We were impressed by the 47ZV635DB's picture quality. High-definition images were excellent. Our old favourite, Casino Royale, looked the part, despite the 47ZV635DB removing some of the grain in the opening black-and-white scene. Ideally, we'd like this grain left in, but, because modern TVs are designed to remove things like this, we're happy that the 47ZV635DB managed to strike a decent balance between removing all the grain and letting it overwhelm the picture.
The trailers for Tron: Legacy and Iron Man 2 in 1080p also looked beautiful. The 47-inch panel on the 47ZV635DB should certainly impress most home users. The sharpness of LCD pictures is one of the technology's strengths, and the 47ZV635DB makes the most of it.
Standard-definition material from Freeview was also decent. Certain picture modes, like 'vivid', should be avoided like the plague with standard-definition pictures, however. HD material can handle the overblown colour and extra brightness reasonably well, but we still think this mode is ludicrous. We watched some of Casino Royale in vivid mode, with the room's lights turned off, and we were nearly blinded by the TV's picture. Avoid it where possible.
Toshiba's Resolution+ upscaling feature makes an appearance too. We still aren't sold on this technology -- in our view, it simply adds extra edge enhancement to the picture, in a bid to make standard-definition images look like HD ones. This rarely improves the image quality, although it does give the impression that objects are sharper. We'd suggest leaving it off.
Sound performance
The 47ZV635DB's audio is rather average. Like many modern TVs, the speakers are small and point in the wrong direction, so they can't be expected to produce good sound. The TV did, however, at least manage to present clear dialogue, and the Dolby Volume feature is a roaring success as far as we're concerned.
Customise to your heart's content
The 47ZV635DB has a full range of controls to aid the user in their quest for the best-possible image quality. As soon as you plug the 47ZV635DB in, it asks you whether you're in a shop or at home. Telling it you're at home will make the TV ready for domestic viewing, with the backlight lowered and other settings moderated.
Aside from that, you can adjust everything manually, and the TV also comes shipped with every setting at quite conservative levels. This means that, even if you opt not to fiddle with the TV's settings, you'll still get decent picture quality.
Conclusion
The thoroughly competent Toshiba Regza 47ZV635DB is a basic TV in many ways. It doesn't have Internet functionality or video-streaming skills, for example. It is, however, large, and that's likely to appeal to many people. It's possible to get a larger screen for less money if you opt for a plasma model, but not everyone wishes to go down that route.
As an alternative, consider Samsung's bargain-basement, 40-inch, 1080p LE40B550 LCD TV, which offers many of the same features, albeit with a smaller screen, for around £540.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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