34"KD-34XBR960 $1349

Sony KD-34XBR960

Sony's KD-34XBR960 HDTV is an enhancement of last year's KV-34XBR910. It's a wide-screen HDTV with tube based direct view technology. The technology that refers to cathode ray tubes (CRTs) not the projection technology. The screen of KV-34XBR960 HDTV uses 1400 lines of Horizontal resolution. This is what makes it better than any Direct View Television in the market. This much high resolution allows accepting much more High Definition details.

HDTV Front Side

Sony's KD- 34XBR960 HDTV has perfect flat screen with blackish gray border. Sides are slightly curved as silver borders. At the bottom a strip covered with a door panel contains A/V inputs, S-video, iLink Port and memory stick slot. Memory stick slot allows you to vie JPEG pictures from Sony Camera. The internal menu system is friendlier than ever. Menu bar appears vertically making browsing easy. Every function is clearly indicated in orange color.

HDTV Remote Control

Remote is the same as traditional Sony's XBR direct view Remotes.

HDTVBack Side

The backside of Sony KD-34XBR960 HDTV contains one HDMI port, two component video, two composite video and two S-video inputs, and two iLink ports. Also there is one RF antenna input, one for cable TV connection and A/V inputs with audio inputs. There is one optical digital output to work with A/V Receiver or surround-sound processor.

Sony HDTV Features

Sony HDTV provides two tuner PIP-picture in picture feature. PIP allows watching a separate program on the same screen within small window. You can move, resize, still or divide the screen in two windows. Also it provides four preset picture modes and three selectable color temperatures. The two extra features that make its performance better than others are independent memory per input and color decoding. With independent memory per input each input can be optimized separately with unaffected modes for each input. The main menu allows the option for accurate color decoding. This allows user to adjust the colors more accurately. The KD-34XBR960 is quite heavier than other TVs of same size such as Plasma or LCD TVs. It is 26 inches deep and nearly 200 pounds of weight. It requires two strong men to carry it.

Aspect ratio control is one more enhanced feature. It allows four choices for standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) sources. Moreover KD-34XBR960 contains one built-in HDTV tuner and one cable card slot. This removes the need for cable TV set-top box. Built-in subwoofer, surround mode and simulated mode enhance the stereo sound to provide more quality audio.

Being 34-inch Color HDTV with highest resolution, excellent color decoding, stereo and independent memory per unit Sony's KD-34XBR960 HDTV is the best in Direct-View HDTVs.