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Product Description

For consumers who want an HDTV that keeps pace with fast-action movies, sports, and game play, Sony BRAVIA V-Series Flat Panel HDTVs combine Full HD 1080p performance and Motionflow 120Hz technology for an amazing viewing experience. Motionflow 120Hz takes both high-definition and standard programming a step further by increasing sharpness and detail in fast-moving images for more fluid, natural motion. In addition, BRAVIA V-Series HDTVs use proprietary Image Blur Reduction technology to further enhance the picture for even better performance. The HDTVs also feature BRAVIA Engine 2 technology, which uses exclusive Sony algorithms to reduce visual noise and sharpen and enhance an already-striking dynamic contrast ratio. Additionally, they include seven versatile HD connections to ensure you get impressive image quality from all your HD components. Take advantage of four HDMI inputs, component and composite inputs, and a PC input, as well as a USB input that lets you play audio files from USB storage devices, or connect a compatible camera to your HDTV for a quick and easy slide show. Sony knows your home theater set-up doesn’t stop with your HDTV, which is why the BRAVIA V-Series HDTVs are compatible with BRAVIA Link Modules — including the BRAVIA Wireless Link, BRAVIA DVD Link, and BRAVIA Input Link Modules (all sold separately). The HDTVs also support BRAVIA SyncTM technology so you can control all of your compatible devices with a single remote. And all BRAVIA HDTVs exceed ENERGY STAR 3.0 requirements for in-use and stand-by power consumption, meaning you don’t need a lot of power to get a lot of performance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2222 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Sony
• Model: KDL-40V5100
• Dimensions: 25.12″ h x 3.75″ w x 38.87″ l, 37.30 pounds
• Native resolution: 1920 x 1080
• Display size: 40

Features

• 40-inch 16:9 Full HD 1080p Resolution Panel provides optimum resolution from any HDTV source that delivers 1080p content
• Dynamic contrast works in real time to produce deep blacks in darker scenes, as well as fine details in shadows and other dark areas
• Engineered for fast-action sports, movies and games, Motionflow 120Hz technology further reduces blurriness
• Seven HD inputs, including four HDMI inputs (up to 1080/60p capable), HD component and combo inputs (1080/60i capable), and a PC input
• BRAVIA Link compatibility lets you expand your HDTV’s capabilities with BRAVIA Link modules, such as BRAVIA DVD Link, BRAVIA Wireless Link

Customer Reviews

Excellent TV, Auto contrast can now be turned off!
First things first, THEY FIXED THE AUTO-CONTRAST! I have nothing but good things to say about this TV. Do not be fooled by the 1 star ratings. All those 1 star ratings complain about the auto contrast/brightness feature which could not be turned off, but SONY FIXED IT ALREADY in the newer units or a software update via sony.com will add the controls to turn the function off.

With that biggest gripe fixed, this TV has outstanding visual clarity and the color saturation is beautiful. Black levels are excellent on this non glossy screen. You can’t go wrong with a Sony and the software update shows they are listening to their customer base. No dead/stuck pixel, great viewing angles, 120hz refresh is great for sports, but in my opinion, not for movies. Excellent TV, I would buy another one of these without hesitation, superior when compared to the other brands that offer the same features. The Bravia V series lives up to the Sony name and quality standards you would expect. Deserves all 5 of the stars it’s rated.

Excellent TV
Update May 3, 2009:

My original review of the TV was negative due to a problem of dimming during dark scenes. But few days ago Sony released a software patch to correct the problem and it worked for me. Now, the auto dimming can be turned off by setting the “Adv. Contrast Enhancer” to Off. Also, even when it’s turned On, it doesn’t behave like it did pre- patch, it now dims gradually rather than abruptly and it doesn’t dim as much as it did before. Thank you very much Sony, I’m updating my rating to 5-star.

I’m very happy with the TV now that the auto dim is fixed. If you own the TV and having problems with the dimming, go to the support section of Sony’s site to download the patch and the instructions on how to apply it. You will need a USB thumb drive formatted in FAT32, but if you don’t have it, Sony will mail you one if you call their customer support.

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Original review:
Date: April 8, 2009
Rating: 2 stars

When I purchased this TV few days ago, there were no reviews here since it’s just been recently released into the market. I, however, looked at the reviews of the previous model (KDL-40V4100) and didn’t find any serious complaints so I went ahead and purchased this TV. I regret my purchase and will explain why.

This is my third LCD TV — the others are early generations LCDs from Sharp and Sony and they are still working great, but they are no match for the picture quality of this new Sony. There are a lot of good things about this TV and I would have given it 5 stars if not for one serious flaw.

The TV dims during dark scenes. And sadly it doesn’t do it gradually, it happens abruptly 6 seconds after the start of a dark scene and it returns to normal lighting abruptly about 0.35 seconds after end of a dark scene. It seems to happen regardless of the source of input (I tested it with composite, and HDMI) and it happens on broadcast channels and cable and regardless of the “picture mode” and other video settings. There is no way to disable it. If you’re watching a movie with lots of dark scenes, it’s going to be a very annoying experience.

Take this example, while watching a documentary on first gulf war, there was a lot of night vision camera scenes and the TV keeps dimming during the lengthy dark scenes and when it does that, you can barely make out any details even with Gamma set at max. The dimmer kicking in and out is annoying by itself, much less the picture quality when it dims.

I contacted Sony support and they seemed clueless and recommended I initiate a repair request. I did an internet search only to discover many Bravia models suffer this problem. I initially thought I had a defective unit, but now I think it was intentionally designed like this.

Overall a great TV
Update: You can now download the firmware update for this TV at the link below. It will fix the auto-dimming problem. I would now give it 5 stars: [...]

With this fix being made, I would now say that the TV deserves five stars.

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I have owned this TV for about two weeks now and think it is great. The picture is very sharp. The colors are great. The blacks and whites look fabulous. The stand it comes with is very sturdy and there are more than enough inputs for my needs. The TV itself also looks very elegant.

I was going to buy this 2009 TV or the 2008 Sony KDL-40Z4100 (a higher end model from the previous year), whichever came down in price first. The two TVs are very comparable in features. The main difference for me was price but also important were the contrast ratios. This TV has a contrast ratio of 50:000 to 1 while the KDL-40Z4100 has a contrast ratio of 30:000 to 1. As a further comparison, the 2008 version of this TV, the KDL-40V4100, has a 25:000 to 1 contrast ratio. That big jump in contrast ratio pushed me towards this TV over last year’s Z series.

I have read the reviews describing the auto-dimming but honestly I don’t think it is that big of a deal. We watch mostly TV (Lost, 24, The Office, sports, etc.) as opposed to movies and after two weeks of use, today was the very first day I noticed the auto-dimming. It happened for about 2 seconds and was a strange dimming. My wife still has not noticed it even though we have both been on the lookout for it to see how bad it is.

While I agree that I cannot see how this is a feature Sony would want to include without being able to turn off, to me, it was pretty minor and I would still happily buy the same TV again. I suppose that there are shows or movies where this happens more frequently but after two weeks, I still don’t see it often. I took off a half star for this.

The other half star taken off comes from what seems like a long time for the TV to start. Once you turn it on it seems like it takes around 20 seconds to get started and display a picture. It isn’t a huge deal and once the TV is on it doesn’t affect anything. However, compared to my old CRT which turned on in a couple of seconds it seems long.

My hope is that Sony comes out with some sort of firmware update that allows you to turn this auto-dimming “feature” off as many customers are unhappy with it. That is pure speculation though as I haven’t heard any hints of this happening.