My new TV

[ericl]

After some trouble with my old Sanyo HDTV (long story, I'm writing about it) I returned it and bought:

Sony KV-30HS420 30" Widescreen HDTV

some reasons I bought this TV:
-didn't want to spend more than a grand on TV
-didn't need a built in HD tuner (just got an HD cable box w/DVR - sweet)
-Preferred the proven quality and reliability of a direct view CRT over those other newfangled technologies
-Space couldn't handle a much bigger TV than 30"
-Had always been impressed by Sony TVs
-Preferred widescreen to empahsize movies and HD content (football, movies on HBO-HD)

Overall, I am stoked so far. Really an amazing picture. The widescreen ratio of the TV really makes widescreen movies look great.

[EdwardGein]

Looks good. I really don't think if you have Cable TV there is any reason to not buy an HD Ready TV instead of one with a receiving/tuning device which adds to the cost as the Cable Company provides you with this at minimal cost (I'm not sure if Satellite also suplies this). HD DVR is essential. Make sure yours actually gets 5.1 sound & can make external DVD or VHS copies as the Scientific Atlanta 8000 that Time Warner originally rented out didn't (the 8300 does).

I wish I could compare yours to my Samsung 30" widescreen HD which is in my bedroom. The picture is very good, it cost $750 with delivery and installation on sale from Circuit City but of course it totally pales to my 48" Mitsubishi HD rear projection. What are the actual picture screen dimensions on yours as I'm convinced mine are slightly small.

[Smokey]

After some trouble with my old Sanyo HDTV (long story, I'm writing about it) I returned it and bought:

Sony KV-30HS420 30" Widescreen HDTV

I remember you saying while back that one of input on Sanyo TV came loose or something. Beside that shortcoming, how does Sony HD TV compare with Sanyo's picture quality. Is there a big difference?

[ericl]

I remember you saying while back that one of input on Sanyo TV came loose or something. Beside that shortcoming, how does Sony HD TV compare with Sanyo's picture quality. Is there a big difference?

The component inputs stopped working on the Sanyo.

Regular TV ("standard def") looks MUCH better on this TV. SD was really crappy on the Sanyo. Movies through my Denon DVDP look amazing, much better than the Sanyo (although it has been quite a while since I watched a DVD on the Sanyo through the component inputs). With HDTV, I don't think I see much difference. Both look great. I think I am still too overwhelmed by the quality of HD to look at it critically. It is just amazing!

Can't wait for football to start! Unfortunately ABC is not offered in HD in my area so I can't watch my Raiders take on the Pats in Thursdays season opener in HD. rats! All other broadcast stations are available though..

Very excited about this TV.

Hershon,

I am not sure what the exact measurements are. I'm sure in comparison to a 48" it will definitely feel small. It doesn't feel small to me. Widescreen content does feel much larger than widescreen content on the sanyo 32", even though there is technically not a huge difference in viewing area. regular tv is much smaller on the widescreen.

Cable box outputs dolby digital 5.1 but I want it to output 2 channel PCM. there is no way in the controls to make it do this. I have an early 90's yamaha preamp with a nice built in DAC, but will only decode pcm. Otherwise I am stuck with the analog outs.

-eric

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

The component inputs stopped working on the Sanyo.

Regular TV ("standard def") looks MUCH better on this TV. SD was really crappy on the Sanyo. Movies through my Denon DVDP look amazing, much better than the Sanyo (although it has been quite a while since I watched a DVD on the Sanyo through the component inputs). With HDTV, I don't think I see much difference. Both look great. I think I am still too overwhelmed by the quality of HD to look at it critically. It is just amazing!

Can't wait for football to start! Unfortunately ABC is not offered in HD in my area so I can't watch my Raiders take on the Pats in Thursdays season opener in HD. rats! All other broadcast stations are available though..

Very excited about this TV.

Hershon,

I am not sure what the exact measurements are. I'm sure in comparison to a 48" it will definitely feel small. It doesn't feel small to me. Widescreen content does feel much larger than widescreen content on the sanyo 32", even though there is technically not a huge difference in viewing area. regular tv is much smaller on the widescreen.

Cable box outputs dolby digital 5.1 but I want it to output 2 channel PCM. there is no way in the controls to make it do this. I have an early 90's yamaha preamp with a nice built in DAC, but will only decode pcm. Otherwise I am stuck with the analog outs.

-eric

Alright Eric, now that you have new televsion, get a 5.1 reciever. You think HD looks good, you should hear 5.1.

[ericl]

Alright Eric, now that you have new televsion, get a 5.1 reciever. You think HD looks good, you should hear 5.1.

I have one! I just moved it out because I don't want it in the main living room. Too many wires, components, speakers everywhere. Its too messy as this is the main room in the house. Music is more important and I have nice two channel system in there, with tubes, vinyl, etc. I am not that into "surround sound" anyway. I like having dialogue out of the center channel, but I'm not that interested in surround effects, ridiculously loud and deep bass, etc. Through a good two channel system, movies can be great!

[topspeed]

Can't wait for football to start! Unfortunately ABC is not offered in HD in my area so I can't watch my Raiders take on the Pats in Thursdays season opener in HD. rats! All other broadcast stations are available though..

Get an off-air HD antenna for $50. I had one installed and they work great plus there's actually a lot of interesting stuff you'll pull off the antenna from channels I didn't even know existed.

BTW, whether in HD or SD, our Raiders are still going to look like sh!t if they don't find their defense soon. ;)

[ericl]

Get an off-air HD antenna for $50. I had one installed and they work great plus there's actually a lot of interesting stuff you'll pull off the antenna from channels I didn't even know existed.

BTW, whether in HD or SD, our Raiders are still going to look like sh!t if they don't find their defense soon. ;)

No OTA hd tuner on this tv. Besides, I don't think ABC is broadcasting HD where I live, AND I don't get any reception at my place anyway (went through all that with the last TV, that's why I didn't care about HD tuner on this tv. I can hardly get cell phone reception at my place!

Hey man, the Raiders D is going to surprise a lot of folks this year. They changed it back to the "4-3" alignment which better fits their players, including Warren Sapp who was playing completely out of position last year, and was completely ineffective. He will have a great comeback year back in his natural position where he dominates. Him and Tom Brady will get snuggly at least once this thursday. The rest of our D-line will be solid too. We're weakest at OLB, and besides Woodson, have some no names playing CB. I know it means nothing, but we were the first ranked defense during the preseason!

[Smokey]

Regular TV ("standard def") looks MUCH better on this TV. SD was really crappy on the Sanyo.

That is what I was afraid of. With market flooded with low cost 27 inch HDTVs such as Advent, Prima, Insignia and Samsung (all under $400), they probably look alright on HD sources. But not so hot with standard def sources.

[EdwardGein]

If you live in the Bay Area, ABC HD will definately be available as part of your HD package on Cable TV & I imagine on Satellite.

I heard of people (like me) not getting UPN & the WB in HD in LA, but not ABC HD, no way. Double check this!

[ericl]

If you live in the Bay Area, ABC HD will definately be available as part of your HD package on Cable TV & I imagine on Satellite.

I heard of people (like me) not getting UPN & the WB in HD in LA, but not ABC HD, no way. Double check this!

I actually live in Santa Cruz, and I'm telling ya, HD-ABC ain't there! Trust me, I wish it was!

[EdwardGein]

I actually live in Santa Cruz, and I'm telling ya, HD-ABC ain't there! Trust me, I wish it was!

That is the most bizarre thing I ever heard. your Cable company is F ing nuts and incompotent!

Isn't Satellite available there? I know Satellite offers more HD channels then cable.

You ought to write ABC on this one. Sorry to hear you got screwed on your service.

[Geoffcin]

I like CRT TV's the best. Sony make a killer set too, enjoy!

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I actually live in Santa Cruz, and I'm telling ya, HD-ABC ain't there! Trust me, I wish it was!

You are right Eric, our antenna signal doesn't reach that far down the coast. And some cable companies down there do not carry us.

[Slosh]

That's too bad about your Sanyo HT32744. I've had mine for close to a year now and have no issues whatsoever, and I'm picky about TVs. Prior to the Sanyo I had an analog Sony Wega for four years (my parents now use it) and this Sanyo is easily as good with regard to core performance (ability to hold black-at-black, shadow detail, maintaining geometry with high average picture levels, color decoder performance, etc.) and I haven't found a need to get into the service menu like I did with the Wega (and a Panasonic Superflat I had before that). I find standard definition (via Dish Network) to be very good on this set. The upconversion to 1080i totally eliminates scanlines from my seven foot viewing distance and it applies 3-2 pulldown when necessary.

You should definitely complain to your cable provider about HD ABC. I just watched the Patriots/Raiders game last night in HD via OTA and it looked stunning! :)

If Sony made a 32" tube with the super fine pitch aperture grill I probably would have ponied up the money for that. A non-stretched 4:3 image on a 34" (nevermind a 30") is just too small for me. While I can't see any increase in resolution from my viewing distance, it does look smoother since I can't see the aperture slots from there like I can with the HS series (although they still look excellent too - no OTA HD tuner = no sale for me).

[Eric Z]

ericl- if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the sony? just wondering.

thanks.
eric

[ericl]

You are right Eric, our antenna signal doesn't reach that far down the coast. And some cable companies down there do not carry us.

Hey, I didn't realize you worked for ABC! When the heck is Comcast going to pick them up down here?!

[ericl]

That's too bad about your Sanyo HT32744. I've had mine for close to a year now and have no issues whatsoever, and I'm picky about TVs. Prior to the Sanyo I had an analog Sony Wega for four years (my parents now use it) and this Sanyo is easily as good with regard to core performance (ability to hold black-at-black, shadow detail, maintaining geometry with high average picture levels, color decoder performance, etc.) and I haven't found a need to get into the service menu like I did with the Wega (and a Panasonic Superflat I had before that). I find standard definition (via Dish Network) to be very good on this set. The upconversion to 1080i totally eliminates scanlines from my seven foot viewing distance and it applies 3-2 pulldown when necessary.

You should definitely complain to your cable provider about HD ABC. I just watched the Patriots/Raiders game last night in HD via OTA and it looked stunning! :)

If Sony made a 32" tube with the super fine pitch aperture grill I probably would have ponied up the money for that. A non-stretched 4:3 image on a 34" (nevermind a 30") is just too small for me. While I can't see any increase in resolution from my viewing distance, it does look smoother since I can't see the aperture slots from there like I can with the HS series (although they still look excellent too - no OTA HD tuner = no sale for me).

Oh boy, you opened up a can of worms. You haven't heard half the story. I was saving for a better written story, but here's the gist of my experience trying to get a working Sanyo:

I was quite happy with Sanyo until the component inputs crapped out. I returned it one day (an 80 mile round trip drive for me) and got a replacement after haggling with them for 1.5 hours. I brought it home, set it up, and that one would not turn on at all! My brother and I went back, and after another hour, they sent us to another Wal-Mart. We picked up another TV. Get it home and guess what? It did not work either!! This set was obviously smashed, with the front bezel cracked all the way around

With all the driving involved and all the waiting for Wal-Mart to help us, this took an entire saturday, and I still didn't have working TV. Finally the next Monday I took it back, exasperated, and demanded my money back.

They caved after listening to my story, even though I was way past their 90 day return policy. I was exchanging the TV under Sanyo's one year replacment warranty, which Wal-Mart was required to honor. I told them that they were unable to honor Sanyo's warranty so they had to give me my money back. After my story - ~200 miles of driving, 8 hours, four trips to two different Wal-Marts, and three TVs - the guy caved and gave me my money back.

That was a couple weeks ago. I bought the Sony for ~$800 +tax & shipping from my local circuit city the next week.

-Eric

[Slosh]

Wow, now I feel lucky. :) Hopefully mine continues to be problem free. If not I'll have to get my $697 back and put it towards a Sony 36XS355 (if I can still find one). I figure if I haven't had problems by now it'll probably stay that way for the life of the TV. I hope so because I don't plan on getting another TV until I can get an integrated HD 42" plasma from a good brand like Pioneer or Hitachi for around $2000. I'm willing to give up a little shadow detail for inherently perfect geometry.

[ericl]

Wow, now I feel lucky. :) Hopefully mine continues to be problem free. If not I'll have to get my $697 back and put it towards a Sony 36XS355 (if I can still find one). I figure if I haven't had problems by now it'll probably stay that way for the life of the TV. I hope so because I don't plan on getting another TV until I can get an integrated HD 42" plasma from a good brand like Pioneer or Hitachi for around $2000. I'm willing to give up a little shadow detail for inherently perfect geometry.

I was tempted by the XS model, but didn't want to spend more than $1k on a TV. Luckily, my eyes are not as tuned as my ears (even though I have great vision), so I am currently happy with the lower HS model. Maybe if I keep reading about geometry and resolution and scan lines, I may become unhappy with the Sony! I hope not!

[Slosh]

Maybe if I keep reading about geometry and resolution and scan lines, I may become unhappy with the Sony! I hope not!No, you're fine. That's a damn good TV. For me though a 24.5" 4:3 image is small compared to what I am used to while 16:9 on my 32" is virtually the same as a 30" widescreen at 29.4" and I wanted the OTA tuner since I get six HD channels for free (plus 16 SD digital channels if you include the various sub channels). As far as resolution, with HD, screen size vs. viewing distance is everything. You'd have to watch from five feet or less away to see a difference in resolution between the HS and XS/XBR. From seven feet away I can see the individual picture elements with my Sanyo (and the HS Sony) but it doesn't bother me. I was just mentioning that I couldn't see that with the SFP Sony and not that it appeared more detailed or anything unless I got way closer to it than I would at home.

Anyhow, enjoy you new toy! It seems like it suits your needs perfectly.

[ericl]

You know I did the calculation with screen size vs the 32 and the 30" sets both when i bought the sanyo and the sony. I went with the Sanyo at first for that same reason. 4:3 content is much smaller on the Sony, but Widescreen content (which is what I wanted to emphasize) feels MUCH larger than .6" on the Sony. Maybe because it is full screen, but there is something really nice about it.

[thekid]

Have to agree with you about the widescreen. I almost picked up the same Sony but when I showed my wife the 30" inch and the 34" inch she preferred the larger screen. (yeah!!) I don't think you should give up so on the 5.1 set-up though. You sound like a big football fan and I can tell I am hooked on watching my Colts with surround sound that puts you right in the stadium. I wish the Raiders could have hung an L on our arch enemies the Pats.

[recoveryone]

Well Eric you missed a good HD game last night, ABC had it all lined up right. The game picture was WOW!!!! and the 5.1 was the icing on the cake. Just too bad the radiers QB just sucks, I seen better foot work on a one legged man in a ass kicking contest.


But enough about the game, I hope you still get FOX and CBS in HD up there or even ESPN. After ABC I would say FOX put's out the most HD programing and sporting events is where HD really shines.

[ericl]

Hey, I saw the game, just not in HD! ABC is the only major network I don't get in HD.

The pats are a tough team. Kerry Collins can be frustrating but he can be great too. Once the Pats D adjusted to the Raiders offense they confused him big time. Can't forget that the Pats have shut down far more highly rated QB's like Manning and McNabb, and KC threw three TD's on them. KC ain't terrible, he's taken two separate teams to conference championship games, taking one to the Super Bowl. I better stop, I could go on all day about this and no one will care. Don't get me started on their defense..

Man, the Colts looked tough last night!! Their D played a hell of a game! That Freeney guy is machine! They're going to dominate even more this year. I'd be happy to see them de-throne the Pats, although I prefer that it be the Raiders!

-eric

[thekid]

As a long suffering Colts fan I want to believe the D I saw was a sign that we have become a complete football team!!!! However, until they play a team with a bit better offense than the Ravens I remain skeptical. It was nice listening to Raven fan noise on my surround sound slowly fade to silence as Peyton carved them up in the second half!

[recoveryone]

Hey, I saw the game, just not in HD! ABC is the only major network I don't get in HD.

The pats are a tough team. Kerry Collins can be frustrating but he can be great too. Once the Pats D adjusted to the Raiders offense they confused him big time. Can't forget that the Pats have shut down far more highly rated QB's like Manning and McNabb, and KC threw three TD's on them. KC ain't terrible, he's taken two separate teams to conference championship games, taking one to the Super Bowl. I better stop, I could go on all day about this and no one will care. Don't get me started on their defense..

Man, the Colts looked tough last night!! Their D played a hell of a game! That Freeney guy is machine! They're going to dominate even more this year. I'd be happy to see them de-throne the Pats, although I prefer that it be the Raiders!

-eric
Collins had a good year with Giants, but he was ran out of Carolina and almost out of football. He has a strong arm, but if he use his feet and hips more he would be twice as good. By using your arm only in passing your not able to put the snap on your passes. and if he wouldn't stand so flat footed he would not get stuck in the pocket so much.