Customer Reviews

Toshiba 50HP95 50-Inch Widescreen HD-Ready Flat Panel Plasma TV

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Now that we've had it for a year it is still beautiful. Great picture very happy :)

I've had this unit for a couple of months now, and overall, I think it's just incredible. HD pictures (especially sports) are really stunning, and contrary to what the first review says, I don't really see any problem with standard definition broadcasts. Granted, there's a big difference between standard and HD, but that's to be expected.

I do have a couple of quibbles about the set. First, some of the channels have a distinct red tone to them. This seems to be related to individual stations, and it only happens on non-HD channels. There's a setting in the TV that is called something like "Dynamic Contrast", which defaults to on, but I think that makes it even worse, so I've turned it off. I've also set the picture tone to a more subdued color palette, which looks great on most channels. However, as I said, on some channels, there is a distinct red tone.

Secondly, while the TV does have plenty of inputs, I'm a little unhappy with the component inputs, which I use for a DVD. For some reason, when the component input is for a progressive scan DVD, the TV cannot determine what the resolution is for the picture, so it doesn't automatically set the picture shape based on the input. Note that it does do this for other input sources (like HDMI, which I use with the digital cable box), so in those cases, if there is a widescreen broadcast, the TV adjusts correctly, and if the broadcast isn't widescreen, it handles that, too. However, that's just for the HDMI input. If I play an old DVD that has an odd aspect ratio (like the original "Planet of the Apes", for example), the picture has to be manually adjusted with the remote to make it look right. I suppose there's some technical reason for this, and most of the time I'm playing modern widescreen DVDs, which all have the same aspect ratio, so it's not a problem.

I can't speak to the built-in speakers, since I use a stereo system for the sound. I also don't use the built-in TV Guide system (since my digital cable has it's own), but it looks nice also.

All in all, it's a great TV. You should definitely look at it in a store before you buy, but I suspect you'll be blown away by the colors and the clarity.