Toshiba Regza 32XV505D review

This TV has much in common with Panasonic's Viera TX-32LZD85 (right): a 32in image, 1,920x1,080 native resolution and an identical set of sockets, including three HDMI ports.

They even look similar with their glossy black finishes and silver trims. Both include smart, friendly controls and onscreen menus with easy input switching. Sound quality of both is excellent, with Toshiba's Regza being a little warmer and the Panasonic's Viera brighter. The big difference is their prices, with this TV costing £181 less.

The Regza took the lead for Freeview picture quality, with smooth gradients and sharp details that belie the quality of Freeview broadcasts. DVD playback over SCART and S-video looked superb, too, with vibrant, lifelike colours, impressive detail and no sign of interference over the analogue connection.

The high resolution is a great benefit for PC use, but the TV made a mess of a 1,920x1,080 desktop over a VGA connection, skewing colours and cropping the image. Still, using a DVI-to-HDMI cable and selecting the Exact Scan aspect ratio option produced a pixel-sharp Windows desktop with superb colours.

HD footage from a Blu-ray player looked truly stunning. After a few tweaks of the image-quality settings, colours were punchy yet lifelike. We did spot a few problems, such as a slight orange tint, but this wasn't hard to fix with the picture settings. Contrast wasn't quite a dramatic as with Panasonic's Viera TH-37PX80B, and close inspection revealed that this TV gave a slightly sharper picture. Still, this was barely perceptible at normal viewing distances.

The Regza 32XV505D's image quality isn't perfect, but if we were looking at it on its own we would be hard pushed to find anything to criticise. Its colours are bright, vibrant and accurate enough to make an impact, and the 1080p detail stands up to the closest scrutiny. The price is extremely competitive, too, although we'd be tempted to spend a little more for a larger screen size to make the most of all that detail.