Toshiba Regza 32C3030D user reviews

Razenko 10 June 2008

Good: Good overall picture quality

Bad: Average Black Levels, Minor viewing angle issues, Cnets odd review of this TV.

Comment: Hello,

About half a year ago I purchased the Toshiba 32C3500, which is essentially the same television as the 32C3030D but without the tuner.
Overall the TV is quite a decent performer for its price, although the black levels and viewing angles aren't as good as high-end models.
This is because the TV uses an LG S-IPS panel, which has excellent color reproduction, fast response times, but average black levels and viewing angles.
Although I was quite surprised when Cnet gave this TV an 5.7.
When I looked further I saw Cnet gave the Panasonic 32LMD70 an 8.3, which is very strange since the Panasonic uses the exact same S-IPS panel as the Toshiba, and thus it would have the same viewing angle and black level issues, yet in this review neither problems are mentioned and the black level, according to the review, is pretty good, hmm...

Yet, many German reviews rate this Toshiba higher than the 32LMD70, and similar priced models.

I do have to admit that the Toshiba needs some tweaking and calibrating to have a pleasing picture.
The default settings are very bright, and the backlight is maxed out so you get a really bright picture with a horrible black level if you watch it under lower ambient lighting conditions, fortunately you can manually adjust this.

Overall this Toshiba is a pretty good TV, just as good or better than similar priced models.
Back when I purchased I doubted between this model and the Samsung 32R87, but the Samsung has some serious reliability issues, not to mention the notorious panel lottery, meaning you might get lucky and get a good model with an SPVA panel, or a bad one with a Chi Mei panel.