Gadgetory

hi I'm David Katz Meyer Stein your editor from CNET and next to me is sony's 60-inch kdl 60w 850 B this is Sony sort of mid range TV for 2014 it's a 60-inch LCD there's also a 70 inch size in the series one of the first things you'll notice about this TV is its strange design from the side Sony calls it a wedge-shaped design so the TV kind of tapers toward the top and the screen angles back a little bit the whole effect is a lot thicker than most LED based LCDs out there but on the flip side sony says you get better sound we did test the sound quality in this TV and while it does sound better than some of those LCDs out there it's really not spectacular and a dedicated sound bar I'll get you a lot better sound moving on to the design this TV's seen from the front is relatively normal the only real difference is this little feat here on either side this is a new design thing that a lot of TV manufacturers are doing this year it improves the stability of the TV Sony allows you to actually take these feet off and move them toward the middle if you want a more traditional look or you don't have a wide enough piece of furniture to accommodate this TVs width aside from that the TV's design is relatively basic with a nice thin frame around the edge of the screen and a pretty much matte black finish Sony's feature set is pretty extensive on this TV it includes a smart TV suite that has all the apps you'd expect although I didn't find them a little bit more difficult to find for example Netflix is kind of hidden in the bottom along with Amazon Sony's content on the other hand is pushed right to the front so as soon as you click on the smart TV suite you're asked to choose from among some Sony videos from their online video on-demand service as well as music from Sony and other services I'd like to see a little more easy access to those apps like Netflix and Amazon that people use a little more frequently finding those additional apps is also a little bit difficult because there's this massive firehose of apps that are not really categorized that well and there's hundreds to choose from of course once you do find it you can add it to Sony's favorite app screen another feature on this TV is 3d compatibility Sony does throw in two pairs of 3d glasses it's the active variety we did find the 3d on this set was a little bit disappointing we're asking Sony what the problem was we noticed there was some artifacts there that we don't normally see on 3d perhaps the company will push out a fix but in the meantime don't buy this TV for its 3ds capability picture quality on the 850 B is very good it has nice deep black levels not quite as deep as some of the better TVs we've seen it's contrast is also a little bit less because you achieving those deep blacks the TV actually tends to mute highlights a little bit so you have slightly less contrast color is very accurate although again there's a little bit of an orange tint to the red but really not enough to make a huge deal thanks Fitz Matt screened the TV is excellent in a bright room and it does mute those reflections very well which is really important on a TV this large connectivity is ample on the Sony with four HDMI to USB a component video input and a standard video input you also get an IR blaster included with this TV that will control your cable box if you want to take advantage of that functionality the TV includes a standard remote but Sony does have the option to add a 50-dollar touchpad clicker if you want to get around the menus a little bit faster so in some aside from 3d this TVs picture quality is very good it is a little bit more expensive than some of the 16 inch TVs out there but if you're in this range and you like the design it's definitely worth a look that's a quick peek at Sony's KD lw8 50 D series I'm David Katz Meyer from Cena