Brilliant picture when receiving a digital signal(satellite, dvd). As good of picture as your going to get when playing a vhs tape. 16:9 letter box option.

The vertical white bar problem (explained below)

I had a very frustrating time getting the white bar problem fixed that I had to inform people what to do. Don't bother calling Sony because you'll just get the help desk who are worthless. Most sony technicians haven't heard of it and don't know how to fix it either. You have to inform the sony techs what service bulletin it is so they can get the bulletin from Sony. Sony doesn't want anyone to have their service bulleting #s but screw them if they won't let their help desk know whats going on or their technicians.

This summary is to inform people what to do to get "the white vertical bar" problem fixed. This problem is a vertical white bar about a half inch wide that pans from the right side of the screen to the left about each 5-10 seconds or so. It happens when you have your satellite signal coming into the s-video port in the tv while at the same time watching a dvd via the component video cables.
If it's still under the sony manufacter warranty (I think 1 year), here is what you do:

Goto the sony website at www.sel.sony.com. Click on "service and support". Click on "electronics". Go down to service, and click on "service locator". Under category, choose "tv products, enter your zip code and click on submit.
Call one of these places. Tell them what is happening and tell them you alread have the number of the Sony Tech Bulletin that solves the problem. The number is; 520R-2. (five, two, zero, R dash 2). The technican needs to get that bulletin from sony and come out and fix the TV. You need to make a copy of your sales reciept and give it to the technician when they come out.
Do this and the white bar will be gone.

Hopefully this will save someone a lot of time, frustration and possibly having to go out and buy a different TV.

If your not still under the Sony warranty then you'll probably have to pay for the service call unless you got and Extended warranty from the place you bought the TV from.

-jason

Similar Products Used:

An old 19" GE color tv

excellent picture

weight

Hi folks

This is a reply for all the guys who are inquiring how I got my sony fixed. Well, purchased extended warranty from BEST BUY but by TV is still under manufacturer's warranty. Anyway, best buy reffered me to my nearest SONY service center.

Like I said in my previous post, this service center HAD a survice bulletin out on the problem. Rep came out, turned my tv around, removed the back casing and grounded 2 curcuits on one of the video boards.

Thats all there was to it. I watched a dvd movie last night and no white bar problem. My satallite is also connected via s-video and all works. I dont know why the other service techs are not able to do the same thing. Email me if somebody needs a phone number to the service centre who performed the repairs for me here in northern CA.

Similar Products Used:

none

FLATTTTT

This Scuker is Heavy...Remote can look alittle better.

I trade in my 55" projection big screen for this one. When I saw the Price, I had to get one. I'm not sure if I would buy it if it's for the regular price of $1499.

Picture quality using 16:9 enhanced mode with DVD

Two design flaws with all 36" Wega (see below)
Limited warranty

It's just not good enough Sony....

I had high expectations of my 36FS12. If you're spending this kind of money on a TV you have a right to be picky.
First, the good news. Picture quality on DVD with the enhanced 16:9 compression can be excellent (remember... to use this feature your DVD player must be set to 16:9. If it's set to 4:3 the result will be an extremely squashed picture - a mistake several reviewers have made).
Now the bad news. On all four video inputs (not the off-air channels) there is a common design problem across the Wega 36" models relating to uneven brightness levels. Try this - at night, switch off all the lights in your TV room then switch to a video channel with no signal, then adjust the picture brightness up until you see the screen starting to get brighter. What do you see? I bet the right hand side of the screen is blue/black and the left is deep black. You can clearly see that the brightness is higher on the right. This becomes very irritating when watching letterbox DVD with permanent black bars. The bars are not the same brightness across the screen (this is masked in bright scenes but becomes a problem in dark scenes). I checked half a dozen sets of various Wega models (all 36") in my local Circuit City and Best Buy stores and they all had the same problem.
Second, on video inputs the focus is way off over the extreme left and right 4-5" of the screen. In the center it's very sharp which just accentuates the drop-off in focus away from the center. The focus improves dramatically if you turn the brightness down, but then the screen is too dark.
So, there you have it. Since I couldn't find a Wega set that doesn't have these problems I returned mine for a refund and I'm going to live with my older 27" until I can find a TV that's properly engineered. Remember this - Sony sells its products at a premium price which basically isn't justified. I usually avoid Sony because of this. However, if you are tempted, you have a right to be very picky because you paid the Sony mark-up.
And finally, these Wega models come with a pathetic 90 day limitation on labor warranty. This is just plain insulting. Don't let them get away with it. It's part arrogance and part collusion with the retailers who then have more power to sell their extended warranties. I'm an engineer and let me tell you a little about warranties.... it's all statistics of course.... if an electronic product is going to fail, it almost always does so within a few days or weeks of first being used. After that, they settle in for years until they reach the end of their design lives which is always longer than the extended warranty. So the message is....get the thing home, run it hard for a few weeks and if it's still working it will be ok. No need for those expensive insurance policies.

Died when I plugged in a Direct TV receiver

I was going to enjoy some Direct TV service, but the TV totally died when connect up this receiver. I was watching TV first, the front audio and video inputs were connected to the DTV receiver. The last step was to connect the 3 prong grounded plug. Since the ground connector is a little bit longer, the tip of the ground sparked when being plugged in. Well, none of the power surge protectors tripped. All components were OK except for the Sony TV.

Luckily I bought the extended warranty and Good Guys is sending someone over to fix the problem. Hopefully they can get the TV up and running.

I am glad to see taht Shakeel was able to get their Sony set working properly. I ended up having my 36FS12 replaced with a new one since the service department screwed up the one I had. I still have the same problems with the new one. I have now found out the the Panasonic CT-36HX41 will nbe in stores in 3 weeks with the same price as the HX40.

Excellent Picture

Weight

Hello Folks

I am getting a sony service send somebody out to my home to fix the vertical bar problem tomorrow. The lady at the service center said that this is a known problem now at Sony and they have a service bulletin for this.

The tech called me tonight stating that he has a part to swap on my tv. If all goes well, I will post another message tomorrow on the status of the repair.

Similar Products Used:

none

Styling, Picture Quality, Flat Screen

Size (Heavy)

I was about to buy a regular Sony 36" TV until I noticed that Circuit City was offering the stand for free ($200 value). I unfortunately only have access to analog cable but with sattelite or digital cable, this would be the perfect television set. I wouldn't ever see the need to upgrade after that.

The picture quality when watching DVDs is impressive. I was wondering about the 16:9 mode. Whenever I switch it on, the heigth of the display decreases even further. The quality of the picture becomes phenomenal but the size is just too small for me to enjoy. Is there any way I can possibly avoid this so that the size of the picture doesn't further decrease? Am I doing something wrong? Please email me at haidar325@hotmail.com with any suggestions.

Similar Products Used:

Sony KV32S42

Update to my posts below

Update to my posts below.....I recieved my KV-36FS12 after being in service for almost 2 weeks and it's in worse condition than it was to begin with. Sound Advice not only didn't fix the problems I was having, but added two additional ones. I am now getting red retrace lines in the set, and the color temp is so far off that no adjustments can fix it. They will be replacing it with a new set next week. I hope that the replacment set wont have any of these problems.

The 16:9 high-resolution mode which is unavailable from any other square set manufacturer & affords HDTV-quality DVD viewing.
The nearly flat screen has a cinema-like look & lowers glare

-Manual selection of 16:9 mode.
-Very heavy (this may not matter to you; deters theft)
- 40"+ widescreen TV may be a wiser longterm investment
- Remote and onscreen programming are just okay, not great.

I was in the market for a 36" 'square' monitor, and was initially tempted by the raves for the Panasonics and JVC's as rivalling the Sony WEGA picture for significantly less money. What I discovered is that's ONLY true for square-mode viewing. In 16:9 (DVD/letterbox) mode, the Sony has a special feature which focuses all of the tube's rays on the letterboxed area, resulting in a breathtakingly detailed image that truly rivals HDTV. Without this feature, the JVC and Panasonic TV's simply don't give a true home theater experience. I am SO GLAD I figured this out before buying! (It was buried in the reviews below, but should really be boldfaced in CAPITALS!) I repeat: All of the minor weaknesses and defects of the WEGAs described below are meaningless if you are hoping to achieve a true home theater experience on a traditional style TV. The WEGA's are the only traditional TV's currently that can provide this experience, and it's really something to behold! Warning: Your mass-market salesperson is unlikely to be aware of the high-resolution WEGA feature, and it requires some figuring out (you have to adjust your DVD player's internal menu plus the Sony's menu...), so don't expect to notice it in in-store auditions! Drop me a line and let me know if you decide I steered you in the right direction with this tip (or if you disagree!). Happy theatering!

Similar Products Used:

I auditioned the current JVC 36", Toshibas, Hitachis, RCA's, and Panasonics.