Sony's newest addition to its Bravia LCD TVs, the W-series, is the second 2007 range to wear the full-HD badge. Possibly the Japanese company's answer to the latest barrage of affordable 1080p entries, they offer the same ultra-high pixel resolution but lack the sleek fashion styling of the premium X-series. A tradeoff between aesthetics and affordability, these new Bravias should appeal to budget-conscious videophiles taking their first plunge into the HD world of Blu-rays and HD-DVDs. With HD televised content also increasingly available from regional Digital Video Broadcast and IPTV service providers, the new W-series may just be Sony's ticket to bringing full HD to the mainstream crowd.

Pros

It's near impossible to ignore the similarities in panels between the Bravia W- and X-series, at least in terms of the technical specs. Both are future-proofed with a 1,920 x 1,080-pixel LCD panel, meaning they can resolve minute details captured on Hi-Def without as much as breaking a sweat. The W-series TVs also rank among the top LCD models in terms of dynamic contrast, losing out only by a fraction to the X-series at 16,000:1. Add to that a competent 500cd/m2 brightness, fast 8ms response time and wide 178-degree viewing and the KLV-46W300A certainly looks better than the entry-level panel we had earlier expected.

Sony has outfitted this model with the EX flavor of its latest Bravia Engine, which is the second to its top-of-the-line video-enhancement processor. It's compatible with 1080p input signals and handles everything from noise reduction to color optimization. Furthermore, there is a Digital Reality Creation function which upscales standard-definition material by quadrupling the number of pixels. This promises sharper pictures, critical for ultra-high-resolution panels which tend to deliver softer visuals when paired with lower-quality video sources.

To complement the above image processor, there are three HDMI sockets with extensive 1080p signals compliancy available onboard. Besides the reduced cable clutter and digitized A/V interface (for HDMI-enabled video cameras and laptops), the picture quality will also receive a boost with 24P True Cinema technology. In layman's perspective, this is commonly known as 1080p24 which literally means the ability to accept content encoded in native film-centric frame rates. This does away with unnecessary video conversion and is theoretically capable of delivering judder-free onscreen pictures.

Cons

Sony has always been renowned for its fine design but this is nowhere evident in the W-series' unassuming facade. A quick poll among the team here garnered feedback ranging from photo frame-like to boxy and old school, hardly anything close to the accolades won by its VAIO and Cyber-shot products. That said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what works for you, may not appeal to us. Onto something more tangible, the set comes with a fixed pedestal stand so placement may be a tad less forgiving if you have made a mistake or changed your mind.

Bottomline

The key driver behind the popularity of the new Bravia W-series will probably hinge on its yet-to-be-finalized pricing. If positioned reasonably, most users should be willing to overlook its minor flaws in design and appreciate its premium feature set. We suspect, however, that as with most Sony products, the KLV-46W300A will still be priced higher than the competition.