Generally a wonderful picture after the set has its gray scale properly calibrated. The image is exceptional ... all except for the moire problem, but that can be minimized to a significant extent such that it can no longer be seen. The ability to do the 16:9 anamorphic squeeze easily via the service menu is an extra bonus. This set is a keeper. I recommend it, but you have to know how to properly address the moire problem. Shame on Toshiba for leaving all it's owners out in the cold on this one though. My rating is for post calibration results and performance. Out of the box, the set rates a 2/5.

Since my earlier post through much research, I have solved the moire problem by de-focusing the set. Funny how no one at Toshiba or the service center could figure that one out...Anyways, the lines are gone but I have yet to get it calibrated so I am bumping my rating up. Thanks to all who helped.

I posted a few months back about this set and loved it until I noticed the dreaded moire problem. I first noticed it playing madden football on the playstation. At the beginning of the game the screen is almost smoky white and I saw the grid like lines all over the set. ugh! I called Toshiba and we went back and forth until Dale a rep that works there emailed me and said he has a moire "repair kit" that will supposely take care of the problem. he said there engineer had been working on the problem and the kit is ready to go. He is sending it to tech tronics (my local toshiba service center) and they will come to my home and install it and do a thorough check of the tv to make sure this kit fixes the moire problem. This should happen within the next week as he emailed me this week. I will repost asap as to the results of this kit. So please dont defocus your set yet. If you have the problem on your set; dale says not all sets are affected:)...Email Toshiba and talk to dale about this. he hs been very straight foward and I hope it fixes an otherwise nice TV.
I give the tv 3 stars as a tv this expensive should not have this moire problem.

see previous post

moire

I had a technician come out to fix this set as well. I found the part number on a post at digitaltheater.com and called a tech, told him the problem, and handed him the part number. I found the best way to reproduce the effect is to put up a solid blue screen (often unused video selection that is plugged in). The card did soften the lines, and move them to the middle, but it did not completely fix the problem. After a little focus adjustment the lines are still there, but barely noticeable on source material, including fog scenes in animated DVD's, which were the hallmark inducer of moire for me. Overall the picture is better, but it doesn't seem as sharp to me anymore, my color is out of wack, and is seems darker than I'm used to, but I haven't recalibrated using video essentials yet, so that could be completely unrelated. The technician did document the "partial fix" so I imagine if I pushed hard enough I could get a refund. Now my conundrum is whether to take the refund and risk losing the 180 I spent on shipping (which will probably not be covered) or keep the set which is in moderately good shape. If I do get it refunded I can upgrade a little, but I'm not sure what I'd go to. Since this TV is no longer made, reviewing it is a mute point. I'm not sure if Toshiba has fixed it in their new series of tubes, but they'd be stupid no to. If you have moire, try to get the fix done, you may be satisfied. The key is to have a screen in which it is very reproducible, and make sure you know that it is moire, it should change position and shape on turning the defocus knob (use a technician).

Hello everyone. bad news: the repair kit did nothing to fix the "moire". My service rep came over and took the circuit board out and sodered some wires from the kit that toshiba had sent him but I cant see that it did anything. in fact I think the service rep thought I was being too critical when he first arrived but when ne finally saw the pattern I was descirbing he adjusted the focus knob and we come to a pretty good picture not as sharp but not as fuzzy as a previous post by someone. But here is the thing he mentioned to me that he has never heard of the is problem but sees it and will be talking to toshiba to see what they can do because he feels the kit they sent was not to fix this particular problem. So hopefully this man can help.
As for the cn36x81 dtv set from the previous post unless it is a 16:9 ratio which is the ratio dtv will be displayed Ifind that model a waste of money. Put your money into a 16:9 ratio tv if going the digital route so you dont have to buy again. I am very very disappointed with this set although the opicture now is not too bad. I too agree that it has way better color than the wega but nowhere near as sharp I guess it is a tradeoff; nothing is perfect. I will try to get a refund as originally I was told I caould have by Dale since this technically didnt fix the problem and my service rep will be explaining to toshiba the problem. I will repost when something else happens. just make sure you really look closely at toshibas if you are thinking about buying one. I rate this set two stars.

We just recently purchased the Toshiba CN36H97. Unfortunately, we had the dreaded "moire" problem. We were trying to figure out that problem when one of the tuners in the set died on us. So we returned it and replaced it with the new CN36Z71 model. This set has the moire problem even worse! If anybody could E-Mail me the process for "defocusing" the set to correct this, I would appreciate it. Thanks for your help! BTW, I have to rate the CN36H97 as a 3 becomes of the tuner/moire problems

Follow up to my previous post: I adjusted the focus on the set in order to minimize the appearance of the moire patterns (thanks to Michael for the instuctions.) While it does not completely get rid of them, I can only see them on certain backgrounds and even then they're not really that noticiable. I'm now leaning towards keeping the set, and have bumped up my review accordingly.

I've had my CN36H97 for about 3 weeks now and have two complaints about the set: (1) the time that it takes to change channels, and (2) the moire patterns that appear towards the side of the picture.
The first problem is just a minor annoyance. I'm used to a set that changes channels instantly instead of taking a second or so to tune in. Not really a big deal, and it may actually benefit my relationship with my girlfriend as I'm less inclined to channel surf :) I'd sill prefer if it changed channels faster though.

The second problem (moire patterns) is more serious. I thought I could live with it, but I just got my new Panasonic A-120U DVD player hooked up and it seems to be worse when watching DVDs in widescreen mode (via component video). I've read that others have fixed this by defocusing the set, but I'm not yet sure how to do this. If anyone has info on this I'd appreciate it if you could email it to me. Bottom line, if I can't find a way to make this problem go away I'm going to return the set.

Without the moire problem, I'd rate the set a 4 (it's got too many silly features for me to give it a 5). Given that I'm probably going to have to return it, I can't justify giving it more than a 2.

I had a Toshiba CN36G97 that had the infamous moire problem. Toshiba took the set back. I had a service call done on the TV by a Toshiba authorized service center but it didn't solve the moire problem and I was also told I was too picky, to turn sharpness way down and live with it. I don't think so... I was on the phone with Toshiba Customer Service the next day.

I had Dale of the Toshiba Customer Service Department assigned to my case. I had contacted them via the 800 # on their website. When I explained the problem to Dale he was immediately aware of the moire problem with many of their 36" TVs and setup to refund me the $$. The funny thing is he said they wouldn't replace the set because there's no guarantee the replacement wouldn't have the moire problem. Does Toshiba have a quality control department??

I faxed in my purchase receipt to them and a couple of weeks later a shipping company they use contacted me to make an appointment to pickup the TV. The shipping company wrapped the TV in heavy blankets and hauled it away. I had a check from Toshiba in about another 4 weeks.

E-mail me if you have any further questions. WynsWrld98@aol.com

Like a lot of people, I have problems with the wavy lines (I believe the effect is called moire) on the sides of the TV. To some extent this can be taken care of by slightly defocusing the TV, but overall I'm still disappointed.