Sony BRAVIA KDL55HX800 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D-Ready LED HDTV, Black
- 55-inch Dynamic Edge LED-backlit HDTV with Full HD 1080p resolution, ready for you to enjoy 3D movies, sports and videogames with optional accessories
- Motionflow 240Hz technology for smoothest motion in fast action sports and games, BRAVIA Engine 3 fully digital video processor
- Wi-Fi ready (with optional dongle), access to BRAVIA Internet video, USB port for photos, music and video playback
- Inputs , 4 HDMI, 2 component, 2 composite, 1 PC, 1 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 optical digital audio output.
- Includes removable stand, measures 50.4 x 31.5 x 13.8 inches with stand
Rating:
List Price: $ 1,799.00
Best Price$ 1,799.00
Post on December 4th, 2011 Please check price update will lowest price or up.
Sony KDL-55HX800 55″ 1080p 240Hz 3D LED LCD HDTV
Excellent, but NOT without flaws – Read here,
First off, I’m not a biased reviewer. Everything I review, I do it for the sake of truthness.
By the way, I own the 40 inch of this model.
I have owned and do own SEVERAL TVs, ranging from brands and types. I am a HUGE audio/video phile, and I always have been since the introduction of high definiton teleivision. I’m going to break this review down into a few parts.
SETUP + BUILD QUALITY
- Pretty straight forward. Easy to assemble, but the back semi circular black piece doesn’t like to stay in place and doesn’t feel super high quality. The stand however feels sturdy especially once the TV is screwed into it. This is an easy part, it’s four screws which is nothing difficult. Now, onto the TV. Compared to other Sony models I’ve owned or do own (S5100, XBR4, SXRD XBR2, Trinitron 34 inch CRT, EX 46 inch), this TV feels VERY high quality. The bezel feels very well made and produced, unlike a few Sonys I’ve seen before. The screen also feels very high quality, and is not super reflective, unless there’s a lot of light. Then, it gets interesting. The remote is set up decently, but may be a little confusing to some. Again, straightforward. Upon turning on the TV you’ll enter a setup screen etc, you know the rundown. You will be prompted to set up an internet connection, and when you do you’ll have tons of interesting aps to keep you busy for a while. Netflix and the Golf channel are to name a few. The menu system is also similar to that of the Playstation 3, and is VERY easy to navigate. Good rating here Sony.
FEATURES + INPUTS
Pretty short category. FOUR HDMI ports! That’s pretty decent. You’ll have standard Component, Composite, Tuner, and PC inputs. All put very well on the back or side of the TV. 3D TV, and it can simulate 3D for ANY video, so it isn’t just 3D capable, it’s 3D ready. In addition it also has the internet aps I briefly spoke about and has all the basic features and inputs you want from a TV. Menu is very easy to use.
PICTURE QUALITY
Okay, the big category now! Before I begin speaking about this, I ALWAYS let my TVs burn in for 80+ hours of use, and then I have them professionaly calibrated, NOT BY BEST BUY. Best Buy calibration is total garbage – I speak from experience. I pay a seasoned professional who does a fantastic job with all the latest ISF gadgetry. Out of the box, SD picture is decent. It’s not as good as say a top CRT, but the SD is comparable to other TVs in this category of Edge Lit LED. It’s good, but not fantastic. Some channels look better than others. Out of the box the HD picture is where this set shines. It gives some very deep blacks and showcases a vast array of detail. It’s sharp, and there is VERY little motion blur. The CineMotion setting I set to off. Detail is equally impressive in light/dark scenes, and all HD sources look very, very good. I use the Playstation 3 as a Blu Ray player and I play all sorts of console games such as God of War 3, Mass Effect 2 (360), Call of Duty, etc. I also watch a massive amount of blu rays from comedies to action, and the picture never fails. I compared this to a LX9 XBR (Brand new), and I thought the picture quality was VERY similar. I forced the guys at the Sony Style store to move these two sts side by side with the exact same inputs. The XBR 9 only had VERY SLIGHTLY better detail in darker scenes (splitting hairs), but that may have been due to other reasons. Overall, quality is wonderful. Again, motion blur even in dark scenes is not evident. I like to test a certain scene in the game “Resistance 2″, to showcase any motion blur, and even when only 120Hz is turned on there is very little or no blur. By testing the Bravia 3 engine, my calibrator found the engine was powerful and moving images where showcased very well. We were suprised, because most of my Sony sets in the past failed during this test.
However, I DO NOT like an out of the box picture, personally. It’s over bright, the colors are torqued up and are innacurate, and these other features such as “advanced contrast control” or “LED control” are garbage. Turn them off completely. Get this TV calibrated – and even then, it isn’t 100% perfect. My calibrator worked hours to get the gray scale as accurate as possible. He came very very close, and the TV calibrated very nicely. We have it on the “Custom setting”, which Warm 2 as the color option, and brightness set to 51, Picture to 75, and color to 52. We have ALL SETTING OFF except Live Color set to low. Back light is on 6, because I like it a tiny bit brighter. Sharpness needs to be set to 0, it ruins a picture. If I get enough likes on this review I will post my gray scale calibrations.
This all may be true, but the picture is NOT without flaw. Due to being edge lit, you do have a little bit of cloudiness. I have both the 40 inch and the 55 inch model, and it’s MUCH lower on the 40 inch. It’s only…
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|Excellent 2D HDTV, amazing 3D if you want it.,
I’ve had this set for about a month now and absolutely loving it. If you are in the market for a new HDTV, you should try this set out at your local SonyStyle or B&M electronics store as a future proofed set even in the presence of so many 3D skeptics. If you like gaming, you will be pleased to see HD gaming has been taken to the next level. Just play Motor Storm 3D and you will believe.
2D is amazing, and 3D is stunning! I didn’t notice ghosting when viewing native 3D content as compared to the Samsung/LG sets (where ghosting was extremely obvious). Although this is an LCD set, the 3D clarity were similar to the Panasonic plasma sets I also tried. I ended up going with this set because the glasses felt better designed.
Only negative is the limited native 3D content so far… but things should get better by this winter and early next year. Can’t wait for some football on ESPN 3D.
UPDATE (11/28/2010): I’ve had this set for a little over 3 months now and my opinion on it is still the same, better if it was possible to go over 100%.
Pros:
As stated before, amazing picture quality both in 2D and 3D.
It wasn’t an important feature for me when I purchased this set, but I am now starting the realize how nice the black levels are on this set. Once you get used to the black levels on this TV, you will notice the mediocre black levels on cheaper or traditional LCD HDTVs and finally see what you’ve been missing by not getting a Plasma… but this is a LCD (LED) set that has black levels comparable to Plasmas – a must see. Plasmas are absolutely a non option for me because I do a lot of gaming and pause my DVR alot, don’t want to deal with burn in problems down the road.
Additional positives I discovered about Sony 3DHDTVs in general are the replaceable batteries for the 3D glasses. It will end up costing much less to operate than the Samsung rechargeable types because once the batteries in the Samsung glasses are dead, you have to replace the glasses. Much cheaper to replace the CR2032s ($1.50 – $2.00 each for a good one) than to purchase new glasses.
3D Gaming is georgeous on this set. Gran Turismo 5 in 3D mode is a must try for people who like 3D (native 3D mode was hidden deep inside the game options menu – resist the temptation of just pressing the simulated 3D button on your TV’s remote if you struggle with finding the 3D option as I did for a few minutes).
Cons:
3D blu-ray library have definately improved, and next year releases looking good… but still needs time to mature. I still think some the exclusive releases are slowing adaptation of 3D HDTVs, but I could wait – it is nice to see demand for native 3D blu ray on auction sites pressuring some movie studios. You may notice 3D content on DirecTV may flicker a little when compared to native 3D blu rays because the DirecTV signal consist of two channels of 720p or 1080i instead of two channels of 1080p as you would get on a blu-ray or PS3 game. Neither one of these issues are issues with this set specifically, but with 3DHDTVs in general. Native 3D blu-ray and games are amazing on this set.
Reflective surface may reflect some direct sunlight. I have a large window with vertical blinds directly across from my entertainment center and behind my couch. During the brightest time of day, a small percentage of those lights can seep through my blinds and be reflected on the glossy finish. It isn’t a problem when I’m just watching TV 2D or 3D with regular room lighting or during the day. But when I play GT5 in 3D mode in the middle of the afternoon, it can throw my perception off as I try to focus further down the road. But since I don’t get to play in the middle of the afternoon that often, it isn’t an issue for me.
Integrated speakers are horrible. I didn’t expect too much though… this set is designed to be thin for visual aesthetics and so naturally doesn’t have the required airspace for the integrated speaker sound to reverberate and amplify itself. Hooked it up to a home theatre system, and problem solved.
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|One of the Best Edge Lit LED Panels of 2010,
In a world of so many options for LED LCD TV’s, I can say that this is an excellent choice. I sold my Pioneer Elite plasma due to the flicker, and was looking for a CCFL backlit LCD, but was not impressed with the selection this year (wanted CCFL backlit as I own a Samsung 46B750 LCD from 2009, and the picture is spectacular). You will often see reviews of edge lit LED’s state issues with clouding or flashlighting and uneven backlighting. The HX800 has a very uniform backlight with no issues seen with other manufacturers. I would recommend, however, to purchase the panel from somewhere like Amazon with a liberal return policy because you don’t want to get stuck with a panel that does have issues. For the price, this is an excellent panel with accurate colors, very good black levels and shadow detail, and excellent motion handling. Before buying this panel I had bought the LG 55LX9500 full array LED local dimming set and was disappointed with the banding and uneven backlighting. Overall, the HX800 is a great panel.
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