Toshiba 32WLT66 HD ready LCD television

Toshiba go for connectivity with its WLT66 range

Reviewer: Stuart Miles
Review Date: 1 August 2006
Manufacturer: Toshiba
Price as reviewed: £750
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8/10

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Full Review

1 August 2006 - Toshiba's latest HD Ready Picture Frame LCD TVs stand out from the crowd by offering two HDMI inputs and an integrated digital tuner for access to over 30 extra Freeview channels.

Offering a sharp black design rather than the previous customary grey, the television features a heavy black frame with the speakers mounted underneath. A panel of controls has been tucked in to the design and there is the odd flash of silver trim to give it some bling.

Out back and the Toshiba offers plenty of connections. Two scart, two HDMI and a side component for plugging in camcorders or video game consoles.

Connection-wise the WLT66 offers a good feature set especially when you consider that most of the competition are still only offering one HDMI slot as standard.

The two sockets mean that early adopters will be able to plug in their Sky HD box, upscale their DVD player or be ready for the HD-DVD or Blu-ray players when they eventually land on our shores.

Likewise the built-in digital tuner means that your stand or wall is box free, as well as saving you an additional £30 buying a Freeview box to bolt-on just to watch television when the Government switches off the analogue signal in a couple of years time.

Get past the added features of the screen, and the picture quality is good. Resolution of the 32 inch model is up to 1366 x 768 pixels and the contrast of the images - especially the blacks - are very good too.

As for the remote, all the main functions are here and Toshiba even allow couch potatoes to use the remote for the company's range of DVD Players as well.

The only criticism we had of the Toshiba 32WLT66 against other models from competing manufacturers like Samsung, Sony and Philips was that the viewing distance - i.e. the distance between you and the screen - was slightly greater. On the 32 inch model we tested, we found that this optimum distance was around 3meters (9 ft), the same as a Samsung 42-inch model we've also got on test.

Verdict

The "feature set" for the Toshiba WLT66 is very impressive and it makes it a strong contender over other models available on the market if you are looking for connectivity. We especially like the inclusion of two HDMI slots and the integrated digital tuner. The HDMI slots for connecting an upscaling DVD player and the other to allow you to plug in Sky HD without having to worry about investing in an amp that offers multiple HDMI pass through.

If connectivity is your game, this is one to check out.

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