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Introduction
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01.Tour & Design
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02.Blacks & Whites
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03.Color Accuracy
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04.Motion
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05.Viewing Effects
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06.Calibration
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07.Remote Control
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08.Connectivity
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09.Audio & Menus
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10.Formats & Media
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11.Power Consumption
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12.Vs Sony KDL52V5100
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13.Vs Samsung UN46B6000
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14.Vs Vizio VF550XVT
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15.Conclusion
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16.Series Comparison
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17.Ratings & Specs
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18.Comments
Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR9
Previous: Page 4
MotionNext: Page 6
Calibration
Viewing Effects Summary
• The viewing angle was a little dissapointing
• The screen dealt well with reflections
Viewing Angle (4.71)
We found that the KDL-52XBR9 had a slightly dissapointing viewing angle; we measured the angle at which the contrast ratio dropped by 50% to be about 22 degrees, for a total viewing angle of 44 degees. This is somehat less than many other displays we've looked at; the Vizio VF550XVT, for instance had a total viewing angle to about 66 degrees. One thing to note here is that our measurments vary from the ones that the manufacturers use: most quote a figure for the angle at which the contrast ration drops below 100:1, which is much wider than our measure.
| Viewing Angle | |
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Reflectance (6.0)
A good HDTV has to deal with refelctions without affecting the aulity of the image, and we found that the KDL-52XBR9 did well here; although reflections were visible on the screen, they were not overly distracting. If you have a light close to your couch, you might see the reflection of the light in the screen if the angle is right, and you would also see a slight cross pattern around the light, but we didn't find it to be overly distracting from the screen itself.
Video Processing (3.0)
The Bravia KDL-52XBR9 offers a nubmer of features designed to enhance a noisy or otherwise problematic image.
| Setting | Claimed Function | Our Impression |
| Noise Reduction | 'Reduces the picture noise level' | Reduced noise in a porr quality cable signal |
| MPEG Noise Reduction | 'Reduces the mosaic effect in MPEG-compressed video. Useful for DVDs, Blu-ray and digital TV channels.' | Didn't make any real difference |
| Black Corrector | 'Enhances black areas of the picture for stronger contrast.' | Boosts blacks slightly by clipping out the darkest parts of the image |
| Advanced Contrast Enhancer | 'Automatically optimizes the backlight and contrast. This setting is especially effective for dark picture scenes.' | Boosted contrast slightly |
| Gamma | 'Adjusts the balance between light and dark areas of the picture.' | Altered the gamma curve to boost or supress midtones |
| Auto Light Limiter | 'Controls the backlight to reduce excessive brightness in bright scenes. For example, when watching daytime outdoor scenes you can select from High, Medium, Low. Select Off to disable the feature.' | Adjusts backlight in bright scenes. |
| Clear White | 'Emphasizes white and light colors.' | No discernable difference |
As usual with these settings, we didn't find any that are any real use. The noise reduction does help if you have a particularly poor quality cable channel, but you'd be better off either checking your cable or complaining to your TV company.
| Compare the Bravia KDL-52XBR9 to other HDTVs | |||||||
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| Sony Bravia KDL-52V5100 52 inches |
Samsung UN46B6000 46 inches |
Vizio VF550XVT 55 inches |
|||||
Shop for the Sony KDL-52XBR9
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