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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

  • 3D Effect & Experience

  • The TV is 3D-ready, not outright 3D.

  • The KDL-46HX800 isn't a top-of-the-line flagship like the Samsung UN55C7000 or the Panasonic TC-P50VT20.

  • We haven't been impressed by any TV's 3D effect—including the aforementioned flagship models.

  • 3D Black & White

  • 3D Color

  • 3D Crosstalk

  • 3D Glasses

  • 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
  • 3D Effect & Experience
  • The TV is 3D-ready, not outright 3D.
  • The KDL-46HX800 isn't a top-of-the-line flagship like the Samsung UN55C7000 or the Panasonic TC-P50VT20.
  • We haven't been impressed by any TV's 3D effect—including the aforementioned flagship models.
  • 3D Black & White
  • 3D Color
  • 3D Crosstalk
  • 3D Glasses
  • 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

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 is a good looking TV. It's not as daring a design as the Samsung C7000 or C8000 series, but it's thin profile and minimal bezel make it more attractive than the standard LCD TV.

Front

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The front of the Sony KDL-46HX800 is mostly screen, surrounded by a high-gloss black plastic. The bezel is fairly thin and as inconspicuous as you're likely to see. Along the bottom right are a series of indicator lights and sensors, including the ambient light sensor. This is the feature that adjusts the screen backlight based on the ambient light in the room. If the room is dark, it will lower the backlight; if it's bright, the backlight gets brighter. This can be an annoying feature if the you just want a consistent performance—we recommend turning it off.

Back

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The back of the Sony KDL-46HX800 is mostly blank, except for the ports gathered in a lower corner.

Sides

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As you can see from these photos, the Sony KDL-46HX800 is beautifully slender, at about 3 inches. Of course, this is three times thicker than the Samsung C7000 and C8000 series, both of which are almost impossibly slim.

On one side of the Sony KDL-46HX800 is a small selection of ports. On the other side are the onboard control buttons. The buttons are small, and designed for visual discretion rather than robust functionality, quite the opposite of Panasonic's aesthetic.

The Sony KDL-46HX800 does not have a built-in sync sensor for the 3D glasses. Instead, the HX800 series requires a separately purchased '3D Sync Transmitter,' available from the Sony store for $49.

Because this piece did not make its way to our offices yet, we have no way of evaluating it or the 3D performance.

Stand/Mount

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 does not have a built-in sync sensor for the 3D glasses. Instead, the HX800 series requires a separately purchased '3D Sync Transmitter,' available from the Sony store for $49.

Because this piece did not make its way to our offices yet, we have no way of evaluating it or the 3D performance.

Controls

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The controls on the side of the Sony KDL-46HX800 are slim and discreet.

Remote Control

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The remote control that ships with the Sony KDL-46HX800 is similar to all the other remotes for the 2010 Sonys. It's got a smart button layout, but the hollow cavity underneath the whole facade makes the remote feel cheap. It can also cause the casing to bend and creak when you push the buttons. It can be used to control other Sony Bravia AV devices, but it's not a true universal remote.

In the Box

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 ships with the stand, the remote, batteries, an AC power cable, and some light documentation. It does not ship with an actual user's manual. Instead, there's an i-Manual stored in the TV's menu. That's all well and good for saving paper, but if there's a problem with your TV's display, you can't very well use an on-screen manual to troubleshoot.

Black Level

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 produced an excellent black level, measuring all the way down to 0.08 cd/m2. Granted, it's not as good as the 0.03 cd/m2^ result from the Panasonic TC-P50VT20, but the Panasonic is a plasma display and is expected to go down that low. The Sony KDL-46HX800, as an LCD display, is impressive. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 produced a peak brightness of 309.26 cd/m2. The two Samsung 3D TVs we've reviewed both managed slightly better scores, but all three models rolled on the Panasonic TC-P50VT20. The Panasonic fell prey to one of a plasma's biggest weaknesses, which is a dull white. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 produced a contrast ratio of 3865:1 in our lab tests. Sure, you might have noticed on the official specs sheet Sony released that this TV supposedly has 'infinite' contrast. We just have two notes about this exceptionally bold claim. First, you have to have the Dynamic Contrast Ratio setting on, which automatically adjusts the backlight based on the screen content from moment to moment. Do yourself a favor and leave it off – it's annoying. Secondly, if this feature is on and the screen content suddenly becomes all black (i.e. a fade to black in a movie), the backlight shuts off completely.If the backlight is off, the brightness level is zero cd/m2. Divide anything by zero and you'll get an 'infinite' contrast ratio. Trust our numbers instead. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 managed a good performance in the Tunnel Contrast test, which measures how well the TV can maintain a consistent black level as the black patch shrinks, increasingly surrounded by bright white. As you can see from the chart below, the performance isn't perfectly even, but it's good overall. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 was near flawless in its ability to maintain consistently bright whites, no matter how little real estate the white occupied on the screen. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 has a decent, but not perfect, greyscale gamma performance. What you're seeing below is how the TV transitions from black to white in the greyscale. The lower-left portion of the line represents the shadows. The line is a little flatter (horizontal) than we like it to be, meaning it's having trouble seeing details in the shadows. We also look at slope of the curve. An ideal curve is between 2.1 and 2.2. The Sony KDL-46HX800 had a curve of 2.73, which is a bit steep. Overall, though, we like the smoothness of the curve. It's just going to miss some of finer details in the greyscale. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 showed a very good performance in the color temperature test, proving its ability to maintain a consistent color temperature throughout the greyscale signal range. Only when the picture got very dark did the color temperature start to cool enough to be perceptible. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 showed a decent performance in the RGB color curve test. The curves are relatively smooth, though it's not without its bumps. Each bump indicates an area where you might see instances of color banding. The left side of the chart represents the shadows. Because it starts off horizontal, we can tell that it lacking detail in the shadows. On the far right side, the highlights, there's also some horizontal stretches. This is called 'peaking,' where the TV can't find any detail in the brightest portions of the signal More on how we test RGB curves.

The strips below are digital recreations of the RGB color curve performance, compared with the performances of similar TVs.

Motion Performance

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Motion Smoothness (8.38)

The Sony KDL-46HX800 was excellent at smoothly moving objects across the screen, but the praise is not without a caveat. For the best performance, you need to employ the Motionflow feature. There are several settings for Motionflow,and we recommend you experiment to find the one you like best.

Without Motionflow on, there was a noticeable loss of fine detail in objects in motion, particularly in the edges. When Motionflow is enabled, the detail is mostly retained, though it creates some artifacting.

Motion Artifacting (7.25)

The Motionflow feature helps motion smoothness immensely, but it can create some noticeable artifacts. In regular TV viewing, it creates a bizarre aesthetic side-effect. It's hard to explain, except to say that it can take a beautifully shot film and make it look like home video. Motionflow can also create some color banding issues. When high-contrast vertical lines are moving in tandem across the screen, you'll also see some strobing and pattern interference. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 had no problem displaying 24fps content. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 is a native 1080p display, but you'll be throwing a lot of lower resolution video at it. It's up to the TV's processor to interpret and scale the images onto its screen. On the whole, the TV is not very good at it. Native 1080p content looks great and sharp. Everything else is a bit off. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

Video in the 480p resolution lost 3% of the top, bottom, and each side to overscan. We also noted some instances of Moire appearing in high frequency patterns.

720p

The 720p video lost 2% on all sides to overscan, but of the three non-native resolutions we test, 720p was the best. There were only slight Moires and the TV managed to maintain a relatively sharp look.

1080i

The 1080i video was noticeably less sharp than the native 1080p. It also created terrible Moires in high frequency patterns.

3D Effect & Experience

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Although we really weren't impressed with the KDL-46HX800's 3D effect, there are a few things to consider here:

The TV is 3D-ready, not outright 3D.

The KDL-46HX800 isn't a top-of-the-line flagship like the Samsung UN55C7000 or the Panasonic TC-P50VT20.

We haven't been impressed by any TV's 3D effect—including the aforementioned flagship models.

The main problem here is the 3D effect keeps dropping out. This isn't 3D like in a movie theater: the screen is flickering constantly, working hard to maintain the effect, and the display technology just isn't quick enough to keep up. The crosstalk issues either give dark shapes a constant, subtle strobe effect. Movement of any sort will look jittery and faster movement will only increase the effect. If the TV tries to showboat the 3D effect by having objects pop out at you, the effect will look downright terrible.

Again, these performance issues aren't necessarily the fault of Sony or the KDL-46HX800 specifically: they're issues with the current state of 3D. The TV itself just isn't doing an already mediocre effect any favors.

Some of the options in the 3D menu

3D Black & White

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With 3D mode off, the Sony KDL-46HX800 had an impressive peak brightness. When 3D mode is engaged, however, the TV loses an incredible amount of luminance: the TV's peak brightness dropped from a solid 309.26 candelas per square meter (cd/m2) to an absurdly low 10.71 cd/m2: a 96% drop. The black level dropped too, from 0.08 cd/m2^ to 0.06 cd/m2, but the drop wasn't enough to retain a decent contrast ratio. When 3D mode is enabled, you'll get less than 1% of the contrast ratio you'd see with the feature switched off. A certain drop in luminance is to be expected from any TV's 3D performance, but the KDL-46HX800's performance suffers significantly more than other 3D HDTVs we've seen. Compare to the flagship models from Panasonic and Samsung.

3D Color

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The TV's color temperature was surprisingly consistent compared to what we typically see from 3D performance. The color temperature rarely shifted perceptibly, and when it did, it only did so by a small amount and for an incredibly small spectrum.

The TV performed decently on our 3D color representation tests. The blue curve didn't have a lot of differentiation in the low end and was a bit too aggressive once the intensity started to pick up, but the red and green curves performed pretty well. There were a few bumps in all three curves, which indicate minor losses of detail.

3D Crosstalk

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Since current 3D HDTVs are constantly flickering between images intended for your left eye and images intended for your right, chances are the screen refresh won't quite be able to turn over the colors as quickly as it's supposed to. Crosstalk refers to instances where the left and right channels end up affecting each other.

For the most part, the Sony KDL-46HX800 didn't have issues with crosstalk. The only two problem colors we saw were black and green. Black has a tendency to darken colors it's being interspersed with, and green has a tendency to brighten them and add a slight greenish tint.

3D Glasses

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We didn't have much of a problem with Sony's 3D glasses. They were a bit heavy and somewhat tight around the back, but they had good padding on the nose. You shouldn't have a problem watching a movie or two with them, but any longer and you'll really start to feel them. Good news for those with prescription lenses: the Sony 3D glasses will fit over your corrective spectacles without feeling awkward or uncomfortable.

As with all 3D glasses we've tested, the active shutter effect can be somewhat disorienting, cause eye strain, or just flat-out make you feel uncomfortable. They take some getting used to.

Yes, you will look like a dork with these on

Formats

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 is a native 1080p display, but it can display any NTSC signal, standard def and high def.

Viewing Angle

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The viewing angle on the Sony KDL-46HX800 is quite poor. It's the worst of the 3D TVs we've looked at so far, though the Samsung UN46C8000 was close. The obvious winner here is the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 – no surprise, as it's a plasma screen.

Reflectance

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 has a terribly reflective screen. And it's not merely that the screen is reflective. The reflection itself is incredibly obnoxious. A single light source appears in perfect reflection, surrounded by 4 rainbow colored duplicates, like a fairy light brigade. The light doesn't have to be reflected straight-on either. The 5-way reflection appears in a fairly generous viewing angle.

Video Processing

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 has several video processing features, some of which actually do some good. We liked the Motionflow setting for improves motion smoothness, though you'll want to experiment with it, as it can cause aesthetically deleterious effects when watching some video.

Calibration

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 was easy to calibrate, as putting it in Cinema mode seemed to put it pretty close to the mark for our calibration standards.

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

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Video Modes

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 has several video modes. Note that everything below 'Custom' in the table below is part of a separate 'Scene Modes' menu, which seems to have a kinship with the scene modes in cameras and camcorders. When these are enabled, it locks in the sound quality settings. If that's too confining for you, put the TV in Custom modes and calibrate it to your liking from there.

Ergonomics & Durability

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The remote control that comes with the Sony KDL-46HX800 is common (in almost every regard) to all the higher-end Sony HDTVs this year. On the whole, we haven't loved this design. Sony got too clever on this one. The whole back of the unit slides out a few inches to make room for the battery compartment. As a result, there's a huge, hollow, cavity under the buttons that causes the remote to creak if you push down too hard.

Button Layout & Use

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Aside from the squeaks, the remote is great. The buttons are arranged in a sensible fashion, and the shapes are unique enough that you can feel the differences without looking down. There are, perhaps, too many buttons encircling the d-pad, so you'll probably be hitting the incorrect button until you overcome the learning curve. Also, the volume and channel up/down buttons are too small. Note to designers: if you have three whole inches of empty space at the bottom of the remote, maybe you should extend the two most frequently used buttons down a little.

The only difference between this remote and the remote for the NX and EX series is the '3D' button to activate the 3D display.

Programming & Flexibility

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The remote control can be used with other Sony AV devices brandishing the 'Bravia' logo, but it's not a universal remote.

Connectivity

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Input Ports (6.75)

The Sony KDL-46HX800 has a fair selection of ports spread out across the rear and left side of the chassis, certainly far more than either of the 3D Samsungs we've pulled in for comparison (see chart below). There are four HDMIs, two component AV inputs (one of which doubles as a composite AV). There's also a standalone composite AV input, a VGA input, ethernet, USB, and analog and digital outputs.

You'll also notice the proprietary port for connecting the 3D sync bar, which sits on top of the frame. Unlike the Samsungs and the Panasonics, the 3D syncing system is not built into the body of the TV.

Output Ports (2.00)

The Sony KDL-46HX800 has two output ports, an analog audio output and a digital audio output. Both are located on the back of the TV. These ports should be expected on all HDTVs, so it's odd that the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 omits the analog audio output.

Other Connections (7.00)

The Sony KDL-46HX800 has an ethernet LAN port for connecting to streaming content, as well as a DLNA home theater set-up. If you're tired of wires, you can use the TV's USB port for a WiFi connection, along with the separate purchase of a WiFi dongle ($79 on Sony's website).More details about the streaming content features here.

Media (1.00)

The Sony KDL-46HX800 has a USB port on the side. With this, you can plug in a USB thumb drive for viewing photos, video clips, and listening to music. You can also connect Sony cameras and camcorders directly.

Placement

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The port placement is fine. Sony has placed one HDMI, the USB, and a composite AV input on the side – ports that will likely be used for quick-swapping devices. More permanent connections can be made with the rear ports, out of sight. All the ports are well-labeled.

Audio Quality

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The audio performance of the Sony KDL-46HX800 was surprisingly weak. There's very little bass response, creating an overall flat sound. Of course, you have some qualitative control over the quality. There are four presets: Dynamic, Standard, Clear Voice, and Custom. None of them sounded great, but Clear Voice is particularly tinny.

If you use the TV's 'Scene Modes' (located in the Preferences menu), the audio settings are locked into certain modes, and blocks some of the other features. These other features include a surround sound simulator, bass and treble controls, and steady sound (which keeps a consistent volume when the commercials come on).

It seems likely that people spending this much on a TV is likely to have an independent sound system. We would encourage that behavior, only because the sound quality of the Sony KDL-46HX800 does not match the display quality.

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The menu interface on the Sony KDL-46HX800 should be familiar to those who use a Playstation 3, PSP, or other Sony Bravia products. Called the 'XrossMediaBar,' it employs a horizontally structured menu, with sub-items appearing vertically above and below each of the main menu icons. It's apparently won several awards, if Wikipedia has anything to say about it. We like it, too. Like any menu, it's got it's own learning curve, but you should pick it up quickly.

Instruction Manual

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The instruction manual that ships in the box with the Sony KDL-46HX800 not really the manual. It's a quick guide that just helps you plug in and get started.

The true manual is actually stored electronically in the TV itself. Sounds ecological, right? Sure, but what good does it do you if you can't get the screen to display properly, or even turn the TV on? There's an online version of the manual, but frustratingly, it's not a downloadable PDF. That would have been too convenient. Instead, you have to maneuver through a strictly online version only, complete with a tedious navigation system that requires its own learning curve. Sony must not let you have the manual! It's clearly too valuable for you to possess. You can merely view it from a distance.

The manual, while annoying to use, is at least written with a certain flair. Take this tidbit from a description of the VGA port: 'It is indispensable to use a PC cable with ferrite cores.' Not 'required' or 'recommended'... indispensable.

You can find the Sony KDL-46HX800's manual online here.

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

Internet Features

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When we were reviewing the Sony HDTVs of late 2009 and early 2010, we touted Sony as having the hands-down best library of streaming content among all the manufacturers. Now, in mid-2010, that still holds true, but the competition has caught up. Sony still offers the largest number of video content partners, hands down. There are over 30 different 'channels' (for lack of a better phrase) on the Sony KDL-46HX800. We've listed them all, alongside the competition's, in a special article.

Notably features on the Sony KDL-46HX800 include Netflix, Amazon on Demand, Pandora, and more.

Sony has also finally debuted Qriocity, its own streaming video app to (presumably) compete with Netflix and Amazon. In truth, it's a bit old hat by now. It's more like iTunes rental system then Netflix, as you rent movies one at a time for about $3.99 for standard definition and $5.99 for HD.

There are also plenty of games to download, free and paid, new and classic

Local Media Playback

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Photos can be viewed on the Sony KDL-46HX800 by plugging a USB thumb drive, Sony camera, or Sony camcorder into the USB drive. The interface could be better, but it's not terrible. Like nearly other TV (and contrary to any computer interface), you need to first select the media type you want to see – photos, video, or music – and then you choose the storage device to retrieve them from. So when you choose to view photos, then the thumb drive, you only see the photos listed by filename. Even if there are videos and music files in the same folder, you won't see them unless you scroll back up to the top of the menu chain, select the next media type, then drill back down, etc...

The music and video playback interface is similar to the photo playback. It's a minor annoyance that you have to first choose the media type, instead of simply jamming in a thumb drive and scanning through the contents.

Other Media

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There is no other media type.

Power Consumption

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 does not require much power for a TV of its size. As you can see from the bar chart below, it uses less power than the other 3D TVs we've reviewed. If you want to reduce consumption even more, you can lower the backlight.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung UN55C7000 is a beautifully designed TV and, with the C8000 series, a truly unique among its peers. Both have an excellent performance, great set of features, and access to a lot of good streaming content. The UN55C7000, specifically, has a larger screen, but there's a virtually identical 46-inch version for $2599. In terms of 3D features, the Samsung has a built-in 3D syncing with the glasses, while the Sony HX800 series requires a separately purchased sync bar. If for no other reason than punishing Sony for this stupid idea, and to avoid yet another thing with wires sticking into your TV, we recommend the Samsung. The Samsung has a completely unique look to it, however, so be sure to look at all the pictures first.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung UN55C7000 did not manage to produce a black level that was a deep as the Sony KDL-46HX800. The Samsung's peak white was a little brighter, but the Sony still eked out a wider contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 was a better color performer than the Samsung UN55C7000, according to our lab tests. The Sony did a better job maintaining consistent color temperatures, and the RGB color curves were smoother. We should make it clear that they were both good. The Sony was just better.

Motion

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 was slightly edged out by the Samsung UN55C7000 in our motion tests. We thought the Samsung produced fewer motion artifacts, notably.

Viewing Effects

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The Samsung UN55C7000 produced a much wider viewing angle, 44 degrees in total, versus the Sony KDL-46HX800, which had the poor showing of 22 degrees.

Connectivity

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The Sony KDL-46HX800 has a better selection of ports than the Samsung UN55C7000. The problem is the Samsung's unusually thin design, which reduced the number of ports, and apparently necessitated a complete redesign of the ports themselves. Each port on the Samsung has a new, proprietary adapter to take standard jacks – ethernet, coax, etc – and fit them into the UN55C7000.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung UN46C8000 and the rest of the C8000 series is marginally thinner than the Samsung C7000 series described on the previous page. It has that unique design and distinct, brushed aluminum frame that separates it from the Sony KDL-46HX800 and all other TVs. At only a hundred dollars more than the Sony KDL-46HX800, it's upgraded with built-in 3D, a cooler design, and, if not a comparable streaming content library, it at least has the basics.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung UN46C7000 had the best contrast ratio of the bunch in this pool of comparisons. The black level was very good for an LCD. And while the Sony had it beat, the Samsung's whites were just a little brighter. In the end, they're both good and you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference in this particular test.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung UN46C8000 and the Sony KDL-46HX800 both performed well in our color tests.

Motion

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The Samsung UN46C8000 had a tendency to make vertical lines shift diagonally when in motion, which lost it some points. The Sony KDL-46HX800 needs the Motionflow processing feature for best results in the motion testing, but this can cause an unusual appearance to the look of the video if the setting is too high.

Viewing Effects

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The viewing angle of the Sony KDL-46HX800 and the Samsung UN46C8000 were equally bad, at about 22-24 degrees in total.

Connectivity

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Both Samsungs suffer from a poor selection of ports due to the ultra-thin construction. Each port was reshaped, and requires a proprietary adapter to function properly.

Value Comparison

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The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 is a fatter, boxier TV, required to fit all the guts of a plasma display. As a plasma, the black levels are great, but the peak brightness was so dim that it created a problem when you wear the 3D glasses. Overall, we're having a harder and harder time recommending plasmas over good LCD TVs. The only real benefit to the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 was that we thought it displayed 3D content better than the Samsungs. We're still T.B.A. on the 3D performance of the Sony KDL-46HX800.

Blacks & Whites

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The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 is a plasma display, and as expected, its black levels were much deeper than the LCD displays. However, the peak brightness was terrible – so dim as to cause passers-by to comment on it. As a result, the contrast ratio is quite narrow compared to the other TVs.

Color Accuracy

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The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 was noticeably weaker in its color performance tests. It had a harder time maintaining a consistent color temperature, and the RGB color curve results were a little more frazzled than the Sony's.

Motion

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You can fault it for color and brightness, but the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 had outstanding motion performance.

Viewing Effects

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The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 also beat the pants off of three LCD TVs, with a massive viewing angle of 160 degrees. That's about seven times wider than the Sony KDL-46HX800.

Connectivity

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The Panasonic TC-P50VT20 has a good selection of ports compared to the Sony KDL-46HX800. It lacks an analog audio output, but has the addition of an SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Conclusion

The Sony KDL-46HX800 ($2699 MSRP) is a very good 2D TV that insists on milking every last dollar from your pocket to make it a 3D TV. It's incredibly frustrating. Prior to June 2010, Sony already had approximately 26 new televisions on the market, many of them already reviewed and judged to be very good. Then the HX800 series is launched as a '3D-ready' line, which requires a whole series of additional purchases to function as a 3D TV. Perhaps we need not belabor the point, Sony, but if we want a 3D TV, WE WANT A THREE-DEE TV! If we want a 2D TV, you already have two dozen to choose from.

That said, let's consider the relative merits of the Sony KDL-46HX800. The 2D performance was very, very good, for the most part. We noted a terrible viewing angle and a highly reflective screen. Color, contrast, black level, and motion performances, however, were quite good.

We weren't impressed by the 3D feature. It wasn't nearly as good as the Samsung UN55C7000 or the Panasonic TC-P50VT20, both of which were dedicated 3D HDTVs and are in a higher class than the KDL-46HX800. If you're looking for a great 3D experience, it doesn't exist yet: your best bet is a movie theater, and even then the effect breaks down more than it should. If you're looking for the best at-home 3D experience, though, you should pick up a dedicated set. We aren't quite to a place where you can half-heartedly add a feature like this. If you're looking for a 2D, many of Sony's 2010 models offer the same high level of performance, the same amazing array of online content, and don't charge you for a chintzy 3D feature you won't use. We suggest you pick which side of this three-dimensional fence you want to be on and embrace it.

Model Series Comparison

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There are three models in the HX800 series, ranging from 40 inches to 55 inches. All three are capable of displaying 3D content, though they require a separately purchased 3D Sync Transmitter. All have an ethernet port to access Sony's great array of streaming content.

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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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