Overview of the Regza SV Series
The Regza SV series are full HD LD panels, available in 46" and 55" sizes, that are the first Toshiba TVs to use LED backlighting technology. This series feature many hot Toshiba technologies that combine to produce the best pictures seen yet from this company. Of course this new technology comes at a price so lets take a look at what you can expect and whether or not it's worth the extra investment.
On the design side, the Regza SV series is fairly standard and has a sleek black design that Toshiba call their 'Deep Lagoon' design. It has sleek, narrow bezels around the edge of the screen. Glossy black is a staple for TVs and the finish is impressive. The width of the TV, especially considering LED backlighting is used, is a little disappointing, with the TV having the same width as a standard TV. You'll have to weigh up how important this aspect is for your situation.
LED Backlighting and local dimming
This is Toshiba's first TVs in the UK to feature LED backlighting technology. This uses light emitting diodes to illuminate the LCD panel. This method of backlighting has many benefits. Most importantly, it creates a far brighter, clearer image than is possible with conventional LCD panels. There's no getting around it, if you're looking to buy a new TV, your picture will be noticeably superior with a TV that uses LED backlighting. The SV series also feature an incredible 2 million to 1 contrast ratio.
The SV series also Local Dimming technology. This uses LED backlighting and to dim, brighten or completely turn off backlighting for selective areas of the panel to suite the content on screen. This means that the parts of the picture that should be in deep shadow will be as dark as possible, and the areas that require more light will be bright and clear. This is constantly adjusted to show the best picture at any moment, and it does make a difference.
Metabrain, Autoview and Resolution+
Meta Brain is powerful central chip that literally works like a brain, controlling the different parts of the SV series TVs. This chip is constantly updating the image on screen and optimizing it for the best picture at that time. It controls Auto View, a technology that analyses the conditions in the room and adjusts the brightness and contrast to suit the content that's currnently on screen.
Also featured in this series is Resolution+, an essential addition to modern TVs that controls how you'll watch DVDs, TV channels and any other non-HD sources. Resolution+ cleans up standard definition images and upscales them for the SV series large panel displays. With Resolution+, your SD content will appear at least a little closer to HD quality.
Active Vision M200HD
Another major improvement with the SV series is Active Vision M200HD. This technology is Toshibas currently most advanced motion processing system. It's purpose is to make fast action sequences appear smoother and more clear. It does this by combining 100hz technology and intelligent backlight scaning to create a smooth 200hz picture. Active Vision makes a huge difference over how fast action images appear over the entry level models.
Further Reading
Visit the Toshiba website for full information on the SV46 and SV55 Series.