Great Alternative to the $10,000 Plasma TVs
Written: Jan 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Outstanding picture, lots of plugs in the back, lots of options.
Cons: Weighs a ton. Expensive. Remote is poorly designed.
The Bottom Line: A less expensive alternative to plasma TV for people who value high-quality picture and the ability to show letterbox in a good size.
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| ahaight's Full Review: Sony KV-32XBR250 |
This is a TV for people who care about things like film aspect ratio, super-sharp picture, and image accuracy. It's expensive, and average TV watchers aren't likely to care. I recommend going to a store that sells lots of TVs, like Fry's or The Good Guys, and looking at the differences between the Sony WEGA TVs and the others.
The XBR designation on this WEGA TV has something to do with the image quality. I'm not clear on the particulars, but I noted that in the stores, it looks a lot sharper than its non-XBR sibling.
To address some particulars:
PICTURE QUALITY:
This is the sharpest image quality I've ever seen on a TV, period. The 36" version of this TV actually looks fuzzier, because the pixels are too big. I think 32" is about as big as you can go with a tube TV and still have it look good.
The difference is most noticeable on digital sources, such as DVD's. Regular TV's can't reproduce accurately some of the sharpness and color richness of digital.
It's hands-down better than any but the most expensive projection TVs, and even then it's less vulnerable to glare and ambient light levels.
COLOR FIDELITY:
The color fidelity is outstanding, and the TV supports different image modes: standard, sports (bright colors, high contrast), vivid (for intense colors), movie (for muted, richer colors and softer edges on objects).
FLAT SCREEN WITH FILM ASPECT RATIO:
The most obvious difference between this TV and others is the flat screen. It's still a tube television, and therefore extremely deep (requires substantial rear clearance), but the front of the screen is totally flat, instead of slightly rounded like most TV tubes.
Also, the rectangular screen has different proportions from other TVs, allowing it to show all of the picture for things filmed in film aspect ratio (aka "letterbox") and not have the picture be tiny like it would be on your regular TV.
The flatness results in an overall greater picture accuracy and less distortion around the edges. The proportions allow the TV to support DVD options like letterbox format and have the image be bigger than on a 32" regular TV.
ON-SCREEN MENUS:
These are very easy to use, and generally self-explanatory (the owner's manual explains them all in detail). Adjustments include the standard picture brightness, contrast, etc. Also turning the Close Captioning on and off (there's a button on the remote control for this, too), language key, date/time, and a host of other options designed to make this TV compatible with various configurations of auxiliary devices.
SOUND:
I can't really evaluate this because we don't use our TV's built-in speakers. We have it hooked up to our stereo system so it's using our big stereo speakers. But it was neither terrible nor exceptionally good. I'd call it average for a high-quality TV.
VIDEO IN/OUT JACKS:
There are a zillion jacks on the back of this thing, to accommodate everything under the sun in at least 2 types of plugs. You can use the Sony S-connector if you have other Sony products to attach to it. It will also accept the standard coax plugs. It is, of course, cable ready. We have our DVD player, TiVO, VCR, and a separate audio tuner in the network of devices that includes this TV.
WEIGHT:
This TV is really, really heavy. You can't move it by yourself. Not even 2 average people can carry it. It took 2 big burly men to bring it into our house and put it on the table we had purchased for it.
Make sure the stand you're going to sit this TV on is strong enough and sturdy enough for it. It's too deep and too heavy for anything but a hardwood entertainment center. The stand we bought is a black Elite do-it-yourself table. Ask the staff at the store where you buy it to recommend something (and don't let them sell you the $1,500 artistic glass thing).
This TV is, however, a good alternative for people who want a videophile quality picture but can't afford a $10,000 plasma TV (which is REALLY flat...about 2 inches thick all told and you can hang it on the wall like a picture frame). Again, the main drawback is the size and weight.
REMOTE CONTROL:
Poorly designed in the sense that most of the buttons are the same color and size, so finding the right one in the dark is pretty difficult if you're looking for anything more complicated than the power and volume buttons. But the flip-top portion allows for more controls to be put under one layer, so you have a sort of double-layer of buttons on the top half of the remote.
We have not had any problems with this TV, although people not used to cutting edge TV design will find it amusing. It makes an odd "gronk" sound when you turn it on, and it takes about 5 seconds for the tube to warm up and the picture to appear.
The remote control is pretty comprehensive, but the TV does have physical buttons on it to control basic functions. Buttons are located on the top edge of the unit, for more convenient access. The buttons are very responsive and don't require but the lightest pressure to activate.
Generally, Sony's quality is very apparent in this TV, and I recommend it highly for people who can afford it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ahaight
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Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 2 members
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