Sony BRAVIA KDL55HX820 55-Inch 1080p 3D LED HDTV with Built-In Wi-Fi, Black

Product Feature : Sony BRAVIA KDL55HX820 55-Inch 1080p 3D LED HDTV with Built-In Wi-Fi, Black

• Brilliant Full HD (1080p) picture quality for 2D & 3D
• 55-inch display with full HD (1080p) 2D/3D picture and sleek monolithic OptiContrast panel with Corning Gorilla Glass
• Dynamic Edge LED backlight with local dimming for incredible contrast, slim design, and energy efficiency
• Experience smooth and precise motion detail during fast-action video with Motionflow XR 480 technology
• Wireless BRAVIA Internet TV and Widgets for a wide variety of streaming media and other Internet content
• 55-inch display with full HD (1080p) 2D/3D picture and sleek "monolithic" OptiContrast panel with Corning Gorilla Glass

Customer Reviews

• 

  Review by : Josetron

  
  

  I have been playing with this TV for one week, the image a color accuracy was great until I notice there is a white halo in the left and right side of the TV. After reading other users and expert reviews, seems like the screen uniformity problem is persistent.

  I chat with Samsung representative and this is what they told me:

  Please wait for a Samsung Agent to respond.
  You are now chatting with 'Dennis'. There will be a brief survey at the end of our chat to share feedback on my performance today.
  Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK4380954317X

  Dennis: Hi, thanks for reaching out to Samsung tech support. How can I help you today?
  Visitor: Yes I bought a UN55D8000 TV,
  Dennis: Okay.
  Visitor: have a problem with the image, there is a white halo when watching dark scenes
  Dennis: Where is this located on the screen?
  Visitor: left side (more intense) and right side (less intense), middle (center) looks fine
  Dennis: Is it on the corners that you can notice this?
  Visitor: no, more like a vertical line from top to bottom
  Visitor: but is not exactly a line, it's a halo
  Dennis: Please set the TV to Standard or Movie picture mode and lower the backlight to 7.
  Dennis: Use the TV with this setting for 3 weeks.
  Dennis: This should go away.
  Visitor: tell me more why?
  Dennis: This occurs when the LED screen emits more light.
  Visitor: are the LED supposed to emit less light after three weeks?
  Dennis: Using the TV with these settings will eliminate the excess light.
  Visitor: yes, but it doesn't look good since doesn't have enough light
  Dennis: Please change the settings and try this for at least 2 weeks.
  Visitor: can't understand why 2-3 weeks? what happen after? can I go back and use whatever setting I want?
  Dennis: Yes, you can change the settings after two to three weeks.
  Visitor: Ok, just to let you know, I will post this in Amazon ratings, if this is not a fix I will say so… Samsung doesn't say this to customer when sell the TV and this seems to be a problem with the design of the TV itself…
  Dennis: These are the troubleshooting steps that we can try for this issue.
  Dennis: We are not suggesting you to use the TV with these settings for ever.
  Visitor: Ok, I will try…thanks.

  I will try and let you know, although I'm considering returning it given this is a very pricey TV…

  UPDATE: Here is an update on the troubleshooting suggested by Samsung on screen uniformity…

  I don't see material improvement using the setting that Samsung's representative suggested, and honestly don't think it will make any difference (or at least I do not understand why would be better just changing the setting temporarily). I could wait another week but don't have more time to wait before having my window to return… so I have finally decided to return it since the white halo doesn't go away and this TV is just too expensive to have this type of problem… if this TV would be $1500 or less, I would keep it for sure.

  To be very balance in my review, still think the colors are great and the exterior design of the TV is the best I have ever seen, but it seems like this great exterior design is the one creating the screen uniformity due to the thin bezel…I have also notice two additional minor issues with this TV, motion blur issues on fast pace scenes and the remote control range which is relatively short (8 feet or so).

  So I'm switching to a recently announced Samsung PND8000 which is supposed to be top rated plasma… same interface and remote control than the UND8000, I will write a review once I get the chance to play with it…

• 

  Review by : TheBigB

  
  

  I've had this beast of a plasma for about a month now and I am truly still being blown away. Like other reviewers, I was on the fence about Panasonic versus Samsung. I also wanted something OVER 60 inches, and plasma was the way to go to keep costs reasonable. It was either a Panasonic VT65 or GT65 or the Samsung D8000 or D7000. I read countless point and counterpoint discussions on the AVForum site for months…And when I saw a great deal on this 64D8000 I jumped on it and am totally pleased with my choice.

  PICTURE: Unbelievable.. Out of the box, it was amazing. Midnight blacks and bright clean whites.. I mean watching the Boston Bruins play in the Stanley Cup was the first thing I saw when I had this on…the black shirts contrasted against the white ice was amazing. Close ups of the Bruins uniforms looked like the TV was powered off on that part of the screen. Really great. Blu-rays of course looked even better. Again the blacks stood out and colors really popped…TRON: Legacy looked UN-believable!!! Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I went into advanced options in the menu and entered a professional calibration result from a tester on AVForum. It took awhile entering in all those R G B settings, but it was totally worth it. (Saved me a couple hundred I'm sure) After my "calibration", I saw the true power of this Samsung. The colors came alive. And the contrast and flesh tones became more realistic. Blacks were inky (definitely a popular but very true word to describe these blacks) and even darker than before! So, before I thought the picture was amazing, but now it was near perfection! I honestly can't see how even the wildly popular, overpriced Panasonic VT series can beat this…(according to CNet reviews, they BARELY edge out this tv in picture quality). But you won't be disappointed with this Samsung. I'm no TV expert but I've had lots of HDTVs the last decade, and keep up with the latest. Plasmas aren't going away anytime soon… This is a big, bright, beautiful beast. Even more beautiful if you calibrate it, or "calibrate" it on your own.

  DESIGN: Very nice looking, when turned off. The dark titanium bezel is attractive (darker than the picture shown here on Amazon) with a nice glass edge to give it that classy look. The stand, I agree, is kind of ugly with it's chrome spider legs..but you gotta hang this thing anyway. This thing is meant to hang on the wall. Its surprisingly thin for a 64-inch plasma. The screen is a bit reflective so it looks nice when it's off, but plan accordingly if you want this in a room with lots of windows. The reflections will be noticeable. The remote has a nice Qwerty keypad for entering text, and I actually like it's flip design…although that keypad should light up! It's useless in the dark. There is an app to use on a smartphone that I have yet to try.

  3D: I've only watched Directv 3D channels, so I haven't gotten a lot of 3D experience yet (no Blu-ray 3D yet either even though I'm ready for it). What I have watched is nice. I got two free pairs of battery powered glasses and one rechargeable pair that I paid for extra. The 3D is fun to watch and clear in HD. It is still a gimmick in my book, and I can only watch so much of it before I get annoyed. Bottom line, 3D on this tv looks good (dimmer, but still clear and nice) but I bought this for its 2D picture… 3D is nice to have though, and I'm looking forward to trying out a 3D Blu-ray sometime soon..

  SMART TV: Like the 3D feature this is nice. But not necessary in my book. I still use a computer for Internet features and YouTube videos, not my TV. That being said, I think the layout of this Internet connectivity is nice and smooth. Not as smooth as a computer or iPad but it works well enough. And it has built in wifi, so I had to try it out. I was impressed, and I have occasionally gone back to this for sports scores or a YouTube video once in awhile. Samsung has done better than I would have guessed with this "Smart TV" thing…I imagine some people, not myself really, will get a lot of use out of this..

  NEGATIVES: okay, so this not perfect. There are a couple things I will point out that people will surely notice. First is the reflective screen. I notice it even in my window-less downstairs room when lights are on and the scene on TV is dark… This TV is meant to be viewed in a darkened room with minimal light. Second, if you've read up on plasmas then you've heard about "buzzing". Apparently, Samsung has had buzzing issues before. I tried to notice this right away but couldn't. Then during a quiet scene of a movie, I sat dead center in front of this tv and happened to turn my head away from the screen and heard it. Now, to be clear, this is not a loud "buzzing" sound and I'm not even complaining about it, but if you are dead center in front of the TV in a quiet scene and you turn your head (directing your ear towards the screen) AND you listen for it, you can hear an ever-so-faint "ticking" sound. I can't imagine many people would complain but I know some will… And lastly, again if you've read up on this model, you may hear about the anti-glare screen coating peeling away on the top corners. I have to say, that my two top corners are just BARELY peeling (or not completely sticking) at the tips.. It was like this when I got it and it doesn't even reach the actual picture or affect it in any way, so again I'm not complaining and I'm not messing with it. But if it happens to get any worse I would certainly be calling Samsung on this known issue. As it is now, it doesn't hinder my high opinion of this TV and is only noticeable if you get real close and look.

  OVERALL: I got this for a big, bold, picture and solid design and I'm not disappointed in the least. Blu-rays are unreal! Sports look better than I could have imagined. And 3D and SMART TV features are a nice occasional option. And despite those couple flaws which do NOT directly bother me at all, this is near perfection. 9.5 out of 10 from me.

• 

  Review by : jhensen

  
  

  It's hard to still be amazed after spending almost $3000 on a TV, but this television still has me just as impressed with it as much the first time I fired it up. I had been on the verge of buying a new 3D since Dec. 2010, almost snagging a Samsung UN46C7000 from Amazon for a sweet price the day before Chirstmas… Fortunately, I waited. I did as much research I could do through forums and local electronic stores, but it is impossible to get a true sense of a TV's capabilities without running your own content on them, so I really took a chance on Sony's flagship to deliver more than the competition and enough to justify the price tag. My first experience with the TV, after the general start-up settings of course, was throwing on the Legend of the Guardians 3D blu-ray. This is not only the best 3D experience I have had so far, but the single greatest movie experience I have ever had. Although the film itself has it's flaws, the level of detail and the fluidity of the 3D motion was breathtaking! It is the movie I show my buddies to show off what my TV and 3D itself is truly capable of. I have seen first generation Samsung 3D TV's in relative's houses and noticed a good deal of ghosting, something that I did not see the current generation fixing either, but this is virtually nonexistent on the Hx929. Blooming is an issue many have been having with Sony LED's for some time now, but I have not personally experienced this even though I watch it from off angles frequently. Another concern that has been put to rest was the response delay when playing video games. Gran Turismo 5, Crisis 2, and Killzone 3 all looked absolutely stunning, and no noticable delay or blurring even outside of "Game Mode." I spent a couple hours fidling with with display settings that other owners and CNET have posted, but have found that I enjoy the preset settings "Standard" and "Vivid" the most. As far as pure picture quality goes, this is leaps and bounds better than my 2 year old Samsung plasma it replaced, and still offers more clarity and deeper blacks than the rest of the 2011 LED lineup. I have not used any of the internet browser or "widgets," but my PS3 can run most, if not all, that the TV can offer with an easier to navigate XMB. I can't vouch for the TV's built-in sound either, but I assume that they are underwhelming like most TV speakers these days. Anyone investing this much money into their home theater should pick up a decent sound bar at least. I have a Pioneer VSX-1020-K receiver with Sony front, side, and rear speakers (These are an incredible value!), and the whole package makes me miss my room whenever I am at the movie theater. Overall, if you are looking for the absolute best in HD/3D picture quality and are less concerned about the price at checkout, this is the best manufacturers have to offer. If you are looking for a good picture at a bargain price, the Samsung UND7000 or 8000 are probably more suitable. For myself, I was already going to spend about $2000 on a new TV, spending a few hundred more for the best available made more sense and I am happy that I did.