Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR9 LCD HDTV.

Features

Type: LCD
Screen Size (diagonal, inches): 52
Native Resolution: 1920 by 1080
HD Tuner(s): OTA
Backlight: CCFL
Rated Half Life: N/A
Wall Mount or Stand Included?: Stand
Dimensions (W x H x D, inches): 49 x 29.4 x 3.4 (without stand); 49 x 32.4 x 14.1 (with stand)
Weight (pounds): 57.1 (without stand); 65.9 (with stand)

Price: $3,400     Go to Shop for Special Price. 

Connections

Inputs: Video: HDMI 1.3 (4), component video (2), S-video (1), composite video (2), PC VGA (D-sub)
Audio: Stereo analog (3)
Outputs: Audio: Stereo analog, digital (optical), headphone
Additional: Ethernet (1), USB (2)


Introduction

Now for the good things. The Sony BRAVIA XBR KDL-52XBR9 LCD TV series features the famous Sony technology "Motionflow”. For a 240Hz refresh rate, The display picture and movement on the screen is quite surreal, especially on Blu-Ray 1080p. The color of this TV is well on the average, and the TV produces elegant fluidity of movement without losing the details of moving images which appear real to the eye. The black levels are very dark, the whites are extremely light, and the relationship between the contrast levels are in the extreme. This leads to uniformity excellent screen, and a complete amazing picture. Also internet connectivity, the KDL-XBR9 broadband offering, which has built BRAVIA Internet Video capability. This allows you be able to select the demand for movie, shows, music and more. It can also create your own unique experience in selecting and choosing the widgets you can use that contain the latest news, weather, sports and more still all on your TV screen. The  XBR KDL-52XBR9 LCD TV offers many interactive features. As mentioned previously, these TVs have Yahoo Widgets - Internet content powered by information modules that can be downloaded and activated right on your TV screen. Unfortunately, our review sample did not always active widgets, we can not comment on how they played - especially if they were more sensitive than what we have lived with UN46B7000 equipped Samsung Widgets. We update this review when widgets are allowed, but in the meantime you can read our full review of Yahoo Widgets review for more information.



In addition to the widget, the  XBR KDL-52XBR9 offers virtually all the features of the Bravia Internet video link included - no need to buy the box now: $ 199. The most interesting feature has access to Amazon Video On Demand, including videos in high definition. Amazon VOD has worked well in our tests, we have already waited 20 seconds for the store to load (more than once, the loading screen actually gave us a "time out" message before finally forthcoming) even though we lost to be able to see excerpts - the service on television and Panasonic VieraCast and Roku allows extracts, while the BIVL and TiVo, for example, is not the case. Videophiles love the eseem that the image settings can be modified for online video content from Sony, as for other inputs. On the other hand, we have collected more than a few bugs with the system, as when a screen of images failed to load.
The free,non- Amazon content includes YouTube (where almost all functionality is provided), Sports Illustrated (not sports highlights - any movie clip swimsuit model, when we checked), and many online video sources less convincing, there including Minisode Network, blip.tv, style.com, howcast.com, and many video podcasts. In most cases, the video quality is generally worse, especially on the big screen - has been designed for the web, after all. The plus side is free, and in many cases, it is always better than what is actually on television.
Free videos from CBS generally offer better video quality in most cases, but despite Watch free full episodes  slogan next to the CBS logo in the menu, do not expect anything close to TV.com, The official portal of the Network Web for full TV episodes. Instead it is a perplexing hodgepodge of clips and rare full episode as the last "CSI: NY" - but not before. The worst experience was when we chosen "Harper's Island" and found 23 separate clips of 2 minutes, which together may have been the whole episode - but we did not have the patience to discover that, like every clip ends with a promo CBS. We wish there was a possibility to order the entire episode, but the system seems designed to thwart this kind of satisfaction. For more information, see the complete overhaul of the BRAVIA Internet Video Link. It mainly reflects the experience we had with XBR9, even if the TV has been less lazy and not via the My Yahoo BIVL described in the notice - probably to avoid overlap with the widgets. (Note: CNET is a division of CBS Interactive .)

Real-World Performance

Another great test of frame interpolation occurs near the beginning of cars on Blu-ray, when Lightning McQueen is profiled during the race. For a few seconds, McQueen is facing a series of bright blue lights in a PiP display, and the lights may seem splotch if frame interpolation is involved. The KDL-52XBR9, it was clean as a whistle with Motionflow set to standard or high. Each setting detailed sharpened motion sequences certainly the race. In fact, I saw no difference between these two setting for all my tests.
The Stargate: Continuum Blu-ray has supreme test of black level and great shadow detail. The black level of space in the opening title sequence looked deep enough, and does not last long enough to cause the decline of black level I' ve seen before. Shadow detail in Chapter 3 that the Achilles steam across the Atlantic was adequate but not stellar. Otherwise, details and brilliant color.



Then it was The Patriot Blu-ray. The fields of green wheat and yellow, Golden Sun late afternoon, the red British uniforms and skintones were rich and vibrant, perhaps a bit "too busy, so I lowered the color saturation in a few clicks . particular herb, the texture of wood and stone buildings, and freckles and pores of the face has been suspended, and shadow detail in the scene that night scens British search the plantation has been very good.
Then I turned to DVDs and watched some of Moulin Rouge. This title has riot of color, especially girl’s costumes dance-hall, which were  natural skintones. Similarly, particularly in the plans of flying to Paris was as good as the DVD itself, and shadow detail in the squalid apartment Christian had nothing to sneeze at. In addition to Blu-ray and DVD, I watched a bit of online content. I connected the TV ‘s Ethernet jack to the studio’s broadband connection, which provides download speeds of 6 megabits per second. The first time I tried to access that content, the TV displays a message that requires an firmware update, which took about 15 minutes. After that, it took a few minutes to fill out the short video on the Internet with pointers to the content available.

Conclusion
Reference : hometheatermag.com


The KDL-52XBR9 HDTV has an LCD screen Nice. Its black level is lower than most conventional LCD backlight, shadow detail is very good in general and overall details and colors are excellent. And its 240 Hz frame interpolation does a great job of sharpening motion blur. The calibration drift should not be a problem with all of the total production.
Not even a fan of the XMB menu system, if Sony has slightly improved in this generation. And I am absolutely a fan of online content that I have seen so far. Finally, the apparent change in dynamic that I saw after I upgraded the firmware the second was a bit concerned. But in all other respects, this is a competitor worthy of your flat- panel dollars.

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Sony Bravia KDL-40V5100 LCD HDTV.

Features Sony Bravia KDL-40V5100 LCD HDTV.

Type: LCD
Screen Size (diagonal, inches): 40
Native Resolution: 1920 by 1080
HD Tuner: ATSC, QAM (cable in the clear)
Backlight: CCFL
Wall Mount or Stand Included?: Stand
Dimensions (W x H x D, inches: 38.9 x 25.2 x 3.75 (without stand); 38.9 x 27 x 10.75 (with stand)
Weight (pounds): 37.3 (without stand); 41 (with stand)
Price: $1,500
Special Price go to shop

Connections

Inputs: Video: HDMI 1.3 (4), PC RGB (1), component video (2), S-video (1, shared), composite video (1, shared), antenna/cable (1)
Audio: Stereo analog (4), PC (L/R minijack)
Outputs: Audio: Stereo analog, digital (TosLink optical)
Additional: USB (1), service port, cable/antenna

Review.

As the most expensive ingress in the group, as well as small, but not significantly, in both cases it was expected much more from Sony. It is true, not many bells and whistles that raise a ruckus on the set of high-end society. There is no sign of Sony's award-winning Xross Media Bar (XMB) menu system. It have hot option color palettes, color management system (CMS), or the DRC (Digital Reality Creation).and It does have not picture in picture or another way of displaying two images on the screen at one time, unless of course it is in the source (for example,  PiPdisplay in a Blu-ray Disc).
But the system does not really need a CMS (color gamut does not need help), the menus using many of the same icons that adorn the XMB, we never really found the Sony DRC useful, and many features not always PiP lets you choose the two sources you want to see.
Sony has a good range of features: some are useful, others not so. More importantly, its black-level performance and shadow detail surprised almost everyone when I revealed the identity of the whole.

Design

Consider from the looks of the KDL-V5100 series, Sony does not attend as much attempt to the outward appearance of its entry level HDTVs as it does to its high-end line, like the series KDL- XBR9. The V5100 has a relatively chubby, square, glossy black around the screen, below which is a black stripe that fade away to a mirror finish, which provides a slight accent. The area below the display is further bulkiness by the speaker horizontal bar with a matte black - contrary to popular speakers hidden on many other HDTVs. Sony includes a suitable, the black square to stand, but doesn’t swivel.

Behind

The KDL-40V5100 is the smallest model in the series of Sony V5100, which includes 46 - brothers and sisters of 52 inches. It offers the usual complement of inputs on the rear side panels and sockets, including four HDMI and two component video connections. It also has a USB connector to access photos and music files, but does not have an Ethernet network (LAN) terminals for connection to a home network.
In addition to the usual video option controls and picture modes (we used movie, optimized as needed for testing), those characteristics start with color settings in all. As I mentioned above, Sony does not offer color management. But has the usual options of color temperature. You must choose warm menu, as we have done. There are also adjusts white balance in both the high and low end of the range of brightness for use in a full calibration.

Overview.

Sony has scored in the lower middle range of color and more recently in detail. In fact, only the Panasonic raw score of the latter category was the obvious leader of the pack, closely clustered with the other below. But Sony has scored winning in blacks, with a  bond(with the Panasonic), and shadow detail. It’s has good point second place overall (first among LCD monitors) and the first place, preferably two in five of rapporteur are nothing to insult at.
In my time with these sets, the black level of Sony and punched natural impressed me in a way that I did not expect from an LCD screen without a costly and advanced technology such as back- local dimming LED lighting. The only distraction Black Sony uniformly and rich solid  shadow detail was a mend lighter black spot in a corner, which was visible only on a very dark or black image. (This suggests a gnome with a flashlight settled for the night.)
The absolutely agreed. The best  black level on- axis and shadow detail systems, the one of consider, if it was a little annoyed by the mode bright scenes washed as he moved out off-axis alignment. He also noted that Sony had more video noise than another dark scenes. But none of this prevented him to give him 10 points for both the solid black levels and shadow detail.
"He has a great work on The Dark Knight," observe another, who also found the seen off-axis conspicuous , but more curiously on the bright than on dark scenes. A scene in King Kong, which shows a dark close up of Kong’s hair face and shoulders (Chapter 48), the rapporteur noted that even Sony had the best shadow detail of the group. "I'll still be keeping to this set on the dark night scenes," wrote another. He noted that the best analogy of the day, while Sony (and Panasonic) was incredible on the star field of Stargate-like watching the stars in the wilderness, he appears on three other set was like looking into the night sky in Los Angeles. Anyone who has lived or visited in every large city will immediately understand what he meant.

Summary

Quote from hometheatermag.com


Sony came in a close second in the absolutely. Two members of the panel of five judges who voted the first overall choice and evaluated two seconds. Nobody really don’t liked it. I can not say I would have voted if I had been blind participants, but I like to think that I would put on top, given my predilection for viewing  in a dark room and therefore need for great black levels. As I mentioned earlier, Sony has also won raves for his performances with the lights on, even if it was a very short part of test and not included in the score.
 

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How to buy your HDTV.

Take a good television can be a daunting task. Answer six questions below and you'll have a better idea of the size of the screen, technology and functionality.

 

HOW BIG A HDTV SHOULD YOU BUY?

It is a great temptation to buy the largest screen your budget allows: better than being short-changed in recent years. It is easier, too: prices have fallen so that even the big-screen sets are very affordable, as most modern TVs offer over 32in 1920 x 1080p, rightly described as "HD ready 1080p, but so ubiquitous in the 'up' full HD.
You can sit near to a high-resolution screen: indeed, one could say that if you sit near a high resolution screen, your eyes are able to feel the benefits. Well, in general, we suggest the following: If your sofa is 1.3m frome television, buy a 32-inch ;1.5 m. buy 37-Inch , 1.6 m, to buy a 42-inch ; 1.8 m , get a 46-inch, 2.1 m corresponds to a set 50in. Of course, you can do about it. TV radiate light in your room, stand too close to a giant screen, and may wear out over time.

HOW MUCH YOUR BUDGET?

If it does - and in 2010 we can see that might be - the best solution is to buy the biggest, the best performance, but may be easier to television. You can always add functions to access the network HD and after: what you can not do is make a bigger TV is too small. It's too hard to improve the quality of the image of a mediocre artist.
Of course, you'll probably lose in 3D as well, but since the 3D view in the house, he will spend even more from you - you buy two source components suitable for 3D and 3D-specific - which is probably not a problem context.
What happens if the price is not the main factor for you? First, you must choose the type of TV you want. We are not talking about LCD and LED backlight technology in plasma. The lines between these groups are blurred as much in recent years that now we prefer advisor televisions based on performance, not the display technology they use. No, what we are talking about is in 3D so ...

DO YOU WANT TO PAY EXTRA TO WATCH TV AND FILMS IN 3D?
 
3D is an intrinsic component of a TV booster. It requires a very high refresh rate - a minimum of 120 Hz case - and the fact is that many other () conventional TVs do not meet technical specifications, as there is no need for the traditional broadcast TV or HDTV .
Some TVs will '3-D ': the rate of applications will update to display the content, but does not include the 3D glasses or (in some cases) an infrared emitter that connects to your TV spectacles.
Instead, this kit is offered as an add-on pack update, which keeps the original purchase price of all down, and ensures that you do not pay for components that do not want not use again. However, the upgrade kit in 3D can be added to older TVs, or the 2010 model that lacks 3D support.
All this means, if you plan to buy a new TV this year, you look 3D. Even if you do not want to pay for overtime, it requires your account because, unlike other technologies that you can not update until later - not unless you have purchased a compatible TV first.
Of course, you can have no interest in 3D and all. In this case, you should be able to save a few pounds and have a very decent 2D TV to boot. You will need a 3D TV, 3D Blu-ray and 3D glasses to watch 3D movies.


DO YOU WANT TO PAY EXTRA FOR A TV WITH FREEVIEW ?
 
After 3D TV with Freeview HD tuners built new in 2010 are exceptional. However, as exciting as it is, built-in HD will add a premium to the price of any television, so if you've got yourself sorted with Freesat HD or HD television subscription fee, can be an expense can be deducted. This is doubly true if you live in the UK can receive Freeview HD for a few more years (the deployment will not be complete until 2012).

DO YOU WANT TO PAY EXTRA TO ACCESS THE INTERNET?

Your final decision is whether you should buy a TV network functions and Internet access.
In terms of practicality and flexibility is a huge step forward, who would not want services like BBC iPlayer, magazine, cinema and Skype on my TV? However, as desirable as they progress, but are also available from other sources: for example, PS3 owners can access the iPlayer, while the new range of Blu-ray Sony can access the magazine Cinema request.
So if you can afford a television network ready, great, if you can not, do not fight over it. Better to buy the best TV is possible that an apparently less than the functionality of the network.
Integrated HD TV Freeview with news and internet are great in 2010

SHOULD YOU CHOOSE LCD, LED OR PLASMA? 

This is not the point ... in the early days of the capsule, almost all technologies used large plasma screen, while smaller models relied on the screen. The point of intersection of technology to other TVs seemed almost to be put to 32in.
But who was the old order of things, a situation largely dictated by the superior image quality offered by the plasma and the relatively low quality to win in LCD technology. Now, it is very different: almost all product manufacturers of large screen LCD (Panasonic is an exception), while LCD TVs with backlight most advanced and accurate LED has eroded the advantage of performance plasma.
other technology standards have fallen in the street in recent years, too: for example, the Panasonic TX-P46Z1 showed it was possible to do a series with ultra-thin plasma. Yet even now, we still asked: "Should I buy an LCD or plasma?. And the answer is simple: not only is simple: each technology has some advantages over other purposes, but these do not define how good (or customized to your needs) is a television.
For this reason, our comments features whathifi.com set five stars that uses three main types of TV technology. For more advice on buying loads of TV and see the new 36-page magazine is free with the May 2010 issue of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision, on sale now

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