HDTV Reviews

The Sony KDL-40XBR2 LCD is loaded with features, including 1080p-pixel resolution, and enjoys solid video quality, but that’s not really the point. Its main appeal is style: It brings back the company’s floating-glass look and ups the ante further by allowing you to replace the silver bezel around the screen with other colors.

The Sony KDL-40XBR2 is also a lot wider than a 40-inch LCD needs to be, owing to its side-mounted speakers and overall over-bezeling. Including the stand, the set measures 43.8 wide by 28.3 high by 12.8 deep and weighs 77 pounds. Of course you can also ditch the stand and, instead, wall-mount the panel; Sony’s official kit for that purpose is the SU-W51, although the right non-official kit may do the trick.

We expected very good things from the Sony KDL-40XBR2’s picture quality at this price point, and for the most part we were satisfied. It delivered some of the deepest black levels we’ve seen yet in an LCD, fine color performance and yes, all of the detail that 1080p promises, albeit on a screen a bit too small to really do 1080p justice. Low points included its ability to handle standard-def and a bit of elusive false contouring, but overall the KDL-40XBR2 is one of the best-performing flat-panel LCDs we’ve seen yet.

Sure the high-end Sony KDL-40XBR2 offers a commendable picture with more tweaks than you’ll ever use, but let’s face it: Style is this LCD’s main weapon.