Rating: 
Summary: Great Picture Quality
Review: This model has good picture quality with no frills, so it makes a good monitor for a home theater system. (That is, assuming you use an A/V receiver and multiple speakers for sound) It's a good value compared to the competition, ...JVC also makes a AV-32F703 32 inch Flat Screen TV. It is identical in almost every way to the AV-32F704 that I'm reviewing. The only difference between them is that the 703 has BBE High Definition Audio, but it has the same low power audio amplifier and the same tiny stereo speakers. The 703 also seems to cost more, for some odd reason. I don't, however, think this TV needs professional calibration. I've found the picture quality to be very good with only (user accessible) adjustments needed. Before you buy this, keep in mind that it's HEAVY. You will need two strong people and an appliance dolly if you have any stairs to climb with it. My wife and I managed to install it on the second floor, but it was difficult. The picture quality is excellent, after it's adjusted correctly. The user's manual isn't much help in getting it adjusted though. It is confusing and inaccurate. Reading the descriptions of the various picture adjustments, you could easily jump to the wrong conclusion that there are two 'brightness' adjustments, as two of the picture adjustments adjust overall brightness, according to the manual. To get the TV set up quickly, I'd suggest you use 'picture' to adjust the LIGHT colored (especially white) areas of the picture, and use 'bright' to adjust the DARK colored (especially black) areas of the picture. I would also suggest you set color temperature to 'low', instead of the default 'high'. I don't know why so many TVs (such as this one and the Philips model it replaced) are missing a CONTRAST adjustment. That's like a stereo with no bass control. To be fair, you CAN choose one of four preset contrast settings, but doing so will wipe out all your other adjustments like color and tint. The remote control works OK, but I'd strongly suggest you program basic functions in a universal remote and remove the batteries from the original JVC remote control that comes with this TV. That's so you won't accidentally hit the 'theater pro' button. This button is supposed to make it look like a movie theater. It results in a very dark, low contrast, red-tinted picture. Oh, and you can't just hit the button again to get your picture settings back. You have to start from scratch to get your picture adjusted. (I learned the hard way) The 'video status' button works the same way, but will ruin your picture settings in one of four different ways. You do NOT want to hit these buttons by accident. That's why I'd suggest you not use the original remote, and remove the batteries from it. The sound quality is kind of disappointing, as it has very little power driving two tiny speakers with no subwoofer. (Think: low-end boombox sounding) But this won't matter if you are buying it for home theater use, as you will never use the built-in speakers. I think JVC really designed this for home theater use. It has an excellent mix of audio and video inputs AND audio outputs. You should be able to use it with just about any A/V receiver and/or DVD player on the market at the moment. And the picture quality is quite good, especially considering the price. The factory warranty is generous compared to the competition. Bottom line: Good budget buy for non-HDTV home theater use.
Rating: 
Summary: Good monitor for home theater use, same as AV32F703
Review: This model has good picture quality with no frills, so it makes a good monitor for a home theater system. (That is, assuming you use an A/V receiver and multiple speakers for sound) It's a good value compared to the competition, ... JVC also makes a AV-32F703 32 inch Flat Screen TV. It is identical in almost every way to the AV-32F704 that I'm reviewing. The only difference between them is that the 703 has BBE High Definition Audio, but it has the same low power audio amplifier and the same tiny stereo speakers. The 703 also seems to cost more, for some odd reason. I don't, however, think this TV needs professional calibration. I've found the picture quality to be very good with only (user accessible) adjustments needed. Before you buy this, keep in mind that it's HEAVY. You will need two strong people and an appliance dolly if you have any stairs to climb with it. My wife and I managed to install it on the second floor, but it was difficult. The picture quality is excellent, after it's adjusted correctly. The user's manual isn't much help in getting it adjusted though. It is confusing and inaccurate. Reading the descriptions of the various picture adjustments, you could easily jump to the wrong conclusion that there are two 'brightness' adjustments, as two of the picture adjustments adjust overall brightness, according to the manual. To get the TV set up quickly, I'd suggest you use 'picture' to adjust the LIGHT colored (especially white) areas of the picture, and use 'bright' to adjust the DARK colored (especially black) areas of the picture. I would also suggest you set color temperature to 'low', instead of the default 'high'. I don't know why so many TVs (such as this one and the Philips model it replaced) are missing a CONTRAST adjustment. That's like a stereo with no bass control. To be fair, you CAN choose one of four preset contrast settings, but doing so will wipe out all your other adjustments like color and tint. The remote control works OK, but I'd strongly suggest you program basic functions in a universal remote and remove the batteries from the original JVC remote control that comes with this TV. That's so you won't accidentally hit the 'theater pro' button. This button is supposed to make it look like a movie theater. It results in a very dark, low contrast, red-tinted picture. Oh, and you can't just hit the button again to get your picture settings back. You have to start from scratch to get your picture adjusted. (I learned the hard way) The 'video status' button works the same way, but will ruin your picture settings in one of four different ways. You do NOT want to hit these buttons by accident. That's why I'd suggest you not use the original remote, and remove the batteries from it. The sound quality is kind of disappointing, as it has very little power driving two tiny speakers with no subwoofer. (Think: low-end boombox sounding) But this won't matter if you are buying it for home theater use, as you will never use the built-in speakers. I think JVC really designed this for home theater use. It has an excellent mix of audio and video inputs AND audio outputs. You should be able to use it with just about any A/V receiver and/or DVD player on the market at the moment. And the picture quality is quite good, especially considering the price. The factory warranty is generous compared to the competition. Bottom line: Good budget buy for non-HDTV home theater use.
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