In India, people largely focus on making budget-friendly purchases, and products which serve their purpose and last longer are usually picked, over others. Most people in India, still swear by their CRT television sets, even though technology in the country is fast progressing. That being said, India is an emerging country, which is bettering its position, each day. In stores, one will rarely find a CRT television up for sale, since most outlets, these days are selling LCD, LED or Plasma televisions. Toshiba has launched a number of televisions in their Regza series, which is targeted at consumers from the emerging markets, globally. One of these televisions is the 32PB10ZE from their Regza Power Booster range. The market is overpopulated with 32-inch LCD TVs, so read on to know if this television has what it takes to make a dent in the market that is dominated by Samsung, LG, Sony, etc.
Design and Build QualityLCD TVs have slightly more depth than LED televisions. But, as with the advancements in technology, the difference in size seems to be getting a lot less. The Toshiba 32PB10ZE is not the thinnest LCD TV available, but it certainly does not lack style. The speakers located at the bottom look like they have been separated from the display. Between the main panel of this television and the speakers, there is a ridge that is finished in matte silver. The bezel of this TV has a glossy black finish. This television's speakers located at the bottom have a perforated finish. Overall, Toshiba have done well, while designing this LCD TV.Toshiba have gone with the minimalistic approach and located all the controls in a niche along the left of the television. Along with the regular controls, there is also a USB port located here, which acts as a quick access area for inserting a flash drive. All other controls are located at the rear and include two HDMI ports, component, composite, D-Sub as well as a 3.5mm audio jack. The remote control of this television is not as large as those found on other TV manufacturers like LG or Samsung. The buttons of the control are large and well spaced out. The feel of this remote is sturdy and we had no issues with it. The stand though not very large, balances the TV well and like the rest of the television, it too has a glossy black finish. Rounding up the design bit, the Toshiba 32PB10ZE is sturdy and designed well.FeaturesThe Toshiba 32PB10ZE has some pretty neat features for a television in its price range. The main feature is the ability to read files straight out of a USB flash drive. This unique, but not rare, feature allows one to play up to 27 different video formats. Marketing jargon aside, this is a neat feature, which very few televisions possess today. Many televisions read USB drives, but few can read files such as MKV. We found this quite impressive.
Another feature of this 32-inch LCD TV is that it has an aspect ratio of 16:9 with an effective resolution of 1366 x 768 making it similar to most LCD televisions available in the market. The backlighting used on the 32PB10ZE is of the CCFL LCD variant, as opposed to the LED-LCD type. By using a CCFL backlit display, the cost factor of the television drops drastically. The interface of the television is painfully minimalistic. It can be compared to monitors found in the market. The good part about it being minimalistic is that one can easily navigate through the different settings or options. The speakers found on this television are two 10 watt speakers. Ending the features bit, we can say that it fares pretty decently, as far as LCD televisions are concerned and has performed well so far.Performance</strong>The performance of the Toshiba was tested by connecting it to a notebook to run the DisplayMate test. Out of the box, the colours appeared vibrant, as compared to other LCD televisions. During the test, we noticed that black levels were overall very good, but in the tests we ran we noticed a fair amount of noise. In the colour scaling test we observed some bleeding in the green, blue, light blue and pink bands. There was bleeding, but to a lesser extent in red, yellow and magenta. There were no glares or reflections noticed as the black levels were really good.
While playing back our test Blu-ray ‘The Last Samurai', we noticed that like in the DisplayMate test, the blacks rendered well. However, there was a fair amount of noise noticed, too. This took nothing away from the colours reproduced on the screen though. Blu-ray playback overall was decent at best. The audio quality while playing the disc was quite soft and it had to be amped up quite a bit for it to be audible. However, while playing music through a flash drive, the speakers sounded quite loud. The ability to quickly read from a flash drive was quite impressive. The remote control performed well and there was no need to point it directly at the sensor for the option to be activated.
VerdictThe Toshiba 32PB10 sells in India at a market operating price of Rs. 23,990. The television is priced really well and can perform tasks which are most likely seen on LCD TVs that are priced at around 10k more. This is the ideal television for one who is on a tight budget and looking to step up from a CRT television. Another ideal use of this LCD TV would be for hotels, as it would be a cost effective solution where many televisions are required.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
