HDTV-Reviews.co.uk

Friday, 02 June, 2006

Toshiba 37WL66 37in LCD TV

Manufacturer	Toshiba	Image quality	80%
Model	37WL66	Sound quality	68%
Approximate price	£1,250	Design	72%
		Overall rating	78%

Check the current price of the Toshiba 37WL66 now.

The HD-ready 37WL66 lacks a digital tuner and it is not blessed with the best sound. However, if you are after a 37in high definition TV with exceptional picture quality that doesn’t break the bank, this is an LCD TV worth checking out.

Image quality

As expected with a HD-ready TV, the 37WL66 comes with a HD-friendly native resolution of 1,366 x 768. To help make those pixels look stunning, the Toshiba comes with a quoted brightness ratio of 500cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 1000:1.

This TV comes with Toshiba’s remarkable Active Vision LCD picture processing system. This works across a range of picture elements to improve things such as motion, picture detail, contrast and colours, and it quite simply does a superb job on this LCD TV.

The resolution of this set makes pictures look truly sharp, but the Active Vision LCD does such amazing work, with hardly any detrimental processing side effects.

The levels of black are stunning as well; dark scenes don’t suffer from greyness that low-contrast TVs get.

Colours are delivered with real richness, providing an almost cinematic shine.  Occasionally, the colours can be over-enriched leading to tonal issues.  This is nothing of a serious nature, but certainly worth highlighting.

A 3D Colour Management utility can be found in the on-screen menu that is useful when using the TV as a monitor.  The cinema mode makes movies look sharper, with three sound effects added: SRS 3D processing for wider and deeper sound; focus adjustment for clearer dialogue; and a TruBass low frequency enhancer.

Sound quality

Unfortunately, such great pictures deserve the backing of awe-inspiring sound. The Toshiba is let down in the sound department when it comes to recreating that cinema experience. Your daily programmes sound fine on this set, but movie sounds have a lack of bass coupled with an overloaded, thin mid-range.

Design

On first looks, the 37WL66 doesn’t wow you with stunning looks. By today’s high standards, it looks quite plain, appearing lightweight and flimsy - with a tired colour scheme. The only aesthetically desirable aspect is the exceptionally slim frame around the TV.

To make up for first impressions, the connectivity is far easier on the eye, thanks to the two High-definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) sockets.

As the 37WL66 is HD-ready with the HDMI jacks joined by a component video input for analogue HD sources (such as the XBox 360). Also, there is a PC socket, allowing the TV to be used as a computer monitor. To finish things off, there are a couple of SCART sockets.

Aside from the HD-ready features, the 37WL66 comes without a digital tuner. However, this helps keep costs down by around £300, and Toshiba do sell a version with the digital tuner built in; the 37WLT66.  So, if you have a Sky of Freeview receiver, the 37WL66 is a brilliant money-saver.

Summary

The HD-ready 37WL66 lacks a digital tuner and it is not blessed with the best sound. However, if you are after a 37in high definition TV with exceptional picture quality that doesn’t break the bank, this is an LCD TV worth checking out.

Buy the Toshiba 37WL66 now.

Features

Features table

Manufacturer	Toshiba
Model	37WL66
Approximate Price	£1,250
Screen technology	LCD
Screen size	37in
Screen resolution	1,366 x 768
HD-ready	Yes
Digital tuner	No
Contrast ratio	1000:1
Brightness	500cd/m2
PC capable	Yes
Inputs	2 x HDMIs, 1 x component video input, 1 x composite video input, 2 x SCARTS (1 RGB), 1 x D-Sub PC input, 1 x RF input, 1 x stereo audio input, 1 x stereo audio output, 1 x compostie video output, 1 x headphone jack
Audio output power	2 x 10W
Dimensions (W x H x D) (stand not included)	916mm x 636mm x 122mm
Weight	21.1kg
Supplier	Amazon