40" Wega opinion (1 Viewer)

[Bob Mosesso]

Hello,

Any one out there have any opinions on the Sony 40" Wega??

Kinda pricey, hows the dependability?? Hows the picture quality?? Any other input would be appreciated, goood or bad.

Thanks much,

Bob

 

[Arthur S]

No TV is perfect. Whether it is geometric distortion, color temperature, black level retention, hot spotting, red push, ... there is always something.

Fortunately, I don't spend my time dwelling on the shortcomings. If I had a Wega I wouldn't be looking in the corners, that's not usually where the action is.

The bigger question about the 40" Wega is whether the Digital Reality Creation makes a so-so cable picture worse.

Those with 36" Wegas can comment on how such a cable picture looks, but the 40" will be even worse.

The 40" would be a great set for someone with an excellent picture source.

 

[Jack Briggs]

The set has been earning uniformly rave reviews in the home-theater press. But the big question is its practicality: the beast weighs nearly 300 pounds--and most of that weight is toward the front. Ugh.

 

[Arthur S]

So it weighs as much as a much larger RPTV (and costs as much). A 3 or 4 man set-up. Had a chance to check one out today with a cable quality signal. Picture was good considering the source. Now, where is that $3,000?

 

[Orlando]

Well I have had mine since Thanksgiving and everyone that sees it wants one. (Including people who have always said why do you want to spend that kinda of money? All TV's look the same.) I have an DTC-100 for HDTV and it looks amazing. I also have cable (for locals) and DishNetwork and it looks pretty good. I can't even think of one complaint. My family is getting spoiled with the HDTV Hockey. If you have any qustions I will do my best to answer.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Orlando, tell me more. What's it like living with this set? I didn't say it would be a bad buy--only that its weight is an issue. Did you also buy the matching Sony stand? What was the installation like--any helpers?

 

[Orlando]

Well Living with it has been great. It is going to be the center piece of my Super Bowl Party today. It looks great.

Yes I did get the matching stand. But the problem for me was that the stand arrived after the TV. So had it on the floor for two weeks. I had to put the stand together and then get two friends to help me lift it. But after that nothing but good things.

 

[Alex F.]

Orlando, and other 40" Wega owners:

Does your set exhibit any discoloration in the corners when viewing a white background on a full 4x3 picture? We had this problem with three first-generation 36" Wega XBRs, and it drove us to distraction. We returned all three sets and waited for the second-generation Wegas. Happily, no problems.

 

[Orlando]

I have not seen any of the color problems that you asked about. I have not looked really hard for it but I am usually pretty observant to things like this. I don't want to look that hard either because if I have not noticed it I don't want to now.:b

 

[Arthur S]

Yes Orlando, why look for trouble? Also, how much time do we spend looking at the corners of the screen?

 

[Orlando]

Well, if it helps I do spend alot of time watching Hockey games on it. So if it had bad color problems in the corners the ice would probably bring it out.

 

[Alex F.]

Orlando:

Thank you for the response. Besides hockey games, dark corners are a real problem many other times, such as a view of the sky in any daytime outdoor shots.

Arthur:

I suggest you permanently affix a one-inch piece of black electrical tape to all four corners of your TV screen. Then, come back here several weeks from now and tell us you don't find it distracting.

 

[Orlando]

Alex F. - Which set do you have now then? Are you saying the next generation sets don't seem to have the corner edge problem? And in relation to that, what generation would the 40" be considered?

 

[Alex F.]

The first-generation Wegas (32" and 36") arrived late 1998. We took delivery of the first of three defective 36XBR200s in January 1999. Our second-generation model, the 36FV15, was released during the summer of 1999. The Wegas are, I believe, now in their fourth generation.

New models usually come out during the summer.

Your 40" is the very first such Wega. I have already seen two in stores and was very impressed. No problems were visible, and I looked carefully.

We are moving to a newly built home in late April and will probably await the second-generation 40" on the assumption that Sony may make small improvements in its design and performance.