Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000

Value Comparison

The Sony KDL-46W4100 is a significant step up from the KDL-32L5000 in a variety of ways. First of all you have a much larger display at 46 inches versus 32 inches and also a higher resolution, 1080p versus 720p. You also have better black and contrast performance and much better motion performance. Surprisingly, however, the connectivity features of the two HDTVs are very similar. You will pay extra for those upgrades, however, as the Sony KDL-46W4100 retails for around $1,300, more than twice the KDL-32L5000's price of $550. Which one is the better value really depends on how big an HDTV you want.

	Comparison Specifications
	Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000	Sony KDL-46W4100
Size	32 inches	46 inches
Price	$550	$1,300
Type	LCD	LCD
Format	720p	1080p

Blacks & Whites

Both HDTVs do well in this area, but the Sony KDL-46W4100 does enough better to make a significant difference. The big change is a much lower black level, which also produces a wider contrast ratio than the KDL-32L5000.

Black Level
Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 Score: Black Level: 7.27 Peak Brightness: 8.19 Contrast: 7.27	Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 Score: Black Level: 8.23 Peak Brightness: 8.10 Contrast:  8.11

Color Accuracy

Although the Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000's performance in this area was reasonable, the Sony KDL-46W4100 again one up's it with a rock solid color temperature and better color accuracty, although it's color gamut was a bit worse.

Color Temperature

Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 Score: 6.89

Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 Score: 9.38

RGB Curves

Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 Score: 7.57

Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 Score: 8.27

Color Gamut

Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 Score: 6.17

Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 Score: 5.32

Motion

You really see the improvement in motion that can come from a 120Hz refresh rate here as the Sony KDL-46W4100 blew away the KDL-32L5000 in both motion blur and artifacting. If you watch a lot of action movies picking up a television with 120Hz refresh rate like the KDL-46W4100 makes a big difference.

Viewing Effects

Both televisions performed poorly here, but the Sony KDL-46W4100 performed particularly poorly. You really need to be sitting right in front of the KDL-46W4100 as it has a viewing angle of only 15 degrees from center, while the KDL-32L5000's viewing angle is over 10 degrees wider.

Viewing Angle

Sony Bravia KDL-32L5000 Score: 5.44 Sony Bravia KDL-46W4100 Score: 4.48

Connectivity

Given that the Sony KDL-46W4100 is more than twice the price of the KDL-32L5000 we're surprised to see that the connectivity features are very similar, although you do get an extra HDMI port and an extra composite input, which is important if you have a lot of devices in your home theatre setup.

Other Comparisons

Audio quality on the Sony KDL-46W4100 was significantly better than the KDL-32L5000.