I have had the same color problems, geometrey (forgive the spelling, one too many beers), and black/white lines. I bought mine throgh Circuit City for $1800 with a 5 year service contract for an addition $350.
I noticed all the problems once I ran the Video Essentials DVD on the TV. After seeing the problems it is hard for me to watch the TV without getting disgusted.

The earlier XBR200 sets did not have these problems - why they appeared in the new verions (XBR250) I do not know. I have two friends that have the XBR200 sets and they look awesome with no noticeable black/white lines or geometry problems.

I am getting a new set delivered this week and will repost my experience. I love the TV, but with all the problems it is very hard to reccommed over a large screen Hitachi Ultravision or Sony XBR projection. Yes, these TVs are more, but if you are paying $2500 why not pay $1000 more? :)

BTW, I had a Circuit City tech come out to the house and view the black/white bar problem - he told me that I was a picky tech head that needed to live with it. Hehe, I think I ended up getting him fired.

The black/white bar problem is easy to see by adjusting your brightness and contrast controls at the same time. Take the contrast all the way down, then the brightness up. If you can see bars of black/white/gray scale on what should be a perfectly black screen then you have problems. Call Sony or your salesman and b1tch. They cannot get away with a problem like this.

Beautiful picture, especially for animation. Colors are wonderful.

GEOMETRY!!!

Last May I purchased the 36XBR200 and returned it for a second unit because of large blobs of color in the corners regardless of where it was positioned and in what direction it faced (neither did I have any speakers even in the same room). My second unit was even worse in this regard, and I further noticed that the horizontal and vertical geometry was poor. The store where I bought the television wanted a local Sony authorized service center to look at the set before I requested another unit. I ended up taking the set to two different service centers who proceeded in making my set even worse. I took the television straight back to the store after leaving the repair shop where I showed the salesman the severe color impurities in the corners, the sagging horizontal geometry on letterboxed films, the pathetically bowed vertical geometry, and, thanks to Sony's qualified technicians, the new six inches of blurring on either side of the screen.
Needless to say, I was not happy but I was polite with the store and they were also accomodating. This local family owned store had two more stores in the area and after bringing in my DVD's and looking at their floor models, I found a XBR200 that I thought was acceptable. This one I took home.
At this time I discoverd audioreview.com and learned that my problems were not unique. But I felt pleased that I had a Wega that I was satisfied with.
For a day.
I first noticed that when the screen was dark(I only watch the television at night), it was red instead of black. I could see the red phosphors burning. I solved this by adjusting the screen knob located inside the set.
Then I noticed that the picture was coming off the edge on the right side. This I took care of through the service menu.
I could also see the one inch banding on the left side of the screen which did not bother me.
But the one thing that I could not fix through the service menu and even attempted to fix by placing magnets on the back of the tube was the vertical geometry. This was not something that I noticed right away, but once I did I could never ignore, to the point where I just could not stand to watch the television anymore. What was going on was that on certain parts of the screen images would compress or undulate. I watch a lot of animation. Because the backgrounds tend to be static, whenever the camera panned up and down or left and right, you could see the image twist and bend. Putting a grid up on the screen showed that the vertical lines were not straight but were bent in strange ways, and near the center of the screen from left to right there were kinks in it. Some scenes, such as in Fist of the North Star, where the girl is in the subway system, and the camera pans on a diagonal when showing the skeletons hanging out of the subway train, the image would wave like a flag in the wind. After a little while, I was noticing this on live action films. For example, in Starship Troopers, at the beginning of chapter 22(I think), the camera starts at the top of the mountain and the pans left and down on a diagonal. You can see the mountain undulate and compress back and forth. It is subtle but once you know it is there it is extremely annoying.
Anyways, I sold my third Wega around Thanksgiving and was hoping that things would be better with the 36XBR250. And regarding this problem, they are not. I literally took my dvd player around to every store in northeast Ohio that sold the XBR250 and tried them out. They all sucked in this regard. My friends Toshiba that he bought at Sam's Club for $800 did not do this and neither do most of the other sets on the market. Another example regarding the vertical geometry can be seen in Ghost in the Shell in chapter 3. When the two men proceed down the elevator, the building in the center of the background leans to the right, ON EVERY 36XBR250 THAT I HAVE SEEN(about one dozen)!
I do think the television looks awesome in regards to the picture, but strong lines are vertically and horizontally challenged and once images start moving they undulate and wave in certain areas. Watching the ticker on the bottom of the screen on financial stations is unbearable.
I realize that most people will not be bothered by this. However, as someone else pointed out, if you are extremely picky, then this is not the television for you, even though it does many wonderful things that other televisions lack.

Similar Products Used:

36XBR200

Great picture!, Screen size, PIP , even the headphones!

Hard to find an entertainment center to put it in!!

I'm really enjoying my new Sony. I've been using a 27" screen for so long that I appreciate the new one everytime I turn it on. My kids are impressed as well. Great picture out of the box. Sound is good too. The headphones that come with it are handy when the 3 year old is watching cartoons and we have to vacuum in the same room. The PIP is a nice feature and my new DVD player I just bought is a joy to watch on this 36" screen. I am also using the Canare cables which look great. Don't get too discouraged by some of the video/audiophiles who are much more critical than the average Joe. For most of us this set is simply wonderful!
:)

Similar Products Used:

none

Styling, Sound, Color, Depth of field,

Detail

Overall the tv is great. If you are very picky don't buy this tv. For my purposes it is great and will do just fine until I can afford a wall-mounted flat screen. Set up is very difficult and the manual stinks. There is no real description of the many function the tv has

Similar Products Used:

N/A

Excellent picture, a ton of inputs

still evaluating, head phones (they should have never included them and saved us the cost of them) I have never had the need for headphones while watching TV.

After initially purchasing the FS10 I was very dissapointed with the picture quality, especially when watching NASCAR. There was so much dot crawl it made watching a chore. I got this baby in last night and I was blown away with how much better this TV is vs. the FS10 or FV15. The sharpness continues almost all of the way to the edges. And I emphasize almost. You would never notice it watching a movie. I am curiuos about this service menu option, how do you access it? I think there is still a little more tweaking I can do, It seems like the standard and movie modes ar ethe best modes to be in, I think the vivid and sports modes are a total waste of time. I would appreciate any suggestions on how I can maximize the picture quality on this set. And to think this TV ended up costing me the same as the FS10 ($1740)cause I mail ordered the XBR.

Similar Products Used:

KV-36FS10, KV-36FS10 (do yourself a favor and stay away from these TVs. The extra money spent on a XBR is worth it, and if you mail order it may even come out to be about the same)

Looks,Amount of inputs

Factory setting

I've had my set about six weeks now and I'm still amazed at
the picture.

I purchased it at a Sony outlet store. It was worth the 3 hour ride , for 1400.00.

The first thing I did to tweak the set was to open it up and locate and cut the VM wire. (Look at the PC board on the yoke and find the connector with only one white wire and trace it. It will have VM printed on the PC boards.)

The set had a brown-green area in the lower left corner when the screen was white. I called Sony an had a local service man come out. He put two small "purity" magnets on the tube and it was gone. No charge.

I also had an ISF tech calibrate the set for 250.00.
I have my DVD player set up to output composite and component. You need to do this to set the color temps, because the component input has its own gain and cut offs
in the service menu.

After calibration I did not see that much change in the component, But the change in composite ( over the air and VHS) was dramatic. We found the blue was pushed on both settings.

I'm using the Canare cables from Custom A/V in Texas (830-625-6745)and a Toshiba 3109 DVD player.

This was this final piece of my most recent upgrade and compliments my system very well.

This set is worth the extra effort and expense to get it setup and calibrated.

The picture from the DVD is fantastic but I'm even more impressed with how It preforms on old "much used" VHS tapes.

picture quality, numerous other features

first set I received had faulty PIP and Headphones didnt work.

I just received this set so I dont think I know enough yet to make an intelligent or useful review. I will say that the picture quality is very good (the best I've seen).

But, I do want to let folks know that the xbr250 is sold at the Sony Outlets for $1400, and they will ship it anywhere in the country for just $100. A list of Sony Outlets can be found at
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer/outlets/locations.html

The catch is that they will not give any prices over the phone. They will tell you if they have sets in stock. No phone orders. They attempt to insist that if you show up at the store and there is not a unit in stock, you have to return when a unit is in stock, refusing (initially) to allow "buy now and ship later" arrangements. I discussed this with the store manager and she agreed to take my credit card info, address, etc. and ship a set when they received one. She was only willing to do this because I was actually in the store (we were on vacation 500 miles from home). I do not believe that she would have agreed to this arrangement over the phone. Also, they can not make predictions about when sets will be available, estimating a two week to six month possibility. My set became available in about a week. Problems with the initial set (which had defective PIP)were pleasantly corrected with a promise to swap-out for another set. Oh yea, these sets at the Sony Outlets are "Refurbished" units. They carry the same warranty as a new unit and have been checked out at Sony and determined to be in like new working order. I guess it's always possible to get a lemon, new or refurbished.
Circuit City sells this unit for $2000 so the $1400 price tag makes it worth a drive and the refurbished distinction a minor point. Take a truck or van and save an additional $100 bucks on the shipping.

I will psot a more definitive review of the set after I have spent more time with it. Email me if you have questions about the Sony Outlet experience:db113@mindspring.com.

Similar Products Used:

None that are really similarq

Design Flat Screen

picture is TERRIBLE stupid headphones scan lines Geometry problems

I Have purchased this set 2 months ago by J&R MUSIC WORLD for 2200$ only to be disappointed by all the problems this television has PLUS J&R MUSIC WORLDS TERRIBLE COSTMER SERVICE AND STAFF WOULD NOT HELP NO MATTER! PS.DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM J&R MUSIC WORLD

Sony WEGA XBR's are the best analog TV on the market

Sony's web site... Serriously lacks new up dates & moves slow!

I know this is for reviewing the sony KV-36XBR250 which I find to be a great TV. Not as good as HDTV, but more reasonable in cost!!! I am looking for any and all info in the "NEW" SONY KV-36XBR400 I know it lists for $2700 & I know crutchfield has it for $2500 delivered, not on their website, but they do sock it now if you call...

I am looking for any info as to comapred features and any online vender that may carry it for a good price... PLUS any other info available..

YOUR HELP IS APPRECIATED!

Similar Products Used:

KV-36XBR400

Anamorphic picture; color decoding; geometry; connectivity

Remote; Sony stand; scan velocity modulation; difficult to calibrate

I have a 36XBR250 that was manufactured in 2000, and I haven't experienced any of the picture defects noted by others here, such as black bars. The set did take a fair amount of tweaking to get it set up properly, including a couple of hours with Joe Kane's set-up DVD. But I don't consider this unreasonable considering that it's hard to engineer a 36" picture display.

You can get a 36" for half the money, but I wouldn't watch anything but sports and news on it. I have a discerning eye and a big collection of DVDs. This is the only high-end TV, projection or direct, from any manufacturer, that doesn't make me feel like I got ripped off. It delivers the best anamorphic DVD picture out there for under $4500. Just be sure to watch everything through "Movie" mode, or turn off the scan velocity modulation. If you have bad cable (and I have the WORST, thanks to Cox Communications), you're going to hate your cable picture. This TV plays up every flaw.

I don't know why Sony insists on advertising the WEGA as an anti-reflection screen, because it will reflect lamps and windows just like any TV, so keep it in a room where those won't get in the way. The stand is too small to hold more than 3 17-inch components. The remote is about as ergonomic as a mechanical adding machine. And I really don't like the crossed "X" braces that lurk behind the speaker grilles.

"Johan's" post may be right, and the rest of you may be Canare cable salesmen posing as satisfied WEGA customers. Unfortunately most consumer's knowledge of specialty cable begins and ends with "Monster," which is not such good stuff. But I've been an audiophile for a while, so Canare products are known to me. Pretty much every video cable junkie knows they make about the only reasonably-priced true 75-ohm RCA plug out there. I bought a set myself and was suitably impressed. However, I can't say I think much of the Canare wire stock between the plugs, so when I had a set made up with some top-of-the-line Belden video cable (1505A) and the Canare plugs, my suspicions were confirmed that Canare is still leaving a lot of video performance off the table. Too bad. Johan, if you're ever in Washington, stop by my house to see for yourself.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi; Proscan; non-WEGA XBR