What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
29 SEP 2009
Sony KDL-46Z5500
Add proper backlighting to a Sony TV's many other strengths and you get a great product. Simple, really
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It's safe to say our enjoyment of Sony's entire '5500 range of LCD TVs so far has been spoiled by the company's seeming inability to backlight the screens with any sort of consistency.
This KDL-46Z5500 reinforces what we've said – eradicate the backlight problems and a '5500 is a match for anything else out there.
This slim set includes all the specification highlights the price-tag hints at: 200Hz 'motionflow' processing, four 1.3a HDMI inputs, DLNA connectivity and a USB media input are among the highlights.
Sony's excellent Xross Media Bar makes set-up a breeze, and the remote is well laid out.
Reception from both integrated tuners is convincing. The Sony's colour palette is vibrantly natural, contrasts are handled confidently and there's none of the dreaded backlight beam in dark scenes. Detail levels are high, motion is tracked securely and digital picture noise is well suppressed.
The Sony upscales DVDs with panache, while native 1080p/24fps Blu-ray pictures are enjoyable in the extreme.
Convincing picture performance
Motion handling is impeccable: rapid pans, slow tracking shots, camera movements in opposition to on-screen direction – all are handled with utmost self-possession. Low-light detail levels, contrasts and skin-textures also impress.
Only sound, which carries a whiff of a 'false teeth' whistle, and the understated skintones fail to wholly convince.
The upshot is that we get to say, for the first time in quite a while: here's a brand-new Sony TV with, broadly speaking, no flaws.
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