Toshiba M550 TV Review

 series thanks to its smooth color reproduction and easy operation. Sales of this TV range grew by as much as 266% in the first quarter of 2022. Thanks to a set of innovative technologies, the user can feel at the very center of events and enjoy not only a high-quality and rich image, but also amazing sound when watching any content: from a movie to a sports broadcast. Let’s take a closer look at this TV.

The appearance of the TV Toshiba M550

TV Toshiba M550 is presented in three variations: with a diagonal of 50, 55 and 65 inches. Everyone chooses the size for himself, but I always recommend taking the largest diagonal. Because no matter what diagonal you choose, you always want the screen to be a little more. And it’s great that Toshiba offers options here.

The TV has very thin frames, they will not “catch” attention, so the model will perfectly fit into any interior. A wide frame is only on the bottom panel, but such are the features of the placement of components, it is problematic to create a completely frameless TV.

The legs of the TV are T-shaped, which is very good. Firstly, they are almost invisible if you look at the Toshiba M550 TV in the center. Analogues usually have V-shaped legs and, whatever one may say, they are visible from any angle. Secondly, there is a minimum distance from the bottom edge to the screen, so you can hide all the wires behind the TV and they will not catch your eye. On the left leg there are special metal fasteners for wires. However, it will not be possible to place any soundbar from below, but I would recommend placing it on top anyway, because. this will improve the acoustics.

As for interfaces, there are plenty of them in Toshiba M550. There are 3 HDMI 2.1 inputs, two USB outputs, one of which supports the USB 3.0 standard. There is also an RCA input, a 3.5 mm headphone output, an optical Toslink output, and an RJ45 LAN port for connecting to the Internet via cable. Apart from the LAN port, all connectors are located on the side and are very easy to access, even if the TV is placed close to the wall. Well, the cable for the network will need to be connected once, and even then, if suddenly the Wi-Fi connection does not suit you for some reason.

The TV weighs 18.0 kg, it will come in handy if you need to choose a bracket for mounting the Toshiba M550 to the wall. But with legs, it weighs 19.6 kg. The dimensions of the maximum, 65-inch version, are 85.6 * 144.7 * 32.0 mm.

Toshiba M550 TV screen

As for the screen, there is a full-fledged 4K matrix with a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. And what is important, it implements almost all modern technologies to improve the image. The screen has a very wide viewing angle, as much as 178º, which allows you to watch TV with a large company and no one will have color distortion.

In addition, the Toshiba M550 matrix has a high brightness of 450 nits. If you do not pay attention to brightness when buying, you can get a TV that is impossible to watch in sunlight. I’ve been wrong so many times already. But everything is fine in Toshiba M550 and you can put it even next to a window, even opposite, the picture will still be bright and saturated.

The TV also has a reduced level of brightness of harmful blue color, which is confirmed by a certificate from TÜV Rheinland. The response time of the matrix is ​​​​only 8 ms, which is very good for a consumer TV. This means that Toshiba M550 is perfect for working with all modern game consoles.

Of course, the Toshiba M550 display supports the popular HDR and Dolby Vision image enhancement technologies.

Hardware in the TV Toshiba M550

This Toshiba TV is equipped with a REGZA Engine 4K processor, which provides excellent picture quality for a pleasant viewing experience and supports various AI algorithms. In addition, it uses Ultra Essential PQ image processing technology, which, in combination with a high-quality LCD screen, produces very clear Ultra HD 4K images. In addition, there is a 4K Resolution+ upscaling feature that upscales 2K resolution to 4K, even with a standard FHD signal. Because not all content is now in 4K, this is a great feature, thanks to which the TV will be able to show most of the movies and series in 4K.

For greater color saturation, ADAPTIVE DIMMING technology is used, which divides images into small zones and applies different contrast enhancement curves to them depending on the content. Thus, in Toshiba M550 you get deep blacks adapted to a specific image.

For sound, DTS Virtual X and Dolby Atmos technologies are used here (available in many online cinemas, for example, in Apple TV + and ivi), as well as proprietary REGZA Power Audio, with which the TV’s audio system creates a truly lively, exciting sound. To output sound, there are standard Toshiba speakers with a power of 10 W, the volume margin is sufficient to watch movies and play games. Immersive sound will be noticeable when viewing any content. But if you want something more powerful, you can always connect external speakers, a soundbar, or even a home theater system.

To connect the TV to the Internet, you can use both wire and Wi-Fi. It’s great that the wireless connection here can work in two bands: 2.4 and 5 GHz. Usually 2.4 GHz is noisy from home devices and I strongly advise you to use 5 GHz if it is available in your router. It does not have such a high range, so it is better that the TV is closer to the router, but the speed is higher, which is very important when transmitting 4K content.

SmartTV in Toshiba M550 TV

The Toshiba M550 has a proprietary proprietary VIDAA system. Unlike other operating systems, since this system has been specially designed for these TVs, it does not slow down or freeze. This is very important, because in many Android TVs of the same class, after turning on the device, you often have to wait for Wi-Fi to work, as well as deal with all the known glitches of the Google system.

Despite the fact that this is a proprietary shell, VIDAA OS already has all the popular applications that you may need. There are even two applications of online cinemas that are popular in Russia, ivi and OKKO, even placed on the buttons of the remote control. The remote control here, by the way, is quite simple and intuitive. Importantly, the remote has a microphone, so it is often easier to press a button and search for the desired content with your voice. The search, moreover, is performed immediately on all available platforms, so you do not have to choose in advance where you want to find the desired movie, series or sports broadcast.

The VIDAA operating system has been optimized specifically for TVs, so everything is in its place. You can deal with it in a matter of minutes and this is very important. It often takes time on TVs to find familiar features. Immediately, Toshiba engineers tried and did everything intuitively. A convenient arrangement of elements allows you to quickly navigate to the desired functions and customize the user environment for yourself right from the home page of the screen.

VIDAA is a Linux-like system that supports the installation of Android APK applications. Therefore, there will definitely not be a shortage of applications here. But I’m almost sure that the pre-installed software will be enough for most users (there are already YouTube, several online cinemas, and 99% will have enough programs from the built-in application store).

Conclusions about the Toshiba M550 TV