Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony BRAVIA W-Series KDL-52W5100 52-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

I received the KDL-52W5100 about 2 weeks ago. It replaced a KDL-52V5100 that I got in March, which replaced an older Sony Hi-Def LCD rear projection 1080i model (KDF-60XS955). The KDL-52V5100 was great at first, but it had a very annoying dimming problem that Sony eventually fixed with a firmware update. The problem was that the firmware update then broke the audio for me. The audio would cut out a few times a night on all HDMI inputs. Tried new cables, new Dish receiver, everything. They finally, after weeks of fighting with them, sent me another KDL-52V5100 which then had the same problem. Sony was very good about taking care of me with these issues, once I got a hold of the right person. Before that, they give you the run around and are willing to let your brand new TV sit in a repair shop for weeks while you wait for it. I will be keeping the contact names/numbers/email addresses for future reference. It's amazing how fast your problems get addressed when you email the Vice President of customer service for North America directly at his actual personal email address! :-) They finally, just 2 weeks ago replaced it with this TV. The KDL-52V5100 had a great picture (when I wasn't having problems with it) but this TV performs very noticeably better! I have used it with an XBOX360, a PS3 and with Dish Network Hi-Def receiver/DVR. The standard def is better than most of the other LCD's I looked at but as with all you can see the flaws of the SD picture. This one looks better than most for SD though. It also doesn't have the HDMI color space issue that the KDL-52V5100 had with my XBOX360. I have it set to Y'CbCr and it looks AMAZING! The PS3 also looks INCREDIBLE! This TV had all the features I wanted and has delivered higher performance and picture than expected. This TV does have noticeably better picture quality than the V series. The contrast is better (possible due to the Bravia 3 engine as opposed to the Bravia 2 engine in the V series) and there are more advanced features for scene selection and other video options. Plus the Xross media bar menu system is WAY better than the plain generic menu in the V series. It looks to be more customizable. The internet connection, DLNA and widgets are just a bonus for me. When I received it, it already needed a firmware upgrade which very conveniently upgraded right over the internet rather than having to use a flash drive. Because of that I can't comment on issues with the old firmware. The stand is average size but I wish it swiveled. The TV is not too heavy. The appearance is very sleek, it appears less clunky than the heavier V series and I like the option to have the Sony logo glow. It's pretty cool. The one thing I was worried about was the fact that it has an 8-bit LCD panel, rather than a 10-bit panel. I was really worried it would have banding or "paint by number" effects. I picked up a copy of Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD Basics on Blu-Ray to calibrate the TV and to my surprise it included a test for checking for slow processing and for color banding "paint by number" effects. This TV was able to reproduce a perfect gradation in both color and gray scale with ABSOLUTELY no banding or "paint by number" effects whatsoever! I was really impressed. According to DVE an 8-bit panel should be able to do this as long as the processing board is fast enough and good enough quality. These problems are more due to the processing than an 8-bit panel according to DVE. The 10-bit is not necessary if you have adequate processing. After more research I have found that, that is why most higher end manufacturers, like Sony have started using 8-bit panels again in most but their very high end models. After calibrating this TV with DVE the picture is far better than I had ever hoped for, with great black levels and extremely vibrant, true to life color. The off angle viewing is exceptional. The picture morphs a little from extreme side view due to the flat screen, but the contrast and brightness even from almost sideways is awesome! On the last note, the Dish Network receiver/DVR looks great as well. Any problems with the picture was due to the signal from the satellite and not the TV itself. All the HD channels have some compression and it shows, but wouldn't matter how good the TV is for that. DVD, Blu-Ray, XBOX350 and PS3 have absolutely the best picture I have seen on any other LCD. They only thing that could be as good or better is Plasma, but I really wanted a Sony and they only make LCD's now. I am very pleased with my purchase and would highly recommend this TV for anyone. The matte finish is great as I have a lot of ambient lights and side windows in my living room. The only other TV I was considering was the Samsung and the highly reflective, glossy screen just would not work for me. Other than that, the Samsung has a great picture too. I mean Sony uses Samsung panels in most of their TV's, so...

Look.. all the top TVs from Samsung, Sony, Pana etc.. are all so close in picture quality that you will absolutely not go wrong with any of them. So what sets them apart... the extra features and how useful they are.

I was replacing my old Panasonic $5K 42" plasma bought about 7 years back. Its going to the bed room. So I first tried the Samsung LN52B750.. amazing picture quality.. yup its better than even this Sony 52W5100 . Now, in todays age, you expect very good pic quality in every TV. So what are you looking for in the TV today, extra features, internet connectivity, ability to stream pics, video from your computer ( DLNA) , Netflix, Blockbuster connectivity for movie streaming etc. But I was very upset with the extras on the Samsung. The response on the remote was slugggggish and slooooow. I had to press some keys like 3 times before I can get it to work. I was getting pissed. I went to the store, talked to Samsung. They kept on saying, pic quality yada yada yada. I told them.. guys, I am buying a $1700 TV for just pic quality but much more. I got the Samsung for $1700 with a free Samsung blu ray player ( $200 worth).

So I started reading all the reviews more carefully on the other stuff apart from picture quality. Sony W5100 had decent reviews on pic quality and good reviews on its other features. So when I went back to frys..They had 52W5100 for $1299. I saw the 40" model on display and thought.. what the heck let me try this out.

So I bought this TV home, but both side by side and turned the TVs on. The Samsung picture contrast was better.. but Sonys was nothing to sneeze either. It was pretty darn good. Compared with the fact that the screen was a matt finish instead of the glossy Samsung, the extra contrast on Samsung was required to fight all the ambient light. Sony with its regular "Standard " factory setting and matt finish gave me very similar quality picture.

Now for the other features. All of these required a wired ethernet connection to the TV on the back.

You Tube was fantastic on Sony. I think it was fully featured.
You Tube was horrible on Samsung. Search missed the videos I had uploaded. Its a yahoo widget and is scaled down version...

Sony had a streaming video option. It was great.
Samsung-- streaming huh what ?

Sony's yahoo widgets were less but all of them worked fast...15-20 seconds tops.
Samsung had more yahoo widgets but none of them worked fast enough. It took about 1.5 mins for some them to load... darn slow.....

Samsung has the blockbuster yahoo widget.. Pretty cool. I am a block buster customer.
Sony promises to get the netflix streaming option pretty soon. I am waiting for that. I am confident that Sony and NEtflix will get a very good version of it.

Yet to try the DLNA on Sony
Samsung DLNA software crashed the computer twice but it worked.. But the pictures loaded very slow 18 painful seconds between each picture. Com'on I have a gigabit connnection.

Today morning I was woken up by some very old Indian Classical music. I knew we did not have a CD or mp3 of that music. So I slowly worked my way to the living room from the bed room and guess what i saw. My wife on youtube surfing from the TV.
She tried on the Samsung and gave up in 10 seconds..

Now I know I have a winner with me... Wife approved the TV. The tough part... I am going to have to go to my old Panasonic in the bedroom since this is wife friendly.

Damn... you just can't win.... can you ?

I just bought this TV last week. I've been in the market for a 52" LCD HDTV for about a month, and ultimately chose this model for several reasons: (1) Based on my research, Sony and Samsung are the top brands. I ruled out Samsung after realizing that none of their 2009 models (B line 5, 6, 7 series) come with S-video input for some unknown reason. The 2008 models (A line) had them, but not in 2009. I have older equipment that defaults to S-video output, so for me having an S-video input is very important. Also, 3 of the 4 HDMI ports are on the side, and since I'll be wall-mounting the TV, I think easy access to the ports is very important, too. (2) Between the Sony 52" models, there are 5 selections: S, V, W, Z, XBR. The W is neither too low-end (it has Bravia Engine 3, unlike the S or V which only has Bravia Engine 2) or too high-end (120Hz is good enough for me, Z and XBR are 240Hz). It is the smallest in dimension, with the thinnest bezel. It comes with DLNA and Internet support, although I don't see myself using the widgets that often (because I have it hooked up to a Mac mini anyway), having the capability to connect to network greatly increases the value and flexibility of it.

Overall, I'm happy with the TV. The picture looks sharp, the colors are gorgeous, and setup was easy. Once on the network, it found a firmware update to fix some known issues so that was very easy.

Then, yesterday, I discovered a major design flaw in it. I was hooking up an indoor digital antenna to the TV, and looking for a signal strength indicator so I can best position the antenna. To my disappointment, I couldn't find it in the owner's manual, so I called Sony support. I was told that it does not have a signal strength indicator. I find it absurd that a $2000 TV with built-in HD receiver does not include such a critical feature. Samsung T260 LCD HDTV (~$350) has it, and EyeTV 3 software even announces the signal quality every second while I'm up fine-tuning the antenna position.

I hope Sony recognizes this inexcusable oversight and corrects it in a future software update.

FIRST OFF, I'M NOT AN AUDIOPHILE OR VIDEOPHILE. I'M INTELLIGENT, CONSERVATIVE AND WANTED A MEDIUM PRICED, GOOD QUALITY LCD HDTV. I WAS NOT CONCERNED ABOUT ALL THE FRILLS ON THIS TV EVEN THO I WILL OF COURSE UTILIZE SOME OF THEM. I WANTED A TV WITH A SMALL FOOTPRINT FOR IT'S SIZE, EXCELLENT RESOLUTION, GOOD SOUND QUALITY EVEN THO IT IS HOOKED UP TO A BOSE SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM. I FOUND THE SETUP WAS CLEAR AND EASY. TV GUIDE SETUP A BREEZE. THE PICTURE QUALITY IN HD IS FANTASTIC. I COULDN'T RATE IT HIGHER! I FOUND THE BLURRING ISSUE MINIMAL WHILE WATCHING SPORTING EVENTS (FOOTBALL & BASEBALL). I WAS ALSO HAPPY THAT IT HAS THE UPDATED BRAVIA ENGINE 3. I MADE A WISE CHOICE WITH THIS TV AND I AM VERY PLEASED.

This TV is simply superb. Me n my wife were saving money since last 13 months....we were going to buy a 52" or above TV in the thanksgiving sale...but we saw this TV for 1546$ and it came with a free Sony Blue ray DVD home theater system (BDV-E300) at that time and we bought it.
The TV is simply amazing. The crystal clear quality, the amazing Dolby sound. But the best feature is its internet capability......i connected an Ethernet cable to the TV and the TV automatically did the rest. I could just go down to the Network option and access Youtube, Yahoo & lot more applications. The XMB bar makes scrolling between different options very very easy.
I did a lot of research on which TV is the best...i compared dynamic ratios, response times, frequencies etc. etc. but the best thing to do is go to best buy or frys....look at each TV that you are considering and buy the one that you feel is the best....all TV have same performance....it just has to please your mind.....
Also, make sure you buy the TV only from Amazon. I have never seen such class of customer service like amazon provides. When i bought the system, the price was 1589$ and in 2 days it dropped to 1540$. I simply called Amazon and said the price just dropped and they gave me a refund of 59$ and matched the price. The TV was delivered before time, and the guy who delivered it installed it on my TV stand and turned on the power for me.

The blue ray system i got was defective and a blue ray DVD that i rented from block buster got stuck in it.....again...Amazon to the rescue....Amazon arranged for UPS to pick it up from my house....they are going to send me a brand new system again.....they even reimbursed me for the price of a new blue ray DVD which i had to pay Block buster......Seriously...Amazon rules....

I am very happy with the TV and amazon...