Looks cool

Read on

I do not own the 400- My 2 brothers own the XBR-250's. By full disclosure, I love Sony products, I own the 777ES reciever (awesome reciever best buy for the money for Home theater and music) I own a Sony Minidisc player- love it. The Sony 560DV player- LOVE that thing and other Sony things. HOWEVER- I caution anyone listening- do not buy a VEGA TV. They all have pixel problems. I do not even know the word for it- grainy comes to mind. But many reviewers here are saying the same things. It needs a PERFECT signal. DVD's are awesome. Digital cable or satellite (My brothers and I have both) are simply not good enough. As one reviewer correctly put it- you DO have to put these in movie mode which "softens" the picture and takes some of the pixelizing out of the equation, but it darkens the picture and is a "band aid" These TV's cost too much money to have to fool with them like this.

Go to a store and watch these BEFORE you buy NOT on the DVD that they have playing but on cable or Satellite. Only then plunk your hard earned cash down. Did I mention that Sports really suck on these. Try following the hockey puck around- it looks like a little block. This is with 2 TV's not just one in two different cities on two different digital cable systems.

Similar Products Used:

32XBR250

Looks cool

Read on

I do not own the 400- My 2 brothers own the XBR-250's. By full disclosure, I love Sony products, I won the 777ES reciever (awesome reciever best buy for the money for Home theater and music) I own a Sony Minidisc player- love it. The Sony 560DV player- LOVE that thing and other Sony things. HOWEVER- I caution anyone listening- do not buy a VEGA TV. They all have pixel problems. I do not even know the word for it- grainy comes to mind. But many reviewers here are saying the same things. It needs a PERFECT signal. DVD's are awesome. Digital cable or satellite (My brothers and I have both) are simply not good enough. As one reviewer correctly put it- you DO have to put these in movie mode which "softens" the picture and takes some of the pixelizing out of the equation, but it darkens the picture and is a "band aid" These TV's cost too much money to have to fool with them like this.

Go to a store and watch these BEFORE you buy NOT on the DVD that they have playing but on cable or Satellite. Only then plunk your hard earned cash down. Did I mention that Sports really suck on these. Try following the hockey puck around- it looks like a little block. This is with 2 TV's not just one in two different cities on two different digital cable systems.

Similar Products Used:

32XBR250

DVD playback, flat tube, 1080i inputs

Terrible for satellite/cable

Here's the deal: this set is awesome for DVD's and offers a migration path to HDTV, but it is terrible for cable/satellite reception and fairly pricey.

The XBR400 features automatic anamorphic squeeze for playing back DVD's in 16:9 mode, gaining an extra 30% resolution. It also has a built in line doubler. The results are stunning. Scan lines almost totally disappear on anamorphic DVD's and the resolution is incredible. This set also supports progressive scan mode, but that requires manual configuration and a higher end DVD that supports it. I have not tried it to see how much additional resolution you can get. This is the best set I have ever seen for DVD playback. It is noticeably better than my old Sony non-XBR Wega. You haven't seen DVD till you've seen it on this set. (Note that in order to take full advantage of this set's capabilities, you'll need to set your DVD player up for 16:9 output).

In addition to 480i and 480p modes, the XBR also supports 1080i in through its component video inputs, so it can display HDTV images. I do not believe 720p is supported without a set top box. The set does not include an HDTV receiver and I have not watched any HDTV video. However, this set does start you on the migration path.

The big problem is with satellite/cable signals. I've already heard many complaints about this. My home satellite reception is noticeably worse than on my old set. Digital artifacts abound, making TV almost unwatchable. If you are going to watch mostly TV, this set may not be for you.

Also note that the default setting to "Vivid" mode looks abominable. "Movie" is the closest thing to useable you can get out of it in user mode settings. Professional ISF calibration is recommended.

My set came with broken S-Video inputs. On the plus side, lots of the video defects that were supposedly present in earlier Wega models were not evident.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV-36FS10

Flat screen

Quality, price

I have to start by saying that I have never been a fan of Sony. I don't think their quality is as good as other Japanese manufacturers. Anyway, that being said, I dove in to the XBR400 because I always liked the XBR250 in the stores. I pre-ordered my 400 and took delivery of it 2 weeks ago. Well, it is being picked up from my house as I write this. First, I was not pleased with the quality of the speaker grills. In last years model, the grill was built in to the set. On the 400, the grill is glued on. On my set, the edges all around started peeling up after 2 weeks in my house. I would attribute this partly to not enough glue, and partly to the humidity in Florida. Next, the tube has shadows in it on both sides of the screen. This is only noticable when viewing something with a light background or when the screen is blue(Line-in), but, for a 2k tv, I would expect more. Last, the screen tilt is off. I didn't notice this at first, but this weekend I bought a dvd player and hooked it up. I noticed on the 1st dvd that the picture was tilted. Easy to see with the black bars present. I tried a few more and got the same thing. I attributed it to the dvd player, but upon trying it on other tv's in my house, it looked fine. So, I went in to the Sony on-screen menu and adjusted the screen tilt. This feature allows you to actually tilt your picture +/- 7 degrees. Well, I had to use all 7 of those degrees to get the picture straight. I could have used 8, but 7 got me close. Once again, this is a nice feature, but I shouldn't have to use that much adjustment on a 2k set.

Anyway, I decided to spend $3500 and get the Panasonic CT-34WX50. It is being set up right now.

Overall picture quality, color accuracy, multiple S-Video and component inputs

Insanely heavy, non-backlit remote, PIP doesn't support the usual picture overlay,

The picture on this TV is breathtaking. I have been shopping 32" units for the past couple of years, and I jumped on the XBR400 when I saw it.

Compared to other 32" televisions, the most noticeable aspects are the flat WEGA picture tube, and the fact that it's almost impossible to see scan lines. The built-in "DRC" line doubler does a passable job of smoothing most source material, though sometimes sharp lines at certain angles are visibly jaggy.

When I first got the XBR400, I spent a few minutes running through the calibration tests from the Video Essentials DVD. What I found was that out of the box in its "standard" mode, the XBR400 was dialed in almost perfectly in terms of contrast, brightness, and color balance.

The XBR400 accepts a wide range of video inputs including S-Video (2 rear, 1 front), composite NTSC (3 rear, 1 front), and component HDTV (2 rear).

One of the most interesting aspects of the XBR400 is its dual HDTV-capable component inputs. The XBR400 accepts 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i input signals. The inputs are the Y/PB/PR type with RCA jacks. This is great for my DVD player, though I haven't yet found a HDTV tuner with this output configuration.

The only type of component input I've tested to this point is 480i, using my Pioneer 606-DV DVD player. With high resolution DVDs such as *A Bug's Life*, the picture quality is stunning. I look forward to trying some progessive-scan sources in the near future.

As other reviewers have noted, this TV will easily reveal weaknesses in source material: a badly-encoded DVD or a noisy cable signal can look really bad on the XBR400. The flip side is that if your cable signal is good, or if you have satellite reception, the picture is excellent.

A couple of nits: this TV has dual tuners and a sort of "picture-in-picture" mode. In the case of the XBR400, it's more of a "picture-beside-picture" mode, where you can bring up the picture from the two tuners side by side on the screen, and adjust the relative size of the two pictures. What you can't do is overlay the picture from one tuner over the picture from another. That means that to get PIP, you have to give up a pretty good chunk of the screen real estate.

Also, the remote is only OK. The buttons aren't backlit, and they're fairly uniform in shape and size, so you can't really use the remote in the dark.

The last bad thing is the weight of this set. I dread the day I have to move it at 185 pounds...

Overall, the KV-32XBR400 is an excellent TV. It handles cable reception well, shows off DVDs like nothing else I've seen in this price range, and overall provides an excellent viewing experience, though at a fairly hefty price.

Similar Products Used:

Non-XBR Sony Trinitron WEGA, Panasonic SuperFlat TV

Excellent HIGH! resolution picture; 4 Picture modes; Excellent menu system & remote; more inputs, outputs and features than I can use; Digital Reality Creation really works...even on old VHS tapes; Twin View picture is a treat; velocity modulation level can be adjusted or turned off; component inputs (2!) and 480p, 1080i ready.

Requires careful user adjustment to obtain optimum picture; minor picture distortion/noise (gray bar on left side - correctable: see review)

This set delivers a superb viewing experience, but it is a very high resolution device and thus will show up the limits of the source material. A general test of the resolving power of an audio or video device: how much difference do you hear or see between different sources, recordings, channels, etc? If everything sounds/looks the same, the device is masking fine detail/information differences in the source. With this set I can see a multitude of differences between antenna, satellite, VHS and DVD sources. Some differences are in the quality of picture and some are simply differences in the 'character' of the image...this latter is not usually a problem, but rather a result of the intentions of the film/video/broadcast creator.

Given the high resolution of this set, you will need to tweak the user settings (and in some cases the service menu settings) to obtain the best picture with various sources. As a start, check the review of the Sony KV-36XBR400 by Darren A., dated 9/21/00 for preliminary suggested settings...but if you want to get it right, get the Video Essentials or AVIA DVD and calibrate one of the picture modes (I used movie). Record the settings in case someone hits the reset button and tweak a bit more to your preference. The other modes can be adjusted to optimize various sources or programme material as you like. This is a very nice feature of the XBR400s, as any mode can be applied to any input. If you don't like tweaking/adjusting/fine tuning: don't but such a sensitive piece of equipment.

Yes, I can see the compression effects (pixelation, etc.)on some satellite programming and the absence of 3:2 pulldown on some material (such as Bond films on WTBS)...but this is only noticeable very close up and from a viewing distance of 8 feet or more, I can't see it. I generally leave velocity scan modulation off and sharpness down much lower than many people tend to set it: I don't need artificial detail that wasn't in the original source. Also, unless you have a progressive source, leave DRC-MF set to interlaced. The progressive setting has no effect on an interlaced source...at least, I can't see any and Sony technical representatives have confirmed this impression.

The only problem I noticed with this set was a pale gray bar (1/4" wide) down the left edge of the picture when the set was first turned on. This decreased to a 4" high stripe at the bottom left edge after the set warmed up; not a big problem, but noticeable and unacceptable in a TV of this quality and price. So, I contacted the dealer and Sony and also ordered a Service manual (www.globalsemi.com). Go to www.members.accessus.net/~090/awh/sonyadj.html for an excellent document on adjustments in the Sony Service Mode. This set is a tweakers delight, BUT, do record all settings you are about to change before writing a new value! That way you can return to the original factory settings. If you make a mess, DON'T write the change, just shut off the set and unplug it for a minute: this will reset to the stored settings. In general, don't mess with a Service Mode menu item unless you know what it does.

The service technician first tried to adjust HTPZ (Horizontal trapezoid) to get rid of the gray bar...but this left me with trapezoidal satellite menus. After he left (the XBR400 and the manual were new to him as well)I reset HTPZ and adjusted HSIZ (horizontal size) and HPOS (horizontal position) slightly. This solved the problem. However, being a bit of a purist, I was concerned about losing some screen acreage to overscan. I checked with the Video Essentials test patterns and it was around 3%-5%. This is quite acceptable, though I may tweak it a bit more after the set is completely burned in. I have one remaining minor concern: what is that gray bar (scanning circuit problem? electron gun? yoke orientation?) and will it worsen with age? I'm waiting to hear back from the Sony Service Centre and the dealer has assured me he will replace the set if there is any lasting problem. So, I'm happy with a great picture for the time being and will report back when I have an update on the gray bar phenomenon. Anyone out there know what causes it?


Satellite (regular and Bell ExpressVu's pseudo SDTV) is great unless the programme source is poor; then it's just quite good enough. DVD is superb (only tried interlaced so far) and VHS has exceeded my dreams (how 240 lines of horizontal resolution could ever look so good is amazing with a 13 year old Mitsubishi VCR...they built them well back then though). DRC's effect (more than simple line doubling) is stunning: there simply are no scan lines...a very smooth film-like picture. The Twin View multi-image driver is a great feature. I use it with my two satellite receivers and local broadcast reception on a Magnum Dynalab Silver Ribbon antenna...love the flexibility and the resizing control!

I've also had no problem with the grilles curling or with magnetic interference from my speakers. The KV-32XBR400 sits on top of my right channel folded-horn speaker and has a JBL compression driver about 8" back from the bottom of the screen. This driver has a 19,000 gauss magnet in a cast aluminum case, yet there is absolutely no interference. Now the JBL may be fairly well shielded, but it seems to me the Sony can't be all that bad either. As for raster tilt (e.g. tilting can be seen when watching widescreen format), I see none. However my set faces east/west and I've heard adjusting the tilt control may be more necessary with a north/south orientation. Also, trust me, the earth's magnetic field does have an effect on a screen this large. There are also adjustments that can be made to the yoke orientation or in the Service Menu to deal with tilt problems.

Lastly, if anyone has been having problems with colour banding on the component input of units such as the KV-32FV26, this can be solved with a simple adjustment of the HOSC parameter in the Service Menu. My son has gone through the replacement of 2 units of this model (first had colour banding, second had a faulty tuner as well as colour banding) and Sony reps had no solution. Well guess what, the Sony Service Mode document mentioned above provides a simple fix: adjust HOSC from 7 to 11; my son's set was at 0 and setting it to 9 solved the problem. Seems Sony's factory calibration has been a bit shoddy...but that's no reason to downgrade a fine piece of equipment when the fix is so simple. The KV-32XBR400 does not show this problem.

In the end, if you don't mind some tweaking and adjustments, I think this set and the KV-36XBR400 provide the finest pictures around for the price. And it's ready for HDTV!

Similar Products Used:

none; replaced a Sony KV-27V10

Excellent Picture quality with DVD; Good cable = good picture

Set turns off on its own; constantly adjusting picture

I had posted an earlier review raving about this set and its great picture quality. I am still blown away by its clarity and brightness - it surely does beat any other CRT out there. But, alas, like several other reviewers, I am experiencing a technical problem - the set likes to shut itself off on its own. This started occuring after 2 to 3 days of using the set and it happens on an intermittent basis. This is probably going to be a MAJOR recurring issue with this set, as others have had the same problem. It appears to be a power supply problem (Duh!) either internal or external to the set. I was advised by my A/V dealer that many of the new 16x9 sets are power hungry, including this SONY hybrid. They recommended that they be plugged into a minimum 20 amp circuit (preferably dedicated). An electrician checked the circuit my set is plugged into and said "it's definitely not the set." But he may be wrong. I'm having the circuit upgraded anyway, as more A/V equipment will be added in the future, no doubt. I hate to really have to return the set since I really enjoy watching it...when it's on!

1) DRC-MF (Digital Reality Creation, Multi Function) meaning both vertical and horizontal line doubling.
2) Vertical Compression of DVD signals (+++Resolution)
3) HD1080i ready (for when you get your Digitial set-top box)
4) PIP, Equal Size with dual size control

1) My wife doesn't like the many configuration options/menus

Okay,

After years of happily enjoying my Panasonic Superflat, it died, and I had to buy something new. I knew Sony would come out this summer with the XBR400, but I was thinking more along the lines of buying another Panasonic Superflat. I was very happy with my old flat and I knew about the freaky distortions in corners of the previous XBRs. No way I was going to run the risk of falling into that trap. In the local store other TV pictures did not look as good as the XBR400, although I was not overly impressed. Looking back, the picture quality probably was less than ideal due to the cable signal-sharing and/or the lack of fine-tuning done on shelf-models by employees.

Anyway, I got a good price ($1,799) and had the set delivered a few days later. I got the additional extended warranty to make sure this thing works for a set period. Remember that this model is brand new and stock-full of new stuff.

Don’t even think about taking this baby home yourself unless you have a large pick-up truck and at least 4 older brothers who have nothing else to do for an afternoon. Also, like others mentioned on this site, know where you want to put it (permanently), because you don’t want to move it (know the dimensions and allow lots of breathing space: 35 3/8, 26 ¾ and 27 7/8). It’s just too heavy (185 pounds net). Make sure you have all your cable ready before it is delivered, so that you don’t have do any acrobatic stunts later on to install that DVD or receiver monitor cable.

Taking about connections, the XBR400 has them all and plenty of them both front and back (Total: Component 2, S-Video 3, Audio in 6, Audio out 1, Monitor out 1)

Okay the tube. Remember I am not a tech guru, I just look at the picture. First the key technologies, later I will refer back to them when I talk about signals (below). This baby has: 1) DRC-MF (Digital Reality Creation, Muti Function or both vertical and horizontal line doubling. Bottom line: lots of lines. Settings: Interlaced or progressive 2) Twin View (PIP): two equal size pictures (signals) on the screen and you change the size of both (zoom in zoom out). 3) Vertical Compression. Bottom line: more resolution for DVD signals (16:9 ratio) 4) Velocity Modulation: Vertical line enhancement that sharpens picture. Always good to have.

Picture/Signal Experience and Settings
1) The DVD signal is absolute great. I think through the combination of the vertical compression and the high resolution the picture is absolute flawless. The DVD picture was good on my superflat, but this is even better. I could not really imagine it could be, but it is. The detail is so sharp and vibrant, you just feel good.
2) I have regular cable and the picture quality differs a lot for each channel. HBO and other premium channels are excellent, while other channels just don’t do it for me. Like other reviews, I strongly believe this has something to do with the signal and not the TV. In time and with a Digital Set-top box that should improve dramatically. Also, through various mode settings you should be able to improve the picture quality. In terms of comparison this TV delivers the best possible cable viewing experience I have seen anywhere.
3) My VRC signal gives a good to excellent picture. Most definitely, this TV pushes the signal on to the screen with the utmost ability. In short, blame the flaws in the picture somewhere else and you will probably be right. Even my wife’s SLP VCR recordings, which are overtapes dozens of times look a lot better on this TV than on my old Superflat. I actually looked at the picture and enjoyed an SLP recording although I have been telling my wife for years not to record on SLP.
4) Settings: Okay, there are a hefty number of settings to fine-tune the picture. I have tried them all and played around for about a week now every night. Although others strongly recommend the MOVIE mode I have to disagree. The Movie mode creates some faded look that helps poor cable signal to become less obvious distorted. I believe the PRO mode is superior. The PRO mode does not fade a poor cable signal so much while it does cover up distorted (poor) cable signals. The only problem with the PRO mode is that the picture is slightly too dark. Fine-tune the PRO mode by increasing both the black and the white delivery settings and you arrive at the best possible picture. The color setting a mostly fine. Also, when watching DVDs put the mode back to standard. Don’t let any mode distort the DVDs signal. Bottom line: you can fine-tune the picture to your wishes, although the pre-set setting are pretty much okay. Overall, once fine-tuned you will enjoy the smoothness and quality of the picture and pretty soon you can’t do without it.

On the geometric distortions (anomalies) front the were none to report when watching DVD, cable or VCR in any normal form of fashion. Due to the flatness of the picture it does look sometimes that the corners bend upwards or downwards slightly. I am talking here about a slightly less than perfect looking bar or line. I could only observe this when there is an obvious line or bar in any one corner. It looks like slightly less than perfectly straight. You can only see this when you are really looking for it and even than I believe this is purely an optical illusion caused be the perfect straightness of the tube and corners. I think it’s the same illusion you see when you draw two perfect parallel lines on a piece of paper and the space between the lines seems to become wider at both ends.

I am planning to fine-tune my model further over the next month or so and investigate any corner distortions further. I’ll post any findings. Overall, I am extremely happy with the TV and the picture quality.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic Superflat

HD ready/Price/Overall clarity and color saturation

Too many adjustment options

I LOVE THIS TV. I love paying only $1550 for it also. At first I wanted the 36", but it did not fit into my Entertainment Center. Talk to Jim at www.oade.com and see if he has any left. I had to be one of the first ones to get this TV because I've owned mine for 1 month now. After having some help setting up the video, I was amazed at the clarity and color depth of the picture.
I have my TV set up in the Movie mode, with color temp Cool, and the DRC-MF at Progressive. I find that to be the best complete picture.
DVD movies are like looking into a mirror. The detail and color are so lifelike it is scary.
My TV picture has also greatly improved, considering I have analog cable. I'm waiting for HD satelite. But the picture is sharp. Yes, on some channels their is some grainy aspects, but that is the cable's fault, not the TV. But on HBO, NBC, MTV, and ESPN, the picture looks like HD.
Overall, this is the best tube picture TV out there. Buy it now, and it will serve your needs for many years. Thanks Jim for great service.

Similar Products Used:

6 year old Sony 32"

FLAT SCREEN,HDTV READY,PICTURE QUALITY,BEST PICTURE OF ANY TUBE SET.

VERY EXPENSIVE, VERY HEAVY,USER MANUAL IS USELESS

I have only had the set for two days but I am blown away by the picture quality and the fantastic quality of viewing dvd movies on this set! You have not seen a dvd movie the way it should be seen until you watch on on this set. I looked at about 30 different tv's including more expensive models and found the XBR400 to be far superior in every way.

I have read from other reviews that the speaker grills have been pealing off but I have not seen any defect at all so far. I will agree with everyone else that this should not happen on a 32" set that cost $2000! I do wish the owners manual could give more information about proper adjustments and recommended settings. Just remember that this set will magnify any bad signals from cable or a dish, if you have a bad picture with cable tv on your old set the XBR with be 10 times as bad. This is not a problem with the XBR but with the cable or dish company. This is the best tv I have ever seen, spend the money and buy one you will not be sorry.

This set is for people who want the best picture and features. Don't bother spending the cash if you don't want to watch dvd movies or if you want to get a dish,for people who are happy with vhs don't buy a XBR buy a$600 set instead.

Similar Products Used:

TOSHIBA 27"