Sony Bravia KDL-55W954

The Sony Bravia KDL-55W954 has the best screen-mirroring implementation among its peers, though its performance could have been better.

Sony's latest flagship full-HD LED TV, the KDL-55W954, features a new Sense-of-Quartz design and the company's Triluminos Display technology. The user menu and smart TV system have also received a facelift, while a One Touch Mirroring function has been introduced to simplify sharing content with mobile devices.

However, we have mixed impressions of its picture quality. Although this 55-inches is a strong performer in the 2D department, its 3D capability is somewhat lacking. Here's what you can expect from the W954.

Design

The W954 sports a new Sense-of-Quartz design, which Sony describes as a frame less bezel with a "diamond cut" finish. The latter actually refers to a unique turquoise accent as illustrated below. Completing the look is a matching LED illumination projected below the Sony logo and an arc-shaped stand in contrasting silver hue.

Sony KDL-55W954

The Quartz edge with a unique turquoise accent.

Like the Samsung F8000, Sony has provided a cover to conceal the unsightly cables on the back. However, the difference is you can still access the side A/V inputs and TV controls after installing the cover.

At 34g, the latest Sony active shutter 3D glasses are reasonably lightweight and stylish-looking. They fit well over prescription glasses and sport soft nose pads providing adequate support and comfort. The foldable arms are also quite flexible and do not apply excessive force on the sides of the head.

Sony KDL-55W954

These 3D glasses are comfortable, though it is a hassle to replace the battery.

On the bridge of the frame, you'll find a power button, which doubles as a status LED, in addition to a battery compartment. To replace the non-rechargeable cell, there is a hole to insert the tip of a pen to release the battery tray.

Design and layout

Panel depth 14 to 50mm

Bezel width 20mm

Finishing Glossy screen; back-plastic bezel

TV controls Rear-left: Push buttons

Auxiliary A/V inputs Left side: 3 x USB; 2 x HDMI; earphone

Mounting option Swivel stand; wall bracket

Standard accessories for this Bravia include a standard clicker and a special One Touch remote. The clicker has a stain-resistant matte surface and plenty of shortcut buttons for the important functions. The keys have a nice rubbery texture and give good tactile feedback, but we would have preferred if its flat bottom was more rounded for better ergonomics.

Sony KDL-55W954

The standard remote is on the left and the One Touch remote is on the right.

On the other hand, the One Touch remote is a very compact contraption with a NFC logo underneath it. Placing a NFC device close to the logo will activate the unit's one-touch mirroring feature. This remote also comes with basic TV controls, such as volume adjustment and a D-pad.

Standard remote One Touch remote

Form factor Rectangular; flat bottom; 200mm-long Rectangular; flat bottom; 160mm-long

Finishing Plastic; matte- and piano-blackc Plastic; matte- and piano-black

Backlight N.A. N.A.

Number of keys 50 16

Input-selection keys Input, Analog/Digital TV N.A.

For this year, Sony has rolled out a new graphical user menu, which is superimposed over TV programs unlike its predecessor. It still offers a huge selection of 10 scene modes that can be independently configured for each video source.

Take note that only half of these scene modes are available for broadcasts and screen mirroring. Meanwhile, selected scene modes also provide additional options. E.g. Cinema scene mode will allow you to choose between Movie 1 and Movie 2 picture modes.

Another nice touch is the onscreen manual called i-Manual, which somewhat mitigates the omission of a color management system.

Software menu

User interface Graphics-based; colored

Video modes Auto; auto (24p Sync); General; Cinema; Sports; Music; Animation; Photo; Game; Graphics

Audio modes Standard; Cinema; Sports; Music; Game; Compressed Audio

Key advanced settings White balance; gamma

Notable extras i-Manual; history; favorite TV channel

Features

To produce richer hues, this LED-edgelit TV features a new Triluminos Display technology, which replaces LEDs with quantum dots as a light source. Refer to this article for more details. You can also expect smoother images with Sony's Motionflow XR800Hz engine based on a fast 200Hz refresh rate, as well as deeper blacks thanks to local dimming support.

Sony KDL-55W954

An updated user interface for the 2013 Sony Entertainment Network.

Two tweeters and dual woofers, coupled with a bass-reflex enclosure, are used to enhance the TV's sound quality. It appears that Sony has also quietly added a DTS surround sound decoder to the W974 on top of a Dolby Digital version. This means that this Bravia can play all soundtracks encoded in DVDs and Blu-ray movie discs retailing in the market.

With the latest DVB-T2 TV tuner, this Bravia is ready for the next-generation free-to-air digital broadcasts.

A/V and multimedia

Video Active 3D; PVA panel; LED-edgelit; 200Hz refresh rate; local dimming

Audio 10W x 2; S-Force Front Surround 3D; Dolby Digital; DTS

Multimedia MP3; WAV; WMA; LPCM; JPEG; MPO; RAW; MPEG-1/2/4; RMVB; H.264; VC-1; AVCHD; Xvid; WMV; MKV triple USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fii

TV tuner Analog; digital (DVB-T2)

Miscellaneous 2D-to-3D conversion; DLNA

By adopting the Miracast open standard, the W954's screen-mirroring function is compatible with more devices compared with Samsung's smart TVs. Using the special One Touch remote embedded with a NFC chip, Sony has managed to simplify and automate the screen-mirroring procedure. However, One Touch Mirroring will only work with a Sony Xperia Z at the moment.

Sony KDL-55W954

Sony's screen-mirroring function is based on the Miracast open standard.

The Sony Entertainment Network smart TV system has also received a facelift, offering a more straightforward user interface. There are more downloadable apps from the Opera TV Store as well, though the selection hardly matches the offerings from LG and Samsung in terms of quantity and quality. Meanwhile, advanced control option is also limited to free remote apps.

Smart TV and Skype

Apps Downloadable apps from Opera TV Store

Web browser HTML5 compatible

Control option(s) Remote apps (Android and iOS)

Skype Via optional camera

Nevertheless, the W954 has one of the best connectivity suites among the high-end TVs. These include four HDMI with Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) function and three USB ports. Legacy A/V devices are adequately supported with separate composite- and component-video sockets, but those with older PCs are out of luck. That's because this model lacks a dedicated PC input.

Network capability-wise, both Ethernet and Wi-Fi are available for accessing the Web and DLNA media streaming.

Connectivity

HDMI input(s) Four sockets; version 1.4; MHL

Component-video input(s) One socket; 1080p-ready

PC input N.A.

Audio output(s) Digital optical

Miscellaneous Ethernet; Wi-Fi; Miracast; NFC

Performance

TV broadcasts

This Bravia performed amazingly well in this segment. Most of the analog TV stations we tuned into appeared sharp and clean with minimal ghosting. Moreover, the news ticker of a local news channel was also rendered smoothly. By setting the Display Area option to "-1", we managed to reduce image cropping well within tolerance.

DVDs

With higher-quality sources such as DVDs, onscreen visuals were clearer and marginally sharper. Most panning scenes were handled well without visible video-processing artifacts. Additionally, overscan was dropped to just one percent, while running HQV benchmarks revealed an effective onboard noise reduction function.

Blu-ray Discs

Thankfully, playing 1080p Blu-ray movies delivered stunning details coupled with a nice film look, unlike the Samsung F8000 with over-sharpened pictures.

3D

The W954 retained most of the traits observed during 2D Blu-ray playback, coupled with strong depth when rendering native 3D content. The Sony active shutter glasses hardly flickered in rooms with ambient lighting, making them comfortable for viewing 3D with the lights on. These glasses have very wide-viewing angles and are not as sensitive to head movements unlike their predecessors.

Color accuracy

Despite lacking a color management system, we were able to calibrate our test unit satisfactorily to achieve accurate primary and secondary hues. This also ensured an overall warm tonality and lifelike skin tones comparable with commercial theaters. Adding to this strong showing were the revealing shadows, though the W954's black-level was still a bit lighter than the Samsung F8000's.

Audio

 We did not have to crank up the volume for the speakers to play soundtracks loudly in our lab. The stereo imaging was decent, too, though the surround sound engine was not particularly effective.

Miscellaneous

The W954 sports a glossy screen, which exhibited strong brightness uniformity and is relatively reflective. A light color shift was noticeable when viewing the display from the sides, but this is common for a PVA panel. With an average power consumption of 62W based on our calibration settings, this Bravia is less energy efficient than other 55-inch LED TVs we reviewed recently.

Conclusion

The 2D performance of the Sony Bravia KDL-55W954 is commendable, especially with its sharp visuals and highly realistic hues. There is, however, room for improvement for 3D as a result of some crosstalk and judder. To realize the wider color gamut of Triluminos technology, you will need content generated from compatible digital cameras and camcorders, too.