Toshiba’s REGZA HL167 Full HD (1080p) LCD televisions have a gloss black cabinet with compact twin 20W bottom mounted speakers. Toshiba’s new “Soundstrip” speaker technology allows for a thin speaker design with enhanced dynamic range without losing any home theater sound quality. Toshiba have put an above average sound system into the REGZA range.

All the Toshiba REGZA LCD HD TV series have integrated ATSC/NTSC and QAM digital television tuners for broadcast TV and U.S. Cable TV. The viewing angle for REGZA LCD TVs is 176 degrees providing flexibility in seating layout. Response time is important for reducing motion blur and at 8ms REGZA models are behind the blistering 4ms or Sharp AQUOS LCDS but match the Sony BRAVIA.

Useful across-the-range features for the Toshiba REGZA are:

• Surflock enabling viewers to browse numerous channels and return to the start point with a single button press,
• Stablesound to maintain television present volume range regardless of the source signal and
• two-level mute (Half Mute/Full Mute).

CE-Link

Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) is an optional HDMI standard which allows up to ten AV devices to discover and communicate with one another over a HDMI connected system. Toshiba have implemented HDMI-CEC with their REGZA HL167 Full HD (1080p) LCD televisions. HDMI-CEC can be used to implement global commands with individual CEC enabled AV devices able to command and control each other without user intervention. For example, loading a DVD could trigger the DVD player to command the TV to switch on, select the DVD player HDMI cable as the video source and set the appropriate video and audio modes for playback.

Toshiba’s ColorBurst Technology for Wider LCD Color Gamut

Toshiba’s ColorBurst technology utilizes enhanced CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) back-light technology to expand the color range to 90% of the NTSC color gamut – as opposed to the common 70% reproduction. A wider color gamut means more true to life video images.

The only option for improving the color gamut beyond CCFL is to use LED backlighting. However, the higher cost of LED backlights has deterred most manufacturers from incorporating them.

Native Mode

Traditional television sets were suspect to a process called blooming where image size increased slightly when a brighter overall picture is displayed. This problem led to the loss of some 3-5% of the image. A nice bonus feature of for the REGZA televisions is Toshiba’s Native Mode which restores the size of the picture by the 3-5% that is generally lost. However, there is probably not a lot to see in the extra picture as directors make sure that no important action takes place in this additional picture area not all viewers may seeing.

Toshiba REGZA Digital Video Processing

High Definition TV picture quality is significantly influenced by video processor performance. High definition displays unfortunately magnify any image defects which may include noise and image artifacts caused by poor video processing. Image defects can actually be masked on lower resolution displays due to the lack of comparative detail. Image noise and artifacts can be introduced through the compression required to pack hundreds of channels within limited transmission bandwidth or during deinterlacing which is required to convert NTSC or PAL interlaced signals to progressive-scan for digital display.

Video processors de-interlace and scale video signals to fit native resolution however, they also have algorithms to improve image quality and remove any noise or artifacts. Toshiba’s PIXELPURE 3G 14-Bit Internal Digital Video Processing is performed by a 3rd Generation Toshiba 14 bit digital video processor running at 333MHz. The incoming video signal is continuously monitored for adjustment of multiple picture quality parameters including progressive scanning, dynamic gamma, dynamic back light control (for contrast) and improved noise reduction.

To put the 14 bit processing capability into perspective, it should be noted that all video sources are 8-bit per pixel. Extra bit capacity helps improve the precision of video processing. However, higher bit rates do not equate directly to improved video processing performance. So the best way to determine your personal level of satisfaction with the picture quality of a TV is to view it in different ambient light conditions while displaying a variety of light and dark video sources of varying resolutions.

Color Temperature Control

Three color temperature control settings are provided by Toshiba’s REGZA LCD TVs. A “warm” setting suited to lower ambient light situations produces a redder image to the NTSC standard 6500 Kelvin. The “Medium” and “Cool” settings provide a progressively bluer image for the best picture in higher ambient light conditions.

The association of degrees Kelvin to color is counter to the usual association with blue being the hotter color and red the cooler. It comes from the colors being related to the standard based on the heating of an ideal black body radiator – when heated it first becomes red then yellow then “white hot” and so on.

DynaLight Backlight Control for Dynamic Contrast Control and Deeper Black Levels

Dynamic Contrast Control is a technology used by LCD television manufacturers to improve contrast ratios. Toshiba’s version of dynamic contrast control, DynaLight Backlight Control, monitors each video frame adjusting backlight intensity to the optimum value for each image. DynaLight allows Toshiba to achieve a dynamic contrast ratio 5 times the original panel contrast. DynaLight also improves the black level which is one of the advantages plasmas have traditionally held over LCD displays.

REGZA Sound System

SRS WOW (including 3D, TRU-BASS and FOCUS)

REGZA LCDs have WOW patented sound technology by SRS Labs. WOW improves the dynamic audio performance of twin speakers by expanding the size of the audio image and improving the perception of low frequency sound (action flick’s deep rumbles).

TruBass

TruBass enhances bass performance, restoring the perception of low frequency tomes by using the harmonics present in the original audio source to recreate the low bass frequency information. It delivers the perception of deep, rich bass up to an octave lower than the physical low frequency limitations of small, medium or large speakers and headphones.

FOCUS

FOCUS lifts the dialog out of the sound mix and elevates the sound image, creating the perception of image height. Where speakers are located below the height at which viewers will be listening (such as with the REGZAs bottom mounted speakers) the sound field produced can be raised electronically.

3D

WOW provides a panoramic three-dimensional audio image that extends the sound field in both the horizontal and vertical planes.

MTS Stereo/SAP with dbx

An MTS (Multi-channel Television Sound – sometimes called BTSC) decoder enables the television to accept and decode a broadcast stereo signal. Dbx is a suite of noise reduction systems by a company of the same name. The REGZA MTS, unlike some systems doesn’t delete the dbx encoded stereo information which is used to increase the signal-to-noise ratio to assist in noise reduction.

Dolby Digital Dynamic Range Control

The Toshiba REGZA LCD comes with Dolby Digital Dynamic Range Control which allows one to limit the dynamic audio range compared to that originally recorded. It very usefully cuts out the peak volume that comes with special effects or heavy action sequences while still enabling one to hear the dialogue ie. it brings the loudest and softest sounds closer together. It’s an excellent solution for keeping children asleep and the neighbors friendly while still enjoying your viewing.

Further Reading

There is an entry level 720p HD REGZA series which is missing features such as ColorBurst for wider color gamut and CE-Link for CEC control The Cinema Series REGZA models incorporate ClearFrame, a 120 Hz refresh rate system for reducing blur and Deep Color. If your new television needs to fit into a tight space or you wish to maximize your viewing area for the space available, the RF REGZA models have even smaller dimensions with an impressively narrow surrounding bezel of less than 1 inch.

User Reviews and Price Comparisons

Toshiba REGZA 47HL167 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Toshiba REGZA 47HL167 47-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Toshiba REGZA 52HL167 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Toshiba REGZA 52HL167 52″ 1080p LCD HDTV 52HL167

Toshiba 42HL167 – 42 Diagonal REGZA LCD TV – 1080p – 8ms Response Time – Black
52HL167 52IN LCDTV 1080P TNR SPKR STND

TOSHIBA REGZA 42″ 1080p Full HD LCDTV w/ Cinespeed & ColorBurst – 42HL167
TOSHIBA REGZA 52″ 1080p Full HD LCDTV w/ Cinespeed & ColorBurst – 52HL167

Toshiba REGZA 42HL167, 47HL167 and 52HL167 1080p Full HD LCD TVs Features

• Display Resolution – 1080p (1920 x 1080)
• ColorBurst Wide Color Gamut LCD
• PixelPure™ 14 bit Digital Video Processing
• ATSC/NTSC/QAM Digital Tuner
• DynaLight™ Dynamic Back Light Control
• CineSpeed™
• Native Mode™
• TheaterWide® Modes – 6 (inc. Native Mode)
• Auto Aspect Detection
• Dynamic Contrast – (4-Mode)
• Static Gamma
• Color Temperature Control – Cool, Med, Warm
• Blue & Green Drive Adjustment
• DNR for all Inputs (except PC)
• 4:3 HD Mode
• Color Master
• Static Gamma
• DNR for all inputs (except PC)
• Picture Freeze
• Split Screen POP
• SoundStrip™ Speaker System
• SRS® WOW™
• Dolby® Digital (AC3)
• Dolby® Digital Dynamic Range Control
• StableSound®
• Total Wattage 20w
• Two-level Mute (Half Mute/Full Mute)
• 4-Item Universal Remote
• Channel Browser™ and Favorite Browser™
• Auto input Selection
• Game Mode
• Channel Labeling
• Input Labeling
• Auto Date/Time
• Sleep Timer
• Auto No Signal Off Feature
• Built-In Discrete IR Codes
• HDMI Inputs – x3
• HDMI Input Support – 1080p 60/24Hz
• CE-LINK (HDMI CEC Support
• CE-LINK (HDMI CEC Support
• HDMI Lip Sync Support
• HDMI Input PC Support VGA/480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p
• PC Input – 15 Pin D-Sub
• ColorStream® HD Component Inputs – x2
• THINC™mail (RJ-45)
• Side AV Input – x1
• Rear S+AV Inputs – x1
• RF Inputs – x1
• IR Input
• IR Pass Through
• Fixed Audio Out – x1
• Optical Audio Out – x1
• Service Port (SD Card Slot-Service Only) – x1

Technorati Tags: REGZA HL167, Full HD, 1080p, LCD televisions, Soundstrip, home theater, CEC, ColorBurst, enhanced CCFL, Digital Video Processing, Color Temperature Control, DynaLight Backlight Control, MTS, Multi-channel Television Sound, BTSC