Sony KDL32D3000 - 32'' Widescreen Bravia HD Ready LCD TV - With Freeview

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Product Features:

• Nicam sound system
• Teletext:Smartext with EPG
• Tuner Type:Analogue with Freeview
• Screen Size:32
• HD Ready LCD Television

Customer Reviews:

• 
  2008-05-08
  By Mr. J. A. WILD, Lancashire, England
  Let me start by saying that i spent a VERY LONG TIME researching various HD televisions before i purchased the 32" D3000. Seriously, i actually started to become obsessed! It came down to either this model or the 40" W3000. The reason i picked this model was because some of the features on the W3000 were pretty pointless... namely the x.v. colour feature. This is because the only hardware that currently supports this are the next-generation camcorders. Granted, the W3000 has 1080P, has a contrast ratio of 1:16,000 and it is 40", but does that really justify it being £400 more? I didn't think so, so i chose the 32" D3000. And let me tell you, i haven't regretted it for a second.
  
  First of all... standard definition. Most people know that LCD's generally can't handle a standard definition signal as well as an older CRT television. However, this tv handles it commendably well. There are some instances when i am watching the freeview that i think the picture quality is BETTER than on a CRT. Once you tweek the settings (i will include what settings i am using at the end, as they seem to work very well) the picture quality is brilliant. I think that most people will agree that the "out of the box" settings really aren't that great.
  
  Now... high definition material. This is where the television really blows your mind. I have played a few dvd's through my Phillip's DVD player, which upscales the quality to 1080i and all i can say is WOW! The colours and textures are amazing. It feels like you are in a whole new world. Just make sure that you keep the [Motion Enhancer] on standard and all the fast moving action scenes will be blur and smear free. I know that a few people will groan when told that this tv is not 1080p, however i would be very surprised to see that much of a difference between 1080i and 1080p. What you need to remember is that a 1080p tv, will show standard definition poorer than on an 1080i set. This is because all broadcasts are at most 1080i (only SkyHD is 1080i) and therefore there is simply no HD signal for 1080p tv's to receive (at least until 2012).
  
  I have not tried playing Blu-Ray DVD's through the Playstation 3 yet, but i will be at the end of May when i get one. I must stress one thing, just to clarify something. This tv WILL accept an 1080p signal, however it won't display it an 1080p resolution. The tv will downscale the signal to display it at 1080i. However, with the 10-bit panel that the tv possesses, i'm sure that it will display it just fine.
  
  The television has some really great features. Two of them being [Live Colour Creation] and [S-Force Surround Sound]. The former has the ability to make the colours appear more vibrant and vivid. The later is Sony's trademark surround sound technology. And when you turn this feature on believe me... you can tell the difference! Turn this up with your favourite DVD playing in high definition and you are on to a winner.
  
  Overall, there are many settings that you can adjust on this tv, and to be honest, it is really personal preference what you prefer. That's what i like about this television... it puts the viewer firmly back in the driving seat!
  
  If i am being honest... yes for a 32" LCD high definition ready tv, this is quite expensive. I paid £609 for it, however i was happy to do so. That was because i knew i was getting a world class tv. What you also need to remember is that this is the only range of tv's in the Sony Bravia series (apart from the X series, which sells for £1,500 plus) that feature the Motionflow +100Hz facility. Believe me, this makes a difference, especially when you are watching sports and other fast moving scenes. Trust me when i tell you that this tv is truely amazing and that for the price it really is something quite special... so buy it, because you really will not regret it!
  
  As stated earlier, please find my ideal settings below which really work the tv and show an amazing picture:
  
  Picture Mode: Standard.
  Backlight: 8.
  Contrast: 75.
  Brightness: 55.
  Colour: 65.
  Colour Temperature: Warm 1.
  Sharpness: 20.
  Noise Reduction: Low.
  MPEG Noise Reduction: Off.
  
  Advanced Settings:
  Black Corrector: Medium.
  Adv. Contrast Enhancer: Medium.
  Gamma: Medium.
  Clear White: Low.
  Live Colour: Medium.
  Colour Space: Wide.
  
  Sound Mode: Dynamic.
  Surround Sound: Turn on when watching films and turn the volume up to 45+.
  
  Screen Format: Wide.
  Auto Format: Off.
  
  Motion Enhancer (Motionflow +100Hz): Standard.
  Film Mode: Auto 1.
  
  Light Sensor: Off.
  
  Enjoy your new Sony Bravia 32" D3000, i know i am!
  
  
  
  
• 
  2008-05-12
  By M. J. Norris, Portsmouth, UK
  What can I say? This is a fantastic TV! One thing that is worth mentioning is that despite what it says in the publicity blurb, it is capable of displaying 1080p. I saw a friend's TV that was connected to a Blu-ray player and much to our surprise the screen defaults to 1080p. The picture is awesome!
  
  Mike
  
  
• 
  2008-05-27
  By John Morley, Cleveland, England
  I recently purchased one of these tv's with a glass stand. It was delivered on time. All the products were in their respective boxes, (nothing was missing). I plugged the tv in, it worked first time . it was so easy to set up, can't fault it. Picture quality excellent, just the right size for my lounge, anything else would have been too large and overpowering. If you want a good tv you can't go wrong with this 32" Sony. The quality of the glass stand is excellent too. I looked at all the magazines, shops, and compared tvs till i was totally confused, save time just order this tv!!!!!
  
  
• 
  2008-06-23
  By Mr. A. T. Bradley, UK/ GERMANY
  Great picture quality and easy to set up and use! looks great, and when teamed with my Harmon Kardon HS2oo is amazing, worth every penny spent.
  
  
  
  
• 
  2008-06-25
  By Theodoros Christodoulou, Greece
  I bought the 32D3000 over a month ago, after spending quite a lot of time doing some research on the internet and in the shops, since this would be my first LCD TV. There are some excellent reviews of this TV out there, they will probably convince you too. Quite honestly this is a very good LCD TV, packed with technology and features and it delivers a solid performance all around.
  
  The inches are quite good for a medium-size living room (I'm sitting ~3m away from it) and according to Sony, the viewing distance can be as close as 1.8m for HD ready material. Sony have recently released their 32" Full HD models (e.g the W4000) but I think this is more of a marketing move in order to keep up with the competition; you would have to sit closer than 1.5m in order to tell any of the 2x increase in resolution that Full HD (1080p) offers over HD ready (720p).
  
  The strong points of 32D3000 I think are colours and management of greys. This TV has very natural, vivid, true-to-life colours due to its 10-bit panel, WCG-CCFL backlight and Live Colour Creation. None of Samsungs, Panasonics or Toshibas I checked at a similar price range offered anything close to the Sony performance, with the exception maybe of the Philips Cineos 9000 series, which is however much more expensive. Contrast is also very good, with black levels being really black (Sony gives a dynamic contrast of 8000:1, with 1600:1 being the actual on-screen ratio) and this is noticeable over competitor LCDs too. The Bravia engine in this 3rd generation of Sony LCDs seems much improved and handles picture beautifully. This LCD is also Sony's first TV that incorporates 100Hz (MotionFlow) technology in order to handle motion more smoothly. I think Sony's 100Hz attempt is not as good Panasonic's (e.g. LXD70 seems to handle fast-moving scenes better), but it still more efficient than motion handling in Samsungs or the Toshiba Regzas. It certainly does the job with fast-scrolling text on screen and, in some cases, with ball movement on the pitch. The Bravia Engine seems to struggle when larger parts of the picture are moving fast though, and sometimes creates flicker or jerky movement. In this case it's better to deactivate the "motion enhancer" mode i.e. 100Hz (mind that in other 100Hz TVs you don't have that option). Overall, I believe that TFT-LCDs are still lagging behind the good-old CRTs when it comes to handling fast movement and there's still room for improvement.
  
  Sonically, the 32D3000 is also very good and features Sony's S-Force Front Surround (instead of Virtual Dolby Surround/BBE VIVA which appear on cheaper models like the S, T, P/U 3000 series). Mind that S-Force Front Surround has been dropped from the new E/W4000 series, obviously for cost reduction reasons. Speakers are 2x10W and deliver very clear and dynamic sound (don't expect the base performance you would get from the "old" CRT speakers though; times have changed and companies are trying to sell some of their dedicated surround systems).
  
  Other 32D3000 features worth mentioning are 3xHDMI (with CEC), very easy to navigate on-screen menus (the XMB menus introduced in the 2008 models and also featured in PS3 and PSP are not more practical really), ability to accept 1080p signal (which downscales to 1080i or 720p though), 24p True Cinema mode, and an impressively low power consumption of 0.3W at standby (the 40" model actually got a "Green LCD-TV" EISA award last year; consumption has been further bettered to 0.19W in the 2008 models, bravo to Sony for showing some environmental sensitivity too).
  
  Finally, design is not as imaginative or impressive as in some other manufacturers' proposals (i.e. Samsung), however the D series has quite classic, austere lines that I prefer to the more cheep-looking design of the new 2008 models (e.g. W4000 series).
  
  Overall, a great 32" LCD-TV, highly-recommended (especially at the £700-750 price range).