Toshiba REGZA 32C3030D LCD TV

Toshiba has been a household name when it comes to electronic appliances. Although they are one of the premier manufacturer of electronic devices, they came virtually late when it comes to the HDTV market. However, with the 32-inch Toshiba REGZA 32C3030D, all these things might change. The set has an LCD panel with a resolution of 1366×768. This is currently the standard resolution for LCD TVs, and is enough to show all of the available details in a standard definition TV signal, as well as from 720p HDTV sources. 1080i and 1080p HDTV content is downscaled to fit the screen.

Connectivity-wise, there are 2 HDMI inputs, one VGA PC input, 1 RGB SCART input, another SCART input that accepts S-Video signals, and the usual one set of Component inputs. The side of the TV also features Composite Video and Stereo Audio inputs, which override the Component video input if anything is connected to them in other words, you’ll need to unplug anything from the side if you want to use the Component input.

The TV looks sophisticated and sleek with its matte black frame and pre-attached silver stand. The set is designed properly wherein no reflective materials were placed in front of the screen. The TV also swivels on the attached table-top stand, which is a useful addition. Keep in mind though that the stand has a curved shape when viewed from above, which adds to the slick appearance but may take up more space than TVs that feature square-shaped stands.

As for the 32C3030D’s performance, when using 1080i and 1080p sources, the set unsurprisingly produced high quality results. When it came to watching standard-definition interlaced video, the Regza 32C3030D does as much better a job than any LCD TV on the market. Images were sharp and completely smooth, with no jagged edges on straight lines, such as the edge of a table or programme credits. HD video also looked really good on the 32C3030D. Colours were rich and vibrant and the picture was very sharp.

Its performance as a computer monitor was also impressive, displaying a pin-sharp image at its native resolution of 1,366×768. Text was crisp and legible, whites were pure and clean and colours were deep and vibrant.

The only drawback for this HDTV is that blacks aren’t pure. It’s possible to adjust the screen by lowering the back light and brightness, but this results in a loss of detail in dark parts of an image.

Two 20W speakers are housed in a thin strip across the bottom of the display. These produce a reasonable amount of bass and are quite loud, but get painfully distorted at top volume. There’s an S/PDIF audio output and a 3.5mm jack for connecting to a sub-woofer.

All in all, the TV is quite beautiful and acceptable. Apart from the problem of getting sufficiently dark blacks, the Regza 32C3030D produced excellent image quality that most users will find sufficient.

Sources:
http://www.pixmania.co.uk
http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk
http://www.bizrate.co.uk