KDL-70R550A vs KDL-70R520A; KDL-60R550A vs KDL-60R520A (Sony R550A vs R520A)

The R550A has the passive 3D system and it includes 4 polarized 3D glasses. On the other hand, the R520A lacks any 3D capabilities. While this is possibly the biggest differentiation between the two series, there are also certain variations in terms of the picture quality:

• The entire R520A range utilizes VA (Vertical Alignment) type of panels, which manifests itself in the better black levels in comparison to the 50-Inch class device from the R550A series, which employs an IPS type of panel. That said, the 60- and the 70-Inch class models from the R550A series also use VA-type of panels, so their black level response is very good. Both series resort to frame dimming in order to improve the contrast between bright and dark sections of the image, but as the name of the aforementioned technique suggests, the entire frame is dimmed, as opposed to only the dark portions of it, thus some shadow details might be lost.
• The native refresh rate is 120Hz on both series, in addition to either of them having a MotionFlow XR index of 240. The LED Motion mode is present on both, and its purpose is to improve the clarity of motion by the means of backlight blinking, or more precisely: frame blinking, in case of the R550A and the R520A. There is a trade-off, however: when engaged, the image might get dimmer, and some flickering might occur (but it also depends to how susceptible you're to noticing it).
• The Smart TV functionality is identical on both, so you can use various applications and the web browser with either of them. Each has 4 HDMI and 2 USB ports. There is also a built-in Wi-FI and an Ethernet port on the R550A, as well as on the R520A.

The R550A is available in the 70-Inch KDL-70R550A, the 60-Inch KDL-60R550A, and the 50-Inch KDL-50R550A class.
The R520A comes in the 70-Inch KDL-70R520A and the 60-Inch KDL-60R520A class.