The point about the tuner on the outgoing 40W4500 is that it was good at the time, but newer rivals that weren't around last year (or even a month ago) have improved tuner performance, raising the standard in this sector.
To add to Andy's comment, we've always said that although good, the W4500's tuner wasn't class-leading - as recently as the March issue we mentioned it was pipped by the Panasonics
Hmmm... so for the last 5 or 6 months you have told us the sun shines out of the kdl40 w4500 in whatever way possible and now look at this....you now say it has an achilles heel in the shape of its tuner.Make yer mind up it cant have just gone from mint to dodgy in the space of a new tv review......at least try to be consistant!!
I've had my KDL40W5500 for a few weeks now and can't see any back light issues at all on mine and I believe I've looked quite critically. It is an all round excellent performer and a quantum leap over my old Toshiba 37WLT66. Well worth the investment especially at the internet prices that are currently available!
I am saving hard to buy the W5500 in the summer and was very disappointed by the review in the magazine, but since reading the comments from the bloggers that have already purchased the tv I feel reassured that this tv will be as good as the outgoing models.I will keep reading the comments of other bloggers but feel sure that this tv is a already winner.
Just a wee note. We received our Sony 40W5500 yesterday and it is absolutely fine - no clouding issues. HD is excellent and detail superb; SD varies depending upon which channel you watch, on channel 5 last night while watching The Mentallist it looked almost like HD; sound better than expected - overall, for the money, we're very pleased.
I have to say that I have had my W5500 for over a week now (£875 from Amazon pre-order!) and am absolutely delighted with it. Contrary to the review, there is no discernible backlight bleed on my set and the picture with SkyHD is great. The blacks are as good as any plasma although I haven't yet experimented with fine tuning the colour. I can't wait to try it out with a Blueray player - just got to convince my wife we should get one!
Hi, I received my 37W5500 yesterday and as you might imagine I was a bit worried when I read the review however I am happy to say I have NO backlight issues on my set. Seems to be the same as the 4500 in consistency. But I must sya my set is pretty much perfect, still want to see what comes of these iPlayer streaming rumours.
I got my 32W5500 on Monday, read your reviews yesterday and so gave the thing a thorough check last night and I cannot see any backlight issues with my set. I bought this as an upgrade to a 32V2000 and as you would expect the difference is significant and as such I am very pleased with it.
I am happy to pass on my full thoughts on the 32W5500 if anyone is interested. Don't really want to post it here as this is for the 40W5500.
Alright, following my earlier comment. Set it up, wired everything up (freeview PVR, PS3 and Wii) and it is a truely stunning set. I've tried my best to look out for backlight issues but i haven't had it set on 10 which concurs with the chaps comments from the Sony Centre. I can't see anything untoward.
PS3 link with HDMI is fantastic. I have some blu-ray DVD's on order from LoveFilm.com so when they come in i hope to get the abosulute best from this tube. As mentioned by others, easy to set up and if it does take a few weeks to settle, then i'm pleased the best is yet to come.
I researched these tv's for a long time and haven't parted with �1200 easily - a deep breath and eyes shut is my recollection. It took me so long to research the best model for my budget i finally ended up with the W4500 only for it to be discontinued! Glad i made the �200 stretch to the W5500 and would highly recommend it.
Just purchased my new W5500, or W5710 as it is from Sony Centres and John Lewis. Mentioned the issues above to the chap in the SC and we had a good look at the one on display and it looked stunning. I have bought the 40 incher as reviewed above and i note most comments here relate to the 37 or less. I will set it up tonight and let you know if i notice any backlight bleeding.
Needless to say, i'm very excited to get it out of the box tonight!
Hi. Could you throw light on your review of the 40W5500? I am researching this model and note you had image problems. No other reviews I've read so far have found problem and so I wonder if you have a faulty set. You think not, but give no reason for the assumption. You mention that you'd looked at many 40W4500 sets, and clearly the larger the sample, the more reliable the review comments. As 40W5500 has just been released - how many sets had you checked out when you wrote the review? Look forward to hearing. Many thanks for interesting and helpful reviews - both printed and online. Much appreciated. DavidinBrum
so could anyone tell me if the picture is anygood when watching in a dark room? i know they say u shouldn't but if i buy a big tv then i want that cinema experience. Oh and could u be so kind and tell me the ideal picture settings please.
Right, where to start, well i work for one of the largest Sony Centres in the UK, and we have had the 40w5500/5710 for just about 2 weeks now. There is alot more scope for potential backlight bleeding and clouding due to that sony have used a newer eco friendly backlight system. Without getting geeky it is a backlight that coils around rather than being in strips. (similar to an energy saving light bulb). Due to this it is far more important to have the TV set up correctly. A backlight setting anything above 7 out of 10 in an average living room is just crazy. We instore have been able to play and test over the last few weeks and have found that it takes alot longer for the backlight to settle in than on other TVs, and the natural overbrightness of a new TV does and will cause clouding. I suggest running the Tv in for a good few weeks before complaining about clouding issues and have the TV set up professionally. I didnt like the Z4500 when it first came out, but once it settles it is a stunning TV, but the W5500 has the potential to take its top spot.
Received ours yesterday after ordering in-store at Comet for an undisclosed 'bargain' deal! But let's just say you can get it for less than the What HiFi guide price for the 4500 with a bit of luck! (Richer Sounds are also offering it for £969 at the time of writing!) Orignally went in for the W4500 despite knowing about the newer model!
Slight reservations following the review above, but I must say I have only very slight clouding in the upper corners but this is not noticable in normal circumstances and only really if you look for it in a pitch-black room with a dark screen!
The sound quality is surprisingly good and the settings are easy to adjust. Feature wise it's got everything I need and more, and the quality of PS3 playback in 1080p is without question the best I've seen including units at twice/three times the cost!
Got a few weeks to let it settle and in the meantime I should have Sky HD installed have a watched a few more Blu-Ray's to compare properly!
I haven't found a better 40" for any money and when compared with some Panasonic plasmas I had also looked it, the contrast detail and picture quality is far superior! I love it!
Received our KDL-40W5500 from Amazon this week but have some serious concerns regarding time lag.
The sound and picture sync perfectly on the TV, but both lag around 1/4sec behind any audio that is produced directly from my Yamaha DSP-AX620 Home Cinema Receiver Amp.
It appears that in all modes except "Game" the TV is taking too long to process the signal from all devices, including SKY, PS3 etc.
As a work around, I thought I will run all audio via the TV first and use the TV Optical Out to send this back to the AMP/Receiver. This works in that there is no time lag (or moreover everything is now time lagged together), however the TV optical out does not appear to carry DOLBY. The amp receives the audio via PCM but no loger appears to recognise Dolby etc.
I would value your comments as my only alternative is to return what otherwise seems a great set.
I think that What Hi-fi have got it right with this problem of backlight bleed / clouding on Sony sets. A read of any internet forums on HD TV will elude to this being an ongoing problem with Sony sets - going back to the 40W2000 (an Award Winner in its time). Consumers shouldnt have to take pot luck with a purchase of circa £1K - this is a Sony quality control problem and the fact that its now been highlighted by a leading magazine will hopefully add some impetus and focus to getting it resolved.
Just changed from an old Sony CRT that has been great to the 40W5500. Watched the football last night and the close ups were great, superb detail but when it showed the game with lots of green fuzzy pitch and the players with no definition (either blue or red) couldn't tell who was who i was really disappointed. I am hoping my set is faulty, please can somebody let me know if there distant (when the whole or half the football pitch is shown) picture quality is good?
Just bought the Sony 40w 5500 just 2 days ago and I have no complaints so far. Stunning picture in analogue, digital freeview and HD. Sound is not the greatest but it is still very good.
All the complaints about the backlight problems I have not seen this and I have looked closely for this.There is so much features on this tv that it will keep everyone busy.
I would reccomend this TV to everyone. Cant wait to see what magizines What Hi-fi and Which say about it.
This whole issue of bleeding is quite funny. Read up about this tv on trusted reviews and they recieved a letter from sony. It acknowledged concerns about such a problem but stressed it was pre production models only. The reviewer said based on the model it was given they had to agree. Unlike the Vseries they got recently the 46w5500 gave them little to complain about.
So I have bought this TV. Anyone looking to do so I suggest Dixons or richersounds. Stocks are still erratic but I got my 40inch model for �835 from dixons.
Comments
The point about the tuner on the outgoing 40W4500 is that it was good at the time, but newer rivals that weren't around last year (or even a month ago) have improved tuner performance, raising the standard in this sector.
To add to Andy's comment, we've always said that although good, the W4500's tuner wasn't class-leading - as recently as the March issue we mentioned it was pipped by the Panasonics
Hello. I have the new 40W5500 and the set have backlight issues on the corners...
Hmmm... so for the last 5 or 6 months you have told us the sun shines out of the kdl40 w4500 in whatever way possible and now look at this....you now say it has an achilles heel in the shape of its tuner.Make yer mind up it cant have just gone from mint to dodgy in the space of a new tv review......at least try to be consistant!!
I've had my KDL40W5500 for a few weeks now and can't see any back light issues at all on mine and I believe I've looked quite critically. It is an all round excellent performer and a quantum leap over my old Toshiba 37WLT66. Well worth the investment especially at the internet prices that are currently available!
Sorry forgot to mention that my set has a May 2009 sticker on the box which may or may not be significant.
well so far comparisons between the the w4500 and the w5500 show the following:
w5500 input lag worse (w5500= 17-33ms vs w4500 =0-10ms)
standard definition viewing = w5500 is better than w4500
colour accuracy better on the the w4500 ( this was expected due to change in screen from 10bit to 8bit)
all other features on w5500 are an improvement when compared to the w4500.
so overall
looks like the w5500 is a BETTER tv than the w4500 with great performing features.
it does take a slight hit with colour accuracy and gaming input lag (athought you would not notice this unless you had w4500 set up next to w5500)
I am saving hard to buy the W5500 in the summer and was very disappointed by the review in the magazine, but since reading the comments from the bloggers that have already purchased the tv I feel reassured that this tv will be as good as the outgoing models.I will keep reading the comments of other bloggers but feel sure that this tv is a already winner.
any news on an 'x' range 5500?
just had my samsung le40a686 go wrong and replaced it with the kdl40w550
all i can say is i have no problems with the backlighting isues on my set (made in may on the box sticker)
pictuer is great and sound is good for a flat panel tv it knocks the spots off the 6 month old samsung i had
Why are sony releasing only 40" models now. What happened to the 42" sets. Id like to get one at some pont but am put off by the lack of inches.
Backlight is not uncommon in Toshiba sets too.
Just a wee note. We received our Sony 40W5500 yesterday and it is absolutely fine - no clouding issues. HD is excellent and detail superb; SD varies depending upon which channel you watch, on channel 5 last night while watching The Mentallist it looked almost like HD; sound better than expected - overall, for the money, we're very pleased.
paws
Got Mine last week from Dixons on line after a failed attemt to get a 40W4500 So glad it look the business
I have to say that I have had my W5500 for over a week now (£875 from Amazon pre-order!) and am absolutely delighted with it. Contrary to the review, there is no discernible backlight bleed on my set and the picture with SkyHD is great. The blacks are as good as any plasma although I haven't yet experimented with fine tuning the colour. I can't wait to try it out with a Blueray player - just got to convince my wife we should get one!
Hi, I received my 37W5500 yesterday and as you might imagine I was a bit worried when I read the review however I am happy to say I have NO backlight issues on my set. Seems to be the same as the 4500 in consistency. But I must sya my set is pretty much perfect, still want to see what comes of these iPlayer streaming rumours.
Tom
Hi All,
I got my 32W5500 on Monday, read your reviews yesterday and so gave the thing a thorough check last night and I cannot see any backlight issues with my set. I bought this as an upgrade to a 32V2000 and as you would expect the difference is significant and as such I am very pleased with it.
I am happy to pass on my full thoughts on the 32W5500 if anyone is interested. Don't really want to post it here as this is for the 40W5500.
Cheers,
Stuart
Alright, following my earlier comment. Set it up, wired everything up (freeview PVR, PS3 and Wii) and it is a truely stunning set. I've tried my best to look out for backlight issues but i haven't had it set on 10 which concurs with the chaps comments from the Sony Centre. I can't see anything untoward.
PS3 link with HDMI is fantastic. I have some blu-ray DVD's on order from LoveFilm.com so when they come in i hope to get the abosulute best from this tube. As mentioned by others, easy to set up and if it does take a few weeks to settle, then i'm pleased the best is yet to come.
I researched these tv's for a long time and haven't parted with �1200 easily - a deep breath and eyes shut is my recollection. It took me so long to research the best model for my budget i finally ended up with the W4500 only for it to be discontinued! Glad i made the �200 stretch to the W5500 and would highly recommend it.
Enjoy
Just purchased my new W5500, or W5710 as it is from Sony Centres and John Lewis. Mentioned the issues above to the chap in the SC and we had a good look at the one on display and it looked stunning. I have bought the 40 incher as reviewed above and i note most comments here relate to the 37 or less. I will set it up tonight and let you know if i notice any backlight bleeding.
Needless to say, i'm very excited to get it out of the box tonight!
Hi. Could you throw light on your review of the 40W5500? I am researching this model and note you had image problems. No other reviews I've read so far have found problem and so I wonder if you have a faulty set. You think not, but give no reason for the assumption. You mention that you'd looked at many 40W4500 sets, and clearly the larger the sample, the more reliable the review comments. As 40W5500 has just been released - how many sets had you checked out when you wrote the review? Look forward to hearing. Many thanks for interesting and helpful reviews - both printed and online. Much appreciated. DavidinBrum
hi,
We have a 5500 and no problems at all then again not sure what you are supposed to be looking for!
all i know is its a dodle to set up picture is superb and the sound quality is much superior to the old 4500
Me thinks maybe you had a faulty model on test?
stu
so could anyone tell me if the picture is anygood when watching in a dark room? i know they say u shouldn't but if i buy a big tv then i want that cinema experience. Oh and could u be so kind and tell me the ideal picture settings please.
Right, where to start, well i work for one of the largest Sony Centres in the UK, and we have had the 40w5500/5710 for just about 2 weeks now. There is alot more scope for potential backlight bleeding and clouding due to that sony have used a newer eco friendly backlight system. Without getting geeky it is a backlight that coils around rather than being in strips. (similar to an energy saving light bulb). Due to this it is far more important to have the TV set up correctly. A backlight setting anything above 7 out of 10 in an average living room is just crazy. We instore have been able to play and test over the last few weeks and have found that it takes alot longer for the backlight to settle in than on other TVs, and the natural overbrightness of a new TV does and will cause clouding. I suggest running the Tv in for a good few weeks before complaining about clouding issues and have the TV set up professionally. I didnt like the Z4500 when it first came out, but once it settles it is a stunning TV, but the W5500 has the potential to take its top spot.
W5500/5710....STUNNING TV!
oops-meant to ask:
Is this set any good for compatability in Eire if bought in the UK?
Received ours yesterday after ordering in-store at Comet for an undisclosed 'bargain' deal! But let's just say you can get it for less than the What HiFi guide price for the 4500 with a bit of luck! (Richer Sounds are also offering it for £969 at the time of writing!) Orignally went in for the W4500 despite knowing about the newer model!
Slight reservations following the review above, but I must say I have only very slight clouding in the upper corners but this is not noticable in normal circumstances and only really if you look for it in a pitch-black room with a dark screen!
The sound quality is surprisingly good and the settings are easy to adjust. Feature wise it's got everything I need and more, and the quality of PS3 playback in 1080p is without question the best I've seen including units at twice/three times the cost!
Got a few weeks to let it settle and in the meantime I should have Sky HD installed have a watched a few more Blu-Ray's to compare properly!
I haven't found a better 40" for any money and when compared with some Panasonic plasmas I had also looked it, the contrast detail and picture quality is far superior! I love it!
Sound Lag Advice Please.
Received our KDL-40W5500 from Amazon this week but have some serious concerns regarding time lag.
The sound and picture sync perfectly on the TV, but both lag around 1/4sec behind any audio that is produced directly from my Yamaha DSP-AX620 Home Cinema Receiver Amp.
It appears that in all modes except "Game" the TV is taking too long to process the signal from all devices, including SKY, PS3 etc.
As a work around, I thought I will run all audio via the TV first and use the TV Optical Out to send this back to the AMP/Receiver. This works in that there is no time lag (or moreover everything is now time lagged together), however the TV optical out does not appear to carry DOLBY. The amp receives the audio via PCM but no loger appears to recognise Dolby etc.
I would value your comments as my only alternative is to return what otherwise seems a great set.
I think that What Hi-fi have got it right with this problem of backlight bleed / clouding on Sony sets. A read of any internet forums on HD TV will elude to this being an ongoing problem with Sony sets - going back to the 40W2000 (an Award Winner in its time). Consumers shouldnt have to take pot luck with a purchase of circa £1K - this is a Sony quality control problem and the fact that its now been highlighted by a leading magazine will hopefully add some impetus and focus to getting it resolved.
Just changed from an old Sony CRT that has been great to the 40W5500. Watched the football last night and the close ups were great, superb detail but when it showed the game with lots of green fuzzy pitch and the players with no definition (either blue or red) couldn't tell who was who i was really disappointed. I am hoping my set is faulty, please can somebody let me know if there distant (when the whole or half the football pitch is shown) picture quality is good?
Just bought the Sony 40w 5500 just 2 days ago and I have no complaints so far. Stunning picture in analogue, digital freeview and HD. Sound is not the greatest but it is still very good.
All the complaints about the backlight problems I have not seen this and I have looked closely for this.There is so much features on this tv that it will keep everyone busy.
I would reccomend this TV to everyone. Cant wait to see what magizines What Hi-fi and Which say about it.
Excuse my spelling also!
Exscuse my ignorance...but what on earth is 'picture noise' you keep referring to in these reviews?
This whole issue of bleeding is quite funny. Read up about this tv on trusted reviews and they recieved a letter from sony. It acknowledged concerns about such a problem but stressed it was pre production models only. The reviewer said based on the model it was given they had to agree. Unlike the Vseries they got recently the 46w5500 gave them little to complain about.
So I have bought this TV. Anyone looking to do so I suggest Dixons or richersounds. Stocks are still erratic but I got my 40inch model for �835 from dixons.