Sony Grand WEGA KDF-42WE655 42 in. HDTV LCD TV

I went through the long and confusing selection process that most big screen TV buyers suffer through. Plasma looks great but what about burn-in and durability? DLP is fantastic, but what about the rainbow effect and headaches? LCD...poor black rendition? The bottom line is that all three major competing technologies have their own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Budget and size considerations are what will finally drive you to a particular TV selection.

In my particular case, I have a small living room and didn't want the set to overpower the room. Viewing distances will range from 6 to 10 feet and I thought anything bigger than 42-46" would be rather uncomfortable to look at for extended periods of time. The rule of thumb is that your sitting distance from the screen should be 2 to 3 times the size of the screen. So, a 42" screen yields an ideal distance of 7 to 10.5 feet. I have found this estimate to be fairly accurate when viewing these big TV screens.

I looked at many types, sizes, and brands of sets before deciding on the Sony. I originally wanted a plasma, and many of the plasma sets I looked at had superb pictures. A few did not, but I don't know how much of that was the result of the sets being badly set up. SD (Standard Definition) quality was quite good on the ED sets I observed, but not that impressive on the HD units. ED sets did deliver good HD pictures although, contrary to what I had read, they were noticeably less sharp than their HD counterparts. Why didn't I get a plasma? Because a decent ED (Enhanced Definition) set goes for $2500 , while most HDs were well over $3500. That, plus the potential for burn-in, ghosting, heavy weight, heat, and an unknown tube life, scared me away.

I was very impressed by the DLP sets I looked at. Reasonable prices for a full HD TV, good pictures, and compact sizes made this seem like an attractive choice. I think DLP is a good choice for many people, but many of the better sets I considered have had flawed service histories. There have also been many reports of users being effected by a "rainbow effect" and getting headaches from the spinning mirror used to generate the image. Most of the DLP units I checked out had relatively poor SD pictures, although HD programming was brilliant.

After several weeks of searching for the "ideal" TV, I came across a Sony 42" Wega that was on display at a shop. The picture was bright and clear, the colors well saturated, and the sound impressive. I was also surprised to see a fairly good SD picture on it when the input was switched off HD. I made my decision after seeing that set, still not knowing how it would look in my house with my own setup. A $2,000 gamble.

When I first set up the Sony KDF-42WE655, I only had the standard definition signals coming in off my DISH non-HD satellite box. I was relieved to see a really pleasing picture on that 42" screen. Some channels were crisp and bright, others not so good. This was the fault of the broadcasters, not the TV, but most SD was about as good as my old Hitachi 27" CRT set. The set has three viewing modes, Vivid, Standard, and Pro. You'll want to change the factory presets as soon as possible, since they're likely to be totally unsuited for your taste.

My HD satellite receiver got here a few days ago. I immediately hooked its DVI output to the Sony's HDMI input with a Monster cable. The Sony does not have a DVI input, so a conversion cable will be needed...not a big deal and the same price as an HDMI/HDMI cable. HDMI is set up on input 7 only and the picture quality is staggering when first seen. The HD picture on this TV is as good as anything I've seen, including plasma and DLP. Colors are natural, contrast is excellent, whites are brilliant, and blacks are well rendered in spite of LCD's reputation for weak blacks. On lower quality broadcasts however, you may see a loss of detail in dark, black areas of the picture.

The sound on this TV is quite good. It offers three modes...Standard, TruSurround, and Simulated Surround. All sound very nice, but only Standard mode will enable automatic volume control. One quirk, and one which some other sets also have, is that you can not use external speakers unless you first disable the TV's internal speakers. This has to be done through the on-screen menu. It's a minor nuisance, but only takes a few seconds to do once you're familiar with the menu choices.

The remote is big and complex. It's not all that user friendly, but it does control everything on the set. Except when I need to access certain menu functions or settings, I find it much easier to just use the remote that came with my DISH receiver for everything.

When I first set up my HD receiver on input 7, I couldn't get the TV to turn on and default to the live input. It would default to Channel 3 and give me no picture. I would then have to scroll through all the inputs, one at a time, until I came to input 7. Whenever I turned the set off it would go back to channel 3. I emailed Sony's tech support and they told me this was how the set worked and I would have to scroll through the inputs whenever I turned the set on. I called Sears, where I bought this set, and told them that if this is how this set worked, I wanted a refund. They agreed this was incredibly stupid and suggested I try turning on the satellite before the set. They thought this might let the set recognize the live input. I also called Sony's tech support line and was told that this set should remember where the HDMI input was. The Sears suggestion turned out to be right. After I turned on the set with the satellite already on, it remembered the correct input and has been fine since. So, this set does have some sort of memory, but it is not described at all in the user manual.

The manual is well written and gives all the basic information you'll need to get this set up and running, but don't look for any technical details. It's adequate, but expect to make a few calls to Sony to get answers to some questions that may not be covered in the manual. In my limited experience, emailing Sony will result in very poor information. Calling seems to get someone who knows what they're talking about.

The Sony is quiet in its normal operation. The only time you'll hear the fan is at start up and when turning off the set. Even then, the fan is fairly quiet. Viewing angles are okay with this LCD rear projection set. Side to side, you'll have no problems at all. Vertically however, the viewing angles do become restricted and you have to be fairly even with the center of the screen to avoid blacking out the picture. From the center, you have about 3 or 4 feet either way to play with. In actual use, this isn't much of an issue since most people will be sitting down to watch the TV anyway. Be sure, however, that your TV stand is a compatible height. Note that this limitation of viewing angles applies to all rear projection TVs.

This set is fairly light and can easily be moved by two adults. It is wider than many other 42" set though, so it may not fit into many entertainment units. The speakers are side mounted, front facing, and increase the width of this unit to nearly 48".

After a somewhat rocky start, I am totally pleased with this set. The HD and SD pictures are as good as anything I've seen, including plasma and DLP. Plasma has a much better viewing angle, but in practice this means very little. Sound is excellent and it has enough inputs to keep anyone happy. The built in HD tuner is a bonus if you live in an area where you can get off the air HD programming. Unfortunately, I can't. For the $2,000 or so that these sets are selling for now, I can't imagine a better deal for a high quality HDTV.