Outstanding color accuracy, Sound quality, Comprehensive Menu, 2 S-Video inputs, Lighter weight, Appearance

Lacks 16:9 mode (sure to be in the next series), Menu obscures too much screen making calibration difficult, Remote is clean but too Spartan

After a slew of in-home trials with various 27" TV's (both normal and flat screen), I snagged this little beauty at Best Buy online. It came with a $100 rebate even after tracking a steady price reduction over time from $480 to $440 to $420 at the time of purchase. Along with free shipping this made this set a killer deal at $341 delivered final cost. (Insert Cheshire cat smile.) I can't say enough about the color accuracy of this set. Fleshtones are superb, even on analog cable. And with 3 temperature settings and 4 picture modes (3 preset), there are enough viewing options to suit virtually anyone's taste. Like much of the competition this set is afflicted with large doses of SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation) in certain presets. I suggest you avoid the Sports or Standard preset. The Movie preset on the other hand will disable SVM and is well calibrated for DVD viewing. The Memory preset can also be used to mimic the Movie Mode and yet retain altered picture settings for different needs...Very nice indeed. The settings in the Color Temps are so accurate people will swear an ISF calibrationist has been at work on the set. Personally I can live without a few features if the set has this much quality in this most important aspect of television viewing. Geometry is an issue for all flat screens and the Toshiba is no exception. My set has a very slight inward bowing of the letterbox bars which internal geometry tweaking cannot totally remove. The effect is so slight as to be unnoticed by all but the practiced eye. In truth I am more than impressed with the overall level of calibration of this set. And it surely doesn't hurt that it also has excellent sound. In my opinion the sound quality is surpassed only by the Sony Wega which has more wattage...and the resulting difference is minimal. Most HT users will not even give this a consideration. But as this set is destined to eventually move upstairs to my bedroom after a few years (and it's 10-12 lbs. lighter than the comp.), I am pleased that the internal sound is more than sufficient even having an enhanced sub bass system. There are some seeming negatives. It lacks a 16:9 mode for Anamorphic DVD's which both JVC (it's on the remote) and Sony (it's not) offer. Entering the Service Menu however it is possible to create such a mode using Vertical compression but I have found the benefits on screens of this size and lower to be difficult to appreciate. As is, this set's picture is sufficiently detailed for any viewing option I might consider. The Menu system is full but it's operation is overly cumbersome and repetitive. Though translucent it still obscures most of the screen and many choices would be better handled with direct buttons on the remote (as with much of the competition). Other than these few items, I really can't complain. All in all, when the quality and the price are considered together, I almost feel like a thief.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, RCA, JVC, Sony, Zenith

Realistic color- price isn't bad. Surround speakers -if you don't have a surround system- Displays printed words nicely (not blurry or hard to read)

Not really weakness- more a pain- having to fiddle with the picture setting to get a correct picture.

I bought the 27af42 a week ago. I use to own the Toshiba 20af41. At first I was disappointed because I couldn't seem to get the same picture quality as I had with my 20" t.v. I've read before where people recommended buying a calibration disk. Unfortunately I don't own one and figured I would buy one if I couldn't find the correct settings. After fiddling around for a couple days, I finally got the picture that I was looking for. Here are my settings: Standard Temp- medium contrast- 80 brightness - 60 sharpness - 47 color - 55 tint - 0 tilt-- i didn't have to change it. I've been watching movies (Spider-man, Star Wars: II, Bourne Identity) and regular t.v. on the above settings for about 5 days and I've noticed the picture looks better now than it did a few days ago. I figured the t.v. needs a week or 2 to break in. The surround sound of the speakers are nice, however I have it patched into a Yamaha Rx 630 receiver with Paradigm speakers (4) and a Phasetech subwoofer. I like this remote over the 20" remote. It's simply designed better and you don't have to worry about hitting the reset button. Another plus, it has 2 s-video inputs. That is nice if you have a game system and a dvd player that uses s-video. I'm using the one s-video for my Playstation 2 and my dvd player is connected to the component video input. Overall I'm pleased with my purchase. The only t.v. that I saw would rival this one and perhaps is better is the Sony 27" flat screen.v300, but it is $100 to $150 more, so I guess it should be better :-).