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Toshiba Regza XV545 Cinema Series

23K views 49 replies 26 participants last post by  57 
#1 ·
Toshiba is relaunching its Cinema Series LCD TVs with the REGZA XV545 series.
USA Pricing and Availability

42XV545U ($1799.99 September)
46XV545U ($2299.99 September)
52XV545U ($2799.99 September)

No word on Canada
 
#35 ·
I just picked up the 52" V545 last week and VERY pleased so far. It had everything I was looking for including the smart zoom function and the matte screen is fantastic. I have two large windows in my living room so I cannot control the room lighting and this one is almost as good (for glare) as my two year old 46" Samsung which this replaces. A LOT of the new LCD's have glossy screens now that are just impossible for me to live with in my environment.

I know that Toshiba sales have been lagging behind Samsung, Sony and Sharp in LCD for the last few years so if this is part of their new generation to regain some lost ground then mission accomplished. Wow. I'm still stunned at how much better the image quality is compared to my 2 year old Samsung and I was pretty happy with that one! Black levels are first rate and the range and control of all adjustments is excellent with lots of automatic controls as well if you don't want to fuss.

James

P.S. Picked mine up at Sears as they matched pricing with FS and give you 30 days to try it out. Their two year zero interest payment plan didn't hurt either! :)

P.S.S. www.tweaktv.com has setting recommendations on their website for this model as well if you want to give it a try. http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/calibration-guide/toshiba-52xv545u-2.html I haven't had the time yet but maybe this weekend.
 
#36 ·
I bought this TV last week from Best Buy and it's simply the best TV I have ever owned.

After dialing back the settings and making a few simple adjustments, the picture is awesome. Deep, full colors and crystal clear. The SRT mode does make a difference as far as I can see on lower channels and it's adjustable to your taste.

I highly recommend this model.
 
#39 ·
You can buy a DVI to HDMI adaptor for less than $10, and really have a digital picture. This is the way I plug my computer into my TV. Works perfect.

It's amazing when you get near a 52" TV and look at a computer picture (like this message I'm typing in front of my TV) with absolutely no blur, each pixel perfectly aligned. Of course, in normal use, you may want to move a little futher than one foot from the TV... It leaves room for the knees when you sit. :D
 
#40 ·
Video Only loves this unit

I was in Video Only the other day (may be West-coast US only chain, not sure). Their sales reps are pimpin' the XV545U like no tomorrow. The rep acknolwedged that they got a good price from Toshiba (or the distributor, however their channel works) so clear they are have better margins on this unit. Still, the hard sell on this was akin to a used car sale.

That said, the image certainly supported his opinion. The unit sat sandwiched between a Sony 52XBR-6 and a Samsung LN52A650. Although they were only running a video loop from one of the manufacturers so comparison test was contained/limited, the Toshiba picture was noticably superior -- more accurate and vivid colors, comparable blacks, brighter picture. So much so that I thought they may have tinkered with the settings on the Sony and Samsung in order to make the Toshiba look better. But perhaps my natural suspicion of hard-sell sales folks is getting the best of me.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether Video Only's bias for towards this unit is truly based on performance vs. margins?
 
#41 ·
Having Buyers Remorse

I will admit, I'm new to HDTV. Im an AVID gamer, who wanted a great TV to play my XBOX360 and PS3. I also use it to watch football and Heroes, mainly. I bought the 52" TV because of its HUGE screen obviously, and 4 HDMI inputs so I can connect my games and HDDVR no problem.

Here is my issue with this TV, if it is a simple problem please forgive my ignorance. When veiwing TV the SD channels are displayed in 4:3 format. Yes there is a button on the remote to zoom in to 16:9 but its fake 16:9. The screen image is cut off around the edges. The image just literally zooms in, it doesnt format to fit the screen.

I have friends with HDTVs and all thier channels are displayed in 16:9 with no zooming necessary. After dropping over $2000 for this TV im feeling a little depressed that some (actually most) channels are only 4:3. Is there anything I can do?

Also PIP would have been nice.
 
#43 · (Edited by Moderator)
I will admit, I'm new to HDTV.... When veiwing TV the SD channels are displayed in 4:3 format. Yes there is a button on the remote to zoom in to 16:9 but its fake 16:9. The screen image is cut off around the edges. The image just literally zooms in, it doesnt format to fit the screen.
You should be using the TheaterWide 1 picture size if you don't want to see the side bars on a 4:3 input source. It will strecth but won't zoom-in the picture - just like every other HDTV.
Though personally, I leave it on Natural mode.
 
#42 ·
1. For 4:3 images, you can learn to watch them as 4:3. After all, that's what you did on your 4:3 TV. This provides the best picture quality and no distortion and since it's an LCD, there's no burn in concern.

2. If you want to stretch 4:3, you can do so without zooming, rather stretching the image horizontally. Check out the following threads.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=96891

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76074 Stretch modes


And the following post, useful for those new to the forum, please read it and the appropriate links.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
#46 ·
bought one of these when they came out Oct 2007 -- that is, the "fat bezel" model 120 Hz Clear Frame yada yada. It's fabulous (and much cheaper this year). Go for it. I don't know what the issue is with "no support for LCD market".
He is reaching on the " no support " comment, 100% not true..They are very big on their LCD's..Heard this from alot of vendors.
 
#48 ·
Theaterwide 1 is a "smart" stretch mode for 4:3 to 16:9. What it tries to do is leave the image area in the center of the screen at a normal 4:3 aspect ratio and then stretch more of the side areas away from the center. That way the image area in the center of the screen doesn't make everyone look short and fat like a regular stretch mode does (but anything on each side of the whole image does get stretched out of shape). For the most part it works really well and was one of the reasons I bought the Toshiba. You tend to not notice the stretching at the sides as much when the center area is still at a correct aspect ratio so it's a really nice touch if you tend to zoom a lot with 4:3 material.

I had this smart stretch mode available through my Microsoft Media Centre when I was still using the old analog tuners in the home theatre PC. They called it an Anamorphic Zoom mode and I seriously missed that mode when we went digital and had to dump the PC for watching TV. My Samsung 46" that we bought a couple of years ago didn't have a smart stretch mode so everyone on screen looked short and fat when we zoomed.

One thing to watch for though is occasionally you'll see a 4:3 broadcast where they are showing what looks like a 16:9 broadcast but in a 4:3 space on your set. If your TV was set for Native mode so that you have black bars on each side of a 4:3 broadcast, then you would also have black bars on top and bottom of the image in the 4:3 area when they broadcast like this. It's like a "mini movie" on the screen with black areas completely around the video image. In that case, Theaterwide 2 works better as the image is already in a miniature 16:9 format and mode 2 will simply stretch it out to the edges of the screen with no distortion. Cheers!

James
 
#49 · (Edited by Moderator)
Great TV, but help needed with Optical Output Format!

I just picked up a 52XV545U last night for a song on a sale that started today. So far it looks great (deep blacks and good detail on SD programming), but I'm run into a quandry that has kept me up all night. Perhaps one of you Regzanites might have a solution:

I've read the pertinant parts of the manual inside out and backwards, and no matter what I try I cannot get "Optical Output Format" in the Audio Setup menu to become "un-greyed out". I know that the TV can output audio through the digital optical output in either PCM or Dolby Digital formats, but I can't seem to change the setting to Dolby Digital. My receiver (a Technics SA-DA 10 - an oldy but a goody) requires the Dolby Digital feed to produce 5.1 surround sound, but the default PCM feed only allows for 2 channel listening.

In case it makes a difference, my setup has HDMI cables from the Shaw HD PVR, a DVD player and an Xbox into the back of the TV and a digital optical cable from the TV to the receiver.

Please help! This is more important than sleep right now.
 
#50 ·
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