Value and detail.

The big Toshiba was certainly our value leader, and it scored more higher-place votes than the JVC it tied for second place. The 62MX195 really had to work its way up to this spot, as it gives a poor initial impression out of the box.

One look at the measurement charts will explain why that is. This TV, uncalibrated, is exceedingly cool. Even in its warmest setting, it was still almost 4,200 Kelvin over 6500K. A few TVs had parts of the gray scale that drifted cool, but even those points were still 3,000 Kelvin warmer than the Toshiba's average. Nikhil thought this made the colors dim and made the overall image look pale. Uncalibrated, Maureen rated this set quite low. She felt that the skintones looked poor and that the image lacked punch. At 4,004:1, the contrast ratio wasn't low by any means, but it was bested in this area by all but one other set (its tie mate, the JVC). As set up in its highest contrast-ratio mode (High Bright), it also had the third highest black level and the second lowest light output. Had we put the TV in its low power mode, it would have had a far better black level (0.016 ft-L, almost as good as the HP). However, it would have only put out 57 ft-L, and then it would have been very dim compared with the other displays in the Face Off.

The Toshiba's strong suit seemed to be detail. Even though it was the second largest display in the Face Off, each reviewer felt that its image had a lot of detail. John even said that the amount of detail with HD was "wonderful." The positive detail comments were also there with 480i DVD, which implies that the scaler is also quite good. The Toshiba's deinterlacing was above average. It had fast 3:2 pickup and did a decent job with keeping jagged edges to a minimum with the waving-flag scene off the HQV Test DVD.

Adrienne and John both mentioned some quantization errors, but not as severe as with the Mitsubishi. The Toshiba was also one of the other sets where John could see distinct steps in the atmosphere in the space section of the HD content. Most of the other TVs showed this as a smooth gradation.

The remote is backlit and, like all the other remotes, lacked direct-input buttons. It also emitted a high-pitched whine that Nikhil equated to "what you hear when you're sitting in an airplane that hasn't left the gate yet." Other Toshiba remotes make this noise, as well. It's just loud enough to be annoying if you have good hearing.

While $3,700 for a 62-inch set may seem like the best deal going, you really need to include the cost of a calibration in that price. After calibration, though, you'll have a highly detailed set with highly accurate color-temperature tracking and a good black level.

Highlights
• Excellent size for the money
• Great scaler

At A Glance: Toshiba 62HM195 Rear-Projection HDTV

Connections
Inputs:
Video: HDMI (2), component video (2), S-video (3), composite video (3)
Audio: analog audio (7),
Outputs:
Video: composite (1)
Audio: optical (1), analog audio (2)
Additional: FireWire (2), RF (2), CableCARD (1), G-Link (1), TheaterNet (2)

Features
Type: DLP
Screen Size (diagonal): 62 inches
Native Resolution: 1,920 by 1,080 Lamp Life: 6,000–8,000 hours
Dimensions (H x W x D, inches): 39.25 x 57.06 x 18.75 Weight (pounds): 103
Price: $3,700

Ratings: Toshiba 62HM195 Rear-Projection HDTV

Build Quality: 91

Value: 92

Features: 92

Performance: 92

Ergonomics: 89

Overall Rating: 91

General Information
62HM195 Rear-Projection HDTV, $3,700
Toshiba
(800) 631-3811
www.toshiba.com
Dealer Locator Code TOS

HT Labs Measures: Toshiba 62HM195 Rear-Projection HDTV

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio—4004:1;
ANSI Contrast Ratio—307:1

Measured Resolution with the Leader LT-446:
480: 480 (per picture height)
720p: 720 (pph)
1080i: 1080 (pph)

DC Restoration (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Color Decoder (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Measured Color Points:
Red Color Point: x=0.660, y=0.333
Green Color Point: x=0.303, y=0.675
Blue Color Point: x=0.151, y=0.051

The left chart shows the 62HM195's gray scale relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the warm color-temperature mode and the Movie picture mode (start with Movie, then any adjustment leads to Preference mode), measures extremely cool across the gray-scale range. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures far better, within 174 Kelvin of D6500, the accurate color temperature, across the entire range.

The right chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display's red, green, and blue color-filter-wheel segments. These are off those specified by SMPTE. Red is oversaturated. Blue is very slightly bluish-purple. Green is oversaturated and very slightly yellowish-green.

After calibration, and using a full-field 100-IRE white (100.1 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.025 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 4,004:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 307:1. The best contrast ratio was achieved in the High Bright setting. The best black level was achieved in the Low power setting and produced 56.49 ft-L with a 100-IRE white and 0.016 ft-L on a 0-IRE black which is a contrast ratio of 3531:1.—GM