Sony KDL-52Z5100 Review

Sony’s BRAVIA KDL-52Z5100 utilizes an Ethernet connection, as well as a 240Hz refresh rate, fluorescent backlighting, and the Internet-powered TV Guide Onscreen. It has many of the same features as Sony’s XBR9 series. The BRAVIA Z series is the company’s fluorescent backlit set with a 240Hz refresh rate.  Users can download widgets such as weather reports, financial news, Yahoo! Video, Flickr images, stock ticker updates, and additional content. The XBR9 has almost identical features to the Z series, though the XBR9’s have a wider color gamut backlight. With its TV Guide Onscreen, as well as USB port for connecting media, the Z series is quite versatile. And its Energy Star rating helps users save money on their bills.

Brief Specifications of KDL-52Z5100

• Resolution: 1080p (standard), 1920 x 1080 (exact)
• Contrast Ratio: 3800:1 (native) 100,000:1 Contrast Ratio (dynamic)
• 240Hz MotionFlow processing
• Ethernet: YES
• Picture-in-Picture: NO
• Anti-glare filter: YES
• 24p cinema mode: YES
• BRAVIA Internet Video
• TV Guide onscreen
• Yahoo Widgets
• Energy Star Rated

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Yahoo! Widgets included
• TV Guide onscreen
• Four HDMI and PC input
• Energy Star Rated

Cons:

• Upconverts standard-definition video to 1080p screen resolution
• Issues with picture presets and Motionflow feature
• Problem with greenish white balance
• No S-Video input

Features

Sony added a new TV Guide Onscreen feature to its 2009 line of LCD HDTVs. A big improvement over the standard TV Guide. The TV Guide Interactive Program Guide is integrated into the TV’s Xross Media Bar user interface to deliver regularly updated program listings via an Internet connection with no subscription fees or phone connection required.

The company’s BRAVIA Internet Video Link and improved DLNA capability is a big improvment over the 2008 models. The sets can now stream video and music from networked PCs, just like Samsung and Pioneer’s sets. BRAVIA Internet Video gives users premium and free on-demand entertainment streamed directly to the set, using a broadband connection and the BRAVIA remote control to access online video, music, and even more content from over 20 providers including Sony Pictures, Amazon Video On Demand, Sports Illustrated, YouTube, Sony Music, Slacker, and Epicurious.com. While there’s plenty of media to be streamed, the set has no support for AAC audio and only support for MPEG-2 video, leaving users little options in video and audio format compatibility.

Users can also connect a camera, USB-enabled MP3 player, or USB storage device directly to the KDL-52Z5100’s USB input for checking out photos or listening to MP3s. BRAVIA Z-Series HDTVs also support mpeg2 video files, so users can go straight from shooting video to screening it via USB.

The set’s Scene Select picture presets makes choosing the appropriate settings for each application easy. Scene Select packages different picture and audio settings based on the type of content being viewed. Its Sports package preset configures the picture and audio settings to mirror that of a stadium. Other packages include Cinema, Photo, Game, and Music.

Sony also has begun allowing its sets to update for the TV’s internal software through a fast broadband connection. The updates can also add Internet-enabled widgets for displaying real-time news, weather, and entertainment features onscreen.

Sony’s KDL-52Z5100 allows users to download Yahoo! Widgets such as weather reports, financial news, Yahoo! Video, Flickr images, stock ticker updates, and additional content. While this feature is also available in Samsung and LG, LG’s LH50 series offers users NetFlix streaming capability. Both Samsung and Sony have claimed that this service will be available in its sets in the near future. NetFlix withstanding, LG’s LH50 series interacts with Yahoo!’s widgets much better than either Samsung or Sony, getting a much better response time and smoother operation overall.

The Sony‘s KDL-52Z5100 surpasses the requirements of Energy Star 3.0 with several great energy saving features. Its LightSensor backlight control technology automatically adjusts the brightness of the TV based on room brightness. This lowers energy consumption a lot when switched on because using the set’s light at full power is unnecessary when exposed to sunshine or house lights.

Connectivity

With plenty of HD video inputs on the KDL-52Z5100, users have a lot of options when setting up the set. It includes four HDMI inputs with three on the side and one on the back. It also has two component video, a VGA input on the side, and an RF input. There is also a USB port on the side and an Ethernet jack in the rear for simplified access to MPEG-2, MP3, and JPEG files. Unlike many other brands, Sony decided to put most of the inputs on the side panel instead of on the back, which causes unattractive cables to be visible from the front.

Design

The KDL-52Z5100 has a very thin 1.4-inch bezel on top of a layer of dark-tinted translucent acrylic. Its matte-finished screen mirrors that of LG, giving much less glare off than Samsung’s glossy screens. A Sony logo glows in the center of the lower bezel, but it’s capable of being turned off via a menu setting. Its remote is almost identical to the one for Sony’s KDL-XBR8 series, complete with universal control functionality and a blue backlit keypad for quick response. The stereo speakers are hidden beneath the bottom edge of the set, giving more than enough volume for a mid-to-large-size room.

Performance

While the KDL-52Z5100 does give users MotionFlow technology with a 240Hz refresh rate, at times it can use a bit of tinkering with its picture controls for a optimum picture. It also has an upconverting issue with standard definition sources and a problem with some presets. Otherwise, it puts forth a beautiful picture and gives users plenty of picture controls to get what they want.

Black Levels

The LG LH90 series has similar black levels to the KDL-52Z5100, giving users plenty of depth to the levels, though the LH90 might just edge Sony out in shadow detail. Also, the KDL-52Z5100 outdoes LG in grayscale reproduction, which its sibling, the XBR8 also achieves over the competition.

Color Accuracy

The KDL-52Z5100 is factory tuned to replicate colors as close as possible. Its cinema picture preset probably gets the closest to perfect possible with the set. The company’s XBR8 has great consistency in white balance, but the KDL-52Z5100’s white balance slants a bit toward green, making fair skin tones look a bit sickly. While this could be corrected with the proper adjustments, not all consumers are so tech savvy.

Video Processing

The KDL-52Z5100 ‘s film-detection feature, called CineMotion, is switched off when using all picture presets, so users can lose detail and witness more artifacts with video originally captured at 24 frames per second, like in many films. Turning the setting on can fix that problem. The TV’s cinema preset also turns off the Motionflow interpolation feature. This improvement affects picture detail during scenes with lots of  motion, pushing the TV’s motion resolution from 600 lines of detail to 900 lines. Activating Motionflow improves picture clarity during busy scenes, so this seems to be an oversight. Sony’s Z series from 2008 had an issue with forgoing picture detail for 720p video sources through overscan. The Z5100 series rights this, letting every pixel of 720- and 1080-line video remain evident onscreen. Its VGA and component video inputs also give users full 1080p input.

Standard definition

LG’s LH90 provided less artifacts and a much smoother response when on Standard than Sony’s dejudder modes. But overall, Sony’s KDL-52Z5100’s has decent SD performance and works to reduce noise quite well, working with 2:3 pull-down just fine. The KDL-52Z5100 does take a step backward in upconverting standard-definition video to its native 1080p screen resolution. This can give users jagged-edge artifacts in some images, something last year’s models didn’t do.

Glare and Reflections

The KDL-52Z5100’s dark matte screen lowers reflections and gives great picture contrast in a well-lit room. In a dark room the screen can reduce light output when showing the color black, much like LG’s LH90 series. Samsung’s glossy screens can’t even touch either Sony or LG’s sets in glare reduction.

Conclusion

With the same slim formfactor of the original Z Series, Sony’s KDL-52Z5100 is the only line of the company’s TVs released in the first half of 2009 to give users a slim profile. The Z5100s are nearly identical to the XBR9 line except that the XBR9s have a different form of backlighting, boasting LED, and don’t offer users the same slim profile. The Z5100s are the step-up to Sony’s VE5s and V5100 Series, but they are comparable to the XBR8 in picture. With a slew of interactive features like upgradeable firmware, Yahoo! Widgets that can give users weather reports, financial news, Yahoo! Video, Flickr images, stock ticker updates, and additional content like YouTube, the KDL-52Z5100 is very versatile. Sony ‘s TV Guide Onscreen feature also gives users updated program listings via an Internet connection. While it does have issues with some of its picture presets, is lacking an S-Video input, and has an upconverting issue with standard definition sources, the set is still quite a good value.