Sony Bravia V-Series KDL-40V2500 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
by Sony
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List Price: Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony Bravia V-Series KDL-40V2500 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV
Customer Review: Perfect entry point for HD beginners
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased this model on Amazon as a companion piece to my Playstation 3, which was obviously wasted on my aging 27" SD WEGA set. I have never owned an HD set before, and had limited experience with them apart from what I saw at friends' places or at bars. I opted for the V2500 on a bit of a gamble, as it wasn't in stock at the local electronics store, and I had no way of getting a look at the actual product. I was swayed in part by the overwhelmingly positive reviews, the reasonable cost, the 1080p and provision of ample inputs, and the fact that LCD has less glare problems than plasma (my living room is south-facing and has three very large windows so there is no escaping the sunlight most days).
The difference is simply incredible. Set up was a complete snap, no harder than your grandfather's Philco. The deliverymen took it out of the box and plopped it on the stand, and I simply attached a $10 HDMI cable (don't pay a premium for these, it's simply not worth it....they aren't like speaker cables or older component audio cables, they're more like twisted pair ethernet....either they work or they don't, you are not likely to perceive any "difference" b/t a $10 cable and a $60 model (which probably cost all of $3-4 to manufacture). I set the PS3 to transmit over HDMI, removed the old component video/audio cables, and voila! This also helped clean up the cable clutter on my rack quite nicely.
SD TV looks generally fine--somewhat more pixellated/artifacted than it was on the old SDTV, but still acceptable. DVDs look fantastic, the set and the upscaling PS3 breaths new life into the medium. Even among my older transfers, such as Malick's 'Days of Heaven' ('78), I was immensely happy with the result; they look as good as they would on a theater screen. The only Blu-Ray movies I have (the BBC's 'Planet Earth' series) look incredible, with perfect color and detail about as good as I could myself discern in nature. In fact, I think I will have to upgrade my 7-year old lens prescription in order to squeeze full value out of the rig. Games, which were my primary concern in buying a LCD set (due to the possibility of image lag if the pixel response time wasn't sufficient) were immaculate and I have no difficulty with slowdown. I haven't yet upgraded by DirecTV box to HD, but intend to do that shortly, and am told to expect something between DVD and Blu-Ray as far as image quality goes, which would be just fine (although the reviews of the HDTV DVR offered by DirecTV, be they here, CNET or at other points distant, are so uniformly traumatic that I'm not in much of a rush yet....football season will probably change that).
I am fully happy with this set and my entire experience with Amazon. The delivery service Amazon uses, Eagle Delivery, was also fine. Yes, they are a little slow, and no, they don't update their tracking as often as they probably should, but they were pleasant to deal with, and the TV arrived without any damage that I could see. The set is great, the price was competitive, and with no tax, no shipping, and free interest for 1 year, this is a hard deal to beat. If you have been pining after a HDTV set but have waited to take the plunge, be it because of price, fear of obsolescence, technical headaches, or any other reason, this is quite possibly the perfect model for you (or the 46" cousin, if you have the room--I didn't).
Customer Review: Sony quality at a Samsung price--2nd to none.
Summary: 5 Stars
With the latest price drop this Sony has finally come into a competitive range with the Samsungs, Sharps, Panasonics, and Toshibas. Moreover, with Amazon's 18-month interest-free financing, it's close to being a screaming value. Even so, when I saw equally impressive discounts on Sony models with "Theater-Synch" along with claims of better contrast ratios and higher bit color processors, I made the exchange. Now I wish I hadn't.
To the human eye, the picture on this set literally "pops"--more so than the more expensive Sony I "traded up" to. Moreover, this set stands an imposing inch taller and comes with a more solid and substantial remote switch than the cheap and chincy remote of the 3000 series. The picture is perfect with the exception of an unfortunate decision by Sony to make "normal" aspect ratio unavailable on this model when viewing 720p, 1080i or 1080p sources. What this means is that if you're watching a "full-screen" DVD (adapted for the conventional television screen) rather than a "wide-screen" DVD, your choices are limited to "full" screen (the image is "stretched" and consequently distorted to fill the screen) and "zoom" screen (a portion of the image is enlarged to fill the screen). Either way, Tom Cruise's body dimensions make him resemble John Candy or Chris Farley. But a solution to viewing a letterboxed 4:3 DVD image ("full screen" DVD) on this 16:9 screen with minimal to no distortion is to make the setting at the level of the Sony DVD player. As for signals telecast in high definition, simply set the picture ratio to "full" in the set's menu system, and proportional sizing is automatic.
When it comes to color, contrast, brightness, etc. settings, there are but three--Standard (looks "right on" to me), Vivid (heightened contrast and brightness, perhaps occasionally useful), Custom (higher temperature setting, more warmth to the flesh tones). Each seems tuned to perfection, and together they provide all the flexibility you need to handle any visual source. No need to touch a thing in the way of further adjustments to the color or picture. As for the set's own speakers, I tested the audio with an Oscar Peterson CD--killer acoustic bass, sizzling ride cymbals, resonating piano sonorities. You'd have to be a gadget compulsive-obsessive personality to hook it up to a separate external amp and "theater system," at least in a "live" room like mine. The set's own surround sound is as impressive as any I've heard.
Even the remote for Sony's upconverting DVD player is compatible with the V2500 set, operating both channel selection and volume. As for the "Theater-Synch" feature of the more expensive 3000 series, I still haven't figured out how to operate the model without using both Sony's and Time-Warner's switches. (So much for "One Touch" convenience.) The 2500V models were still being manufactured in late 2007, and I've seen no compelling reason as yet to swap one out. But trust the evidence of your own eyes and ears, forget about all the specs and ratings, and enjoy the few good programs (not many) that are being televised in HD.
Customer Review: great TV at a good proce
Summary: 5 Stars
I did a lot of online research and looked at TVs in a number of stores before buying the Sony KDL40V2500. It's my first HDTV. My considerations: biggest screen I could sensibly fit in the space (narrow bezel 40" minimizes size, and looks unobtrusive), excellent quality picture (I saw none better in comparable size), good connectivity, reasonable price, and ability to handle SD broadcasts well. I got mine on sale at Circuit City for about $1050 + tax - Amazon had similar price but I wanted to pick it up in person. I am very satisfied with the set (one week use). Over the air (1080i) HDTV (esp PBS) looks fabulous. I need to be within 5 ft of the TV to perceive the limit of resolution (closer than you'd want to watch it). SD (480i) digital channels also look terrific compared to my old analog set. Analog channels look crummy in comparison, but probably better than my old analog set. To my surprise I get about 20 digital broadcast channels - including 5 PBS channels and all major networks (I'm just outside Boston). All this is using a set of $11 digital rabbit ears!
Issues raised by others: 1) gray clouding in dark scenes - not visible at all in my set - I did turn the backlight down a little from factory settings - looks better and saves a little energy. 2) picture size/stretch issue: if you play upconverted DVD from some players it looks stretched (This is true of the Toshiba DR400 I bought on open-box sale, but will take that back (remote doesn't work anyway). The TV software makes some assumptions about how 1080 input should be displayed. Apparently Sony DVD players can produce the right aspect ratio, but there may be other work arounds. Now that we know HD-DVD is dead, I'll probably get Blu Ray. 3) Yes, the remote options are a bit clunky, but nothing very frustrating yet.
I tested connecting my Mac G4 Aluminum Powerbook using the VGA input. Excellent display, but not full width at best resolution option (1400x1050). However I can display full screen by going to 1360x768 resolution in display preferences on the mac, then using zoom on the Sony (if you un-check the mirror display option you can select different resolution for TV and computer). That produces an excellent display of standard DVD, which doesn't have 1080 resolution anyway. Both options show everything that should be on the screen (no loss at edge or top). I tried a DVI-HDMI adapter (Sony recommends against, but some have had success). Edges of the screen are lost (menu bar is off screen). Can get a good full screen DVD image using extended desktop, but probably no better than using the VGA input.
Addition after 3 weeks: I tested my old cheapo DVD player (not progressive scan) and found that the picture could be displayed at the right aspect ratio full width, and that the quality of the image is excellent. Although not viewed side by side, it did seem as good as with the upconverting player (i.e., the upconversion in the Sony TV is as good as in the upconverting DVD player).
Bottom line: I am extremely happy with the KDL40V2500.
Customer Review: Excellent HDTV
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading reviews of various LCD HDTVs, my main concern was how well the set would display standard definition content, which still constitutes the majority of what is available on cable. Reviews of Sonys seemed to indicate they did a better job of displaying 480i signals, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by how good standard def looks on this set...comparable or better than the tube set it's replacing. Digital channels look great, too, and of course the high def channels are fantastic. DVDs from a progressive scan player also look great.
A few points to consider when shopping for a set like this:
1. Don't get one that's too big for the viewing distance. Use 3 times the diagonal size as a guide. I sit about 10 feet away from the screen, so the 40 inch set is ideal. There is a big difference watching this TV from 4 ft. away vs. 10 ft. Sit too close (or with too big a screen) and you'll see all the grain and imperfections in a 480i signal, and even the pixel shimmer on a high def signal. Sit farther away, and the image looks much, much better.
2. Standard def in 4:3 looks better that way than trying to zoom it out to fill the wide screen. By doing so, you introduce distortion to the picture and also enlarge the 480i signal, which reduces the quality. This set has a black border, so watching a 4:3 image with the black bars on the right and left is not distracting.
3. Not all high def content is provided in 16:9 format, and the quality of the signal may vary. Some high def stations look better than others.
4. This set has backlight control that allows you to turn down the backlight brightness. This helps to improve black levels quite a bit.
5. Don't spend $80-$100 on an HDMI cable. I ordered one from Amazon for around $15 bucks and it works just fine. Digital signals are not as subject to noise and interference like an analog signal, so no need for an overpriced cable.
This TV is pretty easy to set up. The menus are fairly easy to navigate. You can tailor your settings for each input. You can have up to 8 different inputs, and the TV allows you to label each one and also to skip any that are unused. The remote is basic and doesn't allow you to control any other devices, but on the plus side, is simple to operate.
The delivery service by EGL (Eagle) was fine, and their delivery estimate was accurate. They contacted me by phone when the TV arrived to schedule a time for delivery. They arrived on time, unpacked the set, placed it on the stand, and removed the packaging. The delivery guy also helped me move my other set. The one minor problem I had was with the tracking number. Apparently, the number had been used previously a couple of years ago, so the tracking on the Amazon site was incorrect. I had to go to EGL's web site and enter it as a reference number in their tracking query in order for my order to show up.
Customer Review: One Year Later - Still Great
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Sony KDL-40V2500 November 2006 after months of looking at various models, sizes, reviews, etc. I was so confused, frustrated and in need of an optometrist I practically gave up on HDTV until I saw this set. One year later I can honestly say I bought the right HDTV. I have it wall-mounted, my HD provider is Directv, and I have an Oppo upconverting DVD player (not yet ready to jump into the high-def DVD format war and the Oppo makes DVDs look nearly HD.) The HD picture is excellent (SD picture? Well, it's SD.) The set has varied and multiple picture adjustments, so you can get exactly what you want. Also has more video inputs than you can possible use plus 2 HDMI inputs (can't address the computer input - never use it.)
An anecdote that may assist you in evaluating this set. A friend and I were independently looking for HDTVs (neither of us knew the other was looking and had no contact during the search.) Anyway, both of us purchased this set. We agreed that of all the HDTVs in this price range, it had the best picture and features.
A year later this model is probably getting long in the tooth technologically (don't even know if Sony makes it any longer.) But it is still an excellent HDTV. The price has dropped substantially (I paid $2000 over a year ago and have seen this model recently at Circuit City for $1199.) I don't regret the price drop (happens with all technology) because I still consider it worth what I paid.
There are surely more advanced HDTVs out there, but given the current price of the Sony, I doubt you could get better quality and you could certainly do worse. This HDTV gives you significant bang for the buck.
Addendum:
Some other reviews of this TV have mentioned the issue of "clouding." If "clouding" is present, I cannot see it, after a year of viewing. I surmise that any imperfections in the LCD display are exaggerated by overly "hot" picture settings. The default, out-of-the-box picture settings on this Sony are quite dreadful (I have found that Sony factory settings are consistently bad.) It takes some tweaking to get a desirable picture. Great HD picture quality is there, but you may have to spend a little time to get it right. That is the only negative thing I have to say about this HDTV.