2008 Toshiba Cinema Regza 40, 46, 52XF550 Super Thin Bezel [no price talk]

If its anything like the RF350 set it will be a winner! I think the Toshiba RF350U is underrated. Kinda like the SeaHawks

ME WANT!

I have been eyeing the 46rf350 for some time, however the xf550 offers 5:5 pulldown, a greater contrast ratio from 10,000:1 to 15,000:1, and the 120hz. This TV is absolutely gorgeous in person, and the viewing angle given that it is a Samsung panel (I think) is excellent. I'm a value and design guy, the two S's therefore do nothing for me. I like the Toshiba a lot.

I liked the thin bezel of the rf350, hated the fact that it made the entire TV thicker than most LCD's. I plan on a wall mounting, so depth matters. Any word on the thickness of the xf550 sets?

I have a Tosh 26"er in the bedroom, it's thick at about 5", 5.5" maybe. Same goes for this 550, although the 26" looks thicker because its smaller.

If they made it slimmer we would have probably heard so in the first released specs, your options might have to lead you to a Sharp D62. Well given that Toshiba and Sharp are now partners in this game, I'm sure Sharp will start using Toshiba chips, and Toshiba will start slimming down their TV's...probably have to wait until 2009 models...and that's when the LED backlights will start to dominate and really make these TV's thinner.

I like the thin design and sunk in speakers. It's a very attractive TV.

I thought Toshiba made 42" and 47" tvs though, not 40" and 46". Or does that have to do with someone's comment about using Samsung lcd panels now?

So I was really set on buying the Samsung XX71 or XX69 last month, but have been traveling for 3-4 weeks so I didn't look into biting till after since I couldnt enjoy it anyways, also the tail end of my travels end at CES this week.

Anyways, I figured Id see how I felt after CES and hope that the 69/71 would drop in price after CES if nothing wowed me

Well the Toshibas wowed me. The 540's and 550s were both fantastic looking televisions and may have swayed my purchase towards them. Talking to the representative he said the only differences between the 540 and 550 is the thinner bezel and the 550 doesn't have the 4th HDMI port on the side. Also the 550 has better speakers according to him. Not sure if all that necessarily warrants the 300 dollar premium on the 50s over the 40s, but time will tell I suppose.

Overall the display quality was great, the 120Hz implementation looked quite nice though no sports were playing to see TBE, the colors with the wide gamut were very vibrant and the contrast ratio and 14 bit processing/10 bit panels left quite nice black levels IMO. The 6/7 Series Samsungs honestly looked equally good, but their bezels were massive, especially compared to the 550, and the quality was quite comparable. I personally liked the look of the 42" 540 alot more than the 40" 550, though the 40"550 fits into a 37in LCD's spot, and the 42 is only slightly smaller than typical 42. When it comes to the 46" and 52" though the panels were pretty much impossible to differentiate aside from the bezels.

The only thing still missing from the Toshiba's still for me is taking 1080p component, as the floor person said they still are limited to 1080i on it (though that is the max the true spec calls for). Still 3/4 HDMI ports is nice, and it might be worth selling my old 360 and grabbing an HDMI one if I had to.

Wow! Just purchased my 46RF350u about a week ago! Might want to return it and wait for the XF550 to come. I will have to talk with CC on it to see what there thoughts are on this!

CR is also wrong(borrowed from XBR). Power consumption on Sony Style for 40W3000 is 290W, but I've seen 220W as well. 40' sizes are interlaced with 52" Please clean up the mess.

hey you tool how about not spamming the forums.

I was set on getting a 350 40" size in about 6-7 months...should I wait and go for the newer ones..???

hmm...so the 540 series has a 42" model and the 550 series has a 40"? is that right??
and the 540 42" is cheaper than the 550 40"?

on the other hand, this might make the current 350 series cheap, and i can save money by getting them...

Did you get a chance to look at the blacks and see if the green issue was still present?

If I understand it correctly, the new xf550 is using Led backlight with local dimming?
Toshiba local dimming LED's

Read about the xf550 in the end of article

Seems promising .)

Janove

While Toshiba did have a local dimming LED technology demo on show at CES, very clearly above the 550 series LCD's it said "Wide Color Gamut CCFL". Not sure where that LED information came from, because 2 different Toshiba employees standing in front of the 550 also said they are completely the same as the 540 except thin Bezel and the speakers.

Thats the first article of like 20 ive read to mention the 550 having LED's, and considering the retail prices in each size of the 550's is only 300 dollars more than the 540s, I cant imagine them having LEDs at that price, though I wouldn't mind that being the case, as I think the 52XF550 might be my next TV.

If it was LED backlit I would think the press releases would hype that more. The quoted contrast ratios in all the press releases I’ve read say 15k:1 which would suggest CCFL back-light.


Also, the slide that mentions LED back light is sandwiched between two slides that discuss future (later this year?) improvements….wireless HDMI and adding/incorporating a cell processor.

The more I read the more I think Engadget inadvertently added the LED info….

If anyone is still at CES could you confirm if the XF550 is LED or CCFL backlit?

Thanks



****UPDATE**** As krotchy said no LED. LED is for "later this year"

No LED I was looking forward to it in an 52 inch SNB implementation Do they want me to wait another half a year? Too bad I need a tv soon ,or i would wait a year or two and get the new Pioneer infinite contrast ratio 9mm thick plasma.

man I don't know...the LED and all that seems like just more things making the technology even more complicated-->more things to break...
I might just look at the 540 series and RF350....and decide betw them...550 may be too $$$ in my case...

Now we need somebody to buy some of these so I can hear what they are like

AV500 series: between $429.99 and $799.99
REGZA CV510 series: $899.99 / 1,099.99
REGZA RV530 series: between $1,099.99 and $2,699.99
REGZA XV540 series: between $1,699.99 and $2,899.99
Cinema Series REGZA XF550: between $1,999.99 and $3,199.99

I'm confused. Is there a 52" 550 availble in Feb.? Its unclear reading CES. Thank god they got rid of that thick frame.

550 = February
540 = March

Re: LED BACKLIGHT => nope, SuperSam is right, they would have definately hiped the LED backlight and you would know with a crazy contrast ratio of at least 100,000:1. 15,000:1 is for sure CCFL.

KROTCHY, I'm interested in finding out if there was a quote for the native contrast ratio, with the 350 being at 2000:1, I'm wondering if they have pushed the 550 to 3000:1 to match the Sharp's.

DASHER123, the 350 will be gone if you wait 6 months, you'll be forced to buy the 550

Dragn'GT, I read somewhere the panels for the 350 series are from Samsung, you can see the difference between this series and the 177 series in the viewing angle, Tosh is definately sourcing these panels from somewhere else.

I'm concerned that the alliance with Sharp will result in banding issues migrating to Toshiba, anyone have any thoughts on this?

yeah..i know that that risk exists...although I often see older models of LCD TVs co-existing with the latest models at cc, bb etc...
but if it happens, then I will be looking at the 540 series not the 550
...either way, i think I'm glad I did not buy a LCD tv in dec. as i had planned before..

I'll be honest though, the 350 is a nice TV and if its heavily discounted post Super Bowl, you might just be able to get a steal, especially with how the economy is going in the US, CE manufacturers will be motivated to push the product.

IMO, I believe 120hz is overated and is not really a feature I am focusing on with the new Tosh 5 series. My issue with 120hz is that it really changes the nature of the viewing. I watched Pirates of the Carribean at the local Best Buy and I thought I was watching an episode of Y&R on a beach!! It looked like video vs. film. Maybe 120hz is better suited to TV? Also the difference between 10K to 1 vs 15k to 1 dynamic contrast may be negligible, especially if the true contrast is 2000:1 vs 2500:1.

I didnt hit CES today, so im not sure, but I will be going either Weds or Thurs, so if I do hit the central hall again Ill look into it.

Anyways if I remember correctly, they only listed the dynamic contrast of 15000:1 and had no mention of the Static at all. However I kind of remember seeing them mention they declare dynamic contrast to be 5x the native resolution using their engine on one of the displays showing their technology. This leads me to assume it is in fact a now 3000:1 static contrast up from 2000:1 as the dynamic went from 10K->15K.

KROTCHY, thanks for responding, I'll google and see if there is a 5x relationship of static contrast to dynamic. BUT YOU ARE TOTALLY ONTO SOMETHING BECAUSE....

Quickly went online, Tosh LX177 model has a static of 1200, dynamic of 6000, 12x5. Sharp's are 5:1 as well, Sony's are weird, the ratio on the XBR4 is 8.18:1, Quickly checked the Sharp D92 series, 15000:1 dynamic, 3000 static.

Krotchy, I think we have our answer.

Well, I purchased a 46RF350u and thinking about return it and waiting for the same in the XF but I got such a good deal at CC that it is hard for me to justify the return. I got it at $1,800 before taxes; and if I purchase the new model it around $2,500. Also, I really like my HDTV and watched football and sports and did not find a need for the 120hz nor do I need the improve speakers(adding a HK speaker package with 200 watt subwoofer) or the improve contrast of 15K:1. To me; the current model meets my needs. I guess I could go for the 52" but that around $3,200.00 Almost double of the current price I paid!

So I like the new features but it really is not worth the effort for me to exchange them. I will look into a 40" XF or RF for the bedroom depend on the price of each however!

I guess you have to draw the line between need and features!

I thinking about just keep it!

$1800, great price man, enjoy!!

No matter what set/brand you go with now, something will come out thats better within time, very little time by the looks of things. I plan on enjoying this set, as long as it will last, and see whats new when the time comes.

Its hard to imagine where TVs will be in say 10 years? Let alone the price.

I agree, I'll pull the trigger on the 550, and the 750 with LED backlighting will be introduced 2 months later! And I'm fussin over a native contrast of 3000 vs 2000 and one with a 100000:1 is the released!!

I think we can all agree, its the form factor that draws us to this TV, it looks 1000 times better than Sonysung thick bezels and I could really care less how thick the TV is going to be as it has to reside in a cabinet.