Metz Milos 26 LCD television

Upside

We know what you're thinking - AU$3,000 for a 26-inch LCD television seems rather high, but German television manufacturer Metz likes to think its giving its customers luxurious quality for the price (think BMW versus Daewoo).

Looks-wise, the design of the Metz Milos 26 is fairly standard - there's a metallic silver chassis which surrounds the 16:9 widescreen, although the company does offer customers the option of a curved or flat stand (all Metz LCDs also come with mounting brackets).

The hardware specs, on the other hand, are quite impressive. All of the new line of Metz LCDs feature 1366x768 resolution, 500 cd/m2 brightness, a fast 8ms response time and 1600:1 contrast ratio (apart from the Milos 26, which only has 800:1 contrast). The Milos 26 also features an SD-tuner. Connectivity options are abundant - the Milos 26 has HDMI, DVI, Component, three SCARTS and S-Video.

When it comes to flat screen TVs, however, hardware is only one half of the equation. A set's image processing technology has a tremendous impact on picture quality, and Metz claims its proprietary processing technology is well above average. Dubbed mecavision (no, it's not a webcam in Saudi Arabia), the technology's key selling point is its use of two separate chips for digital image processing. Metz says as opposed to other LCD televisions which use one chip to process an image, their new range of LCDs have one chip each to handle de-interlacing (to convert an interlaced source image into a superior progressive one) and scaling (changing a source image's resolution to fit the panel's).

Metz has also tried to make its new range user friendly. A dedicated help button on the TV's remote gives contextual support information, with each help screen filled with Web page-like links for further details. And as extra icing on the cake, each Metz LCD comes with a five year warranty.

Downside

Price is the major impediment for the Metz Milos 26. Image quality is one thing, but you'd need to be a true home theatre buff to appreciate the sometimes subtle differences in quality between the Metz and its lower priced competitors. The Milos 26 also has no memory card slot -- a feature that's becoming increasingly common with other LCD televisions.

Overall

Judging by CNET.com.au's initial views of the Metz Milos 26 in action, the set definitely provides impressive pictures. Its high price looks justified by its top-end features, but whether the Metz is for you depends ultimately on your budget.