Who's bought the Sony KDE-42xs955 and how is it?

I also am interested in this model . To me the picture quality was quite good. Also tried it with an SD input and it was better than some of the others that I tested. IMHO its typical sony- very nice styling, excellent build quality, they are one of the best in marketing hype, and always push proprietory features wherever they can [media stick]. That being said,I suggest you look for what is important to you, besides the picture quality which is obvious and forget numbers and look at price,build quality and feature content etc. I am new to the site, however there are many extremely knowledge people on this board [ I am not one of them] and I have received some very helpful assistance. However ,the bottom line is that at some point you will need to make a decision as it's your money and your investment. I am sure you will be happy either way you go.

FWIW, I saw the 37" xs955 over the weekend in a BB in Albuquerque, sitting right next to a 42" consumer Panasonic HD. Still haven't found a 42-inch xs955 to view with my own eyes.


The Sony sure looked HD to me. Both my wife and I actually preferred the Sony picture to the Pany. I know, I know, a 37-incher should look better than a 42-incher because of pixel closeness, but I think it was something else. I took the Sony out of "vivid" but couldn't figure out what the Pany was doing (was probably torch mode), and the Sony just seemed more lifelike. Seemed softer or something, more natural. Maybe the Pany would have looked better in standard, but . . .


Also, FWIW, the Sony box has a more pleasing style to both of us.


Over and out.


Bob

As was already mentioned, the Sony is a 1024x1024 Alis panel.

I have read great things about the Alis panel.


Something interesting I just read on the hdtvexpert(dot)com site that is mentioned on the AVS Forum front page regarding Alis 1024x1024 panels and their picture with HDTV material...



When reading the article: Is 1:1 pixel mapping possible with today's projectors and monitors?

I came upon this statement that makes me go hmmmmm....


"(Believe it or not, 720p and 1080i HD content both look cleaner and crisper on 852x480 plasma than they do on 1024x1024ALiS panels!)" - HDTVEXPERT(dot)com - by Peter H. Putman, CTS


Something to note if this is in fact true. This reviewer has nothing to gain by saying this. Just a review on all the different panel resolutions.


Makes me not want to get an ALis panel. Or if I'm considering a plasma and it happens to be an Alis plasma, then I might just get the EDTV version of it.