Anyone got a Bravia V series 32' or 40'

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Anyone got a Bravia V series 32" or 40"

geekiegeek

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#12659 29-Mar-2007 15:57

Looking at buying one. I sit about 3-4 mtrs from where the screen will be so my first question is will a 40" be ok at that distance? (Currently have a 32" crt) its really hard to tell in a shop because of the large room all around you. I have tried standing back and it looks ok (but that was with a HD signal being pumped through it).

Secondly I want to run Vista media center via VGA, anyone found any gotchas with this?

And lastly what does sky digital look like on one of these? I dont really trust looking at them in the shop.

Thanks.

cyril7

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#65461 29-Mar-2007 16:09

Personally I still concider that panel LCD's including the Sony Flagship are the poorest of pictures out there. They simply dont deal well with anything but good bit rate mpeg souces, so that means Sky even Freeview will look smudgy and processed.

If you have the room to accomodate a bit of depth a better option is the Sony SXRD rear pro. Both projection LCD panels (ie little 1"dia type) and lcos panels as used in the SXRD dont suffer from the same issues due to the slow response and nature of large panel LCD's. If your budget cant make an SXRD then there are still some good deals going on Sony 3LCD (which Lcos SXRDs replace). These dont have quite the same pic quality as the SXRD's, but are still way ahead of panel LCD.

I understand others think the sun shines out of LCD panels, but my view is as above.

Cyril

sbiddle

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#65462 29-Mar-2007 16:15

There are a few online calculators that will give you suggested viewing diatances for screens including this one here. This shows 10ft (3m) as the ideal distance.

This is considered to be the distance that you will not be able to tell the difference between a SD and HD picture so viewing distance for SD stuff could be a little bit more.

Super8

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#65483 29-Mar-2007 18:22

I've got the Series II S series and my viewing distance is 4m from a 32" screen being fed component by MySky.
Never had the option to go larger due to WAF. LCD is OK to unwatchable. I've never really been that happy with the matte-sheen look to rear-pro sets, has it improved and viewing angle?. If I had the choice again I'd go plasma. I found the 40" LCD sets looked worse than their 32" siblings or maybe in a shop viewing environment you're closer to a bigger screen and notice them more.

Sports looks dreadful, go to the wide shot on rugby and it is truly horrible. Disney Playhouse can be blocky mess but the kids don't seem to notice. The wierd thing is divx via s-video form XBMC looks suprisingly good...? Have been disappointed by DVD playback, thought it would be better. It has taken quite awhile for me to become critical of the picture. i put this down to buying the TV during daylight saving and not actually paying attention to now LOL

If you're 4m away from the set, is spending extra on a V series going to be even that noticeable? Go with a seller that allows you to do a return but there is somewhat of an adjustment period to get use to LCD if you're coming from a CRT.

Oh Sony HR32 how I miss you...

paulspain

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#65538 29-Mar-2007 23:47

I'd personally recommend looking at a DLP XGA projector if it suits your environment. On a light coloured wall with no direct sunlight the picture looks considerably better than LCD - and no problems with reflectiveness, etc.

Paul Spain
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#65553 30-Mar-2007 08:41

I have a Sony 42" 3LCD rear pro. Personaly I think it is a much better picture then most of the LCD 42" TV's out there. It seems to handle SD TV very well and of course looks great with HD.

The only grip I have is its contrast ratio. It just cant do black. It is fine as long as your a not watching a movie with the room blacked out but you do notice light bleed through when I a darkened room. However for the picture quality for the rest I can live with that

If you can spare a couple hundred mm then I would suggest checking them out. Hell of a lot more bang for your buck.

As for viewing angles the only angle it really cant handle is looking down at it.

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stevenz

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#65711 31-Mar-2007 12:41

I've got a V series Bravia. Non-HD signals don't look too flash, but if you're feeding 720p or better into it, it looks fantastic. 40" is fine up to about 5 meters.

VGA input works perfectly. Only 1360x768 though. DVI to HDMI works ok, but has a few niggling issues.

If you wait a few weeks and don't mind forking out a bit extra, they're going to start offering a free PS3 when you purchase one of the X-series Bravias.

Running widescreen Sky into one with a component signal looks pretty good, but even the good scaler in the Bravia can't make up for the fact it's still only a 576i signal leaving the transmitter.

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geekiegeek

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#65974 2-Apr-2007 13:20

Thanks all, I brought myself a 40" V series on Saturday (comes with a free HDD recorder!) and it looks great. Plan is to sell the recorder as I have an MCE box for recording and buy a HDMI upscaling DVD player.

stevenz

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#66015 2-Apr-2007 20:04

Man that guy in your avatar is a creepy SOB...

Have a look over on avforums - there's a thread in there somewhere with some good calibration tips for that screen. Makes DVDs look a bit more "right".

You should be happy with it, nice screens!

Mik_Man

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#66345 4-Apr-2007 20:57

Great pix of Anton (Ronnie) Dixion who is now staying at one of Her Majesty's finest resorts......