Performance
I slipped in my calibration DVD and turned on the KLV-46X350A, but to my horror the picture looked absolutely flat and lifeless. I knew there was something wrong, and I dug into the menu system, which by the way is well-arranged and simple. The problem was in the video tools, there was something called ‘target’, which had to be set to the HDMI input I was using. Strange.
Once that was done, things were superb. The contrast and brightness were quite spectacular, and the picture looked very alive and pulsating, once I calibrated it. Blacks were there, though I did have a problem getting blacker than black in the calibration pattern.
I then started playing GTA 4 in full HD mode (ahem!) and I quite forgot I was supposed to review the TV. The picture was crisp and detailed; there were no real instances of dot crawl, and very little aliasing problems (moiré patterns). Quantizing issue were negligible (jaggie lines etc) but visible.
Moving on to color, I really don’t have anything to criticize. It was almost perfect. I really like the color, which was a big part of the reason why the images look so natural. One issue, however, was clouding, or varying black levels in dark planar parts. It’s there in many TVs; I guess one can’t do much about it.
Conclusion
The KLV-46X350A is a good-looking TV, with lots of features, tweaks and gimmicks for the power user. It's ideal for any kind of viewer: gamer, film enthusiast, whatever. It costs a lot, at Rs 2,49,990, but then it’s a premium flagship product from a respectable brand. I'd have loved it if it cost about 20-30K less; that would have made it a killer product. But it still is, actually.


