TEST BENCH:

FULL LAB RESULTS

Color temperature (Warm/Custom color temperature and Studio mode before/after calibration) Low window (30-IRE): 6,776/6,553 K High window (100-IRE): 6,661/6,498 K Brightness (100-IRE window before/after calibration): 36/34 ftL

The Sony KDS-R50XBR1's Warm color-temperature mode measured very close to the 6,500-K standard right out of the box. Only minor tweaks using the red, green, and blue gain and bias controls in the set's Advanced Video menu were needed to get it perfect - no service-menu adjustments needed. After adjustment, grayscale tracking was an excellent ±50 K from 30 to 100 IRE. The TV's grayscale made a large, +750-K shift toward blue at 20 IRE, but the effects of this weren't really visible when I was watching TV and movies. (Calibration needs to be performed by a qualified technician, so discuss it with your dealer before purchase, or contact the Imaging Science Foundation at imaginingscience.com or 561-997-9073.)

The set's 34-ftL postadjustment light output proved bright enough for watching in a darkened room. It should be noted that this measurement was made with the set's Low Advanced Iris position engaged - a setting that, according to the manual, delivered the "narrowest" overall contrast range but also rendered the deepest blacks and smoothest highlights. The TV's overall brightness measured higher with other iris settings selected.

Overscan was about 4% for the HDMI inputs and 3 to 4% for component-video inputs - an average amount. Screen uniformity was excellent, with pictures appearing evenly bright at up to 30° off-center. The performance of the set's color decoder was excellent, showing no deviation with high-definition sources and only a mild, +5% red push with a standard-def 480p input. The set was able to display every line in a 1080i-format multiburst pattern via its HDMI inputs, indicating full HDTV resolution for that connection. The same test pattern looked slightly softer when viewed through the set's component-video inputs.