[jsg22]

I recently purchased a 46" Sony V4100 which seems to have a dramtic case of the "sparkles". I bought the TV at CC, so I have 20+ more days before I have to return it.


I went to CC today to view their sets to see if the sparkle issue showed up there. It was much less of a problem on the display sets and something that I could live with. I guess I got a bad apple.


I can either return the V4100 for the same model OR I can upgrade to a W4100 or possibly a Toshiba XV540U. Unfortunately I haven't been able to see the Toshiba locally and would need to order it online.


My questions are:


What are the real gains by stepping up to the W4100 from the V4100? Is it enough to justify the cost difference. I don't want to have buyers remorse, so if the 120hz technology is better and will be useful in the future, I don't mind paying a bit more.

More importantly, has anyone viewed the Sony 4100 models next to the Toshiba XV540U? Has anyone owned both? What were your opinions based on PQ and sound quality? Are they as good as the Sonys?


I can get the XV540U cheaper than the W4100 and it has a 10-bit panel (supposedly Samsung) and is 120hz as well. Are Toshibas reliable? I hate making a purhase site unseen.


For the record, I love the PQ of the Sony sets and don't care for the gloss screens of the Samsungs and their lackluster sound.


The clock is ticking on my return period. Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[mazer75]

My 46W4100 had sparkles as well, so if you were bothered by the V, the W will be no better.


I returned my W, and a Toshiba FX550 is on the way.

 

[jsg22]

Were you able to compare the units side by side or go somewhere that had the Xf550? I'm curious what you think about the PQ differences if you did have a chance to compare.


By the way, why did you choose the W4100 over the V4100? The 120hz?

 

[jsg22]

Does anyone have experience with all of these models? Info on the Toshiba is very hard to come by.


And if I decide I can live with the sparkles, has anyone had any experience with the V4100's and the W4100's? Why did you choose one over the other?

 

[NashGuy]

I was originally strongly considering the Toshiba 46xv540u also. I've never seen that exact TV in person but I've seen the 46fx550 several times and it's the exact same panel, processor, etc., only diffs are the narrow bezel and one less HDMI port. I really, really wanted to like the Toshiba b/c it has such an impressive feature list and can be bought for a little over $1400 on Amazon. Unfortunately, every time I saw it in a store, the picture was significantly inferior to the Sonys and Samsungs. I even once got hold of the remote for the Toshiba and worked with the picture settings somewhat; I could make it look better but still not as good as the Sony V4100. The Sony just had richer colors, better detail, and --most of all--less noise than the Toshiba. The reference material was IronMan on BluRay at 1080p. I could see much less "buzz" in the pixels on solid colored surfaces, such as walls or faces, on the Sony than on the Toshiba. And while the Sony V4100 isn't 120 hz, it does provide subtle smoothing for 60p film-based material with its CineMotion feature. It's actually good, not too fake looking. And, like the Toshiba, it can show 24p material frame-by-frame with no extra processing or 3:2 pull down. (It is believed that the V4100 shifts into 48 hz mode and does 2:2 on 1080/24p material; the Toshiba, however, is 120 hz, so it does 5:5 on 1080/24p.)

 

[bk.secret23]

You know the sparkles can be fixed? There are updates for it.