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Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 Review
The Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100
The Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 is one of Sony’s most innovative offerings for 2009, loaded with the most interactive features yet, good picture quality and a bunch of cool extras. For all these, the price is relatively affordable, too, making it an excellent choice for buyers with a low budget but high expectations.
Design
The Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 may not be the most eye-catching piece around, but still exudes sophistication and elegance with a sleek, dark gray frame topped with a transparent layer. The invisible speakers make it even more attractive while its non-swiveling stand matches the rest of the design.
As for the remote, the one that comes with the KDL-65W5100 is smaller than previous ones, but is more user-friendly with a prominent central cursor and fewer buttons which are easy to distinguish from each other. The only downside is that the remote can only control HDMI-compatible devices and not others via infrared. The interface is similar to that of the Sony PlayStation3, with a horizontal selection of legible, white text against a black background accompanied with comprehensive explanatory text to enlighten you about the function of each one.
Screen/Picture Clarity
Owing to a lower contrast ratio than the smaller sized models in its series - 50,000:1 instead of 100,000:1 - the black levels produced by the KDL-65W5100 may not be as impressive, but still deep enough that the image bursts to life and its details stand out. The rest of the colors are generally accurate, although the dark areas may sometimes appear blue and a trained eye can catch a tinge of yellow on the skin tones.
The video processing of the KDL-65W5100 is quite solid, too, with its 120Hz refresh rate taking care of any blurring. Even with the dejudder turned off, it is capable of processing 1080p sources without any noticeable loss of detail, while deinterlacing 10801/24p sources correctly.
Features
What distinguishes the KDL-65W5100 from other models the most is its interactivity suite, the best Sony has come up with so far. This suite currently includes three Yahoo widgets - News, Weather and Finance - that you can move around the screen pretty much like you arrange the icons on your desktop and streaming video from providers like Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Sony Pictures, Sports Illustrated, Epicurious.com and soon, Netflix. It also has four aspect ratio modes and three picture presets, along with additional Game, PC and Sports presets, and a Cinema mode you can instantly activate by pressing the Theater button.
There is also an Eco Menu to help you cut down on energy consumption and the usual four HDMI inputs, although surprisingly, most of them are located on the side panel along with the PC input, the USB port and an AV input instead of the rear panel, where you will find the component-video inputs and Ethernet port, along with the other regular connections.
For a large, interactive TV, the Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 is certainly one of the top choices to consider. However, for those who are more keen on picture quality, there are other models which will give you sharper and clearer images for the same price.
<< Click HERE to Read The Sony Bravia KDL-65W5100 User Reviews >>
I’ve had this 65″ Sony LCD for about a month now, and it is incredible. I replaced a 63″ Samsung plasma that I had just had delivered. The Samsung had a really clear picture but, despite its size, the picture just didn’t have the impact you expect from a screen that large. It just wasn’t bright enough. The Sony really took care of that. The colors are natural but they really “pop.” The clarity and brightness tremendous. And let’s face it, larger screens are a lot more fun to watch, as long as the picture quality is retained. Watching sports and movies on this set is mesmerizing. It reminds me of the first time I had an HD set and would watch anything, just because the picture was so phenomenal. Everything is a blast to watch on this TV. I can’t imagine how it could be improved (although I have it hooked up to a surround system, so I can’t comment on the TV speakers).
Hello all,
I work for the Big Screen Store in Fairfax, Virginia. We just received this set. I have been in the industry for over 8 years now and have sold the best that Flat panel has to offer (Pioneer Elite, Sony XBR, etc). When I first un-boxed this set, I immediately adjusted the settings to accommodate the proper levels for our store HD feed. I was very impressed with the color, clarity, and black levels of the image. It was vivid, but still very natural, and skin tones were very good as well. As earlier posts have mentioned, YES the LCD is 64.5″ Diagonal, which makes it a 65″ TV. There are plenty of inputs available for all types of goodies. Setup is very easy as with all new Sony products, and with input sensing there is no need to cycle through unused inputs on the TV, thus saving time and effort when switching from CABLE/SAT to blu-ray. As with all TV’s over 50 inches, DVD’s look okay, and not because there is something wrong with the TV, it’s just the limits of DVD video quality. You MUST HAVE a blu-ray player to fully take advantage of the set.
I must admit, I was a little concerned when I heard Sony and Samsung had inked a deal with Sharp to produce the 65″ panels for them, but I am very impressed. THe Sharp model lacks a good video processor and thus cannot produce the image quality of the Sony or Samsung 65″ LCD. Overall I am very impressed with the set.
As with all new Flat Panels, the sound sucks really bad on this TV. Even if you don’t want/need surround sound, I strongly suggest a separate sound setup. Whether it’s just stereo or surround. All TV’s now have only 5-30 watt speakers, and most of them are built on the BACK SIDE of the TV set for aesthetic reasons, which is obviously not conducive to proper listening. I have sat in many training’s for Sony, Samsung, etc. All the manufacturers have the same mindset, they don’t care about sound, they assume everyone in today’s age has at least a separate stereo system. Do you know that headphones run on 5 watts?!!! At 50% plus volume, it’s like taking a nice pair of headphones off your head and listening to them at a distance. Do yourself, your ears, and the TV a system a favor and get a sound system!!!!
Thanks !!
I ordered mine as soon as it became available and let me tell you now this thing is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I put is side by side with kuro that was 18 months old and the kuro didnt even look as good in a number of situations. Not sure if the kuro had been calibrated in awhile but the Sony looked great right out of the box. It is gorgeous hanging on the wall.
The person who posted a review for this TV where he says the TV is only 61 or 62 inches is not correct. I am having one delivered in the next day or two however because of his review I went to Fry’s and RC Wiley and measured it myself. It is 64.5 inches which is what SONY indicated at their website. I will provide a further review once I have the set.
I was very surprised to learn from the other reviewer that the screen size is only 61 inches measured diagonally. I don’t own this TV but I am looking for a 65 inch unit to replace
my 65 inch xbr rear profection. I did a little investigation and called Sony and they referred me to there outlet stores. I called three different stores, two in Las Angeles and one in Gilroy Ca. and only one had the TV in stock but the salesman was kind enough to measure the TV’s screen size. He called me back about two hours latter and told me it measured 64.5 inches diagonally as Sony advertised it. He also said the gentleman probably measured the TV on the horizontal axis. I am not writing this to dispute the other reviewers measurements but I also know that Sony has been building great TV’s for a long time and they know they could never sell a TV that is four inches smaller than there specs says. I can’t and will not pretend to speak for other people but if I purchased a TV that was that far off in screen size I would return it immediately. I also look forward to comparing this TV with Samsung’s new 65 inch 65B650 when they become available. Just my .02 worth….Dave H.
Stop working after two months electronics expo refuse to give me warranty on a $3000 tv piece of junk product an very bad reseller they should not work with amazon
This is a best deal I can find for Sony 65″ HD TV. The picture quality is good. I like the Sony brand name despite some reviews said that Samsung has better picture quality for the HD TV. I just feel more comfortable with Sony name.