Sony Bravia Reviews >> Sony Bravia KDL32V2000 | Sony Bravia KDL40V2000 |
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There’s no doubt that 2006 will be the year of High Definition television. With Sky set to release its HD digital satellite service and Blu-ray and HD-DVD launches imminent, anyone even thinking about a new TV had better make sure that it’s HD ready. High definition television represents a massive step forward in picture quality due to a significant increase in resolution
There are actually two high definition resolution standards, 720 lines and 1080 lines. Obviously the more lines that an image uses, the better it will look, but screens that can resolve 1080 lines are few and far between, while screens that can resolve a progressive 1080 image rather than an interlaced one are even more difficult to find. So, the main high definition standard is likely to be 720p, meaning a video image with 720 lines delivered progressively.
Current standard definition TV images are interlaced, which means that a picture is built up of alternate lines, so one frame will display even lines while the next will display odd. The problem with this method is that with tracking or fast moving images the picture can become blurred as the odd and even lines never get a chance to line up correctly. However, a progressive TV signal displays an entire picture in every frame – so a 720p 60Hz signal is actually displaying 60 full frames every second.
The TV that’s sitting in my living room right now is the 40in Sony Bravia KDLS40A12U and with a native resolution of 1,366 x 768 it can support 720p high definition signals. Since this TV has the HD Ready logo on it, it comes as no surprise that there are both component video and HDCP compliant HDMI inputs. Both of these input methods will provide superb image quality, although obviously the fact that HDMI is a digital interface means that there will be no quality degradation whatsoever.
As well as HDMI and component video, this Bravia also sports two SCART sockets, S-Video and composite video inputs, as well as a D-SUB PC input. In total there are no less than six AV inputs on the KDLS40A12U, so you shouldn’t have any problems connecting all your kit up, no matter how much you may have.
Source Trusted Reviews - Sony Bravia KDLS40A12U
Of course you don’t have to connect anything up to this TV in order to watch it. Sony has covered its bases by installing both analogue and digital tuners. You can switch between the tuners at the touch of a button, but I imagine that, like me, you’ll be using the digital one most of the time. The digital tuner is a good one – it managed to lock-on to every Freeview channel, while other digital tuners have struggled in my area.
Sony has built its reputation on stylish design and this Bravia continues that tradition. Finished in matt silver this TV looks great – the slim bezel surrounding the screen makes the 40in diagonal viewable area look even larger. Below the screen is a mesh hiding the integrated speakers, which produce surprisingly good results – I generally believe that a large screen needs to be coupled with a full surround sound system, but I’ve used this TV with just the integrated speakers for the past few weeks and the sound has adequately filled the room while watching TV and movies or playing games.
The ellipsoid stand adds to the attractive design, while also providing a very stable grounding for the TV. Of course you could wall mount the Bravia – something that I plan to do when I purchase a new TV myself.
The remote control is slim, sleek and silver – complementing the TV perfectly. Unlike many of the generic remotes that I come across, this one sits in the hand comfortably. Also Sony has learned that a good remote doesn’t have to sport hundreds of buttons (like many of its old TV remotes used to) – this one has all the controls you need without being daunting to the average user.
Picture quality on the Sony Bravia KDLS40A12U is very much dependant on the quality of the source. Obviously using the digital tuner will produce better results than the analogue one, but that’s only part of the story. Watching something modern, that’s been shot in a widescreen format will look reasonable, but if you happen to catch something a little older things aren’t so impressive. I found myself flicking through all the Freeview channels one evening and stopped to watch an old repeat of Minder – unfortunately it looked terrible, but this was a result of a high quality display showing up the flaws in an old print. That said, the slightly more expensive V series of screens incorporate Sony’s WEGA engine, which will allegedly improve playback of standard definition video - I'll find out for sure when I get my paws on a V series display.
But feed this TV a proper high definition image and it just comes to life. I hooked up my Xbox 360 via the component video input and set it to 720p high definition output and the result was simply stunning. Firing up something like Need For Speed Most Wanted produced an incredibly immersive driving atmosphere, especially when hammering out of a tunnel into the HDR splendour of a setting sun. Playback of 720p video content on the X360 was also superb and gives some idea of what HDTV transmissions will be like when they arrive.
Of course the holy grail of HD connectivity is HDMI, but you’ll only find a handful of DVD players that sport HDMI outputs and even then they will be up-scaling a standard definition signal. So, to get a proper idea of what an HDMI connected device could produce I used a DVI to HDMI cable and a PC as the source. I played back a multitude of HD content using WMV9-HD and QuickTime 7 H.264 – as expected the image produced by the Sony was excellent, although I have to say that I’d be hard pushed to see an improvement over a connection.
One aspect that may put prospective buyers off the move to HD is cost, but I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable the Sony Bravia KDLS40A12U is. A quick search around the web brought back a price of £1,665.20 including VAT – this may seem a lot of money, but for a 40in LCD screen with this many features and a Sony badge, that’s a real bargain.
If you’re thinking of making the leap into the world of high definition TV the KDLS40A12U should definitely be on your short list - it's well featured, reasonably priced and offers great HD playback.
Verdict:
Sony has produced a great 40in high definition TV at a very attractive price. The image quality is excellent when fed with the right signal and the amount and variety of inputs is similarly impressive. Unless you’re dead set on a 1080p screen (and have very deep pockets in order to afford one), the KDLS40A12U will make an excellent companion for your HD Sky box and Blu-ray player when they arrive.
Reviewed on 12/19/05 Release date: 8/15/05
Earlier this year, Sony changed the name of its high-end LCD TVs from Wega to Bravia and launched a marketing campaign touting the line as "The world's first television designed for men and women." While it remains to be seen how the sleek, 40-inch Sony Bravia KDL-V40XBR1 ($3,499) scores with the ladies, it delivers a knockout in terms of LCD picture quality. No, it still can't outperform the best similarly sized plasmas on the market, and yes, like most Sonys, this 40-inch flat-panel LCD has a premium price tag and costs quite a bit more than competing plasmas. But if you have your heart set on an LCD or just really like the look of this Sony--or the name Bravia--it might be worth the price.
Thankfully, there's not a trace of pink on the Sony KDL-V40XBR1. Silver trim and a slim silver strip along the front dress up the usual black border around the screen. Three tiny indicator lights reside below the right side of the screen next to the IR receiver, but they aren't really noticeable when you're watching the TV. Power, channel, volume, source-select, and menu buttons sit on the right side of the panel. Overall, this is one of the most distinctive-looking TVs we've reviewed.
A silver pedestal comes standard with the TV, though the decor-conscious could certainly mount the 40-by-27-by-5-inch, 75-pound TV on a wall. Sony makes an optional wall-mount bracket (SU-PW2) for just this purpose.
The remote isn't backlit and doesn't include individual input-selection buttons, but we found it comfortable enough to hold. Sony has replaced the usual menu controls with its Wega Gate interface. The remote has a Wega Gate button instead of the more familiar Menu, but otherwise the menu system is essentially the same as any other manufacturer's: logical and intuitively laid out. The major exception is the control for CineMotion (Sony's name for 2:3 pull-down), which resides in the Setup menu rather than the Picture menu.
A native resolution of 1,366x768 gives the Sony KDL-V40XBR1 enough pixels to deliver all the detail of 720p HDTV. As usual, the panel scales all incoming signals, from VHS to HDTV, to fit the available pixels. A lone NTSC tuner serves up standard-definition TV, while a single ATSC tuner delivers over-the-air HDTV. The QAM tuner and the set's Digital Cable Ready compatibility let you watch digital and HD cable without an external cable box.
Picture-in-picture tops the list of convenience features, along with independent input memories. Options for changing aspect ratio include Normal (displays 4:3 sources properly), Full (displays 16:9 sources properly and stretches 4:3 sources evenly to fit screen width), Wide Zoom (slightly crops the top and the bottom and stretches 4:3 sources to fill screen width), and Zoom (crops the top and the bottom of 4:3 sources to fit screen width). They all work with standard- and high-def sources. The Freeze feature lets you snap a screenshot of the picture, which is useful for writing down phone numbers on American Idol so that we don't end up with another Kelly Clarkson.
Color-temperature presets include Cool, Neutral, Warm 1, and Warm 2. Warm 2 proved closest to the 6,500K standard (see Performance for more). Otherwise, most of the set's "picture enhancing" features actually harm picture quality and should be turned off for critical viewing. Black Corrector cuts brightness in large chunks and isn't necessary if you set the brightness control properly. The same can be said of Contrast Enhancer, which decreases the detail in the picture. Clear White shifts the color temperature back toward blue and should also be left off.
You can't say the KDL-V40XBR1 lacks connectivity, but we were disappointed to see only one HDMI input--most HDTVs at this price point have two. The back panel also has two component-video, one S-Video, and two composite-video inputs, all with matching stereo audio ins. In addition, the set provides the CableCard slot, two RF inputs, and a PC-compatible RGB input (up to 1,360x768 input resolution) with an accompanying stereo minijack audio input. Outputs include one optical digital audio and one variable/fixed stereo audio RCA pair.
Located on the panel's left side for easy access is a third component-video input, a composite-video input with stereo audio, a stereo minijack headphone output, and a USB port. The USB port allows connection of a Sony camera so that you can view photos or video.
We were quite pleased with the overall picture quality of the Sony KDL-V40XBR1. With the backlight control set to zero and the Picture (a.k.a. Contrast) and Brightness controls set properly, this Bravia delivered a surprisingly convincing, deep color of black for an LCD panel. The space sequence at the beginning of "Chapter 2: Autopilot" of Alien: The Director's Cut looked more realistic than on most LCD TVs we've seen this year.
The Sony also served up lots of detail in dark scenes. In "Chapter 3: Awakening," the crew's bodies were clearly visible as the camera entered the hibernation chamber. Some HDTVs can eke out slightly more from this demanding scene, such as the outlines of the crew's arms, but this Sony did a formidable job for an LCD.
Out of the box, with the Cinema picture preset and the Warm 2 color-temperature setting activated, the KDL-V40XBR1's picture had an obvious red cast; the other presets were worse, however, giving the picture a blue cast. After calibration, the color temperature improved greatly, coming close to the 6,500K standard except in the darkest parts of the picture, which were still tinged noticeably blue.
Color decoding is the Sony's biggest weakness, and it kept the set from scoring higher in our picture-quality tests. The panel evinced a nasty red push that we were unable to correct during calibration. It caused Caucasian skin tones, for example, to appear too red. To its credit, the panel had accurate red and blue primaries, though its green was well off the mark.
The TV aced our 720p multiburst resolution pattern from our Sencore VP403 signal generator, and detail in HD sources looked great. In the comedy Doctor Detroit on NBC's Universal HD, the vivid colors of the 1980s fashions practically popped off the screen. We could see every bead of sweat on Dan Ackroyd's face as he feigned material-arts expertise early in the movie.
Source: reviews.cnet.com - Sony Bravia KDLS40A12U