Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V4100 40" HDTV LCD TV

I consider myself an experienced Home Theater connoisseur who is very critical of the equipment I buy and what I recommend to others.

When it came time to retiring my Mother's 26" CRT my brothers and I decided to buy her first flat panel.  Actually, for me it was my first flat panel as well since I am currently still watching 1080p DLP.

So, for the very first time I found myself a bit uneducated between buying an LCD and a PLASMA.  Since I run a Home Theater website I go to electronic shows every year and see both plasmas and LCD televisions side-by-side.  I always thought they looked good, but never got a real education in the true differences.

Since my Mother watches television in a sunken living room with windows I thought an LCD set would be really good for her.  They are supposed to perform better in brighter rooms.  Plus, I was afraid to go PLASMA for fear that she might create burn-in if she was not careful with what she watched.

I went with the Sony KDL-41V4100.  Thought it was the best bang for the buck.  First, it's got the Sony stamp on it and the BRAVIA engine that really cleans up standard definition signals. 

Upon setting up the Sony LCD and turning it on, I was surprised to see how good the picture actually looked, particularly black levels.   Now LCD is not supposed to recreate black levels very well, but from what I saw on this display, I was rather amazed.
Sound output from this unit was also impressive from this very stylish television.

The problems began as I watched more material.   I started seeing jagged action in fast-moving images.  Once I saw it, I was able to continue seeing it and it really began bothering me.  Apparently, this is a common problem with LCD unless you go with the W series. Additionally, the moment I move to side seating in my viewing area the picture quality degraded.  As has been reported, LCD quality degrades as you move out of direct view.

Additionally, the TV came out of the box defective.  There was a permanent white blotch on the screen that appeared when the set was powered on and anytime there was blackness in the picture (such as changing inputs).  Found out this defect is caused by styrofoam or some other object pressing against the screen during shipping.

Then there were the numerous Internet reports about "sparkling" and "cloud" issues on the Sony LCD displays.  Do a Google search and you will see what I mean.

I really wanted to stay with Sony and LCD -- especially since it was going to be in the delicate hands of my Mother. But you know what?  Once you get a defective set and see problems in the picture quality you don't want to go back.
So, I am moving on to PLASMA despite the drawbacks with that format.  Actually, PLASMA gives you the best black levels as well as superior color reproduction.  LCD comes close, but not quite.   You also get a wide viewing angle.
The only drawback with PLASMA is that you have to baby it for a while.  It needs to be broken in slowly and you have to be careful about keeping static images on the screen.  Of course, everyone is saying image burn-in on PLASMA is a thing of the past, but it pays to be careful nonetheless.

Sorry, but this expert was not convinced that LCD provides the best picture possible which is what I was striving for.  Sony also has some issues to resolve with this particular series that doesn't begin or end with my experience.  Again, do a search and you will see others have issues as well.