Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great picture with a few drawbacks, August 17, 2009
I had been looking at and researching HDTVs for a while and had pretty much decided on going with a plasma, due to the better viewing angle and deeper blacks. I was a bit hesitant, though, about picking up a plasma because of all the "burn-in" horror stories that have piled up over the years, so I was still hoping to find an LCD display that would blow me away while still being affordable. When I came across this Toshiba, it appeared that this would be that LCD. I made several trips to the big box whose logo looks like a big yellow tag and spent close to an hour each time comparing a few different models as best as one can in the controlled lighting of the retail environment. I was impressed with the black level, overall contrast, and picture quality of this tv. The image also appeared to be cleaner than others, with very few jaggies or digital artifacts.
I ended up purchasing this tv (great deal with the free 19") and taking it home. The screen size is plenty large enough to see clearly from 10 ft away, but not too bulky to carry inside, unpack and set up by myself . It looks great and feels sturdy. The light-up Toshiba logo is a pretty nice touch, but I set it to off since it's a little distracting. There are a TON of picture adjustments available through a few standard and advanced menu options. A lot of these options are probably only available on most other sets through service menus, which are meant to be navigated by professional calibrating services. I spent the first five hours of Saturday and a few more on Sunday tweaking the picture while watching blu-rays, with my main attention on getting a good, dark black level and accurate skin tones. I got the settings dialed in to what pleases my eye and thought it looked darn good (maybe not a professional calibration, but I was very pleased with it). The sound was not as bad as I've read in some reviews. I never experienced the crackling that others have, but I also never needed to turn the volume up past 30, even sitting 10 ft away. So far, everything was great but naturally, with the good, you get the bad.
The drawbacks that I experienced were more personal annoyances, I suppose, but I've read that they are inherent to LCDs (to varying degrees), and I still could not ignore them after I discovered them. The first of which is the limited viewing angle. After the hours of tweaking, the set looks incredible when viewed head on. This changed, though, when I stood up or watched as I walked around the room. The black areas turn bluish and the overall picture loses its pop. This was the case if I viewed from any other angle than sitting on the couch directly in front of it. Granted, that's where I plan on watching tv from, but if I wanted to watch from the kitchen or have guests over, it wouldn't be as enjoyable. I was kinda disappointed because I had not experienced this in the store. It's not horrible, just something I didn't like. Also, it may have been exaggerated by how good the picture looks head on. The off angle picture may be as good as last year's model, but by improving the head on picture, it doesn't look as good from the sides. Who knows. I'm also coming from decades of watching CRTs where the viewing angle does not change. I knew to watch out for this with LCDs, but I guess you just can't get away from it unless you spend a few grand on one.
My other gripe was with the uneven backlight, or cloudiness, in dark areas, especially along the top and coming from the top corners ("flashlight" effect). Before purchasing this tv, I had found only one account of this occurring with this Toshiba. I had actually forgotten about it and wasn't looking for it when I noticed it myself. I didn't notice it until nighttime when I had the lights dimmed and the screen was supposed to be black. It's more apparent while performing non-viewing actions, such as switching inputs, changing channels, etc., but it is noticeable at certain times while watching movies. I didn't notice this during the day but, again, just something I didn't like. It's also possible I received a faulty display.
All in all, this is a great LCD for the price. I couldn't find one in-store in the same price point that came close. Great picture, super sharp, and lots and lots of picture tweaking options. I didn't have the chance to take home any other LCDs to see if they had the same low viewing angle properties or uneven backlight that mine did, so I don't know if this Toshiba is an exception or not. I did end up exchanging it for a plasma, though, because I felt they suit my tastes better (and it turns out that burn-in is not a huge issue anymore), but for those looking for an LCD and looking to spend $1200, I would highly suggest taking a look at this one.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My second Regza, September 6, 2009
I did a lot of research before purchasing my first LCD television. I decided on the Regza, and was very please with the picture quality. I haven't seen any other LCD that surpasses the picture quality, but MANY that fall far short of the quality of the Regza. Given my level of satisfaction with my first Regza, I purchased another larger set for the new home. Again, very satisfied with the picture quality.
I only have one complaint. The right speaker vibrates to certain tones. Strangely, it seems to be tied to a certain level or quality of recording, because it's not always vibrating. But, let's say I'm watching a program on the Discovery channel. For the entire program, the speaker will frequently vibrate. Then, I'll watch a baseball game on ESPN and will not hear a vibration through the entire game. Anyway...I've got external audio system hooked up, so when I REALLY want the quality I can just mute the TV and turn on the receiver.
This problem is probably a one-off, so I will not let it affect the overral rating here. I just don't want to deal with the hassles of returning the darn thing and waiting for ages to get the new one.
That said, I highly recommend the Toshiba Regza!
Jonathan Almquist
Minneapolis, MN
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
excellent tv for money, July 3, 2009
had this tv for about 2 weeks now. it replaces an existing tube tv (also toshiba). got this from best buy when they had it on sale for 1099. delivery was straightforward with original packing. tv came already assembled on the stand inside the box -- all you have to do is lift and set it on your tv stand.
standard definition (SD) channels look ok -- imo, all TVs (lcds, plasmas) should be able to produce SD signals as good as tube TVs. it's like software being able to support earlier versions.
HD channels look very good but I just don't think there're enough of them out there yet.
initially i had a strange problem via the HDMI connection where it'll prevent the remote to control the cable box the first 10 min after turning on the tv and cable box. after 10 min, everything's resumes. scour the web for similar issues and found one post but no solution. my eventual fix is to connect both the coaxial and the hdmi cable and the problem went away.
another surprise with hdmi connection is it does not carry closed caption info, so i can't turn this feature on and off with the TV remote. This is not an issue with coaxial connection. googled it and the solution seems to be hidden inside the cable box settings: to get to it, you have to turn the cable box off leaving the tv on. hit the menu button on the cable box remote to access the closed caption options.
so far my transition to hdtv has not been as smooth as i had expected but in no part the tv's fault.
other things i love about the tv is the base it sits on is very wide so it looks extremely stable. the matted screen is great -- no more unnecessary glare/reflections. Overall, the tv feels solidly built just like my old toshiba tube.
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