Sony KDL46W4100 Review: Pros, Cons and Compare vs Z4100 / V4100

46-inch Bravia W4100 LCD

Samsung’s KDL46W4100 LCD Television was easily one of the most sought after and wished for 46-inch Full High Definition displays this holiday season, and quickly became one of the best selling televisions period after some holiday price cutting and advertising came out for this wonderful HDTV. The Bravia KDL-46W4100 the 46inch variation of the truly spectacular Bravia W4100 series – also contains the 40-inch Bravia KDL40W4100 and 52-inch Bravia KDL52W4100 – is Sony’s 2008 Mid-High end range sets, adding 120hz and some other things to the slightly less potent V4100, S4100, and M4100 models, and cutting back on some of the extra bells and whistles found on the cream of the crop Z and XBR6 series to make it more appealing and budget friendly to your everyday shopper. With its rock solid picture quality and home theater performance coupled along with the very fair price tag, the W-Series LCDs appeal to a much larger audience then the ultra-cheap or ultra expensive options, placing itself within everyone’s budget while still offering them some of the best in audio/visual entertainment possible.

Pro’s of the Sony Bravia KDL46W4100

• Very Strong black levels combined with incredibly accurate primary colors helps the picture quality of the Sony KDL46W4100 stand out from a crowd
• 120hz dejudder processing helps to smooth out motion and artifacts quite well. Very strong performance and lack of noise in even the most intensive action
• Visually very attractive – slick design with transparent glass makes the Sony 46W4100 beautiful both on and off
• Tons of connectivity and hookups with 4 HDMI ports to make sure all your components and expanding entertainment center won’t be left hanging
• Great Value / Bang for your buck. This is a very strong performing mid-range model with incredible picture quality, tons of features and connectivity and tons of others pros not listed here, it’s not the absolute best performer, but for the pricing, you may not find a better deal anywhere on a 46 inch LCD HDTV of this caliber.
• Many many other less notable strengths and pros…

Con’s of the Sony Bravia KDL46W4100

• Black levels and overall picture quality noticeable not as strong as the higher end models, although price point is the factor and better units are much more expensive.
• Viewing angles not that great compared to some similar brands models, both cheaper and more expensive
• cumbersome menu system could use some improvement for ease of use and navigation
• lacking of swivel stand
• sound quality could be improved, as well as ambient buzz and heat noticed as well by some

Compare Sony KDL-46W4100 vs KDL-46V4100

The Sony KDL46V4100 is the lowest end model of the 3, and stepping up and comparing the Sony KDL46W4100 vs Sony KDL46V4100, you will get most notably the following two upgrades on the more expensive W4100 model:

120hz dejudder process: Easily the biggest reason to upgrade, having 120hz mode, the KDL-W4100 models handle fast motion and action found in shows, movies and games much better, without the appearance of the annoying and common place to LCD ‘lag, judder, motion artifacting

24p True Cinema Mode: another side effect of the increased refresh rate of 120 Hz (standard is 60hz as found on the V4100 series), this is a great feature for movie lovers as films are shot at 24frames per second… With a standard 60hz LCD, 24fps is not a direct multiple and as such the picture needs to be converted and ‘filled in’ causing a noticeable untrue to the film effect, with 120hz, which is a direct multiple of 24fps, there is no need to up-convert nor process the un-natural information and the effect on image quality and experience is very noticeable.

A few smaller less significant differences / subtleties as well

Compare Sony KDL46W4100 vs KDL46Z4100

The Sony Z4100 series is a higher end and more advanced television than the W-Series, and as such will cost a bit more for the added technologies and upgrades. Currently only the 40-inch KDL40Z4100s / KDL40Z4100b (silver & black versions) and the 46-inch KDL46Z4100s / KDL46Z4100b (silver & black) are available missing the 52-inch variation of the Bravia V4100 & W4100 series. When comparing the Bravia KDL46W4100 vs. KDL46Z4100 models, several things have been improved and added, the most noticeable but not limited to, being the following:

10-bit processing and display – Most modern LCDs, and indeed with the 46V4100 and 46W4100 as well, use 8-bit panels and display processing… In the Sony KDL46Z4100 however is the 10-bit panel and imaging engine that effectively adds 400% the number of colors displayable and is attributable to making much more natural and attractive images, for example skin tones and high contrast vibrant color scenes.

x.v.Color support – The Bravia KDL 46Z4100 also has support for a brand new x.v. color application, which provides 180% more color information than today’s standard NTSC specifications found on almost all LCDs, including the KDL46V4100 and KDL46W4100 models.

DLNA compliant – DLNA, or, digital lifestyle network alliance, is a standardized set of protocols and procedures agreed to by many of the major electronics manufactures, that lets digital content by interchangeably accessible and streamable between devices, for example new features on emerging digital camera technology in a year, will be accessible on your Sony KDL-46Z4100 – helping to keep the product future proof and not to be obsolete shortly after purchase in the fast pace and ever evolving gadget and tech worlds.

Quite a few smaller less significant differences / subtleties as well

Comparing the KDL40W4100 vs KDL46W4100 vs KDL52W4100

Through this in here because many people are looking for differences between these 3 models within the Bravia V4100 series… There are no significant or real differences to compare between the models, and the differences in model name – the first two numerical digits – only represent the size in diagonal size measurements at 40 inches, 46 inches and 52 inches respectively.