This model is the only one we've tested in this category that lacks primary color adjustments--and this omission held the 42XV545U back from making our chart. If you, too, find faces off-color, you won't be able to fine-tune the hues to your liking.
Nor is the 42XV545U particularly easy or versatile to use. The main on-screen menu is big and opaque, and it occupies the middle of the screen, blocking too much of the picture. The TV lacks a smaller quick menu of commonly adjusted settings like Picture Mode and Aspect Ratio, and Toshiba provides no explanations of the options that you have to choose your settings from. When you press the Input button on the bulky remote (which is so large that I continually found myself operating it with two hands), it displays a list of all the TV's inputs, without easing your way to the ones where something is going on.
The 42XV545U lacks a number of extras, too: You can't freeze the image, view a picture inside another picture, or use the set to view photos or listen to MP3s.
One nice touch: Press the Mute button once, and the audio drops to a whisper; press it again, and it mutes entirely--and closed captioning comes on.
At US$1600 (as of November 4, 2008), the Toshiba 42XV545U is expensive for a 42-inch HDTV, considering that capable sets like , the Vizio SV420XVT, , and come in at $1200 or less. And it's hard to come up with a compelling reason to buy this model over a less expensive, more full-featured one.