Product Description

26" HD 16:9 LCD DVD TV

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42442 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Toshiba
• Model: 26HLV66
• Dimensions: 21.08" h x 26.00" w x 10.80" l, 43.00 pounds
• Display size: 26

Features

• Sleek, black 26-inch LCD HDTV with integrated DVD player and Ethernet home networking feature; measures 26 x 21.1 x 10.8 inches (WxHxD) with stand
• Integrated NTSC, ATSC tuners; QAM tuner compatible with unscrambled HDTV cable reception
• Fast 8ms (millisecond) response time, 1366 x 768-pixel resolution, 400 cd/m2 brightness, 800:1 contrast ratio
• Inputs: 3 composite (1 side), 2 S-Video (1 side), 2 component, 1 HDMI, 1 PC VGA, 1 RF
• Two stereo speakers, 10 watts apiece (20 watts total); SRS WOW virtual surround sound

Amazon.com Product Description
This Toshiba model is a high-definition widescreen TV that's ideal for the latest digital entertainment. Not only does it feature a Regza Premium Cinespeed LCD panel capable of 1080 interlaced lines of HDTV resolution and an HDMI input port, but it also has a 15-pin D-sub port, allowing you to connect a PC and have the set double as a computer monitor. It even includes a built-in DVD player, so you won't have to deal with unsightly cables to an external device. A built-in Ethernet jack allows you to access digital photo and audio files from your home network using the included universal glow remote.

The Value of LCD TVs
Aside from their obvious aesthetic value, LCD TVs are much more practical in the home than CRT (tube-style) televisions. They take up a smaller footprint, and thus use up less floor space in the room. Also, LCD TVs are lighter and easier to move around when cleaning or redecorating. The 26HLV66 is only 4.57 inches deep and weighs just over 40 lbs. without the stand. Best of all, LCD screens use less power than CRTs and plasma screens.

Video
Response time is the interval an LCD screen takes to switch from its darkest color to its lightest color and back again, measured in milliseconds (ms). This screen's response time is 8 ms, which is at the faster and better end of the spectrum. This screen is likely to display cleaner, sharper images during high-action scenes and display fewer image artifacts than other screens in its class. And because the set has a 12-bit digital processor, it can display many times more shades of gray and levels of color than 8-bit systems can. The set is rated with a 176-degree viewing angle, so the picture will be viewable from nearly any part of the room. While it lacks the CableCARD slot that other sets have, the 26HLV66 does come with a built-in QAM digital cable tuner and an ATSC/NTSC tuner that will display terrestrial or over-the-air HDTV and traditional analog signals.

HDMI Compatible
The set comes with a built-in High-Definition Multi-media Interface (HDMI) port. HDMI is an interface format that provides uncompressed digital audio and video directly from a DVD player, next-generation game system, or some other digital video source. It represents the current state of the art in high-definition video and sound because the information never has to be converted into an analog format or compressed. Another benefit of HDMI is that it puts all that information into one cable and one easy-to-use connector.

Full-Featured DVD Player
The integrated DVD player is compatible with several disc formats: DVD Video, CD-R, CD-RW, VCD and DVD-R. It has upconverting technology that improves the standard picture definition of regular DVDs to match the 1080i capabilities of the 26HLV66. Want to view photos? Simply move your JPEG photos onto a CD-R or CD-RW disc and the 26HLV66 will provide you access to a slide show of your images with a few clicks on the player's remote control. Similarly, MP3 music files recorded to disc will play nicely.

Audio
SRS WOW, a combination of SRS 3D, TruBass, and Focus sound-expanding systems, creates a 3-D sound field with improved bass response over standard TV audio as well as a directed, three-dimensional audio sweet spot for maximum enjoyment. The cabinet includes stereo speakers, but the TV also has optical digital output for connecting to your audio system. Toshiba's StableSound feature maintains television volume within a preset range regardless of the source signal. This is an extremely useful feature when transitioning between a quiet television program and a very loud commercial advertisement or when changing channels.

Parent Features
The 26HLV66's sleep timer allows you to set the television to automatically shut off after a preset duration. It's a handy and common feature to modern TVs, but the 26HLV66 takes it a step further. Game Timer shuts the TV off after set duration and can only be turned on with a special lockout code. The Video Lock feature allows the user to lock out selected inputs, which is handy when limiting a child's access to video games. Of course the built-in V-Chip functionality makes it so parents can set a threshold content setting and effectively lock inappropriate TV content out of the home.

Other Features
For optimum display of each type of input source, the 26HLV66 allows the viewer to make video adjustments for each type of input, such as RF, composite, S-video, and ColorStream component video inputs. The SurfLock feature gives the viewer the freedom to browse programs on other channels then return to the original channel at any time simply by pressing one button.

26-inch Widescreen
A general rule of thumb for selecting the right size television screen is that the screen width--not its 26-inch diagonal measurement--should be between three and five times the optimum viewing distance, such as the distance from the TV screen to where your eyes are while sitting on the couch. Less than that, and you may be distracted by the scan lines of the picture. More than that, and you may lose the detail of your TV. Based on this guide, the 26HLV66 is ideal for viewing distances of six to 10 feet.

Here is a list of the set's audio, video, and data connections:

• Audio/video input: 2
• ColorStream HD input: 2
• S-video input: 1
• HDMI input: 1
• PC input: 1
• RF input: 1
• Audio video output: 1
• Optical digital audio output: 1
• RJ-45 Ethernet: 1

What's in the Box
Toshiba 26HLV66 TV, 4-item glow universal remote, TV stand, product manual and warranty information

Customer Reviews

I'm impressed
I bought one of these as an HD replacement for a 21" bedroom TV. I was particularly interested in having a set with built-in DVD to minimize cable clutter. To say this one exceeded expectations would be an understatement. For once I paid attention to Consumer Reports, which top rated the non-DVD version of this model, and they were right. I couldn't be more please with picture quality. The unit is light and occupies less space than my older 21" CRT model, even with it's larger display. Also, I was able to simply pull out the old set, put this one in, and everything just worked (how often does that happen?). The integrated DVD is in the side. You just stick a DVD halfway into its slot, it sucks it in, and the set brings it up, no hassle. My wife, a technophobe, is wowed by the simplicity of it all. I'm happy because I spent 0 time hooking up a separate DVD player. The DVD player's performace has been flawless, incidentally.

Even better than anticipated
Where to start? OK. How about the beginning. Although this is technically my first HDTV with a hi-def source, I'm not new to the pursuit of high definition. We were actually in the market for a new all-purpose TV in 2004 and were persuaded then that an HDTV was the way to go to cover all bases in the future. But at the time, we were only on analog cable and watching DVDs as well. We bought a Toshiba tube TV and were, of course, very disappointed with the performance of the analog signal as displayed on the HD set. The technology just wasn't there yet to make it worthwhile without a hi-def source. A progressive-scan DVD player made DVDs slightly better, but not good enough. We ended up buying a mammoth 4:3 36-inch Sony SDTV with several features we love, the best being V-Compression, which can actually take a true 16:9 source,such as a DVD, and compress the pixels nto a sharper picture. It only made us long more for a true HD set and picture source.

Fast forward to this purchase, which we researched extensively, both online and in person. The room this was intended for is not large, but it still probably would have justified a 32-inch. But we stuck with the 26-inch just because of fear of our analog signals on most cable channels. I would make the same decision again, just because we watch so much analog of varying qualities and this LCD does a very, very good job with them at a safe distance -- probably 10 to 15 feet. As for the hi-def capabilities, we have a half dozen digital cable options via the usual network fare (NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.) and the pictures are outstanding and the set performes flawlessly. As for the DVD player, it is very intuitive -- just pop it in and the set selects the aspect ratio and begins playback. Simple.

I will talk about the set's other features and explain my "4" rating (which would have been a 4 1/2 if given the option). First of all, I love the Channel Browse option, which more than makes up for no picture-in-picture. With the Channel Browse, you can quickly switch betweem recently watched programs. And the four or five dispaly aspect choices will cover anything you can throw at the set,plus Auto Aspect. My biggest complaint is the picture modes. It comes with four -- standard, movie, sports and preference. I mentioned the Sony before, and this is one of my favorite features of that TV. I can fine-tune any of its preset picture modes and shuttle quickly between them with the touch of one button. With this Toshiba LCD, if you try and adjust either the sports, movie or standard mode, they automatically revert to the preference mode. This is dodgy as my wife wants a special darker picture when she is in bed with the set on and I want my fine-tuning for daytime sports and such (it's a really versitile room!), since all three of the other presets have too much color, a pet peeve of mine. This leaves one adjustable mode for the two of us, and one that has to be accessed through a lenghty menu process at that. Bad Toshiba!

The only other complaint would be only a single RF antenna input, in case you want to use two sources such as cable and over-the-air. Other than that, I would highly recommend the Toshiba Regza models for their overall picture reproduction.

ONE STAR - Updated Review & How to remove the stand / pedestal for wall mounting
Ok, I just purchased this TV and have spent the past hour and a half trying to remove the stand/pedestal. I searched the web to no avail until I saw a review posted on Amazon. So to help all those people with the same issue - you simply remove the 5 screws on the back of the tv closest to the pedestal (there are 6 parallel screws - don't remove the top middle screw - hope this makes sense.) The stand is connected to a metal plate that will slide out of the base of the TV and voila!

More later....once I get the TV hung and turned on!!!