Reviewsta.info

Overall Rating

Color depth and sound a little off
UPDATE: After only two months this TV has developed a dead pixel. The Toshiba customer service rep told me that “only” one dead pixel is not enough for warranty service, and that less that 5 or 6 dead pixels should not be noticeable at a normal viewing distance. Are you kidding me???!!!! Completely unacceptable. I am very disappointed in the Toshiba brand.

Picture: After setting up this TV the first source I viewed was over-the-air network HD programming - specifically CBS. I noticed instantly that the color detail is not super. Skin tones look a little like “water color,” almost cartoon-like in certain situations. Reds are a little over-done as well, they seem to leap off the screen. The colors are very vibrant, but images just look a bit less realistic than on my Samsung. It isn’t as noticeable in SD sources, such as DVDs, and the best quality HD programming seems to look better too. Otherwise pictures are super sharp and clear. I am very interested to see how HD cable channels look once I get my HD receiver.

Black levels are good as long as you keep the brightness level down - I keep mine set at 54, with backlight at 86, and the picture is still very bright with nice blacks.

I find the DynaLight feature to be useless. Essentially it turns the backlight down on darker scenes to make the blacks deeper, but the result is a noticeably dimmer picture. I have never been a fan of dynamic backlighting on any TV, and the Toshiba is very slow to adjust, making it quite annoying. I shut mine off, no big deal.

Sound: Sound is not great, but not terrible. I use a stereo receiver so that isn’t a problem. The variable audio output allows you to control the volume through your TV even when a receiver is connected.

I have never noticed the buzzing sound that others mention.

Stand: The stand is more than adequate for most situations. My parents have a 26″ Toshiba and it uses the same size stand, so it may be a bit small. However, it would take quite a bit of force to tip the TV over. I’m not worried.

Other features: The theater-wide settings are useful for many situations, especially expanding SD sources without distorting the center of the picture. As noted above the DynaLight feature is really useless, but this goes for any brand with dynamic backlight. Just turn it off.

The best advice is to look at this TV in person with an HD source connected. For the price it is a great deal on a name-brand device. In many ways it out-performs the cheaper brands. In a few categories, however, it falls behind.

Overall Rating

Great deal
Pros:
very inexpensive, deep blacks, good inputs, bright, vibrant picture, sharp, no discernable ghosting, thin chassis

Cons:
not 1080p resolution, not 120hz refresh, no LED backlighting, cheap stand

For the same price as some of the better 32″ LCD TV’s, you can now get a 37″ LCD TV from a well-known manufacturer- the Toshiba 37AV502R. I was a bit nervous purchasing this TV, since the price really undercut the name brand competition. Because I trust Toshiba, I decided to take my chances. In short, I am happy that I did. You forgo some of the more advanced features, such as 1080P resolution, 120hz refresh, LED-backlighting and a third HDMI input. But what you get is a good basic 37″ LCD TV with good picture quality in a compact design. Considering its price, I think it’s an excellent deal.