When you’re in search of a 4K TV with a easy design and the powers of Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos on its facet, the Toshiba UL21 is an reasonably priced alternative.
Execs
- Easy, modern design
- Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos help
- Detailed picture high quality
Cons
- You want an Echo to make use of Alexa
- Massive, smudge-prone distant
Availability
- UKRRP: £379
Key Options
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4K decision The LED show has a decision of 3840 x 2160 and comes with TRU Micro Dimming and TRU Decision.
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HDR help The UL21 helps HDR10, HLG and Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR codecs.
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Number of appsThe TV comes with Freeview Play, Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube pre-installed.
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Down firing stereo audio system The audio additionally advantages from Dolby Atmos help.
Introduction
The UL21 is certainly one of 4 4K and HD Prepared TVs launched by Toshiba on the finish of 2021 that stability a handful of high-end options at an reasonably priced value.
For the UL21 which means Dolby Imaginative and prescient help and assistance on the audio facet from Dolby Atmos. The TV additionally takes benefit of Toshiba’s TRU Micro Dimming and TRU Decision image applied sciences, and is appropriate with each Alexa and Google Assistant.
So what sort of efficiency can this 43-inch mannequin ship?
Design
- Shiny, easy design
- Massive distant
- No eARC
When you’re in search of a TV that makes a press release, the UL21 isn’t it. The TV has a shiny, plastic construct and chunky ft that come throughout fairly plain-looking. That stated, the black bezel permits it to soften into its background in opposition to darker partitions and the design is nice in the event you’re in search of one thing easy.
The UL21 measures 973 x 81 x 567 with out the stand, however the ft do stick out in entrance of and behind the TV taking on extra house, in order that’s one thing to keep in mind in case you have a small TV stand.
The distant is my least favorite side of the TV principally characteristic on account of its dimension and smudge-prone keys. There are many buttons, together with a quantity pad, playback and handy shortcuts for Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Freeview Play, nevertheless it might undoubtedly be slimmed down. I discovered myself utilizing the keys within the centre and the shortcuts, so it’d be nice to have a smaller, sleeker choice with out the quantity pad, for instance.
The buttons have a great grip to them, however the arrow keys have been vulnerable to selecting up smudges and fingerprints.
On the rear you’ll discover a collection of ports, together with two USB, two HDMI, an antenna enter and a CI+ slot on the facet, and Digital Audio Output (Optic), Ethernet, LNB, a headphone jack and a 3rd HDMI port on the facet. There’s, nonetheless, no eARC port for outputting lossless sound akin to Atmos to a appropriate soundbar.
Options
- The interface is straightforward to observe
- There aren’t any Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus or NOW apps
- You’ll want to attach an Echo to make use of Alexa
Not like a few of Toshiba’s 2021 TVs, the UL21 doesn’t help Android TV, which means you gained’t get entry to the Play Retailer or sure apps. Nevertheless, there may be nonetheless a collection of fashionable streaming apps obtainable and the UI may be very easy to navigate.
The menu is proscribed to the underside part of the display and options 5 classes: Dwelling, Search, TV, Settings and Sources. House is the place all of the streaming apps may be discovered, together with the TV’s app retailer and an online browser, whereas TV is the place Freeview Play, EPG, channels, timers and recordings are saved.
Settings is the place you may go to regulate the image, sound and community and entry key data concerning set up, the system and manuals.
So far as app help is anxious, the TV helps most of the traditional suspects together with Netflix, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub and Britbox. Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus and NOW are usually not obtainable within the app retailer, so that you’ll must spend money on a streaming stick in the event you’re subscribed to any of those apps.
The UL21 “Works with” Alexa and Google Assistant, which means you’ll want to attach an Amazon Echo system if you wish to navigate the set hands-free (not like the Toshiba WK3C, which comes with Alexa built-in).
The TV can also be appropriate for avid gamers, with its 9.8ms lag in its Sport mode, guaranteeing you will get fast response instances when paired with current-gen consoles, just like the PS5 and the Xbox Collection X.
Image high quality
- Two of the three TRU Image Engine options are current
- The TV helps Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10 and HLG
- 4K upscaling leaves one thing to be desired
The UL21 takes benefit of various TRU Image Engine options, together with TRU Micro Dimming for deeper blacks and higher distinction and TRU Decision for extra refined 4K upscaling. The set lacks the TRU Move smoothing tech discovered on different Toshiba TVs, just like the UK31.
There’s additionally help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos. The primary boosts the TV’s HDR, alongside HDR10 and HLG, whereas the second claims to supply extra immersive audio, which I’ll develop on within the sound part.
There are 5 image modes to select from when streaming non-Dolby supported content material – Pure, Cinema, Sport, Sports activities and Dynamic.
My most popular setting was Cinema mode, which has a heat high quality to it with deeper reds and extra orange-toned yellows. I additionally discovered Cinema mode toned down the pinks and blues extra outstanding within the default Pure mode, providing a extra coherent set of colors when streaming motion pictures and TV reveals.
Dynamic mode is way nearer to Pure in color, however with much more pumped-up blues, cooler-toned pinks and sharper particulars, which I believe would work greatest for once you need to give daytime TV a slight increase. Although, I personally want the best way through which the slight heat of Pure brings extra life to characters.
Shifting on to Dolby Imaginative and prescient-supported content material and Cinema mode is changed with Dolby Imaginative and prescient Darkish and Dolby Imaginative and prescient Vibrant. Dolby Imaginative and prescient Vibrant is designed for use in rooms with loads of ambient mild, whereas Darkish is greatest suited to rooms which might be extra, nicely, darkish.
Stranger Issues seems nice in Dolby Imaginative and prescient, with the setting providing even hotter oranges than Cinema mode. I used to be in a position to pick ample quantities of element, from the skinny traces adorning Joyce’s corduroy jacket and the wisps of smoke coming from her lips to the person hairs atop Hopper’s head and the creases worrying his brow.
Eleven’s pores and skin is heat and saturated within the episode, as are the pores and skin tones in an episode of Components 1: Drive to Survive. The result’s a vigorous – if a bit orange – look each in direct daylight and within the moodier lighting of Hawkins.
Persevering with with Drive to Survive, the daring reds of the racers’ jackets stand out, as does the colourful yellow of the Ferrari emblem. The inexperienced grass is on the hotter facet, however the orange tones bathing the picture distinction nicely with the blue sky, permitting it to pop.
Biking again to Stranger Issues, night-time scenes look notably menacing with the lights off in Dolby Imaginative and prescient Darkish, although I did want the blacks would go deeper within the shadows.
One other space I felt might use a lift was distinction. An inspection of the clouds in an episode of Promoting Sundown confirmed they lacked some definition across the edges. All-in-all, whereas I loved the addition of Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR, I felt the TV might nonetheless profit from deeper blacks and brighter whites.
Lastly, I revisited an episode of Gilmore Women from 2003 to see how the TV dealt with upscaling with TRU Decision in tow. The colors appeared life like – the blue sky was very pure and Lorelai and Rory had sufficient pink of their cheeks to look lifelike. Nevertheless, they weren’t as saturated as these produced by different TVs, such because the Panasonic JX850.
The picture was additionally over-sharpened, which, in flip, brought on the picture to lose some element of their faces. Quick-forward to the membership scene within the Women in Bikinis, Boys Doin’ the Twist episode and the Toshiba’s upscaling was dimmer and noisier than the Panasonic, too. Even in Lorelai’s dwelling, the main points within the wall and on her clothes have been tougher to pick.
Sound high quality
- Dolby Atmos help offers the audio a lift
- The sound is sharp and detailed
- Influence sounds aren’t essentially the most hard-hitting
Together with Dolby Imaginative and prescient, the UL21 is a TV that advantages from the assistance of Dolby Atmos, an audio characteristic designed to supply a extra immersive and three-dimensional listening expertise.
To check the sound, I placed on The Hobbit: An Surprising Journey. First off, I discovered that Dolby Atmos presents a barely fuller sound with deeper bass than the TV’s audio system produce with Atmos off. The soundtrack additionally sounds as if it has been given a lift by means of the setting, permitting it to raised compete with the domineering narration.
Typically talking, the stability between the soundtrack, narration and sound results is first rate sufficient. Each small element from the clank of steel on steel to the creak of a fence opening to the slightest scratch of pen on paper is sharp and audible, although Bilbo’s narration stays the loudest sound we hear.
Influence sounds could possibly be simpler. Buildings collapse and villages are destroyed with little fanfare from the audio system and the dragon’s roar is overshadowed by the soundtrack and narration, suggesting an absence of stability.
That stated, the voices within the mid-range are full of element and the bass current within the soundtrack has a good quantity of weight to it. Like most reasonably priced TVs, the highs and lows are one thing that profit from a lift from a soundbar, however I don’t suppose this can be a crucial buy in the event you don’t plan on watching many intense motion scenes. You’ll be able to learn extra about this in our information to one of the best soundbars, although.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
You can purchase it if you would like an easy, reasonably priced TV with a few high-end options The UL21 could look unassuming, however options like Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos help, TRU Micro Dimming and Sport mode give it an edge over some equally priced units.
It does upscale decrease high quality sources all that nicely Whereas the colors appeared nice upscaled, I discovered that the picture appeared overly sharp, and affected element ranges.
Remaining Ideas
The Toshiba UL21 is an low cost 4K TV that has Dolby to thank for serving to it shine.
Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Toshiba’s TRU Image Engine be part of forces to current a picture that’s heat, decently contrasted and full of finer particulars. In the meantime, Dolby Atmos offers the audio a lift that may solely be topped with a soundbar.
Upscaling leaves one thing to be desired and also you’ll want to choose up an Amazon Echo if you wish to go hands-free with the controls, however that is undoubtedly a TV value your consideration.
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Examined the TV over a number of weeks
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Examined the latency to see how the display would carry out when gaming
