Sony KDF-E50A10

Pros: Price and size (compact for its screen size)

Cons: The letterbox double line is driving me nuts too!

Summary: Paid $2,600 CAD for this TV (that’s about $2,200 USD) from a local TV shop. First impressions were quite positive. Basic satellite signal (not HD) looks respectable. Upscaling DVD player with an HDMI cable looks great. The first DVD I watched was the Eagles Farewell I which was filmed in 16:9. Totally impressed with the picture quality. Then I popped in a widescreen movie. Since most theatrical releases are filmed in a format that is even wider than 16:9 you get letterbox above and below. That’s when it appeared, the dreaded double line. The first two and last two rows of pixels in the image area seem to display the appropriate color, but several shades lighter than the rest of the image area. If however the scene contains black then the pixels correctly display as black. That’s the best I can describe it, strange problem but clearly noticeable. I called Sony service and they put me in touch with a technician who has not heard of the problem but is coming out tomorrow to take a look. For the guy a few reviews back, if I learn anything I will post an update, please do the same if you learn anything from Sony. I can’t recommend this TV until this problem is resolved its just too distracting. However it is definitely the TV as I have used a different DVD player and managed to find letterboxed programming on my satellite…same problem. Zooming the picture is the only way to avoid the problem. But watching a widescreen movie in zoom mode just doesn’t seem right to me especially given that this set is a major investment.