Sony KDL46HX850 (KDL-46HX850) Review
46" 1080p 960Hz 3D LED TV KDL-46HX850
by Robert Wiley, Senior Editor
Strengths
- Great natural light flow through from the full array LED backlighting
- Improved side viewing angle less contrast loss
- Very little reflection from the Gorilla Glass louvered screen design
- Attractive Monolithic design element
- Natural Colors with clear image edges
- Flawless active 3D Viewing quality
- Built in Web Browser, Wifi and QWERTY remote
Weaknesses
- 960Hz feature diminishes natural background blur somewhat for film but is great for sports
- Skype not built in
Introduction
The KDL-46HX850 is a top tier model to sell alongside the popular top end HX929 series which entered the market at the end of 2011 an continues until August of 2012. It has many of the best premium upgrade features such as the very saturated blacks on the OptiContrast Panel, The Monolithic appearance design, the fast efficient two chip X-Reality Pro Engine with Super 3D Resolution, built in Wifi, and one touch to the Sony Entertainment 2012 Network.
Picture Quality
This is one of Sony's top end TVs for 2012 and has the unique OptiContrast panel which is Sony's way of telling you that contrast is very high – that is deep, saturated blacks and very bright white and lights. Light coming through images is very good and we are impressed with the 3 dimensional quality of 2 dimensional programming. The edge lit LED backlighting is dynamic – meaning it can be manipulated to act more like local dimming backlighting than ordinary edge lighting. This helps provide more concentrated contrast to localized areas – creating more depth in the picture images.
The inbuilt Ambient light sensor is there for your use if you want it but may be turned off through the menu system. It introduces a slight amount of flicker that the most pure picture hearted will not want to tolerate.
This is a big upgrade feature in the KDL-46HX850. It creates 960Hz perceptible refresh rate by starting with the 240Hz refresh rate screen and manipulating the back light. This is enabled by the local dimming of hundreds of zones in the TV. This difficult process achieves extremely fast processing that removes lots of judder effects and an blurring in fast motion objects. The feature works well and even gives you various options from which choose such as Standard, Smooth, Clear, and Clear Plus. We prefer the Smooth or Standard Settings.
We recommend leaving the Cinemotion feature to the off position due to unwanted side effects from the de-judder processing that this function takes on.
Internet Smart TV Options
The HX850 series includes the Sony Portal with the Sony Entertainment Network and its Apps or Streaming Services as Sony calls them. This includes a catalog of thousands of movies and TV programming. The premium Apps are included Netflix®, Pandora®, HuluPlus™, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube™, Slacker® Internet Radio, Crackle and social networking through Facebook and Twitter. Sony claims Yahoo! Broadcast Interactivity with auto-content recognition as well. This new platform allows one-click access to TV Apps which are related to the content you are watching on the TV. In other words, it's a convenient way for Sony to market their Apps to you if you are so inclined to use the feature. On the other hand, it does make it easy for you to know which Apps you might like.
Skype
This TV is Skype enabled so you can enjoy video conferencing from your TV if that is appealing to you. However, it is not included – meaning the applicable Camera and microphone are sold separately. The camera costs around $129. It sits neatly atop the television.
Appearance
Sony continues the elegant and understated monolithic design element in 2012 with the KDL46HX850. It also has the Gorilla glass LED cover screen which purportedly helps allow for its super thin design, and lighter weight. It is less than 1" in depth.
Standout Features
- Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality with Dynamic Edge LED backlight with Local Dimming
- X-Reality™ PRO Engine with 3D Super Resolution
- Motionflow™ XR 960 technology
- Frameless Monolithic Design with Corning's Gorilla® Glass and OptiContrast Panel Technology
- Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11n)
- Skype™ ready
- One-touch access to the Sony Entertainment Network™ and apps
Sony KDL46HX850 Specifications |
Dimensions |
| 46" Diagonal Viewing |
| 42.6"Width |
| 27.3"Height |
Network Features |
| BRAVIA Internet Video Included |
| BRAVIA Internet Widgets Included |
| DLNA Included |
| HTML Browser Included |
| Media Remote: Inclluded (Firmware Update Required) |
| Photo MAP Included |
| Skype Compatibility Included |
| TrackID Included |
| Video Search Included |
| What's New Included (Firmware Update Required) |
| Wi-Fi Certified Included |
| Wi-Fi Direct Included (Firmware Update Required) |
| Wireless LAN: Integrated |
Screen & Picture |
| Resolution: 1920x1080(1080p) |
| OptiContrast Panel |
| Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Infinite Dynamic Contrast |
| Intelligent Peak LED |
| Xreality Pro Engine |
| Motionflow XR 960: Modes: Smooth, Standard, Clear, or Clear Plus |
| Cinemotion: Auto1 and Auto2 |
| 24 True Cinema (for 24 frames per second movies) |
| Infinite Dynamic Contrast: starts TV from 0 IRE black |
| Advanced Contrast Enhancer: For blacklight Adjustment |
| Intelligent Presence Sensor: Detects Viewing Position |
| Presence Sensor Range: 20' |
| Aspect Ratio Modes: 4.3, Wide Zoom, Full, Zoom |
Connections |
| HDMI Inputs: 4 |
| Components Inputs: 1 (through breakout cables) |
| Composite: 1 (through breakout cables) |
3D |
| Display Mode: 2D to 3D switching |
| 3D Formats: Simulated, Side by Side, Over Under |
| 3D Depth Adjustment |
| Preset Picture Modes: Vivid, Standard, Cinema, Adnimation, Game, Custom |
Sound |
| Sound Modes: Dynamic, Standard, Clear Voice, Custom |
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Having reviewed and written about Television Technology for over 10 years, Wiley never tires of researching the newest qualitative trends related to the technology. Most people do not get excited about possibilities behind the latest video engine...Wiley does. Read more about Robert |
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