Toshiba 34HF81 34" FST Pure Flat Screen 16:9 HD-Ready TV

Other products by Toshiba

Product Details

Product Manual [3.80mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 33.2 x 24.5 inches ; 176 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 200 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B00005KI38
• Item model number: 34H81
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #181,437 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Enjoy cinema-quality viewing in your home with the Toshiba 34HF81 34-inch HD-ready TV. This flat-screen set has a 16:9 aspect ratio for optimal viewing of your favorite DVD movies and a bevy of audio features that will make you feel like you're at the multiplex. Thanks to its improved screen geometry and advanced tube design, the flat-screen FST Pure picture tube creates an image of unprecedented detail and color purity, with significantly less image distortion and glare than conventional screens. Other features include a three-line digital comb filter, virtual surround sound, and picture-in-picture capability. It has a built-in 181-chanel NTSC tuner, but you'll need an optional HDTV tuner for receiving high-definition broadcasts.

The 34HF81 has a 13-watt subwoofer and two 10-watt speakers that produce virtual surround sound. The StableSound feature maintains television volume within a preset range regardless of the source signal, eliminating the annoyance of normal program volume being followed immediately by extremely loud commercial messages. The SRS WOW feature combines three unique sound field enhancements: SRS 3D (for wide three-dimensional sound from two speakers), TruBass boast, and FOCUS (which raises the sound image vertically to create clearer voices).

The jack pack includes 3 composite A/V inputs (1 front, 2 rear), 1 A/V output, 3 S-video inputs (1 front, 2 rear), 2 RF inputs, and 2 component-video inputs.

Tech Talk
Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio refers to the shape of the video image. Standard television has a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is almost square in appearance. Digital television will have either a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, which is widescreen and appears rectangular, looking more like a movie screen and filling more of the viewer's field of vision for a more lifelike viewing experience.

Scanning method: Frames of video are made up of many lines of video that are scanned onto a television screen so closely they appear to be a solid picture. The scanning method can be either interlaced or progressive. Interlaced scanning (also used in today's analog TV), indicated by an "i" in the video format, fills in the odd number lines (1,3,5,7...) and then fills in the even number lines (2,4,6,8...) until the frame is complete. Progressive scanning, "p," fills in each line consecutively until the frame is complete, like a computer display.

What's in the Box
KV36XBR450 36-inch TV, remote control (RM-Y184), 2 AA batteries, and printed operating instructions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid buy, December 23, 2001

By	J. Gorup "JG" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While there are many HD TV's out there, given my criteria the list became short very quickly. The criteria were roughly: tube-based (not projection), 16x9, w/out the HD receiver built in, between 32 & 36 inches (1080i is assumed). Cost was somewhat a factor, but given these criteria the costs were roughly equal. This is going to be our main TV and not placed in some "AV Room".

The Panasonic CT34WX50 & this Toshiba 34H81 were the finalists. Yes Sony & RCA were looked at but for one reason or another they were tossed out.

Feature for feature the Panasonic and the Toshiba were seemingly identical. For all of the high tech comparisons, the decision came down to placement of the speakers. The speakers on the Panasonic are on the side of the unit & the Toshiba's are on the front. I am placing the TV in a cabinet and thus the Panasonic's sound would be muffled to say the least. Yes, I have the TV connected to a full-blown Dolby 5.1 surround system, but did not want to have that turned on all the time just to hear a simple show.

The Toshiba has worked out fine. The multiple inputs and outputs are appreciated. The split screen and multi-channel "favorites" option work well. Four stars because it performs as expected after spending this much money, I reserved 5 stars for something beyond belief.

Using this TV, a Toshiba HD Receiver and a simple roof top antenna, watching the currently broadcasted HD TV shows is fantastic (I do not have satellite TV yet). Of course, DVD's look fine as well.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than I imagined !, July 23, 2002

By A Customer

I purchased this wonderful Toshiba after many months of research, including consumer reviews as published by National Consumer magazines. Price was a factor which ended up in my eliminating Sony which had previously been my number one choice. Review of repair records then proceeded to eliminate RCA and Zenith. My requirements were simple, a reasonably priced, good reliable 34" HDTV, in 16:9 format with flat screen, 3 S-video and 2 wideband component video inputs to facilitate my progressive scan DVD player, DSS system, cable etc. Hookup was relatively easy, (as I am not an electronics wizard), and with programming of the remote I now have control of all systems thru one device. Dss picture is fantastic, analog is not as definitive but than that is analog, not high definition. DVD qualty is excellent with monster cable connection. This TV is a definite buy, I am very pleased with the performance and the purchase price. ...

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent picture; obsoleted by 34HF82, February 3, 2003

By	T. Cheng "tkcheng" (Iowa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent widescreen direct view CRT, with native 480p and 1080i modes. All 480i signals are upconverted to 480p, allowing you to see all the junk that interlacing hides. Therefore, some old 480i material might look worse on this TV. But you did not get this TV to play VHS tapes and watch CATV, did you? No, you got it for progressive scan material like high-end video games, DVDs, and HD (1080i) content.

This set has virtually peerless video quality, and numerous zoom modes for both anamorphic and "dumb" widescreen programming. The downside to this is that now every single flaw in DVD mastering or game graphics programming is visible to you. Ignorance really is (was) bliss. For example, in 480p, you can really tell that Gladiator had a much better DVD mastering process than The Matrix or Braveheart.

This set is completely obsoleted by Toshiba's 82 line of products, notably the 34HF82. The 34HF82 can do 720p, and has a DVI input, two things the 34HF81 set lacks. Therefore there is absolutely no reason to get this set today, but for those who still have it, it still looks incredible.

I have no comment on the sound, since I mute the TV and run audio through my stereo system only.

Caveat: I have a major screen artifact on strong red colors. They all appear very pixelated, especially on the borders. Under warranty, Toshiba will replace the digital video board.