almabes's Full Review: Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-V32XBR1 32 in. HDTV LCD TV
My wife finally let me upgrade our Sony KV-27FV17 main television in our living room. I had been dropping hints that we should upgrade to HDTV, and she finally said "Hey, let's go to HHGregg and look at TV's". The set had to fit in the cabinet I purchased right before we got married, so that limited the size of the set to an absolute maximum width of 33 1/2".
I have purchased, or influenced the purchase of five Sony TVs over the last 6 years. Sony televisions typically just have the best picture quality out there. The KDL-V32XBR1 is no exception. It by far has the clearest, most vibrant picture, with no ghosting during the fast-motion scenes. Sony has done an excellent job with this set. The picture quality rivals any tube, or plasma set out there. Black is actually black, not gray, as you will see on cheaper sets. The reds look very red, not washed out gray-red.
An often overlooked item is the manual that comes with the set. The manual is excellent, as I would expect with a TV this expensive. It is well organized, and explains everything clearly. Sony devotes 21 pages to explaining how to connect almost every possible combination of external equipment up to the set.
This set has more inputs than I'll probably ever use.
3 Component video inputs (2 rear, one on left side)
3 Composite video inputs (2 rear, one on left side)
1 HDMI input with analog audio in (on rear adaptable to DVI)
1 S-Video (on rear)
1 VGA PC input (on rear) with 1/8" stereo audio input
It also has a USB port on the side which will allow you to view jpeg and mpeg files from Sony cameras, and other devices. Sony does not recommend plugging in "unsupported" devices into the TV, and doesn't publish a list of "supported" USB devices. So I plugged my Lexar 256M jumpdrive in and it worked just fine. I have also plugged in my Nikon D50, and a bunch of other USB Flash drives without any issues. I imagine any USB device that presents itself as Mass Storage will work, with only the little gripe message from the TV.
We have a DirecTV (standard definition) receiver connected to the one S-Video connection, a DVD player connected via component cables, and a VHS VCR connected via composite video to this set. The DirecTV picture looks very good, however this set is so sharp, that the digital compression artifacts are much more visible, than they were on our KV27FV17. DVDs, if well mastered, have an excellent picture. If they are poorly mastered, this set really shows it. VHS videos looked absolutely horrible, until I softened up the picture, and turned on noise filtration. One really well thought out feature this set has, is it retains a set of picture settings for each input. Your picture settings for your progressive scan DVD player won't be applied to your VHS VCR's picture, or vice versa.
Update: I finally got a chance to test the onboard speakers. I was trying to trace down a possible problem with my home theater receiver (ended up to be the ABC station that was having the sound issue), so I activated the onboard speakers. They sound remarkable, especially for a flat panel TV. So good, in fact, I had to double check and make sure my receiver was deactivated. The TruSurrond XT effect adds quite a bit of very pleasant "presence" to the audio. If I were to mount this set in the bedroom, the built-in speakers would more than suffice.
Connected the built-in ATSC (HD) tuner this weekend, and all I can say is "WOW!". The digital picture and sound is nothing short of awesome. The setup was quick and easy. I just connected the antenna, and ran the auto-program from the "Wega Gate" menu.
The remote, as I stated in the pros and cons section, I feel is a little cheesy. It looks cheap when compared to the remote supplied with my KV-27FV17. I also think its a little too long and narrow. It works like a standard Sony remote. White function buttons that light up red when pushed, or when another button is pushed let you know what device the remote is attempting to control.
The menu system on the set is very visually appealing, very well laid out, and intuitive to use. The menu system has a maximum of three levels, and no setting seems to be buried, or difficult to get to. The external input labeling is much improved from the other sets. Sony added a "Skip" label that disables the ability to directly select the input from the external inputs menu as well from cycling through it when you press the TV/video button on the remote.
Overall this is an excellent TV.
In fact, I liked this set so much, I purchased it's 40" brother after we moved to our bigger house and mounted it over the fireplace.
As of 2007 these sets are still available almost inexpensive, but are no longer bleeding edge. The XBR1 series has a native panel resolution of 1366 X 768, which means the DSP in the set will convert any incoming TV signal to 720P. In my experience, the set's DSP handles the scaling and de-interlacing much better than any DVD player, or cable box does.
Additional: Sony has identified some issues with the KDL-VNNXBR1 software on models manufactured before November 2005. Visit http://www.updatemytv.com/ to obtain the software update.
Packed with the latest technology, Sony's 32" KDL-V32XBR1 BRAVIA XBR LCD Flat Panel HDTV features the WEGA Engine system, which delivers superb pictur...More at Sony Style
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