Introduction

In Toshiba's current product range, the RV series promises a lot of TV, for not a lot of money - this is the manufacturer's lower mid-range selection. This means the Toshiba offers solid TV technology, but that the buyer will have to live without fancy, sophisticated extras. Nevertheless, Toshiba has given this series a few sweeteners that the competition cannot yet provide. Read here what the Toshiba offers and how the competition shapes up in the same price and size class.

Picture Technology

With a screen diagonal of 37 inches (94 centimeters), the 37 RV 635 D B comes in the middle of the RV series. Toshiba has used liquid-crystal technology exclusively for a long time - it's no surprise, therefore, that this model also has an LCD screen.

As in the vast majority of LCD models, this TV uses several cold-cathode fluorescent tubes as a backlight in order to make its picture visible. The liquid crystals allow light to pass for bright areas, or block its path for dark areas.

At normal living-room viewing distances, viewers will barely be able to make out the liquid crystal display's Full HD resolution - but the 1,920 x 1,080 pixels also won't do any harm. You can find details on the ideal viewing distance and optimal screen size in our "TV Buying Guide".

Traditional TV Pictures:
The screen itself runs at 50 hertz. Traditional TV pictures - that is, those in the conventional PAL format - are supposed to appear sharper on this TV thanks to "Resolution +" technology. The system will narrow the gap, Toshiba claims, between conventional TV and HDTV, scaling PAL images as accurately as possible into HD resolution.

Other manufacturers also attempt to tease more detail out of the supplied images than they actually contain. Technically, of course, this is impossible, but it is possible to trick the human eye - Televisions.com therefore recommends a results-based approach to such technologies. If you're pleased with how the picture looks from the couch, leave Resolution + switched on. If you see over-exaggerated edges or waxy-looking faces, better turn the technology off.

Advanced Menu:
The TV's advanced menu is a treat for perfectionists: All you need to calibrate the 37 RV 635 D B is a DVD or Blu-ray test disc. Among other features, the "Expert Mode" menu allows the user to set the TV temporarily to display only one of the three primary colors - red, green, or blue. This allows optimal color-saturation adjustment.

Toshiba calls these latest displays "Eco-Panel" - they're supposed to use particularly little energy. The "AutoView" controller should also adjust the screen to provide a balanced picture with the lowest possible power consumption. The manufacturer quotes a power consumption of 124 watts for normal operation; with AutoView, this values drops to just 60 watts.

Additional Features

In the RV 635 D B series, the manufacturer concentrates on the essentials: watching TV. The Toshiba can play back digital photos in JPEG format from a USB stick - but that's it for extras.

Tuner/Video-processing

The RV 635 D B provides receivers for terrestrial and cable signals - for both analog and digital. The digital tuners also receive high-definition TV pictures. The cable receiver does not, however, support the forthcoming CI Plus encryption standard - depending on the country and network operator, the Toshiba's screen will remain dark for certain channels.

Many cable TV operators digitally encrypt commercial stations, meaning the viewer needs an access card in order to receive digital content. This card must be compatible with the TV, which isn't guaranteed to be the case with this Toshiba in the future.

Satellite-TV viewers will, in any case, need an external receiver: The TV offers no support at all for TV signals from a dish. The analog AV connections are fairly cosmopolitan: PAL, Secam, and NTSC signals are all accepted.

Connections

There's no fault to be found with the connections panels on the RV 635 D. The TV accepts all possible signal varieties via Scart - that is, composite, S-Video, and RGB. This covers all the devices from earlier home-video and TV history, equipping the TV excellently for video recorders, DVD players, and satellite receivers. Digital video sources can connect to one of the four HDMI sockets, while camcorders and older digital cameras can hook up to the side-mounted cinch and Mini-DIN sockets (for S-Video).

The TV also has an analog, YUV component-video input and a VGA input (for older PCs), as well as a 3.5-millimeter headphone socket and the aforementioned USB connection. The tuner relays digital audio by optical connection to Dolby Digital decoders, and there's a mini-jack audio input for PC audio.

Nice Detail:
One nifty detail, which only Toshiba currently offers, goes by the name of "Quick HDMI". Until now, it would take TVs several seconds for an HDMI source to carry out a "handshake" with the TV and for a picture to appear. The RV 635 D B series handles this in the background: As soon as an HDMI device is switched on, the TV makes contact and negotiates a connection. Toshiba claims to have halved the waiting time with Quick HDMI - without doubt a practical idea.

Operation

Televisions.com has already had a brief chance to try out the TV's menu and remote control. The menus for day-to-day settings are a little basic-looking, but very clear. The advanced menu, however, really is expert-territory. The buttons on the remote control are packed tighter than we'd have liked, but they're also clearly and logically arranged.

Design / Model Variants and Pricing

The 37 RV 635 D B only comes in black.

Recommended pricing for the United Kingdom:

37 RV 635 D B (black), 700 GBP.

Alternative models: A brief comparison

as of: June 22, 2009

LG 37 LH 4000, from 580 GBP.

On paper, this LG's picture technology is superior to that of the Toshiba: The 100-hertz TruMotion technology promises to display moving pictures precisely and with clearly defined edges. In terms of multimedia files on USB sticks, this Korean model is about as untalented as the 37 RV 635 D B: Apart from JPEG photos, no multimedia files play back on the LH 4000.

The built-in tuner corresponds to that of the Toshiba: The TV accepts analog TV, DVB-T, and DVB-C. The last does not, however, appear in the technical data - like Panasonic, LG doesn't advertize DVB-C, since the TV lacks support for CI Plus. It cannot therefore receive some channels in some cable networks.

Furthermore, the digital cable tuner isn't yet tailored for all EU countries: Those wanting to use it should set the TV's location to Sweden or Finland during installation. (The menu's language can be adjusted independently of this setting).

In terms of connections, this LG is inferior to the Toshiba: It has only three HDMI sockets, and only one of the two Scart sockets accepts RGB signals - neither is compatible with S-Video. The side connections panel lacks an S-Video input, so older camcorders cannot deliver their best-quality pictures to this TV. If a headphone socket is a must, you'd better look elsewhere - the Toshiba has one, but this Korean rival doesn't.

Panasonic TX-L 37 S 10 B, 782 GBP.

This S-series model from Panasonic costs around 200 GBP more than the Toshiba, but even this TV's feature-set is rather spartan: The tuner in this Panasonic accepts only analog cable and DVB-T, and the screen runs - as with the Toshiba - at 50 hertz.

There's no USB socket, but the TV has a slot for SD and SDHC memory cards instead. This allows playback of JPEG photos and AVCHD videos, but that's it for multimedia - still, the Toshiba only plays back JPEGs.

The analog video connections on the Panasonic and Toshiba are similarly extensive and flexible, but the Toshiba wins on digital connections - the TX-L 37 S 10 B only has three HDMI inputs.

Philips 37 PFL 5604 H, 700 GBP.

Philips offers more features than the Toshiba, and for the same price. It starts with the tuner: Thanks to CI Plus technology, the 37 PFL 5604 H's digital cable tuner should be able to receive future channels using the new encryption standard. The TV's receiver also accepts analog cable TV and DVB-T (also in HDTV).

It's a tie when it comes to the screen - the Philips also runs at 50 hertz. The Dutch manufacturer answers Toshiba's "Resolution +" technology with its own "Pixel Plus HD" system - this, too, is supposed to make pictures appear sharper.

In terms of multimedia, the Philips is substantially more versatile: From a USB stick, the TV can play back music files (MP3- or LPCM-format), photos (JPEG), and video clips (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC).

With connectivity, the 37 PFL 5604 H has held back slightly: The three HDMI inputs are one short of the 37 RV 635 D B's four, and although both TVs offer two Scart sockets, those on the Philips lack support for S-Video. The side connections panels provide identical connections: Here, on both devices, there's a headphone socket and an S-Video input for camcorders.

Samsung LE 37 B 550, from around 550 GBP.

This Samsung sells for around the same as the Toshiba online, and unsurprisingly, therefore, offers a similar list of features. The LE 37 B 550's screen runs at 50 hertz, and the tuner also accepts digital cable TV.

And, like the Toshiba, this Samsung does not support CI Plus. In other words: In countries that use CI Plus to control access to cable networks, users will still need an external receiver. If the network operators use the older CI technology, the TV should be able to receive encrypted channels. Of course, in both cases, you'll need to provide the relevant access card. This Samsung also supports DVB-T and analog cable signals.

Despite selling for a similar price, the LE 37 B 550 offers multimedia fans significantly more than the Toshiba does: Photos, videos, and music will all play back from USB sticks. There is an equal number of HDMI inputs, and, like the Toshiba, the LE 37 B 550 provides two Scart sockets. Only one of these supports RGB, however, and neither supports S-Video.

Both the Samsung and the Toshiba provide a component-video input and a headphone socket - on the Samsung, however, the latter sits extremely awkwardly on the rear of the TV.

Sony KDL-37 S 5500, 850 GBP.

The S series is the cheapest line in Sony's current range - and has an appropriately scanty feature list. Like the Toshiba's, this Sony's screen runs at 50 hertz, but the KDL-37 S 5500's tuner only accepts analog cable and DVB-T. Music will play back - as well as photos - from USB sticks on the Sony, putting this model slightly ahead of the Toshiba.

In terms of connectivity, however, the KDL-37 S 5500 is more meager than the 37 RV 635 D B: It has just three HDMI inputs, and although both Scart sockets accept RGB, neither accepts S-Video. Also, the side connections panel lacks the S-Video input we saw on the Toshiba. The Sony does, however, provide a headphone socket and a VGA input (for PC video signals). In this, Sony's cheapest series, the manufacturer does without the daft, PlaySation-3-style menu ("XrossMediaBar"), which we've always awkward to use.

Experienced experts produce these product preview pages using manufacturers' specifications, along with test data we've produced for other models and subjective assessments of the product's market chances.

We comprehensively research the information we use, but data of this kind quickly becomes out of date as a result of day-to-day variations in the market and the appearance of new products. The information in our own tests is more reliable, especially statements relating to quality or comparisons with other TVs.

Since we cannot test every single device, however, and because we're interested in your opinion, we're grateful to receive any user ratings or user opinions for this TV - especially if you own the model yourself, but also if this preview provided enough information for you to form your own judgment.

Many thanks in advance!

The team behind this product preview:

The following people were involved in producing this article on the Toshiba 37 RV 635 D B:

Author(s): Karl-Gerhard Haas
Editor in Chief: Florian Friedrich

Photos: Manufacturers

Last updated: June 2009