Toshiba 34HD82 34" Pure Flat Screen HDTV-Ready TV

Improving standard interlaced video signals (like those from DVD player, cable box, and VCR composite-video outputs), IDSC II performs frame, line, and pixel doubling to create progressive, full-frame images. CableClear optimizes substandard video signals, and Toshiba's motion-adaptive Hyper Progressive Scanning analyzes 13,600 screen points to smooth edges and eliminate stair-stepping artifacts. The result is a smooth, filmlike image. (IDSC II passes through 1080i images without alteration.) A 3D Y/C (4 MB, 10-bit) digital comb filter with Vertical Contour Correction ensures sharp, clean pictures from RF (older VCR, laserdisc) and composite-video signals. Meanwhile, dynamic Quadruple Focus improves edge and corner focus, so you can enjoy legible text and graphics even at screen edges.

Advanced velocity-scan modulation also improves definition at picture edges by slowing the CRT (cathode-ray tube) beam's horizontal scanning during demanding work and speeding it up when scanning easily rendered sections, like broad dark areas. Cinema Mode (3:2 pulldown switch) circuitry identifies original film-based content from DVDs, then reassembles the frame sequence to more accurately reproduce the original 24-frame-per-second material. Dual ColorStream HD component-video inputs (Y, Pr, Pb) provide the ultimate picture quality from high-resolution component-video signals such as those from DTV set-top boxes or progressive-scan DVD players.

The 16.5-watts-per-channel 34HD82 offers two sets of rear AV inputs and a set of front AV inputs (all including S-video) for easy connection with a camcorder or gaming console. A rear AV output lets you hook the set up with a surround receiver, and SRS 3D Sound simulates surround sound from any stereo audio. And the set also comes with Cyclone, a three-way speaker system using specially tuned and ported stereo speakers for crisp highs and an open sound field, together with a subwoofer tucked into the rear of the cabinet to fill out and intensify the sound.

When working, the TV is excellent. Great picture with a digital Satelite signal and outstanding with progressive scan DVD. I was worried about going with a widescreen vs. the standard 4:3 aspect ratio sets. Trust me....this is the way to go. We quickly got used to the widescreen format and love it. The Toshiba does a great job at stretching the images from standard signals and not showing too much distortion. The Toshiba remote control is substandard and not universal. We purchased a Sony programmable remote to operate all our compenents...it works great.


If you love movies, this is a great TV for you!   July 6, 2003
Lorraine Eckman (PA)
I've had this TV for just over 6 months - LOVE it! We use component cables with Progressive-scan Sony DVD player and also use the component cables with Sony PS2, both versions of video is so crisp, it hurts your eyes! Also have HD cable box, and the HD picture is phenomenal (for the 5 channels available, so far...) Remainder of channels come in very clear. Was considering Sony flat-screen and Samsung 30" plasma when we purchased this. Very happy with the choice we made!

Great features with the TV, PIP, etc.... so many you will spend hours pouring through the manual. Our favorite is a "1/2 mute" where the first time you press the mute button, it mutes 1/2-way... low enough that one can answer phone briefly but the remainder of viewers can still hear. Also had multiple settings for the widescreen so you can choose which "fit" is best per movie (some widescreen DVD's are not exactly the 16:9 (or 1.78:1) aspect ratio). For example, Star Wars II is 2.35:1, so you may have black bars to view movie in proper proportion (or, if you choose to fill the screen, you stretch/smush the video to fit)... one of the things we didn't realize until we bought the TV and started trying out all the movies....

And should you choose to purchase this model, have a buddy handy for moving it in, it is HEAVY!!


Excellent widescreen TV, ready for HDTV.   April 6, 2003
D. R. Schryer (Poquoson, VA United States)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

If you currently have a conventional TV set with the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio but watch a lot of DVDs, you're probably tired of black spaces above and below the picture wasting much of your TV's screen size whenever you watch widescreen movies -- which are becoming the norm on DVD. The cure for this problem is to get a widescreen TV with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This Toshiba is an excellent 16:9 TV with a very sharp picture. Furthermore, this set is HDTV ready so that when you get HDTV cable or satellite service, this TV will be ready to display the dramatically improved picture quality characteristic of the new High Definition Television broadcasts to which all networks are rapidly converting. This Toshiba's 34" screen, although quite large, may not be as huge as some of the new thinscreen plasma TVs, but it's picture quality is equal or superior to plasma TVs and its price is much lower. All things considered if you want a widescreen TV that's ready for HDTV and you don't want to break you budget to get one, this excellent Toshiba set may well be the answer.


Excellent Wide Screen Set   March 14, 2003
R. Lunn (New Jersey, USA)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

I purchased this set about 6 months ago. Very pleased. My wife is getting tired of me talking about how wonderful the picture is, especially with a progressive scan DVD player (a must), even 6 months later. I bought a Toshiba DVD player too and have been very pleased with its performance. The picture with these two combined is amazing (you can even see the sweat pores on peoples faces in excruciating detail). One other thing, my daughter accidently dropped the TV remote in the toilet and it still works. I'm not quite sure what that says about the remote, but it is a great universal remote (it can control the DVD, my SONY VCR, and the TV). I have also used the V-CHIP to great success to protect my kids from channels they should not be watching (TV automatically blocks them).