Sony KDL-52VE5 52" LCD HDTV 52-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD HD Television

I've been holding off on buying a big screen TV for 4 years and finally pulled the trigger on this one. Originally I was going to get a projection DLP set and I'm so glad that I held off. The LCD technology has gotten so much better than 4 years ago. I've had this TV for almost a week and can't imagine picking anything else. The picture quality is perfect in Vivid picture mode with an 80% color setting. There is no motion blur with the standard setting for Motionflow. What takes getting used to is utilizing the Cinemotion setting for film based movies and Game Mode for the PS3. It doesn't explain these functions very well in the product manual so I had to go to Sony's website to learn about these. CGI movies like the Pixar and Shrek films have choppy video if you have the Cinemotion enabled because they're not film based so you have to turn the Cinemotion off. When I was on Sony's website I also learned that they already have a software update for this TV. I had to format my USB drive for FAT32 and download it but it was no problem installing it via the service port on the back of the set. The things I don't really care for are the ECO settings. I thought these would be helpful but they really aren't in my setup. The Presence Sensor only detects out to 9.8' from the screen but I sit 12' away so it shuts the TV off even when I'm in the room. Also, the Light Sensor reduces the brightness of the screen at night, but like I said, I'm sitting 12' away and have to have it bright so I don't need to squint to see the picture. But, you can turn these features off in the menu which is good. The sound quality is a little mute on the factory default so I tweaked it to Max on the Bass setting and Dynamic with Trusurround. For movies it also helps to have an external speaker system for more effect. I am very happy with this TV and got a great price with free shipping. If your looking for an HDTV that has lower power consumption with excellent picture quality this is the one.

I had been apprehensive about pulling the trigger on an LCD TV for months now waiting for all these promised LED LCD TVs to become available from various manufacturers. With Samsung hitting the market first and disappointing most of us with their outrageous prices and availability with gloss screens only, they were quickly removed from my list of potential purchases. LG then hit the market with their model, which is very impressive, but with a $2400+ price tag, it was still a bit too much for my budget. Then there was Vizio which still hasn't been able to apparently get the bugs out of their LED LCD TVs that were promised in June, then September, and now October. So needless to say they were removed from my list.
This model of Sony hit the shelves roughly around the same time as the Samsung LED TVs. Its specifications were pretty good, and the promise of low wattage similar to the LED LCDs was very attractive. What I wasn't happy with was the fact that this is an 8-bit LCD panel as opposed to the 10-bit panels that the other manufacturer's models used. A local retailer finally had the Sony in their show room, so I could see if the 8 bit panel made a difference, and after spending over an hour comparing its picture detail and clarity to the Samsung and LG models, I could not see anything negative about the Sony. In fact, to my eyes even the contrast differences between the LED models and this ECO series was negligible, and definitely not worth the extra price tag for the LED models. The color was also more natural on the Sony than the Samsung and LG models that were next to it. One of the most noticeable segments they had running was a cooking channel scene where the cook was making some broccoli dish. The broccoli on the other sets was almost fluorescent, but on the Sony it was a perfect medium dark green. I was sold.
Now with the KDL-52VE5 dropping from $2100 to what it is now, I decided I had waited long enough. Since my local retailer could not come close to Amazon's price, I purchased it from Amazon. The set arrived within a week with the free shipping, and I have to say that the shipping company (Pilot) that delivered the set was great. The delivery man was very friendly and helpful. He quickly unpacked the new set, helped me take down my old (325 lb) 36 inch tube TV from its stand, placed the new TV up on the stand, and powered it up to verify that it was working. Great delivery service.
Now that I have the TV at home, I am 100% happy with the purchase so far. I was worried that I would be disappointed with the contrast ratio once I played a movie at night, but I couldn't be happier. A 100,000 to 1 contrast ratio is just fine. I am very picky about how well a television handles black (as well as color), and this set produces blacks even better than the HD CRT set that it is replacing. The color is amazing. Playing any Pixar film with this set in vivid mode will blow your mind (or at least your kid's minds). I haven't had the time to tweak each of the picture settings, but I have to say that right out of the box this thing is amazing. I have simply been switching between standard and vivid depending on what we are watching and I couldn't be happier with just these factory setups.
The sound from this is fine for watching anything that you don't feel like firing up your surround sound receiver for. It is very clear, and has very good range for TV speakers.
I then had to test the power consumption with my kill-a-watt plug in meter. With the set in vivid mode, with the light sensor on in a daylight lit room, the set averages just 145 watts. In a dark room it uses even less, since the sensor automatically turns down the backlight level. Only 145 watts for a 52 inch television with 120 Hz motion correction. I'm impressed!
As far as longevity goes, only time will tell, but since this basically a standard Sony LCD with just a more efficient backlight setup, it should be fine. If things do go wrong in the future, I will make sure to update this review.
Anyway, if you are on a sub $2000 budget and want a great 52-inch TV that won't jack up your electric bill, then this is the one to get (unless you want to wait yet another year).

that tv is just incredible!!! now i am ruining myself only buying Blurays because the motionflow and movieflow on that tv makes it so realistic!!!

This is an excellent TV.

Picture Quality:
The picture quality of this set is superb. In the setup menu, I set the picture to "vivid" mode and the HD quality is simply life-like. The color and contrast are excellent. It also uses something that Sony calls MotionFlow which helps to smooth out the image when you are watching fast-action pictures.

Backlight Technology:
It is an LCD set, but uses a hot cathode fluorescent lamp for its backlighting. This technology allows it to be much more energy efficient and close to par with the energy usage of LED backlit LCD TVs. Most LCDs use cold cathode fluorescent lamps. The 40" model uses a maximum of 140 watts, the 46" uses a max of 160 watts, and the 52" uses a max of 180 watts.

Eco-Friendly:
It has a sensor called a presence sensor that does two things. First it senses the ambient (room) light and if the room gets darker, it will automatically dim the picture of the TV. This works well if you are watching TV in the bedroom at night and you want less light output. The second thing that the sensor does is senses the room for motion and body heat. If you leave the room for a preset amount of time (5 min, 30 min, ...) and the TV doesn't sense anyone around, it will turn off the picture. If you walk back in the room, it senses you and turns the screen back on. The sound stays on for another 30 minutes or so, then the whole set will go into stand-by mode if it does not sense you. Both of these features can be turned off via the setup menu and help to conserve energy.

Features (just a few of them):
The TV is loaded with features. It will automatically sense if you have something connected to an input (for example HDMI2). This is great when you want to hit the input button on the remote because it will not select items that aren't currently sending out a signal. This means you don't have to scroll through 10 items if you only have two components connected to the TV. In the setup menu, you can set each input for always on, always off, or auto. I used the always on setting for the PC input because the cable I used to connect the PC did not send a power signal so the TV did not sense it. By setting it to always on, the PC input will always be available when I scan through the inputs.

It also has a lot of inputs. There are 4 HDMI inputs. If you have a DVI port on your PC, then you can connect it through HDMI port 1 which also has an analog audio input. There is one dedicated composite (with S-video) and one dedicated component input, but there is another switchable composite/component input that you can use if you have two composites and one component, or vice versa. There is a PC input to connect via VGA connection. The audio outputs are one optical digital out and one analog out.


Dislikes:
1. All of the Inputs and Output are on the left side (when looking at the front of the TV) of the TV. This is unfortunate for me since my A/V cabinet is on the right side of the TV. It is a minor inconvenience, but something that I did not think about until I got the set home. I would say about half of the inputs are one the left side and the other half are on the back, next to the side inputs.

2. The presence sensor is right where I have my center audio speaker. I will have to raise up the TV to still have that speaker front and center.


Overall, this is not a cheap TV, but I think this is a case where you get what you pay for. It is a really great set.

I have always had Sony tv's in my house. My last 27" lasted 21 years. The new one is remakable. It has all the bells and whistles you could ask for and is energy conservative as well. Once set up it is easy to use it to show displays of your Blu-ray DVD player with very little fuss. When a network is broadcasting in HD the picture looks as real as live. It has plenty of inputs to hook up into it,from computers to ipods. This is a must see to get item. Best anniversary gift I ever got.

Having been burned on many appliances using way too much power (and I pay as much as $0.40 a kWh thanks to Enron screwing California's "grandmas"), I was attracted to the power saving features on this TV. But the small number of reviews made me wonder if I was missing something, even though all but one were 5 stars. Having had the set for a week, I can now rest easy. The picture is great, the power is what they claim (except as noted below), the sound is good (we didn't want a home theater system) and, in general I am very pleased with my purchase.

Pros:
1. The picture is stunning. I couldn't compare side-by-side with other TV's, but I am totally pleased.

2. The power consumption is as advertised. I have a power meter and check out all new appliances -- and have had some real surprises in the past, including with another Sony TV, but that's another story. (See my review under Sony's KDL-37XBR6 for that saga.) During the day, this 52" tv uses 140 watts in Standard mode, 100 watts in Cinema mode, and 150 watts in Vivid mode. I like Standard best during the day. At night, with the Light Sensor enabled (the default), the power drops to about 75 watts in Standard mode, but the picture is way too dim for my taste, so I've had to turn off the Light Sensor. Instead, I either use Standard mode all the time, or move to Cinema mode at night (which is fine, but a bit of a pain to change -- I wish Light Sensor was not so aggressive or there were a user setting to adjust it from 0 to 100%). This compares to 200 watts for my 37" Sony purchased a year ago, so this set is really doing much better.

3. The sound is fine for us. Since we're not into home theater, you can tell we're not into ground shaking bass. But the sound from the TV's internal speakers meet our tastes fine. No tinniness or other problems mentioned on some other sets.

4. Standby power really is low. My power meter measures 0 to 0.2 watts, not that it's very accurate at that level. I have not yet hooked up an antenna or cable connection, where the problem mentioned in #1 above with the electronic program guide might enter. When I do, though, now I'll know to look for the problem and how to fix it if it occurs -- or bug Sony until they tell me how to. (The two sets might have different procedures for turning off the useless guide that was costing me several dollars a month in electricity -- on the other Sony, not this one.)

Cons:
1. As noted above, the Light Sensor is almost useless. Way too aggressive. And, the user manual was almost no help in finding how to turn it off. It's in Setup/Eco, and to get to Setup you have to go to Picture Adjustments or another Setup category. I didn't see Setup as an option itself.

2. The motion sensor is useless. It only works to 9.5' which is not far enough for a 52" TV. Probably more useful on the smaller models. The unit ships with motion sensor off as the default, a sign that Sony recognizes (but did not fix) the problem.

Caveats:
1. We drive the set only with a TiVo box, a PS3 (blu-ray!) and other external signals. I have not yet tested the internal tuner, so the slow tuning problem mentioned by the single 1 star review is not something I'd see. I also wonder if that's a problem with digital tuners in general or this set is uniquely slow.

2. I was unable to determine the expected life span of the hot cathode fluorescent light, or how much a replacement might cost.

3. I was unable to compare power consumption with the new (more expensive) LED backlit sets. It's hard to find power consumption ratings, much less under real use. The LED sets are also a lot more expensive to buy.

In spite of the small drawbacks, this set is so much better than others I've seen (at least when my concern for power consumption, both from an economic and environmental point of view is factored in) that it clearly rates five stars.

I just got it yesterday and as soon I took it out of the box I was happy with my purchase.
The picture and colors are awesome, I don't know what else to ask. Before that TV, I purchased one of the LG 55 inch tv-s.
I was deeply disappointed. Coloring was so dull.. that it just made me feel really sad about my purchase. I'm more picky then my husband about quality about electronics, but even he was not happy. We did return it and we decided to go with our first choice( Sony) anyway. So, if you put together great picture and colors, easiness of use and quality you can not go wrong with Sony! A big PLUS is also the energy savings. Energy usage is below Energy star 3.0 qualifications. Plus Motion Sensor ( turns off the tv when no one is detected moving for certain period of time). Yesterday after working 5 hours straight, the tv was not even a little warm! Go Sony ECO! Didn't give 5 stars for sound because if you would like to have full experience with your tv you would want to have Home Theatre system. But if you are not that picky, you'll be fine with that.
End credits: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

I bought this after a 32" Samsung stopped working with certain HDMI sources. I still love Samsung, but after that one mysteriously stopped working I decided I'd try something new. And I'm glad I did. The 52" size is really perfect for my room. It's definitely a large set, but not so large that images feel overly stretched across its surface.

Initially I was very disappointed with the image quality. The issue is that when the light sensor is turned on, the backlight slider can be set to full power, but you're only experiencing a fraction of this set's incredible brightness. Although the brightness sensor seems like a great feature, I found that overall it was too aggressive in reducing brightness, so I have to recommend that it be turned off. Ironically, it works better in well-lit rooms than dark. Once you have full control over the backlighting, this set really shines. The contrast is excellent (my camera has a contrast ratio of 2000:1, and it couldn't capture this TV's image fully). So I can believe that it has the 5000:1 on-screen contrast that Sony claims.

Personally, I don't like my image tampered with. The low setting of motionflow is okay, but the high setting is really comical and only good if you crave that look of sped up footage. The contrast enhancer I also don't find necessary, since the image has great contrast natively. However, I do like that you can create multiple image settings for each input. For example, I can quickly toggle between a game setting and a movie setting when using my PS3.

Sound quality is fair. Nothing to write home about. I certainly don't use TV speakers with an image this good, and don't recommend anyone else does either.

The energy saving features and setup of this set are really excellent. My surge protector monitors current, and this tv usually uses only 0.4 amps (~50 watts). It's mainly dependent on the backlight brightness, but even so, this is one very efficient product. I was worried that the unique backlight would tinge the color, but as far as I can tell, it's spot-on. The motion sensing really does work. I leave it set to 30 minutes and it hasn't shut off on me yet, which is good. Sony doesn't mention this much on their website, but it's also heat-sensing, which could explain it's sensitivity. I sit 13 feet away, and it detects my motion with little difficulty.

The worst part about the TV is either the remote, or the fact that the inputs are on the side. If you end up swapping inputs a lot, I suppose it's nice, but otherwise I feel it's a poor design decision. Depending on the heft of your wires, and your seating angle, you could be looking at HDMI cables out the side of your otherwise beautiful tv set. The remote is very basic. Compared to the older V-series Bravias, this TV actually has the less fancy interface (the XMB went hand in hand with a nicer remote for the 4100 series). That said, I don't feel affected by either. If the decision to drop a pointlessly shiny interface and fancier remote keeps the price down, I'm all for it. I use a Fios or universal remote almost exclusively, so I don't miss it. And since I don't use the TV to tune my programming, the XMB would be a waste. That said, this interface is fine, very logical and doesn't hide settings too deep (except motion flow). No frills, but won't disappoint either.

I wish Sony had included a little more detail in their manual, but I doubt most people even read those anymore, so I'm just nit picking. The stand is pretty good, although Sony recommends you anchor down the TV to the wall, which might be a good idea. Shame the stand doesn't swivel, as I have two common sitting positions in my room. Oh well. The important thing is that the image quality on this TV is superb, there are no oversights that ruin the usability or connectivity of the TV, it's very energy efficient, and it looks good even when off. I fully recommend this TV if you like the V-series, and are interested in saving some energy.

After doing what seemed to be more research than I put into my master's thesis, I came up with a short list of LCDs. Finally I compared this tv in store against the vizio 55in 'led', a panasonic plasma, a Sharp and another Sony. All were in comparable price/feature range. Doing a little tweaking in the store I got a good picture easily with the KDL52 VE5 and I liked the energy saving features (HCFL, sensors, ability to completely turn off power). After getting the unit home, a couple of days worth of tweaking provided a really nice picture. The contrast is good. No or very little motion blur. I have not seen any of dark scene blue tint reported in CNET's review. I have a nice Panasonic DVD burner with HDMI and upscaling and my DVDs look great. We play Wii and everyone loves the graphics. We watch tv through a digital cable box with HDMI, and even non-digital channels look good. My wife even watches a pay channel from Russia and even with its conversion from Russian Pal/Seacam (whatever their color standard is now) and being standard definition it looks good.

Yes the sound is not great but we have a relatively small LR and it is fine. I use the TrueSurround setting and it is more than satisfactory. When I want bigger sound (certain DVDs or Concerts) I use our stereo system sound.

So now after having the tv for a few weeks I have absolutely no buyers remorse and I would readily recommend the unit to others.

I don't know that I can add anything to the review from a tech point of view but felt I should least mention my pleasure with the purchase. I had my choice narrowed down to three LCD's but when I found I could get $1,100 off in various discounts I bought the Sony the week before Thanksgiving. It took a couple of days to learn just what to change or shut off to give me what I feel is a fantastic high def picture. As mentioned in other reviews I did shut off the light sensor and when set on Vivid mode it gives that bright picture that you see the LCD's set on in stores. It's almost a little to bright for me but my wife likes that setting. I also shut off the presence sensor. I did download the firmware update and loaded it in but I don't know how necessary it was, I wasn't experiencing any problems.
I should probably mention that I wanted this strictly for watching TV and movies. I have no desire to connect a computer to it or watch streaming videos. I did make sure that it had the additional inputs for various devices I might need to connect: composite, component, S-video..ect.
I couldn't be more pleased with the picture that I get on the hd channels. I read in one review that they were also pleased with the quality of non high def channels. I don't really care for the picture I get on the non hd channels. I use Comcast for my cable. I don't know what their source is. I have this set connected to my surround system and everything is working fine and sounds like I'm in a theater when watching TV. I had to do a bit of tweaking when I connected my Blu Ray player to everything but that has nothing to do with this. The only problem is I'm a bit spoiled now and usually don't watch the TV without the sound system. When I don't have the sound system on I have the TV speakers set to TruSurround and it sounds fine.
My only complaint would be the little operating instruction booklet that comes with the set. It is as basic as you get it! Two weeks ago I bought a $259. 22" LCD and got a booklet 5 times as thick. You will need to go the Sony site for any in depth detail or understanding of what some function does. You will learn more about adjusting your picture from reading the reviews here than from your booklet.
To wrap it up, I have had this LCD for over two months now and I couldn't be happier with the picture and the "price" I paid for it. This LCD truly shows what HD TV is. Sometimes I just stand a few feet away taking in all the details that I never saw before getting this TV.

I have to preface this review with the fact that in September of 2008 I purchased a Toshiba 52RV530U flat panel TV online for $1500.00 and the minute I fired it up after unpacking it I noticed some black dots on the screen (which I later found out are called 'dead pixels'). Well the problem was not corrected until TWO MONTHS later (after Toshiba referred me to one of their local authorized repair shops) and after TWO panel replacements! Needless to say I was not happy about this dead pixel problem for such an expensive TV (subsequently I found that this is not an uncommon problem for many other brand name LCD panel TVs).
Anyway forward fast to February 2010 when my Toshiba (just over a year old and of course just past it's one year warranty) started developing vertical colored lines on the right half of the screen! Well after all the trouble I went through with this Toshiba TV I chose not to even spend a further dime on it since it was out of warranty anyway. So on March 1st 2010 I found this Sony KDL-52VE5 on Amazon for $1294.97 (I'm not sure why they've gone up so much in price over the past week since it appears they're being discontinued) and I couldn't be happier.
First off....NO DEAD PIXELS! I have to say, that was the issue I was worried most about having to deal with after my first experience with the inferior Toshiba product.......Sony pulls through with the quality right out of the box. Better picture (outstanding picture quality when you switch it to 'vivid' mode right out of the box, that's honestly about all you'll need to do), better color, comprehensive & economical features (I love the fact it turns off by itself and fires back up when I re-enter the room) and I even gave it 5 stars for sound as the sound bar is clearly superior to the Toshiba I had grown accustom to the past year--and yes I do have it hooked up to a surround sound system with a sub but I find out of laziness I use the TVs sound bar more often than not and it's quite adequate. The main thing you'll be missing from the TVs indigenous sound is the bass response, but Sony's sound bar is great otherwise.
Oh and of course I purchased the 3 year warranty from SquareTrade for $149.99 this time around just to be safe....all in all it still cost me less than my faulty Toshiba......So in closing, if you're thinking about purchasing an HDTV, let your mind rest at ease and just go with Sony....after all the price & tech spec. comparisons I made before my initial purchase of an HDTV (which turned out to be a nightmare of an experience after settling with a lesser brand....in my case Toshiba), I WISH I would have just followed my instincts and went with the Sony right out of the gate.....even though it was more expensive at the time. Your peace of mind is worth SO MUCH more than the difference in price you might save with an inferior brand.