After our test of the Bravia KDL-40X3500, a new reference in LCD HD Ready 1080p TVs, we somewhat anxiously awaited the KDL-40W3000, which is in fact a lighter version of the X3500.   We say ‘’lighter’’ and not ‘’totally stripped down’’ because it actually keeps the main characteristics of 3 HDMI inputs, a 1080p screen, HD compatible tuner for future channels that will transmit in H.264, a 10 bit panel, and finally, a 24p mode.

The main characteristics that disappear are the 100 Hz mode and the Bravia Engine Pro.  The latter is actually replaced by the Bravia Engine EX.  What’s the difference ? Rescaling SD sources is slightly inferior on the EX.  We will see below to what extent...

Nice specifications

In the end, the W3000 looks rather good on paper.  We therefore didn’t hesitate to apply our sensor/colorimeter to see if promises lived up to expectations.

First results were satisfactory with a decent good color fidelity.  Black was measured at 0.34 cd/m2 (white at 378 cd/m²) which is a little high while color temperature was completely away from the target of 6500 °K at...9500°K!  However, only blue seemed abnormally dominant and we thought this could be quickly remedied by changing color temperature in the Image menu.  We changed settings to Warm2 and attained 6535°K which is close to perfection !



After this, only black left us a bit disappointed especially when we know the other capabilities in this domain by the latest Sony TVs.  After going through the menus we quickly found the backlighting adjustment.  Set to zero, black is considerably darkened and falls to 0.20 cd/m²  with an honorable white measurement of 222 cd/m².  In the end, even if the contrast doesn’t change, the overall result was very good.

As soon as we moved to the more practical part of tests with movies these measurements were visually confirmed.  The image is very well contrasted and simply beautiful.  Also, contrary to the Bravia KDL-40P3000, black colors are stable from any distance from the screen.

As for HD sources, they were quite simply amazing.

A problematic rescaling of 1080p panels with SD sources

For DVDs, however, our enthusiasm was somewhat dampened.  We first had to deactivate noise reduction whose impact was a little too noticeable for our taste.  It deforms images and creates uniform blocks of color instead of nice gradations.  In our office, we prefer a slight grain in movies as opposed to the effects created by this TV’s noise reduction function.

But there was another defect which particularly stood out for us.  Like the 40X3500, this HD Ready 1080p sets a milestone for HD Ready products (720p) in terms of rescaling SD sources (conventional TV signals, digital cable, DVDs, ....).  Moreover, this is what made the fine reputation of  the former KDL-40D3000 whose lower definition panel very cleanly rescaled SD sources.

For this TV, rescaling isn’t as precise as with  HD Ready models.  As you can see below, our test image clearly shows the superiority of our DVD player’s rescaling as opposed to that of the Bravia Engine EX :



Less precise than the 40X3500’s rescaling, in the end the 40W3000 still delivers fine quality images from SD sources.  And in HD, this television is highly enjoyable.

Finally, given that there is such a large difference in price we can only wonder if this W3000 isn’t going to hurt sales of larger sized X3500s.