Sony Bravia KDL40V5500U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD TV with Freeview

Can't beleive nobody has reviewed this yet.

I've had this TV for a week now and was totally amazed when switching it on for the first time. I've read loads of comments on websites and reviews of LCD's suggesting that they take a while to reach optimal performance. The picture on the KDL40V5500 was pin sharp as soon as I switched it on. Both the freeview and Sky SD look superb (colours on Sky a little bright). Set up was very smooth, although it took a while to install the GuidePlus feature, which is better than the usual freeview menu, but not a massive impact on enjoyment (you get to watch the picture as you scroll through the chanel select, which you can sort of do if you just use the Xcross media bar).
So far I have not messed around with factory settings. I don't really feel the need as the backlight doesn't come over too bright, there are no dark corners from backlight bleed, very happy.
I was initially going to buy the KDL40W5500, then read the reviews on input lag issues. As I'm a regular online gamer, this bothered me. Purchased a KDL40W4000 as this has no input lag (almost CRT like) but that developed a fault on the panel and I had to return it to John Lewis (input lag was indeed non-existant).
Then I heard that the KDL40W5500's main problem from input lag was a result of the motionflow 100Hz. The KDL40V5500 doesn't have this feature but has everything else, such as the Bravia 3 engine, DLNA, 24P etc.
I can report that the KDL40V5500 does have some input lag, most of the new panels do, but it very tolerable when the game setting is selected. In fact, the difference between the KDL40W4000 and the KDL40V5500 in terms of input lag was negligable (playing Gears of war 2, not tried it on Unreal Tournament yet, which is a faster game).

I hooked this beauty up to the Sony DAV260-DZ home theatre last night via HDMI and optical, and was totally blown away with the picture quality from the upscaled DVD. Can't wait to get Sky HD now.

Overall, a very nice looking TV. Mines wall mounted and looks great. The picture quality from both Sky SD and freeview is very crisp and from the upscaled DVD and Xbox360 in HD, the picture was fantastic.

Highly recommend this TV.

The first thing you notice about this TV is the quality of the picture on Digital TV from an external aerial. I was watching the Murray Warinka tennis match which was played under the new roof of the centre court at Wimbledon on Monday 29th June 9.30pm on the TV and the grass looked so naturally green with incredible detail on the whole seen.
A while earlier I watched a Blu-ray disc called 'Earth', a natural history film made by the BBC and all the scenes were crystal clear. In particular I can still remember the detail of the Polar Bears' coats and the clarity of the snow flakes.

The guide Plus is an excellent feature and a vast improvement to the ordinary Electronic Programme Guides we have on other TV sets. We do not really play games in our house unless we have the grandchildren visit, then a games console will be connected, so we are not really worried by motion blurr and hence could not justify the extra £200 or so to buy the W series Bravia with motion flow correction. we could not really notice any problems with fast moving images.
Instead this money was better spent on the maching Blu-ray player.

The energy saving features are a good idea; when there is long periods of no picture, it fades to BLACK screen and the BANNER(INFO) dims. I must say how impressed I am with the contrast ratio (60,000:1) specified, but you need to see for yourself how black the background is and then how white the whites are.

Connections are provided at the back left (your left)panel and also near the edge, with four HDMI inputs and others, but only two SCARTS for those of us who still have older equipment. My not so old SHARPE 30" TV which it replaces has a MEDIA BOX which sat on the equipment rack shelf and therefore gave access at the front via a concealed flap for when you needed to connect any AV equipment such as a camera or games console.
This is a design feature I think SONY and the other competitors should incorporate. Obviously not all connectors but some could be brought round the front for convenience. However we will come up with a solution to this problem so that people are not fiddling about behind the set in case it was to topple over!!

My other disapointment is the fact that the sound lacks any body to it (no bass)whilst the top and midrange is quite clear. I think this is probably clever marketing by Sony and the other competitors to get you to buy a Home Cimema Audio System. Well, in my case it has worked, because after experiencing the wonderful pictures, you just have to have the sound to go with it and therefore I am looking for a reasonable priced one to go with it. Yes, you guessed it, another Sony!!

To enjoy this TV set yoo must invest in a Blu-ray player and movies to play on it, which is what we have done. In addition we have have ordered sky+HD and so we look forward to this.

Connecting leads are required as you do not get any with the TV set, especially for the HDMI inputs. So you need to make an estimate of how many you might need to begin with. I suggest you start with a minimum of two HDMI connectors, one for your Blu-ray player and one for a PS3 console/ SKY+HD box. If you get the Home Cinema System, then you might as well double this to four HDMI leads and one or two Optical audio leads. By the way, buy high speed HDMI leads, there are some excellent value good quality PLATINUM ones I found on Amazon which were reduced from £20 to about £10 each and are gold plated.

All in all we are very pleased with the performance of this TV set and especially our venture into the world of High Definition TV. This Sony has proved to be excellent value for money and did I mention the three years guarantee you get as well when you register it with Sony. So welcome to world of HD and the extra spending you will have to make on the new media. In fact we are going to watch The Dark Knight and Transformers and that mouthwatering EARTH again, but this time with improved sound.

Easy to set up, good quality picture and some nice features. The stand is very sturdy and the swivel feature is such a good idea. You have to have your own sound system though but this is a given for most LCD's.