Toshiba 19AV600U 19" HDTV LCD TV

Decided to put a 30 year old TV to rest so that I could use the digital box hooked up to it in one of my kids bedrooms.  Saw an ad for this set for $180 and figured it was a great deal.  I am Toshiba loyal after having good fortune with my other LCD set (32 inches) and a big screen (43 inches).

720p/1080i is the resolution for this LCD and the picture is crystal clear with an over the air (OTA) signal.  Hooking up a regular antennae I pulled in 40 stations with the set.  I only prefer to watch about a dozen of them, but was amazed to see how well this TV picks up a signal without an amplified antenae. 

Set up was easy.  I pulled the set out of the box, clicked the stand in place, locked it, and plugged it in.  The default setting is for cable, so after switching the intallation function to "Antenae" it found the channels I could get in less than 5 minutes. 

As with most LCD TV's, the pre-settings for the TV were either to rich in color, dark, or just to bright.  This TV comes with four settings for a picture.  Sports, Standard, and Movie.  The fourth is "Preference" and this is the one were you are allowed to set the picture as you like it.  I also found it amusing that the TV has a "Showroom" setting and a "Home" setting when you first fire it up.  I selected "Home", but am curious why there is a need for the other.

This set comes with many features that are supposed to enhance the picture, but I found them more annoying than helpful.  The first and most annoying is the "Dynalight" feature.  It is supposed to adjust the image on the screen for color, but I found it lagging when a picture went from bright to dark colorings and vise versa.  You would see the image on the screen change its colorings as if the sun just came out from behind a cloud and added more light to the picture.  It is a novel idea, but the lag time for the adjustment ruined the image on the screen.  A quick scene changing film or show really points this out.  I turned the function off and had no coloring issues with darks and lights after that.

The gaming function is supposed to allow for a quicker response between the controller and the TV.  I played an XBOX on the system with this feature on and off and saw no difference in game play.  I can only imagine that this feature would be helpful if you were online.  I did not see a difference offline playing Halo and other fast paced games.

Inputs on the TV are plenty.  Two basic inputs, two component video imputs, two HDMI inputs, and one PC.  There is only one input for a cable/antennae, so having cable/satellite and an OTA antenae is not possible unless you have a box that has an output that is one of the three inputs available.  There is one basic input on the side, and the rest of the inputs are in the back.  The one on the side is convenient for plugging in a digital camera or camcorder to see playback on the set.  I do like how Toshiba has set this up on the TV.

Once the preference function is used on this TV, the picture is brilliant.  I saw no image lag while watching football in HD and blacks are truly dark.  Reds are a little intense and some faces show a bit of red in their flesh tones.  Adjusting the color on the set helps, but it is a bit noticable.  I will play with the setting more to try and eliminate the issue, but it is not a big problem.  Bald people are usually the targets of this problem because of the reflections their scalps have.  The HD quality is top notch and rivals any set with the 720p imaging.

The set allows for you to modify the picture manually or automatically to allow for the different 4:3 or 16:9 picture images.  There is three settings for the stretching of the 4:3 images to fit the screen.  Settings 2 & 3 chop off the image on the top & bottom, while setting 1 skews the edges to fit the screen.  I tend to use this setting when watching a 4:3 show.  There are many 16:9 programs now and I find that I have to manually switch the image very little.  The problem I have with the settings here are if you have the image on setting 1 (as well as the other 2) if a 16:9 commercial or show comes on, the set chops the 16:9 image down to a 4:3 image.  Unless you are paying attention, you cannot tell when the set is doing this.  I'd love to see a setting where the TV recognizes a 4:3 image and stretches it while 16:9 images are left untouched.  I do not know if any TV can do this, but it would be nice if they could.

The remote is a little bothersome because of its rectangular shape.  I found the somewhat sharp edges annoying when held in my hand.  Rounded corners woul make the remote more user friendly and easier to handle.  The set allows you to select a browsing mode where you can set channels as your favorites and cruise through them instead of going through all the channels.  It also lets you look over recently viewed channels as well as manually punching them in.  The remote is sturdy and solid.  I feel it will last a long time with use.

Over all this TV does its job, but it needs a little TLC from the owner.  I expect many years of use from this product, but Toshiba would win over more people if they did a little more research on how a picture looks in a home.