When comparing Sony X940E 75" (XBR75X940E) vs Sony X720E 49" (KD49X720E), the Slant community recommends Sony X720E 49" (KD49X720E) for most people. In the question“What are the best TVs?” Sony X720E 49" (KD49X720E) is ranked 13th while Sony X940E 75" (XBR75X940E) is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Sony X720E 49" (KD49X720E) is:
The Sony X720E makes an excellent computer monitor because it can smoothly display sharp and crisp images since the TV has full 4:4:4 color support, short input lag, and well-handled motion blur. The full 4:4:4 color support allows the X720E to process non-compressed, computer-generated video inputs. Therefore, the TV can display sharp and crisp images, without any detail loss. This is especially noticeable while working with text and other vector graphics. Additionally, the TV’s input lag of 19.7 ms ensures that it takes less than 20 ms for a TV to display an image change after you press a button. Such delay is almost unnoticeable to a human's eye.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Perfect TV for movies and HDR content
The X940E's performance can be considered on par with the OLEDs in this price range. It has everything necessary for true HDR: high native contrast (4941:1, can go up to 11634:1 with local dimming enabled), wide color gamut, great black levels and uniformity. Beyond all that, its panel is one of the best in the market — even in a bright room, this TV can still really shine because of how bright it can get.
Pro Local dimming is excellent
Local dimming is the TV's ability to dim areas of the screen for deeper black levels and better contrast — they are separated into different dimming zones, where each zone can be individually dimmed as needed. The local dimming on the X940E is the best in LED TVs of 2017 — it is capable of doubling the contrast ratios from 4941:1 to 11634:1. The only other LED TV with this capability is the VIZIO P65-E1, but its contrast with local dimming enabled is lower than the X940E's (at ~9.3k:1).
Pro Interface is ads-free
The user interface of modern smart TVs can include some advertisements similar to those on the internet or in a mobile app. The X940E does not include any, and it also has a feature for limiting ads in third-party applications.
Pro Dark scenes looks great
The X940E can handle dark scenes very well thanks to its high native contrast levels, which clocks in at 4941:1 native, and it can go up to 11634:1 with local dimming enabled. This, along with excellent black levels and uniformity, gives the TV the ability to achieve great representations of dark scenes beyond most expectations.
Pro Excellent black levels and uniformity
The black levels of a TV affects the viewer’s perception of other colors next to it. If the black levels are not deep enough and doesn’t remain uniform across the screen, the overall picture quality will look “flat” without much depth. The X940E handles this extremely well with one of the lowest deviation (<0.6%) ever in a non-OLED panel. This is measured across the entire screen from what a pure black screen should be, giving it significant gains in its native contrast levels thereby increasing the picture quality by a ton.
Pro Excellent performance in bright environments
The X940E has a practical peak brightness of ~1,100nits for both SDR and HDR content — this is by far the second brightest ever in a VA panel, only bested by the X930E. It can sustain this level of brightness when playing content and it will not have any issues with fighting light in bright environments thanks to its virtually reflection-less panel.
Pro Great ecosystem of third-party apps
The X940E runs on Android TV — normal Android apps from the Google Play Store (or other app stores) will work on it.
Pro Does not suffer from image retention
Unlike the OLED panels in this price range, the X940E has a VA panel and thus it does not suffer from image retention issues.
Pro Great for dark rooms
The X940E shines in dark environments — it is great at reproducing dark scenes, making it suitable for enjoying media in a cinema-like setting. It performs extremely well in movies with many black highlights/scenes where this is immediately noticeable even to undiscerning viewers (e.g. Interstellar).
Pro Virtually no reflections
The X940E's panel has a glossy finish, unlike the X930E which has a semi-gloss finish. This, along with its ability to get very bright, means that this TV is excellent at handling reflections — even in a bright room, the picture quality will remain more or less the same.
Pro Great color reproduction
The color gamut of a TV refers to the range of colors the display can reproduce — the wider the color gamut, the more colors it can display, and the better the overall picture quality will be. This is extremely important for HDR content because it requires a much wider color gamut than SDR content. The X940E has no issues with accurately reproducing the colors necessary for true HDR because its color gamut is one of the widest and only bested by some OLEDs.
Pro Exceptional picture quality
The X940E is the best LED TV of 2017, outperforming its competitors in nearly every aspect. Its picture quality is top-notch for any kind of content and it can handle all sorts of use cases really well.
Pro Makes an excellent computer monitor
The Sony X720E makes an excellent computer monitor because it can smoothly display sharp and crisp images since the TV has full 4:4:4 color support, short input lag, and well-handled motion blur.
The full 4:4:4 color support allows the X720E to process non-compressed, computer-generated video inputs. Therefore, the TV can display sharp and crisp images, without any detail loss. This is especially noticeable while working with text and other vector graphics.
Additionally, the TV’s input lag of 19.7 ms ensures that it takes less than 20 ms for a TV to display an image change after you press a button. Such delay is almost unnoticeable to a human's eye.
Pro Excellent for console gaming
The combination of handled motion blur and low input lag makes this 4K60 TV a great companion to the latest generation consoles, like the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U. Additionally, the TV’s full HDR support allows you to fully experience HDR-enhanced games such as World of Tanks, FIFA 18, etc.
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.
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 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. Therefore, you can conveniently use this TV as a computer monitor and sit as close as 2.2 feet away from it.
Pro Ads-free main interface
The main interface of the smart OS does not feature advertisements or sponsored content.
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 Nintendo or 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 Excellent for upscaling
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 viewing angles
The IPS panel of the Sony X720E gives you an extra bit of flexibility when it comes to finding a good viewing spot as its maximum viewing angle is 41 degrees; a double of what the competitors with VA panels can offer.
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 more than what its direct competitors, including The VIZIO M-series and Samsung MU6300 offer. Furthermore, as the X720E diffuses up to 97.6% of ambient light, it does not suffer from reflections.
Pro Excellent for watching sports
The Sony X720E has all the bits and pieces needed to deliver the excellent experience of watching sports and other fast-paced content. The TV has good control over its motion blur, excellent color uniformity, and wide viewing angle.
The X720E needs only 7.5 ms for its pixels to change their color; as a result, fast-moving objects don’t leave long trails on the screen, meaning that the motion blur effect is almost negligible.
Good color uniformity is another parameter that really makes a difference when watching sports. It allows the TV to display beautiful and uniform sports fields and pitches, without any unwanted artifacts. The maximum color deviation of this TV is below 2.5%, which means that the TV can sustain stable and uniform colors throughout its screen. The X720E has the best color uniformity in its range.
Cons
Con Poor viewing angles
The picture quality on the X940E suffers from some degradation when viewing from an angle, as typical of a VA panel. The colors shift with even just a little deviation in the viewing angle, and the blacks become less apparent with it turning grey-ish.
Con Lacks support for Dolby Vision
The X940E can currently only play HDR10 content. It does not support Dolby Vision.
Con Dark scenes look shallow
Due to the really low native contrast ratio of 907:1, dark scenes look washed out if the TV is placed in a dark environment.
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. The OS is unintuitive and confusing to use.
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, peaking at the sound pressure level of 100 dB, the quality of sound is very weak, especially when it comes to bass. The speakers sound unclear and muddy.
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 Not suitable for competitive gaming
While this TV has noticeably smaller input lag than the overwhelming majority of TVs on the market, it still can not compete with rapid TN monitors when it comes to fast and competitive computer gaming.
Con Can’t fight judder in 60 Hz signal
The Sony X720E can't handle judder in 24p content sourced from the 60p/60i devices, like a cable or satellite box, or Apple TV. Such content contains so-called '2:3 judder' which means that the frame distribution among the timeline is inconsistent.
Con Lacks Dolby Vision support
When it comes to HDR content, the X720E cannot display Dolby Vision-compliant media as it is only limited to HDR10 content.
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.