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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Good Value...Not the XBR4"
Pros: Light Weight, Sleek, Easy-to-use-Menu, Good picture
Cons: Awkward Cinemotion, Screen Jutter, Backlight is all or nothing
Summary: I would like caveat this and saying that I have a 52" Sony Bravia XBR4 for our family room, and I will try to keep from comparing them unreasonably...
I purchased this 40" Bravia 40V4100 for our bedroom yesterday from Best Buy (included PS3 and Service Install--which I waived anyway).
First overall impression was how light and sleek it was...the XBR is a bit bulkier and certainly heavier due to size...my wife and I easily carried this up 2 flights of stairs without issue.
Hook up was easy, and having 4 HDMI ports (3 back x 1 side) is really nice as well...if you have more than 4 HDMI things running into a TV, you probably shouldn't have a 40" Bravia...you should have something much bigger and better.
Turned it on and all was good. At first, the center of the screen was blurry, but I chalked that up to the Backlight getting warmed up...it did go away after a few minutes. The TV took about 1 hour or so to actually present a decent picture as well (almost looked static-like on HD channels, but that slowly went away).
Hooked up the PS3, and popped in a blu-ray. Good picture, but nowhere close to the XBR4. The V4100 series uses Cinemotion, which helps smooth transitions. It also accepts 1080p/24fps, which PS3 puts out. However, I would say that my Samsung BD-P1400 and XBR4 puts out a better upscaled DVD picture than the PS3 + V4100 utilizing 1080p/24fps.
I will give it a few days, and hopefully the break-in will allow it to be sharper, but I did already notice the cinemotion on the V4100 is not nearly as smooth. The opening scene to "Night at the Museum" is my test bed. On the XBR4, the opening scene looks like you are actually inside the museum. The characters are so life like, it is almost disturbing...Definitely NOT the case with the V4100.
Also, backlight adjustments go in large incriments. Changing from 2 to 3 makes it MUCH brighter...I found it hard to settle on a backlight/brightness strength...
Overall, average to slightly above average first impression. I would offer this up:
If you are looking to spend somewhere between $1000-1400 for a 40" TV, this would be a great choice. If you are looking for a larger screen in the same range, Phillips, Samsung and Insignia would be some decent choices.
If you are willing to spend the money, and are shooting for straight up quality, go with the XBR4/5 series. I'm half tempted to spend the extra $800 to upgrade--the other half of my temptation is tempered by my wife
Will add an update if my opinion changes significantly.
- 1 reply to this review
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I will agree with 2 things in this review. The backlight does adjust in large increments and the cinemotion can be strange at times. But, I had 2 XBR4's that I returned before I got this TV because both of them had VERY uneven backlights. To the point that it looked like permanent clouds on the screen. Also, the 120hz featured in the XBR4 is not perfected by any means and more often than not, it would leave traces of whatever was moving in the picture/movie.
I have 2 of the V-series and neither one has uneven backlight issues. The picture on the V4100 series is much better than the XBR4 in my opinion when it comes to viewing angles. Where the XBR would wash out if looking at it from the side or an angle, the V-series stays consistant with color and black levels.
Keep in mind, The V4100 series is 2 years newer than the XBR4.
Where to buy
Sony Bravia KDL-40V4100:
$788.88
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$788.88 | Yes |
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