is £900, or about $1,700 for those of us this side of the pond.

Humax (휴맥스) is a consumer electronics company. Founded in South Korea in 1989, it manufactures set-top boxes, digital video recorders and other consumer electronics. It is publicly traded on KOSDAQ.

Listed on the Korean stock exchange (KOSDAQ), Humax Co. Ltd of Korea is one of the world"s leading digital set-top box manufacturers, exporting its products to more than 90 countries across the globe.

In 1997, the company opened a manufacturing facility in Northern Ireland which won a Queen"s Award for Enterprise – International Trade 2002, but which has since closed. Additional production facilities are located in Korea, Poland (2004), India and China. Humax recorded revenues $1 billion in 2010.

Humax is a member of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies that is promoting and establishing an open European standard (called HbbTV) for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface.

Humax was involved in the UK digital switchover trials in 2006 and the UK"s Freesat digital TV service and Freeview HD services. It also manufactures YouView set-top boxes for BT and Plusnet"s IPTV and Freeview television services.

Today is a good day to be my back. Just for once I’ve been able to take a break from hoicking around the sort of monstrously large TVs that seem to be all the rage these days in favour of something you can easily tuck under your arm.

That ‘something’ is the Humax LGB-19DTT: a 19in LCD TV which, despite its smallness and low £240 cost, boasts a built-in digital tuner and HD Ready specification. In other words, it has the potential to be a pretty much perfect option for a kitchen, study, bedroom or child’s room. All that it needs to do to finish the job is perform well.

Considering how affordable it is, the 19DTT is rather good-looking by small TV standards. Its combination of a matt black bezel with a silver outer trim and shiny silver strip running along near the bottom edge resembles the current fashion among large LCD TVs right now, and is certainly a cut above the cheapo grey plastic adorned by many of its rivals. What’s more, if you don’t fancy the black version I tested, the set is also available in white or pink (!) versions at no extra cost.

In keeping with its HD Ready credentials, meanwhile, the 19DTT has got both HDMI and component video inputs – both really impressive discoveries on what’s effectively a portable TV. Plus there’s a PC port so that you can double the screen up as computer monitor, and support for more ‘old-school’ fare in the shape of an RGB SCART, S-Video port and composite video input.

The good first impressions made so far merely grow with the discovery of a claimed 1,000:1 contrast ratio – easily the highest such figure we’ve yet seen from a small TV – and a surprisingly high resolution of 1,440 x 900 pixels.

Needless to say, this resolution means the 19DTT is built in a widescreen configuration rather than the ‘square’ still adopted by many sub-20in TVs – a very sensible move when you’ve got a built-in digital tuner that receives most of its programmes in widescreen.

After first being impressed by the 19DTT’s resolution, though, it suddenly struck me that it may not, after all, be quite so great as it first appears. For if you apply a quick bit of maths to 1,440 x 900, it turns out to deliver a native aspect ratio of 1.6:1 (or 16:10 widescreen) – which falls slightly short of the full 1.78:1 delivered by a true 16:9 widescreen TV or broadcast. Despite this, 16:10 widescreen is quite a common resolution on computer and notebook displays and is largely down to the fact that it’s cheaper to manufacture.

Low and behold, this aspect ratio discrepancy is indeed reflected in the TV’s pictures, as even if you choose the set’s ‘Full’ aspect ratio option, it’s clear that normal widescreen images aren’t quite fitting fully into the screen, with a little of the image missing from the top and bottom edges. It even seemed to my eyes as if a very small distortion was stretching the image vertically. Still, while this initially irritated me, I have to say that by the time I’d finished the testing, I’d already got used to it to the point where I didn’t really notice it any more.

Elsewhere you can adjust such niceties as the backlight level and fleshtone balance, set alarm and snooze timers (reflecting the TV’s potential as a bedroom TV), and even call in an SRS TruSurroundXT pseudo-surround sound circuit! Given the puny sound produced by most small LCD TVs, this latter feature seems insanely optimistic, but hey – professional that I am, I’ll reserve my judgment until I’ve actually listened to it.

Take its black level response, for instance. Practically every small TV I’ve ever seen has suffered more or less dismally with LCD technology’s common problem with greyness over dark areas, yet the 19DTT really does have a fair stab at presenting a really quite believable representation of real black.

We’re not talking anything on a par with Pioneer’s KURO plasma TVs here, obviously; for instance, dark areas do still feel a bit hollow for all their black intensity. But we certainly are talking about suitably convincing black levels that allow you to actually enjoy a predominantly dark film like ”The Da Vinci Code”. Well, maybe ‘enjoy’ is a bit of a strong word for that particular film, but I think you know what I’m getting at.

It has to be said that the difference made by the extra detail and clarity of HD sources is hard to appreciate fully on a screen this small. But considering the TV is so affordable, we guess you might as well have the HD Ready resolution rather than not, right?

Moving on to the 19DTT’s sound, it’s par for the small LCD TV course. Which is to say, pretty useless. Things just about hold together during most ordinary TV viewing, but a film or high-octane drama really put it through the wringer. And as for that pseudo surround mode, forget it. I could discern hardly any difference in the sound whether the mode was active or not. Except that the pseudo surround actually sounded slightly worse than the normal stereo setting.

Perhaps inevitably for £240, the LGB-19DTT can’t escape all of the usual small LCD TV pitfalls. Its sound and brightness certainly fail to impress. Yet its black levels, colours and features roster do set it a notch higher than anything else of a similar size and price we’ve seen to date, so if you’re in the market for a small second-room TV, you’ll struggle to find anything better.

We test every TV we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.

For every job, there is the "right" tool. Just as you wouldn"t grab a hammer to open a bottle of champagne, you wouldn"t install a front projection system in a sunny room. DirecTV subscribers, unfortunately, have always needed an extra, often unwanted, "tool" in the form of a standalone satellite receiver. That need for an ungainly box attached to every single TV greatly hinders minimalist, wall-mount installations where the receiver has no place to hide. If this sounds like a predicament you"ve faced, the Humax LD2060 20-inch DirecTV/LCD combo might be the right tool for you.

Setup is straightforward. If you"ve already installed your DirecTV satellite dish, all you"ll need to do is connect the coaxial cable. Of course, activating DirecTV satellite service (there"s a $4.99 monthly charge for each additional receiver) is required to receive programming. A telephone connection is available on the set for pay-per-view purchases.

To connect local sources, the LD2060 includes a component- and two composite-video inputs, all with associated audio input jacks. Although the display resolution is just 640 x 480 (standard definition, or SD), the component input will accept up to 1080i signals. An A/V output (composite-video plus stereo audio) is also available to feed the signal to another TV or to a standalone video recorder.

PERFORMANCE DirecTV receiver manufacturers have done what no one else in consumer electronics can: They"ve standardized their remotes. So if you own a current-generation DirecTV receiver, you"ll be right at home operating the LD2060. (Unfortunately, like all of the other DirecTV remotes I"ve seen, this one isn"t backlit either. Guess you can"t have everything.) I love that Humax included discrete commands for On/Off and aspect ratio options, making it easy to integrate with third-party control systems or universal remotes.

Although the LD2060 has front-panel buttons, their location and labeling is awkward, especially if the top of the TV is above eye-level. But since most people primarily use the remote, this is a minor gripe.

(Pocket-lint) - The problem with small TVs is the sound, they just sound, well, small. Humax think they have the answer with the LGB-19DZT, a 19-inch LCD with SRS TRuSurround XT speakers attached to the bottom. We get watching – and listening – to give you the low down.

From a design point of view, this little TV is something of an ugly duckling: a conventional 19in (1440 x 900 pixels) LCD panel sitting on a bulbous speaker bar. The size of speakers is something of a necessity to deliver the SRS TruSurround XT sound, which is something you don’t normally find in smaller screens.

Everyone knows that digital TV carries a number of radio stations, but not many people do anything about it. Humax has decided to make this an all-in-one TV, bringing those radio functions to the fore. The integrated Freeview digital tuner will supply a wealth of radio channels and there is an option to have the LCD panel turn off, so effectively, you’re just listening to the radio.

This is where the additional speaker display comes into its own, as this will display the radio station information and volume and you can continue to change the radio stations without going back into the TV. That bulbous speaker bar then delivers a good rounded sound from its 2 x 8W drivers satisfying your radio needs.

So this is ideally suited to anyone who lacks space, either in a bedroom, study or student accommodation, as the radio and TV functions are bundled in together. The TV is also well connected, featuring Scart, Component, VGA, HDMI around the back, and additional S-Video and AV connections on the side. So you could potentially use this as your monitor too.

As a TV it works well, the matt finish to the screen reduces reflections, but obviously isn’t as sharp for viewing movies. Out of the box the settings are a little vivid on the colour front, but the preset screen settings can calm this down or you can manually change things to your liking. Of course there is also the standard Freeview EPG which is easy to use.

There is a small downside, however. We found that the viewing angle on the screen was slightly unforgiving with a preference from top-down viewing. If your eyeline dips below the TV you start to experience problems, which does raise the question of how useful the VESA mount would be.

The supplied remote control will cover all the functions for both TV and radio and there are basic controls across the top of the TV. You’ll also find it has a range of sleep and alarm options, and the speaker display can turn into a clock when the screen is turned off – what more could you want?

With enough connectivity do hook-up your PC, Xbox, DVD player, and PS3, whilst acting as both your TV and a decent radio and alarm, this could be the all-in-one device you’ve been looking for