Toshiba REGZA 55YL863B Pro Reviews

The Toshiba 55YL863B given to us for review is one of those very frustrating beasts that has a lot going for it only for it all to be undone by one serious flaw. With its excellent black levels and contrast, a ruler flat greyscale and some fine video processing we should have been all set for a feast for the eyes. Instead, the pervasive uniformity problems with light pooling all over the screen stopped us from ever being truly immersed in what we were watching. It’s all too familiar a story with LED TVs, alas, and we hope the industry is taking note. We don’t feel that anyone with a genuine interest in picture quality would have accepted the YL863 tested here and for that reason we can’t bestow the same recommendation its twin received. If you manage to get hold of a unit with good uniformity then you certainly have picked up a bit of a bargain large screen TV but we can only review what’s put in front of us. Fans of 3D are probably best looking elsewhere too, particularly if broadcast material is a concern and Toshiba have some work to do on that area of video processing. The Toshiba YL863 is a mixed bag, it’s just a pity all the good work went to waste in the name of fashion.