Audio Video News

Toshiba's gone all-out with its HDTVs at CEDIA this year. The company unveiled not one, not two, but eleven new televisions across four different lines. On top of that, Toshiba showcased several new features it's integrating into its newer high-end TVs.

The new Regza XV545 and RV535 series of televisions feature Toshiba's Super Resolution Technology (SRT), and AutoView, and the XV545 models include the company's new ClearFrame feature. SRT is a TV-based upconversion system that converts all standard definition (and 720p high definition) video to 1080p. While upconverting, it analyzes every frame and breaks it down into different "texture," "edge," and "flat" zones. It then sharpens texture zones, performs edge enhancements on edge zones, and leaves flat zones alone because they're, well, flat. Upconversion's not exactly new, but 1080p upconversion based in the TV itself has me reaching for my old DVDs and standard-definition TV channels. And, like most home theater users, I have much more of them than I do high-definition sources.

AutoView combines a room light sensor with film content detection to tweak settings like brightness and color temperature. Again, ambient light sensors aren't exactly new, but using them and the sort of video  you're watching to tweak a whole bunch of different settings has me intrigued. I just hope it can be disabled, because sometimes you don't want the picture to change every time someone turns on a light.

Finally, ClearFrame interpolates additional frames into high-speed and high-action footage. It creates these new frames by combining the frames around it, bumping up the video to 120 Hz. It also stabilizes 24p footage, and offers 5:5 film pull-down.

The XV545 Regza HDTVs represent Toshiba's high-end line. They all include SRT, AutoView, and ClearFrame features, and come in 42-inch, 46-inch, and 52-inch flavors. They'll retail for $1799, $2299, and $2799 respectively when they ship later this month.

The RV535 Regzas are a slight step down, offering SRT and AutoView, but no ClearFrame. They also ship later this month and come in the same 42-inch, 46-inch, and 52-inch versions, but will go for about $400 to 500 less at $1399, $1799, and $2299, respectively.

Though not part of Toshiba's Regza series, the RV525 televisions still offer 1080p video. It doesn't have any of the bells or whistles of the Regzas (no SRT, no AutoView, no ClearFrame), but still include a few nice features like three HDMI inputs and a 3:2 pulldown film mode. A 40-inch version ships this month for the budget price of $999, while a 46-inch model ships in October for $1599.

Finally, the AV502 screens sit on the budget end of Toshiba's TVs. They only display 720p video, but at least their cabinets are shinier and blacker than the the old AV500 screens. They come in 26-inch, 31.5-inch, and 37-inch versions with respective (and skimpy) price tags of $649, $749, and $899.  - Will