Customer Reviews

Sony KV-27HS420 27-Inch FD Trinitron WEGA HD-Ready CRT TV

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

 

 

After several months of investigation, I purchased the Sony KV-27HS420. My options in high definition TV sets were extremely limited because of the size of my cabinet. The final choice came down to this 27" Sony and a 32" wide screen Panasonic LCD TV. The Panasonic offered a 4:3 (standard size) picture about the same size that the Sony produced, but the Panasonic LCD produced a much larger wide screen image. Nevertheless, I opted for the Sony for several reasons: It was about one-third the cost of the LCD and employed a cathode ray tube, a mature technology that has been around since the advent of TV. LCD, on the other hand, appears to be a technology that is still evolving. From what I had observed, both have outstanding high definition video quality, but CRT sets seemed to deal better with standard definition images. In addition, the size (depth) of the CRT TV did not present a problem for me, since my cabinet is very deep.

It is important to note that a typical wide screen image on this 27" Sony measures only about 24" on the diagonal and that there is quite a difference in size between this and the size of a wide screen image on a 32" LCD TV. I certainly would have preferred a larger screen, but my family sits no more than 8 to 10 feet from the TV and given the excellent high definition video quality produced by the Sony, we are able to deal with the smaller screen without much difficulty.

Putting aside the problem that this is not a big screen TV, the Sony excels in nearly every department. The audio is acceptable, but audio is really not an issue for me since I have a home theater system, which I usually use when watching the TV.

The first week I owned the Sony, I used a standard definition satellite receiver (a DISH 501 DVR.) The video quality with the digital feed from the satellite receiver, using an S video connection, was very good. Similarly, the video quality using a roof-top antenna connected to the co-ax input was also very good. Also, a DVD player connected with both an S video cable and component cables using progressive scan both produced excellent picture quality. I observed only a very slight improvement with progressive scan.

After the first week, I switched my service from standard definition satellite to high definition cable, which I have now had for about three weeks. With high definition cable, there was a dramatic improvement in picture quality with programs broadcast in high definition. The high definition picture quality is outstanding and the standard definition picture quality is very good. The cable receiver is connected to the TV with both component cables and a three foot DVI to HDMI cable. Video quality is only slightly better using the DVI-HDMI cable, and certainly not worth the $80-90 my local electronics store wanted for this cable in a six foot length. Fortunately, I purchased my three foot cable on line from monoprice.com for less than $10. It works quite well.

In summary, this is an excellent TV. I recommend it to anyone who can deal with the relatively small screen.

Contrary to popular opinion, you don't have to buy an expensive plasma or LCD (liquid crystal display) TV to get a great high-definition picure. In fact, many experts (including Consumer Reports) assert that high-definition TVs using traditional cathode-ray tube technology -- as this high-definition Sony does -- currently offer a sharper picture than plasma and LCD TVs plus are lower priced and more reliable. This Sony HDTV has an excellent picture with standard broadcasts and a superb picture with HD broadcasts.

Yes, this model -- despite being a high-definition TV -- has the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio rather than a widescreen 16:9 ratio. But my cable system currently broadcasts 175 channels in the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio and only 9 widescreen channels. How many widescreen channels are currently available to you? Not many I would guess. Widescreen 16:9 TVs have smaller pictures with gray bars on the side when displaying traditional 4:3 channels, which most channels still broadcast. Admittedly, when widescreen broadcasts and most DVDs are played on this set, there will be letter-boxing bars above and below the widescreen picture. If this bothers you significantly, I suggest that you consider purchasing a 30" or 34" widescreen Sony HDTV. But for people who want high-quality HDTV right now and want to spend only a few hundred dollars rather than a thousand dollars or more, this 27" Sony HDTV may well be the answer. If you eventually purchase a larger screen HDTV when prices on such sets drop -- as they eventually will -- this excellent 27" Sony would serve as an superb second HDTV at that time.

This is an excellent TV. I recommend it to anyone in the market for a good HDTV, but don't want to spend $3000. This TV also has an HDMI input, a feature that is only found on high-end TV's. Unfortunately I cannot comment on the sound because I have it hooked up to my Sony Home Theatre System (Model HT-DDW660) but I expect the sound is pretty good. My only complaint with this model is that the TV is not widescreen. I knew that before I purchased the TV, but after I got it and saw my friends Widescreen TV's, I knew I should have gone 16:9. This is a great TV and I recommend it to anyone with $750 in their pocket.

I did research on alot of 27" TVs and compared the picture on them and this was the best. Colors are bright and true and extremely sharp! I would not pass this TV up if you found a good deal on it.. However..

It is a MONSTER. This is a heavy TV and, compared to others, is just plain big. I don't think the exceptional picture quality is worth the size of this TV.

It is not widescreen. Everything in HD is widescreen. Your HD picture is actually not a 27" picture and is much smaller. Also, unless you have an upconverter for the standard definition TV signal, it will appear with black all around the sides, and if you opt to use the zoom feature, it will cut off the edges because it doesn't zoom right. So in all situations, you are getting less than 27" of picture or are cutting off the picture. Personally, I will never get another HDTV that is not widescreen.

As far as the other features of the TV, I have not come across a situation where I would mess with them.. So I cannot give a review on their functionality.

Even with the drawback of the TV not being widescreen, I will say that it is still a 5 star TV. With an upconverter, the picture will look nice and not be cut off for standard definition shows and video games look great(atleast from XBox 360 -- even games with a max resolution of 480p)!

I looked through BestBuy, Circuit City, and online while I was TV shopping. I knew I wanted around 27" and wanted an HD ready TV. I found this TV and a comparable Phillips TV but the Phillips had horrendous reviews. I purchased this TV and could not be happier with it. The picture and sound are better than I expected. The multiple video inputs are very useful for dvd players, game systems, etc. AND it's HD-ready so I can enjoy HD cable. This really was the best medium size TV out there.

This review is for the Sony KV-27hs420. I currently use a XBOX 360 connected via component cables, with a 1080i game the graphics are amazing. As for the PS#, I'll be getting that soon and can have it hooked up to the HDMI port. The sound on the TV is very good. The Sony Trinitron series is very reliable, I purchased a 27 trintronback in 99' and just sold it for over $300, Considering I paid $500, it held it's value very well, the same can be said with this TV. It will last you more than 10 years. If you're short on money and want HD, this is the one to get, If you have $2000 to spend, get the Sony Bravia.