Without paying for a reputable brand name, consumers are often plagued with tacky looking designs when purchasing electronic goods. We have seen many TV's with enclosure designs resembling toys, with shiny metallic casing and distractingly large logos. Yet if you research enough, you can find some cheaper alternatives which avoid this gimmick design trend - Legend Digital's 30" LCD screen being one of them. Not only does this LCD model have a minimal and clean looking design, it also is backed up with a solid performance in terms of colour reproduction, viewing angle, sound quality and configuration.

The design of the TV, is a refreshing change with a minimal black matte finish and no distracting features. The enclosure directs all viewing attention to the display, which is a 30" LCD, a large screen size appropriate for both general TV viewing (high-definition/standard-definition) and home theatre movies. Attached to the side of the screen are two speakers which provide excellent high and low frequencies, although lack in bass. The sound configuration, accessible through the TV's menu system, is quite extensive and allows users to adjust treble, bass and balance.

Setting up the TV was as easy as pressing the power button on the remote. On power-up, the TV automatically searches input sources for a signal, and when one is found, it adjusts the image for best fit. The displayed image size was a slight problem, as there are only two options for zoom modes: Fill All and Normal. When viewing some 16:9 content, the Fill All setting could only display a letterboxed image, not exactly filling the entire screen. Normal viewing mode displays the native resolution of the video source, which is usually lower than the native resolution of the screen, thereby reducing the overall image size.

We used the 30" LCD as a computer monitor using the VGA input. The computer display looked excellent; text was clear and there was no sign of aliasing, but once again, we had issues with the size of the image. The computer source seemed to be stretched to fit the width of the screen, although the bottom of the screen was left empty. Using the Legend Digital LCD as a computer monitor is possible, but not recommended.

The display quality of the screen was good in most regards, although its performance is tainted by the specified contrast ratio of 350:1. Image colour was spectacular, with colour reproduction being similar to Sony's Bravia . Colour over wider angles showed no colour shift, even at the widest specified viewing angle of 170 degrees. We did notice several artifacts when viewing dark scenes, especially when viewing off-axis. This is attributed to the low 350:1 contrast ratio, which was the only major disappointment to this display panel.

In all, the Legend Digital 30" LCD screen is a well placed contender in the LCD TV market. It provides an accurate reproduction of visuals, and exceptionally clear audio. Comparatively, this is one of the cheapest 30" LCD panels available, and considering the qualities assessed, it comes well recommended.