Bush (LED22982DVDFHD) LED LCD DVD Combi TV Review
 | ||||||||||
| Review | Test Results | Details | Specifications | Comment | ||||||
This 22 inch TV/DVD combi certainly offers value for money but does it provide a performance to match?
IntroductionThe Bush LED22982DVDFHD (not the snappiest of model numbers) is a 22" TV/DVD Combi which, judging by its chassis and menu system, is made by Vestel at the their gigantic factory in Turkey. This doesn't come as a surprise because it seems almost every budget TV is made by Vestel these days and in fact, the Bush bears a striking resemblance to the Linsar 22" TV/DVD Combi we reviewed recently here. On closer inspection, the two share a very similar design and an almost identical feature set but the Bush is almost half the price of the Linsar. In fact the Bush can be bought for a mere £130, the same price as the Alba we recently reviewed here, so if it's performance matches that of the Linsar we could have a very tempting prospect on our hands - let's find out. SummaryThe Bush sports an all-plastic construction with a matte black finish that uses a brushed metal effect. The build quality is reasonable for this price point and the stand is easy to attach, although it can't be swivelled. There is a basic set of connections that should meet most needs but the remote control could use a redesign as it is difficult to operate, especially in a darkened room. The menu system is the standard monochromatic Vestel design, which is easy to use and navigate, making setup simple. There are only the most basic of calibration controls and whilst the greyscale and gamma performance could be better, with careful setup the Bush can deliver a perfectly watchable picture. The video processing is very good which is important, as most of the content that will be watched on it will be standard definition. However if you do take advantage of the 1080p panel, then the high definition performance is also very capable, with good detail and motion handling. The dynamic range is wanting but at least the backlight is uniform and thanks to plenty of brightness, the Bush can deliver a pleasing picture in most environments. Whilst no one would expect an incredible audio performance from a screen this small and a chassis this thin, the sound of the Bush is at least bearable and it manages to avoid sounding too tinny or boxy. The DVD player is also very competent and whilst it's a bit slow to load discs, it is reasonably fast and effective to navigate once they are loaded and also suitably quiet in operation. The energy efficiency is excellent, using a mere 24W, even when playing a disc, and the input lag is reasonably low at 35ms, making it a good choice for a second gaming display. There are no real smart features but you can playback movies, photos and music via the USB port. The Bush shares a very similar design to the Linsar, as well as an almost identical feature set and performance. There are some minor differences such as the Linsar having two HDMI inputs but given the £100 difference in price, the Bush certainly offers greater value and equal performance. In fact, overall, the Bush is a very competent package that offers a good picture and decent features at an exceptional price. If you're looking for a TV/DVD Combi for your study, kitchen or bedroom, then we recommend you consider this nifty little performer.
Design, Connections and MenusThe Bush offers a very minimalist approach to its design, being composed entirely of black plastic, which means it could be used just about anywhere. The bezel and stand share the same brushed metal effect and overall the build quality is reasonable. The stand locks into a slot, without the need for screws, which makes setting the Bush up very easy but the display can't be swivelled. The bezel itself measures 2.5cm at the top and sides and 5cm at the bottom and there is nothing on the front except the Bush logo and an on/off light. The dimension of the chassis are quite thin, with the Bush measuring a mere 2cm at its thinnest point, although it is 5.5cm deep where the DVD player is built in.  The DVD player is on the right hand side as you face the screen and it uses a slot mechanism for loading discs. There are only three controls on the entire TV (we said it was minimalist) and the first two are the play/pause and stop/eject buttons for the DVD player itself. The other control is at the rear of the chassis on the left hand side, where the side connections are positioned. This control is a toggle switch that can be used to turn the display on and off, move up and down and select the various modes. The rear of the chassis is made of matte black plastic, with ventilation grilles at the top and downward firing speakers at the bottom. There is a hard wired power cable that is 2m long.  The remote control is made of black plastic, with a silver two tone effect on the front. It is well made, comfortable to hold and balanced at the base to make one handed operation easier. The ergonomic design is poor however and the remote suffers from the problem of having too many small buttons in symmetric rows, which makes it harder to use than it needs to be. The DVD control buttons are also too small and positioned at the bottom of the remote, making them difficult to use them with one hand. Another problem is that a lot of the controls are identified by light grey writing on light grey buttons which is hard to read. All the controls you need are on the remote but greater thought needs to go into where they are positioned and how they are identified.  The Bush has a basic set of connections at the rear, comprising a single HDMI input, a SCART connector, a VGA input, an aerial socket and SPDIF coaxial digital output. At the side, 11cm in from the edge, there is a headphone socket, a component video input, a USB port and a CI (Common Interface) slot.  The Bush is very easy to connect and install and we had the Freeview tuner set up in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately it is only a standard Freeview tuner and whilst that doesn’t come as a surprise considering the smaller screen size, it’s a shame not to take full advantage of the Bush's 1080p panel. The Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) is fairly monochromatic and doesn’t have any audio or a thumbnail picture but it is clearly laid out and easy to follow. If you hit the Source button on the remote then, depending on what’s connected, you can choose between TV, SCART, Side AV, SCART-S, DVD, HDMI1, YPbPr and VGA. If you press the Menu button then you will see a series of icons across the centre of the screen, the options are Picture, Sound, Settings, Install and Retune, Channel List and Media Browser. The Install and Retune sub-menu can be used to setup the Freeview tuner, although you are given the option to do that when you first turn the TV on, and the Channel List allows you to organise the channels in the EPG. The Media Browser sub-menu allows you to watch movies, view photos or listen to music from a connected USB thumb drive. You can use the control buttons on the remote for watching movies or listening to music via a connected USB drive. In terms of file support you can watch movies using MPEG, DAT,VOB and AVI files, you can listen to music using MP3 files and look at photos using JPEG and BMP files. In the Settings sub-menu you can select Conditional Access settings if you are using the CI slot, you can configure the Language settings, you can configure the Parental settings, set the Timers, set the Date/Time, enable and disable the different sources and various Other Settings.
The Sound Settings allow you to set the volume (although you can also do that directly from the remote of course), as well as the Equaliser, the Balance, the Headphone volume, the Sound Mode (Movie, Music, Speech, Flat, Classic and User), Automatic Volume Levelling (AVL), Dynamic Bass and Digital Out. The Picture Settings menu allows you to choose the Picture Mode (Cinema, Natural, Game and Dynamic), as well as set all the usual controls such as Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness and Colour. There is also a Backlight control with four settings - minimum, medium and maximum or auto, a Power Save Mode and a Noise Reduction feature with options for low, medium, high or off.
Finally there is an Advanced Settings sub-menu and in here you can select the Colour Temperature (Normal, Warm or Cool). You can also turn on the Film Mode for correct cadence detection, select the Picture Zoom (aspect ratio), set HDMI True Black on or off and select the Colour Shift, which appears to be a tint control. As you will notice there are no other controls, not even a basic two point white balance control, so calibration will be challenging. Audio PerformanceDespite the small screen size and the relatively slim chassis, the sound quality on the Bush was reasonable. We're not saying that you would want to use it for any critical listening but given how poor the audio on some TVs is, the Bush was at least able to deliver sound that was bearable. We obviously didn't expect much in the way of stereo separation due to the small screen size and the audio did have a decidedly mono presence. The quality of the speakers and the power of the amplifiers meant that you couldn't - nor would you want to - listen to the Bush at high volumes. There are some different modes in the sound menu but none of them really made any difference to the audio and often made it worse. Ultimately the audio will be adequate for the kind of places the Bush would be used in and at least it didn't sound too harsh or boxy. DVD PerformanceAs a DVD player the Bush performed very well, although the side slot mechanism was a little slow to load and eject the discs. However once the disc was loaded the player brought up the menu screen very quickly and general navigation was easy and responsive. To access the setup menu, you press a button called Display on the remote. The disc menu system was straightforward and worked well, once you had worked out which button brought it up, it turned out the correct button was called Root. Otherwise we found it easy to play and watch discs, scanning, skipping and pausing without any problems. The player was reasonably quiet in operation and you couldn't hear it spinning the disc when you were watching something. In terms of picture quality the playback of DVDs obviously benefits from the smaller screen size but certainly well encoded discs looked excellent. The Bush's impressive video processing deinterlaced and scaled the standard definition images to fit the high definition panel with ease and although there was a hint of softness, overall users will be happy with the performance. It is certainly good enough to watch DVDs in bed or keep the kids quiet over their breakfast, which is probably what the Bush will most likely be used for. Picture QualityGiven that the Bush has a built in Freeview tuner and DVD player, it is reasonable to assume that the majority of content watched on it will be standard definition. Thanks to the smaller screen size, excellent video processing and even backlight, the Bush was capable of delivering a very pleasing picture. There was also a hint of softness, even on a screen this small, but this could be an advantage with many of the more compressed TV channels. The picture was able to retain details in shadows and peak whites and whilst the black levels and dynamic range weren't great, the image looked reasonable, especially in a room with some ambient light. The screen didn't suffer from reflections and the off axis performance in the horizontal plane was very good. Whilst the colours could be more accurate, the Bush had brightness to spare and overall it delivered a perfectly watchable image that would be suitable for kitchens, studies or bedrooms. The Bush uses a full 1080p panel and there is a single HDMI input if you wish to take advantage of this capability. It's unlikely that the majority of people will be hooking up a Blu-ray player to the Bush and the Freeview tuner isn't HD, which is a shame because the Bush is a very capable high definition performer. It rendered high definition content very well and the motion handling and detail were very good, even on a screen this small. In fact the increased resolution was immediately obvious and images were nicely reproduced and highly detailed with no dead pixels. It would certainly be a good choice for anyone looking to connect a high definition games console and the reasonably low input lag would make the Bush a good choice for anyone looking for some up close gaming in their bedroom. Our feedback for Bush
If you are interested in buying the Bush LED22982DVDFHD, Have your sayDid you find this review useful? Please let us know. To comment, click here and post a reply. Review EthosRead about our review ethos and the meaning of our review badges here. 3,245 word review viewed 3,178 times. | Bush LED22982DVDFHDSize: 22 inch television Suggested price: £130  Reviewed 25th September, 2012 by Stephen Withers Key Features
Pros
Cons
To get the best out of your TV or projector, consider getting it calibrated. |
1080p Resolution
| Review | Test Results | Details | Specifications | Comment |
E. & O.E.