40in LCD Picture Sound Features Usability Value Stunning looks and very good all round performance make this a highly desirable piece of kit. HD Ready: yes Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Rating: 90%

Reviewed: 07 November 2007

Design

At just 23mm wide, with the 40XF355D Toshiba is laying claim to producing the slimmest LCD TV in the world. If you want the current last word in stylish one upmanship this is it. If you feel the need to be even more different, the 40XF356D comes with a crimson red livery.

Features

The Toshiba 40XF355D is certainly not relying on its stunning profile to make its way in the world, as the spec sheet confirms. The 40XF355D is generously equipped with 3 HDMI as well as the usual component, Composite and S-video inputs.

	Screen: 40in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Contrast Ratio: 10,000:1 Brightness: 500cd/m2 Other Features: Full HD (1920 x 1080), Active Vision LCD, . Sockets: 3 HDMI, 2 SCART, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input.

 

Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution can potentially give a marked improvement in the display of sources such as Sky Tv (1080i) where the 1080 lines of resolution match the resolution of the screen negating the need for any picture scaling to fit.

Complementing Full HD, the 40XF355D also includes an innovative "Exact Scan" mode that allows a 1080i (such as Sky SD) broadcasted signal to be processed by the TV in the original broadcasted format, with no scaling of the original image.

The 40XF355D sports Toshiba's proven 'Active Vision LCD' picture processing system which addresses four core elements of a TV image: detail, colour, movement and contrast.

The 'movement' part of this equation, 'Real Speed Progressive technology' is claimed by Toshiba to significantly reduce jagged edges on lines and detail during fast-moving scenes. Active Vision M100 100 Hz scanning system however, is not part of the Toshiba 40XF355D's spec.

Colour reproduction on the 40XF355D  has been enhanced with the introduction of 10 bit processing which increases the number of available on-screen colours which should result in more precise detailing. Additionally, colour processing is further refined by employing 'Dynamic Gamma Curve Correction' technology which has been designed to provide a smoother transition of the colour tones.

Being 24fps (frames per second) compatible, the 40XF355D has the ability to play movies (typically shot at 24 frames per second) at their correct speed. Without 24p support they are played on your TV at 25 fps (PAL TV standard).

Because of the slim line nature of the 40XF355D (standard speakers would not have been up to the job at under 23mm thick), Toshiba have endowed it with specially designed Onkyo speakers which should boost the acoustic qualities of this unit.

Performance

As we expected with its similar spec, the performance of the 40XF355D is in many ways like the Toshiba 42X3030D. To get the negative out of the way, colours were often over-saturated with Standard Definition (SD) sources, and although we tweaked settings to achieve good results for any particular source, we could not find a setting we were content with in all situations.

Plug in a High Definition (HD) source however, and it becomes immediately apparent where this TV excels. HD pictures are quite sumptuous, with a sharpness and clarity that places it firmly in the leading pack of LCD TV's in this respect. Fast action sporting or movie action shows just how capable a screen this is. There is almost a total lack of motion judder, with one of the most natural looking fast action displays we have seen. Colours were deep and vibrant with a naturalism that was impressive in all situations whether the scenes were dark or bright.

Of course, unless you are addicted to Sky's HD Discovery channel, you will be just as interested in how this panel handles Standard Definition (SD) sources. The story here however is not quite as positive. Sky's 1080i broadcasts are by far the best source of SD content, although there were traces of noise and smearing on all but the slowest of screen movements. The picture definitely benefits from the one-to-one mapping of Sky's 1080i output to the screens 1080 lines of resolution with a clarity that is rare on a screen of this size.

Again, Freeview terrestrial picture on a 40in screen just shows how unsuited a large LCD screen is for displaying content in 576 format. Detail and sharpness begin to suffer, not to an unacceptable degree, but noticeable all the same.

The audio capabilities of the Toshiba 42X3030D are another plus point. The Onkyo speakers produce a powerful acoustic performance which combined with SRS TruSurround XT while not quite producing a home cinema quality performance are up there with the best of the standard setups.

Conclusion

The slim line nature of the Toshiba 40XF355D makes the 40in screen appear much smaller than it actually is, and the impact is that much greater, especially with HD material. There are better SD performers out there, but for sheer visual impact the 40XF355D is hard to beat.