As I trampled through one of my most gloomiest of days, I was assigned the Hannspree ST321MBB 32” LCD TV for a close study. I sighed heavily, I was sure this TV was going to make my day worse, such was my previous experiences with those of this brand. I got to work with resignation, praying that I be spared of further mischance. But to my surprise, I found myself looking at what the TV was good at rather than what was not. (This is so unlike me!) The TV looks average – the same old smudgy-finger print prone glossy black finish. But the speaker mesh along the bottom edge does more good than bad. It lets you see the TV from a new angle that shows it in good light.
The Hannspree ST321MBB is a full HD LCD TV and quotes a dynamic contrast ratio of 10000:1, which is pretty low when we get to see ratios of the order thousands of hundreds to one these days. Pictures, as far as brightness and contrast are concerned are decent, but the moving parts are not completely spared of flickering. Po’s fumbling Kung Fu movements in Kung Fu Panda were mostly rendered amidst a lot of picture noise. Colours are pleasing to the eyes, The Valley of Peace and the Furious Five were a feast to watch.
The Hannspree is well-equipped in terms of connectivity with an adequate 4 HDMIs as the highlight. Audio is not all that appreciable and voices tend to sound unclear and scratchy. The bestial Tai Lung’s menacing voice was delivered with much less depth and force, which was very disappointing. Freeview channels have the desired clarity – this is where the TV does extremely well. The best part about the ST321MBB is that it’s cheap. However, for just a few extra quids, you can get a 32” model from Samsung or LG, which of course will out perform the ST321MBB.
