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89 of 90 found the following review helpful:
 10-bit Processor and 10-bit Panel Jun 26, 2008
By J. C. House
I recommend this new Z series or an XBR (over 40") due to one fact - the 10-bit Processor and 10-bit Panel. The S, V and W series all look great, but they have 8-bit panels this year (see chart above). For the deepest blacks and best color reproduction, the 10-bit panel/processor makes a huge difference, more than any other LCD feature difference I've seen. The 120hz is impressive, too, giving a 3-D effect, especially on Blu-ray/HD playback, and can be turned on and off. If you like Samsung, the 650 and 750 series also have the 10-bit Processor and 10-bit Panel and 120hz, but I think Sony has a more natural picture - hope this helps. Been shopping for 8 months, uugh.
43 of 43 found the following review helpful:
Sony Z zooms past current XBR Jul 19, 2008
By S. Smith
The 10-bit Z series 40" Sony LCDs are the absolute best. This TV sends XBR down a notch. Digital source material will jump out at you like never before. Gorgous color and contrast. The best yet.
1080i TV broadcast looks about 90% as good as Blu-ray on this panel. The delivery of non-HD DVD movies is wonderful and the picture using Blu Ray is absolutely stunning! (I rarely use the word "stunning")
Also, it's very future-proof with lots of (4) HDMI inputs and a LAN connection and USB. I've had the KDL 40Z4100 for about 2 weeks now and the ranking of picture quality goes as follows: Blu Ray (late release)movies, Digital HD television broadcast or HD digital cable, standard def (480 or 720) movies from a good quality "upscaling" player, and finally - standard def TV broadcast. The 120hz motion control and 24p pull-down work well on older standard def movies. My only advice is to not scrimp on the DVD player. You're going to see your old flicks look better than you have seen them...ever - with a good upscalling player.
Even video sources from my computer look near HD. I've connected my computers 8800GT graphics card's DVI out to the Sony's HDMI input and the look of some of my games is just as good, if not better, than my 22'' Samsung monitor.
This is Sony's best so far, in my humble opinion. Go for it!
45 of 46 found the following review helpful:
Fantastic LCD TV Sep 04, 2008
By Nak
I was looking for a 40" LCD and narrowed it down to the Sony 40Z4100, Sony 40XBR4, and Samsung LN40A750... I've previously owned a 46" Samsung LN-T4665F and a Samsung LN-T3253H so naturally I wanted to go back to Samsung. The picture on the 750 is amazing but side by side, in multiple stores, I just couldn't take my eyes off the Sony LCDs. I then was stuck between the Sony 40XBR4 and the 40Z4100...
I had my heart set on the XBR4 since it was Sony's top of the line product last year, but when I saw that this years 40" XBR6 and XBR7 were going to have identical specs to the Z4100, (granted Contrast Ratio will probably be higher on the XBR's,) it came down to the simple question of:
Do I want to spend $2500+ on the new XBR or $1700+ on the Z4100??
I have to say I'm extremely happy with my decision to save a few bucks and go with the Z-series. The picture quality is breathtaking in both HD and Blu-Ray. Standard TV is top notch as well but I'm blown away with the detail, color, and overall picture this TV offers. You really can't lose if you're going with any of these 3 TV's but I'm so glad I went with the Z-series. Its thin frame is hardly seen and the TV is almost 20 lbs lighter than the XBR4... The Sony 40Z4100, is hands down, my choice for a 40" LCD.
25 of 25 found the following review helpful:
 Great quality that you'd expect from a Sony set - even if a bit pricier Aug 19, 2008
By M. Ward
Was time to replace my 36" Sony XBR tube with a new HDTV set but had a specific space limitation due to the existing TV cabinet - had to fit something inside just over 39". Looked at the Samsung 650 and was leaning heavily that way but was concerned that the size was just too tight for my opening (even with some adjustments) and the glossy screen was a concern given lots of natural light in the room.
Was then looking to the "W" series when I found the "Z" - a bit more, but it was definately smaller (the exact same width as my 36" XBR tube set) and I liked the DLNA options.
The reason for 4 vs 5 stars is the fact that using the DLNA feature has not been easy thus far. There are little to no instructions with the set for this and I've tried three DLNA-compatible Media Servers (four if you count Windows Media Player). I finally was able to access pics from my PC by using the SimpleCenter media center but I've not been able to get the TV to realize that audio is also being shared by SimpleCenter. Sony's on-line & e-mail help were not very helpful so I'm going to have to spend some time on the phone with their support line - hopefully that will prove more helpful and I can get access to my music as well.
I have not experienced the "sparkling" effect mentioned by another reviewer - hopefully that's a limited issue that will not crop up after further burn-in.
Overall the set looks great - the S-Video connection from my non-HD DirecTV receiver looks better than on another smaller HDTV set I have (Insignia - BestBuy's house brand). Interesting the Insignia seemed to do a bit better in pulling in the off-air signal than the Sony (with weaker signals - we live quite a ways away from any transmitters) until I went and purchaed a new antenna signal amplifer (I think the one I had had gone, or was starting to go, bad) but now I get great HDTV picture off the air and when connected to a Sony upconverting DVD player my existing CDs look great.
UPDATE: After no help from Sony Support, I have finally determined / realize that Music/MP3s are not supported over DLNA. To Sony's credit, the manual does not claim music support of MP3 - only refers to photos - but the fact that you can play music from USB seems to be it a bit ambigious - perhaps I just wanted this to funciton like the Samsung 7 series that allows music streaming as well as the RSS feeds and more - oh well.... at least I have pics working - still keeping it at 4 stars due to the poor level of Sony's support in helping me clearly realize this basic fact (after using Chat, e-mail and phone support).
UPDATE 2: Having issues getting the "built-in" TV Guide to let me select channels I want displayed and keep those without it hiding ones I select or adding ones I don't want - once again a couple of rounds with Sony support has not provide much support.... granted these features are the "extras" and don't affect the TV viewing quality - which is excellent - just frustrating things when you purchase something with this bit of a premium against the similar class competitors....
22 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Excellent picture quality. Nov 30, 2008
By Zed
I purchased this TV and have been using it for about 2 weeks now.
I've done extensive (some would label it obsessive) research on this and other models. What swayed my decision to purchase this model was:
1. The features offered with the Z series are almost identical to the XBR6 series. The only difference is the styling.
2. Many sources state that Sony's overall reliability exceeds Samsung's by a significant margin.
3. 10 bit panel.
4. Price.
4. Small footprint / dimensions compared to other 40 inch models.
Pros:
Setup was very easy.
Very attractive design.
Incredible HD picture quality.
Very good Standard Definition picture quality.
Menu very intuitive and easy to navigate.
Great motion flow technology. Viewing sporting events is absolutely amazing.
Color is much more accurate and realistic than most other TV's I've seen
Black levels are more than adequate. In fact, they are better overall than my old Sony Trinitron CRT.
I'm able to notice detail like I never though possible. I can actually see dust floating through sunlight and lint on peoples clothing....not to mention every line and wrinkle in people's faces.
Cons:
As with ALL LCD screens I've owned and viewed, there will always be some noticeable light bleed from the illuminating lamp. But overall, this is not noticeable during normal viewing. It can only seen when there is no signal.
Viewing angle on this, and many other LCDs suffers PQ loss when the angle approaches 50-60 degrees. Not a big minus, but there are other brands that don't suffer as much loss with that angle.
The infamous sparkle issue: If you've done your research, you will come across complaints regarding random 'sparkles' that flash for a few milliseconds. Depending on the source, they may be as frequent as 1 every few minutes. This is only noticeable if you are aware of the issue and are watching for them. These sparkles are no larger than 1 pixel in size....not at all distracting.
I noticed that they only occur when viewing standard definition material that is being shown on an HD channel. I have never noticed it on SD channels nor when watching DVD's.
Sony has released a firmware update that can be VERY EASILY APPLIED if you own a USB drive. You download the new firmware from their site, save it to the drive, plug the drive into the TV and the reset is automatic.
After the update, issue was resolved. No more sparkles!
[..]
Overall I am very pleased with the TV.
I chose this over the equivalent Samsung model mainly because I feel the Samsung frame is ugly and unnecessarily bulky. Also, the Samsung's picture looks too saturated...colors are not 'realistic'.
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