Sony KDL-46EX520 LED 3 weeks use mini review

[nindo]

Hi,

Bought a Sony KDL-46EX520 after months of battle with Samsung to fix my 3 yr old 5 series 40" Full HD LCD. Last offer given was 20k for panel replacement with 30 days un-written warranty.! Didn't find spending that amount for month worth it.

Anyway coming to the topic.
Bought from local Kohinoor store for 80k after exchange (knew the guy so got more realization for my conked TV).
Design: liked the thin bezel design which makes the screen look even bigger than it is, but the thicker bezel at the bottom is a turn-off for me. anyway still acceptable. The bottom bezel is ash-silver with a chrome sony logo in centre.
Pretty thin over all and the wall mounting bracket is also quite thin jutting out just an inch or so from the wall.
Connections: refer KDL-46EX520 : EX520 Series : BRAVIA HD TV (LED & LCD) : Sony India
Picture: boasts the Bravia X-reality with edge LED but the refresh rate is 120 Hz i think. Normal SD channels from Airtel HD box look quite bad from close range, but from 8 feet or so its much better than my earlier TV. HD channels look quite good, but while watching Transporter on movies now hd you can make out the haziness in fast movements (guess thats what is called jaggies).
DVDs look super good, with the blacks and dark scenes handled quite well. Not on par with some panasonic plasmas i had seen before buying this one.
Initially the picture looked quite dark, then i realized there is a light sensor that dims the picture in dark environments. put that to "off" and it was much better.
have some blu-rays but no player, so cudnt check the 1080p picture quality yet.
Has ethernet port to log on to internet, but haven't tried that either so can't comment. The GUI is quite nice and easy to operate with loads of tweaking options. The "default" settings made the picture look quite dull. Other wise the "standard" setting in "picture" looks quite vibrant. I found the colors to be more closer to reality as compared to some of the samsung, lg and toshiba sets i had seen while buying. especially skin colors.
Sound: very bad. very bright and lack bass completely. but for normal everyday TV its good enough. for music and movies to be enjoyed you will need external speakers to be connected.

nothing that comes to my mind beyond this right now, will post some pictures and HD video feedback shortly.

cheers

 

[mayur553]

Hi,

Nice review. Can you advise me please. I am thinking of buying Sony KDL 46CX520... its LCD... My purpose would be to watch movies through my wifi connected Network attached Storage or a hard drive and play PS3... As its the only Tv in the range of 60-70k i have shortlisted that...

Can you advise me if thats the right choice or there are other TV available at that range that will fulfill my needs....

 

[nindo]

46CX520 is a good budget LCD TV, but frankly i think you must adapt new technology which is tested and proved, like LED. Not just that they consume less power, but also because they are brighter and the black levels are better (at least thats what i have seen). Also i suppose the manufacturers would have surely worked on the durability factor on these new TVs. CFL type back lighting is, i guess, less durable than LED. I say this because my 40" Full HD LCD from samsung's panel went bust in just 3 years and the engineer told me that this is the fate of most LCD panels of that time.

In the 60-70k budget, you can look for a 40" LED from Sony (EX series) or LG 42" 5700 series passive 3D tv. If you don't have reservations against plasma then Panasonic TH-P42ST30D is a very good option and within your budget: Flipkart: Panasonic 42 Inches Full HD 3D Plasma TH-P42ST30D: Television

 

[TheSeeker]

hello mayur !

nindo is correct there.

i would answer from the gaming-perspective, since you wrote you would be playing the PS3 on it. if you could extend a bit, you could have the 40EX720 too, which is a good choice.
otherwise i feel LG is a very good option too (the model suggested), with its VFM 3D experience. you could PM 'reds4ever' here to know more on that.

also, make sure to check www.hdtvtest.co.uk on some reviews, and personal audition is the best thing you could do to help yourselves

moreover, for a superb movie-experience, even i would recommend the ST30D from panasonic, or samsung's 51D550 (both plasmas). BUT, you might find the PQ bit dark for gaming on the panasonic one (due to the AR filter). better take your PS3 to a store and check for yourselves. on the 40EX720 / LW5700 / 51D550, it would be quite bright.

 

[adder]

Hi,

Nice review. Can you advise me please. I am thinking of buying Sony KDL 46CX520... its LCD... My purpose would be to watch movies through my wifi connected Network attached Storage or a hard drive and play PS3... As its the only Tv in the range of 60-70k i have shortlisted that...

Can you advise me if thats the right choice or there are other TV available at that range that will fulfill my needs....

You can only play using windows media server,the formats supported are very low.You cannot play MKV files.

The 46CX520 cost less then 49k in grey market and comes with a SPVA panel.

 

[adder]

46CX520 is a good budget LCD TV, but frankly i think you must adapt new technology which is tested and proved, like LED. Not just that they consume less power, but also because they are brighter and the black levels are better (at least thats what i have seen). Also i suppose the manufacturers would have surely worked on the durability factor on these new TVs. CFL type back lighting is, i guess, less durable than LED. I say this because my 40" Full HD LCD from samsung's panel went bust in just 3 years and the engineer told me that this is the fate of most LCD panels of that time.

In the 60-70k budget, you can look for a 40" LED from Sony (EX series) or LG 42" 5700 series passive 3D tv. If you don't have reservations against plasma then Panasonic TH-P42ST30D is a very good option and within your budget: Flipkart: Panasonic 42 Inches Full HD 3D Plasma TH-P42ST30D: Television

The only advantage the EX520 has over the CX520 is the edge LED light source due to which you get a slimmer tv and lesser power consumption nearly half in 46" size which is quite significant and slightly wider color gamut.


But you don't have any advantage in black levels,more so in a edge led based tv you are bound to see backlight bleed at the edges,which is non existent in the CX520.

The edgeLED based tvs are cheaper to make then a CCFL lcds ,the powersupply also is more expensive in CCFL-lcd compared to edge led based tv .Companies are making more profits in selling edge LED based lcd.
The backlight LED based tvs are still more expensive to make.

 

[nindo]

The edgeLED based tvs are cheaper to make then a CCFL lcds ,the powersupply also is more expensive in CCFL-lcd compared to edge led based tv .Companies are making more profits in selling edge LED based lcd.
The backlight LED based tvs are still more expensive to make.

thanks for the insight, but do you have any data or link where you found this info. or may be you are in the business (as in work for a consumer durable company or electronics engineer with knowledge on LED/LCD or a electronics dealer).

thanks

cheers

 

[adder]

thanks for the insight, but do you have any data or link where you found this info. or may be you are in the business (as in work for a consumer durable company or electronics engineer with knowledge on LED/LCD or a electronics dealer).

thanks

cheers

My Cousin works in the LED business .

But one other advantage of the LED based lcd is that over time the CCFL tubes just like your tube light will darken at the edges and some tubes may become dimmer then others.
While it is also possible for a LED to become dimmer then the other ,when the LED is overdriven .With moderate backlight setting it shouldn't be a problem,it is a semiconductor.