Just bought this Sony KV32FX68S Widescreen TV from WAV direct (cheapest on the net) after a lot of research! Boy, what a good decision, picture quality is second-to-none and sound is good. Believe those "Which" reports and t.v. of the year awards. This is one fantastic tv that sets the benchmark for all others. Go get yourself a piece of the action - you won't regret it!!!

Dear all,

This month's pointless waste of money was a 32" Sony KV32FX68S widescreen tv. Pointless because my 29" Panasonic did the job perfectly well. Apart from the fact that it was too small for the lounge, had wimpy sound, was CTV format and had only 1 scart socket. "Mmmm, 32inch Wega" I thought (in a Homer Simpson voice)......

So, I spent a day doing some research and decided that the kv32fx68 was "The One". A good balance between connectivity, size, price etc. It is, of course, impossible to ascertain picture & sound quality without testing a model in-store, so I did what most lazy people do instead, trusted the brand.

I wanted a Sony because I have had problems in the past with Panasonic and Philips CTVs. I have fond memories of my Father's Sony (32" Mono, cost £1100 in 1983), which was an absolute cracker and lasted 14 years with 2 destructive kids. It had superb sound and picture quality. I wanted a tv that would last as long and provide as much viewing pleasure as possible, so I didn't mind spending a bit of money to get a good one.

After some scouting around, I bought from www.totaldigital.biz, paying £735 in total for delivery and stand. I have no idea why anyone would want to pay a £1000 on the high street. In fact how do Currys/Comet stay in business with their prices???

I was happy with the service. The set was delivered in two days by some surprisingly happy guys (considering they'd been driving around London all day in 95F heat). They carried the 300 ton set upstairs, but did not check to see if it worked before leaving. Obviously very busy chaps.

After building the stand (I highly, highly recommend two people for moving/fixing the stand and tv) and connecting the set, the moment of truth had arrived.....

"It works!!!! I bought it off the internet and it works!" I said, gleefully.

So, how does the set perform? Well, the picture quality is superb. No fancy "digital pixel" this or "ultra mega super scan" that, just a crisp, bright, well contrasted, stable image. Wonderful.

I thought the weak freeview signal would look very pixelated and grainy on a 32, but it was only fractionally inferior, and looked better in some respects because the image filled the entire screen. I was warned-off higher spec sets that use fancy technology to improve the picture. I'm glad Sony made the decision to make the highest quality standard tube they could, rather than spruce-up a standard tube with suspect technology (as seems to be the case with the fx66).

DVD playback is a revelation. Crispier than a foil-packed, liquid-nitrogen cooled.....crisp!!).

Connectivity is very, very important, especially if you intend to hook-up a vcr/dvd/5.1/xbox/ps2/digibox etc. The set has 3 scarts (2xRGB, 1xS-Video) and smartlink on the 3rd scart. Front composite A/V's and S-video sockets come in handy too.

And now the caveat. Yes, there is one, I'm afraid. Sound reproduction is not up to scratch. A £1000 tv should sound incredible. No excuses. I get the impression sony made compromises in this department in order to benefit the aesthetics of the design (preventing it from getting too wide, perhaps?).

Where is the sub-woofer/low-frequency unit? There are a pair of high/mid range drivers at the sides, but the sound is far too tinny. Increasing the bass in the OSD doesn't help matters either. Changing the sound to Dolby is pointless, adding nothing to the range/depth of sound. Sony's "dynamic" option is the best option. This seems to throw sound around the room more convincingly than dolby, but the effect is hardly earth-moving.

I'd imagine Sony is pre-occupied with developing the best image quality as a priority, with sonic abilities taking second place. They probably assume that anyone with the means/enthusiam to spend £1k+ on a TV would almost certainly have an Amp/5.1 system to connect it to. Thankfully I invested in one recently (Acoustic Solutions DS1033 - a great system for the money), and it makes all the difference.

Dont' get me wrong, even with the average audio reproduction, this is still a fantastic set. I wouldn't change it for anything esle (alright, maybe an Anaconda:-), but I just think Sony could have tried that little bit harder to improve the sound...

Other minor bugbears are the remote, (even though it is programmable with dvd/vcr/sat, it's too long and skinny) and the speaker-off option (Sony owners know what I'm talking about). Oh, and I can't seem to get a decent picture from my Dreamcast using s-video/scart. It is very fuzzy and flickers badly when running in 60hz mode. Don't know why. I haven't tested the Xbox or Gamecube via RGB Scart yet, but I'm praying there wont be a problem. I'll have to investigate this one a bit further.....

Thanks for your time.

The Strange thing about the FX68 is that because it does not have Digital plus 100hz it does not eliminate flicker all that much, I compared the flicker to a 50hz DX40 and the flicker is only "slightly better".

This 100hz TV was much better for purity and picture quality (With the DNR on the picture was fantastic!)

To be honest with you the only reason I did not get the higher FQ70 is because even though that is a digital plus model with 100% Flicker free picture due to vps, it had alot more smearing then the standard 100hz FX68.

"i Viewed them side by side with the same source"

I think any enchancments like the extra flicker reduction (vps) (digital plus) even though they may keep on screen EPG'S perfectly still they still add many problems to the picture.

I give this brilliant quality TV 10/10

P.S - If you ever buy a Sony TV that does have 100hz digital plus make sure you can switch it off as some sets don't let you do this and if like me you hate smearing you won't be happy.

I bought it from Digital-point.co.uk. They were third cheapest when compared using the kelkoo search facility. Unfortunately, the two cheaper sources (RGB.com and Techtronics.com) were out of stock and a little uncertain of when it would arrive. It was ordered on Monday, 1600 and arrived Tuesday, 1030. The delivery men were friendly and helpful. They carried it into the lounge, unpacked it and insisted I inspect it for any damage.
Excellent picture and sound.
However, one small point with physical stability. A small child could pull it onto them without too much effort. I have secured the rear support leg onto the floor via a bracket to prevent this. Possible SONY, could supply a similar facility.

Great price, great picture!