Sony Bravia KDL32CX520 (32")

JUST RIGHT – A single persons-" Just Right-" size and weight.Fits anywhere- dine,lounge,or a bed table.Won't outblast the neighbors.Ideal as a granny sitter wherever she may rest.Plays music stations beautifully and concert colors,sparkly.You miss out on nothing this model size and it achieves longevity.A Simple easy plug in- could even take it camping  Show details

Turn Off The Damn Light Sensor! – I bought the Bravia KDL32CX520 from the Good Guys for $735. This is a great TV! It's sharpness, colour, responsiveness: all fantastic! a real delight to use, especially with Blueray. BUT it took me 5 hours of fiddling with the options to make it come alive. I'll save you that trouble by telling you the secret right now. When you take it out… Read more ·  3

of the box, screw in the stand and turn it on you will be asked whether you want "Home" use or "Shop" use. If you say "Home" then the picture will be dull and the viewing experience underwhelming. NO AMOUNT OF FIDDLING with the picture options will fix the problem. The secret is to TURN OFF THE LIGHT SENSOR! Do that and you will have a lovely TV. Don't do it and you will be thinking: Damn, I should have bought the Sharp...

The other alternative is to say "Shop" on the original setup and that will turn off the damn fool light sensor for you and you will get a nice bright, rather over processed picture straight away. Obviously Sony know that the light sensor is stupid and wrecks the image, that's why they disable it in the "Shop" mode, so that the picture looks good enough to buy. So why do they ruin the "Home" experience of everyone who isn't a geek? Obviously THEY DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS ONCE YOU'VE PAID YOUR MONEY!

Anyway, now that you know the two ways to avoid the problem you can buy this TV with confidence, knowing that you'll get a knock out picture. You can get a slightly more natural image with some adjusting of the controls but the main secret is to kill the light sensor. This TV also allows different picture profiles for different inputs, so can setup your PC, TV and Blueray individually.

You can hook up the internet with a network cable and watch YouTube or surf the net. I tried this and the YouTube client works quite well, but really, using the remote as a phone keypad to type in search words is a pain, you're much better off connecting the TV to your computer and using a proper keyboard. As for the Web Browser: It's a turkey. Don't even think about using it.

This TV comes with a good range of inputs that should cover whatever needs you have. I use the optical audio out, to send the sound to my surround sound receiver. I use the component video in and also the HDMI. It all works flawlessly.

The on screen display is generally very good but the "Home" page, which allows you select your entertainment source is a real pain and a waste of a good idea. If you use this to change channels you'll be there all night. Fortunately there are other ways to choose what to view and I just use the button at the top of the remote to select the hardware input and the "Guide" button to select the TV channel, (or I type the channel number direct).

The Digital Tuner works flawlessly in my location and all channels are smooth and clean.

All in all, this is a great TV in hardware terms, giving you all the features you want from such a device and producing a quality viewing experience without glitches. Sadly, the software contains a number of ill-advised ideas that may detract from the quality of the hardware. Fortunately you can get around these pieces of foolishness quite easily and sit back and enjoy the show. Just disable the light sensor, avoid the "Home" button and you're good to go! Great picture, smooth motion, full high def, good price, all the features you want. Picture will be dull and underwhelming until you turn off the light sensor. "Home" page is tiresome.