Rating: Summary: Good, but flawed Review: I was looking for a good 27" TV and of course everyone mentions the Sony.Not a Sony fan, I see them resting on their name more than anything these days, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Hooked it up - Component DVD, S-video gaming, antenna.. all of it. First things first, clarity is really good. I went from a blurry as heck 25 to a pretty crisp 27. Nice. Games looked outstanding. DVDs looked.. well.. wrong. I bought the TV because it had 16:9 mode. Great, I love anamorphic dvds. Turned the option on in my dvd player, turned 16:9 on with the tv.. Hmm, it doesn't look right for some reason. I checked online and it is a known issue that the sonys oversqueeze the picture. And we're not talking a mm or so, we're talking over an inch. So a 2.35:1 movie was more like a 2.45:1 or 2.5:1. Something that was grossly distorted. Soo, I had to break into the service menu, grab some measuring tape, and used a setup disc to make a circle, well, circular. Something Sony obviously couldn't do. Flaw one, but fixable. I tried watching the Simpsons on this Tv - not a good idea. Homer is Yellow, not orange. People don't all have sunburns on TV. I tried fixing the colour and it got to the point where to make skin tones look even tolerable, everything else had a noticeable drop in saturation. Checked online, surprise surprise, red push for sony tvs. Only on the newer FS100s they've changed the registers in the service menu, so good luck finding out exactly what to change because it's not what it used to be. Flaw 2, not quite fixable. Then there was the geometry. Images shouldn't bend out near the top few inches. Also, when I was playing games there was major distortion in games that had letterboxed cutscenes - to the point where it looked like the few inches between the blackness of the letterbox and the bright scene resembed a scrambled cable station. NOT good. Flaw 3, I didn't even want to try to fix it. Took the thing back. From what I've read, it's definitely common enough that I didn't want to bother with another Sony. Maybe I'm picky, but for 400 bucks I deserve to be.
Rating: Summary: Good, but flawed Review: I was looking for a good 27" TV and of course everyone mentions the Sony. Not a Sony fan, I see them resting on their name more than anything these days, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Hooked it up - Component DVD, S-video gaming, antenna.. all of it. First things first, clarity is really good. I went from a blurry as heck 25 to a pretty crisp 27. Nice. Games looked outstanding. DVDs looked.. well.. wrong. I bought the TV because it had 16:9 mode. Great, I love anamorphic dvds. Turned the option on in my dvd player, turned 16:9 on with the tv.. Hmm, it doesn't look right for some reason. I checked online and it is a known issue that the sonys oversqueeze the picture. And we're not talking a mm or so, we're talking over an inch. So a 2.35:1 movie was more like a 2.45:1 or 2.5:1. Something that was grossly distorted. Soo, I had to break into the service menu, grab some measuring tape, and used a setup disc to make a circle, well, circular. Something Sony obviously couldn't do. Flaw one, but fixable. I tried watching the Simpsons on this Tv - not a good idea. Homer is Yellow, not orange. People don't all have sunburns on TV. I tried fixing the colour and it got to the point where to make skin tones look even tolerable, everything else had a noticeable drop in saturation. Checked online, surprise surprise, red push for sony tvs. Only on the newer FS100s they've changed the registers in the service menu, so good luck finding out exactly what to change because it's not what it used to be. Flaw 2, not quite fixable. Then there was the geometry. Images shouldn't bend out near the top few inches. Also, when I was playing games there was major distortion in games that had letterboxed cutscenes - to the point where it looked like the few inches between the blackness of the letterbox and the bright scene resembed a scrambled cable station. NOT good. Flaw 3, I didn't even want to try to fix it. Took the thing back. From what I've read, it's definitely common enough that I didn't want to bother with another Sony. Maybe I'm picky, but for 400 bucks I deserve to be.
Rating: Summary: Best small/med non HDTV with clean 16:9 mode for DVDs Review: I've had a slew of uninspiring 19 inch conventional televisions, so this Sony 27 inch is practically perfect in size, picture quality, and function. No, this is no HDTV and when viewing cable and tv shows, you can easily see more graininess and lines than an HDTV if you do a direct comparison, but for a conventional TV, it still is the best that I have seen. The picture is sharp, clear, and lively when you sit close and from afar. Colors are saturated, but not overly so- the result is pleasing to my eyes and I enjoy watching it. The biggest feature in my mind is the 16:9 mode. This mode allows the TV to use all of its resolution for widescreen viewing, making it a mini 25-26" widescreen. In this mode, I cannot see any lines and the picture is clean and vivid. Watching widescreen DVDs in this mode is so rich and clean- I cannot describe it- I swear it is close to HDTV, but in tiny form, but the clarity and resolution are still very high- Finding Nemo is very sharp and there are no lines visible to my eyes. There are some downsides that I have noticed- Even though this is a flatscreen, the glass has some distortions and lines are not perfectly straight. This is normal in all tubed TVs. Also, for this basic model, the 16:9 mode is activated in a menu so it takes like five button presses to get to turn it on. The sound quality is improved, but you still need a surround system to get full sound. As another reviewer has said, to turn off the TV sound (to use your own surround sound), you have to go through a menu. I think the more expensive versions have direct buttons for these features. Dudes, you know how important a TV is when you get home and just want to veg- HDTV is great, but costly and not really ready for anything other than basic TV channels and DVDs. If you are watching regular non HDTV channels on an HDTV, you will need a 34" widescreen to get the same conventional 27" picture. For the price, I'd rather get this TV now and wait for HDTV when it matures (in about 2006). The 27 inch TV is perfect for a small apartment or a large bedroom. At a viewing distance of 6-7 feet, it feels intimate, but not "large." This TV is the cream of the crop in its class and provides entertainment without digging a large HDTV hole in your wallet.
Rating: Summary: Best small/med non HDTV with clean 16:9 mode for DVDs Review: I've had a slew of uninspiring 19 inch conventional televisions, so this Sony 27 inch is practically perfect in size, picture quality, and function. No, this is no HDTV and when viewing cable and tv shows, you can easily see more graininess and lines than an HDTV if you do a direct comparison, but for a conventional TV, it still is the best that I have seen. The picture is sharp, clear, and lively when you sit close and from afar. Colors are saturated, but not overly so- the result is pleasing to my eyes and I enjoy watching it. The biggest feature in my mind is the 16:9 mode. This mode allows the TV to use all of its resolution for widescreen viewing, making it a mini 25-26" widescreen. In this mode, I cannot see any lines and the picture is clean and vivid. Watching widescreen DVDs in this mode is so rich and clean- I cannot describe it- I swear it is close to HDTV, but in tiny form, but the clarity and resolution are still very high- Finding Nemo is very sharp and there are no lines visible to my eyes. There are some downsides that I have noticed- Even though this is a flatscreen, the glass has some distortions and lines are not perfectly straight. This is normal in all tubed TVs. Also, for this basic model, the 16:9 mode is activated in a menu so it takes like five button presses to get to turn it on. The sound quality is improved, but you still need a surround system to get full sound. As another reviewer has said, to turn off the TV sound (to use your own surround sound), you have to go through a menu. I think the more expensive versions have direct buttons for these features. Dudes, you know how important a TV is when you get home and just want to veg- HDTV is great, but costly and not really ready for anything other than basic TV channels and DVDs. If you are watching regular non HDTV channels on an HDTV, you will need a 34" widescreen to get the same conventional 27" picture. For the price, I'd rather get this TV now and wait for HDTV when it matures (in about 2006). The 27 inch TV is perfect for a small apartment or a large bedroom. At a viewing distance of 6-7 feet, it feels intimate, but not "large." This TV is the cream of the crop in its class and provides entertainment without digging a large HDTV hole in your wallet.
Rating: Summary: Great picture - bad screen geometry Review: I've had three Sony TV's over the past 15 years - all wonderful.
As such, I immediately looked at the FS120 Wega in buying a new unit this fall. The picture color, contrast and detail are superb and the sound rich. But I noticed that horizontal banners such as those on CNN, ESPN and the TV Guide were wavy - curving up at the left and right sides of the screen and bulging up in the center. I thought the TV must be defective so I exchanged it for a second, then a third and fourth. I even changed cables and locations. All were unable to hold horizontal lines straight. I have two 4 year old Sonys with rock solid screen geometry. I also checked new Toshiba's - I didn't like the sound - but the picture geometry was fine.
This flaw is only really noticeable in news or informational programming, but if you watch these - note: current Sony FS120's have an apparent design flaw that may drive you to distraction.
Though I love them, I am returning my last Sony and will likely switch brands.
Rating: Summary: high-pitched noise not so great Review: Please read timfou's review. It's dead-on. First, this set is VERY heavy. You'll probably need some help to lug this thing home, and going up/down stairs is a PITA. Second, the geometry at the bottom of the screen does come up to a peak in the middle of the screen, and slope downwards at the edges. Of course, you can't really notice this except when there's a box or line across the bottom, but that does happen pretty frequently. I have noticed this on other flat screen TVs, so its not just this one. But like timfou, the reason I returned this TV was because of the high-pitched noise that came from the set whenever it was turned on. It didn't matter which inputs were plugged in, or the proximity of my power cable to my stereo cables, or anything. My wife could hear it when she put her head by the vents on the side of the TV set, but it didn't bother her like it did me. I expect a little bit of that high-pitched noise from a TV or CRT monitor, but this was more than I could stand. I must admit, I really loved the picture on that TV, but I would've regretted keeping a TV I couldn't stand to turn on. Good thing Circuit City has a 30 day return policy.
Rating: Summary: broke down less than 2 month Review: The picture tube went less than 2 month. This unit is made in Mexico.
Rating: Summary: Great flat screen TV. Review: The Sony WEGA series has always been known for its supurb picture quality and this continues to be true for this model. This TV carries very good price to quality ratio. If you are looking for a quality, flat screen 27" TV, this is it. I gave it 4 stars because the v-compression mode is over-rated. This feature simply squishes the picture when playing a DVD. Although quality and resolution increases, the size of the picture decreases. You are sacraficing size for quality. I prefer to see a larger picture vs. a smaller picture you almost have to squint to see. My suggestion to Sony: get rid of this feature and drop the price, this TV would then sell like hotcakes. Does anyone out there like the v-compression feature / mode?
Rating: Summary: Good 27 inch Flat Screen from SONY Review: This is a good Flat Screen TV set from SONY. It has a Digital comb filter that increases picture resolution and reduces noticeable dot-crawl, which is visible on less expensive 27inch brands. It has Rear audio and composite video inputs as well as an S-video input for DVD, Laser Disc players and Super-VHS recorders for higher picture resolution. It also comes standard with Clock, Sleep Timer, Last Channel Recall, Remote and V-chip. I just saw this last weekend with a satellite signal and DVD demo. The picture looked very good.
Rating: Summary: To Previous Post Review: To the previous poster: The V-compression mode should not "squish" your picture anymore than it would normally in 16:9 mode unless the DVD your watching isn't ANAMORPHIC or "Enhanced for wide screen TVs". What V-compression does (using ANAMORPHIC discs) is that it takes the resolution that would normally be used in projecting the black bars on the top and bottom of the TV screen and adds this to the resolution of the actual film image so you get more resolution. A sharper and more film-like image just as you would get if you use a widescreen TV. What you see as "black bars" then is just those portions of your screen being "off". Personally, I'm very happy with this set. You get a lot of features and a great image for the price and size. And with the custom matching stand it just looks great in any small to medium sized room! The only negative I've encountered is the weight. Very heavy!
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