Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia KDF-37H1000 37-Inch 720p 3LCD Rear Projection HDTV

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There is only one reason to pay $900 for a 37" LCD Projection HDTV...space. My 32" 4:3 TV died and it sat in a beautiful Oak entertainment center. I'm not ready to part with that furniture yet. The opening for the TV is made for an up to 35" standard TV. Sony was on the ball creating this HDTV for people like me.

Flat panel LCD's in this size range don't measure up to the brightness, contrast and color of the Sony Bravia. Read the specs and compare. Luckily when I was shopping around I was able to view this set next to several other LCD's and it easily showed them up.

When you get this thing hooked up, tune it to the National Geographic HD channel for eye popping results. I did find that I had to mess around with the picture settings quite a lot before I could find what worked for me. There are lots of options. Take your time with them.

The things that I didn't like about this set that took away the fifth star are:
1) Screen door effect. If you have been reading up on RP-LCD, you already have heard about it. Yep, its there. Although I haven't really seen it with the HD content. You really notice it on the low def stuff. It bugged me real bad the first week, but I hardly notice it much a week later.
2) Side mounted buttons. Here's a HDTV marketed directly to consumers that will be placing it in a cabinet. Move them to the front for this set.
3) Long, long, long warm-up time on the projector lamp. OMG, I'm back in the 60's waiting for my TV to warm up. We're talking 30+ seconds before the picture comes on. I got spoiled with the near instant on with my last 32" TV.
4) $200 to replace the projector lamp! Yikes, I hope I get all of my 8000 hours.
5) Trouble getting a learning remote to learn the special keys for Screen Zooming, Picture control, etc... Tried three different learning remotes and none of them could reproduce the signal. I hate juggling remotes.

Don't take any of the above as deal breakers. The screen door effect is minimal, buttons are hardly accessed, I've learned to have patience, 8000 hours is about 2.5-3 years at 8 hours a day and tomorrows remotes will probably work fine with it.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS -
Its now been two weeks with the Sony and I'm starting to notice something that is really bugging me. So you understand how bad, I'm considering returning the set over it. When watching anything, HDTV, SDTV, DVD, etc... I can see an interleave effect when the scene changes. I notice this about 70% of the time. My family swears they can't see it, but it is bugging me to death. If anyone else has this set and you see it too, please write a review and identify such.

I compared this TV to Sony's KDL-32M3000 LCD flat panel TV. The LCD TV won out because:
1. Sharper picture on HD signal - the KDF-37H1000 is a little more blurry. (Note the KDF-37H1000 picture is better than no-name brand LCDs). The Sony LCDs had better focus.
1a. LCD TVs have a brighter picture. The Sony TVs have 3 picture settings: i) Vivid (very bright, what you see in Best Buy, ii) Standard (less bright, what looks better at home), and iii) Cinema (softer, more reds and earth shades). On the KDF-37H1000, you have to set it to vivid to watch even at home. On LCDs, you have to reduce brightness becuase they're brighter pictures.
2. SD cable on LCD TV is much much better than on KDF-37H1000.
2a. Motion was much cleaner on the LCD TVs. Sports blurred on the KDF-37H1000. I watched a bit of "8 below" Disney's Alaskan adventure with lots of white dogs and snow, and it looked bad, blurry and soft on the KDF-37H1000.
3. LCD TV has much less depth. Looks sleeker. I also tapped my fingers and felt around the frames on the 2 TVs. The LCDs were firmer and fit better. The KDF-37H1000 frame was looser and cheaper materials like a toy.
4. Maintainence costs - the KDF-37H1000 will require $200-400 bulb replacement in 1.5 years. The sales people said this could even happen in less than a year due to bulb malfunctions, just like in a floor lamp or any lamp. Note, Sony is phasing out LCD projection TVs in favor of SXRD, Hence, parts for the KDF-37H1000 will become harder to find. The KDF-37H1000 lamps are already $400 (Sony parts are always costlier - look at their digital camera memories, compared to Canon's).
4a. The complex combination of chips, mirrors, projectors, lamps on a projection TV is more prone to break than the simpler LCD technology. I am an electrical engineer and design integrated circuits for a living.
5. The KDF-37H1000 generates more heat than LCD, but much less than plasma.
6. The KDF-37H1000 has moving parts, such as the cooling fan, etc., All of these are more prone to malfunction.
7. Consumer reports rates the LCD TV reliability higher than projection TVs after looking at consumer repair data. Projection TVs had higher rates of return and repair.
7a. The folks at Best Buy told me they saw higher rates of returns due to reliability on the KDF-37H1000 than on Sony's LCDs.
8. The LCD TV has higher pixel count 1368 X 768, compared to the KDF-37H1000's 1200 X 720. This leads to sharper picture and better focus.
9. Screen door effect on KDF-37H1000. When objects on screen moved, their individual pixels did not move as a group. The picture was constantly dissolving and reforming. Faces had spots that appeared and dissappeared.
10. 2-3 years from now, I can put the LCD TV on a dresser in my bedroom as a 2nd TV, or put it in my study as a computer monitor. Cannot do this with the KDF-37H1000.
11. Moving - when we move houses, the LCD TV will ride easily in the seat in my Honda Civic. Cannot do this with the KDF-37H1000, which will have to go in the back of the truck with my wife.

The KDF-37H1000 was better than the Sony LCD TV in terms of:
1. Sound was better becuase larger speakers
2. A few more features and options that I will not use.
3. Larger screen. However, you must sit further back to avoid seeing spots and motion blurs.

Note the KDF-37H1000 is an excellent TV and very reliable compared to no-name brands. Definitely more reliable than the Samsung Slimfit TVs. We just came out fo a bruising battle with Samsung, and their reliability and customer service is not good. The KDF-37H1000 does look very good compared to Samsung or Westinghouse LCD TVs, which had cheap and shiny frames. However, the KDF-37H1000 is just not as good as Sony's 32" LCD TVs. If you want a bigger screen than Sony's LCDs, go 46" or 55" projection. The SXRD projection TVs had better motion. If you're thinking of 37", get an LCD.

One thing the KDF-37H1000 has going for it is Sony reliability. I work for IBM and we design integrated circuits for Sony's products. They require a 100 defective parts per million quality level from us. This is very good in the industry.

Great TV, light and affordable. Better picture than similar price LCD's. Lots of inputs, and picture and sound options. We replaced our old 32 inch tube with this TV, my wife wanted to keep our TV cabinet so this was the perfect solution. We are very impressed with the picture, and we don't have HD yet. We are using Directv Tivo and a DVD player with HDMI connection.

I had no intentions of buying a TV - we went out looking for a Nintendo DS and some PSP games. But there it was on display promoting DirecTV. It was marked down to $799 and Time Warner would take another $100 off if we signed up for digital cable. We ended up getting the TV (KDF-37H1000) for $676 brand new in a sealed box.

The picture is fantastic, much better than my 50" Samsung DLP in the living room. I plugged in a coax splitter and hooked up my basic cable to one side and rabbit ears to the other. Within minutes the TV had scanned all available channels and locked them in. There's no need to switch between over-the-air (OTA) channels and cable, the TV does that automatically. It's bright, the picture is completely configurable and even with basic cable looks great. TWC is installing an HD box in the bedroom so we'll be able to take advantage of all the HD channels they have to offer.

All in all this is a great TV and a fantastic price. Why so cheap? Sony is getting out of the DLP business and focusing on LCD. If you see this TV for sale buy it. Replacement bulbs are $185 and last 4 years based on 8 hours of TV per day. Mine's in the bedroom so I anticipate it lasting 10 years before needing to have the bulb replaced. If they had another in stock I would have bought it for the play room.

This is my 3rd rear projection TV in my house. Looking at bang for buck, flat panels don't really offer anything comparable to the price when looking at features. I own a Sony 55" and a Panasonic 44" Rear projo TV as well.

The biggest feature that drew me back to the Sony was the 3LCD projection engine. It makes a difference when you have the processing work on the 3 separate color bands, the colors are more vibrant and sharp then the single chip LCD I have on my Panasonic.

I mainly bought this for a secondary home theater TV that would connect to the PS3 that I also recently purchased. When I un-boxed this TV I surprised to learn that it would support the 1080p picture mode. Granted the LCD panels have a native resolution of 720p, it scales the image down. It still looks phenomenal, it does handle the 1080p/24fps mode that Blu-Ray discs put out.

The only complaints I have about the TV are the mediocre sound quality of the built-in speakers and the side mount of the controls.

Other than that, I'm sad to see the LCD Projo market begin to wind down. I did purchase the in-store 4 year warranty on the TV that covers bulb replacement, use it once and it pays for itself.

Just a note, I have had my Panasonic for 2 years and have yet to replace the bulb. My other Sony projo I've had for 1 1/2 years and I haven't had a bulb replacement either. That will give you a good idea on the life expectancy on the TV. Don't let that stop you from buying this set!

I purchased the TV on clearance from Circuit City in January. It has a great picture when just hooked up normally. I have it hooked up with hdmi to digital cable and the picture is amazing. The only drawback, (which isn't really a drawback) is that it takes a little while to load (appx 10-12 seconds to see the picture, 20-25 seconds to fully load). But, trust me, it's worth the wait.

Mine worked great for 80 days and now it is dead. The lamp light is on and there is no picture. 8000 hours lamp life? I figure mine was was more like 300 hours. The owners manual says contact Sony for a replacement bulb but they don't seem to have them available on the web site. They have them for similar models for $200-$300. Great.

Outstanding picture quality from both SD and HD sources. Other great features (as prior reviewers have discussed in depth) include Bravia integration and numerous A/V inputs. Sony obviously took great care to ensure the chassis was narrow enough to fit in entertainment centers, armoires, etc. originally designed to accommodate "old-fashioned" 32" CRT televisions. Indeed, I investigated a large number of 37" flat screens and all the others were just too wide--sometime not by much more than an inch, but if it won't fit, it won't fit!

When I finally "discovered" the Sony Bravia KDF-37H1000 and confirmed its dimensions personally, I bought it immediately (and didn't even mind paying the full list/retail price). I'm so glad I held out and kept up my search rather than settling for a 32" LCD, which given the 16:9 aspect ratio would have actually resulted in a smaller picture than on my 4:3 TV. That's hardly my idea of an "upgrade," HD or not.

1) I am very happy with this HDTV and would recommend it to anyone lucky enough to find it.
2) That said, it is 720p and if space for your television is not an issue, you might think about a 1080p--though charts and tables I've come across suggest you can't tell the difference between the two beyond 5-6 feet.
3) I haven't had any issues with the lamp (as a few have mentioned) even with fairly extensive use.
4) Frankly, when it does come time to replace it, it will almost be like getting a brand new set--whereas you can't replace the lamp on other LCD/LED flat screens.
5) If you have a wall unit or furniture sized for a 32" tube TV, I would consider the KDF-37H1000 your only true upgrade option.

Bottom line: A great 37" HDTV that also happens to fit where no other model could.

This have proven to be a very reliable and quality purchase. The bulb needed replacing after about 2 years, which is just about right. The HD and SD picture quality is excellent, and although the newer LED LCD screens are much more bright and vibrant, they also have a fake enhanced look to them that is very painful on the eyes in a darker room. For bright rooms, dark rooms, and in between this tv's picture is much more natural and I prefer it over plasma or LCD. The non-glare screen is excellent at keeping reflections off the screen (unlike plasmas) and I actually like the silver and black non-glossy borders on this tv very much. All newer LCD and plasma tvs have that annoying glossy black border around the screen, which not only attracts finger prints and dust like crazy but also creates glare and reflections right near the screen. All types of glare are not a concern with this Sony DLP tv. The Sony KDF-37H1000 is very attractive looking and lightweight for its size, and the color trim really looks nice compared to the cheap glossy trims on all newer tvs.

Bulb replacement is a snap and OEM grade replacement bulbs can be had for under $100 shipped, which is a cheap way to keep the picture looking new every 2-3 years. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the looks and performance of this Sony KDF-37H1000. The 3LCD DLP technology is really underrated I feel, and anyone looking for an inexpensive alternative to true LCD or plasma should look no further than this tv. This was one of Sony's last tvs before they exited the DLP market, and it is one of their best. The picture looks more like an LCD than most other DLP screens, with great brightness and clarity especially on sports and blu ray. The reliability is leaps and bounds better than comparable Samsung DLP sets, and has never given me a single issue in the 3-4 years I have owned it since new. Also, wanted to mention that I don't get any noticable motion blur during sporting events or action movies that is common on LCD tvs. I have a 22" Samsung LCD tv and it has more noticeable motion blur than this Sony DLP does, and the Sony is a few years older. The quantity of inputs is excellent including several HDMI and PC inputs, as well as the component, s-video, and analog inputs and outputs. A great set for hdtv, movies, pc monitor use, or even gaming. This is an excellent Sony Bravia DLP, that looks as much like a good LCD as a DLP. A real bargain too if you can find a used one in nice shape, but you don't see many for sale used because everyone keeps them! They are that good.

I have had this product for over a month and it is fabulous! I had my buddy come over and hook up this color calibrater which did a great job! its no professional calibrator but it did turn pale colors for some movies into bright and vibrant and expanded on those that already looked good! only thing i suppose is lack of 1080p. I watch alot of blu-ray and would like to see them in their full potential, but for the price it is one of the best pictures i could find!