Any time any one forks over $2000 plus for a tv set, It had better be free from defects. This particular set is a disaster. I can understand exchanging a set once because the first was a lemon, but 3 or 4 lemons in a row ???
By the way Rich, the bottom eigth of the screen is crucial. When I watch the stock tickers in the mourning before work, any curvature gives me headaches.
My old and worn out proton did not have this problem. My ampro projector in my home theather does not have this problem. So why does this Sony, which claims to have the most accurate of pictures have this problem???

I've had the KV-36FV1 for over a month now and although I DO see a very minimal distortion at the bottom left corner ov the screen, this is the absolute best NTSC picture I have ever seen from any TV (DVDs look breathtaking!!), including Proton TVs (Which are about $500-$1500 higher than the VVegas). The thing to remember, is that when you look at a regular TV, (which have a convex surface) you will see worse distortion than that!! BTW to really see the distortion on my TV, you have to be over way past 9 O'clock to even really see it. I'm really sorry for those of you that have the distortion problems, but do you people only watch the bottom left 1/8th of the screen when you watch TV? anyway?

DO NOT BUY THIS TV!!!!!
DO NOT BUY THIS TV UNLESS YOU WANT CONSTANT FRUSTRATION WHEN DEALING WITH SONY REGARDING THE PICTURE FLAWS. I'M SICK OF SONY SENDING REPAIRMEN TO MY HOUSE WHO ADMIT THAT MOST WEGAS ARE FLAWED, BUT SONY WON'T TAKE THE SET BACK.

HEY, SONY, WHY DON'T YOU TRY SHOWING SOME CONCERN ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND QUITE WASTING MY TIME AND TAKE THE SET BACK.

AND I THOUGHT ONE HAD TO GO TO A CAR DEALERSHIP TO GET POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I purchased my KV-36XBR200 over the weekend and I'll have to say that I have NEVER seen any other NTSC set even come close to to the picture quality as this set provides.Color is perfect in every way.I have not seen any of the problems on my set that the other people here are talking about.The date on it is "May 1999" Maybe they have finally addresed the problems that everyone's been complaining about,I dont know but I am nothing but happy with the XBR200.I also noticed that we have a bunch of "so called techs" here that maybe if you stick to the "if it ain't broke dont fix it" you might not have so many problems.I also was VERY careful when loading and unloading not to shake it around too much.Sorry to hear some of you are having problems but you can get a bad egg in anything you buy.Sony has hit the mark with the XBR200 and it's nothing short of AWESOME!

I have owned a KV36FV1 for almost nine months now. The more time I spend with this set, and the more knowledgeable I become regarding it's intricacies, the more frustrated I am with it's performance. This set is nearly identically to the KV36XBR200. The only things lacking are the better comb-filter (3 Line Digital VS. 3D-YC), less powerful video amplifier, less PIP functions, and no Virtual Surround processing. I have a Toshiba SD3109 connected via MIT component interconnect. I have previously owned a Panasonic DVDA310 and a Sony DVPS550D.
I recently purchased the Avia set up disc and now have access to the service menus. Previously, I used the Video Essentials DVD for tweaking the picture. The only acceptable mode to use this TV set in is the "Movie" mode, as this mode defeats the velocity scan modulation.
My principle gripe is the geometry of the set. When displaying the geometry patterns from the Avia disc, it is impossible to have the lines converge properly. This has been an issue with this set for me from the begining, as letter box DVD's and laserdiscs have curvature at the top and bottom. I have spent several hours trying to adjust the pin amp to no avail. This set is incapable of not bending the geometry pattern. I understand with a standard or Trinitron tube, the results will be similar; however I spent considerably more for this set, and cannot accept it's performance. To most people viewing this set for the first time, the picture will appear concave due to these errors. This is one of those times when you notice a flaw in a product that you just can't dismiss and ultimately spend your time pissed off due to it's exsistance. I agree with the previous statement, wait for the XBR250. Hopefully, Sony corrected their mistake.

Well it looked good in the store....
But alas, I too have geometry problems. The tilt is at -3 and if I go further, it tilts but also distorts more.

Now you have to be seeing graphics to notice the geometry, sort of. When things move on the screen occasionally I notice odd resizing, but nothing my wife could spot.

I also notice that in using video essentials to do the white level, it wouldn't hold black... my 15 year old xbr can! Even in normal viewing I can see bright pictures change the size of the pic slightly. Maybe I'm spoiled by my old xbr, but for 1700 bucks I expect a lot more!

Oh yea, if the scene is solid graphic or a blue sky etc, I can see that all four corners have a slight dark spot.

I'm bummed. Not sure if I want to exchange till it works or just try another set!

Rick

I just bought my KV-36XBR200 from a Sony Outlet for $1590.00. Manufactured Jan 1999. I do see a small problem, in the bottom left of the screen, but only noticable while watching QVC or the TV Guide Channel. I can't see the problem watching a movie or other program. The picture is excellent. Happy so far .........

terrible product from a company that I used to respect. My set and about half of the ones I've seen have geometry and shading problems.
If you are thinking about buying this set, good luck.

The post below by Mr. Lee might mislead prospective purchasers. The geometric distortion and color shading problems common on many KV-36XBR200s cannot be eliminated (or even slightly altered) by using the TV's "Movie" mode. The Movie mode most closely approximates NTSC standards and ISF parameters by turning off both velocity scan modulation and a circuit that boosts contrast. The most natural picture is thus available in this mode.
If you have a 36" Wega XBR or FV1 with the color shading problem, note that it cannot be significantly reduced by a service center. Nor can significant geometry problems be corrected (minimal adjustment is available via the service menu). I have had several honest discussions with a very high up Sony official over the last few weeks, and have been told that Sony is quite aware of the deficiencies in the first-generation flat-screen sets, which have been talked about by many owners and yours truly on this website. I am the fellow who began this page--scroll down to the bottom to read my original post. Since then, Sony supplied us with a third set, which was manufactured in April 1999. That set was worse than its two predecessors. Sony took it back and issued a refund, which was the end of a nightmarish experience (two Sony-authorized service centers and a Sony field technician who told Sony Corp. that our second set was 100% perfect were caught in a lie by Sony's consumer operations department--but that's a whole sordid story in itself).

The Sony official that I mentioned earlier told me last week that the upcoming replacement models (e.g., KV-36XBR250 and FV15) bring hope of improvements. But, he added, Sony USA still has not received word that the problems have truly been corrected. So, at least for now, all prospective owners can do is hope for the best. I certainly am.

I purchased a 36-FV1 in February for about $1500. I went with that over the XBR because when using the component inputs the digital comb filter is bypassed anyways and no matter how good the sound, it couldn't possibly complete with a real home theater set-up (I watch mainly DVDs on this set). Initially, i noticed the distortion problems that people have been complaining about on credits and tickers. I mainly noticed it in the bottom corners and on the right and left edges of the screen. However, this was because I did not have the TV in the "Movie" mode. This made a huge difference. The picture has no distortion now and the picture is actually the way I would want it to be in terms of color and contrast, etc. I am extremely happy with how the TV has performed and would recommend it highly to any normal user. Although that VUSN setting on the new models would be nice...