233 of 235 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best monitor available today., August 17, 2007
This review is from: Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-46XBR4 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV (Electronics)
We purchased an XBR4 and brought it home last night from a brick-and-mortar store. I didn't think they would be available for another month. I've been trying to decide what to purchase for almost 4 months (a common story from what I've read on the internet). Every time I stood in Frys Electronics, or Best Buy, or Circuit City the Sony XBR series would catch my eye. In my opinion they simply are better than all the rest.
I looked briefly at Plasma but our living room has lots of windows so we couldn't tolerate the shiny screens. The latest and greatest Samsung LCDs also have shiny screens so alas they were excluded.
We compared the Sharp Aquos 52d82 with the Sony XBR3 and once again the sharpness and clarity of the Sony outstripped the Sharp. This is all subjective mind you. You might very well be quite satisfied with another brand. For me I would never be happy had I purchased something else, knowing these XBR series were out there.
Last night the Sony 46" XBR4 was sitting between two Plasma TVs in the store. The Sony was sharper and had deeper blacks than the two Plasmas.
I was itching to purchase a Sony but I knew the XBR4 & 5 were coming soon with the 120Hz refresh, 10 bit color, 3 HDMI 1.3 inputs, PC input, 15000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 2000:1 true contrast, and the BLACK bezel. Yes the XBR4 came with the black bezel which I prefer over the silver of the XBR2.
Setup was as easy as the traditional CRT TV the XBR4 replaced in our living room. Plug it in, stick the Playstation 3 HDMI cable into the back, turn it on, select the game input and away we went.
We have a library of over 300 480i DVDs. I was concerned they wouldn't look good. I've read many user reviews about poor quality 480i presentations on the previous XBRs. While they can't hold a candle to the Blu-Ray Planet Earth series the standard DVDs look quite respectable on the XBR4.
The Sony remote is quite long compared to our other remotes. It has single buttons to change the Picture from Wide Zoom, to Normal, Full, and Zoom. You can quickly also select Vivid, Standard, Cinema, or Custom Picture Modes. The remote is a "universal" type that will control a Set Top Box, DVD, Blu Ray disk player, or of course the TV. The remote picked up my Sony DVD player without me having to do anything to set it up. However we have a Logitech Harmony 890 (Amazon has a great price) so won't be using the Sony remote.
There are 10 input selections, TV, Video 1 (which we named DVD), Video 2, Video 3, Component 1, Component 2, HDMI 1 (which we named Game for the Playstation 3), HDMI 2, HDMI 3, and PC. I did hook up my PC which has 1080p capability and surfed the internet for a while. I don't think these big screens make good PC monitors though as you have to sit close enough to read text and at that point they are too large.
There were no dead pixels, and I haven't seen any "clouding" that was the bane of the XBR2&3.
Yes it is pricey but in my opinion it is the best.
September 27, 2007 update
Now that I've had this LCD for over a month I'm very pleased with it. One additional comment is the built in speakers are quite good. I also recently purchased a 34" Sharp with built in speakers and immediately noticed the difference in the poorer sound quality in this Sharp. The Sony sounds so good I haven't spent the time to hook the sound output jacks up to my surround sound system.
Changing channels could be quicker, but my guess is the TV is trying to figure out what kind of signal it has (480i, 720i, 1080i) and make adjustments.
I've had issues with dropping sync with some digital TV channels but I have no way of knowing if it is the TV itself or the quality of my cable. It will lose sync for about 5 seconds then re-sync.
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99 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic once calibrated and having all features turned on., September 13, 2007
This review is from: Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-46XBR4 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV (Electronics)
HDguru's review of this TV pointed to a problem with the handing of interlaced video and recommended switching from Vivid to Custom (or cinema settings), it does make a difference once you settings on Custom are right. Picture is incredible. With Motion flow turned on and sharpness turned up, contract and back-light turned to max it looks like you are looking through a window. If anyone wants my settings let me know. I am just thrilled with quality. I have a PC-VCR attached to the VGA connector. I have a DVD player connected using HDMI and using the scaler from the TV take it to 1080p. With sharpness turned up motion flow turned on, detail and edge enhancer turned on the DVD's look amazing I can't wait for a Blu-Ray player, can you say PS3?
Weaknesses
1. the out of the box settings seem ok but you get so much more after you tweak it. Which leads me to my only complaint which really isn't one there are so many settings and the manual doesn't do a good enough job explaining what they do (even for a techy).
2. The cost is pretty high but if it's worth it.
Suggestions buy your cables through Amazon it's worth it. The shipping may cost more then the cables but that still 1/3 the price of buying them elsewhere.
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77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the wait, August 23, 2007
This review is from: Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-46XBR4 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV (Electronics)
I was having trouble deciding between an older XBR model (such as the XBR2 or XBR3 ) or waiting for this new model to come out. I decided to wait, and I am very glad I did. The new Xross interface is amazing, as is the picture quality. No "clouds" in the corners like some of the XBR2 and XBR3 models. One thing I must mention that is a real plus is the "Game Mode" option for various inputs. For people familiar with games like Guitar Hero, A/V lag can be a big deal. The game mode on this model works like a charm and removes almost all lag (I didn't even have to "calibrate lag" in the game options). The only negative I have noticed so far is the automatic backlight adjusting. It can be easily put to manual, but on the default automatic setting it seems to overcompensate when credits start to roll, or if something is white on a black background.
Update: November 31, 2007
I have had this TV since the day it was released, and I don't regret purchasing it at all. As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, you really need to take the time and adjust the "Custom" options to your liking, because "Vivid" is a bit over the top. After 3 months though, the TV is still going strong with no dead pixels or clouding or any problems at all. I couldn't be happier.
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