Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I remember back in the 1980's, Sony TVs were the thing to get. Those Trinitron CRT sets just seemed to have a brighter, crisper picture than anyone else out there. They suffered a little bit in the last few years as their competitors closed the gap of price and quality. This new series of 4K TVs may be just the thing Sony needs to remind everyone that they're still one of the best out there. I had a couple things on my list: 4K, 3D, a decent-looking design, a set that wouldn't be obsolete in a year, and a set that was relatively affordable. Here's how the set did. 4K: The first time I walked into a Best Buy and saw a TV with a 4K picture, my jaw dropped. Seeing 4K for the first time reminded me of the time I saw 1080i for the first time in a Tokyo airport. The picture improvement is that much clearer and crisper. Sure enough, the 4K rendering on this set is terrific--color fidelity is spot-on and the picture is bright. Of course, 4K is really only good for early adopters and technophiles right now, as there isn't much 4K content out there and likely won't be for years. Cable companies aren't going to support it until there's a critical mass (heck, most are still broadcasting at 720p). The only other ways outside of the TV to get 4K content is through a PC (you'll need an upgraded video card) or a media server, which will cost extra. That said, I was able to connect directly to NetFlix through the TV. There's a handful of 4K programs available, which as of this writing includes movies like Ghostbusters, Philadelphia, and Smurfs 2; TV shows like Breaking Bad and House of Cards; and a couple of mediocre nature films. I loaded up House of Cards and I was blown away; it was surreal, more like watching a home movie of Kevin Spacey than a TV show. As a bonus, I started up the YouTube app on the TV, and tried playing a few 4K videos. They were also beautiful and exceptionally sharp on a 50Mbps Internet connection. 3D: It looks like companies have all but given up trying to market 3D to a mass consumer audience, but I appreciate Sony continuing to support 3D for the niche that continues to be enthusiastic about it. I'm one of those; I bought a 3D camcorder from Sony and I actually have guests to my house asking me to show them my vacation videos :P I also have a PS3 which plays 3D Blu-Rays, and not surprisingly, the picture is fantastic. I know in last year's model there were rumors that Sony deliberately cut down the resolution in each eye for the 55" set. I don't know if that's still the case with this set, but the picture was very clear regardless. This set does support passive 3D, something I wanted because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of charging batteries, wearing bulky glasses, or dealing with the 'darker' picture that comes with active 3D. Surprisingly, the 3D quality was still excellent. I popped "How to Train Your Dragon" into the PS3 and the colors were vibrant, the textures detailed and crisp, and the 3D depth just like in the theater. Design: One thing I absolutely hated about last year's passive 3D/4K set was that they put these butt-ugly "Dumbo ears" speakers on the sides of their set. Happily, this year they got rid of it and replaced it with a simple, sleek black border. While it's a 53" set, it fits perfectly on my entertainment console which is about 50-51" end-to-end. The screen is a glossy sheen which is almost mirror-like, so if you have bright lighting in the house near where you sit you'll want to turn it off. A set that wouldn't be obsolete in a year: One thing I liked is that once I connected the set to the Internet, it asked me if I wanted to do a software update. That's one way of ensuring that the TV is going to be kept up-to-date. I do like that HDMI 2.0 is supported out of the box. And of course, 8K is not coming out anytime soon :) A set that was relatively affordable: This is the second-generation of 4K sets, and Sony is being pretty aggressive with the pricing; the 55" set retails for $3000, but street price seems to be around $2300 as of this writing, only a few weeks after launch. Considering that the equivalent first-generation set retailed for $5000, the drop in price is definitely more precipitous than typical. Yes, in a year you'll probably be seeing sub-$2000 street prices, but I decided to jump now. It's no secret that Sony has been losing money and market share in its TVs for years, so expect them to continue to be very aggressive in their pricing. While the photos all show the stand on the far left and right of the unit, you can also install the stand so that they're closer to the middle of the unit (just to the left and right of the LED in the center). This might be a better option if, say, you'll be placing it on a cabinet that's less than 48" wide. The unit comes with two remotes, a more traditional remote with a ton of buttons and a smaller remote with a trackpad. It also comes with two passive 3D glasses (the ones from the movie theater will work too), and an "IR blaster" that you can use to control other devices with your remote (I have mine set up to control my TiVo). It has 4 HDMI connectors. USB ports will let you attach things like a PS3 controller (for Playstation Now, coming in the Fall) or a keyboard. There's also an MHL connector that will let you mirror photos and videos on smartphones, projectors, and other devices that support it (Nokia, Samsung, Silicon Image, Sony, and Toshiba). The one thing I did NOT like about this set was how convoluted their on-screen display was. Using the trackpad remote was not intuitive at all, and this is exacerbated by really poor software design where it's impossible to navigate from screen to screen without getting completely lost. I think the UX people at Sony must have made the poor decision to steal ideas from Microsoft. That aside, this was a purchase I was completely satisfied with. As another reviewer said, the brightness and color richness of the display rival a plasma set and the 4K is just stunning.