Toshiba Regza 26WLT66 review

Not everyone wants a huge screen in their living room and even those who do sometimes need a second set for a bedroom, study or maybe for a games console. For those requirements, 26-inch sets can be ideal.

The Toshiba Regza 26WLT66 is a compact but stylish 26-inch LCD screen with an integrated Freeview receiver and two HDMI inputs. With a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, it's ideal for watching 720p high-definition material. The set can also handle 1080i video, which is downscaled to display correctly.

The quality of hi-def material on this set is excellent, and certainly offers a significant improvement over standard definition. The integrated Freeview receiver is a disappointment, however. The picture isn't the sharpest we've seen, and there were some jagged lines visible. Upscaled DVD offers a slightly improved picture, but it was still a little grainy and soft. But although it won't set the world alight, it will suit those after a second set.

Design
The Regza 26WLT66 is a handsome machine. It's predominantly black, with a thin silver surround that should ensure it will sit well with most other AV equipment. At the bottom of the set, a grille conceals the speakers.

At the rear of the machine there's a decent range of connections for hooking up consoles, DVD players and other gear. There are two Scart sockets, one of which is RGB enabled, plus a generous two HDMI inputs. Further sockets include component and composite video in. You can also plug in a PC via the RGB D-Sub connection. At the side of the set, there's another composite video input and a headphone socket.

The remote control is a pretty funky affair, mirroring the TV in its black and silver colours

The remote is light and comfortable to hold, with buttons for moving through the channels and adjusting the volume conveniently located by your thumb. Buttons for the menu and electronic programme guide are also within easy reach, and the circular menu navigation control feels like it's in the right place.

Features
The number one selling point of this television has to be the number of connections. Two HDMI inputs allow you to hook up an HD DVD or Blu-ray player and Sky HD simultaneously. It's rare to see twin HDMI sockets on a 26-inch TV. We can't emphasise enough how useful it is not to have to scramble around the back of your TV each time you need to switch from one HDMI source to another. The addition of a component input means you could also have a Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360 too. It's likely you'll run out of money long before you run out of inputs.

There are two Scart sockets, one of which is RGB-enabled. Other inputs include component and composite video

The television includes a Freeview receiver and the option to subscribe to Top Up TV. There's also an analogue receiver if you live outside the Freeview coverage area, although picture quality was not as good as digital.