Sony KDL-HX850 series
The Sony KDL-HX850 is a sharp looking TV that has many features to draw users in. The Gorilla Glass makes entertaining around the TV and gaming more safe and gives the user peace of mind knowing that their TV is durable if anything should happen. Its beautiful picture can’t be rivaled by other LCDs in this price range. Sony is listening attentively to what consumers are looking for in their TVs, so this TV is worth checking out.
Advantages
The Sony KDL-HX850 delivers beautiful picture quality, especially for an LCD unit. It is encased in Gorilla Glass at the front, which adds durability while remaining sharp-looking. There was minimal blooming, and viewing from various angles was good.
Disadvantages
The HX850 is fairly expensive in comparison to other similar models, which may be a deterrent for those looking to get a good model at a low price. There are also a few issues with the color where in some instances, the hue tended towards a bluish shade.
Design
The Sony KDL-55HX850 shares Sony’s commonly-used monolithic design, which consists of a single sheet of glass across the front of the TV. The glass used is called Gorilla Glass and it is very durable. The stand has curved arms, and is not the nicest-looking. You can purchase another stand to fit your TV, which is featured by Sony, that has a brushed aluminum finish that looks very rich. The remote is easy to use and fairly basic. It does include a shortcut button to Netflix, which is always nifty. The TV comes with 4 HDMI ports and two USB ports, which is pretty much the standard for newer model TVs.
Picture Quality
This TV comes preloaded with two of the most accurate picture settings found on any TV. The Cinema and Scene settings are beautiful and do not require any additional configuring. If you do feel that the picture needs some adjustment there is a very simple menu to use for dimming, a gamma setting and two-point grayscale. The black level is very deep and has terrific shadow detailing. There is also very little noticeable blooming when there is a large contrast between colors. The TV’s color accuracy is good, but tended to produce a bluish/grey hue that made the TV screen appear colder. The video processing is very strong due to the X-Reality Pro which allows different types of video content without artifacting. Sony also does well for its 3D effects and showed less crosstalk then many models available from its competitors.
Features
There best new feature found is the Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) interface. It has many apps, movies, and music that can be located with the attendant button found on the remote. If you want to access lots of apps, the main XMB section has the most. The TV also features the new Impulse mode, which is to provide cinema-like picture, but unfortunately it tends to cause the screen to flicker, which can become a real nuisance. To watch this Sony TV in 3D you have to buy specific Sony glasses, because it does not work with other manufacturers’ 3D glasses.
Conclusion
Overall the Sony TV set is a sleek piece of technology that delivers great picture and a wide variety of apps on the Sony Entertainment Network. It has very accurate picture settings, which leave the user ready to watch TV rather than adjust the settings. The strong Gorilla Glass makes the TV a great option if you have kids or do a lot of interactive gaming such as Wii where accidents can happen. Some may consider this TV a bit on the expensive side, and many people are more prone to looking to Sony for audio, but this TV is definitely worth a second look.
