Joseph DeMartino
Senior HTF Member
My sister has a chance to get a pretty much unbeatable deal on one of these sets. (So good that I'm starting to wonder if Sony is about to discontinue this model and the dealer is clearing out his existing stock. ) So this isn't about whether she should buy it or whether another set would be better. There's no way she's going to get a comparable deal on a comparable TV. This is "the one."
It will be replacing a 32" SD CRT. My brother-in-law sees this as the first step toward something like a real home theater and the whole HD thing. My sister sees it as replacing an old TV with something bigger and easier to see from the couch.
Anyway, I have no experience with LCDs in this size or of this recent vintage and I want to know what to tell her to expect in the way of picture quality and if there are any special tweaks or tricks I should be aware of when it comes to this set. From what I've read it sounds like the 120 Hz mode can be turned off (which I told her to confirm with the dealer) - and that was a real issue in my mind.
The room it is going into is one of the worst imaginable for a home theater: 20 foot ceilings, open floor plan, loft space at the back of the room, tile floors, formica, stell and glass furniture, leather couch, and a wall full of windows and glass doors on one side. There is a single 5 x 3 rug under the coffee table.
They're getting quotes on coverings for the windows and the doors. less because of the light and sound issues they cause than because of the heat they let in. (They used to have a screen enclosure over their patio, but that was destroyed by the hurricanes a few years ago and was too expensive to replace. No one realized how much the mesh of the screens cut down on the sun until it was gone.) I'm trying to push for a bigger rug and some wall hangings to cut down on some of the echo. Turning this space into something like a home theater will be a real challenge and I expect to be posting more request for help in the coming months.
But for right now we need to get that TV in there and sell my sister on the virtues of a big screen and hi-def. Then we start work on sound and ambience. (Knowing her I think we're going to be stuck with a soundbar and a subwoofer, but we'll see.)
Would appreciate anything anyone can tell me about the Sony.
Regards,
Joe
It will be replacing a 32" SD CRT. My brother-in-law sees this as the first step toward something like a real home theater and the whole HD thing. My sister sees it as replacing an old TV with something bigger and easier to see from the couch.
Anyway, I have no experience with LCDs in this size or of this recent vintage and I want to know what to tell her to expect in the way of picture quality and if there are any special tweaks or tricks I should be aware of when it comes to this set. From what I've read it sounds like the 120 Hz mode can be turned off (which I told her to confirm with the dealer) - and that was a real issue in my mind.
The room it is going into is one of the worst imaginable for a home theater: 20 foot ceilings, open floor plan, loft space at the back of the room, tile floors, formica, stell and glass furniture, leather couch, and a wall full of windows and glass doors on one side. There is a single 5 x 3 rug under the coffee table.
They're getting quotes on coverings for the windows and the doors. less because of the light and sound issues they cause than because of the heat they let in. (They used to have a screen enclosure over their patio, but that was destroyed by the hurricanes a few years ago and was too expensive to replace. No one realized how much the mesh of the screens cut down on the sun until it was gone.) I'm trying to push for a bigger rug and some wall hangings to cut down on some of the echo. Turning this space into something like a home theater will be a real challenge and I expect to be posting more request for help in the coming months.
But for right now we need to get that TV in there and sell my sister on the virtues of a big screen and hi-def. Then we start work on sound and ambience. (Knowing her I think we're going to be stuck with a soundbar and a subwoofer, but we'll see.)
Would appreciate anything anyone can tell me about the Sony.
Regards,
Joe
