Base width: 40"
Base depth: 20" (This includes a small projection or foot that sticks out in the center--perhaps to prevent tipping towards the rear)
Bottom of Base to Bottom of Picture: 11"
Overhang of Screen on Either Side: 12"
Total Main Unit Width: 40" (Base Width) 2 X 12" (Overhang)=64" (measured 63 1/2" directly).

My stand is an IKEA 21" high. I wish it were about 4" shorter.

LuckieDog

Thanks for the dimensions.

I'm trying to see if I can tuck a subwoofer under the overhang. What would the distance from the bottom of the foot to the bottom of the overhang. My subwoofer is about 20" tall, but I don't want to get the TV too high if I can help it.

Thanks,

Jim

Any chance of seeing some pics of your new 60"?

Originally posted by faceoff
Bobby,

Like computers, you will always be able to get the same technology cheaper if you wait. Like computers, you have to deccide when you want to jump in. Bottom line, I got one from Sears, SIGHT UNSEEN, based on comments here, and the fact that we needed a 42" set. Bottom line, even though these sets are brand-apanking new, you can get the from a B&M store on sale. SHop around - the other place where you can save money is on the Service Plan (Which I would not be without). Figure that in as prat of what you are going to pay, and then start shopping.


David, good point... i'm pretty much set on getting this TV, so maybe now is a good time. I've done some shopping around and the TV doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere. I mean, some stores like BestBuy and Circuit City are offering $100 gift cards, but I'm seeing the TV for just around $3000 on all their websites (for the 50"). Are you able to bargain this down?

You mentioned I could save money on the service plan. How? I thought it was a set price at these places?

Originally posted by faceoff
Bobby, that is our viewing distance, and the size is fine. BUT, to us, this is more a TV (although an expensive one) than a Home Theatre, as I have a 65" Toshiba in my family room. I truely think that if I were going with the same viewing distance in a living room or family room, that I would go with the 50". The bigger set will give you a more immersive, home theatre experience. Having said all that, you might want to go to a store, and look at an SD feed on these TV's side-by-side. Some people have said that the 42" is sharper (and from what little I know about the actually, I believe that it should be). Let your eyes be the judge as to how much difference YOU notice, and if it's noticible enough to detract from the viewing experiance that you would get with the better set. There is one thing to remember, whichever set you get, you're not going to have the other one at home to compare it to, so if you bite on the 50" because you like it, you'll should get it home and enjoy it, not keep thinking "the 42" was sharper".


David, thanks for the advice. I was really thinkign of the 42", but now that you put it that way, the 50" is back into consideration. This TV is really the only TV at my house -- except for a 10year old 27" Hitachi. So this one will get all the watching, everything from DVD, SD and xbox. I guess I'll have to go to these stores and ask them to play an SD feed. Do they normally have that? Another question, is there any tweaking I should do at the store to the settings to ensure I'm geting a realistic impression of what it will perform like at home?

Originally posted by faceoff
Right now, all I have is digital cable. From the 8" range the channels <100, which are analog are VERY acceptible, I even think that it's better than the 27" JVC that it replaced. The real digital channels are even better. I should have my HD box and DVD player this week, and am looking forward to them being EVEN BETTER.

I didn't see a location listed, what area are you in, and who's your cable provider?


My cable provider is Comcast, and I like in Redmond, WA (just outside of Seattle). So your 42" is great on SD, but imagine going 8" larger with 1' farther viewing distance.. hmmmm... i guess I"m off to the store again.

LukieDog....Thanks alot for the measurements! I have yet to see an actual set. How do you compare the PQ to the 42' or 50"? Any screen door effect from 10' or so? What's your viewing distance. What stand are you using/

Sorry about all the questions but so few here actual have received delivery.

Originally posted by bobby_t1
David, good point... i'm pretty much set on getting this TV, so maybe now is a good time. I've done some shopping around and the TV doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere. I mean, some stores like BestBuy and Circuit City are offering $100 gift cards, but I'm seeing the TV for just around $3000 on all their websites (for the 50"). Are you able to bargain this down?

No, I wanted the set, ordered it at Sears, and while I was waiting for it, they had a 10% off sale, so that was a nice bonus. There are no Goodguys here, but there maybe out your way, if there are, check there also.


Originally posted by bobby_t1

You mentioned I could save money on the service plan. How? I thought it was a set price at these places?

It is, but the different places charge different amounts. Circuit City seems to be the highest. If you're gettin one, and I do highly recommend it, you have to figure that into cost.

If you go to place A and the TV is $30 and the Service plan is $10, your total cost is $40. If you go to place B and the TV is $31, but the Service Plan is only $5, even though you are paying more (in theory) for the TV, your total cost would be less.


Originally posted by bobby_t1

David, thanks for the advice. I was really thinkign of the 42", but now that you put it that way, the 50" is back into consideration. This TV is really the only TV at my house -- except for a 10year old 27" Hitachi. So this one will get all the watching, everything from DVD, SD and xbox. I guess I'll have to go to these stores and ask them to play an SD feed. Do they normally have that? Another question, is there any tweaking I should do at the store to the settings to ensure I'm geting a realistic impression of what it will perform like at home?

I ordered the set sight unseen. From what I've read here from people who have done the comparison, this set is one of the best, if not the best at SD.


Originally posted by bobby_t1

My cable provider is Comcast, and I like in Redmond, WA (just outside of Seattle). So your 42" is great on SD, but imagine going 8" larger with 1' farther viewing distance.. hmmmm... i guess I"m off to the store again.

If Comcast is your cableco, why are you looking at getting a dish? I've got Comcast and get ABC/NBC/PBS and FOX Digital feeds, as well as HBO and SHO in HD. Also get ESPN-HD and Comcast SportsNet in HD. Also, the 2 most recent channels added (at no additional cost) are INHD and INHD2 - for more info go to http://www.inhd.com . Check the HD Local area info here, I'm sure that there is info on what Comcast can offer you. If I remember correctly, they actually had a number of M's games in HD towards the end of the season.

Let us know what happens.

David

Thanks for the measurements. Using these real numbers, I've started looking more at stands.

Since Ikea's site shows $250+ to ship the Oppli to me, that one is out. So now the best fit appears to be the Bello 2050. Looking at the measurements, the OmniMount Cosmic VT-2 will be about 3/4" too shallow (19.25" deep). The only issue with the Bello is that it will be around 2.5" higher than the Sony stand (16" vs 18.5"). How significant will that be from 12-16'? Also, with the 60" GWIII, the base will fit but the screen will hang over around 6" on each side. Short of the Oppli and SU-GW3 (XBR & $1,000?), everything I've looked at will have some overhang of the screen on the sides. Has anyone else found a good stand for the GWIII's dimensions? I've been through all the stand threads several times. Custom isn't really an option, since I don't have the tools to do it. I'd really like to have a stand before I upgrade.

Thanks

Here is the stand I am going with for the 60" GWIII. Yeah, it's pricey, but it matches my decor perfectly. It's about 4" higher then I want, but it is plenty wide. The bottom shelves will line up perfectly with the overhang of 63", plus it's plenty deep on top. All of my audio components will fit too, 3 accross per shelf, eliminating the need for a seperate audio rack which is what I was aiming to do.

http://www.standsandmounts.com/product.asp?0=0&1=0&3=1103 (http://)

Sorry, here:

http://www.standsandmounts.com/product.asp?0=0&1=0&3=1103

I had my 60" gwII on a 24" tall stand. It was way too high for me. My eyes were level with the bottom border of the screen. I must also mention though that I sit 10 feet away which is very close compared to "avsforum" standards. :)
Yes, I like the real big screen look.
I ended up going with the sony stand because 1) got the sales guy to knock of 20% and 2) I could find nothing else at the proper height. I could have imported from the US but that would've cost a fortune because of the weight.

I'm back 16' from the screen, 21" stand height should be OK on the 60" , I would like a *wee* bit lower, but, what can you do?

Originally posted by faceoff
No, I wanted the set, ordered it at Sears, and while I was waiting for it, they had a 10% off sale, so that was a nice bonus. There are no Goodguys here, but there maybe out your way, if there are, check there also.


Yeah, i'll be doing some checking around. Good tip on checking out Good Guys, i always forget about them. I know that if I charge the TV on most in-store credit cards (by opening a new account), I'll get 10% off on top of any other deal the store gives me.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by faceoff
I ordered the set sight unseen. From what I've read here from people who have done the comparison, this set is one of the best, if not the best at SD.


Man, I could never buy something this pricey without seeing it. It's my fatal flaw, i need to research everything to death. What stand did you get?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by faceoff

If Comcast is your cableco, why are you looking at getting a dish? I've got Comcast and get ABC/NBC/PBS and FOX Digital feeds, as well as HBO and SHO in HD. Also get ESPN-HD and Comcast SportsNet in HD. Also, the 2 most recent channels added (at no additional cost) are INHD and INHD2 - for more info go to http://www.inhd.com . Check the HD Local area info here, I'm sure that there is info on what Comcast can offer you. If I remember correctly, they actually had a number of M's games in HD towards the end of the season.


Haven't fully decided on Satellite yet, and that might prove to be more hassle than it's worth. I was just considering it because it seems that Comcast is a big ripoff, but that's just my first impression at their pricing without researching too much on DirecTv pricing. Are you sayign that most people on the forum are going DirecTv because their local CableCo doesn't offer any High-def content?

One thing that DirecTv has going for it is that it has the DirecTivo which all have dualtuners. But I have 2 replayTv's right now with lifetime subscriptions, so I guess it really doens't matter. But the DirecTivo units are just a little slicker :P

If you do'nt mind, what is your pricing working out for comcast?

Originally posted by bobby_t1
Haven't fully decided on Satellite yet, and that might prove to be more hassle than it's worth. I was just considering it because it seems that Comcast is a big ripoff, but that's just my first impression at their pricing without researching too much on DirecTv pricing. Are you sayign that most people on the forum are going DirecTv because their local CableCo doesn't offer any High-def content?

One thing that DirecTv has going for it is that it has the DirecTivo which all have dualtuners. But I have 2 replayTv's right now with lifetime subscriptions, so I guess it really doens't matter. But the DirecTivo units are just a little slicker :P

If you do'nt mind, what is your pricing working out for comcast?

Basic/Standard (in some areas it's called Extended Basic) $42.30
Digital+ and all movie channels (HBO/SHO/TMC/MAX/STZ) $51.00
That includes all of the HD stations mentioned above.

So, the full Price is about $93+ tax. Your pricing and services will vary.

For more info, I suggest you check out the Seattle/Comcast thread at: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=253006

Originally posted by JimP
Or, get your creative juices flowing and figure out a way to modify your entertainment unit to accomodate the TV.

Can you post a jpg of your entertainment unit? Maybe we can help. Most of us love a challange.:D

Unfortunatley the whole thing is one of those various items in the bottom half (glass doors), drawers on the side, and TV on the top dealies. Not really too much room for modification.

Hi I'm new here and posted a 'new thread.' But then decided I should try a 'reply.' I'm looking for a larger TV and picked the GWIII after comparison shopping. It's nice to see that you all like the GWIII so much.

My question: How does it work with regular cable?

We have digital cable, but currently just use the analog version. We mainly watch cable TV and some DVDs.

Thanks for any information/opinions!

Picture quality vs. 42" and 50": Can't really say. I did see the 42" up against the 50" Pan, 50" Hit, 50" Sam DLP all fed with the same signal (HD at Circuit City) and it was obviously the best picture of the lot. They had a really good setup at the store. But smaller sets always seem to have a better picture. The brightness of the picture really stood out and the 60" is brighter than the old XBR, but hard to say how it compares against the 42". My advice is to get the largest picture you can relative to how far back you intend on sitting. I am at 11' and the 60" is fine. If you are going to be at 8' or so, I would go with the 50". Search this site and see how often people are disappointed because they got a set that was too big. Doesn't happen. By the way, there is alot of fuss here about how the DLP is better. Perhaps it is just personal preference, but I was totally unimpressed by the DLP compared to the Pan and Hit. No contest compared to the new Sony.

Screen Door: I have to thank this site for pointing this defect out, I never noticed it before, but there it is. I basically watch soccer on Dishnetwork and movies on DVDs. On the dish, it is apparent if you look for it, particularly when the camera is panning rapidly. Don't really see it most of the time and really haven't seen it on the DVDs. The panning I guess brings it out.

Stand: My stand is an IKEA "HUSAR." It is not shown on the website, but the store still has it. It is pine, two levels for components with the lower level a white drawer that you don't have to install. Unfortunately, the width is a weird metric dimension and you can only put two components with plenty of room to spare, but not enough for a third. The 21" height can be trimmed down at the legs. If you get this stand, go ahead and shave 3 or so inches off the legs before you put the whole mess together. I didn't and am not up to doing the mod at this point. This won't put you exactly straight on to the center while seated, but pretty close.

One thing I have picked up and is mentioned here elsewhere is the lack of detail in the black. If for example, someone wearing a black suit has his arms crossed, you can't make out any outlines of the arms, the area is just all black. Perhaps it can be adjusted and made better. Again, not really noticeable unless you look for it.

I may post pictures in a week or two, I don't have a digital camera.

LukieDog -

I'm eagerly waiting for delivery of my 60" GWIII. The GW1 stand is all put together, ready for it. A few questions:

1. Any stuck pixels on your 60" GWIII?
2. How would you rate the brightness sitting 11' back (theoretically, the 42" should be the brightest, then the 50" and the 60" should be a bit less bright due to it's size and the fact that they all use the same 100w lamp)?
3. Does the picture seem a bit less sharp than the smaller GWIIIs because the screen is larger than the 50" and 42" which all use the same pixel resolution?

Thanks.

I'm still within my exchange period on my Panny and was curious about the PC connection via DVI on the GWIII. Since the true resolutino of the display isn't 1280x720 as on the Panny, does it scale the image? This should be pretty obvious with small fonts, etc. Or can you actually run the PC at the native resolution of the display? (13xx x 768?)

Curious about those of you that may have tried to use Powerstrip to reduce overscan, etc. So far on my Panny, I'm just living with the overscan.

Sklug

Originally posted by kmil
DLiquid: Thanks for the help. I gather this would work for the 42 inch also? BTW, doesn't it just "tick" you off that you've gotta count TICKS instead of having NUMBERS come up like most other manufacturers like Samsung??? HELLO SONY.........Is anyone home? Are you Sony folks listening??? I have no idea how the settings would look on the 42".

Yeah, it's very dumb that Sony doesn't use numbers along with the tick bars in the menus. At least all of the bars have the same number of ticks.

I haven't looked for stuck pixels and probably won't. I did on the XBR and there were about 10 or so, but not visible from 4' out. There are none visible from my sitting location either on the XBR or the GWIII. CC will only replace if they are visible from 10'. I only have experience with the 2 GW I have owned and 3 or 4 I saw in stores and none had an objectionable pixel. I think the whole thing is overblown. If you get one with a pixel visible from 7' or so, exchange the set. I would assume that every set in production has a number of them, but almost all will not be objectionable.

There is a tendency among some people to focus on the defects. The fact is the GWIII, as well as the GWII and other comparables (Pan, Hit, Sam) all have extraordinary pictures. They may be slightly different in their own way, but remember the sets of just a few years back? The poor color, the annoying flicker? I was very pleased with the picture of the GWII and after two days of the GWIII I am even more pleased with the GWIII. The unit most definitely has an improved picture over the GWII. It is a great buy at a thousand less.

Compared to the XBR, the picture is brighter, despite having the exact same model replacement bulb.

I haven't looked for stuck pixels and probably won't. I did on the XBR and there were about 10 or so, but not visible from 4' out. There are none visible from my sitting location either on the XBR or the GWIII. CC will only replace if they are visible from 10'. I only have experience with the 2 GW I have owned and 3 or 4 I saw in stores and none had an objectionable pixel. I think the whole thing is overblown. If you get one with a pixel visible from 7' or so, exchange the set. I would assume that every set in production has a number of them, but almost all will not be objectionable.

There is a tendency among some people to focus on the defects. The fact is the GWIII, as well as the GWII and other comparables (Pan, Hit, Sam) all have extraordinary pictures. They may be slightly different in their own way, but remember the sets of just a few years back? The poor color, the annoying flicker? I was very pleased with the picture of the GWII and after two days of the GWIII I am even more pleased with the GWIII. The unit most definitely has an improved picture over the GWII. It is a great buy at a thousand less.

Compared to the XBR, the picture is brighter, despite having the exact same model replacement bulb.

My 60" Sony is due Saturday. I can hardly wait. Since I have a large wall that needs "furniture and warming" according to my wife, we have been out shopping for large entertainment centers as in 10' w x 7' H. Our deal was I get the TV I want and she gets the cabinet she wants. Never make this deal! Nothing will fit the width of the 60" so it will require being built. They cost from $5,000 to $7,000 or more (what a waste of money) and take 8-12 weeks. My wife is more concerned about the delivery time since she wants it done before the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas). Not going to happen, especially since I won't order a cabinet until I know I am keeping the TV. I believe the 50" would be a lot easier to find an existing and less expensive cabinet for (with a sooner delivery time) but I want more of a widescreen experience. So remember to read the fine print when your wife says "Go ahead Honey and get the TV you want and I'll just pick out the cabinet for it." It really means that whatever you spend on the TV, multiply that by 2 to get the cost of the cabinet.

Troy, have you considered going to a local Amish shop to have a cabinet custom built? It might save you some $, and the craftsmanship is superb.

I went to one that is local to the large city I live in (Columbus, Ohio) that uses Amish craftsmen but the pricing is comparable to everything else and they aren't very flexible. I suspect I would do better if I went out of town into the Amish area in NE Ohio but haven't had the time to do so. Thanks for the tip, I may be heading that way after I know the TV is a keeper.

Troy, in my experience, try going right to the craftsmen: avoid the furniture store and their markup.

Phil

Originally posted by Troy
I went to one that is local to the large city I live in (Columbus, Ohio) that uses Amish craftsmen but the pricing is comparable to everything else and they aren't very flexible. I suspect I would do better if I went out of town into the Amish area in NE Ohio but haven't had the time to do so. Thanks for the tip, I may be heading that way after I know the TV is a keeper.

Troy -

Just this past weekend we drove around the NE Ohio Amish area (Middlefield, etc.). Many years ago, I used to sell furniture in NE Ohio with many customers in this area.

We stopped in a number of "Amish" furniture stores. Simple, nicely crafted chairs, tables, and bookcases. Manufactured in Texas, California, etc!

There may be truely Amish woodworking shops ... we past one by on Route 528 south of Middlefield ... but this note is to let you know there's Amish and there's "Amish".

Originally posted by Troy
I went to one that is local to the large city I live in (Columbus, Ohio) that uses Amish craftsmen but the pricing is comparable to everything else and they aren't very flexible. I suspect I would do better if I went out of town into the Amish area in NE Ohio but haven't had the time to do so. Thanks for the tip, I may be heading that way after I know the TV is a keeper.

Troy -

Just this past weekend we drove around the NE Ohio Amish area (Middlefield, etc.). Many years ago, I used to sell furniture in NE Ohio with many customers in this area.

We stopped in a number of "Amish" furniture stores. Simple, nicely crafted chairs, tables, and bookcases. Manufactured in Texas, California, etc!

There may be truely Amish woodworking shops ... we passed one by on Route 528 south of Middlefield ... but this note is to let you know there's Amish and there's "Amish".

Hello all!

I am a new poster to AVS Forum. Long time lurker - there is a ton of information all over the web site!

Based on the information and observations in this forum, I took the plunge and bought the Sony 50" GWIII.

Why did I buy it? Everyone has their own requirements. For me, it was size, depth, price, and perceived quality. I had concerns about the Samsung DLP and its finickiness with programming sources (e.g. SD analog cable looking poorly).

That being said, I am enjoying my GWIII immensely. I do notice that absolute blacks (e.g. entire screen) are grey. However, when something is supposed to be black is displayed next to a different color object in a scene, it appears as inky black! The GWIII does a very good job of this.

Now, here is something very interesting I found out about my GWIII.

Closed captioning (aka. EIA-608/ Line 21 of the veritcal blank, used in broadcast TV and cable, VHS, and DVD) WORKS using the component input in 480i!

I was very, very surprised to find this out. I had always thought that the EIA-608 method of closed captioning only worked via the NTSC video paths - either composite input or S-Video.

When I signed up for HD programming with Comcast, they gave me a Motorola 5100 DCT STB. Using the information in the HDTV threads, I was able to get into the setup menu for the STB and set the 480 override to "480i". In other words, this means that any programming content that is detected as SD, the STB automatically switches the component output to 480i (or 480p, depending on the setting). When I did this with my GWIII, the closed captioning decoder in the TV started decoding the data!

Even more interesting - When I bought this TV at Circuit City, they threw in a free $100 surround-sound/DVD player made by AMW. Of course, I had never heard of it and did not expect much from it. Boy, this thing is loaded with bells and whistles. One of the interesting things about it is that it has a button on the remote to allow me to switch the component outputs on the DVD player to use either 480p or 480i. Using 480i, I can restore closed captioning functioning during playback of DVD's. This is very important because hearing impaired consumers will be able to see their captions again without having to switch to composite or S-video outputs on their DVD player. I am aware that 480p is technically better for motion, but it is no good when the captions cannot be seen. I think this ability in a DVD player is unusual as I think most DVD player's component outputs are always 480p.

Note, this does not apply to subtitles - subtitles are generated and overlaid on the video in the DVD player itself and sent as part of the video stream. In this case, 480p will still display the subtitles.

So, it was interesting watching SD analog cable using component output from the Motorola STB. I would not recommend it - it is too sharp and shows all the inherent flaws of an analog signal all too clearly, especially when they're magnified on a large TV screen.

One last thing I wanted to note for all the hearing impaired (or have family members who are hearing impaired) that the GWIII closed captoning is incredible! It is extremely sharp and reliable. I mention this because I have seen some TV's with a really poor closed captioning implementation.

However, the GWIII does not have a dedicated button the remote to enable/disable CC,. It must be done through the menus (not too complicated). There is no setting to change the appearance of closed captions (e.g. translucent background). When using the split screen mode (Picture on Picture or side-by-side) , closed captioning is still functional for BOTH displays. This means it is possible to watch two separate TV shows at the same time, both with captions being decoded by the TV itself. I find this amazing because this sort of detail is usuall overlooked by manufacturers.

As an aside - I should mention that the Motorola 5100 STB has far more options to control the closed captioning - e.g. background, font, font size, and colors. But, I generally find that the captions do not look as sharp as the GWIII's because the closed captions are embedded in the video stream and scaled by the TV which makes them somewhat blurred. It's better to have the TV overlay the closed caption itself - it looks the sharpest that way.

Ah, well - sorry my post is a bit long winded so I hope someone got some useful information from it.

-- Bill

Which Grand Wega is everyone purchasing these days? I'm a little confused as I spend most of my time in the Front PJ forum.

So which model is the Grand Wega III that everyone is buying? Is it the XBR verson that is about a grand more? or is it the WE model that compete in the same price bracket as the new Hitachi LCD RPTV and Panny LCD RPTV.....?

Forgive my lack of keeping up with the information, I just need a little clarification.

Thanks!

It's the WE. The new XBR is not available yet.

xbr800 or some other model number? (i'm guessing 910)

Well, my 42 inch GWIII finally arrived this morning, and I thought I would share some thoughts. As a baseline, the GWIII is replacing a 53 inch Sony (non-digital) and I am a video / audio common man - no expertise here, I just watch a lot of tv.

Pixels - I am not looking hard, but I did look from 4 feet away. Did not see any dead or stuck ... thank God. I know some are there, but they do not stick out.

SD - I have comcast digital cable and have a weak signal. I had to rewire my apartment just to get the cable modem to sync, then tossed on a signal amp, then split my cable to STB (with Tivo), straight to TV and to another room for a smaller tv. Factor in poor signal strength for the local channels (anything under channel 14), I had a lot of garbage on my screen before the GWIII. I was happy to see that the GWIII was no worse (and possibly better) than the old 53inch.

Tivo - grainer, but that was expected.

My only issue is deciding whether to go Normal or Full view for SD/Tivo. Still have not decided.

HDTV - that comes next Saturday.

My disappointments -

DVD - I have a Denon DVM-3700 (component). Based on some comments here I am returning the Samsung HD-930. I put Chicago into the DVD player and was slightly disappointed. I was expecting a Wow and got a hmmm. The picture seemed grainy in dark scenes, though faces, etc. seemed very sharp... I need to research this further. I reset my DVD player to 16:9 and put my TV on Full ... it seemed like it was stretching the movie (like it does to SD) rather than showing it in it's true size. (though I may have been projecting this as I was aware of the change.) Again ... need to do more research.

Playstation2 - Oh God, this was miserable. I was addicted to winning heismans on NCAA 2004 and everything was grainy and blurry (which seemed to be a contraction). I am using the normal RCA plugs, so I will look for component if they exist for PS2. I was very disappointed in this.

Hopefully, I can find that Wow! in the HDTV (though my weak signal concerns me) or DVDs otherwise, I do not see this as an upgrade from my normal RPTV.

Originally posted by tschlidt
Well, my 42 inch GWIII finally arrived this morning, and I thought I would share some thoughts. As a baseline, the GWIII is replacing a 53 inch Sony (non-digital) and I am a video / audio common man - no expertise here, I just watch a lot of tv.
...
Hopefully, I can find that Wow! in the HDTV (though my weak signal concerns me) or DVDs otherwise, I do not see this as an upgrade from my normal RPTV.

Try better video connections and get yourself HDTV (OTA, cable, satellite via DVI or component)...start watching something in 1080i and/or 720p and I bet you'll see the "Wow" factor and see your new purchase as a big upgrade; so much so that you'll won't want to watch anything in SD unless you absolutely have to! Ever watch CSI or CSI Miami in HD? ;-)

Originally posted by tschlidt
Playstation2 - Oh God, this was miserable. I was addicted to winning heismans on NCAA 2004 and everything was grainy and blurry (which seemed to be a contraction). I am using the normal RCA plugs, so I will look for component if they exist for PS2. I was very disappointed in this.


I notice blurry pictures on a 27" TV with the RCA cables. Monster makes the S-video and component cables that greatly improve the pq.

Well, I don't own a GWIII (yet), but here are my observations from today. I saw a 50" right next to a Panny LCD at a CC. They were showing a DVD over coax cable, so the pic wasn't the best. I thought the GWIII had a better picture except for black details. On the Panny, a man's suit looked dark blue, on the Sony it looked black, and you couldn't see as many details (on the suit.) The rest of the picture blew the Panny away.

Then I went to Tweeter, and saw the 50" GWIII right next to a Samsung DLP. At first, the pictures appeared equal, but on further inspection I noticed a problem with the Sammy. The picture was outside, and the camera was on a tripod. A tree was in the background of the picture, and on the Sammy the bark of the tree appeared to shimmer. On the Sony it looked more realistic. Black detail was a little better on the Sammy. I think this was an HD feed, or at least an upconverted feed of some HGTV show (Trading Spaces maybe?)

I've search for stands high and low before going out to purchase either the 42" or 50" and it seems the best option is the Ikea Oppli stand for $99. I have an Ikea about 30 mins from me, so I'm able to avoid the $100+ shipping charges.

Anyone have a picture of their GWIII on an Oppli stand? You can reply to this thread or PM me. Please state which size GWIII you have too!

What are the dimensions of that middle (center channel) shelf?

Originally posted by s2silber
What are the dimensions of that middle (center channel) shelf?

I've seen other posts say that the middle shelf on the Ikea Oppli stand is 19.5". It seems great if you have a center channel speaker that will fit; mine is 20" wide so it won't fit.

Each bay is 10 1/4" high and 17 5/8" wide as measured.

Here is a link to more information.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2349829#post2349829

Bottom of base to bottom of main unit: 3" in front, but slopes back to 1 3/4". Use the 1 3/4" dimension.

Hi all,

Been following this thread for a while now, and just have two questions before I decide on the 50" or 60".

Several people have mentioned the black problems on the DVI interface from the DVD. Is this a problem with the DVD or the DVI interface itself?

I'm looking at getting a HD D* receiver when I get the TV, but want to make sure I don't have the black problems with the DSS portion too.

I'm guessing because compfan and others haven't mentioned it on the computer side, it's just a DVD issue, but want to make sure.

If it's just the DVD that has problems on the DVI interface, I'll go ahead and pop for a D* reciever w/ DVI. If it's the DVI interface itself, I'll save a few $$$'s and just go component all around.

The 2nd question is about 720p. Someone mentioned earlier that it didn't support 720p natively. I'm an HD virgin, but play a lot of X-box, most of which is 720p, and most of the HD programming I will be watching will also be 720p. What does it do w/ a 720p signal, and/or how does it compare to a set that does do native 720p.

TIA,

Bret

My GWIII has begun emitting a fairly loud buzz for a few seconds when initially powering up. Is this common?

Originally posted by magillagorilla
My GWIII has begun emitting a fairly loud buzz for a few seconds when initially powering up. Is this common?

Hmmm... I noticed the fan noise seemed a little loud tonight on start up but the room was pretty quiet. I think it got less loud after it got up to speed.

Chad

Ok.....I went to CC today and made the jump.....I have upgraded from the 42" to the 50".....They did it for $600 + $40 shipping charge to come swap the tvs and set everything up......

The TV is comming tomorrow around 12 so Im pretty excited......I do have a couple questions though......

#1 I have the SUG-W2 stand which fit my 42" perfect, The base of the 50" is exactly the same and it should fit , however the speakers will over lap (making the TV look bigger) Has anyone had any experience with this??
I can take that stand back and get the SUG-W1 which is the longer stand meant fore the 50" and pay another $100 what does everyone think??

#2 IS there anything that is going to be different about the 50" (other then the obvious size difference) like settings, etc.....

I will keep ya updated

Originally posted by Bravenuts
Ok.....I went to CC today and made the jump.....I have upgraded from the 42" to the 50".....They did it for $600 + $40 shipping charge to come swap the tvs and set everything up......


What made you decide to exchange the 42" for the 50"? What is your viewing distance and what type of content do you watch? Sorry for the questions, just trying to decide between 42 and 50 right now.

Bravenuts

It seems that the Sony stands have these divots that match up with the bottom of the set. If you're thinking about keeping your existing stand, check to see that these match up with the 50" set.

I originally thought that these sets look odd when they're wider than the stands. (kinda top heavy looking) But after a while, I now think that they actually look better than a stand that's the same width.

There's a thread labled "Sony SU-GW1 stand & Center Channel..." that can give you some idea of what these sets look like on a narrower stand.

Jim

I remember several people talking about trying the GW-2 stand with the 50", but for some reason I have never seen a response to if it worked or not. :confused:

Originally posted by bobby_t1
Anyone have a picture of their GWIII on an Oppli stand? You can reply to this thread or PM me. Please state which size GWIII you have too!

Have you looked at Sauder stands at all, I found they look and feel much better then the IKEA equivalent and are comparable in price. I picked one up for my 42" GWIII that featured tempered glass on the front cabinets and was done in an American Cherry veneer finish that looked very good. The stand looks considerably better then the $200 Cdn I paid for it. The nice thing with Sauder is that they have wider stands then most companies.

Unfortunately, I am a newbie on this forum so I can't post a direct link, however Sauder's catalog is online and can be viewed at www dot sauder dot com.

Gerald

Brightness comparisons in the retail stores seems to be a hot issue with the Sony LCDs based upon screen size. The 42" is brighter than the 50" and the 50" is brighter than the 60". I am a little confused. It is almost as if brightness is a selling point; however, the first thing most will tell you to do when you get your new RP TV OOTB is to turn down the brightness from "Torch Mode" to a more acceptable level, that TVs are set with the brightness higher than desirable in the stores because when comparing TVs side by side, most viewers will think that the brighter screen is better. Well this must be true based upon the posts on the forum. I understand that turning down the brightness in CRT RP is important due to reducing the chance of screen burn, and LCDs are less susceptible to this, but when you set your screen brightness properly isn't it going to be less than what it is in the store and certainly less than its maximum output. So in theory, since all 3 screens use the same bulb, which may be overkill for the 42" screen and just right for the 60" screen, and when all three are properly adjusted they may all have the same brightness. Afterall, it would certainly make sense for Sony to buy in bulk and stock one bulb rather than 3. Any thoughts?

Actually, Troy, there are more like 6 Sony LCD models that appear to use the same bulb. The XBRs run it "hotter" at 120 watts; the WEs at 100 watts. This power difference MAY be due to extra filtering and/or lenses in the XBR light path.

Originally posted by bagleyb

The 2nd question is about 720p. Someone mentioned earlier that it didn't support 720p natively. I'm an HD virgin, but play a lot of X-box, most of which is 720p, and most of the HD programming I will be watching will also be 720p. What does it do w/ a 720p signal, and/or how does it compare to a set that does do native 720p.

While I don't know whether the GWIII does 720p natively, I took delivery of a 42" set yesterday and hooked up my XBox... I thought it looked sensational.

Originally posted by Feddie
I remember several people talking about trying the GW-2 stand with the 50", but for some reason I have never seen a response to if it worked or not. :confused:

My local CC has this setup, looked pretty good to me but since I have a not so small center speaker I am looking at other options.

Troy, reducing brightness down from "torch mode" is largely a CRT-based RPTV issue, having to do with damage to the phosphors. For LCD RPTVs you want to use the maximum luminance range, to get the maximum out of limited contrast LCD provides. That means leaving the 'contrast' (not brightness, which controls black levels) or 'picture' control as high as you can get away with short of crushing whites. The AVIA or DVE DVD will help you set this properly. In my case, for my GWII, that means 'picture' is dialed up as far as it'll go, as bright as it will get. For my TV that is the proper setting, yours may be different, using a calibration DVD will tell.

-Rob-

Originally posted by Celsius
Hmmm... I noticed the fan noise seemed a little loud tonight on start up but the room was pretty quiet. I think it got less loud after it got up to speed.

Chad


This isn't fan noise. It is a discernible electric buzz that sounds only right when I turn the set on, last for a couple of seconds, and is gone. I don't remember hearing it initially when I got the set, but I've noticed it every time that I've turned it on over the past few days. Anyone else hear this noise?

Bobby_T1,

I have had the 42" for almost 2 weeks now and really like it.....the picture is amazing!!! especially DVDs......

I decided to switch to the 50 for 2 reasons.......
#1 I am upgrading from a 32" sony TUBE which isnt exactly small ....so when I watch DVDs in widescreen format with the black bars (top/bottom) the screen doesnt seem much bigger.......

#2 I have the TV in my bedroom and about 8 feet away right now...which is just about perfect for the 42" , but will be moving into a new apt in the next 6months and will then have the TV in the living room....about 10-11 feet back.......Also, I think the 42" is a big TV....but not a "Theater", if im going to spend $3500 on a TV, why not spend another $500 and get a BIG one.....


As far as the stand goes......The base of the 42 and 50 should be exactly the same, therefore both fit on the stand in the grooves.....however, the 50" slightly overlaps in the front of the stand.......And haveing the speakers come out on the sides instead of even with the stand makes the TV look bigger......I will let you know by tomorrow how it works out...

Just a note to those who care, Sears called to say my 60" Sony LCD will be out for delivery this Saturday as scheduled. I was hoping it wouldn't be delayed since the longer I wait the more I think about going to the 50". Now what to put it on....

I've heard different things regarding "burn in" with LCD's - does anyone know if burn in is an issue with a rear projection tv?

Originally posted by gnunn
Have you looked at Sauder stands at all, I found they look and feel much better then the IKEA equivalent and are comparable in price. I picked one up for my 42" GWIII that featured tempered glass on the front cabinets and was done in an American Cherry veneer finish that looked very good. The stand looks considerably better then the $200 Cdn I paid for it. The nice thing with Sauder is that they have wider stands then most companies.

Unfortunately, I am a newbie on this forum so I can't post a direct link, however Sauder's catalog is online and can be viewed at www dot sauder dot com.

Gerald

Gerald: I looked at www.sauder.com but all of their stands are too high -- the sony branded stand is about 16" in height and the Ikea Oppli is also just shy of 16" which made it a perfect height match. Is there a specific stand you are referring to that Sauder makes that is shorter in height than the ones I'm seeing?

Originally posted by Troy
Just a note to those who care, Sears called to say my 60" Sony LCD will be out for delivery this Saturday as scheduled. I was hoping it wouldn't be delayed since the longer I wait the more I think about going to the 50". Now what to put it on....


Great news Troy,

Maybe they'll get me mine of the rescheduled date of the 28th.

Jim

Originally posted by bobby_t1
Gerald: I looked at sauder but all of their stands are too high -- the sony branded stand is about 16" in height and the Ikea Oppli is also just shy of 16" which made it a perfect height match. Is there a specific stand you are referring to that Sauder makes that is shorter in height than the ones I'm seeing?

OK, this not posting URLs totally sucks :). Anyways, your quite correct in that the Sauder stands are between 20" to 22" inches for the most part. I found this worked perfectly with my 42" inch GWIII but if you end up opting for the 50" a shorter stand might be better. I purchased 8851-103 Universal TV Stand from Sauder and I have been very happy with the overall viewing height of my TV resting on it. This cabinet does have metal legs that you could opt not to install, it would shave maybe 3 to 4 inches off the height.

BTW, the stand looks much better in person then it does in the photo on the Sauder site.

Gerald

Hi all, got my 60we610 yesterday afternoon. It replaced a 60" GW2. I haven't had much time to play with it yet but right off the bat I couldn't help but notice the gigantic improvement in both analog and digital standard def cable. Wow, sony must be doing some serious voodoo here. I likey!

When I first saw pictures of this set I was unimpressed with the new cabinet design. Thought that the speaker grills looked cheap and ugly. I figured it take some gettin used to, but now that it's in my house and on the stand it looks quite good.

So far, I'm very happy with my decision to 'upgrade' to the gwiii. I feel like a thief though because I returned a gw2 for a better tv and the store paid _me_ money for the difference!

Kev

I picked up a stand for my 50" GWIII that is right around 21" high. If anything, I wish it were a bit higher, say in the 23-24" range. We sit about 10-14ft from the tv, depending on where we are in the room.

I got the stand at a place in Framingham, MA called the International Home Warehouse Outlet, www.framinghamwarehouse.com . They sell a lot of Natuzzi leather couches and Ekornes chairs. They also happened to have this nice stand that was just wide enough for the 50" GWIII. It also had glass doors for the components and some side storage for media. Did I mention that the finish on the cherry veneer turned out to be similar to the finish on the rest the furniture in the room? And it is a real wood veneer, not some kind of vinyl. The stand is made by PBJ Furniture.

Here's a picture.

Very nice. Now lets get that coffee table cleared off before company comes.

For s.a.g. I plugged my backup pc (nVidia Ti 4200) into my GWIII. Oh my ... I am sold. Now to get the ATI AIW 9800 Pro (gaming) and quieter case. That was the first Wow! I received from this set. HDTV comes Saturday, so hoping for a second.

I am thinking about taking my SUG-W2 stand back to CC and looking for something else.....It looks good but not worth the $500+ I paid for it.......Anyone else have pictures of other stands they are using??
THanks

Bravenuts,

I really like the looks of this one.

http://www.discounts-n-deals.com/product.asp?3=1321

Originally posted by JimP
Bravenuts,

I really like the looks of this one.

http://www.discounts-n-deals.com/product.asp?3=1321

Problem with that stand is that it is 20" high, which is almost 5" higher than the sony stand.

What is it with TV stand manufacturers and them not making any stands 15-17" high?

I went to the local Good Guys since I found out they have the 42" and 50" setup side-by-side.

I stood about 8.5' back from both sets, and with HD or DVD material, both TVs were perfect and I prefered the 50" obviously. According to the post above by pisay87, i sit middle of the theatre, so 50" works

But I then put on baseball in SD and things changed drammatically. I don't know much about adjusting the picture settings, but the way the salesguy was tweaking the sets, they both looked like complete a$$. The picture was REALLY dim, dark and not very colorful. When I mentioned this he said that this is their "neutral" settings.. is this true? In the GWIII's neutral settings, the picture looks as bad as I just described?

The 42" looked identical in size to my current 32" CRT. When measured, it had a diagonal of 33", so 1" larger in reality. To my eye, the 1" larger diagonal was completely indistinguishable.

On the 50", the SD picture looked great in 4:3 (non-stretched) mode and looked significantly bigger than my 32" CRT. The Diagonal was measured to be 40".

The pictures were really grainy when showing the SD, but nothing surprising. At 8.5', things were a bit close for the 50", but if I was 9' back, i think it would be okay. the 42" just didn't seem big enough and didn't give that "big picture" feel at 8.5'.

I am going to have to wait until I get my new sectional sofa delivered in November and I get the Ikea Oppli stand. Since the TV will be in the corner, the stand is wide enough that it can only sit so far back. So i'll get an accurate measure of what my typical viewing distance is going to be. The sectional sofa I have has recliners on both ends, so that's where a lot of my viewing will be from, so I think that may put me much closer than 8.5' which may force my hand for hte 42". I'll keep you guys posted.

I went to Good guys today here in Seattle. Sales rep said their warranty specifically does not cover bubl replacement because "it is a consumable" and is designed to wear out over time.

This is actually what I expected them to say and am surprised that ANY extended warranty is covering bulb replacement. It's like an extended warranty coverign cartridges for an inkjet printer.

However, I do disagree with the sales guy that the bulbs are "designed to wear out over time". If sony could design a bulb that lasted forever, they would use it. Unfortunately they can't :)

Does anyone actually have it in writing that their extended warranty will cover bulb replacement?

Additionally, he said that Good Guys does not Price match any internet dealers, nor will they price match goodguys.com. (reminder that goodguys.com is not the same as the B&M store. The website just bought the rights to use the name. Ironic considering they have a store locator on their website). I may however, be able to get them to pricematch against OneCall.com since they are located in Spokane, WA and I'm in seattle. I've read people getting free shipping, 10% off and anotehr $125 off with "holiday03" coupon code.

Originally posted by bobby_t1
Problem with that stand is that it is 20" high, which is almost 5" higher than the sony stand.

What is it with TV stand manufacturers and them not making any stands 15-17" high?


bobby

Yeah, the 20" height of the techcraft stand is 4 inches higher than the Sony stand. As much as I'd rather have a 16" stand, this seems to be the only one I've been able to find that has this kind of contemporary look that would match the 60" GWIII as well as it does. The other stand I was considering is 23" tall and being made of metal with pieces that had to match, wasn't comfortable in sawing the legs shorter by the 7" needed to make it a 16" stand.

Since the TV will be 14' away from my primary seating position, I'm thinking(mostly hoping) that 4" will not matter.

You would think someone would make a stand that's 16" tall.

How much vertical space is there between shelves on this Tech-Craft stand? I've got a CC speaker that needs 9" of clearance from top to bottom and is 23" wide.

s2silber
Here's the pdf from techcraft. It looks like you've got 9 1/4".Only concern is getting the center channel too low.
http://www.techcraft.net/htm/products/monaco/pdf/ptv58.pdf

Here is a photoshop composit of the Tech-Craft stand under a 60" GWIII. I had to scale and change perspective, so it may not be totally accurate, but should be fairly close.

If you have a few bucks in the budget, I like this Bello unit which I have on order from StandsandMounts.com....

http://www.standsandmounts.com/product.asp?3=1228

JimP and capecodguy,

Thanks!. Two good alternatives.

JiMP,

The techcraft stand doesnt look bad at all, they have something just like that at CC......

What do yall think about a black stand? or wood? or does everything think match the TV color is the best way to go..? I dont have much furnature that is wood but alot of my house is black......its really hard to tell without actaully seeing the TV on these stands.....

JiMp, how much is that stand?? $$

Thanks
Scott

A mod is going to have to rename this thread the "Sony GWIII Stands thread." :rolleyes:

:D

I am always leery of trying to match the plastic TV color with whatever material the stand is. If you are off (usually the case) looks odd IMO. My usual strategy is to match the stand with whatever furniture is nearby. This helpful if you have a distinct theme in you living room furniture, but less so is you hodgepodge together your couch, chair, coffee table, etc...

I just received the Bell'O AVSC2050MC from standsandmounts. I only ordered it yesterday -- not bad for free shipping! It is 2 1/2 inches taller than the Sony stand, and looks much better to me and my wife. This stand will accommodate my HT components, and the center speaker will go just above the TV on an Ikea shelf mounted to the wall.

I am still awaiting a delivery date from The Good Guys for my 60" Sony GWIII, but I believe that they have my TV in their warehouse.

I have been reading these forums and looking at TVs for the past year. I chose the GWIII over the Samsung DLP as I felt that the blacks, though not as good as the DLP, were still quite acceptable and a good compromise for no rainbows, no dithering and no greenish picture that were my observations with the DLP. Until I saw the GWIII, I was seriously considering the Samsung DLP.

The GWIII will be replacing a Sony 35" CRT. We sit about 11' from the set. I was considering the upcoming 70" XBR, but I do not like the glossy screen that I believe it has (same as GWII?). I find that the reflections from a glossy screen to be very distracting and degrading to an otherwise good picture. This set is also much cheaper.

Originally posted by DLiquid
A mod is going to have to rename this thread the "Sony GWIII Stands thread." :rolleyes:

:D

Either that or "How big is your base?" :rolleyes:

This has turned into the worlds least useful thread.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IraG
[B]I just received the Bell'O AVSC2050MC from standsandmounts. I only ordered it yesterday -- not bad for free shipping! It is 2 1/2 inches taller than the Sony stand, and looks much better to me and my wife. This stand will accommodate my HT components, and the center speaker will go just above the TV on an Ikea shelf mounted to the wall.

I also bought the Bello AVSC2050MC..nice looking stand...plenty of room for compnents.

GWIII 60" being delivered tomorrow.

Anyone have a picture of this stand?

Originally posted by Bravenuts
JiMP,

The techcraft stand doesnt look bad at all, they have something just like that at CC......

What do yall think about a black stand? or wood? or does everything think match the TV color is the best way to go..? I dont have much furnature that is wood but alot of my house is black......its really hard to tell without actaully seeing the TV on these stands.....

JiMp, how much is that stand?? $$

Thanks
Scott

$349 includes shipping from these guys http://www.discounts-n-deals.com/product.asp?3=1321

The one at CC you mentioned, is probably the one from Sony for $599.

I went back and forth about going with a black stand and felt like the silvery stand gave it more of a modern look.

So... is the a good black stand for a 60" GWIII-WE or GWIII-XBR that anyone could recommend? I am trying to avoid the dreaded "custom built cabinetry". Something that reasonably matches up with an Elite component cabinet would be great....

A little off the subject (well, way off the subject) but can someone tell me how they selected their title? I understand "New Member" or "Member" but is there a place that says what an "AVS Special Member" is or an "Advanced Member" or do you just select the title yourself based upon what you think your qualifications are? I am not asking to be disrespectful, just to learn more about those who are on my favorite site.

Originally posted by Troy
A little off the subject (well, way off the subject) but can someone tell me how they selected their title? I understand "New Member" or "Member" but is there a place that says what an "AVS Special Member" is or an "Advanced Member" or do you just select the title yourself based upon what you think your qualifications are? I am not asking to be disrespectful, just to learn more about those who are on my favorite site.

The default titles are based on post counts. You can usually change your title manually depending on how they set up the message board software. I haven't noticed here though.

If you check my title, you'll notice that it can be changed. Just visit the User Control Panel.

Originally posted by Troy
A little off the subject (well, way off the subject) but can someone tell me how they selected their title? I understand "New Member" or "Member" but is there a place that says what an "AVS Special Member" is or an "Advanced Member" or do you just select the title yourself based upon what you think your qualifications are? I am not asking to be disrespectful, just to learn more about those who are on my favorite site.
"Advanced Member" is for 500-999 posts
"AVS Special Member" is for 1000+ posts

I am not sure if there is an automatic distinction above that...."AVS Apparently Doesn't Have a Life Member"? :)

It is true that you can change it in user settings, but it just seems wrong. :)

Sure does...

I always thought the titles referred to knowledge level, at least in some cases, or how long you have been a member, but apparently it is just how often you post which seems like a stange way to do it. Oh well, thx for the info.

I've decided on the GWIII, but have not yet found a dealer near Cleveland that has an XBR version on the floor. I'd really like to see the GW and the XBR (preferably in the 60" model) side-by-side and would travel to Pittsburgh, Detroit, Columbus or such to see them. Phone calls to the Sony dealers in Pittsburgh haven't been rewarding ... the two XBR dealers in Cleveland say "toward the end of November".

Any leads?

Thanks!

I have the 50", going on week 2.

So far:
1) Xbox looks great - some jaggies due to the games limits, but the picture is super clear. Best game we have is 720p(KOTOR).

2) DVDs are pretty good, though the screendoor effect bugs me a bit. Still cant tell if 420p is better than 420i, both look good but not "WOW" The 420i almost looks clearer even though it shouldn't.

3) Regular cable -looks poor, but better after I followed advice here to plug directly to the TV then to the cablebox and finally to aux, its better. Still grainly, has digital blocks and the screendoor effect is at its worse. We actually have digital cable but it only has analog outputs.

I have cox cable and they dont reply to emails asking when they will upgrade in my area. Cox sucks, sucks cox.

So my delima - keep it or return before my 30th day. The one thing I cant view is HD. I dont have the money for a HD reciever to see the OTA channels and to then have to replace it with a cable box if cox ever gets their act together. The 40" was more my price range but could'nt bring myself to get the smaller one with the price being so close.

I am still unclear as how to hook my computer to the TV(have a ati mobility raedon on one laptop and geforce 2 go II on the other laptop(one for work)). Can these be used or do I need a special jack/connector only on newer/non laptop video boards?

CC seemes flexable on returns so I have considered getting a HD reciever just to see how HD will look and then return the reciever. Better than returning the TV for them I would think. Does anyone know if the screendoor effect is reduced in HD?

Maybe I should just return it and get one when HD is in the area - the screendoor effect should only improve over time I would think? Im on the fence, feel free to push me in either direction.

Thanks again for any advice

Originally posted by compfan

-DVI PC connecticity looks amazing. It was truely plug and play, it recognized the make, model and even posted the manufacture date. Initially the reolution is funky and needs work but nevertheless it does work. Im still working out final resolutions with power strip, and as it stands now has a little to much overscan but I am close. I will say a PC using DVI on the GWIII looks every bit as good, maybe even better than any of the LCD monitors I have, Samsung,Viewsonic and Dell.


Scott in Rochester [/B]

What cable do I need and what jack must my video board/computer have? Sorry to be ignorant but HD is a new area for me.

edit:
opps - did a search for computers trying to get more info - didnt mean to post twice on same thread.

You'll need a male-male DVI cable long enough to reach from your computer video board's output to the TV. A DVI cable has:
- 3 rows of 8 pins each
- A 5-pin cluster, where the center pin of the cluster is wider.

Originally posted by roblake
I'd really like to see the GW and the XBR (preferably in the 60" model) side-by-side ...
You will have to wait until Sony start shipping the GWIII XBR models.

Okay. I've been fretting over getting a new tv for the last month. Moving into a new house next week, and promised myself that a new AV setup was going to be my "welcome to the neighborhood" present.

Went into a local store today with every intention of sealing the deal on a new Hitachi, though I wanted to take one solid look at the GWIII before closing the door. I had been struggling over 50" vs 60", as I'll be sitting about 12 ' away. Anyway, the store had a 50" Samsung DLP and the 50" Hitachi up and running, but had just gotten the KF-60WE610 display unit in.

I asked to see it and they literally tore the showroom up right there, unpacked the tv and plugged the unit in. That was cool, because not only did I got to watch the set up right out of the box, I was guaranteed to see a unit that hadn't been tweaked to show off on the brightly lit showroom floor. Very smooth auto detection. Anyways, in about 1 minute, it was ready to go - and my jaw dropped at how good it looked right out of the packaging.

I had them sit it up right next to the 50v500 Hitachi and looked at them both from a variety of distances and angles. Since I'm putting it in a room that is 14 x 18 (along the 14' wall), I was worried about whether 60" would be overpowering, or more troubling, whether there would be a noticeable screen door effect.

To my admittedly untrained eyes, standing 8' + away, I thought the picture was outstanding. The Hitachi was also nice, and a little brighter - but I attributed that mostly to the fact it had been on the floor and been tweaked up. The Samsung and RCA DLPs were definitely brighter, but really noticed the rainbow effect whenever the screen showed a lot of white or reflective surfaces, so that alone ruled them out (since I generally watch about 10 hockey games a week)

The KF-60WE610 was incredibly sharp - almost shockingly so, especially in regards to the SD signals being received over the stores standard antenna. IMHO, the Sony SD picture is unparalleled at that price point among LCDs / DLPs - either in stretch modes or in 4:3. Since I still watch a lot of SD programming, that's important to me.

Well, I've got a whole house to pack this weekend, but I've got the television getting delivered to my new address the first day I move in, and the cable guy is coming the next day to set up the modem and HD cable ... so I can't wait to get the tv up and running and put it through the paces. I can hear the wife now - "get your a** off that couch and help me paint/clean/unpack. We've been in this house 1 day and you've spent every minute sitting in front of that tv fiddling with nobs"

Originally posted by IraG
I just received the Bell'O AVSC2050MC from standsandmounts. I only ordered it yesterday -- not bad for free shipping! It is 2 1/2 inches taller than the Sony stand, and looks much better to me and my wife. This stand will accommodate my HT components, and the center speaker will go just above the TV on an Ikea shelf mounted to the wall.


Wow, I guess I missed this particular Bello stand. Here is a picture from standsandmounts.com:

http://www.standsandmounts.com/images/products/bello/avsc2050mc.gif

This is $400 more expensive than the Ikea Oppli stand, and I like stand much better, but $400 is a huge chunk of change. Advantage however, is that this stand is 5" narrows in width than the Ikea Oppli, so it can be set back further into the corner which will increase my viewing distance by another 0.5' which may sway the decision to go for the 50" GWIII. Isn't it ironic, I may need to spend another $400 on a stand, in order to spend $500 more on a TV. Yikes.

I actually don't mind the Ikea stand that much..looks rather nice. But I just wish it was narrower in width so it could be set back further in the corner.

I stumbled upon this stand by Boltz furniture:

http://800stereo.org/botvtvst1.html
http://store3.yimg.com/I/800stereohometheater_1761_9107440

Only 17" high but not sure if the top shelf is big enough for the TV. It is 41" wide x 27" deep. Is this big enough for the 50"? (this thread has gotten so big that I can't find the info i need anymore!!)

Originally posted by DLiquid
Here are the results of my first attempts to tweak the user menu with Digital Video Essentials (DVE). The setting bars in the GWIII user menu have 64 positions, and I'm counting the lowest position as 1 here, not zero. So the full range is 1-64. This is how umr does it in his tweaks document.

For 480p, 720p, and 1080i, I've modified Standard and Pro as follows:

Mode: Standard
Picture: 80% (51 ticks)
Brightness: 67% (43 ticks)
Color: 44% (28 ticks)
Hue: 47% (30 ticks)
Sharpness: 50% (32 ticks)
Color Temp: Warm
NR: Off
Mild Mode: On

Mode: Pro
Picture: 88% (56 ticks)
Brightness: 61% (39 ticks)
Color: 44% (28 ticks)
Hue: 47% (30 ticks)
Sharpness: 50% (32 ticks)
Color Temp: Warm
NR: Off
Mild Mode: On

For 480i sources, I modify the following settings from what you see above:

Mild Mode: Off
DRC Mode: High Dens.
DRC Palette: Reality = 1, Clarity = 100
BN Smoother: Off


My Pro settings definitely have more shadow detail than my Standard settings. This was especially apparent in the DVE grayscale ramps. Even at identical user menu settings, Pro just does a much better job showing the different gradiations of near black.

I haven't done that much testing with different material, but my Standard settings seem to be better than Pro for SD, I'm not sure why. Pro looks a little too blurry. If I turn on CineMotion for SD, both Standard and Pro get too blurry. I'm also unsure about the NR and BN Smoother settings. With DirecTV SD, I couldn't notice any difference when changing these, so I left them off.

For HD, I think my Pro settings look a little better than Standard, but they're pretty close. When switching between Pro and Standard (the remote Picture button is great for this), I can see some shadow details come to life when switching to Pro.

These Standard 480i settings look very good for 480i videogames. I haven't tried a 480p or 720p game since making the changes.

Other than DVE, I didn't test any DVDs, so I'm not sure which setting is better there. I would suspect Pro is better, at least for progressive scan.

Quick tip if you didn't realize it, when in a user menu, you can press the Reset button on the remote to revert to the default settings. For example, if you're modifying the Pro settings, hitting the Reset button will change the Pro settings back to their factory defaults.


DLiquid

Which DVD player were you using????
Have you experimented with the Bravo D1 vs. a Panny with component or svideo out? 480i vs 480p?

Jim

All I've used is a Panasonic RP-82 at 480p via Blue Jeans component cables. It looks very good. :D

Originally posted by elvindeath
I asked to see it and they literally tore the showroom up right there, unpacked the tv and plugged the unit in. That was cool, because not only did I got to watch the set up right out of the box, I was guaranteed to see a unit that hadn't been tweaked to show off on the brightly lit showroom floor.
Actually elvindeath, they typically come tweaked that way straight from the factory. It sounds like the picture looked really good anyway. Nice to hear. I've heard more people complaining about sucky 50WEs than 60WEs in terms of PQ, but I think we might be dealing with differences in expectations: i.e. people who are upgrading from a direct view and are not used to a big screen in general. BTW, the 50" GWIII is noticably brighter than my 57" Toshiba LCoS, which is one reason I am interested in the 120W bulb of the 60XBR.

Originally posted by BTDT
Actually elvindeath, they typically come tweaked that way straight from the factory. It sounds like the picture looked really good anyway. Nice to hear. I've heard more people complaining about sucky 50WEs than 60WEs in terms of PQ, but I think we might be dealing with differences in expectations: i.e. people who are upgrading from a direct view and are not used to a big screen in general. BTW, the 50" GWIII is noticably brighter than my 57" Toshiba LCoS, which is one reason I am interested in the 120W bulb of the 60XBR.

BTDT - the pre-shipping brightness tweaking makes sense, should have though of it ... though I was still able to change settings to increase the brightness about 30% over the shipping settings (with an attendant affect on the black levels which was tolerable, though not where I would usually leave the unit set)

For me, at least, the 60 GWIII seemed comfortably bright - my tv is in a long room with only indirect "mood" lighting. I won't have much glare in the room it's going in, except for early morning - when I'm never home. I'm not sure how much difference the 120W bulb will / will not make, but I did see the 60WE near a GWII XBR and didn't notice that much difference in brightness.

Hey, guys, I finally caved and decided that I deserve a 42" GWIII. That was the easy part. Now I'm looking for the best deal from a dealer with an upfront return policy, i.e. GG or CC. If I could trouble any of you GWIII owners to message me the deals you got for your units, I would be very appreciative. Thanks everyone!

I just came back from Sears, they said I'd have it in a couple of weeks. I would like to thank all of the posters for their info (positive and negative). After I get it I hope to be able to post my impressions or any thoughts for anyone interested.

First, DLiquid thanks for posting your settings ... has helped.

I have just completed my first week with the GWIII, and after being disappointed initially, I have now found the wow in this tv. Finally had HD installed this weekend and the picture is absolutely amazing - I now see what everyone else has seen. I have an older DVD player without progressive scan and threw in Toy Story ... also looks great.

Next steps - I have my PC plugged into the TV ... now to fix the resolution and overscan (a new video card is the first step). Also I need to find a way to switch my component inputs for DVD and Playstation. (HDTV has the other component)

When I turn the mild mode off in the Pro setting, it turns back on if I change to another setting (vivid or standard) and then turn back to Pro.

Not sure if this was discussed already, but sure is annoying. Anyone else notice this?

Originally posted by Shus
When I turn the mild mode off in the Pro setting, it turns back on if I change to another setting (vivid or standard) and then turn back to Pro.

Not sure if this was discussed already, but sure is annoying. Anyone else notice this? No, that hasn't ever happened to me. I have Mild Mode off for everything, and it never comes on even when I toggle the picture modes.

believe I have some sort of "burn in" problem.
When watching something with a light colored background, I can see ( just barely though) the words video 7 on the upper left hand side of the screen.
Has anyone else had this type of problem?

Originally posted by rbmcgee
Is Wega pronounced Wega (with a W) or Vega (with a V)?

Vega

Originally posted by esuvan
believe I have some sort of "burn in" problem.
When watching something with a light colored background, I can see ( just barely though) the words video 7 on the upper left hand side of the screen.
Has anyone else had this type of problem?
A couple of questions:
1) Did you have "Video 7" displayed in the upper corner of the screen for a long time before seeing this?
2) Did you power down the set or watch something else for any significant time after this?

I think what you are seeing is "image retention", not "burn-in". This is the temporary retention of a constant image rather than a permanent thing. It occurs in both LCD and LCoS technologies. The image should fade after the set has been off for a bit, or will also fade more slowly as you watch other material. Unless you have a more-significant problem the effect should not be noticable in normal viewing, at least not to the extent it bothers you. Unless this is an extreme case it is not considered a flaw.

Originally posted by DLiquid
No, that hasn't ever happened to me. I have Mild Mode off for everything, and it never comes on even when I toggle the picture modes. I have to take this statement back. Last night I did notice Mild Mode was somehow turned on for Pro. I turned it off and it stayed off even when toggling picture modes, but something funky is definitely going on.

I'm a KF50WE610 owner. I apologize to the the members of this forum for publishing this problem. CC told me this day that they was going to give me a refund without my consent. Reason: I have return (2) two PJ TV due to there electronic problems. Let me explain today a certified tech came out to my home tech find out that the problem with my LCD PJ let me say it wasn't the DVI connection as mention in another thread here in this forum it was the geometry. I had this problem with the first LCDPJ. Since I had the problem with both LCDPJ I tried the KDP57WS550. With the KDP57WS550 I was having a lot of flickering problem. You can say I'm having bad luck with Sony product. I believe that Sony DOESN'T have a very good quality control, if so why would they allow LCDPJ pass quality control knowing that the the customer would be label as an individual dissatisfied with their product and also label as a trouble maker with the retail stores. Due to the geometry problem I had with my Wega (my set stop working). I call CC about the problem they told me that they was going to refund my money because I was dissatisfied. Is that another way of kicking you out of there store because I wouldn't accept the flickering problem or the Sony LCDPJ geometry problem . Some one please explain to me what is happening here. I apologize for the grammar.

Originally posted by DLiquid
I have to take this statement back. Last night I did notice Mild Mode was somehow turned on for Pro. I turned it off and it stayed off even when toggling picture modes, but something funky is definitely going on.

I just got the 42" and it happens to me. Don't know when it turns on ... but I had it off, then it turned back on somehow.

Try this -- Set Pro mild to OFF... Change to standard mode. Then press tv/video cycle through the modes ... then when you get back to cable -- choose pro -- it should then turn on. Wierd that is what happens for me.

Originally posted by Isitdigital
I'm a KF50WE610 owner. I apologize to the the members of this forum for publishing this problem. CC told me this day that they was going to give me a refund without my consent. Reason: I have return (2) two PJ TV due to there electronic problems. Let me explain today a certified tech came out to my home tech find out that the problem with my LCD PJ let me say it wasn't the DVI connection as mention in another thread here in this forum it was the geometry. I had this problem with the first LCDPJ. Since I had the problem with both LCDPJ I tried the KDP57WS550. With the KDP57WS550 I was having a lot of flickering problem. You can say I'm having bad luck with Sony product. I believe that Sony DOESN'T have a very good quality control, if so why would they allow LCDPJ pass quality control knowing that the the customer would be label as an individual dissatisfied with their product and also label as a trouble maker with the retail stores. Due to the geometry problem I had with my Wega (my set stop working). I call CC about the problem they told me that they was going to refund my money because I was dissatisfied. Is that another way of kicking you out of there store because I wouldn't accept the flickering problem or the Sony LCDPJ geometry problem . Some one please explain to me what is happening here. I apologize for the grammar.

Sounds like CC has determined that you are not someone that will cost them $ to do business with. I'd guess that it is their right, as long as they refund your $.

Every business encounters people who can't (or won't) be satisfied. It sounds like you had legitimate problems with your sets, and are probably not in this category. The store may have a guideline of 2 set replacements and then refund, figuring they could deliver 10 sets and you'd find something wrong with all of them.

I'd hop over to Sears and start over again. Same sets available, price match, and less expensive extended warranties - if you choose one.

Originally posted by aydu
I'd hop over to Sears and start over again. Same sets available, price match, and less expensive extended warranties - if you choose one.


I don't know if it is nationwide, but Sears is currently running a 10% off if you use the Sears card. Also includes no interest financing I believe. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to wait until the next time :mad:

I've just started my research and wife lobbying. Hopefully will be on board before x-mas.

John

Hey, what is the best price you've gotten on the GWIII. If you have a receipt--see my signature

Okay, i also pulled the trigger on the GWIII 50".

Pricing:
I went to Sears and their new regular price is $x299. I told them CC has it for $(x-1)899. They said they would price match, but not with the extra 10% off for sears card.

I spoke to the manager, and after "discussing it" for 10 mins and her calling around, she said I have incorrect information and what I'm trying to do is called "double dipping". She said that I need to factor in the 10% off for sears card promo into the price and that after that, it is lower than CC's price. Technically she is correct, but I have been told that the 10% off sears card promo is irrespective of any price matching. After some pushing, she agreed to let it go through, but only matching CC's price, the additional 110% pricematch gaurantee.

Final Price breakdown:
$(x-1)609 - TV with 10% sears card
+$399 for Master Protection Agreeemtn
+$40 for delivery
-------
Total is $x049 + taxes.

Question:
I just won a Sears coupon book on eBay, and will get it in the mail. Question is whether or not I can use the 10% off coupon in it to apply it to my purchase?

Extended warranty covers the bulb!
I have confirmed that the Sears Master Protection agreement does indeed cover the bulb. Sales associate confirmed that someone already has had their bulb replaced in a hitachi 50v500 and a sammy DLP. I called the 1-8000 # and confirmed this as well. this makes Sears the ONLY retailer to have an extended warranty that covers the bulb, and this 5 year warranty plan is $200 cheaper than CC.

If Sears covers the bulb then someone there didn't do their homework....

but it is a nice feature for us :)

Originally posted by bobby_t1

Final Price breakdown:
$(x-1)899 - TV
+$399 for Master Protection Agreeemtn
+$40 for delivery
-------
Total is $x049 + taxes.

You might want to check your math. My calculator finds you paying $289 more than your total or if you are copying from the Sears invoice they made a boo boo. :D

Originally posted by htwaits
You might want to check your math. My calculator finds you paying $289 more than your total or if you are copying from the Sears invoice they made a boo boo. :D
You are right.. i corrected my mistake :)

I put $(x-1)899 instead of that price minus 10% for sears card promo. Actual price of TV was $(x-1)609.

Originally posted by BTDT
If Sears covers the bulb then someone there didn't do their homework....

but it is a nice feature for us :)

Not necessarily. If you approach extended warranty coverage from the point of a customer's expectations, including the bulb on these sets makes perfect sense.

When the set goes dark, would the customer expect the warranty to cover the problem?

A lot depends on whether the person designing the warranty is interested in long term customer satisfaction and multiple warranty purchases over a lifetime, or making an accounting profit on your warranty business.

Whew...This is a lengthy thread...I looked thru but did not see anyone mention a problem similar to what I am having...

I just set up a new KF50WE610 from CC...I am very pleased with this set...

Except for one problem:

It seems that the bars of the left and right of the screen when displaying a 4:3 picture, are wider at the bottom than the top...As much as 1/2 of an inch...Very distracting to me...Is their an adjustment for this somewhere that I have not found...

I am using a Samsung HD TS160 reeiver connected via DVI on input 7...I can find ajustments for moving the screen left and right, but that does not change the problem of the bars being wider at the bottom of the screen...

I also turned on the input for the regular tuner (even thou I do not have cable or an ant connected) and the gray bars were similar there...So I do not think it is an input source problem...

Any suggestions on my being able to correct this or do I need to exchange this thing for another one?

Not an owner (yet), but a question:

Can it be setup to skip unused inputs? Cycling through 7 inputs would get old real quick. Also, are there discreet codes for each input?

Originally posted by Gruber22
Not an owner (yet), but a question:

Can it be setup to skip unused inputs? Cycling through 7 inputs would get old real quick. Also, are there discreet codes for each input?

Seems like I did see a menu option for turning off the unused inputs on the KF50WE610....There is also a labeling option for each input...

Originally posted by greenwing
Seems like I did see a menu option for turning off the unused inputs on the KF50WE610....There is also a labeling option for each input...


Excellent! Thanks.

Originally posted by greenwing


Except for one problem:

It seems that the bars of the left and right of the screen when displaying a 4:3 picture, are wider at the bottom than the top...As much as 1/2 of an inch...Very distracting to me...Is their an adjustment for this somewhere that I have not found...

I am using a Samsung HD TS160 reeiver connected via DVI on input 7...I can find ajustments for moving the screen left and right, but that does not change the problem of the bars being wider at the bottom of the screen...

I also turned on the input for the regular tuner (even thou I do not have cable or an ant connected) and the gray bars were similar there...So I do not think it is an input source problem...


I have had similar complaint with mine. In a 4:3 picture, the R bar is straight and the L bar is wider at the top than the bottom. When watching a movie with horizontal bars, the top bar is wider on the R than on the left, so it makes the picture look a little tilted to me. Its not off as much as you're describing, but it was enough that I noticed and measured it. The 4:3 doesnt bother me, only bothersome when watching movies with horizontal bars.

There isnt any type of adjustment for this in the user menu, but I wonder if there is geometry adjustment in the service menu. Was this possible on the GWII or has anyone seen it in the GWIII SM?

Should the black horizontal bars be perfectly straight or is this "normal" and I'm just too darn picky?

Originally posted by Shus
Should the black horizontal bars be perfectly straight or is this "normal" and I'm just too darn picky?

I would settle for not perfect...But it does appear the picture in 4:3 mode is tilted, like you say...I do not use 4:3 often either, but there are lots of HD movies and shows that are not displayed in 16:9 with no way to get rid of the bars...

I just took a ruler to the screen...It is not distorted 1/2 inch...Slightly more than 1/4... but is very distracting when viewing shows with the bars and needs to be fixed...

greenwing,

I wouldn't find this acceptable and would call for service.

Originally posted by Troy
greenwing,

I wouldn't find this acceptable and would call for service.

Just got off of the phone with SONY...They are contacting a local repair tech and will contact me within 3-4 days...

I'll wait 3-4 days until a tech looks at it before considering returning it to CC...Even thou CC has a great return policy, it isn't that easy returning a large screen TV...:-)...Repacking, taking it back, exchanging it, unpacking the new one, and possibly end up with the same problem or worse yet, the same problem and dead pixels...This unit seems to not have a single dead pixel that I can see...

Everything else on the set seems great...

Originally posted by Troy
greenwing,

I wouldn't find this acceptable and would call for service.
As the wise man said, "Me too." On a Samsung DLP they would replace the light engine but then the issue would be whether the service person knows how to get it straight. Sometimes a replacement is easier than a repair.

Good luck. :)

Originally posted by greenwing
Even thou CC has a great return policy, it isn't that easy returning a large screen TV...:-)...Repacking, taking it back, exchanging it, unpacking the new one, and possibly end up with the same problem or worse yet, the same problem and dead pixels...This unit seems to not have a single dead pixel that I can see...

Everything else on the set seems great...

I guess that's the good thing with buying from sears. Even though they charge you $40 for shipping, that pays for all the back and forth returning shipping if you need to do a return or multiple exchanges.

Just received my 70XBR950. Picture is great. I have it hooked up to
DTV and OTA antenna. My installers did an excellent job. Hopefully, I will not experience the problems others have had with their Sony LCD sets.

Originally posted by muskyhunter
Just received my 70XBR950. Picture is great. I have it hooked up to
DTV and OTA antenna. My installers did an excellent job. Hopefully, I will not experience the problems others have had with their Sony LCD sets.


O.K. we want pictures.

By the way, do you see any convergence errors anywhere on the screen??:D

I'll do my best to get some pictures. I did not notice any convergence
problems. I looked for color fringing on menu texts when installers
set up TV, and did not see any like the ones shown in previous threads. Also, I told the dealer about this problem along with red push and blue tint on picture b/4 TV was delivered. Dealer informed me b/4 delivery
that they inspected the TV for convergence problems. They also
tweaked the picture. I bought this set sight unseen. So far, I am
happy with my decision.

Originally posted by bobby_t1
I went to the local Good Guys since I found out they have the 42" and 50" setup side-by-side.

I stood about 8.5' back from both sets, and with HD or DVD material, both TVs were perfect and I prefered the 50" obviously. According to the post above by pisay87, i sit middle of the theatre, so 50" works

But I then put on baseball in SD and things changed drammatically. I don't know much about adjusting the picture settings, but the way the salesguy was tweaking the sets, they both looked like complete a$$. The picture was REALLY dim, dark and not very colorful. When I mentioned this he said that this is their "neutral" settings.. is this true? In the GWIII's neutral settings, the picture looks as bad as I just described?

The 42" looked identical in size to my current 32" CRT. When measured, it had a diagonal of 33", so 1" larger in reality. To my eye, the 1" larger diagonal was completely indistinguishable.

On the 50", the SD picture looked great in 4:3 (non-stretched) mode and looked significantly bigger than my 32" CRT. The Diagonal was measured to be 40".

The pictures were really grainy when showing the SD, but nothing surprising. At 8.5', things were a bit close for the 50", but if I was 9' back, i think it would be okay. the 42" just didn't seem big enough and didn't give that "big picture" feel at 8.5'.

I am going to have to wait until I get my new sectional sofa delivered in November and I get the Ikea Oppli stand. Since the TV will be in the corner, the stand is wide enough that it can only sit so far back. So i'll get an accurate measure of what my typical viewing distance is going to be. The sectional sofa I have has recliners on both ends, so that's where a lot of my viewing will be from, so I think that may put me much closer than 8.5' which may force my hand for hte 42". I'll keep you guys posted.

let me get this straight, your saying a 42 inch GW111 is only 33 inches on the diagonal, i thought all dimentions given for tv's meant on the diagonal, therefore, 42 inch tv should be 42 inches diagonal, if this is true then i would definately have to look at the 50 inch.

I think what he was talking about was the area a 4:3 program covers unstretched on the 16:9 screen.

Originally posted by iluvtv
let me get this straight, your saying a 42 inch GW111 is only 33 inches on the diagonal, i thought all dimentions given for tv's meant on the diagonal, therefore, 42 inch tv should be 42 inches diagonal, if this is true then i would definately have to look at the 50 inch.

I believe he is comparing his 42" 16:9 TV to a 32" 4:3 TV. Seems like he is saying that a 4:3 image on his new widescreen is equivalent to watching a 32" 4:3 TV. But I could be wrong.


"...i thought all dimentions given for tv's meant on the diagonal..."

Anyway, I can assure you that your thinking IS correct (basically)...

Gotcha ;)

Originally posted by greenwing
I would settle for not perfect...But it does appear the picture in 4:3 mode is tilted, like you say...I do not use 4:3 often either, but there are lots of HD movies and shows that are not displayed in 16:9 with no way to get rid of the bars...

I just took a ruler to the screen...It is not distorted 1/2 inch...Slightly more than 1/4... but is very distracting when viewing shows with the bars and needs to be fixed...

I just saw on my new 42" a slight geometry problem. When watching 4:3 cable -- the right side on the bottom is higher than on the left side... prob. about a little over 1/8th of an inch. It is not a straight line on the bottom of the picture. This causes the right veritcal bar to be higher on the top then on the bottom also. I called tech and they will send out someone on Saturday to take a look. I have no dead pixels, so I don't want to return the tv. I'll let you know what happens. Hopefully they can fix from service menu.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, what did you do?

So that's 2 "uneven bars" problems so far. Anyone else? I'm trying to decide between the 50" GWIII and the 50" Panasonic. Did anyone else compare these two, and why did you go with the Sony? Thanks.

Hey -

New topic to discuss in this thread. I know one of the biggest complaints about the Sony GWIII is the black level.

However, I noticed something odd about the black level on my GWIII. I use closed captioning and it appears to me that the background for the captions are really deep black - even deeper black when there is a scene change (e.g. screen goes to black during a program). At that point the background black of the captions is even darker than the "black" of the screen! I hope I am making sense.

Anyway this got me to thinking, especially when another user by the name of "softeng" postulated elsewhere in this forum that the GWIII uses only a portion of the RGB color space, something like 16-223 (this is from memory so I could be wrong) out of a possible 0 to 255 values for the RGB space. What I'm getting at is if the background for the captions is using a color code of 0,0,0 to overlay the captions then this would imply that the GWIII is really capable of displaying even deeper blacks for video sources than it is currently doing so now. As it stands, it is only using the lowest value (16) of its RGB color space which is not truly black as it can be for video image processing.

Well, I hope that made some sense or will someone tell me I'm just raving away here.

-- Bill

I had thought softengr's comments were with regard just the DVI interface of the GWIII, not to its overall use of the RGB colorspace. I could be wrong, though.

On my 60" GWIII, it appears that the side bars are gray at times and at other times a much darker color, almost black. Has anyone else experienced this or know why this is?

new user here, just bought my 50" GWIII on saturday and found out about these forums earlier this week....love the set, playing xbox on it for any length of time makes my eyes hurt and watching sports on regular cable with the back and forth motion makes it look like i'm on drugs, but other than that i'm extremely happy with my purchase....now time to figure out if i should ditch my overly-large bush galaxy entertainment center i used for my previous 56" RPTV for a smaller, more minimal one....looking forward to reading more good info on this forum!

Troy

Can you tell us when you see the difference? i.e. daytime vs night time, 4:3 material vs widescreen.

Originally posted by Troy
On my 60" GWIII, it appears that the side bars are gray at times and at other times a much darker color, almost black. Has anyone else experienced this or know why this is?

Troy,

On my 50" GWIII, I get gray bars with my cable box when the HD channel is actually broadcasting in HD and 4:3. If the HD channel is broadcasting SD and 4:3, then the bars are black. The cable box is Scientific Atlanta 3100HD. Hope this helps.

Jim

Troy,

I have 42" GWIII and Scientific Atlanta 3250 box. I was lucky to be served by a great cable guy. He connected the box to TV via two cables: component for HD and S-Video for SD. I can watch all channels via component cable, but then I get the gray bars on SD channels. The bars on HD channels are black even with 4:3 picture. To get rid of gray bars on SD channels, I switch to S-Video.


BTW, I recommend those who have SA 3100HD to ask for an upgrade because, as I understand, 3100 box upconverts all HD signals to 1080i, thus making GWIII sets to internally "downconvert" to 720. 3250 box passes HD signals in their native format.

Just had the 60" GWIII delivered last night, thanks to all the posters for their input, this TV is excellent!

Got my 50" GWIII yesterday also got my HDTV Cable box installed same day the set is awsome.

Originally posted by liloatavs
BTW, I recommend those who have SA 3100HD to ask for an upgrade because, as I understand, 3100 box upconverts all HD signals to 1080i, thus making GWIII sets to internally "downconvert" to 720. 3250 box passes HD signals in their native format.

By default, the 3250 also passes HD signals as 1080i ... you have to change this through the advanced settings. It can be changed to 480i, 480p, 720p or 1080i

Also, if you don't want to change back and forth between component and s-video for SD because you don't like the gray side-bars, the 3250 can also be adjusted to stretch or zoom (though neither is as good as Sony's Wide Zoom IMO). When you switch over to s-video, the 3250 does not seem to display the channel guide (at least on mine), so if I'm just surfing around, I'll let the 3250 stretch the picture, but if its something I really want to watch, then I flip over to s-video and let the GWIII do its job of scaling and zooming the picture, which is better then the 3250.

I'm still waiting for my DVI cable, so I haven't had a chance to try the 3250 hooked up to the DVI port, but I was told that the software TWC downloads to the 3250 currently has the DVI port disabled. Can anyone confirm that, and if true, does anyone know when TWC will enable it? I will try myself as soon as my DVI cable arrives.

One of the troubles with TVs, especially big screen TVs, is that they are ugly when not in use and are simply staring back at you. I have attempted to avoid this problem with an armoire. It took quite a bit of hunting to find one that would fit my 50" GWIII (and I love this TV). Attached is a picture of the armoire open. I will follow up with another picture of the armoire closed. I would happily answer questions about it (and, yes, I know that the dbxII in the picture is older than many members of this forum, but it still works great).

And here is the armoire for the Sony, in the closed position.

Thanks for all the help regarding the gray bars. I just got back from CC and was talking to a really knowledgeable salesman (at least he was convincing) and he suggested I take back my Time Warrner SA 3100HD box and get a Pioneer which has a DVI out. He thought the DVI connection would slightly improve HD and also improve regular cable a little more. He said you could also set it so that it fills the screen better for SD cable in the settings menu but I don't remember exactly what it would do. He said they are still giving out the SA boxes, trying to get rid of them, and you have to ask for the newer Pioneer box. I called TWC and they are switching out my box for a Pioneer next week when they receive more in. Now to buy a DVI cable, Monsters are $100 I think. He also said that TWC hasn't picked up ABC on HD because TWC wants special pricing which has stalled the negotiations and that ESPNHD is associated with ABC so don't expect that to happen anytime soon on TWC. He expects ESPNHD to go premium and be bundled with a couple other HD channels at an additional monthly fee in the near future. Any thoughts on any of this?

Don't waste your money on a Monster Cable. Any DVI cable will do. There are postings in other Topics about on-line vendors. I paid about $20 at a local computer superstore.

Originally posted by RLG
One of the troubles with TVs, especially big screen TVs, is that they are ugly when not in use and are simply staring back at youThat all depends on your tastes and current decore... though, I agree that having that TV sitting out wouldn't go very well in your room. Now, I didn't buy the TV for anyone else's benefit, but since I am spending about $3k on it, I want others to see it whether it's on of off :D My set gets delivered next week, so my mind may change after I get it into the living room.

Originally posted by greenwing
Whew...This is a lengthy thread...I looked thru but did not see anyone mention a problem similar to what I am having...

I just set up a new KF50WE610 from CC...I am very pleased with this set...

Except for one problem:

It seems that the bars of the left and right of the screen when displaying a 4:3 picture, are wider at the bottom than the top...As much as 1/2 of an inch...Very distracting to me...Is their an adjustment for this somewhere that I have not found...

I am using a Samsung HD TS160 reeiver connected via DVI on input 7...I can find ajustments for moving the screen left and right, but that does not change the problem of the bars being wider at the bottom of the screen...

I also turned on the input for the regular tuner (even thou I do not have cable or an ant connected) and the gray bars were similar there...So I do not think it is an input source problem...

Any suggestions on my being able to correct this or do I need to exchange this thing for another one?

UPDATE TO ABOVE:

Received a call from SONYs tech support...He told me that they agree that this uneven bar thickness has been a problem with these LCD sets...He said they have not been able to figure out exactly what causes it yet...He did say that sometimes the problem can occur when the set is not level...I tried tilting the set forward and backward but nothing changed...

If others have this issue it might be worth a shot to verify that the set is level...

Other than that, he agreed to send out a tech to be on site for the problem...Expecting someone here Tuesday...

Does that mean these GWIII are defective from the factory? Does that apply to all of them?

Originally posted by mightihd
Does that mean these GWIII are defective from the factory? Does that apply to all of them?

It obvously is not a problem with all of the sets...Lots of people here with the set do not have this problem...

Won't know why it is defective until a tech gets on site to check it out...

But the SONY tech I spoke with said they have seen the problem before and are trying to figure out what it is...That's about all I know right now...

That's a bummer, greenwing- good luck with your repair/exchange. Is it really noticeable on the 4:3 from your viewing distance? Does it affect any other viewing modes- say, on full screen, is the image where those bars would be distorted at all?

Could you provide a picture, GreenWing?
I'm thinking get it online but if there is a potential risk on this set, I gotta get it from retail.

Thanks.

Originally posted by nickasu
That's a bummer, greenwing- good luck with your repair/exchange. Is it really noticeable on the 4:3 from your viewing distance? Does it affect any other viewing modes- say, on full screen, is the image where those bars would be distorted at all?

I have not seen a situation where the bars are displayed and the problem was not there...i.e. Any time I see the bars, the left side bottom is 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch wider...The right hand bar is fine...

When in full screen mode without bars, I see no problem at all with the borders...No solid color around any of the edges to indicate the screen is not straight...But the plastic border on the set does not allow me to see the exact edges of the picture...

To me it is very noticeable from about 10 feet away...But may not be a problem for everyone...But for 3k, I don't want to have to look at it and know it's bad...:)

Originally posted by mightihd
Could you provide a picture, GreenWing?
I'm thinking get it online but if there is a potential risk on this set, I gotta get it from retail.

Thanks.

I dont think it would show up in a small photo...

I'm not trying to scare folks off from the set...i think it is great so far...Except for this one issue...

I'll post what the tech finds out tuesday...

As long as you get the set with a warranty, SONY should fix it if there is a problem...I don't know if they sell them online without a warranty do they?

I am looking at the 60" GWIII TV...

No one has it on display here and the measurement specs do not distinguish between the base width and the TV's width.

Can someone tell me the width of the base for the KF60WE610 unit?

Thanks,

George

Believed to be about 42". Not yet checked with a tape measure.

Newbie here, what model is everyone refering to when talking about the GWIII? The XBR models or the non XBRs? I ruled out Sony LCD's a bit back because I saw some of the non-XBR sets and wasn't all that impressed. Now I see people choosing the "GWIII" over the Sammy DLP's (which is what I am leaning towards) and I wanted to know what model numbers to look for (50" preferably) when looking for a GWIII. Thanks!

I just received my 50" Hitachi yesterday. I actually had purchased a Sony GWIII first, but before I received it swapped it out for the Hitachi.

I hooked it up last night to SD television via S-Video cable (DirecTv Feed) and the picture was decent. However, both myself and the wife noticed some slight issues with the signal. It almost looks like extra noise in certain parts of the screen (a mix between ghosting and artifacting). I decreased the image size by using one of the PIP options (with picture side by side) and it went away completely. My guess is this is caused primarily by blowing up the DirectTv signal to the ~41" 4:3 signal.

So getting to my question - Does Sony do a better job in processing SD signals or if I exchanged the Hitachi for the Sony would it be about the same?

Also would the Hitachi processing affect SD signals?

"New Virtual HD™ 1080p processor:
Upgrades conventional signals for a sharp, well-defined picture" - What exactly does this do?

Any insight would be appreciated. I like the Hitachi more then the Sony in several ways, but if the picture would be better on the Sony I would rather get it instead.

Thanks,
Daethang

It's been reported here that all the Sony GWllls have the same base measurement of 40" wide. My 60" arrives next Wednesday. My Bello stand from StandsandMounts.com arrived yesterday. Boy, are they seriously lacking customer service but that's another story for another thread!

As for the grey bars on the Sony. I also have a Sony RPTV although not a GWIII and I noticed when watching SD on Normal mode, the grey bars were slightly different widths.

I went into Service Mode and adjusted VPOS, HPOS, VSZE and HSZE similar to a PC monitor to get the image centered, have a bit of overscan and make sure very little of the letterboxed content was being cut off by the Zoom mode.

I apologize if this solution has already been ruled out.

Jason

Gavilan,

I believe that people on this forum generally refer to all latest generation of Sony LCD RP TV sets as GWIII. As far as I know, XBR models (60" and 70") has not been actually released yet. Once it happens, people may have to be more specific in their posts. On the other hand, in previous discussions, people stated that the video engine (LCD chip, optics) on all GWIII are the same. XBR models may have brighter lamp (if I remember this correct).

Originally posted by RLG
And here is the armoire for the Sony, in the closed position.


I too need a solution (to meet the WAF) that will allow my gadgets to be hidden. I'm looking at a 60" though.

Can you give us some info on where you found this one?

Thanks!

John

Originally posted by daethang
So getting to my question - Does Sony do a better job in processing SD signals or if I exchanged the Hitachi for the Sony would it be about the same?There are threads comparing the Sony and Hitachi, look around. From what I've read most who've done side-by-side comparisons think they handle SD about the same.

Originally posted by jasonsirota
As for the grey bars on the Sony. I also have a Sony RPTV although not a GWIII and I noticed when watching SD on Normal mode, the grey bars were slightly different widths.

I went into Service Mode and adjusted VPOS, HPOS, VSZE and HSZE similar to a PC monitor to get the image centered, have a bit of overscan and make sure very little of the letterboxed content was being cut off by the Zoom mode.I don't know about the SM settings, but there is an option called Game in the user menu where you can move the picture left or right by quite a bit. The strange thing is, if you do this when the GWIII is in 4:3 mode, it doesn't affect the black bars at all, it moves the picture from side to side but the black bars stay in place.

"I am looking at the 60" GWIII TV...

No one has it on display here and the measurement specs do not distinguish between the base width and the TV's width.

Can someone tell me the width of the base for the KF60WE610 unit?

Thanks,

George"


Our stand for the 60" GWIII is :

SU-GWI 54-1/8"W x 16-1/8"H x 21-1/2"D

Assembles in about 20-30 minutes and is heavy.

Originally posted by liloatavs
Gavilan,

I believe that people on this forum generally refer to all latest generation of Sony LCD RP TV sets as GWIII. As far as I know, XBR models (60" and 70") has not been actually released yet. Once it happens, people may have to be more specific in their posts. On the other hand, in previous discussions, people stated that the video engine (LCD chip, optics) on all GWIII are the same. XBR models may have brighter lamp (if I remember this correct).
The non-XBR GWIIIs are the 42WE610, 50WE610, and 60WE610.

If you saw one of these and didn't like it then it must have been displaying a bad source or really screwed up. JMHO.

The XBR GWIIIs are the 60XBR950 and the 70XBR950. Both are in limited release here and there with more general availability expected in late November. A couple of forum members have reported buying each of them, and have generally reported improved PQ and physical appearance from the WEs. There is a thread on this subject out there somewhere.

Yes, it does appear the two have the same light engine, but the XBR has a finer, higher-contrast screen and (perhaps) better optics that are apparently allowing it to put out a better overall picture than the WEs (deeper blacks, better contrast ratio, less screen door, etc.).

I don't know any of this for sure since I haven't seen one, but it is promising.

Originally posted by liloatavs
Gavilan,

I believe that people on this forum generally refer to all latest generation of Sony LCD RP TV sets as GWIII. As far as I know, XBR models (60" and 70") has not been actually released yet. Once it happens, people may have to be more specific in their posts. On the other hand, in previous discussions, people stated that the video engine (LCD chip, optics) on all GWIII are the same. XBR models may have brighter lamp (if I remember this correct).

More precisely, the XBR models have:
- A glass screen with finer lenticular pitch and double anti-reflective coating. It appears black when off instead of grey
- A totally digital video processing engine. There is one stage of this engine that differs from the GW version as far as I can tell, but I'm not 100% certain
- A built-in terrestial receiver
- The same lamp, operated at 120 watts instead of 100 watts.

Originally posted by roblake
Believed to be about 42". Not yet checked with a tape measure.

Could you let me know when you check.. I am deciding on stands soon. 42" seems kinda narrow for a 64" width TV so any confirmation of this size is greatly appreciated.

Thx,

George

Originally posted by TS45
"I am looking at the 60" GWIII TV...

No one has it on display here and the measurement specs do not distinguish between the base width and the TV's width.

Can someone tell me the width of the base for the KF60WE610 unit?

Thanks,

George"


Our stand for the 60" GWIII is :

SU-GWI 54-1/8"W x 16-1/8"H x 21-1/2"D

Assembles in about 20-30 minutes and is heavy.

Thanks but I would like to know the exact width of the base so I can consider other stands.

George

Originally posted by wxperson
Thanks but I would like to know the exact width of the base so I can consider other stands.

George


George

Burried in one of these threads, it's said that the base is 40" wide with a 12" overhang on either side. The depth is 23" which is the full depth of the base. The TV is not as deep as the base, but the base depth is to keep it from tipping over in case you have climbing kids or earthquakes(same as kids lol).

These threads can take a long time to read when you're only needing one bit of information. What helped me is what's called the slow search located at the top of the screen. It'll give you more responses and narrows your search criteria better than the quick search at the bottom of the screen.

Happy viewing.

However, the installation diagram for the XBR GWIIIs shows a base depth of 16" and mentions a "Toe Kick". No measurements on the Toe Kick, but I believe it to be a pull-out finger/toe to keep the set from tipping.

Finally got my GWIII 60" on Wednesday of this week. I have had llimited time to play around so far but am looking forward to it this weekend. Here is my solution for a cabinet / stand.

Pat
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php?photo=4441&password=&sort=1&cat=503&page=1

Originally posted by Pat6366
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php?photo=4441&password=&sort=1&cat=503&page=1

NICE!

Pat

Nice setup. Who did you get your TV from?

Jim

Jim, Thanks, I didn't get mine through a chain, I got the TV through an appliance store in NJ. They do not expect to have anymore available until December.

Pat

Originally posted by wxperson
Thanks but I would like to know the exact width of the base so I can consider other stands.

George

The 60" Sony LCD "base" is approximately 39.5" wide and 20.5" deep. Approximately 3.5" of the depth is two small stabilization feet that go out the back and about 2" of the depth is in the way the front curves out. I have it temporarily sitting on a 16" deep x 52" w library table with the base flush in the front and it seems very stable although if it were to go backwards for any reason it would be stopped by a wall. I would feel better if the TV were fastened to the stand, or better yet the wall, but we don't have any pets or small children that would likely cause this set to fall and this setup is temporary.

The total dimensions are approximately 63.5" w, 41.75" H and maybe 23" deep (this measurement was difficult to get but the front of the screen is approximately 26" from the wall behind the TV and there appears to be 3-4" of clearance behind the TV. I do not guarantee these measurements in any way (I did them twice and did use a tape measure) but they should give you an idea of what size you are dealing with.

If the TV is fastened to the stand in the back or to the wall ( the Sony stand comes with a fastening strap in the back according to the manual and is recommended since these TVS are big, fairly light, top heavy when on a stand, and could easily be knocked over by a climbing child), I would think that the stabilization feet could be left to hang over the back of the stand like I am doing. I hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info.

Originally posted by wxperson
Thanks but I would like to know the exact width of the base so I can consider other stands.

George

Heya George. I called Sony a couple weeks ago for exactly this reason (although I ended up getting the Sony stand anyhow :rolleyes: ). Had to work my way through 4 people, but they finally got me an answer from engineering. The base is 40.25" wide by 20.5" deep. Hope this helps you.

Originally posted by roblake
However, the installation diagram for the XBR GWIIIs shows a base depth of 16" and mentions a "Toe Kick". No measurements on the Toe Kick, but I believe it to be a pull-out finger/toe to keep the set from tipping.
According to the preliminary cut sheet that I saw the "toe kick" adds another 7 inches to the depth of the base: 23". It is important to keep the set from falling on top of small children and crushing them with its massive glass screen. The width of based on the 60" XBR, if I remember right, was around 36", thinner than the WE.

I measured again on my 60" Sony LCD and the toe kicks are about 3.5" long and the depth of the base is 20.5" (included the toe kicks) which matches the Pre-release Cut Sheet I received before ordering the TV. The Cut Sheet also shows the base width at 40.25" ( I measured 39.5") and the distance from the furthest front point (front of the base) to the furthest back point (about the center of the screen) is 21 3/8". I think that horse is about beat to death but if you need anything else, let me know.

Well Calgary, Canada has yet to get any 60" GWIII in yet. I was able to finish paying my layaway before the TV even got here. It is very cruel indeed, when you see the 42" and 50" models sitting there and there is nothing you can do but look at them.

60" models are supposed to be here Nov 7! OH MAN! Well at least they threw in a Plateau stand for free.

Greggy

Try different retailers. My Circuit City has 2 in stock at the local store. The Sears store doesn't have any nor does the warehouse they pull from. Would you like to guess where I have mine ordered? :(

Ok so I got my 50" GWIII today. So far here are my initial thoughts ..love the picture on DVD..haven't gotten the HD cable box from Comcast installed yet.

SD looks good to ok depending on the source. Sometimes it looks a little soft, other times grainy. Of course I watch alot of TV through ReplayTV so the compression is probably the cause. I've adapted DLiquid and Compfan's settings and that seemed to help. Does anyone actually use VIVID mode? Seems a little harsh and "torch like" to me.

Some of the things that I don't like:

- no stretch mode that just stretches the sides of the picture and leaves the middle intact. I use ZOOM when watching 4:3 but it really chops way too much off the bottom and top. I tried to fix it in the vertical size setting but its still not enough. Wish they had that gradual stretch mode that they have on Hitachis and Pannys.

- no buttons on remote to directly choose an input. Loved this on my old 43UWX10B. I hate cycling through inputs. I tried to find some discrete codes to use with my HTM MX-700 remote but to no avail. Anyone know of any discrete codes for this new model?

- no ability to rename the inputs other than the pre-chosen labels they have. Ugh. For example, there is no set label for something like DVR or TIVO or DVDR for my DVD recorder etc. I also liked being able to enter in something like XBOX instead of the pre-chosen label they have called GAME. But this is a minor annoyance. :rolleyes:

All in all though I'm pretty happy with this purchase. It's replacing my trusty 43UWX10B. Here's a pic of my setup. The stand was from Ikea and I bought 3 and set it end to end to make a 90" long base. Goes good with my minimalist modern decor. Notice the juxtaposition of the picture on the screen and my lamp..hahaha.

http://home.earthlink.net/~vrome/tv1.JPG



-

Greg, sorry to hear you don't have any out west. I got mine from FutureShop and I even had it replaced with another (due to an internal shadow problem).


VROME, Sony products in general have great support for extended IR codes. Take a look here:
http://www.anycities.com/rhm5757/sony_home.htm

Kev

I just received my Sony KF-60WE610 earlier today. I'm not going to go indepth in this post, but I can say that this unit produced an outstanding picture on standard channels via my Comcast DCT-5100 box. The HD channels look incredible, and I have yet to perform any tweaks as of yet. It's my homecoming weekend so I probably won't have an indepth view until Sunday, but I can say that the picture doesn't become significantly grainy no matter how close you are to it. This seems to hold true for DVD's (progressive output/component) and my X-Box/HD pack setup. Standard cabel stations have a warmer feeling to them, and I don't feel as though I'm being cheated on these stations..............finally!!!! I have posted a gallery which consists of some pics of my setup. I know my wire management needs some improvement, but bear with me. I just started setting it up:)

http://ftw.truckmoxie.com/mygallery.ten?id=5857&album=12084

Originally posted by hummer28
I just received my Sony KF-60WE610 earlier today.
http://ftw.truckmoxie.com/mygallery.ten?id=5857&album=27048

Did you get it here in Atlanta? I would like to see one if it is set up in a store somewhere.

Originally posted by Shus
I have had similar complaint with mine. In a 4:3 picture, the R bar is straight and the L bar is wider at the top than the bottom. When watching a movie with horizontal bars, the top bar is wider on the R than on the left, so it makes the picture look a little tilted to me. Its not off as much as you're describing, but it was enough that I noticed and measured it. The 4:3 doesnt bother me, only bothersome when watching movies with horizontal bars.

There isnt any type of adjustment for this in the user menu, but I wonder if there is geometry adjustment in the service menu. Was this possible on the GWII or has anyone seen it in the GWIII SM?

Should the black horizontal bars be perfectly straight or is this "normal" and I'm just too darn picky?

Yeah, I've recently had my 50inch GWIII delivered and it has the same problem - when watching DVD movies with horizontal bars, the bottom bar is about 1cm wider on the right than on the left. Once you notice it, it is very distracting (at least to me). I think I will return the unit - it is very nice otherwise, but overall it's not a huge improvement over my 40inch first-gen LCD projection Panasonic. I think I'll keep the Panasonic for a couple more years and upgrade when it will make more sense to upgrade. Obviously I would definitely have exchanged/fixed the GWIII if I didn't already have the Panasonic.

Originally posted by durack
I think I will return the unit - it is very nice otherwise, but overall it's not a huge improvement over my 40inch first-gen LCD projection Panasonic.

Your Panasonic LCD was the first one I waited for.

Based on what I saw in stores then and what I see today, I'm amazed that you don't see much difference.

My reaction was that all three (Panasonic, Hitachi, and Sony) were significantly better. That tells me something about showroom setups.

Originally posted by htwaits
[B]Your Panasonic LCD was the first one I waited for.

Based on what I saw in stores then and what I see today, I'm amazed that you don't see much difference.


I think one of the reasons is that I only use my TV for analog cable and DVD. GWIII is noticeably better for analog cable with different noise reduction modes, etc. However, to my eyes the Panasonic definitely has an edge with DVDs - GWIII picture is too noisy/grainy and if I play with image settings, it gets too soft and IMHO I lose details. The way Panasonic shows DVDs is perfect for me on default settings.

P.S. I have a Panasonic XP-50 prog scan DVD player.

PS. the GWIII looked AMAZING with a HD source in the showroom, but that's useless for me.

My wife pointed out that the new 60" XBR GWIII will be quite visible from the street as it sits in our living room and may attract thieves.

My computer gear is lashed to the desk/stand by security cables, inserted where the manufacturer has kindly provided a slot for the purpose.

Does Sony provide such a slot on the GWIIIs? They are light enough for a thieving pair to haul away ...

Re: Re: Left and Right Bars for 4:3 Mode

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Shus
I have had similar complaint with mine. In a 4:3 picture, the R bar is straight and the L bar is wider at the top than the bottom. When watching a movie with horizontal bars, the top bar is wider on the R than on the left, so it makes the picture look a little tilted to me. Its not off as much as you're describing, but it was enough that I noticed and measured it. The 4:3 doesnt bother me, only bothersome when watching movies with horizontal bars.

There isnt any type of adjustment for this in the user menu, but I wonder if there is geometry adjustment in the service menu. Was this possible on the GWII or has anyone seen it in the GWIII SM?

Should the black horizontal bars be perfectly straight or is this "normal" and I'm just too darn picky?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

on the 32" crt tube, there's a tilt adjustment for this problem. Maybe there's one for GWIII.

just ordered 42" GWIII, anxiously waiting!!!

Should the black horizontal bars be perfectly straight or is this "normal" and I'm just too darn picky?


IMHO, that's a small thing to ask of a TV that costs around 3K.

The picture 'left tilt' that you see was also present on my 50" GWII. Obviously some sets continue to have this fault. There is no physical or SM adjustment for this - the optical unit is hard mounted into the chassis.

My Sony 'Authorized' Techs devised a fix by physically shimming up 1 side of the optical unit to make it level. Not the best way to do things but it worked. While I have a level picture now, there is still some minor trapezoidal error with outside vertical lines being angled inwards slightly at the top. This is common also.

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but I haven't come across a thread that talks about this. I am planning on purchasing a GWIII (I'm still deciding between the WE610 and XBR950). Both of these sets have two composite inputs. Here's my dilemma. I plan on hooking up a cable box (Scientific Atlanta 3100HD), an XBox, and a DVD player. (Denon DVD-1600). Ideally I would hook them all up using component inputs, but the GWIIs only have two inputs! How are you all hooking up more than two component inputs? Are you downgrading to S-Video for additional inputs? Thanks.

Originally posted by junior_jam
Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but I haven't come across a thread that talks about this. I am planning on purchasing a GWIII (I'm still deciding between the WE610 and XBR950). Both of these sets have two composite inputs. Here's my dilemma. I plan on hooking up a cable box (Scientific Atlanta 3100HD), an XBox, and a DVD player. (Denon DVD-1600). Ideally I would hook them all up using component inputs, but the GWIIs only have two inputs! How are you all hooking up more than two component inputs? Are you downgrading to S-Video for additional inputs? Thanks.

I use an AV receiver with component inputs. Cable box goes directly to the TV via component and XBOX and DVD go to the AV receiver component inputs, then the component output from the receiver goes to the TV--switch btwn these two with the receiver.

Just a heads up to you CANADIAN GWIII 60" buyers. Futureshop slashed the priced from $XXXX to XXXX until Nov 6 2003. I had just finished paying off my GWIII from The Sony Store and when I showed them the Futureshop price the Sony Store had no problem matching the price for me. So I ended up getting a high end Center Channel and component cables for free. If anybody is in the same boat rush off to your dealer and see if you can get some money back. My Sony salesman said that only one other guy had come in showing the Futureshop price.

[ Edit- Forum Pricing rule ]

I think my wife and I have decided the Sony 42" GWIII is the unit we're going to spring for... I've had some reservations about buying ANY HD display because what we've seen so far of the SD/analog signals on these sets has left a bit to be desired, but after looking at it again today we've decided we can live with it - assuming we can squeeze the display into our entertainment center. Too bad Sony didn't design the cabinet for these units with the speakers below the screen instead of "stuffin" a 43" display into a 47" cabinet...

Two questions:

1) Have I read correctly that some users have been able to connect their GWIII unit to a computer using a standard DVI connector? The product specs at circuitcity.com say this unit is not "PC Compatible" And I definitely want a unit that I can use as a computer display.

2) Anybody have any experience connecting one of these units to a TiVo recorder? Are the pictures acceptable using the medium recording quality, or is a higher quality recording required?

I'm sure I'll have more questions....

Thanks,

--PS

Originally posted by driver49

1) Have I read correctly that some users have been able to connect their GWIII unit to a computer using a standard DVI connector? The product specs at circuitcity.com say this unit is not "PC Compatible" And I definitely want a unit that I can use as a computer display.
--PS
If you just want a PC monitor then I think some have been able to do it. I'm not sure how good it looks.

If you want a HTPC for DVD and other inputs then I don't think it is a good choice.

Check here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2828696#post2828696

Faxman:

Regarding the Armoire that can contain the GWIII, you may find it at http://www.frenchheritage.com/Templates/collectionDetail.cfm?ProductID=1012&CategoryID=1

You may wish to check the company for local stores that carry it. I found it tough to find a great deal of online access to these pieces.

The company is called French Heritage and although its offices are in Los Angeles, the furniture is made in a number of places (France, Italy, Indonesia, etc). The armoire in the picture is made in France.

Good luck on the 60". The Opening to the armoire that I have is 53" but the interior diagonals permitted the 50" GWIII to angle into the unit quite comfortably. The piece measures in the exterior as 64 1/2” W x 89” H x 27” D. If you want, I can give you the interior diagonal and width, so that you can check to see if you can get your 60" GWIII into it. But the 50" works well with it and leaves a great deal of room for the "other necessary stuff."


Bob

What's "HTPC" ? I've not seen that acronym before.

--PS

Originally posted by driver49
What's "HTPC" ? I've not seen that acronym before.

--PS

Hi,

Look here..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/glossary.php?s=&ltr=H

Home Theater PC :)

<edit> Barrybud beat me to it, I didn't realize there was a glossary, that's great</edit>

I will be getting a 60" XBR when they come out. Anybody have a source that they were satisfied with in the SF Bay Area (price is important!). You can PM me with details.

PS. I will be using it as a HTPC with a Radeon 9600 pro. This combo seems to work. Opinions?

Thanks!:)

I am interested in the GWIII LCD TV and also the Samsung DLP.

One of the folks at Hi FI Buys (Tweeter) here in Atlanta mentioned that one of the knocks on the SONY LCD is that under certain conditions it has a "screen door" affect.

I am not sure what that looks like but I can imagine based on its name :-)

Does anyone know what conditions this might appear and also has this been improved with the GWIII model... specifially the GW60WE610.

Thanks,

George

Hmmm... I wonder if your "screen door" effect is what I noticed yesterday.

Trying to get the folks at any of these major retailers to demonstrate any of these sets under the variety of "real world" conditions" that a customer is likelyto encounter is a challenge that borders on impossibility, but during one switch to an analog signal, I did observe what could be described as a "screen door" effect, i.e. some low-level, diagonal "banding" that moved across the picture. It looked to me like what I would call "RF interference," which is to say artifacts from the weak RF signal that was used for this demonstration, which would have been a fraction of the available signal split across hundreds of TeeVees in the showroom. I'm guessing that a store like Hi Fi Buys would exhibit similar characteristics.

I suppose what I saw COULD have been an undesireable effect demonstrated by the set itself, but I don't think there is any way to know what my own experience is going to be until I get the set installed. I better have the CC guys stick around until we get it set up, in case I decide to send it back with them....and I'll need their muscle to put my 250lb 36" CRT back in its place...

Anybody else know anything about a "screen door" effect? The fact that most posts here re: SD signals say the picture is pretty acceptable make me think it's a special "in-store-only" effect.

--PS

Screen door effect is when you see the separation of the individual pixels I think...For example you are close enough to the set to see the space between pixels...

wxperson,

Follow the link and scroll to the bottom. This shows an exaggerated screen door effect with different technologies.

Screen Door (http://www.cineos.philips.com/d_p_lightengine.cfm)

It appears that you are looking through a screen at the picture. Some also seem to be calling it the veil effect too.

Originally posted by driver49
-snippage -

2) Anybody have any experience connecting one of these units to a TiVo recorder? Are the pictures acceptable using the medium recording quality, or is a higher quality recording required?

I'm sure I'll have more questions....

Thanks,

--PS
On Sunday (10/26/03) I switched out a 27XBR36 for the GWIII 42. I reconnected my VTR which has a Tivo as one A/V input and DBS on the other running into the GWIII. From my 8-9 foot viewing distance, the medium setting is still acceptable for the time-shifted viewing I use the Tivo for. The component input from the DBS is gorgeous.
PS - I went with the GWIII over a Sammy for the way the Sony treats SD material.
YMMV

If you get close enough to see the individual pixels then you are too close :).

However, the "screendoor" effect can become evident from farther away, typically on rapidly panning images. The visual effect is that the picture seems to lose depth and you perceive a kind of "screen" over the top of the image. I believe this is a combination of the pixel separation and the lenticular screen. Most people cannot see it with normal images, but is perceived by more on a rapid pan.

It really has to do with your eyes actually seeing the pattern of the "screen", and can occur on other sets as well to some extent (e.g. DLP).

BTW, the finer lenticular screen of the XBR series is purported to help with this, but I haven't seen it yet to verify. I actually have only seen the "screendoor" on very rare occasions.

OK, now I get what "screen door" is supposed to refer to (from post a couple before this one). That is definitely NOT what I saw ystdy at CC. Now I'm more certain that what I saw was RF interference. I could probably see the "screen door" effect, but only if I pressed my nose to the CRT... I usually don't view from quite that close...

--PS

Thanks for the replies on "screen door".

I think the salesperson was referring to was when there is alot of rapid motion on the screen. Perhaps this is not screen door.. but he called it that.

Based on the lack of complaints about this on the forum, I am assuming this is not a "major" issue. If I am wrong, please let me know.

Is there a major issue if comparing this to the DLP? The price difference is considerable (between the DLP and LCD).

Thanks,

George

For me, the issue of Sony GWIII LCD -v- Samsung DLP is less one of price than one of quality. The Sony picture looks better to my eye (and my wife's, which is far more important to please....<g>). That it runs a few hunnert less than the Samsung only sweetens the deal.

And I don't mind not buying a machine with a 'color wheel.' Hell, I wrote the book about how obsolete wheels are in TeeVees (literally... I wrote the book!) so it would be sorta hypocritical for me to buy a machine with a wheel...

--PS

Originally posted by BTDT
If you get close enough to see the individual pixels then you are too close :).

However, the "screendoor" effect can become evident from farther away, typically on rapidly panning images. The visual effect is that the picture seems to lose depth and you perceive a kind of "screen" over the top of the image. I believe this is a combination of the pixel separation and the lenticular screen. Most people cannot see it with normal images, but is perceived by more on a rapid pan.


Tisn't screen door, my friend, but either:

* pixelization due to reaching bandwidth limits (smooth panning of a complex image requires a big data pipe), or...
* processing limits in the electronics of the display device.

There are always "pixels" with a digital device -- what you are describing is a period when resolving each individual pixel taxes the ability of the data supplier (or the data display) and they revert to fewer and therefore larger pixels.

I asked about this very issue in the AVS chat room last week and the consensus was that it is typically a bandwidth problem (since most display devices these days have pretty good processing power).

Cheers.

"Sceen Door" is nothing more than the gaps (black) between pixels. Walk up to any plasma set and you will see a grid of fine black lines. At some point, as you back away from the screen, you will no longer be able to see the black grid around the pixels.

The width of the black lines determines how close to the screen you have to be to see the "screen door".

Different technology (Plasma, LCD, DLP, and LCoS) have different sized gaps between the pixels. LCoS seems to have the smallest gaps. For that reason, you have to get closer to a LCoS screen than a Plasma screen to see the "screen door".

You need the eyes of an eagle to see these gaps from normal viewing distances.

wxperson:

I own a Samsung DLP and have very few complaints (if any) with the unit.

After participating in this forum for the past 8 months or so, I've noticed that you'll find that there is no silver bullet that makes the choices between different technologies clear cut.

The keys to making your decisions should be based on:

1) your budget;
2) what you think looks better;
3) the amount of information on the forum for "tweaking" if you're so inclined; and
4) realize that if you're an early adopter of a particular model or technology type that there are benefits (e.g. bragging rights) and risks (e.g. sometimes all the kinks aren't worked out).

IMHO, I like DLP. When compared to a plasma TV, the DLP was cheaper and had a better picture (i.e. a much deeper black level). The plasma had the advantage of being flat.

The RPTV LCD from Sony or Panasonic for that matter are very nice sets. I don't believe the black levels on the LCDs are quite as good as a DLP, but depending on your room set up and your viewing habits, that may not make a difference to you.

If you need to make a buy decision today, I don't think you can really go wrong buying an LCD or a DLP based RPTV.

Originally posted by rclams
Tisn't screen door, my friend, but either:

* pixelization due to reaching bandwidth limits (smooth panning of a complex image requires a big data pipe), or...
* processing limits in the electronics of the display device.

There are always "pixels" with a digital device -- what you are describing is a period when resolving each individual pixel taxes the ability of the data supplier (or the data display) and they revert to fewer and therefore larger pixels.

I asked about this very issue in the AVS chat room last week and the consensus was that it is typically a bandwidth problem (since most display devices these days have pretty good processing power).

Cheers.

That finally makes sense to me, because when I notice this effect, the pixels look very big, like several small pixels putting out the same information. Although I would think this would still be made worse by more space btwn the pixels (screen door). I wonder if DVI would mitigate this to some extent?

Not that this would make any differences the eye could see, but I'm a bit confused as to the real GWIII resolution (WE610). SonyStyle.com says it's 3.28 million pixels (1386 x 788 x 3), while Gwinetttv.com (which posted early GWIII specs and manuals) lists it as 3.15 million pixels (1366 x 768 x 3). Crutchfield's latest catalog also lists it as 3.15 million pixels yet Crutchfield.com lists it as 3.28 million pixels (1386 x 788 x 3). I believe the resolution has in fact increased to 3.28 million pixels from the GWII at 3.15 million pixels. Which is correct?

3.28 million pixels is correct. Original marketing literature had this mistake (or earlier design?) and it got replicated into those sites/catalogs.

As to DLP vs. GWIII as "better": Very subjective in terms of the individual viewer. For many people DLP looks brighter, sharper, and more solid. For others the exact same picture looks wavering, unsubstantial, and perhaps strobing. For the latter group, the GWIII is a clearly better choice.

Originally posted by roblake
My wife pointed out that the new 60" XBR GWIII will be quite visible from the street as it sits in our living room and may attract thieves.

My computer gear is lashed to the desk/stand by security cables, inserted where the manufacturer has kindly provided a slot for the purpose.

Does Sony provide such a slot on the GWIIIs? They are light enough for a thieving pair to haul away ...

Curtains and or blinds are a must.

The "screen door effect" is simply the ability to see the boundries of pixels on the screen. I can see them on my 42" and they may be more obvious on a 60", but trust me you will not see it from any reasonable viewing distance.

Don

Can we get some GWIII owners posting the seating distances? What distance does the screen door take effect? I sit 13' from my 27", so I imagine I will be fine with a 50" at 12'. Yes/No?

Originally posted by patrickgillette
Can we get some GWIII owners posting the seating distances? What distance does the screen door take effect? I sit 13' from my 27", so I imagine I will be fine with a 50" at 12'. Yes/No?

I sit 11.5 ' from my 60", and I rarely see any screen door effect - certainly never with a high quality signal (HDTV or 480p from Toshiba SD3109 DVD). I was extremely worried when I got the set, because it's obviously way too close of a seating distance ... but it looks great to me. It took a little work to get the SD signals to a tolerable quality, but watching a High Quality production like ER or NYPD Blue in 16:9 HD is absolutely gorgeous ... even from that distance.

What sort of "work" did you do to get the SD signals to a "tolerable quality" ? When you speak of SD, are you talking only of "digital" signals, or are you referring to the analog (NTSC) signals as well?

FYI, I purchased my 42" GW III yesterday and expect to have it delivered around noon today... gonna be a tough day to get anything along the lines of "work" done...<g>

--PS

I have the 42" GWIII and plain analog cable. PQ on SD material is outstanding.

I sit about 10 ft from the set.

The bigger the screen size, the more of a challenge good looking SD material becomes. The 42" is a great size for SD and DVD/HD both.

Once SD goes away, the larger set size will probably be in order. By that time, I'll be ready for another set. Now, I'm very happy with PQ on everything I watch on this set.

On my 60" LCD I loose all screen door at about 7-8'. I could easily watch the 60" at 12', maybe closer. SD is pretty good, not at all as bad as I expected.

Originally posted by Troy
On my 60" LCD I loose all screen door at about 7-8'. I could easily watch the 60" at 12', maybe closer. SD is pretty good, not at all as bad as I expected.


Does anyone know if the screen door affect with the 60" GWIII is the same, better or worse on Samsung DLP?

Thanks,

George

Any tips on pumping up the black levels? I have the 42" GWIII. I read a post by softengr about painting the inside of his cabinet black... but frankly, it strikes me as kind of whacko. I've tried out the menu settings posted earlier in this thread, and they've helped. Is there a setup menu tweak that can boost the blacks? (I'm not one to crack open up my TV and break out the spraypaint, but I will fiddle with software...)

Originally posted by mweflen
Any tips on pumping up the black levels? I have the 42" GWIII. I read a post by softengr about painting the inside of his cabinet black... but frankly, it strikes me as kind of whacko. I've tried out the menu settings posted earlier in this thread, and they've helped. Is there a setup menu tweak that can boost the blacks? (I'm not one to crack open up my TV and break out the spraypaint, but I will fiddle with software...)

Anyone who SPRAY paints near a precision optical system is nuts! The aerosols can and will drift into the LCD panels and lenses. If you think a few stuck pixels are bad, wait till you see a 0.89" LCD panel with 0.089 paint droplets!

If you are going to do this painting, use a brush!

Good point about spray paint - not that I would ever do such a thing! Just giving a crazy example. Although, if I were to ever do anything so nuts, I'd spraypaint it separately and let it dry separately for a few days.

Hi, I've got the 60" GWIII on the way. Do you think this coffee table would work as a stand?

Rectangle Mission Coctail (http://www.oakplus.com/store/store.cgi?action=search&keyword=&category=Mission%2BFurniture&sku=&skucategory=&listall=&targetsku=ROY7010-2546.)

5/4 solid oak plank top
25 x 46 x 16H

Here's an update to my post about how much I paid with sears for the 50" GWIII. Originally, I tried cashing in on a $400 pricematch to CC, use a 10% off coupon and a sears card 10% promotion. Dep't manager told me I couldn't combine all 3 promotions even though I was told on the Sears 1-800 # that I could.

So at the time, Sears had the TV for $x299, and CC had it for $(x-1)899. Sears only did a 100% pricematch (instead of 110%) and then took 10% off for sears card. End price was $(x-1)609.

I called the 1-800 # to ask about why I was told something diff't and why the pricematch policy was changed to 100% instead of 110%. District manager called me back and wanted to rectify the situation.

End result was that he gave me the two 10% off and the 110% pricematch. So end price was an amazing $(x-1)315!

Circuit City just came to deliver my 42" GW III.... and I had to send it back to the store.

Our television lives in a very nice corner-set enteratiainment center/armoire. I carefully measured the available space, and even made a "template" of sorts to compare the display unit with the opening to see if it was gonna fit.

Make a long story short, it wouldn't fit. The 47" cabinet that houses the 42" screen would not wedge through the available opening. The unit was a whole 1/2" too wide. The CC guys and I stared at it for about 15 minutes, and tried to wedge it in another way, but it was just not going to go in.

The Samsung DLP would fit, no prob, because the one thing Samsung did right (in my humble estimation) was put the speakers beneath the screen instead of on the sides. Putting a 42" screen in nearly 48" housing... well, whaddya gonna do?

So before they left I had the CC boys hoist my old 250# 36" CRT back into the cabinet.

I read in Fortune magazine this week that everybody and their brother is coming out with new LCDs in the coming months, we'll just have to wait and see what the other manufacturers come up with. Having seen the LCD, we really don't want the DLP. Why pay more to get less?

What I need is a display like the Sony GWIII 42"in a thin bezel/housing like the Samsung DLP 43" - that will slip right in to the available space - and fill it quite handsomely. I'm willing to wager that what I need will show up within the next 90 days... but it probably won't be a Sony. I've been watching Sony's for like 30 years and just hate to switch...

<*sigh*>. What a bummer.

--PS

Originally posted by driver49
Circuit City just came to deliver my 42" GW III.... and I had to send it back to the store.

Our television lives in a very nice corner-set enteratiainment center/armoire. I carefully measured the available space, and even made a "template" of sorts to compare the display unit with the opening to see if it was gonna fit.

Make a long story short, it wouldn't fit. The 47" cabinet that houses the 42" screen would not wedge through the available opening. The unit was a whole 1/2" too wide. The CC guys and I stared at it for about 15 minutes, and tried to wedge it in another way, but it was just not going to go in.

The Samsung DLP would fit, no prob, because the one thing Samsung did right (in my humble estimation) was put the speakers beneath the screen instead of on the sides. Putting a 42" screen in nearly 48" housing... well, whaddya gonna do?

So before they left I had the CC boys hoist my old 250# 36" CRT back into the cabinet.

I read in Fortune magazine this week that everybody and their brother is coming out with new LCDs in the coming months, we'll just have to wait and see what the other manufacturers come up with. Having seen the LCD, we really don't want the DLP. Why pay more to get less?

<*sigh*>. What a bummer.

--PS


driver49:

"I feel your pain" to quote Clinton. Too make a long story short I picked up my 42" GWIII yesterday. I love it, great picture especially on SD and best of all NO visible bad pixels. Speaking of "bad" we just remodeled the fireplace wall and I think it looks good and fits in fine; although it could be a little smaller (speakers give it too much width). My one problem is the set may have to go back to the dealer.....the wife is VERY unhappy and it will cost more to "ship her off" than the price of the TV. I'll be very disappointed if I have to return it.....heck, I just got a new subwoofer to go with it and the picture and sound is EXCELLENT!

I have been following this thread (and some others on GW III) for a few days.

I plan to pick up the 50" set shortly and am trying to figure out the best deal - with lowest prices

A lot of you have mentioned about Pricematching to CC or other stores at Sears - I have been checking CC BB etc but have not seen this set advt for lower than the list price??..........am I missing something here ?

Any help would be really appreciated.

On the screen door, it takes me about 2.5 screen widths to get rid of most of it, occasionally still see it. I can still see the "silk screen" effect, irregularities in the screen. Someone should do an aftermarket screen for this thing.

"And I don't mind not buying a machine with a 'color wheel.' Hell, I wrote the book about how obsolete wheels are in TeeVees (literally... I wrote the book!) so it would be sorta hypocritical for me to buy a machine with a wheel... "

My sentiments exactly, Kinemacolor projectors came out in the early 1900's with color wheels. Hopefully 3 chip DLP will be coming and then the race is on with LCD flat panel (my take on the future).

Resolution: I thought the resolution of this set is a bit less than 1386 x 788
since misconvergence or aberration would degrade the effective resolution a bit. Its not 3.28 million, it makes no sense to multiply by 3.

"...the wife is VERY unhappy and it will cost more to "ship her off" than the price of the TV. I'll be very disappointed if I have to return it..."

If she is not happy, you won't feel like watching TV :D.

Sony sells it direct for the same price as CC. I do notice that CC offers a $300 gift card if you buy the TV... so that is 10% off... sort of..

Call around your area and see if you can find anyone lower.. then get into the price matching routine. Tweeter is in NJ.. they usually price match.

It worked fairly well here in Atlanta as I got the 60" for about 13% under list. (still to be delivered).

Originally posted by starlights
I have been following this thread (and some others on GW III) for a few days.

I plan to pick up the 50" set shortly and am trying to figure out the best deal - with lowest prices

A lot of you have mentioned about Pricematching to CC or other stores at Sears - I have been checking CC BB etc but have not seen this set advt for lower than the list price??..........am I missing something here ?

Any help would be really appreciated.

Sony sells it direct for the same price as CC. I do notice that CC offers a $300 gift card if you buy the TV... so that is 10% off... sort of..

Call around your area and see if you can find anyone lower.. then get into the price matching routine. Tweeter is in NJ.. they usually price match.

It worked fairly well here in Atlanta as I got the 60" for about 13% under list. (still to be delivered).

Got a 10% off card from BB in the mail this morning.

Originally posted by greenwing
I just set up a new KF50WE610 from CC...I am very pleased with this set...

Except for one problem:

It seems that the bars of the left and right of the screen when displaying a 4:3 picture, are wider at the bottom than the top...As much as 1/2 of an inch...Very distracting to me...Is their an adjustment for this somewhere that I have not found...

I am using a Samsung HD TS160 reeiver connected via DVI on input 7...I can find ajustments for moving the screen left and right, but that does not change the problem of the bars being wider at the bottom of the screen...

I also turned on the input for the regular tuner (even thou I do not have cable or an ant connected) and the gray bars were similar there...So I do not think it is an input source problem...


UPDATE TO ABOVE:

Received a call from SONYs tech support...He told me that they agree that this uneven bar thickness has been a problem with these LCD sets...He said they have not been able to figure out exactly what causes it yet...He did say that sometimes the problem can occur when the set is not level...I tried tilting the set forward and backward but nothing changed...

If others have this issue it might be worth a shot to verify that the set is level...

Other than that, he agreed to send out a tech to be on site for the problem...Expecting someone here Tuesday...

Well, the tech showed up today...Looked at the TV and said there was nothing he could do and that being off 1/4 of an inch or so is within SONYs specifications...He did not even try the service menu or anything to see if there was something that could be done...

I called SONY back and told them what he said, and they agreed...There is nothing they can do to fix it...

I guess I will be taking this 50" puppy back to CC...SONY really wasted my time on this...They should have said there was nothing they could do when I called them the first time...I guess they were not as concerned about the problem as I was led to believe...

Originally posted by driver49
Circuit City just came to deliver my 42" GW III.... and I had to send it back to the store.

[snip]
The Samsung DLP would fit, no prob, because the one thing Samsung did right (in my humble estimation) was put the speakers beneath the screen instead of on the sides. Putting a 42" screen in nearly 48" housing... well, whaddya gonna do?
[snip]
<*sigh*>. What a bummer.



Sometimes height can be a problem also.

How about making the frame/bezel as small as possible on sides/top/bottom with speakers that could attach where they fit best (or remain detached).

In the proper enclosure, they could look like plasma units!

Originally posted by greenwing
I guess I will be taking this 50" puppy back to CC...SONY really wasted my time on this...They should have said there was nothing they could do when I called them the first time...I guess they were not as concerned about the problem as I was led to believe...
Sony? Concerned? Get real. ;)

Originally posted by htwaits
Sony? Concerned? Get real. ;)
I have used SONY service before on my VPL10HT front projector...They were excellent...

This time around several levels of tech support people called me back for info and additional details on the problem...It APPEARED they were concerned...

What gets me is why they went thru the process of sending a tech out at all, if there was nothing that can be done...:confused: Maybe it was a stall to see if I continued bitching about the picture being lop-sided...Who knows...

One thing all of these companies need to start realizing is that forums like this can make there product and service look good or bad...

Do the 42" GWIIIs have this save "lop-sided picture" problem as you're describing with the 50"ers? Say yes, and I'll feel better about having to send my 42" back to the store without even turning it on... :(

-PS

Originally posted by driver49
Do the 42" GWIIIs have this save "lop-sided picture" problem as you're describing with the 50"ers? Say yes, and I'll feel better about having to send my 42" back to the store without even turning it on... :(

-PS

I couldn't say...I can't comment about all the 50"ers either...I can only comment about the set I purchased...

I'm sure there are others with the same issue thou...Some with issues with the bars on top or bottom and some with issues with the bars on the left and right...

In fact one of the SONY techs that called me at first did specifically say that this is a common problem with their LCD sets...