Review The market for TVs with integrated DVD players has never quite reached its potential. Dogged by some indifferent products, a very large installed base of standalone DVD players already out there and manufacturers’ desire to sell us two products instead of one, TV/DVD combos have struggled to make a real impact.

Toshiba's Regza DV556DB: black and...

One product range isn't going to change that overnight, but this unit from Toshiba displays a feature set, performance level and enough connectivity options to make this a really useful set for the bedroom or study.

Our unit was the 19in DV556DB in white, but the range extends to models with a black gloss finish as well as 22in versions in both colours. Neither are ugly, but we actually preferred the look of the black finish.

The DV556DB has a solid-feeling chassis and a really useful adjustable stand that delivers a good, rigid foundation for the screen. It also lets you adjust the angle of the screen: 3° back and 10° forward. That may not sound much, but it can be just enough to get the angle right when you're slouching on your pillows. The screen can also be wall mounted.

The unit isn't heavily burdened with accessories. You get a remote, a mains cable, a male-to-female aerial lead and that's it. Seeing as the unit has a digital and analogue TV tuner as well as the built-in DVD player, it's unlikely you'll be plugging the DV556DB into a set-top box - the most obvious use for the supplied cable. Come on, Tosh, it would have been more useful if you provides a male-to-male cable for plugging into feed from a roof aerial.

...white television

Still, the DV556DB's connectivity options are reasonably extensive. There's a single Scart socket if you want to hook up an old VCR or somesuch; component-, composite- and s-video ports for other kit; one HDMI port; headphone and digital audio ports; a Common Interface slot to take a card for access to pay TV services; and a PC input.

In short, though you might consider the DV556DB as a secondary set for the bedroom, it's well equipped to sit in your living room, hooked up to video recorders, PS3s, Apple TVs and the like. Not bad for a screen at the DV556DB's price point - £230, since you ask.

Well connected for a £230 telly

Playback options are also a little above what might be expect, and include DivX 6, DVD, DVD+R, DVD+RW, CD, CD-RW and SV-CDs, Discs containing JPEG pictures and/or MP3 music tracks are accommodated too.

Toshiba bills the DV556DB as "HD Ready", which means it's capable of handling 1080i and 720p content and has an HDMI port. In fact, the screen has a native resolution of 1440 x 900, so sits between these two standard HD resolutions.

The mathematically astute among you - or those with a calculator handy - will not that the native resolution yields a 16:10 aspect ratio. That's slightly taller than the 16:9 widescreen TV standard. The DV556DB squares this circle with three modes: 16:9, full screen and Cinema. The first looks the best as in full-screen mode the picture can look a little stretched, and in Cinema things can feel a little pinched.

We checked out the DVD performance first and decided to set the little beastie a challenge by loading a copy of the special edition DVD version of Dark Knight.

There's even a slot for pay-TV channels

The remote is largely self-explanatory, with all the functions clearly labelled, but there are also side-mounted buttons to get things started. The DV556DB's side-loading DVD tray feels nice and positive when taking the DVD in and its spin up time, at a couple of seconds, is good - it's quicker than many a standalone player, in fact. DVD search is fast too, as is skipping between scenes. Returning to the top menu is the fastest we have seen on an integrated player.

However, the speed comes at a price, as the DVD drive isn't the quietest we've heard. It's not really a problem on louder action movies like Dark Knight, but more a problem if you're watching something a little gentler.

The DVD drive's slot-loading and quick

The screen coped well with the amount of black and dark scenes in the movie, but when colours do come along, they are produced with a pleasing level of reality, vibrancy and snap. Control is rudimentary, however, with brightness, contrast, sharpness and colour tint the only options on offer.

More happily, the unit punches a above its weight when it comes to sound. With its array of drivers mounted across the base of the screen only producing 3W RMS, the sound is actually surprisingly clear and delivers pleasingly wide soundstage. Again, controls are basic and limited to just bass and treble, but we found that just leaving the set alone produced the best results.

As you might expect for a set of this size, the bass end is a little light weight and the set can't go very loud, but for a bedroom or study solution audio performance is better than we expected, especially for speech.

With a decent audio performance on DVD, we decided to give a CD a spin. If anything, a CD takes longer to come up that a DVD, but not so long as to try your patience. The CD interface is a little primitive with only very basic - again - track number and navigation icons shown. However, navigation via the remote’s central hub is quick and easy and again the sound was better than we expected.

Plenty of disc formats supported, too

Access to the TV part of the package is achieved from an easy-to-follow, uncluttered menu of icons. Tuning up both analogue and digital stations was achieved in under three minutes. The eight-day electronic programme guide is also easy to follow. Current and upcoming programme information, and a timer based around the EPG are all also easy to find and activate.

You can also easily create a favourite channel list using the menu, but be warned: there's a bug in the set that will zap the TV's record of digital stations if you do, yielding an error message. You'll need to retune it after that.

Software issues?

The digital TV menu also gives access to other useful features such as software upgrades and a password based lock control.

A feature not seen enough at this price point is the PC interface that the set boasts. The screen actually makes for a decent monitor considering this isn't its primary function. Graphics appear sharp and the set makes a decent enough fist of most of what the casual net user would encounter in terms of video.

Verdict

Overall, the DV556DB’s real selling point is its flexibility. Its size, digital TV and DVD features make it good for the bedroom; the PC connectivity and CD playback make it suitable for the study or den; the other connection options mean it's not bad for small living rooms, though you'll need to hook it up to a hi-fi if you want room-filling sound.

Despite a few niggles, DVD playback and audio quality are better than average and while the set will never blow you away with what it can do, its versatility and price make it well worth a look. ®

More HD TV Reviews...

Philips 42in Ambilight

Samsung 40in LE40A786

Hitachi 32in UT32MH70

Pioneer Kuro PDP-LX5090