I had a 47" Vizio before I replaced it with this set and now am wondering why I ever bought anything but a Sony in the first place. The picture quality is Unbelievable...I read reviews before buying this set and thought it would be a great tv, once I got it, it blew me away. Far exceeded my (high) expectations!!!

I have waited a bit before writing a review on this television. I wanted the honeymoon period to phase out a bit before I made any comments on it. Also, I thought I give it some time to notice any downsides to having purchase this t.v.

First things first, I have read some reviews (regardless of brand) that complain about regular televisions (CRT's) looking better when watching shows transmitted without HD or analog.

This has nothing to do with the television, it has to do with the signal it receives. It is a television, not a magician.

I changed my account with dish network to receive HD as well as whatever else is digital and be able to stablish a comparison betweeen the two.

HD looks amazing. Period.

There is a firmware through Sony that would address the "sparkle" issue that has been addressed in other posts for Sony tv's.

Let me tell you that we have not had to download the firmware, there is no sparkle. I even called Sony to have them send me a usb adaptor with the firmware and they told me that if I did not have the issue, it would actually harm the tv to use the firmware. I'll take their work for it, because I believe that if something is not broken, there is no need to fix it.

Colors: Vivid setting is almost ridiculous in term of vibrancy. Nice feature to have and very appropriate for a lot of movies, shows, etc and maybe too much for other things.

Standard: Less bright but still sharp and well defined picture.

Cinema: Personally, I don't care for this feature. It recreates the "feel" of watching a movie in the theater, but theater colors and shapness are not much to talk about, so we don't use it.

Custom: Exactly what it means. You create it to your liking and change it as you want it.

Controls: Extremely easy to use.

Remote control: Nothing to brag about. It does what it is supposed to do and it is not a universal remote.

Sound: without hooking it up to external speakers, the sound is very good. There is no distortion and we have noticed that we can keep the volume low because everything is clearly understood. The front speakers do have a "surround sound" type of effect where you can actually hear things happening behind you as well as in front and sides while you are watching. It is not for audiophiles who like to hear every single thing that is going on, but it far surpasses the built in speakers on most t.v.s

HDMI and Analog inputs galore. Surround sound systems and consoles can be hooked up without having to purchase extensions and connectors.

Video play: Probably the worst game console in terms of graphics is the Wii console, it certainly cannot compete with the playstation .... or so I thought... After having played the wii for a year on a CRT, the same games are fantastic when hooked up to this t.v. I did not think it would make a difference, but even simple games like tombraider are sharper and clearer. Colorful ones like Mario are, in my opinion, seizure inducing but the kids love it.

60hz vs. 120hz. Honestly, we have watched Hockey and football and we see no blurring of motion. I honestly thought we'd have buyers remorse for not going for the W series, but the fact is, we don't. We are extremely pleased with this set and the price from Amazon at the time came under 1500k and feel that we got a very good price on a very large set.

My only complain now is that we need a second television and I can't see us going with anything smaller or lesser quality after having been spoiled rotten by this set.:)

PEACE

amazon was $300 less than any chain store and did not charge tax or shipping. the delivery was ontime and curteous. could not ask for a more flawless transaction.