Having solved all of the problems in consumer electronics, Sony now turns its attention to marriage counseling. Its latest print adverts tout the new Bravia line of LCD flat-panel HDTVs—especially the sets’ wide viewing angle, which allows hubby to relax in horizontal repose on the couch while the wife, presumably relegated to a side chair, can still enjoy the program from afar. Not that that scenario would work in my home, where the lady of the house (my German shepherd) routinely reverses the roles, taking over the couch and leaving me in the easy chair nearby. The European TV spot, which involves a quarter-million colorful bouncy balls raining down a San Francisco residential street, speaks more powerfully to me; you can watch it at bravia-advert.com.

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The Bravia’s long, slim silver remote includes a central rocker control used to navigate the TV’s on-screen menus. (Click image to enlarge)

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Our 32-inch review set occupies the middle of the Bravia range, with two other choices at 26- and 40-inch sizes. The KDL-V32XBR1 is fully equipped with provision for a CableCard that allows direct connection to digital cable service without the need for a cable box, along with built-in analog and digital tuners for over-the-air standard- and high-definition TV broadcasts. The trim cabinet is barely larger than the screen itself and is decorously finished with thin silver accents. A swivel base that also allows vertical tilt is supplied.

Calling up the menu (or "WegaGate" as Sony calls it) gives us a choice of picture modes, which include color temperature options with Cool, Neutral, and two Warm settings. Our color analyzer reveals the Warm 2 selection as closest to optimum, giving us a nominal 5,900 degrees Kelvin color temperature at the top of the range and shifting only slightly to about 6,200 degrees at the lowest levels—which means the set has a barely perceptible bias toward red, unless you bring in a professional to calibrate it. This is the setting you will want to use most often. In the Warm 2 setting, saturated colors such as neon lights and brilliant concert stage lighting look great, without the artificially induced auras or gradation anomalies we often see. The other color settings vary from subtly bluish to otherworldly bluish; we recommend you avoid them. Gamma tracking is quite good, so you do not lose detail as the brightness of the scene changes.

The KDL-V32XBR1’s picture does indeed hold up well off axis, with little falloff in brightness. In the print ads, Sony promotes an almost semicircular, 178-degree viewing angle, but viewing the set from so far off axis would of course render the picture unwatchable—the visible image width would be but a mere sliver of the height.

Sony’s Digital Reality Creation circuit is touted as providing filmlike smoothness with interlaced video sources, but when engaged, it actually exacerbates jagged lines instead of smoothing them out. We get better results when we turn it off. Oddly, the set also does not pass industry-standard 2:3 film-to-video sequencing correction tests, but when we are watching actual movies, we notice few motion-related artifacts. While one might argue that well-made progressive-scan DVD players, which are the norm these days, render such tests moot, it should also be noted that DVDs are not the only source for movies.The set puts out a suitably bright picture at around 14 footlamberts, and it has an ambient room light sensor that subtly lowers picture brightness in a darkened room. An adjustment in the menu bumps up the LCD backlighting for viewing in high ambient brightness conditions, a feature we would like to see on all LCD flat-panel sets. For the more technically oriented user, an advanced picture menu option provides a slew of fine-tuning possibilities, including gamma, black stretch, white push, and color dynamic range and palette controls.

PC and video game fans will love the Bravia’s vibrant picture. The PC input is compatible with widescreen (16:9) XGA graphics, and even though dedicated widescreen PC monitors are
capable of higher refresh rates, the Bravia’s 60-hertz refresh rate provides satisfactorily flicker-free viewing with PC-based games. We also get great results with Xbox 360 high-def games and find that the Bravia is equally content with 720p and 1080i high-definition video.

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The KDL-V32XBR1’s speakers are mounted underneath the screen rather than on the sides so the set can fit into a narrower audio/video cabinet than most other 32-inch sets. Surprisingly for a flat-screen set, the speakers sound pretty good. (Click image to enlarge)

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The complete lack of low bass response in the Bravia’s speakers also eliminates the low frequency-induced midrange colorations that we are used to hearing from most TV speakers, leaving instead only a relatively neutral midrange and treble—and sonic performance that is entirely fine for newscasts and monaural television programs. Of course, like all other flat-panel LCD sets, the KDL-V32XBR1 needs help from an external audio system if you want a real home theater experience.

 

For many consumers, the sheer drawing power of Sony’s brand reputation is all they need to make a purchase decision on a television set. Fortunately, the KDL-V32XBR1 has far more to offer than a great brand name. Consider the Bravia a solid and safe choice in the LCD flat-panel category.

DESCRIPTION
Tabletop LCD flat-panel HDTV. Includes analog and digital TV tuners, and CableCard interface. Can be wall-mounted with optional bracket

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Native 16:9 panel operates in both 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Accepts 720-line progressive HDTV, 1080-line interlaced HDTV, 480-line progressive and 480-line interlaced signals, plus RGB WXGA computer video (1366 x 768)

RESOLUTION
1366 x 768 pixels

CONNECTIONS
Three component video inputs, S-video input, three composite video inputs, HDMI digital video input, RGB PC input via DB-15 connector, USB input, six stereo audio inputs via RCA jacks; stereo audio output (fixed or variable) via RCA jacks, optical digital audio output, stereo headphone output via 3.5mm jack

DIMENSIONS
23.3 x 31.8 x 12.3 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $2,699
CONTACT: 877.865.7669, sonystyle.com