The name of the game in HDTV styling these days is to make the bezel and panel as thin as possible. Even though a majority of consumers set their televisions on a bench or credenza, there’s something sexy about a super-thin display hanging on the wall like a piece of art. And because we all have family members who consider the TV an eyesore, manufacturers strive to create the most aesthetically pleasing experience possible.
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Toshiba follows this design principle by making its bezel only 14 mm wide at the top and sides and 23 mm across the bottom. The only other features up front are a small power LED, the remote’s IR receiver, and an ambient light sensor. The metal base attaches with four screws and allows for about 25 degrees of swivel.

The 50L7300U has a nice slim profile, which makes it very easy to achieve a flush wall mounting. The only thing that keeps the panel from being less than two inches thick is the speaker bulge at the bottom. As on most HDTVs these days, the speakers fire downward and are fairly small. Despite their diminutive form factor, though, they sound pretty good.

The back is well-ventilated at the top and bottom, although the set doesn’t run particularly hot. You can see the input panel at the right. Lower and further right is a small control panel with buttons for power, volume up and down, and a mode key. Pressing that turns the volume buttons into either channel up/down or input selectors. The threaded inserts for a wall bracket are here too. The 50L7300U accepts a 200 x 400 mm bolt pattern with M6 threads.

The side-facing input panel has three HDMI and two USB ports. There is also a composite video jack that requires a 3.5 mm to RCA adapter that is not included. Rounding out the side panel is an optical digital output.
Facing the rear is another composite video input plus RCA connectors for component video and stereo audio. There’s a 3.5 mm audio input and a VGA 15-pin D-sub as well. You also have the requisite antenna input, which faces down, an Ethernet port, and a fourth HDMI input.

Included in the package is a Bluetooth keyboard that works with a tiny receiver plugged into one of the 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 fairly laggy and imprecise. We found it quicker to simply use the Tab or arrow keys to navigate the browser and other cloud apps.

The remote is a pretty standard wand. It’s logically laid out and the TV responds quickly to most commands (except for when you access the Internet; then you'll have to wait a few seconds for anything to happen). When you’re sending standard TV commands, though, the remote works fine. My biggest complaint is that the CT-90428 is not backlit. It is fairly easy to operate by feel, fortunately. You can use it as a universal remote too, as it has multiple modes and transport keys to operate things like DVRs and Blu-ray players. Toshiba thoughtfully includes IR blasters that connect to the 50L7300U so you can operate components not in line-of-sight. You can also control other Toshiba devices through the HDMI CEC feature.
- Toshiba 50L7300U Cloud TV: Tons Of Features At A Reasonable Price
- Toshiba 50L7300U Physical Characteristics
- OSD Setup And Calibration
- The Toshiba 50L7300U In Use
- Measurement And Calibration Methodology: How We Test
- Results: Brightness And Contrast
- Results: Grayscale Tracking And Gamma Response
- Results: Color Gamut And Performance
- Results: Viewing Angles And Uniformity
- Results: Pixel Response And Input Lag
- Results: Video Processing
- Toshiba's 50-inch Cloud TV Delivers A Lot For The Money
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1477874/toshiba-l1350u-series-2013/30#post_23923173
"Using the same settings on both Game and Movie, via OCD-levels of eye-balling I found that Game and/or PC modes (which look identical) have similar white levels with backlight @ 50 compared to Movie's backlight @ 68. By comparison Movie's backlight setting had to be set to 40 just to get black levels similar to Game and/or PC with backlight @ 50. And for reference,"Standard" seems to be about the same as Game and/or PC except that the backlight @ 42 seems to equal Game/PC's backlight @ 50."
For reference, CNET seemed to have assumed that the the "Movie" preset was the best when reviewing the L2300U (which is the same as the L1350U but in a different color) and then went and criticized the TV for having poor contrast and black levels. I just want to make sure Tom's doesn't make the same mistake in the future.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1477874/toshiba-l1350u-series-2013/30#post_23923173
"Using the same settings on both Game and Movie, via OCD-levels of eye-balling I found that Game and/or PC modes (which look identical) have similar white levels with backlight @ 50 compared to Movie's backlight @ 68. By comparison Movie's backlight setting had to be set to 40 just to get black levels similar to Game and/or PC with backlight @ 50. And for reference,"Standard" seems to be about the same as Game and/or PC except that the backlight @ 42 seems to equal Game/PC's backlight @ 50."
This also means that your calibration settings are most likely incorrect for Game mode.
It's important to note that CNET made the same mistake by calibrating via the "Movie" preset when reviewing the L2300U (which is the same as the L1350U but in a different color) and then went and criticized the TV for having poor contrast and black levels.
We did not assume that Movie mode produced the best contrast, we measured every mode to determine which was the best starting point for calibration. Our black level measurements take into account the full rendering of detail down to the lowest brightness steps. It's easy to drop the brightness control and measure a better black level but detail will be crushed. In the game mode, we couldn't get any better black levels than movie when you take detail into account. Check out the article where we talk about the use of dynamic contrast. That will give you a pretty good idea where the balance is between contrast and detail. Remember also that Game mode does not have the accurate color gamut or flat grayscale and gamma tracking possible in Movie.
When referring to forum posts, a statement like "via OCD-levels of eye-balling" means that the writer is expressing an opinion, not facts arrived at by science. We suggest taking information like that with a grain of salt.
And yes, our calibration settings would be incorrect in Game mode.
-Christian-
Christian did a great job, no issue with the article...just curious why (of all things) a random Toshiba TV gets the Tom's wax n' wash. Obviously, my whining can be attributed to an overabundance of first-world-white girl problems.
Lastly, I did try to talk to Gabe about HL3...but apparently im no longer allowed to attempt contact after mailing him 3 of my fingers with a note written in blood and tears, asking:
"Can you count to three now?"
We're working with Vizio to get samples of their new 4K screens. In the meantime, we have a Toshiba 4K HDTV arriving next week. Samsung is also looking good for future reviews. Definitely stay tuned!
-Christian-