very clear picture, good speakers for a television, 16:9 mode

Geometry of screen

Sony really disappoints. The straight lines from the wide screen mode are so wavy it makes me seasick. Seriously though any straight lines on this flat screen are crooked--tends to point up and down in the corners and up in the middle. Also it is a pain to turn the speakers off to have the sound only come out of a stereo. The mute leaves a green "muting" bug on the screen so that is suboptimal--also won't make all of the sound divert to the stereo. I had to return the first one because the sound would output to my stereo sporadically.

flat screen, 16x9 aspect ratio, speakers, picture in picture "favorites"

none that are the fault of the tv

i have built up my home theater system over the past couple of years and one day i realized that i was spending so much money on quality audio components (yamaha rv-x792 reciever, sony dvd player, paradigm speakers) and was watching movies on a tv that only had a coaxial imput. i had my dvd player running through a $99 vcr and the picture would variable get brighter and darker. I decided that the time had come for me to purchase a new tv. i was looking into a jvc, or a sony trinatron, but i got a deal with one year no financing so i bit the bullet and bought this tv. until recently i was only using this to play dvds and video games and i must say the picture quality was excellent and the enhanced 16x9 aspect ratio is a great feature (and a primary reason i went with this tv). i bought a playstation 2 and am using it as my dvd player and gave my old pleyer to my parents. i cannot get the playstation 2 to put out a 16x9 feed (even though it is set up to do so)so that is a little frustrating, but not the fault of the tv. also, my cable connection must be pretty bad because it is not that clear (kind of grainy). if anyone has a way to solve either my playstation 2 problem or my cable problem, i would really like to hear it. although i do not use the speakers on the tv, they did sound really good for the short time i did listen to them (i think they are 15 watts as opposed to the 5 watt speakers found on the less expencive wegas). there is a button on the remote that brings up a pip window with a list of about 7 of your favorite channels right below it. you can scroll through the list and see what is on on another channel. good for people who do not have the remote and are easily annoyed by endless channel surfing. i am going to give it a 5 for overall because i feel that this is the best 27" televisoin on the market, but a 4 for value becuase you could by a cheap 36" for the price

Similar Products Used:

old panasonic (i think thats what it was)

Picture

Minor analytical probs

Purchased the TV this past weekend. My initial reaction was very impressive. I calibrated the TV using the Avia disc and found the movie setting was not very far off from ideal in my theater room. Looking at some of the test patterns showed some very minor horizontal bending at the top and bottom as well as the when the guns are firing towards the corner their focus is not perfect (esp. top left). I also noticed the very left edge of the screen being slightly bright. I must say, at this point I was kind of bummed out, but I finished the calibration and decided to watch some DVD’s and check out the cable reception. Bottom line, this is the best standard definition 27” TV I have ever seen. I can’t say enough as to how good this TV looks. Even after discovering the TV’s relatively minor shortcomings, the overall presentation of DVD’s is very impressive. In my eyes that’s the bottom line.

Other Notes: I found the tuner to be average, the one in my VCR is as good or better on some cable stations. The sound is very good, but that is not of paramount issue to my set-up.

Video System:

Sony KV-27FV16
Toshiba SD2109 (using component cabling)
Panasonic PV-9451 (composite)
All DIY Video Cables Canare terminated Belden 1505A wire

Similar Products Used:

JVC

Picture Clarity, Color Revelation.

none to speak of so far.

The set rocks! This is the most revealing set in the store under $1000!! The colors are awsome. The images are extremely vivid. It totally unearths the shortcomings of my current cable supplier. And it seems to be made to play dvd's in the way they should be seen...Crystal Clear. I hope i don't encounter any of the problems I have heard about in these reviews, such as the pink lines. I love this set and don't see any upgrades until HDTV becomes a lot more affordable. The only thing i did to enhance the set is to run it through my reciever and into a subwoofer and bookshelf set up.I can hardly wait to get the surround sound reciever and really let her fly.... If you want to get a fine picture without breaking the $1000 mark,or if you don't have room for a big screen, I would say this is the way to go.

Enhanced 16:9 Mode

Brings out all the signal flaws in regular cable TV, and doesn't have S-link.

Recently sold my older Sony KV27V25 to a buddy and was looking to upgrade. Considered the FV32FV16 as well as the XBRs, and decided to go with the FV27V16 so I would not make that big of an investment that would become obsolete.

I can quickly see the difference in my old Sony 27 in DVDs as well as my new PS2. The enhanced 16:9 mode makes this a great Home Theater centerpiece.

I haven't experienced any of the ghosting or imaging problems mentioned in previous reviews however; there are two things I should point out. I am going to upgrade to Digital cable soon due to the fact that the TV makes regular Cable TV look just plain poor, and I am slightly upset that the even though it comes with component video inputs for DVDs, etc. it doesn't have S-link. Missing S-Link makes me give the TV overall 4.5 stars. Oh well, guess I'll have to program a macro on my remote.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV27V12

Great Picture

No progreesive input

Bought this unit with Pioneer dv-434 progressive scan DVD player. Although the Sony has component inputs, it would not display a progressive signal. Since I bought it with this in mind I am returning the Sony. I tried differnt outputs but it seems the progressive display goes out only on the component side. My next choice is a 32XBR400. But at $1800 it might take awhile

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15 yr old Sony 27"

Excellent picture.

No S-Link!!!!!!

A huge disappointment if you use Sony A/V equipment with this TV. Sony have left off the S-Link facility, which makes a farce of having ensured all my other equipment (including DVD and VHS) is S-Linked. So I cannot now change inputs automatically.
This is a real annoyance. The previous incarnation of this TV had S-Link, so when I preordered this TV, I hardly expected it to be dropped!
Otherwise, and for people not concerned with S-Link, this is a classy TV with looks and performance of a high standard.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega 24"

picture

sound

Picture is great, but there seems to be a problem saving the different stereo sound settings (SRS, regular stereo, Simulated) when the TV is turned off. When it's turned on again, the TV sound defaults to regular stereo even though it reads different in the menu screen.

Similar Products Used:

none

Great Picture, Great Sound, Inputs, Inputs, Inputs...,

No S-Link

Prefer it to the superflat, being that it accually is flat. Unlike it's Curved under a glass face competetor.
Best looking and sounding 27" i've ever seen.
This TV has true sex appeal.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic Superflat

Sleep mode causes TV to turn on at a later time

Strange occurances... Whenever I set the tv on sleep mode and after the tv goes off, the tv mysteriously turns on a few hours later. The timer is not set. I've been thru 3 tv sets already (returned 3 times for another one at Circuit City) and all of them have the same problem. Am I the only one who's experiencing this.