Sony Bravia ZX1 (KDL-40ZX1) review

Because of the wireless system, the Freeview tuner and inputs are all built into the wireless transmitter, which acts as a media receiver. You get three HDMI inputs, component video in, a place to plug the aerial in and a single Scart socket. For old equipment, there's also a composite video in, with stereo RCA jacks. Optical digital out means you can connect your TV to an AV receiver to get the best out of Dolby Surround.

Funny colour
Another problem we noticed with the KDL-40ZX1 is that its colour reproduction never seems to be quite right. Use the 'vivid' mode and everything looks ridiculous -- the brightness is dialled right up and it's like looking into the sun. Switch to 'standard' and everything is still too bright, with the backlight overpowering the TV. Most images seem to have a yellowish hue to them.

With the 'cinema' and 'custom' modes, we felt that the overall colour and tone was more accurate, but skin seemed to be slightly on the yellow side. The fact is that, although we did somehow get a good-looking picture eventually, it was never especially accurate. If you like very vivid colours --and many people do-- you'll enjoy the vivid mode. If you prefer more natural-looking pictures, this set is going to frustrate you.

Motionflow and film smoothing
As always, the Motionflow and film-smoothing features will either appeal to you or leave you cold. Both will adjust the appearance of film to the point where it looks smooth and judder-free like video. People who don't like the look of film will want these features turned on. Purists will want them turned off, but, because the colour reproduction of this TV isn't especially accurate, we doubt many video enthusiasts will give this TV a second look.

Detail and black levels
As much as we hate the KDL-40ZX1's colour reproduction, we couldn't help but be impressed by the amount of detail in images. Our Blu-ray movies and other high-definition test footage all looked excellent. Black levels were also respectable. Night-time scenes were impressive too, with black in the right places and plenty of detail in dark areas.

We weren't totally happy though, because there's quite substantial backlight bleeding at the four corners of the LCD screen. This isn't especially visible when watching TV, but it will have an effect on the overall evenness of the picture. In normal light, it's unlikely to pose a problem, but, in darkened rooms, expect to notice it.

Conclusion
The Sony Bravia KDL-40ZX1 passes the footballer test with aplomb -- it's very expensive and technically deficient but aesthetically pleasing. As such, it will probably be seen in designer homes across the country before too long. It's not, however, a device for videophiles. We don't rate the picture quality for the most part and the wireless functionality just doesn't work well enough to justify the extra expense. The Panasonic Viera TX-P46Z1 is much better in every way, even though it, too, is somewhat lacking in terms of overall picture quality.

Edited by Charles Kloet