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Toshiba 65L9300U: A 4K HDTV With HDMI 2.0 Support
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1. Toshiba 65L9300U HDTV: 4K That Doesn’t Break The Bank

After publishing Asus PQ321Q 4K Monitor Review: Top-Shelf Ultra HD For $3500 and Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD Monitor Review: UP3214Q At $3500, I was personally anxious to get my hands on a 4K HDTV. Toshiba obliged by sending its new 65L9300U.

When Sony introduced its first Ultra HD TV in 2012, it was only available in an 84-inch screen size for an eye-watering $25,000. Today, Sony and its competition offer smaller screens at more down-to-earth prices. Selling for a now-familiar $3500, Toshiba’s 65L9300U represents a relatively good value in the 4K space.

Of course, Ultra HD means 3840x2160 pixels. Although that's not quite a true 4K (4096x2160), it comes close. At the very least, it's four times the resolution of Full HD’s 1920x1080. While the first generation of Ultra HD screens had specific bandwidth limitations, this is the first display we’ve seen with HDMI 2.0 support. You do need the very latest firmware from Toshiba's website. But once you're equipped with that, the TV accepts UHD signals at 60 Hz. Currently, the only way to generate such a signal is either through a computer or a streaming device like a Redray player.

The bandwidth issue really isn't as big of a deal with film-based content, since it’s delivered at 24 FPS. And pretty much everyone who buys this HDTV will be connecting a standard Blu-ray player that outputs good old 1920x1080. So, the real test for this generation is the quality of its upconversion.

Brand
Toshiba
Model
65L9300U
Street Price
$3500
Panel Type
IPS
Backlight
W-LED, edge array
Screen Size
65"
Max Resolution
3840x2160
Max Refresh Rate
240 Hz
3D
Passive, pattern retarder
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Response Time (GTG)
Not specified
Brightness (cd/m2)
Not specified
Speakers
2 x 10 W
HDMI
4
VGA
1
Component Video
1
Composite Video
2
Audio In
1 x 3.5 mm, 1 x RCA
Audio Out
1 x 3.5 mm, 1 x optical
USB
2 (v2.0)
IR Control
1 out
SD Card
1
Ethernet
1
Panel Dimensions
W x H x D w/base
57.6 x 37 x 14.7 in
1463 x 940 x 374 mm
Panel Thickness
2.8 in / 71 mm
Weight
108 lbs / 49 kg
Warranty
One year

Feature-wise, this HDTV is packed. Besides its Ultra HD resolution, there’s passive 3D and the same Cloud TV software we reported on in Toshiba 50L7300U Review: A 50-Inch LED HDTV With Wi-Fi. Wireless networking is of course built-in, or you can connect an Ethernet cable to the TV's LAN port. Plus, there’s a built-in WiDi receiver that lets you stream content from compatible laptops and portable devices.

3D is less of a marketing tool today than it was in the past. However, all mid- to high-priced HDTVs still include it. The 65L9300U offers passive 3D through pattern retarder technology. Unlike active 3D, where the glasses contain LCD shutters that must be synced to the display, passive 3D uses fixed polarizers in both the glasses and screen to achieve a stereo effect. Light output is much higher on passive sets, but the effective resolution is halved. Each frame shows every other horizontal line, and your eye/brain has to stitch them together. Fortunately, a 4K TV gives you plenty of extra pixels to get the resolution back up. So, for fans of stereoscopic content, an Ultra HD screen with passive 3D may be the best option you can buy.

The video technology here is not revolutionary, though. Backlighting is provided by a white-LED edge array. Contrast performance can be enhanced through a local-dimming feature called DynaLight, which modulates the backlight depending on content. There are also several other picture enhancement features that we’ll explore in-depth.

Toshiba addresses video processing with its quad-core CEVO 4K engine. Since nearly all of the content delivered to an Ultra HD TV will be 1080p for the foreseeable future, scaling quality is super-important. We’ll take a close look at some 2D and 3D Blu-rays on page four. And we’ll thoroughly test the video processing on page 11. We also get to check out some native 4K video courtesy of a laptop Toshiba included in our press package.

2. Toshiba 65L9300U Physical Characteristics

The 65L9300U is part of Toshiba’s premium line of HDTVs, and therefore comes with a fairly comprehensive set of accessories. Included in the box is a wireless keyboard with touchpad to help navigate the Cloud TV interface. You also get four sets of 3D glasses. There is no printed manual, though you can pull the instructions up on-screen once the 65L9300U is online. This doesn't make much sense to us. How do you connect to the Internet to read the instructions if you were previously having trouble connecting to the Internet? Fortunately, setup is quite easy. But if you really need it, the manual is also available on Toshiba's website.

Product 360

Again, this is a high-end TV, and it looks the part. The panel’s front layer is glass with an anti-glare coating. It only does a fair job of eliminating reflections, so care should be taken with the TV’s placement. The bezel surround is matte-finished aluminum like the base.

The aluminum base and chrome-plated support column are made from solid pieces of metal. You can swivel the panel about 15 degrees either left or right.

Measuring 2.8 inches-thick, Toshiba can't claim to offer the thinnest panel out there. But it's worth noting that some of depth is attributable to a bulge along the bottom edge. Otherwise, the thickness measurement would be closer to two inches.

Three of the four HDMI inputs are on the left side, along with USB connectivity and an SD card slot. Wall-mounting is easy with the included 400 mm VESA fittings around back.

Inputs are split between a side-facing panel and the back. As you might imagine, connecting devices is easy, unless the TV is wall-mounted. In that case, accessing the VGA and Ethernet ports is going to be more difficult because they are rear-facing. The analog component inputs point to the back as well. 

You get one optical audio output and one 3.5 mm analog connector. The SD card slot is cool, but hard to reach when the TV is wall-mounted. There had to be a better place to put that.

Toshiba bundles the same Bluetooth-based keyboard we got with the 50L7300U. It works via a tiny receiver plugged into one of the TV's USB ports. Pairing is immediate when you power the keyboard on. It also has a touchpad for controlling the on-screen cursor. The keyboard itself is great, though the mouse action is laggy and imprecise. Using the Tab or arrow keys to navigate the browser and other cloud-oriented apps is quicker.

The remote is also similar to the 50L7300U's controller, with two important exceptions: it’s backlit and has a 3D button. Backlighting should be standard on every A/V remote, regardless of price point, and we’re glad to see it included with this premium display. The 3D button toggles between 2D and stereo mode whether the content is native 3D or converted 2D. Once the TV is in 3D mode, you can adjust the depth of the effect using the Quick Menu.

This wand can be programmed to control other devices, and it works fairly well within a reasonable distance and angle from the set. Our only nitpick is that the directional keys work differently than the other buttons. They click loudly and feel cheap, and for some reason they aren’t backlit.

3. OSD Setup And Calibration

Setup is a lot like what we went through with Toshiba's 50L7300U. The menu system is nearly identical, with only a couple of extra features to differentiate it. One thing we miss is context-sensitive help. Many HDTVs offer brief explanations on-screen as you scroll through the various options. Toshiba leaves you to refer to the manual instead.

First up are the image controls. There are six picture modes. Movie and Game are the only ones you’ll need to use in most cases. Of note is the AutoView mode that adjusts image parameters based on content and room lighting, evaluated by a small sensor on the panel’s front.

Aside from the basics, a majority of the calibration controls are in the Advanced and Expert menus.

Going down the list of settings, ColorMaster is Toshiba’s term for the color management system (CMS). Color Temperature has three presets. Warm is the closest to D65 and provides the best starting point for calibration. The Auto Brightness sensor works with the AutoView picture mode mentioned above. DynaLight is the backlight local dimming feature. It works fairly well for improving contrast without crushing detail or flickering. Dynamic Contrast also works well at its Low setting. Medium and High crush detail noticeably. Noise Reduction takes care of some of the artifacts in low-quality sources, but is not needed for hi-def content. Resolution+ provides a subtle edge enhancement; I prefer turning the option off. ClearScan is the frame-interpolation feature, and it has three settings: Standard, Cinema, and Smooth. For correct processing of 24p film content, use Standard. Cinema and Smooth are fine for sports. However, they give other content an artificial look that I don't like. Fine Texture and Brilliance Restoration seem to add a little pop to the image without creating artifacts. We set them both to Auto. And finally, 3D Judder Cancellation smooths out motion blur in 3D presentations. It looked unnatural, so I left it turned off.

Here’s what the CMS looks like:

Only the Brightness setting yielded a predictable effect in our testing. The Hue and Saturation controls are very coarse, generating large changes with only a single click. The gamut is pretty close to perfect out of the box, and we couldn’t improve it with the CMS. Toshiba at least makes it easy to turn ColorMaster on and off, which is handy.

If you don’t have your own instruments, the RGB Filter is a great way to set the Color and Tint controls if you can get your hands on a color bar pattern instead. First, turn off Red and Green. Adjust color and tint until the different blue shades blend together. Then do the same for the other colors. This is an old-school way to adjust color, but it works pretty well.

The 10-point white balance controls require some extra time to dial in but the results are superior to using the two-point control. With the 65L9300U’s internal test patterns and working from 100 IRE downward, we achieved our best white balance result ever.

Even though the internal speakers won’t replace a good sound bar or surround system, there are plenty of options that can help maximize their potential.

After the traditional tone controls, there’s an option for Audyssey Premium Television. We suggest turning this on because it definitely improves audio quality. Audyssey employs dynamic equalization and volume to optimize sound based on content and loudness. There are even Day and Night modes available. The 65L9300U accepts DTS and Dolby bitstreams, and correctly down-mixes them to two channels. This includes the lossless codecs.

The next two menus, Options and Installation, cover various ergonomic options and are pretty self-explanatory.

Network Setup can be fully automated to the point that you initiate a connection and then press a button on your router. Or, you can enter all the parameters manually. We used the automated setup without difficulty.

Next up are the 3D options.

In addition to processing native 3D content, the 65L9300U can convert 2D images to stereo. The easiest way to do this is to press the 3D button on the remote. You can adjust the depth effect in five increments. If you want to lock out 3D altogether, create a PIN code in this menu. We’ll talk more about the 3D experience on the next page. By default, though, any time you insert 3D Blu-ray, the 65L9300U automatically switches to 3D mode.

The last screen is the Quick Menu, accessed from a dedicated button on the remote.

WiDi is Intel’s streaming solution for laptops and portable devices. When it’s set up, you can stream content directly from a computer, phone, or tablet without cables. This menu also gives you access to the picture modes, aspect ratio choices, 3D settings, and a Sleep Timer.

We made an interesting discovery in the Picture Size submenu. Two options, Native and Quad FHD, render a 1:1 pixel image with no overscan. In Native, however, there is a slight ringing (edge enhancement) on vertical lines only. We could see this plainly in test patterns and less so in actual content. Quad FHD does not have the ringing. It renders a pixel-perfect image at full resolution with no overscan.

Calibration

The Movie mode provides the best starting point for an instrumented calibration. Even without adjustment, it’s pretty close to right-on. We used the 10-point white balance to dial in a perfect grayscale. There are no gamma controls, but if 2.2 is the target value, you’re good to go. We adjusted the CMS to correct color luminance errors, though the end result measured a little worse than the TV’s unadjusted state. The 65L9300U’s color gamut is just about spot-on, so that's not an issue. To see a pixel-mapped image with no overscan or edge enhancement, choose the Quad FHD aspect mode from the Quick Menu.

The default Contrast setting is maxed at 100 and doesn't clip detail, but we backed it off to 95 just to be safe. Brightness is just right at its default of zero. Since the contrast is pretty much the same regardless of light level, you can set the Backlight anywhere you wish, depending on room conditions and personal preference.

We left out our CMS settings, since they don’t produce an improvement in gamut accuracy.

Toshiba 65L9300U Calibration Settings
Picture Mode
Movie
Backlight
53 (day), 43 (night)
Contrast
95
Brightness
0
Color
0
Tint
0
Sharpness
0
Picture Size (Quick Menu)
Quad FHD
10-Point White Balance
IRE
Red
Green
Blue
100
14
7
6
90
13
9
-5
80
10
4
-4
70
6
1
0
60
6
0
-1
50
5
2
-3
40
8
3
-3
30
6
1
-5
20
3
-1
-3
10
7
2
0
4. Using Toshiba's 65L9300U

In my profession, I’ve had the opportunity to test and watch hundreds of different displays, both projectors and HDTVs. In that time, I’ve only encountered a handful that I would call compelling. Toshiba's 65L9300U is the newest addition to that very short list.

For all viewing, the set is calibrated in its Movie mode. DynaLight is turned on and Dynamic Contrast is set to Low. Even though those options negatively impact the gamma results (coming up on page seven), I felt the image had more pop and detail.

Toshiba sent over a laptop loaded with native 4K content, so I began with that. The video was a typical tradeshow-style collection of bright, colorful content loaded with detail and high contrast. To say it looked fantastic would be an understatement. Even sitting four feet away, I couldn't see any pixilation or artifacts. Someday, movies and TV shows will be encoded this way, and frankly, I can’t wait. Watching native content on a 4K display is truly a glimpse into the future.

Unfortunately, for the rest of my viewing, I had to settle for good old 1080p-encoded Blu-rays. I chose a group of discs that tested the 65L9300U in various ways.

Standard Content

I, Robot is an excellent example of a film that’s been subjected to a little too much digital scrubbing. On most HDTVs, it takes on a sharp and smooth appearance due to CGI that’s not quite up to the latest standards. This TV, however, brings back some of the film grain, making the movie look a little more real. The computer-generated elements were more obvious, but the noise reduction inherent in the transfer wasn’t quite as obnoxious.

Moving on to a truly poor transfer, I tried out The Last Samurai. This disc has many noisy scenes and even some macro-blocking artifacts in the mix. During the first battle sequence, when the forest is filled with the mists of dawn, the flaws are quite distracting. With the 65L9300U’s noise reduction set on Low, the mist looked essentially perfect. Toshiba's HDTV cleaned up this Blu-ray better than any display I’ve seen previously. And it did so without flattening the image.

Moving to the opposite extreme, I dropped Baraka into the player. This disc represents the ultimate film-to-video transfer. Shot in 70 mm and scanned at 8K resolution, there is no CGI of any kind used during the creation process. What you see is exactly what passed through the original cameras. This Blu-ray is stunning-looking. It can't match native 4K content, but it comes darned close. If Toshiba wants to demonstrate the scaling abilities of this set, I can’t think of better demo material.

I finished up the 2D evaluation with Terminator Salvation. While it doesn't lack sharpness or detail, the movie's monochromatic color palette can make the film look flat and lifeless on displays with poor contrast or color resolution. Fortunately, that's not the case here. I can say confidently that the 65L9300U will make your 1080p content look better across the board.

Stereoscopic Content

3D is a prominent feature of the 65L9300U, and we were eager to compare its passive solution with the active technology found on first-generation 3D TVs. On a 1080p display, the pattern retarder effectively halves the resolution. If you sit close enough, you can see the horizontal line pattern on the screen. With the extra resolution available from a 4K display, the loss is completely mitigated. Plus, there is almost no light blockage from the passive glasses (whereas active shutter glasses cut brightness by as much as 80 percent).

No 3D display evaluation is complete without watching Avatar. From the first scene, we knew we were seeing something special. The depth of the effect is tremendous without looking unnatural. And since there’s virtually no loss of brightness, the image pops in a way that can’t be duplicated in Imax 3D. Without question, I'd call this the best 3D implementation I've ever seen. And you can sit as close as you like; you won’t see pixilation or resolution loss.

Our favorite 3D torture test is Disney’s A Christmas Carol, which is loaded with dark murky material that turns into a big black blob on many displays. Thanks to the extra light output offered by Toshiba’s passive 3D technology, it looks better than ever. The wrinkles on Scrooge’s face are especially well-rendered. If 3D looked this good when it first appeared on the market, we might all be watching TV this way.

One last note on the 3D experience: this TV can convert 2D images to 3D. It's not going to replace native 3D content, but the 65L9300U does a fairly convincing job of bridging the two modes. In fact, sports look pretty cool in stereo, as do action films. There are options in the Quick Menu for adjusting depth. That’s something you’ll want to tailor to personal preference for different content.

Cloud Interface

The Cloud TV interface is identical to what we saw from Toshiba's 50L7300U, and it suffers from the same sluggishness. We asked for more information about the hardware platform enabling this functionality, but Toshiba wouldn't share that information. Company reps did say the software is HTML5-based. Still, though, it's slow to respond to commands from the remote and keyboard.

In my opinion, the suite's best app is its Netflix viewer, which is useful for browsing the service's vast library of content. Moreover, image quality is quite good.

Rather than repeating our assessment of the Cloud TV experience, I'll again refer you back to Toshiba 50L7300U Review: A 50-Inch LED HDTV With Wi-Fi.The 65L9300U’s interface works identically. Really, the best streaming solution is found in external devices like Roku or Apple TV, though. And with the 65L9300U’s WiDi receiver, you can turn your compatible laptop into a content aggregator if you want.

Windows Usability

After our last HDTV review, some of our readers asked us to comment on the set’s usability as a computer monitor. To oblige this, we connected a natively-1080p Windows 8-based laptop via HDMI. When you mirror displays, you're stuck with the lower-res screen's output. As we expected, running the 65L9300U at 1080p makes it look soft. It works fine as a presentation display with viewers several feet away. But up close, it isn't practical.

Bumping the output up to 3840x2160 is another experience entirely. Suddenly, you have a 65-inch display that can literally become a desktop monitor. The main limitation becomes positioning yourself so that the entire screen is in your field of view. Even three feet away, the image is sharp and you aren't distracted by pixel structure. The TV does have a PC mode. However, the desktop image looks better in Movie mode after a full calibration.

Remember that the 65L9300U only has HDMI inputs. With the latest firmware, they support version 2.0’s 60 Hz refresh rate. But your graphics card needs HDMI 2.0 support as well. Otherwise, available bandwidth limits the connection to 30 Hz, making on-screen movement jerky enough to be bothersome. Neither AMD nor Nvidia has provided guidance on adding HDMI 2.0 support yet.

5. Measurement And Calibration Methodology: How We Test

To measure and calibrate monitors and HDTVs, we use an i1Pro spectrophotometer and version 5.1.2 of SpectraCal’s CalMAN software.

For patterns, we employ an AccuPel DVG-5000 video signal generator. This approach removes video cards and drivers from the signal chain, allowing the display to receive true reference patterns. Connections are made via HDMI.

The AccuPel DVG-5000 is capable of generating all types of video signals at any resolution and refresh rate up to 1920x1080 at 60 Hz. It can also display motion patterns to evaluate a monitor's video processing capabilities, with 3D patterns available in every format. This allows us to measure color and grayscale performance, crosstalk, and ghosting in 3D content via the 3D glasses.

The i1Pro is placed at the center of the screen (unless we’re measuring uniformity) and sealed against it to block out any ambient light. The Accupel pattern generator (bottom left) is controlled via USB by CalMAN, which is running on the Dell XPS laptop on the right.

Our version of CalMAN Ultimate allows me to design all of the screens and workflows to best suit the purpose at hand. To that end, we’ve created a display review workflow from scratch. This way, we can be sure and collect all the necessary data with a concise and efficient set of measurements.

The charts show us the RGB levels, gamma response, and Delta E error for every brightness point from zero to 100 percent. The table shows us the raw data for each measurement. And the area in the upper-left tells us luminance, average gamma, Delta E, and contrast ratio. The individual charts can be copied to the Windows clipboard to easily create graphics for our reviews.

Every primary and secondary color is measured at 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 percent saturation. The color saturation level is simply the distance from the white point on the CIE chart. You can see the targets moving out from white in a straight line. The further a point is from center, the greater the saturation until you hit 100 percent at the edge of the gamut triangle. This shows us the display’s response at a cross-section of color points. Many monitors score well when only the 100 percent saturations are measured. Hitting the targets at the lower saturations is more difficult, and factors into our average Delta E value (which explains why our Delta E values are sometimes higher than those reported by other publications).

6. Results: Brightness And Contrast

The light output requirements of an HDTV are somewhat different than those for computer monitors. However, we still want to see how bright the display goes, which may mean using a less-than-accurate picture mode that affects color and visible detail.

You typically have to use Dynamic mode to get the most output possible from an HDTV. On the 65L9300U, it is possible to use the Dynamic mode while retaining full highlight and shadow detail. To do this, turn off the DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast options.

For comparison, we’re including the NEC V801, Pioneer PRO-111FD, Toshiba 50L7300U, and the last two Ultra HD computer monitors reviewed on Tom's Hardware.

The 65L9300U is not super bright, but it does provide more than enough light output in its Dynamic mode to work in every environment you can imagine. There is a caveat, though: you also have to accept an over-saturated color gamut and inaccurate gamma. In Movie mode, the maximum output we measured was 268.1492 cd/m2, which is still plenty bright.

The black level is fairly high in Dynamic mode.

Remember that the DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast controls are turned off. Re-enabling them lowers the black level significantly. And you’ll notice how much lower that value is than the two Ultra HD computer monitors in the group.

Here’s the max contrast ratio round-up.

The 65L9300U has reasonably consistent contrast. If you leave DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast off, you’ll see between 2100 and 2800 to 1, regardless of the picture mode or backlight setting. We’ll talk more about these options below.

Calibrated Day & Night Modes

For the Day mode, we target a value of 170 cd/m2, which is enough light for just about any media room or dedicated home theater. If you prefer the American luminance unit, it’s just under 50 foot-Lamberts. Some might consider that a little too bright for critical viewing, but it's a peak number. Most content doesn't display the brightest output except in highlights or the occasional sunlit scene. Ultimately, it’s up to you. However, we want a consistent value to which we can compare future displays.

We chose a maximum output of 120 cd/m2 (or 35 fL) for the Night mode. This is the value used in pro graphics systems, which assumes a darkened light-controlled space. It’s also a good level for watching TV in total darkness, or with just a little ambient light.

Our comparison charts show the Day mode. Results for the Night mode show similar contrast values at correspondingly lower white and black levels. For these tests, DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast are still off.

The backlight control is a little coarse. Each click represents about 4 cd/m2. We came in just under our target, which isn’t a problem.

The black level is pretty good in the panel’s native state.

Toshiba's 65L9300U doesn’t reach as low as its Full HD sibling. But it does handily beat the two computer monitors in our comparison group.

Here’s the native contrast ratio after calibration.

Among the HDTVs we're testing, Toshiba's Ultra HD screen finishes last. By no means is that a deal-breaker. The TV does need a little more help from its dynamic contrast options than the others, though. Fortunately, they enhance the image without crushing detail or causing any obvious artifacts.

Our Night mode measurements are White Level: 122.6547, Black Level: .0578, and a Contrast Ratio of 2122.8 to 1; very close to the Day mode.

We tried all six combinations of the DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast settings to see which one worked the best.

Turning on DynaLight reduces maximum output by around 17 percent. You can compensate by turning up the Backlight control.

Here’s the best part:

No matter where you set the Dynamic Contrast control, DynaLight delivers a very good black level of .0113 cd/m2. That's not good enough to beat average plasma TVs. But it's impressive for an LCD panel.

Based on our final contrast comparison, we settled on DynaLight enabled and Dynamic Contrast Low. This combination gives us a terrific contrast ratio of 12202.9 to 1, and doesn't crush any highlight or shadow detail. The medium and high settings of the Dynamic Contrast option crush shadow detail very noticeably.

ANSI Contrast

ANSI contrast is just as important on an HDTV as it is on a computer monitor.. To perform this test, a checkerboard pattern of sixteen zero- and 100-percent squares is measured, yielding a more real-world result than an on/off benchmark. It evaluates a display’s ability to simultaneously maintain both low black and full white levels, and factors in screen uniformity. The average of the eight full-white measurements is divided by the average of the eight full-black measurements to arrive at the ANSI result.

We see the same consistent contrast performance from Toshiba's 65L9300U as we did in our 50L7300U review. This is extremely useful because it means you can set your output level anywhere you like and retain the same image quality. There is no penalty for going to the extremes of the brightness range. All you have to do is adjust the backlight control. The brightness and contrast sliders can remain unchanged.

7. Results: Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response

It’s important that the color of white be consistently neutral at all light levels from darkest to brightest. Grayscale performance impacts color accuracy with regard to the secondary colors: cyan, magenta, and yellow. While you can manipulate them with the tint control, dialing in the grayscale often eliminates the need for further adjustment. Fortunately, a majority of monitors and HDTVs (especially newer models) display excellent grayscale tracking, even at stock settings.

First up is the result from the 65L9300U’s Standard mode. This is the TV’s default setting.

And the verdict is not good. Changing the color temperature to warm improves the situation considerably, at least. The above chart clearly shows too much blue. Although this conveys the impression of a brighter picture, egregious inaccuracy renders the picture cold, flat, and lifeless.

Switching to Movie mode is a step in the right direction.

Not only does it bring the color gamut relatively close to the Rec. 709 standard, but Movie mode also changes the color temp preset to warm. It’s still slightly cool according to our i1Pro, but only the 90-percent brightness level shows a visible error.

The average error is 2.11 Delta E, which we consider to be respectable.

What follows is the result of time spent with the 10-point white balance controls.

If you’re inclined to use the 10-point white balance, work from the brightest level down. And you must use the 65L9300U’s internal test patterns. We had to adjust each level only once. That means the controls don’t interact, which is a good thing. You can see the results are well worth the effort, yielding one of the best charts we've ever seen.

These are the out-of-box measurements for our six screens.

Both computer monitors fare very well, though the HDTVs don't. The flaw comes from the default picture mode. In every case, switching to Movie mode cleans up the grayscale to within a whisker of correct.

And here's what the 10-point grayscale adjustment gets you.

Considering the price of Toshiba's 65L9300U, our measured result is phenomenal. The second-place Asus and fifth-place Dell monitors are two of the most expensive computer displays on the market. And the third-place Pioneer originally sold for $5000 back in 2008! Toshiba delivers terrific value (though you should also remember that the fourth-place 50L7300U sells for less than $900).

Gamma Response

Gamma is the measurement of luminance levels at every step in the brightness range from 0 to 100 percent. It's important because poor gamma can either crush detail at various points or wash it out, making the entire picture appear flat and dull. Correct gamma produces a more three-dimensional image, with a greater sense of depth and realism. Meanwhile, incorrect gamma can negatively affect image quality, even in monitors with high contrast ratios.

In the gamma charts below, the yellow line represents 2.2, which is the most widely accepted standard for television, film, and computer graphics production. The closer the white measurement trace comes to 2.2, the better.

First we’ll show you the native gamma result with DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast turned off.

The outcome is slightly better than what we saw from the 50L7300U. A dip at 90-percent brightness is still there, but the trace is otherwise straight. The error represents about 3.1 cd/m2 of additional brightness, which is barely visible. For a display without a gamma control, this is excellent.

One warning we've given in our computer monitor reviews is that dynamic contrast features typically have a negative impact on gamma more than any other metric. Check out the trace below for an illustration.

This is what happens when you turn DynaLight On and set Dynamic Contrast to Low. Of course, that's only a line chart, and your personal preferences should determine whether you use those features or not. In some movies and TV shows, they're perfectly appropriate. Fortunately, Toshiba's implementation doesn’t crush shadow detail at the Low setting. The only drawback is a reduction of overall light output.

Again, here’s our test group for the gamma comparisons.

Even though the 65L9300U finishes in sixth place, it’s in a group of high-quality displays. An overall value range of .27 is almost nothing, especially considering the error is at a single brightness level.

Toshiba’s adherence to the 2.2 standard is excellent.

Since every other brightness level is dead-on 2.2, the 65L9300U turns out to be a leader in the gamma test. Only four previously-reviewed displays beat it, and only barely.

8. Results: Color Gamut And Performance

Color gamut is measured using a saturation sweep that samples the six main colors (red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow) at five saturation levels (20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%), giving us a realistic view of color accuracy.

The 50L7300U’s picture modes produce different results in the color gamut test. The first chart was generated in the Standard mode at stock settings.

This is a perfect example of why we measure additional color saturation levels. Red, green, blue, and yellow at 100 percent saturation are pretty close to their targets, while cyan and magenta are fairly wide of the mark. The lower saturations are quite a bit off, with errors ranging from 11 to 19 Delta E. The inaccuracy is compounded by super-high luminance values. Some colors are over 100-percent too bright. Visually, that results in an unnaturally-intense, cartoon-like image. A lot of the color detail is crushed as well, which removes texture and depth from the picture.

Although the 65L9300U has a CMS, we measured better chroma results without it.

This is a more respectable result. Our only concerns are the slightly low luminance values for red and blue, which can be corrected in the CMS (though the controls only affect the 100-percent saturation level). Lower levels are left unchanged. So, there is no real benefit to making that adjustment. The overall error when using the CMS is actually a bit higher.

Let’s see how the 65L9300U stacks up to our other HDTVs and monitors.

At 1.27 Delta E, Toshiba's Ultra HD screen ranks among the best. The test is particularly difficult because it takes the average of 32 unique measurements. Any value under three means the error is invisible. It follows, then, that all of the screens in our sample group pass. While we're glad the 65L9300U includes a CMS, it really isn't needed.

9. Results: Viewing Angles And Uniformity

Off-axis image quality is very important in any large-screen HDTV. Since only one person can sit in the center seat, everyone else on the couch is forced to watch at an angle. Most manufacturers like claiming large viewing angles of 170 degrees or more. However, 45 degrees is realistic to us. Given a 65-inch LCD panel viewed at ten feet, getting five people in front of it is probably a practical limit if everyone wants a decent picture.

With that said, the 65L9300U looks good at the edge of our 45-degree cone. There is almost no reduction in brightness, and the color shift is limited to medium brightness levels only. We see a slight green hue in the 30- to 50-percent bars of the side-to-side view. This is a great TV for family viewing. A larger screen would be even better, and Toshiba obliges by offering an 84-inch model in the L9300U line.

Screen Uniformity: Luminance

To measure screen uniformity, zero- and 100-percent full-field patterns are used, and nine points are sampled. In a change from previous reviews, we’re now comparing the results to other monitors we’ve measured. First, we establish a baseline measurement at the center of each screen. Then the surrounding eight points are measured and their values expressed as a percentage of the baseline, either above or below. Those numbers get averaged. Remember that we're only able to test the sample each vendor sends us. Other examples of the same monitor can measure differently.

First up is black field uniformity.

Our eyes tell us that Toshiba's 65L9300U looks good, though our meter clarifies that the bottom edge of the screen is slightly brighter than the rest of the panel. This is typical of large edge-lit LCD/LED displays. Fortunately, there isn’t any visible blotchiness or corner brightness like we’ve seen on a few other HDTVs.

Usually the white field uniformity is better than the black. Here it's almost exactly the same, though. The bottom edge is the culprit again, reading slightly brighter than the rest of the screen area. On the bright side, the error is almost imperceptible.

Screen Uniformity: Color

To measure color uniformity, we display an 80-percent white field and measure the Delta E error of the same nine points on the screen. Then we subtract the lowest value from the highest to arrive at the result. A smaller number means a display is more uniform. Any value below three means a variation that is invisible to the naked eye.

Our test sample suffers from a subtle green tint across the bottom of the screen in an 80-percent white field pattern. It's not something anyone is likely to spot when viewing regular content. And another 65L9300U might very well measure better.

10. Results: Pixel Response And Input Lag

To perform these tests, we use a high-speed camera that shoots at 1000 frames per second. Analyzing the video frame-by-frame allows us to observe the exact time it takes to go from a zero-percent signal to a 100%-white field.

The pattern generator is placed at the base of the monitor so our camera can capture the precise moment its front-panel LED lights up, indicating that a video signal is being received by the monitor. With this camera placement, we can easily see how long it takes to fully display a pattern after pressing the button on the generator’s remote. This testing methodology allows for accurate and repeatable results when comparing panels.

Here’s a shot of our test setup. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The brighter section of the camera’s screen is what actually appears in the video. You can see the lights of the pattern generator in the bottom of the viewfinder. We flash the pattern on and off five times and average the results.

What follows is the screen draw result.

The 65L7300U has a Game mode, which, as you’ll see below, is necessary.

Screen draw time is the same, regardless of picture mode. The 240 Hz refresh rate is responsible for Toshiba's second-place finish. But remember that this is an IPS panel. It'd take a TN display to post a faster response, though that'd make for a poor HDTV due to the technology's narrower viewing angles.

Here are the lag results in Movie and Game mode.

In Game mode, the 65L9300U beats a lot of the computer monitors we’ve tested. In all other picture modes, the processing makes any sort of fast-action game unplayable.

The control lag approaches a quarter of a second. Not that it matters much right now. If you want to hook up your PC and play at 3840x2160 using a 60 Hz refresh, you'll first need a graphics card with HDMI 2.0 support. Otherwise, you’re looking at a 30 Hz ceiling.

11. Results: Video Processing And 3D Crosstalk

This is a new area in our benchmark suite, so I’ll explain the results as I go. We use a series of pass/fail tests to determine the ability of an HDTV to process different kinds of video signals. Most of the time, you want your source components handling this because they're more capable. If you own an Oppo Blu-ray player, for example, it will exceed the capabilities of pretty much any display. Set your player to output 1080p video, and the display does no video processing whatsoever. An example of the reverse would be a cable or satellite receiver, which is usually poor for scaling and deinterlacing.

The 65L9300U is a little different because of its higher resolution. There are some Blu-ray players and A/V receivers that can upconvert 1080p signals to 4K. Or, you can have the TV tackle it. We don’t have a 4K source available, so our testing uses 1080p or lower.

The first tests consist of a group of video clips from the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark Blu-ray Edition, which is available to anyone online for about thirty bucks. Here’s a quick rundown of what's covered:

2:2 pulldown: This is the cadence most commonly found in content shot on video cameras (at concerts and sporting events, for example). The original image is interlaced, two fields per frame, and the display must integrate them into a single progressive frame.

3:2 pulldown: The cadence most often used to convert 24p film to 60i video, its order is two fields of the first frame and then three fields of the next, in alternating sequence. If the display doesn’t integrate the extra field properly, there is a very obvious artifact that shows in our test clip and results in a failure.

Accepts 24p: Film content on Blu-ray is encoded at 24 frames per second, and all current players can output the signal at that rate. Most displays can accept this signal and process it to a refresh rate that’s a multiple of 24 using repeated frames.

  • 2:2 pulldown: Fail
  • 3:2 pulldown: Fail
  • Accepts 24p: Pass

The failures on the 2:2 and 3:2 tests show that Toshiba’s CEVO 4K video processing engine is not as good at de-interlacing as it is with scaling. Where would you find interlaced content? It’s most common in high-def broadcasts, which are 1080i. A notable exception is Fox, which sends its signal out at 720p. What you see in practice is extra-jagged steps on diagonal lines as the 65L9300U fails to lock on to the proper cadence converting interlaced video to progressive. For film-based content on Blu-ray, the set processes 24p correctly only if you set ClearScan to Standard. Then it simply repeats each frame 10 times to match the native 240 Hz refresh rate.

The second group of tests covers an HDTV’s ability to show signals below black and above white. Unlike PC signals, which range from 0 to 255, a video signal truncates that to 16-235. The areas above and below those values are considered head and toe room, and are not used in correctly-encoded content. It is desirable, however, for a display to at least be able to show the levels between 0-34 and 236-255. It makes calibration easier, and occasionally content does stray outside the limits.

The Chroma Burst pattern shows a series of single-pixel lines, in color, to determine if a display actually achieves its maximum native resolution. Most HDTVs return different results for RGB signals than for component (YPbPr) video. 4:2:2 is the minimum bit depth output from a source; 4:4:4 is more common. Some players can output RGB, which usually eliminates a conversion step in the display. Our test shows which signal mode provides the best resolution performance.


Above White
Below Black
Chroma Burst
4:2:2
Pass
PassPass
4:4:4
PassPassPass
RGB
PassPassPass

Many HDTVs only show their full resolution when fed an RGB signal. Toshiba's 65L9300U, however, performs equally well with both RGB and YPbPr signals. Since most Blu-ray players only output YPbPr, this display has a distinct advantage. The passing results on the above-white and below-black patterns mean that the 65L9300U maintains the proper black level threshold for both types of signals.

3D Crosstalk

Since our Accupel signal generator supports 3D and contains a pattern for measuring crosstalk, we tested that as well. The pattern consists of nested squares; one for the left eye and one for the right. To measure crosstalk, the left-to-right timing is adjusted until the squares blend together. In our test, we checked each primary color plus gray and observed less than one-percent crosstalk for all patterns. This is well beneath the threshold of visibility. Unless there are errors in specific content, you won’t see any crosstalk or ghosting in 3D presentations on the 65L9300U.

12. Toshiba 65L9300U: A Glimpse Of The Future

Likes

  • Superb picture quality and resolution
  • Excellent contrast with DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast options
  • Accurate color and gamma
  • Brightest and best 3D we've seen to date

Dislikes

  • Cloud TV interface is slow with poor response to commands
  • No gamma control

We had to look pretty hard to find any real flaws with the 65L9300U. Evaluated purely as a display, it checks all of our requisite boxes. Contrast is good when you use the DynaLight and Dynamic Contrast on their Low settings. Color accuracy is among the best. And grayscale tracking sets a new record-low error in our benchmark suite. Even though gamma conforms almost perfectly to the 2.2 standard, we like to see at least a multiple gamma preset option for the off chance you might want to alter it to suit different content. While the majority of television and movie production uses 2.2, there are sometimes exceptions.

Our only real complaint targets the implementation of Toshiba's Cloud TV features. The company uses this platform in all of its Internet-enabled TVs. We’ve tested two so far, and both were slow and laggy. We realize that streaming will always be less responsive than broadcast or disc-based content, but this smart TV just doesn’t have the snap we feel it should. We can only speculate that a hardware upgrade might improve the experience, but without knowledge of the components inside, we're only certain that this is a weak point for Toshiba.

The real stars here are the Ultra HD resolution and passive 3D. Without a 4K disc format, or sufficient broadcast/Internet bandwidth to stream 4K video, we’ll have to suffer with 1080p a bit longer. When displays are ahead of their time like this one, there has to be a good scaling solution in place to take full advantage of those extra pixels. Toshiba hit a home run in that regard. Everything we watched on the 65L9300U looked better than on a 1080p display. And you don't have to sit 10 feet away, either. Stand as close as you want; the 65L9300U looks great up-close. There's no real point where you see a pixel structure unless your face is right up to the screen.

Fancy processing exacts a toll on gaming performance. But Toshiba addresses that concern with its Game picture mode. If you plan to hook up a console, you’ll have no trouble. However, enthusiasts stoked about a 65" screen capable of 3840x2160 at 60 Hz face another challenge: not only do you need the latest firmware from Toshiba to enable HDMI 2.0 support, but you also need a compatible graphics card as well. Those simply do not exist yet.

Thinking a little more positively, this is the first HDTV I've used that I'd consider as a computer monitor. Running Windows on such a large display at 1920x1080 results in severe pixelation unless you're eight or nine feet away. Ultra HD delivers the density to put you three or four feet away and still see a beautiful picture.

The display industry never stops trying to invent the next big thing. This year, the buzz is around 4K and OLED. We’re still trying to get our first OLED TV in the lab. Until we do, 4K is at the top of our reasons to upgrade your existing panel. No screen spends long at the top, but Toshiba's 65L9300U is definitely king of the moment. I personally consider myself a fan, and cannot wait to get more Ultra HD-capable hardware into the office. For its excellent video benchmark performance and stunning picture quality, we’re giving it Tom’s Hardware Approved recognition.