I test TVs for a living – and this 65-inch TV under $ 500 is all you need

May 28, 2022

2 4 minutes read

What do the specs mean?

Let’s break down the specs, line by line. First off, this is a 4K HDR TV. That means it has a 4K resolution – four times that of 1080p HD TVs – and supports high dynamic range content (HDR). HDR uses an expanded color gamut than standard dynamic range content. You’ll see brighter whites, darker blacks and more saturated colors on an HDR TV.

Dolby Vision and HDR10 + are two advanced versions of HDR that offer shot-by-shot HDR calibration. Rather than one set peak brightness level for the white highlights and one lower limit for black levels, Dolby Vision and HDR10 + offer custom-tuned HDR performance to better match the filmmaker’s intentions.

Despite being “only” being an LED-LCD TV instead of an OLED, the M550 uses a full array of local dimming backlight over direct lit or edge lit lighting. That’s going to allow contrast to appear more uniform without as much haloing or splotchy patches of gray in the background.

For the refresh rate, the M550 is a native 120Hz panel – something that’s nearly unheard of in the under- $ 500 TV range. Most TVs have a refresh rate of 60Hz around this price range. That means that the TV refreshes the picture 60 times every second. The problem here is that most movies are shot at 24 frames-per-second and in order for that to fit into a TV’s native 60Hz refresh rate, the TV has to unevenly dive the incoming frames (traditionally called a 3: 2 pulldown technique) .

Having 120Hz allows 24 frames-per-second content to look more natural (it doesn’t need to do anything special to the incoming content) and thus it results in a typically clearer image.

For gamers, there’s a double advantage here: not only does the TV support 120Hz, but it also supports variable refresh rate up to 60Hz – an incredibly nice feature to have if you plan on plugging in a PS5 or Xbox Series X. When frame rates drop on a game, the TV will automatically drop its refresh rate to match, eliminating stuttering or tearing in the gameplay.

04.30 Image credit: Toshiba

Plus, it has Amazon Fire TV with Alexa

One of the other great features of the M550 is that it comes with the Fire TV smart platform, the same one you’d find if you bought an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K.

According to users, it’s got some bugs

So why isn’t the Toshiba M550 taking the rest of the TV industry by storm? Well, if you look at some user reviews on Best Buy’s website you’ll see that a few folks are having some difficulties with the firmware of the TV.

The most annoying of these problems seems to be the fact that the TV will default to its Smooth Motion setting every time you turn the TV off. That’s particularly annoying if you notice and care about the dreaded soap opera effect (effectively an over-processed picture that makes the characters on the screen look too lifelike).

The fix is an easy one there – all you have to do is go into the settings menu and turn it off – but that could be annoying if you’re constantly turning the TV on and off all day.

The other issue that we’ve seen mentioned by reviewers is that changing sources sometimes results in a black screen with no audio. That could happen for a number of reasons (HDMI devices sometimes fail to pair up with the TV via a digital handshake, for example) but it does seem like that issue is being resolved.

Bottom line

Overall, the Toshiba M550 has everything you need in a TV under $ 500. You get a large 65-inch panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision and support and Fire TV plus Alexa. Some may want to hold out until the above bugs are addressed, but this set should deliver. Stay tuned for our own review coming soon.