Another AWESOME TV for Retro-Gaming...

[artphotodude]

A while back I reviewed a great Sony CRT TV http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=18216 and while I still think that it could be the finest HD-CRT ever because of its amazing handling of SD signals through Sony's now-obsolete (but still awesome) DRC-Interlaced option, a very nearly as good AND much more reliable + LightGun friendly option has turned up on the "We'll pay you to take this heavy-thing away" scene.

The KV-32FS320 is a 32" (there are also 27" and 36" versions) SD-CRTs of Sony's usual great color quality but with a few of its HD-Big Brother's nifty tricks.

5-video inputs (2 component inputs!), a great digital comb-filter, audio-output jacks, a memory-card slot, variable edge-sharpening and SRS WOW sound (10 Watts per channel).

The coup de grâce, however, is a subtle feature that one could easily miss called 16:9 Enhanced. Designed to handle anamorphic-widescreen DVDs, it sets an alternate scanning mode that forces all 480 lines of resolution into a shorter picture that fills up the screen's total width, thus resulting in a 29" picture that is very dense and tightly-rendered. While still interlaced, the lines are so-close that it very nearly compares to native 480p, but without all the reliability/uber-heavy/power-hog problems of Sony's HD-CRTs like the previously-reviewed set (wide-screen HD-CRTs have a lot of problems with color-purity and convergence due to the sheer-size of the shadow masking behind the screen and interference from the massive speaker magnets on either side).

Games on the KV-32FS320, like Super Mario Galaxy 2, look absolutely gorgeous when compressed in this way. One simply sets the Wii (or PS2/XBox) to output in widescreen mode, then enables the feature for what is possibly the sharpest and cleanest interlaced picture in existence.

This is especially nice on the PS2 that doesn't output 480p on many games. For games that need to run in 4:3, the feature can easily be shut off (the Wii, automatically ignores widescreen-settings on virtual-console games or titles like Resident Evil 4, that only display in widescreen, so no adjustment is even required on the console).

To round-out the package is the afore-mentioned lightgun compatibility and an actually-positive side effect of a CRT this large - NO falloff in pixel density toward the edge (this comes up on most true-flat screens where the angle from the electron gun to the edge requires a non-linear increase in the spacing as you get further from the center. This screen has a perfectly even pixel-width from center to edge).

A final benefit to tech heads is a true set of convergence adjustments - usually only reserved for HD sets (DON'T attempt this unless you know what your are doing!! For those able to, the service manual is free online from several sources)

All in all, a SUPERB set for older consoles and VCRs/Laser Disc/VCD players!

[tinypoem]

I agree. Last week I picked up a Sony Wega kv-27FS120 locally off craigslist for $25 dollars. People seem to be giving away these CRT tv's lately as I saw 2 32inch models like yours but have nowhere to put them and can barely move them without help. Anyhow it was barely used and sat in a family's guest room armoire for years! I forgot how heavy these things were. I could barely move it myself. It has the 16:9 Enhanced mode and yes, the picture quality is awesome. Ive been using the widescren HDTV's (1st rear projection then flatscreen LCD) for over 10 years now and forgot how nice the picture was on the WEGA set. The same week I also picked up a Trinitron 13 inch PVM but still doing research on how to get adapters/mods for the connections since it is a pro monitor. I hear its a really good one too for retro gaming.

[artphotodude]

I agree. Last week I picked up a Sony Wega kv-27FS120 locally off craigslist for $25 dollars. People seem to be giving away these CRT tv's lately as I saw 2 32inch models like yours but have nowhere to put them and can barely move them without help. Anyhow it was barely used and sat in a family's guest room armoire for years! I forgot how heavy these things were. I could barely move it myself. It has the 16:9 Enhanced mode and yes, the picture quality is awesome. Ive been using the widescren HDTV's (1st rear projection then flatscreen LCD) for over 10 years now and forgot how nice the picture was on the WEGA set. The same week I also picked up a Trinitron 13 inch PVM but still doing research on how to get adapters/mods for the connections since it is a pro monitor. I hear its a really good one too for retro gaming.

Great Find. These old sets are a 'luck of the draw' situation (you always hope to find one that has not been used a bunch, or stored next to a big speaker and magnetically damaged), but when you do find a good one - it is well worth the Tylenol/Advil required to recover from the move.

I also have one of the last generation XBR HD-CRTs from Sony (KD-30XS955), and as lovely as it is, I would leave it behind, if made to choose, and keep the Wega above, with the 16:9 Enhanced feature and Lightgun friendliness.

[artphotodude]

•••Update•••

For those who are interested, in a last gen SD-Wega, there is not a lot of difference in most of the models, with one exception. It turns out that the AWESOME 16:9 Enhanced option can be found on most sets from the final years (even many of those simply marked 'Trinitron').

The exception is the KV-__FV310 series.
These come in 27", 29", 32" and 36" ( God help you move that one! :0).

These have two special extras worth mentioning. First off, for those who are counting on the 16:9 Enhanced mode, these automatically switch to it when a wide-screen signal is detected! Also, possibly the only CRT to have this, the High Voltage B+ system is specially regulated to avoid changes in picture width when extra bright or dark scenes appear on the screen.

Make no mistake, these are VERY MINOR things, as it is not much of a bother to have to manually engage 16:9 Enhanced when needed, and the changes in screen size tied to picture brightness have certainly not held most of old TVs of the world back, but if you can choose an FV set over say an FS, of the same condition, and the price is comparable, it is not a bad idea.

[samsonlonghair]

Wow. I'm impressed with how intimately familiar you are with the minute details of SONY televisions. If I come across a nice one some day in the future I may reach out to you for your thoughts on the matter.

[marurun]

I think you should provide us with a hotline should an emergency Sony Consultation Event (SCE) arise. I mean, you see that WEGA sitting in Goodwill or on Craigslist, you may only have 24 hours to pull the trigger!

[artphotodude]

I think you should provide us with a hotline should an emergency Sony Consultation Event (SCE) arise. I mean, you see that WEGA sitting in Goodwill or on Craigslist, you may only have 24 hours to pull the trigger!

;0)

Sometimes, you just have to show up and check it out!