Sony KDL-40W4000

...all in the link from Sony I posted before. I do not use all of them, but I tried the TV first with the normal SCART for about 4 weeks, before buying the '''HDMI''' cable… and I am hugely surprised too. With the SCART we thought the TV was awesome, now we have tried the HDMI, I am just speechless, the quality is so good I wonder why we didn’t buy the TV before. We have connected the Playstation and the laptop (also 1080p capable) through the HDMI ...
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'''The Sony Centre''' had only the one on display at the time, and it was more expensive.

'''Currys''' did not have it on stock and did not want to take any order or reserve, as they could not tell us if they were going to have any soon ( I personally believe they are having some kind of problem, because in that same week they closed two of the main stores in the city centre), they only offered us the TVs they had on stock, ... more

I have recently bought this TV, and I am more than amazed at the quality, it has been a great purchase, and I would recommend it to anyone.

SPECS

• 40” LCD TV
• Size 98.6 x 68.4 x 27.9 including the table stand
• 1080p
• Contrast 33000:1
• Freeview integrated
• 3 x HDMI inputs
• 2 x Scarts
• 1 x PC Input
• 1 x PCMCIA
• USB

All the complete specifications can be found in Sony’s website, here: http://www.sony.co.uk/product/t32-w-series/kdl-40w4000#pageType=TechnicalSpecs . Here you can see all the details.

MY OPINION

This TV is a 40” LCD TV. So it’s ''not plasma''. When deciding if we wanted a Plasma TV or a LCD one, we were told that it depends of the use you are going to give it. Plasma is great if you are going to watch sports or loads of images in movement, but LCD is better if you plan to play a lot with your consoles. The reasoning behind is that Plasma TVs might burn when an image is still for too long on the screen, as when you leave your “lobby screen” on when having a break from a computer game, per example, or you pause a DVD to prepare a cup of tea or answer the phone. We were also told that LCD is better for brighter rooms, while Plasma is better for darker ones. Our living room is not too bright, but as we do play a lot, we decided that the LCD was better for us.

The KDL.40W4000 is a HD (High Definition) TV, with 1080p .When searching around, we found loads of good deals for TVs with 720p / 1080i; but we finally decided to spend a little bit more and go for the 1080p. Why? Well, we don’t really change TV that often, our last TV had about 10 years, so we expect this one to last for another 10. Some companies are already offering 1080p signals (like some channels on Sky), so we would expect this technology to be more used within years. At the same time, we do have a Playstation 3, which allows us to watch Bluray disks in 1080p, and which also allows us to play some games in 1080p. So we might not use it at all times right now, but I believe than a small investment now is really worth when you divide the “extra cost” by the months you expect your TV to last. As we expect this TV to last at least 8 years, or 96 months, paying 2 more pounds a month does not seem expensive.
Be careful when shopping around and check that it says “Full HD”, and not just “HD ready”: “Full HD” means it has the 1080p, while “HD ready” means it is 720p or 1080i. For a good explanation about the differences between 720p, 1080i and 1080p you can go to CNET and check their review. As I have understood it, the resolutions that end in “p” are “progressive” and the ones that end in “i” are “interlaced”, progressive ones fill the screen in one go, while interlaced ones need two, as they actually “expand” the picture to create the same effect. However, as the interlaced ones take two steps to fill the screen to that size, the image is not as smooth as the ones that are progressive, which only use one step.
I do feel that right now you cannot really take full advantage of the 1080p unless you have a Playstation or HD TV channels available, but as technology moves really quickly I am sure within a couple of years this will be the norm, and saving a little now will mean my TV is outdated within almost months, or not giving me the full potential, so I definitely would recommend to go for the 1080p if you don’t change your TV that often.

The contrast ratio number describes the difference between blacks and whites, the higher the number, the better the quality. I was advised to try to go over 30000:1, and this TV has 33000:1, and the blacks look exactly that: black! Not dark grey or just “empty”, but blacks. However, it seems that the number is not that accurate, and it’s difficult to tell the difference sometimes. In theory, this means that the white is 33000 times brighter than the black, but some companies use this ratio to show how much “darker” the black is, instead of how much “brighter” the white is. I would not base my purchase in the contrast ratio, when other things might be more important.

This TV comes with a great Freeview ,integrated on the TV. I have to admit that I am amazed at the kind of picture I get. We had two Freeview boxes before and the quality was quite bad on our old TV, my signal is too weak and we had to buy a digital antenna in order to be able to tune the channels.
When we went to the shops, I was concerned at the image quality of the life TV; if the TV was displaying some DVD, the quality was great, while if it was displaying some TV program, the quality was quite bad and granulated. I thought that this was because of the saying “rubbish in, rubbish out” I have heard around when talking of TVs. This means that if the quality you are transferring to your TV is poor, you are going to get a magnified poor image on display. Per example, if you connect your old VHS and watch an old holiday video, this is not going to be shown as a HD BluRay on your TV just because the TV is HD, you will probably notice more the granulated textures. Well, the fact is that I expected to get a really bad quality for the Freeview, as I had already problems. However… wow! I was shocked! Not at all! It’s true I am not that fussy, and as long as I can watch it I don’t complain, but the quality of the picture in the TV is 10 times better than the quality I had before from my old Freeview box. I assume that as there are not long wires transferring the signal, and it goes automatically into the TV, the signal looks better. But whatever the reason is, the truth is that I don’t get the granulated texture I saw on the shops, and my picture is better now than it was before.

This TV has several connectors; you can find them all in the link from Sony I posted before. I do not use all of them, but I tried the TV first with the normal SCART for about 4 weeks, before buying the HDMI cable… and I am hugely surprised too. With the SCART we thought the TV was awesome, now we have tried the HDMI, I am just speechless, the quality is so good I wonder why we didn’t buy the TV before. We have connected the Playstation and the laptop (also 1080p capable) through the HDMI connectors, both of them show great quality picture. Honestly, if you have the chance to try the HDMI, do it. We bought the cables from Game at 10 pounds on offer (normal price everywhere is over 30 pounds), and it has been another great purchase. The picture of the games has improved immensely. We have tried probably about 10 different games purchased over the last year, and at least 8 of them look completely different, with more crisp and vibrant colours, and definitely more detail. The other two looked a bit better, but there was not a big difference. Killzone 2 and Call of Duty 5 were the ones where the difference was more noticeable for me. I am looking forward to have new games to see if the new ones look even better.

THINGS I LIKE

One of the things I like the most about this TV is the Menu Guide , it is extremely helpful! It not only shows you all the TV guide in a grid, with easy navigation using the remote control, but it allows you to set a reminder for the programs you don’t want to miss, and add them to a list. When the program starts, no matter what are you doing, the channel changes (it tells you some seconds before) and you are in time for your favourite program. This is really helpful if you are the kind of person that decides to play a game because “you still have half an hour” until the program starts… and then you always miss it. I have that problem quite often. This way, if you are playing with the console or the laptop on your TV, or just watching other channel, the system automatically switches at the right time so you will never miss the start of anything again! I find it so useful! You can also set the system to record the program, instead of switching over to it, but as I don’t have any device to record from the TV, I haven’t tried this.

There is also an option to have a small screen of the TV channel while displaying the console or the computer, so you can check what’s on without leaving your screen. This is useful if, per example, you just want to check the score of the match while playing, or see if the band you want to see in a certain program is on, as you cannot check this on the guide or put a reminder.

The remote controller is really easy to use, and it has some rubbery pattern on the back so it does not slip from your hands easily. One great feature is the "previous watched channel", which does not take you just to the "previous one", but to the previous one that you have watched for at least 30 seconds, so you avoid going through all the channels you have just skipped, and you can also go back easily to the program you were watching a bit ago but you cannot remember now in what channel was on. If you are playing the console and you want to go back quickly to the TV program you were watching before, you just press the controller as if you were changing channel, and it takes you to the last TV channel you were watching.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE THAT MUCH

For me, this TV is perfect, I have not found anything on it that I don’t like, but a couple of things are inconvenient for me. The fact that the Freeview is inside the TV means I cannot use the transmitter-receiver I had connected to my old TV in order to send the signal to the TV I have on the bedroom. However, as I don’t need my old Freeview box anymore, I have put it on the bedroom. I just would have liked to have the chance to send the signal of the TV because it shows better quality than the box I have.

The other thing I would change is the subtitles. I use them a lot because English is my second language, and when people is talking over other people the subtitles help me to understand more things. In my old TV, I selected the option and it stayed on for all the channels, here I have to press the option every time I swap the channel. It’s not a big deal, as I don’t really need the subtitles to understand what is being said, I only use them as help for certain programs or when the accents are too strong for me. I haven’t found an option in the settings to have them on all the time, although I have to admit I haven’t read the entire manual and there are plenty of things I have not tried yet.

OVERALL

This TV for me has all I need, the quality is superb, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. The design is really stylish, in glossy black and some transparent glass where the lights are. I have to admit that the design is not a must for me, as I prefer to have more connectors or better picture, instead of a great design. However, I do think this TV looks really stylish, and for me that is a bonus.

MY SHOPPING TRIP

I had problems to find this TV on stock, as most of the retailers seem to have very limited stock of all the TVs we liked (not only this one), and in most places they wanted to sell us the ones they had on display.

We finally found it at Marks and Spencer with 5 years warranty and in stock to take with us the same day, for 799 pounds. The guy at the shop was more than helpful and although we had already researched and decided that this model was the one we wanted, he gave us plenty of information and allowed us to try it and play a bit with the remote control and the options.

John Lewis also had it for a bit more, also with the 5 years warranty.

The Sony Centre had only the one on display at the time, and it was more expensive.

Currys did not have it on stock and did not want to take any order or reserve, as they could not tell us if they were going to have any soon ( I personally believe they are having some kind of problem, because in that same week they closed two of the main stores in the city centre), they only offered us the TVs they had on stock, which were only a handful and brands/specs we didn’t want. PCWorld had the same problem, as it is the same company.

I couldn’t find it at Dixons or any other online shop for a better deal, and I have to say I don’t like buying these kinds of things online. I prefer to go to the shop and take the box with me, because I do not trust any delivery service for such fragile items. As we do not have a car, we went to M&S, we bought it, we went to pick up a taxi and in the meantime the took it to the car park. No problems at all, and TV was at home within 20 minutes.

They didn't have it at Comet, and House of Fraser only had the model below (the "V", instead of the "W") and some 720p TVs.

My local shops did not have it either, or had only one: the one on display, which was at the same price I bought it new.

It was really a nightmare to find this TV on stock; I personally went to 12+ stores in the High Street and checked about 10 stores online. It was a relief to find it at the end!

If I had to give it a score, I would say 9/10, just because I think that if it had some connector to send the Freeview to my other TV would be perfect. Or maybe there is one and I haven’t found it yet!!!

If you have any question about the TV, please leave a comment and I will try to reply as soon as I can. :)

Thanks for reading!!!

 

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