Sony KDL40X3000 Design & Nomenclature

The model nomenclature of the Sony Bravia LCD televisions can be pretty confusing. Take, for example, the Sony KDL40X3000. You will find some retailers who sell KDL40X3000U. For all intensive purposes, they are exactly the same panels: the extra "U" at the end simply denotes one that is available for sale in the United Kingdom.

Perhaps more confusing is the difference between the Sony KDL40X3000 and KDL40X3500. The only difference is cosmetic: the X3500 series have a brushed grey metal bezel, whereas the X3000 by default features a black bezel, although you have a choice of changing this to a number of colours (at a price) as offered by Sony.

The Sony KDL40X3000 is definitely a looker... a frame of clear pseudo-glass surrounds the panel, giving it a very attractive "suspended in space" appearance that distinguishes it from the many bland LCD TVs on the market. On this pseudo-glass frame you can see some inscriptions of Sony and Bravia, and also some LED indicator lights embedded at the bottom right corner.

The Sony KDL40X3000 offers 3 HDMI 1.3 connections, with 2 being at the back and one being at the side, which should be more than adequate for most of the devices you need to connect at home. Because HDMI signals are digital and can be transmitted losslessly over a short run of cable, you should always use HDMI connection for your source so that you can receive the best possible video signal and therefore image quality.