Toshiba launches Regza ZF series upscaling televisions

28 August 2008 10:57 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Toshiba has announced the European launch of the new Regza ZF series that the company says is the first-ever TV range to offer integrated image up-conversion capabilities for what the company claims is perfect for the 99% of standard definition content that is available to European consumers.

Announced during the company's press conference at IFA, Alan Thompson, executive vice president Europe, kicked off by saying that the future for Toshiba, "does not involve Blu-ray disc".

Briefly touching on the demise of HD DVD, and reiterating that it was not the technology that was at fault but the content providers that made the decision, Thompson stated: "If people have Blu-ray that's fine, but we are going to show you don't need it".

Following the launch of the XDE upscaling DVD player, the Regza ZF series features Toshiba’s "Resolution+" technology, which uses a cell processor algorithm to provide greater image detail that claims to upscale standard definition sources by up-converted to "near HD" quality with the boast that images are crisper and richer in detail.

On the tech side of things, Toshiba says that an integrated "powerful" processor reviews adjacent areas of an image, determining waveforms of a similar nature and combine pixel information to enhance edge detail and improve the perceived depth and texture within the final picture.

All models in the new ZF range feature full 1920 x 1080p HD panels, with full support for 24fps and aside from the upscaling abilities, the company says the ZF series is Toshiba’s most advanced LCD TV range yet with Toshiba's Active Vision M100 HD 100Hz picture processing, which offers 5:5 pulldown sequencing that by inserting an intermediate image between frames, that doubles the overall image refresh rate.

Other features include 10-bit colour processing, Dynamic Contrast ratios of 30,000:1, 6ms response time, brightness of cd/m² 500, Dolby Digital Plus, NICAM Stereo and SRS WOW, integrated digital tuner, four HDMI ports, SCART, S-Video and PC input.

The Regza ZF series will be available in 40- and 46-inch screen sizes. UK availability and pricing for the new range has yet to be confirmed with regional announcements expected nearer to the time of launch.