HDTV Reviews

The Sony Bravia KDL-V32XBR1 offers some interesting high-end features that help explain its high price. However, its image quality, though generally good, falls short of what you see on some less expensive LCD TVs.

The big attraction of the Sony Bravia KDL-V32XBR1 is its well-conceived physical design. Details like the CableCard slot and the neatly secured remote battery compartment make this a TV that would be easy to live with. Read more

We found the design of the DVP-NS75H stylish and attractive–definitely a notch above standard budget DVD players. It stands just 1.6 inches tall, which is a hair higher than the Philips DVP5960/37 but still incredibly short. The faceplate is silver with a long black strip in the center containing the display and the drawer. A front-panel LED lights up indicating an HDMI connection has been made.

The highlight of the DVP-NS75H’s connectivity suite is its HDMI output. Through the HDMI connection, the player is able to upconvert DVD’s 480i resolution to 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Read more

Sony BRAVIA KDL-32V2000, it’s all very well having great picture processing technology going on behind the scenes - but the panel itself is of course equally important. The 8ms panel is excellent and if you’re watching films, I think it’s safe to say that you won’t see any motion-blurred images whatsoever - blur on the new BRAVIA is reduced to a trace. If you play a fast 60fps video game, you might notice some very slight blurring in very dark areas of the picture, but that’s neither unbearable nor unexpected. In this regard it’s much better than the 2004 LCD WEGA I’ve been used to - a huge improvement in a short space of time. Perhaps in another 2 years we’ll have 100% ghost-free panels?

It took them enough time, but Sony of Europe eventually gave us a European version of a BRAVIA LCD that’s worth cheering about. It’s not perfect connectivity wise, but everything that’s important is here (even if I will need to spend even more money on a switch box). Yes, it’s ridiculous that on a TV this expensive, I still need to make use of a Component video switch, but the picture quality and black levels make up for it, so I’m very happy.

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Sony’s entry-level 50-inch 2005 Grand WEGA, the KDF-E50A10 ($2,499 list). Grand WEGA is Sony’s name for its LCD-based rear-projection HDTVs, and 3LCD is likewise nothing new. It just means that the television’s picture originates from a set of three LCD chips as opposed to the single-chip design used in competing DLP (digital light processing) HDTVs. LCD and DLP both have their pros and cons, and while we generally prefer DLP, LCD has made some strides over the last couple years. The Sony KDF-E50A10 exhibits a few of these improvements as well as a solid feature set, a reasonable price tag, a refreshingly compact frame, and the company nameplate–a combination sure to place it high on the big-screen popularity list.

After setup, we were left with an impressive picture. The Sony KDF-E50A10’s black-level performance is its strongest suit, although it’s still not as good as that of last year’s 720p DLP RPTVs, such as Samsung’s HLP-5085W and Mitsubishi’s WD-52525. The opening scenes of the Alien DVD revealed clean blacks with very little low-level noise, which not long ago was a major issue with LCD-based
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Sony’s KDE-W50A12U Let’s face it, plasma costs a lot of money, and for the general buying public the price differential between similar sized LCD HDTVs is hardly enough to justify the increasingly marginal benefits the more expensive set offers. Still, we know we can count on Sony to drop a good 50-inch HDTV like their KDE-W50A12U, which TrustedReviews took a look at and for whatever reason declared Sony’s last plasma (which we thought was a misreported rumor refuted years ago). Still, the TV has as a native 1,366 x 768 pixel count with HDMI, component, and three SCART inputs, and a digital tuner to boot. But while TR seemed to think it was a great display, a 50-inch Sony TV that could run you as much as £4,500 (about $8,400 US) is becoming increasingly difficult to justify in the world of affordable home theater rigs that in their entirety wouldn’t cost as much as this display alone.
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Sony’s KDL-V40XBR1 BRAVIA XBR With Integrated HDTV capabilities, the user can enjoy digital programming with enhanced audio and video reproduction. Watch your living room come to life with Sony’s 40 KDL-V40XBR1 BRAVIA XBR® LCD Flat Panel HDTV.

LCD TVs offer more pixels per given screen size than any other consumer display technology, and the 40-inch Sony Bravia KDL-V40XBR1. LCD TV will generate admiring gazes when displaying high-definition material. When it came to the standard-definition viewing experience in the lab, however, the V40XBR1 required a few adjustments from its default settings before it could match the performance of less-expensive (albeit slightly smaller) alternatives.

The V40XBR1’s black bezel is nearly two inches wide and matte-finished to reduce ambient light reflections. The silver trim that encircles the V40XBR1 provides a subtle and pleasing contrast to the bezel and screen. Permanently attached speakers are concealed beneath a cloth-covered grille that runs the length of the lower edge of the display.The TV’s remote control is slender and comfortable to hold and operate with one hand. The remote’s construction and tactile feedback felt solid, but the lack of full backlighting made its use in dimly lit environments difficult.

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Expect to see even more HDTV content coming from PBS due to their new program in conjunction with Sony, three of their stations (Chicago, Pittsburgh & Washington) have moved forward with installing Sony high definition cameras, switches, displays etc.

One of the first beneficiaries of this is The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, set to become PBS’ first daily high definition show sometime in 2007 when upgrades in Washington are completed. The Chicago station that produced the Legends of Jazz series we recently mentioned is building a brand new educational facility where area residents will be able to learn television production on the new equipment. The Pittsburgh station is hoping to make more HD movies like their recent The War That Made America, now that they don’t have to rent space and equipment to do it.