Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
Posted by Notcot on Sep 25, 2010 in Home Cinema & Video |
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Review by Daniel O’DONOGHUE for Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
(4 / 5)
Rating:
I bought this TV a few days ago and so far have been very pleased with it. The stand was easy to assemble and the TV itself very easy to set up – just follow the on-screen commands, and it is ready within 5 minutes or so. The Freeview HD signal, which is available in my area, tuned in perfectly – and the picture is noticeably better than the standard freeview signal. Shame there aren’t a few more freeview HD channels yet but, of course, that isn’t Sony’s problem.
Overall the picture quality is excellent, with vibrant colours (a bit too much with the standard settings?), good contrast and dark blacks, and the sound very clear for built-in speakers. Controls and menus all fairly intuitive – so no need to look at the manual (which is built-in to the set and accessed via menus).
Connectivity is good: including 4 x HDMIs, 2 SCART, + Ethernet and 1 USB. The one niggle is the lack of an included wi-fi antenna to access Internet content. This requires purchase of a separate Sony Wi Fi dongle (which I haven’t done yet) if you don’t want to run an ethernet cable from your router. This sort of corner-cutting irritates me – if Sony can, for example, include full wi-fi accessibility in a PSP, why do they have to make this an optional extra in a television costing much more?
Update
I have now fitted the wi fi dongle to the TV. Initially, the internet functionality didn’t work very well – the picture would freeze, or a message would pop up saying that the network was down (it wasn’t). I figured my old wi fi router might be the problem – so I upgraded this to a good quality “N” router. This did the trick, and the TV streams video from the internet superbly. Using BBC i-player the picture is just as smooth as watching a normal TV programme. No problem streaming HD video either. Of course, as a result of using i-player, I received a message from my ISP saying I was exceeding my download limit – so I’ve had to upgrade my broadband package, but I can’t blame Sony for that!
Review by A. J. Parkes for Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
I got this TV to replace a 6 year old Samsung 32″ for the main TV. I was going for another Samsung, but the new ones appear to only have 1 scart. This is great if you only have 1 item that needs scart, but I have my Sky+ and a DVD/HD recorder, so reluctantly, had to discard the idea of Samsung.
After much deliberation between plasma and lcd, I finally stayed with lcd, as the power consumption was better and the clarity seems to be similar. As I also did not want to keep upgrading, I thought it best to get a TV that was full HD, 100 Hz for smooth scrolling of fast moving images and freeview hd. After much searching and reading reviews, finally settled on this model.
After the initial easy setup for searching the channels with the digital and analog tuners, you can start watching straight away. I must confess that the clarity of the pictures far exceeded my expectations. It could be a natural progression of the technology since my last purchase, but what a difference in detail. Sky seems to be clearer, the normal channels seem more defined and the 3 freeview hd channels are amazing. It depends upon what is being transmitted on the freeview hd, but the nature programs are amazing to see, the detail and clarity is superb. I have played normal DVD’s through the scart connection, and again, cannot fault the picture. I was apprehensive as a larger screen means more chance of pixilation, but have not seen it as I though I would. I have connected me xbox via component and the gameplay is just as smooth as to be expected. Ramped the settings on the console to 1080p instead of 720p, and with motion flow on, the gameplay is smooth. To be honest, cannot see that great a difference between 720p and 1080p on gameplay, but it could be the games as not all are 1080p encoded.
This TV is internet ready, so you can connect direct to a router through the ethernet port, which is what I have done. You can then access youtube, 5 on demand, lovefilm (which you need a subscription) and other channels. You can also connect wirelessly, but you will have to purchase a Sony USB wifi dongle at extra cost. Its a shame that this function was not built in. Why advertise it as a selling point only to be informed you have to buy the extra piece to make it work? Searching youtube can take time, as you enter the search parameters using the remote, which can take time.
There are several scene modes, like movie, sport, standard, game, which change the settings of the contrast, brightness, colour etc, but generally keep it on standard.
I have not tried surround, as I have no surround system. The sound on the TV is loud enough for me, and find that normal viewing the volume is on 20-25, just about a quarter way up. There is a great option than normalises sound, so all the channels are output at the same sound level. No more loud adverts, as the volume stays the same throughout.
The menu is easy, and is designed around the Playstaion 3 menu system, so users of the PS3 will feel at home.
All in all, a great purchase that seems to be more future proof than others, producing vivid crisp displays and smooth scrolling. Very happy with the purchase and highly recommend it,.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2010
I got a SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB Flash Drive 16GB and put about 20 avi movie files on. Just plug it in the TV and go to the menu and select movie menu, scroll to the usb and they are there. Highlight the film and press enter and you can watch your movies on the TV without streaming. Not all avi files work, but the most popular ones are supported as well as mp4 format. Now with iplayer also available this machine has got better.
Review by Sampras for Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
Excellent TV for an excellent price. Freeview HD is superb as is my SKY HD. Internet TV is also excellent, just need a Blu-Ray player to go with it now. No wonder this won best 40″ buy in What Hi-Fi magazine. (It’s 46″ and 37″ siblings won in their class too).
Review by dkwil for Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
(4 / 5)
Rating:
This is one great TV – I agree with all the other comments, great picture, no motion smearing, no backlight issues. HOWEVER, there is a flaw in the set up. I plugged TV into power and ariel, ran standard set up and……nothing. Failed to detect any TV programmes. Not a single one. Re-ran set up, same result. Plugged ariel into small portable, picture. I therefore dived into the menu system, altered the programme search from quick to full, waited for 30 mins (yes, half an hour) while this ran…. and bingo, 96 TV and radio channels detected. So, great product, but a star off for this flaw.
Review by J. Penberthy for Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 100Hz LCD Internet TV with Freeview HD
(5 / 5)
Rating:
After much deliberation decided to go for 40ex503, very pleased with my choice. Picture is excellent and the settings to tweak are abundant. In built HD freview and guide is very good. I’ll keep the review short so to conclude you won’t be disappointed with this set. A couple of notes, this tv doesn’t have widgets as described on some sites specifications, bravia on line is good but many of the sites you can access aren’t updated regularly. 5 on demand is a good example, the program content you can access is very limited and you’ll soon get bored with it! The remote control / response from tv can be very sluggish at times. Don’t get a smaller version of this tv 37ex503 for example as it uses a different panel.
All in all this tv is worth its weight in gold, colours are natural and motion flow is execellent, sound is adequate but recommend running through a sound system if you can. A highly recommended set
I was tempted to buy this TV after spotting a good deal, but I’m put off by the reports of input lag affecting consoles. Could anyone confirm either way whether this is true with a PS3 connected? Thanks
I’m getting a Sony KDL40EX503U with built in Freeview HD.
Previously I had a VCR recording off a stand alone digbox. With a built in one , can I still record digital channels to a VCR? I know VCR’s are old hat but it still works fine and I have a lot of videos.