Stylish and picture is the same as WEGA when component cables are hooked up

no complaints

This is a great TV. I bought it for $399 when it first came out with a $50 Bestbuy coupon. I was deciding whether to buy this or the WEGA, but for the price I got for it I think this is better than the WEGA. The picture with the component cables are the same as the WEGA, but the WEGA looks better with normal TV. (maybe because my cable doesn't come in clear) The only other thing I liked more about the WEGA was the different settings it had for the picture. I am very happy with this TV and if you can find a good price, i recommend this over the WEGA.

Outstanding picture, component inputs (the picture when using these is gorgeous), lots of features. This is the 27AF61, this has pip and mabye a few other features.

No sqeeze mode like the wega...not really a weekness, the picture will kick your ass! Be sure to use the movie setting. This turns off SVM, very important! Also use avia or video essentials to calibrate this tv, makes a world of difference. When tv is place to close to the wall, the picture will turn to the left or right, just use the TILT control to level out the picture again.

I have had nothing but many wonderful hours of movie playing with this tv. The picture is so sharp and clean, a HUGE difference from the awful 6 year old Zenith i was using. Dvd playback is awsome! I do not watch much TV so i cannot really commment of how this differs from other sets. I have surround sound, so dont ask me about the built in speakers either. I am sure they are good though! This set has an abundance of inputs, enough for all the many components you may have. well worth the money i paid.

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NONE. Bad older tvs with composite inputs

picture quality, inputs and outputs, price

possible "blocky" pixels, but I have't noticed it yet

I've been reading some of the other reviews for this product and want to know:

How do you check in setup to see if you are in "movie" mode?

Supposively this is the best mode to be in to minimize the "blocky" pixels.

Better than Sony's 27FS13 in picture quality. Sony has been having lots of problems with its vertical red lines.

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Sony 27FS13

Sharp sharp picture quality.

none.

This has got to be the best-kept secret in analog TV’s. The picture is amazing!!! Much more sharp and focused than any of the Sony Wega TV’s I saw (and I previously thought that Sony can’t be touched in the TV department). This thing is so good that when I was browsing through the TV's display at Best Buy I thought it was a HDTV model. The picture from this tube is that good. Try this for yourself at any store that carries this model: in the settings menu make sure the color temp is set to medium, then set the contrast to 77, the brightness to 50, the sharpness to 50, the color to 48, leave the tint at 0 (obviously) and play or have the sales person play a DVD movie through it. Then compare with any non-HDTV Sony or other brand in the store... you’ll see what I mean. I actually bought one at a Sears’s one-day sale for $499.00 and I think it was the best TV purchase I’ve ever made. The sound is also quite good too although not the highlight of this TV. Ecstatically recommend it!

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Sony KV-27TS27

Color, clarity

Geometry, sound

In a rewiew for the 24" model of this TV, Sara is right. "The pixels are noticeable, and more often than not, curves and facial details get blurred in that awful, blocky way. I can't stand it."

I saw the same thing in the 27" model. Basically everything look like an animated cartoon with overly sharp, "blocky" edges. But the color is so good that I persisted in trying to get used to this problem. Fortunately, I found the solution to it on the Web. The problem is that in all picture modes except
"movie", velocity scan modulation is turned on. It is this that caused the awful edges. If you used the Video Essentials setup disk, this will be very apparent when you set the sharpness. If you use any mode other than "movie", no matter how far you turn the sharpness down, the edges are terrible. In movie mode you can smooth the edges and get a perfect balance between detail and smoothness. So the lesson is, set the TV up in movie mode. The results are extraordinarily good.

Now for a more general review, taking into account the issue above (which is nowhere mentioned in the manual). I have the TV sitting in my home with a Sony 27FV17, and I am trying to decide which one to keep. I have been able to fiddle around with both of them in order to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.

The Sony has much better sound (this may not be true of the FS models though). The 16:9 compression mode is excellent. It renders 16:9 DVDs close to HDTV quality - where the scan lines almost completely disappear. The geometry is not too bad - verticle lines are not bowed. They are squiggly though. There were not any problems with pink and green blurring onto white backgrounds at the edges, as others have reported. The problem with the Sony is the color. This may have to do, in part, with the fact that the tube is noticably lighter than the Toshiba. In addition, red saturation is overdone, which means that things appear too "warm" most of the time. Turning down the color helps, but this causes undersaturation of the other colors, resulting in a less vivid picture. Along side the Toshiba, no matter how I fiddled with the controls, I could never achieve the color purity and naturalness of the untweaked Toshiba.

As for the Toshiba, from what I have seen, you cannot get better color in a 27" flat direct view TV. I have looked at Panasonic, Samsung, Phillips (albeit, not as critically as the Sony). I can unhesitatingly state that for me the color and detail are very involving, much more so than the Sony. As for the sound, it is mediocre - but then the Sony cost $250 more and has a more powerful amp and speakers. The Toshiba does not have 16:9 compression, which is very nice indeed on the Sony. The biggest problem with the Toshiba is geometric distortion of vertical lines. They are bowed inward uniformly on both side of the screen. This is not generally noticable except when looking at rectangular objects like doors and window.

So which one will I choose? Still not sure, but most likely the Toshiba because the color and detail are so addictive. If the Sony had the color and detail of the Toshiba, it would be great - but it doesn't.

BTW, the build quality of the Sony is noticably better. This is readily apparent when connecting and disconnecting components on the back panel. The jacks are better and the back panel itself is stiffer. The Sony also weights about 15 pounds more.

I would give the Toshiba a 5 star rating if it weren't for the vertical distortion. The Sony rates a four. I would suspect that for most people, the Toshiba would be the more enjoyable choice since the picture (aside from geometry) is dazzling. The Sony has a softer picture due mostly to the color balance, and that may be appealing to some. I find that the "warmth" (or washed out quality) of the Sony is not very involving. On the other hand, if the Toshiba were not there for comparison, you would never know what you were missing.

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Sony KV27FV17

If anyone is looking to purchase a flat screen TV, I definitely recommend this product. I was trying to decide between the Sony flat screen or the Toshiba flat screen. I am very happy I chose the Toshiba. The design is much bettter than the Sony and the picture quality is superb. I bought mine online at sears.com and only paid $450 for it. There was a 10% sale so that helped.

Good Sound

Out of focus in the lower corners

Bought the set as a bedroom unit from BestBuy. It had been returned without a remote, manual or carton. Thus the great price. At the store the standard Bestbuy closed circuit programming was on it and all looked fine. Once home, watching the neverending news headlines that stream across the bottom of most news channel screens, I could now see why it may have been returned. As text streamed onto the left side of the screen it was out of focus until approximately 6 inches across the screen at which point it sharpened up. Then across to the other side of the screen about 6 inches away it blurred out again as it left. The unit was under warranty and Bestbuy tech came out to see it. He said 1) the only focusing controlled the center and not the edges, and 2) something about that this was common with "flat screen" tubes. Well, not on my Sony 36 XBR.

This unit will be going back to the Bestbuy pet store. It may be a fluke of an otherwise nice looking box. My reason for writing is to say that when you're shopping, you haven't seen the screen until you see text streaming across the bottom from corner to corner. Does it stay in focus?

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Sony 36 XBR

film like picture

white level a little weak found it out when I was calibrating the TV

One of the best 27" analog TV I've seen. I compared it with the Sony Wega 27" and the Toshiba beat it! Picture is film like especially after calibrating it. I have a Sony Wega and the first day I brought the Toshiba home I notice it was not as lively and bright as the Sony and I was contemplating on returning it to Bestbuy. But after calibrating and watching it a few days later, that's when I noticed that the picture was film-like. Soft not irritating color saturation was good. Definitely a GOOD BUY!!!!

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none