Sony KDL40EX723 (KDL-40EX723) 40 Inch 3D Ready Bravia Edge LED HD Television Freeview HD, Skype and X Reality Picture Engine.

view moreThey are also using edge-LED technology so you get extremely thin panels but you also get an extremely high contrast ratio because of that. The contrast ratio on this particular range is in excess of 2 million : 1. that gives you a good inky black level. Because the black level is so goo you get a good natural colour palette, great depth of field and good detail in the darker areas of the panel as well.

They ex723 range have also got equivalent to 200Hz scanning. They use a scanning system on this KDL40EX723 TV which is a new scanning system from Sony called XR 200 Motionflow. It is equivalent to 200Hz. It uses 100Hz technology but flashes at 100Hz using the backlight system on this TV to give you an equivalent to 200Hz. So if you are watching anything with extreme fast movement on there, you are going to get good control of any fast movement with no delay or drag in the motion at all.

They have also got 3D technology built into them so they are 3D ready. If you want the eyewear for them – they don’t come with eyewear – you would buy this as a separate item from Sony. So the actual glasses like these here don’t come in the box; you would have to buy these as a separate item. But they are 3D ready, so if you decide say a year, two years down the line that you would want 3D technology, it is built into this TV. You don’t have to change the TV – you just need to buy the eyewear for it.

So that is a brief rundown on the TV. You have got other functions in here – they are full internet ready as well; you have got Ethernet ports on the back – we are going to look at the sockets in just a moment. You can also do this wirelessly; get a wireless dongle from Sony, plug the dongle into the USB socket. You can also access the internet wirelessly as well.

Now, before we go into the menu system to show you what this Sony KDL40EX723BU TV can do and go through the menus, because it has got a brand new menu system on this TV, we will take a quick look at the sockets on the rear of the panel.

First of all you have got your coaxial socket for your aerial, so it is a Freeview HD tuner. One Scart at the back. You have then got Component – a lot of games consoles and some DVDs use Component still, which is the red/green/blue connection on here. The audio feed there underneath is the Audio In for Component as well. You have then got Digital Optical Out, so if you want to take the sound out of this TV to an external amplifier you can do so via the optical connection here.

You have got three HDMIs coming down there, so three HDMI sockets. You have also got a fourth one just on the side here, and up from there you have also got a USB connection. The USB connection can be used for things like your wireless dongle, as an add-on to the TV to access the internet wirelessly. There is also an Ethernet port here as well to manually do that. And coming out from there, you have also got things like the cam card slot on here for any pay per view TV facilities, and there is also another USB – so you have got two USBs on the TV in total.

Down from there you have got a PC In, so your D-subsocket. And then you have also got Audio Out from there or headphone socket – either/or – but headphone socket just on the side as well which can be used for also external audio out.

So that completes the sockets on the rear and side of the TV.

Here you have a quick view of the opposite side of the TV. The set itself is only 4.2 cm in depth. A run down of the manual controls: you have got your standby button on there for On and Off, channel up and down, volume up and down, and you have got a full menu so you can get into the full menu – instead of using the remote you have got these manual operations as well.

Okay, so let’s take a quick look through the menu system on the TV. The remote control that you get with the TV has got a button here that says Home or Options – either one of those will get you into the general menus. If we press the Options button now on the remote control, that will put the menu down the side of the screen here, leaving the bulk of the picture still on here for you.

The top one is Picture, Sound, it comes down the screen, as you can see on there. You have got Up, Down, Right and Left on the keypad. If you want to access say, Picture, in the centre of those buttons you have got a button here – just press that and it will take us into the picture menu. It gives us various options then onscreen; we have got basically – it is in Vivid here; if we drop down from there, these are preset modes from the manufacturer. If I press OK on there now, it will take us into different options. We have already seen Vivid. You have also got Standard, Custom – and these are various different preset modes from the manufacturers themselves.

If you are in, say, Custom mode, it does give you an extra menu to go into, so you have got if we come down from there now, Backlight, Contrast, Brightness – you can alter these all individually to how you want it. As you come further down you have got Sharpness and different noise reduction systems. At the bottom there you have got Advanced Settings. If we click OK on the Advanced Settings, it then opens up all these other adjustments that you can make, which you don’t get if you are in one of the preset modes like Vivid.

So if we come down from there, you have got various different things like Black Corrector and Advanced Contrast. As we come further down we have got things like White Balance, and if we press OK on that one, it gives us adjustments for each individual primary colour – for red, green and blue, things like gain and bias, so you can really tweak the picture up to how you want it. You have also got a Reset button so if you do mess it up completely, you just reset back to the manufacturer’s specifications.

If we come back out of that menu for the moment, that is a brief rundown on the Picture Menu – if you come down from there you have also got you Sound Menu. Press the centre button. This particular range of TVs are 2 x 10 watts – so 20 watts output in total. Excellent sound system on them as well – the sound projects itself forward extremely well. And you have got, yet again, adjustments for things like Dynamic, Standard, Clear Voice. In Clear Voice, what that tends to do is cut down any sort of background noise or music that may be in the movie and bring out the vocals more, so it is nice and clear.

If we come out of that, come down from there, you have then got individual treble and bass adjustments. You have also got Surround Sound Off where it is just standard stereo sound; or if you click OK on that you can force the sound out and around you as well. And if we come down from there you can get a really good sort of 3D effect on the sound by switching that on as well. so, as I said, an excellent sound system on this particular range of TVs.

So that is looking at the TVs through the Options button. So if I press that button again for you, it comes down to various other things on here as well. If you come down there you have got things like Track ID. Track ID is a new feature on this particular model where, if there is, say, an advert playing with a piece of music on there that you do like but you are not sure what it is, if you press Track ID, it will actually identify what that piece of music is for you as well.

As you come down from there you have also got things like the 3D Menu – as I said, you just buy glasses for this TV and you are up and running with 3D technology as well. You have got Sky with a dedicated 3D channel so they are broadcasting in 3D if you have got Sky as well. and you have got 3D Display Off, you just press OK on the remote control and you can go into different options there for 3D.

You have also got Simulated 3D on this TV so if you are watching a standard 2D broadcast, you can actually watch your 2D broadcast in a simulated 3D mode as well. so, various different options in the menu for you there as well.

As I said, this particular range of TV has got absolutely everything going for it – excellent sound system, you have got internet functions through the TV – which we are going to look at briefly for you now as well. You have got the 3D technology built into there, really great contrast as well.

So we will just come out of that menu now. And the other button on the remote control was that Home button – so if we press the Home button on here, it puts up a slightly more extensive menu. You have got all the symbols on here – very similar to what you get on a PlayStation-type menu.

As we click through those menus on there, they will tell you what they are down the bottom here. And then we have got things like Internet Content. If we press OK, the centre button on there as well, it will start to load up the internet for us, it will start to scan and search – it is loading now. It will take a few seconds and then it will pick up various options onscreen. So then we can access various sort of internet video on here such as BBC iPlayer, 5 on Demand, you have got Sky News – it has got an excellent web service through this TV. All you need to do, yet again, is highlight what you want – if it is BBC iPlayer, just highlight it on there now, press OK in the centre of the remote control, and it will access BBC iPlayer. It will start to load that onscreen there, and it gives you various options of different TV programmes that you may have missed that you can actually catch up on. It is almost like having, yet again, another channel on your TV.

So, a great product. It is on display in both our Bolton and Leeds stores. What I would say is come in for a demonstration of it, or give me a call - my name is Chris - on 01204 861 861 if you would like any more details on this particular product range. Or go to our website which is www.soundandvision.co.uk. You will find hundreds more video clips on there – not just on TVs but on amplifiers and speaker systems. So have a look at our website which is www.soundandvision.co.uk, or please give me a call on 01204 861 861.