Toshiba 40XV645U Excellent picture and okay sound.

(This review is for the Toshiba Regza 40XV645U LCD television.)

A note about rating this TV:
If price were no object: 4-Star Rating
Price considering: 5-Star Rating

This is a great TV! All of us in the family really like it. Even the piano black narrow frame around the screen looks great (about 1.5" wide at the top and sides and 3" at the bottom). Even though the frame is a glossy black finish, it surprisingly doesn't disturb the daytime viewing experience at all.

We wanted a second TV in our home for a brightly lit room and we were also limited to a 40-inch screen size because of available space, so we ended up choosing the Toshiba Regza 40XV645U LCD TV. (Also see my review of the Pioneer PDP-5080HD Plasma TV in August 2007, if you are interested).

Because of our requirements for our second TV to have a bright picture and not to be sensitive to burning-in issues, we decided on an LCD TV. We compared the Toshiba 40XV645U to the following currently locally available 40-inch LCD (and LED backlit) TVs:
Samsung LN40B610 / LN40B650 / UN40B6000 / UN40B7000;
Sony KDL-40Z5100 / KDL-40XBR9;
Toshiba 40RV525R / 42ZV650U; and
LG 42LH30 / 42LH40 / 42LH55 / 42LH70.

When price was considered, no other TV came close to the Toshiba 40XV645U. Absolutely nothing else! We did not want a shiny, glossy screen (we were afraid of daytime reflections), so many of the above sets were eliminated because of that. The Toshiba ZV650U has a very nice but glossy, reflective screen and cost $1,500 CAD at the time. The RV525R does not have the 120Hz frame rate or the Resolution+ feature. With the XV645U you can turn the frame rate On (120Hz) or Off (60Hz) - called the ClearFrame feature in the Owner's Manual (you can download a PDF copy from Toshiba.ca before you buy the TV). Also the sound on the RV525R is inferior to that on the XV645U. And the RV525R actually cost more than the XV645U on that day!

We were very impressed with the high-contrast Samsung B650, B6000 and B7000 models at first, and they also have a 1-Tuner Picture-in-Picture (PIP) feature, but the highly reflective glossy screen (Ultra Clear Panel), very poor detail in black images (Samsung is famous for "crushing" their blacks), and triple the cost (for the B6000 and B7000), made us dismiss these sets. The Samsung B610 was not bad, but still had the black-detail problems, and the actual colour richness and backlight strength visibly looked better to us on the Toshiba XV645U (and at the time the Toshiba cost $950 CAD vs. $1,500 CAD for the B610). But the Toshiba XV645U does not have PIP, which we do miss (we especially like to watch Split Screen images - available on the Samsungs only).

In our opinion, the Sony Z5100 is a much better value than the XBR9 ($2,000 CAD vs. $2,700 CAD at the time), and we really couldn't see any improvement in either the picture quality or the sound by upgrading to the XBR9.

The LH30 and LH40 LG models definitely did not look as good in the showroom as the Toshiba XV645U (lack of depth in white and black colours) and also cost a little more. The LG LH55 and LH70 both have glossy screens and cost about 50% more than the Toshiba. LG too has problems with image details in black. In addition, the viewing angles were quite poor with the LG models. And we were also worried about servicing issues with the LGs (we were warned by some sales persons).

At the end, it came down to deciding between the Toshiba XV645U (at $950 CAD) and the Sony Z5100 (at $2,000 CAD). (I know, it sounds a little funny that we were deciding between these two sets at the end with prices such wide apart, but the Sony Z5100 series looks that good!) Details in black (for example, wrinkles or pinstripes on a black jacket) were best displayed on the Sony Z5100 of any TVs we've looked at. We really liked the picture, sound, and some of the other features (like the TV Guide On Screen) on the Sony, but the small improvement in these items just did not justify the huge price difference. However, surprisingly, the black and white contrast ratio is a little better (i.e., deeper) on the Toshiba XV645U! And you can even see this difference in a side-by-side comparison. This is really strange since the Sony has a claimed 100,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio whereas the Toshiba's is only 50,000:1. (I suspect the Toshiba XV645U must have a higher Static Contrast Ratio than the Sony Z5100.) But if money were no object, the Sony KDL-40Z5100 would certainly be the winner among the TVs we've looked at.

Impressions with the Toshiba 40XV645U:

To get a great picture, we set the Backlight to maximum (+50) and adjusted some of the other settings to our personal preference. We also keep the Resolution+ setting at the maximum to give us a clear and defined image. This feature actually works and we are very impressed with it for watching standard definition analog cable channels. There are lots of available adjustments on this TV to keep you busy for a long time or you can just select the default, factory setting.

When the XV645U is turned off, the screen is dark black. This is a good indication that the TV is able to reproduce deep black colours. On some other TVs, when the set is turned off, the screen looks kind of charcoal, or dark gray, instead of black. Also, the Toshiba's screen is not totally matte, so off-angle viewing is quite good (but not nearly as good as plasma TVs). (The high-gloss LCD TVs have superior off-angle viewing properties, but at the cost of bad daytime reflections.)

The sound is just okay, but many people will hook up their TV to an amplifier with external speakers (we haven't yet). The sound volume is very good (we listen to the TV at level 20-25 out of a 100). The built-in speakers face downward, toward the floor (at least what I can tell from the location of speaker grille openings). You can hear the dialogue all right, even in a large room while people are talking in the room, but you will get occasional resonance (and a little distortion too) when the volume is kept above a level of 25 (the TV has some problems with reproducing Bass levels). There is also a Voice Enhancement feature (On or Off) that emphasizes dialogue over the music you hear - it helps a little bit. And the StableSound feature is supposed to keep the volume level the same from channel to channel (I couldn't tell). To our ears, turning other Advanced Sound Settings On, like the Stereo Extension or Dynamic Bass Boost, just seemed to distort the speakers a little more at higher volume levels.

The Analog Closed Caption (set on CC1 text) has a very small font size when compared to our Pioneer TV, but the letters are all in capital and nicely spread apart, so they are legible. One benefit of the smaller size is that the Closed Captioning covers up less area of the screen. Not only that, but when you enlarge letter box programs (to fill the screen) on this Toshiba, parts of the Closed Captioning text doesn't disappear at the bottom of the screen like with our Pioneer TV! But there is no direct CC button on the Remote, so you'll have to go into the Menu Settings to turn this feature on or off when you want to. However, when you press the Mute button twice (the first press lowers the Volume to one-half), Closed Captioning is automatically activated. Closed Captioning is not available for the three HDMI Inputs, unless that feature is encoded in the DVD (under language options).

The TV is very slow changing channels. When using the Channel Up and Down button, there is a delay of about 3 seconds to display the next channel (already too long), but when you punch in a Channel Number using the number buttons, there is a much longer delay (about 6 seconds). However, you can cut this time in half if you press the Enter button right after the Channel Number. Turning the TV on can be slow or fast, depending on how you set your Power-Up Mode option in the Setup Menu screen. But switching Input Sources is very fast using a single scroll button for all choices.

Overall, I highly recommend this Toshiba TV. It is an excellent value and the picture quality is fantastic. We can get a really clear and sharp image on analog broadcast (we do not subscribe to Digital or High Definition Channels) after some Picture adjustments (even without accessing the Expert Mode under the Advanced Picture Settings menu). Okay, so we can't get the same colour depth and accuracy as with the Pioneer plasma, no matter how much we try to adjust the Picture, but you will not go wrong with this TV overall. Excellent high contrast, non-glare, super clear picture!

One bonus we've noticed with this Toshiba is that during the Auto Tuning Setup, the TV also picked up some Audio Only Digital Channels (from our analog cable service) through which we can listen to radio stations. And the Toshiba's speakers even sound a little better on these digital channels! Our much more expensive Pioneer plasma can't access these music channels at all (as far as we can tell).

One last thing: If you want to install this Toshiba on a wall, it needs a Vesa 200 x 400 mm plate (screw holes located at the corners of a 7.87-inch by 15.75-inch rectangle). Many of the available wall mounting arms don't accommodate that size and you will need to find or make an adapter for it.