HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was very good. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was very good, with 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. Depth of black level was below average, with darker scenes in particular looking hazy, with little contrast. Image brightness was good (with the backlight control turned up), making it a suitable choice for most rooms. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. There was slight display non-uniformity that created brighter cloudy areas most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie). We routinely see this issue with LCDs and severity can vary from model to model. Film mode operation for HD film-based content was excellent, with no visible jaggies along the edges of objects during motion scenes. Deinterlacing was very good, with minimal jaggies visible when converting 1080i video content, such as from cable, to the display's native resolution.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Toshiba has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance is ineffective and lacked the enhancements in image quality expected from this capability.
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 blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. Bass was adequate, which added some fullness to the sound, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was a bit closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments but quality does degrade at the highest settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be a bit distracting on some audio content. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Toshiba provides a small, advanced remote with a built-in microphone and a reduced set of buttons that support on-screen menu navigation. The buttons are not backlit but the high contrast labeling is fairly readable in a dimly lit environment. It provides direct button access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and PlayStation Vue streaming services. Consider the TV's stand is 29 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides Internet functionality with a selection of applications via its "Fire OS" portal with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Go and HBO Now. Includes built-in Alexa, a virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming via the remote's built-in microphone.
CONNECTIONS. This model has three HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), 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, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. A detachable power cord. No printed manual is included.
