Sony KDL-V5500 Series LCD HDTV (32", 35", 37", 40", 46", 52")

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;...

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...

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.

Aggressively priced for a large Bravia TV ; pictures look great most of the time ; good feature set for the money

Online services are very limited ; some backlight inconsistency ; no 100Hz engine

Extremely affordable by Sony's usual wallet-hammering standards, the Bravia KDL-40V5500 is a good, feature-laden TV. The only problem is that, due to a noticeable backlight problem, pictures aren't as consistently good as we'd like

Aggressively priced for a large Bravia TV ; Pictures look great most of the time ; Good feature set for the money

Online services are very limited ; Some backlight inconsistency ; No 100Hz engine

Conclusion If you're a casual user, the Sony Bravia KDL-40V5500 has plenty going for it. It's unusually cheap for a Sony Bravia TV, especially considering how much multimedia functionality it's got, and there are times -- many times, in fact -- when...

In many ways, the 40V5500 really is a terrific TV. After all, for much of the time that you sit there watching it, its pictures could well have your jaw hanging open in admiration. It's just a real shame that all this quality should be blighted by the...

Extensive technical specifications ; brilliant TV tuner ; crisp, clean and natural video images

Sound is only OK

Brilliant combination of inky blacks and bright whites ; stunning detail, especially with HD ; great motion and colours

Poor backlighting ; just a smidge of noise around standard-def edges

Full-HD panel; extensive connection options; DLNA networking features; USB media player

Minor backlight bleeding in lower corners of the screen; some noise; pixelation and color banding in standard definition

The Sony Bravia KDL-32V5500 is in a class of its own. While it's not the most advanced television Sony has on offer and image quality could be a little better, for the asking price you aren't likely to find a 1080p panel that has this many features and...

Most aspects of picture quality are outstanding

Can't match plasma for shadow detailing

With an accomplished performance in all areas, the KDL-32V5500 delivers on the promise of a class leading mid level LCD TV.

Pictures look great most of the time; good black-level performance; DLNA network multimedia playback; IDTV; four HDMI inputs

Some backlight inconsistency; no 100Hz engine

If you're a casual user, the Sony Bravia KDL-40V5500 has plenty going for it and generally outstanding pictures. But serious film fans will inevitably find themselves cursing the subtle backlight inconsistencies from time to time.