Sony WEGA TV
Review written by Leo C on 3-Jan-2000

Sony has always been on the cutting edge of television technology, introducing better television tubes all the time and their WEGA line of TVs are no exception. They boast the first television that is flat vertically and horizontally which is a true 'flatscreen' using their famed Triniton (aperature grille) technology. Triniton sets offers a higher degree of colour saturation and brightness over a conventional set.

Sony's WEGA (pronouced Vay-ga) televisions are the premium line of their product line up. There are 2 models of the WEGA series. The standard WEGA TV (KVXFM35 approx $1799) and the premium WEGA (KVEF29M31 approx $2799). The difference is that the premium WEGA comes with PiP (Picture in Picture), Virtual Dolby Surround Processing and Component Video In where as the standard does not. Aso, the premium goes even further with its image over the WEGA normal FD Triniton tubes by including Power Velocity Modulation, Kirara Colour Phosphors, Intelligent Picture Noise Cancellation and Dynamic Electromagnetic Quadrapole, but don't ask me what they mean, but I assume it increases image quality even more! Visit sony's website for more details. The price difference is approx. $1000 between each model which is quite a large difference. One thing the standard does have is its handy '3D Tandem Woofer' which is a life saver because it mounts on top of the TV allowing a center speaker to be placed on top of the TV. Without it, there is only about a 10cm wide landing where the speaker may rest before the back of the TV slopes down towards the ground! Ie, You wouldn't be able to put a center speaker on top of it unless its aimed at the roof! I cannot show you in pictures but visit your local HiFi store and see what I mean.

So, which model then? I personally did not pay the extra $1000 for the added features because PiP is not worth it, the Pro-logic is useless considering I have Dolby Digital, but I would have liked the Component Video In, but sorry, that $1000 can pay off my DVD player! Also, $2799 is just too much to justify a 68cm TV. The picture quality is sharper on the premium as well, but it really came to how fat my wallet was at the time.

I will be reviewing the standard WEGA, because that's what I own and I believe that would be the best choice for most people. It comes with 3 video inputs, two with S-Video, 2 on the rear and one on the front panel, 3D Tru-surround proccessing, Teletext, '3D Tandem Sound System' and the all important WEGA tube.

The 3D sound processing improves the stereo image, by making the soundstage much wider and it does work! I dont really like gimmicks, but I must admit this is a worthy feature. The sound system itself is respectable for a TV with good bass and clear mids and highs, which is much better than Panasonic's and other brands. The remote is good, large buttons placed in the right position. No complaints here.

But lets get down to the real stuff. How does it look? Awesome. Words couldn't simply describe watching the Diva scene from the 5th Element on a DVD player using S-Video running on this baby! The detail is stunning, the colours knock your socks off and the lack of noise and other distortions were just breathtaking! Explosions look so firery and the tone of skins look realistic. This is simply the best television I have layed my eyes upon. Fullstop. DVD Menus are crystal clear with no shaking of the image whatsoever, and there are no ghosting effects common in other TVs. The digital comb filter of the WEGA is truely outstanding as well. When I watched a DVD through a composite connection, there wasn't as much difference as one would expect - Colours were almost the same, the picture a little softer and a little more noise was evident. But, in the menus, the ugly dot crawl is definately there. You might say 'Hey, what about Panasonics Quintrix Q, hyper surround blah blah blah TV?' Their image is excellent as well, but I feel that the Panasonics are too harsh, like the sharpness was put to the max, making the picture look all edgy with more noise, whereas the Sony had a perfect smoothness to it (and the Pana costs another $400 at the time,and their 100Hz model even more!). That's my opinion, but you'll have to see for yourself.

One thing I don't like about this TV is its annoying hiss though, everytime there is silence, there is an audible hiss coming from it. So when I watch a DVD, I put the volume to zero to get rid of it! Just one minor complaint about it though. Another thing is that the picture in the top right corner is a bit 'bent (ie a straight light post in a movie would bend a little), but I dont know if its just my set or batch, or if all WEGA TVs have it. I'll get it checked as soon as possible. For those with WEGA TVs, email me if you have the same problem!

All in all, I hope I managed to convince you to buy one because I am betting you'll agree with me when you see one working at its best. Its sad to see the all too common setup of WEGA TVs running the crappy free to air channels or running DVD through a cheap, worn out composite video cable. Go to a place where they set up their equipment properly. There is a massive difference comparing a conventional TV set to the WEGAs (or the Panas Quintrix), and I hope you'll get to see that!

Overall Satisfation Factor : 9.2/10 (Excellent!)

The Good:

• The best TV I've seen (besides HDTV, but thats another story...)
  
• Awesome image quality
  
• Colours are rich and the detail is superb
  
• Bevy of inputs to suit all aplications
  
• Excellent finish and build quality
  
• Has a true Flat Screen
  
• Tru-surround is good
  

• The little distorion in the corner of the TV

• The hiss of the onboard sound circuts
• NO 16x9 SUPPORT!
  
• Only 2 S-Video
  
• HDTV is just around the corner!Time to spend again......
  
• I wish I could have the Component Video In!
  
• Why does the Premium Wega have to be so expensive?!?
  
• The Premium WEGA suffers from the lack of a large enough surface to mount the center speaker
  

Equipment used for evaluation:

• Toshiba SD-2108 DVD Player using S-Video
• Yamaha RX-V992 DD Reciever
• Acoustic Research HO 310 Mains, Sonique CC-125 Centre and Mordaunt Short MSi 20 Pearls, M&K V-75 Sub.