Toshiba 24AF44 24" FST Pure Flat Television
Inability to turn off Velocity Modulation ruins the TV
I bought the 24AF44 and also a 20AF44, basically the 20 inch version of this TV. The 20 inch set was awful. It just could not handle straight vertical lines. There would be a halo around them and they would shimmer and shake a little. It was bizarre. Back it went and I decided to repair my 15 yr old SONY 20 inch for $80. I'm glad I did.  The 24 inch does the halo affect on straight lines sometimes also but much less frequently. Otherwise the picture on the 24 inch is not bad at all, though not as good as my 15 yr old SONY 20 inch Trinitron. I am not pleased with SONYs quality control lately so I decided to go with the Toshiba.  In order to get a good picture I have found that the controls need to be adjusted more than some other sets I've owned. With these custom settings I like the picture much better. This is how I set it up:  From top to bottom on the Picture Settings:  33  32  23  0  32    These are quite different from the factory settings which are:  64  32  32  0  32    However, if you try my settings I think you all would see an improvement, unless the ambient light where your TV is differs greatly from mine. Try it out, you can always switch back.  By the way, the sound quality I found to be excellent.  I also think this TV is the best looking one out there. I had wanted a black TV but the dark grey area surrounding the screen is very attractive.  I don't care about the Remote because I use the Remote from my Cable Box, but I found the Toshiba to be easy to navigate. I agree, though, with another review here and the TV/Video Switch should be on the front of the TV.  Anyway, as of now I cannot recommend the TV until Toshiba finds a way to allow users to adjust the Velocity Modulation or turn it off altogether.  Note that I have edited this review because I could put up with the VM problems because of the nice color the TV produces, until I started playing DVDs through the TV. The VM is excruciatingly obnoxious when playing DVDs. I would now give the set 2 out of 5 stars. Check out Panasonic TVs, thats what I will be doing.    Add To Review (4/2/05)- I decided to return this TV because the shimmer on vertical lines was even worse when using a DVD Player. There is no way to get rid of it because Velocity Modulation cannot be turned off as previously mentioned. You can adjust VM on SONY and Panasonic TV's or turn it off completely and there is no excuse for Toshiba to leave off the choice since it is so annoying to some people (if you search Google you will see many complaints about it).   So, Amazon does not offer a way to change the star ratings but I would have given it 2 stars out of 5. Given the option to turn off the VM the set most likely would have gotten a 5. Are you listening, Toshiba?