Sony KDL-40W5500 Review
By Vincent Teoh • 23 March 2009 • Verdict:
What a coincidence… on the very same day that we published our review of the Sony KDL40W5500, What Hifi has decided to release their own Sony KDL-40W5500 review (which was originally scheduled for 8 April 2009) on their website.
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| What Hifi’s originally scheduled Sony KDL-40W5500 review date |
More research material for those of you who are considering buying the Sony KDL-40W5500 HDTV then. To help you with your purchase decision, here’s a breakdown of how the calibrated Sony KDL-40W5500 LCD television fared against its predecessor (the outgoing W4500 series) and its closest competitor (the Samsung B650) in our tests.
Note: The specific model we tested was the Sony KDL40W5500U (which denotes the 3-pin-plug United Kingdom version), but the terms KDL40W5500, KDL-40W5500 and KDL40W5500U may be used interchangeably throughout this article and the full review.
Sony KDL-40W5500 vs. Sony W4500
For
- Sharper standard-definition upscaling/ upconversion quality
- Able to correctly process 3:2 and 2:2 pulldown for SD film mode deinterlacing
- White balance and gamma controls now available in user menu
- No undefeatable edge enhancement applied to 1080 source
- One extra HDMI port
- Applicast, USB video playback and DLNA media streaming capabilities
Against
- Primary chromaticities not as accurate
- Higher input lag even in [Game Mode]
Both sets exhibit roughly the same amount of clouding and backlight bleed out of the box, which can be reduced to unobtrusive levels with the correct picture settings.
Sony KDL-40W5500 vs. Samsung B650
Advantages of the Sony KDL-40W5500
- Cleaner 100Hz motion (less interpolation artefacts)
- Colours more well-saturated
- Shadow detail marginally more revealing
- Slightly sharper SD upscaling
- More competent 2:2 cadence detection for real-life material
- Slightly wider viewing angles
Advantages of the Samsung B650
- Less chance of clouding
- 100Hz motion can be applied to movies without making them look like video
- Superior SD video mode deinterlacing/ jaggies smoothening
- More accurate colour hues
- No red push
- USB video file playback supports more format (including MKV)
- “Internet@TV” is prettier and more practical than Sony’s Applicast
For all intensive purposes, black-level performance and input lag (with [Game Mode] engaged) are similar on both TV sets.
Conclusion
The Sony KDL-40W5500 and the Samsung B650 are the top two non-LED-backlit LCD TVs available on the market at the moment… you can’t go wrong with either, because both of them are capable of delivering top-notch picture quality. Your final choice should boil down to the importance you place on their respective pros and cons, brand preference, and of course your own budget.
