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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76439 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Toshiba
• Model: 40XF355DB
• Released on: 2007-09-17

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 roomsetting.

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

Toshiba 40XF355DB

Pedestal stand not attached to TV

Remote control

Batteries

Instruction manual

Quick set up guide

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Customer Reviews

Its a great TV
I am really happy with this TV. The picture is wonderful and most of the menus are well thoughtout.

The thin Pictureframe allows you to have a much bigger screen for the same overall dimensions that a much smaller screen takes up. In addition when used in a darkened room the picture just appears to be floating in the air!

I would recommend that all users spend some time fine tuning the various picture levels to suit their own preferences.

beautiful / baffling
In the stampede to replace that old clunky TV box with a shiny new flatscreen, you're faced with not only a myriad of choices but a minefield of decisions over screen size for room size , HD type, plasma v LCD, connections and not least the other kit you'll feel bound to upgrade to match it all.

The Toshiba is a fantastic set both in picture quality and design. If you're looking for a new flatscreen TV at a great price and you're not one to trawl the press and internet reviews that'll inevitably keep changing and confusing your mind anyway, then go buy this now.

Delivery from Amazon is excellent and all you have to do is connect the pedestal stand which is easy and quick. And don't be put off by backlight bleed mentioned in some reviews, you won't see it.

As for screen size it does maximise its space with the picture frame surround, so if you're worried that a 40" is too big for your room it fills a standard 37" set size and is perfect for a viewing distance of 2.5 - 3.5m.

HDMI cables are a good investment - there's nothing in the box to connect it properly to your Sky or Virgin box - and the QED Qunex HDMI cable is much better than the high street stores cheap ranges. Hi def broadcasts are crystal and what this TV was made for but standard TV still looks great even if football or fast moving sports are slightly disappointing showing some blur.

Connected to a standard DVD player with a scart cable will still produce a great picture (and much better than standard TV broadcasts) but a HD DVD player (with that extra HDMI cable) will up the ante much further. The TV's integrated speakers are very good for day to day viewing but connected to a hifi or surround system will add to your viewing experience. It's easy to see how once you've invested in this TV you can be hooked into much more extra add ons but even if you don't or can't it still works just fine.

The baffling gripe is setting it up.

All manufacturers distribute TVs for showroom / shop settings so colour, contrast, brightness and the multitude of picture options are a million miles away from how this TV should look in your home. This Toshiba will arrive not ready for you to fully enjoy. And there appears to be no answer to the ideal settings unless you know what you're doing or buy a set up DVD. Sure it depends on your viewing environment and what you connect it to and you could search the various online forums to see the + 52 Colour, - 7 tint and options inbetween.

Toshiba really need to pay some attention to a basic consumer need and include some basic settings. Would we buy any other product that required hours of effort and research to get it to its optimum?

For a great TV you just could be left wondering how should it look as good as it could look.

With a little effort, once you get there, it's worth it!

Class
I checked out the stores first and after watching a high definItion DVD of The mATRIX on this Toshiba I WAS blown away. The store was charging £1,149.99 + £200.00 for 1+2 years cover. Hahaha, very funny between amazon and myself I saved £300!!!
Well I was a little apprehensive about ordering serious kit online. Tic toc, tic toc I received emails and phone calls within 2 days of ordering (very reassuring) and now I have the set on a stand in my living room. Delivery was excellent with a courtesy phone call 45mins ahead of time.

Now the T.V is exceptional. You can fully customize the settings even down to the cool blue glow on the front.
One of my first concerns was light bleed in letterbox mode mentioned in two present reviews. I killed the lights, put it in a Standard Definition DVD The Chronicles of Riddick and guess what..........................................
no bleed. Black as black the letterbox was/is. As for the q.u.a.l.i.t.y wooo weeee! I can barely wait for the blu-ray playing PS3, which should be winging its way to me now.

Watching normal T.V say virgin cable one can see that the SD varies from program to programe. Old early
sit coms seem dull and washed out, old documentries look faded, but in general some current stuff I would
grade from 5/10 to 9/10. But hey slap in one of your favourite films and leave the main stream behind!

Ok before I go some tried and tested settings from another forum:

Active Backlight on
Cinema mode on
3d colour mgt on
Backlight 29
Contrast 88
Brightness 60
Color 46
Tint 0
Sharpness 0
Black stretch off
Stable sound on
Dnr auto
Colour temp warm

Exact scan when using 1080p source

Ok I must go. To do what? Guess what. Look at the T.V i've only had it 24hrs.

UPDATE. My PS3 arrived with that "spare" £300.00 I saved. I purchased the blu-ray version of Deja Vu without a case on ebay for £7.00 and a 10gb carrying HDMI cable (don't get 5gb) and Oh my Gosh. No turning back. Bye bye DVD's