The Toshiba 40G300U ($899 MSRP) is a 40-inch LCD television that offers a decent number of features, but seems to fall a little short of the competition. What features there are, however, are useful and well-implemented.

This isn't the most attractive TV. It's a little fat in the back, with a stubby stand and a thick bezel. The remote control is a mess of bright, white buttons, but because it's a fully programmable universal remote we can accept the aesthetic compromise. The menu interface is equally unappealing, from a visual sense, but perfectly functional. It's obvious that Toshiba is a little behind the curve on design, but putting in the time to create sensible interfaces.

The LAN port on the back feels like a lamentable missed opportunity. It allows you to connect the 40G300U to a DLNA home network, but not to any streaming content features. Similarly priced TVs, including many Samsungs and Sonys, do offer streaming video services like Netflix.

There are enough ports on the Toshiba 40G300U for the TV to be a hub for a decent home theater system. You'll find four HDMIs, one component AV input, and two composite AV inputs. The USB port allows you to play photos and audio clips from USB mass storage devices. 

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)

The Toshiba 40G300U produced an excellent, deep black level, especially for an LCD TV. Combined with a merely average peak brightness, the contrast ratio measured about 3533:1. Of course, that's well below manufacturer expectation, but our testing procedures offer numbers that are more in line with real world usage. By our measures, the Toshiba performed well.

The color performance was adequate, but expect to see some "color banding" in areas where you should otherwise expect a smooth transition. There was also a lack of detail in the shadows. This effect was only exacerbated if you enabled some of the video processing features intended to enhance contrast.

The motion performance was reasonably good, but the viewing angle was narrower than we like to see, even on an LCD television. If you're looking for a TV to put in a particularly wide room, you may want to explore plasma TVs.

Comparisons (Read more in-depth comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)

To better put the Toshiba 40G300U in context, we compared it to three TVs. The Sharp LC-40LE700UN costs considerably more, yet offers little in the way of meaningful upgrades. The Toshiba is a better value. The Samsung LN40C630 retails for the same price, but offers better contrast ratio, better color performance, and streaming content as well as DLNA support. Finally, the Panasonic TC-P42S2 is a plasma TV with a wider viewing angle, but few other advantages. 

Overall, the Toshiba 40G300U is a decent little TV, but even better if you can find it on sale. The DLNA support is great for home networking, and if you have another device that already supports streaming content, you might not even miss its absence on the TV.