Review: Toshiba ZV635 / ZV650
Toshiba ZV635 / ZV650 review
Toshiba ZV635 was announced in late 2009 and became available in most countries in the beginning of 2010. ZV635 is a mid-range TV and features a Meta Brain picture circuit, 200/240 Hz (in USA) and a new design.
But can Toshiba compare with brands such as Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic on the TV market today? And is ZV635 worth the price in the mid-range market? Read the full FlatpanelsHD review to find out.
Toshiba ZV635 is available in 42, 47 and 55 inches called 42ZV635, 47ZV635, and 55ZV635. In USA the TV is called ZV650 but features a 240 Hz circuit instead.
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Panel size: 42" widescreen (LCD) Resolution: 1920x1080 Response time: 8 ms Contrast ratio: 100.000:1 (dynamic) Brightness: 500 cd/m2 Color support: 16,7 million colors Signal processing: 8 for each color Viewing angles (H/V): 178/178 Dot pitch: - Panel type: LCD (IPS) Wall mounting: Swivel stand: Dimensions (HxWxD): 66.5cm x 105.8cm x 9.4cm (without stand) Weight 23.0 kg Built-in speakers: Input formats: 480p/i, 576p/i, 720p, 1080i & 1080p (50, 60 & 24p) Inputs • VGA • DVI (can be converted through HDMI)
• Audio (type) (Audio in/out)
• SCART • S-video • Composite • Component • HDMI • Andet Ouputs • Audio (type) • SCART • S/PDIF Tuners • Analog • DVB-T • DVB-T (MPEG4) • DVB-C • DVB-C (MPEG4) • DVB-S • DVB-S (MPEG4) • Other Price and retailer:
| US retailer (ZV650 in US, but with 240 Hz) | UK retailer |
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Our first impressions
Toshiba ZV635 has a wide bezel in glossy plastic. The bezel is black but at the edges it fades into a lighter shade of the grey.
The stand is oval and allows users to rotate the TV.
The frame is quite deep and not nearly as slim as the new LCD-TVs with LED backlight.
Inputs are located on the back and pointing towards the back wall. This is a problem if you want to wall mount the TV.
The Toshiba logo on the bottom of the frame is lit.
Test tools
Our TV signal is DVB-S (satellite) from Canal Digital and DVB-T (terrestrial). We also have an analogue TV connection. Testing is done with the DVE (digital video essentials) and Peter Finzel test DVD. Testing is also done with DVD, TV, Blu-Ray and Mediacenter/PC.We use our own monitorTest. The software supports some of the traditional test patterns used to evaluate displays as well as some new and unique test patterns developed by the people here on FlatpanelsHD.
Sony PlayStation 3 is our Blu-Ray player.
All contrast measurements are based on the ANSI methodology.
Functionality
The remote control can be seen below. It’s made from a dark grey material with silver grey plastic on the sides.
The buttons are large and logical but the remote feel a bit cheap and lacks weight.
Toshiba has not incorporated features such as DLNA and Internet. ZV635 is pretty much just a TV without all the fancy stuff. It does feature USB input for media, though. ZV635 also has a SD card reader that can run a slideshow from your camera's SD card.
We found some advanced calibration setting option in the menus. From here you can adjust; backlight, contrast, brightness, colour, tint, sharpness, colour temperature, auto brightness, active backlight control, black/white level, static gamma, noise reduction and RGB (red, green, blue).
Toshiba also lets you choose from these picture presets: Standard, Movie, Game, PC, AutoView, and Dynamic.
Energy consumption
Energy consumption on 42ZV635 has been measured below.| Out-of-Box (gns) | After calibration | |
| Standby | 0,1 W | 0,1 W |
| SD | 139 W | 118 W |
| HD | 139 W | 118 W |
After my calibration energy consumption on the 42-inch version of 42ZV635 is 118 W. This is high compared to most new LCD-TVs with LED that typically consumes half of this.
Also, please note that the flat panel TVs uses less power after calibration. This is common on flat panel displays because many picture parameters are reduced during calibration.
Calibration on Toshiba ZV635
I did a picture measurement on 42ZV635 out-of-box without adjusting picture parameters in the default picture mode.
The graph says this:
The number on the left is the delta value. Delta is a difference between two factors; here it’s the difference between the measured color on the panel and the actual color that is our target.
Before calibration ZV635 has a too oversaturated picture with wrong gamma and a bit too high color temperature.
The graph suggests a 2.2 gamma which is our reference but this is an average value. Gamma actually rises from 1.8 in bright shades to 2.5 in dark shades. This means that bright colors are too bright and dark colors are too dark.
The color temperature is 7716 Kelvin. Our target is 6500 Kelvin meaning that Toshiba ZV635 has a slightly too bluish and cold picture in the default picture mode but this is pretty normal with LCD-TVs.
I selected the Movie picture preset, performed a picture calibration and took a new measurement.
The movie mode improves picture accuracy but I wasn't able to perfect gamma on ZV635. The calibration settings options do not provide the right tools to do so and the movie mode insists on using a skewed gamma curve.
Gamma varied from 2.0 on bright grey tones to 2.5 on dark grey tones. On the graph above you can see that the grey shades are not very accurate and this is an effect of the wrong gamma. It also suggests that shadow detailing is not great. I'll get back to that later on.
I was able to improve color accuracy a bit and got pretty close to our 6500 Kelvin reference but ZV635 never gave us a great result.
Below you can see my picture settings after calibration.
| After calibration | |
| Picture mode: | Movie |
| Backlight | 50 |
| Contrast | 70 |
| Brightness: | 0 |
| Colour: | 0 |
| Tint: | 0 |
| Sharpness | 0 |
| 3D colour management | Off |
| Auto Brightness Sensor | On/off |
| Active Vision M200 | On/Off |
| Active Backlight Control | Off |
| Back/White level | 0 |
| Static Gamma | -10 |
| MPEG NR | Off |
| DNR | Off |
| Colour Temperature | 4 |
| Red-Offset | 1 |
| Green-Offset | -1 |
| Blue-Offset | 0 |
| Red-gain | 5 |
| Green-Gain | -7 |
| Blue-Gain | -1 |
I reduced backlight, optimizing Toshiba ZV635 for viewing in dark environments. For daytime viewing you might prefer a higher backlight value to ensure more light from the TV, or enable the auto brightness sensor.
I had to reduce contrast a bit and change static gamma in the advanced menu in order to get closer to our 2.2 gamma but I never managed to get it right. Toshiba does not provide us with the right tools to do so.
Picture quality on Toshiba ZV635
Toshiba ZV635 has a matte LCD panel and therefore it has no serious issues with reflections from windows and lamps in the room. A lot of the new models such as the LG LE8500 has front glasses that gives a lot of reflections.
SD quality is not impressive. The panel lacks details and the dark colors are washed out. Black looks washed out suggesting that black levels are not very deep. I'll get back to that later. De-interlacing is not handled very well and I experienced jaggies and some other artifacts. Scaling is not very good either.
HD is better but the washed out dark tones are pulling the overall picture quality down. Detailing is fair but certainly not as high as with some of the new 2010 models from Samsung, LG and Sharp that we recently tested.
Color reproduction is mediocre. Color gradation is mediocre and worse than with most other new LCD-TVs. Bright colors are handled well but dark and semi-dark colors are not reproduced well and we saw some bands in our gradient tests and also some minor banding.
The colors are not very accurate either because of the wrong gamma that the movie picture preset did not manage to fix. Movie picture presets are typically better for critical viewing but on ZV635 this mode is not convincing.
Motion, on the other hand, is handled well. Motion resolution is not perfect but Toshiba ZV635 is doing well and better than most LCD-TVs. I see very subtle trailing and blurring on motion but response time is one of ZV635's strengths.
This also allows you to use the TV for gaming but you need to deactivate the frame interpolation (Hz system) to reduce input lag.
ZV635 also has Toshibas Resolution+ technology. This is supposed to enhance picture detailing but basically it just adds artificial sharpness to the image; similar to the sharpness setting option found on most TVs today. On weak analogue signals and some SD feeds you might want to enable this but for HD content you should really turn it off.
The frame interpolation (Active Vision M200) system is fair. It provides a smoother picture without the artificial video-like feel that plagues some frame interpolation systems. It ensures a slightly higher motion resolution and enables smoother motion. I recommend keeping it on for most SD content but for 1080p24 with Blu-Rays you need to turn it off.
Below I have measured black reproduction and the contrast ratio on ZV635.
| Out-of-Box | After calibration | |
| Black level | 0.32 cd/m2 | 0.23 cd/m2 |
| Brightness | 218 cd/m2 | 131 cd/m2 |
| Contrast ratio | 681:1 | 570:1 |
Contrast ratio +/- 50
After calibration I measured black to 0.23 cd/m2 which is disappointing. This is not nearly as good as other 2009 and 2010 LCD models that typically achieves 0.08-0.05 cd/m2 black. This is also visible in practice and ZV635 displays black as dark grey instead of actual black. This is not very good and makes the picture appear washed out – especially in the evening or in very dimly lit rooms.
For comparison Samsung’s B7000 range from 2009 had a 0.05 cd/m2 black level.
Shadow detailing is fair but the dark shades really lack some depth and intensity because of the weak black reproduction. Most grey tone steps are distinguishable but the dark colors on are just not deep enough and look washed out.
I finally examined ZV635 for clouding / backlight bleeding issues. Below you can see the TV in a completely dark room.
Toshiba 42ZV635 has some visible clouding as the image above suggests, for example in the lower right corner. This is not good.
PC and Media Center
Toshiba ZV635 has a 1920x1080 but no 1:1 pixel mapping. If I tried to input a 1920x1080 signal from af PC or Mediacenter, through HDMI the TV told me the resolution was unsupported.Via D-SUB (VGA) I did manage to get 1920x1080 inputs through but it was certainly not 1:1 pixel mapping. When I moved the mouse to the edges of the screen the picture would scroll as if it was zoomed in.
Viewing angles
The viewing angles are mediocre. Pictures start to get washed out from 40+ angles and contrast is also reduced from angles. Black depth suffers from this and if you move your head to the side the already weak black levels gets even worse. The TV also has a minor purple tint from angles which is a characteristic of the IPS panel technology.I have taken a picture of the viewing angles below.
And one displaying the change in contrast.
Sound quality
Sound quality is better than on most TVs today. The deep frame allows Toshiba to get some more depth and bass into the cabinet. The sound does not feel as close like on some of the new very thin TVs. Voices are distinct, too. This is positive.Sound quality is not fantastic but better than on most of the new flat panel TVs today. However, for movies and music I still recommend a separate speaker system.
Conclusion
Toshiba ZV635 has no internet functionality or DLNA like most of the 2009/2010 models from the other large manufacturers but it features a USB input and SD card reader. The frame is very deep and most inputs are pointing backwards making wall mounting difficult.Toshiba 42ZV635 does not impress us in terms of picture quality. On the pro side we have the fast response time and motion handling but ZV635 struggles with some clouding issues and black depth is weak. We measured 0.23 cd/m2 after calibration which is far from most other new TVs from other manufacturers. Dark colors are just not reproduced very well on ZV635.
HD was fair but SD suffered from loss in detail. Overall picture quality is a bit washed out and undetailed.
Toshiba 42ZV635 comes at the same price as many other mid-range TVs and in my opinion you can get TVs with better picture quality in this price range.
Toshiba ZV635 is available in 42, 47 and 55 inches called 42ZV635, 47ZV635, and 55ZV635.
| Pros | Cons | Target group |
| Response time | Black level | Living room |
| Frame interpolation Hz system | Clouding | Smaller rooms |
| Inaccurate colors and gamma | ||
| Viewing angles | ||
| Inputs facing backwards | ||
| No 1:1 pixel mapping |
Price and retailer:
| US retailer | UK retailer |
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