Toshiba 55YL863B

Toshiba 55YL863B review

The 55YL863B is a high-end TV from Toshiba that comes with the company's powerful CEVO picture processing engine, active 3D support and built-in Smart TV features. The chassis has also been styled by Jacob Jensen's studio, the people behind many of Bang & Olufsen's iconic 1990s product designs. The asking price is quite high at £1,500, but as a sweetener, Toshiba is currently running a promotion: if you buy this TV before Christmas from participating retailers, you'll get a free Blu-ray player and one year's subscription to the LoveFilm movie rental service. This model takes the same twin-circle approach to its menu system as the 55WL863 that we looked at recently. You select an option, such as set-up, from the semi-circle at the bottom of the screen and this then shunts you to an upper circle where you choose other entries like picture, sound and preferences. Due to its use of darker colours, the presentation looks a touch dull, especially next to the bright and cheerful menus found on LG and Samsung's latest models. The navigation is also fussy -- especially as there's a jarring switch between this circular system and the flat menus that you eventually end up in. On the plus side, you do soon get used to it and it's arguably faster to use than Sony's Xross Media Bar system.