Micromax 32TFK18 HD 81 cm (32) HD Ready LED Television

[koushik]

Nothing Like Anything \m/

I recently moved to Hyderabad leaving all my HT & Stereo setup back in Kolkata. Started journey with different idea in mind but as days are progressing it is more and more apparent that I am here for longer term than I anticipated.
Hence the need of a TV to start with for the family & myself.

After all relocation & settlement expenses, I was left with lesser budget for the TV. And with good reviews all around, decided on Micromax 32" for Rs. 13,790.

Amazon is amazing. You actually need to see the packaging to believe it. Unbelievably secured with more than 50 air packets all around the original TV carton.

Inside the box:

The 32" LED TV Unit
Remote Control (2 x AAA cell)
3.5mm to 3 RCA AV cable
AC cable
User Manual

Basic packing from the manufacturer is also very good, tight and secure.

Technical Specification:

Screen Size - 32"
LED Type - 81cm TFT LED
Display Resolution - 1366 x 768
Viewing Angle - 178 H/V
Lamp Life Time - 30, 000 Hours minimum
Power Consuption (Max) - 45 Watt
Audio Output (RMS) - 8W x 2

Connections:

USB
3.5mm AV In
3.5mm AV Out
HDMI
Component In
2RCA Audio In
VGA socket In
Antenna In
2-pin AC socket

Video Performance:

I have a TataSky HD connection. The SD channels are decent and when watched from more than 10ft away is looking quite good.

The HD channels are extremely satisfactory when you consider the price. Infact my Sony LCD which is almost 20k costlier than this one is more or less producing same quality picture in terms of clarity.

The pic quality by default is a bit warm and over saturated esp. in the region of yellow, lime, light green tones. This, however, makes Discovery/AP/NG channels absolute delight to watch.

I found the default picture settings to be the best and may be tone downing the saturation level a bit makes it more soothing to watch.

"P. Effect" aka Picture Effect button on remote gives you Personal, Bright, Standard and Soft settings.

Sound:

The quality of sound is, according to me, very good albeit a bit low. At 50-60% is the normal volume to listen at but the quality of sound is really very good. Spending some time and setting the equilisers intelligently bought out the best in it.

"S. Effect" aka Sound Effect button on remote gives you Personal, Stereo, Music, Movie, News settings.

USB playability:

It played every format that I thrown at them - avi, mp4, mkv
The AV quality from direct USB is good but not great. I got better quality while playing same files through Asus O!Play connecting via HDMI.

On screen graphics & menu navigation:

This the weakest part and really a bit frustrating. The response is not how you like it to be. Slow responding and very basic. Doesn't look nice on screen. The icons and navigation is very trivial and looking cheap . This is certainly not deal breaker for me considering the PQ for money. I think we will get use to it in some time.

Verdict:

A bit louder sound and better menu navigation and graphic is desirable amd much needed too.

Picture Quality: 3.8/5
Sound Quality: 3.2/5
Features: 2.0/5
Value for money: 5/5
Overall: ****1/2

 

[RMCWS]

Great feedback and congrats. When I bought my 40" from flipkart, they did not provide any additional packaging, just the original micromax box was provided. But it is turning out to be a really value for money product.

 

[koushik]

Great feedback and congrats. When I bought my 40" from flipkart, they did not provide any additional packaging, just the original micromax box was provided. But it is turning out to be a really value for money product.

At the end of 2nd day, I am really thinking same. It is turning out be a great decision. The PQ is not to worry any more. It is good, no question about it. Now, only if the durability is just as good. Only time can tell that.

How did you find my experience compared to you, is it same or different?

Thanks.

 

[RMCWS]

Nothing Like Anything \m/

Video Performance:

I have a TataSky HD connection. The SD channels are decent and when watched from more than 10ft away is looking quite good.

Yes, SD channels are pretty okay, and even my watching distance is around 13-15 ft, so they look pretty okay. Guess they will look better on 32" than a 40" I have also connected the via AV cable of SD STB from manthan cable.

The HD channels are extremely satisfactory when you consider the price. Infact my Sony LCD which is almost 20k costlier than this one is more or less producing same quality picture in terms of clarity.

The pic quality by default is a bit warm and over saturated esp. in the region of yellow, lime, light green tones. This, however, makes Discovery/AP/NG channels absolute delight to watch.

As I don't have HD connection, I cannot comment on the quality of the HD channels.

I found the default picture settings to be the best and may be tone downing the saturation level a bit makes it more soothing to watch.

"P. Effect" aka Picture Effect button on remote gives you Personal, Bright, Standard and Soft settings.

Truely, P effect button is quite helpful.

Sound:

The quality of sound is, according to me, very good albeit a bit low. At 50-60% is the normal volume to listen at but the quality of sound is really very good. Spending some time and setting the equilisers intelligently bought out the best in it.

Sound effect is very clear and it is very distinguisable between normal and surround mode. I played the Paa BD and some of the scenes where very clear sound wise.

"S. Effect" aka Sound Effect button on remote gives you Personal, Stereo, Music, Movie, News settings.

USB playability:

It played every format that I thrown at them - avi, mp4, mkv

Unfortunately, the formats (mostly 1080 bd rip) I tried to play did not play well; some did not produce sound while others were getting stuck while playing. Some of the formats played nicely.

The AV quality from direct USB is good but not great. I got better quality while playing same files through Asus O!Play connecting via HDMI.

I don't have a media player but I used my sony bdp as a media player to play the same files which did not play earlier when played directly via usb. All files worked fine and av quality improved. I used hdmi to connect bdp to tv.


On screen graphics & menu navigation:

This the weakest part and really a bit frustrating. The response is not how you like it to be. Slow responding and very basic. Doesn't look nice on screen. The icons and navigation is very trivial and looking cheap . This is certainly not deal breaker for me considering the PQ for money. I think we will get use to it in some time.

The interface looks very dull and VERY cheap. Even the my 15 years old CRT seems to have a better interface/ graphics. Apart from that it is really value for money.

My response is in red.

 

[elangoas]

Good detailed review @koushik... Some pics please....

I took demo of 40/50 inch TV, it would have been better if the TV was able to decode atleast Dolby Digital...Not sure if your model supports that...

I think there are a quite a few who own Micromax TV's in this forum... Suggest to start a thread as that would be really helpful....

 

[koushik]

Good detailed review @koushik... Some pics please....

Thanks Elangoas. Few pics will follow this post.

I took demo of 40/50 inch TV, it would have been better if the TV was able to decode atleast Dolby Digital...Not sure if your model supports that...

Not sure but do we really need it? We've AVR for that.

I think there are a quite a few who own Micromax TV's in this forum... Suggest to start a thread as that would be really helpful....

We will try that. Not sure if other FMs are interested about Micromax TV. It is still not so wide accepted.

 

[koushik]

Few images

From film Ashoka

CWC 2015

Few random SD channels

Few HD channels

 

[elangoas]

Thanks Elangoas. Few pics will follow this post.

Thanks for the pics...

Not sure but do we really need it? We've AVR for that.

Most of the BR Rips around 2 -3 GB file size have Dolby Digital sound track, easy to plug it in the TV & play it for someone who don't own a Media Player/AVR....

We will try that. Not sure if other FMs are interested about Micromax TV. It is still not so wide accepted.

Any new product to gain acceptance would take time... So feedback from actual owners will help who are looking for it...