| Sony KDS-55A3000 55-inch Bravia SXRD HDTV |
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| Home Theater Rear-Projection HDTVs SXRD Rear-Projection HDTVs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Andrew Robinson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 01 February 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Page 3 of 3 The Downside While I absolutely adore the KDS-55A3000, there were a few things that caught my eye that I have to share with you. First, the KDS-55A3000’s screen is plastic and not entirely smooth. While the image itself was virtually free of video noise, the slightly imperfect texture of the screen itself could sometimes give off the appearance of grain in the lightest regions of the picture. Proper viewing distances helped to combat this issue, but alas, it was still present. While I am now addicted to the image quality 120Hz and Motionflow provide, it does have its drawbacks. You can turn off the Motionflow completely, but it kind of negates the purpose of buying a TV such as the KDS-55A3000. That said, Motionflow doesn’t always play nice with every type of video. While the Standard setting proved to be the most universal, regardless of video format, it could still produce an overly cut-out-looking image where the actors and foreground elements appeared to be shot on green screen, then composited into the shot. Films like 300 and Sin City looked overly enhanced and a bit too cartoony for my tastes. However, HD transfers of films such as Transformers looked fantastic. The nice thing about Motionflow is that you can turn it off, but once you watch it on material that works, it’s hard to go back. Lastly, the KDS-55A3000’s internal cooling fan is a bit loud for my tastes and the cooling vents on the back of the set are rather large. Large vents equal louder than average fan noise, as well as light leakage. When I watched in total darkness, it looked like I had plugged in a night light behind the KDS-55A3000. This is common for most rear-projection sets, but the KDS-55A3000 seemed to suffer from it a bit more than most. Conclusion With a retail price of $1,999, the Sony KDS-55A3000 is utterly amazing across the board. While not quite as sexy (in terms of industrial design) as a large plasma or LCD, the KDS-55A3000’s performance and price make it the smarter buy. Taking full advantage of the latest HDMI specs, as well as featuring the new 120Hz refresh rate and with Sony’s own Motionflow technology, the KDS-55A3000 is the current image leader among large-format rear-projection TVs on the market today. While Motionflow technology is still in its infancy, the writing is on that wall that it is here to stay, as other manufacturers are quickly adding their own versions of the technology to their sets. I for one love it. If you are contemplating buying a new HDTV soon and have been at odds about whether to go plasma or LCD, may I suggest you buy neither and instead grab yourself a KDS-55A3000. You won’t regret it.
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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