16:9 Anamorphic, picture quality

4x3 set, HEAVY

Saw the XBR400 at HIFI Buys. This set looks awesome!! There are no visible scan lines. I could not believe my eyes. I'm gonna buy the set but I am trying to get the price down lower. HiFI Buys lowered the price from $2499 to $2335. Not a lot but every bit helps. Cant wait to get it! Definitely 5 stars rating! It looked just as good if not better than a Panasonic Tau that was next to the XBR400.

This is yet another follow up to my previous reviews. After two months, the set still looks beautiful. As others have noted, some cable channels looks good. Others are grainy. Watching the Olympics, especially the swimming events, was spectacular. The new set does keep shutting itself off like my first set. I see that someone else also has this problem. My only complaint is that it seems like the set takes longer and longer to turn on. When it first arrived I would like the on button and the set will flicker on within 3 seconds. Now it down to about 20 seconds. As anyone else experienced this? I'm waiting to see if get worse before I go through the hassle of calling in a tech or fighting more a new set.

Picture quality, aesthetically pleasing, not obsolete in 6 months

weighs as much as a PINTO

I am a home theatre enthusiast so I buy lots of gear and there's one thing that I've learned. When it comes to video stick with SONY and you can't go wrong. This set is great has all the features you could need and I have the option of hooking up HDTV when there's actually somrthing worth watching available!!
People must understand one thing about all television sets, they come factory preset to stand out in a showroom full of other sets , so the video settings are all set too high, when you take it home to view in a home theatre environment it must be calibrated to your surroundings. Sure in a perfect world it would be perfect right out of the box, but because of all the different sources like DVD, SAT, HDTV, CABLE, ETC. You have to "SEASON" the set.
That said after calibration all I can say is WOW!
GREAT INVESTMENT!! I purchased my set at J & R WHICH is an AUTHORIZED DEALER- I DEAL WITH TODD @ 800 221 8180 EXT 1039
He's great and I also got a 4 year in home service warranty along with my set since it's not going to be outdated and since It's so heavy I probrably will sell it with my house.

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SON KV32FS12- SON 48 "

none

sony

Like other reviewers below I have not bought this tv yet.

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none

Picture, styling

Weight, owners' manual, can't turn DRC off, XDS options, sound. But these are made up for by the strengths!

REVIEW OF 36XBR450
Thanks for all of your reviews. They convinced me to buy the 36XBR450, which I've had for about a week now. I echo many of the comments previously submitted.

For watching TV: I have analog cable from AT&T Broadband (in Chicago). Picture is at least as good as my 1999 Trinitron on most channels, stunning on some other channels, and a bit grainy and unfocused on other channels. There is no rhyme or reason to what picture looks good -- one network picture looks grainy & unfocused whereas other stations including a local access channel, look great. As the previous reviewers have concluded, the problem here is obviously with the cable, not with the TV, since the TV can produce stunning pictures. Overall its certainly an improvement.

For DVD: I have a Sony non-progressive scan DVD, which looks really good on this TV. I connected the DVD to the TV with Monster HI-DEF component cables -- the best -- which run about $89. In case you are ignorant like I was, you cannot just use RCA cables to make these component connections. Use the special wires made for component hookups; Monster HI-DEF cables are the most expensive and most highly recommended. If you paid that much for the TV, hook it up with the best!

>>Can anyone tell me: does upgrading to a progressive scan DVD really make that much of a difference? That is, is it worth the $400?!

>>Question 2: Yeah the TV is HDTV ready (you must still buy a set top box), but what's the best source with the most HDTV channels? I checked out DirecTV's page and it seems they're only offering 2 channels in full-time HDTV -- and one of them is PPV. You can't get through cable, right? So how are you all taking advantage of HDTV?

Finally, the idea of DRC is pretty kool, but I cannot say I see much of a difference either way -- the picture looks good in CineMotion and Interlaced, and less good in progressive mode (I don't have a progressive scan DVD.) But any of the options still produce a stunning DVD picture.

A few complaints about the TV -- Are you reading this SONY?
1. Channel labels -- only 20? C'mon we all have like 180 channels. For $2.5K we expect the ability to label more channels.
2. Were you kidding with the included speakers? They sound pretty bad. I presume most people paying for this TV have sound systems they can (and should) use instead.
3. XDS: This brings up little boxes on the top of your screen that give you the channel label, station name, current program playing, time of program and time elapsed in program, all through the signal on your cable or other source. This is a nice feature but it should have some options. The various displays take up 1/2 the screen! How about letting us select the boxes to be displayed, and sizing them and positioning them? I get irritated when I want to see what's on I turn on the feature, but then to watch anything, you need to scroll through the menus to turn it off. It also should be one-button access to this. Sony did a better job with this technology in some of their VCRs, which provide useful information on-screen without being so intrusive.

Now that I spent all this time writing this review, will someone be good enough to answer my two questions? Phuleeze :-)

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Sony 36" Trinitron.

damn heavy

dumb reviews

hey richard, is it true that all country folk cant spell, i bet you still live with your mom

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tau

Hey Richard, stop smoking that weed. You spell like a kid in 5th grade. By the way, I never sent you a private E-mail. So I don't know why you think I did. All I was saying is that it's hard to understand what you are saying in your post because you use bad spelling and poor wording. Get a life, if you can afford it.

Great picture with DVD

Cabinet is too shiny and silver

Mark Andrew:

I can only answer your first question...

Is it worth it to get a progressive scan DVD player with the 36XBR450? In my opinion, no. The CineMotion DRC with 3:2 pull down does such an excellent job, a progressive scan player is largely unnecessary with this TV.

I actually owned a progressive scan DVD player for more than a week (a Panasonic DVD-RP91) and concluded that my non-progressive scan player was good enough (a Panasonic DVD-RV31). In fact, I actually preferred the picture produced by the Sony's CinemMotion DRC as opposed to the progressive scan output of the RP91. Therefore, I returned the RP91.

Don't get me wrong, the RP91 is an excellent DVD player, but I found that the picture was too soft for my taste. Yes, the RP91 does make lines and circles smoother than with the DRC, but at the expense of overall sharpness.

Here is a test that you can conduct to see the effect of the different DRC modes on the XBR450 with a non-progressive scan player:

Pop in the original "Toy Story" and, at the beginning of chapter 6, near the top of the screen, you can see door opening as the camera pans from right to left. In either "Interlaced" or "Progressive" DRC modes, the angled line in the moulding of the door appears jagged. In "CineMotion" mode, which has the 3:2 pull down, the line appears to be much smoother.

Try also the beginning of chapter 12, where the "Dinoco" sign is spinning. The difference is also quite noticeable here. CineMotion is definitely smoother than with the other two DRC modes.

With a progressive scan player, these scenes I described will yield even smoother results, but is it worth the extra $400? Not in my opinion. And like I said, the whole picture will look too soft with a progressive scan player on the 36XBR450.

I think a progressive scan player is more important in a larger sized screen, such as a rear-projection TV or front projector. A 36-inch TV (such as the 36XBR450) is too small to really see the benefits of a progressive scan player, especially when the built-in line doubler is as good as Sony's CineMotion DRC. On the larger Sonys with DRC, I would definitely recommend a progressive scan player.

Anyway, I hope this has helped. If you really want to see for yourself if a progressive scan player is better, perhaps you should do as I do and purchase one and test drive it. Who knows? Your mileage may differ. You may actually prefer the softer picture...

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27-inch Trinitron

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This is not a review but a warning.

Don't buy from Crazy Eddie.

I tried purchasing this product from them but all I've gotten is lies, lies, lies. They take my money but have not delivered me my order. They have lied to me 5 times about receiving it and are nearly impossible to get a hold of.

If you look at Crazy Eddie's rating on Bizrate it is pretty respectable but if you actually fill out a rating it says their rating is based on a total of ZERO customers. They smell like a scam to me and I have cancelled the credit card used to make my purchase.

Great monitor even at close distances

Geometry isn't perfect.

I have posted a "review" of this tv with the Sony 9000ES dvd player under the DVD category if anyone is interested in a review of this combination of tv/dvd

The Bogg

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KV-36xbr250