Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900

Value Comparison

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 is a plasma display. As such, it can produce exceptionally deep shadow and offers a wider viewing angle than any of the LCDs. But the benefits start to trail off after that. Time was, plasmas were thought to offer a better picture quality than LCDs in most regards. Those days have passed. In our testing, we found that a good LCD to offers more benefits, and the Sony XBR-52LX900 is a very good LCD. Of course, it’s also much more expensive. In addition to 2 extra inches of screen, the Sony offers built-in WiFi, a more attractive body, better performance, a more robust menu and feature set, and far better online content. It also comes with two pairs of 3D glasses, while you have to purchase the Panasonic glasses separately, at $150/pair. That may not be enough to cover the $1300 price gap, but it’s something to consider.

In terms of 3D performance, we still think the Panasonic has the best 3D effect, but you can’t ignore the brightness issue. The Panasonic’s brightest white is quite dim, and when you add the barrier of tinted 3D glasses, it makes the screen hard to watch in anything but a pitch black room.

Core Attributes Comparison
	Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900	Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20
Size	52 in.	50 in.
General Type	LED	Plasma
Format	1080p	1080p

Blacks & Whites

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 had an amazing black level score, but the peak brightness results were dismal. As a plasma, the Panasonic was expected to produce a dimmer screen than an LCD, but the margin or difference between the TC-P50VT20 and the three 3D LCD panels was simply too large to ignore. Compound this with the fact that 3D glasses cut brightness down even further, and it’s clear to see that the Panasonic could be problematic.

Color Accuracy

Neither the Sony XBR-52LX900 or the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 were particularly great. The Sony trended cooler as the signal intensity decreased, and the Panasonic warmed. In the RGB Color Curve test, the Panasonic’s curves appeared shakier, indicating increased levels of color banding. Overall, we’d have to give this one to Sony.

Color Temperature Comparison
Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900 (Score: 6.21)
Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20 (Score: 7.81)

RGB Comparison
Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900 (Score: 8.1)
Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20 (Score: 7.7)

Motion

The Panasonic showed an excellent performance in our motion testing, better than all the LCD televisions we compared it to. There was very little artifacting that we could spot, and the Panasonic did not even need some fancy motion smoothing processing, like the kind you find on Sony and Samsungs.

Motion Scores
	Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900	Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20
Motion Score

Viewing Effects

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20, as a plasma display, had a much, much better viewing angle than the Sony XBR-52LX900 or any of the LCD TVs. It measured about 160 degrees in total, versus 40 degrees on the Sony.

Viewing Angle Comparison
Sony Bravia XBR-52LX900: 2.66	Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20: 12.67

Connectivity

The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 has several more ports than the Sony XBR-52LX900, though it lacks an analog audio output. The Sony LX900 includes built-in WiFi, while the Panasonic requires the additional purchase of a USB dongle.

Connectivity Comparison
	Sony XBR-52LX900	Sony KDL-46HX800	Samsung UN55C7000	Panasonic TC-P50VT20
HDMI	4	4	4	4
Component	1	2	1	2
Composite	1	1	1	2
S-Video	0	0	0	0
VGA	1	1	1	1
Analog Audio In	3	1	2	4
Digital Audio Out	1	1	1	1
Analog Audio Out	0	1	1	0
Ethernet	Yes	None	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
USB	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Memory Card Types	None	None	None	SD/SDHC/SDXC/SDXC
DLNA	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes