Mirai DTL-642E500 > Reviews (2)

INTRODUCTION
-----------------------

Mirai is not a very well known make, certainly the Mirai DTL-642E500 is not very common. Before buying this TV, I tried googling it, I looked for reviews on the AV forums, Ciao etc, but none were forthcoming.

Right, so the TV. I am just a normal pleb chap and I don't know much about all these technical things. I just knew I wanted an HD telly of about 42".

The TV's specs are some of the highest among the shortlist I had. It has a resolution of 1920x1080 with a brightness of 500cd and a contrast of 1200:1. Also, another great feature for gaming is a pixel response time of just 6.5ms

The TV's remote has phosphor buttons, which is pretty cool at night!

MOUNTING
----------------

I bought an LCD TV bracket from eBayer "m-form" for my old 32" TV. It was a simple thing to mount, came with a huge variety of screws and adapters. This fit my 42" Mirai very nicely. The Mirai is very well suited for mounting on a wall bracket and the back of the Telly looks and feels very very solid and encourages confidence for wall mounting.

CONNECTABILITY
-------------------------

The TV is well made all round and looks good. It is SADLY void of connectors. It doesn't have any component connectors for my Wii console. It also has no AV connectors for my digital camera. It does, however, have 2 SCART sockets and 2 HDMI slots. It is also capable of being connected to a computer, which is certain to look spectacular! I haven't done this.

PICTURE QUALITY (TV)
--------------------------

Picture quality is a bit of a mixed bag. Predictably, on Sky Standard Definition, the picture varies from being Ok to rubbish. I did buy a Sky HD box and WOW!!! On HD, this TV excels! It is *almost* (tongue in cheek) as if it is made for High Definition! For the first few days, I just watched the BBC HD preview channel and marveled at how awesome the picture quality is. I have since gotten my SKY HD subscription active and WOW! The quality on made-for HD shows is awesome, it leaves me stunned, unable to speak. Even "dreary, boring" shows gain a new lease of life! Upscaled shows, like Stargate and Futurama on Sky One HD are also much much better than standard Telly.

PICTURE QUALITY (DVD)
-----------------------------------

DVDs are also a bit of a mixed bag. The Matrix looks a bit bleh, Transformers look great! I have a standard Philips DVD player. But believe me, a Bl Ray player will only complement this TV, even if you have standard DVDs that are upscaled. Dedicated Blu-Ray DVDs will look awesome!

SOUND
----------
One very nice thing about this particular TV is that it has 2x15 watt speakers. They provide great sound for shows as well as the Wii. A very nice touch!

CONCLUSION
--------------------

Mirai offers a 3 year home pickup and delivery in case of a warranty defect. I sorted the lack of the Wii component connectors by getting a Wii->SCART cable. For what I paid, £500, I am convinced you cannot go better! If you have a limited budget, this TV is certainly one to go for!

Would I recommend it? YES YES YES!!