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  • Tour & Design

  • Performance Features

  • Connectivity & Media

  • Controls, Menu & Remote

  • Conclusion

  • Tour & Design
  • Performance Features
  • Connectivity & Media
  • Controls, Menu & Remote
  • Conclusion

Tour & Design

From the front the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 is dominated by the 40-inch display. The W-series is also available in 52 and 46 inch sizes. The bezel is made of a transparent glossy plastic with a matte black backing. At the lower right of the television you see the indicator lights.

 

 
The front is dominated by the 40-inc 1080 display.

**Back**

We weren't able to take a photo of the back of the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100, but you'll find a grouping of ports on the back towards the right side as well as the wall mount points.

**Sides**

The right side of the KDL-40W5100 sports the on-tv controls, while on the left side you find a grouping of ports.

 

Ports on the left and controls on the right.

**Stand/Mount**

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100's stand is nothing fancy, just simple black plastic that doesn't rotate. The KDL-40W5100 is wall-mountable, although you'll have to purchase a wall mounting kit separately.

 

The stand doesn't swivel.

**Aesthetics**

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 isn's as pretty as some of its higher-end cousins, but it's not going to stick out like a sore thumb in your living room either. We actually kind of like the matte bezel with a glossy plastic covering.

The bezel is nothing fancy, but it looks nice.

 

Performance Features

Display Size & Technology

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 is the 40-inch version of Sony's updated W-series of LCD HDTVs. There are also 52 and 46 inch sizes available.

 

We like that the KDL-40W5100 sports a full 1080p resolution.

Format & Resolution

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080, meaning it natively supports full 1080p HD content. This is a nice feature considering the KDL-40W5100 sits further down Sony's lineup of HDTVs. The aspect ratio is the now standard 16:9.

Brightness, Blacks & Contrast Ratio

Sony hasn't released any information about the black level or contrast ratio of the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100. On the show floor the blacks seemed relatively good, although you should note that LCD televisions like the KDL-40W5100 usually don't have blacks as deep as Plasma televisions. We'll have to wait until we get the television in our labs before we can tell you more, however.

Refresh Rate & Motion

Unlike its more expensive cousins the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 doesn't sport Sony's new 240Hz refresh rate. It does, however, still have a solid 120Hz refresh rate, which was top of the line just one year ago. We weren't able to make any determinations about the motion performance of the KDL-40W5100 on the show floor as Sony wasn't throwing any challenging content at it, but we have noticed that televisions with 120Hz refresh rate handle motion significantly better than the standard 60Hz refresh rate.

Viewing Angle

We were very happy with the viewing angle we saw from the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 on the show floor. Even at very obtuse angles we didn't notice any significant solarization or fading in colors or blacks. Viewing angle is often a problem for LCD HDTVs, but based on our first impression it doesn't seem to be a problem with the KDL-40W5100.

Color

We weren't able to draw many conclusions from what we saw on the show floor in terms of color performance from the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100. We did notice that there was some dithering in highly detailed areas, but we won't be able to tell if this is a serious problem until we get the television into our labs.

Connectivity & Media

Audio & Video Ports

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 offers a very nice selection of audio and video ports, much more than we typically see from a lower-end television like this. On the left side of the KDL-40W5100 you'll find, from the top, a VGA input with an associated 3.5mm audio input for your computers audio. Two HDMI ports, an S-video port and an analog video input with associated analog audio inputs.

 

*We were very happy with the array of ports available on the KDL-40W5100.
*

On the back of the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 you'll find the rest of the ports, towards the right when you're facing the back, which means they're just around the corner from the ports on the left side. Here you'll find two Component video inputs with associated analog audio inputs. A digital audio out and analog audio out as well as a third HDMI port with associated analog audio inputs. You'll also find the cable/antenna port on the back, just to the left and below the main grouping.

Media & Other Connectivity

In addition to the standard video and audio ports the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 sports a USB port on the left side and an ethernet port on the back. The USB port is able to play back audio, video and photos from USB devices while the ethernet port allows you to access internet content via Sony's internet video and widgets platform. This includes content from Amazon video on demand, Youtube and various movie studios as well as Yahoo widgets.

Placement

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100's ports are all placed either on the left side or right around the left side on the back. This makes them relatively easy to reach, and most of the ports you'll want to access in a pinch are found on the left side, which makes them very convenient. The lack of a swivel on the stand does make reaching the ports on the back is a bit more annoying, but not much.

Audio

Sony did not offer any information about the audio available from the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100, but our guess is that you'll get standard stereo speakers on-board. As always we recommend you invest in even a cheap set of surround sound speakers for your HDTV is you care about audio quality.

Controls, Menu & Remote

Remote

We weren't able to see the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100's remote control. 

Controls

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100's on-tv controls are found on the right side of the television. From the top you have power, Channel up/down, Volume up/down, input and 'Home', which just means the menu. The Channel and Volume controls are rocker switches, which we likes as it makes them easier to distinguish by feel. The buttons themselves are simple hard plastic, nothing fancy here.

The on-tv controls are found on the right side of the television.

Menu

We weren't able to access the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100's menu. 

Conclusion

The Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 is part of Sony's efforts to bring some of the high-end features found on their Z and XBR series television down to a more reasonable price point. We're actually quite happy with the compromises that Sony has made with the W-series. The styling is obviously not as impressive as their higher-end models, but the KDL-40W5100 is not an ugly HDTV by any means. All of the internet features available on the higher-end models are still intact, and you still get a full 1080p resolution.

The big difference here is that the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100 and its W-series mates lack the 240Hz refresh rate found on Sony's higher-end HDTVs. Frankly we're not sure how important that is yet as we haven't had a chance to see a 240Hz refresh rate television in our labs. The KDL-40W5100 does still sport a 120Hz refresh rate, however, which we've seen in practice is significantly better than the 60Hz refresh rate seen on many lower-end HDTVs.

We're inclined to like the Sony Bravia KDL-40W5100, we were very happy that Sony kept the internet connectivity options on board and the selection of ports is very good. We'll know how how much we like it when we see actual pricing. Sony's not known for cheap HDTVs, but if the KDL-40W5100 is competively price it could be a solid value for buyers.

Meet the tester

Alfredo Padilla

Alfredo Padilla

Editor

Alfredo Padilla is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Alfredo Padilla's reviews

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