Home > Consumer Reviews > Syntax Olevia LT30HV 30-Inch HD-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV

Syntax Group is an Asian company that has recently entered the LCD market here stateside. Its first offerings of LCD TVs are already getting positive reviews from users. ExtremeTech (a PC Mag offshoot) recently reviewed the 30-inch LCD TV and gave it an 8 out of 10. I also found other positive independent online reviews, so I decided to give this new brand a try, and got the 27-inch model after landing a new job.

Wow! I was very impressed with the image quality of this LCD TV. I had seen "low-cost" LCD TVs from Westinghouse (at Best Buy) and Gateway (at one of the now-defunct Gateway Country stores), and they were disappointing in contrast and image quality. The Syntax Olevia, despite its silly name, is definitely the best I've seen for this price class. Of course, if you take a Sharp Aquos or a Panasonic LCD TV side-by-side with the Olevia, the Sharp and Panasonic will be much better, giving you a more vibrant image, but they also cost almost twice as much as the Olevia! If you are absolutely into the best LCD quality, you have to get a Sharp; they are just the best. But if you want value but don't want to sacrifice too much in quality, this is probably the best balance.

The Olevia is also generous in terms of video inputs. You also get DVI, something a lot of LCD TVs omit. The VGA port means you can use this as a computer monitor, but I haven't tried that yet. The native scan supports 720p and the internal scaler allows you to view 1080i programs as well. Hooked up to a progress-scan DVD player, the Olevia makes movies a joy to watch.

In summary, the Olevia is a great entry-level LCD TV. If 27" is a bit too small for you, go for the 30" model which costs just $400 more. Syntax is also coming out with bigger screens later this year.

I dedicated hours and hours to researching LCD's and Plasma's before making this purchase. The specs on this Syntax (Brightness and contrast) compare to other in the $2500-$3000 range. I decided this was the best value for my needs. The picture is great and so is the sound (with a subwoofer attached).

After becoming familiar with the TV and it's functions, I found a few bugs that should be expected from a company just starting to make lcd's. The first is that RCA remotes control the tv. i have an RCA directv receiver and any button I press on the RCA remote turns the TV volume up or down. Luckily I use a RF remote, so I just avoid aiming it in the direction of the TV. Another small bug is that some features such as the sleep timer are not easliy controlled. To set the Tv on a 30 minute timer, you have to click 3-4 buttons. I am used to just pressing one button. The Picture in Picture feature is very complicated and somewhat slow to display the second picture. And remember there is only one Progressive Component and S-Video input, so your hookups are somewhat limited.

I consider those con's to be small and do not change my recommendations of this TV. It shows a great picture, has great sound and is quality built. I returned a $3500 Sony for this one and I am happy I did. Save your money and buy this one - Same Picture quality as those name brands. Customer Support is easy to reach and very responsive, and it also comes with a 1-year in home warranty - WOW!


UPDATE - Syntax has repaired the remote problem and updated the screen adjustments (Saturation added)and added a few goodies via a software update. They sent me a disc with instructions on hooking a computer to the tv to update. great customer service and they are dedicated to improving already a great product.

(I reviewed this model's little sibling, the 27" model, but both use the same video engine and are identical in feature and quality. I hope my review can help you somewhat.)

Syntax Group is an Asian company that has recently entered the LCD market here stateside. Its first offerings of LCD TVs are already getting positive reviews from users. ExtremeTech (a PC Mag offshoot) recently reviewed the 30-inch LCD TV and gave it an 8 out of 10. I also found other positive independent online reviews, so I decided to give this new brand a try, and got the 27-inch model after landing a new job.

Wow! I was very impressed with the image quality of this LCD TV. I had seen "low-cost" LCD TVs from Westinghouse (at Best Buy) and Gateway (at one of the now-defunct Gateway Country stores), and they were disappointing in contrast and image quality. The Syntax Olevia, despite its silly name, is definitely the best I've seen for this price class. Of course, if you take a Sharp Aquos or a Panasonic LCD TV side-by-side with the Olevia, the Sharp and Panasonic will be much better, giving you a more vibrant image, but they also cost almost twice as much as the Olevia! If you are absolutely into the best LCD quality, you have to get a Sharp; they are just the best. But if you want value but don't want to sacrifice too much in quality, this is probably the best balance.

The Olevia is also generous in terms of video inputs. You also get DVI, something a lot of LCD TVs omit. The VGA port means you can use this as a computer monitor, but I haven't tried that yet. The native scan supports 720p and the internal scaler allows you to view 1080i programs as well. Hooked up to a progress-scan DVD player, the Olevia makes movies a joy to watch.

In summary, the Olevia is a great entry-level LCD TV. If 27" is a bit too small for you, go for the 30" model which costs just $400 more. Syntax is also coming out with bigger screens later this year.

I did lots of research as to what type of TV (plasma, rear projection, etc)is best in the HDTV world. For the space in my house, I needed a TV less than 40 inches so was fairly limited b/w smaller Plasmas and larger LCD's.

I looked at the Sharp, but was willing to go with the Olevia due to the # of favorable user reviews I found. There are a couple of 'expert reviews' that don't recommend Olevia (Cnet), but there were some very favorable recommendations (extremetech http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1642839,00.asp gave it an 8/10)

I received the TV in fine shape - excellent packing. I was shocked to have it up and running within 5 minutes and looking great - I expected it would take much longer. I had Comcast upgrade to the HD service and Hi-def looks awesome on the TV. The old analog channels are passable, not great...but I'm hoping most the programming will move hi-def.

Hope this helps in your search.

received my Olevia LT27HV 27" HDTV-Ready Flat-Panel LCD TV this afternoon.

INPUT SIGNALS
1) YbPbPr input (tested on onkyo 6 dvd changer) - 5 star !
2) Svideo input (tested on sharp camcorder ) - 5 star !
3) composite video input (tested on samsung vcr) - 5 star !
4a) tuner port RF input (cartoons) - 5 star !
4b) tuner port RF input (non-cartoons) - 4.5 star - a little grainy on dark scene.
5) analog VGA ( connected to desktop PC ) - 5 star for 1280x720x32. In this resolution, the text and graphics are super super fine ! well.. should i say.. PERFECT !!! yes.. they didn't lie.. the scan rate even came out 14.6 ms as tested thru powerstrip module !! thats an added bonus for FPS gamer like me !
6) DVI ( haven't tried yet, i need to buy DVI cable first. I will keep you guys posted. I'm very happy with what I see on analog VGA, how happier can I get with DVI connection !!).

SCREEN DISPLAY: due to the superb brillance / brightness / contrast / gamma / sharpness, etc, I would rate this 10 out of 10 ! I'm an PC GAMER and have played UT2004, FAR CRY, BF1942, SOF2, RTCW, BLACK HAWK DOWN TEAM SABRE , JOINT OPERATION, DEVASTATION, MEN OF VALOR, PAIN KILLER, RICHARD BURNS RALLY, NEED FOR SPEED HOT PERSUIT 2, MEDAL OF HONOR, DOOM 3, ETC. Absolutly no regret.. worth every penny !

Before I bought this, I have been running all my games at 1600x1200 and 1280x1024. I had to lower all my game's resolution to about 1280x720 or lower before plugging in to this LCD otherwise I'll get the blue screen. Lowering the resolution to 1280x720 is no big deal, because I get to maximize all my video details settings to "very high" and those buffering to 'tripple'.