When you have a good look at the
Sony Bravia KDL-40Z5800 40" LCD TV the '
Built-in Freesat tuner' is somehow the first thing that catches your attention. On further inspection, you realize that Sony has given the KDL-46Z5500
a few sprinklings of extra features, the major part of which is the Free tuner. The tuner gives you access to about 140 free TV and radio channels with an efficient electronic programme guide. Another interesting aspect about the tuner is that, you can also tune it to general DVB-S services too, if you prefer it rather than Freesat. So now you can access any free digital satellite TV service that is of the DVB-S broadcast standard. Isn't that great?
We've always praised Sony for the design of it's LCD TVs and we're going to do the same thing with the 40Z5800 too. The design is straight and similar to that of the afore mentioned model with no attempts for anything different. But let's not complain, for it's stunning nevertheless. Remember the car-chase scene I mentioned in the review of the 46Z5500? Well this time around, I got hold of the same movie (It's French, and yes I know French!) and watched the exact sequence. The deftness of the tall dude, Lothaire and the mood of the scene that follows was rendered brilliantly with no judders whatsoever. This
cheapest LCD features
Motionflow 200Hz with IB reduction and Sony's ingenious BRAVIA ENGINE 3, which speak for the sharpness and seamlessness of the pictures.
Dark shades look rich with detail and black is perfect to look at. There were times when I came across dull patches in dark areas, but again, they were quite minimal and not worth complaining about. Audio, however, has to be complained about. A heart racing action scene, however brilliant to look at does not give us the actual feeling of being there since it's not backed by an equally brilliant sound system.
This
Sony Bravia LCD TV has a dynamic contrast ratio of 100000:1 and sports the Live Color Creation feature, both of which do only good things to the contrast and colours. Skin tones and deep reds are natural and at the same time lustrous. All the usual goodies like USB Media Player, AppliCast applications and Picture Frame mode
are in place along with a good dose of
Eco Settings. Though not The best LCD TV, the Sony Bravia KDL-40Z5800 will definitely have a lot of takers simply for the fact that it comes with an efficient Freesat tuner.
