Slimming Down To Better Fit Your Life

With a vigorous exercise program and some stellar technology, Sony has slimmed down its rear projection televisions to allow them to more easily fit into your life--and your living room. The KDS-55A2020 SXRD television brings the picture detail and clarity of SXRD display technology to the masses with a generous screen size of 55 inches. It offers full HD 1080p picture quality--the highest HD resolution currently available--within a new compact, bottom speaker cabinet design. The Grand WEGA SXRD Rear Projection HDTV is also equipped with Sony's WEGA Engine system, which minimizes signal distortion to provide you with the best picture, and features enhanced connectivity with dual HDMI (1080p capability) and front component inputs (1080i). Add PC inputs, SRS TruSurround XT audio enhancement technology and a host of other great features and you see why the KDS-55A2020 is an excellent value.

Get The Big Picture

Sony's Silicon X-Tal Reflective Display (SXRD) device contains enough pixels among its three panels to fully display a 1080 line picture without interlacing it. With a blistering 2.5ms response time (total rise and fall time), SXRD has the speed to create a smooth, film-like image. And it creates highly accurate, natural colors because the three-panel design displays all the colors, all the time. The KDS-55A2020 also includes the Sony's Advanced Iris function for improved brightness and contrast expression, especially in darker scenes. Integrated ATSC/NTSC and QAM tuners allow you to view HD broadcasts over air or cable. CineMotion Reverse 3:2 Pulldown Technology smoothly converts films from 24 frames-per-second to television's standard 30 frames-per-second. The 16:9 aspect ratio screen lets you watch widescreen movies and programs as they were meant to be seen. Another technological component, Digital Reality Creation (DRC) Multifunction Technology, replaces standard air broadcast waveform with the HD equivalent, producing four times the line density for quality sources (DVD, satellite, digital camcorders). Together, these technologies create crisp, richly detailed, vividly colored high definition images. The Big Picture has never looked better.

Grand Master, Grand Champion, Grand WEGA?

Prepare yourself for high definition entertainment as defined by Sony. As part of Sony's Grand WEGA HDTV series, the KDS-55A2020 offers refinements in picture quality with advanced imaging technology. Its exclusive WEGA Engine System maintains a beautiful HD digital picture by converting all signals to digital and applying an entire system of processes to improve resolution, sharpness, contrast, and expanded picture dimensionality. All the various signals your HDTV receives, such as Standard Definition broadcasts, composite video, component video, and high-definition video (interlaced or progressive) will benefit from the WEGA Engine because it accurately maintains a digital picture from the first to the last stage, giving you superb picture quality from any video source.

To Interlace Or Not To Interlace

Interlacing, and progressive scanning are common terms tossed around in television set advertising these days, especially high definition television. But what do they mean, and how do they affect the quality of the picture displayed on the screen? Way back in the day, before the world wanted TV programming to look as sharp and colorful as a live theater performance, standard televisions utilized a method called interlacing to show a picture to its best advantage. Each line on a cathode ray tube (CRT) screen was given a number, and the interlacing process would scan the odd numbered lines first, then go back and scan the even numbered lines, all within one 30th of a second. This resulted in a relatively sharp still frame, but left some distortion, or jaggedness, in active shots. The distortion was a result of phosphors (the color-causing element) fading between each scan. As technology advances, televisions use new formats such as SXRD and LCD which don't have the fading problem, and can display DVD material which is progressively scanned and smooth motion. Progressive scanning simply means that, instead of scanning the odd lines first, then even, lines are scanned in order (1,2,3,4,5 and so on). So progressive scanning offers smoother active images. As high definition moves forward, progressive scanning will continue to overtake interlacing as the video display format.

HDMI--HDTV Connection With A Single Cable

There are lots of features on this HDTV that make it not only nice to watch, but also easy to operate. The dual HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) inputs transfer HDTV video and digital audio signals to the display through a single cable. HDMI is an enhanced version of DVI (Digital Video Interface), and--with an adaptor--is backward compatible with DVI. And because you want to be able to connect your HDTV to other electronic components, the KDS-55A2020 features a variety of connections, such as the two rear and one side component video inputs that are an extremely accurate way to connect video equipment (such as a DVD player or satellite receiver). Plus, there are three composite connections, one S-Video connection, and five analog audio connections.

Coming Soon, All DTV All The Time

Digital Television (DTV), is the new broadcast TV standard; and within three years is slated to replace the current analog broadcast NTSC system. What exactly are NTSC and DTV? NTSC, which stands for the National Television System Committee that established broadcast standards almost 60 years ago, is an analog system of broadcasting that transmits a standard 525-line signal. Approximately 480 of those signals are used to create the picture on your TV screen while the remaining 45 (or so) lines transmit other data, such as closed-captioned text. DTV, on the other hand, is a collection of 18 different digital broadcast signal types; and happens to be the highest quality signals available. ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee) is an acronym for the group that determined standards for the national digital television system. ATSC DTV signals are sent out via broadcast, cable, or direct satellite; then received and decoded by an ATSC receiver in your home. DTV comes in two different formats: medium quality SDTV (Standard Definition TV), or widescreen, high quality HDTV with Dolby Digital audio. HDTV is considered superior to both SDTV and NTSC signals because it transmits 1,080 lines, while SDTV and the more familiar NTSC system only transmit about 480 lines of video image. To receive HDTV signals, you must have a digital TV that is capable of displaying the signals and an HDTV tuner, either as a separate tuning unit, or conveniently integrated into the TV, as it is on the Sony KDS-55A2020. Now, does owning a HDTV mean you won't be able to receive those analog NTSC signals anymore? No, not at all. HDTVs can receive both types of signals. And don't worry if you don't already get DTV signals in your area, you will. Currently, digital over-the-air broadcasts are transmitted to about 97% of the households in America. And, if you have digital satellite or digital cable, you can now watch them with the much-improved HD resolution of the KDS-55A2020.

Included With Purchase

Remote control (RM-YD010), 2 AA batteries, instruction manual, quick start guide, warranty, product registration card. Optional accessories (must be purchased separately) include stand (SU-RS11X) and 120-watt replacement lamp (XL-5200).

Comparison Specifications

• Screen Size: 55" (Measured Diagonally)
• Display Type: SXRD Rear Projection
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Lamp: High-Output UHP Lamp
• Progressive Scanning: 1080p Native Resolution
• Best Video Inputs: 2 HDMI, 3 Component
• Other Inputs: PC Audio/Video, RF Connection, S-Video, 3 Composite, 5 Analog Audio
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Pixel Resolution

Additional Specifications

• Tuners: Integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM
• Response Time: 2.5 ms (Rise And Fall)
• Viewing Angle: 130 Degrees Horizontal, 60 Degrees Vertical
• WEGA Engine System
• DRC-MF V1 (Digital Reality Creation MultiFunction V1) Technology
• DRC Mode1 And 2, CineMotion Function, DRC Palette Presets Custom 1, 2, And 3
• CineMotion Reverse 3:2 Pulldown Technology
• Picture Modes: Vivid, Standard, Custom
• Wide Mode (4:3): Wide Zoom, Normal, Full, Zoom
• Game Mode On/Off

Manufacturer Specifications

• 3D Digital Comb Filter, High, Medium, Low, Off Detail Enhancer
• Advanced Iris Control, Noise Reduction
• Gamma Compensation High, Medium, Low, Off, Clear White, Black Corrector
• Color Temperature Cool, Neutral, Warm
• Dolby Digital, SRS TruSurround XT Audio Effect, A/V Synch, Treble And Bass Tone Control, MTS Stereo Decoder
• Sound Mode: Dynamic, Standard, And Custom
• Convenient Features: Picture Freeze, Favorite Channel, Channel Label, Channel Skip/Add, Channel Jump, Speed Surf Channel Selection
• Info Banner, Program Guide Access, Caption Vision, Auto Channel Programming
• Auto Adjustment (PC), Advanced Video Menu
• Clock, Sleep Timer, Timer Events

Dimensional Specifications

• Dimensions: 50.9" W x 35.9" H x 18.9" D
• Weight: 83.88 lbs

Sony KDS-55A2020 Warranty Details

One-Year Parts And Labor Warranty, Two-Year Optical Block Warranty