Toshiba promising 14 more HD ready LCD sets this year

Toshiba plans to introduce 14 HD ready LCD TV sets this year across four REGZA-family ranges.

Also promised are nine set-top DVD models, ranging from a basic player up to a pair of HDMI-equipped hard-disk-recorders able to upscale standard-definition discs to 720p, 1080i and 1080p high-def (detailed soon in a separate news piece).

At the bottom end of the REGZA range of Toshiba tellies, the C3030 series covers four screen sizes, three available now - 32in, 37in and 42in - and each with a native resolution of 1366x768.

Typical web prices, including VAT and delivery are £559 (32C3030D); £704 (37C3030D); £1,000 (42C3030D). Currently, you'll pay a premium if buying the 32in and 37in models from any of the three big-name resellers - Comet and the sister companies Currys and Dixons - but Dixons looks to be £100 less than anyone else on the 42-incher.

Shared features on the three available models are headed by Toshiba's Active Vision - LCD picture-processing technology that's common to other REGZA sets. This, somehow, is said to reproduce three times more pixels and four times more colour tones than conventional LCD TVs, to make picture more lifelike.

Also on the list are HD scaling; W-XGA PC input; twin tuners (one Freeview digital, the other conventional analogue); Nicam stereo sound with 20WRMS output; and claimed brightness of 500 cd/m². The 32in and 42in sets are said to offer a contrast ratio of 4000:1, the figure for the 37in is given as 5000:1.

A smaller, 26in C3030 model is also in the pipeline and will differ from its companions in having a single HDMI connector, rather than two, though it's not yet clear if it will be down-spec'd in other ways or what the likely price will be.

The other three families of REGZA sets will be arriving through the year and be topped by the Z series. This covers five models between 37in and 57in, all finish in glossy piano-black and offering full 1080p HD resolution, three HDMI sockets and 100Hz screen-refresh rate.

Two further families of 1080p sets are coming as well - and probably before the Z series. The three-strong (32in, 37in, 42in) X series will have two HDMI inputs and a piano-black finish. The two-model (40in, 46in) Picture Frame X series will have three HDMIs and gets its name from having a "super-slim" screen surround (colour not yet revealed).

Check out Toshiba's REGZA press release and dive over to this thread in the HEXUS.lifestyle forum to comment