Hisense 40H4 Roku TV

DesignThe 40H4's overall design is unassuming, with slightly curved, glossy black plastic bezels (0.6 inches on the top and sides, 1 inch on the bottom) that frame the chunky, 3.3-inch-thick screen. A curved lavender accent just under the middle portion of the bottom bezel distinguishes the HDTV slightly, and it gives the false impression of a centrally placed indicator light. The real indicator light and remote sensor sits on a smaller protrusion on the bottom-right corner. The screen sits on a flat, rectangular glass base that holds it steady, but doesn't let it pivot left or right.

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Ports are curiously minimal on the 40H4. An HDMI port, optical and 3.5mm audio outputs, a composite video input, and an antenna/cable connector sit on the back of the screen facing left. The remaining two HDMI ports and a USB port face downward. Three HDMI ports is typical for a budget HDTV, but this is the first connected screen I've seen that lacks an Ethernet port as an alternative to Wi-Fi. The lack of a component video input also limits its compatibility with older devices. A row of buttons sit on the right edge of the screen, including Input, Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down, Mute, and Power.

Like TCL, Hisense took Roku's signature simple, oblong remote and put its own touches on it. The wand is dominated by a purple direction pad with which you'll spend most of your time interacting with the HDTV. Power, Back, Home, and Option buttons sit above the navigation pad, and playback and volume controls sit below. The volume controls are the primary difference between this and the TCL Roku TV's remote; that one places volume controls on the right edge instead of the face of the device. Dedicated buttons for Netflix, Amazon, Rdio, and Vudu offer direct access to those four services.

Roku TVRoku's Channel Store is available directly through the 40H4, which provides an interface nearly identical to the Roku 2$59.99 at Amazon and HDMI Roku Streaming Stick's$49.00 at Amazon menu systems. All of the big streaming services are here, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, and HBO Go. Hundreds of other apps and services can also be accessed, including news, weather, sports, social networks, and even games (though Hisense's Roku TV remote lacks the motion controls of the Roku 3 remote, and not all games will work on it).

The Roku interface extends to controlling the screen itself, integrating inputs like content channels on the main menu. This makes the experience very friendly and consistent across the board, but the simple design will be stifling for TV power users; the 40H4 lacks all but the most rudimentary picture adjustments.

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PerformanceWe test HDTVs using a Klein K-10A colorimeter, SpectraCal's CalMAN 5 software, and DisplayMate test patterns. After a basic dark room calibration, we determined the best setting for our tests to be Normal picture mode, Warm color temperature, Brightness at 40, and Contrast at 56. After that, we measured a peak brightness of 234.25 cd/m² and a black level of 0.05 cd/m² for a respectable contrast ratio of 4,685:1.

The chart above shows measured color levels as dots and ideal color levels as boxes. At the warmest color temperature setting, white and green ran a bit cooler than ideal. The colors were all slightly oversaturated, but aside from the above, they didn't appear significantly skewed. Unfortunately, the 40H4 doesn't offer any advanced color calibration settings, and even basic picture settings were hidden in the Advanced menu. In our tests, the TCL 48FS4610R showed a less compelling 0.08 cd/m² black level and a lower 3,270:1 contrast ratio than the 40H4, but its colors were more accurate, its whites slightly warmer, and its greens less skewed.

These skewed colors lead to a generally cool look across the board, with flesh tones appearing slightly pale. I watched The Amazing Spider-Man and The Big Lebowski on the 40H40, and in both films bright outdoor scenes looked notably overcast. Spider-Man's red and blue costume looked suitably vivid, but Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone both seemed a little bit wan. Similarly, the bowling alley in The Big Lebowski, which admittedly is filled with difficult lighting, looked relatively cool, and the slow pan across The Dude, Donny, and Walter showed a hint of Buscemi-like pallor across Jeff Bridges and John Goodman's faces.

The solid contrast ratio let the dark alley scene in The Amazing Spider-Man hold a fair amount of detail, though shadows did blot out some finer points. In these dark scenes, the slightly cool colors aren't nearly as noticeable.

Input lag displays how long it takes for the picture on the screen to change after receiving new information. In the calibrated mode, the 40H4 displayed an input lag of 29.8 milliseconds. With Game mode enabled, which skews the colors slightly further, that number crept down only a little to 28.6 milliseconds.

Under normal viewing conditions, the 40H4 consumes 60 watts in the calibrated mode. The Eco Save picture mode dims the picture slightly while keeping it quite watchable, but it only trims the power use down to 53 watts. This is in line with other 40-inch HDTVs, like the Toshiba 40L1400U$299.00 at ABT, which consumes 51 watts in its calibrated picture mode.

Conclusion
The Hisense 40H4 Roku TV offers a wealth of online content through Roku's accessible interface on a very budget-friendly HDTV. Its picture isn't terrible, especially in this price range, but it's overshadowed by the identical-featured, similar-priced TCL FS4610R series and its more accurate colors. If you'd prefer to use your own media hub, the 39-inch version of the Sharp LC-48LE551U$297.99 at Dell is available for $50 less and also offers a very good picture without any bells, whistles, or connected features to go with it.