In the end, you have to pick the Sony!
Written: Jul 13 '02 (Updated Jul 13 '02)
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Pros: Sharp, Clear Picture. Stretch Modes much better than other brands.
Cons: Some DirecTV channels not so good on such a big screen.
The Bottom Line: The picture quality and price on the Sony is as good or better than other brands, but the Stretch Modes are far better.
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| sunking9's Full Review: Sony KP-57HW40 57 in. TV |
Like everyone else here, I searched the net for info on which Big Screen would be the best buy. There are a lot of choices to be made including the brand, the screen size, the screen ratio, and price.
After all the reading, you still have to take the info to the screening rooms and compare side-by-side. I compared as many 50" to 57" 16:9 HDTV ready big screens, as I could find. My budget was around $2000.
I viewed the Sonys, the Mitsubishis, the Toshibas, and the Hitachis. I tried to find a non-Elite Pioneer, but could not locate one locally.
As a requirement of the viewing, I made sure that the TVs were compared using both DirecTV and DVD source materials. Most HDTVs are displayed using HD source material. Although the pictures are absolutely beautiful, HDTV programming seems limited. So I didn't concentrate much on the HDTV picture qualities.
Although there were some differences in the picture quality from the DirecTV source, all brands were pretty close. Hitachi was the best, Sony and Mits tied for second, and Toshiba definitely last. The Toshiba didn't seem to handle quick movements as well as the other brands.
The comparison from the DVD source were virtually identical. The DVD player did not have progressive scan, so the TVs were handling the conversion. Although I have read that the Sony's ability to handle the conversion was not as good as other brands, I honestly could not see any difference.
On the 16:9 TVs, the Stretch Modes available are very important because of the burn in issues watching 4:3 programming. The Sonys have 4 modes, Normal, Full, Zoom, Wide Zoom. With the Normal, you get the bars at the sides of 4:3 programming. The Full is used mainly for 16:9 programming but will stretch the 4:3 making everyone look rather chubby. The Zoom mode zooms in until no bars are showing, but it chops of the bottom and tops of the picture. The Wide Zoom is much better. It starts in the center of the picture and stretches more as it gets to the sides of the screen. Everything in the center of the screen looks fairly normal, while the edges are stretched. I have gotten very comfortable with this mode.
These modes were the reason that I chose the Sony over the other brands. The Wide Zoom does a much better job than any of the modes on the Hitachis or the Mits.
With the brand chosen, the only thing left was size. The 53" was $1900 and the 57" was $2200. For $300, price wasn't really a factor. Using the "bigger is better" theory, I went with the 57". The viewing distances range from 8' to 11' and as far back as 15' in the kitchen area. At the store, my wife thought the 57" was too big, so I got assurances that I could trade it for the 53" if necessary.
The 57" is perfect. DVD produced wide screen movies are much more gripping on the big screen. It's so good that mediocre movies seem much better because of the big beautiful picture.
DirecTV on the big screen was an adjustment. Some channels and programs look very good, while others are not as good. The pictures are the same as what was on the old 32" TV, they're just a lot bigger along with errors in the picture.
Bottom line is you really can't go wrong with this TV, especially with the prices coming done as much as they have in the last six months. I am 100% satisfied with my new Sony and the service that I received at Circuit City.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2200
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Epinions.com ID:
sunking9
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Reviews written: 2
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