Phenominal Picture, Remote, Progressive Scan Modes

Weight, poor picture or no picture with weak cable signal, no HD signals

I have now had my 36XBR400 for about a week. I cannot say enough about it. When I walk into electronic stores and look at the walls of TVs they have setup, I can’t even imagine going back to a non-HDTV. The picture quality is unparalleled. And for the money you cannot beat the XBR400 when compared to other HD models, or even when comparing to other non-HD high-end TVs that are nearly as much money.

There are a couple downers with the TV. First, the weight. If you buy one, plan on AT LEAST 2 very strong people for setup. You will not be able to do it by yourself. I would also highly recommend purchasing the Sony stand made for this TV. Most all of the weight in the TV is in the front of the unit; the stand compensates for this by its design, and even includes a strap in the rear of the unit that straps the TV to the stand. Here in California, I figure that is a good thing to have.

Another downer I came up with is something other reviewers seem to have experienced. If you have a crappy cable company like I do, some channels will be even more grainy than normal, and I even have one channel that will not view on the TV (views on other TVs in the house). The obvious remedy for this is to do what I did this week and get a digital satellite system. Even a measly 400 lines of resolution looks MUCH better than the crap most cable companies put out.

And finally, the last downer is that there are no HD signals where I live. Yes, I can get the satellite receiver that will give me an HD signal, but right now there are only 2 channels (on DirectTV at least). Worse still is that the satellite that carries those 2 channels is just barely off the horizon which makes it tough to get a direct line of site unless you are on a hillside facing the direction of the satellite.

Strengths for the TV… too many to list. One of the biggest points has to be the intelligent line algorithms this thing has. For instance, if you take a letter-boxed DVD and play it with the 16:9 enhanced mode, the TV automatically adjusts the picture to better fit the screen. Take that same DVD and have the DVD player zoom to *sort of* parallel the same effect (at least in the vertical). Its pretty darn easy to see a huge difference in how the TV processes the image. When I compared this to other HDTVs on the market… none even compared to the XBR400.

Other strengths... ? What more can I say... unbelievible picture!

Like one of the previous reviewers, I too have a progressive DVD player (Toshiba SD5109) mated to my XBR400; unlike the previous reviewer, I think there is a tremendous difference, and would recommend that if you can afford it and can get the wife to agree, then get it.

The trick is that you will not see that drastic a difference on all DVDs. I don’t know what the differences in DVDs are, other than age, and whether they have DTS sound, but I can tell you that the “Bugs Life” DVD is probably the best picture I have ever seen on any TV anywhere. It was so mesmerizing that I sat and watched the movie in its entirety again with my son. Its definitely not my favorite movie, but the picture was unreal. There was a 3-D effect to it. My wife, who is even less a fan of the movie (and was less excited about all the $$$ I just spent on the TV and DVD player) did the exact same thing… just sat and stared. That to me says it all – High WAF (once you get it in the door!).

Other movies do not seem to have that same effect. My opinion is that the old stand-by “Matrix” was about 20-30% better at first glance unless you were actually looking hard. There was FAR less flicker than with an interlaced DVD player which, according to my wife, made things look a lot more in focus (no jagged lines caused by interlacing).

Conclusions… If you want the best TV picture available for under $2000, get the 32XBR400. If you want the best TV picture available for under $3000 (probably $4000 or more), get the 36XBR400. You will not be disappointed. Just about everyone that has seen my setup that does not already have an HDTV is planning to buy an XBR400.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi 50800 HD

Great DVD and HDTV performance. Lots of inputs and nice twin-tuner features.

Cable and DBS picture quality is no better (maybe worse) than a good analog TV. Weight and weight distribution.

Finally got this beast hooked up yesterday. Took lots of planning on how I wanted to use the inputs because once it is in a cabinet it is not easily moved. Placed the Sony in a custom wall unit that was built for the 35" Mits. Width was not a problem but only had 1/2" to spare for depth. All the weight (about 230 lbs) is in the very front of the TV. Even with the TV in the cabinet it wanted to tip forward so had to build a brace across the back of the cabinet, on top of the back of the TV to hold it securly. Bottom-line: plan on a cabinet depth of 26-28" minimum to hold the Sony.

Performance: Still playing with the adjustments to fine tune the picture in the differnt modes (vivid,movie,pro,std)and will probably get it calibrated. This set is not kind to bad inputs. Running cable and DBS through TIVO doesn't help. Will move the TIVO to a differnt TV when the Sony STB comes out. Color reproduction from cable/DBS is definitely better than the Mits but reception/clarity isn't much better (maybe worse). I think the DRC feature screws up analog inputs. Wish there was a way to turn it off. DVDs through the component input is a differnt story. Almost as good as HDTV and I'm not even using a progressive scan player.

Bottom-line: Probably the best TV out there for DVD/HDTV for the price right now. Direct input DBS (without TIVO) would be ok. Cable signal has to be strong (with good cables)otherwise the picture may be worse than your old TV.

I would give it 5 stars if I could figure out how to defeat the DRC for cable/DBS reception.

Similar Products Used:

35" Mits (CS-35FX1) and 24" Sony Wega.

Best Picture on the market!

None found so far.

Had to initaily set this thing up on the floor. Too heavy to move until I got some help.

I am in love. Simply the greatest tv I have ever laid my eyes on. I think I got a pretty good price also. Has anyone had any experiences with esupercenter.net? I was happy with the service and have not seen a better price anywhere.

Anyway, to anyone who wants the best picture quality out there this is the tv I recommend.

Similar Products Used:

Hitachi 36'

Beautiful Picture. Simply Amazing

Weight of the monster!

Since I only have it just about 24 hours now, there is nothing negative I can say about the set, other than the cable box set up as recommended by Sony does not work with our system here on LI. The cable boxes (G/I 2200's) are controlled by the cable company and looping it through the cable out jack resulted in scrambled pictures on the premium channels that I subscribe to. Cannot figure why this set up does not work. With the cable box. I loose the side pix in pic feature. May scrap the premium channels and get rid of the cable box so I may enjoy the features I paid for.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega 20" in Bedroom

See in my previous review below

See in my previous review below

Hope I had not Hurt anyone's feelings



I got several Emails that asked me why did I not recommend DVDO.

To be honest, I do not have any practical experience with DVDO, I went to DVDO website and compared its features with Sony's built in DRC (Digital Reality creation).

DVDO Description
----------------
This compact unit allows progressively scanned display owners to see video from DVD, Laser Disc, DSS, VCR, and broadcast sources at 480p resolution with film and video mode motion (3:2 pulldown) detection done correctly. Retailing at an affordable $699.

DRC(This is built in XBR400)
---------------------------
DRC technology doubles the pixels on each scan line to create an image with 4X the density found in most projection televisions.


Though I understand completely that DVDO is capable of producing a little smoother pixel transition, I decided to not buy it because the cost is not justified ($699/=)

Most importantly XBR400 does not have the SVGA input that can take high quality progressive scan inputs.

For such of those who have weak Video signals in cable, I suggest you to use a Video Signal amplifier which retails for about $15/= at best buy.



PC Hook up.
----------
I had one enquiry about PC Hook up.

I used a PC card made by ATI (http://www.ati.com) - the name of the card is ALL-IN-WONDER 128 ($150/=), they now have a newer card named Radeon.
But before any of you order this PC Card, make sure what slot it needs to go in. If you have an AGP slot order the ALL-IN-WONDER 128 PRO or its new equivalent. If your computer does not have AGP, order the PCI slot version.

With this card you can use the PC to do the following

Watch TV in PC.
Watch PC in the TV.
Use PC as a DVR like TiVO.
Playback DVD disks (watch in TV or PC) - I do not recommend this because it is a software decoder and is jerky.
Playback VCD disks (watch in TV or PC)
Edit home video.
Waste a lot of time doing nothing productive.


Also the Radeon version has the Guide+ capabilities that would enable you to choose programs from TV-Guide to record.
Since the quality of DVD playback is not smooth, I bought another hardware decoder card named hollywood+(see below)


Hollywood+:
----------
There is not enough good things for me to say about hollywood+. http://www.sigmadesigns.com. This is a hardware mpeg decoder and I paid about $50/= for this card. Video output is smooth and there are some region code hacking programs on the net.



If any of you had bought the above two cards you would soon feel that you are missing an important piece. Yes, it is the Remote control for your PC.
I got this from http://www.evation.com $20/=.


Today's TVs can never look exactly like the PC monitor because of the design. But XBR400 is a giant leap towards that look and feel. I do not see any pixels from normal distance and am able to read small fonts clearly.

Similar Products Used:

see in my previous review below

This is a follow up my earlier review. The first set that I got went bad on me about 48 hours after I got it. I don't know if anyone has been experiencing this, but the TV would shut itself off without any warning. Sometimes this would happen about 20 seconds after I initially turned it. At others it would do it after its been on for long while. At first I thought something was wrong with the remote so I starting turning it on manually and it would do the same thing. Then I thought that the timer had been set so I went into the menu and verified that the timer functions were off. I next checked to see if it was a power issue so I switch surged protectors and even moved the tv to its own circuit just to make sure. But alas, none of these things worked so I had CC bring me out a new set. After nearly three weeks, the new set is working just fine. I think I just got a bad apple, but I wanted others to know about it just in case this does become a reoccuring problem with this model.

HDTV 1080i Capability and picture quality. DVD Playback Picture quality. 2 Component Video Inputs. Flat Wega Screen. Side by Side picture in picture comes in handy.

Most shows and stations look very Pixely and Digital, very un-natural like. This is both on Cable and Satellite.
Extremely heavy 247lbs. No 15pin PC input.

I already Posted a review a couple of Reviews down.
I'm posting this, because I noticed the site is experiancing problems with their E-MAIL feature. I tried to email several reviewers here (Tony) to ask some questions, but all I got was Error messages. Like I mentioned earlier, I can get this TV for anyone interested, Brand New, Factory Sealed for $2069, plus $265 shipping. Since the email feature is not working properly, You can reach me directly at WAGIE@AOL.COM

I'm also having a service technician come in soon to take a look at my Pixelization problem. Tony kind of answered my question as to the reason for it, but it's still sucks to have it. After all, most of the stuff we all watch is still on regular TV, Cable, or Satellite, and if the picture on those three sources sucks, then is it really worth putting up with it, just for great DVD Picture quality, and unbelievable HDTV? After all, how many DVD's can someone watch? And of the 500+ channels that i'm currently receiving between my TimeWarner Cable, and my Dishnetwork Satellite, only 3 are HDTV channels.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions for correcting the Pixelization problem, please drop me a note and help out.
Thank you
Wagie@aol.com

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV36XBR250 (Last Year's Model)

Best direct view that I could find that will bridge the gap to HDTV.

Weight, Price

Darren A.'s submission below makes cable and satelite viewable. Thanks Darren! I've been frustrated with the picture I've been getting with my crappy cable and the over pixilation of my Direct TV signal. I took Darren's advice and turned of the VM function, set the temp to neutral and recaliberated with Video Essentials. Now my cable signal is viewable! This TV is awesome with DVDs and I can't wait to give an HDTV signal a try.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Trinitron 27"

Picture Quality,HDTV capability,style,Flat screen

Weight,Sony Brand Name,Sensitivity to signal quality,

Let me start by saying I have never been a sony fan,their lack luster performance on many of their home theater products has persuaded me to other manufactures,with the EXCEPTION of their T.V's. I purchased this set out of state with the intent of saving money,I now question my decision, though I have saved more than 400.00 from my local stores. I recieved my T.V.,hooked up my Proscan DVD player, popped in the Ninth Gate. Two hours later the T.V. shuts down, I turn the unit back on,and notice the screen image is tilted to the extreme!I went into the menu to correct the tilt which give you tilts from 1 - 7, I needed about 15!!. Not only is the picture way off tilt, it shuts off after ten minutes. Three weeks later I recieved a new set (the old set,I was told probley had a cracked board which sony does not warrenty do to inproper handling) My new set also needed a tilt adjustment, from 0 - 5, and after that looked fine. For all the trouble I went through, It was worth it!! This set hands down is capable of producing perfect images on DVD's,especially newer THX quality DVD's. I purchased this set due to word of mouth,This set aside from being manufactured by Sony lived up to what I expected. You can't help but be amazed at the detail this set produces. The sleek look given while this set sit's upon the XBR stand, why would you choose any other direct view television?

Similar Products Used:

Projection T.V, other tube televisions

Best picture I have ever seen, when the source is quality video...

Dosen't handle bad signal weel.. Built in audio is crap

The Sony line doubler does a great job with good cable signal, VHS, and WOW! DVD.... You can actually save some money and buy a non-progressive DVD player. The XBR will do a great job with it...

Similar Products Used:

Other XBR sets