Acer’s 42in AT4220B is part of a range which includes 27in, 32in and 37in models. It sports a 1366 x 768 resolution (making it 720p capable) and has an 8ms response time.

At 39kg and over a metre wide some may struggle getting it into their living room. It’s very dominating so we were disappointed with its dull grey and silver design. It comes with an integrated stand but can be wall mounted.

The integrated 10W speaker’s grille runs along the bottom. We’ve heard shocking sound from competitors so were pleased with its loud and distinct audio. Voices were always distinct even with bass or treble-filled music pumping at full volume. It can’t rival home theatre systems, but budget buyers will be happy.

We watched a great deal of free-to-air digital TV on it (standard and high definition) along with DVDs, HD footage plus slideshows from our digital photo library (using HDMI and our Media Center PC). Lag and ghosting were minimal and colour performance was good. The 500cd/m2 brightness allowed comfortable viewing, even in bright rooms. But despite the high 1200:1, contrast ratio we noticed that in dark scenes (and technical tests from DisplayMate MultiMedia edition) that it struggled with details. Bright areas were fine. We can’t see many people being disappointed though. Viewing angles were excellent.

Other connections include three component, three composite and two S-Video – all shared across three channels (S-Video and composite also share audio connectors). D-SUB is available along with a 3.5mm audio-in jack. Unfortunately, everything’s located at the back so it’s tricky to connect camcorders and consoles. There’s an analogue tuner, but TVs this size really need digital inputs to avoid viewing through a snow storm. The remote is adequate and has an ‘e for empowerment’ green button to cycle through six preset viewing modes. A small control panel resides on the bottom right side of the screen. The OSD is basic and intuitive. Picture-In-Picture and Picture-By-Picture are supported.

One big gripe was the lack of powersaving mode – we kept coming home to a blue-lit house when the external tuner had gone to sleep.

Overall, at $2127 it’s great value. If you want a big TV you don’t have to sacrifice quality with the AT4220B, but make sure you buy a separate digital tuner or Foxtel to make the most of it.