What tv is better, Sony 36XBR400 or Panasonic Pure Flat CT36HX40. Is anyone has an idea. I am shopping for a new TV.

The XBR400 is the BEST TV on the market, it will only let you down if you let it down with sub standard TV signals. The better your equipment to partner it, the more your TV will shine.

As said in Strengths, if you partner this TV with sub standard inputs, it will make you sick. Weight is a concern, but I would like to shake the hand of anyone who can lift a 36" TV.
You need to be a wiz to understand the jargon.

I have auditioned this TV, I do not own it, but I am sure alot of you would like to know about an experience I had with one of my Sony 34" TV's.

After about 15 mins setting up the TV I switched it on and after 20 seconds the TV switched itself off for no apparent reason. Switching it on after that resulted in it switching off again between 0-2 minutes. I shipped it off to Sony for some servicing and the problem turned out that the TV needed to be acclimatized. When I received the TV it was freezing cold and bringing the TV into a warmer environment allowed moisture and condensation to develop inside the TV. This resulted in a shorting of electrical current going to the main on-off switching whilst the TV was heating up. As so many of you are experiencing the same problems I am wondering if this is also the case with you guys.

You must give your TV at least 12 hours to acclimatize and even this might not be enough, if your TV has been shipped long distances its probably been left in a warehouse for long periods in freezing conditions. These TV's generate alot of heat and will generate condensation in some circumstances. I am not saying this is what happened to your TV, im just saying its a possibility. Just bare in mind when you buy this TV, if its freezing cold, let it warm up a little before you switch it on, then maybe youll save yourself all this agro like I had.

I have auditioned the XBR400 36" TV with my own equipment -

Pioneer ELITE DV-37 progressive DVD player
Canare component video cables

DVD and videogames is my thing, I could'nt ask for a better picture via DVD. Put any anamorphic DVD in your player, switch on the 16:9 enhancement mode and well, ever ate a donut without licking your lips, try watching this TV without it making you grin. If I won the lottery, I would still buy one of these TV's.

AWESOME picture; geometry; enhanced 16x9

weight; weight; weight...; spendy--very near $2800 with Sony stand and extended warranty (hey, I'm not hauling the thing back for service!)

OK, so going from a 15-year old Sony KV-25XBR to this television set is like traveling light years in space--a quantum leap in picture quality improvement. I'm far from an expert, but this set produces near perfect pictures when seated at "normal" viewing distances. In fact, my Sony DVP-S500D (via component video and using enhanced 16x9) produces images that make it appear you're looking out a window at the scene. The only thing I've seen to rival it's picture was a very high-end digital 16x9 with ~50-inch screen (I think it was a Panasonic) being fed a pure digital input.

My cable is supplied by Time Warner and it's digital. This set squeezes every nuance out of the signal and most channels are excellent in picture quality and clarity. The only noisy signals are those from the local broadcasters--they show some "ghosting" and reflected signal noise, which I'm attributing to their feeds.

I ran Video Essentials and adjusted the picture, brightness, sharpness, color, tint, etc. according to their instructions; but have found the "Pro" setting that Sony provides more pleasing as it produces a more lifelike image. When I ran the VE test patterns, I did notice a bit of dynamic convergence misalignment along the very top of the screen and along the extreme right edge--both areas that are extremely difficult to bring in. For the most part, the rest of the display is so close to perfect that you don't notice these minor blemishes. The test patterns also revealed that the linearity and geometry are very near perfect--better than anything I've seen in a consumer model. Lines are straight (except the very right edge and it's only minimal) and the spacing on a grid overlay is uniform and even; from top to bottom and left to right.

In summary--if you can cope with the sticker-shock, you'll enjoy this television. Finally, a monitor with "eye-candy" good enough to compliment the audio. Enjoy!

Similar Products Used:

15-year old KV-25XBR

Cool looking!!!! Great picture. Menus easy to navigate.

Waaaaay too heavy!!!!!! Almost impossible to move.

I got this TV 3 days ago and I love it so far. The delivery men left it on the floor of my living room because the stand had to be built. It took about an hour to build the stand and I had to get my neighbor to come over and help me lift the TV....OUCH. This thing weighs a TON, 230lbs to be exact plus the stand weighs 90lbs with no wheels.
I've been watching DVD's on this everyday and they look amazing! I have a cheap Sony DVD player with no component output and it still looks great. The DRC on this set works quite well, with my nose pressed up against the screen there no scan lines!!! I picked up Jurassic Park and Lost World yesterday and they look great. The most impressive thing about this TV is the colors!!! I've been watching relatively cheap TV's my entire life and I never realized what I was missing. I calibrated with Avia (not sure if it's worth getting an ISF guy in here) and WOW. I have both Time Warner cable and Direct TV hooked up. They haven't upgraded my cable lines yet and my cable has always looked really BAD. This TV actually makes it look pretty good!!!
My satellite looks good for the most part but is very "digital" looking. I realize compression is a problem for them and my old TV had pixelization but it's different with the Sony. I watch ZDTV quite a bit and the picture is so "fuzzy" looking that it's distracting. The movie channels are pixelized but after some tweaking I was able to clean them up. I've also noticed when the the room is very dark the right half of the screen has a white glow to it when the screen goes black during movies. It doesn't bother me but I've read it in other posts so I thought I'd mention it.
I know an employee at "Nobody Beats The Wiz" and they got me the TV for $1825.00.
I highly recommend you check out this TV if you're in the $2000.00 price range.

16x9 Squeeze Mode, Built In Speakers, DRC

Weight, Display of low quality channels

I picked up this TV on friday after agonizing over it for a few months now. I was skeptical of how it would work with my cable signal, but didn't doubt the quality it would produce with DVD.

Let me just say that after following the tuning suggestions listed below that most of my cable channels look good to great. And that there are still a few that look like crap. Although I attribute it more to the fact that my the channel is horrible to begin with.

DVD looks FANTASTIC!!!! I am using an NON-progressive Sony player. With inputs coming in over S-Video, and it looks phenomanal. I'm extremely happy with it in this regard.

Let me also restate that this thing is a pain to move and setup. I also purchased the Sony stand, which I highly recommend because it is "made" for this tv and looks rather nice. The stand took about an hour to assemble, and the TV was somewhat of a pain to get on it.

Similar Products Used:

None

I got A great deal

Weight

Since posting my ititial review of the Sony Wega XBR 400 36", I have received many E Mails this week from folks asking me about the price paid for this set. Let me reaffirm with you that this set was a brand new out of the box unit. The price I paid for this wonderful set is as follows:


XBR 400 36" $1,999.00
XBR 400 Stand 200.00
Assemble Stand 25.00
Sony Contract 5yr200.00
Delivery/Set up -0-

+ 8.25 Sales Tax

I do not work for the appliance firm where this Sony was purchased or for Sony Corporation and care not to provide them with free advertising here on the internet or in this forum, however, if you would E mail me I would gladly provide thier net address as they do have a web site. I do not know if they do internet sales.

This was an unbelievable price! $300 to $500 less than the major stores.

Eddie B from Long Island, NY---> Just loves his new Wega

My E Mail: Uncleed@optonline.net

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega 20"

I got A great deal

Weight

Since posting my ititial review of the Sony Wega XBR 400 36", I have received many E Mails this week from folks asking me about the price paid for this set. Let me reaffirm with you that this set was a brand new out of the box unit. The price I paid for this wonderful set is as follows:


XBR 400 36" $1,999.00
XBR 400 Stand 200.00
Assemble Stand 25.00
Sony Contract 5yr200.00
Delivery/Set up -0-

+ 8.25 Sales Tax

I do not work for the appliance firm where this Sony was purchased or for Sony Corporation and care not to provide them with free advertising here on the internet or in this forum, however, if you would E mail me I would gladly provide thier net address as they do have a web site. I do not know if they do internet sales.

This was an unbelievable price! $300 to $500 less than the major stores.

Eddie B from Long Island, NY---> Just loves his new Wega

My E Mail: Uncleed@optonline.net

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega 20"

Crystal Clear DVD playback W/component in and 16:9 mode

I hear alot of units are shipping with defects, hopefully mine can be fixed otherwise dealer said he'll replace it.

I'm going to have to replace my unit because of 3 major problems, first unlike others my TV keeps coming on at odd times of the day & night, even when both timers have been disabled, secondly, when I turn on the pip and start channel surfing and swapping between the two tuners it loses saved channels, and third, the lowest volume setting is too loud for me at night. I've noticed a lot more grain in my cable reception with this set, so a dish or a strong cable signal is a must. DirecTV and DVD's are AWESOME on it! Thought I'd be distracted by the silver cabinet, But now I realize how much it compliments it's styling.

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Loewe Planus

Beautiful ...Just Beautiful!

Weight

I've lived with my set for one week now and what an experience it has been! I cannot take myself away from it.
Hooked up the DVD player today with Monster audio and a Monster S connection. Popped in the video Twister and the pix (no pun intended) just blew me away! Its sharp digital picture was just amazing . The surround sound seem to come from every corner of the room.

When I had the set delivered last Saturday, I had it placed in the wrong spot and the unit had to be moved..... after the delivery guys had left. My living room had to be reconfigured for optimum viewing and surround sound set up, and yes this project took me all day. The set had to be moved about 12' under a window. The 237 pound monster was placed on the Sony XBR 400 stand by the delivery guys. The stand was literally pushed by my feet on the side of the stand with my back wedged against a wall as I attempted to slide the unit across my living room carpet. Well after about an hour of pushing and tugging, the Wega XBR 400 was at last in its correct position. If any one is intending to purchase the set in the future, make sure the delivery guys place the unit where you want to leave it. Moving it was quite a task.

The picture on this set is just amazing and worth every penny I paid for the WEGA. The menu's are easy to nagivate. Sony has gone beyond what I expected! Geometry issues are non existant and appear to have been corrected by Sony engineers for the 400 series. There are no scan lines what I can see.

I waited for this set and seem to have paid a decent price for a fresh "out of the box" unit. Well...back to my WEGA.

Similar Products Used:

20" Sony Wega

- Cool and pleasant video
- Ease of operation
- Built-in Line doubler (DRC - DO NOT BUY DVDO as someone suggested below)
- Weight - burglars would prefer to skip this :)

- No VGA input
- No Cables supplied
- Looks good only on a specific SONY TVSTAND (There is an inclined cut in both ends at the bottom of the TV that makes the TV look bad on any other stand)
- Non standard on screen menu terms (very confusing menu system)

The price includes
1) TV
2) SONY TV STAND SBR400
3) 5 years inhome service

I have a AT&T digital cable service and the digital channels show very good. I left the DRC at interlaced rather than Progressive.

Have hooked up my PC using ATI ALL-IN-WONDER and HOLLYWOOD+.

Hollywood+ is capable of progressive scan output.

The picture looks flawless with my PC signals that travels 3 meters on an S-Video cable. I am able to read letters with 6 point font size.

With no SVGA input, I am not able to connect the high quality video signals even though the TV is capable of processing such signals. Planning to to work on a scart rgb solution later.

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Panasonic 27" multisystem TV