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Sony KDL40V4000 Review |
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Reviewed: 02 September 2008
Design
Sony's 'draw the Line' concept indicates that the design of their latest range of LCD TV's has been inspired by clean uncluttered lines with no unnecessary embellishment. You would be forgiven for assuming that this approach to styling follows the conservative path Sony have always adopted. This is only partly true, as with the new 'V' series (along with their latest 'W' range) Sony have largely maintained their 'classy but conservative' approach to screen design, yet subtle touches indicate that along with most LCD TV manufacturers today, they have recognized the flat panel TV as a design statement, that the 'look' sells.
For Sony, a thin black strip (Perspex on the 'W' range) above slim silver grille like frame-length speakers at the bottom of the screen and below the main frame of the TV represents quite a radical departure. A glossy black frame curving gently backwards right at the top of the screen may alienate Sony traditionalists, but could quite possibly attract a whole new following for the Japanese electronics giant.
Features
Sony have dabbled with 100Hz processing on previous LCD TV's but have not applied the technology in its current form to their latest models. It was absent on the 'W' series and does not appear on the 'V' series. Interestingly Sony have recently announced a range of 200Hz LCD TV's, the implementation and performance of which will surely generate a fair amount of discussion.
Screen: 40in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Contrast Ratio: 33,000:1 Other Features: Sony Bravia 2 picture processing. Sockets: 3 HDMI, 2 SCART, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input.
The picture processing heart of the 'V' series comes in the shape of the latest incarnation of Sony's renowned 'Bravia' technology, 'Bravia 2'. Bravia 2 has been designed from the ground up to work with a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution screen.
Complementing Bravia 2 is a 1:1 mapping mode which takes a 1080i/1080p input and maps it pixel for pixel to the 1920 x 1080 screen.
Like the 'W' series, the 'V' series comes with a useful 3 HDMI inputs all though it does lose the USB port of its higher spec stable mate. The panel is 8-bit rather than the 10-bit of the 'W' series and the 'V' series comes without WCG-CCFL backlight(Live Colour Creation) and xv colour.
With '24p True Cinema' the 40V4000 can display films at their intended 24fps (frames per second) rather than the standard (for TV) of 25fps.
Theatre Sync, which is Sony's name for CEC (Consumer Electronic Control), is a control standard that functions over HDMI 1.3. The technology facilitates one-touch control over compatible devices and in practice means that if you fire up your compatible DVD player, the all connected devices such as your LCD TV will also spring into life.
Performance
Once again, indicating just how far Sony LCD technology has progressed in a short space of time the 40V4000's ability to handle fast on-screen action is now challenging the best plasma screens. Although not perfect, with an element of ghosting on with the fastest on screen action, the effect is negligible with a better quality Sky (1080i) or cable Standard Definition (SD) source. With a poorer quality Freeview feed however things deteriorate noticeably and the 40V4000 may have benefited from 100Hz processing the implementation of which has been successful on other Sony LCD TV's.
Black level performance from Sony's 40V4000 again demonstrates just how far Sony have been able to push LCD technology. Deep rich natural blacks are quite stunning and are complemented with a subtlety across darker scenes which reveals detail where there would have been a grey mush with Sonys' of old.
Benefiting from an excellent back drop (rich deep blacks) which presents an almost perfect blank canvass, colours reveal themselves in their full glory, with some of the richest and most vibrant hues we have seen. It is not only the vibrancy of colours that impresses, but the subtlety with which they produce tricky areas such as facial tones.
Once again, Standard definition (SD) pictures delivered through the poorer quality Freeview service demonstrate the difficulties of translating a signal designed for your CRT TV (576 lines) onto a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. Given that the panel is required to display 1080 lines of information the SD picture is very impressive, but inconsistencies become apparent as you move towards the screen. Better quality Sky (1080i) or cable SD sources really do make a difference and could be an important factor with any buying decision. The prospect of 200Hz technology screens from Sony in the near future is quite mouth watering and could go a long way to ending the debate over this particular area of flat panel processing technology.
With some of the finest High Definition (HD) pictures we have seen from an LCD TV, the 40V4000 is able to translate an HD feed, via 1:1 pixel mapping onto the 1920 x 1080 screen with an incredible level of clarity, detail and sharpness. Rivalling even Panasonic's Full HD screens, the Sony really does take HD viewing to its current optimum level. The sheer realism of the on screen presentation of HD pictures produces one of the few totally immersive viewing experiences.
As with the setup on the 'W' series, while not detracting too much from the enjoyment of the 40V4000's fine all round performance, the very slim speaker system at the bottom of the screen was a little disappointing, producing at times an acoustic performance that can only be described as 'tinny'.
Conclusion
The 40V4000 is a fine budget/mid range performer from Sony although its relatively high price pushes it into an area of serious LCD competition from the likes of Samsung and Panasonic. Sony does classy conservative styling better than anyone else and this may just swing the balance in its favour for some of you.
Sony KDL-40V4000
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