Sony KDL-40VL130 HDTV: input lag / upscaling /deinterlacing review using piLagTesterPRO
This 1080P TV dates back to 2007, with 2 component inputs + 2 HDMI, along with other inputs less useful for retro gamers. It's not a smart TV but it sure is cheap on the used market.
Image quality
Native resolution is 1080p. It's bright, sharp, and colorful. It has no black crush, no croping and no aliasing. 720p is also close to pixel perfect, with no cropping or aliasing, though I think pixels might not be exactly square.
You can set 480p/i to be stretched to wide screen or maintain aspect ratio. Either way there's some cropping, about 10 pixels on each side. The up-scaling is bury, but uniform with no aliasing errors.
Input lag measured with a PiLagTesterPro
This TV has a game mode, and I used it exclusively for these tests, which were all over HDMI. I used a piLagTesterPRO to measure input lag. This device sends a frame of video over HDMI and measures how long it takes to display it. For each resolution I report two values, the first being the earliest point any change is detected at the top of the screen. This overly optimistic value doesn't tell you how long it takes to see anything useful, but matches what other reviewers use. I also report a more realistic measure of lag: when the display has reached 80% of full brightness at the bottom of the screen. This combines both input lag and response time, and is closer to what you would actually experience in a game.
To summarize, the TV's input lag is 23 ms, and full brightness response time adds 9.5ms. Deinterlacing adds 18ms. Upscaling (or downscaling) does not appear to change the lag. Even by current standards this TV is decent for progressive content. For interlaced content the lag is measurable, but at the trade-off of looking very good.
Without the remote
This has decently usable controls without the remote.
Other similar models
I would expect that the 46LV130 would perform about the same as the 40VL130 , based on the model numbers, and a quick skim of the specs (both are native 1080p displays). But I only tested the 40VL130. A forum post said this was a costco only model number, and is the same as the 40V3000, but I don't think this is true: the input back panel looks different. Based on the back panel it might be a KDL-40V2500 though. It appears to have retailed for between $2000 and $2500.
Image quality
Native resolution is 1080p. It's bright, sharp, and colorful. It has no black crush, no croping and no aliasing. 720p is also close to pixel perfect, with no cropping or aliasing, though I think pixels might not be exactly square.
You can set 480p/i to be stretched to wide screen or maintain aspect ratio. Either way there's some cropping, about 10 pixels on each side. The up-scaling is bury, but uniform with no aliasing errors.
Input lag measured with a PiLagTesterPro
This TV has a game mode, and I used it exclusively for these tests, which were all over HDMI. I used a piLagTesterPRO to measure input lag. This device sends a frame of video over HDMI and measures how long it takes to display it. For each resolution I report two values, the first being the earliest point any change is detected at the top of the screen. This overly optimistic value doesn't tell you how long it takes to see anything useful, but matches what other reviewers use. I also report a more realistic measure of lag: when the display has reached 80% of full brightness at the bottom of the screen. This combines both input lag and response time, and is closer to what you would actually experience in a game.
| Input Lag and response time | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Optimistic lag (top, 5% bright) |
Realistic lag (bottom, 80% bright) |
|
| 480i | 41.3 ms | 66.3 ms | |
| 480p | 23.5 ms | 49.3 ms | |
| 720p | 22.8 ms | 47.3 ms | |
| 1080p | 23.2 ms | 47.3 ms | |
To summarize, the TV's input lag is 23 ms, and full brightness response time adds 9.5ms. Deinterlacing adds 18ms. Upscaling (or downscaling) does not appear to change the lag. Even by current standards this TV is decent for progressive content. For interlaced content the lag is measurable, but at the trade-off of looking very good.
Without the remote
This has decently usable controls without the remote.
Other similar models
I would expect that the 46LV130 would perform about the same as the 40VL130 , based on the model numbers, and a quick skim of the specs (both are native 1080p displays). But I only tested the 40VL130. A forum post said this was a costco only model number, and is the same as the 40V3000, but I don't think this is true: the input back panel looks different. Based on the back panel it might be a KDL-40V2500 though. It appears to have retailed for between $2000 and $2500.
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