The Sony Bravia KDL-46VE5 is one of the TVs in Sony's "eco series" line-up, but don't count on a construction of wood and moss, powered by zero-carbon hydrogen cells. No, besides a modest power consumption, the 46VE5 doesn't do much to save the earth except turn itself off when it detects an empty room. It's a neat trick, but we're more concerned with performance.

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)
The Sony KDL-46VE5 offers excellent contrast ratio. Of course, it doesn't live up to the bloated 100,000:1 figure that Sony touts on the packaging, but those numbers should never be trusted. In our own lab testing, we found a ratio of 3621:1, which is a great score. The TV also produced rich, deep blacks.

Beyond these stats, however, the KDL-46VE5 was a merely adequate performer. Color tests showed a that the TV had trouble with smooth color gradations. In particular, it lost the ability to reproduce detail in bright blue colors (like daytime skies). The issue of motion was also questionable. While things moving across the screen were decently smooth, there was a lot of artifacting. The 46VE5 has a host of special processing features, but none of them could make all the problems disappear. It's far from the worst TV we've seen before, but you can do better in this price range.

One more word on performance: the viewing angle is bad. This is not unusual for LCD TVs, but it doesn't make it any more enjoyable.

Comparisons (Read the full comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)
The Sony KDL-46VE5, as a 46-inch LCD TV, has a lot competition. We pulled out three models in particular. The Samsung UN46B6000 is an LED-backlit LCD TV. It offers slightly better performance, according to our lab testing, and includes a LAN port for internet connectivity.

The Vizio SV471XVT tended not to perform as well, though it renders motion more smoothly and with less artifacting. The Vizio is also cheaper than the Sony KDL-46VE5.

Finally, the Sony KDL-46Z5100 is a higher-end model from the same manufacturer. It's significantly more expensive, but justified that, in part, by performing more strongly in most tests. It has more advanced processing and includes a LAN port for internet connection. You get what you pay for by stepping up to the 46Z5100.

Conclusion
The Sony KDL-46VE5 is a decent television, but don't be fooled by the eco-friendly marketing. It uses marginally less power than the other TVs in this comparison block, and the energy saving features are nothing special. The performance of the 46VE5 is adequate, and most people wouldn't complain about the picture quality unless they're quite critical (like us). But there are better choices out there, including some of the comparisons discussed in this review.