Sony Bravia V40A10
Pros
- Above average high definition display, Great connectivity
Cons
- Horrible scaling of standard definition content, noisy picture
Bottom Line
If you watch a lot of DVD movies give this display a miss, but if you’re more of a sports buff and intend to kick back with the footy on a high definition set top box then this could be a consideration.
-
Price
$ 5,799.00 (AUD)
Sony's V series is the premiere wing of their new Bravia LCD range. Considering how impressed we were with the S series model we looked at last year, we were salivating at the notion of getting a look at their premium model. With the Sharp Aquos and the Hitachi 8800 having passed through here recently we have been spoiled for displays of late, and were hoping the Bravia would continue that trend.
Unfortunately we were disappointed. The V40A10, whilst performing above average in many of our tests, failed to truly impress us. Sporting a massive price tag, it simply doesn't compete with the high end models mentioned above.
The biggest problem with the unit was its rendering of standard definition content. Throughout our Displaymate and high definition tests the Bravia looked quite reasonable, but when running standard definition 480p content we encountered a horrible amount of noise. Regardless of the subject being presented, objects were often highly pixelated and there was a complete lack of definition. Watching Kill Bill for example, the opening scene was so poorly rendered that the streams of blood and Uma Thurman's skin tones were often indistinguishable. We couldn't imagine watching DVDs on this TV on a regular basis.
When running high definition content however, the screen made a significant jump in quality. We hooked up our Xbox 360 and fired through a few rounds of Ghost Recon and were much more impressed. There was still a little noise around bright colours, particularly reds and blues, but the picture was for the most part clear and crisp.
It is a shame the image scaled so badly, because this display has several characteristics that would otherwise push it into the realms of four stars or more. First and foremost it has fantastic blacks. LCD displays cannot render true black, it is an innate limitation within the design, but the Bravia's blacks were dark and rich, and didn't once turn to dark grey as we have seen on so many other screens. Similarly, the contrast ratio was excellent, with solid graduation between colours. Occasionally the jump from dark areas to black areas was a little sudden, but for the most part we couldn't have been happier with this element of the display.
Displaymate revealed a great representation of the colour spectrum, with no major inaccuracies to speak of. Whites may actually be the exception here, not projecting the pure, bright hue we are used to seeing, but it wasn't a big problem. It did also reveal a small lack of uniformity within the backlighting, which presents itself as a small gray shadow, running along the very bottom and in the corners of the screen.
The unit is designed very nicely. It has a black bezel about two inches wide running all the way around and the controls are situated in a single strip down the right hand side. A single speaker is built into the base of the unit. Normally televisions don't have the best sound quality on their own and thus we were extremely pleased to discover the Bravia's speakers were both clear and powerful. Most people who purchase a flat panel display will already have a home theatre kit, but for some the included speaker quality may be important.
We were equally as impressed with the range of inputs on offer. The Bravia supports everything you could ever need, even if you don't have a home theatre reciever. It has two component ports, HDMI connectivity, D-sub for your PC connections as well as S-video and RCA ports. The full spectrum of connectivity is covered which is always nice to see.
Brand Post
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 HP Spectre x360 16 review: The right 2-in-1 at the wrong time
- 3 Acer K242HYL review: An affordable monitor for any occasion
- 4 GeForce Now review: You bring the games, Nvidia streams the hardware
- 5 Asus ProArt PA279CV monitor review: The go-to for content creators on a budget
Latest News Articles
- Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+ will be free for the first 12 weeks of the season
- Apple TV+ makes history at wild Oscars ceremony
- If you pay for extra iCloud storage, you may have a refund coming
- Apple reverses course, now blocks Apple TV purchases on Android, Google devices
- tvOS 15.4 lets you finally log in to captive Wi-Fi portals on Apple TV
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D
The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy?
- Every TV in Samsung's 2022 line-up: OLED, Neo QLED and more!
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?