Thursday, January 18, 2007
Sony BRAVIA KDL-40W2000: I finally got a clear one!
The web is filled with angry owners of Sony BRAVIA LCDs, who are experiencing the dreaded cloudy backlight problem that I previously posted about. The good news is that I finally got a clear KDL-40W2000. This is my third unit.
Yep, this is my third KDL-40W2000 (which, again, if you're not sure, is the UK version of America's KDL-40V2500). It has a very, very slightly uneven look with the backlight turned up to full, as is normal for LCD - but no excessive clouding, no banding, and not even any dead pixels! The tiny non-uniformity is invisible when the backlight is at a realistic (non-torch mode) level, unlike my last two excessively cloudy sets where it actually showed through into normal viewing.
Here's a picture of it with the backlight maxed out in a dark room. As you can see there is only a tiny, normal amount of non-uniformity. The light you can see in the top left corner is actually the glowing that results from the white Input Indicator.
Now let's just hope that this A1-grade panel doesn't get hit by a flying Wii remote, hmmm? For anyone considering trying their hand at owning a KDL-40W2000, be sure to read my in-depth review.
Ah, so happy. Now just to have it ISF Calibrated and paired up with an external video proce$$or.
Update: AVS Forum member xetairex found this interesting info which might explain why there's so many crap panels in these TVs lately. It's from an article in "Business Week" and if it's the reason, I think the top brass at Sony need to be told to get themselves on the next flight out to Korea and kick some backsides:
Early on, Sony also had concerns about quality [from the Samsung LCD panel factory]. The company not only dispatched its own engineers to the joint venture to vet LCD displays, it also insisted that every panel it used be shipped through its LCD-TV factory in Inazawa, near Nagoya, Japan. There the panels went through another rigorous quality check before electronics such as digital tuners, power units, and other components were added. Only then were they packaged into TVs or shipped off as modules to assembly plants in Spain and Mexico.
Now, however, panels are being shipped directly from S-LCD to the assembly plants.
Posted at 7:25 PM
