When Sony debuted its $27,000 SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) front projector a couple of years back, my first thought after drooling over its fine, filmlike picture was: They’ll really have something if they can get this technology into a TV that sells for a few thousand dollars. Well, that something has arrived: the 50-inch KDS-R50XBR1 is an SXRD-based rear-projection HDTV that lists for $4,000. And since good things come in pairs, it also has a big 60-inch brother, the $5,000 KDS-R60XBR1.
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What We Think
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| Sony scores big in its effort to bring SXRD display technology to the masses. Great picture performance at a great price. |
The other key refinement that Sony brings to its new SXRD models is an iris adjustment. This powerful feature, which lets you modify the light output of the TV’s lens to enhance picture contrast, has shown up on some high-end LCD and DLP front projectors in the past year or so but is only just starting to make its way into rear projectors. Aside from that, the KDS-R50XBR1 is a sleek-looking tabletop set with a glossy black border framing its 50-inch screen. Its semi-detached, nonremovable speakers add several inches to the set’s width — a point to consider if you’re installing it in a wall unit.
The Sony offers a generous range of connection options, including multiple HDMI and i.Link (FireWire) inputs as well as VGA and component-video jacks. One i.Link input is located behind a flip-up panel beneath the screen — perfect for plugging in a digital camcorder. While it doesn’t have a backlit keypad, Sony’s thin, sturdy remote control has a clean layout. You switch inputs by toggling through them with the TV/Video button. The Wide button calls up a list of four display modes, with three choices — Full, Zoom, and Wide Zoom — available for HDTV channels.
SETUP After I connected an antenna, the Sony easily captured all of my local digital broadcasts. That included the ABC affiliate’s digital channel, which I usually need to tune via an onscreen signal-strength meter — the one feature this TV lacks. The set’s Twin View mode lets you watch two different high-def channels, or any other combination of sources, side by side in their original aspect ratios.
The Sony’s vast store of picture adjustments makes setup something of an adventure. Each of the three video presets can be customized and saved for all inputs — a welcome advancement from previous Sony models I’ve tested. But basic picture settings like contrast and color are just the beginning. Besides a manual adjustment for the Iris control mentioned earlier, there’s also an Advanced Iris function that automatically adjusts the iris to optimize contrast on the fly for the image being displayed. Meanwhile, the set’s Warm color-temperature setting delivered a picture that pretty much nailed the NTSC color spec. It needed only slight tweaks to the red, green, and blue gain and bias controls — available in the Advanced Video menu — to bring it in.
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The Short Form
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| SONYSTYLE.COM / 877-865-7669 / $4,000 / 57.25 x 34 x 18.875 IN / 94.75 LBS |
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Plus
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| •Excellent HDTV picture detail. •Rich, natural color. •Excellent black rendition and shadow detail. •Wide selection of effective picture adjustments. •Custom picture memory for each input. |
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Minus
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| •No antenna signal-strength meter. •No support for 1080p-format HDTV signals. |
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Key Features
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| •1,920 x 1,080-resolution SXRD display •Built-in HDTV tuner •Digital cable-ready •Variable Auto Iris contrast enhancement •Inputs CableCARD slot; 2 HDMI (one with analog audio for DVI sources); 3 i.Link (FireWire); 2 component-video and 3 A/V with composite/S-video, all with analog stereo audio; 2 RF cable/antenna; VGA with minijack analog stereo audio; Memory Stick Pro slot •Outputs optical digital and analog stereo audio •Matching stand (shown): $500 |
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Test Bench
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| Color-temperature measured very close to the 6,500-K standard with the Warm mode selected, and grayscale tracking was an excellent ±50 K from 30 to 100 IRE. With the Low Advanced Iris position engaged, light output was 34 ftL, which is plenty bright enough for watching in a dim or dark room. Color-decoder peformance was excellent, with no error visible on test patterns displayed via the HDMI inputs. The set was able to fully resolve all detail in a 1080i-format HDTV signal via the HDMI inputs. Full lab results |
PICTURE QUALITY The subtle colors and dark, film noirish scenes in the new Million Dollar Baby DVD made it a great choice for gauging the Sony’s video quality. In the first sequence that takes place in Frankie Dunn’s (Clint Eastwood’s) well-worn gym, the TV clearly rendered the rough textures and faded colors of the dingy walls. The skin tones of the multi-ethnic cast looked natural, with lots of subtle variation. Even so, the occasional bright swath of color, like a yellow poster or a red stripe on a boxer’s jacket, looked rich and fully saturated without coming across as lurid. I was also impressed by the Sony’s handling of a scene where Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris (Morgan Freeman) turns off the gym lights only to discover Maggie (Hilary Swank) still smacking a bag. As the banks of overhead lights switched off one by one, the TV showed a natural, cascading decrease in shadow detail on the way to near-total blackness.
The Sony’s rich blacks and CRT-like levels of shadow detail were also evident in a high-def New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays game I caught on the YES-HD channel. As the sun beat down on a cloudless day in the Bronx, fine dark gradations could be seen in Blue Jays’ black uniforms, and details in the clothing of fans seated in shadowy seats under the bleachers were also visible. Most important, the set delivered a smooth ramp of gray to black shades rather than making dark parts of the picture look flat — something I’ve seen in many other DLP and LCD microdisplay HDTVs. Subtle highlights in the Yankees’ white uniforms were also revealed, with no undue compression of detail. And the Sony’s stunning picture resolution brought out the fine texture of not only the turf, but of patches of dirt on the field as well. I could even make out fine vertical stripes in the Yank players’ uniforms in wide shots of the game — a real-life test pattern if ever there was one.
BOTTOM LINE I have so many good things to say about Sony’s KDS-R50XBR1 HDTV that it’s tough to sum it all up. First, there’s the gorgeous picture, which combines natural color and deep, CRT-like blacks with fine resolution. Then there’s the extensive feature set and picture tweaks, which go well beyond many other televisions. Finally, there’s the price tag. Four grand might seem high compared with similar-size rear-projection HDTVs, but very few of these offer 1080p display.
Perhaps the only real downside here is the Sony’s inability to show true 1080p HDTV signals. It’s not alone here among 1080p displays, and it’s a minor issue — there are no easily obtainable 1080p sources right now. That could change with the pending Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high-definition disc formats. But with so many other things going for it, I’ll lay bets that Sony’s newest SXRD offerings are going to shake things up in HDTV-land.
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.