After pretty much researching TVs to death, we purchased the Sony Bravia EX 500 and couldn't be happier. We wanted a 40" TV because it would fit nicely in our TV Armoire cabinet. I throw value into the equation, so I don't hesitate to give this 5 stars.

Highlights:
1) Crystal clear 1080p HDTV broadcast and BluRay performance.
2) The voice clarity comes through incredibly clear. I used to have to crank up the volume much higher to understand conversations on movies and TV shows.
3) The standard definition comes in much better than our old 720p HDTV, but we spend most of our time on the HDTV channels.
4) You'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this TV and those costing twice as much for the same size.

Lowlights:
1) This is minor, but I'll keep it honest. Jutter is noticeable in faster moving camera pans and action, but hardly on BluRay which has me wondering how much has to do with the frequency of the broadcast vs. the TV... Read more

I would have sent this TV back but for another review. I found the picture WAY too dark, but I'd read a review saying that this was due to the TV being shipped with Auto-Contrast turned on. On this model it's called "Ambient Sensor". Go to Menu/Settings/Picture/Ambient Sensor. Turn it off and the picture is as bright and crisp as you could want. "Ambient Sensor" is the last of the Picture options. It does not appear when Picture is first selected. It is necessary to scroll down to the end (or, equivalently, up one) to access it.

That done, I had a bright, crisp picture, but there was something still not quite right. For lack of anything else to try, I checked the settings on my L series 32" Sony HDTV that this is replacing and found that the settings were different. After setting Scene Select to General, I set this 40" TV to the settings on the 32", namely, Backlight to 8 and Picture to 90. The resulting picture is nothing short of incredible... Read more

This is the second Sony LCD HDTV I have. My other is the KDL-40Z4100. Sony provides high quality for the price.

I use rabbit ears to get over the air signals, and it pulls in all the stations available. The picture is crisp, and in watching a DVD (up converted) of The Dark Knight, I noticed no loss of resolution during fast scenes. I haven't had a chance to watch a Blu-Ray on it yet. I have a Sony Blu-Ray player, so it syncs nicely.

The downside? Well, when you turn it on, you get a chime sound. The plus is that is is fast in going between channels, although the favorites only hold the last 10 channels, and the remote leaves a lot to be desired. Other than the number buttons, the buttons are a bit small and crowded. Not sure why it has an ON button on the back side, as well as in the expected place. The remote for my KDL-40Z4100 is far better.

The sound is all right; nothing to really write home about.

I have it in a room where the... Read more