Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-52XBR5 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

After almost a year of doing research on all 52 inch LCD’s, my wife and I finally took the plunge and bought the XBR5. We already had a Samsung 32 inch HI DEF with great picture quality, and, the Samsung 71 and 81F’s were in the running; but, as with a good portion of reviewers on Amazon, we, too, found the glare of the Samsungs a big negative. We checked out both the XBR5 and the 71F side by side at a closeby TV warehouse, and glare issues on the SAMMY finally eliminated it from the list. True, the Samsung’s picture was stunning, but the screen picked up just about every available light source in the store and threw it back out at the viewer. It’s too bad Samsung is so set on the glass. It really is a huge problem.

Now, onto the SONY XBR5. The side speakers are more than adequate for the average viewer; however, if you’re an audiophile, a good sound system would be recommended down the road after the TV is paid off. I was pleasantly surprised, though, with the quality of the internal speakers.

The picture on this TV is outstanding; superb, actually. After spending some time with the video settings, I found that the VIVID mode was the absolute best for our viewing, as long as the color was also backed down to about 70 percent, the brightness to about 30 percent and contrast to 60 percent or so. The tint was fine at the 0 level. It’s truly amazing that a screen of this size shows virtually NO pixels at a normal viewing distance. The video in HI DEF looks as crisp and clean as a movie screen. The standard analog programming just pales in comparison. We found it a bit “fuzzy”, but with a screen this size, it’s to be expected. To really appreciate this TV, one MUST have a HI DEF cable box or go satellite. I couldn’t say how over the air HD looks, since we have cable.

We are extremely happy with our purchase. The 120hz motion settings come in OFF, STANDARD and HIGH. I’ve found STANDARD is probably best for sports programming. It does an adequate job.

As for looks, the glass around the screen with chrome stripping is a nice touch. It sets the look off with an “upscale” design, befitting the quality of the TV.

We would highly recommend this model to anyone wanting a beautiful, perfect 52 inch HI DEF. The blacks are very black, the colors are incredible, the lines and clarity in HI DEF are just breathtaking. It’s expensive, but, if it’s the main TV in any household and gets watched every day, it’s worth the extra money. SONY’S attention to LCD exclusively now, having dropped Plasma a few years back, shows in the extreme brilliance and unbelievable perfection of the picture. Get this one! It’s the best LCD 52 inch on the market.

One caveat, SONY recently announced that they’re discontinuing their association with Samsung and going with Sharp, possibly as soon as April. Sharp has been known for banding issues and problems with uniformity in their LCD screens, so, unless they’ve worked out the problems, it might be a good idea to grab one of these sets while they still have Samsung blood running through them. For my money, Samsung and SONY are neck and neck as far as LCD technology.

I owned a Samsung 50″ 720p Plasma and wanted to upgrade to a similar size LCD 1080p capable of displaying BluRay sources.

I shopped around for a large screen LCD for 6 months, reading all the reviews and talking to experts, as well as comparing the picture using reference source material. I also looked at sets that my friends and family had bought. I settled on the XBR5 simply because it is capable of displaying the best picture of any TV, bar none.

I almost went for the Pioneer Kuro plasma, but the LCD technology is the winner in the marketplace and is lighter than the plasma, allowing it to be mounted easier. The definition in the picture is incredible, and the brightness and contrast are the best that I have seen on any set. BluRay, needless to say, is unbelieveable. If you’re not ready to go to BluRay 1080p, then upconverted DVDs look spectacular on this set also, with hardly any loss of definition or color.

The factory settings are perfectly fine, but the set allows for tremendous customization in all areas of display and audio. The 120 mhz motion circuitry seems to effectively take care of fast-paced movies (such as the Bourne franchise) and sporting events.

You have to be careful with what you wish for. A set like this set will amplify any deficiencies in the source material. You have to read DVD reviews and ratings before buying things that you will be disappointed in when you show them on this set. Also, the price is steep compared to other sets. Finally, everything on this set can be had on the XBR4 series, except for a few additional connections and cosmetic features. That saves approximately $500 and you get the same picture.

All in all, an unqualified recommendation to buy.

I’ve owned this television for just over three weeks and will admit in the beginning that I do not know all the bells and whistles as of yet. This television is phenominal with picture clarity and gives you so many different options to tweak the picture and audio to your individual specifications. I haven’t adjusted anything out of the box yet because I am impressed with factory settings.

I shopped around for a television for three months. I narrowed it down to the Samsung LNT5271F and this model. Samsung looked awesome, but issues with reflectivity on the glossy finish and the playback of movies and programs on the Samsung looked too cartoonish and fake. I looked at this Sony model in four different retail locations under different lighting conditions and was impressed with the quality in the picture. Sound didn’t worry me a bit because I have playback of that through a receiver and home theater set up at home.

Blu-ray looks unbelievable on this television. Almost like you can walk right into the screen and be a part of the film as you watch it. Standard DVD looks great as well with the HDMI upconversion capability. I have satellite hooked into the TV also through HDMI and picture looks great there also. Some standard definition television shows struggle to bring in the full picture quality, but I feel that technology will upconvert to the television and that this television will not be obsolete to all the FCC regulations and forthcoming changes in technology.

In reading other consumer reviews on this television, some claim to be disappointed with fast motion in football, basketball or other sporting shows they watch. The Motionflow assists with this issue; however, I have yet to use it for any sporting event I watch. The event is crystal clear and easy to follow fast motion things like football throw, puck pass/shoot, etc.

I’m very pleased with every aspect of this television thus far and highly recommend it to those consumers who are looking for a huge technological leap and looking for a television that is prepared for the future.