Well, as some may have seen my earlier post about the package prices, I have had the TV now since Wednesday, a couple of days, and after receiving my 2x £16.99 HDMI cables, after really looking inside and out about is it really worth buying £50+ cables, I opted to believe the debate that it is not.. 
For those who are interested i bought these http://ukhdmi.com/hdmi-maestro.php - and they are great -- I compared to one cable i had before the QED HDMI-P bought for £55 at the time - and i have to say i have seen no difference at all between the two - if there is a different the eye and ears are not that sensitive to justify paying the extra for me.. anyway back to the review..
I set the TV up yesterday properly and have looked at the whole setting and then enjoyed the picture of the TV.. I can only compare to my old 26" pani that was great already and maybe the best 26" i ever had..
Analog picture: I dont watch much of it but from what i saw it was really good for a large screen like the sony..
Digital Freeview -- WOW! Did not expect such a vibrant and sharp picture, full of like and detail. Great work from Sony with the SD picture.. Have not seen sport on it yet, but i have to say i am very impressed...
Virgin + -- It is connected by HDMI with the 720p settings as recommended here on What hi-fi - and although i thought to expect much better detail than the freeview quality it is pretty much on par with it. I was going back and forth on the same channel from SD to V+ and hardly noticed any difference except the back ground and maybe the detail in colour on the faces were a little bit more shaper i think
The set up took me some time to get use to especially going in and out of the setting to go through all the manual set-up - to be honest wa snot a great fan of the menu - it is clear and easy to understand when you are on the page - but to go through all the details can be long winded a little bit - but this is a minor details and should not make this an exceuse that the TV is worse.
I watched Tennis and football on it through V+ and the players are not quadrupled especially the goal keeper int he background - it does seem to suffer a little bit when the Camera pans through quickly to the players but it is not that bad and i still enjoyed the details of the game and the screen this size does make such a difference to yoru viewing experience.
I sit about 3 meters eye to screen - and i must say any bigger would have been a no no for quality ratio to distance.
The TV design is all black - discreet and although it is massive - it does look pretty nice in the living room on my stand.. you can have a look at the pictures here: http://whathifi.com/forums/t/137741.aspx
The only negative for the TV is the sound quality - compared to my Pani - the sound was thumpingingly loud and detailed and on music channels at high volumes it was really like a stereo!! so i do miss this with the sony.. but for normal watching it is good - a left it on normal setting - as the enhanced one i did not like it at all... but for AV fans - this wont matter with AV set up and speakers..
The Bluray player: Finally i have experienced the HD world after 2 years it has been out.. and what a wait it was - I only have the one BD disc - Spiderman 2 - the set up of the DVD is a breeze - so easy.. set your output and details and away you go.
I watched the chapters when sand man lives, and when sandman fights SP and at the end of the film when the big fight with evil spiderman - and what an experince it was as it was the first time i really experienced HD like this - it was so involving - the picture quality was similar to a holiday post card from a tropical island with white sand a turquoise water, with palm trees surrounding it - It was really a cinema visual experince and i had my own IMAX in my living room..
I cannot recomment enough the wedign between the two - i have not compared to others as i am unable to, but it is the wow factor very easily for me - and i cannot recommened it enough - and at £1100 for the pair + 5 years warranty i thought it was a steal! (bought at Sony Centre Totts court rd, London ask for Horatio.
A few things i was trying to do with the film yesterday of Spiderman 2 - were the black border lines at the top and bottom, i now have a 40" and what i wanted was to get the full picture on the screen, the zoom option zooms too much so does the smart option, i tried all the options on the bluray player too - even 4:3 and still had the black lines -
Is there a way - a set up in order to get full view experience of a film - or is this not possible? a tried the full pixel and other set ups on TV as well with no difference. I really hope there is anyway as the experience will be even better with 4" more top and bottom!!
Well that is my input for the TV, i know a few of you wanted a personal review ont he TV - so here it is..
I also managed to get a super offer on Lovefilm.com - 60 days free trial with this code: C9RE6HAT3 -
I rented Cars in order to do use the THX Optimiser and also experience the film What Ho-fi uses to test the screens and alo use this free trial to watch as many BD films as possible now for FREE! after its only £13 a month for two fims at any one time unlimited use.. cheaper than your local Blockbuster shoudl you rent 2+ films a month..
I hope you made it alive till here..
Next step now is to find an AV amp and speaker system to finish off my set up - btu i think this wont be till next year Spring time..
All the best to all
Ben.
For those who are interested i bought these http://ukhdmi.com/hdmi-maestro.php - and they are great -- I compared to one cable i had before the QED HDMI-P bought for £55 at the time - and i have to say i have seen no difference at all between the two - if there is a different the eye and ears are not that sensitive to justify paying the extra for me.. anyway back to the review..
I set the TV up yesterday properly and have looked at the whole setting and then enjoyed the picture of the TV.. I can only compare to my old 26" pani that was great already and maybe the best 26" i ever had..
Analog picture: I dont watch much of it but from what i saw it was really good for a large screen like the sony..
Digital Freeview -- WOW! Did not expect such a vibrant and sharp picture, full of like and detail. Great work from Sony with the SD picture.. Have not seen sport on it yet, but i have to say i am very impressed...
Virgin + -- It is connected by HDMI with the 720p settings as recommended here on What hi-fi - and although i thought to expect much better detail than the freeview quality it is pretty much on par with it. I was going back and forth on the same channel from SD to V+ and hardly noticed any difference except the back ground and maybe the detail in colour on the faces were a little bit more shaper i think
The set up took me some time to get use to especially going in and out of the setting to go through all the manual set-up - to be honest wa snot a great fan of the menu - it is clear and easy to understand when you are on the page - but to go through all the details can be long winded a little bit - but this is a minor details and should not make this an exceuse that the TV is worse.
I watched Tennis and football on it through V+ and the players are not quadrupled especially the goal keeper int he background - it does seem to suffer a little bit when the Camera pans through quickly to the players but it is not that bad and i still enjoyed the details of the game and the screen this size does make such a difference to yoru viewing experience.
I sit about 3 meters eye to screen - and i must say any bigger would have been a no no for quality ratio to distance.
The TV design is all black - discreet and although it is massive - it does look pretty nice in the living room on my stand.. you can have a look at the pictures here: http://whathifi.com/forums/t/137741.aspx
The only negative for the TV is the sound quality - compared to my Pani - the sound was thumpingingly loud and detailed and on music channels at high volumes it was really like a stereo!! so i do miss this with the sony.. but for normal watching it is good - a left it on normal setting - as the enhanced one i did not like it at all... but for AV fans - this wont matter with AV set up and speakers..
The Bluray player: Finally i have experienced the HD world after 2 years it has been out.. and what a wait it was - I only have the one BD disc - Spiderman 2 - the set up of the DVD is a breeze - so easy.. set your output and details and away you go.
I watched the chapters when sand man lives, and when sandman fights SP and at the end of the film when the big fight with evil spiderman - and what an experince it was as it was the first time i really experienced HD like this - it was so involving - the picture quality was similar to a holiday post card from a tropical island with white sand a turquoise water, with palm trees surrounding it
- It was really a cinema visual experince and i had my own IMAX in my living room..I cannot recomment enough the wedign between the two - i have not compared to others as i am unable to, but it is the wow factor very easily for me - and i cannot recommened it enough - and at £1100 for the pair + 5 years warranty i thought it was a steal! (bought at Sony Centre Totts court rd, London ask for Horatio.
A few things i was trying to do with the film yesterday of Spiderman 2 - were the black border lines at the top and bottom, i now have a 40" and what i wanted was to get the full picture on the screen, the zoom option zooms too much so does the smart option, i tried all the options on the bluray player too - even 4:3 and still had the black lines -
Is there a way - a set up in order to get full view experience of a film - or is this not possible? a tried the full pixel and other set ups on TV as well with no difference. I really hope there is anyway as the experience will be even better with 4" more top and bottom!!
Well that is my input for the TV, i know a few of you wanted a personal review ont he TV - so here it is..
I also managed to get a super offer on Lovefilm.com - 60 days free trial with this code: C9RE6HAT3 -
I rented Cars in order to do use the THX Optimiser and also experience the film What Ho-fi uses to test the screens
and alo use this free trial to watch as many BD films as possible now for FREE! after its only £13 a month for two fims at any one time unlimited use.. cheaper than your local Blockbuster shoudl you rent 2+ films a month..I hope you made it alive till here..
Next step now is to find an AV amp and speaker system to finish off my set up - btu i think this wont be till next year Spring time..
All the best to all
Ben.
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