The Sylvania LC321SSX (approx. $329) is a budget LCD HDTV. With a resolution limited to 720p, it's certainly not the ideal match for your shiny, new Blu-Ray player. Little did we know quite how incompatible is was. All budget TVs have some trade-offs, so you'll want to read closely before you make the buy on this model.

Before we get too far into the review, we need to call out one critical failing of the Sylvania LC321SSX that may be a deal breaker. It is incapable of playing back 1080p footage. In the case of 720p televisions, the screen has a natural limit to its maximum resolution, roughly 1280 x 720. But much of HD cable television and all of Blu-Ray has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080i or 1080p, click here for more information). In most instances, a 720p TV simply downconverts the image to fit on its screen. But while the Sylvania LC321SSX can downconvert 1080i signals, it can't even process 1080p, rendering all Blu-Ray movies and a lot of video game console incompatible, unless you go into the settings menu on your Blu-Ray player or console and tell it to downconvert the signal before output. Good luck explaining that process over the phone to your technically illiterate friends and family.

At first glance, the Sylvania LC321SSX is certainly not the ugliest TV around. The designers tried their best to perk up the design with rounded corners, lips, and a heavy shine. In doing so, however, they manage to confound some basic usability: the onboard control for power, volume, channel, etc. are completely obscured from view and difficult to find.

The suite of ports is fairly limited. While you get the benefit of 3 HDMI ports, but there's only a single composite AV and a single component AV input. The Sylvania LC321SSX also has no RGB input for computers, so you'll need to purchase an adapter. There's also no 1/8th-inch audio input, so if you also want to run audio from your computer, you'll need a second adapter. There are no multimedia ports for SD cards, USB ports, or the like, and no internet connectivity.

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)

The Sylvania LC321SSX is not a terrible performer, but neither is it a great one. The TV was capable of producing more than satisfactory black levels, though it frequently failed to show any detail in shadows. The RGB curve test, which measures how smoothly a TV can transition through gradual color changes, was very good, but again showed a lack of detail in darker areas. 

The motion tests, sadly, were not as promising. We witnessed significant problems, including blinking, blurring, false coloration, and—the worst of it—vertical lines becoming diagonal when in motion.

Comparisons (Read more in-depth comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)

We compared the Sylvania LC321SSX to three TVs of a similar class to see how they stack up. The Vizio VW32L (approx. $389) is another 720p LCD. It scored similarly or better in a lot of areas, but the motion performance was much more favorable. The Samsung LN32B460 (approx. $650) is better in nearly every regard, but that's expected when it costs twice as much. The contrast ratio was wider, the black levels deeper, and the color and motion performance was superior. You just have to ask yourself if you want to spend that much on a 720p TV. The final comparison model is the LG 32LG70 (approx. $649), this time a 1080p television. The LG is not an amazing performer, and showed mostly average scores. Notably, the viewing angle is nearly twice as narrow as the other TVs mentioned here.

Overall, the Sylvania LC321SSX is a flawed television, but the enticing price could make it the right fit for a guest room, kids room, or for someone without daydreams of full 1080p Blu-Ray.