Question on Toshiba 20AF44

From: Don Allen (w9cw_at_intergate.com)
Date: 07/02/04 

Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 17:49:53 -0500

Many, including Jerry, Andy, and others, have given me some pointers on
a new 20 inch analog TV purchase. I'm used to a circa 1986 Sony KV-
20XBR which I consider an excellent TV overall. It doesn't have any of
the bells and whistles that the newer TV's do have, but its build
quality and performance are excellent and reliability has been also - up
to a couple of weeks ago. The flyback died without any warning, or
symptoms, thus I've been looking at options for a replacement should it
be neccessary.

Due to size limitations (18.5 inches high) of a custom cabinet, the
Panasonic Tau 20 incher is out. Thus, I am now only considering the
Sony KV-20FS120 and the Toshiba 20AF44. I have viewed and tweaked the
Sony at Best Buy, Circuit City, and local shops, and it seems to be
without any noticeable flaws. Some of the video modes, such as Pro,
seem to create a rather "soft" picture (camera-speak for perhaps a
slight decrease in definition). But, it offers most features that I'm
looking for without going overboard. Price is generally from $239 to
$249, and interestingly, the local old-time shops sell them at the lower
price than the big=box stores.

The Toshiba is better looking IMO (I know it's a subjective thing), but
I've noticed a couple of things operationally with this set, as well as
the 24AF44 sitting fairly close to it. The video feed that both big-box
stores use occasionally has a text crawler superimposed on an image.
The Sony, and others including Samsung and the third-tier brands, all
display this without a glitch. Both of the Toshiba's, however, have a
noise bar (and jaggies) and some buzzing sound when the text crawler
appears, much like when one has the contrast set extremely high in the
older TV's, or if there is an AGC problem. Any thoughts on this?

And, secondly with the Toshiba, can the VSM (velocity scan modulation)
be defeated in the service menu, or by pulling a plug on the VSM module?
Unlike the Sony which allows the user to toggle the VSM to high, low, or
off, the Toshiba defaults to always on for normal operation. No user
menu exists to defeat it. I've noticed that with VSM on the Toshiba
that images have fine white line halos surrounding the image. And, I
know this appears to be a normal result of VSM. Overall, I like the
looks, and size, of the 20AF44 - but, operationally the Toshiba has the
two aforementioned glitches compared to the Sony in the restricted big-
box or local shop displays. The Toshiba certainly has many nice
features and the price is generally from $219 to $229.

Jerry has suggested that I look at LCD units, but my budget with
currently not allow that! I can afford no more than $300 at the
present. Therefore, I'm limited to CRT-based units.

Any comments on the Toshiba relating to the VSM and noise bar symptom
would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Don Allen W9CW

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