Sony BRAVIA KDL-40XBR6 LCD HDTV Review
KDL-40XBR6 - 40″ BRAVIA XBR6 Series LCD HDTV from Sony
Sony, being one of the most competitive companies in the television sectors. Sony’s well-known and best features are stuffed in their “XBR” series of their HDTVs. And last year, there were three of these treats available which includes the expensive XBR8, the XBR7 with improvised video processing skills and XBR6, the least expensive of all about which we are to review.
The latest version of Sony’s respected BRAVIA Engine fully digital video processor uses a collection of unique Sony algorithms to significantly reduce noise and produce sharp, vibrant, life-like images. This technology optimizes the colour, contrast, detail and clarity of every scene for the exceptional performance that BRAVIA HDTVs are known for.
Design:
Sony KDL-40XBR6 has a sleek design but is still bulkier when compared to the sleek “Z-Series”, but is a very good dimension for a HDTV. It has a glossy black frame which is of the same thickness in all the sides. A thin transparent plastic sheet sneaks below the frame which sports a silver horizontal speaker, with the shape of a candy bar, that stretches to the ends of the screen. A screen of this size is optimal for any of your rooms as the diagonal screen size and the resolution are the most complimenting factors for that cause.
Swappable speaker grills:
The silver speaker grills that are swappable are nothing less than mesmerising. They can be removed and changed in to a colour that compliments your living room decor. This is one of the differences between the XBR6 and the Z-series. The optional grills come in black, brown, red and gold colours.
Remote control provided:
The remote control that comes with the TV is not as attractive as the main set. The remote is not properly designed. The buttons are not properly placed. You will have stretch and search for the volume and channel rockers. But on the other side, the remote is backlit with blue lighting which looks absolutely great. Overall, the remote cannot be said to be that bad, it is just that the remote did not live up to the expectations we has as it belongs to Sony.
Connectivity:
The connectivity of Sony Bravia 40XBR6 Flat Panel LCD Television is up to the standards of the highest-end technologies available. The rear side of the system sports four HDMI inputs and one more in its side. Two component-video jacks, a VGA-style PC input with a maximum resolution of 1,920×1,080, an AV input with S-Video and composite video, another with only composite video, an RF-style antenna or cable i/p, an analog audio output and an optical digital audio output. Another AV input with composite video joins the HDMI port on the side panel. There is also a USB port that allows you to display content in your flash drives.
BRAVIA Theatre Sync:
In 2007 Sony included HDMI CEC capability in select HDTV and BRAVIA Theatre Home Audio products, which led to a one-touch function Sony feature called BRAVIA Theatre Sync. This feature allows the access and control multiple tasks and system operations with one button ease. Bravia Sync is now being introduced as the name for a new family of control features that not only includes BRAVIA Theatre Sync, but will now include Bravia Sync. This feature allows the user to control a CEC-enabled camcorder connected to a Bravia HDTV via an HDMI cable by using the HDTV’s remote control and an on-screen display that shows camcorder transport functions.
The complex but improved menu system:
The menu system used in Sony BRAVIA KDL-40XBR6 40 inch LCD Television was similar to the XMB (Cross Media Bar), which was a bit too much to use on a TV. Apart from the options that are usually available in the menu, two more options which includes photo and music is added to the main menu. This is for it being used with the USB port adding a networked media for adding video and pictures. This is not a wise inclusion because it is an option that is hardly used.
On the other hand, there are a lot of improvements made too. All the options that deal with the picture is grouped in to one under the option “Picture”. It has added a secondary options menu which provides you a few more selections which makes the job even more easy for you eliminating the need for visiting the main menu each time. A new “Favourites” screen has been included which has a list of the recently used inputs, manually added favourite channels and a screen saver which can be customised with the images that are shot from composite or TV i/p. With such improvements made, the menu would still seem to be complicated for most of the consumers. The menu could have been even more straight forward as the Samsung LN52A650.
Few of the very basic functionalities seem to be missing from Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR6’s list of features. The list of features are identical to that of Z-series’ list, which is a way less expensive. One of such missing features is the networking functionality. The TV sports an Ethernet port in its rear side that allows you to place your hands on the DLNA-compatible media server software in order to input images from your PC on your TV screen. This functionality is also available in Sony PS3, Samsung LN46A750 and Pioneer PDP-5020FD. The major difference is that, with this feature in the above mentioned models, you can music and video too. But this can be achieved by buying a Bravia Internet Video Link.
There are 4 picture presets available, each of which can be adjusted independently per input and the Theatre preset cannot be adjusted at all. The noise reduction setting and colour temperature presets are also available. The white balance control can be used to further tune the colour temperature. CineMotion option is available under the Video processing, which has an impact on the TVs 2:3 pull down performance. The game mode and video/photo optimiser are also available which makes sure that there is no delay between the game controller and the on-screen display.
Sony included 4 aspect ratio modes for HD sources, and a “Full Pixel” setting Display Area section of the Wide menu. This allows you to select one of the modes display content with 1080-resolution sans any overscan or scaling. The cool graphical display of the menu illustrates well the variation between each of the aspect ratios. The Picture-in-picture mode allows only the content of TV to be displayed in the secondary window.
The exceptional black-shade:
Sony has managed to achieve the deepest black shade ever in a non LED LCD television. The KDL-40XBR6 LCD High Definition Television was not able to live up to the expectations in the area of colour accuracies and maintaining the pitch black shade regardless of the application that is running. The primary colour accuracies were at its best but, the real life display was not that impressive. With its deepest black levels, the darker scenes looked very realistic. The deep black levels of Sony did help in saturation and added more richness to the other colours. Being a 1080p HDTV, it does perform quite well.
Performance factors:
This Sony LCD TV possesses a refresh rate of 129Hz, which means, there will not be any blurring in motion and also compliments some of Sony’s technologies like MotionFlow, “Dejudder Video Processing” and dubbed “Motion Enhancer“. Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR6’s native resolution is 1080p, which is the highest available configuration right now.
The motion flow technology:
Motionflow 120Hz technology doubles the number of existing frames by calculating in real time and inserting 60 entirely new frames between the original 60 frames. It uses a special Sony-developed algorithm that detects specific objects, as well as the movement of the overall scene and intelligently applies the right amount of enhancement. There’s
more to the story.
Unlike some other high frame rate technologies, Motionflow also includes Sony’s unique Image Blur Reduction algorithm, which reduces blur from the original source image captured by a camera before applying motion enhancement technology.
Digital Media Extender:
Sony’s Digital Media Extender (DMex) offers a digital connection path for optional modules like the BRAVIA Internet Video Link, as well as other modules you can add in the future. Innovative DMex expansion capabilities integrate into XMB user interface making HDTVs a powerful entertainment platform that not only meets current needs, but expands to meet futures’s needs as well.
Audio Features
S-Force Front Surround
Built around a sophisticated set of Sony algorithms, the S-Force Front Surround enhancement function generates realistic surround sound from the two speakers in the TV. Unlike some other “virtual surround” technologies, S-Force Front Surround sound does not need to be bounced off of side walls or other surfaces to hear three-dimensional sound. No matter what the size or shape of the room it’s possible to hear sounds from behind you.
SRS TruSurround XT
TruSurround is a patented SRS technology that solves the problem of playing 5.1 multi-channel content over two speakers. TruSurround delivers a compelling, virtual surround sound experience through any two-speaker playback system, including internal television speakers and headphones. It is fully compatible with all multi-channel formats up to 5.1 channels. High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the two hidden, downward-firing side-mounted 2.2-channel dome speakers built into the TV. SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass. TruSurround XT audio also adds three audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.
Energy efficient:
Sony 40″ BRAVIA KDL-40XBR6 HDTV has incorporated a two-step power saving option which limit’s the peak brightness which inturn reduces the power consumption, hence making it one of the most energy efficient HDTV’s in the current LCD TV market.
Verdict:
Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR6 LCD TV is a great performer but it actually does not seem to live up to the price that is tagged compared to the other 40″ LCD TVs in the market.
Sony BRAVIA KDL-40XBR6 - Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Sony
|
| Model Name | Sony Bravia KDL-40XBR6 |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 37.6 x 27 x 11 inches |
| Weight | 52 pounds |
| Display | TFT active matrix |
| Display size | 40 inches |
| Image aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Dynamic contrast ratio | 50,000:1 |
| HDTV compatible | Yes |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz |
| Connectivity | 4 HDMI inputs 2 HD Component inputs 1 PC Input |
| Audio | 2 speakers, Subwoofer |
| Speaker Grill | Piano Gloss Black with Onyx Speaker Grill |
| Remote | RM-YD023 |
| 24p True Cinema | Yes |
| DMeX capable | Yes |
| BRAVIA Sync | Yes |
July 16th, 2009 at 9:48 am
This is a great unit. There were very little gripes I had about the unit. It’s near flawless. Some say the XBR6 quality is the same. I unfortunately didn’t have the luxury of a XBR6 and XBR7 side by side for a true comparison. To save a few bucks, I’d recommend checking out the XBR6 also.