Misc

Review: Toshiba 40RL858B

Overview and featuresBeing first out of the blocks is important in the world of consumer tech, but the most successful gadgets tend to be carefully thought out responses to what's already on the market - and that's exactly what this 40-inch Edge LED backlit LCD TV tries to do. Announced at Berlin's IFA exhibition last autumn, but launched in the UK this month, the Toshiba 40RL858 addresses a perceived demand for smart TVs by putting a revamped version of Toshiba Places at the forefront of an increasingly standard feature set that marries a Freeview HD tuner with Edge LED backlighting and 100Hz scanning. However, there's no suggestion of 3D goodies, despite Toshiba having issued televisions in 2011 with both active shutter and passive 3D systems.Not atypically for a flatscreen TV, the Toshiba 40RL858 is also all about outward appearances, adding to the current penchant for metallic-clad designs, and with an impressively slim depth of just 38mm. What's more, the bezel around the panel measures a tiny 80mm, which is far more impressive than the slightly plasticky-looking metallic 'styled' chassis. The Toshiba 40RL858 comes in only one other size, the 32-inch 32RL858. But the RL Series isn't the only clutch of Toshiba TVs arriving early in 2012. Also available is the TL868 Series, a slightly higher end choice including the Toshiba 40TL868 and Toshiba 46TL868. This series adds active shutter 3D (perhaps as a response to some underwhelming reviews of passive 3D TVs?), 200Hz scanning and an extra HDMI port, as well as sporting a gloss black finish.FeaturesAlthough the Toshiba 40RL858 is all wired up for some online action, it lacks integrated Wi-Fi. That's a real shame, and its absence is likely to make Toshiba Places an underused resource, although the brand does sell a WLM-20U2 Wireless Dongle for an additional £30 or so.Toshiba Places is slowly becoming a genuinely useful online hub. It's had the likes of BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Flickr for some time, and now adds Facebook and Acetrax to the mix. Also strung across an unusual scrolling timeline-style user interface are the likes of Aupeo (web radio), Viewster, Dailymotion and Woomi (random video content), alongside three rather lacklustre (though child-friendly) subscription apps, Box Office 365, Cartoon Network and HiT Entertainment.This odd mix of services doesn't really deliver the choice and openness that the best smart TV platforms do, although we suppose the presence of BBC iPlayer on its own will be enough to convince a lot of people to invest in Toshiba Places. ConnectionsA Freeview HD tuner and CAM slot (for adding subscription channel packages) mean one less HDMI input on the Toshiba 40RL858 than is becoming normal - there are only two on the reverse of the TV, with a third on a side panel. Also back there is a set of component video inputs, and slots for composite video, RGB Scart, a D-Sub 15-pin port for directly attaching a PC or laptop, and Ethernet LAN for getting online via wires. Audio is sent in via some phono inputs (if you're using those component video slots) and out through a digital optical audio output. Sadly there's just a single USB 2.0 slot on the Toshiba 40RL858, and although it's able to play a plethora of video, music and photo files from a thumbdrive, we're confused as to why it's alone - where's the Wi-Fi dongle supposed to go? With an Edge LED-backlit panel with 100Hz scanning, the Toshiba 40RL858's core hardware is relatively advanced for the money. The panel itself boasts a Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel panel, support for 24 frames per second (fps) fare from Blu-ray discs, while a sensor can be activated to automatically dim or brighten those LEDs, as ambient light conditions prescribe in a feature called AutoView. Tweakers can perform a detailed calibration on the Toshiba 40RL858, with everything from base colour adjustments and colour temperature changes across the spectrum all possible. For more casual users, there's a roster of preset picture modes that include a game mode and useful Hollywood 1 and Hollywood 2 settings (the former is the cleaner, darker and most natural). We didn't find the ColourMaster feature of much use, although the usual digital noise reduction tech is worth experimenting with if you're watching non-HD channels on Freeview. Ease of useToshiba rather shoots itself in the foot from the off by promoting its headline acts - BBC iPlayer and YouTube - on the TV's core user interface. Accessing them without having to fire up Toshiba Places might appear a space-saving idea, and it is, but for some reason iPlayer can't be launched from the actual Toshiba Places platform that it's supposed to be the crowning glory of. The icon is there, but a 'sorry, mate, we've not bothered to link to that' message (or words to that effect) appears when it's selected. There are other long-winded and annoying oddities here, too: to even exit Toshiba Places - and you likely won't be staying too long - requires pressing Exit, then confirming it. The live BBC iPlayer link lies under the Applications tab on the main menu.In terms of their future usefulness, the Toshiba Places pages do have one saving grace - armed with a separate login, multiple members of the household can customise what services they see. The big drawback for now is that there actually isn't all that much to decide between, but this could develop into a genuinely useful approach. Elsewhere, Toshiba Places is nothing special, although some shortcuts have been added up top - we can see why the likes of Acetrax, iConcerts (archived John Denver concerts! Yeah!) and Aupeo can be called up immediately without hunting for the link, but do we really need a one-touch option to change the language? It adds to the impression that this user interface was created by visual designers only, and not road-tested as much as it should have been. It's slow, and feels entirely separate from the rest of the TV. Typical of the UI's rudimentary design is the Freeview HD EPG, a seven-day affair that displays all information for 13 channels over two and a half hours, in what looks like a half-written spreadsheet. There's no thumbnail image of the current channel underneath, although audio continues. It's also slow to navigate - it's not even possible to scan down a page at a time, which is a huge shame, considering that the HD channels are hidden 50 channels in. Remote control At least an inch too long and a touch slow to issue commands to its mother ship, the Toshiba 40RL858's remote control isn't one of our favourites. That's despite it being a winner in all other areas. It sports a nicely weighted design that uses good quality and well-sized rubber buttons, and stores plenty of shortcut keys, as well as old-fashioned number buttons. USB and Network Media PlayerDock a USB flash drive into the Toshiba 40RL858's sole USB slot and the TV immediately asks if you'd like to engage the Media Player, although it's just as easy to access via the Quick menu.Photos are well provided for, with thumbnails displayed in a large 3 x 4 grid. When selected, they load with a variety of fade-in styles, with our test revealing support for both JPEG and BMP files, although not GIF or TIF formats. Digital music fares well, too, with support for MP3, WMA and Apple Lossless M4A files. Tracks play when selected, but also kick-in after a few seconds if you merely hover over them. A largely blank full-screen is then displayed that lists the song title and artist beside a fairly low-res image of a quaver. The highlight, though, is digital video - there's simply nothing we had in our locker that the Toshiba 40RL858 didn't play, which is a rare occurrence indeed. Everything from DivX AVI files, WMV and high-definition MKV and WMV HD (complete with audio) to MP4 and MPEG-2, various AVC HD and even a RealPlayer Media video all loaded quickly and played without problems. The performance is slightly patchier over DLNA, with MKV not recognised. Picture qualityWe started on the Toshiba 40RL858's Hollywood 1 picture mode for the sake of simplicity. This avoids the occasional haloing of bright objects (something that a light sensor-driven feature called AutoView also appears to cause), although it's worth increasing the contrast and brightness a notch or two. But having done so, there's nowhere to save settings as a user preset. Doh! With our Star Wars IV V VI Blu-ray boxset in tow, the Toshiba 40RL858's Edge LED-lit backlight appears as annoying as a Gungan, with some light leakage at the bottom and sides of the screen jarring during the dingy, muted scenes inside the Jawa sandcrawler on Tatooine. It's not an unusual sight on similarly priced sets, but it's nonetheless a hardware characteristic that's tricky to get around. Those same scenes reveal a fairly profound attempt at black, although a lot of shadow detail is lost across C3PO and the other droids. Colour is generally good, but not as nuanced as a high-end set, with ColourMaster adding little. The preceding handheld camera-driven scenes in Star Wars IV of R2D2 being hunted down by Jawas shows up a touch of shimmer around moving edges, and we also noticed a slight blur as R2D2 moves, although the picture is very obviously Full HD.It's actually worth toning down Hollywood 1's sharpness setting to banish what little background noise there is on Blu-rays, and thereby achieving an even cleaner image. Even with standard definition DVDs, it's worth sticking to the Hollywood 1 setting, which takes down the backlight sufficiently to hide the otherwise incessant picture noise in backgrounds. Watching Djokovic Vs Murray from the Australian Open on BBC2, the MPEG digital noise reduction cleans up some of that noise, but adds some jagged edges. Overall, standard definition sources are coped with reasonably well, with DVDs especially looking smooth and very watchable. Switching to BBC HD for the rest of Djokovic Vs Murray, the immediately crisper, more precise picture is obvious, although a moving overhead shot of the Rod Laver Arena still produced diagonal jagged edges from the court markings. As Murray rolled his body from side to side while awaiting Djokovic's serve, his face blurred. But aside from this, and other issues caused by the LCD panel, the Toshiba 40RL858 is a decent, good value canvas for watching Freeview HD fare. Sound and valueSoundSaddled with a depth of just 38mm, it's no surprise that Toshiba's audio boffins haven't come up with something approaching acceptable sound. It's really no worse a performance than on 95 per cent of all flatscreen TVs on sale, but the Toshiba 40RL858's twin 10W speakers don't offer much in the aural department. The crash, bang, wallop of a typical high octane movie just serves as a reminder of how great a proper audio setup is, and it's the same result from music, although dialogue-heavy TV is dealt with. ValueWith a reasonably versatile picture performance firmly putting the Toshiba 40RL858 in the mid-market in terms of ultimate quality, the asking price seems fair. Toshiba Places as a platform needs more thought as well as content, but it supplies us with BBC iPlayer and YouTube, which will suit most homes for now. Do factor in the need for a separate sound bar or similar - the built-in audio on the Toshiba 40RL858 really is poor - although that's normal at this price, while a lack of Wi-Fi and only three HDMI ins could cause set up problems for some. VerdictReasonably slim, fairly adept with all sources and with a smart TV platform that's at least nominally engaging, Toshiba's 40RL858 is a classic mid-range TV. We likedA nicely cinematic, yet sharp treatment of Blu-ray and clean standard definition sources if you're careful to tweak, the Toshiba 40RL858's digital dimension appeals. BBC iPlayer's presence is also pleasing, as is its comprehensive digital file support. We dislikedIt may be of metallic design, but the Toshiba 40RL858's plastic frame won't fool all. Ditto Toshiba Places, which is scarred by a lack of must-have content and some interface oddities. Sound is poor, and saving picture presets isn't possible, while light leakage from the flanks can be distracting. A solo USB, no built-in Wi-Fi and a fiddly Freeview HD EPG can all annoy too. Final verdictA good value TV for a living room, Toshiba's 40RL858 is a classic mid-range set whose attempt at a smart TV platform is the low point on an otherwise capable performer. What it lacks in ultimate quality and ease of use it makes up for with versatility.Related StoriesReview: Hannspree SE40LMNBReview: Toshiba 32RL858B

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