HDTV Reviews

I bought this through my wife's employee discount (She worked at Samsung until last week). I am very impressed with the picture quality though I am only getting over the air signals. Hooked up DVD via component video and the picture quality is impressive. You have many connection options (currently I do not even have that many components). I will try hooking up my PC. Did a lot of research (Extreme Tech and PCNet). I read that some people were disapointed w/ picture quality of regular cable or digital signals. I am not sure what they were expecting. As this is HD ready TV, it truely shines when watching HD broadcasts (according to all reviewers). Personally, I will wait until quality is improved on HD receivers before I go out and buy one- read many complaints of various devices on HD Net.

No complaints. No noticeable annoying fan noise as some had mentioned. Excellent design, slim and light, and outstanding picture quality. Very happy w. our choice.

My first review of this TV was a bit hasty. Not only did I not know what I was doing, I didn't know What I was talking about. NBC and CBS broadcast in 1080i and ABC in 720p. Fox has never been HDTV, with their resolution topping out at 480p. This TV works best when switched into Progressive mode (Wether on the Set Top Box or DVD player). I love it now, that I fixed the interleced problem.

My first review of this TV was a bit hasty. Not only did I not know what I was doing, I didn't know What I was talking about. NBC and CBS broadcast in 1080i and ABC in 720p. Fox has never been HDTV, with their resolution topping out at 480p. This TV works best when switched into Progressive mode (Wether on the Set Top Box or DVD player). I love it now, that I fixed the interleced problem.

Bought this TV on the spur of the moment and loved that it was totally easy to set up. It has a very simple menu, has great speakers and is all around a wonderful tv. Very bright and crisp picture (even with analog cable).

Great picture with excellent sound and lots of input options. This television has many features for its price range, pricing several hundred dollars cheaper than comparable sets. Find this set and buy it; you won't be disappointed.

I have an 8-year old 50 inch bigscreen that still puts on an exceptional picture. I had found a deal on a satellite receiver that could tune the local channels in HD and connect to the bigscreen with S-Video. I had decided that I would not upgrade until I found a 60 inch or larger with a better picture. I saw this Sony on display showing Discovery HD, and had to have it. Since I got it home, I have been glued to it watching anything available in HD.

The Set: It is an LCD-projection system using a very bright lamp to project thru the LCD and onto the screen. It never needs converging. It is not affected by speakers or magnets. It has seven inputs for sources such as a DVD player, satellite receiver, etc.. Four inputs (one on the front) accept S-Video or composit video plus two channels of encoded audio. There are two inputs for RGB component sources, and one DVI input for the highest grade connection. The internal tuner will tune any broadcast tv channel, analog or digital, and offers picture with picture(side-by-side) and can adjust the size of the two pictures to maximize one and minimize the other.

The picture: It's like standing at a window and looking at the world. Simply breathtaking. There are several modes to take less-than-HD sources and fill the screen. With movies on DVD, it's better than the picture in a movie theater. and DVD players are only 480I/P sources. A 1080I source provides the best picture.

The Sound: The internal sound system provides excellent sound with several modes. The Trusurround(tm) mode will provide a very good impersonation of Dolby 5.1 surround, minus the sub-woofer. I frequently hear sounds behind me and turn to realize the home theater system is OFF, and I am listening to the TV's sound. For most people, the onboard sound will be enough. For those that want all of the theater experience, you will probably want a home theater system. I have a Sony DAV-FC9 home theater system for full enjoyment of movies.

Other: This set weighs 225lbs in it's carton. Sony recommends no less than 4 people to move it and has provided some hand-holds for that purpose. It needs a sturdy base to sit on. Sony's base is overpriced, in my opinion. I found a nice base from a home theater collection at a furniture store. It has room for DVD recorders, satellite receivers, or the home theater receiver. The screen protector is a solid sheet of tempered glass about 3 inches larger than the screen. It makes the set a bit front heavy. Read the manual for more info (www.docs.sony.com/release/KDF70XBR950.pdf). The glass has a front-surface anti-glare coating to cut down on reflections. It should not be touched, except for gentle cleaning. If you are watching a dark program(outside scene at night) you may still get some reflections from light room objects, but not overwhelming.

To Sum it Up: I am very happy with this HDTV receiver. I still have not found a better picture on anything bigger than 60 inches. I apparently am not the only fan. I had to order it from a local store by placing a 20% deposit and wait for the next shipment. My one complaint, if that, is that with this sharp of a picture, you can see the flaws in lesser programming.

Sony's new 30" XBR WEGA LCD tv is hands down the best 30" flat panel on the market. It has stunning picture quality, all due to its external media reciever. While this external box certainly detracts from the space saving aspect of a flat panel, it makes the trails or distortion one typically sees with fast motion on an LCD (motor cross or football, for instance) non existant. If you don't believe me, stop by any high end electronics retailer (they should have one of these if they're worth their salt) and watch for your self... the picture is rediculously perfect.

Obviously if you're shopping for a 30" TV, then plasma really isn't an option. But while in the store, take a look at those plasma displays and compare it to Sony's LCD... you'll notice something quite interesting: the picture quality on this LCD puts all the plasmas to shame! There's been so much hype over plasma TV that, well, facts get distorted. Technically speaking, picture reproduction on a high end plasma is not as good as on a high end LCD (or DLP for that matter). But who am I to try to convince you -- go see this TV for yourself. The advantage to plasma, currently, is that you can make really big TVs that display fast motion very well. However, as LCD TVs get bigger and cheaper, and motion jitters are eliminated, i think plasma will go by the wayside... for now, though, its the only option if you want to put a 50" TV on the wall.

Aside from the picture, this 30" has everything else I could want in terms of sound reproduction, inputs and outputs, etc. I'd prefer it to be 1080i compatible, though.

Anyway, if you got a couple thousand and are shopping for a superb 30" TV, look no further: Sony's got the answer.

I bought this TV a year ago and I love it and would get it today if I could. Picture is as good as plasma if not better. It is a 4:3 ratio, but you should just ask yourself what you watch more of TV or Movies. Right now the HD media that is coming out is getting to be everywhere. 5 NFL games on Sunday. 4-5 Xbox games in HD. HBO in HD, ESPN in HD, Discovery in HD, Prime time TV for the most part in HD. The picture has so much color and detail it is like night and day. Like putting black and white up against color and this TV is a great product to showcase that. Only knock on it is it ways 300 lbs so the stand (which has bevel edges) is recommended on carpet. With the stand anyone could move it anyplace in the room with ease. Great Buy!

I bought this TV form Tiger ( the best rate on shipping) via Amazon.Great picture great sound. Everything included, all cables, stand and wall mount...Surprisingly good picture from TV broadcast, even better from DVD or S-video. I would strongly recommend this product, it is a perfect choice for a smaller living room and general home use in this($1600) price range.

Except for some very exspensive CRT projectors this is the best in home HDTV I've seen. On all HDTV imputs, HD-VTR, HD Sat and over the air reception I was awed. Once a true grey scale is done and good sources set, I think you'll have many hours of viewing pleasure. BTW please use good cables, good center channel, other audio gear and surround speakers to get the best from this set.

Tony