When you think of HDTV manufacturers, I doubt that AOC is on the tip of your tongue. But its parent company, China-based TPV Electronics can trace its roots back to the old Admiral TV line and has been in the flat screen TV business since 2002.

The L37W861 is the newest model in the Envision series from AOC. Like VIZIO, AOC doesn't offer a 1080p TV in the 37" size. You need to jump to their 42" TV.

(Editor's note: In fact, this TV is so new that it hasn't been released yet. Therefore, we do not have a suggested retail price on it.)

In this day and age, what is unusual about this 720p HDTV is that even though it does accept 720p and 1080i signals, it is not compatible with 1080p inputs. This inability takes me back to what we were seeing from HDTVs a couple of years ago.

In fact, while I was reviewing the L37W861, I thought I was in a slight wrinkle in time. Still, I am glad to have this AOC Envision TV in our 37" LCD roundup because it provides a great context.

Before I go any further, let me say that the L37W861 offers the performance and features that we were salivating over in 2006 and its price is half what those TVs were. That's a value option that many will be satisfied with.

We are approaching the end of our roundup of 37" LCD HDTVs from different manufacturers. We are reviewing each individually and then will aggregate our opinions in a comparison article. This AOC Envision is the fifth one in the corral. (You can read the other reviews here: LG 37LG50, Samsung LN37A550, Toshiba REGZA 37RV530U, and VIZIO VO37L.)

Our Star Ratings

Performance: 3.5

If I were to rate this L37W861 only on its ability to render a rich colorful image, I would give it a 4.5. But I can't ignore its other shortcomings. If color fidelity is at the top of your list, then you could add a half point or more.

Features: 4.0

If you don't expect a TV at this price point to have a lot of features, you won't be disappointed. No PIP, no USB or Ethernet ports. It does provide three HDMI inputs and a swivel stand.

Ease of Use: 4.5

The L37W861 offers the most limited set of picture adjustment controls that I have seen in a long time. But the default settings can be tweaked to highly satisfactory levels with very little fuss with the tools provided.

Value: 4.0

The L37W861 would be an irresistible value buy if it delivered a little better audio and video performance. With that said, if you like a simple to use HDTV that produces a deep colorful image, then give this AOC Envision a second look - especially if its major duty will be watching broadcast TV and you don't plan on pairing it with a Blu-ray player.

Star Ratings Description

Ratings are relative to when the review was written. The obvious example is Value, what you could purchase for $2000 two years ago or even two months ago would seem like a bad value for that price now. We have given only a precious few 5 Star ratings, which we reserve for truly outstanding accomplishment.

If you covered the AOC logo, the L37W861, with its one and a half inch piano black bezel, looks like most of the other 37" TVs lined up right now in our testing facility.

I do like that this less than four inch deep, 35 pound TV comes on a stand that swivels about 30 degrees left and right. Not only does a swivel make placement more flexible, but it allows easier access to the connection panels on the back.

Speaking of which, on the left edge of the L37W861 is a convenience panel with an HDMI In, a set of Composite inputs and one S-Video (with one set of stereo Audio Ins) and a Headphone stereo minijack.

Next to that it is the larger connection panel on the back facing out, with two more HDMI inputs, two Component inputs (YPbPr) with matching stereo Audio Ins, one VGA (15 pin D-Sub) with a minijack Audio In, one Composite and one S-Video (with Audio), a digital Audio Out (optical) and a stereo analog Audio Out.

The one RF antenna input connects to integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. Since the tuner system is Clear QAM compatible, you can attach your cable TV signal directly into the RF connector and tune in unscrambled cable stations.

The L37W861 does not offer a USB port to upload JPEG and MP3 files to the TV. Nor does it have an Ethernet port to connect to your home computer network or the Internet, but none of the 37" TVs we are reviewing does have this feature.

Also, the L37W861 does not supply any Picture-in-Picture and Picture-outside-Picture capabilities. If you are getting the impression that this is a basic no-frills TV, you are on the money. But for many folks, simple TVs like this are all they want for their hard earned cash.

The non-backlit remote control has fairly small buttons and not easy to read labels. I do like that there are four dedicated buttons for selecting Input sources. Also, it contains buttons that take you directly to the Video Adjust and Audio Adjust menus.

We have begun to measure the power consumption of our review units. Our process is straightforward. We plug the TV into a watt meter, called Watts up? Pro, and take a simple sampling of readings during the playback of a full screen video clip.

As I will discuss later, this HDTV does not offer any Picture modes, but the default setting does put the Backlight at maximum. Our Power Consumption measurement at the default was between 170 and 174 watts. In the manual, AOV states the Power Consumption as equal to or less than 200W.

We also take a reading after we adjust the picture to our preference, which is a much less bright image. The power consumption dropped to the range between 81 to 84W. Of course, depending on how you like to set up your TV, your mileage may vary.

We were puzzled when we found that dropping the Backlight down did not automatically lower the Power reading. Then we discovered that the Dynamic Contrast option is turned On by default. When we switched it Off, the Power gauge settled into that 80W range.

Finally, we turn off the TV and measure how much power it is using. Many older TVs still suck a lot of electricity even when they are switched off. When Off, this AOC doesn't even register on our meter. And indeed, they state that in Standby the consumption is one watt. Start up time from Standby is about eight seconds.

To calibrate the monitor, we use the the Blu-ray version of the Digital Video Essentials DVD called HD Basics. We are playing the DVD on a Pioneer BDP-94HD Blu-ray player connected to the HDTV with an HDMI cable.

We use the test patterns to adjust black level, white level, and color bias. Since the L37W861 does not accept a 1080p signal, we set the Blu-ray player to output a 720p signal, which is the TV's native resolution.

The Picture menu provides the basic adjustments, Contrast, Brightness, Color (Saturation), Tint (Hue), Sharpness, and Backlight. As I said, the L37W861 does not have any Picture Mode presets, just a default setting that is overly bright for my peepers.

Therefore I went directly to the Color Temperature controls, which I found in the Advanced Video menu. You have three choices, Cool, Normal and Warm. I picked Normal.

I was happy to discover that the default settings were fairly close. I did drop Color and Contrast a bit, but the Tint was right on. With those few simple adjustments, the color in the picture was constantly satisfying.

Which is good because there are no fine tuning controls. No Red, Green and Blue Bias. No ColorMaster menu. A true tweaker would go into withdrawal with the L37W861.

On a side note, the Sharpening control seems to soften the image if you slide into the negative end of the scale. For those who can't imagine their picture any less than tack sharp, this ability may seem anti-HD, but I like having the option.

Comparing the L37W861 with the other 37" LCDs in the lineup was a bit tricky. Usually I run the TVs through a battery of high def reference DVDs with the Blu-ray or HD DVD player set to output a 1080p signal. Since this AOC Envision model does not accept 1080p, I dropped the output to 720p, negating an inherent advantage of the other TVs.

Of course, when I am watching broadcast TV, the HD programs are only available in 720p or 1080i, both of which the L37W861 accepts. And if you don't plan on pairing this AOC Envision with a Blu-ray player, then a comparison of models at 720p or 1080i is more meaningful.

Let's start with color rendition. The L37W861 compares well with the higher end TVs that we have in our roundup. When it comes to color fidelity, I know the hypercritical could ferret out differences between the TVs. Let me say, that when setting up color with test patterns, the L37W861 was as close as many of the other TVs.

Now, when we turn to examining noise and blocky artifacts in the image, this TV exhibited the most. Granted, I had to put my nose next to the screen, but on close inspection, they jump out at you. Also, the contrast range isn't as wide.

For most casual viewers sitting at a normal viewing distance, they would never notice the flaws. Indeed, if you judge a TV on how well it reproduces skin tones or the color of your alma mater's football helmet, then don't let me deter you with descriptions of artifacts.

The viewing angle on this TV is not bad. It does wash out a little at extreme off center seating, but the swivel stand helps keep you in the sweet spot.

I connected my laptop through the VGA Out to the TV's VGA In. The highest compatible resolution is 1360 x 768, which is the TV's native resolution. I encountered no setup problems.

Even after turning down the Backlight, reading text on Internet pages was OK but not great. The same was true for looking at images in Photoshop. I wouldn't recommend using this TV as your primary computer monitor.

The audio performance from the integrated pair of 10W speakers was fine, but nothing to shout about. Don't try to raise the volume past three quarters. The speakers started to rattle. Then again, at that loudness, your dishes may begin rattling.

The Audio menu has no presets and the controls are limited to Bass, Treble, and Balance. The Surround Sound effect is worth experimenting with, though I find that most Surround features make voices less pronounced.

I like the L37W861 for its good color fidelity and ease of setup. But I can't discount its picture artifacts and limited contrast range.