Sony BRAVIA KDL40BX450 40-Inch 1080p HDTV, Black

One more factor to evaluate (and then some), April 9, 2012

By 

D. Chambers (Arizona) –

  

Please be aware that this unit is a 60-Hz. You would be hard-pressed to learn this from the specs and reviews.

While 120-Hz units cost more, and reduce blur, the quality of this 60-Hz unit is adequate, especially at this price. All TV signals are broadcast and/or recorded in 60-Hz. Thus, any 120-Hz or 240-Hz unit is not receiving/displaying a higher-quality signal, but merely interpolating the time-slices between the 60-cycle images (a digital scrubbing, as it were), to reduce blur.

Probably info overload, but I just wanted to say that it’s a 60-Hz unit, in case anyone is looking for that spec. Wikipedia has an article on “HDTV blur” (section 100 Hz+) that explains it all.
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Revision, about a month after purchase: I am very happy with this unit. The product page on Amz. is a bit misleading re: “Clear Resolution Enhancer” (whatever that is). Amz indicates that this unit does not have it, but the manufacturer’s shipping crate clearly states that this unit (like the EX640 unit) does have it. Specs constantly change; inquiring minds want to know. It seems to reduce the out-of-focus conditions on the old Hollywood DVDs that are just plain old VHS transfers. Nice!

Another thing: older analog SONYs let you “Fix Channel” (lock it) on, say, channel 3. This is for us folks that get all their broadcast signals from a cable box–which has all signals coming out of the box to the TV on, say, channel 3. This keeps the kids and spouse and dog from hitting the numeric channel numbers on the remote, and inadvertently going into a black-screen situation. And the subsequent troubleshooting, puzzlement, etc…. This unit has no such feature, altho you can manually go in and block all 141 other channels, so that the unit displays a “Blocked” message and jumps back to normal after a few seconds.

A freebie: If you are replacing a Sony TV, this unit will most likely respond to your cable company’s remote (On, Off, Volume, Muting, etc) since you already programmed it for a Sony. You others, well, you probably would have had to reprogram your cable-box remote anyway.

Finally, the sound: This TV is over 3″ thick, so it has room for some decent speakers. The sound is MUCH better than what I hear coming out of other people’s ultrathin TVs, mainly cuz there’s some good bass.

Tech note: If your DVD player is using a 3-wire Yellow-Red-White (composite) cable, REPLACE IT with 5-wire Green-Blue-Red (component) video if available + plus Red-White for Audio (or equally as good, a 1-wire HDMI cable, if the player has a jack for it). The video signal really is MUCH better; why corrupt your DVD signal with an inadequte cable? A cheap fix.

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 Comments (10)

Great TV and safe shipping, April 7, 2012

First, I have to say we were a little worried about ordering a TV online. I talked to somoene in the “big products” (not the right phrase, exactly) department at Amazon who assured me the TV would arrive in perfect condition, and if not, returning a TV was as easy as returning a book. So we ordered. And the TV did arrive in perfect condition. So if any of you are worried about ordering such a large and expensive item, set your worries aside.

As far as the TV goes, I cannot give you a technical review. All I know is the picture is GREAT, it was easy to set up and it’s intuitive to use. We aren’t gamers and we don’t have 6 different things to plug into it. We have a DVD player. That’s it. Movies look and sound great for our needs.

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Mind-Blowing, April 29, 2012

By 

Jay Goswami –

  

I’ve used this product for a full day and I am blow away from what it delivers. I bought this TV for heavy gaming (PS3 & PC), watching Dish Network Satellite channels, and Blu-ray movies. I’ve tested each of these criteria on the Sony KDL40BX450 and have seen amazing clarity. There are also lots of features that it has which add to your personal viewing experience (i.e. different aspect ratios, scene selects, equalizer, etc.). The BRAVIA Sync Functionality works great as well (provided you have a capable SONY device which supports the feature).

Additional Information: I have set this up in a small to medium size room, so viewing distance is not a problem. I’d recommend this model even if you’re planning on installing it in the living room. Also, don’t bother listening to another reviewer who stated that this is not a BRAVIA model. There is a big fat “BRAVIA” label on the top left of the TV (not to mention it has BRAVIA Sync).

To conclude, I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking for a quality LCD 40-incher with a great price.

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