While Sony have long been considered the leading manufacturer of mid-range LCDs, Toshiba’s most recent releases have put some serious challenges ahead of the Japanese technology giant. Is the 32RV635 another low-end HDTV or something a little more substantial?
Toshiba’s latest mid-sized HDTV is the 32” RV635 – a 1080p consumer television designed to provide the ultimate in picture quality and smoothness at a buyer-friendly price. At just £365, the 32RV635 is one of Toshiba’s most competitively priced HDTVs, and in fact one of the least expensive full-HD television sets on the market.
So what sets this high quality HDTV apart from its competition? Besides its slick design, the 32RV635 houses all of Toshiba’s standard high-end features. The Active Vision System and Toshiba’s own Resolution+ image upscaling technology is included in the mid-sized HDTV, ensuring that standard definition content appears smooth, sharp, and highly visible.
These technological inclusions make the 32RV635 a fantastic TV for watching standard definition movies and programming. With the majority of HDTV owners lacking the technology required to play full-HD movies and digital content, the inclusion of Resolution+ makes the 32RV635 an ideal display for most content.
As an HDTV, the 32RV635 fares equally well. Despite the low price point, Toshiba have created a television and display unit that’s just as capable as their high-end models. Picture quality is incredibly defined and clear, with background details showing up in crystal clear high definition. The ‘grey blacks’ – a common problem amongst low-end displays, is a non-issue on the 32RV635, which displays dark tones in their full deep detail.
Four HDMI port are installed in the TV’s control panel, ensuring that even the most tech-crazy gamer will be able to connect their components without having to switch between input channels. Display from the HDMI connections is uninterrupted and thankfully lacking in disruption or static – a relatively common problem amongst low-price HDTVs and displays.
Of course, the 32RV635 isn’t without its issues. The display’s construction is notably thin, resulting in sound output that’s tinny at best and reminiscent of a WWII radio at worst. While television programming is largely unaffected by the built-in speakers, the lacking audio quality is noticeable when viewing DVD or Blu-ray content.
Motion blur is also an issue, especially while viewing full-HD content and Blu-ray movies. Blur is unnoticeable during standard definition content, but when pushed to its limits it’s clear that the 32RV635 wasn’t designed as an ultra-high quality cinematic display. However, for everyday use it’s unlikely that the motion blurring will have any negative effects.
The 32RV635 is clearly designed to cater to the lower end of the technology market, and for a budget television it certainly achieves its goals with flying colours. Image quality is superb for a television of its price, and the inclusion of four HDMI ports makes configuring devices and inputs simple.
For a high quality display with very few shortcomings, all available at a bargain price, the 32RV635 is definitely the model to look for. Sony’s Bravia just lost its top spot – the 32RV635 is our 32 inch budget HDTV of choice.
