Sony KDL-40W4500

...years or so, is a Sony KD32DX100. This is a SD CRT with a built in digital tuner. It also features 100hz processing that helps reduce "flicker". It has one of the best SD pictures you'll ever see. I'm constantly disappointed by friends so-called "modern" LCD sets that look okay showing 720p video, but look absolutely terrible when using Freeview. As 90% of the media I watch is SD, be it DVD or Freeview, it is essential to me that ...
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I considered the Sony KDL-40W4000 for quite some time. However even though this is towards the top end of Sony's range, (only the flagship X range is significantly better), it still doesn't produce a SD picture that I find good enough. On the other hand, the HD performance of the W4000 is amongst the best in it's class. In time I will be watching more and more HD, so it is also very important to me to get class leading HD pictures.
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This is the TV I've been waiting for, for over 2 years.

The problem with nearly all sub £1000 High Definition, (HD), sets released to date is that they have poor Standard Definition, (SD), output. In fact some of the really cheap, (sub £200) sets are so bad at showing SD content, you are actually better of with a ghosted analogue signal on a 20 year old CRT.

The TV I've had for the past 5 years or so, is a Sony KD32DX100. This is a SD CRT with a built in digital tuner. It also features 100hz processing that helps reduce "flicker". It has one of the best SD pictures you'll ever see. I'm constantly disappointed by friends so-called "modern" LCD sets that look okay showing 720p video, but look absolutely terrible when using Freeview. As 90% of the media I watch is SD, be it DVD or Freeview, it is essential to me that a HD set can still produce good quality SD pictures.

I considered the Sony KDL-40W4000 for quite some time. However even though this is towards the top end of Sony's range, (only the flagship X range is significantly better), it still doesn't produce a SD picture that I find good enough. On the other hand, the HD performance of the W4000 is amongst the best in it's class. In time I will be watching more and more HD, so it is also very important to me to get class leading HD pictures.

Luckily Sony seem to agree. They have come up with this, the KDL-40W4500. It's basically the W4000 with some enhancements. The main ones being 100hz scanning and improved motion control. The HD picture is improved over the W4000, making it the equal of sets in the £2000-£3000 range. But more importantly for me, the SD picture is vastly improved over the W4000.

The "motionflow" electronics seem to really help out fast moving images in SD. The picture is close to a CRT. The W4500 has improved up-scaling as well. The result is good, even watching live football in SD, (something that is not very pleasant on most LCD's), is enjoyable. Very few artefacts are present, and MPEG noise is dealt with well by the new improved Bravia 2 processing engine.

The set is capable of 1:1 mapping, which means that a 1080p video signal is mapped pixel for pixel onto the screen. This results in the highest picture quality as no scaling is used to "fit" the signal to the screen resolution.

Another improvement is the film mode. The set can output 24p to match film stock. It does this well without any of the "judder" that I've seen on other LCD's.

For PS3 and Xbox360 owners, there is a Game mode. This simply reduces the lag time from roughly 30-50ms down to 0-10ms. Gamers will understand the benefits of faster response times.

I've been using this TV with a PS3 as the Blu-ray player, using HDMI to connect. I'm using the sets built in Freeview tuner for Regular TV. To watch DVD I normally use a Pioneer player that ouputs analogue RGB. The up-scaled picture from DVD in the PS3 is better than the analogue RGB signal straight from the Pioneer, however I'm not sure how much of that is the PS3's up-scaling and how much is down to the TV.

I've done some experiments to see how good the KDL-40W4500 is at SD compared to my old TV. I've ranked the results based on my personal opinion:

For DVD playback:

1. W4500 + PS3
2. Old CRT + Pioneer
3. W4500 + Pioneer

For Freeview playback:

1. It's a draw

The TV has the following connections:

1. 3 HDMI
2. 2 RGB capable SCARTS
3. USB2
4. 1 Optical Digital audio
5. 1 VGA
6. 1 Component
7. 1 Ethernet
8. Analogue audio
9. 3.5mm Mini Jack
10. Composite

I'm really glad I've waited to purchase a HD LCD TV. This set meets my needs better than any other LCD's I've looked at over the past couple of years. 

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