Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-46S4100 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

This was my first LCD TV purchase; I bought it after being quite impressed with the picture on the floor model at Best Buy, and nearly blown away by the clarity of the sound coming out of the speakers. (The latter was an important factor for me, because I don’t want to invest in a home theater sound system just yet.) After three weeks, it hasn’t disappointed at all. HD cable programming looks great, my Xbox 360 (via HDMI cable) looks and plays fantastically, and I’m somehow even getting a decent picture out of my old crappy DVD player. Standard definition cable programming is hit and miss; some channels look a lot better than others, for reasons I’m unsure of, although even the worse ones are certainly not bad enough to stop me from watching and enjoying them too. The sound is indeed amazing; I can turn down the volume to near-minimal levels and still hear everything that’s happening on-screen (speech, music, and ambient noises).

I’ll note that there are three HDMI inputs, not two as the “Product Details” section above seems to indicate.

Finally, I’ll note that the two negative reviews below (as of the time of this posting) deal entirely with Amazon’s delivery service; they say nothing substantive about the TV itself, which is a shame, because in my opinion this set is very high quality and (at its price) therefore a very good value.

Bought this TV after about 3 months of research. Watched all the TVs in Best Buy, Circuit City, Frys, etc., for hours. Could not get past the picture quality of this TV as compared to other models on the wall. And sound quality was by far the best among the TVs I looked at – important if you don’t plan to use a home theater system. Stand and look at this TV in the store and compare it to the other TVs and you’ll see what I mean. Picture quality seemed more natural and less grainy than other brands on the wall.

Before buying I breifly considered some 120 HZ models, including the Samsung 650 and the new Sony, all at around $500 more than this model. As for 120 Hz, I just couldn’t tell a difference on broadcast HD/TV, and while the difference on movies was obvious, the effect seemed unnatural. Made films look more like live TV – interesting to watch, but just not a true movie experience in my opinion. I’m not knocking 120 Hz, just didn’t feel like it was for me.

Connected this TV to a Sony progressive scan DVD using component connections and got incredible picture quality. I guess BlueRay via HDMI would be better, but honestly I can’t imagine how. Still on analog cable at the moment with only a handful of digital HD channels available – all of which look fantastic. Converting to Verizon FIOS next week and looking forward to even better picture quality.

As for setup, I went from the box to watching TV in under 10 minutes. No alteration of the default picture settings was required in my opinion. I do recommend using the “standard” picture mode. “Vivid” is cool at first, but hard on the eyes after a while. And you will probably want to boost the bass a little on the audio. Standard definition channels, as viewed on any HD TV, will vary in quality. I found most standard def channels to look pretty good, and I think Sony does the best job overall of cleaning up the picture.

Remote is simple and easy to use, and I’ve found the on-screen menus to be reasonably intuitive. For me it had plenty of inputs: 3 HDMI, 2 component, 2 composite, and a PC. Also has a single audio out which can be used to connect to an A/V receiver or (I presume) a home theater system if you have one.

The only two cons I have found for this TV are: 1) after you power it on, it takes about 7-10 seconds before the picture comes on — but my old Sony did this too so it wasn’t a big deal to me. And 2) you can’t scroll through channels quickly, you have to move one at a time. Not sure if this is unique to Sony or if all TVs do this. But if you’re using a cable or satallite box, then this won’t matter to you anyway.

Bottom line — great picture quality, decent sound, affordable price, easy to setup and use, no complicated fine tuning required, and a brand name that won’t embarrass you when your friends come over. Go see one in the store and then trust your eyes, you won’t be disappointed.

This is my second hdtv the first was the 27″ Olevia. Since that purchase almost 10 months ago I have scrolled literally through hundreds of reviews commercial and consumer. Brands that I looked into repeatedly where: Philips, Olevia, Samsung, Vizio, Westinghouse, and LG.

I’ve rented an LG and it had probably the most amazing surround sound. My roommate owned a smaller sized Phillips which had fantastic image quality.

The reviews of Vizio and Westinghouse reminded me of what was being said about the Olevia. While the price of Olevia’s 747i described as their flagship has dropped to a really nice price it still remains the heaviest.

Really like what Samsung has to offer and read just about every review for the 46a 550 mutiple times and the glowing theme was incredible image with unimpressive audio.

Recently walked into Target and did a walk through of there floor models where I saw this Sony model. Up until now, I was uninterested in Sony because felt it had more bells and whistles than I really needed and it was too pricey. But when I saw this floor model it was a clear stand out. While there I messed around with the settings and realized the remote was by far the easiest I had used. After muting the surrounding tvs I then tested out the floor models audio and just slightly halfway at more than 20ft away this model did well at pulling me in and just about everyone else that was there watching.

Thought maybe my initial impression might have been a little cloudy because of the limited sets on display so decided to stop by circuit city to view this model alongside some other top dollar sets. When I realized this set looked as good as similiarly priced sets and even those that were higher priced it hit me that this was the big screen HDtv that came with what I wanted: Clear image, crisp audio, and a remote that is so easy to use and program to the cable remote that I will have to hide it from my two year old.

Since setting up this lightweight screen is a breeze I was able to begin watching in minutes. If you are like me and have to put away your game console so the kids don’t get in it the tv has a side HDMI port for easy access. After running Ninja gaiden sigma and Call of duty 4 at 1080p found myself mostly just soaking in cut scenes instead of actually playing through.

I’m purposely leaving out a review of this tv in standard definition because the image is good and bad depending on the channel. From what I’ve read a lot of this has to do with signal strength and processing. In short, HD looks good, audio sounds great, and with the easy set up and remote you’ll probably be viewing hd faster than it took to actually buy the tv itself.

It suprises me that Sony come up with a 46″, 1080P at less than $1600 retail. I own a 42″ Panasonic Plasma and need to get another TV for the basement, and admittedly I want one bigger than 42″ too since I sit almost 12 ft away from the TV. Been looking for a LCD this time because of lower energy usage and reflection problem in my living room.

So I bought this one, which is the entry level S series Sony. I was very impressed with its vivid color and excellent image, especially at 1080i or 1080P resolution. I got over the air signal and the digital tuner in this TV works great. However, right out of the box, you do need to spend some time to adjust the setting (color, temp, sharpness etc…) to get the optimal image. I spent almost a week to set it up to my satisfaction, and may be it is just me, the picture does get better and better over the time.

No clouding effect, no other working issue like the earlier Sony S2000 series or even the XBR2 series. To the extent, I like both the plasma and LCD, they are both good, it is just a matter of personal preference. Like what the Consumer Report says, if you have a 42″ TV, it won’t matter much whether it is true 1080P or not as it is hard to notice on that screen size. With 46″, you will really enjoy it only if you sit far enough or else the picture is grainny.

Several things that I think Sony can get better for the KDL46S4100:

1) The start up time is a bit slow, it takes awhile for the picture to come after you turn the TV on.

2) For side viewing, it is a bit discouraging, the picture appear to be less lively and less colorful.

3) More inputs option will be nice, at the back there is only 1 set of component/S Video/RCA input, means you can only use 1 non-HDMI input only and the rest has to be HDMI. There is additional set on the side for hook up to game/camcorder.

4) a card reader/USB port will be nice to plug in and watch picture, Panasonic has this even at their $800 plasma TV.

Overall I have pleasant experience with it, like always, Sony makes great product! It looks great even without the 120Hz motion flow.

By the way, the Sony is sitting in my living room now!

After my previous 42″ Plasma went out on me after only 2 years of working, I decided I was done with Plasma and wanted an LCD. I play alot of games and wanted to use the tv as a monitor. LCD is the best choice for this. I knew I didn’t need the top of the line TV, just something that would work and work well. I finally decided on a Sony. I bought it from a local store for a good price, took it home and easily set it up. Upon checking the menu I found it very easy to use and I like how it is off set, not right in the middle of the screen. It makes picture adjustments alot easier.
The Remote is decent, I’m not remote crazy, so as long as it does what I need it to I don’t really care.
I had 2 major problems,however. First up, I couldn’t get the optical out to work for the life of me. I tried everything and I’m a fairly tech savy guy. The second thing is clouding/Panel inconsistencies. This was a huge problem. I had two cloudy patches on the panel when watching TV at night. Whenever there was a dark scene the cloudy patches stuck out like a sore thumb. It was driving me crazy. After talking to Sony tech support (which wasn’t bad, but not great) they said I needed a repair. Well, the TV was only 1 day old, so I simply packed everything up and returned for a brand new TV. After setting everything up AGAIN, I fired it up praying this panel wasn’t as bad. The answer: it was great. NO clouding, NO inconsistencies. I still haven’t tried out the optical out though. But this second TV is GREAT. Don’t be put off by the “low” contrast ratio of 2500:1. It has darker blacks then any other LCD I looked at in this price range. The color’s are nice with a descent amount of options to adjust the picture. Not as many as a Samsung or the next level up Sony’s, but enough for me. HD is great. A few times I’ve noticed some slight pixelation, but I think it’s my cable provider not the TV, because I don’t notice anything when using the xbox360. The sound is great. I’ve read alot of reviews about these new TV’s skimping on the speakers, but not on this one. Very good sound. Standard Definition I would rate as Good. Nothing special, I don’t think it “enhances” it at all, so it’s going to be a little grainy depending on your signal. Overall, very happy with this TV.

**Pro’s:
Excellent HD picture
Sound
Menu (if you like a simplistic menu)
3x HDMI

**CON’s:
Some panels have clouding. Turn on the TV to an empty input, turn up the backlight all the way and turn the lights off in your room. If you can see excessive “cloudy” patches on your panel – TRY AND RETURN IT FOR A NEW ONE.

Doesn’t have as many Picture adjustments as a Samsung.

Doesn’t enhance Standard Def.

Optical out ONLY works with the TV tuner!!! That sucks. What a waste.

Overall:
Great TV for the price range.

Picture Settings:
Here is just what I have. It is at least someplace to start with!

BACKLIGHT: 7
PICTURE: 72
BRIGHTNESS: 63
COLOR: 61
HUE: 0
COLOR TEMP: NEUTRAL
SHARPNESS: 2
NOISE REDUCTION: High (your preference, I can’t tell a difference)

Then just fine tune to your liking!

****UPDATE*****
Also, for all you videophiles who are disappointed with the lack of picture adjustment, there is a way to access more options in the Service Menu. To access the Service Menu, with your TV on press this on the remote:
left,right,mute,center button, mute, menu

Before you change anything, I would write it all down. I’m still tweaking, but here is something to try:
Backlight:7
Picture: 94
Brightness: 55
Color: 52
Hue: 0
Color Temp: neutral
Sharpness: 2
Noise Reduction: low (or whatever)

In the service menu:
R Gain: 163
G Gain: 149
B Gain: 113

R Offset: 98
G Offset: 106
B Offset: 105

After spending much time comparing wide screen televisions at numerous electronics stores, many hours of internet research, and soliciting opinions of friends, I finally chose the new Sony Bravia S Series 46″ TV. I am extremely happy with my choice and the whole purchase experience. The TV picture quality is excellent and the savings in tax and shipping through Amazon was an added bonus. The ‘white glove’ freight company shipped within the hour they said they would be at my house, and then they delivered it safe and sound to my family room. Instructons were clear and setup was a breeze. We were enjoying the TV in surround sound mode in about thirty minutes. If you are on the fence about HD, LCD, brand, etc… as I definitely was, you can confidently take the plunge with this TV. SONY has finally gotten real with the S series price point without compromising picture quality one bit.

I purchased the Sony XBR4 52″ for my living room as this TV was the one that stood out on the wall of 40 tv’s at every electronics store I visited. I then wanted a nice TV for my bedroom but didn’t want to spend the $$ as I don’t watch TV in the bedroom as often as the living room.

After looking at 46″ TV’s, again I found Sony to be the one to buy.
This time the Sony KDL-46S4100. It has all of the features I was looking for. I was concerned that the contrast ratio was much lower than the XBR4, however if there is a difference, it’s slight. Shows broadcast in full HD like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno look outstanding.

You won’t be dissapointed.

Side Note: The first TV ordered via Amazon arrived on time via CEVA (Amazon’s main shipper of televisions). I didn’t open the box for a week as I was waiting for my cable to be hooked up in the bedroom. After opening the box, a large crack on the screen was clearly visible. I emailed Amazon, they sent another TV at no charge and CEVA picked up the first TV. I opened up the box of the 2nd TV and hooked it up while the delivery men were still in house. Everything was fine on the 2nd TV.