vfzam's Full Review: Sony Grand WEGA KDF-70XBR950 70 in. HDTV LCD TV
My husband and I originally concentrated on evaluating what we assumed are the best performing HDTVs.....plasma. We were willing to part with the $$$s necessary to leap into the HDTV fray. But every time we entered our local Circuit City store, there were always a few or more people standing over in the projection TV area with there mouths agape looking upward at one particular TV. Finally we decided to go see what they were looking at. It was a new HUGE Sony rear projection LCD TV! It was most impressive, not the traditional deep and bulky rear projection, but a new advanced rear projection technology resulting in a slimmer design combined with a superb LCD screen. Further research revealed that plasma TVs are extremely limited in longevity compared with LCD TVs and are also subject to burn-in from stationary images (video games left on and unattended or those little ghost-like station logos in the corner of the screen). LCD TVs last much much longer 80,000 hours compared to 20,000 hours for plasma) and there is no risk of burn-in. So, with 2 teen-aged boys in the house we decided to go with the Sony KDF-70XBR950 Grand Wega.
Here are some things we learned AFTER getting our new Sony KDF-70XBR950 Grand Wega:
VIDEO: This massive home theater TV offers video that is extremely sharp and detailed. High definition programs on this set are simply AWESOME!!!! The only other rear projection LCD TV we thought came close in video quality was the PANASONIC PT60LC13 60". Sony decided to go the conservative route and used a single DVI video input rather than the more advanced HDMI (video & audio) digital input. As digital components come on the market, I am certain that 1 DVI input will not be enough. I have already invested in a 2-1 Gefen auto DVI switcher for this TV. Currently use it to switch back and forth between DirecTV and VOOM satellite receivers.
AUDIO: I assume anyone considering this TV has a home theater environment in mind, and recommend investing in an audio/video receiver with surround sound speaker system, as we did. While this Sony's 30 watts per channel speakers sounded fine, they don't compare with the sound you will get from a full surround sound system.
STAND: The stand that Sony manufactures for this TV is short on space for components and costs between $900 - $1000, so consulted with my Circuit City sales person and decided on a Bush stand model# BUS VS47388. After putting this stand together my husband was quite miffed to read in the enclosed pamphlet that the top shelf weight rating was only about half of the weight of our new Sony Grand Wega TV (not yet delivered at that point). We disassembled and returned the Bush stand model# BUS VS47388, feeling fortunate that our discovery most likely avoided the inevitable cracking of the glass shelf holding double its rated weight and then the beautiful 70" screen toppling over with a sickening crash. There are many sites that list the weight rating and dimensions of their TV stands, wish I had known this before. Bush does make a stand which will work great for this TV, both in space for components, top shelf weight rating, width to complement the expansive width of this TV, and the depth to accommodate the depth of the base supplied with the TV, but Circuit City doesn't carry it. It is Bush model VS74377-03. We liked the new Bush stand, but went with a bit pricier beautiful black BDI Axis 8024 stand. Either one will work fine, and have the necessary depth to accommodate the Sony's base and are also rated to support the weight of this TV.
DVDs: We found the video quality when using a standard DVD player to be (understandably) poor with this TV and in our opinion unwatchable. We found that even though we purchased a newly released Samsung DVD-HD931 DVD player ($250 range) for its progressive scan and Faroudja upscaling technology and its DVI output with HDCP copy protection compatibility (a requirement of this Sony TV's DVI input), the picture quality was much better than a standard DVD player, but still not satisfactory when watching DVDs. A visit to a high end home theater store, Harvey Electronics, was time (and $) well spent. We learned that 1080i signal (via DVI connection) which we assumed would provide us with the best quality, is not better than 720p using component video connections. So home we came home with a Samsung DVD-HD1000 DVD player ($1000) and the best "Monster" component cables ($135) to play pre-recorded DVDs at 720p. What an incredible improvement, supposed to be the same Faroudja (2:3 pulldown) technology in both Samsung models, but the Samsung DVD-HD1000 performs extremely well in both audio and video areas and is worth every penny if you want to watch standard DVDs on this super Sony set. There are 2 other DVD players in the same price range you could look into (Marantz DV8400 or the Pioneer Elite DV-59AVI). We also learned about "Superbit" DVDs, which have removed all unnecessary data in order to fill the DVD with the highest quality audio and video. This type of DVD is not too hard to find, costs about $8 more than the standard DVD, has dramatically improved audio and video quality, but there are only 45 titles available so far. If you want to watch DVDs on this fantastic Sony screen, I believe you will need to invest in a high end DVD player to get the quality video performance you will come to expect once you own this TV.
HDTV broadcast: Of the 3 avenues available (air antenna, satellite and cable), we have only satellite HD service available where we live. We live too far way to take advantage of HDTV signal from air antenna and the built in Sony HDTV tuner. Currently only 5 channels are offered by DirecTV satellite service which we have (we needed to upgrade to an HDTV satellite receiver and new HDTV compatible dish), but those 5 HDTV channels are wonderful! We also have VOOM HD satelite service which features 21 exclusive HDTV channels
We couldn't be happier with our new Sony KDF70XBR950 Grand Wega, and now truly have the home theater we've always dreamed about!!
Added comment regarding ability to record in High Definition: The 3 i.LINK (firewire / IEEE 1394) ports on this TV have had export capability disabled by Sony so can not be used to record with any of the new i.LINK HD recording devices out or coming on the market, most disappointing! There is currently no method of High Definition program recording when HD content is only available via DirecTV satellite with this TV. Some HDTV manufacturers including RCA allow i.LINK export of HD content for recording of HD programming. Something to consider if the ability to record HD programs for viewing at convenient times rather than broadcast times is important to you. I have found a "custom HD DirecTv sat receiver" solution for stand alone HD recording capability (http://www.169time.com) or might wait for the soon to be released DirecTv/TIVO HD-DVR250 receiver dvr.
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