Srt on the toshiba 52xv545u and 52xv535u

I don't own either set (I have an XF550) but I would caution you to take CNet's reviews with a grain of salt. Their scoring this year has been all over the place, and in general the reviewers don't like edge enhancement of any kind (see their review of Toshiba's XDE upconverter).

Many other reviewers have been much more positive about SRT.

So far I have enjoyed the SRT feature on my 46xv545u. Would I say I am blown away by it..no probably not, but it is a nice added feature. First of all I will say the native upscaler in the TV is already pretty good, as good as I have seen and I was impressed with it when I saw my SD channels as I was very worried about them. So put SRT on top of that and you have yourself a TV with probably about as good as SD will look on a HD TV.

It obviously isn't going to do miracles on 480 material so don't expect "near HD quality" with that particular input quality. But I think it does good enough of a job that it would put this tv above most others out there in terms of SD quality. It definitely does better with certain feeds over others (I just mean some 480 feeds are better than others). You will see a difference when you turn it on and off. With the correct settings I think it bring just enough enhancement in without going into the too sharp range. Another example would be with my Wii. The picture is pretty good without srt, but with srt on it gives it just enough enhancement to make it look damn good and make it pop.

I think one of the keys to getting nice results with this (and one of a couple things I bet the cnet fellas didn't do) is to turn down the regular sharpness and let srt do the work. SRT does a better job than the regular sharpness, so you don't want to put one on top of another. This is somewhat of a bummer if you like your sharpness higher with your HD channels, because then you would have to adjust it all the time. However, I just find a happy medium and set my sharpness like 15-20, so it provides for not oversharpening the SD channels and giving just a bit to the HD channels. Personally I like mode 2 with a level of 2-3. As long as my sharpness is low, I usually go with the level at 3. I wouldn't recommend anything above 3, because even if the sharpness is low and you start to go in the 4-5 level range as it starts to get too messy/jaggy (again this is regarding 480 input from SD channels, regular dvd you may be able to get away with a higher level).

Honestly I can't give much of a review on SRT with dvd's I really only tested it once and it seems to do a as good job if not better than my panny bd35 player. Without testing it more it is hard to say, but I would probably lean toward the srt because you have more options to adjust the scaling to how you like it. Its nice to have the extra option of choosing what I want to do my upscaling. The panny will just scale with no adjustment. I still need to try it against my AVR254's scaling, but I have a feeling srt would beat it as well.

So overall its a good feature, I am glad to have it. I don't think I would solely buy a TV just because it had this feature, especially if you think you are going to get HD quality out of SD channels. But fortunately Toshiba xv's have an excellent PQ with HD and its a great value. So with the added srt to give you nice SD, it makes it a steal!

That's interesting about SRT. I've got the rv535 and I tried to set it last night but it's grayed out, and I have the picture mode set to "Preferences". Can't figure out why it won't let me get to it to set it, and the manual isn't any help.

TheaterLock on?

From what I've seen so far SRT works fairly well.

To say the SRT feature is just a simple edge enhancer is a bit of an understatement.
I believe Toshibas SRT feature is a little more elegant then that. In fact, that was the deal breaker for me between the Samsung and Toshiba… Well done Toshiba!!
I found the SRT cleaned up the overall picture quit well in fact. HD it’s not, but it is a substantial improvement over SD signals. So many manufacturers throw a lot of useless features around to try to persuade you to buy their product but I honestly think Toshiba really did a lot of R&D to get this SRT as close to perfect as you can considering what source material you have to work with. To call it an edge enhancer is a bit of a slap in the face. Perhaps Toshiba needs to spend a little less money on R&D and more money on advertising over there at CNET!

Nope, as far as I know TheaterLock is off because I can change anything else in the Video menu, but I'll check when I get home? I do have it set to TheaterWide 1 and Autoview is NOT on, so I don't know what's locking me out of SRT.

What signal is coming in? If it is 1080i or 1080p SRT does not apply.

Just talked to Toshiba tech services. He told me since I had Time Warner HD cable box set to 1080i, the 535 knows to disable the SRT feature...the up-conversion is already being done better by the HD cable conversion (his words). So, that answers my question...sort of.

I asked him about firmware updates for the 535, or any of the later models. Basically he did a verbal dance and told me IF any would be released they would notify the registered owners...I had the "green over-staturation" thing in my mind when I asked.

As Tree Dude said as long as its a 1080 signal coming in, you can't turn it on. But as soon as you switch to any SD channels the signal should switch to a 480 signal. I have TW as well, they don't upconvert there standard channels, so the SRT should work with those.

I am using a 46rv535u (got it recently) and id have to agree with the consensus here that srt is improving the picture. Im coming from a 37" philips lcd. To me the sd channels look almost dvd quality. The less compressed channels (like hbo etc) look very good.

I have to do some more comparisons of how it handles dvds. I have a pioneer dv-400. Im hoping I will notice some improvement there as well. Ill have to turn the upconverting down a bit to 720p (in dvd player settings) to see if it looks better.

Okay, maybe I'm missing something here. I have my T/W cable box set to process/upconvert 1080i only, which as I understand it means all channels will be a 1080i digital signal coming from the cable input (I think that's what the tech told me), and the rv535 doesn't care what channel I have it on, SRT is still not available because the cable input is already 1080i so there's no need.

So having said that, I'm confused with you saying I still have the ability to turn SRT on for SD channels since I've been trying to set SRT on SD channels. It won't work if you're upconverting from the cable HD box, because there won't be anything less than 1080i signal, correct? I could have missed something in the translation.

You can turn off the upconversion on your HD box and let the TV do it instead. It should be in the settings.

Which would be the better option? And, what would I look for in the cable remote settings...the same place where I set the 480/720/1080 signal?

Actually, the Toshiba tech told me to let the cable box do the work, set it to 1080i and it's looking the best it's been since I've had it...very crisp and colorful. I think if I set it to 480 the tv would treat the SD channels just like the 480 they are and I would get no up-conversion at all where the cable box is forcing it.

I think you mean de-interlace , not upconvert...

hi guys, what exactly does "srt" mean for example "Srt on the toshiba 52xv545u and 52xv535u" thanks!

I own a 42XV545U and have had some pretty good results. Comedy Central (which does not have HD) looks pretty dang sharp. Thankfully many of the stations I normally watch are now broadcast in HD so I don't really flip to non-HD stations. A college basketball game I wanted to watch was on a non-HD station last weekend and i thought SRT did an excellent job. It's not great on everything - Fox (regular) didn't seem all that great but I watch it in HD so it's not a big issue.

Let's just say it's a feature I'm glad is there - and it's more than just the gimmick that CNET's review says it is. It can make a difference but sometimes there are just really bad 480i signals that it can't improve.

hey guys, i would like to ask you guys a questions. do you guys have any regrets buying the Toshiba 42XV545U? if i gave you the same amount of money that you spend on your Toshiba 42XV545U, would you get it again or would you choose another model. (42" LCD)

thanks!

Probably not - quality and features for the price really seems unbeatable. Part of me is curious about how a Samsung LN40A650 would look in my apartment but I thought the Toshiba picture quality was better, the Samsung's glossy screen to be too reflective and the internet link a fairly valueless feature unless they really pump in some worthwhile content (uh, I can use my computer to check the news/weather) and of course it's 2 inches smaller. Sometimes I honestly have to remind myself of how good the quality is. I need to look at other LCD TVs to remind myself just how good the Toshiba is.

If you haven't purchased yet, check out Amazon.com - they have a phenomenal price (and generally, unless you're in NY or NJ) you won't pay shipping or tax.