Our Verdict
If you are a gamer, this is the TV for you. With its unique backlight strobing mode and very low input lag, it is a solid choice for video games. It also has very good picture quality for other uses, but if playing video games is not your primary purpose for this TV, you will be happier with either the Samsung H6350 or the Samsung H7150, depending on your budget.
- Very good for gaming. It has one of the lowest input lag times that we measured in 2014, as well as a special Impulse mode which reduces motion blur without increasing input lag.
- Great picture quality in dark and bright environments.
- Limited viewing angle. The colors change when you are not sitting directly in front of the TV.
- Poor 3D capabilities. It has some crosstalk issues.
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We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests are done with specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
The Sony W800B LED TV has a beautiful design. The frame around the screen is very thin. The top half of the TV is thin, but the bottom half is thicker.
The stand is a curved stainless steel rod, which is very sturdy and has a low profile. The TV comes with brackets to hang it on the wall, so you don't need to buy an additional wall mount (unless you want one that swivels).
The blacks are great on this TV. It performs very well when you have the lights turned off in your room. The colors are good, and were easy to calibrate.
The backlight uniformity is good, but there are some clouding spots at the bottom the screen (which can barely be seen).
The uniformity of a gray screen is not that bad for an edge-lit LED, but there are still some darker spots, especially on the edges. You don't really notice it, though, when watching normal content.
As expected with an LED TV with such great contrast, the colors change when viewed at an angle. They lose saturation and become whiter.
It also performs well in a bright room and can get bright, but some TVs like the Samsung H7150 can get a bit brighter. Unless you have a veranda, though, the Sony W800B can get bright enough.
The amount of motion blur is average-good. It also features a backlight strobbing mode, which reduces the amount of blur significantly (more details and picture below in the Q&A).
When in game mode, the Sony W800B has the lowest input lag that we currently have measured so far. This is really one of the best gaming TVs we have ever tested.
Unfortunately, the smart TV features are not very good. They do the job, but they are slow. Check out our review of Sony's 2014 Smart TV platform.
