Toshiba REGZA 47HL167 47-inch 1080p LCD HDTV
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Features
• 47" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio)
• built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required)
• built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required)
• CineSpeed LCD panel (1920 x 1080 pixels) |
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Toshiba REGZA 47HL167 47-inch 1080p LCD HDTV Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Great picture, but a few flaws
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I am pretty happy with the Regza 47HL167 that I purchased a couple of months ago. I read the 2008 Consumer Reports rating and agree with the ratings for the most part. Overall, the TV can be an excellent value, and possesses picture quality capabilities that exceed several other more expensive brands. It has plenty of inputs for various devices and is easy to operate. It has a severely limited viewing angle that should be considered carefully by some potential buyers and that is the primary reason that I cannot give it a "five star" rating. I would probably recommend the Samsung LNT 4661 for those who are willing to spend a little more money or hunt for a bargain. It has "as good" or better picture quality and a better viewing angle. A comparable Sony will cost at least $400 more than the 47HL167 and you may not notice any difference in picture quality.
The picture quality is very good with Standard Definition (SD) DVD's, and excellent with High Definition PC video files and Satellite TV broadcasts (HDTV). I do not have a Over The Air (OTA) TV or HD/BluRay DVD player connected, but would assume the picture quality will only improve with the higher quality content DVD's. However, almost always the picture fades significantly as you move past the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock positions (with the TV located at 6 o'clock), or 135 degree points if you prefer. For those with a shallow viewing distance, but wide room, I recommend that you steer clear of the 47HL167. The limited viewing angle is very noticeable to me and was cited by Consumer Reports. Imagine my surprise that hardly any Amazon reviews mention it.
The colors are very vivid and the 47HL167 has numerous adjustments to help each viewer satisfy their own preference. The blacks are very good and I recommend that you ignore concerns about the black quality of LCD versus Plasma. Assuming that the Plasma TV offers a darker black as some have noted, it is marred by the fact that Plasmas will reflect light from darker screen shots. In fact, the displays at the major retail stores illustrate this phenomenon very readily with multiple TV's broadcasting the same scene. The LCD TV's show no glare from lighting what-so-ever. All of the Plasmas show reflection from the store lighting during dark scenes. I suspect that those who have encountered problems with "Green or Blue Push" have not adjusted the settings to their likings, or might possibly have defective sets. I have not noted any "color issues", though the 47HL167 does have setting modes labeled "Cool, Medium, and Warm" which can render the overall color in the direction of blue or green.
Also, the picture does not suffer from artifacts or distortion of any kind. Fast moving action scenes are rendered without flaw. No dead pixels have been observed. The screen is easy to clean.
The sound quality is fine. Bass and Treble can be adjusted and the unit also has three separate adjustments for Surround Effects. For movies I turn to my Stereo system to provide sound, but for most broadcasts I find the TV speakers suitable. I prefer the Bass setting at its highest point and observe no distortion or muddiness that a poorly adjusted subwoofer delivers. For those who plan to use the 47HL167's Optical output with a Surround stereo receiver, make note that digital surround can only be achieved with OTA broadcasts, not with inputs from cable, DVD, Satellite, PC, etc...
The 47HL167 is very affordable though you'll see it listed as high as $2,100. There have been several special sales on this TV, so keep an eye out, your wallet in your pocket or purse, and you'll likely save money. Best Buy was discounting the unit to $1,299 when I purchased. So I took their sales ad to Circuit City for a 10% price match discount and three-year, no-interest financing. It set me back $1,279 instead of the standard Circuit City price of $1,499.
The 47HL167's remote control works fine for me. It is larger than any remote I have used in the past, but that does not seem to cause any significant problem. The buttons are white and silver and the remote a dark color, but you won't be able see the buttons with the lights turned out. The remote seems very well built judging by the feel when pressing the buttons. I use the remote to operate my Dishnetwork Satellite DVR and Sony DVD player and was able to find the codes and program the remote by simply looking in the 47HL167's User Manual. The remote does not have the "commercial skip" function that comes in very handy with recordings or "paused" TV. I have not tried to use it to control my HP HTPC DVD player or Media Center software.
The TV has several inputs including the noteworthy 3 HDMI inputs. You will not want to use the analog or S-video inputs, if you care about video quality. I have not hooked my video camera up to the TV, but observed the poor quality with S-video connections to a PC and Satellite DVR. Obviously, this TV is built for digital connections and I would highly recommend using DVI or HDMI cables over analog, S-video, and even Component cables. There was a marked increase in color quality when I swapped from Component to DVI connection to my HTPC. For those Home Theatre Computer owners who plan to use DVI adapters, beware that you may lose access to other HDMI inputs. The HDMI inputs are close together and the width of the DVI male connector and corresponding adapter will block the adjacent HDMI input(s). I recommend using a special cable that transitions from a DVI connector on one end to HDMI on the other. It will cost only a few dollars more than an adapter, if you purchase a three or six foot cable.
Also note that the 47HL167 will need about 15 seconds to power up, if you have it in the power saving mode. Attempts to switch to my DVR before the TV is fully powered brings up a blank screen, and furthermore, if you continue to press remote buttons in attempts to resolve the problem, a loud pop is emitted from the speakers. At this point you'll have to shut off the TV. You must first wait several seconds until the power light on the TV stops flashing yellow and is green before switching to an input. An alternative is to put the TV on a power mode setting that starts it more quickly and prepare for a higher electric bill, since the TV will be using power continuously.
I would like to make a few comments for those that are looking to purchase a Widescreen High Definition TV and need a few pointers to decide. I highly recommend the avsforum website for those who want to delve a little into the issue. Though I may occasionally refer to the 47HL167, my comments do not reflect any shortcomings in the Toshiba Regza specifically, and may help you decide which model to buy and whether to buy at all.
Foremost, the new HDTV's can render beautiful pictures so that even a self-proclaimed audiophile such as me is spending far more time viewing than listening these days. However, there are some aspects to HDTV viewing that will be disappointing for some. Expect to live with black borders on the screen or a stretched and distorted picture. There are numerous screen "aspect ratios" though you will commonly see 16:9 and 4:3 listed. Those ratios are referring to screen size, not the ratio that will be projected on the screen by your DVD, OTA broadcast, Cable box, etc... Most of the DVD's that you pick up at the rental shop or buy from Amazon are formatted for the Theatre "widescreen" (roughly 2.35:1), which does not correspond with 16:9, and so the Widescreen will display black bars at the top and bottom of your TV. The 47HL167 has three Theatre mode settings which stretch and/or crop the picture and fill the screen, but I personally find the picture almost always to appear distorted and prefer the black bars.
Most "Widescreen TV" broadcasts (approximate ratio 1.76:1) will fill the screen entirely. Some leave thin black borders at the sides or top and bottom, but not nearly as wide as 4.3 and Movie formats. The trickier issue is the formatting of Television broadcasts that change depending on the program that you are watching. I don't mind that commercials often vary in the screen size format, however, the few channels, such as Dish's "the History Channel HD" and Channel 46, that broadcast some programs in a reduced widescreen format which display black bars at the top and bottom, and both sides is annoying. As I said, the 47HL167 has three "Theatre Wide" settings as well as Native, 4.3:1, Full, and Natural modes to fill the screen and they are accessible with a single remote button. It also has an auto aspect ratio setting which will provide no help for these issues. However, when altering the original ratios with any particular setting, the picture loses clarity, skin tones become pasty, and people/object proportions are not correct. Though I am averse to these alterations, three of my coworkers don't mind at all the effects on their 32" and 42" screens. Yet, they didn't even notice the black bars on their screens until I pointed out that stretching and cropping is the only way to eliminate the black bars. A coworker who had owned her Sony 42" LCD for over two years, approached me a week after our conversation, and confessed that she saw "black bars" for the first time, when watching the movie Dances with Wolves!!! So judge for yourself and keep in this mind when determining what screen size to purchase. A 42" widescreen TV which may seem to be about the same height as the old 27" inch TV, but much wider, may in fact give you a smaller picture in some cases.
A final note, those who plan to watch Standard Definition TV the vast majority of the time will probably be disappointed with picture quality of an HDTV and especially if using a device connected by anything less than composite (RGB) cables. SDTV quality is fine when at its best and fairly bad with other broadcasts. DVD's look great and High Definition content is awesome. HDMI and DVI cables are well worth the expense.
In summary, I highly recommend the Toshiba Regza for those that view the TV from within the limited viewing angle, want enhanced quality when viewing DVD's, and/or plan to watch High Definition content. I believe you will be very disappointed, and definitely will experience poor picture quality, if you try to view the picture while sitting in the wrong position, or use substandard connections and watch primarily SDTV. If low price is priority, the Olevia and Vizio are fairly competitive. If picture quality is most important, but at a cost under $2,000, then Samsung has the best TV. Reliability seems to be up for grabs in the long run, but Toshiba and its Regza have not been problematic when compared with other manufacturers and models, and definitely a flat panel is more reliable than the Rear Projection TV. Hope this helped.
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Toshiba REGZA 47HL167 47-inch 1080p LCD HDTV home electronics.