Rating: Summary: This set exceeds my expectations (so far) Review: I've had the XS955 for about three weeks now and definitely don't regret spending the money. Every source I throw at it (most only standard definition) looks great. Off-the-air digital TV is beautiful. My Dish Network standard definition receiver even looks great using s-video. My plans to upgrade the DVD player have been put on hold because my current player with progressive scan component outputs looks great. I can't imagine what it would look like with a high def dvd player.
This set provides a large number of settings to fine tune the picture and many display features to keep the techy happy. The 55" set fits nicely into an average size living room. Any bigger and you need a lot more room. The set is easy to move as it weighs just over 100 pounds.
Sound quality is very good from the built in speakers. One complaint of mine is that you have to turn off the set's sound if you want to feed audio to a home theater amp. Not a big deal, but not what I expected. The number and type of available inputs will leave you longing for more hardware to use them all! Support for legacy video inputs is great and all the newest inputs are there as well.
I have not used the Cablecard slot so I can't provide info on its funtionality.
Rating: Summary: Display Problem Review: My Sony LCD large screen TV is just over one year old. It has yellow splotch about mid upper screen. A close inspection of the screen reveals a circuit board trace like pattern that is yellow. The set has not been abused or exposed to temperature extremes. A UPS should be used with these units to keep the lamp cooling fan powered in case of a power failure. The lamps are at least $250.00 I would definitely recomend the extended warranty. Is the technology not proven on these large screens? Is the screen going to fail after 3 years when the extended warranty is expired? Sony will not stand behind their product after the warrany is expired. (mine is two weeks out) Other than the display problem the unit has performed flawless. It's a lot of money for a TV that doesn't last more than a year!!!!
