Sony KDF-WE655 review: Sony KDF-WE655

Intro
Sony's KDF-50WE655 replaces 2003's KDF-50WE610 as the company's entry-level 50-inch LCD-based rear-projection TV. While not quite as stylish as last year's model, the KDF-50WE655 has an improved menu system and a few major additional features, including an HDTV tuner and a CableCard slot, all for about the same price as last year's model: the set lists for $3,299 and can be had for a good deal less online. We were a little disappointed that Sony, after showing marked improvement in black-level performance, didn't raise the bar further with this year's model, but that's our only real image-quality gripe. Otherwise, the 50WE655 is a solid performer in the microdisplay pack and strongly worth considering, especially if you can see the rainbows in DLP sets such as the Mitsubishi WD-52525.

Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.

As we mentioned at the outset, the exterior of the KDF-50WE655 is not quite as impressive as that of its predecessor, the WE610. It lacks the attractive and functional dark-black bezel surrounding the screen and now sports an all-silver finish. The stereo left and right speakers are artfully concealed behind a microperforated baffle on either side of the screen. Yes, the set's simplistic elegance should blend in well with most decors, but we suspect that the plain-Jane design will cause some buyers with their hearts set on a Sony to consider instead better-looking, pricier 55-inch models such as the KDF-55WF655 or the KDF-55XS955 (no, the company does not offer a step-up 50-inch model).

You'll need some sort of stand to elevate the 50WE655 to eye level. Sony conveniently offers a matching model, the SU-GW11, for $499 (list). This set weighs only 85 pounds and measures 54 by 37 by 17 inches (WHD).

The remote remains one of our favorites, as it is extremely well laid out, easy to use, and not too large. Happily, the internal menu system has been radically redesigned for the better. For starters, the main categories are now vertically oriented, and when you select a picture parameter, it falls to the bottom of the screen, making image tweaks easier to perfect.

Despite its designation as an entry-level television, the 50WE655 is almost as feature packed as the other Sonys and equals most other microdisplays in spec-sheet bragging rights. The 1,386x788-pixel native resolution of its three LCD chips should qualify it to display every detail of 720p HDTV signals, but it doesn't quite get there (see the Performance section for a full explanation). All other sources, such as DVD and standard TV, are converted to fit those pixels. Unlike many such displays, the 50WE655 does not come equipped to display computer video.

Many of the newest large-screen HDTVs come with a CableCard slot, as does this Sony, making it digital cable ready. This feature allows you to get digital cable and/or HDTV without a separate cable box--as long as your cable provider is onboard with this relatively new service (most are). There's also an integrated ATSC tuner for over-the-air HDTV reception via an antenna.

Sony's dual-tuner picture-in-picture (PIP) lets you put two images side by side, although component and HDMI sources can appear only on the left side. There are three picture modes with very different factory presets for the picture parameters (we recommend using Pro for serious viewing). Three selectable color temperatures are onboard, and a 3D comb filter improves picture quality for composite-video sources such as VHS. Aspect-ratio choices include four modes for standard-def and three for high-def--an improvement over last year's Sony HDTVs.

On the audio side, you get a powerful 30-watt amplifier that drives the stereo speakers and internal subwoofer. TrueSurround helps provide a semblance of the surround experience using the set's stereo speakers.

The 50WE655's connectivity leaves little to be desired. On the rear panel is an HDMI input (with analog stereo inputs for use with DVI-to-HDMI converters), two broadband component-video inputs, three A/V inputs with S-Video, one VHF/UHF RF input with built-in ATSC tuner, one cable RF input, the CableCard slot, and an optical digital audio output. On the front panel, you'll find another set of A/V inputs with S-Video, and a Memory Stick slot for viewing digital pictures from Sony digital cameras.

As far as image quality goes, the 50WE655 appears almost identical to last year's model--in short, pretty good, especially after some professional tweaking. Unfortunately, even the Warm color temperature was disappointingly blue before calibration, although afterward the grayscale was much better. See the geek box below for more technical information.

While Sony claims improved black-level performance, our tests did not bear that out. Last year we saw a leap forward from the previous year in black-level performance, but not this year. The deepest blacks appeared closer to very dark gray. In the Sony's favor, low-level noise in the very dark opening scenes of the Alien DVD was minimal, which is not the case with earlier LCD RPTVs we've seen.

The 50WE655's color decoding severely pushes red, and unfortunately, the only way to completely fix that is with professional calibration. As a result of having to desaturate the color, which helps control the appearance of an overly red picture, Chapter 12 of the Seabiscuit DVD lacked the color depth we're used to seeing. After we fixed the decoder, the scene looked great, with lush greens in the grass and yellow in the trees. The skin of the people watching Seabiscuit looked flushed in the chill weather without appearing ruddy. By the way, we noticed that the Color Corrector feature actually makes red push in the color decoder even worse than it is already. We recommend that you leave it off.

Despite the high resolution of the LCD chips, detail suffered in two areas. When we brought sharpness to 15 to eliminate edge enhancement, the picture was unacceptably soft. We also measured the set with a 720p resolution test from the Accupel HDG-3000 signal generator and found that it failed to display all of the resolution. (This is probably the result of two things: the set's Fresnel/lenticular screen combination and the internal scalar's rolling off the top of the video frequencies.) To be fair, most of the fixed-pixel sets we've tested at this resolution suffer from the same problem. Nonetheless, 1080i HD material from our DirecTV HD satellite feed looked pretty good. Detail was decent, with very good color saturation after calibration.