AdminJoe
02-11-2002, 12:06 PM
Pros: High picture quality, many features, lots of inputs
Cons: No way to put anything on top of the set
The Bottom Line: The image quality is outstanding, the featureset good. Few downsides means its a good buy.
Recommended: Yes
I have had the Sony KP-57WH40 for three days now, and have watched 10 DVD's on it, and several hours of cable TV.
This TV has great image quality - but has not been pushed yet for several reasons.
1. Set has not been calibrated. The set has to be "burned in" for about a month before it can be calibrated reliably. You do not get the best image quality on any TV (CRT or Projection) unless it has been calibrated. Projection TVs picture will improve more with proper calibration more than a CRT but always calibration improves the picture. Search the net for "ISF Calibration" if you want more info. You can try to do it yourself, but you need tools and data, and it is not the easiest thing to do. Depending on who you call it can cost $300 - $1000 to calibrate this set - but get it done. You already spent $3k, why not have the best image possible and it saves the life of your TV by 33%. Plus it will be calibrated for YOUR viewing environment (lighting etc etc).
2. I do not have any HD sources.
3. My DVD player only has SVideo out, and has no progressive output. So I am only watching DVDs in 480i. (480p has better image quality, and Component video cables improve image quality as well).
Despite those 3 things, I am flabberghasted with the quality of the images on this set. I went from a 32inch Sony CRT to this 57 inch (57inch 16:9 when viewed in 4:3 mode is about a 47inch TV). The image quality is BETTER even though the image is much larger and has more potential to notice flaws.
And watching movies on a 16:9 TV is AWESOME compared to normal widescreen/letterbox.
This TV has several things that I really like so far, aside from the image quality of course.
1. The "Index", "Twin View" and "Favorites" functionality is very cool. You can adjust the size of either screen in "twin view" from two equal screens, to one very small and one full 4:3 size. The "Index" feature scrolls the "regular" CATV channels along the right side while you watch something else in the full 4:3 screen on the left side. You can grab any of the (live!) channels on the index and make it active. And the favorites will let you scroll through and see what is on your favorites while watching something else as well.
2. The 4:3 modes are very good. You have several choices for 4:3 images. NORMAL puts the gray bars (gray reduces burn-in) on either side. NORMAL gives you about the equivalent of a 46inch TV in the middle of your widescreen. FULL just stretches the 4:3 image making it wider to fit 16:9. FULL mode is OK, if you like everything to look short and fat. Most DVD's will run in FULL mode since your DVD is 16:9 "aware" and adjusts the signal it gives the TV, so you see the whole picture the way it was intended. ZOOM mode simply zooms in on the center of the 4:3 image, cutting off the top and bottom. This mode is made for when you are watching a 4:3 signal that is letterboxed, like maybe a VHS tape or CATV signal that is widescreen. WIDE ZOOM is like ZOOM, but it doesn't cut off the top and the bottom - it squishes them. Sounds like it would look bad, but incredibly works very well. I have tried and tried to pick out the "squished" parts but can't, so I like this mode for many regular TV shows.
3. This TV will take your "high quality" inputs (meaning SVideo or Component) and increase their resolution. Sony uses a special technology they invented called DRC. This circutry is similar to a line doubler, giving you twice the resolution. But it excels - unlike normal line doublers which give you only vertical resolution - Sony's DRC doubles the horizontal resolution as well, effectively giving you 4x the resolution. It has three modes. INTERLACED, PROGRESSIVE, and CINEMOTION. INTERLACED is optimized for regular TV, PROGRESSIVE is optimized for progressive inputs, and CINEMOTION is optimized for 24fps movies. Watching a good 16:9 enhanced DVD (anamporhic - which most DVDs are now) the resolution of the display approaches that of HD. If I had a progressive output DVD player, it would be almost the same quality as the best HD sources. As I said before, DVDs are stunning on this set!
Now that I have bored you with all that, let me tell you what I don't like.
1. You can't set things on top of the set. If the top were flat, it would be prime real estate. The TV is obviously large. (54 inches wide). If you could put some of your components on top, it would free up some of the space around the TV, since you really don't do much on top of the TV anyway. But you can't. So you have wasted space. The top of this set is narrow, and slanted steeply back. Nice but not functional.
2. The manual advises to run your cable through the "internal splitter". The set has a CATV in, RF OUT, and RF In. The way the manual advises, if you have a cable box, is to run from the wall to the CATV in, from the RF OUT to the cable box IN, and from the cable box OUT to the RF IN. That way you can use the twin-view and index features. But the internal splitter inside the TV is not sheilded well, and not only loses more DBs than a splitter should (each splitter should drop 3.5 DBs) - but since it is not sheilded allows signal ingress. Most digital cable systems are extremly sensitive to ingress, and after a few hours the digital portion of my cable stopped working. This is all fixed by hooking the cable from the wall into a (high quality) splitter, and from the splitter to both the TV and the cable box. Then connect the cable box to the TV using one of the composite (RCA) connections. That allows me to use twinview and index with the digital box on VIDEO3 and the TVs built in Tuner. I suggest you contact your cable company for advice. Remember - most storebought or homeade cables will cause problems with the newer digital cable systems. Let the cable guy make cables, they do it right - and then there is no excuse if something doesn't work right...
Thats it.
I will update this (hopefully) after I get it calibrated.
I highly recommend it based on my experience so far.
UPDATE: 1/02/2002
I have been using this set now for over a month, almost 2. I am still VERY happy with this set. Image quality is still outstanding, under many light conditions.
I have a couple comments based on my experience thus far. I have not yet had the set calibrated due to Holiday scheduling conflicts with the technician.
1. When watching normal TV from a cable or antenna source, even a VCR - you get a better picture using the "Normal" screen mode. Any of the others, the one we use most is "Wide Zoom", make the picture a bit fuzzy. Of course the farther away you get the better it looks, but when I am really watching regular TV (as opposed to just passivily watching) I set in in Normal mode for clarity, then to one of the full modes during commercials to ease my paranoid mind about burn-in of the gray bars on the sides.
2. My lenses appear just slightly off. NOTE: This will most likely be adjusted during calibration. The picture looks to have maybe 1 or two lines below the bottom that I can't see. The time when this is most obvious is when I am using dual view mode - if I enlarge one side all the way the green outlining box goes off the bottom and is a line or two away from the top.
3. The dual view mode is AWESOME for football games. I can keep an eye on 2 football games at once - each displayed in something like a regular 27 inch TV would display. How cool is that? (Could also be useful for other sports or news scanning - but I only use it for Football(Go Raiders...)).
Again, I will update as soon as I get it calibrated.
Amount Paid (US$): 3000
Cons: No way to put anything on top of the set
The Bottom Line: The image quality is outstanding, the featureset good. Few downsides means its a good buy.
Recommended: Yes
I have had the Sony KP-57WH40 for three days now, and have watched 10 DVD's on it, and several hours of cable TV.
This TV has great image quality - but has not been pushed yet for several reasons.
1. Set has not been calibrated. The set has to be "burned in" for about a month before it can be calibrated reliably. You do not get the best image quality on any TV (CRT or Projection) unless it has been calibrated. Projection TVs picture will improve more with proper calibration more than a CRT but always calibration improves the picture. Search the net for "ISF Calibration" if you want more info. You can try to do it yourself, but you need tools and data, and it is not the easiest thing to do. Depending on who you call it can cost $300 - $1000 to calibrate this set - but get it done. You already spent $3k, why not have the best image possible and it saves the life of your TV by 33%. Plus it will be calibrated for YOUR viewing environment (lighting etc etc).
2. I do not have any HD sources.
3. My DVD player only has SVideo out, and has no progressive output. So I am only watching DVDs in 480i. (480p has better image quality, and Component video cables improve image quality as well).
Despite those 3 things, I am flabberghasted with the quality of the images on this set. I went from a 32inch Sony CRT to this 57 inch (57inch 16:9 when viewed in 4:3 mode is about a 47inch TV). The image quality is BETTER even though the image is much larger and has more potential to notice flaws.
And watching movies on a 16:9 TV is AWESOME compared to normal widescreen/letterbox.
This TV has several things that I really like so far, aside from the image quality of course.
1. The "Index", "Twin View" and "Favorites" functionality is very cool. You can adjust the size of either screen in "twin view" from two equal screens, to one very small and one full 4:3 size. The "Index" feature scrolls the "regular" CATV channels along the right side while you watch something else in the full 4:3 screen on the left side. You can grab any of the (live!) channels on the index and make it active. And the favorites will let you scroll through and see what is on your favorites while watching something else as well.
2. The 4:3 modes are very good. You have several choices for 4:3 images. NORMAL puts the gray bars (gray reduces burn-in) on either side. NORMAL gives you about the equivalent of a 46inch TV in the middle of your widescreen. FULL just stretches the 4:3 image making it wider to fit 16:9. FULL mode is OK, if you like everything to look short and fat. Most DVD's will run in FULL mode since your DVD is 16:9 "aware" and adjusts the signal it gives the TV, so you see the whole picture the way it was intended. ZOOM mode simply zooms in on the center of the 4:3 image, cutting off the top and bottom. This mode is made for when you are watching a 4:3 signal that is letterboxed, like maybe a VHS tape or CATV signal that is widescreen. WIDE ZOOM is like ZOOM, but it doesn't cut off the top and the bottom - it squishes them. Sounds like it would look bad, but incredibly works very well. I have tried and tried to pick out the "squished" parts but can't, so I like this mode for many regular TV shows.
3. This TV will take your "high quality" inputs (meaning SVideo or Component) and increase their resolution. Sony uses a special technology they invented called DRC. This circutry is similar to a line doubler, giving you twice the resolution. But it excels - unlike normal line doublers which give you only vertical resolution - Sony's DRC doubles the horizontal resolution as well, effectively giving you 4x the resolution. It has three modes. INTERLACED, PROGRESSIVE, and CINEMOTION. INTERLACED is optimized for regular TV, PROGRESSIVE is optimized for progressive inputs, and CINEMOTION is optimized for 24fps movies. Watching a good 16:9 enhanced DVD (anamporhic - which most DVDs are now) the resolution of the display approaches that of HD. If I had a progressive output DVD player, it would be almost the same quality as the best HD sources. As I said before, DVDs are stunning on this set!
Now that I have bored you with all that, let me tell you what I don't like.
1. You can't set things on top of the set. If the top were flat, it would be prime real estate. The TV is obviously large. (54 inches wide). If you could put some of your components on top, it would free up some of the space around the TV, since you really don't do much on top of the TV anyway. But you can't. So you have wasted space. The top of this set is narrow, and slanted steeply back. Nice but not functional.
2. The manual advises to run your cable through the "internal splitter". The set has a CATV in, RF OUT, and RF In. The way the manual advises, if you have a cable box, is to run from the wall to the CATV in, from the RF OUT to the cable box IN, and from the cable box OUT to the RF IN. That way you can use the twin-view and index features. But the internal splitter inside the TV is not sheilded well, and not only loses more DBs than a splitter should (each splitter should drop 3.5 DBs) - but since it is not sheilded allows signal ingress. Most digital cable systems are extremly sensitive to ingress, and after a few hours the digital portion of my cable stopped working. This is all fixed by hooking the cable from the wall into a (high quality) splitter, and from the splitter to both the TV and the cable box. Then connect the cable box to the TV using one of the composite (RCA) connections. That allows me to use twinview and index with the digital box on VIDEO3 and the TVs built in Tuner. I suggest you contact your cable company for advice. Remember - most storebought or homeade cables will cause problems with the newer digital cable systems. Let the cable guy make cables, they do it right - and then there is no excuse if something doesn't work right...
Thats it.
I will update this (hopefully) after I get it calibrated.
I highly recommend it based on my experience so far.
UPDATE: 1/02/2002
I have been using this set now for over a month, almost 2. I am still VERY happy with this set. Image quality is still outstanding, under many light conditions.
I have a couple comments based on my experience thus far. I have not yet had the set calibrated due to Holiday scheduling conflicts with the technician.
1. When watching normal TV from a cable or antenna source, even a VCR - you get a better picture using the "Normal" screen mode. Any of the others, the one we use most is "Wide Zoom", make the picture a bit fuzzy. Of course the farther away you get the better it looks, but when I am really watching regular TV (as opposed to just passivily watching) I set in in Normal mode for clarity, then to one of the full modes during commercials to ease my paranoid mind about burn-in of the gray bars on the sides.
2. My lenses appear just slightly off. NOTE: This will most likely be adjusted during calibration. The picture looks to have maybe 1 or two lines below the bottom that I can't see. The time when this is most obvious is when I am using dual view mode - if I enlarge one side all the way the green outlining box goes off the bottom and is a line or two away from the top.
3. The dual view mode is AWESOME for football games. I can keep an eye on 2 football games at once - each displayed in something like a regular 27 inch TV would display. How cool is that? (Could also be useful for other sports or news scanning - but I only use it for Football(Go Raiders...)).
Again, I will update as soon as I get it calibrated.
Amount Paid (US$): 3000