Olevia 542i 42-Inch LCD HDTV

by Olevia

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 43.3 x 14.2 x 34.7 inches ; 90 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 90 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000H2TPDE
• Item model number: 542I
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

Product Description

42" LCD HDTV HDTV-compatible 16:9 aspect ratio 1600:1 contrast ratio 1366 x 768 resolution 750 brightness & 178 ultra-wide viewing angles 8 ms response time & real-time graphics 1080i/720p/480p/480i compatible 2 x 15w srs surround sound stereo speakers video inputs 1 atsc/ntsc combo tuner input hdmi 2 component vga-1360 x 768@60 hz s-video & composite vertical speaker position rs-232 control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never knew TV could look this good..., December 4, 2006

By 

Greg Mackey (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olevia 542i 42-Inch LCD HDTV (Electronics)

I keep on hearing just how good HDTV looks, and I've seen in-store displays and not been impressed, of course. I also haven't been impressed with most of the HDTVs I've seen in people's houses with all the glare and stuff ruining the picture. So, I waited a LONG time before getting an HDTV for two reasons. First, I had a price point the TV had to get down to before I would buy. Secondly, the TV had to be an LCD (need to wallmount above fireplace; need to connect to HTPC, so no plasma with the rectangular pixels). Therefore, after a HECK of a lot of research and reading review after review, I chose the Olevia 542i for a great many reasons.

Reasons included very high ratings, very few complaints, extremely low price, Phillips S-IPS LCD panel, excellent SD scaler, lots of picture modes/zoom/adjustments/etc, built with PC use in mind, firmware updateable (haven't updated yet, but I could), etc. Ok, so I get the TV when it's at its cheapest price ever (mwahaha!), which was a full Benjamin below what I was willing to pay for it (the extra money paid for the Peerless Onemount wallmount for it). After I unpack the TV, I quickly scoot it over and use a VGA cable to connect it to my main PC just to test it out with World of Warcraft. I was completely blown away. It was a 42" LCD computer monitor at 1360x768, so clear you couldn't see pixels unless you were within two feet of it (with my glasses on)!

Anyway, I tested it with a bunch of different sources and everything just amazed me. It looks WAY WAY better, even with standard-def s-video and component video sources, than my Sony WEGA 27" CRT TV. I didn't expect that at all. The scaler in this Olevia (and the 37" 5-series model) is just incredible. Noise reduction is extremely impressive also, better than my Sony WEGA CRT by far, as regular Dish Network content is full of noise (low-bitrate mpeg-2; I will get an mpeg-4 Dish HD receiver soon).

Well, I rarely post reviews of items and mostly just read tons of reviews, but I had to post a review for this TV, especially since I didn't see any reviews for it on Amazon. I posted a bunch of pictures I took with my camera at 2048x1536 resolution, but Amazon scaled them down so they don't really do the TV justice. Still, you can get an idea of how awesome this TV is by looking at the pics.

I can honestly say that this is the best-looking display of any kind I have ever seen for any price. It is truly a bargain and can easily compete with any 1080i LCD its size at twice the price. Oh, also, HD content puts even the best-looking DVDs playing through the best-quality DVD player to shame, and this TV shows every detail beautifully in HD. The only downside is the black-level detail, but it is less and less noticeable with higher quality sources (I don't even notice a loss of any black-level detail in HD).

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great value, January 9, 2007

By 

Jeremy D. Burman (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olevia 542i 42-Inch LCD HDTV (Electronics)

First of all, let me get the cons out of the way. This is a pretty heavy TV! However, the build quality feels solid. Also, as another reviewer has mentioned, there is quite a lag between turning the TV on and the display turning on. The power switch also seems buggy. If I unplug the AC and plug it back in (or if the power goes out in my house), the TV will not turn on. (the trick is to watch the blue LED on the front of the TV - the light turns off when the TV powers on and stays on while it is powered off). This is corrected by flipping the power switch on the back of the TV off and back on.

The above is an annoyance and easily correctable. However, someone that is unable to figure this out could assume that the unit is defective.

The actual picture quality that you get for the money outways the above problems though. I use this TV for many different purposes: gaming, watching cable TV (SD and HD), and watching movies. It excels at all of these. Gaming is very important to me, and ghosting or lag in a TV would kill the deal for me. Fortunately, there are zero issues in this area with the 542I. I regularly play Nintendo Wii and Gamecube games on this TV, and have used it with the XBox 360 as well. Each systm looks and plays terrific.

Another area that this TV excels in is connectivity. It has a lot of options from standard A/V composite, to S-Video, Component, HDMI, VGA, and Coaxial for cable or antenna if you need that (note, the TV includes a built in HD TV tuner). It also includes digital audio output. The TV is also firmware upgradable - not something you would necessarily expect at this price point.

The TV is very attractive in person, especially with the speakers removed. It is vertically adjustable on its stand, or can be removed from the stand altogether and be mounted on a wall.

Finally, while it's configuration menus are not anything special, there are a lot of display options. Once you figure out the navigation scheme, it's fairly easy to get around.

The bottom line for this TV is that it is a great value. It looks as good, if not better than most LCD's out there, even those costing much more. It is a good display for video gaming as well.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic value!, March 13, 2007

By 

Bob Ellison "Dad o' 3" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olevia 542i 42-Inch LCD HDTV (Electronics)

My first HDTV, and it looks awesome!! I am very happy with the decision I made to purchase it. Only two issues:

1) I have an HDTV ready cable box (Comcast), and I originally hooked up the TV to the box with a regular coaxial cable. The picture quality was only so-so. Then, I purchased an HDMI cable (about $70), and the difference was amazing. I strongly recommend the HDMI cable to maximize your picture.

2) I have to re-program my 3-year old to keep him from touching the screen. At least he does not eat peanut butter . . .