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  • Introduction

  • Tour & Design

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Calibration

  • Remote Control

  • Connectivity

  • Audio & Menus

  • Formats & Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Vs Samsung UN46B6000

  • Vs Vizio SV471VXT

  • Vs Sony KDL-46VE5

  • Conclusion

  • Series Comparison

  • Introduction
  • Tour & Design
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Calibration
  • Remote Control
  • Connectivity
  • Audio & Menus
  • Formats & Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Vs Samsung UN46B6000
  • Vs Vizio SV471VXT
  • Vs Sony KDL-46VE5
  • Conclusion
  • Series Comparison

Introduction

Tour & Design

Front


The front of the Toshiba 46SV670U is a glazed over in a solid, single piece of plastic, giving it a clean and uniform look. Of course, this only increases the surface area reflection, but some people in the office have commented on how much they like the look. There aren't any buttons or controls, just some random text along the bottom and some graphic design silliness along the fringe.

The 'Infinity Flush Front,' that acrylic coating across the surface, has one decidedly negative impact on picture quality. When viewed from an extreme angle, there's a pronounced mirroring effect of the picture bouncing off the inside of the surface. It's not an issue if you're watching TV from straight-on.

 

Back


The back of the Toshiba 46SV670U looks cheap and shiny, but you'll rarely see it from this angle, so who cares? Most of the ports are back here. Fortunately, the TV has a swivel base for better access. For information about the ports on the back of the Toshiba 46SV670U see our Connectivity section.

 

Sides


The sides of the Toshiba 46SV670U are curved. All the on-board controls and a handful of ports are located on the right side. Because the curve of the sides is so dramatic, the controls are set a little farther back than on most TV's. You really need to reach if you want to turn the volume up and down. Lazy couch potatoes will be pleased with the latest technology, a 'wireless remote control,' generously included with purchase. What will they think of next? For information about the ports on the back of the Toshiba 46SV670U see our Connectivity section.

 

Stand/Mount


The stand for the Toshiba 46SV670U has a unique, lemon-shaped footprint. It allows for a swivel of roughly 30-degrees in either direction. 

 

Controls


The on-board controls are pretty basic. You'll want the remote control for anything more complicated than channel up/down and volume.

 

Remote Control


The remote control, while large, is quite good in its ergonomic design. The most important functions fall near the thumb.

 

In The Box*(7.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U includes: television, remote control and batteries, and a comprehensive owner's manual. There is no included AV or HDMI cable.

The box itself is replete with a litany of poorly conceived marketing terms for features that barely quality as features: FocaLight, CrystalCoat, Infinity Flush Front, Resolution+, AutoView, DynaLight, PixelPure 5G, Deep Lagoon, CineSpeed, etc. Some of these names, we're sorry to say, sound like the features on a high-end toilet, which was probably not the intent.

Aesthetics*(7.0)*


Offering an entirely smooth surface on the front of the TV sounds cool, but it drew a mixed response in amongst our editors. Some liked the uniformity of the design, but others decried the mirroring of the image that it caused at extreme angles. The 'Deep Lagoon' edging, which refers to the gradient, half-toning at the fringes of the bezel, are just okay. In a few years, this might look dated.

 

Blacks & Whites

Black Level*(7.43)*


The deepest black levels produced by the Toshiba 46SV670U were on par with similarly sized and priced models. Overall, we were pleased with what we saw. In this group of comparison models, only the Vizio SV471XVT fared poorly.

 

Peak Brightness*(7.97)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U was capable of producing adequate white levels, though it was the lowest of among the group of competitors. 

 

Contrast*(7.3)*


Contrast ratio is, in a way, more important than Peak Brightness and maximum black level because the human eye is more sensitive to contrast. Our testing showed that the Toshiba 46SV670U was capable of a 2086:1 contrast ratio. Of course, this is far lower than the little specs tags you'll see hanging at Best Buy, but those numbers tend to be grossly inflated. The best performer in this comparison group, the Samsung UN46B6000, had a tested contrast ratio of 3492:1. By comparison, the Toshiba 46SV670U did pretty well. 

 

Tunnel Contrast*(9.43)*


Tunnel contrast examines whether a TV can maintain consistent black levels no matter how much white area is elsewhere on the screen. TheToshiba 46SV670U performed well in this test. 

 

White Falloff*(9.97)*


The white falloff test looks at how well a TV can maintain bright white areas of the screen when most of the picture is blacks. The Toshiba 46SV670U scored very well in this test, better than all the competition. 

 

Uniformity*(5.5)*


The uniformity of the Toshiba 46SV670U is pretty good. It didn't have the major flashlighting problems of some of the competing TVs, but couldn't come close to the Vizio SV471XVT. When we looked at an all-white screen, the Toshiba produced some minor blotchiness. At an all-black screen, some corners were unusually bright, while others were fine. 

 

Greyscale Gamma*(9.7)*


The greyscale gamma produced by the Toshiba 46SV670U was very good. An ideal gamma curve is between 2 and 2.0. The Toshiba produced a gamma curve of 2.25. Practically speaking, this means that images with lots gradations between dark and light will be produced smoothly. 

 

Resolution Scaling*(8.08)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and supports 1080P content. But we live in a world where a lot of the content being delivered to the TV is not 1080P. Fortunately, the Toshiba had no problem handling the situation. 

480p

When looking at 480p looked fine in most instances. You may find some strange moire patterns appearing when looking at content with high frequency patterns (i.e. your local newscaster's tie fabric).

720p

Content that has a 720p resolution looked better than 480p, but wasn't perfect.

1080i

The 1080i content was very good, and hard to distinguish from 1080p content.

 

Color Accuracy

Color Temperature*(0.1)*


In this section, we look at the consistency of the color temperature across the range of brightest to darkest signals. Sadly, the Toshiba 46SV670U performed abysmally in this test. At first, we thought it might be an error, so we re-ran the test several times. Then we manually scanned the display with our chroma meter and software, examining the color temperature at various points.

The conclusion was always the same. The 46SV670U display gets warmer (more red) as the signal gets darker, so much so that we could see it with our bare eyes. The problem was so bad that the results broke through the bottom of the chart.

We don't have a definitive explanation for this, but we have some possibilities. The Toshiba 46SV670U is the first Toshiba TV we've reviewed with LED backlighting and local dimming. In other experiences with LED lighting, we've seen color temperatures shift when the signal became too low. There's also the possibility that the TV was performing some kind of auto-dimming feature, despite our manually disengaging every possible feature like this. 

 

RGB Curves*(8.33)*


The RGB curves on the Toshiba 46SV670U were really good. The scientific tests we ran matched up with what our own eyes saw. There was very little color banding in any of the channels. Those little bumps towards the right side of the curve indicate that colors won't exactly be perfect in brighter portions of the screen, but you'll be hard pressed to notice anything.

Among the competition, the Toshiba 46SV670U scored very well. 

 

 

 

Color Gamut*(3.57)*


How well does the Toshiba 46SV670U match the exacting and international standards of color accuracy? Not too bad, to put it briefly. No TV can perfectly match the ITU Recommendation .709, but the Toshiba performance is within a healthy range. The greens are a little saturated, the blues are a little purple, and the reds are a little orange. The only really significant note here is that the white point – that circle in the middle of the graph – is off by a fair amount. This bore itself out a little in the Color Temperature test, which did not go well for the Toshiba. 

 

 

Motion

Motion Smoothness*(4.88)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U struggled to produce smooth motion. In out testing, we found that when all the special features (i.e. Film Stabilization, ClearScan 240) turned off, images could appear choppy or produce trailing. However, we were even more surprised to find that when we turned the special features on, nothing changed. ClearScan 240 did nothing to help motion smoothness. Depending on the type of motion, the Film Stabilization feature could be helpful, but it creates some artifacts.

Motion Artifacting*(4.25)*


Even with all the special features (described above) turned off, we definitely saw some of the artifacts from the Toshiba's processing. When pushed to the limits of our testing, there were glaring instances of false color, and other strange effects. This is not a terrible TV. Watching films on it, we couldn't see any unforgivably bad artifacting, but it's not the best TV we've seen either.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps*(9.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U has no problems with 3:2 pulldown and playing 24fps video back natively.

Viewing Effects

Viewing Angle*(3.3)*


The viewing angle on the Toshiba 46SV670U is merely adequate, and standard for LCD TVs. At best, we found a viewing angle of 24.74-degrees. Not great. 

 

Reflectance*(4.0)*


Sadly, the screen surface on the Toshiba is highly reflective. It doesn't seem to help that the acrylic plastic coating ('Infinity Flush Front') seems to be increasing the annoyance levels by causing a mirroring effect. When we shined a light at the TV, we saw two lights. You can tell that Toshiba tried to reduce reflection by scattering the light, which results in a odd, star-shaped pattern. It wold be almost beautiful, were it not ruining my view of the football game.

 

Video Processing*(3.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U offers a lot of control over the finer points of your image. There's also the usual assemblage of noise reduction, contrast controls, and the like. Not everything here is great, but Toshiba makes it harder than some to royally screw up your picture.

 

 

Calibration

Calibration


[

](http://www.displaymate.com/)Calibration started by adjusting the Toshiba 46SV670U's Picture mode from AutoView to Movie mode. From there, these are the settings we found to be most optimal. 

Be sure to go into the Setup Menu and AV Connection submenu and change the HDMI setting RGB Range from 'Auto' to 'Full.' Otherwise, we saw instances of color banding.

Video Modes


The Toshiba 46SV670U has six video modes. 

 

 

Remote Control

Ergonomics & Durability*(9.0)*


The remote control for the Toshiba 46SV670U is quite comfortable. It's a little wider than remotes for Sony and Samsung TVs, but more wieldly and with a more sensible layout. On the underside, directly in the center, is a groove that your finger rests is. Your thumb falls directly on the d-pad in the center. 

 

Button Layout & Use*(8.0)*


The button layout is also better than equivalent remotes from Sony and Samsung. With your thumb falling on the d-pad in the center of the remote, the channel and volume  up/down controls are conveniently located just below.

Granted, the layout is not the most sensible the first time you use the remote. Unusually, the Menu button, Exit button, and Return button are not particularly well-labeled. But after a few times, we could easily fly through the menu without looking down once.

 

Programming & Flexibility*(6.0)*


The remote control can be programmed for all kinds of home electronics devices, not just DVD players. Toshiba also includes codes for most of the major brands in the manual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Connectivity

Input Ports*(7.0)*


Most of the ports on the Toshiba 46SV670U are located on the back, with a few on the side for easier access. On the back, you'll find 3 HDMI, PC and PC audio (1/8th'), 2 component and 1 composite video input, three RCA audio inputs, and an antenna/cable coax input. There's also a service port back there, though you'll probably never need it.

On the side, you'll find another HDMI, a USB (for video, audio, and images), an SD card slot (for images), and a set of composite AV ports.

Output Ports*(4.0)*


The output ports on the Toshiba 46SV670U include one set of RCA audio-out jacks, digital audio-out, and unusually, an IR port for connecting to other infrared devices. 

Other Connections*(0.0)*


There is an S-Video port on the back of the Toshiba 46SV670U.

Media*(2.0)*


The 46SV670U has two ports on the side for media access. The USB port can be used with thumb drives for playing back audio, video, or still images. 

Placement*(8.0)*


Because the Toshiba 46SV670U can turn on its base, it's not a problem to get to any of the necessary ports. Plugging in the cable/antenna coax port is annoying because it screws up and in behind a recess. Sure, the cable lies flat and parallel to the TV after that, but it's a pain to connect. 

Audio & Menus

Audio Quality*(4.0)*


There are a good number of audio options on the Toshiba 46SV670U, but there's no getting around the fact that the speakers just aren't that good. They could produce decent treble, but the mids were muddied and the bass was simply blown-out if you had the volume up even a little. Among the audio features, the Voice Enhancement is the most effective, doing exactly as it purports to do. 

Menu Interface*(8.5)*


The menu interface on the Toshiba 46SV670U is pretty good, but not fantastic. While navigation is sensible enough, it's difficult to make informed changes to settings like brightness, color, and all the special feature settings. A few seconds after accessing any of these features and making your change, this huge menu graphic pops up in the center of the screen. How is one supposed to decide if you like your new color changes if this menu won't go away? 

Submenus can be a little tricky not to get lost in, because there's no breadcrumb trailing or distinct hierarchy. You need to ht the Channel Return button on the remote, but it took some guesswork our first time with that.

 

Manual*(7.0)*


The manual for the Toshiba 46SV670U is really quite good. It's thick, and perfect bound with 82 pages of information (and another 82 pages in French). The index never failed us when we had a question about a feature. Perhaps because the print manual is so good, there doesn't seem to be an online component.

 

 

Formats & Media

Formats*(10.5)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U supports native 1080P content, the best possible content available. Fortunately, it will do just fine with all types of content you throw at it, including 480i/p, 720p, and 1080i. The TV can also support the extended color gamut, also called xvYCC or Deep Color. 

Photo Playback*(5.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U can play photos back from either the USB port or from SD cards. Both ports are located on the right side of the TV. The interface is simple to intuit with the remote control. Thumbnails of all your photos appear. Use the d-pad on the remote to toggle through and select the ones you want. You can also create slide shows.

Music & Video Playback*(5.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U can play back music videos via the USB port. It sure isn't a pretty interface, though. It looks more at home on a Windows 3.1 screen. But it works. 

 

Streaming Playback*(0.0)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U does not support streaming content. 

 

Other Media*(0.0)*


There are no other media options on the Toshiba 46SV670U. 

Power Consumption

Power Consumption*(7.85)*


The Toshiba 46SV670U is a considerably expensive to power, costing an average of $43.04 per year. That's about twice the average of other TVs in this comparison group. You can save money by turning down the backlight, but you risk losing some image quality in doing so. 

 

 

Vs Samsung UN46B6000

Value Comparison Summary


The Samsung UN46B6000 performed better in nearly every test. Our review found that Samsung decided to skip the fancy extras and settle on solid performance instead. The only issue we found was sub-optimal motion artifacting.

Blacks & Whites


In the battle for black & white performance, the Samsung UN46B6000 was the winner. It offered a wider contrast ratio, with deeper blacks and brighter whites.

 

Color Accuracy


The Samsung UN46B6000 couldn't help but win this contest against the Toshiba 46SV670U, which performed terribly on this one particular test.

 

 

 

Motion


Though we didn't love the performance of the Samsung in regards to its motion artifacting, it was better overall than the Toshiba.

 

Viewing Effects


There's little difference between the two televisions when it comes to viewing angle. They're both bad.

 

Connectivity


The Samsung offers a LAN internet connection port, which is the only significant gain. The Toshiba has an IR out, as well as an SD card slot and USB for looking at still photos, but that doesn't seem as advantageous as a LAN port.

**
**

Vs Vizio SV471VXT

Value Comparison Summary


The Vizio SV471XVT is a good choice if saving a few bucks is important (and why shouldn't it be?). The performance won't knock you out, but we liked the motion smoothness and lack of artifacting. The Toshiba 46SV670U performed better in most other instances.

Blacks & Whites


The Toshiba 46SV670U produced much deeper blacks, making for richer detail in shadows. The Vizio could make brighter whites, but that matters less.

 

Color Accuracy


The VIzio SV471VXT, no surprise, performed better than the Toshiba, which crashed and burned on this test.

 

 

 

Motion


The Vizio SV47VXT managed to produce smoother motion with less artifacting than the Toshiba 46SV670U.

Viewing Effects


The viewing angle between these two TVs is almost identical.

Connectivity


It's a dead heat, except for the Toshiba's SD card slot and IR out. No real winner here.

**

**

Vs Sony KDL-46VE5

Value Comparison Summary


Overall, the Sony KDL-46VE5 is a decent television, but doesn't excel at anything in particular beyond contrast ratio. We'd pick the Toshiba.

Blacks & Whites


Contrast ratio was the Sony's only real strong suit. The blacks were very deep and whole dynamic range looked great.

 

Color Accuracy


Everybody wins when they battle the Toshiba 46SV670U for color temperature consistency.

 

 

 

Motion


We managed to get smoother motion on the Sony, but there was always a tiny bit more artifacting.

 

Viewing Effects


The viewing angle on all these LCD TVs is terrible.

 

Connectivity


The Toshiba has a slight advantage with an SD card slot and IR out.

**
**

Conclusion

 

 

 

 

Series Comparison

Toshiba SV670U Series


LED-backlit TVs are relatively new, and local dimming is even newer. You can expect this line to increase in time, but for 2009, there are only two models.

Meet the tester

David Kender

David Kender

Editor in Chief

@davekender

David Kender oversees content at Reviewed as the Editor in Chief. He served as managing editor and editor in chief of Reviewed's ancestor, CamcorderInfo.com, helping to grow the company from a tiny staff to one of the most influential online review resources. In his time at Reviewed, David has helped to launch over 100 product categories and written too many articles to count.

See all of David Kender's reviews

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