Sony has all sorts of fancy stuff going on right now: TVs with groundbreaking 200Hz technology, TVs using new LED backlight technology, 40in TVs just 9.9mm deep with wireless HD connectivity.
So it came as a surprise to see that the stark KDL-37V4000 is pretty much an innovation-free zone. How ironic, then, that for the most part, we love this stripped-down little fella to bits.
Slow starterNot that the love affair starts right away. For after getting thoroughly used to Sonys penchant for illuminated logos and transparent body parts, the simple black and grey lines and light-free Sony name initially look a bit drab. But on reflection, in the context of other sub-700 37in TVs, the 37V4000 doesnt actually look any worse than most rivals.
Its connectivity matches its looks in being acceptable rather than outstanding. Which means you get three HDMIs, a dedicated PC jack, all the other usual TV suspects, but no multimedia support such as USB or SD card slots.
With only an HD Ready (rather than full HD) resolution on its spec sheet, no 100Hz engine to fight LCDs motion-handling problems, no support for Blu-ray's native 1080p/24 HD video format, and a general paucity of onscreen menu tweaks, we really didnt have high hopes for the 37V4000's picture performance.
Love at first sightBut the 37V4000 actually demolishes our doubts pretty much instantly, with one of the best pictures weve seen for the happy side of 1,000.
We started our tests with one of the many night-time action sequences so beloved of daft-as-a-brush movie
Wanted, on Blu-ray. The combination of loads of fast motion and darkness usually causes affordable LCD TVs to fall flat on their skinny faces, but not the 37V4000.
Its dark picture areas look detailed and impressively free of the common grey misting effect, and the films flipping cars and OTT gunplay fly by with negligible smearing interference.
The 37V4000 handles the films rich colour palette very well too, combining plenty of vibrancy with extremely natural tones and blends so subtle they wouldnt look out of place on a full HD screen.
It's all goodHD pictures look sharp enough to rival some full HD TVs too, while standard definition pictures look much less noisy and soft than were used to seeing with affordable LCD TVs.
Even the 37V4000s sound is a cut above the norm for the TVs price point, with plenty of raw power, audio range and clarity.
Sony may be flexing its considerable marketing muscle behind its more esoteric, premium TVs. But we its the humble 37V4000 that we suspect will end up in most peoples homes.
Author:John Archer
Copyright 2009 Dennis Publishing All Rights Reserved.
Sony KDL-37V4000