Best Tube Picture Ever!

Uneven black level, S-Link control with 777es does not work

I purchased this set from Dillards at a local store. I paid more, but after reading these reviews, I wanted to have the ability to return this set if I had an problems. I did not have any problems with geometry, or color shift, or other picture issues. I did however see that my set has uneven brightness level from left to right. This is not a major problem, as it is only visable when the whole screen is black. I feel that this set should be perfect, maybe when I get it calabrated, I can fix this problem. I also took the advice and called custom audio and got the canare component video cables. The people at custom audio really know there stuff, I recommend them highly!! I also have a S-link problem with the XBR and the 777es. When I plug the cable in, the system does not except any commands. I do not know if it is a TV problem of a receiver problem. In the end, I love this TV, its the best thing to DTV. The weight of the set is just slightly heavier than other sets this size. Two people can move it without a problem. Some people have REALLY exagerated the sets problems, I do not. I have nearly perfect integration with the following components.

SONY 36XBR250
SONY 777ES Reveiver
SONY 7700 DVD Player
SONY SLV-91HF VCR
SONY 333ES CD Player
Velodyne CT-120 Sub
Bose AC-10 series II (I know, thats my next upgrade)

I give this set 4 out of 5 stars because of the uneven brightness, but it really is a GREAT TV!!!

Similar Products Used:

RCA 35" TV

Picture, PIP Options, Speakers

None

Although I love both previous models of the XBR series, the new XBR 400 is unbelievable. I stopped by the Sony Style retail store on Madison Ave in Manhattan and got to play around with it a little. The salespeople there really don't know anything...in fact, everybody who submits to Audio Review knows about 3000 times as much.

The first thing that you notice about the XBR400 is that there are absolutely no lines in the picture. My great complaint about the XBR200-250 are the huge scan lines that are noticable when up close. Sony uses a computer generated line quadrupler that produces a stunning image. This is called the DRC Multifunction (Digital Reality Creation Multifunction). It usesw digital mapping to create four times as much data as a conventional TV image. It really works!

The new XBR400 carries over many of the same features. I did notice that it doesn't have the wireless headphones, but it brought back the "Twin View" side-by-side PIP that was on the XBR200, along with the Trusurround feature. Good move. The TwinView PIP has a feature called MID-X that lets you use the TwinView and then lets you adjust the size of the side-by-side pictures.

The XBR400 also has 2 sets of component inputs. What makes this set "FutureReady" is that it has a Hi-Scan 1080i input that accepts all 18 formats of DTV. The formats include 1080i, 720i, and 480 progressive or interlaced.

The set has the light silver color of the XBR250 and still weights as much as a YUGO. By the way, if you ever buy any Sony 36XBR, don't buy that crappy stand that holds only two components. Go to the Crutchfield catalog and look for a stand made by Wood Technologies. It fits these sets perfectly and you can store up to 8 components underneath. Additionally, the stand is made out of "real" wood, not pressed board.

Sony has made a great set here. The salesman at Sony Style told me they are selling the 36XBR for $2200 and the 32 for $2000.

Similar Products Used:

36XBR200, 36XBR250

I bought the 36XBR250 for a second room. I also own a 36XBR200. Both sets are very similar. I never experienced the dreaded "geometry" problems with the 200 and just love that set. The 250 has some interesting new features, such as the Video Compression feature that increases the lines in 16.9 mode. When sitting up close you can really tell the difference. From a distance, the difference is negligable. The 250 also has built-in wireless headphones that will be a great feature for married's with intolorable spouses.
I don't understand why Sony dropped some of the great features of the 200. They dropped the Snapshot screen freeze feature, which literally lets you freeze any live picture, from any source. I know that it's a gimmick, but it's one that I use all the time. The 250 has a freeze memo, which freezes the screen, but only in a small PIP box. The 250 also dropped the "TwinView" feature, which splits the screen into two pictures, displayed side by side. The size of the TwinView is similar to a letterboxed image, but it worked great. Also, the 250 also dropped the largest PIP box that the 200 had. That PIP size is similar to a 20" TV. It was great for watching sports. Another feature that the 250 dropped was the 12 picture "Favorite Channel" feature that lets you monitor 12 channels while watching a 13th in a box the size of a 20" TV. The 250 has this feature with five channels. No big deal. The feature is basically useless, because, why in the world would you buy a 36" TV and watch a 20" picture with all of these other dinky thumbnails rotating around it?

If given a choice, I still like the original XBR200. But remember, I have never experienced the geometry problems that have caused my fellow reviewers to plan imaginary mob hits on Sony personel. In fact, I still have my original Sony 25XBR from 1986. To this day...and even put up against any WEGA, that set is still the sharpest that I have ever seen. That 25XBR sold for 1100 in 1986...a very hefty price for that period. But then again, buy cheap, buy twice!

I purchased this television about 1 month ago from Bjorns Audio Video in San Antonio. I am extremly pleased with my purchase. The vertical compression feature is a monstrous improvement over regular widescreen resolution. I have experienced none of the problems with my set that some people had with the 200 series. Thank God! I paid $1,998 for my unit. The gentleman above having problems with color banding with component video cable connection may be hooking up the cables in the wrong (3) places. I have had no such problems with my set. I will say that until you hook up the component cables to this tv, you really haven't seen it's real potential. Please don't use the crappy monster cable component cable for this tv. The only company in the world that offers a TRUE 75ohm impeadence RCA connector is Canare. Even if you use 75ohm cable your not getting the best picture because without a true 75ohm RCA connector you are causing an impeadence mismatch ie.bottlenecking the signal. I had been using the monster component cables for my tv until I discovered Canare's awesome 75ohm connector. I had a Canare dealer custom make me a pair of 4ft component cables and upon hooking these cables to my wega my jaw dropped on floor. EVERTHING looked so much better with these cables, color,detail,less video noise etc. The difference between the monster component cables and the Canare's was greater than the difference between my M-1000 S-video cable and the monster component cables. I know it sounds like I'm promoting the hell out of these Canare cables, but let me say that they are worth it. My cables were custom made for me, sent Fed-X 5-day and cost a paltry $73 with shipping. These cables totally destroy every other set of component cables that i've seen by a large margin. Anyway I love this tv! Great unit! Go get one now! ps if anyone is interested about the caand where I got them, just e-mail me and I'll let you know how to get your hands on some.

I bought this unit about two weeks ago and couldn't be happier. Due to the negative reviews on this site about the XBR200, I waited for the XBR250s to come out. My 250 has no geometry or other problems. If you watch a lot of DVDs, the best feature BY FAR is the Vertical Compression. Like the previous reviewer says, this gives you the best picture you can get with a non-HDTV set. You'll soon be wishing all DVDs were anamorphic; don't buy a TV without this feature! Excellent! ...And thanks Audio Reviewers!

Picture,Sounds,Colors,Vivid,Detailed,Close to HDTV

Heavy as hell, no universal remote

You people realy need to get your eyes checked, Maybe some of you are just getting old and loosing the vision. There's no way on earth anyone can say that this TV does not have the best picture quality than any other TV except HDTV. Yes it is heavy and you might say its OVERPRICED. If your going to take points of this set because of those two reasons then I can understand but to say that the picture isnt good just isnt true. The picture is as close as you can get to an HDTV and I have regulare cable at home and most channels look GREAT! I compared this TV to the Panasonic Super Flat and all other TVs which I admit cost less than the sony but there was no comparison between the sony to any other TV in the market. This is the best it gets when one looks for the best performance.

Similar Products Used:

compared to every TVhere is

Great picture particularly on DVD and Sat

Reception on standard channels due to poor antenna

I have had this TV for 3 weeks and I am very impressed. The picture on DVD's is outstanding particularly in 16x9 anamorphic mode. The satallite broadcasts are also outstanding.

I also highly recommend the canare component video cable which I purchased from Audio Video Connections in Texas. These guys are also incredibly helpful and they really know their stuff.

The only problem I have encountered was in 16x9 mode on some DVD's. I noticed a slight lighter grey horizontal bar at the top and bottom of the letterboxed screen. I was able to correct this very easily by turning down the brightness control.

Otherwise, I have experienced none of the other problems mentioned on this site.

It was recommended to me that I should have the scan demodulation mode tuned off - this will improve the clarity of the picture. If anyone has had this done I would be interested to know.

I have also tried to get into the SERVICE MODE by pressing DISPLAY, 5, VOL+, POWER ON but I am having trouble getting this to work. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Quality control, too sensitive to magnetic fields

Well, today they delivered the second set after yesterday's DOA unit. This one powered up ok, but exhibited discoloration in the lower portion of the screen. My subwoofer was five feet away from the television, and the delivery guys said there was no way the sub could be causing the discoloration being so far away. I had to be sure before they tok it away and delivered another set, so we moved the television eight feet away with it's screen facing away from the sub. Discoloration all gone. Back in place, it reappeared. All other speakers had been removed from the area to accomodate the placement of the set. This set is way too sensitive to the magnetic field of a subwoofer. Five feet away should be plenty far. My fifteen year old set handles the sub just fine. Since I absolutely could not relocate the sub short of completely redoing the room, I decided to stick with my old set. Goodbye pristine anamorphic DVD, hello dot-crawl. If you have a subwoofer in your system, be prepared to do some relocation if it is near the television.

This is a followup to my earlier posting a month ago. I also have the dark stripe on the left side of the picture like that mentioned by other reviewers below. It's not always apparent for some reason, mostly only when credits are showing on a black screen or something (but not always). I cannot see any discoloration when the set is showing a non-black picture (for example, a white picture does not have a gray stripe down the left side). Sounds contradictory, but that's what I'm seeing...
Anyway, other than that, I was very happy with my XBR250... until I got a copy of the Video Essentials DVD. The crosshatch pattern shows that my set has a slight vertical "ripple" in the picture tube about 6" from the left side of the screen, pretty much where the dark band is located. Maybe that's why there's a dark band...? You can also clearly see it in the video sequence on the DVD where the camera pans across an empty football stadium -- you can see the seats do "The Wave". I do want to mention that I don't think I would have noticed this distortion without the VE disk, so I guess I can't complain too loudly. I seem to only notice it when the camera pans side to side and the background has some kind of regular horizontal pattern in it, which almost never happens. The bottom of the screen in the very left corner has a slight upward bend about 2 pixels (aperatures?) high, which I only noticed due to the test patterns.

The set had a number of other minor problems (like WAY too much overscan and a skewed picture), but I was able to fix everything using the service menu (with the set off, hit DISPLAY, 5, VOL+, PWR ON on the remote to bring it up if you don't already know the secret). The service menu has a zillion parameters you can adjust (and totally f up your set if you're not careful). Nothing that would let me gid rid of that vertical distortion, though.

I got the set mainly for watching DVDs in a small home theater setup. Since the ripple is only noticable in unusual situations, and since the Vertical Compression feature provides the best picture I've seen on any non-HD set, I will give this set 4 stars (3 now to offset my earlier 5). I won't say I'll never buy a Sony again, but I definitely won't ever buy a set from ANY manfacturer without running the VE DVD on the set right there in the store.

I have had my new Sony 36xbr250 for only three weeks but love it. Once I was able to get the price down to a more reasonable figure. Still not good but I think it is worth it.