Sony KDL-46 V 5500 46"
Introduction
This LCD TV from Sony's V series offers a lot of picture for a moderate price. The V series is Sony's second cheapest TV line - only the S series comes below. The KDL-46 V 5500 has been available since spring 2010.
It's not only Sony that can give you a big picture, multimedia capabilities, and network access. The competition has plenty to offer: At the end of this detailed product description, we'll introduce nine models with similar pricing and feature sets from other manufacturers.
This LCD TV from Sony's V series offers a lot of picture for a moderate price. The V series is Sony's second cheapest TV line - only the S series comes below. The KDL-46 V 5500 has been available since spring 2010.
It's not only Sony that can give you a big picture, multimedia capabilities, and network access. The competition has plenty to offer: At the end of this detailed product description, we'll introduce nine models with similar pricing and feature sets from other manufacturers.
Picture Technology
This TV has a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel with a screen diagonal of 46 inches (116.8 centimeters). Since this type of display panel does not produce light itself, the TV uses cold-cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) to produce a visible picture; you won't find top-class technology like an LED backlight in the price range of the V series. The V 5500's screen is matt, as is common among TV manufacturers, as opposed to the glossy finish seen in many laptop PCs. This should eliminate reflection problems even in bright ambient lighting.
Sensible for a TV in this size class: The screen uses the full HDTV resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels ("full HD"). You'll easily be able to recognize and enjoy the greater sharpness of Blu-ray pictures, for example, even at typical viewing distances. You can find details on the ideal viewing distance in our "TV Buying Guide" article.
In its budget series, Sony makes do without 100-Hertz technology - the KDL-46 V 5500 runs at 50 Hertz instead. To be precise: The TV displays European TV signals at 50 Hertz, while North American NTSC-format videos appear at 60 Hertz, and pictures in the 24-Hz movie frame rate (from a Blu-ray disc, for example) display at 48 Hertz. According to Sony, the TV reproduces these 24-Hz signals perfectly ("24p True Cinema").
Televisions.com has already carried out extensive testing on the TV's big brother, the Sony KDL-52 V 5500: The difference in panel sizes, and the resulting difference in screen illumination, means the results will not match up one to one. Nevertheless, in our experience, the basic virtues - or vices, as the case may be - are similar across each series. The KDL-52 V 5500 scores highly with natural colors, accurate motion depiction, and - for an LCD TV - a very deep black.
Additional Features
If you have a PC network at home, like taking digital photos, and converted your CD collection to MP3s long ago, you'll have a lot of fun with this Sony: Despite the low price, the KDL-46 V 5500 comes bursting with network and multimedia functionality.
If you connect the TV up to a router with an Internet connection, you can integrate various Internet news tickers ("RSS Feeds"), which then display in small windows on the TV's screen. Sony calls this function "AppliCast". This Sony TV can also play back audio, video, and photo files via the network or from USB sticks.
For network access, you need to have a uPnP server running somewhere within your home network. This is a program that allows access via the network to videos, photos, or music in the correct protocol.
If you have a PC network at home, like taking digital photos, and converted your CD collection to MP3s long ago, you'll have a lot of fun with this Sony: Despite the low price, the KDL-46 V 5500 comes bursting with network and multimedia functionality.
If you connect the TV up to a router with an Internet connection, you can integrate various Internet news tickers ("RSS Feeds"), which then display in small windows on the TV's screen. Sony calls this function "AppliCast". This Sony TV can also play back audio, video, and photo files via the network or from USB sticks.
For network access, you need to have a uPnP server running somewhere within your home network. This is a program that allows access via the network to videos, photos, or music in the correct protocol.
Tuner
The tuner is the highlight of the KDL-46 V 5500: Across Europe, it will receive digital pictures via aerial or cable (DVB-T/DVB-C), and with both systems it will even accept high-resolution pictures.
Important for cable customers in Germany: The Sony supports the CI Plus access system, meaning you'll finally be able get rid of the extra set-top boxes for digital TV. The analog tuner is intended for cable-TV networks and for the areas where analog signals can still be received by aerial. Only satellite-TV viewers will be left wanting more with this Sony: Without a separate satellite receiver you won't get far with the KDL-46 V 5500.
Connections
Modern devices, such as Blu-ray players, can connect to the KDL-46 V 5500's four HDMI sockets. Older video technology can make use of the two Scart sockets, while there's also a composite video input (cinch) and an S-Video connection (Mini-DIN) for camcorders. The KDL-46 V 5500 has a VGA input (D-sub 15) for older PCs or laptops and a YUV input (cinch) for high-definition analog video sources.
The TV can relay the tuner's audio signal to an external amplifier, either via the optical digital output or using the two analog cinch sockets. If you want to watch TV quietly, you can connect a pair of headphones to the 3.5-millimeter-jack output. Put simply: This Sony has a comprehensive, practical set of connections.
Notes and Pricing:
Depending on the picture source, the "Scene" button on the remote control provides touch-of-a-button access to up to eight picture presets. The KDL-46 V 5500's menu, on the other hand, is much harder to use: Sony based its design on that of the "PlayStation 3" games console. At Televisions.com, we think this is a disadvantage: The user can never see the whole menu at once, and is forced to flick constantly through pages of settings.