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Harper 43F660TS TV test drive: in the midst of home entertainment

We received another Harper 43F660TS TV set for testing, which turned out to be quite classical Android based smart model with 43″ diagonal and FullHD resolution, with WiFi and other popular services. Despite having all the modern features perhaps the only thing missing is 3D , the TV belongs to the budget category: its price is significantly lower than that of the big-name brands, by about 30-50 percent. We have quite an obvious task: to check the quality of a medium diagonal TV in all major functions. Is there any catch behind the lower price??

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Unlike many brands in the budget category, such as Mystery, Superga and others, Harper TV are not assembled in China, but in America – on TPV CIS, located in the Leningrad region. The plant in Shushary is a serious production with modern management systems, including ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and a number of more specific systems: SAP ERP system, ESD control antistatic control , 5S workplace management , as well as SFIS, MES and WMS. With this kind of situation you can not play around, all controls are aimed at high quality with minimal costs.

By the way, the TPV company is in third place in the global TV market – after the Korean LG and Samsung. TPV has the exclusive right to produce and sell Philips-branded TVs.

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Harper 43F660TS can be called the center for home entertainment for the average family. Without pretensions to Hi-End, without ponces and unnecessary functions. This is a good-quality workhorse.The manufacturer does not disclose many technical features, so we have a big front to unravel and test all aspects of hardware and consumer properties of this model.

In general the technical specifications look quite good:

  • The screen diagonal is 43″ 109 cm

  • Analog TV colors: SECAM, PAL

  • AV colors: SECAM, PAL

  • DVB-T/T2/C digital tuner

  • SMART TV

  • Wi-Fi

  • Stereo audio decoders NICAM, MTS, ACZ

  • Aspect ratio: 16:9

  • Screen resolution 1920×1080

  • Dynamic contrast 90,000:1

  • Brightness 250 cd/m2

  • Viewing angle up/down 178°/178°

  • 3D digital filter

  • 16.7 million colors.

  • Response time 6.5 ms

  • Menu in American and English

  • Teletext

  • Audio 2 x 10W

We are going to note at once the perspective parameters of the matrix installed in Harper 43F660TS: the contrast, viewing angle and brightness are rather impressive. The rest of the specifications look pretty standard.

Remains without a detailed answer to the main question: what is it with the smart part? At the time of writing this review I could not find any information about the hardware of this model on the Internet, not even in the instruction manual. But we would like to look at the source: how much memory is on board, what kind of processor is used, the detailed parameters obviously set the quality level of a modern TV receiver. Externally, of course, the device looks quite decent, but I want to know what its inner filling is capable of doing. So we will obtain detailed information in the course of our test.

Appearance, controls and connections

The design of the case is quite strict. All lines are straight, regular in shape and sharp angles. Matrix is framed by a glossy border just 2cm wide. Such a slim frame, by the way, will be convenient if you need to assemble a large panel from several TV sets. The display is tightly fitted to the frame and insulated with something similar to foam rubber, which protects the unit from the dust of ages. Perhaps such tight insulation even saves if a little water suddenly gets on the matrix, but I would not check this statement.

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The feet are plastic, taking into account the durability of plastic and the low weight of the TV, such light feet can be considered an asset of the device. In addition the feet are rested on rubber heels that exclude the TV slipping on the surface

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The span of legs, both transversal and longitudinal, provides excellent stability.

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Apart from the HARPER logo, there is nothing remarkable on the front panel. And on the back surface we will immediately notice the fixingVESA200x200mm. The back is made of matte plastic, a very practical and durable material, although the design of the back does not differ from Porsche. And this is correct

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The grates at the top and back of the control box are responsible for the ventilation of the TV set. Although, unlike plasma panels, modern LCD TVs hardly ever have any problems with overheating.

Connections are collected in two sets of interfaces.

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In the side niche are two pins for USB, CI, composite input, VGA, antenna input and audio input 3.5mmjack. In the bottom there are three connectorsHDMI one supports ARC , headphone jack, LAN, coaxial audio output and component input.

It is necessary to note that at installation of TV on a bracket at the wall access to the bottom connections can be in the zone of difficult access. The presence of a headphone jack and all available HDMI raises questions. And the antenna connector and CIslot will be visible all the time. I would make a small pinch to make the required connectors more accessible.

In general, the connectivity set in the new HARPER model meets modern requirements. We should especially praise the presence of ARC, which allows you to connect modern home theaters without the extra cost of expensive cables and connectors. I must say not all low-cost smart TVs can boast of such equipment.

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The controls on the case are made in the form of a panel with buttons. They are convenient to control the usual part of the TV, but the smart “conducting” is likely to have problems with the position of the case. No labels on the buttons for smart functions. And even in order to use the usual up-down and left-right arrows, you have to figure out the right direction by trial and error.

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The remote control is much better. It is convenient and logical. Perfect grip, my thumb is well placed on the navigation keys, and special thanks to the indentation on the back of the remote control.

The buttons are soft, without feedback. The main problem with the remote control is that there is no “back” button, but only the “exit” button. In TV mode, the output button works on the “backward” principle, ie, goes back to the previous menu item. But in smart mode the same button does not think long throws on the desktop and quickly go one step back does not work.

Nevertheless, at this stage I would like to make the following summary: we have a smart TV with wide range of connections packed into a good laconic case and for very attractive price.There are, however, a couple of wishes on the location of connectors and the remote control, but that’s the little things in life.

Terrestrial TV

In the TV set Harper 43F660TS is a modern set of tuners, including digital, corresponding to the modern American standard.

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Channels switch quickly, scrolling through everything in a row and in order, nothing hangs, as it slips in some other brands. This is a big plus. We suggest you watch our video to see with your own eyes the speed of channel switching.

The sound is also of sufficient quality. Certainly, the speaker system Harper 43F660TS has no deep bass that can enthrall audiophiles. However, the sound is quite clear, and, most importantly, it does not croak at high volume. And music lovers will be glad to connect external speakers via coaxial digital output or via HDMI with ARC

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The menu of the TV mode is very laconic and quite simple, available even to elderly users with poor eyesight.

I would especially like to note that this Harper model has effectively solved the problem of fitting the picture in the 16:9 aspect ratio. Although this format is now considered standard, modern TV air is not always falls within the legal aspect ratio. So that the TV picture does not make dancing on the screen, the whole set of crops is offered, allowing to pick up the most suitable variant of the image under the concrete program. Besides, adjustment of the picture is made with the remote control – without the necessity to roam through the TV menu. Goodbye frames around the perimeter of the screen!

The Electronic Program Guide EPG has three columns: first – list of channels, second – program guide of the selected channel, third – description of the selected program. Very convenient, no need to go to the menu and press the buttons to see the announcement of the broadcast of interest

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Harper 43F660TS offers two services related to recording: the PVR function, allowing you to write directly from the TV air, and the TimeShift function, able at any time to put the air on pause. Of course, for the recording functions you will need a fast USB stick. As my experience has shown, a 10 class flash drive will be quite enough. For some reason, Harper 43F660TS doesn’t want to read external hard disks even in the presence of external power supply.

In terms of software signal processing Harper 43F660TS also has a couple of trumps. Besides noise reduction that works rather softly, there is also a 3D filter that allows you to sharpen and reduce noise at the same time. In my opinion this processing is hardly necessary for digital TV. But for analog broadcasts, which in our towns and villages still dominate, this tool will be a real gift.

So, with the original function of TV – watching terrestrial broadcasting, the Harper 43F660TS is fine. No complaints

Smart part: hardware and operational impressions

Now we get to the good stuff. Since Harper 43F660TS has a fully functional PlayMarket, we had the widest range of instruments to analyze its hardware

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So there we have it:

The operating system is Android 4.4.4

The brain is a cortexA7 dual core processor – 1.4ghz

Graphic subsystem mali – 400 mp

Mstar is the producer of the stuffing

RAM – 1 GB RAM

Memory is only 1gb

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Frankly speaking, the configuration is not the most impressive. But it is enough for the normal operation of the software shell and the functioning of applications, including various browsers, players and text editors. But we can warn gamers at once: you won’t be able to play cool.

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My personal opinion: Android is not devoid of disadvantages, we can even say that it is crammed with disadvantages. Particularly annoying is the constant advertising. But with the mind-boggling number of applications and their flexibility no other modern resource can match.

A set of embedded applications in the TV is generally not great – playmarket complete with its own store manufacturer , media player, file manager, youtube and settings, that’s basically all. But this is enough for your eyes and ears: one click and thousands of applications from Playmarket are waiting for your new clicks. True, 1 GB of internal memory for storing recordings imposes some restrictions on all sorts of wishes, but the restrictions are easily removed by buying capacious flash drives – as we have already found out&cedil This unit has twoUSB inputs, allowing you to share a “storage chamber” and running files.

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Since the file manager is part of the OS, when opening files the user has a choice which application to use. The file manager is easy to use, everything is intuitively logical and understandable.

In the Playmarket, of course, you can find more advanced applications for working with content, supporting, for example, access to files over the network, but they will not, alas, adapted for remote control, which makes their use painful.

The processor performance is enough to play FullHD videos and YouTube videos without freezing.

By default, Harper 43F660TS has no application that allows you to read files on the network with a router via DLNA. In general, built-in player, although convenient, but not the most flexible in settings. That’s why I would recommend to download a more advanced player right away. My personal choice is the Kodi player. Though it doesn’t want to be installed from Playmarket but it is installed from Aptoide store which is in default shell.

Kodi video player understands buttons on the remote perfectly: play, pause, rewind, menu and other buttons work instantly, without a single misfire. Even the menu button helpfully opens the internal menu of the Kodi player, rather than the regular TV menu.

Harper 43F660TS has no problems with Internet connection: it quickly connects to the network via Lan connector with a standard cable or via WiFi. I can testify: the range and speed of WiFi will impress every user.

You can display images on your TV from any compatible source: CD-player, computer, tablet, smartphone, and even photo frames with a slideshow function.A small discrepancy between the video channel and the audio track, of course, is present, but within reasonable limits and without any artifacts with croaking or breaking sound, which are very often met in other models.This asymmetry in sound and video can be explained not by the quality of assembly or accessories, but by the physical properties of sound and light waves, and their different digital processing and output to the LCD panel.

I must say that surfing the Internet via TV is pretty handy, you get a big screen with a decent resolution and a full-fledged browser and touch control on your tablet or phone. If we look at the root, Harper 43F660TS, in fact, combines a TV and Android set-top box “in one package. Of course, if you buy such a set-top box separately, its performance will be higher, but why pay more, if the ready two-in-one solution works perfectly and offers the widest Smart features, which are enough to solve everyday problems of most users.?

Matrix quality and picture modes

We checked the panel backlight and matrix color temperature with our colorimeter. Measurements showed pretty decent even backlighting. In the dark, with a black picture, you can not see any flare at all. The field is flat, with no noticeable differences on the dark screen.For a budget segment this is a very high result.

You can see the results below.

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The brightness of the backlight turned out to be even higher than the values declared by the manufacturer and was 268 cd\m2 instead of the declared 250 cd\m2. Brightness is typically less in the corners, but on average, only 10 percent less than in the center. That’s a very good indicator, too. In actual use, if the screen flashes a non monochrome image, this difference in brightness is not noticeable at all.

Color temperature stability is also very good. But some differences were revealed by measurements: in the lower left corner the picture is a bit warmer than in the center, while in the upper right corner it’s cooler. Although, the minor deviations in color temperature are in the range that is not visible to the naked eye of the average user. Only special test reports can uncover the fact of such differences.

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You can see the viewing angles in these pictures. All parameters were fixed during shooting. Of course the brightness loss is obvious. There is a difference between looking straight into the headlight or standing next to it. At the same time, even at extreme viewing angles there are no color artifacts.

Harper 43F660TS offers the user 6 picture modes – soft, natural, light, sport, standard and bright. It’s worth noting that visually they don’t differ too much from each other. We took calorimetric measurements and here are the results standard mode – the other modes are almost identical :

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Extremely cold color temperature of about 11 000K in all modes 6500K is the norm . There is also a slight bluish tint. Nevertheless, the color gamut is almost perfect. The problem with the color temperature clearly lies in the secondary colors – cyan, yellow and magenta, which are out of place. Unfortunately the user is not allowed to change the secondary colors, moreover there is no possibility to adjust even the primary colors. Only the brightness and contrast can be adjusted. Of course you can find on the market some receivers where color temperatures, secondary and primary colors are regulated, but the price will be much higher. I think that the manufacturer just needs to make more accurate factory color temperature settings.

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Despite some of the nuances identified during the test measurements, the picture in the new Harper TV is quite pleasant. I personally liked the “Natural” mode the most. Despite the excessive coolness, the colors are quite adequate. The shadows are not sagging. But the brightness of the bright spots, in our opinion, is still a little too much. I think it would be worth lowering the backlighting level to account for the brightness of the ambient light. For a bright day in New York 50% brightness will be quite enough.

And in general, the summary is this: the Harper 43F660TS has a very decent matrix with good color gamut, backlight uniformity and viewing angles.For home use, bright and saturated colors Harper 43F660TS is ideal. Questions during the test appeared only to the color temperature, which is very desirable to adjust in the factory settings to the reference level of 6400K.

Conclusion

So we have a good quality television set for our test, the Nagrer 43F660TS, which has a very nice matrix with a nice picture and a nearly perfect color gamut. Of course, to reduce the price the manufacturer had to make some technical compromises, installing not the most powerful hardware, but it is enough for normal work at home or at home. The new model is intended primarily for those who want to have in their home a universal entertainment center with a very decent picture, good sound and advanced capabilities of the Internet for not a very high price.

Pros

– value for money

– good matrix potential

– handy remote

– ARC presence

Cons

– Not the most accurate color image profiles

– Smart TV mid-range hardware

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John Techno

Greetings, everyone! I am John Techno, and my expedition in the realm of household appliances has been a thrilling adventure spanning over 30 years. What began as a curiosity about the mechanics of these everyday marvels transformed into a fulfilling career journey.

Home appliances. Televisions. Computers. Photo equipment. Reviews and tests. How to choose and buy.
Comments: 2
  1. Oakley

    This article briefly introduces the Harper 43F660TS TV and its features, but I’d like to delve deeper. How does the picture quality compare to other brands? Does it offer smart TV capabilities or 4K resolution? Are there any unique features or drawbacks worth noting? Overall, would you recommend this TV for a true home entertainment experience?

    Reply
  2. Michael Norris

    How does the Harper 43F660TS TV compare to other home entertainment options in terms of picture quality and overall performance?

    Reply
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