Connectivity:
The rather difficult-to-reach interface panel is not exactly populated with a vast variety of contact options. Two Scart sockets, a single YUV interface, a side-mounted camcorder interface and VGA connector for PC operation are all standard features.

For high-caliber equipment in this price category, a single HDMI interface is very thin considering that satellite receivers, Playstations and DVD players are commonplace commodities in the modern living room.

The TV is able to reproduce various picture-in-picture or side-by-side formats ex-works, and anyone in possession of an external tuner can follow two programs simultaneously.

Pay-TV customers can use their decoder card in what is known as the Common Interface (CI) slot of the built-in tuner.

Synchronization of Presets:
Scart connected "Link" compatible video recorders are able to synchronize their station presets with the TV, and can be programmed for channel recording - under the precondition that both participating devices are picking up the TV signals via the analog cable antenna.

Integrated Loudspeakers:
One practical detail of the Loewe is that the integrated loudspeakers can be used as the central speaker of a home-theater audio setup when interfaced through the RCA jack. Whether or not this makes any sense can be gleaned from the sound test part of this report.

Screen Menu:
The Loewe's screen menu is excellently presented with a clear layout, but the scrolling submenus come across a little overdone and fanciful, which does not aid the general overview. However, the integrated headings-index and beautifully presented channel preset list more than make up for it.

Remote Control:
The remote control has all the form but not the function. The first impression is that of a well laid out and structured device, but in reality it is far from it. The tiny countersunk joystick operates unpredictably, and since it is overlooked by the other buttons, the incorrect button can be easily hit quite by accident.

Even though the remote control itself is almost too large and unwieldy, the numerical buttons for program selection are, by comparison, far too small. The manufacturer itself is rather skeptical about its own creation as the more recent sets from 2007 onwards are shipped with a far improved remote control unit.

TV Picture Quality:
Although the best preset "Soft" produces a satisfactory, well balanced TV picture, it is not 100% perfect. A permanently active filter removes noise but introduces trail effects, which are particularly noticeable, especially when viewing cable TV content, in the darker display areas when the camera pans across a scene. Skin details appear waxy in motion shots.

For the best results, the Individual 40 Selection should playback content received from digital cable or optional satellite receiver. This is not surprising really since many broadcasting stations transmit their content at a higher Baud rate effectively eliminating the typical block errors associated with digital TV. The advantages of digital TV then are quite clear as the transmitted images are steadier and contain far less noise.

DVD Picture Quality:
The Individual 40 Selection has better mastery over DVD playback delivering natural colors - mainly down to the fact that the color temperature is factory set at the standard 6,500 Kelvin.

Even here though, a slight reddish color cast accompanies some of the gray shades of black and white footage, and although the picture details, especially those of darker scenes, are more pronounced than with TV content, the result is still far from being perfect.

In the "Panic Room" movie, for example, there is noticeable color noise on the walls, and color nuances get lost in the Orks' caves in the "The Lord of the Rings" movie. The irregular bluish residual lighting is most disturbing in completely dark footage with screen corners glowing lighter than the main screen.

Video and S-Video Material:
Material from the more usual video or S-Video sources is also not free of defects, as the Loewe processes them in so-called interlaced format, which is incorrectly represented on the Loewe's progressive display. Small artifacts with saw-tooth and stepped patterns are visibly apparent where motion is being characterized.

One unpleasant attribute is the permanently active emphasizing of color edging - even deliberately softened transitions are rendered with razor sharpness, as is evident with the flowers in the garden in the "One Night at McCool's" movie. A cleaner and more refined picture is displayed with progressive signals from YUV or HDMI interfaced DVD players, and the Individual 40 Selection also spares us any trailing colors.

Unfortunately, the Loewe is not capable of handling Blu-ray material in the 24p format and its screen resolution does not conform with the two most widely accepted variants (1280 x 720 pixels or 1920 x 1080 pixels).

Test picture stills from video generators or the WMV HD disks illustrate the consequences. Images are scaled horizontally to fit its screen size of 1368 x 768 pixels, but vertical details flicker continuously.

Movie material with motion presents a noticeable improvement as evident with the city and countryside shots in "Ski to the Max", in which fine details are clearly apparent and the flicker accompanying the still pictures vanishes.

One weakness does still remain though and concerns color rendition and viewing angle. When viewing even slightly off perpendicular, brown hues in particular are shifted toward the yellow-green part of the color spectrum, a limitation that makes itself visibly apparent in the "Tomb Raider" movie in the scene where Lara Croft hands over an amulet to the tribal chief.

Computer Operation:
The Loewe accepts only PC content in the 4:3 format to a maximum 1024 x 768 pixels, and interfacing the set through the HDMI interface (with a DVI adapter) is something the set just did not want to do. Fact is that the Loewe is just not suitable for use as a PC monitor.

Sound Quality:
Traditionally, the sound quality of Loewe sets has always been high and the Individual 40 Selection is no exception. Even at high volume, the loudspeakers reproduce speech clearly and understandably, and music is beautifully mastered with its sonorous bass.

Preset: Soft

Contrast: 20

Brightness: 11

Sharpness: 1

Color: 7

Color Standard: Ycc

Image+: Off

* applied to realistic playback from HD DVD/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations may necessitate slight adjustment.

Elegant Appearance: The Loewe Individual 40 Selection captivates with its refined external appearance und diversity of assembly options.

Meager: Only two Scart sockets and one HDMI interface are inappropriate for equipment of this luxury.

Too long: The remote control does not sit well in the hand and many of the buttons are either too small or hemmed in.