just response to the previous (negative) review, i don't own this TV but i've evaluated it at the store. i wasn't a big fan of the previous-generation Wega models, but the picture quality of this one blew me away. It was easily the best non-HDTV, direct-view picture i had ever seen. the DRC line doubler works quite well with a good source (not so great with bad sources), and DVD quality is phenomenal.

this leads me to ask: what kind of source material are you using to compare it to your 20" tv? if you're using VHS or standard cable broadcast, then it's conceivable you'd prefer your 20" tv. Smaller tv's tend to look sharper and clearer with low-resolution material because they minimize and mask all the faults (noise, graininess, etc.). basically, your 20" tv is acting as a filter for all the junk in the signal. It's also possible that your set needs some calibration. Properly adjusted however, the XBR reveals all, and as such low-res signals can look horrific. this is an accurate TV though; feed it junk and it'll look like junk. have you tried a good DVD on it though using the component inputs (or even Svideo for that matter)? i can guarantee you, unless you have some preference for an inferior picture, it should be FAR better than your 20".

Outstanding picture.

Weight..

Had the XBR delivered on Christmas eve along with it's matching stand, DVD player {Sony DVP-S570D}, and VCR {Sony SLVN-80}. We had a full house of family there for Christmas, and watching their reaction to the TV reminded me of a scene out of 2001-A Space Odyssey. It was just like the scene where the Apes were introduced to the Monolith, and slowly became mesmerized by it...For a moment I worried that they would creep up to the screen and start touching it and grunting like the Apes did with the Monolith. There where some grunts, but they kept thier grubby paws off it.

Excuse the family story, but the event illustrates the jaw dropping quailty of the picture. Even watching Cable, the picture is so amazing that one really doesnt care much whats on.

Sound is fine for general viewing, but DVD movies on this set deserve a good surround system. The "tru-surround" feature has little effect, and the BBE "steady sound" actually seems to make commercials louder.

Other then the "Movie" setting, the pre-set picture modes seem way off. Have yet to set the modes with Video Essentials, but it seems like "Movie" with color set to "warm" is the best bet.

Learning as much as I can about this set so that I can tweak it to its potential without screwing it up. Thanks to all of the contributers here for the great information.

Right now I couldnt be happier with this impressive example of outstanding consumer technology.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing near this.

Fantastic Picture on DVD & Videotape

Unacceptable Problem with Time Warner Digital Cable signal

I have had the set since 12/1/00. From the beginning the picture with our digital cable has had vertical distortion that I can only describe as jagged lines running through the picture from top to bottom. The problem seems to be much worse on the lower channels. We have had two sets delivered with the same results with each. Time Warner (T/W) has been out 3 times and we are getting 12 Db of signal so the T/W contractor is happy with the signal. My friend at T/W is going to have more technicians out to check the situation so we are not done yet. The signal from the S-Video output from the Pioneer digital cable box looks worse on the set!

DVD signals from my Sony DVD and even video tapes look great so I believe the problem may be the cable signal somehow.

I am not a video expert so I don't know if there is any improvement that can be made.

This mixed performance is what is resulting in the 3 star rating.

Similar Products Used:

None

Picture adjustments, DVD and anamorphic sqeeze.

Getting behind the damn thing (weighs alot)

I've been driving everyone in my house crazy making constant picture adjustments. Everytime I think it looks good I turn to another station and am disappointed. I have digital cable through S-video, much better than composite. I also have a very good dedicated surround system using coaxial digital through my cable box.

I finally stumbled upon the answer to my viewing problems. After buying a Toshiba DVD player I was somewhat happy with the picture. Much more pleased after I realized DVD player had to be set on 16:9 to get anamorphic squeeze. After doing some research I realized to properly calibrate this TV you have to use enhanced black setting on the DVD with a calibration disc. I have a basic one but it works fine for contrast, brightness.

I always used PRO setting with brightness down a bit and picture up. Now I get a great picture on everything with brightness up a little, picture way down, color about neutral using neutral color setting, no svm and decreased sharpness. Everything, including basic programming looks smooth, devoid of pixelation and clear. It only took me 6 months. Hopefully this will help someone out there with similar problems. By the way, I never thought much of tv sound but with a good surround system and dolby digital or dts signal you'll almost forget about the picture.

Similar Products Used:

JVC 27 inch

Good looking, good DVD picture

Had major problems with magnetic interference. Had to go thru two sets to determine that this would not work in our home due to sensitivity of the CRT. For the hassle and price, I would not recommend this set. Very disappointed in spite of picture quality when it works.

Not worth the headaches. First set had magnetic interference issues (greenish tint in corners of screen) and then developed a prob where the picture on cable had vertical lines spaced 2" apart throughout the screen. Tech said tube had to be replaced. CambridgeSoundworks was good enough to give a swap. Second set has megnetic interfence probs as well. No one can figure out the prob. Returning for different set than Sony.

Similar Products Used:

Mitsubishi

excellent contrast, dark tube. anamorphic enhancement! A pip that is actually functional.

Factory settings. Where are the cool I.R. headphones the 250 had. A little step in the $ dept.

Let me start off by saying that I was not overly impressed with the picture this bad boy had when I initially got this heavy sucker up and running. It took a good bit of patience, but I finally have a picture that I am very happy with. First of all, get this tv. calibrated. I don't care if your pissed because you dropped $2500 on the set already, just DO IT! Trust me, it makes ALL the difference in the world. 2nd- DO NOT I repeat, DO NOT put the DRC on progressive when viewing any material with medium to fast motion onscren (sports), or you will get a hearty helping of the old motion artifacts. 3rd- Keep the sharpness control way down on this set or the artifacts will show up even more. 4th- set the Trinitone at medium, not NTSC standard, or everyone will look red. 5th- DON'T expect this set to make VHS or Crappy analog cable to look good. 6th- even in medium color temp setting, this set pushes red too much, back off on the Rcut a bit. 7th- use some high quality cables to hook your components to the set. I'm using the very excellent Canare component video cables that many on the xbr250 site rave about to hook up to my Toshiba 9100 to achieve video bliss. 8th- did I mention that I wasn't real happy with the pic out of the box? TWEAK this sucker and it will really shine! Anamorphic DVD's on my set rivals most HDTV demos I've seen in the stores, I can't belive what an improvement I made by proper tweaking. Ps, I can't wait to actually see HD on this thing...My GOD, I'm excited about getting my new Huhges HD DSS in next week. I'll make sure to post a follow up review on that folks. Ps. My buddy wanted to see if his Sony 550d DVD player would look as good on my set as my progressive overpriced Toshiba, and guess what, not much difference.

Similar Products Used:

32" panasonic superflat.

Superb picture when watching DVDs
# A/V inputs
Auto detect anormorphic DVDs
Cool PIP

Some fine tuning necessary for optimum performance

I've owned this TV for almost 2 months now, which was followed by the purchases of a progressive scan DVD player (Pioneer 434) and a digital A/V Receiver (Denon AVR3801).

I wanted a TV that is capable of handling HDTV for whenever that became more readily available. Size does matter since this unit is going into the corner of the living room which rules out any large rear projection sets. Since I've had good experiences with Sony TVs (all my previous sets have been Sony's and this set is replacing a 27" from 1988 which still works fine), I decided to take the plunge.

As many have posted in previous forums, this baby is heavy. It took three guys to remove it from the box to place it on the TV stand that was designed for it. That's where it'll stay cause it ain't moving!

After adjusting the settings using Video Essentials (brightness, contrast, etc), I've finally got the picture to where I want to keep it. The factory settings are less than optimal.

With DVD movies, I'm using the 'movie' set up and the picture quality is flawless with progressive scan. I am using monster video 3 component cables to connect to the DVD player. The auto detect of anormorphic DVDs works great which gives a perfect picture. No complaints here.

With the signal coming from the cable box however, there are some channels which are less than desirable. Because of this, I'm using the 'standard' set up and have adjusted the sharpness control way down and turned off the VM to make them more tolerable. Garbage in, garbage out I guess. Because some channels do come in clear, that tells me it's not the TV.

The sound quality from the TV is acceptable but one complain is inorder to send the TV audio output to the receiver, the TV's speakers have to turned off. To remedy this problem, I am using the monitor output jacks instead to connect to the receiver. This way there is no need to have to make a conscious choice where the audio is coming from.

Over all, I believe this is a great TV well suited for someone who cares about video quality and don't mind having to fiddle with the settings in order to obtain that optimum quality. This is not for someone who believes a TV costing $2000 should be perfect out of the box with no adjustments necessary.

Question - I noticed the picture seem's a little dark no matter what setting I use standard, vivid, movie, etc. I have the brightness turned up about 75 - 80%. Anybody have the same thing or any answers?

Thanks

Overall picture quality and adjustments. Good DVD capability

Very Heavy. Requries alot to tweaking

I have digital cable which is a big improvement over analog. There are several important things you can do to get the best possible picture:
1. Whatever your source use the best cable connections. It does make a difference especially using high quality S-video cable.
2. Any splitters will affect the picture. Use as few in the system as possible. Use terminators for unused splitter intakes.
3. Use video essentials and/or Avia. It is a must. You will find that your picture setting must be turned way down, about 25-30% the same for sharpness or there will be alot of motion artifacts.
4. Use the pro setting as a starting point to adjust or change to neutral color.
5. Disable SVM if it is on and use interlaced.
6. For the brave. I ordered the service manual and changed the AXIS from 3 to 1. This eliminated the red push and brought the colors to nearly ideal setting. I confirmed with AVIA color testing.
7. Make sure your dvd is set to 16:9 and enhanced black. You will get auto anamorphic squeeze and much better black levels. Use video essentials with enhance black as well.
8. The most important thing is once you have it where you want, LEAVE IT ALONE. At least for a while. Don't keep chasing that perfect picture. It will always allude you.
This really is a fine piece of equipment like an exotic automobile and unfortunately needs alot of attention, at least in the beginning. I wouldn't trade it for anything at this point. Enjoy.

Similar Products Used:

Other Sony's and Toshiba flatscreen

Great picture,good amount of inputs,tube set..

weight,geometry problems,purity problems...

I would like to start by saying, I have read the past reviews and have to say the blobs that are being described sound like purity problems in the set.Second people always readjusting there color from channel to channel,this is not a problem with set but the cable feeds and/or sat feeds(station to station),they are not calibrated properly to ntsc,hence all the the color changes from chan to chan!
Now,, I have been to hell and back with this set!!!!The first one had a air pocket in the screen which looked like a speck of dirt but one you could never rub out!:( also had banding on each side of the set (purity out of wack)! So got the tube replaced, fine! I have what people are discribing as blobs or at least I think that is what they are trying to discribe(purity). I have these discolorations in certain spots on the screen, I had the tech who replaced the tube set up the purity again and now the geometry is out! bows on the top and about 3/4's the way down and the purity is not quite set right still.. He will return until I am happy with the picture in those regards! I paid $4000 clams for this set and damned if Im going to settle for anything less than a good true picture. I do give the kv-36xbr400 5-stars for picture when it is setup properly, 0-stars for sony selling a TV that comes out of the factory looking like this.When someone pays that amount of money there should be no problems as being discribed from other people and myself. But I do see the potential of the set when it is properly adjusted(hence my tolerence)!!! for what I would call one of the best picture's for the price point on the market.

Similar Products Used:

kp-53hs10 rear projection set,older trinitron 27in set, all sony!