Two problems with a Sony KV-40XBR800

welcome to the world of sony's trinitron fd screen. I've got a 34" HD WS tube and I've got the same geometry problems you mention. Some can be fixed in the service menu, which, if you research this forum will inform you how to do this. More horizontal geometry can be fixed than the vertical however for some reason. Fixing the vertical requires placing magnets inside the set by a professional or so I've read. I'd ask the pros on here for sure.
sony geometry is crap on these HD tubes plain and simple. get the lines off and the pic is fine however. just watched mine tonight thru HDMI and the PQ still amazes me. my component inputs thru a cable box or sat. box does the same things you mention; hook it up to a DVD player thru component however and it's perfectly fine. I don't know why it only does it thru those two components and not with a DVD player. I use HDMI though for my TV watching so it's darn near perfect.

My kv-40xbr800 is having the same issues as the op except my left side is horizontal and the right side is 'dipping'. I saw the post to get to the service menu but is there a specific sub-menu that can fix that particular side of the screen? There are a lot of sub-menu's to dig through and i don't want to accidentally change a setting that shouldn't be messed with.

Any and all help is appreciated!

Same problem with a 34 " 510 right side sagging just a bit

in doing a bit of research, stumbled upon a site where a sony tech mentioned that sometimes where you place your tv in your house/apartment/condo/etc. can affect your screen. basically something in your floors or walls can be acting like a magnet which affects the tube; making the screen look like it's sagging or being pulled. once i moved my tv to another room, problem solved.

hope this helps.

I have the same problem with the s-video on my 30hs420. I only have a black and white picture. Is it a common problem?

That's typically a symptom of a loose or defective SVideo cable or connector.