After paying a visit to the local brick and mortar stores I found little comfort in their expertise and certainly no comparison in the PURCHASE PRICE. Add to the total the 8.25% sales tax in our community (roughly $200 more) and another $75 deliver fee and Amazon became a no brainer.

Like virtually everyone else I mentally suffered over whether or not to buy this particular MODEL and whether I should buy it “on-line.” The thought of purchasing something this expensive without a “store-front” that I could run to and secure help seemed terrifying.

When the delivery men arrived I was very concerned that they might not deliver it to our basement. But both men were very polite, carried it down and set it up. They even took the cardboard and wrappings with them. I did give them a small “tip for what I felt was going the extra mile. When they left the driver said “Please call us if not any reason the set has an issue while under warrenty. We will pick it up for exchange or service for no fee.” Wow!

I love this set. Having spent only a couple of hours with it I can state it is well worth the money. Perhaps the gadget freaks will find the LCD black not as full as the plasma but it works for me. The sound system was also a very pleasant surprise. I had considered purchasing the add on stereo system but for the moment what comes in the TV is very adequate.

Even if you have an existing DVD player do consider purchasing the Sony DVD NS700H player with HDMI & upscaling (plus hdmi cable) (about $72 from Amazon. Playing my “old” dvd discs are really very acceptable with this technology. Because of this I plan to wait before purchasing a Blueray player/recorder until the price comes down.

I did not purchase the extended warranty. Only time will tell if this is the right purchase but given the fact that I own only ONE warranty (my laptop) I know I am ahead even if I have a problem after a year. My other Sony sets (not LCDs) ran over 10 years with never a problem.

All in all this purchase has been a better return than any of my recent stock purchases

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I spent many moths reading up on LCD and Plasma HDTVs and visiting every local showroom multiple times. Also reading all the posts on AVS for every TV of interest. I had held of purchasing a TV because I felt the 120Hz sets were likely to be the first ones I would consider due to motion blur. Those came out and I started doing live compares and reading the posts and reviews on various sites. It became apparent that a) the non-120Hz sets are doing very well with motion blur these days and b) 120Hz doesn’t really help with motion blur to any noticeable extent (but adds a lot to the price).

I argued with myself for a long time but decided even though 120Hz felt like “insurance” on image quality there just wasn’t evidence to really support it. I looked at Sharp, Samsung etc. as well as comparing the 52″ W3000 and XBR4. I ultimately settled on the W3000 from a local store so I could return it if I was disappointed after viewing it. I never once considered returning this thing as the picture quality is phenominal (on HD and good quality SD feeds). No clouding, no banding, no dead pixels, nor any of the other horror stories you read about in reviews on every brand.

As one review I read some time ago said, the PQ on these sets is so high you can find yourself glued to the set watching some show that is of absolutely no interest to you but which has great HD imagery. I’ve kept following AVS posts on the main brands I considered and on the whole the W3000 maintains a strong positive set of feedback. I recommend it without hesitation. I have my paired with a Toshiba A20 for 1080/24p output and it is a great and troublefree combination.

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1080p, v1.3 HDMI, fantastic picture, all the latest technologies and it’s a Sony. Nothing much else to say but this TV is awesome. You won’t be disappointed. My buddy has a Pioneer 50″ 1080p plasma that costs almost twice as much and this LCD blows it away in picture quality, life like color reproduction and doesn’t show any reflections like the plasma definately does. I also own a Mitsubishi 52″ 1080p DLP and did not think the picture could get any better and I was wrong, way wrong. This TV has a phenomenal picture that I have yet to see on any other TV that I have looked at.

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Summary: Buying a large screen LCD TV online can be daunting. Luckily, I’ve gotten a great holiday deal from an online merchant back in Dec. 2007 and CevaEagle Global delivered it quickly and without damage.

Like most informed consumers, I did lots of research online and visited local stores to compare different brands. I decided on mid-tier models for heavy-duty family room viewing and narrowed down to the Sony KDL-52W3000 and Sharp LC-52D92U. The Sharp has better contrast, black shade levels, and 120Hz refresh rate while the Sony has better color and stock audio. The Sony won because I use stock audio 75% of the time and costs less.

My KDL-52W3000 is connected to Directv HD DVR (HDMI), Sony Blu-ray Disc player (HDMI), Panasonic 5.1 HTIB (component and optical digital audio), and Wii(component). Satellite HD (1080i-interlaced) are crisp and detailed (can see one strand of hair sticking out on newscaster) Blu-ray discs (1080p-progressive) are just eye-poppingly, retina-scorchingly sharp. Stock audio sounds good set on Dynamic with S-Force Front Surround. However, not quite as good as the HTIB (which I’ll upgrade soon for even better sound). My kids and I are happy with the Wii’s 480p resolution set to Vivid. The downside to all this HD is all the SD(standard definition) channels look blurry but can be somewhat enhanced by using Vivid picture setting.

Being an avid NBA and NCAA hoops fan, I was a bit concerned with the lack of 120Hz refresh rate. However, I initially noticed some occasional blurring during quick movements and turning off Noise Reduction and MPEG noise reduction has made it a non-issue. The satellite HD-DVR is set to 16:9 standard format while the TV is set to Full (wide mode). This stretches out most SD channels but the HD channels are all in correct proportion with the occasional boxes on the sides (set by station). The Lack of LED backlight means some uneven lighting during dark scenes and fading to black. Turning off “Gamma” and “Clear White” in advanced picture settings has helped minimize occasional graininess / screen noise with varying shades of black. Also, LEDs last longer than fluorescent backlight but by that time I’ve already upgraded.

By no means a perfect large screen LCD HDTV, the KDL-52W3000 delivers a powerful punch with excellent value, above-average picture and sound, plenty of connectivity options, and lots of setting options for those who like to tinker with electronics to set personal preferences.

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From the Manufacturer
In addition, Deep Color input capability works with the 10-bit processor and panel to deliver 64 times the level of color expression versus current 8-bit systems. Wrap all of this up with an elegant a new brushed metal picture frame design and there’s nothing like W-Series HDTV’s. Sony’s BRAVIA W series Full HD 1080p televisions take performance to the next level with advanced HDMI v1.3 features such as x.v.Color which greatly broadens the color space input capabilities to include 1.8 times as many natural colors as existing HDTV signals.

1920 x 1080 Panel Resolution
1920 x 1080 Panel Resolution — When it comes to high-definition TV the pinnacle of performance is achieved by using 1920 x 1080 display panels. And BRAVIA W Series televisions have them. Full HD 1920 x 1080 panel resolution with over 2 million pixels 5(more than twice that of 720p HDTV) is exactly what you need to reproduce the 1080p content that can be delivered by our cutting edge 1080p Blu-ray disc player.

Full HD 1080
With Sony BRAVIA W Series HDTVs, Full HD 1080 means 1920 x 1080 pixels5 and 1080p video inputs. There are a lot of ways to define high-definition but BRAVIA Full HD means you’re getting the best resolution that high-definition has to offer consumers. Your lifestyle demands the best in high-definition and with BRAVIA Full HD 1080 products you get it.

10-bit Processing and 10-bit Display
Sony follows 10-bit processing with a 10-bit panel, allowing 64 times the levels of color expression than an 8-bit panel. While it’s great to state that a TV is capable of creating billions of colors it’s a whole lot better when you have a display that can actually display them. That’s the logic behind Sony’s 10-bit processor and 10-bit display. What that translates to is smoother transitions from color to color and subtle color changes faithfully reproduced.

Live Color Creation System featuring WCG-CCFL
Uncompromised picture quality starts with combining carefully chosen components and circuits to optimize system quality, among these are the color creation and processing functions. Decades of television know how allow us to realize that an LCD TV is more than just the panel; it’s actually a system. That’s what Live Color Creation is all about. It starts with the BRAVIA Engine EX video processing system, which enhances primary colors and corrects half-tone colors for natural overall color. Next, a WCG-CCFL backlight using Sony’s phosphor formula delivers a specific spectrum of light designed to work with our specially formulated color filters. The combination of these three components creates deep, deep blues and natural greens for overall colors that draw you right into the picture.

BRAVIA Engine EX Full Digital Video Processor
The BRAVIA Engine EX full digital video processing system is based on Sony’s famous BRAVIA Engine video processing system.

Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) Function
Sony’s Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) builds on our excellent on-contrast ratio performance of 1,800:11. A Dynamic Contrast Ratio of up to 16,000:12 is achieved by using real-time image processing to adjust the contrast along with optimizing backlight levels. But rather than focus on the “numbers”, Sony focuses on actual picture performance avoiding exaggerated blacks where detail can be lost. ACE translates to blacker blacks in darker scenes, as well as better shadow detail in other scenes for a difference that you can see.

x.v.Color technology
BRAVIA HDTV’s performance has now advanced to the point that the color range can be defined by limitations in the original video source, rather than the TV. Thanks to the adoption of a newly approved international color standard called xvYCC (an option in the HDMI v1.3 spec and which Sony participated in creating), the color space has been greatly expanded. 1.8 times as many natural colors as existing HDTV signals will now be faithfully reproduced. x.v.Color is the name Sony has chosen to promote video products that include xvYCC capability. x.v.Color enabled products can now offer more accurate color reproduction and natural colors.

24p True Cinema (24p Input Capability)
Sony wisely takes advantage of this by including 24p output capability on their BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc player. It makes sense that select 2007 BRAVIA TVs will include 24p input capability. The benefit? Images are smooth and natural looking. Once you experience 24p video it will be hard to view video without it. Many movies are filmed at 24 frames per second (fps) and prime time TV programs are video taped at 24p. Seizing on an opportunity, some studios are taking a purist approach and encoding high definition video content such as Blu-ray Disc in 24p.

DMex - Ready (Digital Module Extender)
Sony’s Digital Media Extender (DMex) ready televisions offer a digital connection path for the addition of the optional modules like the new BRAVIA Internet Video Link. 6 With innovative DMex expansion capabilities featuring the Emmy award winning XMB user interface, select 2007 models are not merely TVs, but powerful entertainment platforms that not only meet your needs today, but expand easily to meet tomorrow’s needs as well.

Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface
The on-screen display comes to life by pushing the XMB menu button on the remote. Navigation through the menus is smooth and fast. When was the last time you saw an on-screen display that was fast, fun and easy to use? Sony’s award-winning Xross Media Bar (pronounced Cross) provides a logical and fast way to access set up menus, user controls, and more.

BRAVIA Theatre Sync technology

BRAVIA Theatre Sync will be included on select BRAVIA Theatre home A/V systems and components. This useful function reduces the hassle and time consuming job of powering up, routing signals, etc. to the simple push of one button. Sony created BRAVIA Theatre Sync to go beyond basic digital audio and video transmission. Based on the HDMI-CEC function. 8 Sony calls this nifty feature BRAVIA Theatre Sync. Here’s how it works. Want to play a DVD on your Sony A/V system? Easy, just push PLAY on the BRAVIA HDTV remote and everything is taken care of for you. Even when the system is off! Want to change from TV sound to digital surround sound through your Sony BRAVIA Theatre A/V system? Just one push of the Theater Sound button on the remote and voila, surround sound through your system. Want to power down everything once you’ve finished enjoying it? Push one button and the TV and A/V system powers down. BRAVIA Theatre Sync helps make things a whole lot easier to operate.

S-Force Front Surround
Unlike some other “virtual surround” technologies, sound does not need to be bounced off of side walls or other surfaces to hear three-dimensional sound. No matter what the size or shape of the room it’s possible to hear sounds from behind you. Built around a sophisticated set of Sony algorithms, the S-Force Front Surround enhancement function generates realistic surround sound from the two speakers in the TV.

Product Description
Sony’s BRAVIA W series Full HD 1080p televisions take performance to the next level with leval. Advanced HDMI v1.3 features such include x.v.Color, which includes1.8 times as many natural colors as existing HDTV signals, and Deep Color input capability that works with the 10-bit processor and panel to deliver 64 times the level of color expression versus current 8-bit systems.

The Bravia’s 1920 x 1080 panel resolution with over 2 million pixels 5(more than twice that of 720p HDTV) is ideal to reproduce the 1080p native resolution content that can be delivered by the 1080p Blu-ray disc player. Sony’s Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) builds on our excellent on-contrast ratio performance of 2,000:1. This model is also Sony’s Digital Media Extender (DMex) ready, with a digital connection path for the addition of the optional modules like the new BRAVIA Internet Video Link. ATSC and Clear QAM tuner.

x.v.Color Technology for more accurate color reproduction and natural colors 24p True Cinema output capability Sony’s Digital Media Extender (DMex) ready Bravia TheaterSync HDTV multifunction remote S-Force Front Surround enhancement function Programmable timer and sleep timer 5 analog audio inputs, 1 digital input, 1 output, 3 composite video inputs, 2 componant, 1 s-video 1 headphone output Dimensions (w/pedestal) - 15.1 x 50.3 x 34.4 ( 384 x 1278 x 874 mm) Dimensions (w/out pedestal) - 4.8 x 50.3 x 32.8 (123 x 1278 x 832 mm) 1 year limited warranty parts and labor

Sony Bravia L-Series KDL-32L4000 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
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