Toshiba Regza 42ZV650U

Black Level (4.83)

The Toshiba 42ZV650U failed the black level test. There’s really no other way to put it.

This test examines how deep of a black the screen can produce—only 0.43cd/m2, in this case. You should know that the Toshiba 42ZV650U has the ability to dim the entire backlight automatically when the scene gets dark, which would have lowered this number considerably. However, we turn those settings off for calibration purposes. In addition, there’s a significant lag time before the backlight lowering takes place, so in scenes that shift rapidly between dark and bright shots, this process would never even occur.

As you can see from the chart below, it faired poorly against the competition. More on how we test black level.

Read Reviews of Comparison Products
Samsung LN40B610	Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100	VIZIO VL420M

Peak Brightness (8.87)

The Toshiba 42ZV650U produced a sufficiently bright white level for us to deem it ‘good,’ measuring 351.95 cd/m2. As you can see from the chart below, this performance is about average with the competition. Unfortunately, good peak brightness performance is probably not as important as good black level performance. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast (5.72)

The Toshiba 42ZV650U did not produce a great contrast ratio, due mostly to its poor black level performance. Take a look at the chart below. The Samsung is killing the competition mainly because of its black levels. Of course, its peak brightness is also great. The 42ZV650U was really more on par with the Vizio VL420M. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast (9.85)

The Toshiba 42ZV650U produced good, even scores on the tunnel contrast test, indicating that no matter how little black area is on the screen, the depth of that black should remain constant. This is pretty much the standard on LCD televisions. We look for problems more frequently with plasma TVs. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff (9.81)

The white falloff test, like the tunnel contrast test, is a bit of a formality for LCD televisions. We expect the Toshiba 42ZV650U and others like it to produce even white levels, even it there is only a small bit of white on the screen. It performed just fine. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity (4.50)

The Toshiba 42ZV650U has some minor issues with screen uniformity. On an all-white screen, the corners and edge of the screen brown out a little. On an all-black screen, there are some obvious blotches of lighter areas and instances of flashlighting in the corners. More on how we test white falloff.

Greyscale Gamma (9.53)

The greyscale gamma test turned out quite well for the Toshiba 42ZV650U. The curve in the graph below is quite smooth, indicating that the TV is capable is smooth, seamless transitions from dark to bright. The lower left edge of the curve has only a hint of leveling out into a horizontal line, which means that you can expect good detail in shadowy areas. The slope of the curve, 2.28, is just outside the ideal range of 2.1 – 2.2, so we’re happy enough. Well done, Toshiba. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Other Models in the xxZV650U Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.
Toshiba Regza 47ZV650U 47 in.	Toshiba Regza 55ZV650U 52 in.