Sceptre X37SV-Naga Widescreen HDTV
Our Conclusion
Unfortunately we weren't able to perform any TV/HDTV testing in this analysis. We will follow-up with an update here, covering those aspects of this set soon. For now, here's our summation based on what we've tested so far with the X37.
Accessories: The set was well packaged and we were impressed that Sceptre included a nice assortment of cables and accessories, but we wish the cables were a bit longer. The remote and speakers included work fine, but are not the best of quality. A separate sound system is well worth it for use with this set.
Construction: The set was well built and it's aesthetically pleasing. The front of the display is clean and simple, and we prefer the dark grey/black theme used over the silver theme that seems to be the trend lately. The stand is secure and solid, but does not offer any adjustment features. The X37 has every type of input you could want, with the VGA and DVI inputs supporting 1920x1080, along with a QAM capable ATSC tuner. The problem is that there is only a single HDMI/DVI and component input which limits the connectivity of this set.
PC Use: The set worked really well for this task. The large screen size allows you to sit back and be able to read and work comfortably. The picture quality is superb, crystal clear and bright. Showing or presenting something to others is very easy, with multiple people being able to easily view the whole screen from a of couple feet away without crowding around the desk. The high resolution allows you to open multiple documents, applications, or windows side by side. Gaming on this set offers a whole new experience. The quality and size of the display just grabs your attention and immerses you into the game. There was no hint of ghosting while playing the fast paced Counter-Strike Source game.
Console Gaming: The Sceptre X37 performed very well with the Xbox 360 dashboard, arcade, and most impressively while gaming. There was only slight noticeable ghosting in Fight Night 3, with all the other games displaying very little or zero ghosting. Even at the 720p resolution that the 360 offers, the games looked very clear and colorful over the component connection, a world of difference from the Samsung 27" EDTV (480p) set that was utilized for comparisons. Compared to a Samsung 26" LCD HDTV, the Sceptre had much better black levels and detail in dark areas. There was also some severe ghosting on the Samsung LCD.
Movies: The HD movies looked amazing with our setup, and while the DVD movies didn't look that incredible due to their low resolution, they were still very clear and a pleasure to watch on this set. Face and skin tones were very accurately displayed. All of the colors were bright and realistic. There was also very good detail in dark scenes and not a sign of ghosting in any of the movies. The only downside is that there are currently no DVD players that will up convert to 1080p, so for best results an HTPC has to be used until HD and Blue-Ray DVDs are released.
Menu, PIP, Viewing Angle: The menu was low resolution and not visually impressive. The menu itself functioned without any problems though. PIP is also a nice extra, although not full featured, giving users a couple of placement and size options. The main limitation of the PIP feature is that only certain sources can be selected, depending on the primary source. The viewing angle was also very impressive. You can view the set from anywhere in the room without any problems, although viewing the set straight on obviously still provides the best picture.
Overall: In the end, we were very impressed with the features of the X37. We are looking forward to seeing how the ATSC and NTSC tuners fare in a second round of testing and we'll update this article accordingly. The set passed all of our tests with flying colors, without a single issue or problem, and not a single dead pixel. We believe this is an amazing set for PC, console and movie use, at a great price point. The X37 retails for around $1580 if you do some digging at places like Costco. The only similar priced unit is a Westinghouse 37" monitor, which has no NTSC or ATSC tuners. Previous versions of the Sceptre X37 had some issues, but with this latest revision all problems seemed to have been resolved and extra features such as QAM support have been added. Sceptre offers a 1-year warranty on this set if there is ever a problem. Sceptre has also recently launched the Sceptre X42SV, 42" version with 1080p support similar to the X37.
We give the Sceptre X37SV a rating of 9. It's an amazing display for the price, even though it does have a couple of minor short comings with a limited number of HDMI and component inputs and average speakers.
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