Test Report: Sony Bravia XBR-55HX929 3D LCD HDTV Page 4

Bottom Line

Sony’s flagship XBR-HX929 Series set put out the best-looking picture I’ve seen from an LCD TV in a long time. That’s quite a statement when you consider how many LCD TVs Sound+Vision looks at in any given year. Add in killer cosmetics, integrated Wi-Fi, generous streaming options, and a 3D image that comes across as solid without being overly dim, and the Sony’s high price — glasses extra! — will become a lot easier to swallow.

Test Bench

Color temperature (Cinema1 mode/Warm2 color temperature preset before; Custom mode/Warm2 color temperature preset after)

20-IRE: 6,279K/6,727 K

30-IRE: 6,221 K/6,553 K

40-IRE: 6,263 K/6,494 K

50-IRE: 6,341 K/6,498 K

60-IRE: 6,329 K/6,528 K

70-IRE: 6,302 K/6,512 K

80-IRE: 6,343 K/6,484 K

90-IRE: 6,332 K/6,494 K

100-IRE: 6,362K/6,488 K

Primary Color Point Accuracy vs. SMPTE HD Standard

Color

Target X

Measured X

Target Y

Measured Y

Red

0.64

0.64

0.33

0.33

Green

0.30

0.31

0.60

0.60

Blue

0.15

0.16

0.06

0.07

Note: Spectracal’s CalMan Professional monitor calibration software was used during the calibration and measurement process. See the PDF below for a complete report with detailed pre- and post-calibration results.

The Sony XBR-55HX929’s Warm2 color temperature preset delivered the most accurate grayscale performance. Before calibration, average color temperature was 6,311 kelvins. After calibration in Custom/Warm2 mode using the set’s two-point White Balance adjustment, color temperature averaged 6,506 K, with grayscale remaining impressively linear down through to 30 IRE.

Color-decoder error measured in Custom mode was 0% for red, 15% for green, and –5% for blue. Primary (and secondary) color points closely matched the HD standard. Gamma was also impressively linear, closely tracking the 2.2 target throughout the set’s entire brightness range.

Brightness measured from a 0-IRE (black) field pattern with the LED Dynamic Control (local dimming) set to Standard was 0.001 ftL; with light output set for 36.1 ftL, this yielded a contrast ratio of 36,000:1. (We are definitely in Kuro territory here.) The set displayed full picture resolution for all signal formats delivered via HDMI, although 480i pictures viewed via component video looked slightly soft. Motion-resolution tests revealed 1,080 lines with Clear and Clear Plus Motionflow settings enabled, and 900 lines for Standard. All three modes added a “video effect” to film-based content, although the look was much more subtle in Standard mode.

The Sony’s deinterlacing of both film- and video-sourced material was good, although it failed the Film Resolution test on the HQV evaluation Blu-ray in each of its Cinemotion up-conversion modes. Noise-reduction processing was mostly effective, although picture detail loss could be seen on standard-def material with the Mosquito noise filter mode at its medium and high settings.

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