Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-52XBR2 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I was all set to buy the Sharp 52" until I saw this. Am I glad I waited! I really need an LCD because of all the window glare in my family room. Earlier LCD models (all brands) didn't seem to have good contrast and color saturation like plasma sets, but Sony has done a tremendous job with the Bravia line. Black is truly black and the "vivid" color pre-set is almost overpowering. There are plenty of "knobs" to turn for tailoring the picture and more input options than you'll ever need. I'm a DirecTV customer and have my Bravia hooked up to an HR-20 DVR and a Playstation 3. I use HDMI for both. The 1080i satellite feed is absolutely beautiful, but the 1080p picture from the Playstation's Blu-ray player is STUNNING! The up-conversion of 480 sources is also excellent. I bought the XBR3 model that has a black bezel surrounding the LCD and is cable-card ready. Other than that, it is identical to the XBR2. This TV is truly "Best of Breed!"

Although intrigued by HDTV for some time I delayed purchase knowing that price per inch would decline and size and overall quality would increase as the technology matured. We are now well into the HDTV revolution. Competition has produced a fine array of high definition televisions.
Because my viewing room is bright during the day, I eliminated plasma sets. My need for a wide viewing angle and concern over reliability narrowed the field to LCD flat panel models.
As to resolution, 1080 is the current high-end standard (eliminating 720 models). For true high definition, the choice is progressive not interlaced. Thus my field was flat-panel 1080p LCD HDTVs.
My room size (and budget) put maximum screen size at 60" approximately twice my typical viewing distance with bigger the better. Connectivity via HDMI cable is highly desirable as the signal is kept pure digital until delivered to the TV thus eliminating analog cable noise (and expense) concerns. I plan to put in a home theater sound system eventually, so my primary focus was on picture quality.
Research suggested that Sony, JVC, Sharp, LG and Toshiba all have quality models. When I finally viewed the competition in person I expected to find them all roughly comparable. Wrong. The Sony 52" XBR's picture was noticeably sharper detailed with rich and accurate colors. The picture bordered on photographic.
Then back to the internet for a detailed web crawl on the KDL-52XBR2. Initially issues of clouding for black or nearly black images concerned me (see prior review); I discovered it was not an issue limited only to Sony and that severe clouding seemed rare. In the end, picture quality trumped all other concerns.
I've had my XBR for two months now. It has met or surpassed all my expectations. It has a powerful feature set. But most of all it has that amazing picture. All who have seen it agree: "Wow, what a picture."

Purchased on 1/30/07. It worked perfectly right out of the box. No missing pixels. Setup took some time. The picture is beautiful. I did purchase and extended warranty, because of the new technology and other users experiencing missing pixels. Since my original cost was low the extended warranty brought the total price to less than most websites were asking for the basic TV. Shop around on the web. Don't necessarily pick the site with the lowest price, but choose the dealer with the best service.

I am another proud owner of the 52" xbr2. My build is Jan/07. Before my purchase, I researched and studied all of my options (which I suggest everyone do on a high priced item such as this) and found no other substitute to this television. I personally could not go plasma, as my bright room (skylights) would not be friendly to the panel during daytime viewing. As for those seriously buying this unit, do yourself a favor and read some forums on the internet regrading customers having serious clouding or backlight issues on these sets (more so on the 40" and 46" sets though.) I also suggest as those buying these sets give serious thought saving some money online for such a purchase. I for one, do buy many items on amazon and other sites of alike, however on this purchase I choose to purchase my set locally. Of course my decision was heavely weighed on the return ordeal (should one be required) and the policy of the store of which I purchased. In other words, do your research- find a vendor who is going to back your product should your set exibit the cloud problems so many others have, and best off give yourselves peace of mind knowing you are backed up in case you do run into issues. Be advised, that based on the plethoria of information regarding the problems that many are inflicted by, it deffinately appears Sony is not standing by the issue; as stated on the posts you will be easy to search out. I reccomend the AVS forum.

In closing, I have no reason but to offer my personal and honest opinions to those who are deciding on this purchase as I once was. I love my new t.v. and I can tell you, every time I turn it on; I personally am blown away at my new viewing experience. I am glad I waited 5+ years for the best to arrive; it was deffinately worth the wait for me. I hope this helps any looking for some personal experiences on this set. Good luck.

Amazing pictures with my HD DVD player, without any tweeking. I have been a plasma owner and I was very uneasy when I dropped the amount of cash on a LCD. This TV made me a believer. Even with a fast action video game on my 360, there is no motion blurring. No problem with the black level. I did notice those problems with other LCD's in the store, but lets play nice and not bash anyone. Now the $1500 question, 46 inch or 52 inch? The 46 inch was a thrill ride but the 52 inch was a religious experience. Only complaint, THE PRICE. It really hurts, but why does it have to look so pretty?

3 months later....................
OK, I have to admit the SD picture is really not that good (actually pretty BAD). The so-called 1080p upscaling does not work was well (or not at all) as the Mitsubsishi set 2 of my friends bought. The SD channels actually looked better on my old plasma. So I got into the habit of only watching HD channels, with a few exceptions. But the HD pictures still blow me away, even after 3 months. I still find myself stare at the TV. This is a TV for the future, since all the new HD channels are coming up over the next couple of years!