The best products have an aura, a special something that says quality. Whether it is the deep thunk of a luxury car door or the way a well-made watch feels on your wrist, you know immediately you are experiencing something special.

Sony’s newest flat-screen TV falls into that category. Before you ever turn it on, you immediately sense that Sony got it right. In a world full of clunky, silvery, look-alike flat-screen TVs, this one has a totally different appearance. The Lucite frame fools the eye, producing the illusion of a TV screen floating between two speakers. Even the slightest details impress, including the etched “Sony” on the unit’s facade, which illuminates when you turn the set on.

The TV’s slim profile makes it a natural fit in almost any interior. (Click image to enlarge)

Mere quality, though, is insufficient to produce a winning TV. That is why, with the 30-inch KLV-30XBR900, Sony is starting to move from the plasma technology that popularized flat-screen TV to a different, yet familiar system: liquid crystal display. LCD screens have long been popular with computer users and in portable TVs, but have only recently become large enough for use in a full-size TV set. LCD-based TVs are generally a bit thinner than plasma sets, closer to 3 inches in depth rather than 4, and should have a longer lifespan than plasma TVs. They are also free of the burn-in problems that plasma TVs can experience—as with tube-type TVs, any image left onscreen can become permanently burned onto the screen—and will operate at high altitude, a feat few plasma TVs can match.

Unlike some of its competitors, Sony never forgets that this is a TV and not some sort of science experiment. The set includes all of the conveniences of ordinary TVs, including picture-in-picture (which lets you watch two video sources at once) and inputs for plenty of video sources, like DVD players and satellite receivers. To offer six video inputs, plus all of the video circuitry, Sony was forced to use an extra tuner box, which generally I do not favor, as pointed out previously in these pages. In this case, though, the outboard box serves myriad useful functions—it houses a pair of 10-watt audio amplifiers for the built-in speakers, as well as two analog TV tuners that facilitate the set’s picture-in-picture functions. Given that the look and size of the display would be compromised if the engineers built all these circuits into the TV itself, it makes sense to give Sony a pass on this. But there is one omission I question: the lack of an RS-232 port for easy integration with an AMX or Crestron touchscreen control system. The set does, however, have a Memory Stick port for displaying pictures from a Sony digital camera or camcorder onscreen.

Although the KLV-30XBR900’s remote feels great, our reviewer found it somewhat difficult to use. (Click image to enlarge)

The small metal remote rests comfortably in your hand, feeling more like a well-balanced handgun than an ordinary remote control. It is covered with dozens of tiny buttons, and admittedly, it presents a bit of learning curve, especially in the dark. It can, however, control your cable box or satellite receiver. People seem to either love it or hate it, but my enjoyment of the tactile sensations overwhelms my concerns about difficulty of use.

The sense of Sony’s getting it right continues when you turn the KLV-30XBR900 on. The 1280-by-768-pixel display appears bright and sharp, and with a little fiddling in the user menu, I go from an overly blue, horribly washed-out picture to something approaching an accurate TV image. I find I can turn down the backlighting that illuminates the display, which drastically improves the picture, especially in a darkened room, where this set’s contrast suffers. The lit-up Sony logo can also be extinguished. I shut it off during my evaluation, but in regular use would probably leave it on, as it adds to the overall cool factor of the TV.

The LCD screen struggles a bit to produce pure dark blacks, but unlike many LCD TVs, the KLV-30XBR900 can differentiate between complete black and very dark gray objects in a scene. Still, some detail in dark scenes is lost, an effect that seems heightened in a completely darkened room than in one with normal levels of lighting Out of the box, at the
“warm” color temperature setting, the display looks a bit bluish overall, but the color stays fairly consistent at all brightness levels.

Most of the KLV-30XBR900’s electronics reside in a separate box. (Click image to enlarge)

Other than the lack of deep black, I find little to complain about with this TV. HDTV signals from HDNet, via my satellite box, look sharp and crisp. DVDs, too, look great, in part because of the excellent video circuitry borrowed from some of Sony’s larger displays, and because the screen is small enough to mask all but the most serious of flaws. It produces none of the ghost images that most LCDs suffer, nor does it exhibit image blockiness when motion becomes speedy, another common LCD flaw.

While I generally do not address audio in TV reviews, I make an exception in this case because I am surprised at how good the two speakers sound, both in good old stereo as well as the faux surround sound provided by the set’s SRS audio processing. The built-in speakers perform better than those of the average TV, and Sony provides an output for a subwoofer, which can add to the overall punch of the system. The KLV-30XBR900’s sound quality comes in handy in situations where it may not be practical to add an external audio system—if the TV is mounted above a fireplace, for example, or on a yacht.

Put shortly, this is a TV you will want to show off, especially to friends who already own comparatively pedestrian plasma sets. An enjoyable experience is in store, whether you are watching the TV or your visitors’ envious stares.

DESCRIPTION
30-inch LCD TV with dual analog TV tuners. Can be wall-mounted. Includes base pedestal for free-standing use.

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Native widescreen display (slightly less wide than 16:9). Accepts 720-line progressive and 1,080-line interlaced HDTV, and 480-line progressive and interlaced signals.

CONNECTIONS
Video: 2 component inputs, 3 S-video inputs (2 back, 1 front), 3 composite inputs (2 back, 1 front), 1 DVI digital input with HDCP, F-connector for TV antenna.
Audio: 6 analog audio inputs (5 front, 1 rear), 1 fixed volume analog audio output.

DIMENSIONS/RESOLUTION
DIMENSIONS: 20.6 x 38.4 x 3.6 inches (hwd).
RESOLUTION: 1,280 x 728 pixels.

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE $4,999
CONTACT: 800-222-SONY
www.sonystyle.com