HDTV ready, luminated remote, 2 hdtv inputs, 16x9 widescreen, mode memory.

Once placed on the floor its a little low in height, other than that it’s an incredible buy.

This is by far the best Television under $3000 once properly calibrated for all the modes this TV far exceeds the expectations I had.

Similar Products Used:

Sony kv32xbr250(bedroom), Mitsubishi wt42311

There's no doubt that the TW40x81 was designed for component imput. Anamorphic DVD's look fantastic on this TV with chrisp and film like images.

While the TW40X81 excells at component input it falls very short on terms of its TV reception and Tuner. The tuner is sluggish changing channels and the TV reception is less then stellar.

If you watch a lot of DVD's you should seriously be looking at a 16X9 enhanced 'HD Ready' set like the TW40X81. The experience of watching an anamorphic DVD on a widescreen TV is amazing and the images (if brought throught the component inputs) are crisp and film like.

While DVD viewing is the strong point of the set, the TW40X81 may not be your best choice if you watch more TV than DVD, it's TV tunner is sluggish changing channels and I've seen much better TV reception on other TVs.

Toshiba did make some huge improvements from the previous model to get this set HD Ready. The major difference can be seen on DVD's which are not 16X9 enhanced. This newer model handles them far better than the TW40X80, and more impressively than most other TV's!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba TW40X80 - which pales in comparison to the the TW40X81.

Anarmophic DVDs. Slim profile. HD ready.

None.

This TV is built for anamorphic DVDs. There are Sony Wega commercials that psyche you out to think the display is a window. They TW40X81 would've been a better suited for these commercials. Watch any anamorphic dvd, and your world will never, ever be the same.

The channel changes are a bit slow -- but not intolerable. Whoever finds this feature "intolerable" really needs to cut back on the caffeine.

Over the air broadcasts are incredible. My cable signal is very good in my area -- but compared to my 36" Tosh direct view, the TW40X81 blows it away. Biggest difference...no scan lines. Watching the Discovery Channel is like going on an actual safari.

This TV has no weaknesses. For the price, there's nothing close to giving a better bang for the buck. You can nitpick about it not being 720p ready, or the reset button on the remote is too accessible, or the channels take too long to change, or the tuner isn't good (which is probably the fault of your own cable provider)...

But sorry guys, that's just a bit finicky for my taste. I'm happy with this TV and it has more than exceeeded my expectations for a rear-projection TV. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.

P.S. I hate it also when someone air's his/her fustrations with the retailer, and writes a poor review about the crappy service they received. People, his site is for rating hardware. Don't drag the overall rating of an awesome product like the TW40X81 because you received poor service from Goodguys or Circuit City or whatever.

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi, Mitsu, Sony sets in the same price range.

Big Screen, Great Price, Good expansion options, Great picture, color, over all performance, anything you can think of is great.

Viewing angle is a bit tricky. The best angle is direct in front of you. Since the TV is kind of short, if you stand up you probably won't see the sharpness in the picture. I will get the stand very soon and will report then.

What can I say? If you have read other reviews on this product, you probably get the same here; This TV is incredible.

This is my first HD-ready RPTV and the first big screen I have bought. I can't even begin to tell you what a great purchase that was. I understand that it is hard to find but be patient, it is worthy the wait. I bought it locally and got it in three days...luck me. You might want to try local dealer first and then mail order. Mail order companies often get theirs from local dealer anyway.

Some people were having picture and convergence problems right out of the box but as with many other electronics, it is hard not to have inconsistency because of the mass production. However, mine was ready right out of the box. My local Toshiba dealer checked the TV and convergence even before they delivered it.

So, when it got here it was near perfect. I just had to fine tune the TV witih AVIA home theater guide DVD and now the picture is great. Mine you though

Some people also recommended that you adjust the 64 points convergence, my advice is that, if after 9 points convergence setup you are satistfied with the picture, DON'T GO INTO SERVICE MODE. I have met several people who went into service mode and adjusted convergence. It was fine for a while but after a few weeks, some of their s-video inputs didn't work, and some others' composite and componant inputs didn't work. So be cautious.

If you are still looking around for a great HD-ready TV, this is the one and it will stay with you for a LONG time. Of course you can also look into Mitsubishi or Panasonic but with Toshiba, so far, the performance and price combination is the best.

Similar Products Used:

NONE

The best picture I have ever seen on a Projection or Direct View TV. Widescreen options for LaserDisc, DVD, and Television. 16:9 televisions rule.

Cable TV does not look good when used in the Theatre Wide or Full Modes. Does not allow you to change the Theatre or Normal picture settings.

This TV is hard to get a hold of, but once you do....it is dynamite. I have owned three TVs in the last two years and I don't think I will be switching again for some time. It took about 10 trips to various Bay Area electronic stores and a few bribes (just kidding), but I got it.

The 9 point conversion is very useful for correcting any general convergence problems, but the service mode 64 point conversion makes this set ROCK!! The geometry is probably the best IÕve seen on any TVÉ and believe me, I have perfect eyes and I can tell.

I sampled the Sony WEGA TV and was not impressed by its lack of consistent geometry and corner to corner convergence. I would even venture to say that this is consistent with the entire Sony TV line. I have owned 2 Sony TVs over the last 2 years and IÕm sorry to say that they have lost a step.

The Panasonic SuperFlat series used to be the cats meow, but they have also lost their edge. Geometry problems again. I think the decline in prices has also produces a decline in quality. I know these things can be adjusted through the TVÕs yolk, but when I spend $1000 on a TV, I ainÕt springinÕ another $300 for a trained tech to come and fix what should not have been broke to begin with. The home warranty guys are not going to fix these problems for you either.

The Toshiba on the other hand, comes ready to go out of the box. After tuning down the contrast from the 100 setting to 22, the picture came alive and the 3D digital comb filter just made all the images pop out in my face. Thought the sound quality is not that of a quality set of bookshelf speakers, it did the job while I walked through the general setup.

I saw a few of the Mitsubishi and Hitachi 16:9 sets, and they did not warrant the extra bucks. This TV only costs $2399 and the others start at $3000. The Mitsubishi 46inch set was not even work considering at the $3000 price tag. All others started a $4500 dollars.

The only draw back was the TV tuner reception. It was a grainy picture from the beginning, and when I tried to view TV in the zoomed mode, the pixels were so large, that it way hard to see any characteristics in the background scenery. I have had other TVs hooked up to this connection, so I know what its potential is.

I have yet to do any HDTV broadcast reviews.

Similar Products Used:

Sony WEGA, Mitsubishi Theatre Projection TVs, and Samsung LCD displays. Panasonic SuperFlat

HD Ready, 480p capable, component inputs, number of inputs, built in line double, built in line double can be defeated

None

We watch a lot of movies so the fact that Toshiba does not have their HD/DSS decoder out yet was not a big factor for us. The theater wide design and line doubler are items we were looking for as every day features. We also wanted component inputs - and a wide variety of inputs. At the same time we wanted to be able to move to HDTV when it seemed right. A big bonus - the unit is not as deep as a 36" direct view tube. This was a big advantage in our small family room - we were saving space going to this TV!

Reviews can be found for all the TVs manufacturers listed above. For us, we felt the TW40x81 provided the best combination of picture, size, build quality, features, and inputs for the price.

The TW40x81 is a solid solution with an outstanding picture for the price. You can't go wrong with it. If you can't find one, be patient - it's worth the wait!!

I would recommend purchasing from an authorized Toshiba dealer with delivery and setup. We purchased an extended warranty with in-home servicing. If you do this, make sure the warranty specifically spells out in-home servicing. The last thing you want to do is have to move, or ship, this TV.

Our cable TV signal was quite bad on some channels with our 21" TV, and those channels look bad on this TV - as you would expect because the signal quality hasn't changed. A bad source will always look bad. We are waiting for Toshiba's HD/DSS decoder before switching to a digital signal.

We found the sharpness on this unit needs to be turned all the way down to zero, and the contrast should be set at about 8. If this is done the image will start getting a film like appearance. Color and Brightness setting should also be adjusted (usually downard). Any number of the Home Theater video tuning disks (Avia, Video Essentials, etc.) can help you get the set tuned properly, though you can do as good a job without them if you take the time.

The TV should be warmed up for about 30 minutes before doing any changing of the convergence. The guns move a little as they warm up, so wait or you will be re-doing your work. If you have in-home setup, plan on redoing the convergence if the folks didn't let the TV warm up.

Our TV is hooked up to a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player using the progressive scan component video outputs. The result is outstanding. With the combination of line doubler and progressive scan capabilities the picture is amazing. It is like being in your own personal movie house.

The built in line doubler eliminates all scan lines - with TV and DVD. If you don't like the built in doubler an external line double can be added to the unit (some sales folks will tell you it can not be done). The DVDO iScan is an external doubler that works with the TV. Personally I find the built in doubler does a very very good job.

The use of a progressive scan source (such as the SD-5109 DVD player) makes edges and diagonals detailed and smooth. Transitions between dark and light colors is much crisper and clean. The TV comes into its own when using these types of sources because of its ability to do 480p lines. It will not do 720p lines, but there are so many other features in this unit, that I can live without that particular one for the price. The S-Video input still provides a very very good quality picture, but the full capability of the TV isn't being realized. If S-Video is all you can do right now you will still be very very pleased.

The TV had several viewing modes: 4:3, FULL (4:3 streched to 16:9), Theater Wide 1, 2, & 3. We use all but the 4:3 mode. Watching regular TV in 16:9 is a very easy adjustment. The FULL mode is also great for watching Anamorphic DVDs.

DVDs will still have the black bars on the top and bottoms depending on their aspect ratio, but they will be much narrower. Using the Theater Wide 1, 3, & 3 modes allows you the adjust the size of, or potentially elimanate, the black bars on DVD movies, but you also stretch the picture in various ways. You can find something to suit your taste.

This TV also has the ability to use the built in speakers as a center channel. This may not be ideal, but we feel it is a good interim step if one is building a system over time. Like most people, we had (and still have) a two channel stereo system. A lot of time and money went into getting that system years ago, and great sounding speakers will always sound great. Our front speakers are from that system. The rears are a set of very old bookshelf speakers. We had no center. The TW40x81's ability to work as a center has improved our current movie experience as we save for, and research a full set of matched speakers. The sound isn't as crisp and clear as a true matched center channel would be, but it's a thousand times better than not having any center speaker.

The remote. Much has been written about the remote and the delay in changing channels and monitor modes. It's a factory supplied remote. The slow changes of channels and monitor modes? Personally I find they still take less time than getting a drink, and less work than cutting and edging the grass. I can still live a happy and productive life with the way they are. The remote does have a nice backlight feature.

I would recommend purchasing Toshiba's stand with this unit. It raises the TV about 10 inches. This puts the screen at that right hight, when sitting in chairs, to get the best level of light from the tubes. We used the TV for a while without a stand and see an improvement in using one. For those of us without a workshop, the cabinet is well built, easy to assemble, and matches the design of the TV.

Similar Products Used:

None. Comparing to Sony WEGA, Proscan HD Ready monitors, JVC, & Mitsubishi projection.

Incredible Picture! Did I mention incredible picture?
Anamorphic DVDs are unbelievable.

Needs stand. A little too low to ground.

I bought the TV and a Toshiba 5109 Progressive scan DVD player together. I have not seen an equivalent picture on TVs costing $15K in Hi-Fi stores. Out of the box the picture was great, but after one run through my Video Essentials DVD, the picture was incredible! I have never seen blacks as black or colors as colorful. I waited 8 weeks for this set and it was worth every minute. I paid $2100 for this TV and it is well worth every penny. I have heard people talk about professional calibration, but I can't imagine it getting much better than it is now. Go get one if you can.

Similar Products Used:

None

Reviews

Did not work

Purchased thru ONE CALL, upon arrival the unit did not work. ONE CALL said their was nothing they could do.

Called Toshiba, They advised me to take the brand new unit to a local TV repair shop. I was extremely disapointed, especially after paying $2300.00 for the unit.

Today it sits on my office floor, awaiting for the manufacture of supplier to resolve the problem.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, RCA

16:9 ratio.

lacks picture quality compared to Direct view TVs

I want a HD ready TV with a 16:9 screen and have been looking around. The Tosh is a good looking TV, but compared to the RCA MM36100 (a direct view TV), its picture is fuzzy and the colours are not very true. The MM36100 really looks like film. It has the best picture I have ever seen. Unfortunately it is 4:3. Putting it in letterbox mode makes picture small. RCA is coming out with a 36" direct view digital TV that has a 16:9 ratio. If its picture is anything like the MM36100, all you guys who bought the Tosh are going to regret it.

Great 16:9 TV

Comsumer acessible convergence is disappointing

Fantastic product for the price. Use with component inputs for best results.

Love it but get the convergence set by a pro for best results...does need to warm up for best results but most folks will not notice.

Similar Products Used:

Sony