Sony Bravia HX855 - Living On The Edge
Sony's latest premium Bravia release sits just under the existing HX925 flagship model. With the HX855's sleek Monolithic design and new Sony Entertainment Network platform, can this Dynamic Edge LED contender give the South Koreans something to think about? We find out.
By HardwareZone Team -
Brave New Bravia
Sony refreshed their Bravia HDTV suite earlier this year in March, where models like the HX855, NX650, and EX series were showcased during the press event held at the Marina Club. Instead of making radical changes, we noticed that Sony has decided to craft out subtle modifications to their line-up, such as the reworked SU-B553S Bunchin Stand (minus a center groove this time), as well as making minor cosmetic changes to their premium Bravia HX series. Among them is a newly minted D-shaped stand which we'll take a closer look in a jiffy. To get you up to speed, Sony's existing full-array HX925 model will retain its flagship crown in 2012, while the HX855 will be the next in line among Sony's upper-end series of HDTVs. Unlike the HX925, however, the newer HX855 screen will be illuminated by Sony's Dynamic Edge LED backlights. In other words, instead of firing a direct array of LED lights, this 3D TV is actually fitted with edge LEDs with dynamic 'cluster' dimming. It won't match up to a full-array configuration since it's only able to dim general areas of the LCD panel, but we'd still like to see how Sony pulls this one off on the HX850 series.
Apart from the new D-shaped stand shown here, Sony is also currently bundling the revamped Bunchin Stand with the HX855 as a promotional item. But more importantly, we'd like to find out if Sony's renewed efforts in focusing on picture quality has paid off with their 2012 Bravia series.
The HX855 is available in three display sizes - 40, 46, and 55 inches. And as you probably know by now, the 55-inch model is priced at a wallet-busting S$5,999. That's about S$3,400 more than the 40-inch variant! The mid-range 55-inch HX750 model, which costs S$4,699, is a much cheaper alternative, but do note that the HX750 does not carry a digital tuner or dynamic backlights. The HX750 also possesses a slower 400Hz MotionFlow rate (compared to the HX855's 800Hz rating), and isn't equipped with the HX855's contrast-boosting OptiContrast panel or toughened Corning Gorilla glass to withstand scratches and knocks. So, is Sony's swanky new HX855 worth paying the premium for? Will it give LG and Samsung a run for their money? Can it repeat the brilliant performance of its HX925 sibling, despite its design choice of using edge LEDs? These are big shoes to fill, but we hope that the Bravia HX855 wouldn't disappoint. After all, you'll be paying almost six grand for this Full-HD baby with 3D qualities, so it'd better be worth it. Read on for our detailed breakdown.
Sleek, Sophisticated, Sony
The first few things which struck us about Sony's HX855 is the obvious care and attention devoted to its streamlined design. True, it is not as jaw-dropping gorgeous as LG's LM9600 showstopper, but the Bravia has its own fair share of merits. For one, unsightly and protruding bezels belong to the year 2005, and Sony acknowledges this fact with a single glass sheet on its panel as part of its Monolithic design introduced two years ago. The display is framed by a thin metallic border which adds some highlights to an otherwise all-black dress code. And instead of perpendicular lines, Sony has opted for rounded contours on the sides. As mentioned, this model touts Corning's Gorilla Glass and Sony's Opticontrast Panel also found in the HX925 as well. The only caveat is the reflective treatment on the glass face. It's still a minor annoyance under brighter lighting conditions. Sony's deployment of edge LEDs also ensured a fairly thin panel depth at 40mm, which makes it suitable for wall-mount solutions. The new D-shaped base is a nice change from Sony's traditional single-spine stands, and it swivels as well.
Sony's usage of Corning's Gorilla glass also resulted in glares and reflections under brighter circumstances. Thankfully, there's the treated OptiContrast panel to mitigate these effects.
A metallic trimming which frames the panel helps break an otherwise all-black attire. The HX855 also sports softer contours around the edges instead of a blockish frame like the older Bravias.
The new D-shaped stand from Sony comes with a joint which enables the TV to swivel both ways. However, this setup is less stable than the bundled Bunchin Stand in our opinion.
At the connectivity end, most of the digital connectors are lined up by the side or bottom, including four HDMI slots, two USB ports, and an optical audio outlet for your AV receiver. The composite and component inputs, however, are aligned in a rear-facing orientation, so do make the necessary concessions before you wall-mount the panel. There's also a proprietary port labelled "Speaker Integrated Stand", meant for the Bunchin Stand which carries its own sets of speakers and woofer built into its base. Sony has trimmed their remote as well. It is visibly shorter and more compact now. We would have liked it better, however, if the positioning for volume and channel controls were swapped with the numeric pad instead. Dedicated buttons like 'SEN' calls up the Sony Entertainment Network platform, while the Home button brings you to the main interface with options such as Favorites, Settings, Widgets, etc. Although the remote bears a functional design, its plastic housing does lack a premium feel to it.
Like the HX925, the HX855 sports similar hardware controls located just behind the right side of the panel. A source selection and a Home button are located below the volume rocker switch.
Unlike LG and Samsung, Sony's HX855 still has a number of ports positioned in a rear-facing orientation. Audio Return Channel is enabled on HDMI 1 to deliver upstream audio to the receiver.
Sony's remote is shorter than its predecessor although its layout stays largely the same. The HX855 does not feature secondary remotes like Samsung's Smart Touch remote or LG's Magic wand.
Sony Entertainment Network
Before we touch on Sony's Internet TV platform proper, let us state that this HDTV has a zippy boot-up time. It powers on in three seconds flat from standby mode. Moving on, the new Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) is a positive shift compared to previous efforts with a more consolidated platform. Essentially, SEN is separated intro various zones. An active window for external AV inputs resides on the left, followed by a Twitter feed or Clock display (you may configure either) below. Popular apps are located in the middle window with a Favorites column on the right. To add apps to Favorites, click on the + sign and select the application from the list shown. Titles include Moshcam (with lots of live concert vids), Style.com, and Sony 3D World with its own pool of 3D movie trailers. Although the Internet TV's layout has changed somewhat, it seems like Sony's selection of apps haven't been updated by much. For instance, subscription-based services like Sony's Music Unlimited are, unfortunately, still inaccessible here though it's no fault of Sony to be fair. Another gripe we have is that the applications and widgets are still scattered across the NUX user-interface, and that's not going to ease the confusion for new Smart TV users anytime soon.
The SEN interface takes on a more conventional Smart TV interface like Sony's competitors. But aside from an active window and Twitter feed, it appears that nothing much has changed.
Although Sony has not beefed up their video streaming selection by much, there are some gems tucked within, like Moshcam for example with its wide compilation of music videos.
Sony's 3D World does not offer full-length movies unfortunately, but it does feature trailers of upcoming 3D mainstream movies and infotainment clips. The Amazing Spider-Man anyone?
At this point, we also noticed that the presence of a Sony app store is lacking on the HX855. To confound matters further, there is an alternative Opera TV Store where you may download apps from. Frequently used apps can be registered to the My Apps tab, located just next to the Opera TV Store's main tab. Noticeably, Opera's selection of TV apps is still sparse at this moment, with main categories divided into Games, Music, Social Networks, and Weather. On the bright side, selected Bravia models are now equipped with Opera's HTML5-optimized web browser, after the two companies signed a pact last year to bring Opera's web browser to Sony's suite of Bravia LCD TVs and Blu-ray players. For social media acess on the HX855, you don't actually require a Sony portal account to login to Facebook or Twitter, as opposed to rival sets like LG or Samsung. You may access these social services directly using your personal Facebook or Twitter account.
Opera TV Store can be found at the Applications tab. Further up, you'll find the Sony Home Theater Control feature. According to Sony, it enables users to tweak sound field and input settings on compatible home theater systems via the HDMI connection.
Opera's TV Store will feature applications coded in HTML5. However, there aren't too many apps to go around as yet, judging by what we've seen on the HX855.
Sony's Picture Presets
There are three main picture modes: Standard, Vivid, and Custom, plus enthusiasts would appreciate the comprehensive selections under the TV's Advanced Settings as well. Examples include Black Corrector, Adv Contrast Enhancer, Gamma, LED Dynamic Control, Auto Light Limiter, Clear White, Live Color, White Balance, Detail Enhancer, and Edge Enhancer. Active AV inputs are highlighted by an arrow over the blue boxy icon. On top of the three main picture modes mentioned, there are ten more Scene settings available under the TV's Settings option. Sony has included an "Auto 24p Sync" mode as well, which activates the TV's Cinema preset when a 24p source (film content) is detected. As mentioned in our previous reviews, Sony's scattered placements of their picture presets can be confounding at times.
Calibration - Spyder3TV Report
To maintain a standard across our review units, we calibrated the Sony Bravia HX855 with Datacolor's Spyder3TV Home Theater Color Calibration kit prior to our visual tests. This is to ensure we assess the HDTV based on optimal display settings and not on visual estimation alone. Using the TV's Standard preset, we've also disabled all the necessary enhancement features.
Here are the recommended picture settings after calibration - Brightness: 12, Contrast: 98, Color: 51, and Tint: G1. Backlight levels are clamped at 6 throughout the calibration process. Black luminance was recorded at 0.020cd/m2, and white luminance at 84.159 cd/m2. That's a very healthy and deep black luminance reading, but we have to consider the HX855's rather weak white luminance levels as well. Such measurements normally indicate inky black levels but the TV might also suffer from 'black crush' tendencies as well. We'll have to work it out on DisplayMate to see how it really fares. Comparatively, full-array models like LG's LM9600 recorded 0.112 cd/m2 and 245.039 cd/m2 respectively, and Sony's HX925 at 0.310 cd/m2 and 281.755 cd/m2.
Calibrated results did not deviate much from Sony's default Standard settings. The Bravia HX855 also delivered impressive black luminance readings, but we'll have to rely on our other visual tests to determine its real-world performance.
DisplayMate Tests
DisplayMate is an application which generates a sequence of test patterns to determine the capabilities of imaging devices, like color, uniformity, and gray-scale accuracies for example. For our tests, we've hooked up the Bravia HX855 to our display test-bed via a HDMI connection. Similar to our calibration setup, we have also disabled all visual enhancements on the TV to reduce the variables involved. Here are some of our findings.
DisplayMate's Color Scales Test: The Bravia struggled with the darker scales, probably due to its dim backlights. However, it had no difficulty in rendering the brighter hues with ample precision.
Screen Uniformity | The Bravia displayed excellent uniformity across all four colored backgrounds - white, red, blue, and green. A rare feat for an edge-lit LED display. |
Dark Gray Scale | Even gray tones were observed. Sony's LED Dynamic Control (cluster dimming) feature may be required to improve overall black depths. Brightness levels have to be bumped up in order to reveal the darker gray blocks. |
Color Scales | The OptiContrast panel handled the brighter hues with great accuracy. However, it had trouble rendering the darker gradients on the test pattern due to the TV's conservative luminance levels. |
256-Intensity Level Color Ramp | Strong colors and smooth gradients were noted although it was less adept with the darker tones. This minor glitch may be an issue when viewing static photographic images. |
IDT HQV Tests
IDT's HQV Tests (on Blu-ray) are designed to assess image quality and handling of digital displays through a variety of video signal processing tasks which includes decoding, de-interlacing, motion correction, noise reduction, and film cadence detection. We've programmed the Blu-ray player to playback in 1080i to test the TV's de-interlacing capabilities. Here are the results we noted on some of the more crucial HQV tests:-
HQV's Film Resolution Loss Test: Sony TVs seldom disappoint in this aspect, and it's the same with the HX855. The display exhibited excellent inverse cadence processing with Real Cinema enabled.
Digital Noise Filtering | Like previous Bravias we've tested, the HX855's noise filters did not impress. Noise grains persisted despite pushing the Noise Reduction settings to High. |
Diagonal Filter Test | The Bravia validated its de-interlacing muscle judging by the jaggies-free rotating bar displayed on the Diagonal Filter test pattern. |
Film Resolution Loss Test | Impeccable cadence detection and processing were achieved on both Auto 1 and Auto 2 options under the TV's 24p (True Cinema) feature. |
Standard-Definition Tests
X-Men: The Last Stand (DVD)
Unlike some of its HDTV rivals, the Bravia HX855 is better off without its fancy picture enhancements with the exception of its dynamic backlighting feature. For example, Sony's old-time picture density booster, Reality Creation, actually did more harm to the picture quality than good, judging by the introduction of noisy artifacts when enabled. Same goes for other attributes like Adv Contrast Enhancer, which lends an unnaturally sharp treatment to the overall picture when set to "High". Although images from the DVD leaned towards the softer side without the bells and whistles, the X-Men characters appeared more natural in the process with a rich palette of colors to boot. The best skin tones can be achieved with the TV's "Warm 2" color temperature setting since the "Neutral" value yields a slightly cooler tone instead. Black levels were superb as well, if the unblemished letterbox bars are of any indication. Contrast levels may be improved further with LED Dynamic Control if necessary. We'd advise using a "Low" setting to avoid a trade-off in darker image details. Motion processing was top notch too (as affirmed during our HQV tests earlier). On the whole, Sony's Bravia was extremely comfortable in dealing with standard definition fare on its own with hardly any tweaks, and we'll see if this carries over to their HD performance.
Minor signs of 'black crush' were evident on DVD content. Other than that, the Bravia HX855 churned out an impressive display with equally rich detail and colors despite the low-res SD source.
High-Definition Tests
Vantage Point (Blu-ray)
From the sepia-toned opening sequences to the colorful contents of the movie itself, Vantage Point was a pleasure to watch on the impeccable Sony Bravia HX855. We didn't spot any awkward judders, and details and black levels were exemplary from scene to scene. Dubbed as MotionFlow XR 800, Sony has injected a variety of options for their frame interpolation and backlight scanning technology to improve motion resolution in the HX855, namely Smooth, Standard, Clear, Clear Plus, and Impulse. The last option is designed for fast-moving images such as sports programs. They work reasonably well without succumbing to awkward judders or resulting in 'soap opera effects', but we must highlight that Clear, Clear Plus, and Impulse do dim the picture in intensifying degrees, with Impulse rendering the dimmest image of the lot. Sony has two settings under Cinema Drive - Auto 1 and Auto 2. Both enforce cadence detection for 24fps sources, with Auto 1 incorporating Sony's own motion-smoothing technology, while Auto 2 stays close to the film's original frame rate. The latter is also our preferred choice with its more natural presentation. In essence, the HX855 has managed to pull all the right punches with its stellar picture quality, motion rendering, black depths, and inverse telecine properties. Clouding issues were non-existent on the HX855 if we may add. One drawback, however, is the persistence of black crush attributes with the darker frames. This was noted earlier during our DVD test as well.
Strengths of the Sony HX855 include its even backlight distribution, black levels, accurate colors, and artifacts-free motion processing as we've witnessed on HD content like Vantage Point on Blu-ray.
Monsters vs Aliens (3D Blu-ray)
Before we take a look at the Bravia's 3D performance, let's sneak a quick peek at Sony's stereoscopic eyewear. As you can tell from the picture below, Sony will be bundling two pairs of the TDG-BR250B with the HX855 instead of the sleek and light alternative released in the UK. We won't mince our words by saying that the TDG-BR250B is undoubtedly a clunky affair. In fact, it appears that little has changed since the first few batches of Sony 3D TVs. On the up side, the active-shutter glasses were fairly comfortable, and they also offer a decent grip on the bridge of our Asian noses. The power button is also within easy reach, since it resides on the upper portion of the frame. The USB port is hidden behind a rubberized dust-cap below, and may be recharged via the HX855's USB ports as well. Those who use prescriptive lenses might have trouble with this model though, since it wasn't designed to be worn over another pair of glasses.
Sony's TDG-BR250/B: Sony has made noticeable improvements to their line of active-shutter eyewear such as the incorporation of rechargeable features and an easy-to-reach power button.
The micro USB port (cable is supplied) is protected by a rubberized dust-cap located just below the right hinge. A 3D sync transmitter isn't required since it's integrated with the HX855.
The Sony Bravia delivered an amazing display of stereoscopic depth, clarity, and detail in its 3D outfit. Motion rendering was laudable too. Similar to our findings on the HX925, crosstalk is still present but negligible in most scenes. Observably, horizontal viewing angle is good up to 70 degrees off the center axis, before crosstalk and a loss in 3D depth are perceived. Sony has equipped the HX855 with several 3D tweaks, like '3D Depth Adjustment' and '3D Glasses Brightness'. The former option enables you to make changes to the stereoscopic depth, although we could hardly tell the difference after it's applied. To compensate for the active lenses' dimming properties, Sony's '3D Glasses Brightness' feature actually boosts the panel's brightness and not the glasses, contrary to what its name suggests. Note that the backlight setting is also pumped to the max regardless of the 3D mode you're in. One option not found on the older HX925 is the '3D Signal Notification' setting - one that updates the user whenever a 3D source is detected.
More options are now found under Sony's 3D Settings menu. Note that increasing the 3D Glasses Brightness option actually boosts the display's brightness, and not the lenses.
Although it isn't able to enforce an entirely crosstalk-free delivery, the HX855 is still able to match up to its older HX925 when it comes to 3D depth, clarity, and overall performance.
The Final Word
Although Sony is still using the 'Monolithic Design' term for their latest range of Bravia TVs, it is clear that the dress code for their 2012 models has gone through a few enhancements. Some examples include the HX855's D-shaped base, as well as the more refined Bunchin Stand shown in the image below. The latter is currently bundled with the HX855 as an ongoing sales promo from Sony, but it'll cost you $599 if you were to purchase it separately. We like the HX855's clean and unfettered look, and it's nice to know that Sony has retained the HX925's OptiContrast panel and Corning Gorilla Glass too. At only 35mm thin, the panel is also slim and sexy enough to be wall-mounted. The HX855 is an elegant piece, all round. We applaud Sony's introduction of the SEN platform, although it's a real pity that subscription-based streaming services like Music and Video Unlimited are unavailable in our region. We also hope that Sony will be able to host their own app store in future, instead of relying on Opera's TV Store which only serves to muddle things up. Other than that, Sony might want to consider tidying up their NUX interface since their apps and widgets remain scattered on different tabs.
It's interesting to note that both 55-inch models, the HX925 and the HX855, are tagged at S$5,999 each. Although the HX855 sports a sexier profile and portrayed a commendable visual performance for an edge-lit LED model, we'd still go with the HX925 for its full-array advantage and overall picture quality.
But what really sets this Bravia apart is its visual acumen. And we were also impressed by how Sony managed to engineer a relatively even backlight distribution on an edge-lit model. Sony still has slight room for improvement in terms of their noise filters, color gradations (on the darker scale), and shadow detail. However, unlike most edge-lit TV models, the HX855 does not suffer from clouding issues or blotchy presentations. The panel's aptitude for accurate colors and deep blacks are other plus points, and not to mention its motion processing was impressive too, with or without True Cinema enabled. We enjoyed its 3D performance on the whole, although crosstalk tendencies were present on a few occasions like most active-shutter models. Comparatively, however, it does offer better stereoscopic depths compared to passive 3D models like LG's LM8600 Cinema 3D model. All in all, Sony has done a credible job on the Bravia HX855's picture quality, but it'll have to buck up on the Internet TV aspects if they wish to appeal to users who desire more than visual performance alone.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.