---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52851 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Toshiba
• Model: 46XF355DB
• Released on: 2007-10-14

Manufacturer's Description

Toshiba is a word synonymous with quality and innovation, principles that have guided the company through more than 130 years since its creation.

The new XF series is the latest REGZA model to benefit from our attention to detail for both quality and innovation. It combines a 1080p Full HD Ready panel with stunning contemporary styling, designed to add a touch of luxury to any room setting.

The XF series is packed with image enhancing technology to get the best from modern High Definition broadcast or video content. The highlights are a 16:9 format, widescreen 1080p HD Ready panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080; our acclaimed Active Vision LCD picture processing technology; multiple HDMI™ connectivity with Deep Colour function and an integrated digital tuner to access Freeview.

The technology alone should be enough to convince you the XF series is worthy of a place in your home. But a look at its super narrow bezel, just 23mm wide and we are sure you will love it as much for its stunning styling as for the quality of the images it produces – less really is more.

As narrow as it may be, we have still managed to fit in a top quality speaker system from Onkyo®, driven with the latest audio technology from SRS WOW®.

High Definition is evolving
High Definition is now generally accepted as the future of broadcast television and video content, due to the colourful, highly detailed, lifelike images it produces.

In simple terms High Definition output carries far more picture information when compared to the current UK PAL standard of 576 lines. There are three current standards for HDTV:

720p: 720 lines progressively scanned
1080i: 1080 lines of interlaced images
1080p: 1080 lines progressively scanned

The first two formats are used for high definition broadcasts and the third is used for high definition video output. It is this last and most impressive format that is produced by our range of HD DVD players and the latest generation of HD games consoles.

Many HD Ready LCD televisions have screen resolutions of 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 pixels and produce good quality, high definition images utilizing over 1 million pixels. The XF series produces stunning high definition images using more than 2 million pixels, contained in a frame so thin, the images seem to float in space.

 

More screen, less space

We designed the XF series with a super narrow bezel so you can watch a much larger screen, without your TV taking up any more space than a conventional LCD TV with a smaller screen.Size comparison 40" XF series & 37" C series Size comparison 46" XF series & 42" X series.

Vibrant colours, sharp detail, realistic images
The dramatic increase in picture quality offered by High Definition broadcasts and videos has to be matched by advances innew display technology if you are to get the very best from the High Definition revolution. Toshiba is leading innovation to ensure the perfect integration of source and display technologies. Active Vision LCD is our acclaimed high performance picture processing system, designed to produce high quality, high definition images by enhancing core elements of a television picture:

Detail - Images are now spread over a larger number of smaller pixels compared
to a conventional LCD TV. This allows highly detailed images to be produced far more accurately across all colour tones.

Our Real Digital picture processing helps deliver great quality High Definition images by reducing the number of separate signal conversions that occur in LCD TVs. This means the signal arriving at the panel processing chip has retained more of the original picture information.

 

Colour - Active Vision LCD reproduces colours with more tones than conventional LCD televisions, producing images with reduced banding for a smoother, more realistic colour progression.

Movement - Active Vision LCD possesses Real Speed Progressive technology, which creates one single progressive frame from the two broadcast interlaced half frames. Picture sharpness in fast moving scenes is increased, with a reduction in the jagged edges often seen on lines and fine detail. The benefit of this technology will not be lost on you, whether you are a fan of fast paced sports or like your movies with plenty of action.

Contrast - The continuous monitoring and automatic adjustment of contrast, enhances detail and increases the ability of the XF series to represent subtle shade changes. The appearance of skin tones is particularly improved; a great benefit when it comes to that tense movie close-up.

 

MPEG Noise Reduction
Digital video data displayed on TV screens is compressed from the original data, allowing it to be transmitted more easily and more quickly. The most commonly used method is MPEG-2, utilised by satellite and cable streams and in the production of DVDs.

Unfortunately there are drawbacks, as it leads to a loss of image quality, characterized by a blurring of parts of the image - this is referred to as ‘mosquito noise’ or ‘blocking artefacts’.

Toshiba’s MPEG Noise Reduction relies on a complicated procedure to classify every pixel in the picture by its position and function before determining which filter to apply to deliver the very best screen image. This correction technique is only applied to problem areas, leaving most of the image untouched.

 

Exact Scan Mode
This is the term we use for 1:1 pixel mapping, an important feature for any serious fan of video and film, watching on a 1080p display.

Many HD Ready televisions will utilize highloss scaling of the incoming signal to scale the image to fit the display panel. Sometimes this scaling is used to remove TV text data hidden in the original signal, but the effect is the same, image quality is affected, scaling artefacts are introduced and the outer edges of the original images may be missed off.

This scaling process can introduce slight blurring of the original source image, but artificial sharpening performed by the processing chip appears to re-create theimage as it was originally transmitted. The problem however is the introduction of the scaling artefacts and any scaled image will never look as good as perfect 1:1 pixel mapping of the original signal.

Exact Scan Mode technology automatically recognizes the HDTV format and maps the picture progressively, pixel-for-pixel, for an exact reproduction of the original HD video signal.

 

 

Why HDMI?
By now, everybody is probably aware High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI™) is the new industry standard for the connection of modern audio visual equipment, but are unaware of the continuing advancements made to benefit consumers.

The fact a single cable allows the transmission of uncompressed digital audio and video content is the obvious benefit of HDMI™, but the speed at which information is transmitted through the cable has increased form 4.95 Gbps to an amazing 10.2 Gbps. This increase in the Gigabits per second transfer rate is important for higher resolution outputs, Deep Colour Function and higher refresh rates for smoother onscreen motion.

HDMI™ now offers support for the latest lossless compressed digital audio streams, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, delivering sensational cinema-like sound through external sound systems.

Audio content is processed more quickly than video, often causing synchronization problems. We all notice when audio is heard before the "lips" move. The XF series compensates for this, but when the audio is not controlled by the TV, but handled by a separate AV receiver, synchronization problems may occur.

The HDMI™ lip sync feature allows a device experiencing such problems to convey this information to other attached HDMI™ devices. Not only is this feature precise, but it can be designed to be done automatically and transparently without user interaction.

 

HDMI Deep Colour
This function is the latest addition to the growing list of capabilities of HDMI™ and allows HDTVs to produce billions of colours instead of the previous limit of a few million colours.

HDMI™ Deep Colour functionality increases the colours available within the boundaries of the RGB colour space, which is almost all the colour variations recognised by the human eye. This increase is important for the removal of colour banding in on-screen images and the smooth transition between tones. Subtle gradations in colour are now possible with an increased contrast ratio.

Because HDMI™ now supports 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit pixel depth, it can represent many more shades of grey between black and white, typically able to depict 8 times more shades than previous transmission methods would allow.

 

Full 10-bit processing

This term refers to the ability of the LCD display to represent colours, in all their glory, subtle differences and enormous number. The human brain is able to recognize and distinguish difference in tens of millions of colours.

Conventional LCD TVs utilize 8-bit processing, assigning 8 bits of information for each of the 3 colour channels – red, green and blue. This is referred to as a 24-bit pixel depth and gives a colour palette of approximately 16.7 million colours, close to the total colour range visible to the brain.

Conventional LCD TVs utilize 8-bit processing, assigning 8 bits of information for each of the 3 colour channels – red, green and blue. This is referred to as a 24-bit pixel depth and gives a colour palette of approximately 16.7 million colours, close to the total colour range visible to the brain.

LCD televisions using only 8-bit processing will have to ‘dither’ colours it does have, to create a near approximation of the colours it does not have within its palette. This can lead to banding of colours on images when there is very subtle difference in colour tones.

Processing at 10 bits per channel gives a pixel depth of 30 bits and offers 1024 variations of the three primary colours. This produces a palette with more than a billion colours available to it.

Full 10-bit processing is used in all stages of image manipulation by the XF series to create every possible colour we could recognize without the need for dithering. This guarantees high definition images will appear more vibrant, more realistic and possess smooth colour transition without banding.

 

Wide Colour Gamut
When we consider the range of colours visible to the human eye, we talk in terms of colour space. The extent of the human colour space is represented by the arch shape in the diagram. The various triangles represent the best colour reproduction technology has developed so far.

The demands of high definition images require a much broader spectrum of colours to represent the stunning pictures more accurately. The XF series represents colours more precisely than any previous Toshiba model.

Careful manipulation of the backlight technology creates this much broader range of colours. It allows the XF series to display close to 98% of the RGB standard colour gamut, an increase of 14% on conventional LCD televisions.

A wide colour gamut increases the number of shades of any given colour, offering the viewer sharper, more vibrant images with a true-to-life quality. In simple terms you get ‘redder’ reds and ‘greener’ greens; and more of them.

 

Dynamic Gamma Curve Correction
The Gamma curve refers to the mid-tone contrast in an image and the values will affect the balance ofthese tones, without any affect on pure white or black.

Correction of the Gamma curve changes the brightness, contrast, colour balance or a combination of all three to keep the important mid-tones consistent. An image saturated with colour can become washed out if the shadows and mid-tones are not maintained. Similarly a dark image with little colour will lose all detail when highlights are reduced by lack of colour.

This is all bad news for high definition video content, which contains a vast amount of picture information; all of which is necessary to produce the image quality we are all excited about.

The good news is the XF series utilizes Dynamic Gamma Curve Correction technology, the cutting edge of image production in LCD televisions. The image processing chip in the XF series constantly checks the value of the mid-tones, highlights and shadows, comparing them for colour saturation and the brightness and contrast of the image.

Adjustments are made to the LCD display and the backlight to maintain the mid-tone outputs at the level of the original signal.

 

 

Enhanced Detail
Good picture detail depends on the right balance between brightness and contrast. Common to all REGZA models, the XF series features our Dynamic Contrast technology, which automatically adjusts the LCD backlight depending on the level of brightness required by the original signal.

The system works in conjunction with the other image enhancing features to retain detail and realistic colours. It decreases the backlight brightness in dark scenes, to render more appealing blacks and increases brightness in high-bright scenes for more vivid, colourful images.

Dynamic contrast ratios for both XF series models are a truly staggering 10,000:1. Combine these ratios with equally impressive brightness figures of 500 cd/m2 and the resulting screen images are well detailed, vibrant and colourful in any room lighting conditions.

 

 

 

Precise Colour Control
Although the XF series is packed with image enhancing technology to limit the effort you need to put into getting the very best images from your TV, Toshiba understands that everyone has personal tastes, particularly when it comes to image colour.

The Base Colour Adjustment feature allows you to fine tune your colour preferences; altering the brightness, hue and saturation levels of six colours until you achieve the desired look.

Standard TV Up-scaling
Standard definition images get a makeover with active internal scaling performed by all XF series models. It will output standard definition at near high definition quality with pixel estimation increasing the picture information up to 6x. The same is true for DVD, up-scaled to near HD DVD quality, but without the interactivity of course.

REGZA link
The term REGZA link refers to another HDMI™ enabled feature – Consumer Electronics Control (CEC).

When a number of CEC enabled devices are linked together via HDMI™, they are able to be controlled with a single remote control. Instructions from the remote control are fed up and down the chain, with each piece of equipment understanding its instructions and acting upon it.

This system allows one item to command and control other pieces in the same system. It is possible for the drawer in one of our HD DVD players to close with a disk in it and the player then to command the XF series TV to power up, select the correct HDMI™ port (of the 3 available), select the appropriate video mode (HD DVD or up-scaled DVD) and the correct audio mode – all without you inputting any commands via your single remote control.

PC Window Media
This is perfect feature for all you multitaskers, with the PC-input split screen, allowing you to keep working or stay on the internet, while keeping up to date with the news, sports or even the soaps.

Teletext Media Window
A 50/50 split screen means you can carry on watching TV whilst browsing through teletext, looking for the perfect holiday.

Powerful Audio Performance
There are many reasons for a TVs poor audio performance, including digital audio compression, small speaker drivers and poor speaker positioning to name a few.

All these factors and more were considered when designing the XF series, which delivers an audio performance as impressive as the image quality, thanks in part to WOW audio technology from SRS Labs.

WOW is a combination of class-leading technologies which improve the dynamic performance of compressed digital audio content. The size of the stereo image is expanded and elevated, to take on huge proportions compared to the physical size of the actual speakers doing the work. Usefully the position of the virtual sound filed is lifted to the optimal speaker position, which is obviously ear level.

Bass performance is improved by restoring the perception of low frequency effects by re-creating them with harmonic levels the internal speakers can produce more easily.

The sound stage is altered to remove spatial clues the brain relies on to inform it as to the direction a sound is coming from. This has the effect of fooling the brain into believing sounds are all around it, not just in front.

The overall effect is one of a truly powerful audio performance that appears to be taking place in the room with you.

Stable Sound
A useful feature that keeps the music and words of adverts at a similar level as the programme they are interrupting. This effect is ignored by most HDTVs, expecting you to adjust the volume manually, well thanks to Toshiba you don’t have to.

Box Contents

LCD TV with pedestal stand

Remote control

2x batteries for remote control

Full User manual

Quick start guide

Customer survey

---

Customer Reviews

Happy with my Toshiba - but delivery was 'stressfull'
I found it quite hard to find reviews for this TV so now I've bought one here's mine.

I spent a good few hours on Tottenham Court Road looking at 46" LCDs.
I was pretty certain I was going to get the Sharp XL2 as I had been impressed by the XL1 but heard about all the problems people were having with that one - I'd assume they'd have it sorted for the XL2.

There were 2 Toshibas (46XF355DB and the 47Z3030D) and the Sharp.
The XL2 was playing the Sharp High-Def-Demo which did look very nice (but of course it would) and the Toshibas were playing Freeview.

I got the guy to switch the Sharp to the same Freeview channel and immediately noticed it looked washed out. Turned the backlight down as it was maxed out and tinkered with various other settings but the washed out look remained. No sale!

Between the Toshibas you really had to look hard to see differences in the picture. Blacks were a bit blacker on the 'Z' but shadow detail was gone. I'm aware that the 'Z' has a few extra features including 100Hz and the "5:5 pull down" but I'm not convinced these technologies will add much. I decided the aesthetics and reduced 'footprint' (as it's the same overall size as most 42" screens) of the XF trumped the extra features on 'Z'. I walked to another store and got them to play an HDDVD on the 40XF355DB. King Kong looked fine but it's not an ideal film to check the picture as it's mostly CGI to start with. Good enough though.

I've had it for a good few days now and have been very impressed. Standard Def image is brilliant. I've upgraded from a 28" Sony tube so expected to see a pixels everywhere as I only sit about 8 feet from the screen. No problems there. I spent a good part of the weekend watching DVDs with my Denon1940 upscaling to 1080p. Frankly I don't see any immediate need to get a HiDef source - it's a stonking picture.

I have noticed the auto backlight control working a couple of times but I have not bothered to turn it off - it seems to be doing a good job and I've only noticed it only a couple of times in 15-20hrs of viewing. Apparently the new Sonys have this problem but you don't have the option to turn it off.

Pros:
Very slick design - the best I've seen on any TV. It even has a cool blue LED under the screen - that can be turned off.
Picture - Just stick it in 'Movie' mode and tweak if required for Freeview.
Remote Control looks/feels very nice.
I've plugged it up to my PC and it has a nice split screen feature so you can watch telly while working/surfing.
The speakers seem fine although if I want to hear something properly I put it through my hi-fi.

Cons:
While watching Dragon's Den last night there was a ghost effect when they panned across the dragon's faces - white faces/ black background/ pan shot - I doubt many LCDs would past that test and that was the first and only time I noticed it.
There's a delay when switching channels on Freeview.
The digital sound output socket (optical) only works when watching Freeview - I'd hoped to use that for HDMI sourced stuff too but maybe that's typical.

Other Screens I looked at:
Sony W3000 - HiDef Sport looked brilliant but the frame is too chunky
JVC LCD - Great picture and price - I hadn't heard enough about these but worth considering. I guess they don't hand them out to the review sites.
Samsung F86 and M87 - Like watching a video game all the time. Colours hideously lurid. Maybe it's possible to tune the picture but having had my eye on the various Samsung incarnations for the last 2 years I've never seen one that looks right.

Conclusion: That'll do nicely for 4-7 years. Backlight permitting :o)


PS: Regarding Amazon 'White Glove' delivery....
Nothing of the sort. The fact that my LCD was undamaged was pure luck given the treatment the delivery guy gave it on the way up the stairs. I had to ask him to unpack the item as per 'White Glove' T&Cs. He then refused to place the TV on the stand that I had cleared so I had to drag a power cord over to the middle of the floor to check it actually worked given the 'sack of spuds' treatment it had received coming up the stairs. Also 'arrange a convenient delivery time'. Errr..... No.
Your item WILL be delivered on Friday between 8 and 12. I requested a Saturday delivery but was given such a run-around of BS I feared my purchase might rot in a delivery depot -like at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark"! I decided to go home for it on the Friday when the delivery guy phoned to say he would be there in 30-40 mins - they arrived 75mins later. Fairly typical of deliveries I conceed but 'White Glove'? Pull the other one. They've just dropped the price £80 - but don't pay an Amazon premium on the basis of it being a quality online with a sound reputation etc. etc. Not if you have stairs anyway.

Brilliant TV - Needs some fiddling with
I have just got myself one of these from another supplier. I love it, however there are a few minor point of annoyance, such as if you mount it onto a stand or wall brackets, the brackets can get in the way of using the scart sockets and the composite video outputs. This is a headache as not everyone will use the stand supplied. The HDMI slots however are easy to get to, so perhaps more emphasis has been given to digital inputs rather than analogue.

The other problem I have is that the out of the box settings on the set do not do justice to an analogue signal. Although I have a media centre PC with hdmi out and blu ray, my old sky+ box now has to be plugged in via compostie due to current lack of a thin scart lead. This has meant that the "out of the box" settings are not quite right.

However, having looked on a search emgine, I found forums that give a variety of setting types to allow for differing tastes and now the picture is great with analogue inputs.

The clarity of HD is fantastic also and the TV looks great with almost no real frame around the screen. This piece of Kit was well worth the money and has recieved a lot of great online reviews.

I would recommend this set but would suggest you arm yourself with some web info on picture and colour settings to help get the best out of this set.

Stunning TV
I read Minstrel's review and it swayed me from buying the much more expensive Z series model. I was not disappointed in any way with my choice when it arrived.
The picture and connectivity are what I expected. I may have been lucky. I lifted the TV out of the box with the base already factory fitted, plugged in the aerial and connected it to the power.It immediately tuned in all of the digital channels.I then tuned in the analogue ones and the only adjustment needed was the order of the analogue channels. This is the easiest TV I have ever set up and the picture quality is superb.
The TV has loops at the back of the stand and it is recommended that these are used to secure it to a wall,although I could not see it being moved very easily without it attached. There is no wall tie supplied.
It it also Vesa mountable.
The only items you get with the TV are a cleaning cloth,remote control,batteries and a clip to attach a cord to.
As I went to submit this review I noticed that there had been a considerable price increase and the difference between it and the Z series has closed considerably. I thought that it was great value for money when I bought it,now the Z series looks a better option for anybody wanting to spend that amount.
To me the appearance of the TV is stunning and at present I do not know any other manufacturer who makes anything like it.