Picture quality (How we test TVs)
We're more than a third through 2012 at the time of this review, and I've had my share of terrible and excellent TVs so far. This Sony skews toward "excellent."
While it can't match the best plasmas I've seen this year, like the Panasonic ST50 and the Samsung PNE8000, it accounts for itself very tidily in the picture quality stakes. It features 95 percent of the HX929's picture at about 80 percent of the cost, give or take a shekel. Black levels were very good, and while color may not be the Sony's strongest suit, it does share its family's rich and vibrant color palette. If you watch a lot of Web content, the X-Reality Pro engine will clean up a majority of blockiness.