Sony Bravia KDL-46Z5500 (46-inch LCD)

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Performance

Standard-definition (SD) content
For starters, the KDL-46Z5500 offers good clarity even if regular broadcasts weren't as sharp as we would have liked. Nevertheless, overall TV reception was very stable, mostly grain-free and smooth. Switching to digital (DVB-T), however, brought back the Bravia magic characterized by crisp pictures and fine details. Our upscaled DVDs, on the other hand, were rendered in revealing shadows and jaggy-free pictures, though noise reduction really kicked in only at mid level. It was also a walk in the park for Avia's grayscale tracking test, held back by slightly off-color decoding.

SD performance

	Analog TV	Digital TV	DVD
Details	Average	Good
Sharpness	Good
Noise suppression	Average
Motion	Excellent

High-definition (HD) content
Tuning into the local MediaCorp HD programs, we immediately observed a notable fidelity boost with accentuated subtlety. That said, it was this Sony's Blu-ray playback which sealed our nods of approval. We were delighted by the panel's balanced sharpness, film-like visuals, rich yet natural hues and skin tones despite the earlier Avia flaw. Furthermore, black was deep (one of the best for its class), while its 200Hz engine removed judder effectively. Our review unit had no problem in tackling the HD-HQV's video resolution loss test and nearly nailed the film resolution loss chart, too.

HD performance

	HD broadcast	Blu-ray	Game
Details	Good	Excellent
Sharpness	Excellent
Noise suppression	Average		N.A.
Motion	Excellent

Games, PC and multimedia
Gaming-wise, full-HD graphics piped through our consoles using HDMI and component-video outputs were fluidly clear and razor-sharp with negligible motion blur. This high legibility applied for PC text at 1080p resolution as well, matched by banding-free color gradations on our test chart. The KDL-46Z5500 was a bit slow loading our JPEG files. Still, they were displayed brilliantly in print quality. As for videos, one of our MPEG-1 files was strangely played back in a small window, but this was not an issue for the rock-solid and sharp MPEG-2 and AVCHD clips.

Multimedia performance

	USB	Ethernet
8MP JPEG	7 sec, print quality.
MP3	Musical, clear sounding with decent bass presence.
Video	MPEG-1 playback in a small window only	Smooth and brilliant AVCHD and sharp MPEG-2

Audio And Conclusion
There was a healthy bass presence, paired with an articulated vocal and extended treble range that made MP3 pretty enjoyable on this Sony. Add to these fine credentials was a good stereo imaging ideal for jazz and pop soundtracks. We did have to crank up to 60 percent of full volume for our reference loudness, while S-Force front surround was fairly useful in opening up the sound stage. The S$4,999 (US$3,577.61) KDL-46Z5500 is a strong all-rounder, particularly in audio-visual performance. It's also more affordable than the Samsung LA46B750U1M, though the latter offers Web content streaming.

Tags: TV, Image, All-in-One, Sony Corp., multimedia

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