These days, when you look for an LCD HDTV, you will often be presented with the LED-lit models, but that does not mean there are good standard LCD HDTV models available. The Sony Bravia KDL-52Z5100 is one example. In fact, this is our pick for the Best LCD HDTV on the market.
Design
The design of the KDL-52Z5100 may fall short of the more recent Sony monolithic models, but it remains a stylish piece. A thin, glossy black bezel surrounds the screen, running slightly thicker at the bottom to give a
Sony Bravia KDL-52Z5100
glimpse of its down-firing speakers, which is interrupted only by the Sony logo and power indicator and supported by a matching non-swivelling stand.
The remote control retains the same size and basically the same buttons as those that come with the XBR8 and XBR9 series, but offers the addition of a blue backlight. The on-screen menu is the same as other models, too – the Cross Media Bar layout seen on the Sony PlayStation and certain VAIO models that provides a uniform experience when navigating Sony devices.
Screen/Picture Clarity
The KDL-52Z5100 delivers breathtaking images, which burst to life with razor-sharp details, impressively deep black levels and generally accurate colors. The shadow detail is also one of the best around, and the screen is very good at handling reflections, much better than some Samsung models.
As usual, the difference made by its 240Hz Motionflow technology is difficult to distinguish, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see any blurry images on this one. The KDL-52Z5100 also deinterlaces both video-based and film-based sources properly as it should and handles 1080i and 1080p sources, along with standard-definition sources perfectly.
Features
The KDL-52Z5100 offers five Scene Select packages, including a dedicated Game Mode for a better gaming experience. There are also four aspect ratio modes, including an option to enable the Full Pixel Display for 1080p content, and plenty of color enhancement settings and other picture controls for you to play with.
Its interactivity suite consist of Yahoo widgets which you can resize and place anywhere on your screen, and the built-in video streaming capacity of the Bravia Internet Video Link, which allows access to clips from YouTube, Amazon Video On Demand and other select providers. It can also stream media files from networked computers.
Its connectivity suite consists of four HDMI inputs – three at the side and one at the rear, a PC input, a USB slot and two component video connections, among others.
All these combine to make the Sony Bravia KDL-52Z5100 an outstanding HDTV. For its excellent picture quality, impressive features and a lower price tag than some Bravia models, we give it the “Editor’s Choice” award for Best LCD HDTV and recommend it to anyone looking for a standard LCD HDTV that exceeds standards.
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