A catchy name KDL26S2010 but the fact it carries the Sony brand is enough for many punters, but is it actually any good and does it warrant the typical Sony uplift in price for having those 4 letters on the front. Sony have ensured that the 26S2010 is HD ready and so therefore is a future proofed as possible amongst today's offerings, even though we don't currently have a HD source we wanted to ensure that our investment was secure in the coming years.

The 26" screen is from the top drawer of Sony's stable and boasts a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels which is about the top end of the current crop of HD ready LCD screens with the higher 1920 x 1080 restricted to very few displays which are very expensive. What matters is that the Sony Bravia screen can handle all resolutions from standard definition PAL through to 720p and 1080i HD formats.

Before we get onto the performance of the Sony Bravia LCD, lets look at the design and size of the unit. Measuring 516 x 658 x 94mm the KDL-26S2010 is not a large unit and it is not one for impressing the neighbours by sheer size, however it is also not going to have you pinned against the wall of your flat in order to obtain the right viewing distance. While your uninformed punter hunts for a 46" plasma the smart buyer with an average to small sized room should opt for no larger than a 32" screen and this 26" is an ideal size. The supplied stand holds the screen solidly and there is even a strap to connect it to a wall or other fixing should be of the nervous position regarding it getting knocked accidentally. The Vesa mount will also allow for it to be wall mounted but this requires an optional wall fixing kit.

The spec sheet cries out quality whether is be the 1300:1 contrast ratio or the 8 millisecond response time or perhaps the 178 degree viewing angle, all of these factors combine to make the Bravia engine do it's stuff. Your choice of input varies from the onboard analogue and DTT Freeview tuners both of which auto tune and appear to be high quality components, to the 3 x composite video, 2 x component, RGB (VGA) and HDMI connectors.

One of the key tests of the technology we review is ease of use, so with the instructions firmly tucked away in the packing we plugged up a single RF feed and the power cable and pushed the power button that lives with a small collection of controls on the upper edge of the screen. The Sony LCD screen jumped into life and began a 2 stage set-up, first a scan of the available Freeview channels followed by a scan of the analogue frequencies which of course only finds 5 channels but takes as long as the digital scan.

Finally our first pictures as the screen selects the Freeview or digital input and switches to BBC One, the image is bright, colourful and very very vivid, blacks are jet black and as a first impression it looks good. Start to work your way through different channels and even though these are compressed standard definition images from Freeview they do look good about as good as we've seen a received Freeview image. The audio seemed very bright and tinny or trashy which wasn't at all to our tastes, so this set us off through the easy to use menu system to see what can be changed.

Being a Sony even though there are defaults and auto settings almost all of them can be changed or disabled and this was going to come in handy as further tests of both audio and video proved that the KDL-26S2010U could do much better with a bit of TLC. Firstly the audio, switch off the standard defaults and head for custom, ditch the pseudo surround sound options and set the bass , treble, balance to a more sensible level, we found the bass needed more help but it was possible at achieve a better sound from the 20watt stereo speakers below the screen. More careful study of the image quality showed some unusual artefacts as if something was working too hard and some slight ghosting on motion. If you delve into the picture set-up and then into the advance option you get to see some of the inner settings that can be modified. Here you'll find MPEG noise reduction, which should be set to low and also controls over the backlight all of which seem to have been set to make the unit as bright as possible. A good rule of thumb is to switch off most of the extras and start working your way back, we found that most of the advanced filters need to be set to low and the majority of the controls in their mid position. It is also best to let the auto light sensor control the backlight which will help ensure the light output is correct for the ambient light.

With these settings the picture quality is more subtle and motion is better represented without so much motion blurring, in fact the video quality obtainable is very good, it remains a mystery why both the audio and video standard settings are so poor. All the extra features that LCD screens have sprouted are also present including picture in picture, full EPG listings and even programme reminders.

The menu system is simple yet classy in a way that only Sony really seem to pull off, each main menu is accessed via the menu button on the rather sparse and plasticy remote control, each sub menu has most of the options with the real tweaks hidden in advanced menus.

No review of this Sony screen and be complete without a mention of HD, while the spec says it supports both the 720p and 1080i standards only the 720p is presented natively the 1080i signal is scaled down as the maximum resolution supported (1366 x 768) does not reach the 1920 x 1080 required by the higher standard. 720P looks great and the progressive scan is arguably better for motion while the interlaced 1080i is better for images like those on the Nat Geo channel. At present Sky are transmitting both and will continue to do so for some time, the images look stunning on the 26" Sony LCD and they really coax the best out of the Bravia engine, if you thought SD signals looked good then HD makes the Sony shine. Of course it's not just Sky that have HD there is also a new Xbox 360 or a High Def DVD player in fact a whole myriad of HD sources that this Sony is only too ready to work with. Having seen a few HD ready screens the Sony is in our opinion one of the best with only Panasonic coming close to this level of video quality, like most areas of consumer electronics there are cheapo sets around that may look good if they are the only high definition source you have seen. Beware of rushing headlong into any old HD LCD panel, check the spec and then check that it can work with a range of inputs, remember that a Sky HD box only outputs HDMI for true HD resolution.

Retailing for between £620 and £750 depending on the outlet the Sony KDL-26S2010 is a fine example of what a good LCD screen is capable of, all you have to do is ditch the standard default settings and give it your choice of SD or HD signal, sit back and enjoy.

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Published - 28/08/2006

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