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Sony LCD gives good picture for the money

The Sony KDL-EX500 LCD TV incorporates respectable image quality with essential features at a wallet-friendly price.

David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
David Katzmaier

Sony's EX500 LCD lacks an LED backlight along with an exorbitant price tag. Sarah Tew/CNET

Of the four Sony LCD TVs we've reviewed this year so far, the KDL-EX500 is both the least-expensive and the most impressive for the money. It lacks the thin chassis of its LED-based brothers, along with the eye-catching Monolithic design of the company's flagship models. It even lacks an Ethernet port for Internet extras, along with many of the more-advanced picture controls found on competing models in this price range. What it doesn't lack, however, is solid picture quality for an LCD, comparing well with both competing CCFL-backlit models and the edge-lit LEDs that cost much more. Among mainstream LCD TVs the Sony KDL-EX500 is a very good value.

Read the full review of the Sony KDL-EX500 series.

Sony KDL-EX500 series (photos)

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