The Sony KDL-52 V 5500 TV is a huge 52-inch (132-centimeter) LCD TV that works excellently in both dark and light conditions. Available since March 2009, the TV carries a recommended retail price of 1,660 GBP; as of spring 2009, online prices begin at just 1,400 GBP.

Florian Friedrich, tested on April 29, 2009

• Huge, natural-looking picture.
• Excellent picture quality, day and night.
• Built-in HDTV-capable digital tuner for terrestrial and cable signals.
• Network-access (LAN) to multimedia files from a PC.
• Widgets display online content, such as RSS feeds.
• Accurate display of 24p Blu-ray pictures.
• Support for pay-TV's future CI Plus standard.

• Picture quality depends strongly on viewing angle.
• Menu takes some getting used to and has too many functions/settings.
• Motion blur in fast-moving pictures/sports broadcasts.
• Lack of aspect ratio switching for HDTV signals.
• Thin sound.
• Significant picture cropping (overscan) for standard analog signals.

Sony's gigantic TV offers an enormous picture and excellent feature set, with versatile multimedia entertainment. Movies impress thoroughly in bright conditions, but fast movements blur a little, especially in sports broadcasts.

The most important connections:

2x 4x 1x

Test results in brief

The Sony KDL-52 V 5500 is the ultimate TV for the discerning bargain-hunter: A massive screen, a beautiful picture, good looks, comprehensive connectivity, ultra-modern multimedia functions, low power-consumption, and a moderate price - in short: the TV equivalent of a Swiss Army knife.

What the Sony KDL-52 V 5500 has to offer bargain hunters:
The enormous picture is, above all, sure to thrill the price-conscious customer. You pay just 32 GBP for each of the 52 inches of screen diagonal. This is based on the official 1,660 GBP list price from Sony, but the giant TV is available for less from numerous other suppliers.

Never before has such an amazing picture been available at such a low price. Whether you watch it during the day or night, the Sony always produces natural-looking pictures, with balanced colors and deep blacks. Movie atmosphere and depth effect are guaranteed from DVDs and, even more so, with Blu-ray discs. Only fast-moving images outsmart the Sony - the ball tends to blur, for example, in frantic football action. But this holds little sway against the TV's masses of positive features.

Making it a particularly attractive model for bargain-hungry buyers, the Sony offers many of tomorrow's features today. An HDTV tuner comes fitted as standard, for both cable and terrestrial signals - many modern TVs still require a special set-top box. Bringing yet more future proofing, the KDL-52 V 5500 already supports CI Plus, the future standard for pay-TV.

Tasty bonus features: Multimedia galore:
When it comes to multimedia features, Sony did not hold back. Digital photos, MP3 music files, and videos will play back from a USB stick, but that's just for starters. Thanks to network capabilities, the Sony also accesses content stored on a PC and connects to the Internet to seal the deal with "widgets" that display RSS feeds. Very few TVs can match this kind of setup.

Will anyone dislike the Sony?
Looking past the hype of the outstanding price-performance ratio, we can't recommend this TV for absolute picture-pedants. There's no shortage of devices that offer a better picture than the Sony - Pioneer's KRP-500 plasma, for example. But, then, the KRP-500 costs over 2,500 GBP...

The thin sound is another irritating minus-point - this just isn't how movies are supposed to sound. Your shopping list should therefore include a surround-sound system or, at the very least, a sound bar.

Design

Good design shouldn't just be about sleek looks. Practical operation and connectivity, easy assembly, and high-quality manufacturing are all essential to a TV's success. This chapter looks at how the Sony KDL-52 V 5500 performs in these respects.

Unpacking:
You'd better watch that this giant doesn't tip over during unpacking. Despite its size, however, the TV only weighs 35 kilograms - you'll need someone to help, but they don't have to be a body builder. In any case, with such an awe-inspiring screen, you're not likely to be short of happy helpers.

Also in the box: A swivel pedestal. Here again, the feature set leaves nothing to be desired.

Shape:

Despite its screen size, the Sony's casing is a slender 11.5 centimeters deep. It's not the flattest flat-panel out there, but such an opulent TV suits a little extra depth.

The high-gloss screen surround's black surface glints a discreet blue-black in sunlight - very elegant - and the practical swivel pedestal also basks in a high-gloss finish. A transparent Plexiglas bar neatly separates the speakers from the display and gives the TV a breezy look.

This bar also accommodates LEDs that indicate whether the TV is in operating mode, timer mode, or standby. The screen itself has a silky gloss surface, but very rarely produces irritating reflections.

One disadvantage of the attractive plastic finish: Fingerprints really stick. Also, fine scratches quickly appear if you use anything but the most extremely soft cloths for cleaning. Considering the Sony's numerous other virtues, however, we're happy to live with this minor shortcoming.

Mounting:

All hail the swivel pedestal: This sturdy stand enables easy rotation of the 52-inch screen to face the viewers directly. Setup is pure child's play.

Remote Control:

At 43 millimeters wide, and with a rounded underside, the compact remote control sits comfortably in the user's hand. Sony has sensibly given the remote a matt finish, instead of gloss; after all, this is one part of the device you're definitely going to need to touch. Almost all of the buttons are logically arranged. Only the aspect ratio button, which is banished to the very top of the handset, forces you to adjust your grip.