KDL-40S5100 Sony Bravia, Excellent TV after..

Overall Rating4.674.674.674.674.67

Excellent TV after downloading patch

This is a great TV. I purchased this television from Best Buy, and was happy with it until I noticed the auto-dimming feature. After reading about it online, I’ve noticed tons of people having the same issue. Fortunately it can be fixed (relatively) easily. All you need is a compatible flash drive (you can check the Sony Support website for a list of compatible flash drives - I used 4 GB Sony Micro Vault), and a PC. From there you simply go to the Sony Support website and download the update/patch for the TV which completely eliminates the auto-dim feature. I got the link by accessing the chat service on the Sony Support site. The PC part is important; If you have an Apple computer, you won’t be able to successfully install the update. I implore anyone who has issues with the auto-dim feature to download the update - it gets rid of the problem.

Pros: Great value; contrast ratio; 1080p; 40 inch screen.
Cons: Without the update/patch there is the auto-dim feature; only 60hz
Overall: I loved the TV at first, then hated it when I noticed the auto-dim, now love it again now that I downloaded the update. I would recommend this TV for anyone looking to upgrade to HD.

Update (5/19/2012): I also found some auctions for this item here.

The featured review for this product, Sony Bravia S-Series KDL-40S5100 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV, Black Electronics, was written by Robert L. Birmingham.

The average rating for this item is 4.7 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

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Reviews (3)

Christopher Nixon

May 8th, 2010 at 10:04 am    


Overall Rating44444

Overall a GREAT Purchase!
I purchased this tv after carefully weighing the pros and cons with what little information I could find. Overall I am not disappointed. Being a relatively newer model reviews were hard to come by and the one review I found was here on Amazon and it was a bad review. It mentioned the Auto contrast feature included on the Bravia models and complained that during some movies it would darken too much and make the flick unwatchable. I have watched quite a few movies at this point and have not noticed it to be a problem except for maybe during opening credits.

I also Game alot on this tv, My 360 and PS3 look amazing through the HDMI and even my Wii looks pretty good(as good as a Wii can look). This is a great tv and the only thing I would change is the Auto Contrast. It has an option to turn it off, but switching it to off doesnt turn it of.. WTG Sony. Still a great tv


Robert L. Birmingham

May 14th, 2010 at 10:43 pm    


Overall Rating55555

Excellent TV after downloading patch
Rated 5 stars.


R. Butler

May 20th, 2010 at 8:10 am    


Overall Rating55555

Additional support for Sony Bravia S Series and others
I bought this TV knowing about the brightness issue and the fix that Sony provides. I installed the software update and I love the quality of the picture I get in TV, DVD, and gaming modes.

Yes, the software update can be downloaded to a compatible USB storage device (flash drive), but if you don’t have a compatible flash drive on hand there is no need to go out and buy one for a one time use.

Call Sony at 1-800-222-7669 to request the update be mailed to you free of charge. They will send the update to you on a USB storage device, along with instructions on how to perform the update.

If you have a USB flash drive on hand, but you’re not sure if it’s a compatible storage device, the following link will provide a list.
[...]

I hope this info helps.
Enjoy your Sony Bravia!


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