Sony KDL-52XBR9 HDTV

HD picture quality was a lot crisper and colors are more saturated. Blacks become slightly hazy at aspect angles but straight appear plenty saturated. I beleive the anti glare technology introduced into the LCD panel creates a lot of the weakness issues with colour calibrations and off angle viewing. Dont misunderstand, the HD picture from Blu Ray and Broadcast HD was clear, vivid and colorful as always, but alas the image doesn't appear as deep as a number of the better pictures we've viewing lately.

Generally, we have been not all that impressed with the image top quality with 480i signals. Since virtually all programming we watch isn't HD, this is an important consideration. Whilst the 240Hz feature did a good job at times with smoothing out lateral panning, there was still jerkiness present at occasions. We were pleased that the 240Hz function did not introduce the cardboard cutout influence that occurs with some TVs with higher Hz rate processing. Shades did not pop sufficient, and the picture was typically as well subdued and dark when viewing lots of 480i programming. And lastly, there was a great bit of grain/motion artifacts visible. During 480 HQV processor testing we noted average noise reduction which coincided with our content viewing.

Post calibration ANSI contrast measured an unexceptional 750:1. That's a lazy figure for today's better Television set. Black levels can appear oversaturated and hazy concurrently with some 480i images - hampering shadow detail. Rich, deep blacks may be observed with the finest HD content material available - but they aren't a typical feature of this Tv.

Oversaturation of blacks in dark scenes causes loss of shadow detail at occasions especially with normal broadcast or 480i programming. With HD written content this issue pretty significantly goes away the the Tv does a great work.

Flesh tones appeared quite realistic after calibration, but all hues seem as well subdued. Despite not being able to dial into D6500 perfectly during calibration, we didnt discover many issues with colour presentation.

There is a large issue with coloring and contrast loss when viewing this set from just 25 degrees above the center axis. Grayscale hues change, and contrast decreases. When viewing from direct eye level, this occurs from part angle viewing starting between 35 and 40 degrees. The Tv can be seen from severe part angles, but contrast is lowered and hues will be much less rich and less accurate.

There was some shutter impact (picture shaking) with 480i signals, but overall the 240Hz Motionflow feature did a nice task of reducing, but not eliminating, lateral jerkiness observed with the amount of LCD TVs.

We noted only slight banding and false contouring during HQV stadium seating testing.

Obviously one of several main characteristics of this Tv is the 240Hz choice. The truth that we could in fact use this function with film and broadcast programming with no unwelcomed background info is a main plus. This prevents having to flip the function off and on depending on viewing written content, which is the situation with some other branded TVs using the higher Hz rate. However, the 240Hz rate Motionflow feature was not as powerful as on some branded TVs concentrating on the same feature, therefore the XBR9 did not do as efficient a task of cutting out motion lag and lateral judder effect. You have the now standard inclusion of a usb port for digital pics and videos from Sony cameras or flash memory drives. Tv guide on screen is an additional present feature which gives the choice of a guide with over-the-air antenna or with cable service but without the cable box. Internet characteristics are discussed below.