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  • Introduction

  • Overall Design

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Stand/Mount

  • Controls

  • Remote Control

  • In the Box

  • Black Level

  • Peak Brightness

  • Contrast

  • Tunnel Contrast

  • White Falloff

  • Uniformity

  • Greyscale Gamma

  • Color Temperature

  • RGB Curves

  • Motion Performance

  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

  • Resolution Scaling

  • Formats

  • Viewing Angle

  • Reflectance

  • Video Processing

  • Calibration

  • Video Modes

  • Ergonomics & Durability

  • Button Layout & Use

  • Programming & Flexibility

  • Connectivity

  • Placement

  • Audio Quality

  • Menu Interface

  • Instruction Manual

  • Internet Features

  • Local Media Playback

  • Other Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Value Comparison

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Connectivity

  • Conclusion

  • Model Series Comparison

  • Photo Gallery

  • Ratings & Specs

  • Introduction
  • Overall Design
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Stand/Mount
  • Controls
  • Remote Control
  • In the Box
  • Black Level
  • Peak Brightness
  • Contrast
  • Tunnel Contrast
  • White Falloff
  • Uniformity
  • Greyscale Gamma
  • Color Temperature
  • RGB Curves
  • Motion Performance
  • 3:2 Pulldown & 24fps
  • Resolution Scaling
  • Formats
  • Viewing Angle
  • Reflectance
  • Video Processing
  • Calibration
  • Video Modes
  • Ergonomics & Durability
  • Button Layout & Use
  • Programming & Flexibility
  • Connectivity
  • Placement
  • Audio Quality
  • Menu Interface
  • Instruction Manual
  • Internet Features
  • Local Media Playback
  • Other Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Value Comparison
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Connectivity
  • Conclusion
  • Model Series Comparison
  • Photo Gallery
  • Ratings & Specs

Introduction

That sums up our ambivalence about the new Sony Google TV. We're not quite sure what it is, and we don't think Sony knows either. Displaying all the earmarks of a first-generation product, it's simultaneously exciting and confusing.

Overall Design

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has an attractive facade due to the uniformly flat glass that covers the screen and bezel. The bright white plastic backing is a different matter, and it's not for everyone. If 95% of TVs on the market are all-black, you're going to be the odd one out with the Sony GT1.

Front

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has a uniformly smooth surface, even over the bezel, which lends it a neat and polished look.

Back

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 is unusual for a TV because it has a bright white plastic backing rather than black. The ports are grouped on one side.

Sides

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There are a few more ports on the side.

Stand/Mount

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The stand on the Sony NSX-46GT1 is made of two folding metal bars, far different from the flat piece of plastic on most flat panel TVs. The stand is not, adjustable, per se, but it does allow you to tilt the panel slightly back and forth. However, there's no ability to swivel the panel left and right.

Controls

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There are no onboard controls on the Sony NSX-46GT1, except for a power button along the bottom of the bezel.

Remote Control

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The remote control is unlike anything you've seen in a TV remote before.

In the Box

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 ships with the stand, remote control, batteries, documentation, and an IR blaster cable. Setting the TV up is quite easy, assuming you can lift up a 46-inch screen.

Black Level

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 produced a black level of 0.10 cd/m2. This would normally be considered a very good score, as you can see in the chart below. It's exactly in between the performances of a similar Samsung and another Sony TV. But the Sony NSX-32GT1, the 32-inch version, produced a much better black level. It's odd, because we would normally assume that most of the components are identical. They're clearly not.

We can only hypothesize that due to the big difference in screen size, they might be using a different type of LCD panel or other substrate. It seems that it might actually be thinner than the 32-inch version, because the viewing angle on this model was also better. (Note: the thicker the LCD panel, the less light gets through, so blacks may appear deeper. The flip side is that in thicker materials, less light gets through at an angle, negatively impacting viewing angle). More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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Sony NSX-46GT1 produced a decent peak brightness, measuring 248.02 cd/m2. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 produced a viewing angle of 2480:1, according to our tests. As you can see from the chart below, that's not nearly as good as a similar Sony and Samsung LCD TV we pulled for comparison. It did, however, score much better than a similar LG model. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 did not have any problems with maintaining a consistent black levels. That's something we typically only see in plasma TVs. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has no problem with producing a consistent peak brightness, either. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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The greyscale gamma test examines how well a TV displays the transition from black to white. If you look at the chart below, you can get a lot of information. Ideally, we want to see a smooth line. The Sony NSX-46GT1's performance has a lot of squiggles. That means that you can expect to see a lot of banding in the greyscale, something that we were able to verify in other tests. It just doesn't do shadow details that well. The32-inch Sony Google TV had a similar showing.

There's also the slope of the curve to consider. An ideal slope is somewhere between 2.1 and 2.2. The Sony NSX-46GT1's performance of 2.48 is a just a little steep, meaning it's going to miss some of those finer gradations in the greyscale. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 performed very well with maintaining a consistent color temperature. As you can see from the chart below, the color temperature aberrations barely enter into the realm of perceptibility. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 did not great in our RGB color curve tests, but it certainly wasn't terrible. As you can see in the chart below, the curves are very bumpy. We saw the same results with our eyes. These bumps translate as small but frequent instances of color banding. Don't expect the smoothest color transitions when this TV is called upon to display smooth gradients. More on how we test RGB curves.

The color strips below are digital recreations of the results from the RGB test, compared with three similar TVs as well as an ideal response curve.

Motion Performance

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Motion Smoothness (6.87)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 performed fairly well in our motion tests. Aside from the usual color trailing and jaggies we see on LCDs, there were no apparent problems with the smoothness of moving objects.

Motion Artifacting (5.75)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 definitely showed some artifacting, even more than the 32-inch version we reviewed a few weeks ago. There was some laggy processing that caused objects with vertical lines to become diagonal when in motion. That's something we did not see in the 32-incher. However, we did see a re-occurrence of the color banding. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 had absolutely no problem displaying native 24fps content, such as what you get with most Blu-Ray movies. In order to get the best performance, make sure you leave the CineMotion feature in "Auto" mode. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has a native 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, but most of the content you'll watch on it will likely be of a lower resolution. Fortunately, the TV is pretty good at this task, though the 1080i content was the biggest problem. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

When displaying 480p content, the Sony NSX-46GT1 lost 3% of the screen on all sides due to overscan.

720p

Content in the 720p content lost 2% on all sides to overscan, as well as creating some minor Moire patterns when trying to display high frequency patterns.

1080i

The 1080i footage we viewed lost 2% on all sides to overscan and showed very bad problems with Moires in high frequency patterns.

Formats

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has a native 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, and supports all standard NTSC formats.

Viewing Angle

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 produced a pretty good viewing angle for an LCD TV. It was wider than any of the LCD TVs we pulled in for comparison. It was much, much better than the 32-inch Sony Google TV, which we can only surmise that it indicates different screen materials used in the two TVs.

Reflectance

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has a reflective screen, like most TVs. It's a sharp, clear reflection that doubles as a mirror if you need it to.

Video Processing

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has a several video processing features, but not quite as many as you'd find on more expensive Sony TVs that veer towards hight-end video performance.

Calibration

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To get the Sony NSX-46GT1's best performance, you'll want to put it in Cinema mode. The rest of the changes we made are in the table below.

[

All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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There are four video modes, as well as a custom mode. However, no matter what mode you're in, you can make changes to any of the settings above.

Ergonomics & Durability

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Button Layout & Use

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has many tiny buttons. One of our normal tests for a remote control is to try and control the basic functions without looking down at it. There's simply no way for this remote to do well in that test. There are too many buttons to differentiate without looking. That's expected if you're using the qwerty keyboard, but when you have to struggle to do something simple like exit the menu, that's a problem.

Programming & Flexibility

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The remote control is (purportedly) fully programmable with other AV devices. However, this is the second Sony Google TV we've reviewed that tried and failed to control our Comcast cable box.

The remote control has an IR sensor on the top to work with other devices, but actually communicates with the TV over Bluetooth. As such, it doesn't need line-of-sight to work with the TV.

Connectivity

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Input Ports (4.5)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 is certainly not overflowing with port options like some TVs, but there's enough for very basic connections to older devices and several "newer" devices. There are 4 HDMIs, but just one shared component / composite AV input. There's a digital audio output, and a headphone output that can double as an analog audio output with the purchase of a cheap converter. Unusually, you'll also find an IR blaster input with included cables.

The ports are spread out between the back and sides. The 4 USB ports on the side can be used for USB storage devices as well as peripherals like a keyboard and mouse.

Output Ports (2.0)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 has two output ports, a digital audio output and a headphone jack that can be used as an analog audio output. This allows you to connect to both old and new home audio systems.

Other Connections (6.0)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 connects to the internet and DLNA home networks with an ethernet port and built-in WiFi. The TV also has an IR blaster input and included cable.

Media (4.0)

The Sony NSX-46GT1 offers four USB ports, far more than the average TV. The reason for the additions is that a TV that comes close to doubling as a computer needs to accommodate computer peripherals like mice, keyboards, and USB storage devices.

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Placement

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has well-labeled and sensibly placed ports. Granted, the ports on the back are a little harder to get to because the TV panel can't swivel on its base. Fortunately, the rear ports are close to the edge of the frame and easier to reach.

Audio Quality

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The Sony NSX-46GT1's audio performance is pretty bad, even for a TV. Just as we found on the 32-inch model of the Sony Google TV, everything sounded unusually flat. Attempts at bass notes rattled like there was garbage in the chassis. There are three audio preset modes in the menu – Standard, Dynamic, and Vocal – but only Standard sounded vaguely decent. If you're looking for any sort of audio performance, you'll want to invest in a dedicated sound system.

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The menu on the Sony Google TVs is a completely different animal from what you're used to on a TV menu. There are so many options, it's rather daunting your first time through. We're sorry to see that Sony scrapped its "Xross Bar Media" menu found on many Sony TVs, as well as the Playstation 3, PSP, and other Sony devices. It's streamlined design might have brought some much-needed order to this chaotic land.

The menu is divided into a series of submenus of varying design. Some are list-oriented, some are grids, and some are something else completely. It has a hodge-podge feel that doesn't help you in understanding any of the myriad choices. For a great walkthrough, jump to the Multimedia section of the review and watch our video.

Instruction Manual

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 ships with a little paper guide to get you started, but not a real instruction manual. The document you're looking for is in electronic form on the TV itself, in an all but unnavigable form. You can also find the Sony manual online here.

A manual for so many TV models, they have to be further categorized by type.

Internet Features

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Local Media Playback

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 has 4 USB ports, any of which can read USB storage devices to read and display photos. The interface, like most of the TV's interface, is needlessly confusing. When you plug a drive in, the TV doesn't recognize it right away. You have to go to the Home Menu -> Applications -> Media Player and select the device. From there, you can hit the Menu button (that's the bottom key on the left d-pad) to create playlists and find other playback options.

The Sony NSX-46GT1 can also play back music and video files from USB storage devices. The interface is exactly as described in the photo playback section ahead.

Other Media

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 is reported to work seamlessly with a separately purchased DVR that Sony would be happy to sell you, but it does not come with the purchase of the TV.

Power Consumption

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 costs approximately $22.04 per year in electricity. You can decrease the power consumption even more by lowering the backlight, but we'd recommend not doing that.

As you can see from the chart below, the Sony NSX-46GT1 is a little more expensive than similar LCDs, which might be explained by the extra processing power that the Sony Google TV requires.

Value Comparison

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The Sony KDL-46EX700 is a more traditional TV, focused on picture quality rather the GT1's emphasis on web applications. The EX700 did, in fact, perform better in most of our tests. It also offers more AV inputs and, for what it's worth, offers nearly all the same streaming content features as the GT1, minus a full web browser. Unless you're really excited about Google TV, the EX700 is certainly easier to use and can surely be found for less money than the original MSRP.

Blacks & Whites

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 got a little darked than the Sony KDL-46EX700, but not nearly as bright. As such, the Sony NSX-46GT1's contrast ratio was about half as wide.

Color Accuracy

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The Sony KDL-EX700 produced an overall better color performance than the Sony NSX-46GT1, due mostly to the GT1's small but frequent instances of color banding.

Motion

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The Sony EX700 was much better at producing motion.

Viewing Effects

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The Sony NSX-46GT1 produced a slightly better viewing angle than the Sony KDL-46EX700.

Connectivity

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The Sony KDL-46EX700 is a more "traditional" TV, and as such offers far more ports than the Sony NSX-46GT1. However, the GT1 has built-in WiFi and three extra USB ports, while the EX700 requires an additional purchase for WiFi.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung UN46C7100 has one big feature over the Sony NSX-46GT1, and that's a 3D display. That accounts for the huge price gap between the two TVs, but we wanted to pull it in for comparison because it offers some of the best Samsung streaming content features. If you really want 3D, maybe you're ready to pony up two and a half grand. We recommend you sit out the first-generation products and see if 3D takes off. In terms of internet features, the Sony NSX-46GT1 has it beat pretty thoroughly thanks to the full Google Chrome browser. But if you're just looking for Netflix and a handful of other streaming services, the Samsung will do you just fine.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung UN46C7100 performed better in producing both a deep black and a bright white, resulting in a much wider contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung UN46C7100 offered a better color performance, on the whole. The Sony NSX-46GT1's weakness was found primarily in small but frequent instances of color banding.

Motion

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The Samsung's motion performance was smoother and produced much less artifacting.

Viewing Effects

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The Samsung UN46C7100's viewing angle was terrible, easily beaten by the Sony NSX-46GT1.

Connectivity

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The Samsung UN46C7100 has a very thin frame, which prevented the inclusion of too many ports. It also needs a whole bundle of proprietary adapters to fit the bizarre connection points. The GT1 offers built-in WiFi and more USB ports.

Value Comparison

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The LG 47LX6500 is capable of 3D display, hence the price gap. However, we're not sold on 3D just yet, so we can't justify spending that much. And if you're only sorta interested in 3D as a side feature, you can do a lot better than this LG, which bombed in our black level and contrast tests. It also has the weakest streaming content package compared to most Sonys, Samsungs, and Panasonics.

Blacks & Whites

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The LG 47LX6500 produced a much worse black level score than the Sony NSX-46GT1. As a result, the Sony's contrast ratio is superior.

Color Accuracy

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The LGs tend to do very well in color performance, and the 47LX6500 performed better than the Sony NSX-46GT1.

Motion

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The LG 47LX6500 outperformed the Sony NSX-46GT1 in motion performance, but not by a huge margin.

Viewing Effects

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The LG 47LX6500 and Sony NSX-46GT1 had nearly identical viewing angles, but the Sony didn't seem to lose as much color when you looked at it from an angle.

Connectivity

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The LG 47LX6500 offers several more AV inputs, but the Sony has two extra USBs and built-in WiFi.

Conclusion

The Sony NSX-46GT1 ($1399 MSRP) is has a lot of great features, so many in fact that we could hardly find them amidst the cluttered menus and overloaded remote control. The frustration associated with the "kitchen sink" approach to product design is exactly why companies like Apple continue to succeed, realizing that streamlining and user experience are everything in the internet age.

If there's a core audience for the Sony Google TV, it's people who want a full web browser built directly into their TV. If you just want Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and a handful of other web favorites, there are plenty of other TVs that do that with an app-based approach.

The Sony NSX-46GT1's biggest weakness is its interface. The menus are a hodge-podge of layouts and features. The remote, while innovative, is completely counter-intuitive. Even if you think you know what all the buttons mean, their function changes depending on where you are in the menu.

Despite having a relatively high-powered processor inside to handle heavy lifting like Flash-rich web pages, very little of that processing was resourced for basic video performance. We noticed a lot of color banding and motion artifacting.

Overall, the Sony NSX-46GT1 is an interesting experiment in new technologies, but it feels like the product of two companies still sniffing each other out. There's a lot of promise here (certainly more so than 3D TV), but let's wait and see where Google TV goes next.

Model Series Comparison

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There are four sizes in the GT1 series, including a very small 32-inch model.

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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Meet the tester

David Kender

David Kender

Editor in Chief

@davekender

David Kender oversees content at Reviewed as the Editor in Chief. He served as managing editor and editor in chief of Reviewed's ancestor, CamcorderInfo.com, helping to grow the company from a tiny staff to one of the most influential online review resources. In his time at Reviewed, David has helped to launch over 100 product categories and written too many articles to count.

See all of David Kender's reviews

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