Sony Bravia 32-inch : any good

I have the XBR2 and like it very much. Couple of issues to consider: One HDMI input, No 1080 p or i or whatever the max is, and no cable card option. All nice to have. My set is a US model. Looks great at my house. I have HD cable now but it looks great with regular broadcasts too. I have never watched a cd with it.

Your situation may differ in Ireland. I have thought I should have gotten the XBR3 40", but that is too big for my household.

Beware of the poor quality of standard definition on HD sets. You must check this out before you spend the money.

You might want to check these guys out for alternative TVs.

Jono

Sony Bravia 32-inch LCD is 1080i however it is not 1080p.

Sky HD which goes to 1080i was developed with the Sony Bravia series hence when it was launched you got a deal on a bravia tv and the styling was very similar.

The 32 v is a great set but so are many others, i believe a new 32 v will be launched in Europe this summer so it might be worth holding out for this.

I have had the 32inch v series for about 6months now, and am very happy with it. I find the quality of standard broadcasts does vary from channel to channel, but seems to be getting generally better.

My only gripe is that there is only one hdmi input, but i note the latest sets have two, and the price has dropped significantly since i bought mine.

Mike.

I've only seen it in the shops, but in my view the Sony Bravia is absolutely gorgeous on High Def material, BUT I find it awful on Standard Def material.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. The Bravia sounds like as good an option as any [no one suggested something a lot better for the same money]. I will investigate some more. I like the idea of Sony because then all my remotes will be compatible.

James H.

I own 2 32" Bravia sets. IMHO, they are the best in their class. Don't obsess over the 720p resolution as 720p is the same as 1080i. It is a good choice when mixing SD and HD sources.

I think it is also has a great modern appearance.

Chris Bell

quote:

Don't obsess over the 720p resolution as 720p is the same as 1080i.
Chris Bell

Sorry, but that just isn't true. No more than saying that red is the same as orange.

If resolution was not a relevant matter of choice then none of us would be interested in HD sets, and most of us would still be harping on about how detailed our VHS images were.

My brother has one, and to be hoest its pretty bad on SD (pixelated, lack of depth etc) - my philips cineos pixel plus 2 is waaaaaay ahead of it.

He has though just bought a pioneer 42" with and an arcam dvd player - sickening picture quality there!


Regards



Peter

What Mike Allen said.

I've had mine for a couple of months now and I am still pleased with it. No regrets at all.

Steve

Yes Mike, it is true. You need to understand the difference between the 2 systems, and how they work. Don't be fooled by the 1080 number. Interlacing vs progressive is the real difference.

http://alvyray.com/DigitalTV/Naming_Proposal.htm

Now, 1080p, that is a different story.

Chris Bell

Sorry Chris... you will never convince me that a 1920x1080 interlaced picture, consisting of two interlaced frames (made up each od 1920x540 resolution) is the same as a 1280x720 image.

The pixel counts alone prove it.

On a 1080i picture a single frame is made up of 1,036,800 pixels.
A 720P frame is 921,600

That's a difference of 115,200 pixels...
Thus 720p and 1080i are NOT the same.

As you go on to say, 1080P is a different story... agreed... but if you haven't bothered to buy a screen capable of supporting 1080P.. because someone inferred that with current HD broadcasts there's no point, then you'll never get to experience Full HD from Blu-Ray or HD-DVD in all it's glory.

Regards
Mike

It has been proven that at an optium distance, depending on the screen size and the resolution of the flat-pannel TV, the effective (detectable) resolution by viewers are the same between 1080i and 720p. However, the 720p setting is better for action movies (although with the advance in technology, this issue is practically resolved). For a 32" TV, I think the distance is about 10 ft.

This maybe true if everything else were equal, but it does not take into account any video processing required.

In the UK with a CRT or other SD screen with 576i lines, SD material at 576i screen requires no processing and so the picture looks as great as the screen is.

Similarly with 1080p screens UK HD material @ 1080i requires no scaling although does require deinterlacing, even better though 1080p material requires no scaling or deinterlacing.

However with material at 576i, 480i, 576p, 480p, 1080i & 1080p being displayed on a 720p, 768p or 1024p screen much processing is required and it’s this extra required processing, if not done great and not many TV’s do it great, that can mask a good screens performance.

Best all round if SD material @ 576i is displayed on a 576i screen, which normally means CRT and similarly best all round if 1080i @ 1080p material is displayed on a 1080p screen.

The argument changes slightly if you have a descent external scaler in the equation as if used and setup correctly then most of if not all of the extra processing is done by a high end box and the bad effects of cheap video processing are unlikely to be seen. In this instance then there may indeed not be a discernable difference between 720p/1080p screens in some peoples eyes at certain distances.

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I finally bought a Sony Bravia V version.

This is not a review since I know little about TV's but my message might be helpful.

I started out with my son who is the enthusiast. He tried various Sony LCD's with the original Batman film [Tim Burton] and noted that he could not see any detail in shadows [in the opening sequence]. At this atage we were looking at 40-inch and the [top] Sony X version. We also saw a 50-inch Pioneer plasma [if we had bought a plasma it would have been a smaller version] but its glass screen had lots of reflections [we did this at my local hi-fi dealer who was happy to let us try it]. Basically after all the testing we were confused and decided to just buy a 32-inch and wait.

It is enormous !! Our old 20-inch Sony is 12-inch high [different aspect ratio] but this one is 15-inch high and I think it is equivenant to a 26-inch old style TV.

The picture on analogue terrestrila TV is OK but not super. It is excellent on DVD's. The sound is good.

Generally I am happy with it but find it a bit big. The rest of the family are very happy with it.

Hope this helps.

James H.

P.S. One shop gave me a poster that showed the size of the 32-inch and the 40-inch TV. Really it is very hard to judge without actually having the TV at home.

But still -- needed a new TV and this was a good option.

ends==

I think that you'll be pleased with it over time.

Hate to say it, but I think there is some sort of settling in period as colours soften a little, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it 'burn in'!

We also struggled with the size and actually cut up various bits of cardboard to get an idea of how it would look in the room before committing the money, but a couple of days after getting it, it was as though it had always been there.