After returning from the Consumer Electronics Show that was packed with overly feature-rich HDTVs, I find it refreshing to come home to this Toshiba REGZA 42RV535U.

I could list all the gee-whiz gadgets missing from this HDTV, but when it comes to sitting down and watching broadcast television or movies, this 42" 1080p possesses the essential component, superior picture quality.

If you desire a 120Hz display or a direct Internet connection, look elsewhere. If you simply want a TV that acts like a TV and not a widget-filled broadband do-everything device, then consider the 42RV535U.

(Editor's Note: Toshiba also produces a 46" version of this REGZA line, the 46RV535U, and a 52" model, the 52RV535U. They have similar specifications to their 535U kin and this review can be applied to them also.)

Our Star Ratings

Performance: 4.5

Whenever I waver about this high rating, I remember how great Blu-ray movies looked on the 42RV535U. The audio output is similar to that of other HDTVs, which is not really high praise.

Features: 4.0

Toshiba supplies the fundamentals, four HDMI inputs and a rather robust picture adjustment toolbox. Beyond that the HDTV is unembellished, no USB port for playing photos or music, no Ethernet connection and no picture-in-picture.

Ease of Use: 4.5

With no extra features to learn, the TV is pretty simple to setup and use. If you don't want to monkey around with fine tuning the picture, simply pick AutoView and let the TV make all the adjustments.

Value: 4.0

Based on the current MSRP of the 42RV535U, I won't call this 42" 1080p LCD a steal. But after a quick check on the Internet, I find it being offered for a much more appealing price and one that is in line with the distressed marketplace for HDTVs of this size and quality. As the Miracles sing, "My mama told me, you better shop around."

Star Ratings Description

Ratings are relative to when the review was written. The obvious example is Value, what you could purchase for $2000 two years ago or even two months ago would seem like a bad value for that price now. We have given only a precious few 5 Star ratings, which we reserve for truly outstanding accomplishment.

With a stock glossy black bezel - though narrower than many at less than one and a half inches - the distinguishing feature on the 42RV535U is subtle thin lines of alternating black and clear on the frame below the screen. They are stylishly distinctive without being distracting.

Weighing 55 pounds, the under four inch deep 42RV535U is heavier than many of the super slim models, but it is still fairly comfortable for two people to maneuver. Placement is facilitated because the TV swivels on its stand about fifteen degrees left and right.

On the right side of this HDTV, below the operational buttons is a small convenience connection panel with one HDMI input, one Composite Video In (with a stereo Audio In), and a Service Only port.

The rest of the connections are just around back and facing out for easy accessibility. On this panel are three more HDMIs (with one stereo mini-jack Audio In matched to the HDMI 1 input), two Component Ins (YPbPr) with stereo Audio Ins, one VGA PC input with an Audio In (stereo mini-jack), one Composite In (with a stereo Audio In), one S-Video In, one stereo analog Audio Out, one digital Audio Out (optical), and an IR emitter Out.

The one RF antenna connector links to integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. Since the tuner system is Clear QAM compatible, you can attach your cable TV signal directly into the RF connector and tune in unscrambled cable stations.

For those concerned about the DTV transition coming up, the ATSC tuner is the key. With the proper antenna, you will be able to tune in digital signals broadcast over the air.

Notice that there is no Ethernet port for linking to your home computer network or the Internet. Also, this REGZA does not provide a USB port or an SD Card reader for accessing photo, music or video files to play on the TV.

In addition, Toshiba does not supply any picture-in-picture functionality. As I said, when it comes to features like these, the 42RV535U is a basic no frills TV, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

The non-contoured remote control, with it gray buttons that glow in the dark, is a no-nonsense utilitarian device that can be programmed to run multiple components.

The EPA is now publishing a list of ENERGY STAR qualified TVs. (You can find it here.) Since this endeavor only started in November 2008, the list is not expansive but it does include the Toshiba 42RV535U.

The EPA states that this REGZA's On Mode Power is 167W and Standby Power Consumption is .3W. Based on the formula that the TV is on five hours a day and in Standby for the other 19, the Estimated Annual Energy Use is 307 kWh/year.

You need to check your electric bill to see how much you are paying for a kWh. The national average is 10.4 cents. Doing the multiplication, at that rate, the yearly energy cost is $32.54.

When we measured power consumption using a watt meter, called Watts up? Pro, as we expected, the readings varied depending on the Picture Mode that we chose.

For example, in Sports mode, which is the brightest default, our reading ranged in the 240W area. Standard was about 190. Movie was around 126W. After we adjusted the set to our Preference, it ran at about 170W.

Toshiba offers an AutoView mode, in which it adjusts almost all the Picture settings for you. In AutoView, the reading hovered around 101W.

This REGZA also has a Power-On Mode with options called Power-Saving and Fast. If you choose Power-Saving, when you turn off the TV, power consumption drops to about 19W for less than 30 seconds and then drops to that less than .3W Standby Mode. When you turn the TV back On, it takes about ten seconds for the image and sound to appear.

If you switch to Fast, the power drops to about 20W when the TV is turned Off and stays there. Of course, when you toggle the TV On, image and sound pop up in about three seconds. For me, the seven second difference is not worth the extra nineteen hours of electricity every day.

To calibrate the TV, we use the the Blu-ray version of the Digital Video Essentials DVD called HD Basics. We are playing the DVD on a Sherwood BDP-5003 Blu-ray player connected to the HDTV with an HDMI cable.

We use the test patterns to adjust black level, white level, and color bias. The player is set to output a 1080p signal, which is the native resolution of the 42RV535U.

In the initial setup, you must pick Retail or Home mode. When you choose Home, the Auto Brightness Sensor is set to On. I prefer to begin my setup by turning features like this to Off, which I did.

Toshiba offers four default picture modes, AutoView, Sports, Standard and Movie. Interestingly, if you pick one of those presets and then go in and make any adjustments, the mode switches to Preference. So even though I began in Standard, as soon as I tweaked I found myself in Preference.

This system causes one major gotcha. Let's say that you spend time adjusting all your settings in Preference and you are satisfied. But you decide to go back to a default like Movie to see what it looks like. Now, here's the gotcha. If you tweak one of the Movie settings, all of the current settings in Movie will replace all of the Preference settings.

I know it may sound confusing, because it is. Toshiba acknowledges this oddity with a feature called TheaterLock, which "locks" all the items that affect the picture mode setting. If you are a somewhat indiscriminate fiddler, I would suggest applying TheaterLock.

Onward. With most new LCD TVs, a Backlight control is part of the Picture menu. Personally, I tend to dial it down because our testing facility has controlled lighting. With this Toshiba, I set it to 50.

Next, I set the Color Temperature, which is located in the Advanced Picture Settings sub-menu. The choices are Cool (blueish), Neutral, and Warm (reddish). In this era of bipartisanship, I picked Neutral.

Back in the main Picture menu, I adjusted Contrast down, Brightness up a few notches, Tint towards Green, and I desaturated Color from 50 to 40. Even with Sharpness at 0, I noticed fringing along horizontal lines in test patterns. Moving the Sharpness control up past 30 caused fringing on verticals and diagonals also, so I left it at 29.

With those basic adjustments, I produced a highly satisfactory picture. Of course, I know many of you can't leave it at satisfactory and you want to tweak. And this REGZA provides the playground.

I would suggest that you begin with experimenting with the simplest. The manual describes that DynaLight "automatically strengthens the black coloring of dark areas in the video according to the level of darkness."

As a rule, I switch these sort of features Off if I can't see an appreciably better image. Also falling into that leave-well-enough-alone category are Dynamic Contrast and Static Gamma. Though with these two, I did see changes that I preferred. I liked the little boost in contrast provided by the Low setting on Dynamic Contrast. With Static Gamma, I dropped it a notch.

Of all the HDTVs I have encountered, one of my favorite color controls is Toshiba's ColorMaster with its Color Palette Adjustment. It's simple to use with common terms and more importantly, the controls are responsive.

You choose one of six basic colors, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, or Cyan, and then you can dial in individual Hue, Saturation, and Brightness sliders. For reference, if you don't have test patterns, you can Freeze a frame from a program.

I'll admit that I dabbled with Cyan and Magenta in the Color Palette. If you go too far off the path, you can always reset back to the original defaults.

Now, I will warn you that some of these settings may look better on certain TV programs or movies. Try to remember what controls that you have futzed with. If the picture just doesn't look right, go back and begin resetting these tweaks one by one.

Of course, if you don't want to diddle at all, then simply go into the Mode menu and pick AutoView, which "automatically adjusts picture settings based on ambient light conditions and input signal content." The little gnomes inside the 42RV535U make all the adjustments for you. Personally, I think their tastes are a bit understated.

Any new HDTV worth its marketing salt will boast some flashy features. This REGZA pounds its chest over its "PixelPure 4G 14-bit internal digital video processor for superior power." Whatever Toshiba calls it, it works.

Last week, we received the Blu-ray DVD of the sublimely austere Appaloosa. Near the end of the movie, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are sitting on a wooden bench talking in that spare style of a true cowboy. Behind them are old panes of glass reflecting their own wavy reality. The 42RV535U does an admirable job of rendering the feel of the scene, which is about all you can ask for from a TV.

A number of plasma TV review units have graced our doors recently including the Pioneer KURO 6020. Considering the price disparity, it's not a fair fight for the 42RV535U, but the Pioneer display adds a luxurious layer of black that the REGZA LCD simply can't match - for that matter, most any LCD pales in comparison.

With that said, let me reaffirm that the picture quality of this Toshiba is excellent. Appaloosa is playing on it as I am typing and I am admiring the rich colors and the sharp imagery.

Toshiba also touts the TV's "new SRT Super Resolution Technology to ensure that everything you watch feels like HD." When it comes to displaying standard definition movies, you may feel a like-HD tingling. But no matter what Super technology you throw at many SD programs that are broadcast on TV, you will not be stimulated into a like-HD reverie.

I connected my laptop to the TV with a VGA cable. The highest compatible resolution that I could squeeze out was 1024 x 768. The result was a squarish image with black borders on the left and right. Though the quality was definitely acceptable, this setup was a waste of a perfectly fine, 1920 x 1080 TV. If your computer has DVI or HDMI output, use it instead.

I know that I sound like a broken record but the audio quality from these new HDTVs just have not kept up with the video. The output from the pair of integrated speakers is good, but you wouldn't call it powerful or even nuanced.

Then again, my ears may be expecting more than yours, so before you go out and purchase new audio components, listen to the TV in the raw. Maybe, the sonic performance will be all that you need.

The unadorned Toshiba REGZA 42RV535U may not have all the features that are overpopulating many new HDTVs, but for my money, it provides the sine qua non - what we can't do without - topnotch picture quality.