Digital Home Thoughts: Review of Sony Bravia KDL-32M4000

"Sony has always been a go-to brand for people who don't mind paying more for HDTVs, or just about anything else for that matter, and the company's least-expensive 2008 32-inch HDTV, the KDL-32M4000, exemplifies the trend. This little set costs a couple of hundred dollars more than no-name LCDs, and generally a hundred more than competing name-brand sets such as the Samsung LN32A450 and the Sharp LC-32D44U. For your extra cash, you'll get great design and, yes, very good picture quality for the smaller HDTV category, but we don't think, for most people, that going Sony at this size is worth the price."

Alright, I'm going to have to be honest here - usually, price is a very important factor for me when it comes to buying electronics. I'll pony up the money ultimately because I do want the higher end products, but I'll complain about it a lot. :-) Having admitted to this, I'll just say that the Sony Bravia series is absolutely worth the extra money. I have a Sharp 45" LCD and a Sony 32" LCD and there is a noticeable difference in the picture quality. The Sony seems to have richer colors, deeper contrast and the picture appears brighter in general. I have achieved a similar appearance on the Sharp but it required a fair bit of manual tuning. If I had one complaint about the Sony over the Sharp, it is that when switching between HDTV channels and non-HDTV channels, there is a longer than 'normal' pause while the TV internally switches resolutions (the Sharp does it instantly).