Review Sony KDL-40W2000U

The Sony KDL-40W2000U, HD Ready LCD TV is definitely a high quality screen. Its Dimensions are 66.5x98.8x10.5 (H/W/D)cm and it uses Liquid Crystal Display Technology giving a viewing size of 40" bottom left to top right corner. It is a sleek looking, black and Silvery Grey finnish with a simple but smart pedestal stand.  Enter your search terms Submit search form 
 
The Sony KDL-40W2000U is, like most these days HD Ready and it has a cool 1920x1080 pixel resolution which is pretty good in a 40" screen. As well as this it sports 8000:1 contrast ratio which together will make for a really well defined, sharp and clear picture. These picture features are complimented by digital noise reduction technology which uses clever tricks to avoid (largely) distortion from electrical interference.

What for me makes the Sony KDL-40W2000U a good buy is that Sony has completeley left out any image enhancement technologies. Anyone who has read my other reviews will know what I think of these IET's. Basically all the major brands have there own IET and it is what they use to market and distinguish their screens from others. It is what they use to justify a higher price ticket. This little beauty has not got Sonys IET called Wega or Bravia. This not only in my opinion makes the TV better with less complexity and perhaps one lees thing to go wrong, but actually makes it cheaper than most Sony TVs with similar specifications. If your concerned at the lack of Wega then go to a store and have a look at the great picture for yourself.

It comes with a built in TV tuner which enables you to get all of the Freeview channels with a conventional (terrestrial) aerial.

As you would expect from Sony, the  KDL-40W2000U has teletext (fastext) Including access to Ceefax, with a 700 page memory as well as Digital Text Service for the complete range of interactive services by the BBC and others. And as you might expect it has a built in interactive 7 day programme guide with nice features that remind you when a program is about to start etc.

The KDL-40W2000U has easy to use on screen menus. This is helpful when you first get your TV and it needs to be calibrated out of the manufacturers unhelpful "torch mode"

Connectivity is good. 2 RGB enabled scart sockets for all your old equipment. A component video connection for your PS3 and the like. 2 HDMI sockets for ultra high bandwidth, top quality picture like an HD DVD Player playing an HD DVD. It has AV inputs and for camcorders and a  headphone socket.

If you are looking to put a PC through the Sony KDL-40W2000U TV because you  have/want a Media Center PC then this TV is suitable and gives a good quality, high resolution PC output.

The Sony KDL-40W2000U has an HDCP chip for descrambling HD TV signals. It also has a sleep timer, auto setup feature, on/off timer but no child lock.

The only thing that  lets this LCD  down a bit is the sound. It has the quite basic (but acceptable) BBE  sound and 20 watt RMS speakers.  BBE is good enough for anything on terrestrial TV and if you turn it up full blast you will probably still get a knock on the door. If  not having the latest sound bothers you it will not cost much to add a separate sound system. And the KDL-40W2000U has an optical connection to connect the very latest surround sound systems.

So in summary this is a very good screen. Sony have priced it cheap probably to make their Wega brand stand out, and you would have to spend a lot more to get just a little bit better, unless you believe the Wega hype.