Disclaimer: I do not own this set (please don't flame me -- I'm only trying to be helpful to others).

This is for info purposes (in response to a post below).

I almost bought this set after lusting for one for a year or so now. It was on sale for $1,999.99. The sales guy said that it was on closeout, since the XBR450 was replacing it, "but the 450 has no new features -- exact same features." WRONG!

The big new feature is 3:2 pulldown.

For those who don't know (others skip this part), 3:2 pulldown allows the DRC (line doubler or digital picture enhancer) to recognize and compensate for FILM vs. VIDEO sources. Film has 24 frames per second and video has 30 frames per second. To get a great picture from film sources (such as movie DVD's), recognition and compensation for the differences in frames per second (via 3:2 pulldown) is necessary. Without it, you still get a good picture. With moving objects especially, 3:2 pulldown should give an even better picture with less (no?) motion artifacts.

So, it appears that the upgrade from the 400 to 450 is a tweak to the DRC engine.

I decided to wait. I will be buying the XBR450 within several months. Hopefully those who purchase the 450 will review it here or its own XBR450 thread.

Similar Products Used:

36XBR450

EXCELLENT PICTURE (on DVD, HD)

Powers off automatically!

Well after having the set on for about 45 mins it powered off and wouldnt come back on! I'd get power to it but the standby light would just flash at me. After about 4 hours I tried again and it came on for about 10 mins then shut off again! Now I am lucky to see a picture for 30 seconds before it shuts off. I called Circuit City for a replacement unit (since I had the set less than a day!) and it will be out tomorrow. If this one has problems I am just going to have to get a different set, which sucks since those 45 minutes of Toy Story 2 were pure viewing bliss. I am gonna rate the TV average for now and update this review after I see the next set. Good thing I bought locally w/ extended warranty!

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV-36FS16

Geometry, Linearity, Abundant Inputs, High Definition Capability

Peeling Speaker Grilles

I've owned the unit for about a month. I will be posting a more thorough review after 90 days of ownership. I just wanted to respond with regards to the multitude of prior reviews I've read and have opinions on.

1. This set is High Def capable and as such will reveal all flaw in the original program source as well as the method of transmission, i.e. pixelation is a manifestation of digital compression which can travel via cable, satellite and DVD.
Indeed the Sony DSP/DRC function can add to this but critics should be careful not to point the finger at Sony without full understanding of MPEG/Digital Processing fundamentals.
Bottom line - this set will reveal much of what other sets hide.

From a personal perspective, I source DishNetwork (S-video),
Comcast cable (RF), ReplayTV (S-video) and I have a Sony 7700 DVD player /non-progressive/ (AudioQuest Component).

Using Video Essentials I dialed in my set and I am quite surprised at the outstanding picture quality regardless of source. Sure, certain DiskNetwork channel look better than others. This is due to bandwidth allocation and original source quality. Cable demonstrates pixelation but so what.
If you view clean cable on a non-DSP high quality and you pay close attention you will see pixelation "in the source".

I have been displeased with Sony for many years but in my opinion they have come roaring back with their new XBRs.

Additionally, as reported by others, until you see this set while displaying a true HDTV feed, well, you haven't lived.
16X9 component DVD feeds (from well mastered discs) are as good as the HDTV - honest.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi CK-35702

Great styling. Especially when used in conjunction with new Sony Stand.

Too heavy. Should have carrying handles

Picture quality is awesome! There's only one thing that I don't like and that is the extremely loud noise when the set is turned on. A freind has this set and it doesn't do this. Have also gone to several other stores to check same model and some make a little noise, but not nearly as loud as mine does. Has anyone else experienced this? I realize that some noise is caused by the degauss cycle, but mine is
really annoying.

HDTV Capability, Flat Screen, 2 Component Video Inputs, Great, Great Picture in HDTV and DVD Playback!!!

Heavy as Hell! Picture gets very pixelized and Blury on a lot of old material, especially when in motion! Cable Reception is poor.

Ok, First let me say that I posted a review already a couple of reviews down, about 3 weeks ago. Why another one?
Well, I was starting to get frustrated with the picture I was getting on my Time Warner Cable here in NY. A lot of the old movies and shows looked very pixelized and blury in corners, especially when in motion. The new stuff looked somewhat pixely too, but to a lesser extent.
I attributed the whole thing to bad cable, so I went out and purchased a HDTV Satellite System. I bought the DishNetwork System with the new 6000 HDTV Receiver, thinking that it will drastically improve matters. WRONG!!!
I hooked up the 6000 HDTV Decoder to the TV in two ways, the first was for the HDTV output via Canare Component Video Cables. The second was for regular Satellite reception and I used a Monster M2000 S-Video Cable to run into the TV Set. I was dissapointed with the regular Satellite reception! I was hoping for a drastic improvement over cable, and I did not get it. Some channels look better on my cable then they do on the Dish! Live events like sports, news broadcasts, etc... look much better on my Time Warner Cable. The only thing that looked better on the DishNetwork Sattelite were the movie channels like HBO, Showtime, Starz etc.
This brings me to the next thing, which is this televisions ability to display HDTV. I was beginning to get very annoyed and dissapointed. I already spent over $2500 for the TV and cables, I added another $1000 for the Satellite and all for this? Bluriness, and over pixelization?
I switched my HDTV receiver to the HDTV Signal, put the Sony on Video 5 which is where I have the HDTV plugged in with the Canare Cables, and turned to one of the three HDTV Channels that DishNetwork currently offers.
WOW!!!! is all I have to say!!! The HDTV material is unbelivable! The Sony came through big time with the HDTV display!! This demonstrated to me what this TV is capable of doing. It's truly amazing and you must experiance this for yourself! You will not know the quality of this TV until you see HDTV material running through it.
Overall, I'm dissapointed with regular programing on my TimeWarner Cable and DishNetwork Satellite feed. Like I previously stated, a lot of the material is very pixelized, blurry, and very un-natural looking. The Satellite does have great CD quality sound though.
As far as DVD Playback is concerned...I have played a couple of movies on my Pioneer Elite DV-09 and everything looked great. You can still see the little bit of pixelization around the edges, especially when the picture is in motion, but it's very minimal compared to regular reception. And as far as HDTV reception is concerned....all I can say is that I was blown away by it. It's definetely one of the saving graces of this television.
For anyone experiancing similar problems to what I mentioned above, please email me with a possible suggestion or solution. Also, I can get this TV Brand New, for $2049 plus $265 shipping for anyone that's interested.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV36XBR250 (last years model)

Excellent Picture, HD ready

Factory Defaults are bad

I have been looking for a new TV for over a year and finally decided on the Sony. The price I got included the stand. I really wanted a 16:9 TV but they all have burn in problems and I still watch mostly 4:3 material. I looked at RPTV's from Hitachi and Mitsubishi but they were either too large or I just didn't think the picture was as good as a direct view. Finally, sony made an HD ready direct view with a line doubler and I got it :-).

This set is great. The picture is unbeatable by any TV that I have seen. The DRC circuitry is the best built in line doubler implemention inside a TV that I have seen. Most of the other manufacturers (Mitsubishi especially) have a lot of digital artifacts from the digital processing. The colors are vivid and blacks are awesome on this set.

FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE BAD PICTURES WITH CABLE / VHS...

This TV has bad factory defaults. They make the TV generate a lot of digital artifacts and errors with less than perfect inputs. Here is what I did to fix the problem on my set.

1. Turn OFF the SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation) in the setup menu. This will help a lot.
2. Turn the Sharpness most of the way down (1/5 or less).
3. Set the color temp to neutral.
4. Tune the set with Video Essentials.
I ended up with:
a. Picture over half way on but less then 2/3.
b. Brightness just over 1/3 of the way on.
c. Color 1 bar left of center.
d. Hue 2 bars right of center.
You should set yours up with the VE disk though.
5. Set the DRC to Interlaced. (default).

Now the picture should be much better. If not, your source is probably really bad. I have been getting a good picture even from my VCR.

ONE OTHER NOTE

I have been having trouble placing speakers anywhere near this TV. My center channel is magnetically shielded but I still can't place it within 8 inches of the top of the TV without color distortion along the top edge. Anyone else have this problem? The set seems to be extremely sensitive to any magnetic field. Since no magnetic shielding is perfect, I have to place my center on a shelf above the TV.

Overall, this is the best TV I have ever seen and I especially love the DVD performance. If you have the $$$, buy it. I do have the rate the value a "4" though because the retail price of $2,700 is pretty high. My overall rating is still a "5".

Similar Products Used:

Proscan 36" HD ready TV, Hitachi 43" HD ready RPTV

None right now

Poor picture quality, price, weight

Right now I don't care much for this TV, and I really want to love it. For the money I expected a picture much superior to my old 27" Sony. Instead, it's worse. I've had the TV for a week and have been constantly adjusting the settings, to no avail. I'm using Dish Network connected via s-video. The picture quality is poor. Text is nearly illegible. There are a lot of horizontal lines around the edges of objects displayed on screen. Backgrounds seem to be out of focus or pixelated. DVD playback is better. However, I still see the same problems, just to a lesser extent. I've contacted the dealer and they are going to send someone to take a look. If they can't fix it, then my options would be to return it or have it ISF calibrated. But what if ISF doesn't work? If you have any recommendations, email me at complaints_records@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Similar Products Used:

6 yr old Sony 27"

Picture Quality, Versatility

Weight - TV is too light. Falls of my stand when I open the front door :)

I have posted two reviews so far. My odyssey started Jan 2nd when I first purchased the Sony KV36XBR-400. The first set I purchased had those pesky "Sony lines" about a quarter way up from the top and bottom. Apparently this is a quirk of Sony's; I notice them on my Trinitron computer monitor as well. Needless to say, these lines were a little too noticeable so I exchanged the set. Upon turning on the replacement (set #2), while I didn't notice the "lines" (good), I did notice a rather large yellow blob in the lower right corner (bad). "The Blob" did not go away with repeated switching of the set on/off (degaussing - that loud noise when the TV is turned on) so it was deemed a picture tube defect by the sales person and we arranged for a replacement. The third set was deliverd promplty (because they already knew how to get to my house) and was set up in a similar fashion. Upon turning on the replacement (set #3), while I didn't notice the "lines" or "The Blob" (good), I did notice a small green area in the upper left corner of the screen (bad). "Son of Blob" did not go away, even after the set was degaussed by a service tech (who I also knew all too well at this point). I am told he threw up his arms in disgust when he returned to the store and told them I needed yet another replacement. Just for clarification, sets # 2 and 3 were not shipped next to speakers, other large TV's or MRI magnets for that matter (although they weigh about the same).

No matter. They delivered set#4 (this is what you call perseverance or maybe Sicilian stubborness) with all the enthusiasm of a patient waiting for a colonoscopy. The delivery people had their doubts about my sanity at this point. Alas, in the immortal words of Goldilocks, the last set was "just right". No visible "lines" and the "Blobs" had been defeated. TV watching is no longer anxiety provoking. I am at peace.

While this review is not technical in anyway, it does serve to amplify one rather important point: YOU TAKE YOUR CHANCES IF YOU ORDER OVER THE INTERNET. IF YOU HAVE RETURN ISSUES SIMILAR TO MINE YOU WILL GO INSANE! PAY THE EXTRA HUNDRED OR SO AND GET THE TV LOCALLY. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!


(The only common factor in the 3 defective TV's was that they were all manufacture in DEC 2000. The fourth set I got was from a different lot, built in AUG 2000).


Oh and one more thing, the picture is excellent, DVD pictures are awesome as are satellite pictures. Cable is hit or miss.

Similar Products Used:

3 other XBR 400's prior to this one!

Quality picture,

Poor Manu, Closed caption and other on screen display features hard to get at(buried in the setup)

This is a fantastic television. Sure if the cable is bad the picture is going to be crummy. DVD's are fabulous. One thing I noticed is that the TV is completely SILENT! This TV does not produce the high-pitched "TV sound" that all other TVs produce when it is turned on. Even my XBR-250 made the high-piched noise. At first I thought the TV was broken. But when the picture came on and no noise at all from the picture tube, amazing. Hats off to SONY for making a truly noiseless televison.

Similar Products Used:

SONY XBR-250 32 inch

Looked Great

Price

I was in the SONY store on Michigan Ave. in Chicago yesterday and they had the brand new XBR450. They had only had it in for 4 days. It looked sweet. The salesman was as dumb as a stump and did not know his head from his you know what. It was impossible to get a list of new features from this moron. The finish is a little different, looks a little glossier. It was very nice. When I checked out the back, it looks like the same imput setup is present. It was very very nice. Sony does not even have it on its website yet. No surprise there, they are always slow to update. Anyway, the 450 looks absolutely sweet. I like it very muck....I'm sure others will as well. I'm not sure its enough to upgrade, but it is very nice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

XBR250