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the FS100 is a waste of money. That is the most basic of the Wegas. You can get it much cheaper if you look. A good resource for features is Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FD_Trinitron/WEGA

Basically the FS series is the basic line. It has a 3 line digital comb filter, basic speakers, 1 s-video port

The FV is the highest end SD version with a 3D comb filter, better speakers, Picture in Picture, and 2 s-video ports.

The HS is the basic version or HD TVs. Only available in Hi-Scan

The XS is the next up and these are Super Fine Pitch

Finally the XBR is the top of the line, Found in Super Fine Pitch and Hi-Scan. XBR is supposed to have better blacks.

Now if the model number ends in 3 numbers, ie. KV-36FVxxx it has auto 16:9 enhancement. If it has only two i.e. KV-36FVxx it has manual 16:9 enhancement. 16:9 enhance is when the TV compresses the 480 scan lines to the middle of the screen so that the TV is displaying the full 480 lines of any Widescreen material, instead of the black bars consuming some of that resolution. The auto detect means that it can automatically detect incoming anamorphic WS material, manual it cannot. The auto/manual matters little for video games. You can still turn in on manually with auto sets. But its good that it has 16:9 enhancement, because it will allow you to play the few retro WS games in the proper ratio. NiGHTS and DK64 have WS options.

The other major difference between Wegas are KD vs KV. Some Wegas model start with KD. The KD ones have ATSC digital tuners, meaning they will be able to pick up the new digital signals that TV stations are broadcasting with now. With non KD wegas you will need a digital antenna and a digital converter box if you wish to watch TV via antenna.

In my opinion, of those TVs, you should get the KV-36FV15. The FV will be much better than the FS series. The FS are very common. The FVs are not. If you really wanted an FS, I believe you could get it much cheaper.

I feel there is no good reason to get a HD set for pre Dreamcast retro gaming, and plenty of reason not too. However, if you really wanted an HDTV Wega, wait out for a Super Fine Pitch TV to come up on Craigslist. The HD version you noted is Hi-Scan. For about the same price you could wait and get a Super Fine Pitch (more vertical resolution), a better series: the XBR, and the digital ATSC tuner. Wait out a model like KD-34XBR960 (best Sony HD CRT made).

My ultimate opinion for a Sony Wega for retro gaming is the KV-xxFV310 or KV-xxFV300. The 310 is the best SD TV Sony made. It comes in 27in, 32in, and 36in. The 310 is slightly better than the 300 because it has two component ports, and a newer bezel. The 300 is also a fine TV, get whichever one you find first, unless you really need two component inputs. IMO, the HD Wegas add nothing to retro gaming, and only detract in that they break light gun compatibility and the upscale the signal to HD. Up scaling is never better than watching in the original resolution.

If you are set on getting an HD Wega, and you plan on ever watching HD content, it would be foolish to get a model without DVI/HDCP or HDMI. Component, although capable of 720p/1080i HD does not have HDCP. HDCP is a copy protection protocol, whereby if the TV is not HDCP compliant, the player, be it a up scaling DVD player, Blu-Ray player, HD-DVD Player, or HD cable/satellite box will refuse to play video material with HDCP on it. A lot of HD stuff has HDCP. If you are connected component it will refuse, and only output SD, or output nothing at all. So it would be very wise to wait for an HD CRT with preferably HDMI (ALL HDMI is HDCP compliant, no exceptions) or DVI/HDCP (DVI can be either HDCP compliant or not, but I believe all Wegas with DVI ports are HDCP compliant). Component output can never be HDCP complaint. HDMI would be better because thats the standard for HD signals now, and is much more common. This is a big deal

Note 36in. and 32in TVs are heavy, and large. You will need two strong men, possibly 3 to lift them, so plan ahead when you go to buy one.

Its is truly sad that CRT tech is gone. It many ways it is superior to all other current TVs technologies. It was capable of true multisync, meaning it could display all resolutions at the original resolution, without upscaling, although this was never implemented on consumer TVs. All HD CRTs available to the consumer upscale the signal to a single resolution, usually 1080i.


Edited: Added in HDCP section

Jamisonia wrote:In my opinion, of those TVs, you should get the KV-36FV15. The FV will be much better than the FS series. The FS are very common. The FVs are not. If you really wanted an FS, I believe you could get it much cheaper.

I have this TV and it works pretty well. Yes, it's very heavy.

@Jamisonia, nice response there.

gtmtnbiker wrote:

Jamisonia wrote:In my opinion, of those TVs, you should get the KV-36FV15. The FV will be much better than the FS series. The FS are very common. The FVs are not. If you really wanted an FS, I believe you could get it much cheaper.

I have this TV and it works pretty well. Yes, it's very heavy.

@Jamisonia, nice response there.

Thanks, I have seen the inside of an FV. They actually have a subwoofer built in. Not a large one, but one nonetheless. If you are using the TV speakers for gaming, the FV is a must for that reason alone. the 3D comb filter is a nice little add on to that.

Yours has manual 16:9 enhancement. You should fire up a widescreen video game, like NiGHTS, or DK64 and turn it on. See when you turn on those games' widescreen function they squish more of the image together, expecting your 16:9 TV to stretch it back out again. If you turn on the TVs 16:9 enhancement it will letterbox the 16:9 image in your 4:3 screen thereby allowing you to view it in full widescreen glory. Yes you'll have black bars, but you'll get to see more of game to the left and right, and you'll get to see it without distortion. Try it out and let us know what you think. The enhancement is in the menu. And this is a must for DVDs. Just remember to set your DVD player to a 16:9 screen.

I currently don't have any of my consoles hooked up to the TV. They're all attached to the 55" Samsung LCD. I'm hoping to get a new LCD (70"?) which means the Samsung will go to my wife and then I'll move the Sony CRT to the basement which is the man-cave that is under construction. But yes, I'll try out some of your tips.

That is one thing I do appreciate about the TV is that the sound is pretty good. Make sense because the TV is big, you have plenty of room for speakers unlike an LCD TV.

This TV was my first expensive one that I bought back in 1999. I paid around $1500 for it.
It was pretty good for the times. I loved the Sony remote because it was responsive, intuitive, just about perfect.

Some of the issues with the TV are:
It does not support 480p, only 480i. The Gamecube with progressive cables works fine on it but when I hooked up my cable box, I would get a black screen when the cable box was in 480p mode. For awhile, I thought the component inputs on the TV was busted.

Only one set of component inputs. It has 3 composite video inputs, 2 s-video inputs.

It's very heavy. According to the manual, it's 236 lbs.

Speakers in newer TVs are improving. Panasonic has been putting better speakers in their Plasmas recently. Have you thought about getting Plasma or DLP? If you have a dark room to put it in a DLP will be much cheaper per inch than an LCD or LED. A Plasma will look much better than an LCD or LED ever though about looking. A 65" Panasonic mid line TV

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-T ... ef=lh_ni_t

The ST series is pretty good. You don't gain very much from the extra thousand you spend to get the GT30 or the VT30.

Just food for though. Less expensive plasmas can be had cheaper.

Jamisonia wrote:Have you thought about getting Plasma or DLP? If you have a dark room to put it in a DLP will be much cheaper per inch than an LCD or LED.

I'm very happy with my current LCD. Yes, the blacks might not be as black as you would get on a Plasma but I'm no videophile so it's good enough for me. I'm going to lean towards another LCD but with LED lighting so it's thin and yes, I do realize that I'll be paying a premium over plasma. One of the reasons I got the LCD was that it was more energy efficient (around 200W versus 350W). The energy savings will take a long time to make up for the price difference.

Still, I should consider plasma when I go shopping later this year. Thanks for the suggestion.

Just food for though. I'm a big plasma fan for HD. I understand LED and LCD certainly has its benefits. All the techs have advantages and disadvantages. Here soon I might put together a racketboy guide for TV technology pros and cons.

gtmtnbiker wrote:I currently don't have any of my consoles hooked up to the TV. They're all attached to the 55" Samsung LCD. I'm hoping to get a new LCD (70"?) which means the Samsung will go to my wife and then I'll move the Sony CRT to the basement which is the man-cave that is under construction. But yes, I'll try out some of your tips.

That is one thing I do appreciate about the TV is that the sound is pretty good. Make sense because the TV is big, you have plenty of room for speakers unlike an LCD TV.

This TV was my first expensive one that I bought back in 1999. I paid around $1500 for it.
It was pretty good for the times. I loved the Sony remote because it was responsive, intuitive, just about perfect.

Some of the issues with the TV are:
It does not support 480p, only 480i. The Gamecube with progressive cables works fine on it but when I hooked up my cable box, I would get a black screen when the cable box was in 480p mode. For awhile, I thought the component inputs on the TV was busted.

Only one set of component inputs. It has 3 composite video inputs, 2 s-video inputs.

It's very heavy. According to the manual, it's 236 lbs.

You still get benefits just from using the component cables. Its closer to the RGB the game is encoded onto the disc in.

Fixing my KV32HS500 Sony Wega HD CRT 4:3: My TV suddenly stopped working and the standby light displayed the 6 flashes. I replaced the two MCZ3001D ICs without success. Then I had a repairman look at it. He made a few polite comments about my lousy soldering job, resoldered the ICs, and in 10 minutes it was working. The repair went from costing $15 to $85 but it could have been a lot worse. I would recommend that people use the solder wick instead of the solder sucker. I just couldn't get that sucker to work And I'd recommend that they use a lot of care and a magnifying glass.

Jamisonia wrote:Its is truly sad that CRT tech is gone. It many ways it is superior to all other current TVs technologies.

Great Info at the top of this page, THANKYOU!

D.D.D. wrote:I wanted to ask if you might be able to help adjust my TV. It's a Sony KD-32HD900 (it's a Japanese model number). The image is a bit curved at the top and I want to see if I can get it straightened out. I'm hoping it may be like tweaking the geometry on a CRT PC monitor.
If you could help, it'd be awesome.

A rare TV! Japanese models have very nice features even the owners manual looks better, I would love to have that Remote! Please post a pic of it, with that flip door open. My 500 model remote has a flip door but not as eye opening as yours.

FOUR S-Video connections in the back and another in the front! And I thought I had a lot with just three, a shame new HDTVs do not carry SVideo.


There is a hidden Service Menu that has features such as setting the Geometry. It is tricky since the codes entered are not just straight forward, a small chance of bricking the TV if a code is not entered correctly. I personally did not want to take this chance since the slight curve is only noticable when a wide screen's black top border is displayed.

Japanese Owners Manual: http://www.sony.jp/ServiceArea/impdf/pdf/4091226061.pdf

Sony Support Find English Similar Model: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/select ... RODTYPE=12

There is a detailed instruction over at the AVS Forum, just be careful and write down the old codes just in case a wrong setting is used.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=531494

The Sony regular Menu does have a Tilt Correction, easy to adjust with the arrow keys. It won't fix the curve, but might help. I recently aquired a second HD CRT KV32HV600, a model newer then my KV32HS500. In both of the WEGAs I had to set the Tilt 2 notches to the right.