New Toshiba TVs out to give standard def some HD quality

Set to land in UK stores at the end of November are an intriguing duo of TVs from Toshiba that claim to do the best job yet of upscaling to HD the standard definition sources that still - tragically - account for 99 per cent of the UK's TV programming.

The full HD 42in and 46in 'ZV' Toshiba models (set to be around £900 and £1200 respectively) claim to achieve these lofty aims with standard definition sources courtesy of a new 'Resolution +' processing engine derived from a cell processor algorithm.

Of course, every HD Ready around has to upscale standard definition sources in one way or another. But the processing systems different manufacturers use to achieve this end can vary considerably in quality, so there’s definitely scope for Toshiba to claim that their processing system does something a bit extra.

What’s more, there’s already a bit of evidence to support Toshiba’s claims. For we’ve had the chance to spend some quality time with the brand’s EX500 upscaling DVD player, which uses technology similar to Resolution +, and have no hesitation in declaring it the finest affordable upscaling DVD deck we’ve seen. So if a similar sort of upscaling quality can be achieved with the new TVs, they actually could make standard definition bearable again to our HD-spoiled eyes.