Review: Toshiba Regza 42WLT66
The propaganda
Tosh’s 42WLT66 is a native 1080-line LCD TV. The ongoing debate is not whether a 1080-line source watched on a 1080-line screen is better than a 720/768 line, but just whether the difference is really worth getting all that excited about. After a year or two of vigorous debate it is pretty much accepted that any such difference is not enough to be noticed on a screen smaller than 37”. Luckily, the 42WLT66 lies neatly in the bracket where such a difference does have a visible effect on your viewing experience and it 1080-line spec alone makes it into a hot product.
Features include Toshiba’s Active Vision LCD image processing system, an integrated digital tuner with 7-day EPG and twin HDMI connectivity. One other notable spec is the contrast ratio of 800:1 which, at first glance, seems to be the TV’s Achilles heel. Oddly enough though, this pessimistic figure didn’t manifest itself too badly in our tests. Click the turn to find out how it performed.
The good
The Active Vision engine enjoys a good reputation as a pretty decent image processing system. This, in conjunction with all those extra pixels, did a truly excellent good job of producing crisp, clear images. The things we were looking for in particular were signs of digital noise and loss of detail in complicated scenes. We tested using Sky HD’s 1080i output and were pleased to find that on both counts, the 42WLT66 performed admirably and offered greater clarity than you could hope to find on a 768-line LCD.
It also excelled in terms of colour processing. The colour gamut is nice and wide which lends itself well to natural tones and brighter, hyper-realistic colours you get from most Xbox 360 titles. Surprisingly, the 800:1 contrast ratio we mentioned earlier really didn’t have too much of a detrimental effect. Sure, the shadow details could have a bit better but there is definitely a lot less low contrast ‘misting’ than we had expected. It really makes you wonder if Tosh messed up the measurement somewhere.
The sound performance is also surprisingly decent and, while falling a little short in the extremities of bass and treble, it offers a rich, precise listening experience in more mid-end frequencies. It is also worth mentioning that Tosh sells an external subwoofer that should sort out those bass woes. It costs £120 and mounts out of sight behind the TV’s body.
The bad
Regza, much like Sony’s Bravia and Panny’s Viera, aims to put a more consumer-friendly branding and image along with all those complicated specs and acronyms. It is a shame then that the 42WLT66 falls short in the looks department. No, it doesn’t look like a cheap knock-off or anything, but it doesn’t have that jaw-dropping wow factor that a lot of the big name TVs aim for.
Although we were very pleased with the general HD performance of the 42WLT66, we still have a few niggles. There was a definite hint of blue going on in some of the black tones and we managed to pick up a few indications of motion smearing in fast moving scenes. Although these may prove too faint to notice in casual viewing conditions, it did give us cause to reconsider whether plasma technology might prove a better choice at this size now that 42” has become on of the most contested battlegrounds in the fight between LCD and plasma.
Picture quality suffered much more when handling Standard Defintion sources. Although it tackled good quality SD sources well, the moment the quality of the SD began to drop, the 42WLT66’s picture followed suit in rather dramatic fashion. The result was that average or lower-quality signals quickly softened up and colour tones degenerated just as fast.
Geek Sheet
Inputs: 2 x HDMI, 2 x Scarts (1 RGB), component video, composite, S-Video, D-Sub PC input, stereo composite
Display resolution: 1920x1080
Full HD (1080)
Contrast ratio: 800:1
Brightness (cd/m2): 550
Comb filter (3D/Digital)
Active Vision LCD
Progressive scan
Tuner: Digital and analogue
7-day EPG support
Overview
It seems a shame to have to mark down the 42WLT66 on SD performance, when it has clearly been designed with good HD processing at the forefront of its mind. Although we were really pleased with how this telly gets the most out of HD sources, it did take a more than average amount of tweaking to get the best out of it.
However, I have been saving the best piece of info for last: the price. You can pick up a Toshiba Regza 42WLT66 for a little under £1000 if you shop around and that, given its 1080-line support, makes it a real bargain.
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