Introduction

Front

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Back

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Sides

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Stand/Mount

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The stand for the 55VX700 looks nearly identical to the stands on Panasonic's WX800 series of 3D HDTVs. It has a glossy, black coating and a silver swivel that makes the TV sit fairly low to the ground.

Aesthetics

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Toshiba definitely improved on style and design with its new crop of HDTVs. The glossy, black bezel is smooth and creates a seamless alignment with the edge of the TV screen. This means the bezel isn't raised, nor is the LCD set in at all, so if you slide your hand across the screen it is all one, flat edge (even when you come to the bezel).

Display Size & Technology

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The 55VX700 has a 55-inch LCD screen with LED backlighting to improve brightness and contrast. The TV doesn't have 3D capabilities, as that feature is reserved for Toshiba's top-line WX800 series of televisions.

Other than not offering 3D, the 55VX700 has a similar feature set to the more expensive WX800 series from Toshiba. We liked what we saw from the TV on the floor at the CEDIA convention, so if you don't need 3D capability, we recommend checking out the 55VX700.

Formats & Resolution

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The 55VX700 is a 1080p TV, which means it offers a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. This is the highest resolution available on consumer HDTVs, although there are some prototype models offering 4K resolution (not that you would need that kind of resolution at this time).

Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio

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Toshiba states the contrast ratio on the 55VX700 as being 5,000,000 to 1, but we'll likely get a much smaller ratio when we actually test the television in our labs. We use a standard testing regimen to determine brightness levels, blacks, and contrast ratio—and we do the same test for all the HDTVs we review. In our testing system, a good contrast ratio for an LCD HDTV is around 5,000 to 1.

Color

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The colors on the 55VX700 looked good, but they weren't exceptionally vivid or saturated. Of course, you can adjust this kind of thing in the TV's settings (of which the 55VX700 has many). Toshiba touts the 55VX700's ColorMaster and Expert Model systems for fine tuning the set to your liking.

Motion & Refresh Rate

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Motion looked fine on the 55VX700, despite the fact that its refresh rate was only 120Hz (compared to 240Hz on Toshiba's higher-end WX800 series). We noticed no difference in motion quality on the 55VX700 when we compared it to the 55WX800, although it is possible that the 55WX800 makes use of its 240Hz refresh rate more with 3D content than anything else.

Viewing Angle

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The viewing angle on the 55VX700 was very good, especially for an LCD panel. Let's be clear, this was just our judgment when we looked at the TV on the show floor, so it doesn't reflect any scientific testing.

Audio & Video Ports

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The 55VX700 has a good set of ports and jacks, as you can see from the image provided by Toshiba below. In all, the TV appears to have 3 HDMI ports (possibly 4), 2 USB ports, and SD/SDHC card slot, ethernet connection, RCA composite inputs, an antenna connector, and a VGA terminal.

Internet & Other Media

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The TV is outfitted with state of the art internet and media options, which Toshiba calls Enhanced NET TV (in conjunction with Yahoo!). You can stream video with Netflix (provided you have an account) or VUDU right on the 55VX700, and you can access sites like Pandora for music or other internet radio stations. The TV has built-in WiFi, so you don't even need to run an ethernet cable to the set if you don't want to.

Placement

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The ports are on the back of the 55VX700, but they are grouped in two clusters. One bunch runs vertically, while another runs horizontally near the base of the TV. This isn't a perfect placement setup, but it's not bad.

Remote

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The remote for the 55VX700 looks like a normally-sized television remote with a lot of buttons. Unless you're a really picky remote critic, it should cover your needs adequately.

Controls

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The controls on the 55VX700 are very hard to see, as their labels aren't very prominent. You may like this if you're an avid remote control user, as the hidden controls do add to the television's sleek design. If you like to use the TV's on-board controls to adjust volume or change the channel, however, you may have a hard time finding the buttons in the dark.

Menu

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We got a shot of one of the adjustment menus on the 55VX700 and it looks fairly normal. Toshiba touts the TV as having lots of settings and control options, so you should be able to fine-tune the 55VX700 to match your viewing environment.

Conclusion

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The Toshiba 55VX700 is a good-looking TV with a solid design and an impressive picture quality—at least from what we could tell on the show floor at the CEDIA convention in Atlanta. The TV doesn't have 3D capability, and its refresh rate is only 120Hz, but other than lacking those two features the 55VX700 is almost identical to Toshiba's top-line 55WX800 Cinema Series HDTV.

The suggested price of the 55VX700 is $2799, which we think is a bit steep for a 55-inch LCD without 3D capability. Yes, the TV has lots of internet features (including WiFi), and it has LED backlighting, but we'd prefer if Toshiba would knock a few hundred bucks off the asking price. This would position the 55VX700 a bit more competitively in the crowded HDTV market.

Series Comparision

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There's one other model in the VX700 series from Toshiba, and that's the 46-inch 46VX700. It has the same features as the 55VZX700 except for its smaller screen size.

Specs

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