Sony Bravia KDL-46Z5100

The 46-inch Sony Bravia KDL-46Z5100 ($2,599.99 direct) is the newest member of the company's Z series of 1080p TVs, and with it comes 240-Hz display technology and an impressive list of Internet-enabled features. Sony TVs are known for their superb picture quality, but my lab tests revealed that the KDL-46Z5100 required some fine-tuning to expose its full picture potential.

The KDL-46Z5100's appreciably thinner 1.4-inch bezel is topped with a layer of dark-tinted translucent acrylic that adds a subtle highlight to the beveled, matte-finished surface beneath. The illuminated Sony logo centered on the lower bezel can be turned off via a menu setting. A thin, finely perforated strip along the set's bottom edge conceals a set of stereo speakers that provide ample volume for a mid-to-large-size room. The premium baton-style remote is almost identical to the one included with the , complete with universal control functionality and a blue backlit keypad that provides excellent tactile feedback and quick response.

The ample selection of HD video inputs on the KDL-46Z5100 includes four HDMI (three on the side), two component video, VGA (side), and an RF input. It's odd that Sony chose to place the majority of the set's HD inputs on the side rather than on the front; any kind of long-term use of these ports will leave unsightly cables visible from the front. A USB port (also on the side) and Ethernet jack (rear) allow for simplified access to MPEG-2, MP3, and JPEG files. Connecting the TV to broadband service enables video streaming services from Amazon, Yahoo, YouTube, and others, as well as an updated selection of various video podcasts, although no option exists to add your own favorite RSS feeds. Also nice are the simplified firmware updates for the TV's internal software: My review unit asked to update itself once after its initial setup, and the process took only a couple of minutes using a fast broadband connection. (By the time you read this, Sony should also have released an update for the Z5100-series TVs that adds a selection of Internet-enabled widgets for displaying real-time news, weather, and entertainment features onscreen.)

Like most Sony televisions I've reviewed over the past few years, the KDL-46Z5100 is factory tuned to produce colors that measure very close to the HD spec—particularly with the cinema picture preset enabled. I was further impressed by the consistency of the set's white balance, which showed very little fluctuation in my grayscale measurements—the test results were similar to those of the Editors' Choice KDL-46XBR8. The KDL-46Z5100's white balance, however, was skewed slightly toward green, making fair skin tones look a bit sickly. I could correct this issue using the controls provided in the regular user menus, but not every KDL-46Z5100 owner will want to pay a professional to perform this correction.

One minor complaint I had about Sony's Z4100-series TVs was that they sacrificed picture detail with 720p video sources through overscan. The Z5100 series corrects this, allowing every pixel of 720- and 1080-line video to remain visible onscreen, and the sets' VGA and component video inputs also allow for full 1080p input.

With its ability to produce ample light output, the KDL-46Z5100's dark-colored matte screen minimized harsh reflections and provided good apparent picture contrast in a well-lit viewing environment. The set's dark-room performance, which highlights its ability to minimize light output when displaying video black, resulted in a good average contrast ratio of 3,130:1, with a related black-level measurement of 0.03 candela per square meter (cd/m²)—almost identical to what I saw with the LED-lit .

One area in which the KDL-46Z5100 takes a step backward is upconverting standard-definition video to its native 1080p screen resolution; some obvious jagged-edge artifacts resulted. Also, the set's film-detection feature (dubbed CineMotion) is switched off with all picture presets, resulting in loss of detail and increased artifacts with video originally captured at 24 frames per second (including most movies). Enabling this setting corrected the related issues I saw in a selection of classic DVD movies as well as in 1080i video sources (Blu-ray and HD satellite programming). Use of the TV's cinema preset also turns off the Motionflow interpolation feature, which improves picture detail with scenes depicting motion. This boosted the TV's motion resolution test results from about 600 lines of detail to 900 lines (out of a possible 1,080). In HD video samples that included CNBC's scrolling stock ticker and a scene showing a steady flow of traffic, activating Motionflow dramatically improved picture clarity.

Sony's commitment to minimizing its impact on the environment includes improvements in energy efficiency as well as reducing resources with each new HDTV model. The KDL-46Z5100 comes with no A/V cables that may go unused, and its abbreviated operating manual covers the basics and highlights a complete, interactive online version. The set's estimated average energy usage of 170W and operating cost of $2.95 per month (based on 5 hours of daily use at $0.1135 per kWh, the 2008 national average) using default picture settings is very good compared with other similarly sized screens, and this helps the set earn our GreenTech Approved designation.

The Sony KDL-46Z5100 leverages Internet multimedia better than any television I've seen, and although its ability to stream multimedia files over a local network is somewhat limited (there's no support for AAC audio and only support for MPEG-2 video), these features are well implemented and easy to use. My main criticism concerns this set's preset picture configurations: They fail to enable the set's otherwise capable film detection and processing. Also, the TV's greenish white balance when using its cinema preset is considered one of the most obvious picture configuration errors. Every major LCD manufacturer is readying delivery of its version of 240-Hz display tech, and although the Z5100's integrated features are appealing, it will be interesting to see if any other company can deliver a better factory-optimized picture.

Sub-ratings:
Image Quality:
Value:
Usability:

Benchmark Test Results:
Calibrated display settings
HDMI video input @ 1080p24/1080p60
Objective Testing (higher is better):
VESA Bright Uniformity 79.8%
VESA Dark Uniformity 34.7%
HQV Benchmark score: 90/130
HD HQV Benchmark score: 65/100
Average Contrast Ratio: 3130:1
Average Power Consumption (default settings): 170W; $2.95/month @ $0.1135/kWh (2008 USA average)

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