The UMC L216/17B is a 21.6 inch widescreen TV that comes with a rock bottom price. To some, this is the first factor that they would notice. Surprisingly though, the screen provides excellent performance quality and this unit is a great chance for anyone to enjoy the benefits that a top quality LCD TV provides minus the great cost that usually comes with major brand names. And moreover, the L216/17B is also bundled with an integrated DVD player.

Looking at the UMC L216/17B, you will find that it has a modern attractive design that is both sleek, and virtually slim considering that it packs a DVD player underneath the LCD display. The television comes with the standard stand and measures 534 mm in width, 418 mm in height, and 203 mm in depth. It can also be mounted on a wall using a separately sold wall mount.

Impressively, the UMC L216/17B has a 16:9 21.6 inch widescreen with a full HD resolution of 1920x1080. Considering its rather small size, a Full High Definition display is certainly a pleasant surprise. This makes it a good output unit for high definition videos allowing it to provide clear and crisp picture details and vibrant colours. And with a digital tuner integrated to it, digital channels can be viewed superbly especially with the UMC L216/17B having Freeview. The L216/17B also features a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a brightness of 300cd/m2, well enough for an LCD TV with a small screen.

Also, because the UMC L216/17B has full HD capability, it is also a great monitor to use for playing games for game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 that spews out rich graphics. When used as such, you will easily notice that the video output is at its optimal value, and the graphics are truly amazing if not mind blowing. You get the same high quality images when watching digital shows and programs from Freeview and from high definition video sources such as a Blu-ray player.

Allowing these other electronic gadgets to be connected to the UMC L216/17B are a number of ports found on the back of the unit which are easily accessible whether it is mounted on a wall or placed atop a table or desk. What you will find are single ports each for HDMI connection, a SCART, Component and Composite video, and PC input. Also, to the side of these connectivity options at the right side of the unit is an ON/OFF switch.

Installation is fairly easy and it comes with a very user friendly interface. One plugged in, connected to an aerial antenna or a cable and turned on, the UMC L216/17B automatically updates and searches for channels and stations. This is a great feature for those who don’t really have vast knowledge with LCD TVs and setting them up, which is a fairly good percentage of the population.

Sound quality is fairly average and does not really impress. This is understandable though as this is a small set that comes also with small speakers, to be precise, two 3 watt speakers hidden on the front panel. The UMC L216/17B comes though with four sound presets to choose from. If you’re using the television in a small room, this is fairly enough.

One setback with the UMC L216/17B is the small text that is featured on its screen menu display. Even for a person with a good sight in a normal viewing distance, it is slightly difficult to read. This problem is also evident on the channel display. If you’re frequently changing channels, you might have a hard time reading which channel you’re already in.

But if you can live with those minor setbacks, and you could consider this is one of the lowest priced combo LCD DVD TV around, this is certainly a fantastic purchase mainly for its great versatility and its amazing picture performance.