Official Sony KDL 32BX420 40BX420 46BX420 - Page 2

Here are my settings using the original Video Essentials, I know it's ancient, but I'm watching the Notre Dame game in HD and the picture looks awfully realistic to me:
Backlight 5
Picture 80
Brightness 51
Color 47
Hue G1
Color Temp Warm 2
Sharpness Min
Noise Reduction off
Mpeg NR off
Cinemotion Auto

I'll post my calibration settings later on, but last night the New Orleans/Green Bay game was absolutely gorgeous on this TV!

Only 60hz?!

I have hi-def with DIRECTV (HDMI of course).

If anyone is interested, i bought a couple of 40 inch versions at costco (bx421, as said before different model number so it doesn't directly compete with price matching of best buy and such) and both have 3 hdmi inputs in the back instead of what looks like the 2 for the bx420. So if you really need that extra hdmi imput i'd go for the bx421. Both sets look great hooked up to HD cable boxes btw. I would also suggest adding bx421 onto the title and adding it to the main post whats different and the reasoning why. Would make it easier for prospective buyers to find out they are basically the same set except the 3 hdmi on the back.

I've had a 40BX420 for just over a month and I'm very happy with it. My calibration settings are a little different. I do most of my watching in a dark room. The first thing, which no one ever mentions is Power Saving. I set mine to low. Custom mode. Backlight 1 (or 2 depending on program signal) Picture 89. Brightness 50. Color 33. Hue G1. Temp Neutral. Sharpness 1. N/R Low. Everything else OFF. It may look dim at first but I find it to be very realistic with natural skin tones , color and shadow detail.

I have the Sony 46BX420, purchased from Amazon. I put it in my cart, then watched it, and once the price bottomed (it goes up and down for a while usually) I pulled the trigger. $728. I figured, for that price, you probably can't go wrong, right?

So, first off, mostly love it. But there definitely are a few drawbacks that people have noticed. Here are my top annoyances.

1) Two HDMI inputs not sufficient. I have DVD, Cable Box and HDMI from my laptop. One of them gets shortchanged. It's not going to be the laptop, so either Im going to run composite from my crappy DVD player (probably good enough) or figure out a usable cable from the Motororo cable box. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

2) Start up - takes what seems like forever. Dont be in a hurry to flick on the telly and catch something quick. It literally takes about 10 seconds for the picture to finally come on, though I can get the audio nearly right away passed through my Marantz SR8500.

3) the worst part - the viewing angle. It really is one of the worst Ive seen on any LCD, let alone any Sony. Way worse than my previous 40S3000 from 2007. Fortunately, I usually watch alone or with my S.O. so we sit right in front. But if you arent in front, it greys out quite rapidly from not far off center at all. Bad.

What else...hmm. Sound quality I would say is fair for the speakers, but I dont use them, so again, dont really care.

The remote, well, it seems OK, but I have a Harmony 1 which I love so dont really care about the remote either.

The HD from straight on really is fabulous, and Ive tried a few different calibrations. I will post them when Ive gone through them some more and assessed each.

The SD is not bad with Verizon FIOS. You set it up with bands on the side and it's fairly clear. Unless you like stretched people, which is just a weird way to watch TV.

By the way, these folks say the viewing angle is 25 degrees, and they might be correct.

http://reviews.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/...dl46bx420.html

Also, the above review is fairly accurate about some of the artifact issues and the black level depth. Im fine with the latter, but on occasions, I get a little peeved by the motion issues.

geoffrey2k,

Thanks for the review but after reading it I may be back to square one. I'm looking for a "secondary" tv and narrowed my search to the 40bx421 at Costco or the Samsung 40d550. According to the review in televisioninfo.com the d550 has a worse viewing angle than the Sony! I'll head to Costco this weekend to check it for myself. The other cons I can live with. Appreciate your info.

I like your settings. It looks good.

Hello everyone,

Does anybody know if the 3.5mm audio output is variable or fixed volume? aka if I disable the TV speakers and connect speakers via 3.5mm jack, will the TV's volume control the speakers? I couldn't find this info in the manual.

Thanks,
-Colin

It's fixed. See the Audio Features section of this PDF. It says "Audio Out: Fixed".

I haven't seen a modern flat panel TV with a variable output.
I have grandparents who use headphones and it would be a nice thing to have since there's no headphone jack (most 40"+ HDTVs don't have headphone jacks).

FYI: for those looking for calibration settings CNET just reviewed the 40" BX420 and posted their settings:
http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19410_102-546025.html

Glad to see somebody out there doing professional reviews (and calibrations) of less expensive TVs, usually you can't find squat on budget models.

Thanks for the info on the audio.

Televisioninfo also has a good review and calibration settings, btw, but I can't post a URL because I don't have enough posts.

How does this set do with sports? I know it has 60hz,does motion blur become a problem? Thanks for any input.

Those settings are great, however I absolutely cannot watch something with warm 2 setting. So, I changed it to neutral and the back light to 7.

I used those settings as well on my 421 from Costco. I like the warm 2 setting.

It's probably a personal thing. I just like my colors much colder than most people.

Hey everyone,

Just picked up an 40bx420 after my $1300 Samsung kicked the bucket. Darn thing didn't last me 4 years, so needless to say I wasn't in the market for another samsung. I'm very excited about all the great things you all have been saying about it! I'm a little bummed about the fact that there are only 2 HDMI inputs, but that's all I really need between my PS3 and DirecTV. It's amazing now that "picture quality" is only a small part of the discussion when it comes to TVs now. Now there's 3D, internet apps, wifi etc... Just give me a big rectangle that has a good looking screen! And from what it sounds like, I couldn't have gotten a better one that does just that for the money. I'll post my calibration settings once I unbox it.

-B

I picked up a KDL-32BX420 at Microcenter yesterday, I was trying to find a cheap 32" TV for my home office, and Microcenter had one for $292 open box so I ran over and picked this up rather than a no-name brand that I was thinking about. It might have been a display model, but still I can't complain about the price.

I calibrated using ColorHCFR and a spyder 3 sensor; here is what I came up with. It does look good but the G5 Hue has me thinking I see green. But I don't...

Picture settings: Custom
Backlight: 5
Picture: 85
Brightness: 51
Color: 56
Hue: G5
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness 2

Advanced Settings:
Gamma: -1

White Balance:
R Gain: -23
G-Gain: -19
B-Gain: -1
R-Bias: +6
G-Bias: +5
B-Bias: -11

set all the feature thingies off.

If anyone tries these, let me know what you think .. I think they look good but the numbers sure are odd in places

edit: I have to set the tint towards green to have cyan be "close" but then it compromises other colors. G3 seems to be a slightly better for most colors but compromises cyan more.

These are most definitely the best settings I've seen post in this thread so far...

thanks for the update. Here's a slight tweak to the settings that nails the gamma better:

backlight: 5
picture: 85
bright: 49
color: 55
hue: G5
color temp: warm 2
sharp: 2
gamma: 0

white balance
r-gain: -29
g-gain: -29
b-gain: -9
r-bias: -4
g-bias: -6
b-bias: -7

I'm loving the image this TV is producing

Can anyone comment on how well these settings translate to the 40BX420?

(Mine arrives tomorrow)

Got my KDL-40BX420 today, and I can answer my own question. bclbob's settings for the 32BX420 do not translate well to the 40". I tried them and they were disappointing and strange. The black level was bad - not very black and noticeable flashlighting in the corners. Dark area contrast was poor and the colors were just off.

In reading the reviews, I noticed significant differences in the custom settings used by the CNET review for the 40BX420 versus the televisioninfo.com for the 46BX420. I tried both those settings and the CNET settings worked very well for me, while the televisioninfo.com settings simply didn't cut it. So, I have to conclude that custom settings are required for each specific model in this line and they don't translate well between models. I tweaked a couple of the CNET settings for my setup. I used my previously set-up KDL-60EX500 as a visual reference and found the overall appearance to be very similar (I do not have calibration equipment so I didn't bother trying to vary the white balance settings CNET reported).

For the record, here are my KDL-40BX420 settings:

Picture settings: Custom
Backlight: 5
Picture: 86
Brightness: 52
Color: 54
Hue: R3
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: min
Noise Reduction: Off
MPEG NR: Off
CineMotion: Off

Advanced Settings:
Adv. Cont Enh: low
Black Corrector: Off
Gamma: +2
Clear White: low
Live Color: Off

White Balance:
R Gain: -7
G-Gain: 0
B-Gain: -14
R-Bias: -5
G-Bias: -4
B-Bias: +11

This seems to provides a natural, slightly soft and non-fatiguing image well suited for watching BD. YMMV. I reserve the right to tweak since i just got this beast. Feedback welcome.

These settings work great for mine, just wish it was a tad brighter, but otherwise it's real nice!

Which model?

CNET review of 40BX420

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-t...av#reviewPage1

kdl-32bx420

Just picked up the 46" BX420 last night. The set looks great after a quick calibration, but there is one thing that's driving me crazy. When the background of a scene has a large amount of 1 color in it, like a painted wall, I can see what looks like digital noise in the image, like mosquito noise. this is on scenes with no motion, such as a dialog shot.

Anyone else have this problem?

What is your source material tv or bluray? Picture is only as good as the source.

I initially noticed it on an HD Netflix stream, but assumed compression issues were to blame. Once I tried out a couple of Bluray and HD-DVD discs I confirmed it was a consistent issue.

I didn't have this issue with my Samsung D6000, but I also doubt it's a 120hz vs 60hz issue. I just wanted to know if it was a somewhat common issue with the set. Everything else is perfect with it, especially the even, flashlight and clouding free backlighting.

My 40BX420 has really noticeable flashlighting/backlight bleeding in the upper left/right and lower right corners. Even when I bring the backlight as low as possible and turn power saving to high it's apparent when the screen is completely black. Does everyone else have this problem?

Aside from this problem I really like the TV, but after a week of it I'm really considering returning it and going with plasma instead.

With the settings i reported in my earlier post, I don't notice any flashlighting.