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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Samsung D6500 vs Sony EX723
Pierre Anzil
Translator: Sam McGeever
Updated: August 1, 2011
Translator: Sam McGeever
Updated: August 1, 2011
| On the left, we have Samsung, represented by the Samsung UE40D6500 HD TV. Its stylish good looks were previously only reserved for much more expensive models that cost at least twice as much. On the inside, it has a PVA LCD display manufactured by Samsung itself and Edge LED backlighting, with LEDs around the inside of the frame. | | | | | | | |
On the right is the Sony Bravia KDL-40EX723 HD TV, the company's latest flagship and the replacement for the popular EX503 range. Sony too has plumped for a PVA LCD display, this time manufactured as part of its joint venture with Samsung along with the same Edge LED backlighting. |
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| PVA |
| | PVA |
| 1920 x 1080 pixels | | | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| 32'', 37'', 40'' and 46'' sizes |
| | 32'', 37'', 40'' and 46'' sizes |
| HDMI (x4), Composite, Component, USB (x3), Optical audio, WiFi | | | HDMI (x4), SCART, Composite, Component |
| 178° / 178° | | | 178° / 178° |
| BACKGROUND |
 Samsung has transferred its loyalties to LED backlighting. Just last year, its C630 range was the star of the show with CCFL backlighting, but now LED backlighting and support for 3D are the new game in town in 2011.The D6500 is one of Samsung's 'borderless' TVs with an incredibly slim frame. It also features the company's Clear Motion filer, a 2D-to-3D conversion system and the Smart TV online interface. |
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 It's a similar story for Sony, whose EX723 range adds the LED backlighting and support for 3D that was missing on last year's EX503.The EX723 has a refined, slimline design, and a motion interpolation filter, support for 3D and Internet access. |
| Samsung and Sony are both betting on the same strategy for 2011, relying on a combination of support for 3D TV and LED backlighting which contributes to an ultra-slim form factor and lower energy consumption. But what sets them apart? Is one of them better at 3D than the other? And what about 2D and extra features? |
| DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY: SAMSUNG WINS |
| Design: Samsung pays a lot of attention to the look and feel of its products even on its less expensive ranges, while Sony only offers the best designs at the pricier end of the spectrum. The D6500's 3 cm thick body and virtually invisible 1.2 cm frame contribute to an attractive, innovative design that allow Samsung to take the upper hand in this section. Sony hasn't updated the external design very much and has stuck with a plain exterior with plenty of clean lines. Build Quality: In the past, Samsung has been guilty of rushing the finish on its product which sometimes feel like cheap plastic toys rather than expensive electronics products. Nothing could be further from the truth on the D6500, which is made from solid plastic with a design where no space is wasted. The EX723 sounds hollow, by contrast, and it's clear that Sony's engineers haven't done much to organise the space inside the TV. |
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Frame: Alongside 3D and LED backlighting, Samsung's third leap of faith was to include a new slim frame on its TVs--and this time it has definitely paid off. There's still not much point in the translucent plastic trim around the outside that you can't remove but which serves no purpose.
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Frame: In this full-size photo, it's easy to see how much bigger the frame is on the Sony TV than the Samsung. We're pretty certain that Sony's collection next year will see some curiously familiar new designs ...   |
| FEATURES: A DRAW |
| Samsung is a long way ahead when it comes to its media player, but Sony can boast a matte finish on the EX723's screen and a classier remote control. |
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Display: you pays your money and you takes your choice. Go for the D6500 if you want a glossy finish that adds a classy touch to your front room. It certainly draws attention to your TV but any nearby light sources will lead to reflections.
Sony is a better pick if, like us, you prefer a matte display. It's all part of the plain and simple aesthetic that the firm seems to have adopted for the EX723. Remote: it's another clash. The EX723 has a remote that's gone back to basics both in terms of design and the number of features available. That makes it very easy to use. The D6500's remote adopts a more hands-on approach, adding a whole host of backlit buttons. It has all the functions you'll need but it might take a while to find them. |
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Media player: this is one area where Samsung is an uncontested winner. Put simply, the firm's TVs have the best media players on the market. That means they're the best option if you want a media player inside your TV, but external devices can do even better. Sony, on the other hand, offers compatibility for only a very small selection of video formats. Online services: Samsung's 'Smart TV' Internet platform has the most room for expansion because you can install your own apps. Sony's alternative is a closed system but has a much easier to use web browser. |
| RESPONSIVENESS IN 2D: A DRAW |
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We use a camera that can capture 1000 frames per second to record how long it takes to display and then remove moving objects against different coloured backgrounds.
In both cases, we measured an average ghosting time of 10 ms, which is great for an LCD. |
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To put that in context:
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| RESPONSIVENESS IN 3D: SAMSUNG WINS |
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In theory, responsive displays like the ones in each of these TVs should be capable of producing good quality 3D video.
Samsung manages it, even if it still falls a little bit short of some alternative technologies--Panasonic's plasma TVs in particular. Sony really doesn't pull it off though, and we found some real problems with the glasses which left some elements jumping from one eye to the other, especially at the top of the frame. |
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We looked at the problem in a lot of detail when we reviewed the EX723 and send our comments to Sony, which told us it was working on fixing the problem. We're hoping that that will happen before too long. For the time being, 2D-to-3D filters are more marketing hyperbole than effective solution, and we don't recommend you use them. |
| IMAGE QUALITY: SONY WINS |
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Contrast: With a contrast ratio of 4300:1, Sony is heads and shoulders above Samsung, whose 2600:1 ratio looks paltry by comparison.
Samsung's choice of a glossy screen also makes things worse, because the reflections caused if you have the windows open can lead to a loss of extra detail. Colour reproduction: both televisions produce great results in Cinema mode, with a deltaE score of around 2.0. The gamma is around 2.2 with a colour temperature of 6500 K. Both of those are great results, and represent some excellent progress over the past few years. Clouding: unfortunately, one of the common downsides of Edge LED backlighting is clouding. There's no avoiding it: both of challengers suffered from more more clouding than we'd like. That's one of the reasons we're less enthusiastic about Edge LED: we'd rather older, fatter CCFL backlights, or else a Full LED TV like the LG 47LX9500. |
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 Score out of five for each TV |
| EVENNESS: A DRAW |
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We investigate how even a display is by measuring how bright a pure white test card looks at 28 different points on the surface of the screen. We then calculate the standard deviation between the values and scale the results to a score out of five points. Both of today's TVs scored 3/5, which is reasonably common for LCD TVs, whatever the backlighting technology used. But don't worry, only the most demanding viewers will notice the difference.
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 Score out of five for each TV |
| VIEWING ANGLES: A DRAW |
 Score out of five for each TV |
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In 2009, we added a viewing angle test that examines the perceived brightness of a series of different test cards at a 45° angle from above and below and to both sides. We can compare these results to those taken facing the screen directly to get an accurate measurement of how much the picture changes when you move away from the screen's central axis. We were expecting great results given that both TVs use PVA panels, but we had no such luck. Other PVA displays are much more impressive than the ones we saw here, which put in a performance worthy of much cheaper TVs using MVA panels and a long way from the excellent image quality produced by IPS and plasma TVs. |
| AUDIO QUALITY: SONY WINS |
| Sony is the winner in this section without a shadow of a doubt. Our audio specialist, Tristan François took a listen and said that ''this is the first time we've heard such good sound from such a small TV. Instead off trying to bounce the sound off the wall or the floor, Sony has decided to point the speakers straight at the viewer, making the resulting sound much clearer. Both the mid-range and treble are well handled, and miraculously, even the bass is acceptable.'' |
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Samsung only just manages to crawl in with an average rating, compared to other LED TVs with absolutely no bass and make do with ''well handled'' treble and mid-range. If you've got a 40D6500, you'll want some external speakers to go with it! |
| RESULT: SAMSUNG FOR THE LOOKS, SONY FOR THE PERFORMANCE |
| Samsung is rightly proud of its D6500 TV, which offers an awful lot for a lot less than £1000 without cutting any corners. It's a great quality TV on the inside with a gorgeous borderless design on the outside. Samsung also managed to deliver better 3D, even if it's strictly an optional extra given that the glasses aren't actually included. Samsung UE40D6500 |
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For Sony, the EX723 is its cheapest 3D TV ... but it's actually an excellent 2D TV. Here, 3D really is a nice extra and really isn't this model's core stength. It's got plenty of others, including better sound quality and higher contrast than the D6500, which should please the most demanding viewers. Sony Bravia KDL-40EX73
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