Hands-On Review: Toshiba Regza 42ZV650U 42-inch LCD HDTV

PLUS
Accurate picture right out of the box
Great blacks and shadow detail
Very attractive cosmetics

MINUS
Occasionally crushes blacks
Reds are a touch orange

Priced at $1,500, this 42-inch flat panel is part of Toshiba's second-from-the-top Regza ZV650 series, which also includes a 47-inch model and a 55-incher. They're Toshiba's first LCD TVs to incorporate ClearScan 240.

Unlike other manufacturers' 240Hz products, these TVs don't scan the picture 240 times per second. The LCD panels are refreshed 120 times per second, just like other LCD TVs with 120Hz frame-doubling. But they also employ a scanning backlight. The combination creates a 240Hz effect, Toshiba claims, delivering motion resolution comparable to other 240Hz LCDs.

The new TVs employ a new PixelPure 5G video processor; this allows them to produce very fine gradations of tones and colours, Toshiba says. Other features include Resolution+ upconversion of standard-definition sources, and Autoview, which adjusts the picture to suit program content and room lighting. The unit has an SD memory-card slot and USB port, and can play DivX videos and JPEG photos.

Cosmetics are very attractive. Instead of the ubiquitous black bezel, the 42ZV650U features Toshiba's Deep Lagoon design, with a tapered light accent along the perimeter of the frame; this creates a three-dimensional effect. For stand mounting, the TV sits on a supplied football-shaped base. The matte screen is very effective at suppressing room reflections.

Settings: Out of the box, the TV starts in Autoview mode, with the backlight, brightness, colour, tint and sharpness controls all centred. As I confirmed by watching a Toronto Blue Jays game in high-def, the resulting picture is very pleasing, with deep blacks and commendably neutral colours. The picture is not at all overblown. The only flaw is that very dark areas of the picture, such as umpires' jerseys, lack detail and texture; with the default settings, the TV is crushing blacks a little. But viewers who leave this TV in Autoview mode will enjoy a truly excellent picture. Toshiba is to be commended for providing such a great out-of-the-box experience.

Using Video Essentials HD Basics, I tried to do better. Test patterns displayed correctly with brightness boosted to 7 from the zero midpoint. On actual programming, this improved shadow detail without making blacks look murky. In a moderately lit (but not dark) room, increasing backlight to 10 created a brighter picture without compromising blacks. In a dark room, you can take backlight back to the midpoint setting for deeper blacks. Impressively, the colour test patterns showed that this display's colour decoder functions almost perfectly in the red, blue and green channels. This set is not pushing red or green to create an artificially warm effect, but instead aiming to deliver accurate, neutral colours.

Evaluation: The results showed in actual programming. The HDTV broadcast of the Stanley Cup finals looked wonderful. While the picture wasn't as vibrant as the Sony, it looked more natural, with slightly better dark details - for example the audience in the background. Motion looked rock-solid. The home team's uniforms looked convincingly red.
Conventionally backlit LCDs can have problems with red, and the special uniforms that the Toronto Blue Jays wore for their Canada Day home game looked a tad too orange. Otherwise, baseball looked fabulous.

A high-def episode of CSI: Miami also looked gorgeous. The show's lovely warm colour palette was beautifully conveyed. Blacks and shadow detail were both excellent. For example, in a high-contrast scene where sunlight streams in through a window in a dingy motel, you could see details lurking in the shadows. A close-up of Adam Rodriguez looked perfectly natural, with good detail in both dark and bright areas. The only flaw was that a red sweater worn by Emily Proctor looked a touch orange.

In Law & Order, dark details in interior shots and characters' clothing was rendered very well, further testament to this TV's good blacks and shadow detail.

The same virtues were apparent in the Shallow Seas episode in the Blu-ray version of Planet Earth. The underwater scenes had great three-dimensionality, colour and detail. In the nighttime shots, the brightly lit corral and fish in the foreground looked fabulous, and were framed against an inky-black background.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, also on Blu-ray, looked lovely and warm, with deep blacks and excellent detail in the dark areas, such as Kat Dennings' hair and clothing, in the nighttime club and street scenes. Facial close-ups were beautifully modeled. Blacks and darks were neutral, without any green or magenta tinge. The TV handled the high-contrast scenes very well.

In short, this is a highly enjoyable TV at a very attractive price. The only flaw is reds that can an occasion look a bit too orange. Its extensive virtues - very good blacks and shadow detail, blur-free motion, lovely warm colour, and great detail - more than compensate.

Article Tags:  toshiba, Regza, ClearScan, lagoon, 240hz, LCD, HDTV, 42zv650u, ZV650