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I've only had the set a few days now and I'm pleased to say that after 4 different TVs since Christmas (2 of the same model), this is finally the one that I will be keeping. I will compare my findings with the other sets that I have had personal experience with recently which are: Sharp Quattron LC-46LE831E (LED LCD), Panasonic TX-P50ST30 (plasma) and Samsung PS51D6900 (plasma). I will rank them in order at the end of each subject.
Design
I absolutely love it. The set is extremely solid and the design is superb. I love the jet black glass screen. It looks really elegant when switched off. It is a little on the reflective side so it may not be suitable if placing directly facing a window. The remote is bizarre. I don't get the design of this. It is unnecessarily long however, the buttons are quite well laid out and it feels classy. I'll be using a universal remote so it isn't an issue for me.
1) Toshiba WL863 - Excellent (except for the remote)
2) Samsung D6900 - Excellent
3) Sharp LE831 - Very good
4) Panasonic ST30 - Average
HD Viewing
Without doubt, this is the best HD picture of any TV I have ever owned. The picture is pin sharp and almost completely noise free on both Blu-ray and HD broadcasts. Colour gradation is excellent as is contrast, black levels etc. I am confident that after calibration the set will give even more.
1) Toshiba WL863 - Excellent
2) Samsung D6900 - Excellent
3) Sharp LE831 - Very good
4) Panasonic ST30 - Very good
SD Viewing
Astonishing. Even when fed with a poor source from Virgin cable TV the WL863 does an excellent job of at least making the picture presentable. On higher quality SD channels such as Sky Sports the picture was absolutely superb for SD. If I was being extra critical I would say that there is some minor banding - and I do mean minor.
1) Toshiba WL863 - Excellent
2) Panasonic ST30 - Good
3) Sharp LE831 - Good
4) Samsung D6900 - Average
3D Viewing
Unfortunately I haven't had the pleasure of viewing 3D on this set yet simply because I don't have any 3D glasses. It seems that 3D glasses are difficult to get for some reason. I would appreciate it if anyone could point me in the right direction!
Audio Peformance
The only thing I can say here is that if you have this screen 46" or larger then a home cinema speaker system is absolutely essential. Forget about using the in-built speakers on pretty much any flat screen TV. Speakers are extremely limited due to the thin dimensions of the set.
1) Sharp LE831 - Average
2) Samsung D6900 - Average
3) Toshiba WL863 - Average
4) Panasonic ST30 - Poor
Motion Handling
I haven't settled on anything just yet because I'm still playing around but so far I've been able to get an image that I am very happy with. The image is so incredibly clean regardless of source. The motion handling is actually a lot better than I thought was possible with LCD. In fact, I would say that the motion is better than that of the Samsung PS51D6900, particularly with vertical panning shots which the D6900 seemed to struggle with a little. Neither of these sets were as good as Panasonic ST30 in terms of motion in my experience. I would most certainly recommend [Active Vision M800 - standard] setting as this gives the best motion. Choosing [smooth] results in a seemingly over-processed soap opera effect image which I didn't find comfortable to watch. Setting it to [off] defeats the purpose of paying a premium for top class image processing if you aren't going to use it.
1) Panasonic ST30 - Excellent
2) Toshiba WL863 - Excellent
3) Samsung D6900 - Good
4) Sharp LE831 - Good
Viewing Angle and Screen Uniformity
The biggest concern I have with LCD is viewing angle and backlight bleed/clouding. Thankfully, the WL863 does not cause me any concern in this regard. It is a little uneven when compared to plasma but it certainly isn't a deal breaker. My normal viewing position is a few degrees off centre. Obviously both plasma displays were the best but the WL863 wasn't bad. There is a clear difference in black level from one side to the other when viewed off centre however, this is very subtle and not enough to bother me. With normal content displayed it looked perfectly fine.
1) Panasonic ST30 and Samsung D6900 - Excellent
2) Toshiba WL863 - Very good
3) Sharp LE831 - Average
Black Levels
I am still battling a little with the [backlight] and [brightness] settings to achieve best black levels whilst maintaining good contrast and colour. I don't have settings handy right now but I think I have my backlight set to around 10-15 and the brightness at 0. The image is still much brighter than it was with either the Panasonic ST30 or Samsung D6900 plasma. I really like the idea of the [Hollywood Day] and [Hollywood Night] options, both of which you can adjust to suit your needs. In moderate to bright rooms you can notch up the brightness without compromising blacks due to the excellent black glass finish. As mentioned previously though, it is a little more reflective so it isn't best suite if it is going to be facing a window. I would love one of those Toshiba auto-calibration tools but couldn't justify the £200 price tag.
1) Panasonic ST30 - Excellent
2) Toshiba WL863 - Excellent
3) Sharp LE831 - Very good
4) Samsung D6900 - Good
Web Content
'Toshiba Places' seems like it has a lot of potential. I do like the layout but content is a problem. Also, I do not understand why BBC iPlayer and YouTube are separate to this. I guess it is for quicker access as you can access these apps directly without needing to wait on 'Places' loading first of all. I played some iPlayer content (Top Gear). I was left underwhelmed by the picture and there was clearly an issue with the frame rate. Clearly this is to do with the fact that iPlayer content is filmed at 50Hz and the iPlayer app runs at 60Hz. The picture is also noticeably softer than usual and colours are over-saturated. I don't know what picture settings are being used but you cannot edit them in this mode. If online content is your thing then the Toshiba isn't particularly great. I certainly wouldn't substitute it for my current iPlayer of choice - Virgin Media On Demand. The difference in quality is huge. The Youtube app was ok actually but I had a few lip sync issues as well as some delays in searching for content. All in all, I'm not that overjoyed about the online content however, I can't see when I would ever use this personally so it doesn't bother me.
1) Samsung D6900 - Excellent
2) Panasonic ST30 - Very good
3) Toshiba WL863 - Good
4) Sharp LE831 - Awful
That's as much as I can think of right now. Any questions please feel free to ask away.  |
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Author: vipergrm
1-12-2019 22:37:15
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