Sony KDF-46E2000 46" Grand WEGA 3LCD Rear Projection Television
cheap audio, video, ultimate electronics for sale
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List Price: $1,599.99
Features
• HD (1280 x 720) Picture Resolution (LCD Chip)
• 3 LCD Chips (R/G/B); 921,600 Pixels Each
• Cinema Black Pro for excellent contrast ratio
• Connections: 2 HDMI (Rear) and 3 Component Inputs (1 Side/2 Rear)
• DRC MF-V1 (Digital Reality Creation MultiFunction V1) technology |
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Sony KDF-46E2000 46" Grand WEGA 3LCD Rear Projection Television Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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A great set for the money
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Sony KDF-46E2000 46" WEGA Widescreen Television
After looking around for 2 months, I finally decided to go with the Sony KDF-46E2000 as my new TV. My older Samsung 42" widescreen projection television finally run its course after about 4 years of service, and I felt that my money would be better spent on a new unit as technology has advanced to the point to where picture quality was above and beyond anything I could get on my older Samsung even if it was repaired to factory-new condition. I initially thought about buying a plasma TV, but I didn't like the fact that they had a finite lifespan as opposed to a projection unit that could have a lamp replaced and be in practically new condition again.
I've been running what I consider to be my "test DVD's" through my set since I got it, and I'm convinced that I made the right choice. The DVD's I use are a mixture of high quality transfers that all have certain aspects that make them stand out. For instance, Independence Day had a lot of colors and fast moving action scenes while The Fifth Element puts a lot of color and texture variation on the screen. Frank Miller's 300 has a unique color palette and a wide-range of high-quality still scenes and textures. So far, I am nothing but impressed with the Sony.
Pros:
Colors are amazing and brilliant. Artificial laser and light sources on movies really stand out (such as seen in the Star Wars movies or the Fifth Element). Skin tones and clothing can be very accurately represented if the settings are tuned correctly, finding the initial sweet spot for this took me less than 10 minutes of watching various scenes of high-quality transfer (non-HD) DVD's.
The clarity and detail that can be achieved on this relatively inexpensive set is amazing. Things look very life-like (again, if you tune the settings towards this end). Plasma definitely has an edge over this type of projection set, but the differences on this size screen for most home viewers should be minimal and not necessarily worth the added cost of the Plasma units. The texture of wood, metal, snow, dirt, clothing and skin has a near life-like quality to it once the set is tuned properly. I've only done an initial calibration and it can only get better with further, more precise tuning. However, if the picture I have is what I have to live with for the life of this set, I will have no complaints, overall the picture is amazing and worth every penny (and then some) that I spent on the set.
The sharpness of text in the menu system and on-screen text is perfect. Sub-titles are dependent on the DVD, but while they're not as clear or sharp as on-screen and menu text, they are acceptable.
There are more than enough inputs to connect virtually every piece of equipment a normal home user would have.
No unexpected visual artifacts can be detected at my regular viewing distances of 10-15 feet. Some people like to turn the sharpness up to high levels in thinking that it will give their DVD's a better picture, but it actually can have the opposite effect. DVD's are generally of a high enough quality that adding additional sharpness will produce artifacts and edges that shouldn't be there, giving the picture a jagged and pixelated look.
The lamp life on this unit should be 4000 to 8000 hours, which should last 2-4 years at watching the TV 5 hours every day of the week. Though this lifespan can be significantly impacted by individual habits and conditions, a replacement lamp currently costs about $200 USD, which is not all that much considering replacing it should restore the picture to the condition it was the day you bought it (provided of course that nothing else has broken, malfunctioned or burned out). This is one of the larger benefits of going with a set like this instead of a plasma TV...once a plasma has run its course, you'll need a new TV, there's currently no way to restore the picture.
Cons:
None that I've really noticed yet. I think this set, especially considering the rather modest price, is a bargain and has everything most of us need and want in a home theater system.
My initial settings for DVD viewing (tuned with THX Optimizer* and then honed in by eye):
-Picture Setting (Vivid> Standard> Custom) = Standard, which is recommended by the manual for home use, I presume that vivid is suited to work better with in-store demos to catch your eye and compel you to purchase
-Advanced Iris = Auto 1 - for signals with a larger variance between light and dark as in a typical movie
-Picture = Max (100) - This is the contrast setting, and although common wisdom dictates that the contrast shouldn't be this high, so far this seems to be the best setting for the few movies and games I've displayed on the TV...though experience tells me that I may end up going down to the normally recommended settings of between 30 and 50 once I get through watching more films.
-Brightness = 60
-Color = 35
-Hue = R7
-Color Temp = Neutral
-Sharpness = Min (0) - this should normally be left at zero or close to it for home viewing when using DVD or HD-DVD sources, all sharpness does is add artificial edges to sharpen soft signals (like regular TV), DVD's and HD content benefit more from leaving sharpness at a very low settings
-Noise Reduction = Off - again, more for removing noise in TV signals, best left off
-DRC Mode = High Density
-DRC Palette = Custom (Reality 25 - Clarity 35)
If you use the above as a starting point, you can then fine tune it to your liking as you go. With the above settings, I can see the blemishes and pores in facial close-ups and metal and wooden objects show through with detail on the grain and texture, things look very realistic. I will tune it further as I go, but the current settings are a very good starting point and way beyond the quality you'll get with older large projection or tube TV's.
*As I understand it, you can find THX Optimizer on any Lucasfilm or Pixar DVD created from 2000 onward; I used one of my Star Wars DVD's for this. |
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Sony KDF-46E2000 46" Grand WEGA 3LCD Rear Projection Television home electronics.