FEATURED Seiki SE22FR01 22-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV
- Retro designed cabinet
- High power stereo audio with Subwoofer
- USB Audio
Seiki Retro Design HDTV in Retro Red Retro Design with slim profile Bring Back Classic Retro Looks To Any Room Add a splash of vintage style to any playroom, college dorm or even the kitchen. The 22″ class Seiki Retro Design HDTV is an eye-catching interpretation of an old-school TV. In addition to its classic looks, the Seiki Retro Design HDTV is equipped with all the benefits of a modern HDTV. Retro Looks And Full HD Experience The Retro Design HDTV is equipped with throwback power and volume dials, but adds all the modern features of today’s HDTVs, including Full HD 1080p resolution on a 21.5-inch diagonal LED panel, 60Hz panel refresh rate, HDMI, component/composite, VGA ports, a remote control, and a built-in sub-woofer powered by YAMAHA for an amazing sound experience.
Features Classic retro style in Full HD Built-in 20-watt sub-woofer 21.5″ diagonal LED panel 1,920 x 1,080 panel Resolution USB input for JPEG images and MP3 audio
Comments
3 comments
Buddy S
August 18, 2014
Good Audio and Video in a Retro Design,
UPDATE 4/27/14: I reported when I originally reviewed this TV in December 2013, that I had a problem getting good quality video. I encountered this problem even after fiddling for some time with the adjustments on the Menu page dealing with “Picture” settings. I read a recently posted customer review by an author who had a similar problem with the video quality, but he advised that he was able to improve the video quality by making adjustments on the Menu page under the “Setup” heading. I then went into the “Setup” menu page and turned “Noise Reduction” and DLC (dynamic luminance control) to “Off.” Under the factory default settings, Noise Reduction had been set to “Middle” and DLC was turned “On.” After making these adjustments, much to my surprise the video quality improved from “fair” to “good.” It is not at all clear to me why Seiki chose to put these two controls that affect video on the “Setup” menu page, rather than on the “Picture” menu page, especially when it may not be entirely obvious to a lay person that these settings affect video and not something else. In any event, I have increased my rating on this TV from 3 to 4 stars.
I also note that the current sales price for this TV ($150) is about 25% lower than the price when my first review was posted. But even with the improvement in video quality and the lower price, this TV still has several negatives: it lacks a headphone jack, takes up a large amount of space for a 22″ TV and the screen is fixed in the cabinet at a slight upward tilting angle. However, if these are not a serious problem for you and you find the retro design appealing, this TV at the current price may be an excellent choice. My original review follows below:
* * * *
This TV has a LED 1080p flat panel built into a relatively large retro designed cabinet. The cabinet is made of a hard plastic in an attention grabbing red; the color is apparently meant to emphasize the retro design. The cabinet rests on three legs, which are attached to the cabinet with screws during set-up. There are five controls on the front – a large On/Off switch in the center, and one each for channel up, channel down, menu, and source (to change the input displayed.) There is a volume control dial on the right side of the cabinet. Once the power switch is turned on, however, there is really no need to use any of these controls, since the TV’s remote controls all of these functions and more.
The back of the TV has a large array of connections for a small screen TV: there are a total of three HDMI inputs, a cable/antenna input, a USB port which can play compatible audio and photo files (but not video), VGA and PC audio inputs, one component input, one AV input, a digital optical output and an AUX IN to connect a MP3 player or smart-phone to play music through the TV. When attempting to play MP3 files through the USB port, I found that the files would play only if they were not in a folder – the TV was unable to recognize and read files in folders. Unfortunately, there is no headphone jack, which seems to be a glaring omission, since one of the promoted uses for this item in the product description is in a college dorm.
The TV screen is fixed in the cabinet at a slight angle tilting upward; there is no adjustment to change the viewing angle. The cabinet houses 2.1 channel audio components, including what is advertised as a 20 watt sub-woofer. I connected an indoor antenna to this TV and, after a quick scan, it picked up about 18 over the air local TV stations, the same number of stations other TVs in my home receive.
The audio produced was good considering the size of this appliance — much better than that produced by other flat panel sets in my home. My problem with this TV performance wise is with the video quality. My primary point of reference is with a 24 inch Vizio 1080p LED TV VIZIO E-Series E241i-A1 24-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED Smart HDTV (tilted base) and I compared the video produced by these two sets when they were sitting side by side. I thought the video produced by this Seiki TV was just fair; the display looked somewhat fuzzy and lacked the detail and crispness of the Vizio display, although this Seiko did produce very accurate skin colors. I got these results only after spending considerable time tweaking the video adjustments on the Seiki.
Whether the retro design and appearance of this TV is a plus is a matter of personal taste, but there are obviously limited locations where this appliance is going to fit in with the décor. On the positive side, this small screen TV offers a large number of connections (including three HDMIs) and good audio. Unfortunately, the video quality is not as good as that on other HDTVs in my home. Also,…
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|William Grose “Tzu Crazy”
August 18, 2014
Surprisingly good, even for gaming. Playstation 2 users rejoice!,
Thankfully, the features of this TV go beyond the aesthetic retro amusement. First, it comes with a regular remote control (red on the backside – but sadly not red on the button side). With the remote you can put the TV in standby, change picture modes, change input, volume etc etc. So this is a PROPER TV, not some retro TV with retro controls you have to fiddle with manually on the TV itself.
This is a full 1080p HDTV, so 1920×1080, which is great on a TV this size. Good pixel density for computer work, even. You can easily use with with your laptop as a computer display.
Some surprising things I wasn’t expecting include a decent sound system (with a built-in subwoofer). Sure it’s not going to replace your home theater setup, but at least the thick retro casing was put to good use to actually improve the sound that is often far more tinny-sounding on regular LCD TVs.
Also, it has a component input for some older devices, including my (no-longer abandoned!) Playstation 2. What’s really nice about the TV is it does still let you change the aspect ratio from widescreen 16:9 to 4:3, so for older game systems like the Playstation 2 you don’t need to deal with the image stretched across the whole screen. Even more impressive is input lag is excellent. I was able to play Shadow Hearts and Dance Dance Revolution on PS2 with excellent response times. I imagine this is mostly to do with the fast TN panel inside the TV.
The downside of the TN panel is not especially amazing contrast (it’s “OK”), and color reproduction isn’t anything to write home about. Some tinkering with the picture settings does help greatly with both color and black levels, though.
But let’s face it… If you’re buying something like this you’re not exactly going to care if the blacks aren’t as milky as that 60″ Panasonic plasma, right?
Overall, this is a very solid TV. It looks great, build quality is surprisingly decent, the array of inputs is ALMOST excellent (no headphone jack is unfortunate), and it definitely is an eye-catcher.
4 stars out of 5.
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|Dennis A. Amith (kndy)
August 18, 2014
Sleek, red, retro looking 22″ HDTV/Monitor for under $200,
For today’s review, I take a look at Seiki Digital’s SE22FR01 22-inch 1080p 60HZ LED HDTV.
For those not familiar with Seiki Digital, the Diamond Car, California-based television manufacturer owned by Chinese-based Tsinghua Tongfang Company.
Seiki Digital is best known for affordable, low cost HDTV and 4K Ultra HD TV’s and stands by their quality.
And one of their televisions that are catching attention is their retro design LED TV.
I. What’s in the Box:
Inside you will find the Seiki Digital red LED TV, three aluminum stands and six screws to connect the stands to the television (you will need a Phillips screwdriver), a remote control and two AA batteries.
II. What to expect to see on the television:
Front panel features a source, menu, channels button, off and on dial (turn to right to on in order to use remote, otherwise if off, you need to manually turn it back on) and on the right side is a volume dial.
On the back, you will see an Digital CoAx connector, VGA (15 pin, D-Sub), RCA and component inputs (Y, Cb, Cr/Y, Pb, Pr), three HDMI inputs
Refresh Rate is 60Hz (not 120 or 240 but that’s not a deal beaker as it is a 22″ and won’t affect fast movement images, ie. sports, video games).
Component and HDMI support is 480I, 576I, 480P, 576P, 720P, 1080I, 1080P
VGA: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024 1360×768, 1920×1080
OSD Language is in English, French and Spanish
III. TESTS:
A. Antenna
The TV comes with a analog and digital TV tuner.
The first test that I did was by checking digital antenna pickup. This is mainly for those who are upgrading from an analog to digital television and do NOT have a satellite or cable connection. Connecting it to the antenna, the television was able to pick up most channels with no problem.
Watching television, of course, standard setting may seem a bit small, but you can change aspect ratio with zoom and other choices for your convenience.
B. Computer connection
Tested a Mac and PC laptop via VGA input and everything worked as expected (note: VGA cable is not provided)
C. Component connection
I tested a regular XBOX, Blu-ray player using first the Yellow, Red and White connections and as expected, picture quality was not all that great. It would pass for most people but if you are used to watching in HD, then you could only hope the PQ looks better with HDMI cables.
D. HDMI Cable
I then tested an HD connection via PS3, Blu-ray player and Roku and as expected, HDMI connectivity produced a much crisper image, vibrant colors. (Note: HDMI cables are not provided)
E. Audio Test
Tested with surround sound mode and extra bass and treble and sure enough, I was impressed with the audio. Good spacial sound coming from this HDTV. For a small TV, really good audio but not sure if the TV would withstand repetitive strong bass but from my tests, surround audio sounds very good for this 22″.
F. Remote Control tests
– Easy to switch the source from TV, VGA, HDMI
– Good button placement, so you don’t mistakenly hit a button if you have your remote learning to control other devices
– Easy to change aspect ratio via standard, wide, zoom, etc.
– Easy to adjust colors, tint, sharpness, change audio, etc.
– Easy to switch to closed captions and also TV show identifier
G. Plug
Fortunately, the plug is long enough, so you can have it several feet away from an outlet.
JUDGMENT CALL:
Overall, I’m quite impressed with the Seiki Digital 22-inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV. I like the retro look, granted it’s more of a modern feel and much cooler than the old Fisher, Zenith, RCA TV’s we had back in the ’70s and ’80s (without the ugly wood finish). So, aesthetically this TV looks very good.
Assembly and easy of use, especially the buttons for the remote is quite simple (big brand TV’s tend to overdo it and chances of mistakenly hitting a button that takes you out of a program can be frustrating, but NO problems with the remote). Eash to select source, aspect ratio, closed captions, etc.
While some may want this as a bedroom television or monitor, as a television, HDMI definitely provided much better results over composite and RGB but that’s because I have been watching television and Blu-ray via HD for a long time. But HDMI inputs do provide better picture quality.
But the TV is easy to setup,easy to get started, may you connect a DVR, cable or an antenna to get digital channels. Computer VGA worked easy as well.
And the audio for this HDTV is fantastic!
Overall, Seiki Digital SE22FR01 22-inch 1080p is a very good television or monitor. If you intend to purchase this…
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