HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Disc Player’

Sony BRAVIA V Series KDL 52V5100 52 Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV Black

Keep pace with fast-action movies, sports and game play. Equipped with Full HD 1080p and Motionflow 120Hz refresh rate technology, the KDL-52V5100 52-inch BRAVIA V series LCD flat panel HDTV provides a more fluid, natural and realistic viewing experience while enjoying fast-paced entertainment. Additionally, every scene will be sharp, vibrant and life-like thanks to BRAVIA Engine 2 fully digital video processor. Plus, a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio yields deep blacks in darker scenes. The V series also includes 7 HD inputs to ensure you get impressive image quality from all your HD components such as PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Disc player and your PC.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Very good for a “Introduction To HD” TV
I’ve had this TV since the middle of June 2009(reaching the 6 month period). Before this TV, I’d never had an HDTV or a TV anywhere near this size either. I am pretty tech savvy but HDTVs were not my specialty. With that being stated, I will give you my experience with this particular HDTV.

Since the beginning of 2009, I’d been looking at TVs off and on with the help of “CNET”, just google it, and I’d heard that Sony had an impressive line of entry HDTVs. But I put off the thought of buying one until the middle of June. I was fumbling around on BestBuy’s website (sorry Amazon, at the time, I found a better price. BTW, its just a product review.) and in the “weekly specials” I found this TV on sale for $1499.99, down from its original price of $1999.99. It was the HDTV that I had favored the most from CNET’s reviews, so I made some calls around and none of the stores close had it. I managed to find a store about an hour away that had 2 left, 1 in stock and 1 on display. Drove an hour to check it out and loved it. I added the 3 or 4 year “bring it back no matter what” warranty and after taxes came out to just under $2250, which I paid on the spot in cash, I had not-so-great credit.

Brought it home and set it up and it was a beauty. It took about 30-45 minutes for the TV to recognize (it did something to find all the available cable channels) the channels and our first DVD experience was through our Xbox 360 and it was the Dane Cook’s HBO comedy special. The show wasn’t that greatest thing I’d ever seen BUT the freaking picture was. BTW, the HD cable, Xbox 360, and our Wii look superb on it as well. (Now if I can just get my hands on some Blu-Ray material.)

***PROBLEMS***

I guess every rose has its thorns (haha, cheesy), well this one has (2) of them, and they aren’t really thorns.

1st – MOTION FLOW: To my knowledge(I could be wrong), the MotionFlow feature is the HDTV’s way of enabling the 120Hz refresh rate, which is AWESOME, BUT you can’t just quickly toggle between the 3 options they have for the MotionFlow,(Off, Standard, Full) I mean, you can preview them on the MotionFlow screen, but no quick adjustment feature/button. You have to go into the picture settings every time and slowly make your way to the advanced settings at the bottom of the screen.

2nd – When you have the MotionFlow on “Full” there are still parts during whatever you’re watching that don’t continuously show in that “smooth frame experience”. I’m thinking that the 240Hz HDTVs are probably more dedicated to the continuous MotionFlow. It’s nothing to cry about.

Other than that, the TV is great. The sound is great, it ranges from 0 to 100 and at 60 its good enough for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’d go with a home theater system, but for now its nice. The remote is easy to understand and navigate. I would recommend it to anyone else who was in the same shoes that I was in. To say the least…(haha since I wrote a bibles worth of information) I am satisfied.

Feel free to ask any questions.

5 Stars great tv; great cost
amazon was great. terrific product at a very competitive price. also, easy delivery and installation

5 Stars Totally Happy
Have had the TV now for about 3 weeks and couldn’t be happier. Picture resolution in awesome. Sound is actually really good because Sony has a speaker bar type speakers across the bottom of the TV so the sound actually comes out at you instead of being aimed down and bouncing off the stand like some other brands.

The 120hz motion takes some getting used to after upgrading from 60hz. Otherwise I highly recommend this TV even if it is considered an entry level TV, you’ll never even know otherwise.

5 Stars Quality Television Set
This is a quality television set. The picture looks crisp, football is what I use the tv for mostly..that and xbox 360. This tv is awesome for both of those things. Also, blu rays are fantastic on it….this tv is the total package pretty much.

5 Stars Great TV
I did a lot of research before purchasing this TV. It’s one of the best one out there for the price. The picture is great and has a lot of features. It’s 120 HZ which good for watching sports. The sound quality is JUST OKAY -I recommend attaching a sound system to the tv or (just a couple of mini BOSS speakers which u can get for less than $100.)

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Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC P42S1 42 Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

When it comes to best image quality in a TV at an affordable range, Plasma screens deliver the best contrast ratio and color depth. This Viera plasma includes the new NEO plasma display panel with improved blacks and native contrast of 40,000:1. Neo PDP combines advances for plasma in cell structure, process technology, and new drive technology. Neo PDP is eco-friendly. It’s engineered to save power and double the luminance efficiency. It offers thinner screens than previous plasma flat panels. NEO technology screens are rated to have a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours. This is more than 30 years of viewing when watched for 8 hours a day, before the TV reaches half brightness. It also has 1080p resolution with 600Hz sub-field drive and Gaming Mode. With all these advances, why settle for an average picture when the Viera plasma display offers so much more. Did you know that some HDTVs deliver considerably less than 1080 lines of resolution, when processing fast motion on screen? VIERA S1 Series Plasma HDTVs ensure full-time 1080 TV lines of resolution, even during fast moving scenes in sports and movies. VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family to enjoy. With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home-theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. VIERA Image Viewer VIERA Link AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Game Mode 3 HDMI Inputs 100,000-Hour Panel Life

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars very good
I’m very happy with this TV. Even SD looks great, which was my big concern. Highly recommended.

5 Stars Great TV
We had originally planned on purchasing this television in store after researching for weeks. For the price at amazon it was too good to pass up. Great television, crystal clear picture and a great price. I would go with plasma over LCD any day and this is the best of the best.

4 Stars Panasonic Is Good But Could Be Better
It has been about 4 months since I purchased this TV. I also have a Samsung LN46A650 LCD TV that I purchased from Amazon a year ago. Delivery on both was very good although the delivery person for the Panasonic didn’t know too much about setting up and connecting the set. The jack marking was confusing but togeather we worked it out. The Panasonic has vivid deep colors and I think the picture is a little sharper than the Samsung. The colors on the Samsung are however more true to life. The Samsung has more color adjustments available including flesh tone which allows better color reproduction. Maybe I am too picky but the Panasonic tends to reproduce flesh tones with a slight green tint on darker scenes and a rose tent on some others. Most scenes are OK however. The Samsung has much better sound. The Panasonic sound has a hollow characteristic. This may be due to the angle of the speakers and I have it a few inches from a flat wall. The viewing angle of course is better on the Panasonic plasma. The Samsung starts to wash out if you get over 30 degrees away from straight on viewing. A word of coution when shopping for a TV. In stores the LCD sets are usually set on vivid. This greatly helps the viewing angle. When you adjust it for normal in home viewing wash out is more apparent. Standard def. programing seems to be somewhat better on the Panasonic. Both are good on HD with the Panasonic maybe a slight bit sharper. Both are good TVs and when I am watching either one I think that it is the best.

5 Stars Great Picture
This Plasma is really good. I looked at different TVs at Best Buy and Plasmas look as good as the LCDs and don’t cost as much. I have Dish Network and in HD these work really well. The color is really great. A swivel stand would be great, but other than that no complaints.

5 Stars Very Satisfied
Extrememly satisfied with purchase.

Easy assembly. Great crisp, clear, picture. No glare.

Good view from all angles. Audio is fine (good sound, but not as high quality as picture)

I had got the 42″ due to space limitations, but now realize that I could have fit a larger TV in my rooms corner. This was the most common regret I read about in reviews before my purchase, and sure enough I feel the same.

All in all, a great tv at a great price!

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Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC P50S1 50 Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

When it comes to best image quality in a TV at an affordable range, Plasma screens deliver the best contrast ratio and color depth. This Viera plasma includes the new NEO plasma display panel with improved blacks and native contrast of 40,000:1. Neo PDP combines advances for plasma in cell structure, process technology, and new drive technology. Neo PDP is eco-friendly. It’s engineered to save power and double the luminance efficiency. It offers thinner screens than previous plasma flat panels. NEO technology screens are rated to have a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours. This is more than 30 years of viewing when watched for 8 hours a day, before the TV reaches half brightness. It also has 1080p resolution with 600Hz sub-field drive and Gaming Mode. With all these advances, why settle for an average picture when the Viera plasma display offers so much more. Did you know that some HDTVs deliver considerably less than 1080 lines of resolution, when processing fast motion on screen? VIERA S1 Series Plasma HDTVs ensure full-time 1080 TV lines of resolution, even during fast moving scenes in sports and movies. VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family to enjoy. With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc player, home-theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. VIERA Image Viewer VIERA Link AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Game Mode 3 HDMI Inputs 100,000 Hour Panel Life

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars great picture, great tv for the price, few features
The picture is terrific. The colors were great even out of the box. The TV itself looks very stylish, though the stand is very basic. There are 7 input ports, which should be more than enough for anybody, especially if you use a receiver to process your signals.

I would’ve liked audio out ports – since I have my digital TV signals coming in straight to the TV, I have no easy way to pipe the audio to the receiver or the external speakers. The TV’s own speakers are decent, but far from overwhelming.

There are few extras and the remote is very basic. No PIP or anything like that. For the size, picture quality, and the price, it’s a very good buy.

5 Stars I HAVEN’T EVEN BOUGHT IT YET!
This TV is AMAZING!! i have been researching for the past 6 months for the perfect tv and this is it! I know that and i haven’t even bought it yet! I already choose this one on amazon and went to best buy too see if they had it. Sure enough they had it on display with two recliner chairs. So i sat myself down and i viewed all of it’s sweet, HD glory. They played a blu-ray version of the new king kong and i happend to walk in during a fight scene in the movie. IT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! I had to stand there for 10 minutes before i realized that i looked like a freak. This is one of the best 1080p sets i have ever seen and i totally recommend it. And i haven’t even bought it yet!

4 Stars Great tv for what it is. Not for those who want more.
I recently just got this tv at Sears for a tv/360 bundle they was doing for $999. Over all I’m happy with the tv. The picture quality is amazing with high def stuff compared to my old Samsung tv. Though my Samsung was great, it was starting to go after only 2 years.

Cnet gave this tv (of different sizes) a good rating. Which I pretty much agree with. but they said that the 42″ version had a greener tint to low def video (cable, dvd). Well the 50″ version seems to have a red tint to it rather then a green tint.

AS for features. Its pretty lacking in. This is a tv for those who just want to watch high def movies/tv. With no PC connection, you’re having to connect your computer through the hdmi ports which can be a frustrating to do.

The speakers sound quality is not that good. My old samsung had better ones. This is a tv you want to use surround sound with for just about everything.

Over all I am happy with this tv for the price I paid for it.

5 Stars Great TV, Best picture
This set has an utterly fantastic picture. I compared it to many other TVs, including the top of the line Sony LCD, and this TV still came out on top. For the moderate price, this TV is an outstanding buy, and you can’t get a BETTER picture at any price.

4 Stars Best value, but settings are lacking
Highly recommend this tv for a low-price, high-picture-quality tv. For the price, I cannot complain; however, if I had to say, the bad thing about this tv is that the picture isn’t adjustable enough. In the settings menu, there are options that are grayed out, which is extremely annoying because as far as I know they just disabled the settings to try to get people to spend more to get the G10 series tv. I don’t know how these things work exactly, so maybe it was a measure taken to cut costs and keep the price lower, but I don’t see why they would include the options in the menu just to gray them out.

Besides that, no grief at all with this tv. I’m pretty happy that it’s also relatively energy efficient for a plasma tv.

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Sony Bravia S Series KDL 40S5100 40 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV Black

Step up to Full HD 1080p resolution and stunning contrast without breaking the bank. The KDL-40S5100 40-inch BRAVIA S series LCD flat panel HDTV features Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) for an impressive dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and BRAVIA Engine 2 digital video processor for superior resolution. Plus, 6 HD inputs are provided to connect all of your HD devices including PlayStation 3, Blu-ray Disc player and laptop or desktop.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars I love this HDTV
This TV is the best I have ever owned. The 2nd best was my old Sony trinitron with picture/picture. Sony is the best.

1 Star Poor Sournd Quality at low volume levels from internal speakers
First – I like the video. I installed the firmware upgrade and the auto-dimming problem is gone.

Second – the Sound out of the internal speakers is terrible at low volume levels (10 on the TV’s scale). This TV is used in a bedroom – usually at low volume levels with its internal speakers. There is a lot of background noise so that at low volume settings the noise is louder than the programming audio level. My 15 year old NEC had better audio than this box.

Doesn’t matter what programming source : DVD or QAM HD cable on the internal tuner.

A tech is coming over to look into it.

I have not tried this with a receiver yet.

If this is the way the Audio was designed, then don’t buy it for standalone use.

Updated 9/9/09

Tech was here today to work on the TV. He replaced the main board with one that was overnighted from the factory. No change. It still has an annoying amount of static on the audio at low volume levels (10 and under).

2 Stars Is it a Sony?
Is this really a Sony product? I’ve had some excellent TVs over the years from Sony, including a 42″ LCD that I purchased in 2008 with great results. However, this set has had issues from the beginning that were not resolved by the patch and numerous calls to Sony’s tech help service. The problem with the auto dimming feature only bothers me some of the time but what is perhaps the most irritating is the terrible internal speakers with this unit. It really gets mushy sound performace and I will eventually have to connect it to an outside receiver to get past this issue. After the patch did nothing to correct the problems I had this in a Sony repair facility for two weeks to replace parts and make things right with the picture and the sound. Upon return, it was simply more of the same. I’ve noticed that Amazon is no longer selling this model. Maybe they’ve recognized the issues. For those that are getting good performance, you’re the lucky ones. This will be the last time that I buy a TV on reputation alone, sight unseen. I really wonder if the apparent lack of quality in this model comes from Sony simply slapping their label on some low-end manufactuers work?

5 Stars new era of watching
The new Sony we purchased fulfills or exceeds all our expectations. We have looked at a lot of different LCD-TVs and we found this to have the overall best picture in all different environmental situations. The picture is warm and bright and shows no weaknesses even with fast moving pictures. You can get less expensive LCDs but we find this Sony to be worth its price. I used to have a Samsung LCD back in Europe. This one rocks.

5 Stars Amazing television…
This Sony 40 inch 1080p tv is amazingly beautiful. I had a Panasonic 52″ 1080i rear projection lcd for years that I thought looked pretty good, until it died. I set a budget of $1000 to get a replacement, and came home with this Sony. The 1080p picture immedietly blew me away. Though slightly smaller than my old hd tv, the clarity and vibrant imagry more than make up the difference. I watched an hd feed of “Quantum of Solace” and was amazed at the detail and the crisp picture, no matter how fast the action on screen. No hint of the auto-dim feature from earlier models that bothered so many. I work in the movie industry and a fiend for detail and picture quality; this Sony Bravia has proven itself to be professional grade in every way.

Buy/More Info

Panasonic VIERA X1 Series TC P50X1 50 Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

The new X1 Series Plasma HDTVs are ideal for sports, movies and gaming, with crisp, focused images during fast-moving scenes. Watch Fast-Moving Scenes with Clear, Vivid Resolution. The 600Hz Sub-field Drive produces crisp, focused images for sports, dramatic action, and all other fast-moving scenes. Your full-HD movies and games never looked sharper. VIERA Image Viewer provides a better way to share your digital photos. Just pop your SD memory card into the handy slot, and instantly display your digital photos for friends and family. With VIERA Link, you can control your compatible Panasonic DVD recorder, Blu-ray Disc, player, home theater sound system and HD camcorder, all with a single remote and helpful on-screen menus. Game Mode 3 HDMI Inputs 100,000 Hour Panel Life Model Type Plasma Screen Size 50 Class (49.9 diagonal) Display Resolution 720p Contrast Ratio Native – 30,000 – 1 Dynamic – 1,000,000 – 1 Aspect Ratio 16 – 9 Native Resolution (Number of Pixels) 1,049,088 (1,366 x 768) Pixel Pitch (H x V) 0.810 x 0.810 mm Moving Picture Resolution 720 lines or more Shades of Gradation 4,096 equivalent Screen Coating (Filter) New AR (Anti-Reflective) Filter Progressive Scan 24p Playback(2 – 3)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars I’m Impressed!
A 50 inch TV for less than $800 and free shipping. The picture and sound quality are great. The delivery was super smooth. The delivery co. arranged a time and when they came to the house they unboxed the TV, set up the stand, and made sure everything was working before they left. I’m glad I got the 50 inch instead of the 42 inch. I’ve only had the TV for three days and I am very pleased everything has gone so smoothly.

5 Stars Fantastic and Marvelous Plama TV
I purchased this televison yesterday and was major disappointed due to the fact that the screen was broken in 2 or 3 places. The reason was due to the fact that, no one told the consumer to never lay this tv flat. It must be kept in an upright position during and after transport. Although ours had never been laid on its side, but was picked up that way. We took it back and the salesman at Sams Club told us that whomever brought the television out to us in the store, should have had it upright. If the television is laid on its side or laid flat, it has some type of gas and the gas is very heavy and that is what will cause the screen to break.

I have found out from doing the reviews prior to purchase that quite a few people had experienced broken screens right out of the box. It states it on the box, but Panasonic needs to put this extremely important information directly on the front and top of the box in huge bold letters to avoid this problem. Other than that, this television is very easy to setup and operate. The picture quality is bold and up front and in your face beautiful to see. We purchased the 720p and we also saw the 1080p in the store side by side, and there is very minor difference in the two, except the 1080p has a little bit more of a sharper color. I was told that when you purchase or if you have an HD receiver and the cord with the gold end, you get the exact same picture as the 1080p. My sister has a 32 inch Panasonic Viera, and before she hooked it to her HD receiver, she still had a dynamite picture, but when she hooked it to her HD receiver, it was mad with color and clarity and features. She said she could see pock marks and freckles in peoples faces. That is how clear this tv shows clarity.

The one thing that I am glad this television didn’t have that my RCA HDTV had was, the Convergence feature. The RCA Convergence had us having to have it repaired every year after the 2nd year. The cost of repair was $200 plus, and that is the reason I kicked my RCA out of my bedroom and soon to be leaving the house.

I will be a Panasonic fan now, and RCA can forget about me and my husband as buyers of anymore of their products. This Panasonic is worth every penny, which wasn’t much. I purchased mine on Sams Club web site and used the Click and Pull feature and was given the online price of $797.00 and I went to the store and paid there. The in store price at Sams for this same tv is $1198.00.

The Panasonic Viera 50 inch with 720p which is the pixels, is alright with me and I will be buying more tv’s for other rooms in my home. I didn’t know how good watching tv was, and I didn’t know all this time, that I had been watching a dead tv until I got my Panasonic Plasma.

Buy this tv and you won’t be sorry, and the sound is amazing and the features are too numerous to tell you here.

5 Stars Beautiful TV for an Amazing Price!!!
Wow, is all I can say for the price and quality of this product. I’m very happy.

3 Stars Panasonic viera
I purchased this to replace my 36″ sony xbr—-Certaintly the price was a key factor-I paid $774 which was fine but the set does not have the picture quality I had expected–The old sony picture was clearer and crisper-

The hi definition channels are teriffic but your everyday ones are only ordinary-You get what you pay for and for the money it is fine but next time I will spend more and get the quality of picture I want

5 Stars Nice tv at a great price
Had to replace our 50″ rear projection Toshiba which cost us about $1500 with this 50″ wide screen plasma. Years ago plasma was out of sight expensive. Now this 720p HD wide screen cost us just over half of the original big screen tv. I hooked up an hd over the air antenna and the picture is fantastic. I won’t pay for the extra for hd digital from Directv but the standard digital picture is, while not up the standards of hd, still very good. Better than the Toshiba I replaced and good enough for most stuff. The Toshiba was an HD tv, at 1080i and this 720p is better, which you’d expect. At about 10 feet away the picture is very, very good. The set with an upgrade dvd has a wonderful picture. I’m not sure why you’d pay more for a tv. Maybe you’re a videophile. Maybe so. For my money, this set by Panasonic is a great value with a no compromise picture. It is true that the set’s sound needs to be supplemented if you want great sound with your movies. I recommended Panasonic and this 720p 50″ hd tv.

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