PICTURE QUALITY. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was very good, with image content, and flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Color temperature was slightly on the cool side, lending images a bluish tone. Contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—was good, so images had depth and dimension, typical of most models we test. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Black levels were generally good, though not as dark as better performers on the darkest scenes. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did an excellent job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Toshiba has a narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs for this attribute. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. When we viewed the TV from the sides image quality degraded significantly. The picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out, along with a moderate color shift. Black levels visibly brightened, reducing contrast especially on dark scenes. When viewing the image from above or below eye level to the screen, the vertical viewing angle was very good. The picture showed minimal change in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR. This Toshiba TV has only fair motion performance, with significant blurring on our motion tests. This is typical of LCD TVs with the basic 60Hz frame rate. This model does not include a blur reduction feature. The visibility of blurring on typical program content is often subtle and may not bother most people, but keen-eyed viewers may detect some loss of texture and detail on scenes with movement.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has good sound quality; about average among the models we've tested. When watching a movie blockbuster, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. With movies, dialog was generally clear and natural sounding and remained well balanced with respect to background music and other sounds. Bass was adequate, which added some fullness to the sound, and treble was nicely detailed, but the overall sound was on the bright side, and a bit thin and closed in. The speakers could play at a fairly loud volume level, but sound quality does degrade at the highest volume settings. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. Overall, it was fairly easy to setup and OK to do routine things. Out the box this TV is not "Smart." To access movie streaming and other advanced internet capability via Google Cast will require the use of a separate mobile device or tablet, not included with this TV. The TV does not include an on-screen guide to help you through a first time setup.
STAND ASSEMBLY. The TV's base does not come pre-attached, so some assembly is required. Mounting the support stand to the TV is straightforward, though the stand requires the assembly of one part before mounting.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides advanced Internet capabilities via its "Google Cast" portal with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services include: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, YouTube, HBO Go.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs—one supports MHL (Mobile High-definition Link), one composite input {and} no component input. It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port. WiFi wireless networking. Casting, to control the TV from a smartphone that has the suitable app installed. Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV. The cable connections on the rear panel are recessed with side or bottom-facing ports, so wires don't protrude beyond the display's depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check the quality of 4K streaming from Netflix or YouTube (if the service is supported by the TV), and how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
