Sony Bravia KDL32V5500U 32-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p LCD TV with Freeview
Posted by Notcot on Jun 3, 2010 in Home Cinema & Video |
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I bought this TV to replace a Samsung LE32R88BD. Overall, it is a fantastic TV. I thought it would be useful to address some of the negative comments regarding this model that I came across when I was researching the various TVs within my budget.
Faulty components – One reviewer stated that the LCD panel developed a fault after 20 months. This particular model comes with a free 3-year guarantee from Sony. It is possible to get a 5-year guarantee from several high street stores at the time of writing.
Picture colour – Several reviewers complained that the picture colour was unnatural. All the settings can be changed and you can use a calibration DVD to set the TV to D65 imaging standard. In addition, the TV also boasts several “scene” settings including cinema, sports, photo, music, game, graphics, general, and auto.
LCD clouding – Several reviewers have complained of LCD clouding. I am happy to say that I have not noticed any clouding on my TV. However, even if this fault were to develop, it would be covered by the guarantee.
100Hz Motionflow – This TV does not have a 100Hz Motionflow feature. I deliberated for a long time whether to purchase the KDL32V5500 or the KDL32W5500 which does have Motionflow. However, on a 32 inch TV, you really cannot tell the difference between 50Hz and 100Hz. The KDL32V5500 handles fast-moving objects very well and I have not noticed any artefacts. If you were considering a bigger TV (over 40 inches) it might be worth going for a 100Hz model.
SD quality – Several reviewers commented that the quality of SD pictures is poor. Perhaps this depends on the quality of your TV reception, but I am perfectly happy with the quality of SD pictures via freeview. In fact, the quality is marginally better than my old Samsung.
Input lag – This was probably one of my biggest concerns about this particular model. I have played several FPS games on this TV including MW2, Killzone 2, and Operation Flashpoint 2. I have not noticed any input lag whatsoever. Generally, the PS3 looks superb on this TV.
Slow menus – Some reviewers have complained about slow menus across the Bravia range. If you have this problem I suggest you change the batteries in the remote control. The ones that ship with the TV are useless! If that doesn’t solve the problem, try installing the latest firmware. The menu on my TV is just as responsive as the XMB on my PS3. The EPG is also very impressive (once you have turned the Guide+ off!).
Hope that is helpful and clears up some of the issues that confused me when I was looking to buy. Who’d have thought buying a TV could be so complicated!
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this to replace my 3 year old non-HD Sony 23 inch LCD TV. The clarity of the picture is superb – colours balanced with no motion blurring that I have noticed. Watching the “Sarah Connor Chronicles” on Virgin 1 via Freeview, the picture is touching the cinematic with the light and hues well reproduced. Seeing “Revenge of the Sith” on DVD was like watching a new movie again. I could see the intricate patterns and textures on characters’ clothing, and the opening battle is given full justice. All this without even trying HD sources (which I do not yet own). This is a huge improvement on my old Sony which suffered from blurring when showing fast moving objects.
The set is future proof (for now) with all the connections you need, including a PC input and new networking standard for devices, called DLNA . Though there is a USB socket for showing your photos and video on the TV, only Sony cameras and camcorders are compatible, so I can’t hook up my iPod or a USB memory device (except Sony Microvault).
Other features include a low energy mode, extensive ways to adjust the picture and sound, a swivel stand, a Top-Up TV slot and a photo frame function. The on-screen menu is the best I have seen and easy to use.
Personally, the styling is disappointing by Sony standards and it looks very different in real life from the photos. Overall the design is low key rather than striking. The remote control, considering this is a mid-range model, is light and flimsy. As the case with flat screen TVs, the sound is generally only acceptable.
Overall, this is an excellent Sony TV with the latest Sony Bravia 3 engine.
Rating: 5 / 5
Got this TV first class delivered, brilliant service by amazon. Thought I would wait a little longer and spend the extra money on this TV, due to the Bravia Engine 3 technology, and i can say it was definately worth it. I have a ps3 connect via HDMI and they both work great together, TV has same GUI as ps3 and picture quality is sublime! I was going to buy a samsung but im glad i bought this, It has a great finish and slim compared to other full hd tv’s..totally recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5
As a lot of other people have stated in other reviews, this is a great TV. I use it with a PS3, Sky HD and Samsung HDMI DVD player and all sources give a great, non motion-blurred picture. The XMB interface is great and the network stuff is quite cool, if a little pointless.
One gripe I do have though is that there is no way whatsoever to switch to 4:3 pillarbox on the HDMI inputs. Apparently Sony bypassed a lot of the picture processing electronics for HDMI signals to give as ‘pure’ a picture as possible. Fair enough, but I now have to watch 4:3 DVDs and non 16:9 TV in stretchyvision! Some could argue that it is up to the source to deal with 4:3 content, I know the PS3 does this for 4:3 video but Sky HD certainly doesn’t (incidentally Virgin’s HD box does) and neither does my DVD player. So something to be aware of if you’re particularly picky about aspect ratios.
Oh, and the finish is a dust magnet!
Rating: 4 / 5
I ordered one of these TVs in December to go with the imminent delivery of Shy+ HD having read several reviews both on line and in magazines – this is a What Hi-Fi home Cinema 5 start TV so I thought it should be good. And it is, kind of. The TV itself looks great and is well built. The picture was great after a fit of fiddling about.
You see the Eco energy saving settings and the light sensor always want to dim the TV to save energy, this to me always meant the picture was too dark, even with the affect set to low I found myself turning up the brightness and backlight settings. After a while I decided the best picture came from turning off the eco settings and then the backlight could go down to 2 or 3 out of 10 and the picture was great.
The main problem though, which became more apparent when watching a movie, was a severe case of LCD clouding – a 3 inch strip down the centre of the screen, most noticeable on dark scenes in movies – I first spotted it watching the night scenes in Castaway on Sky movies.
It was present on both Sky and DVD inputs via HDMI so I returned the TV – Amazon were great and shipped me a new one before I returned the faulty one. Problem was the new one had the same problem – a 1 inch strip down the left edge of the screen. Not as bad a as the first but bad enough.
So, this one is going back too. Not for a replacement though. Handily this months What Hi-Fi magazine is testing 37″ TVs, including the 37″ version of this, in which they report significant LCD clouding spoiling a good TV. This seems to be a common problem and for that reason I am switching to the winner of this month’s 37″ test – a Samsung LE37B550A5, which not only wins the test with five starts, is also larger screen for less money here on Amazon. Hopefully this will be problem free.
Lastly, its also worth noting that the details for this TV are incorrect – it does NOT have Motionflow 200Hz or indeed any kind of motionflow feature – this only comes on the `W’ series of Bravias from what I can see.
Rating: 2 / 5