Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Bravia XBR-Series KDL-52XBR5 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

After almost a year of doing research on all 52 inch LCD's, my wife and I finally took the plunge and bought the XBR5. We already had a Samsung 32 inch HI DEF with great picture quality, and, the Samsung 71 and 81F's were in the running; but, as with a good portion of reviewers on Amazon, we, too, found the glare of the Samsungs a big negative. We checked out both the XBR5 and the 71F side by side at a closeby TV warehouse, and glare issues on the SAMMY finally eliminated it from the list. True, the Samsung's picture was stunning, but the screen picked up just about every available light source in the store and threw it back out at the viewer. It's too bad Samsung is so set on the glass. It really is a huge problem.

Now, onto the SONY XBR5. The side speakers are more than adequate for the average viewer; however, if you're an audiophile, a good sound system would be recommended down the road after the TV is paid off. I was pleasantly surprised, though, with the quality of the internal speakers.

The picture on this TV is outstanding; superb, actually. After spending some time with the video settings, I found that the VIVID mode was the absolute best for our viewing, as long as the color was also backed down to about 70 percent, the brightness to about 30 percent and contrast to 60 percent or so. The tint was fine at the 0 level. It's truly amazing that a screen of this size shows virtually NO pixels at a normal viewing distance. The video in HI DEF looks as crisp and clean as a movie screen. The standard analog programming just pales in comparison. We found it a bit "fuzzy", but with a screen this size, it's to be expected. To really appreciate this TV, one MUST have a HI DEF cable box or go satellite. I couldn't say how over the air HD looks, since we have cable.

We are extremely happy with our purchase. The 120hz motion settings come in OFF, STANDARD and HIGH. I've found STANDARD is probably best for sports programming. It does an adequate job.

As for looks, the glass around the screen with chrome stripping is a nice touch. It sets the look off with an "upscale" design, befitting the quality of the TV.

We would highly recommend this model to anyone wanting a beautiful, perfect 52 inch HI DEF. The blacks are very black, the colors are incredible, the lines and clarity in HI DEF are just breathtaking. It's expensive, but, if it's the main TV in any household and gets watched every day, it's worth the extra money. SONY'S attention to LCD exclusively now, having dropped Plasma a few years back, shows in the extreme brilliance and unbelievable perfection of the picture. Get this one! It's the best LCD 52 inch on the market.

One caveat, SONY recently announced that they're discontinuing their association with Samsung and going with Sharp, possibly as soon as April. Sharp has been known for banding issues and problems with uniformity in their LCD screens, so, unless they've worked out the problems, it might be a good idea to grab one of these sets while they still have Samsung blood running through them. For my money, Samsung and SONY are neck and neck as far as LCD technology.

I owned a Samsung 50" 720p Plasma and wanted to upgrade to a similar size LCD 1080p capable of displaying BluRay sources.

I shopped around for a large screen LCD for 6 months, reading all the reviews and talking to experts, as well as comparing the picture using reference source material. I also looked at sets that my friends and family had bought. I settled on the XBR5 simply because it is capable of displaying the best picture of any TV, bar none.

I almost went for the Pioneer Kuro plasma, but the LCD technology is the winner in the marketplace and is lighter than the plasma, allowing it to be mounted easier. The definition in the picture is incredible, and the brightness and contrast are the best that I have seen on any set. BluRay, needless to say, is unbelieveable. If you're not ready to go to BluRay 1080p, then upconverted DVDs look spectacular on this set also, with hardly any loss of definition or color.

The factory settings are perfectly fine, but the set allows for tremendous customization in all areas of display and audio. The 120 mhz motion circuitry seems to effectively take care of fast-paced movies (such as the Bourne franchise) and sporting events.

You have to be careful with what you wish for. A set like this set will amplify any deficiencies in the source material. You have to read DVD reviews and ratings before buying things that you will be disappointed in when you show them on this set. Also, the price is steep compared to other sets. Finally, everything on this set can be had on the XBR4 series, except for a few additional connections and cosmetic features. That saves approximately $500 and you get the same picture.

All in all, an unqualified recommendation to buy.

I've owned this television for just over three weeks and will admit in the beginning that I do not know all the bells and whistles as of yet. This television is phenominal with picture clarity and gives you so many different options to tweak the picture and audio to your individual specifications. I haven't adjusted anything out of the box yet because I am impressed with factory settings.

I shopped around for a television for three months. I narrowed it down to the Samsung LNT5271F and this model. Samsung looked awesome, but issues with reflectivity on the glossy finish and the playback of movies and programs on the Samsung looked too cartoonish and fake. I looked at this Sony model in four different retail locations under different lighting conditions and was impressed with the quality in the picture. Sound didn't worry me a bit because I have playback of that through a receiver and home theater set up at home.

Blu-ray looks unbelievable on this television. Almost like you can walk right into the screen and be a part of the film as you watch it. Standard DVD looks great as well with the HDMI upconversion capability. I have satellite hooked into the TV also through HDMI and picture looks great there also. Some standard definition television shows struggle to bring in the full picture quality, but I feel that technology will upconvert to the television and that this television will not be obsolete to all the FCC regulations and forthcoming changes in technology.

In reading other consumer reviews on this television, some claim to be disappointed with fast motion in football, basketball or other sporting shows they watch. The Motionflow assists with this issue; however, I have yet to use it for any sporting event I watch. The event is crystal clear and easy to follow fast motion things like football throw, puck pass/shoot, etc.

I'm very pleased with every aspect of this television thus far and highly recommend it to those consumers who are looking for a huge technological leap and looking for a television that is prepared for the future.

With many choices in HDTV, the Sony is geared toward those who don't want to compromise. As the owner of two HDTVs, I put off replacing my primary TV until I could find one that would be good enough to last a while and would not be a compromise.

Sony has done an excellent job of producing a product that allows me to achieve that goal. But they met that goal in a limited fashion.

HDTVs took a while to mature. Standards changed, LCDs improved, and more choices in resolution became available. This is not my first 1080p, but it does give the best picture of any set I've used. The picture is clear and sharp, the TV does a good job of video processing and does not compromise the way other TVs do with many sources.

The problem I have is that a good picture alone is not enough. I wanted something that integrates well into my home, allows for good sound, and allows easy connections to other components. In that respect, Sony missed the mark.

The sound quality is not bad. I didn't expect great sound from the built in speakers, and realistically, people who buy this are likely to have a home theater system anyway. But the built in sound is adequate as far as built in sound goes.

The problem is getting to to other equipment. Sony provides an optical out that sends Dolby Digital/PCM to your home theater system. But although it works great when sending sound from the tuner, it sends only the PCM component when the source is HDMI. Yes, there are ways around that, such as extra cables or different wiring, but for $4,300 is it really asking for too much for this thing to work as many users expect? It's not as if I'm asking for a built in home theater system. I'm just asking for a jack that works in a useful way, as other manufacturers already provide.

I could get around the problem by using the digital out directly from my DVD player instead. My Sony DVD player from last year had two digital audio outputs. One was coax and the other was optical. Sony's DVP-NS77H DVD player now sells for $89.99, up converts to 1080p, and even it has two digital audio outputs. Why did they leave the coax output off the $4300 HDTV? If they could afford it on this year's low end HDMI DVD player, it's not as if it would have been a bank breaker.

With a missing output on this TV, I can either get a new AV preamp, or run more cables. But should I have to do that with such an expensive TV? And if I did get a new AV preamp, would the Sony make good use of it?

Not Quite. The TV is also missing a video output. Many home theater systems can make use of one for monitoring, and it would also have allowed me to use my VCR to record, since the VCR has no digital tuner.

Was it left out because VCRs are supposedly obsolete, or was it left out because the TV is considered too low end to have the features expected by a high end AV preamp? Either way, the circuitry involved is a mere fraction of what's already on their cheapest DVD players: something to take a digital signal, and output it to HDMI, S-VHS, component video, and composite. I'd settle for even one of them if I hadn't already settled for less.

Sony still sells things such as PS2 video consoles. Indeed many game manufacturers sell things with composite-only video outputs. Yet this TV, while able to accept three HDMI inputs, can accept only one S-VHS input, and none on the side connector. If you use the rear S-VHS connector for a VCR, that leaves one composite input, plus one on the side. And if I want to use the S-VHS connector for my relatively recent vintage Sony camcorder, I'd have to get behind my wall mounted TV to unplug the VCR each time. And since Sony camcorders have a special connector, the cable can't be shared as an alternative.

My kids got a Wii recently. It's neither Sony nor obsolete equipment. But it does have composite outputs. I don't think it's asking for too much to be able to use things like that or my relatively new Sony camcorder without juggling wires. I think for something as expensive as this TV, it's not asking for too much for it to be able to handle basic connectivity with commonly used household AV equipment. It's not asking too much for it to have things that they are willing to put on even the cheapest DVD players.

With equipment that it was designed to work with, it does a great job. It's nice to be able to press "play" on my Sony DVD player, have it turn on, have it turn on the TV, switch its input to DVD, and just work. It's also nice that it will turn off my DVD player if I turn off the TV. And perhaps if I had an all Sony AV system, that would integrate well too. But it's arrogant to think that customers should use only Sony equipment.

The remote control is adequate, but they could have done a better job of allowing it to integrate with other components. Even with their own DVD player, the TV remote has ALMOST all the buttons I would need. And it requires pressing a button to let the remote know if I am intending the next button presses to be for the DVD or the TV. That's to be expected in some cases, but in situations where it's unambiguous, it should figure it out for me.

Prior to buying this, I came close to getting a Samsung. The Samsung has a very impressive picture quality and I probably would not have felt short changed. The Samsung has a glossy screen surface, which can be a problem in certain living conditions, and I've had that issue with an older Pioneer Elite. I would not have considered that last point to be a show stopper, and the Samsungs still give you more on a dollar for dollar basis. But I'd still give the edge to the Sony for picture quality.

The deciding factor for me, though, was Sony's manufacturing quality. If something goes wrong with this set, I feel comfortable that Sony will stand behind me. With the Samsung, if I were among the unfortunate few who have problems, I'd be cursing myself for buying it. I might have spent more for the Sony, and will have to spend even more for the overall system to do everything I want, but I did get a good HDTV. I just can't give it 5 stars given the features for the price.

What can I say, this TV rocks. Bright screen, deep beautiful colors, just excellent overall. Nice menu system, easy to navigate compared to other tv menu systems I've experienced. And aesthetically I love this TV. The piano black bezel it perfect, as well as the glass around the edges. Get a blu-ray player to fully enjoy it if you are a movie fan. Video Game fan, I'd say get a Xbox 360. Even wii games look great on it. Can't say much about the sound, don't really use the TV's internal speakers that much. And I'm going to say that if you are looking at a tv this expensive, you probably won't either (surely you have or will spend money on a surround sound system, right?).
Another thing, the screen is a matte finish. This is much needed if you plan on watching the tv in a room with lights, windows, etc. Some "other" tv's have a glossy finish, which looks great in dimly lit rooms, but trust me, you don't want one unless you live the life of a vampire. My living room has a window to the right of the tv, and a door directly in the front, so there is always light coming through somehow...and I experience almost zero reflections.
Well that's my impromtu review, typing as I go. Just trust what you read from others if you want a more technical review, they're right.