New 240Hz Toshiba REGZA HDTVs Aim to Knock the Blur Out

Toshiba's new REGZA HDTVs--announced in early January at CES--are starting to hit the shelves, with the 42-, 47- and 55-inch ZV650U series now available at Amazon. They boast a full 1080p resolution as well as Toshiba's new fifth-generation PixelPure video engine with a 14-bit processor, a gaming mode that promises faster game controller response and Dolby Volume acoustic technology to even out the volume between TV shows and commercials as well as when switching from station to station.

But the feature that Toshiba is touting highly is this year's HDTV buzzword (or, really, buzznumber): 240Hz. You've probably seen 120Hz associated with HDTVs for the last year or two, but you still might not know how to translate that arcane reference into something meaningful. So here's the basic gist:

Standard LCD HDTV screens have a 60Hz signal, meaning that they are able to display 60 video frames per second. HDTVs were able to utilize various technologies such as interpolation (where the video processor compares two frames and then guesses what a frame that sandwiched between them would look like) to bump things up to 120Hz. This improved motion detail greatly diminishes blurriness for sports and action movies as well as for standard DVD playback as well (as the 24-frame ratio of film fits more nicely as a multiplier in 120Hz than in 60Hz, the latter of which required workarounds like the 3:2 Pulldown feature you may have seen listed with HDTVs).

Now, the numbers are doubling with all the majors offering their take on 240Hz. Toshiba's branded version of this spec--referred to as ClearScan 240--combines a 120Hz scan rate with a new backlight scanning technology to create a 240Hz effect. CNet has a bit more explanation from its CES coverage of the ZV650U series launch:

Like LG and Vizio, Toshiba uses the scanning backlight version of 240Hz, which turns the backlight on and off very rapidly. Sony and Samsung use a different version, which interpolates three extra frames for every true frame.

For more on 240Hz HDTVs, check out the segment with Scott Wilkinson of Ultimate AV Magazine from this episode of Leo Laporte's Tech Guy podcast.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz