While the TVs in the main lounge have got all the advancements in the technology possible, the poor little tellys in the kitchen, bedroom and second lounge will be lucky to have LCD, and extremely gifted if it had Freeview tuner. However, Sony has decided to change it all for these second room televisions, and has bought into the market that 22″ KDL-22EX320 LCD TV, which not only has one of the best specifications in the market, but a stunner in the looks department too. Most of UK has a flat screen telly in their living room, and so, now the demand for the second TV is going out of the roof.

Design:

Classy:
The design of the Sony KDL-22EX320 LCD TV is simply downright classy. There are stuff that you will never expect out of a flagship 22” TV, like the brushed metallic-like plastic strip along the bottom edge. Adding to the amazing aesthetics of the TV is the novel stand that makes use of a couple of shiny steel pipes that give subtle support to the telly.

Sleek and contemporary:
With the help of Edge LED backlighting, which is the slimmest luminance technology available, Sony has managed to make this one of the slimmest at 42mm. This Sony TV is a part of the manufacturer’s “Essential” line-up of Bravia TVs in the series of EX320. The other members of this line include that 24” KDL24EX320, 26” KDL26EX320 and the 32” KDL32EX320. The only major feature that Sony has disappointed is, with the picture resolution, which is a surprising 1366 x 768 pixels, well below the commoners in the HD-Ready suburb. However, we do not think that even Full HD has much to do at this size, but those who like to use it as a PC monitor will be quite disappointed.

Slots and ports:
Moving on to slots and connectivity, you will find a PC input on the side panel, along with a Common Interface slot as well as a USB port. Yes, an USB port is very essential with a telly of this size; it will allow you to play back digital files and, recording and pausing live TV with an external HDD. On the back, there are two HDMI inputs, an RF aerial feed, a single SCART, a digital audio output, an Ethernet LAN port for those who do not have WiFi component video, a 3.5mm PC audio jack and stereo phones.

Though Sony KDL-22EX320 LED LCD TV has offered all the connectivity you will need, it is the WiFi module that is invisible that brings in all the joy.

The KDL-22EX320 LCD TV supported formats including AVI, MPEG including HD, WMV and AVHD videos, but unfortunately, there is no support for the DivX HD files. But, that should not be an issue of concern, as they can be easily streamed from a PC or Mac via the DLNA functionality.

User Interface:

The interface of KDL 22EX320 HD Ready LCD TV has got a complete makeover, making it quite subtle than the overwhelming though brilliant XrossMedisBar interface which also has its place in the company’s PS3. Sony has a seven day EPG, which is excellent and almost flawless.

Features:

Sony has acknowledged its consumers thirst for a richer set of features for their second TV and has offered plethora of them; it is about as advanced as any second TV can ever be. This twenty two inch telly not only has LED backlighting, it also has a BBC iPlayer and iPhone App control. This super slim LCD TV is no short when it comes to connectivity too, being equipped with built-in WiFi. Being slim does not mean that it is any lesser when it comes to picture processing technology. Other technological celebrity out there is the manufacturer’s X-Reality, which is a picture processing suite that has simply worked wonders in the high end models.

Browser:
Sony has included the Opera web browser, which is very welcome, but the usability of this application has been hampered by the fonts and laborious operations to get to stuff. This is much better than the Bravia Internet video that includes features such as BBC iPlayer, Sky News, Eurosport, ‘currently offline’, Demand 5, Qriocity, YouTube, Lovefilm, Dailymotion, Blip.tv and heaps more.

Social Networking:
Social networking is everywhere, and Sony’s KDL22EX320 is not without one, you have the Facebook and Twitter widgets. When these widgets are activated will put the live TV that is going on in a screen, that occupies about two thirds of the screen’s realestate. Sony has also included a page named “widget gallery”, but that is empty for now. We presume that it will be filled with some upcoming firmware updates.

Qriocity video and music:
We were not surprised to find a dedicated section for Sony’s own Qriocity video and music streaming service, which is a multi gadget, iTunes App and cloud based rental service, which is a real entertainer. However, as far as this service is concerned, we have a feeling that the Sony VAIO consumers will be the primary target.

Skype:
Another feature of this 22” telly that is highly advertised is that of Skype video calling. With this, you can make free video calls in your telly with clear detail via Skype. You get to record your show that you might miss right into the hard disk through USB.

Performance:

That was all the good news, but what we hate about the Sony KDL22EX320 is the absence of Freeview HD. And, this has affected the performance of the TV quite a bit. As in the case of any other digital TV, there are the visible puck marks, pixellated moving objects, picture noise and close-ups too. All, of which we almost forgot about after the invention of the amazing Freeview HD. When you attach a Blu-ray player for watching a movie, and you will end up missing the HD broadcasts more than ever before. But apart from this small glitch, the Edge lit LED Panel is extremely good, as its viewing angles are especially amazing, in comparison to the other old-school 22” LCD TVs. It has amazing black levels, but the contrast levels are not so appreciable. Sometimes, it has quite a hollow look to the dark areas of the image. There is also a great deal of motion blur and the colours can be a bit ripe. What we also have to note here is that, the overall picture quality of the Edge LED backlit technology.

The sound coming out of the invisible 8W speakers is hardly anything, and you will not be able to have a real movie experience with it. You have to connect some external speakers, no doubt in that.

Warranty:

Sony offers its 22EX320 LCD TV five years warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

Overall, the feature set and design of Sony KDL-22EX320 LCD TV is out of the world. All the great features such as built-in WiFi, the skinny design and iPhone app control has made this second room TV, a first in the competition. It is just a shame that this amazing TV lacks Freeview HD. The other perks like social networking, Lovefilm streaming and BBC iPlayer widgets just adds to the desirability of this easy to use and high-end Edge LED backlit LCD TV.  We give it big thumbs up, if you really don’t care about the lack of Freeview HD.

Sony KDL-22EX320 22-inch Screen LCD TV – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer Sony
Model Name Sony Bravia
Model Number KDL-22EX320
Display type LCD Display
Backlight type Edge LED
Dimensions (W x D x H) 52.9 x 34.7 x 4.2
Weight 5.1
Colour/Finish Glossy Black
Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels
Screen Size 22 inches
Video signal 576i, 480p, 576p, 1080i, 720p, 1080p and 24p input
Picture features Wide mode settings
Wide mode settings for PC
Auto wide mode
50 Hz Frames per second
X-Reality Advanced Contrast Enhancer
Live Colour technology
24p True Cinema
Noise reduction
3D comb filter
Speaker type Invisible speaker (with Sound Elevation)
Speakers 16 (8W x 2)
Audio features S-Force Front Surround 3D
S Master
Dolby® Digital / Dolby® Digital Plus / Dolby® Pulse
A2 / NICAM Stereo system
Special features Electronic programme guide (EPG)
On-screen clock
Sleep timer
On / off timer
On-screen instruction manual
BRAVIA Sync
Auto photo mode
Picture and picture (PAP)
Picture in picture (PIP)
Parental control
USB Photo Viewer
USB Music Player
USB Video Player
USB HDD Recording
Picture Frame mode
Multiple language display
Favourites
Quick start
Connectivity 1 x AC power input
1 x RF connection input
2 x HDMI® input
HDMI PC input
1 x SCART input (without Smartlink)
1 x USB 2.0 input
1 x Ethernet input
1 x Composite video input
1 x Component video (Y/Pb/Pr) input
1 x PC in (D-Sub) + Audio in (Stereo Mini)
1 x PCMCIA input
1 x Analog audio input
1 x Optical digital output
1 x Audio output
1 x Headphone output
PC interface USB
Contrast Ratio Mega
Stand Yes
Digital Tuner Yes
Network features Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi)
Wi-Fi Direct
DLNA
BRAVIA Internet Video
BRAVIA Internet Widgets
Web browser
Media Remote (iPhone / Android)
Skype
Power Consumption 32.0W
Warranty Five years

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