Sony KV40XBR700

Price Paid: $3495.00

Purchase at: Audio/Video City

Strengths
Superb image with DVD and HD material and excellent image with digital cable (HBO/Shotime). Outstanding geometry. Matching stand looks cool. Set looks dynamite even when turned off. Newly designed audio with 15-watt built-in sub has excellent sound, not like the xbr450 audio which in my opinion, was horrible.

Weakness
As with my prior 36xbr450, the same weakness applies to the 3:2 pulldown. Garbage in...garbage out. OTA channels still are great, but a couple of channels still display a "ghost" and are somewhat pixelated. Again, not from the TV set itself, but attributed to a poor signal. HBO and all premium channels come very close to DVD quality on this set.

My only other minor gripe is you cannot place 2 components side by side on the stand. Sony chose looks over functionality. It should however accomodate most receivers, except possibly the high-end Denon and the Kenwood Sovereign models. (These are too tall)

Comments/Review
Well...its been almost 3 weeks and the set is pretty much "burned in". The image is much better now and I have also calibrated with Avia. My primary viewing on this set is DVDs. With the 40" screen, I get a bigger image than the 34xbr2 (3" bigger!). The black frame that surrounds the flat tube is a superb idea. It blends in with the black letterbox portion on 16x9 material and almost makes it seamless like you are watching a 16x9 set! This is by far the best Sony set and the largest on the planet. I have tweaked the geometry slightly around the edges. The vertical lines on this set (unlike the bowing on the 36xbr450s) is non-existent.
As far as the rear inputs, they are identical to the 36xbr450.

If you are looking for a large direct-view TV and do not want a RPTV (like me), look no further!

Your set is here!

Added: October 31st 2001
Reviewer: Calvin Chen
Score:
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