When comparing Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E) vs Sony X900E 55" (XBR55X900E), the Slant community recommends Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E) for most people. In the question“What are the best TVs?” Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E) is ranked 9th while Sony X900E 55" (XBR55X900E) is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Sony X720E 43" (KD43X720E) is:
The Sony X720E makes an excellent computer monitor because of the TV’s short input lag, full 4:4:4 color support, and well-handled motion blur. The TV has enough processing power to keep its input lag and response time to a bare minimum. Its input lag is 19.7 ms, which ensures that it takes less than 1/50th of a second for the X720E to process an input signal generated by, let's say, a click of a button and display a corresponding image change. Furthermore, the X720E is a very responsive TV. It takes only 7.5 ms for its pixels to switch 80% to the next color; As a result, fast-moving objects don’t leave long trails on a screen which almost cancels out all the motion blur effects. The full 4:4:4 color support allows the X720E to process native computer-generated video input. As a result, the TV can display sharp and crisp image, without any detail loss. This is especially noticeable while viewing vector graphics such as text.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Makes an excellent computer monitor
The Sony X720E makes an excellent computer monitor because of the TV’s short input lag, full 4:4:4 color support, and well-handled motion blur.
The TV has enough processing power to keep its input lag and response time to a bare minimum. Its input lag is 19.7 ms, which ensures that it takes less than 1/50th of a second for the X720E to process an input signal generated by, let's say, a click of a button and display a corresponding image change. Furthermore, the X720E is a very responsive TV. It takes only 7.5 ms for its pixels to switch 80% to the next color; As a result, fast-moving objects don’t leave long trails on a screen which almost cancels out all the motion blur effects.
The full 4:4:4 color support allows the X720E to process native computer-generated video input. As a result, the TV can display sharp and crisp image, without any detail loss. This is especially noticeable while viewing vector graphics such as text.
Pro Excellent viewing angles
The X720E has excellent viewing angles because of its IPS panel, which gives you greater freedom than VA panels when it comes to finding a good viewing spot. In fact, you will only notice a minor color shift if your viewing angle is greater than 41 degrees.
Pro The stand does not take up too much space
The 43-inch model of Sony X720E does not take up too much space on a work desk as the TV comes with a compact, 9.4-inch by 21.9-inch stand. In comparison, the TCL S405 takes up almost 30% more table space.
Pro Suitable for viewing up-front
The reasonably small panel size of 43-inch means you can still be comfortable looking at the screen up close. You can conveniently use this TV as a computer monitor and sit as close as 2.2 feet away from it.
Pro No problems with image retention
Unlike the majority of OLED panels, this LED TV does not suffer from image retention problems. You can leave the TV on for long periods without having to worry about pixel damage.
Pro Well-rounded inputs
Regarding connectivity, this TV is has everything you'd currently want. It has three HDCP 2.2 compliant HDMI 2.0 ports, digital and analog audio output ports, and an Ethernet port. Additionally, as the TV has a composite input interface, you can enjoy playing your retro consoles, such as the Nintendo and Sega without having to go through the hassle of signal conversion. HDMI, USB, and analog coaxial ports are situated on the side of the TV so you won’t have any problem accessing them even if it’s mounted on a wall.
Pro Ads-free main interface
The main interface of the smart OS does not feature advertisements or sponsored content.
Pro Excellent for upscaling content
This TV does a fantastic job when it comes to upscaling low-resolution content. In a nutshell, it can upscale 480p, 720p, and 1080p content to 4K resolution while preserving details and sharp edges. Great for those with a collection of old DVDs or Blu-ray disks.
Pro Excellent for console gaming
The Sony X720E is a great companion to latest gen consoles, like the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U because of its 4K60 support, low input lag, and motion blur candling capabilities.
Furthermore, the TV’s full HDR support allows you to fully experience HDR-enhanced games such as World of Tanks, FIFA 18, etc.
Pro Great for bright rooms
The combination of reasonably high peak brightness and semi-gloss screen finish allows this TV to deal with reflections and glare efficiently. Its 340 nits of brightness are almost double than what its direct competitor, the TCL S405, offers. Furthermore, the X720E diffuses up to 97.6% of ambient light; thus the TV does not suffer from reflections.
Pro Excellent for watching sports
The Sony X900E is an excellent companion for watching sports because of its admirable image quality, decent motion representation, and good color uniformity.
Aided by a highly sensitive panel, the Sony X900E handles its motion blur well as the TV needs only around a 100th of a second for its pixels to switch their color entirely. As a result, moving objects leave just a tiny trail on the screen. The X900E’s pixel response time outperforms every competitor in its price range.
The TV can also display beautiful and uniform colors, which allows it to reproduce sports pitches correctly. In fact, the Sony X900E is among the best in its range concerning color uniformity.
Pro Handles reflections well
The Sony X900E is an excellent option for those who need a TV for a bright room since its panel does an outstanding job of handling reflections thanks to the semi-gloss screen finish, which can diffuse around 98.8% of the incoming light.
Pro Excellent for HDR media
The Sony X900E has everything needed for displaying high-quality HDR content. First, the X900E supports wide color gamut which is essential for a decent HDR experience as it allows the TV to reproduce deep and vibrant colors. Second, in HDR mode, the Sony X900E can sustain up to 525 nits of brightness, which enables it to fight glare and display vivid colors even in bright environments. In its range, the Sony X900E is the most luminous TV.
Pro Excellent for 60p and 24p signals
The Sony X900E is an excellent TV for those who use cable/satellite boxes, DVD/Blu-ray players, and Apple TV because it can detect and eliminate the ‘2:3’ judder effect. This effect is usually caused by 24p content being transmitted using the 60 Hz signal.
Pro Ads-free UI
The main interface of the Sony X900E does not have advertising.
Pro Large app selection
The Sony X900E runs the Android smart TV platform, which has the widest app selection among all current smart TV platforms. All of the applications are available via the Google Play Store.
Pro Compatible with all current-generation consoles
This 4K120 TV is entirely compatible with all of the current generation gaming consoles, including the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U. Additionally, it’s highly unlikely that within the next couple of years any gaming console will break the 120 Hz barrier; so it is expected that this TV will remain compatible even with the next generation consoles.
Pro Suitable for gaming
The Sony X900E is also suitable for gaming because of the TV’s low input lag. While in ‘Game Mode’, the TV’s input lag remains at 34.2 ms allowing for relatively fast-paced gameplay.
Pro Excellent picture quality
The Sony X900E has the best picture quality in its range as the TV manages to balance high contrast ratio, marvelous SDR and HDR brightness, decent color uniformity, acceptable black uniformity, and good color accuracy.
The TV does an outstanding job with dark scenes as its contrast ratio of 5411:1 is perfectly balanced with its decent black uniformity, allowing the X900E to display deep and immersive dark scenes.
As for bright scenes, the TV’s peak luminosity is 509 nits, which is more than enough for making colorful scenes look really luminous, even if the TV is in a bright room.
Cons
Con Built-in speakers don’t sound right
The X720E comes with an integrated 20W 2.0 stereo speaker system. While it can get pretty loud (around 100 dB), the quality of sound is very weak, especially when it comes to bass. The speakers sound unclear and muddy.
Con Non-intuitive smart OS
Unlike other Sony TVs, the X720E has a custom, Linux based operating system which runs the Opera TV application store. OS is unintuitive and confusing to use.
Con Requires an external power brick
Both the 43-inch and 49-inch models of the Sony X720E have large and bulky external power bricks. Bulky PSUs can be a hassle to deal with especially if you’re mounting your TV on a wall.
Con Not suitable for competitive gaming
While the TV's input lag of 19.7 ms is noticeably smaller than the overwhelming majority of TVs on the market, it still can not compete with rapid TN gaming monitors when it comes to fast and competitive gaming. The input lag of such panels can go all the way down to 3 ms.
Con Dark scenes look shallow
Because of the really low native contrast ratio of 907:1, dark scenes look washed out if the TV is placed in a dark environment.
Con Not compatible with Dolby Vision
When it comes to HDR content, the X720E cannot display Dolby Vision-compliant content as it is only limited to HDR10 content. Even though HDR10 has more available content, multiple services require Dolby Vision for HDR playback.
Con Can’t unleash full potential of HDR content
Even though this TV does support HDR10 media, the low HDR peak brightness, poor native contrast, lack of local dimming, and lack of wide color gamut severely limit the quality of HDR playback. Even some lower tier TVs will produce higher quality HDR images.
Con Horrible sound quality
The sound quality of the Sony X900E is a total mismatch to the TV’s excellent picture quality. Additionally, the TV is unable to get really loud as it caps off at 90 dB.
Con Minor image retention problems
If you leave an image on the screen for an extended period, you might notice some minor ghosting effect which will disappear within a couple of minutes. This is a very unusual thing for a VA LED TV.
Con Narrow viewing angle
Like most VA panel TVs, the Sony X900E suffers from massive image degradation due to the viewing angle. The maximum viewing angle of this TV is only 17 degrees.