I wrote a customer review of the SXRD on this site a few months ago. I have to say that yes this TV is the best HD TV out there right now. I was blown away by the picture even in comparison to other HDTVs. It also did a good job on SD. It was a very flexible TV with lots of options and useful features like watching two channels at one.

However (I don't want to be a stick in the mud for everyone on this site), I returned it. Although it showed me why Sony was better than other TV makers, it was too expensive for the current state of technology. The HDMI port on this TV doesn't accept 1080p input and therefore is not as future proof as I first thought. If it did I would still have it.

I decided to go without HD for now until a set come around that meets the SXRD quality and has clear proof of 1080p input. In fact I went without a TV for two months until I could borrow one. I don't think HD technology is settled enough right now to spend $4K on a TV that I might want to upgrade in 2 years.

I may wait for SED. On the other hand, if Sony delivers an SXRD with no elephant ears and tru 1080p over multiple inputs I might just get back in the game. But it won't matter till next football season i guess since that seems to be the best content on HD anyway.

" Secondly, though NTP can be called a million things, from patent-troll to free-rider, you shouldn't hate on the opportunist - hate on the system. The patent system is conducive to this kind of parasitic opportunism, and you can't blame a handful of clever guys for simply going for easy money. Funny, though not surprising, that greed may have been their undoing."

what a bunch of BS...parasitic opportunism will kill any system ... especially a system designed for lawyers...

So, I guess they have adequate copy protection for 720p or 1080i but not for 1080p. That makes a lot of sense.

Same think happened in my area. Also, there seems to be something messed up with the sound when watching MNF. Its at a much lower volume level. I get all channels of the DD sound but I have to adjust the volume way up to hear the voice commentary and field action.

Tom_W, My comment about Non-HD channels being unacceptable was in reference to watching it in wide mode (streched to 16:9). It is watchable in 4:3. The Sony allows you to set a default setting for each type of content so when 4:3 content comes on, it shows it centered and HD conent fills the screen in 16:9. The quality is ok. Not as good as on a tube but ok. I'm not really sure how it compares to other HDTVs since this is my first one. I was connected via a comcast HD DVR set top box going out DVI and in HDMI to the TV. I do have an important observation on this subject: Since I wrote the above review, I have added a cable card to the mix. Watching normal TV was better in this mode. In fact watching all channels (including HD) was better in this mode. With the cable card, the signal is direct to the TV and I assume it does all the processing rather than the set top box. There was less signal degradation and noise effects. If watch live TV, I will watch it via the TV input using the cable card. There are several advantages to this: Clearly better picture quality of Non-HD content, a better more consistent signal for HD content. For SD channels, you can also use the twin view feature to watch more than 1 channel which works out great for college football saturdays. I don't have the sound output from the TV going to my sound system right now but that would be another step to complets this setup. For program guide and DVR capabilities (as well as On Demand and Pay per view) I use the set top box input. They can both be hooked up at the same time - you just have to setup a splitter on the cable wire.

David and Kpluck, Yes. I saw the manual where it states input resolutions for HDMI. It does seem that this set does not have the ability to input 1080p via HDMI. I am investigating further, although I'm fairly certain at this point that is the case. If I confirm this, the set will go back. I was really intent on buying something that is a bit more future proof. There is a longer discussion about the merits of displaying full 1080p vs deinterlacing 1080i but I'm not sure it makes sense to spend 4K on a set that won't be able to accept all the latest content 2 years from now. Its sad because the picture is so amazing on this set when viewing HD content.

Goose, The answer is no. The optical out port is only for Dolby Digital coming in thru the TV feed. Not, HDMI.

Goose, I will test to see if optical audio out works via HDMI in.

madshi, Yes I know there are good plasma's available at these prices. I was interested in getting a 1080p set with HDMI. Although, I'm now investigating whether that was worth it... The plasmas i looked at were mostly more expensive. Some very much more.

Galley, Its not an audio rack. Its a TV Stand. The TV on it before was heavier - it was a 36in CRT.