Great picture, vivid colors, low glare, great sound

Price

After owning this set for a couple of months, and watching many DVDs, I can honestly say this is a great set -- No regrets! The remote is easy to use. The on-screen menus are intuitive, and settings are preserved even after a power outage. The picture is so sharp that some sub-standard cable channels look noticeably poor compared to others.

Superb picture and color quality.

Brightness banding. Inability to make individual settings for different inputs.

Using a Sony DVP-550S DVD player connected to the component video inputs. The picture is stunning when properly calibated. (Used Avia DVD for calibration.) Colors appear very lifelike with no bleed. The picture is so detailed that textures of fabrics are evident.

The picture mode must be set to movie in order to disable velocity modulation scanning. The velocity modulation scanning is extremely aggressive and will cause excessive outline distortions, especially on text.

There is a small amount (10-15%) of red push, while green is about 10% below the blue output. There appears to be no way to adjust the color decoder on this model.

Using both component, and S-Video inputs from the DVD player, there is a slight variance in color saturation, and hue. Unfortunately there is no way to make individual settings for each input.

The only real problem with the set is the horizontal variance of brightness. The left side of the screen has a noticibaly darker verical band (aproximately 1 to 2 IRE darker than the center of the screen), and the right side has a very slightly lighter band. Although this is only noticable when the screen is dark, I believe that it occurs even when the screen is displaying a bright picture, but that it is just not as visible. At the same location as the left dark vertical band, the picture is also distorted (width reduced). This is noticable when panning, as it makes it appear as if there is a dip in the screen near the left side.

Overall a great set, but the brightness problem needs to be fixed.

Superb picture, excellent sound, striking looks

Needs a lot of tweeking to get the best picture, and
It's on the expensive side.

I have this set connected up to multiple video inputs: digital satellite, basic cable for local channels, DVD, and my VCR. I have to say the Wega makes everything look better than I've ever seen before. Basic cable looks almost as good as the satellite, old video tapes take on new life, and, of course, DVDs are stunning.

At first I experienced some of the problems others have described with text looking too intense. However, using the Video Essentials disk quickly took care of that. All you really have to do is turn down the Sharpness.

I do find that I'm changing the settings a lot as I look at different types of programming material. Fortunately the set offers 4 memory settings. Even though they're not associated with input types, they can each be completely cutomized any way you want.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 27" Trinitron

Very nice cabinet
Great picture display(with the right signal)
Multitude of features
Very handy remote

On screen text often seems too sharp
Need satellite T.V. or digital cable
Heavy(I can bench 280lbs and sqaut over 800lbs and still had trouble handling this puppy with one of my scrawny friends :))!!!

I have always been a sucker for all things Sony. Ever since I, err my father, bought one of the first Trinitron Flat screen Sony 27" T.V.'s almost 12 years ago, I fell in love with Sony screens. In fact the only televisions in our house are Sony Trinitrons. Also the four computers we have in our house are also of the Trinitron variety so if you think this review may be a bit biased, you are right, but give me some time to review before dismissing my evaluation.

I bought this puppy for three reasons: I found a really good deal on it, the 36" was way too big for the space I was putting the T.V. in, and the super flat screen for a T.V. of this size.

I viewed this television a couple of times in show rooms and electronic store displays for a couple of months and was always dissapointed with the signals and television adjustments that the in store displays had going for it. In fact the comparison between the other brand name T.V. sets did not help much since the signals were of such bad quality. So I bit the bullet and hoped that the display would get better when I brought this behemoth back home.

As I hooked up the T.V. to the cable wire I had high hopes that I would soon be enjoying a whole new world of eye candy. However, I was highly dissapointed when I saw the cable pictures coming through this tube. Although this television has an infinite amount of settings to fine tune the color/picture level none of them really helped much with the current T.V. signal I was receiving from my cable company. This T.V. ruthlessly shows and magnifies how bad current analog television signals can be.

On some channels the picture quality is adequate and on others, well let's just say I no longer watch those stations anymore the quality is so bad. So what exactly am I seeing? Here's the list:
1. On some channels the signal provides a fuzzy haze to most of the objects that are moving on screen, it's almost as if there is a blur effect on the borders of each object.
2. Color gradient is horrible on most signals. Try squinting your eyes as tight as you can without closing them completely shut, then look at your monitor. This is what I see.
3. On screen text, such as the stuff shown by the weather channel appears too bright at times and often with too much sharpness. It looks like each letter has some form of specular highlighting. Putting the T.V. in "movie" mode helps out the text a ton, but it dims the picture way too much, this is okay for DVD/Movie playback, but not good for normal broadcast viewing.
4. On some channels one can actually see sin wave patterns of interference shadowing certain parts of the screen.
5. The sound is adequate for a T.V. but since I have a nice HT setup I would never think about using the TV's own speakers to reproduce DVD music. However, these speakers are not as good as the 12 year old 27" Sony Trinitron we still have in one of the upstair's rooms. The sounds from the 32" have this plastic sound to them, hardly any bass response and on high frequency sounds there seems to be some clipping that goes on.
6. About the only programs that appear super accurate are cartoons! Mainly because they don't use subtle color gradients found in real life to produce coherent images.

I decided that I would give this T.V. a better workout to show its colors by hooking up my Sony 7700 DVD player to it. After watching a couple of selected scenes from movies such as The Matrix, A Bug's Life and Blade I found that the only mode that was bearable was the Movie mode. All the other modes provided too much brightness and discoloration, especially Vivid and Sports. The overall experience was good, but I really wasn't impressed by the difference I was getting from a reference sony 20" monitor that I have hooked up to my AV system upstairs. The picture was not better or worse, but different. The overall feel made me think I was watching a movie on the big screen rather than on a television set.

So after such a non-enthusisatic review such as this one may wonder why I still have this puppy around? Good question. The first is that this thing is damn heavy and to transport this back to the place where I bought it would be a pain in the ass, not to mention the 15% restocking fee that would be charged. Second, I am going to give this T.V. some more room for tweaking. I am going to try and tweak the settings with this new Avia DVD I am getting to correct color and picture settings. Third, maybe I am so used to crappy television reproduction of signals that I now prefer those same crappy broadcast signals compared to the ones this Sony is displaying. Albeit those T.V.'s are Sony's too. Lastly, maybe I have a defective set, but I am sure this is not the case since almost all the Wega's I have seen have this image quality I am speaking about.

So what's to do. If you're shopping for a new T.V. and don't have satellite, the Wega line might not be the best choice, but I do highly recommend the other Sony Trinitron T.V.'s over any of the other sets out there today for image quality.

For those who do have satellite, or watch movies on DVD and can't afford or don't want to invest in an uncertain HDTV future, this is your best bet.

Regards,
Bri

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Sony non-Wega, Samsung

Best picture after HDTV

very heavy, too expencive, lacks universal remote

Simply the best picture you can get. Kills the Panasonic in every way. There is no comparison on any TV set.Very close to HDTV.The colors are amazing, Picture is always sharp and clear. It is overpriced in my opinion and I would expect more for such a price like a universal remote. The TV is extreemly heavy and you will need help moving it around. Dont think about returning the unit, your muscles will not allow you. Picture is the very best Iv'e seen. Best TV around. DVDs look amazing !!

Just got it from SONY today as a replacement for my defective KV-32XBR200. After the nightmare with the previous model's geometry and color convergence problems for more than 6 months and repaired numerous times without any improvement, I was able to get the 250. This one's picture was much better than the previous model since I did not find a serious geometry nor convergence problem like the 200. However, its built quality got slightly worse. I know its price dropped by about couple hundred dollars. Its TV stand design got simpler with lowered price. The TV unit itself got about 1" narrower width dimension. The front S-video input door became a crappy looking pull out door. I could clearly see that the Sony tried to cut the manufacturing cost down since they suffered with the previous XBR models (especially the 36") by repairing them at Sony's expense. Well, I was also able to find some positive sides. Its remote is now with luminescent buttons and the TV comes with a wireless headphone. Now, I can control TV menu without the remote via the menu buttons provided on the TV set. I guess the headphone would be nice for late night movie views for neighbors. I think this set is a very good Flat TV overall.

Anamorphic squeeze, picture is amazing, flat screen.
Styling.

dark band from top to bottom on left of screen. Price.

I just purchased a KV32XBR250 from Circuit City on Union
Square this Saturday afternoon. I too have a 2 inch dark
band running top to bottom of the screen on the left, noticable when the screen darkens. It bugs the HELL outta me and I'm thinking about bringing the TV back.
I gotta tell ya I LOVE this set, it's gorgeous in every
other way, really like the picture in Movie mode. Vivid
and Sports modes are useless though. Fifth Element blew
me away, amazing picture quality.

The other problem that is bugging me, even more, is that
the screen dips noticably, perhaps 1/3 of an inch, on
the left side, so that when watching widescreen DVD's the top leftside of the letterbox is thinner than the right side. This can probably be adjusted out though.

Arrrgh. Is there something in the service menu I can fix ?
Also, when playing a letterbox DVD, there are 2 inch blueish
bars above and below the image, then the normal black area.
What is this ? is it normal ?

I _do_ however have my DVD player, sitting right next to
the TV on the left side, perhaps I'll try moving that
tonight to see if there's a difference.

I called Sony and they've given me service centres in NY
to call.

Any info appreciated, I love this set and don't want to
believe that this is a non fixable bug.

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checked out Toshiba and Panasonic closely, The Toshiba nearly won this and may yet.

-Picture quality is unbelievable.
-Remote is nicely designed.
-Control adjustments galore.
-Best TV out there.

-Magnifies the disgusting qualities of a poor signal, especially VHS and cable TV.
-Includes only a French version of the User Manual (most likely rectified by Sony by now).
-Price is high, but what you pay is what you get.
-Only 1 S-video-In available in the back (1 front).
-Audio could use better bass and clearer midrange freq.
-Heavy TV

I got a great deal on the KV-32XBR250 including the XBR stand and all taxes for $1850 CAN ($1250 US). It was also delivered to my house for free. For the price I paid, I would rate the Value Rating 5 Stars. But if I had paid normal price for everything that I got, I'd rate the Value Rating 4 Stars.

Nothing else to report other than it's the best TV I've had the pleasure to enjoy and own. DVDs in anamorphic through component source look astonishing. Marvel vs Capcom and SoulCalibur for the Sega Dreamcast look astonishing through S-video.

I can't notice the black band that several here have reported, but I did have a very faint patch in the lower left of the TV, but I moved my Subwoofer and it has since disappeared.

I highly recommend the KV-32XBR250 if you want the best 32" TV for DVD movies and console games. It's definitely worth the price to pay if you can get a deal.

great color rendition! Higher vertical resolution on 16:9 DVDs, due to automatic anamorphic-squeeze feature. Screen is flat along both axes. Excellent picture quality, for the most part.

VERY HEAVY. Expensive. Good chance of geometry problems. Could use another input jack or two.

Those of you considering this set *may* want to wait for its year 2000 replacement model, the 32XBR400, which should be out in a couple of months. It is supposed to be "HDTV-ready", and include an internal line-doubler. Hopefully, the new model will also fix the geometry problems common to XBR250s.

I'm mostly happy with mine, but it does suffer from some of the geometry flaws mentioned by earlier reviewers. Notably, so-so horizontal linearity (objects can change in size slightly as the camera pans across a scene; circles on a cross-hatch pattern are a bit warped), and an inward bending of horizontal lines at the screen edges-- especially on the left. If a live cable/sat feed is available in the store, try pulling up Bloomberg, CNBC, etc. and watch the stock ticket at the bottom. It will demonstrate both problems nicely, if they're present (some sets are *apparently* immune).

No dark spots, or strangely-colored stripes on mine, fortunately. The geometry issues are a bit annoying, but livable-- not worth hauling this monster into a service center, anyway. Correcting them in service mode isn't possible.

My set came well-adjusted from the factory, with beautiful color rendition. Only the most minor service-mode tweaks with Video Essentials were necessary.

Note that the Scanning Velocity Modulation (SVM/VSM) on this set is the most aggressive I've ever seen! This is the cause of the jagged edges, strange dots around text overlays, etc. mentioned below. You REALLY want to disable SVM entirely, which can be achieved by switching the picture mode to "Movie" (turn up the contrast/"picture" setting afterwards, if it's too dark).

There is also a code for switching SVM off manually, but the factory remote doesn't have it. Try "Magic- 151" on a OneForAll universal-- map this to a key. Each press of the button will then cycle through one of three SVM levels (1:bad, 2:awful, 3:atrocious), finally ending up on "0" which disables it. Unfortunately, this setting isn't saved anywhere. Switching picture modes, or turning the set off resets SVM. A permanent service-mode toggle would be nice. Maybe best to stick with Movie mode, or go inside and cut the appropriate wires.

I can't evaluate the audio section or internal tuner, having never tried either of these at all (only S-video and Component... something of a waste, with that nice 3D Y/C filter inside!) The only XBR enhancement I use is the 16:9 auto-squeeze mode, which makes anamorphically- enhanced DVDs look absoultely stunning. Best I've seen yet on an interlaced monitor. This feature also lets you sit closer to the screen without visible scanlines becoming a problem.

Someone in an earlier review asked if it were possible to skip the RF input when changing sources. It is. Go to the general "Settings" menu, then "channel settings", then "Channel Fix". Set the fixed channel to be Video 1. No more snow-filled screens! Works for the PIP also. You'll still be able to cycle through all the other inputs not marked as "SKIP".

Oh, here some more OneForAll MAGIC codes, for accessing each input directly. These work on other Sony models as well.

Video 1: Magic + 034
Video 2: Magic + 030 (the front-panel one)
Video 3: Magic + 032
Video 4: Magic + 029 (component input)

Also, Magic+109 is a discrete power OFF, and Magic+113 turns the set on. Handy for macros...

Similar Products Used:

smaller Sony & Panasonic TVs

Great Picture!

Sound is not all that good.

Let me start by saying this TV does not forgive!. It shows picture as it grabs it from the air. So all of the long postings complaining about the grainy picture are worthless since they are getting bad signal -- its not TV's fault.

Sound is OK. It has a bit of hissing noise. Turn on the TV and put it on a input 1 or 2. Do not turn on the input source. Crank up the volume and you will hear it!

Besides that I am very happy with the set. The best part is that this box understands the Anamorphic signals from Anamorphic DVDs. That ROCKS! Put in Austin Powers II and set the DVD player for 16x9 ratio. Enjoy what comes out of it!

I can not stress enough on use of Component Video Cable. You must have it to enjoy what this TV can do.

As I said erlier, this TV shines when it has good signal and it will also show you what bad signals look like. I guess that way we will realize that we really need HDTVs. Do not judge this set by watching the signals over the Air. Watch Digital Cable or DVDs...

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