 Excellent HDTV |
| Review Date: January 17, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Photo Phan, Montgomery County, MD |
After reading reviews of various LCD HDTVs, my main concern was how well the set would display standard definition content, which still constitutes the majority of what is available on cable. Reviews of Sonys seemed to indicate they did a better job of displaying 480i signals, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by how good standard def looks on this set...comparable or better than the tube set it's replacing. Digital channels look great, too, and of course the high def channels are fantastic. DVDs from a progressive scan player also look great.
A few points to consider when shopping for a set like this:
1. Don't get one that's too big for the viewing distance. Use 3 times the diagonal size as a guide. I sit about 10 feet away from the screen, so the 40 inch set is ideal. There is a big difference watching this TV from 4 ft. away vs. 10 ft. Sit too close (or with too big a screen) and you'll see all the grain and imperfections in a 480i signal, and even the pixel shimmer on a high def signal. Sit farther away, and the image looks much, much better.
2. Standard def in 4:3 looks better that way than trying to zoom it out to fill the wide screen. By doing so, you introduce distortion to the picture and also enlarge the 480i signal, which reduces the quality. This set has a black border, so watching a 4:3 image with the black bars on the right and left is not distracting.
3. Not all high def content is provided in 16:9 format, and the quality of the signal may vary. Some high def stations look better than others.
4. This set has backlight control that allows you to turn down the backlight brightness. This helps to improve black levels quite a bit.
5. Don't spend $80-$100 on an HDMI cable. I ordered one from Amazon for around $15 bucks and it works just fine. Digital signals are not as subject to noise and interference like an analog signal, so no need for an overpriced cable.
This TV is pretty easy to set up. The menus are fairly easy to navigate. You can tailor your settings for each input. You can have up to 8 different inputs, and the TV allows you to label each one and also to skip any that are unused. The remote is basic and doesn't allow you to control any other devices, but on the plus side, is simple to operate.
The delivery service by EGL (Eagle) was fine, and their delivery estimate was accurate. They contacted me by phone when the TV arrived to schedule a time for delivery. They arrived on time, unpacked the set, placed it on the stand, and removed the packaging. The delivery guy also helped me move my other set. The one minor problem I had was with the tracking number. Apparently, the number had been used previously a couple of years ago, so the tracking on the Amazon site was incorrect. I had to go to EGL's web site and enter it as a reference number in their tracking query in order for my order to show up. |
Best LCD on the Market...Plasma beater
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| Review Date: December 9, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Gordong11, New Jersey |
I must say I am shcoked how good the picture and even the sound are on this LCD. For comparison, I also just bought an Hitachi 42HDT79 Plasma, and this gives the plasma a good showing(in 1080i mode..the hitachi has a native reso of 1024 x 1080 ie. 1080 lines of reso). Both are great.
This Sony has superior contrast, unlike most LCD's, almost plasma like. Also the standard definition cable channels are reproduced better than any LCD on the market by far...not even close. I have a 1080P upconverting DVD player by Samsung DVDHD960, and it produces spectacular images on the TV. I have nothing bad to say about the TV.
DO NOT USE AN HDMI CABLE RUNNING FROM AN HD CABLE BOX! The Cablevision HD DVR's HDMI, produces a much inferior picture when compared to using component cables. Red, Green and Blue will make your dreams come true, HDMI will make you want to cry. An HDMI connection from an upconverting DVD player on the otherhand, is just fine. It must be the quality of the cable box?
The remote control, lacks a bit, but this is made up for by lightning fast, easy to use menus.
Overall if you want an LCD...buy this! dont waste money on anything less. Especially those lesser quality panels..spend a few hundred more for the top tier panel. Amazing picture and sound! ENJOY |
Worth the price
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| Review Date: January 18, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Slowfoot, |
From what I could tell at the store, this SONY performs just as well as the XBR3, which costs hundreds more. HD pictures are great, with no motion blur in fast moving scenes, like football or basketball. The standard definition pictures are pretty good compared to other LCD sets, but I find myself watching all kinds of HD shows that I ordinarily wouldn't bother with just becasue of the difference in picture quality.
If you're looking for a 1080p flat panel, then this is a great choice, especially for the money.
I've read that other owners are complaining about "clouding" -- the appearance of some light or white patches in what should be a black area of the screen -- but on my set it doesn't affect the picture when there is a signal, only during periods of transition between switching channels or inputs, when the screen should be completely black. I haven't noticed it at all, even during the darkest scenes, when there's an active picture on the screen.
I've also read that switching between inputs is cumbersome -- it doesn't have to be. You need to go to the Inputs menu and label all unused inputs as "Skip"; after that, pressing the "TV/Video" button on the remote will bounce you only among inputs that are actually in use.
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Sony KDL40V2500
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| Review Date: February 27, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Mo Chris, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ |
I owned a Samsung DLP. I paid $3000 for it three years ago and due to design flaws - too much heat and a poorly designed color wheel - the TV is broken, the guts are damaged by excessive heat to the point you can't even repair it because everything crumbles inside. It's sitting in my garage. (It's hard to throw out $3000!) Don't waste your money on a company that can't back up their product - unless you can afford it! (Back then, the extended warranty was $500 bucks)
I decided to buy the best this time. (Plasma's were a no-go due to very distracting glass reflection) The SONY 40V2500 is beautiful. It was easily the best LCD for the money. AMAZON had the best all-around deal. I shopped the usual retail stores and they were a few hundred above and would not beat AMAZON's price. Their loss! My win! I took the money I saved and purchased an upconverting Panasonic DVD player and two sets of HDMI cables! Oh, I called the other on-line companies and yeah I could have saved a few dollars more but after reading some customer nightmares and actually talking to these e-line company reps...forget it!
The SONY was delivered almost a week sooner than promised - a major plus! It was factory sealed, undamaged and unpacked quickly. Set-up took 10 minutes - was a breeze. The HD picture is the best or equal to the best of all the TV's I spent hours viewing -some costing up to nearly $8,000K.
The remote is as easy to use as any other. Plenty of connectivity for the future. The sound is great - even without the A/V receiver. DVD's are awesome! Regular TV is so-so with regular non-HiDef channels but, it's like that with ALL DLPs, Plasmas or LCDs! My wife, who really doesn't care much whether she watches CRT,DLP,LCD...said she loves the SONY too.
Oh, extended warranty? Buy the TV on your VISA/MC Platinum or Gold card, then call Visa/MC Enhancement Service Dept. at 1-800-847-2911, register your purchase and get your one year factory warranty extended to 2 years for FREE! If you want, you have the option of buying three additional years (total of 5)for $190.00! Hope this helps! |
Sony quality at a Samsung price--2nd to none.
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| Review Date: January 13, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Samuel Chell, Kenosha,, WI United States |
With the latest price drop this Sony has finally come into a competitive range with the Samsungs, Sharps, Panasonics, and Toshibas. Moreover, with Amazon's 18-month interest-free financing, it's close to being a screaming value. Even so, when I saw equally impressive discounts on Sony models with "Theater-Synch" along with claims of better contrast ratios and higher bit color processors, I made the exchange. Now I wish I hadn't.
To the human eye, the picture on this set literally "pops"--more so than the more expensive Sony I "traded up" to. Moreover, this set stands an imposing inch taller and comes with a more solid and substantial remote switch than the cheap and chincy remote of the 3000 series. The picture is perfect with the exception of an unfortunate decision by Sony to make "normal" aspect ratio unavailable on this model when viewing 720p, 1080i or 1080p sources. What this means is that if you're watching a "full-screen" DVD (adapted for the conventional television screen) rather than a "wide-screen" DVD, your choices are limited to "full" screen (the image is "stretched" and consequently distorted to fill the screen) and "zoom" screen (a portion of the image is enlarged to fill the screen). Either way, Tom Cruise's body dimensions make him resemble John Candy or Chris Farley. But a solution to viewing a letterboxed 4:3 DVD image ("full screen" DVD) on this 16:9 screen with minimal to no distortion is to make the setting at the level of the Sony DVD player. As for signals telecast in high definition, simply set the picture ratio to "full" in the set's menu system, and proportional sizing is automatic.
When it comes to color, contrast, brightness, etc. settings, there are but three--Standard (looks "right on" to me), Vivid (heightened contrast and brightness, perhaps occasionally useful), Custom (higher temperature setting, more warmth to the flesh tones). Each seems tuned to perfection, and together they provide all the flexibility you need to handle any visual source. No need to touch a thing in the way of further adjustments to the color or picture. As for the set's own speakers, I tested the audio with an Oscar Peterson CD--killer acoustic bass, sizzling ride cymbals, resonating piano sonorities. You'd have to be a gadget compulsive-obsessive personality to hook it up to a separate external amp and "theater system," at least in a "live" room like mine. The set's own surround sound is as impressive as any I've heard.
Even the remote for Sony's upconverting DVD player is compatible with the V2500 set, operating both channel selection and volume. As for the "Theater-Synch" feature of the more expensive 3000 series, I still haven't figured out how to operate the model without using both Sony's and Time-Warner's switches. (So much for "One Touch" convenience.) The 2500V models were still being manufactured in late 2007, and I've seen no compelling reason as yet to swap one out. But trust the evidence of your own eyes and ears, forget about all the specs and ratings, and enjoy the few good programs (not many) that are being televised in HD. |
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