Sony Grand WEGA KF-60WE610 60 in. HDTV-Ready LCD TV

I've been meaning to write this review for a few weeks now, but when I saw another review that I didn't feel gave this set a fair shake, I figured I'd better bite the bullet and toss in my two cents and what I feel is a great product.

I've been looking to upgrade my bargain basement 32" RCA CRT for almost two years now. My wife and I knew we'd be moving soon, so I kept the money in the bank figuring I'd better wait to see what kind of floorplan / lighting the new house had before commiting to any specific big screen. As it turned out, that's one of the wiser decisions I've made in recent history.

While waiting to move, I kept researching the new technologies (Plasma, LCD, DLP, Projection, LCos, etc), following all the techno-babble discussions on the invaluable avsforum.com site. In October, the time came to move and I began shopping in earnest for a new tv. My only requirements were that it was HDTV capable, played "Standard Definition" material reasonably well, and that the screen be borderline obnoxious, as I really enjoy the movie theatre feel when watching DVD.

I was weary of LCD technology, as the last LCD models, in my opinion, were decidely subpar - with unrealistic color, horrible black levels, and screens that made it difficult to see in any lighting. I had basically ruled this technology out ... until I got to the showrooms and noticed something peculiar - the new Rear Projection LCDs (Sony's KF50/60-WE610, Hitachi's 50/60v500, etc) were an absolutely incredible advancement from even last years models.

I probably looked at every 50 & 60" set available at the end of October - particularly the LCDs (Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic) and the DLPs (RCA, Samsung). I even considered the absolutely mammoth RP CRTs. To be fair, just about every set had pros the others didn't, and cons the others were better at. It basically boiled down to a matter of what just "felt right" to me, and for me, it was the Sony KF60-WE610 LCD. Mind you, I generally shy away from Sony products, as I usually have found them overpriced and irritating (especially re: their inclusion of proprietary technologies, such as memorystick flash memory, rather than support for industry standards).... but the KF60-WE610 was so superior for my needs, I had to give it a chance.

Anyone in the market for a big screen needs to first do their homework on the technologies (LCD, DLP, LCos) in general. LCD sets generally suffer from poorer black levels and brightness than DLP sets, but have better color, no burn in, a cheaper price tag and lack "the rainbow effect" which some people notice in certain situations when viewing single chip DLP sets. I liked the Samsung DLP, but I was one of the few who noticed the rainbow effect right away (it looked king of like someone sprayed Windex on the screen and didn't wipe it off), and that factor alone kept me from buying it (I understand its only a very small minority of people who notice this, so this certainly may not affect you or anyone in your family).

The LCD sets each had their own pros and cons. It was hard for me to find a Panasonic LCD, so I concentrated on the Sony and Hitachi models. I thought Hitachi's styling, menu system, zoom features, remote and cabinet were superior to Sony's, but felt that Sony's picture quality, number and configuration of inputs, and built-in speaker quality tipped the scales in the Sony's features.

When I wanted to compare the units side by side, a very helpful salesperson at a regional retailer actually had the brand spanking new 60" Sony GWIII dragged out of the back (where it literally had just been delivered), and hooked it up on the sales floor with me watching. The TV was set up in about 3 minutes, and right out of the box the Sony's PQ was impressive. It's HD quality was absolutely jaw dropping, but the 50" Hitachi I was comparing it to did a nice job, too. For me, what really sealed the deal was the quality of the Sony image when playing source material less than "HD" quality (such as 95% of cable programming, or DVDs) When displaying 4:3 material, the Sony could basically function as 42" standard TV, with image quality equivalent to the CRT I was replacing ... the Hitachi's SD image was substantially worse, in my opinion, with a very grainy and artifact filled picture. Since we're still a couple of years away from mandatory HD broadcasting, I wanted a unit that could "bridge the gap".

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase. Thanks to a great salesman, who gave me a great deal on the set, I've been able to enjoy a bigger screen and better quality than I dared hope when starting to shop. In fact, my salesman was so good, he even warned me against buying the overpriced SONY stand, and told me to wait 2 weeks until a great new Bush manufactured stand (which perfectly matched the KF60WE610) hit the streets.

Truth be told, advancements in HDTV technology over the last year are just amazing, and for the average consumer (who can't afford $15,000 plasma displays), there are a bunch of great options coming out all the time. Despite all of these reviews and all the information on the net, the only way you can really evaluate these sets is to sit in the showroom and watch them, deciding for yourself what looks best and best fits your lifestyle.