Customer Reviews

Sony Bravia Z-Series KDL-40Z4100/B 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV, Black

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recommend this new Z series or an XBR (over 40") due to one fact - the 10-bit Processor and 10-bit Panel. The S, V and W series all look great, but they have 8-bit panels this year (see chart above). For the deepest blacks and best color reproduction, the 10-bit panel/processor makes a huge difference, more than any other LCD feature difference I've seen. The 120hz is impressive, too, giving a 3-D effect, especially on Blu-ray/HD playback, and can be turned on and off. If you like Samsung, the 650 and 750 series also have the 10-bit Processor and 10-bit Panel and 120hz, but I think Sony has a more natural picture - hope this helps. Been shopping for 8 months, uugh.

The 10-bit Z series 40" Sony LCDs are the absolute best. This TV sends XBR down a notch. Digital source material will jump out at you like never before. Gorgous color and contrast. The best yet.

1080i TV broadcast looks about 90% as good as Blu-ray on this panel. The delivery of non-HD DVD movies is wonderful and the picture using Blu Ray is absolutely stunning! (I rarely use the word "stunning")

Also, it's very future-proof with lots of (4) HDMI inputs and a LAN connection and USB. I've had the KDL 40Z4100 for about 2 weeks now and the ranking of picture quality goes as follows: Blu Ray (late release)movies, Digital HD television broadcast or HD digital cable, standard def (480 or 720) movies from a good quality "upscaling" player, and finally - standard def TV broadcast. The 120hz motion control and 24p pull-down work well on older standard def movies. My only advice is to not scrimp on the DVD player. You're going to see your old flicks look better than you have seen them...ever - with a good upscalling player.

Even video sources from my computer look near HD. I've connected my computers 8800GT graphics card's DVI out to the Sony's HDMI input and the look of some of my games is just as good, if not better, than my 22'' Samsung monitor.
This is Sony's best so far, in my humble opinion. Go for it!

I was looking for a 40" LCD and narrowed it down to the Sony 40Z4100, Sony 40XBR4, and Samsung LN40A750... I've previously owned a 46" Samsung LN-T4665F and a Samsung LN-T3253H so naturally I wanted to go back to Samsung. The picture on the 750 is amazing but side by side, in multiple stores, I just couldn't take my eyes off the Sony LCDs. I then was stuck between the Sony 40XBR4 and the 40Z4100...
I had my heart set on the XBR4 since it was Sony's top of the line product last year, but when I saw that this years 40" XBR6 and XBR7 were going to have identical specs to the Z4100, (granted Contrast Ratio will probably be higher on the XBR's,) it came down to the simple question of:

Do I want to spend $2500+ on the new XBR or $1700+ on the Z4100??

I have to say I'm extremely happy with my decision to save a few bucks and go with the Z-series. The picture quality is breathtaking in both HD and Blu-Ray. Standard TV is top notch as well but I'm blown away with the detail, color, and overall picture this TV offers. You really can't lose if you're going with any of these 3 TV's but I'm so glad I went with the Z-series. Its thin frame is hardly seen and the TV is almost 20 lbs lighter than the XBR4... The Sony 40Z4100, is hands down, my choice for a 40" LCD.

Was time to replace my 36" Sony XBR tube with a new HDTV set but had a specific space limitation due to the existing TV cabinet - had to fit something inside just over 39". Looked at the Samsung 650 and was leaning heavily that way but was concerned that the size was just too tight for my opening (even with some adjustments) and the glossy screen was a concern given lots of natural light in the room.

Was then looking to the "W" series when I found the "Z" - a bit more, but it was definately smaller (the exact same width as my 36" XBR tube set) and I liked the DLNA options.

The reason for 4 vs 5 stars is the fact that using the DLNA feature has not been easy thus far. There are little to no instructions with the set for this and I've tried three DLNA-compatible Media Servers (four if you count Windows Media Player). I finally was able to access pics from my PC by using the SimpleCenter media center but I've not been able to get the TV to realize that audio is also being shared by SimpleCenter. Sony's on-line & e-mail help were not very helpful so I'm going to have to spend some time on the phone with their support line - hopefully that will prove more helpful and I can get access to my music as well.

I have not experienced the "sparkling" effect mentioned by another reviewer - hopefully that's a limited issue that will not crop up after further burn-in.

Overall the set looks great - the S-Video connection from my non-HD DirecTV receiver looks better than on another smaller HDTV set I have (Insignia - BestBuy's house brand). Interesting the Insignia seemed to do a bit better in pulling in the off-air signal than the Sony (with weaker signals - we live quite a ways away from any transmitters) until I went and purchaed a new antenna signal amplifer (I think the one I had had gone, or was starting to go, bad) but now I get great HDTV picture off the air and when connected to a Sony upconverting DVD player my existing CDs look great.

UPDATE: After no help from Sony Support, I have finally determined / realize that Music/MP3s are not supported over DLNA. To Sony's credit, the manual does not claim music support of MP3 - only refers to photos - but the fact that you can play music from USB seems to be it a bit ambigious - perhaps I just wanted this to funciton like the Samsung 7 series that allows music streaming as well as the RSS feeds and more - oh well.... at least I have pics working - still keeping it at 4 stars due to the poor level of Sony's support in helping me clearly realize this basic fact (after using Chat, e-mail and phone support).

UPDATE 2: Having issues getting the "built-in" TV Guide to let me select channels I want displayed and keep those without it hiding ones I select or adding ones I don't want - once again a couple of rounds with Sony support has not provide much support.... granted these features are the "extras" and don't affect the TV viewing quality - which is excellent - just frustrating things when you purchase something with this bit of a premium against the similar class competitors....

I purchased this TV and have been using it for about 2 weeks now.
I've done extensive (some would label it obsessive) research on this and other models. What swayed my decision to purchase this model was:
1. The features offered with the Z series are almost identical to the XBR6 series. The only difference is the styling.
2. Many sources state that Sony's overall reliability exceeds Samsung's by a significant margin.
3. 10 bit panel.
4. Price.
4. Small footprint / dimensions compared to other 40 inch models.

Pros:
Setup was very easy.
Very attractive design.
Incredible HD picture quality.
Very good Standard Definition picture quality.
Menu very intuitive and easy to navigate.
Great motion flow technology. Viewing sporting events is absolutely amazing.
Color is much more accurate and realistic than most other TV's I've seen
Black levels are more than adequate. In fact, they are better overall than my old Sony Trinitron CRT.
I'm able to notice detail like I never though possible. I can actually see dust floating through sunlight and lint on peoples clothing....not to mention every line and wrinkle in people's faces.

Cons:
As with ALL LCD screens I've owned and viewed, there will always be some noticeable light bleed from the illuminating lamp. But overall, this is not noticeable during normal viewing. It can only seen when there is no signal.
Viewing angle on this, and many other LCDs suffers PQ loss when the angle approaches 50-60 degrees. Not a big minus, but there are other brands that don't suffer as much loss with that angle.
The infamous sparkle issue: If you've done your research, you will come across complaints regarding random 'sparkles' that flash for a few milliseconds. Depending on the source, they may be as frequent as 1 every few minutes. This is only noticeable if you are aware of the issue and are watching for them. These sparkles are no larger than 1 pixel in size....not at all distracting.
I noticed that they only occur when viewing standard definition material that is being shown on an HD channel. I have never noticed it on SD channels nor when watching DVD's.
Sony has released a firmware update that can be VERY EASILY APPLIED if you own a USB drive. You download the new firmware from their site, save it to the drive, plug the drive into the TV and the reset is automatic.
After the update, issue was resolved. No more sparkles!

[..]

Overall I am very pleased with the TV.
I chose this over the equivalent Samsung model mainly because I feel the Samsung frame is ugly and unnecessarily bulky. Also, the Samsung's picture looks too saturated...colors are not 'realistic'.

I have the 40 inch version and while the HD is amazing, I think where it will stand out to the average users is it's ability to upscale standard definition signals. It does an amazing job. I have (non-HD) Dish Network (at least until AT&T's U-verse is available on my block) and this set gives my Dish Network subscription a new lease on life.

The other killer feature is the 'favorites' button on the remote. It will allow you to select which input to view by a animated, ribbon like menu of icons (XBR) that you can somewhat customize. This makes it simple to change sources for those less likely to understand HDMI1, HDMI2, Component 1, Composite, etc.

Picture quality is flawless. The only thing it doesn't have is...wait, it's not missing anything. This costs more than most it's size but it fits smaller spaces since the speakers are under the LCD and the frame around the LCD is less than 1 inch.

This set gave me the most bang for the space, not buck. It's not the cheapest but I have no buyer's remorse either - and I AM cheap.

This TV was literally the perfect "fit" for us. The slim design just fits our built-in cabinet with about 1/2 inch to spare on width. This means we can not access the few side mounted inputs and control buttons - but with 4 HDMI inputs in total + component inputs in the back, we have more than enough accessible inputs and the remote does all we need it to. We also found it on sale for $1699.00 - making the price more competitive with other similarly configured TVs - the picture is amazing - we have been watching the Olympics in HD but have not yet tried a DVD - on Vivid setting the picture is extremely bright and sharp - maybe too bright; there are custom controls for the picture that we have not tried yet. The only problem we have had was the included TV stand - the TV attaches quite easily with 4 included screws - but when we mounted the TV - it was tilted forward at the top - there is no way to adjust tilt, and we determined that an L shaped metal component of the stand that holds the TV was bent - I talked Fry's into just swapping the stand as the TV worked great; the new stand solved the problem.

The action sports from the Olympics look great - no doubt helped by the 120 Hz processor.

We also have not noticed any cloud or sparkle artifacts

So if you are tight on space - this is a great "fit."

I purchased this LCD two months ago, and it has all the latest features, it is super slim and sexy, and it fit exactly into my tight space.

I love having a 120hz panel, but I turned off motionflow cause I do not like the unnatural look. But having a 120hz panel will allow you to view 1080p/24p blu ray content with the right amount of judder with motionflow off.

The color on this screen is unbelievable, I have a samsung ln46a650 screen in another room, but the color on this set cannot be topped that panel. Plus the audio from this TV is clearer and less muffled than the samsungs down firing speakers. Plus this screen is semi-matte and looks fantastic in rooms with lots of lights, unlike most 2008 samsung models with have alot of glare.

The biggest issue I have with this set is the black level, the viewing angles, and the horrible autodim feature sony added to all 2008 sony's except xbr8. I have sony's latest 202R firmware, but has not helped black level or viewing angle.

the black level is not deep, even when you punch down the backlight and turn on power saver, and when you do that, you loose alot of contrast. This is not sony's fault, its the fact that its such a slim design the backlight is much closer to the panel than usual. I am not going to get such a slim screen like this next time, knowing the design fault.

The second problem is the viewing angle on this set is the worst I have seen for a high end set, especially in 2008. if you are not directly in the middle you will begin loosing contrast quickly beginning at 30 degree angle, again this issue is with the backlight being so close to the screen, and or the light diffuser.

The third and most major problem with this set is the auto-dimming feature. Which cannot be disabled, and I have changed every color mode and setting, would not stop this set from dimming in a dark scene, and then get brighter. This problem has been mentioned in every cnet review of sony's 2008 models.

I will not recommend this set unless you want something really slim and great color from sitting dead center, but if you want something better in terms of black level and viewing angle, I would suggest xbr6 and W4100 series from Sony.

I am planning on selling this set on ebay, and wait for 2009 series sony and pray they got rid of auto-dimming, or else they will lose me as a customer to samsung this year

I'm very happy with this purchase. I've read other owners' responses on various web sites, and I think that people don't realize the many issues that affect picture quality including inconsistent broadcasts and many picture settings.

The Sony Bravia KDL-40Z4100 comes with several picture modes: Standard, Vivid, Cinema, and Custom. Each of these can be customized with settings for contrast, brightness, color saturation, color temperature, backlight adjustment, noise reduction, and some advanced settings which amongst other things include options to use the wide gamut color space to take advantage of the 10-bit color. I recommend leaving all of these picture modes at the factory settings except the Custom mode which you can experiment with. Each mode has a Reset option so you can restore the factory defaults if you've mucked anything up.

The commentators at cnet.com and others pretty much parrot each other that the manufacturers deliberately deliver the TV's with gaudy color settings so that we morons will go gah-gah when we see them on the wall at a brightly lit Bestbuy. I think its a little more complex than that. In the case of the Sony Bravias, they are typically displayed in the Vivid mode to accommodate the brightly lit showrooms. However, even that picture mode is pretty good... in bright lighting. After all, the manufacturers want these things to look good on display, and they know people shelling out thousands of dollars for a set will tend to be very discriminating. I think the Sony engineers are a little smarter than the pundits give them credit for.

I purchased the "Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics" disk on Blu-ray to calibrate the picture. I carefully went through the explanations and the test patterns. However, I still get the best picture from the factory settings for the Standard picture mode. I've also tried a number of recommended settings downloaded from the Internet. Still, Standard picture mode is the best. My main criteria for judging the picture is how close it is to reality, and I have several Blu-rays, DVD's and some broadcast stuff that I know what they are supposed to look like.

I have been really appreciating seeing dark scenes clearly on the new KDL-40Z4100. Again, I'm using the default settings for contrast, brightness, and backlight. I know there is controversy about contrast ratios, but I can't imagine any better than deep black, bright clear white, and excellent detail in every shade in between.

Motion is also excellent. I watched ape-men fighting scenes and ballet-like spacecraft movements in 2001 A Space Odyssey on Blu-ray, a really fast action sequence in Casino Royale on HBO/HD, and a few Celtics games in HD on cable. All motion was completely smooth, and I saw zero artifacts. It has been quite a relief after seeing so much choppy motion on other sets in the showroom.

Now for the negatives: I bought a Sony Blu-ray player and a Sony Soundbar receiver/speaker system. There is a feature called Bravia Synch which is supposed to make Sony products more compatible with each other allowing you to turn things on and off with one button and a few other capabilities. I have meticulously gone through the manuals and tried various connection configurations, but I can't get the Bravia Synch to work--yet. This negative is somewhat offset by the fact that the remote is a universal remote that can easily be programmed to operate the other devices.

Another irritation is that I can't get closed captioning to work correctly. The options are Off, On, and On with Muting. Nothing works. I emailed Sony support, and to their credit they quickly responded, but the bad news is that you can't get closed captioning when using a cable set top box with an HDMI connection. Any closed captioning has to come from the STB itself. I got that to work, but it takes several steps through menus with the STB remote each time I want to turn closed captioning on or off. A minor nuisance.

However, there's more good stuff:

- 120 Hz
- 10-bit color; xvYCC; wide color gamut; deep color.

- Plug in a USB flash drive and listen to MP3's and view digital photos.
- Connect your laptop with an RGB cable and stereo audio connector.
- Optical digital connection for great digital sound.
- Really good programmable universal remote.
- Slim, modern design--best looking set on the wall.

BTW, Amazon has the best price for the KDL-40Z4100.

UPDATE 1/2/09: I've been reading other reviews about "sparkles" on the V-Series. There is a free software upgrade on sony.com that addresses that. Though I haven't experienced the so-called sparkles, I upgraded the software anyway. It's pretty easy. Just copy the file to a USB flash drive, plug it in to the TV, and follow simple instructions.

Also, in my review I mentioned using default factory settings for Standard picture mode. I now find myself more and more using the Vivid picture mode. Colors look really natural but a little brighter, and the contrast ratio is visibly better.

I am very discriminating and usually quite critical when it comes to consumer technologies. I wouldn't have written this rave review if this wasn't an amazing TV. I've looked closely at the pictures on many HDTV sets, and this one is really more advanced. I have nothing to gain in saying this except to tip off people that this is a really good set.

I have been using an old 27 inch Zenith for over 6 years and the color was really starting to bleed so I started looking into lcd tv's and found the sony KDL-40Z4100/B and was very impressed with the features that it offered. I spent at least a month researching tvs but still came back the the sony. The sony tv was a bit more than the others but my parents have a 52" JVC HD-ILA tv and this I feel is no comparison to mine now. I find myself watching the HD stations the majority of the time but am also very impressed at the regular channels. I really like the slim bezel design, it helps give the tv a lighter foot print.