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A cinema mode is on hand to make films look clearer and smoother, too, with the icing on the cake coming from a trio of sound tricks: SRS 3D processing for a much wider, deeper soundstage, Focus adjustment for clearer dialogue, and a TruBass low frequency enhancer.

So are the 37WL66’s pictures a chip off the old Toshiba/Active Vision block? Not ’arf.

There are few LCD TVs at this size able to deliver such an exceptionally sharp picture. This is, of course, a particularly handy attribute to have in these high definition-obsessed times, and can make our Xbox 360 games and true HD footage on our Sky HD receiver look so pristine and detailed that it nearly brings a tear to our eye.

It’s not just the sheer resolution of the Toshiba’s pictures that makes them look so sharp either, since they also suffer impressively little with smearing problems over motion, or video noise in general. What’s particularly interesting about this is that it proves that Active Vision LCD does all of its good work while generating hardly any unpleasant processing side effects.

The set’s black levels are well above average too. Dark scenes thus escape too much damage from the greyness associated with low-contrast TVs, while also avoiding the common trap of looking hollow thanks to their containing wholesome amounts of subtle detail information.

The last big thing in the 37WL66’s favour is the exceptional vitality and dynamism of its colours, which helps give even the most mundane of footage an almost cinematic lustre.

Really our only complaint about the 37WL66 is that the richness of its colours comes at the expense of the occasional slightly iffy looking tone. But these ‘off’ moments are actually rare, and if you’re anal enough you might be able to get rid of them via the provided colour adjustments. Depends on your view on how short life is, we guess…

The 37WL66’s excellent pictures deserve better backing than they get from the sound on offer. For while normal TV fodder sounds clean and involving enough, a fulsome movie or drama mix reveals a general lack of bass and an overloaded, thin-sounding mid range.

Verdict

Alright, yes, this Toshiba lacks a digital tuner and doesn’t have the greatest sound. But if you’re just after 37in of exceptional picture quality as cheaply as possible, the 37WL66 will do nicely.

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