Tour & Design
The front of the XBR-52HX900 has a clean, simple design. The front of the display is a single piece of glass, so there is no obvious bezel. The screen is also coated with Sony's new OptiContrast coating, which they claim reduces reflections and enhances contrast.
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Back**
The back of the display is where the TV keeps its ports. There's also a column of ports in a recessed bay on the left side.
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Sides**
On the left side of the display body there are a number of inputs, including a couple of HDMI ports and several analog inputs. Like other Sony displays in their 2010 line, the panel is tilted back by 6 degrees. This allows the display to be mounted lower than the eye line without running into viewing angle problems.
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Stand/Mount**
The stand of this display is somewhat unusual: instead of the common plastic base at the center of the display, a large metal strip extends along the entire length of the display body. This is balanced by a plastic extension at the back that ensures stability. It's certainly a striking design that makes the TV look more like a piece of sculpture.The speakers are also built into this stand, with a grille on the front letting the sound out.
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Aesthetics**
Sony has adopted a new design ethos for their 2010 line called monolith design, which seems to be styled after the space monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It isn't clear if Sony has attempted the same approach of the film version of promoting the evolution of man, but we do hope it's governed by a malicious AI. In all, the TV has an unusual and attractive look that would make this screen a definite talking point.
Performance Features
Display Size & Technology
The XBR-52HX900 is built around a Full HD LCD panel, which means that it can display every pixel of a 1080p video signal from a device such as a Blu-ray player. It can also handle all of the lower resolution signals, such as 1080i and 720p. This display also includes Sony's own Motionflow Pro 240Hz processing, which they claim produces smoother and more natural movement. In our tests, we have generally found that this doesn't make a huge amount of difference over the 120Hz processing that is present on most HDTVs, but we did test previous versions of this technology: we'll look forward to getting a review unit into our labs to find out if it does live up the promise.
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Formats & Resolution**
As a Full HD display, the XBR-52HX900 can handle all of the current HD video signals produced by Blu-ray players, DVD, players, set-top boxes, etc. It is also compatible with the recently defined 3D Blu-ray standard, although you will need to buy a set of 3D glasses and a transmitter to get the full 3D experience. Sony declined to say how much this will cost or how much you might need to spend to equip the entire family with the glasses required for 3D viewing.
The 3D effect is produced by displaying alternate images 120 times a second, while the optional transmitter signals each frame of the active shutter glasses to turn on and off in time with the alternate images, effectively showing each eye a different image and fooling the brain into thinking it is seeing a 3D image. Each eye sees 60 frames a second, though, so there is no loss in resolution or movement from standard 2D 1080p content.
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Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio**
We were not able to run our full suite of tests on the prototype of this HDTV which was on display, but we were impressed by the contrast range that it showed in the sample footage that Sony was showing, with deep blacks and bright whites. Again, we look forward to poking this display with our science stick to see how well it does, but the signs look good.
The XBR-52HX900 also offers local dimming, where the LED backlights can dim in dark areas of the screen image to produce deeper blacks. This is one area where this display is superior to the XBR-LX900 range, which use an LED edge backlight that can't do local dimming. Again, we have to sound a note of caution: we have seen only slight improvements in image quality on HDTVs that we have reviewed before that include local dimming, and we will have to wait to test this model in more controlled conditions before we draw any conclusions. Sony was also unable to confirm the number of dimming zones (the number of areas that can be individually controlled by the display to perform the dimming), which is a critical factor: the more zones, the more attractive the dimming looks, as you don't get a halo effect.
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Color**
We were also not able to test the color performance of this display, but again the colors in the sample footage that we looked at looked good; we saw bright, sharp colors, but also plenty of detail in the highlights and lowlights. Support is offered for the xvYCC color space and the deep color format of the HDMI 1.4 standard, which allows for more color detail in the signal.
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Motion & Refresh Rate**
The XBR-52HX900 includes Sony's new Motionflow Pro 240Hz processing, which they claim is improved from previous versions. We haven't seen much difference on previously reviewed models between 120Hz and 240Hz processing, but we will wait to draw any conclusions until we can get the display into our lab in more controlled conditions. However, motion on the prototype unit we saw at the CES show looked very good, with smooth motion and no obvious artifacts.
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Viewing Angle**
We were also not able to test the viewing angle of the prototype on display at the CES show, but we did see an impressive viewing angle in our informal tests, where we saw a good contrast ratio to be maintained to a wide angle. We'll report more when we get a review unit in to test.
Connectivity & Media
Audio & Video Ports
A generous number of ports are offered on the XBR-52HX900; there are four HDMI ports (all compatible with the new HDMI 1.4 standard), one component and one composite video input, plus a single VGA input for connecting a computer. There are no DVI ports, but this is not a problem; adapters to convert a DVI output to a HDMI one are widely available.
On the audio side of things, there are 5 analog audio inputs, plus one optical digital audio output, so the display can be easily connected to a separate surround sound audio system and devices that produce only analog sound.
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Media & Other Connectivity**
The XBR-52HX900 is a little less well connected than its more expensive cousin: a wired Internet connection is available, but the wireless connection is an optional extra. If you do run an Ethernet cable to the display, it can use your home internet connection to stream video from services such as Netflix or Amazon video, as well as check stock prices or twitter feeds. A single USB ports is included on the side of the display, so you can play back audio or video stored on a USB thumb drive or other device. **
Placement**
The side ports are the more important ones for general use, as that's where you plug in devices like digital cameras and camcorders that you need to plug in and remove often. These ports are easily accessible, but you will need to lean around the TV body to find them: they're slightly recessed.
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Audio**
A set of speakers are built into the stand, with the sound coming out of the front grille. We were not able to test the quality of these speakers.
Controls, Menu & Remote
Remote
The remote of this model was not available on the show floor.
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Controls**
The 52HX900 has controls in two locations: a set of touch controls on the front of the display body, and an additional set of more conventional button controls on the side, in a slightly recessed bay. We were not able to test the touch controls as Sony reps started shouting at us whenever we tried to touch the demo model.
** Menu**
We were not able to access the on-screen menus of this display to test them out, and Sony reps were unable to tell us if the menu structure had changed significantly.
Conclusion
Series Comparison
XBR-HX900 Series
The Bravia XBR-HX900 series is one of Sony's premium lines, with a wide set of features and high performance. There are two models in the line: the 46-inch XBR-46HX900 and the 52-inch XBR-52HX900.
Meet the tester
Richard Baguley is a veteran writer who has written about technology ranging from Alphabet to Zip file utilities. He has contributed to pretty much every major tech publication, including Amiga Format Magazine, PC World, Wired, CNET, Toms Guide, Forbes, and many others. He lives in the Boston metro area with his wife, dog, and an indeterminate number of cats.
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