As many potential buyers note in their reviews, the market for 40-inch LCD TVs is crowded, but choosing a decent home appliance is not easy. And this applies both to the budget and the middle class. Manufacturers attract customers to their products with external beauty and great functionality, but they simply forget about the playback quality and performance.
In this article, the reader is invited to familiarize themselves with an interesting novelty in the domestic market - the Sony KDL-40W705C TV. Owner reviews did not go unnoticed in the media. After all, an expensive brand is not every day able to compete with budget devices in the same price category (up to 30,000 rubles).
First meeting
Many buyers are still convinced that digital technology must be met "on clothes." Therefore, it is better to start the review with the packaging in which the Sony KDL-40W705C TV is supplied. User reviews claim that even a child will pick up a large-sized box with a device, because the display itself is made of plastic and has a low weight. You can argue on this topic for a long time, so it is better to get acquainted immediately with the advantages and disadvantages of a lightweight body.
The lighter the TV, the less requirements there are for wall mounting, and there will be no problems installing on your own. On the other hand, a huge screen will have less stability, and it is easier to drop it on its back. Many users are sure that cheap components are installed in the lightweight TV case, for some reason everyone forgets about modern technologies. Just look at the market for mobile technology, where lightweight laptops are several times more expensive than heavyweights.
Design and build quality
It is not for nothing that advertising compares healthy human sleep with a Sony KDL-40W705C Black LED TV. Owner reviews are sometimes unnecessary, because it is impossible to take your eyes off the LCD screen. Even a simple stand of the device has a design and goes well with the look of the TV. There are no questions regarding the appearance of the product. Even among the reviews, the reader will not be able to find a negative for the TV design.
As for the build quality, if we omit the claims of users regarding the low weight, then the buyers also have no questions. Although the assembly of the TV was done in China, it was done in a high-quality way - in Japanese. Unless the remote control somehow does not correspond to a high-quality product. Users often complain about dangling buttons and constantly moving contacts in the battery compartment.
Basic specifications
It is clear that many users do not have the quality of products of the Japanese manufacturer, but most owners agree that they made a purchase, focusing primarily on the quality of the screen. More specifically, the brightness, contrast and saturation of the liquid crystal matrix, which has a Sony KDL-40W705C Smart LED TV. The feedback from the owners of this equipment is quite understandable: resolution, backlight, refresh rate, color and shade transfer - a list of basic characteristics that every customer is oriented towards.
The TV has a diagonal of 40 inches (102 cm) with support for FullHD resolution (1920 × 1080 dpi). The standard screen format (16: 9) will not surprise anyone, but the buyer will certainly be satisfied with the refresh rate of 200 Hz and the LED backlight. And it’s not even the viewing angles that the TV is capable of demonstrating, all the charm in the color reproduction and the display of perfectly black color on the device’s display. In terms of picture quality, he simply has no competitors in either the budget or middle class.
Sound subsystem
The owners have no questions about the acoustics that are built into the Sony KDL-40W705C TV. User reviews are a little contradictory, but, as practice shows, the problem is not at all in the Japanese product. Better to start with the built-in speakers - they support stereo operation and comply with the Hi-Fi standard. However, during the testing process, many enthusiasts pay attention to the lack of deep low frequencies in the range of 20-250 Hz, naturally, questions arise to the manufacturer.
As for the audio output for connecting headphones and speakers, here the manufacturer tried to surprise even the demanding music lovers who decided to purchase the Sony KDL-40W705C. Expert reviews claim that the manufacturer was able to bypass all of its competitors in this regard. Sound devices can be connected not only to the mini-Jack, but also to the HDMI port or optical output. Although the own amplifier with the receiver is responsible for the work of external speakers, the TV still gives a decent signal, the quality of which users have no complaints about.
Work with an external signal
Support for all DVB standards (T, T2, C, S, S2) allows the user to work with all terrestrial digital signals that are broadcast in the vast countries of the former Soviet Union. This is great news for future owners. LED TV Sony KDL-40W705C user reviews, although it gets mostly positive, it’s a little disappointing in this regard - owners note only poor signal reception with a liquid crystal device, so customers can’t do without an external antenna.
As for the input signal support, here is the complete order - all standard resolutions for connecting to a personal computer from 480i to 1080p with the ability to change aspect ratios. The only thing that confuses me is the lack of obsolete D-Sub (VGA) and DVI inputs, because many Russians still own old computers.
Multimedia support
For buyers, the fact that the Sony product supports video playback with MKV and Xvid codecs was a big surprise. For a decade, the Japanese have resisted free software and finally surrendered by introducing the Sony KDL-40W705C LCD TV to the world. User reviews for multimedia differ. The fact is that the built-in player does not work correctly with different storage media.
For example, an ordinary flash drive (regardless of volume) is determined without problems by the built-in TV player - photos, music and video are played without problems. But it’s worth connecting a removable drive, the TV immediately freezes. As practice shows, the problem is in the software - the device tries to scan all the files on the hard drive in search of supported formats for playback. Perhaps the manufacturer will release a new firmware that will fix this problem.
Work on the Internet
The presence of a Wi-Fi module and the ability to use the device in the access point mode is good, but this is not the functionality that any TV should have, including the Sony KDL-40W705C Smart LED. Owner reviews in the media negatively reacted to the operation of the wireless module. When playing FullHD video over Wi-Fi, braking often occurs that can ruin the entire viewing experience. As for the Wi-Fi Direct function, here the owner is waiting for a catch. The fact is that wireless Internet is distributed only according to the 802.11n standard, and the data transfer speed leaves much to be desired.
There are no questions about the work of the TV on the wired connection. All owners are pleased with the ease of connection and data transfer speed. In their reviews, users detail all the advantages of setting up and running SmartTV, a browser and a program for viewing Internet video (Youtube).
Software
Users are also talking about useless applications that the manufacturer equipped Sony KDL-40W705C. Negative reviews on this subject are more common than a description of the functionality of the programs themselves. For some reason, the Japanese decided that all TV buyers are avid football players, nature lovers, musicians and game fans who do not have a working computer or laptop at hand. However, the manufacturer did not think how to manage all the functionality from one remote control (and after all, he could understaff the TV with a wireless keyboard and mouse).
Buyers have a lot of questions about the software part of the TV. Technologists of the company, trying to make a beautiful menu, completely forgot about comfort. Dealing with software, including SmatrTV, is difficult, even with instructions. In their reviews, many users note that they generally do not want to use the multimedia functionality built into the TV.
Additional TV features
Scheduled TV recording is one of the few features that is still in demand by many customers. Video can be saved to any removable drive connected to the Sony USB port of the Sony BRAVIA KDL-40W705C TV. The positive reviews are quite understandable, however, there are recommendations from experts regarding the operation of the TimeShift function - it is better to record the broadcast channel to an external hard drive or a fast memory card. The fact is that the TV tuner perceives the slow flash drive as inoperative and pauses the recording without notifying the user about it.
The manufacturer advertises the work of the built-in Skype program, but its implementation is incomprehensible to many buyers - one-way video broadcasting looks very strange. A sleep timer, child protection, DLNA support and many other less useful features are also present on the TV, but few owners use them, so they did not fall into the focus of this article.
Finally
Summing up, we can draw the following conclusions. If the buyer has the priority of low price and high image quality, then the best purchase for him will be Sony KDL-40W705C. It’s not for nothing that the reviews gave this TV the title of “Best Buy” in the segment of budget technology. It will not fail the device of music lovers and computer people who want to purchase this TV as a second monitor. But customers who focus on the functionality of the device, it is better to look for other goods on the storefront.