Astar LTV 3001 30 Inch LCD Flat Panel HD Ready TV
Perfect for watching your favorite standard and high-definition TV programs, the 30-inch Astar LTV-3001 HD-ready LCD TV can also double as a PC monitor. The LTV-3001 features sleekly modern lines and a table stand, and it also includes wall-mounting hardware. It features a built-in, 216-channel CATV/NTSC tuner and can receive high-definition (ATSC) broadcasts from an optional HD tuner. It also pumps out great sound from the two side-mounted speakers that provide 10 watts per channel (20 watts total power)
This set has a 16:9 aspect ratio that’s great for high-defintion television programming and widescreen movies, and is capable of displaying 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i video formats. It features an 1280 by 768-pixel resolution, 170-degreee viewing angle, fast 16 ms (millisecond) video response rate, 550 cd/m2 (candela per square meter) brightness rating, and 600:1 contrast ratio. (The higher the contrast ratio, the greater a TV’s ability to display subtle color details and not get washed out by ambient room light.)
The 2D Y/C comb filter helps to improve detail, clean up image outlines, and eliminate extraneous colors. This set also performs 3:2 pulldown detection–a handy feature for watching progressive-scan movie programs in their native 24-frame format. To adapt 24 frames-per-second movies to 30 fps video, frames in the original movie must be duplicated; 3:2 pulldown digitally corrects this duplication by removing the redundant information to display a frame-accurate picture. Other features include a sleep timer, picture freeze, PC picture-in-picture, multiple-language on-screen display, V-Chip parental controls, closed captioning, MTS/SAP stereo output, and auto power shutdown. It offers the following video and audio connections:
- Composite AV (RCA) In: 2
- S-Video In: 1
- Component Video In (Y PB PR): 2
- DVI In: 1
- RF In: 1
- VGA PC input: 1
- PC Audio In: 1
What’s in the Box
LCD TV, remote control (with batteries), table stand, wall mount kit, AC adapter, printed instruction manual
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Got less than what I paid for…
I purchased this TV April 2006, I had no problems until December of 2006. The TV would lose its picture and sound almost every day. I contacted the manufacturer, they said the TV was still covered under warranty. They told me to bring it to one of their authorized repair shops, the only one was over 30 miles away, I asked if I could ship it back to the manufacturer, and was told no. My TV has been in the shop for over 3 months, ASTAR keeps sending the wrong parts to the repair shop, and will not provide them with any support. I contact ASTAR weekly to find out what they are doing about my TV, I just get the run around. ASTAR has made no effort to back their product. Their customer service department seems non-existent.
I recommend buying a brand name product… and so did the TV repair shop!!
1 Star Astar
I just got done reading some reviews of this Astar television and figured I would do it a bit of justice due to the sick-to-my-stomach feeling.
Has anyone ever heard of Astar? Then don’t buy it. I’m not trying to talk the big companies up and muscle-out the little guys, but this isn’t a little guy. This company is foreign, and the internal workings of this unit are garbage.
Technically it is not really a television because it lacks the hardware necessary to call it that. Obviously it is an LCD monitor, with some major defects. The main problem I’m having is with the power board. Not only is it poor quality work and materials, but if it breaks you have the luxury of throwing your set away and buying new from someone else because your set is unrepairable. Not a situation anyone likes to be put in.
Other people who reviewed this product talked about its superior imaging and visualization. Someone needs to explain to them what a 1200:1 contrast ratio is. Sharp is boasting over 1000000:1 now. Ya, a little extra goes a long way.
One point of advice, don’t consider this product. Its not worth the time or the headache. Spend the extra money to get a name you’ve heard of, or purchase an extended warranty.
5 Stars Good tv for the price
I bought this tv elsewhere for a cheaper price, but just had to come and give it a good review. The only thing about the cheap price is the low black quality but really it doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s qualitly is excellent and the tv itself is just beautiful.
4 Stars Great bang for your buck, and no problems yet!
I managed to find this TV for less than $700, and while it is certainly not as good as a $1500+ Aquos LCD TV, I don’t think it’s worth the $800 price difference. Like the previous revewer said, I cannot see any particular reason this is so cheap, it is built sturdy, and has all the typical inputs and features of other LCD TV’s of this size.
The only problem I have see nso far, is that black levels are not good on this , even for an LCD TV (I have 2 other LCD TV’s so I have a good basis for comparison here). Although proper tuning of the settings does alleviate this somewhat (mostly with the gamma corrections setting, plus for me, making it a little BRIGHTER seemed to help).
Also, if you leave the backlight switch on, but not the TV itself, there is a small whine that can be heard. It’s close to inaudible, just sound sound of the TV on at mute drowns it out (it’s very, very soft), but I suppose it could be annoying to some. My simple solution, turn the backlight switch off when you are done watching it (which you are supposed to do anyway).
4 Stars Good value, good design, decent HDTV image
If you’ve decided on an LCD HDTV, this unit has a cool design and no evident shortcomings to explain its low price. The disadvantages of this unit are similar to those of LCD TVs in general — black levels are not as good as CRT, plasma, or some projection TVs. Fine details in dark scenes can be washed out in a field of dark gray. At the lowest brightness and backlight levels (which are separately controllable), true black can still not be obtained (and at those settings other scenes will be too dark). Bright scenes, however, look fantastic with excellent detail and color reproduction. For most viewers, the black level issue should be only an occasional annoyance, if that.
Screen proportions can also be changed easily with a button on the remote, allowing you to optimize screen fill for standard vs. HD broadcasts, or wide-screen vs. standard-view DVDs. The design of this unit is unique and pretty cool. The speakers are mounted on a glass plate that surrounds the base unit. The unit also has a removable steel plate on the back that can be used to do a simple flush wall-mount (it’s not a swiveling or adjustable wall mount unit, like those often sold separately).
In five years, improved flat screen display technologies will probably make you want to replace this unit and move it to a bedroom. But for those who want an HDTV today, this unit offers an excellent combination of quality and price.
