When a manufacturer known for producing computer monitors turns its hands to producing TVs, then we're always keen to see what the results are.

After Medion, it's now Hannspree's turn to join our ongoing comparison of TVs with this ST281MAB, a 28'' TV  with a real display area of 27.5''.

Build Quality and Design: a long way behind a real TV

The first surprise with this TV is the resolution that Hanspree has chosen for a screen of this size.  The manufacturer has plumped for a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (10:16 aspect ratio) which means a black bar is visible above and below the screen when you're watching films shot in 16:9.  That means the actual image shown doesn't reach 27'', and is a long way short of the claimed 28''.

Behind the screen there are two HDMI inputs and no digital audio options.  The menus offer a very brief list of options, including standard settings like brightness, contrast, backlighting, colour temperature, tone and saturation.

But the most alarming factor is the fact that the TV tuner isn't compatible with HD.

Image Quality: contrast good enough for a monitor, but not a TV

It's been a long time since we've tested a television with such a poor contrast ratio: 536:1!  That's because of levels of 0.38 cd/m² which look very grey.  Without a 100 Hz or 200 Hz, ghosting is very visible.  Some HD scenes we tested could have done with more being more accurate.  There's a lack of detail, as you can see on our 1080p test card:


Another problem we found was that the model we tested suffered from the Mura effect, with a bright patch visible close to the centre.  The further you move away from being perfectly perpendicular with the front of the screen, the easier it is to spot because of the very narrow viewing angles.


Audio Quality: tiny speakers, tiny sound

We weren't surprised to find that the sound isn't very good, but it's not the reason why people buy televisions like this.  The sound is unclear, confused and lacking in range.

Energy Consumption: average

Using 0.25 W on standby and 69 W while switched on, the ST281MAB isn't the most efficient TV that we've ever seen.  That said, it isn't especially greedy and got through this part of our test without too many problems.