Television, the way it was meant to be seen.
Written: Feb 04 '01
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Pros: The picture quality, and the flat screen.
Cons: My poor back after lifting this television on to its stand.
The Bottom Line: The Sony KV-36FS16 offers the best picture quality I have found in a reasonable price range. Ease of use allows all to enjoy.
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| menomonee1's Full Review: Sony KV-36FS16 36 inch TV |
A few month ago, I decided it was finally time to update the family television. Our main television was a 20 inch Sylvania that I purchased back in 1987. All though the picture was still good, an ever increasing amount of movies that we were renting are in the wide screen (letter box) format. I felt as though we were watching a 13 inch television. I was ready for a bigger screen.
Now on to the criteria that we set for our new television.
1. It had to be a picture tube television. All though projection televisions are much better quality then they once were, the viewing angle is still not good enough for our needs.
2. Had to be between 27 and a 36 inch picture tube.
3. Needed to have at least 3 video inputs. (VCR,DVD, and Sony Playstation).
Those were the only criteria we set.
The television that caught my eye was the 36 inch Sony KV-36FS16. The reason it caught my eye was that while all the other televisions on the showroom were reflecting the overhead lights, this one was not. Looking closer I saw the reason for this was that the screen was totally flat, and not rounded like other tube televisions. The picture quality was the best we had seen in the televisions that were within our budget, so we purchased the television along with the matching stand.
It was not until they brought the television in its box out to our vehicle, that I realized how massive this television was. We drive an Isuzu Rodeo and the box cleared the tailgate with only one inch to spare on the side, and maybe a hair in height. How were we going to get this television in to our house? Well to make a long story short, I had to wait a day until I could find someone to help me carry the television, and the box had to remain in the garage.
Advice
When you put the television on the stand, make sure it is where you plan to keep it. Moving it will only cause a trip to the surgeon for a hernia repair.
On to the television features
A programmable remote control. This is great for people like me who have VCR's and DVD's made by different companies. My VCR is Panasonic, and my DVD is Toshiba. Typing in a simple 3 digit code for each item allows my television remote to run them.
Parental Control. This allows me to lock out programs that are unsuitable for children. It does not block out a whole channel, but goes off of the rating on the program.
16:9 Enhancement. This is a vertical compression that maximizes picture resolution on wide screen sources such as DVD.
Dual Tuner Picture in a Picture.This allows you to have two different programs on at the same time. I can watch my football game, and monitor what is happening on the weather channel.
4 Video Inputs You can hook up your camcorder, dvd, vcr, and your childrens video game all at the same time. One set of inputs is on the front. We use this for the Sony Playstation so that we can control when the children play it. It only gets plugged in when all chores are done.
Easy To Use Onscreen Programming. This is located on the remote and on the television. Very simple to follow instructions guide you through any changes you need to make.
4 Pre-programmed Picture Modes on the Remote Control.
1. Vivid, for enhanced picture contrast and sharpness.
2. Standard, for standard picture settings.
3. Movie, displays a softer picture.
4. Sports, a vivid bright picture.
There are many other features to this television. I chose to go over the basic ones that were most important to my family and myself.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1499.00
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Epinions.com ID:
menomonee1
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Member: Alan Wenberg
Location: Olathe ks
Reviews written: 82
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