Sony KDL-32EX720 3D TV Review

Sony have launched quite a few 3D games and movies from the end of last year. But one has been restricted to playing these games or movies in 2D due to the lack of a 3D TV. A gamer, hardcore or casual, would definitely want the most from these discs but the cost factor is limiting while considering these televisions for purchase. Over the past year, Sony has launched 3D discs, 3D Blu-ray players as well as 3D TVs but somehow this trifecta has not been able to merge together to a great extent because of the price and size of the last product.

Light enough to be carried

Sony has launched the KDL-32EX720 3D television which is one of the first 3D TVs with a 32-inch display. This TV has features like full HD 1080p resolution, simulated 3D, Sony Bravia Internet Video capabilities and various other features. Read on to know if this TV fares better than other 3D TVs available in the market.

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Design and Build Quality
Sony’s KDL range of televisions are extremely slim and just like the recently reviewed KDL-46EX720, this 32-incher has a very slim depth too. The bezel of the KDL-32EX720 has a glossy black finish and the top and sides like the 42-inch model, measures at an inch. The bottom part of the bezel measures at 2-inches which is similar to the 46-inch model. 

Two USB ports and an HDMI port

The bottom panel of the bezel features Sony’s branding in the centre and a sensor for the remote control. Sony has kept the design stylish and minimal for this 32-inch 3D TV. The volume, channel and menu controls are located at the right side of this TV and the buttons can be accessed easily due to the small size of this TV.  Input and output connections are located at the side and at the back. To the right there are two USB 2.0 ports along with an HDMI port, a PC-in (VGA) and a 3.5mm audio jack. Convenience is the key here while using this TV as USB drives can be easily attached for plug and play options.

Connections at the back include three HDMI ports, composite, component and an Ethernet port. The layout of all the controls are well spaced out even though the size of this TV is just 32-inches. Another good part about the layout is that it does not look cluttered given the amount of connections found here. The remote control of this television is the RM-ED044 which is one of the new remotes to come with Sony televisions. The design change is refreshing as it is concave on the face where the buttons are located and flat on the rear. The face of the remote control features most of the buttons which are well spaced out. The buttons are predominantly black with a few coloured buttons. The rear too like the face has an on/off button and all the buttons are built well. Rounding up the design and build quality of this television, the KDL-32EX720 is a very stylish television and is built well, feeling very sturdy.

Slim side profile

Features
3D televisions with smart TV capabilities are slowly becoming a common sight these days with most manufacturers launching them. However, most of these HDTVs come in sizes of 40-inches or larger. Sony have done really well to fill these numerous features in a 32-inch TV. 3D TVs face their limitations when it comes to outputing 3D content because one would have to have a 3D player along with 3D discs. Sony, though not the only brand in the market to do this, have enabled a 3D simulation feature in this TV where 2D content can be rendered in 3D. This is pretty neat as it then reduces the need to own a 3D player.

Sony uses an X-Reality Picture Engine on this HDTV as opposed to the previously used Bravia Engine where each scene is analyzed and a suitable colour and contrast is produced. This feature is activated out of the box and it enhances the output of the images portrayed on the screen to an extent. Sony uses their Motionflow XR 200 technology to make pictures look smoother and clearer. This is however not just marketing jargon and has helped in reducing the Soap Opera Effect and increasing the motion resolution from 100Hz to 200Hz making it look more natural than enhanced.
Features Continued
The backlighting used on the Sony KDL-32EX720 is of the Edge-LED variety. This is a relatively new form of backlighting that is fitted in televisions that are extremely thin. A refreshing change is the interface used on this HDTV. Sony have mostly stuck to their XMB (X-Cross Media Bar) interface for the last couple of years but with this HDTV, Sony have used a different interface. On the bottom of the screen lies the dock which is loaded with widgets. The option selected is to the extreme right of the screen at the bottom and the sub menus line up on the right of the screen leaving the left of the screen as a preview pane. 

The new interface

The Bravia Internet Video is another interesting feature of this television where there are loads of widgets which one can browse through. Internet videos such as YouTube, BlipTV, eHow, etc. are all available through this smart TV’s features. There are preinstalled widgets for social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Apart from these features, this TV can also read FAT32 drives. Overall, the features of this HDTV are really good and we faced no issues whatsoever.

Performance
To test the performance of this television we hooked it up to a notebook to run the DisplayMate test. While running this test we noticed that Greys were accurate out of the box and tweaking of the brightness and contrast was not necessary.  While checking the contrast level there was a slight green tinge noticed. There was no glare or reflections noticed and the backlighting of this HDTV was really good. Basic colours are accurate with the exception of Green and Red where they appears a bit more vibrant than they should. There was no bleeding noticed in the colour intensity scales test.

No bleeding in colours

We tested the Sony KDL-32EX720 by using our test movie ‘The Last Samurai’. Playback was very smooth and this is due to Sony’s Motionflow XR 200 technology. There was some amount of image noise noticed while watching the movie which we didn’t like a lot. Video playback through the USB was much better as there was no noise noticed whatsoever. The volume of this television is decent and at quarter of the volume it was quite audible. The remote control was accurate and there were no issues noticed with it at all.

Minimalistic and stylish

Verdict
The price of the Sony KDL-32EX720 3D TV in India is Rs. 57,900. This is pretty steep for a 32-inch television. But saying this is comparing it with LCD or LED only televisions without Internet capabilities, not 3D TVs. This HDTV offers way more in terms of features and style as compared to most 32-inch TVs available in the market. This television is designed for an audience who has a limited amount of space but want all the latest features packed in a smaller TV. If one has no problem in spending close to 60k for a 32-inch 3D TV, this would be a worthwhile purchase.