Sony KDL-40NX703 (KDL40NX703U)

Now, to run through the specification first of all with you.  They are both full HD, so they will cope with 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  They are also the latest generation of Freeview HD sets as well, so you can get BBC HD, ITV HD and Channel 4 HD just through your TV aerial.  Just plug your aerial into the back of the TV and you have got a free HD service. 

They are also 100Hz scanning.  Standard TVs scan at 50Hz, meaning there are fifty pictures per second making up your image.  On this range there are 100 pictures per second making up that image for you.  So you get great control of any fast movements on screen as well.

They are also LED edge-lit, so they are slim panels.  Because they are LED as well you get a very good black level on the TV, so a very high contrast ratio.  So you are going to get great depth of field, good detail on dark scenes, and a really good natural colour palette on there as well.

Before we go through and have a look at the sockets on the rear of the TV, what I want to do is take you through some of the features in the menu on this set.  It is part of the Network range from Sony, so you have got basically wireless Internet capabilities - you can hardwire it as well, but there is wireless technology actually built into the TV as well. 

On the Sony remote control you have a button that says Home - it is the blue button just there.  If you press the Home button it puts us into the menu onscreen.  It is saying here at the moment we are actually on BBC HD channel.  If we click over to the left - we have just got Up, Down, Right and Left on the keypad - click over to the left.  The first one we hit is the Internet section.  So, on this set at the moment we have got highlighted YouTube.  If we scan down from there, just pressing the button Down, we have got various other options - and there are quite a lot of them.  And as I said, you can access this wirelessly or you can hardwire it through your Internet system at home.  But you have got loads of different options on here.

If we go back to, say, YouTube on there - and we will press the OK button.  So, here we go - YouTube is there.  We press the button in the centre of the remote control, and it will now search for the YouTube site.  It is just loading that now.  And the options on here - we can go into sort of Most Popular, Most Discussed - different options on there… you have got Most Viewed - and you are just jogging down to the section that you want on there - Most Viewed; press OK.  And it will load up now the most viewed video clips that are on there.  And then you can just search down then for whatever you want to watch on YouTube.

However, if we go back a stage - just press Return which is the button at the side of the Home Menu - and you can also do a manual search.  So we can actually go through the alphabet on there.  We are just pressing the OK button on the remote.  And then you can jog down and you can search for anything you want.  You just tap in what you want on there.  Once you have got the title in there you just would select Enter, press OK and it would search for that for as well.  So you have got a search option on the YouTube site.

If we come out of there, we will just have a look at some of the other options on the set itself.  As I said, there are loads of different options in here; we have got Eurosport we can click into, FIFA World Cup Collection; you have got Sony Entertainment Television…  Yet again, if we click into that one, you will find in this section there are various TV series; some of the old TV programmes are on here.  It will just start to load them now.  And you have got various episodes on here of various different TV shows.  We are looking at Page 1 of 17.  And yet again, you would just jog along to any of those.  Once you are onto the programme that you want on there, you would just press OK, and it would jump into that programme for you.

So, great Internet connectivity on this set.  Lots to look at - far too much to go into in this video clip.  You have got things like Love Film; you have got Demand Five - there are loads of different options that you can jump into on there… Podcasts… Absolutely loads to look at.  So, as I said, you have got full Internet connectivity through this range. 

If we go on from there we have got Bravia Music; we have got Photos.  Yet again, on this particular set, you have got USB sockets on the TV - which we will look at in just a moment - or you can send photographs from you PC.  Yet again, you can jump into those and you can have the photographs displayed onscreen.  This particular screen runs - it is a flat panel - it runs right up to the edge of the screen; there is no sort of frame standing off the set - it is completely right up to the edge of the set itself.  And as I said, you can display your pictures onscreen as well. 

If we just come out of that for a moment.  On that particular picture there as well, it does actually indicate where you took the photograph as well - so a nice little feature on there.

If we come out of the Photos and move along, we get into the Settings Menu.  And all I am doing is jogging along and down.  And if we then go into Display, we then get into the Picture Settings where then you can manually adjust everything for the backlight, contrast, brightness - and you just highlight the one you want to adjust on there.  You jog it Up and Down, press OK in the centre - and then just make the adjustments using the Left or Right button on there, and you can adjust that accordingly.

If we just go back to the TV for a moment there - so we have got a picture on there for you.  And we will show that a little bit more clearly for you.  So, we go back to the Menu, jog along to the left until you get to Display.  Press OK in the centre.  Press OK again.  And you are into the Picture Settings.  And then you just highlight the one you want to adjust, press OK and just move along to the left or right to adjust that colour to how you want that to be displayed.  And just set that to your own liking on there.

As I said, this particular set does have a Freeview HD tuner built into it.  So at the moment we are on BBC HD; you have got ITV HD and Channel 4 HD built into the TV without having the need of any external box to receive that, so you don’t need any satellite or cable network to do that - you have got a free HD service built into the set itself.

What we will do now, we will just have a look at the sockets on the rear of the TV.  Okay, so here we have the rear of the panel.  This particular set lends itself to being wall-mounted.  Every socket on this TV is recessed.  The main socket is recessed just to the side here.  It is a figure-of-eight mains lead which plugs just into the side here, recessed - ideal for wall mounting.  All of the other sockets, which we will go through in just a moment, are all recessed down the side here or down the side panel just at the other end of the TV there.

If you are wall mounting this TV, your wall fittings are here and down there as well.  The wall fitting for the 40 and the 46 inch is exactly the same.  They are 300ml by 300ml.  So, standard bracket, 300 by 300 VESA bracket.

The sockets, as we said, you have got the mains down here.  At the top here we have got your Ethernet, your land connection - so you can hardwire it through that.  As I said, it has got wireless technology built into the TV.  Just underneath there you have got an HDMI socket.  And you have got another HDMI socket over here.  So you have got two HDMIs recessed on the back of the set.  You have then got one single scart socket there, and you have got an optical socket.  So if you want to feed the sound digitally, 5.1 Surround Sound, out of this TV, you can do so via the Optical through an external amplifier.

And you have also got now your aerial socket recessed on the back of the set - so you have got your coaxial socket there.  As we stated before, it has got Freeview HD built into the TV, it has got a free HD service.  That is your aerial socket, also recessed.

We will just spin the set round now and we will have a look at the sockets on the side of the TV.  Okay, so the sockets on the side of the TV: At the top here we have got a USB connection.  So if you have got a memory stick you can feed that into there; anything stored - photographs, music, whatever it may be - you can have straight onto the TV set itself. 

Underneath that you have got the PC In socket - you have got a VGA connection there.  The socket just above that is the audio feed for that socket as well.  You have then got a further two HDMI sockets, so you have got four HDMIs in total - you have got two on the side and two on the back of the TV.  Yet again, all these sockets are recessed.

You have then got a CI slot, a CAM slot, so if you want to subscribe to any pay per view TV, you get yourself a CAM card, slot it in there and you can do so.  Underneath there you have then got the headphone socket.  And just underneath that, you have got Component which is the red/green/blue connection - a lot of games consoles use that - and the Audio Input connection for it just underneath.

Okay, so there you have it - a TV which is really high-spec.  If you are looking for a set which is going to give you Internet connectivity wirelessly, it has got that.  It is full HD so it will cope with 720p, 1080i and 1080p resolution.  They are 100Hz scanning so they are going to cope with movement extremely well.  They have got a high contrast level with them being sort of LED edge-lit as well.  So extremely high specification. 

I would say, if you would like more details on this, please give me a call - my name is Chris.  You can get hold of me at Sound and Vision on 01204 861 861.  Or please visit the store in Bolton or in Leeds.  If you would like more details of this, if you are viewing this from YouTube, if you click the link it will go through to our website.  If you do go to our website, which is www.soundandvision.co.uk, there are a lot more video clips on there on TVs from Sony, Panasonic, JVC - various different makes and models. So if you are looking sort of for other video reviews, please go to our website - there is a lot more information on there.

Thank you.