Skip to main content
  • Introduction

  • Overall Design

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Instruction Manual

  • Local Media Playback

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Model Series Comparison

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Overall Design
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Instruction Manual
  • Local Media Playback
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Model Series Comparison
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

Overall Design

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

It's hard to make a really sleek looking television using CCFL backlighting. The fluorescent tube lights have a thickness that prevents an ultra-slim profile like you see on some of the swankier TVs using LED lights. Furthermore, the ends of these tube lights need some electrical equipment to attach them, and so the bezel-free look isn't really possible either. That said, we often find that CCFL backlighting can produce a more uniform picture with less blooming and flashlighting, but at the sacrifice of a nice looking design. The stand, however, doesn't need to be as thick as the display, and this one looks like a chunky black surfboard. It is something you would probably want to hide if you were trying to impress company. If wall mounting is an option, we highly recommend it.

Front

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Back

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Sides

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Stand/Mount

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

As we stated above, the stand is a large piece of obtrusive plastic. It is a blown up version of what you see on smaller Toshiba models. The scale required to make the stand from a 32'' television support a 55'' television does not translate well. On top of this, the neck on this plastic Goliath is totally static. Getting at the ports will be hard, you will need a young, able-bodied worker with a back strong enough to lift this humungous display and turn it around.

Controls

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The manual controls are located on the left side of the display, around the corner, and out of sight. They are easy to reach and identify. The buttons have great key travel, letting you know how much you are affecting the various settings on the {{product.model}}.

Right in line with the controls, are a singular HDMI and USB port for quick access.

Remote Control

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This diminutive remote does not control much. It is light and fits in your hand easily, sporting a compact button layout. The buttons are a little too close together and they were not arranged in a way that made sense to us. We were constantly looking back at the buttons to figure out how to get through the menu system, a task that proved to be difficult in the dark without any button backlighting.

In the Box

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

There were not many extras in the box. We saw a remote with two AAA batteries, a quick setup guide, a stand, and the television of course.

Black Level

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Like golf, the lowest score is the best score in this category. The {{product.model}} has a strong black level for an LCD screen. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

All of these comparable LCD models have a similar peak brightness. Any TV producing more than 300 cd/m2 is bright and will be more than suitable for any room in your house, regardless of the lighting situation. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Contrast ratio is the simple division of the peak brightness by the deepest black level recorded. This ratio is important in assessing the quality of a television as it describes the range of possible values of brightness used. The more values the better. Each additional value used makes transitions from light to dark smoother, most notably edges of objects, creating a more realistic picture. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This test tells us whether a television dims or brightens the value of pure black depending on the images on the screen. Though there is some up and down in this graph, the peaks and valleys are on a small scale and will not be noticed when watching content. No matter how much of the screen is black, the brightness of that black value remains consistent. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Similar to the tunnel contrast test, we change the area of white displayed on the screen to see if the value of white dims or brightens depending on what is shown. The straight horizontal line in the chart below shows that no changes in luminance were recorded with changes in areas of white displayed on the screen. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The greyscale gamma curve tells us how well a television transitions from dark to light. This graph should be a straight line with a slope between 2.1 and 2.2. Such a graph would tell us that transitions between values are equally incremental, each singular adjustment not more or less of a change than any other, and that these incremental changes are in accordance with the standard.

You can see that the graph in the chart below isn't exactly this ideal. Instead of straight, the line is a convex curve. The hump represents a swift increase in brightness in the middle range of the spectrum, followed by slower increases. You may see this in a gradient, where there will be a cutoff separating the dark values from the bright ones instead of showing a nice smooth emergence of brighter values out of the dark. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Color temperature for the most part wavered imperceptibly, that is until the darkest end of the spectrum, where it erupted into overly cool. The darkest values will have a cool tinting, often blueish. The darker these values get, the more extreme the tint. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

These color curves look very close to ideal. The three colors are in line with each other, showing consistency in incremental increases of brightness. The curve of these lines is right where it should be. There are no bumps in the lines at all, telling us that every value along the spectrum was produced differently than any other, allowing for a maximum amount of detail in color.

The biggest problem is the brightest end of the spectrum, where both the red and the blue lines peak in luminance before getting to the brightest possible signal input. This means that the {{product.model}} cannot produce the brightest colored images with a full amount of detail. A red rose will be thickly painted in one color of red, rather than several subtle changes in color needed to depict a realistic looking picture. More on how we test RGB curves.

We record the luminance of every value of each of the primary colors on a 0 to 255 brightness scale and reproduce it in these gradient color strips below, matched against the ideal response. These strips are visual representations of the color curves above.

Motion Performance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The {{product.name}} really handled our motion tests. We look at moving objects to see if they become blurry, obscuring some of the finer details of a picture, or if they show artifacts, pieces of the picture that are not part of the input signal and are thus creations of the display.

This Toshiba showed excellent retention of detail in motion. Faces were fully recognizable and tight lines remained separate and intricately rendered. Only a few colors, red particularly, had some minor drag to them, leftovers of the previous frame. We saw that some of the rectangles we move would sport some jagged edges, but this was a minor problem. Mostly, motion performance was a boon for the {{product.model}}. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The {{product.model}} comes with a film mode to help reproduce 24fps content accurately. This film mode did not completely rid the picture of flicker, but detail was almost perfect. We look at a pan of stadium seats, expecting to see pixel motion among the seats, called mosquito crawl. No such crawl was apparent, and the picture looked great. This means that all of your BluRay content, most of which is shot and produced at 24fps, will be reproduced very well. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This Toshiba displays natively at 1080p, and very well at that. If you make sure to set the aspect ratio to Native, the {{product.model}} will be rid of any overscan at any resolution. We saw not a single problem displaying high frequency, high contrast patterns (tightly knit lines of black and white that are difficult for most televisions) at this resolution. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

With much less information to display, and no overscan, it is no wonder that every one of our patterns was perfectly displayed at 480p.

720p

Mostly, we saw the same level detail reproduced at this resolution. Only our most detailed pattern, in our hardest test, showed some banding where lines clumped together instead of staying neatly separate.

Formats

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This 1080p LCD display shows all NTSC standard formats.

Viewing Angle

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This Toshiba was advertised as having a wide viewing angle in the marketing specs. We beg to differ. In fact, we tested viewing angle twice because our first set of data was not very believable, though the proximate results were approximately the same. LCD screens tend to have poor viewing angles, but you can see in the chart below that the {{product.model}} has a narrow viewing angle, even in relation to comparable models.

This is not to say that the picture becomes invisible= more than 26º off center. Rather, the contrast ratio falls below 50% of its original value at this angle. We noticed that off center the colors get really washed out too. The screen is really big though, and this angle, while narrow, will incorporate quite a bit of a room.

Reflectance

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

We shine lights at each display to see how bothersome ambient light will be. The {{product.model}} reflected bright LED lights back as a soft glow. This glow was not very distracting, especially considering the size of the screen and its high peak brightness.

Video Processing

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

There are only a couple of options for advanced processing. Most of these options we leave off for testing. We would however like to give some kudos to the motion interpolating functions ClearFrame and Film Stabilization, which worked really well. They do suffer from the soap opera effect however, and we recommend turning them off when watching film based content, as your picture will appear uncomfortably smooth.

Calibration

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The few picture settings do not allow for much change. For example, we tried to adjust the colors quite a bit, using both the color and the contrast settings to regain some of the detail lost at the brightest end of the spectrum. We found that drastic adjustments made little difference, and that the colors could be blown out further, but not regained as much as lost. In any case, the {{product.name}} comes fairly close to calibrated out of the box and the color performance was actually quite strong in the end. Below you can see a table of how we calibrated this particular model using DisplayMate Software and our standardized testing.

[

All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

There are only a couple of video modes on the {{product.model}} that adjust the picture for specific viewing settings.

Connectivity

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

On the back of the {{product.name}} are three HDMI ports and two analog connections (1 composite and 1 component). There is a VGA port with an accompanying analog audio in that, with the right cord, will play anything with a 3.5 mm audio jack. Other than the SPDIF digital audio out, the cable RF connector, and the connections already mentioned, there is a singular USB media port, its functionality covered on the Next Page.

Placement

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The stand on this 55-incher is totally static. If you like picking up a giant television, with the possibility of tipping such a hefty investment over, then you will be happy with this Toshiba. Otherwise, you will find making connections difficult, as all the ports are on the back and there is no way to get at them without wrenching your back.

Audio Quality

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The speaker hardware Toshiba provides for the {{product.model}} isn't strong enough for quality sound playback. Two 7W speakers are less powerful than what most HDTVs provide, even on 32'' models.

There is a connection between viewing a large picture and expecting a complimentary sound. Such a grand picture accompanied by weak audio creates a phsycoacoustic contradiction that will definitely feel incorrect.

When we played some video of New York being destroyed by an appropriate amount of explosions and machine gun fire, we noticed that the sound was canned and tinny. Coming from 55-inches of television, the sound of automatic rifles reproduced at the level of a dime store cap gun was almost laughable. Grab some external speakers and you will have a great home theater.

Instruction Manual

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

In the box, there is just a quick setup guide that covers building the stand and turning the TV on, with some troubleshooting. For a more extensive manual (and by extensive we mean two whole pages on changing channels) you can find the full manual Here.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Local Media Playback

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The USB media port on this Toshiba only supports playback of pictures and music, and only MP3s and JPEGs. These are popular formats for this type of media, but more and more MP3s are being phased out because they are low quality. MP3 was great in the days of dial-up internet, but now that we have broadband, the M4a file, like what you get from iTunes, is more popular.

The picture viewer is easy to use and accepted most JPEG files. You can setup a slideshow, with options to adjust the speed of the slide, the transitions, and the accompanying music.

The menu system is easy to use and quite responsive. On a 55'' screen, some of the JPEG files can look really pixelated blown up this large.

The music playback is similarly easy, though it didn't like the MP3 file we tried to load.

Power Consumption

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Looking at all the models in this chart, it would seem like the {{product.model}} costs much more than an ordinary LCD screen for an average year of use. When you consider that this Toshiba is a 55'' television, approximately 10'' larger than the others, resulting in about 1.5 times the total screen area, you can see that quite a bit more power should be required to light this significantly larger display. Even so, the {{product.model}} is reasonably in line with the rest, showing that it consumes an average amount of power for an LCD.

Value Comparison

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

These two televisions are almost identical in terms of performance and price (if you compare the 46'' models). The main difference is the backlighting. The SL412U uses LEDs and the G310U uses fluorescent tube lights. The result is only a change in the design, the SL412U putting forth a much sleeker look than the G310U, without any damage to the uniformity of the picture. The SL412U has slight advantages in contrast ratio and color temperature, the G310U has better motion performance. We would go with the SL412U for the color and contrast (considering we recommend you turn off the motion processing for most content) as well as the sleeker look.

Blacks & Whites

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

With a deeper black level and a higher peak brightness, the SL412U has a better contrast ratio than the G310U covered in this review.

Color Accuracy

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Both televisions had color temperature errors at the dark end of the spectrum, the SL412U was far more accurate however.

Motion

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Though these two televisions use the same motion processing overdrive functions, the ClearFrame and Film Stabilization modes, we noticed very different results in our motion processing tests. Where the SL412U changed rectangles into distorted parallelograms with jagged edges throughout the picture, we saw no such artifacts on the G310U. Both sets claim refresh rates up to 120HZ, but we saw significantly better motion performance on the G310U.

Viewing Effects

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Both Toshibas had poor viewing angles. The SL412U was slightly narrower in general, but neither were great.

Connectivity

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The connection options are almost identical between these two sets. There were a couple more analog audio connections on the G310U.

Value Comparison

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The LG 47LK520 had some interesting extra features, like a very functional media port and user control of the motion processing. But these features are available on most mid-range LG models, and this particular model did not have great performance. If you are looking for a basic set that will give you strong quality for your money, you will want the {{product.name}} instead of this average LG.

Blacks & Whites

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The Toshiba here has a significantly better contrast ratio, an important point of quality for televisions.

Color Accuracy

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Both of these televisions had problems with color temperature. Our money goes with the Toshiba, showing a larger error, yes, but secluded to the darkest part of the spectrum. The Toshiba also had better color curves than this LG, for overall better color accuracy.

Motion

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

We really liked the motion processing on this particular Toshiba model. The LG had great motion capabilities as well, allowing user control over the processing, but it just was not as strong. We will say that being able to control the processing is of greater value than overall performance because, on full blast, any film based content will look wholly strange. On the LG, you can back off the processing until film based content does not look bad, while still having some interpolation for added smoothness.

Viewing Effects

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

Toshiba has had a hard time with viewing angle this year. The LG, though still narrow, beats the Toshiba by more than twice the possible viewing angles.

Connectivity

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The LG has an extra set of analog ports (both a component and composite) over the Toshiba in this comparison. We also really liked the USB media port system on the LG, which is not limited to the 47LK520, but is available on all LG models.

Value Comparison

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

If you compare the Toshiba 46G310U to the JVC JLE47BC3001, the JVC costs about $150 more. This extra dough provides some LED lighting for a thinner profile, better color performance, an extra HDMI port, and a wider viewing angle. The Toshiba has a drastically larger contrast ratio and a really solid set of colors for less money. It may not look as nice physically, but at this price point, consumers want a quality picture for their money, not flashy design. The Toshiba provides the better value in this comparison.

Blacks & Whites

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The Toshiba has a much better contrast ratio than the JVC here, done with a much deeper black level. The shadows will be much richer on the Toshiba than the JVC.

Color Accuracy

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The JVC showed an almost perfect color temperature across the entire spectrum. The strong color curves, paired with a very accurate color gamut show a really strong overall color performance that proves to be superior to the Toshiba here.

Motion

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The {{product.name}} showed us some of the best motion processing we have seen in a while. The JVC BlackCrystal 3001 was strong, but not quite up to the task of besting the Toshiba.

Viewing Effects

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The JVC produced a rather wide viewing angle for an LCD screen, whereas this Toshiba did not.

Connectivity

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

This JVC has one more HDMI than the Toshiba, otherwise they are the same.

Conclusion

The {{product.name}} ($1199 MSRP) is a large and basic television. This year, we saw televisions cramming in so much new technology, from 3D imaging to internet connectivity and LED edgelighting, that it was beginning to look like you couldn't find a regular, old-fashioned box that would show some quality images without the extras. Toshiba stripped the {{product.model}} of all these additions to give consumers an ordinary television with strong performance in all the major categories.

We liked what we saw with this Toshiba. The contrast ratio was excellent, stemming from a very deep black level that did not require a diminished peak brightness. The color set was mostly fantastic and the motion processing was some of the best we have seen in a while.

There were a couple drawbacks though (you would expect some at this price). The 7W speakers are an inappropriate match to a 55'' screen. The force of the picture is not supported by the weak tinny sound from the internal speakers. You can remedy this quickly with an external set. The color temperature showed some severe errors, but only at the darkest end of the spectrum where images will be so dark as to not really have any color. The biggest offense was the poor viewing angle. Even for an LCD screen, the viewing angle has narrow written all over it. Although, with such a big screen, even a narrow viewing angle will cover quite a bit of the room.

All together, this is a high performance television in this price range. We do want to emphasize how large the entire piece is. You will need to measure before you bring it home, and you should consider that it will take over the room no matter where you put it. If the size and look really bother you, consider the very similar Toshiba SL412U for approximately the same price. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with this big screen, at this little price.

Model Series Comparison

{{section_header}}{{section.name}}{{/section_header}}

The xxG310 series are entry-level televisions with large screens. These 1080p TVs are for people that want a large display with no extra features. There are no internet features on these TVs and they have avoided 3D imaging as well. The backlight comes from CCFL tube lighting, an older technology that prevents an ultra-slim profile and bezel free design, but often makes for a more Uniform picture.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

{{manufacturer_specs_table}}

Meet the tester

Christian Sherden

Christian Sherden

Staff Writer

@

Christian Sherden is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Christian Sherden's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next