FAO Toshiba WLT66 (and possibly Sharp-) owners. • Non-Gaming • Science & Technology • Eurogamer.net

phAge 17 Oct 2006 13:12:48 25,487 posts
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Like previously mentioned, I'm having 2 HD-TVs over for testing this afternoon. One is the Toshiba 32WLT66, and the other is a Sharp 32GA8E.

Now, seeing as I don't have all that long to fiddle around with settings and stuff, could anyone who has one or other of the sets please post their settings (for 360 and DVD), connection method (component/VGA), and impressions of both, thus saving me valuable playing- I mean "testing" time? Muchly appreciated.

Fatfish 17 Oct 2006 13:19:49 3,377 posts
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I'd be really interested in your findings on the Toshiba. I've been thinking about picking exactly the same one up myself. It's had some blinding reviews - apparently very good image and colour reproduction with next to no ghosting. High quality panel used too.

Can you let me know what you think when you've had a look?

Ta.

Sorry, can't help with the settings though.

Huntcjna 17 Oct 2006 13:44:43 13,890 posts
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I have the 37WLT66 Toshiba and its superb, I connect the 360 through the official VGA adaptor which I feel gives a crisper image than my component cables.

DVD player wise I personally have an toshiba player that upscales through HDMI and the image is fantastic but prior to that arriving I used scart which is also bright and crisp but put to shame since the HDMI upgrade.

Also got Sky HD running on that set and its absolutely stunning and was well worth the ridiculous price I had to pay for the box and fitting because the footy looks gorgeous.

phAge 17 Oct 2006 13:51:19 25,487 posts
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Huntcjna wrote:
I have the 37WLT66 Toshiba and its superb, I connect the 360 through the official VGA adaptor which I feel gives a crisper image than my component cables.

DVD player wise I personally have an toshiba player that upscales through HDMI and the image is fantastic but prior to that arriving I used scart which is also bright and crisp but put to shame since the HDMI upgrade.

Also got Sky HD running on that set and its absolutely stunning and was well worth the ridiculous price I had to pay for the box and fitting because the footy looks gorgeous.

Hmm. I've only got what cables came with the 360 premium pack, so no VGA for me I fear. As for DVDs, I've got a non-upscaling (but still progressive) NAD T514 - how'd ya reckon that would do the Toshiba justice?

Will these limitations still enable me to get a somewhat representative picture of the 66's capabilities?

Huntcjna 17 Oct 2006 13:57:01 13,890 posts
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The component cables from the premium pack still look excellent on the tosh its just after testing the two I felt the VGA gave better colour balance so thats what I use.

A progressive DVD player will give an excellent image via scart I was tremendously happy when I had mine in there. However since upgrading to the HDMI player its a massive quality difference and is especially noticable on films like Lord of the Rings or CGI Animated features.

For me it really hit home just how good the set was while watching BBC's Planet Earth in HD the picture is flawless.

I think its excellent value for money for such a quality screen and have had no problems at all with it either.

joey 17 Oct 2006 14:00:38 297 posts
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I too have the WLT66, after may hours spent with a very nice man in Comet it came down to the connections, sound quality, design, SD performance and freeview.

I have a 360 hooked up via a MS VGA, component was good but the colours were a little to vivid. Use the 360 for DVD playback and via VGA it is very good indeed.

PS2 hooked up via the component which also works very well.

What the Tosh dose very well is cope with a poor signal, where others make a hash of SD, this does a great job. The freeview built in is excellent, we have a poor signal here and still get a great picture.

The sound at normal volumes is very good, rich with good separation.

Lastly, as it has a thin matt black surround it looks very understated, and does not dominate even in quite small rooms.

phAge 17 Oct 2006 14:01:36 25,487 posts
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Huntcjna wrote:
The component cables from the premium pack still look excellent on the tosh its just after testing the two I felt the VGA gave better colour balance so thats what I use.

A progressive DVD player will give an excellent image via scart I was tremendously happy when I had mine in there. However since upgrading to the HDMI player its a massive quality difference and is especially noticable on films like Lord of the Rings or CGI Animated features.

For me it really hit home just how good the set was while watching BBC's Planet Earth in HD the picture is flawless.

I think its excellent value for money for such a quality screen and have had no problems at all with it either.

I'll probably be running my DVD via component too (both that and the 360 will be going through my amp), so I hope it's going to look alright. The model I'm testing is actually the WL66 - i.e. no digital tuner - but I really have no need for one at the moment, so it remains to be seen how it fares with standard SD content - I'm hoping its at least bearable.

Gah - 17 o'clock can't come soon enough!

Fatfish 17 Oct 2006 14:17:27 3,377 posts
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joey wrote:
What the Tosh dose very well is cope with a poor signal, where others make a hash of SD, this does a great job. The freeview built in is excellent, we have a poor signal here and still get a great picture.

Poor signal for 'digital' TV wouldn't give a poor picture like you used to get with normal analogue. It would cause the picture to mozaic (break in to squares) or get the green/pink chequered effect. Also might notice the digital artifacts a little more.

You wouldn't see any ghosting or fuzzy image though.

Or do you mean that the digital picture is still very stable even with a poor digital signal in your area?

That's good news about the Tosh. Definitely going to be the one for me. My only real concern was what SD pictures were like via scart. I've got a Telewest box and I wasn't sure how good the feed was from it. Not going to fork out for HD channels just yet.

joey 17 Oct 2006 14:37:10 297 posts
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"Or do you mean that the digital picture is still very stable even with a poor digital signal in your area?"

Yup, been trough 3 digi boxes, all gave poor results, blocking, stalling picture, broken sound etc.

Fatfish 17 Oct 2006 14:45:57 3,377 posts
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That's promising to hear. Have you tried running a cable or sky box through it via scart? If so, what's the picture quality like.

Using it's own internal tuner is one thing - feeding a SD signal from an external box via scart is altogether different. That's what I need to know - what's the image quality like then?

rare_uk 17 Oct 2006 14:46:36 3,634 posts
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Hi mate, there was a whole thread on this on AV Forums

rare_uk 17 Oct 2006 14:47:07 3,634 posts
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rare uk wrote:
Hi mate, there was a whole thread on this on AV Forums

BTW the 32WLT66 is a top class TV. I have one and love it to bits!!

phAge 17 Oct 2006 14:47:29 25,487 posts
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Also, I've been hearing nasty things about the Toshiba making a buzzing sound when the backlight is > 100% - anyone experienced this?

phAge 17 Oct 2006 14:48:32 25,487 posts
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rare uk wrote:
Hi mate, there was a whole thread on this on AV Forums

Very cool mate - had been looking through the 101 pages of the main WLT66 thread, but hadn't spotted that one.

/jaffa

Fatfish 17 Oct 2006 15:02:34 3,377 posts
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Post deleted

prettyboytim 17 Oct 2006 16:21:15 907 posts
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I have a WL66. Now all I need is something that'll giv eit an HD source... :-P

I plan to pick up a PS2 component cable later today so at least I can watch my DVDs in 480p...

phAge 17 Oct 2006 18:33:31 25,487 posts
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/32WLT66

Wow. Just wow.

O_O

manuel_garcia 17 Oct 2006 18:41:31 4,079 posts
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I have the 32WLT66, connected up to the 360 via component. As chance would have it I was messing around with the VGA connector last night as well to see which worked best.

Bottom line, games look much better in component through this TV, but if you plan on using the 360 primarily, DVD's look 10 times better through the vga connection. So its down to what you prefer really. If you plan on watching a lot of movies through the 360, stick with VGA as it really does make a massive difference, and games still look good, just not as vibrant as component.

BTW if you go the vga route, you have to choose 1280x1024 as the resolution in the dashboard, and set it to widescreen. Then make sure the TV is in 'Wide' mode, that'll give you the best resolution out of the cable. The TV doesnt support 1280x720 via vga properly, nor does it support 1366x768 properly, you'll get bits missing off the sides or a green picture. 1280,1024 works absolutely fine though.

If you stick with component, after many hours of tweaking these are my settings:

Back light: 60
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 50
Colour: 55
Sharpness: +10
Black Stretch: Off
MPEG NR: Off
colour temp: Cool or normal depending on how i feel

I have quite a dark room though so you might have to tone it down if you have a lot of light.

Aside from that, PS2 through component looks superb, I have the N64 and dreamcast hooked up through RGB scart and both look excellent (I recommend the joytech AV center if you can get hold of one, superb switching box for about �30). Then i have the TVDrive and PC hooked up through HDMI.

Its a superb set in all honesty, the only disappointment is that the VGA input wont handle 1280x720 or 1366x768 natively. But you can get around that as above.

Edited by manuel_garcia at 18:44:40 17-10-2006

Edited by manuel_garcia at 18:45:37 17-10-2006

phAge 17 Oct 2006 18:46:38 25,487 posts
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I think I've just found my new telly.

/wanks
/furiously

Derblington 17 Oct 2006 18:54:37 35,161 posts
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You going for the Tosh?

Derblington 17 Oct 2006 18:56:54 35,161 posts
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Derblington 17 Oct 2006 18:57:37 35,161 posts
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joey wrote:
Yup, been trough 3 digi boxes, all gave poor results, blocking, stalling picture, broken sound etc.

That's what I get! Least I know the set's not broken.

prettyboytim 17 Oct 2006 19:57:37 907 posts
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Yeah, I noticed that setting my VGA res (from my computer) to 1360 x 768 seemed to result in interpolation, which is odd as that's the native resolution of the screen.

I plan to get a DVI -> HDMI cable and see how much difference that makes.

phAge 17 Oct 2006 20:15:52 25,487 posts
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Derblington wrote:
You going for the Tosh?

Most. Definitely.

Verdict (as compared to a similar-priced telly):

SD (analogue telly) - 7/10. Not great, but no worse than other tellies in the same pricerange - maybe even a smidge better.

DVD (component) - 9/10. Looks VERY good on most movies - extremely impressive black levels, not a hint of motion blur or artifacting, and colours are nice and bright, without looking fake.

Xbox 360 (component) - 10/10. Looks utterly stunning. Truly.

Overall - 9.5. Very, very impressed with this set, and the ridiculously low price means that it really is too good an offer to pass by. Fatfish - buybuybuy - I *swear* you will not be disappointed, in fact I'll bet real money that you'll love it to bits. Awesome TV.

morriss 17 Oct 2006 20:45:02 71,293 posts
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phAge wrote:

Huntcjna wrote:
I have the 37WLT66 Toshiba and its superb, I connect the 360 through the official VGA adaptor which I feel gives a crisper image than my component cables.

DVD player wise I personally have an toshiba player that upscales through HDMI and the image is fantastic but prior to that arriving I used scart which is also bright and crisp but put to shame since the HDMI upgrade.

Also got Sky HD running on that set and its absolutely stunning and was well worth the ridiculous price I had to pay for the box and fitting because the footy looks gorgeous.
Hmm. I've only got what cables came with the 360 premium pack, so no VGA for me I fear. As for DVDs, I've got a non-upscaling (but still progressive) NAD T514 - how'd ya reckon that would do the Toshiba justice?

I've got a VGA cable you can 'have'.

Like, for money.

Derblington 17 Oct 2006 20:53:38 35,161 posts
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phAge wrote:

Derblington wrote:
You going for the Tosh?

Most. Definitely.

Good stuff. I really love mine and have most enjoyed 360 gaming since I bought the set. I'm going to buy a new DVD player (upscaling) next week to make the most of my movies too.

phAge 17 Oct 2006 20:53:58 25,487 posts
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morriss wrote:

phAge wrote:

Huntcjna wrote:
I have the 37WLT66 Toshiba and its superb, I connect the 360 through the official VGA adaptor which I feel gives a crisper image than my component cables.

DVD player wise I personally have an toshiba player that upscales through HDMI and the image is fantastic but prior to that arriving I used scart which is also bright and crisp but put to shame since the HDMI upgrade.

Also got Sky HD running on that set and its absolutely stunning and was well worth the ridiculous price I had to pay for the box and fitting because the footy looks gorgeous.
Hmm. I've only got what cables came with the 360 premium pack, so no VGA for me I fear. As for DVDs, I've got a non-upscaling (but still progressive) NAD T514 - how'd ya reckon that would do the Toshiba justice?

I've got a VGA cable you can 'have'.

Like, for money.

/hug

I imagine you could well use the dosh, what with paying 2 THOUSAND quid for your magical telly an' all...

morriss 17 Oct 2006 20:54:32 71,293 posts
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How much will the Tosh cost you...?

phAge 17 Oct 2006 20:54:48 25,487 posts
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morriss wrote:
How much will the Tosh cost you...?

Little over 600.

morriss 17 Oct 2006 20:55:40 71,293 posts
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phAge wrote:

morriss wrote:
How much will the Tosh cost you...?
Little over 600.

It must be rubbish then!!!

Hope you get it mate, gimme a shout when you need the cable, it's Logitech, but it works fine.