Enclosure style,play anamorphic dvd´s like no other tv, in
cluding hdtv´s. Awesome video quality in some instances.

The tv lacks a second S-VHS in the back, plus the lack of
external line double possibility and overpriced in Mexico.

I am a video audio enthusiast. I wait every month for the new magazines to come and read about new products. I have waited for quite some time to have the possibility of buying
a good tv. Finally my decision was the 36xbr250.

Please,don´t misunderstand me. I am very happy with the quality of the tv images, especially in the anaphormic dvd´s
,but I am always looking for improvement. I have used the
video essentials with some very good results, but I know there is still room for improvement. I know about ISF tech-
nicians, but I have to pay a big amount to bring one to
Monterrey. The one we have in Mexico City is to expensive.
I read many of your reviews, I too have the problem of what
you called "black blanding". I have explain this to SONY in
Mexico and they say the usual, they simple have not heard
of that problem before nor the service centers here in Monterrey. That leaves me alone until I read some reviews about doing some changes yourselfs. For that I mean, disable the svm, change the parametres of hosc to 12 and
the y-dc to zero.

After these changes I figured you have to calibrated your
tv again. Using video essentials, and of course after chan-
ging these parameters first, what were your final results
as far as contrast, brighteness, color, tint, sharpness. Did
you chose NTSC STD, and in color correction, off or on. Please give number of clicks for each parameter. Also if you
decided to use instead a ISF technician, could you provide me with the same answer. I will appreciate if someone can
help me. My e-mail is: invade@mail.cmact.com

Similar Products Used:

Sony rear projection tv set and some smaller direct tv set´s
from sony.

Picture quality, flat screen, DVD display quality

scan lines, speakers that are side mounted

Well I bit the bullet and ordered this TV. When it was delivered, it was 1/2" too wide to fit in my entertainment center and allow the doors to still close...arrgghh.

But, actually this was a good thing. I went back to the dealer to order the 32" XBR250, and when he called his Sony rep, the rep told him that Sony has stopped production of the XBR250's. So I ordered the 32XBR400 for $1800.00 from my local dealer. He told me it should be in by the end of July, so I am holding my breath and waiting...guess I will
have to continue watching my 10 year old Proscan 27" for at least another month.

I think it will be worth the wait for the Digital version of this TV.

It looks perfect.

It sometimes fade because we watch it too many times.

I say this is a great tv and I watch my favorite shows on it and also play my n64 and my other systems and I say it is a cool tv ever my brother does something else on the tv besides playing on the tv he just watch plain old channels and I watch cable because it cool to watch it.

Similar Products Used:

It looks like the kind of tv that we bought yesterday which is a panasonic 20 inches tv.

Design, flat (exterior) screen, crisp picture, available jacks

Scan lines, yeah yeah yeah so what. I guess weight too.

Ok, this sight was awesome in helping me find a tv. I did more research than Darwin before buying. So why did I go with the masses and buy the big expensive name? One reason - it's the best. I have a lot of light in my den and couldn't look at the projections. The design on this box is a no brainer - the best. Yes you see scan lines if you sit too close. However at the right distance this is the clearest, brightest, and all around most animated picture I have seen. So I plunked down the $2G about 4 months ago and have not had one of these DOA problems. It has been perfect! I just wish I didn't have the crappy ATT digital cable.

After looking at all of the reviews here I decided to take the chance and order one of these behemoths. I have a friend that works at Sony Pictures so he told me that he could get one for around $1400. Sounded like a good deal since my local video store was selling them for $1900.

Unfortunately, he said that the Sony employee store had 500 on back order and they are no longer in production. The store personnel told him that most of the 500 won't get one.

He did say, however, that the xbr400 will be available in July and that the only thing he knew about it was that it was HD ready.

Can anybody tell me any more details on the xbr400?

I was very impressed with the styling and of course the pic...IN THE STORE

Cable channel picture...........

I'll keep this short for now...First I want to know how to get a service manual and or how to get into the service mode many of you talk about. Secondly I want ideas and recommendations on how to maximize my so so cable channels to get the best picture possible....I'm like most people I guess and will be using cable the most until I can get a satellite installation...Thanks a million people!

Great Picture Quality (especially with Component Video Cables like Canare and a DVD Player)
Wireless Headphones Are Very Cool
How it Physically Looks
Etc., etc., etc.
Best TV OUT THERE, PERIOD!

Ummm.....I can't think of any. Oh, the only thing is that I can't figure out how to turn off the Scan Velocity Modulation in modes, but no biggie, just use Movie Video.

This is a very awesome T.V.! Everything is great about this tv. The colors are excellent, picture quality is superb, and it even looks good. I also got the Canare cables and they are great! I watch my tv in movie mode, except i change the colors so that its like standard mode (because I don't know how to turn off the Scan Velocity Modulation). I changed the HOSC to 11 and the Y-DC to 0 and I have not seen the problems that everyone else mentioned (like color banding and the black line). I have a satelitte through S-Video and it looks beautiful and like I said, my Sony DVD with the Canare cables is just the best! When you look at this tv next to hdtv ready tvs it looks better! I am dead serious, if you are thinking of buying this tv, trust me, it's worth every penny.

Similar Products Used:

All other Sony WEGA tvs, and HDTV Ready tvs, THIS ONE IS THE BEST!

Awesome Video Quality, Wonderful colors!

Not getting this tv set up right, and using anything but the canare cables everybody is talking about.

I purchased this unit from Onecall.com about 3mos ago. I have been one of the people that has been somewhat critical of the Wega in the past. Well, upon recieving my set, I hooked it up, turned it to movie mode, and put in a dvd. The picture that the tv displayed out of the box was pretty good, but did not meet all of my expectations. After reading several of the reviews on this site, I decided to give this Mike guy at custom audio/video a call. After hearing that the Canare component video cables were going to give me a better picture than I was getting from my Monster M-1000 Component cables ($199.99), i decided to give em a try. I have to be honest when I say that I really wasn't expecting much of an improvement in picture quality just by switching cables, but when they came in I switched them with the Monsters and my jaw hit the floor! Man! what a difference these cables make. Everything that I've been hearing about these cables is true. Color is better, there is less picture noise, and the picture is now more detailed than before. I can't tell you how great these cables are. To anyone who has this tv and wish to take it to another level, I highly reccomend these cables. With the addition of these cables, my picture has gone from a 4 star rating to a 5 plus! ps. Doug, I got my cables by calling Custom A/V at 830-625-6745. Those guys at Custom A/V know this tv better than Sony does PERIOD!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic Superflat

Great TV in all modes

Sony set setup

Got in touch with Mike at Audio Video Excellence in Texas and he introduced me to the service menu. After about half an hour of tweaking, I feel that this is probably the best set available. Thank you, Mike. I suspect that after this review gets around, you'll need an unlisted number.

Gorgeous DVD image
Excellent cable TV Image (given the weakness of the format)
Super Sexy Looks
Vertical Compression
Good supply of lines in (4)

Price
Not HDTV ready
Could have been at least, 480 Progressive capable

Let me start by saying the XBR truly shines in DVD playback. The performance difference from a regular Wega is outstanding. I say this just after returning my KV-36-FS-10 for a faulty line 3 input and inconsistant background color(please read my review of the KV36-FS-10).

The Detail in color and the amounts of black level on this set continue to amaze me as I seem to continually sound this out during a movie. It seems I just can keep quiet about this. The blacks are so black with out the picture being dark. I know that this sounds like a contradiction, but other 250 XBR owners will concur and understand this comment. But this is not all the XBR has going for it. It seems it can also punch out the subtleties as well as the highly saturated colors. Muted colors seemed to stand out equally as well as the saturated ones. In "Contact" as Eli Aroway is entering the pod, the Blue isolation pads connected to the re-enforcing rods seem to jump out at you, even though they are not in focus and are just part of the background. This brings up another point, I have never seen a set that displays blues and purples as vividly as this 250 XBR. This was displayed in the DVD "Shakespere in Love". During the play, the velvet caps and outfits truly stand out, but in a subtle way. If you want detail, just look at the Queen's peacock costume in chapter 17, even if your are not a big fan of this show, I recommend it for showing off your XBR's capabilites. It looked excellent on the regular Wega but is outstanding on the XBR!

My set also displayed the slight gray bar on the left side of the screen that has been mentioned on this forum. This is not very noticable and it seems to appear, disappear, dependant on the scene. I will take this as opposed to the 9" vertical separation I had with my other Wega, for the most part it goes unnoticed. At times the letter box bars do seem to wash out, I feel this may be due to the transferance of light though the thick FD glass relecting the bright scene back on to the black bars, I have been told that the FD glass is 2.5" thick and I feel it makes a good light conduit, this is only my wild guess. I find this mostly only happens during highly lit scenes, and as such, is livable by my standards. The picture quality far out weights any of the it's short comings in my humble opinion.

One major gripe I do have is with the remote control. While it is very functional for general use, I find it lacks for full A/V control. I don't like having to flip open the cover to control the DVD or VCR. As well, I would liked to have seen some basic controls of my Denon AVR 3300, like volume. My Sony S550D DVD remote has this function, and sure, I can use the AVR3300's remote and most people have already planned the purchase of the Pronto, but would it have been too much to ask for on this Flagship of Sony's direct view TV?

My only regret during this upgrade is the price. The premium I paid for this TV places me almost in reach of the Toshiba CW34XC2, a true 16x9 HDTV ready set. As well, for this type of money a person could have obtained a good HDTV ready, rear projector. My weakness here is I can't resist a good direct view when compared to a rear projector. I find as much as I try to like the LARGE screen projectors, I really crave the sharpness and resolution of a direct view more. If I only had more room to place my TV, my purchase decision may have been different.

Is this set for everybody? I wouldn't recommend everybody to spend this much on a technology that is destined to become obsolete in the next few years. But if you do have to have one of the best currently on the market, then I can recommend it so long as your wallet has a few moths left over when you open it.

I was found in a hard situation where I needed a new set and after looking at the Wegas, there is not much else that matched my wants and needs. I was caught by having the entry level Wega (KV-36-FS-10) in my home for a week. It left me no alternative with my bonus cheque. If I had more, I may have sprung for the Toshiba 16x9, but I'm all tapped out now. Happy, but also sad that I will need to spend this type of money again in about 4 years for a HDTV.

Thank god for annual bonuses.

Similar Products Used:

Wega KV36 FS-10