Sony KV-32XBR450 Standard Televisions

Sony KV-32XBR450 Standard Televisions 

DESCRIPTION

- Dynamic Pictureâ„¢ Processor
- Auto White Balance
- Auto Pedestal Clamp
- Express Tuning® System (181
- Channel Auto Preset Tuner)
- Auto Channel Programming
- Speed Surfâ„¢ Channel Selection
- Channel Fix
- V-Chip Parental Control CaptionVision (CC)
- Jump Channel
- Energy Star Compliant
- Front Audio/Video Input
- Easy Set Up Guide
- Multi Language Display (English/Spanish/French)
- Extended Data Service (XDS)
- Steady Sound™ Automatic Volume Control w/BBE® Audio Enhancement
- Control Deck® Top Control Panel
- Vertical Aperture Compensation
- Advanced On-Screen Menu with Program Paletteâ„¢ Presets
- 16:9 Enhanced Mode (V-Compression)
- 1-Front/2-Rear S-Video Inputs
- Control S In/Out
- 2 Way Dual Driver DAC Speaker System(30 Watts)*
- 4 Discrete Amplifiers (7.5 Watts x 4)*
- Flexible Twin Viewâ„¢ 2-Tuner Picture-and-Picture
- Two Tone Glossy Bezel and Suede Cabinet
- 3-Rear Audio/Video Inputs
- 2-Component Video Inputs (Y/PB/PR), HD Capable(1080i, 480p, 480i)

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-6 of 6  
[Apr 30, 2002]
Grant
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Enough Inputs so I can finally run all my video sources direct. High Definition quality is incredible. Very good modes.

Weakness:

This Beast weighs a Ton

I had a 32KV series non-XBR model but when I saw the price on this, the old model got moved into the bedroom. It is a refurb, which generally is not a bad thing. It came without a flaw on it. The remote/manual was not in the box; the store promptly sent me them without a fight. The only bad thing about it is that it makes all oour other TVs look out of Focus

Similar Products Used:

Sony Wega 32KV series Sony 32KV series

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 14, 2001]
Britton Kauffman

Strength:

Good picture, PIP that rocks, Many Many inputs, Hd ready.

Weakness:

Heavy but not as bad as the 36"

I got this TV and have loved it since. Bright picture, many options to adjust picture modes. Enough inputs to have my N64 Playstation and component cables for the gamecube all hooked up. Plus there is another component hookup for my DVD player when I get one. Plus numerous S-video hookups. The remote is an inprovement over the previous models. The picture in picture is the best I have seen, the options are great! No complaints about this TV. only complements. Sound is great, watched a Pearl Jam DVD and got many complements about how great the picture was and how good the sound came out!! If you are looking for a good digital set get this one. Price is right, I like the brand of Sony. I haven't had a problem with a sony product yet. I aint rich, but enjoy a great Tv and that is what I got.

Similar Products Used:

Trinitron- older model.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 14, 2002]
Rick M
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The TV as unit looks good, the picture, TruSurround, the twin view, Pic Mode is great.

Weakness:

When you are in any of the multiple video channels with no video source the picture is brigher along the edge. Some video channels are worse than others. When using the S-video out of the DSS there is a slight grid-like appearance (could be from my DSS). Also the the speakers hiss when there is no sound and the volume is up.

The KV-32XBR450 over all this a very nice TV. The four video opions are very nice. Out of the box the TV has vivid, standard, movie, and pro with just on touch you can change the picture. It also has a DRC mode(Digital Reality Creation) that gives you a high-resolution picture(Inerlaced, Progressive, and CineMotion), to be honist I have played with all three and can not at this time tell the difference. The TV is smart(unlike me), it can get info from a DVD and TV will give you options in the menu to change your setup. ex. I have DVD that is not a widescreen format. The TV gives you the option to view it as widescreen. It also has a Fovorits option, when selected you have the current channel with sound in the big picture and the small picture lets you view any other channel that is on your list. Just press the joystick and the selected channel will move into the full picture. And last but by no means least the "Twin View" is very cool. it lets you watch two channels and also lets you make one picture bigger than the other.

I really love this TV and would recommend it to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

First Flat Screen.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 10, 2001]
Chris
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Picture, easy remote, looks.

Weakness:

reliability

My brother in law used to work at Sony, so I got a good deal with the family center discount.

It worked great for about 1 month until one day we heard a loud pop, like a light bulb dropped, and the screen went completely red. Later I found out a board blew up in the TV. Sony customer service really, really, sucks. I had to dial around 10 options on there help line to get a phone number to a authorized service center. Two weeks later the TV was fixed. I had no problems since, but it's only been 2 months. The TV shop repairman said he's seen this a few times.

I can't complain about the picture though. It's great for home theater and general viewing. The picture in picture mode is really cool too. I really like the TV, but the reliability and customer service made me wish I bought something else.

Similar Products Used:

XBR250

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
3
[Dec 11, 2001]
Eric F
Audio Enthusiast

Weakness:

The stand that is designed to go with the tv is very ugly and poorly constructed (but that's a matter of opinion)

This is a brief update to the review I had placed in the Sony KV-XBR400 section.

Although this comment is probably meaningless to those with wiz-bang receivers that come with universal remotes, the remote is growing on me. As I get more used to it, I find it is quite adequate.

And some of the features I didn't realize were there before my first post are generally useful. I really like the side-by-side picture-in-picture. The other night I was playing my playstation on the left while my wife watched some cheesey chick-flick on the right. (We have only one tv.) Because my cable company (I'll get satellite very soon) scrambles all stations, not just the movie stations, I am not able to take advantage of having two different channels on the split screen because I have to use the cable box. i.e. I can't use the tv's internal tuner and the cable box can only put out one channel at a time.

The other feature I really like is the 4 different picture settings; pro, movie, vivid and something else. The tv remembers the setting modes for each of the different inputs, but the mode can be changed at any time. For instance, my cable service is so bad that the picture varies wildly from channel to channel. Being able to scroll through the 4 pre-set picture modes is very useful. Don't misunderstand me when I say "pre-set" because each label (movie, pro, vivid, etc.) can be customized.

I bought the Video Essentials DVD to help calibrate my tv. What a waste of money. I didn't have to change a thing. I have no expertise when it comes to this type of thing but I managed to nail the calibration on my own before I bought the DVD. On a related note, reading a review of the larger XBR model in Stereophile Guide to Home Theater revealed that the tv was the only tv the ISF (is that right?) trained guy has ever been able to calibrate to exactly 6500K across the entire spectrum. I would guess that this would then be possible with the smaller version. I have no way of measuring the output from my tv so I don't know, though.

I am growing very anxious with waiting to see a high-def image on the tv. Soon, I hope! Although, I am not sure what the status of high-def broadcasting is out of NYC. I've read conflicting reports about the amount of programming that is available, but the reports seem to agree that there is some programming available. I just hope it is more than "Touched by an Angel."

Since my wife won't let me spend any more money until we buy an apartment, my next useful update will be quite far into the future considering we have little saved and she wants to move into the city. For those of you not familiar with NYC, don't move here, or encourage anyone else to move here unless you/they are rich. We would never consider leaving the place - we love it here - but we were so naive in making a decision to come here.

I am upgrading my initial value rating from 4 to 5 and leaving the overall rating at 4. When I give it a 5 for value, I am saying that it is better than other tv's in the same price range. When I give it a 4 for overall, I am saying that it is a great tv, but there are better tv's out there, albeit, for considerably more money.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 19, 2001]
David Chan
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Superb DVD Image, Plenty of Inputs including 2 Component Inputs, Very good Line Doubler(Quadrupler, actually), High Quality Internal Power Supply, Clean Exterior Design

Weakness:

Geometry Issues, Poor Edge Focusing esp. with Text, Red Push, Weight, Poor Signal Results in Aweful Image

I picked up this set after I was able to negotiate the price down to $1600 with tax included and free delivery. I had read alot about the Wegas here and elsewhere online and was finally sold after walking into Cambride Soundworks and seeing the awesome images run through a Sony Progressive Scan DVD player.

First off, I had to replace the first unit I received because of horizontal bowing that made graphics "curl" downwards 2/3 of the way across the screen on the right side by several pixels. It was very obvious with watching letterbox movies and with CNN. The unit also had very poor left side focus that made small DVD test extremely blurry and cable text almost unreadable. On top of that, there was the some bleeding of reds into other colors past their borders with graphics. I believe this is what some call "red push". Correct me if I am wrong. This was also noted on the left as well esp. with orange and black graphics where the orange would "bleed" red into the the back graphics.

The second unit arrived had much less of the "red push" and sharper text on the left. I know that most TVs will have poorer focus on the sides and this unit appeared to fall within normal limits. Also, the horizontal bowing was not evident on this unit. What WAS present was a more subtle problem with the positioning of the tube. It appears the electron gun is firing slight tilted to the right. What I mean is that the right lower edge of the "image border" is closer to the silver cabinet than is the left bottom edge. It was corrected with the geometry tilt to -3 degrees. However, the lit part of the tube is still tilted to the right, downwards by a few degrees. It's just that the text and graphics are now horizontal. It's very slight but can be noted if you look at the lit image border with a bright scene. The colors on the second unit also appeared muted compared to the first with the same exact settings. However, I have since calibrated my set with AVIA and DVDs look awesome! However, cable is aweful (colors washed esp. with screen graphics while skin tones appear natural). I have not experimented with the service menu yet but if anyone has any suggesting with regards to the 1)tilt, 2)muted graphics colors, 3)color bleed of reds, please e-mail me.

Overall, I love watching DVDs witht his set. The image is beyond description once the colors are calibrated with either AVIA or Video Essentials. Based on the 2 units I have used along with what I have seen at Circuit City, I wonder if Sony has some Quality Control issues with making these very expensive top of the line sets in Mexico. I have heard from many sources that Japanese made electronics tend to have greater reliability and better calibration and QA. That's just what I have heard through the grapevine. I just wanted to reinforce the obvious and it's that you need to feed this set a moderate to excellent signal to get a decent to superb image.

Similar Products Used:

Several Older Trinitrons

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-6 of 6  

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