SONY | SONY STYLE.COM

Great TV, Awesome picture...but

Pros: Awesome picture, easy setup Good features for the price

Cons: Optical out is not Dolby 5.1

"I was very impressed with the picture. Best Ive seen. Could'nt tell much difference between the 120Hz and 240Hz (They were side by side). The stand is a bit flimsy, But I may wall mount later. Menu's are easy to navigate. Could use a full program guide instead of having to flip through the channels. The online manual is helpful, but you can't sitt on the couch and go thru it function by function unless you have a laptop. The included printed version doesnt have a complete explination for all the functions. I cant speak to reliability as I've only had it a couple of weeks, except to say I have a large collection of Sony products of varying age and have a high expectation of quality with Sony products. As the headline states, Here comes the but. (This does not apply to cable or satellite customers only OTA TV reception) All the literature and the box it came in say Dolby Digital and It has an optical out so you assume 5.1. Even Dolbys website has the definition of Dolby Digital as "Dolby Digital is a powerful audio format that provides up to 5.1 separate channels of crystal-clear digital surround sound". After many conversations with Best Buy and Sony, I discovered that this set is not capable of Dolby 5.1 out. It is Dolby Digital in PCM. Which is 2 channel. All you will get is Prologic. This is due to Sonys standard amp. If you want 5.1 you need the KDL-52Z5100 or 52W5100. It has the S-master digital amp. This will supply 5.1. The "Z" will cost you another $200 (as of this weeks sale at Best Buy). But if you get your signal off air as I do and want to "Crank it up" during the Daytona 500 or watch CSI and NCIS in 5.1, You dont want this set. I am taking what's left of my 30 days to decide if I will exchange it for the "Z". Or move to another brand. Which isnt an easy decision as all my components are Sony. A big "SHAME ON YOU" goes to Sony for not making this fact easier to discover. This was a major purchase for me. I have waited a long time to get the ok for a big screen TV and spending more just isnt in the budget. This is a deal breaker to me. I will still Highly recommend this set to anyone who doesn't care about 5.1 sound.

Good purchase for the money

Pros: Good value

Sony fan! I purchased this tv for the new family room. Overall good picture for the money, although I wished i would have spent more $ for the higher contrast ratio. I also own the sony XBR, although my xbr is a 46" it has a much better picture quality. When watching hd programming it's like the people are right there in the room with you.

Fantastic Picture Quality

Pros: Perfect Picture, Looks Fantastic

Cons: None

Works great with my Blu-Ray Home Theater and makes it feel like a movie theater!

Exceptional Value & Quality for the price.

Pros: Perfect HD Picture, Easy to set up, Great everything.

Cons: None at all.

Exceptional Sony LCD HDTV. Exceptional value for the price. I wall mounted this Sony LCD HDTV and set it up to Sony's new HDX589W DVD Home Theatre System for a superior 5.1 sourround sound. This Sony LCD HDTV and the HDX589W make a perfect pair together for a true home theatre experience that everyone will enjoy for many years. Don't hesitate at all, if you are looking to buy a new Sony LCD HDTV or one of their new DVD Home Theatre Systems. You are getting maximum value for the price and quality in this LCD HDTV. I would highly recommend this Sony LCD HDTV to anyone who is looking to buy one. Just don't forget to purchase Sony's DVD Home Theatre System along with it, for that true 5.1 Surround Sound.

Great TV with a few minor gripes

Pros: Great picture, Menu is good, Looks cool.

Cons: Sound not great, gets a little dusty, no swivel stand.

This is a great tv. The picture is amazing when you have the 1080p dvd or hd signal. Menu is the best and easy to navigate. TV looks cool. It is the best tv i have owned. But, there are a few minor gripes. Sound quality is not so good, but that also could be attributed to my cable signal. Not many flat screens have good sound so it is not a big deal. But, seems like the sound settings amplify the wrong sounds. I have found it hard to hear what people are saying sometimes. It almost sounds like they whisper. But, I hope a home theater system corrects that. Manual is terrible. It gives you no information on what the settings do especially the more advanced ones. Just winging it on those settings but haven't found much a difference. Also, tv gets a dusty quick and no swivel stand. But overall the tv is great. It has a great picture and the whites are very white and blacks very black. Sony's picture stood out to me over some of the other tvs I looked at. Highly recommended.

Amazing

Pros: Everything

Cons: No swivel stand

Never have I been so happy. Had a Samsung 40' and chose to sell it and go back to Sony. Loved my old TV but wanted bigger. I watched Dark Knight again on Blue Ray was like watching a totally different movie. Very happy!

Great Value for the money! Great Picture!

Pros: Matte screen. 5000:1 Native Contrast Ratio, 120Hz

Cons: 8-bit panel. No Xcross menu software

I picked up this TV a month ago and wanted to really wait and see how it looked before I reviewed it. I replaced an older Sony Hi-Def LCD rear projection 1080i model. The older TV had a good picture, but OMG, the difference is like day and night. I have used it for an XBOX360, a PS3 and with Dish Network Hi-Def receiver/DVR. The standard def is better than most of the other LCD's I looked at but as with all you can see the flaws of the SD picture. This one looks better than most for SD though. First off I'm not sure about the HDMI color space issue another reviewer was talking about, as I did not experience that with my XBOX360. I have it set to ycbr and it looks AMAZING! Just make sure and set to ycbr701 for HD. The PS3 also looks INCREDIBLE! This TV had all the features I wanted and has delivered higher performance and picture than expected. The one thing I was worried about was the fact that it has an 8-bit LCD panel, rather than a 10-bit panel. I was really worried it would have banding or "paint by number" effects. I picked up a copy of Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD Basics on Blu-Ray to calibrate the TV and to my surprise it included a test for checking for slow processing and for color banding "paint by number" effects. This TV was able to reproduce a perfect gradation in both color and gray scale with ABSOLUTELY no banding or "paint by number" effects whatsoever! I was really impressed. According to DVE an 8-bit panel should be able to do this as long as the processing board is fast enough and good enough quality. These problems are more due to the processing than an 8-bit panel according to DVE. The 10-bit is not necessary if you have adequate processing. After more research I have found that, that is why most higher end manufacturers, like Sony have started using 8-bit panels again in most but their very high end models. After calibrating this TV with DVE the picture is far better than I had ever hoped for, with great black levels and extremely vibrant, true to life color. The off angle viewing is exceptional. The picture morphs a little from extreme side view due to the flat screen, but the contrast and brightness even from almost sideways is awesome! On the last note, the Dish Network receiver/DVR looks great as well. Any problems with the picture was due to the signal from the receiver and not the TV itself. All the HD channels have some compression and it shows, but wouldn't matter how good the TV is for that. DVD, Blu-Ray, XBOX350 and PS3 have absolutely the best picture I have seen on any other LCD. They only thing that could be as good or better is Plasma, but I really wanted a Sony and they only make LCD's now. I am very pleased with my purchase and would highly recommend this TV for anyone. The matte finish is great as I have a lot of ambient lights and side windows in my living room. The only other TV I was considering was the Samsung and the highly reflective, glossy screen just would not work for me. Other than that, the Samsung had an INCREDIBLE picture as well.