Toshiba 42ZV555D

Author's product rating:   

How is the Picture Quality?	Excellent
How is the Sound Quality?	Excellent
Ease of Installation	Very Easy
Range of Features	Above Average
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Upscales SD signals, 100Hz, game mode, 3 HDMI, 24 FPS, Good sound stage .
Disadvantages:	Can't think of any .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I was looking to buy a new large LCD TV for a few months and had heard of Toshiba's new range coming out in December but could not find one anywhere. No one seemed to stock them.

I looked at the Samsungs which produce amazing pictures and have good software, but the sound is terrible and thin. I also toyed with a Panasonic but the largest one is 37" as they still think Plasma is the way ahead for large screens. As it was a Toshiba television I was replacing (42XV3030 which was moved to the eldests room) and it was an excellent tv, I plumbed for waiting until I could find the ZV.

After a couple of months waiting it finally appeared on www.digitaldirect.co.uk. I had used them in the past and they were great. The ZV was supposed to retail at £1200 and I got one of them for 689!!!! + £50 delivery. It arrived 1 week after ordering it. Great.

Once out of the box it looked familiar as I have had loads of Tosh TV's as I really rate them. Nice thin gloss black frame and pedetal. Once turned on the Toshiba logo lights up white, which is nice, and you go straight into the setup which is a doddle. Just follow the instructions on the screen. Remember, with a lot of LCD tv's, you must have the aerial plugged into it as it will try to tune the freeview in first. Toshiba's are no different, so get your aerial into it. I know a lot of people now only have SKY piped into their front rooms!

Once setup it was time to see if Toshiba's claims that the ZV upscales SD signals to near HD. All I can say is that I liked what I saw. Obviously being a 42" tv you need to stand at least 3 to 4 metres back to get the best picture. Using the freeview I stuck the BBC news on as they transmit really high quality pictures. I was amazed. The picture was very vibrant and colourful. The news reader looked super imposed on the background, it was that sharp!!!! I must admit though that it was a bit too bright in the default high contrast mode so I had a bit of a play with the settings to get things just how I liked it. Black levels are also nice for such a large screen and reletively low contrast ratio of 17000:1. I know Samsung have 200,000:1 ratios but blacks are black on the Tosh.

Like all large LCD screens it has settled down and bedded in over the last month and looks better than ever. The other good thing with Toshiba TV's is the sound. This TV is no different. Not tinny like the Samsungs. As much base as you want and if you want some more you can wire it up to a subwoofer!!!

When I viewed DVD's through my Denon upscaler the pictures also looked amazing. Things like the incredibles look great. Bluray and HD films also look amazing. To get it even better I went and purchased the Toshiba XDE 500 DVD player, which I have reviewed and was also amazed with. Good quality DVD's look like HD with this combination!!!!!! No joking. The XDE 500 coupled with this tv produces near HD results on high bitrate production DVD's. The Toshiba tv has a function where you can turn up the level of upscaling (1 to 5). When the XDE 500 is attached it REGZA links and turns that function off while it does all the work producing amazing pictures. The tv does this with a co-sony produced quad core processor like the one used in the PS3. The XDE 500 has an engine which is probably along similar lines.

All fast motion is dealt with nicely as well. Whether it is on the sports field or fast action movies. Toshiba has the 24fps function built in where it doubles the frame rate and this tv is 100Hz anyway so it is doubly dealt with. The TV has 3 HDMI connects, composite, PC, 2 Scarts, side AV, and lots of other outputs like sound line out, subwoofer out, optical out etc etc.

Anyway thats it. Another great Toshiba TV with 17000:1 contrast, 100Hz and great sound. The picture is fantastic and coupled with the XDE 500 DVD player, it is all in all fantastic. You will be amazed initially with its picture (remember to stand back, it's large) and you will end up fiddling a bit with the settings, although it does alter contrast automatically with varying light conditions. After a month of owning and it has settled in, you will love it. Just remember that some transmissions and programmes are better than others. You will know which ones are old and crap, but the the good stuff is unreal!!

Hope this helps. Enjoy.