Colors and Ideal Settings

Fine-tuning for the optimal picture, just like they see in the film studio: In this chapter, we'll show you how good the Sony KDL-40 EX1's colors and presets really are, and how to get the best out of the TV's picture.

Color Fidelity:

You should ideally choose the "Cinema" preset. Here, on first glance, the picture doesn't look quite as intense and radiant as in the other presets, but the color reproduction is close to the relevant standards of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).

The color gamut is rather limited in this preset. We could not only detect this using measurement devices, but also see it in the fourth chapter of "Casino Royale" on Blu-ray: Whereas Bond-actor Daniel Craig's complexion beams with a golden tan, the ocean and cloudless, tropical sky look rather pale.

But, there is a handy trick: The Sony allows you to change to color gamut. If you switch the "Color Space" from "Standard" to "Wide" and also reduce the color saturation, the TV's colors look more balanced, although measurements indicate that the green is too intense. Especially when comparing the Sony with our color-neutral JVC studio monitor, we preferred the "Wide" setting to "Standard".

Color Temperature:
On average, the color temperature measures 6,400 Kelvin, putting it extremely close to the 6,500 Kelvin defined by the relevant video standards. Fortunately, the picture's brightness has little effect on this value. Black-and-white movies therefore look pleasingly neutral and are free of bothersome colorations. If you view the TV from an angle, however, the color fidelity suffers - gray tones show violet and yellow tints, an effect we noticed on the black-and-white classic "Casablanca" on Blu-ray.

Overall, the Sony displays excellent colors; only saturated reds look a touch too intense.

In this diagram, the black triangle shows the ideal values (the EBU color gamut); the white triangle is the gamut of the tested TV. The white spots in the center of the diagram give the color coordinates of various grayscales.

In the ideal case, you would see just one spot, meaning all grayscales appear with the same color impression - the more visible spots, the bigger the color deviation. The point where the dotted lines meet shows the D65 white point (6,500 Kelvin).

Ideal Settings

We achieved an optimal Blu-ray HDTV movie picture using the settings listed below. You may need to make slight changes to these settings as a result of manufacturing variations, HDMI-transmission variables, and differences between Blu-ray players.

Video Input: HDMI (on the monitor itself)

Video-Signal Type: 1080/24p

Picture Mode: Cinema

Brightness: 50

Color: 45

Color Temperature: Warm 2

Hue: Middle setting

Game Mode: Off

Display Area: Full Pixel

Color Space: Wide

Motionflow: Off

MPEG Noise Reduction: Off

Noise Reduction: Off

All other options under "Advanced Settings": Set to "Off"