Excellent TV but still wondering if I should have opted for LED or Plasma...

Review by C. Williams

$2,399.99 $1,949.95 

I got this TV two weeks ago. As an admitted unapologetic Sony "fanboy" I had high expectations. The display is beautiful especially when viewing blu-ray's or HD sources. However in an extremely dark scene it is evident that LCD's still have a ways to go when it comes to contrasting blacks. I have played around with settings and even adjusted the custom setting to those recommended in CNet's review of the TV but it still leaves much to be desired. 

Pros: 

Excellent response time and display when viewing HD sources. 

A lot of options for customizing to fit your personal taste. 

A ton of extras (mostly accessed if/when you hook your TV up to your home internet network). The widgets and video on demand are fun features but likely not something that will be for the average user. 

Cons: Black contrasts still aren't near the level displayed in Plasmas and the LED technology also looks to be a major improvement in this area. 

Display of SD (standard definition/non HD) content leaves much to be desired. Going from an old Sony 36" CRT HDTV (HS510) standard definition played extremely well on that model and HD sources looked great also. On this model (like with most LCD's) the SD sources look worse than they normally do on non HD tubes. 

One area that I have yet to decide if it is a pro or a con is the input jacks. The back only has one HDMI input where as the side has 3. I really think Sony should have put two on the back and two on the side but at least the ones on the side are recessed enough to where the wires aren't visible unless you are standing near the side of the tv. 

I have already gotten compliments on the glass bezel that surrounds the screen and this tv definitely passes the "eye test" as far as attractiveness. The SONY logo at the bottom can be dimmed or turned off if you find it distracting (I thought this was a nice touch). 

I am happy with the purchase but all-in-all if I had to do it over I might wait for a 240Hz LED model by Sony or opt for a Plasma from a competitor.