Picture quality on DVDs!!

Nearly strained my back getting it out of the box. ;-)

I just got this and it is now called KV-27FV17. Best picture I've ever seen on a regular TV. No problems, so far. The quality of the component input pic from DVD is what I think an HD TV might look like - incredible. The picture from Roadrunner digital cable on regular TV channels is not so great, because the fuzz or grain is shown so clearly - just as transmitted. I'd recommend this one, but if you use your receiver for sound, then get a cheaper model. You're paying extra for sound features you may not even use. Same for the PIP - I won't use that one, either. Top quality TV.

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none

Without question, the Sony has the best picture available.
Remote is great and easy to use.

Without question, the Sony has the worst sound available.
Hissing/gray noise at all times noticed on 3 TV's.

This review is for the Sony KV27FV17. I purchased this Sony from Sears for $649.00. Circuit City wanted $749.00.
Got the TV home and had to have my wife help me lift it. That didn't bother me though because I don't plan on moving it anytime soon. Turned it on and WOW what a great picture.
Then as I sat watching, I could here this hissing noise in the background. I got up and put my ear to the speaker and sure enough I could here this continueous hissing noise. It bugged the heck out of me so I exchanged it for the same model. Got the 100lb TV home again and wife helped once again. Hissing noise again on this TV. I check wiring, I check different signal source, I tried everything. I e-mailed Sony with no response. So I took it back. We went to the show room and sure enough even the display had this ever so slight hissing noise in the background. So right there and then I said no Sony for me. Don't waist your time lifting this 100lb monster.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 27AF61

Great speakers, component video in, lots of inputs, 2-tuner PIP

Not much filtering of crappy cable receptions, "lighted remote" spec is slightly misleading.

I just picked this TV up today and still have yet to whine that I should have gotten the FS model for about $200 cheaper. First off, this sucker is HEAVY! I had to revert to grade-school days by begging my daddy drive me to the store to help carry it out to his van. Lord knows it would NEVER fit in a car and I could eat all the spinach in the world and still not be able to carry it by myself. I've noticed the "sleep timer" gripes and my view is that if you're too damn lazy to turn the TV off if you're about to fall asleep, then the complaint is pointless. Just push that little green button on the top-right of the remote...problem solved. The picture on the TV is great but if you, like me, live in a crappy rural area with horrendous cable quality, you might want to just get one of those cable signal boosters for $30 at Radio Shack because the TV filters channels about as good as a low-level VCR can. And I can't stand when I have to rely on my rarely-used VCR just to have a nice picture quality (and there's nothing I hate more than those oversized white "CH" letters that bargain VCR's use to display the channel). The remote for the TV is pretty decent and works fine if you have a Sony DVD player or any VCR because the manufacturer codes will allow you to just use one remote for all your stuff. Heck, I can even use my Sony DVD remote to do just about everything with the TV. Speaking of DVD, the almighty component video is present on this model and looks outstanding. I have mine hooked up through one of those Monster Video 3 component cables that look like a big piece of beef jerky. The speakers on this TV are great and if you have a small room, you can easily flood the room with sound without going near the 25% of the entire volume bar. I've tried the "enhanced 16:9 mode" that seems to be an interest to potential buyers but wasn't as impressed as I thought I was. Yeah, you get more scan lines but the characters in the movies look like fat dwarves. Maybe I just can't get it to work correctly since Sony's manuals are written for rocket scientists. If you're heavily into picture quality and all of the goodies this TV has, spend the extra cash if you can afford it. But if you just want a TV to replace an old junker, get the FS model since it has almost all of the same specs and is much cheaper. I highly recommend this for people who are looking to build a home theater system but don't feel have the space for a projection TV. This TV would be great as a last tube TV to last while you save up for a 16:9 HDTV. Just pray that Sony stops the production stopage of HD models.

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Old school 80's RCA TV with rotary switch vol/power, one tiny mono speaker, and half the buttons don't work. Did I mention NO REMOTE!?

this is a repost of my prior review. having spent a little more time with it i have found one annoying problem with this set: it's innability to hold black level. this is characterized by a series of flashings that becomes seriously annoying. i first noticed this in a night scene with the movie Six Days Seven Nights and have since noticed it in other films such as Thelma and Louise and Stargate. i'm debating on weather or not to take it back or live with this obvious flaw. other than that i find the tv worthy of high quality viewing and am very pleased with it. i'm going to drop to 4 stars overall and 4 for value because of the above problems.

superb clarity, colors are rich and vibrant, bright picture, deep blacks are rendered beautifully, 16X9 enhanced mode is awesome, plenty of inputs and features, flat screen means very few goemetry problems, the thing looks fabulous.

i really can't think of to many faults for this tv, it does so many things nearly flawlessly butthe menu and remote could be better

there is a god and his name is sony. i couldn't be more happy with this 108 pound beauty. the picture is fantastic, the features are plentiful, and it just plain blows every other tv's out of the water in just about every respect. the first thing i did after hooking this puppy in was put in my dvd copy of GLADIATOR, pushed play and was floored at what i was seeing. Detail was excellent, colors were rendered true and shadow detail and black level were absolutely great. for a 27 inch, the tv is loaded with special features including 16x9 enhanced mode which slightly compresses the height of each scan line so you see the full 480 lines of resolution available from the dvd format. what a feature that is. now it does takes the image given( allready reduced by the black bars on top and bottom) and makes it about 25% smaller. it also compresses the image enough where you will notice it slightly distorts the picture making faces more chubby, heads more flat etc. now i can live with this its a pretty good trade off to get those extra lines of resolution. i put in a copy of toy story 2 (yeah don't laugh) which is formatted at 1:85-1 and when i employed the enhanced mode it made it more like an anamorphic presentation (2:35-1) so you can imagine what it will do to an anamorphic film. there are 4 preset picture setting- standard, movie, vivid, sports. i found none of them to be aceptable and just used vivid and created my own settings manually. i don't have video essentials but i have a few dvd's that have thx optimode which has a series of video and audio tests you can use to optimize your viewing and listening pleasure. movies that have this include toy story 1 and 2, fight club, and titan A.E. after callibrating my tv the picture just looked flawless. i can't imagine how hdtv is gonna look any better. the audio on this set while not spectacular, is pretty descent. you can adjust bass and treble as well as choose between mts stereo, srs (which stands for sound retrival system), and simulated. i found them all to be acceptable and decided on stereo while watching tv and srs for sports events like monday night football. other features include parental lock, velocity modulation (which is a sharpness modefier), caption vision, and video labeling. i am so pleased with this tv and don't regret buying for a minute. i can only give it my highest praise so 5 across the boards.

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27 inch panasonic (not the worst tv but not that greatest either

Excellent contrast, vivid picture, All the inputs you need.

Some scanning lines visible in fast moving scenes.

Probably the best 27" non-HDTV there is. But cranking out that kind of money for a technology that is being phased out is well.... unjustified.

The picture is as good as it gets with NTSC. You get a host of inputs (even a fixed/ variable output and a monitor output.) You also get a processor/ converter loop for the Coaxials so that you dont need a splitter to reuse the cable. Just shove it through the TV, I prefer the Wega's RF unit to my VCR's.

Sound is decent if not audiophile worthy but definitely decent. Also comes with a switchable Dynamic range compressor for the late night movies with the wife in the next room kind of deals.

If you want the best in this size without going HDTV, this TV is for you.

Lastly for all those reps that will tell you that the KV-27FV16 has the same picture as the lesser FS12, go and see for yourself. If you cant tell the difference, get the cheaper one! I like the FV16 any day.

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Sonys, Phillips, Sanyos, Hitachis.

16:9 Enchanced Rocks on DVDs, So many fantastic Inputs, Sound is just great.

108 punds

I haved had no Geometry problems on this 2000 model. Any sloping in letterbox can be reasonably corrected with Vertical Aperture function in menu. Here is a hint to all you folks, no TV out there has a perfect balance. If you want to get as close as possible access the service menu. I'm more then happy with the picture and sound. The picture is just the highest quality in this class of TV and the same goes for the audio. Noting out there is close to beign as well constructed. So I won't think twice to give it this sites highest rating.

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previuosly owned a sony, not a wega(pronounced Vega), but I know Sony's style.

Great Picture & Sound (for TV speakers), lots of video inputs, looks great in anamorphic mode with DVDs

None so far

I got this TV about three weeks ago and so far I'm very impressed. The picture is great espicially when using anamorphic squeeze with DVDs and it has lots of video inputs including component. Can't wait till the end of October when I can hook the Playstation 2 up to this baby!

Clear pictures, front inputs, glass enclosed viewing area, buttons on top.

Extremely heavy; no way to select a specific a/v input such that a macro will tune the TV correctly

So far, this TV has proven an excellent choice for my home theater system. Colors are vivid and artifact is minimal. I don't use the audio from the tv, so I can't comment on it. If you have small children, this is a great set to put in an entertainment center, because the smaller kids can't reach the buttons to turn the set off/on. The glass enclosure in front of the picture tube provides proof against grubby little fingers, too. Two annoying things: the remote is too damn sensitive. Just handling the remote causes the thing to change settings. Also, it is unbelievably heavy, 108 lbs, not the remote, the TV. OK three things, my family likes to tune the TV to channel 3 despite my threats of retribution, but I have the output switched through the receiver using S-video (higher quality). This is real easy to do, and if I'm not aware of it, extremely annoying since I can't switch to DVD input for some strange reason. Otherwise great TV.

Excellent picture and stylish TV

None so far

This is got to be one of the best TV's I've seen so far. The 16:9 anamorphic squeeze makes DVD's look spectacular. This is what DVD should look like. I highly recommend this 27 inch TV to my friends.