Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 LCD HDTV Review - Blacks & Whites

Blacks & Whites Summary
• Good black level and peak brightness • Excellent contrast ratio • Poor gamma curve • Calibrated using DisplayMate software
	Calibration	Page 4 of 18	Color Accuracy

Black Level (7.27)

We measured the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000's black level at 0.14 candelas per meter squared (cd/m2). This is significantly better than our average black level of 0.23 cd/m2, as of this writing. Below you can see the KDL-32L5000's black level compared to three other HDTVs.

Black Level

You can see that the KDL-32L5000 holds up well, with a black level the same as the Samsung LN32A450 and significantly better than the JVC LT-32J300. It's not quite up to the standards of the Sony KDL-46W4100, but that television put up one of the best black levels we've seen from an LCD television. The KDL-32L5000 isn't the best black level we've ever seen, but it's certainly good.

Peak Brightness (8.19)

The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000's peak brightness was measured at 288.84 cd/m2. This is right about average for an HDTV, and it should be plenty bright for most viewing situations. We have seen significantly better peak brightness from other HDTVs, however, as you can see below.

Peak Brightness

You'll note that the KDL-32L5000's peak brightness was about the same as the other Sony model, while the JVC and Samsung models were significantly brighter. Still, you should note that in most viewing situations you won't need as much brightness as even the KDL-32L5000 is capable of.

Contrast (7.27)

Contrast is the ratio of peak brightness to black level, which for the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 works out to 2063:1. This is above average and should give your eye plenty of contrast on the display. We have seen better, for example you can see below that the Sony KDL-46W4100 put up a significantly better contrast ratio, thanks to the lower black level of that HDTV. We have also seen much worse, however, as you can see from the contrast ratio of the JVC LT-32J300.

Contrast Ratio

Tunnel Contrast (9.88)

In this test we look for variation in the black level as black represents less of the display. This is important because you don't want your black level to rise significantly if there's only a small amount of black on the screen as this ruins your contrast ratio. Thankfully the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 did very well in this test, with the black level bouncing between 0.13 and 0.16 cd/m2 as the screen went from 100% black down to 5% black. What this means is that you can expect to get deep blacks even when the screen is mostly taken up by brighter colors.

Tunnel Contrast

White Falloff (9.81)

This is the opposite of our tunnel contrast score, here we look at how well the peak brightness hold up as the amount of white on the display is reduced. The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 did very well in this test, with the peak brightness staying constant from 100% white to 5% white.

White Falloff

Uniformity (8.88)

Here we look at how uniform the display is by looking at an all white and all black screen. The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 did a good job here, with a uniform center in both white and black screens. We did notice some dimming in the corners and along the edges of the white screen, and some more noticeable lighter areas on the black screen, but overall the performance was good.

Greyscale Gamma (6.21)

We measured the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000's gamma at 2.83. Our ideal gamma is between 2.1 and 2.2, so the KDL-32L5000's gamma was significantly above this. What this means is the television will be more aggressive when moving from light to dark, which can obscure some details on the display. Below you can see a graph of the KDL-32L5000's gamma performance.

Greyscal Gamma

Resolution Scaling (0.0)

The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 is a 720p HDTV, meaning it displays 720 lines from top to bottom in a progressive manner. Unfortunately content comes in several different flavors, and in this section we look at how well the KDL-32L5000 handles content in different formats.

480p (8.7)
This is the format used by standard definition content, with 480 lines from top to bottom. The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 had a 3% overscan all around the edges, which means 3% of the scene is cut off at every edge. Apart from that the KDL-32L5000 did a good job with 480p content, with no problems with legibility or resolution.

1080i (6.3)
1080i has 1080 lines from top to bottom, however there are two sets of 540 lines that are interlaces, which is where the "i" comes from. 1080i content is usually what you get from broadcast HD, since only half the signal needs to be sent at once. The Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 had a 2% overscan with 1080i content, so 2% of the scene is cut off at all sides. We also noticed that the legibility went down significantly, with a higher font size required before you could read text on the screen. Wa also noticed several problems with moire patterns. These are problems that appear in various patterns and are the result of a processing problem with the HDTV. Specifically we noticed several different cross-hatch patterns appear that shouldn't be there.

1080p (6.3)
1080p also has 1080 lines from top to bottom, but unlike 1080i all of those lines appear at once, or progressively. We saw almost exactly the same problems with 1080p content as we had with 1080i content on the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000. There was a 2% overscan on all sides and significant problems with legibility and moire patterns. The problems we saw with both 1080i and 1080p content indicates that the KDL-32L5000 is having some obvious problems processing these signals.

Compare the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 to other HDTVs
JVC LT-32J300 32 inches	Samsung LN32A450 32 inches	Sony KDL-46W4100 46 inches