16:9 enhancement
ability to select up to 4 prestored picture settings from the remote
extremely sharp picture
great component, composite, RF input selection on the rear
great rear input selection

typical crappy Sony remote
extremely grainy at times
poor audio

Under the right circumstances the Sony has the BEST picture quality I've ever seen on a 27" TV. There is simply no comparison. However, there is one major problem. The signal source must be top quality for the picture to shine. DVD's or LD's as well as a HQ TV signal source, and the Sony can *not* be equaled. If the signal source is in any way mediocre, i.e; most cable signals as well as most small dish satellite signals, the Sony exhibits an strong "grainy" effect that can be very hard to watch. Digital artifacting from "digital quality" satellite signals is extremely hard to stomach on the Sony.

Similar Products Used:

mitsubishi 35" monitor
mitsubishi 19" monitor
NEC 26" monitor/TV

Picture quality, cabinet appearance.

Poor audio quality. Don't event think about using this without a receiver.

I had originally planned to purchase the FS12 model, but it was out of stock and Best Buy offered me the FS16 for $30 more as long as I purchased a $70 service contract. Given that the Sony warranty is only 90 days and nobody knows how to fix these monsters, it seemed like a deal. As it turns out, PIP has been somewhat useful for keeping an eye on my outside security camera.

The picture quality is excellent although aliasing can be seen in certain types of images and in spite of marketing claims to the contrary, the flat screen seems to be more succeptible to glare than the cylindrical screen on cheaper Sony models.

My only real complaint (other than poor audio quality when operating standalone) is the brain-dean manner in which Sony implemented XDS data display. The TV allows you to turn this feature on and off (basically you get closed caption-like real time data including the network and show name, length of the show and elapsed time in the show). This would have been a really cool feature if they had put a button on the remote to turn the data on and off, but instead, they make you navigate through the menu system each time to turn it on and off,
such that it ends up being more trouble than it is worth.