SONY KV-20FV300 20" FD Trinitron(R) Wega(TM) TV
Contrast Problems
This television was acquired for videogame playing and DVD watching in a small apartment. I don't have cable, and this place is built like a fortress, so pulling in television stations was the secondary concern. And rightly so, as even with a powered antenna it's impossible to receive most local channels. This is more a function of the apartment and my location, however, and obviously things would be fine with cable or satellite. <br />The sound, when the &quot;WOW&quot; setting is enabled, is generally full-bodied enough to be satisfactory, though it sounds a little remote, as if the speakers are pointing off in some other direction rather that straight at the viewer.<br />The screen can be made quite sharp with the &quot;VM&quot; setting and raising the Sharpness setting a bit. In this respect, for a small analog/non-HD television, it adequately displays current game console graphics.<br />However, the major shortcoming for this television is the &quot;black level&quot; or the contrast. On the standard/middle settings, it is MUCH too dark for clear gaming in most games. By switching &quot;Color Temp.&quot; to Cool and boosting the Picture and Brightness levels to max, it becomes acceptable for most games. <br />However, even with the controls at max, it's still too dark for a few games, and these settings introduce their own artifacts -- whites become blurry, while dark areas of the graphics are still extremely dark. There is no happy medium. <br />This is very disappointing coming from what is ostensibly a decent electronics manufacturer. I have yet to sample a DVD on this screen, and I anticipate similar viewing problems. I watched a football game today, which also seemed rather dark (though, as mentioned, my reception is poor). <br />The remote control works fine, the menu system is decent enough, the screen is almost completely flat, and there are enough inputs to please, including component video (though don't expect your XBox's Progressive Scan mode to workwith this television). There's a geometry problem on the left side of the screen, where the picture recedes a bit at the top and bottom left corners, but it's not hugely noticeable. <br />Overall I'm let down by the problems this screen exhibits. It's always possible I got a &quot;lemon,&quot; but you might think twice about making this purchase sight unseen.