The Toshiba 46SV670U is a modest TV with a modest performance to match. It's the first TV we've reviewed with local dimming of the LED-backlighting, which has become something of a buzzword in televisions recently. If the 46SV670U is any indication, local dimming has a way to go until we're impressed.

The special features offered by the 46SV670U are fun, but not crucial. There's an SD card slot and USB port for playing back photos, videos, and movie clips. Toshiba also included the rare IR-out port for hooking it up to larger home entertainment systems.

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)
Despite the local dimming, the Toshiba 46SV670U actually failed to produce black levels as deep as we'd expected. The contrast, also, was less than stellar, though most owners would probably find it adequate for everyday viewing. On the plus side, the 46SV670U could produce a very faithful greyscale gamma, indicating a smooth transition from shadows to highlights.

Our color testing again showed that the Toshiba 46SV670U could produce smooth transitions in red, green, and blue. You can expect very little color banding. Sadly, the TV failed miserably in one particular test: color temperature consistency. In fact, it broke our scoring formula. Practically speaking, it means that as the brightness of signal increases (i.e, an all-white screen getting brighter and brighter), the color temperature became warmer (redder). TV's always have trouble with perfect consistency, but this was the worst we've seen. The factors leading to its failure, however, did not seem to bleed into any other tests. Motion smoothness was also disappointing.

Finally, the 46SV670U's viewing angle was quite poor, as is the case for most LCD televisions.

Comparisons (Read the full comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)
The 46-inch range is a popular size for televisions, so there are many comparisons from which to choose. We selected three. The Samsung UN46B6000 was a better performer in nearly all aspects, though rarely by leaps and bound. It does offer a LAN port for internet connectivity, which the Toshiba lacks.

The Vizio SV471VXT is the more affordable option, and scored better in motion smoothness and motion artifacting. In all other tests, the Toshiba trumped the Vizio.

The Sony KDL-46VE5 scores most closely matched the Toshiba. It didn't have much more to offer, though the power consumption of the Sony was far more modest than the Toshiba hungry-hungry-hippo approach to electricity.

Conclusion
The Toshiba 46SV670U is a decent performer with a few weak points – motion and color temperature consistency – but no real hooks that make you want to run out and buy it. There are better options out there, including some of the comparison models mentioned above.