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Our Sceptre 40-inch TV reviews led us to the X405BV HD TV. It is a budget TV designed to do a simple job: Display HD video quality from a variety of inputs. Does this TV do a decent job of displaying a color-rich 1080p picture? Does watching the screen make you feel like you are looking through an open window instead of at a TV?
Keep going to get a closer look.
Content Breakdown
Sceptre 40-inch TV reviews
The Design of the X405BV 40″1080p HD TV
The Sceptre X405BV has a pretty basic design. At 36.7 inches wide, 21.6 inches wide, and with a depth of 3.5 inches, it is not the sleekest screen in the world.
It comes with a plastic cabinet that comes in either black or grey. The cabinet’s three-quarter inch bezels are matte and textured to give the screen the appearance of having a frame made of brushed metal. The screen also comes with a rectangular tabletop stand that lets you turn the screen from side to side.
Right behind the right bezel, you will find chrome-colored plastic controls that comprise of the power, channel, volume and input source buttons. One reason that this screen is so thick is its protruding back panel, where the ports are located.
Connectivity
The back panel has two sets of ports: One set is at the left side of the panel and the other is at the bottom. On the left side of the panel are three HDMI ports, one USB port, a coaxial audio input, a stereo jack and a pair of audio I/O jacks.
The bottom of the panel has a composite video input, a VGA input, a 3.5mm audio input and an antenna jack.
Because the ports are smack in the middle of the screen, you will need to go to the back of the screen to reach them comfortably. Mounting the screen would make the ports almost impossible to reach.
Function
This screen is not what you would call a smart TV. In order to stream Netflix or some other media, you will have to buy a separate device, like a TV stick or set-top box.
[Read what others are saying about the X405BV]
Display: Color
The Sceptre X405BV is an LCD TV with LED backlights. It has 1080p resolution, and can comfortably render HD picture quality. Screens with exceptional image quality have truly deep, dark blacks. The X405BV is not one of those screens. That’s one the things that stuck out during our Sceptre 40-inch TV reviews.
You will need to make adjustments to the color settings immediately you unbox this TV. The first thing you will notice is that the red colors are oversaturated and have a pink tinge in them. More still, when you play around with the contrast, the white balance will become either too warm or too cool.
The natural thing to do after observing these issues is to calibrate the color settings some more. However, the Sceptre X405BV does not have the calibration options that would allow you to play around with the settings.
Display: Contrast and brightness
That said, with a contrast ratio of 5,000:1, the Sceptre X405BV does a pretty good job of displaying shadow and highlights. In fact, the contrast is quite good with bright whites and fairly dark blacks (though the blacks could still be darker).
The screen is also bright enough to allow you to watch a show in a well-lit room. To sum up all the noteworthy things we noticed during our Sceptre 40-inch TV reviews, here are the pros and cons:
Pros
- It is quite affordable
- The Sceptre X405BV has 1080p resolution and can, therefore, display HD video
- This TV consumes very little energy
Cons
- Reaching the ports at the back of the TV while you are at the front is difficult
- The Sceptre X405BV does not allow you to do fine color calibration
- The surround sound can be a little tinny at high volume, so it is a good idea to connect external speakers
- Since it is not a smart TV, it does not stream media on its own
Should you buy it?
The Sceptre X405BV works. At its price point, it will serve you well, being an HD TV. Click here to learn more about this TV model or purchase one.
