Featured Brands
Other TV Brands
Most Popular TVs
Sony KDL-46 W 2000
The Sony KDL-46 W 2000 TV is a 46" (116.8 cm) LCD flat-panel TV which was introduced to the market in the spring of 2007, and carries a recommended retail price of approximately 3,700 GBP.
Florian Friedrich, April 11, 2007
- The KDL-46 W 2000 comes with a DVB-T tuner.
- The remote control is well structured and sits well in the hand.
- Superb high-definition: The screen has the full 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.
- Splotches are not pleasant: The backlight does not illuminate the screen evenly.
- Potential interface shortage: Just two Scart sockets and two HDMI interfaces are a little thin for a set of this caliber.
The Sony is certainly impressive as a large screen television for both standard PAL TV and HDTV presentation. Its only deficit is the irregular functionality of the screen's backlight. In the good old days of CRT televisions, Sony made a name for itself with its Trinitron tubes. In these flat screen TV times, the manufacturer has had to implement a variety of extras to differentiate itself from its competitors. In this respect, the Sony KDL-46 W 2000 has much to offer.
2x 
2x 
1x 
1x 
1x
Digg
del.icio.us
Reddit
GoogleFeatures
On-board DVB-T Receiver:
Still not to be taken for granted in today's offerings is the on-board receiver for digital DVB-T television alongside the usual analog receiver. A button on the remote control permits the viewer to switch comfortably between analog and digital mode.
Despite the strict separation, the set still has only one antenna interface for both tuners. Many European countries offer digital DVB-T Pay-TV and, to cater for them, Sony offers a built-in decoder interface for their cards in the form of a Conditional Access Module (CAM) bay.
Interface Panel and Connection Options:
The interface panel of the KDL-46 W 2000 is not exactly rich with connection options. Supporting just two Scart sockets, a YUV interface, side-mounted camcorder connection and VGA interface for PC operation the Sony is particularly ordinary.
Nevertheless, both Scart sockets support the highest quality RGB format, and just one of the Scart sockets is "Link" compatible. Hence, "Link" capable video recorders are able to synchronize their station presets with the TV, and can be programmed for channel recording - under the precondition that both participating devices are picking up the TV signals via the analog cable antenna.
Just as ordinary is the support provided by the Sony for HDMI connectivity - just two interfaces are insufficient for DVD player, set-top box and games console etc.
Backlight Adjustment:
A built-in light sensor adjusts the brightness of the backlight in keeping with the room's lighting level. A brighter room necessitates a brighter backlight and likewise, a darker room will see the backlight dimmed. This regulation improves simultaneously the perception of black.
Operation
Remote Control and Screen Menu:
The Sony's remote control is both compact and useful as all the major buttons are within easy reach. Compared with the remote controls of many other manufacturers' sets, this one is particularly tidy.
The screen menu is very well structured but, it would seem as though the Sony engineers used it to demonstrate the screen's HD capabilities. Many of the fonts and symbols are difficult to read from any great distance.
Also, the interaction between the cursor navigation cross and centrally placed confirmation button is not as trouble-free as it should be. Every now and again our testers inadvertently pressed one of the cursor keys in place of the confirmation keys, or vice versa.
Luckily this "problem" generally presents itself only when working with or navigating around the menus. Once the set has been set up for commissioning, the majority of users will not be affected by this peculiarity. Once in a while, of course, the viewer could become a cropper and select the wrong button when operating the highly successful Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for DVB-T.
Channel Changing:
The fast times associated with station changeover remove any possible injustice this effect may cause. Analog programs appear in just under a second, while digital stations require an exemplary 1.8 seconds to view the new station's contents.
TV and DVD Picture Quality
Static pictures are well presented on the KDL-46 W 2000 and the video processing performs its task gently. The small print, typically characteristic of advertising spots for mobile phone contacts, is rendered on the KDL-46 W 2000 clearly and crisply - perhaps a little more so than the provider's would wish for. Darker structures within textiles, for example, are also clearly presented with little noise.
Motion is not as well interpreted by the KDL-46 W 2000. Sport transmissions, for example, are rendered better on competitor's products - especially where it comes to contours. With a light intensity of 290 Candela/m², the TV delivers a brilliant picture even in living rooms with large panoramic windows.
Both factory presets deliver a picture that has full contrast but a little too hard and a touch on the cool side. For a more naturally appearing picture, the viewer must alter some of the picture parameters himself (see Best Settings). When setup correctly, the Sony is capable of delivering vivid colors like the saturated greens and yellows in the first of the "Lord of the Rings" adventure sequences. Despite the set's rather exaggerated color space, these rich colors are still not outside the realm of reality. Extreme test disc imagery, by comparison, pushes this believability to the limits so that they do appear synthetic and false.
The video signal processing applied to source material from the Scart interface or simple video cable is also capable of producing quite an impressive picture. Unfortunately though, the full-frame converter or "de-interlacer" struggles considerably with more intricate or complex scenes such as those showing the roller coaster ride in the "Space Cowboys" film. Here the edging and contours of the motion picture are visibly saw-toothed.
Playing back material through a more modern HDMI interfaced DVD player delivers even crisper imagery on the Sony. Colored details appear cleaner, as witnessed on the windsurfer in the film "Six Days, Seven Nights" (Chapter 5). The optimum format that is supported by the KDL-46 W 2000 is the scaled 1080 line signal without overscan i.e. the picture is not cropped.
Dark scenes are particularly well presented, and better than many of the competitors' offerings, through the set's 900:1 contrast range. What tends to ruin this picture, when compared with other devices, is its uneven residual light which is responsible for making black picture areas blotchy.
HDTV Picture Quality
The KDL-46 W 2000 does not accept Blu-ray movie material in the 24p format, and as such, HDTV movies will always appear jerky on this screen. Having said this, HD reproduction on this flat-panel TV is exceptionally good. In HD mode, the Sony suppresses any hint of overscan. Source material with an HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels is faithfully and accurately reproduced - a feat that not all HD screens of the 2007 generation are capable of performing.
Blu-ray movie content, such as "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is rendered a touch crisper than competitor's models - particularly during calmer sequences as observed in the tile grouting in the bathroom scene in chapter 11. Other full HD TVs are however better able to reproduce camera pans with improved sharpness.
Computer Operation and Sound Quality
Computer Operation:
When interfaced to the PC through the 15-pin D-Sub connector (VGA), the Sony can only support a maximum screen resolution of 1360 x 768 pixels. Since these pixel dimensions do not coincide with the maximum the set is capable of addressing, fonts for example appear washed out. The full 1920 x 1080 resolution can be attained however, if using an HDMI to DVI adapter. With this solution, screen fonts are exactly represented and are clearly legible without any edge blurring.
Sound Quality:
The built-in loudspeakers deliver clear speech and comparatively high volume. Although music sounds spatial, it is lacking in bass and is slightly distorted. The best audio experience is therefore only attainable through an externally connected AV receiver, good Hi-Fi set or home-theater equipment.
Settings for the best home-theatre performance*
Picture Mode: Custom
Contrast: 93
Brightness: 47
Color: 50
Sharpness: 6
Color Temperature: Warm 2 (6,700 K)
Backlight: 3
Noise Reduction: Off
Black Corrector: Off
Adv. Contrast Enhancer: Off
Gamma: Medium
Clear White: Off
Color Space: Normal
MPEG Noise Reduction: Off
Power Saving: Low
* applied to realistic playback from HD-DVD/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations may necessitate slight adjustment.
Quick Points Summary
Simple yet practical: The black matt screen optimizes the contrast while the swivel pedestal allows the viewing angle to be precisely adjusted.
Average: For modern, high-specified AV equipment, possessing just two HDMI interfaces and two Scart sockets is just not enough.
Easy to manage and well laid out: The remote control of the KDL-46 W 2000 sits well in the hand and is suited to daily use.