Sony - KDS-55A3000 55 in. HDTV Television Review

A new adopter of this 55-inch set, I have a few caveats for those who are thinking of plunking down the dough. First, if you are not planning on going all-out digital with your television broadcasts, then forget buying this unit. Any non-digital/non-high-definition source will look totally grainy and pixilated on the screen. This is not the fault of the TV or of the manufacturer, SONY. Basically this type of TV, like all HDTVs, is meant for digital television viewing. Watching normal TV on this set is hard on my eyes because the image is sometimes fuzzy and sometimes pixilated, and I can see some artifacts and ghosting.

However, if you can get digital cable or HD satellite (DirecTV, Dish, Voom) then you're good to go. Mind you -- these companies also provide an antenna for "off-air" viewing, which means to get local HD television broadcasts, you must use an antenna (pointing in the right direction of course) to receive the signal, but this is free. In fact, if you want to skip digital cable or satellite, then you can buy an antenna yourself and hook it up to this unit, which has an integrated HD TV (DTV) tuner. In a major metro area like San Francisco, we can get the signal easily -- we are within 3.5 miles of a major broadcast tower.

As for viewing DVDs, this model really shines and happens to be a perfect compromise between the 50" and 60". I used two DVDs to test the picture when the unit arrived: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the 2004 edition of The Empire Strikes Back. I used Two Towers to test action sequences, shadows, and contrast. The unit performed brilliantly. I used Empire Strikes Back to test black levels. Brilliant. I had heard that black levels were problematic in LCDs, especially the previous version of this unit class, but I closely watched Darth Vader and all the space scenes to detect any flaws but there were NONE. I only got the truest of black; nothing appeared dark grey when it was supposed to be black, and the shadows were perfect, especially when watching Luke's confrontation with Vader in the carbon-freezing room. Darth Vader's shiny and matte black uniform looked exactly as it should, so I found no flaws with the blacks on this unit. In fact, both DVDs were awesome to watch, and I did sit through both to look for any kind of visual distraction.

One last note about such a large screen. If you don't have ample room between your sofa and the screen, forget about getting such a large screen TV. You need ample room because watching TV close to one of these screens hurts your eyes. I sit anywhere from 7-9 feet back, and sometimes I still want to move back a little.

I recommend this unit without hesitation to anyone who is going all digital and who is willing to pay for the necessary evils of an all-digital experience. If you can't, then I don't recommend any HDTV because you're only going to see worse-than-normal-TV images on-screen.