A review of the Toshiba REGZA 42Z3030 LCD HDTV
| Design |
| The Toshiba 42Z3030 is a slender, narrow framed model, creating a wonderful picture frame illusion. The frame is supported by a solid, silver boomerang stand which adds to the modern look of the screen. At the bottom there is a speaker section which runs along the width of the screen, this is very narrow and subtle but adds contrast to the black frame. The depth of the frame is 134mm, so when wall mounted it will stick out a fair bit, but it is still possible to use this option. |
| Features |
| The more features that are crammed in to a HD LCD TV the better and Toshiba seem to agree with this. Features on board the 42Z3030 LCD HDTV include, 10,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, 1080p compatibility, Active Vision M100HD Processing, 100Hz processing, 10-bit processing and a few other extras just to make your picture perfect, MPEG Noise Reduction and Dynamic Gamma Curve Correction. Toshiba has also included a 24fps refresh rate compatible with 5:5 pull-down which Toshiba explains ‘from a 24fps input the image processing replicates the frames in sets of 5 to eliminate ‘Film Judder’ artefacts’. Standard TV upscaling, Digital Noise Reduction, 3D Digital Comb Filter, 178 degree viewing angle and excellent connectivity with 3 HDMI’s complete the features list. Sound is taken care of by Toshiba’s SRS WOW and Onkyo speaker technology.
Toshiba 42Z3030 HDTV |
| Performance |
The first thing we would like to comment on is the sound performance from the Toshiba 42Z3030 LCD TV. The speaker system is narrow and surprisingly powerful as action scenes are brought to life with amazing sound effects. The sound is superb, however we wish we could say the same for the images received. The images are of a high standard, but do lack in certain areas such as black levels, as they are not as deep as we have seen and grey does seem to appear in certain scenes. Tweaking and manually adapting the image colour and contrast was required more so with the 42Z3030 than many other models we have tested, but was necessary to gain a decent picture. One plus point to this is that images were extremely sharp and detailed and contained virtually no motion judder.
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| Overall Opinion |
| The Toshiba REGZA 42Z3030 1080p HD LCD TV has a fantastic range of features that allow you to gain the perfect picture albeit with slight manual fiddling. Sharpness, Motion Judder and Digital Noise are displayed and reduced remarkably, whereas colour and black level could have done with more attention. For under £1000 with immaculate design and some great images, the Toshiba 42Z3030 will perform if you have time to allow it. |
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Pros + Excellent sound + Brilliant Sharpness and Noise Reduction + Fantastic features + 1080p + Stunning Narrow frame design |
Cons - Poor black levels - Colours need assistance |
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Picture Quality 8/10
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Sound Quality 8/10
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Connectivity 8/10
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Future Compatibility 8/10
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Ease Of Use 8/10
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Overall Rating 
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25/3/2008 at 3:03:23pm
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