Hi everybody,

I am an overall happy owner of 42" GW III (for about two months now). Recently I noticed a (perceived?) problem that might have existed before. I am not sure about before… Did I change some settings? I do not remember. I have tried to find any references to it in the existing AVS messages but by now GWIII has got so much coverage that it becomes more and more difficult to siphon through all the threads.

Anyway, my problem is that when watching regular TV broadcast via cable box (SA 8000), the TV screen very often goes dark (flickers?) when the broadcast switches to/from commercial, between commercials and sometimes between the broadcast segments (for example, during transition from one report to another on CNN). It looks similar to changing channels. What are your observations in this respect?

If the flickers or darkening occur during program transitions, rather than channel changes, input changes, resolution changes, etc., this would seem to be something on the programmer's or broadcaster's end or even your cable company. Maybe one of the broadcast engineers in this forum could explain.

Watch a DVD or VHS tape. If it doesn't act up it's either the cable box or a headend problem. If it's a headend problem everyone sees it so it should be fixed real soon. If your cable box has a bypass function try that to bypass the box and put the cable right into the TV. Or you can move the cable from the box to the TV. You can still get the analog channels without the box.

Thanks s2silber and TV21CHIEF. I believe that some of the channels come unscrambled (very few) so I can try to view them bypassing the box and see if there is a difference.

I've got an opportunity to purchase a GWIII 42" that has been on display at a store for 1 month. They are offering a discount since it is open box.

Aside from cosmetic blems, is there something else I should look for before buying this?

Cost was a big reason why I hadn't purchased one yet, so the discount is a big help to me.

Any suggesstions appreciated.

Just make darn sure they'll honor the full warranty like it came out of the box. If it's been on the floor for a month, that would put it's manufacture date in the September/October region that has been having problems with lamp failures. I got my first one off the floor too and just had it replaced yesterday because the lamp failed. See the "GWIII buzz" thread.

Originally posted by liloatavs
Anyway, my problem is that when watching regular TV broadcast via cable box (SA 8000), the TV screen very often goes dark (flickers?) when the broadcast switches to/from commercial, between commercials and sometimes between the broadcast segments (for example, during transition from one report to another on CNN). It looks similar to changing channels. What are your observations in this respect?
I had a Sony DVD player that did this. On scene changes or rapidly changing images like explosions the entire display would lose sync/flicker. I believe that what was going on here is that the S-Video output of the DVD player was overloading the input on the TV. So, your problem could either be your cable box or the particular input on your GWIII. Let's assume it's the former for now and see if your cable company can help you out.

I've been reading for 2 months information on this TV (on this site and others) and we finally purchased a 50" 2 weeks ago. So far, it's been great!

Questions:
(1) I've read that a high viewing angle is a really bad idea, right now it's up about 4-1/2 feet while a cabinet is being built (can we say headache and neck pain). Anyway, the way the room is built, the TV is intended to be above the fireplace. The lowest we can get it is 38 inches. Will we still have the neck pain and headaches when the TV is lowered? Does anyone actually have the TV at this high of a viewing angle?

(2) My other concern is the gas fireplace, we never use it except if the power goes out. If the TV is off, will it be safe to use the fireplace or could the heat harm the TV?

FYI: Even without the fireplace, I still need to have the TV up high because it's in the family room and we have a baby crawling around. Would a 42" have been better? No matter what it has to be at least 38 inches high.

Originally posted by bsgoren
Similar experience so far with my 60" GWIII. I'm very happy and the WAF is through the roof! She may actually like it as much as me...surprise, surprise. :D

My 50" GWIII was delivered yesterday, and although a couple of stuck pixels (red and blue) showed up a few minutes after turning the set on for the first time I'm still pretty happy with it.....especially when watching HD and DVD (dish network feed is "acceptable"). The sales person from the GG actually called me to confirm that the set had been delivered, and he said that if the stuck pixels persist then he will have a new one delivered, but basically I would be at the bottom of the waiting list (250 orders!). Knowing that the stuck pixels are there kind of bothers me, but I quickly forget about them when watching anything from my normal 8' viewing distance (they become invisible, and you have to be really looking hard for them if you want to see them).
One thing that I really like about this set is the fact that I can not see my own reflection on the screen.

Originally posted by bigthys
My 50" GWIII was delivered yesterday, and although a couple of stuck pixels (red and blue) showed up a few minutes after turning the set on for the first time I'm still pretty happy with it.....especially when watching HD and DVD (dish network feed is "acceptable"). The sales person from the GG actually called me to confirm that the set had been delivered, and he said that if the stuck pixels persist then he will have a new one delivered, but basically I would be at the bottom of the waiting list (250 orders!). Knowing that the stuck pixels are there kind of bothers me, but I quickly forget about them when watching anything from my normal 8' viewing distance (they become invisible, and you have to be really looking hard for them if you want to see them).
One thing that I really like about this set is the fact that I can not see my own reflection on the screen.

I was wondering....how easy is it to spot a stuck pixel? What exactly am I looking for. I have had my 50" GWIII for about 2 weeks now. No buzzing at all. My sofa is only about 8 - 9' from the TV.

Why does everybody want to look for defects in thier TV's? I just sit in my chair and watch it. If they're that obvious, THEN deal with it. I'm sure if I got a magnifying glass and put white and black screens up I'd find some. Then I WOULD see them on normal video because I know where they are.

Originally posted by TV21CHIEF
Why does everybody want to look for defects in thier TV's? I just sit in my chair and watch it. If they're that obvious, THEN deal with it. I'm sure if I got a magnifying glass and put white and black screens up I'd find some. Then I WOULD see them on normal video because I know where they are.
Maybe not. I have two stuck greens and although I know where they are I can't see them, even when looking for them, from 8'. The advice given by others is exactly correct: if you can't see them from normal viewing distance after having watched a variety of content for a few weeks, what's the point of looking for them up close? To know you have a perfect set? Uh, well, that's why I looked. :) But I don't care that it's not, I love the picture and the two greens are as good as non-existant.

Lamp buzzing would be a different story since it seems to indicate forthcoming lamp failure, but I've never heard a buzz from my set. In fact, I can't even hear a fan when I turn it off. But I keep my place cold. It keeps my DVDs fresh. ;)

Originally posted by Scafremon
I've got an opportunity to purchase a GWIII 42" that has been on display at a store for 1 month. They are offering a discount since it is open box.

Aside from cosmetic blems, is there something else I should look for before buying this?

Cost was a big reason why I hadn't purchased one yet, so the discount is a big help to me.

Any suggesstions appreciated. As TV21CHIEF states, make sure you get the full warranty. It might also be wise to get the extended, but that is up to you.

One thing that made me rethink ever getting a floor model was being in a Sears at closing time. They were turning off the lights and just flipped a switch to turn off 50% of their TVs. I don't that that would be healthy for the Sony, since it runs the fan for a while to cool the bulb.

Originally posted by TV21CHIEF
Read the GWIII thread. It's more than reseating the lamp. If you don't want to read the whole thing just read the last handfull of posts. there's light at the end of the tunnel.

And it's my recommendation to NOT put black or white screens up and find bad pixels. Put a normal picture on it and watch it from your chair/couch and forget about pixels. If it's bad enough for you to see them that way then they're REALLY bad.

Almost all digital tv is going to blur on motion. We're doing a much better job with compression these days, but it's still not perfect. Like I said, I didn't know a whole lot about the buzzing...

As for the pixels, he clearly asked what tests could be performed to find the dead pixels. Using the white or black screen does make it easier to find them. I also clearly stated:
However, most people will say that if you can't see them from normal viewing distance, DON'T GO LOOKING FOR THEM!@!

With that said, one should use their typical programming to determine whether or not you like the set. I was close to keeping mine with more than a dozen stuck/dead pixels until I watched a scene in Tombstone (where Curly Bill crosses the screen) and one of the red pixels lit up like a laser.

Originally posted by moeronn
One thing that made me rethink ever getting a floor model was being in a Sears at closing time. They were turning off the lights and just flipped a switch to turn off 50% of their TVs. I don't that that would be healthy for the Sony, since it runs the fan for a while to cool the bulb.

I have heard from the PJ forum that the fan running on after lamp power down was primarily to prepare the lamp for a quick restart if it was desired, not to prevent the lamp from overheating (it IS off after all).

Not knowing for sure, it seems to be a careless way to deal with your floor stock. The owner's manual warns against it.

I have changed my mind! I previously posted that I saw no difference between the XBR and non-XBR. WRONG!! I had only been able to see a 50" WE compared to a 60" XBR and they did look about the same. The other day I finally saw a 60" WE compared to a 60" XBR. What a difference. The XBR looked noticleby brighter, sharper, smoother and overall better. Greatly reduced sparkle not to mention a far better viewing angle, especially vertically. The set was raised 33" to the bottom of the set I could not see a difference in brightness from standing to sitting! AMAZING, I have never experienced this with a RPTV before. It makes sense that Sony doesn't make a 70" WE, it wouldn't look good. They also don't make a 50" XBR probably because the difference in picture would be too small to justify the price IMHO. Anyway, I am definitely changing my mind towards the XBR. Anyone looking at a 60" should consider the XBR. Also, I think anyone concerned with vertical viewing angles should consider the XBR.

Originally posted by mnc
I have changed my mind! I previously posted that I saw no difference between the XBR and non-XBR. WRONG!! I had only been able to see a 50" WE compared to a 60" XBR and they did look about the same. The other day I finally saw a 60" WE compared to a 60" XBR. What a difference. The XBR looked noticleby brighter, sharper, smoother and overall better. Greatly reduced sparkle not to mention a far better viewing angle, especially vertically. The set was raised 33" to the bottom of the set I could not see a difference in brightness from standing to sitting! AMAZING, I have never experienced this with a RPTV before. It makes sense that Sony doesn't make a 70" WE, it wouldn't look good. They also don't make a 50" XBR probably because the difference in picture would be too small to justify the price IMHO. Anyway, I am definitely changing my mind towards the XBR. Anyone looking at a 60" should consider the XBR. Also, I think anyone concerned with vertical viewing angles should consider the XBR.

I have to disagree with some of your points. I have a new 60" GWIII (WE610 and love it, btw) and I saw a friend's 60" GWIII XBR a week ago. I didn't see much of a difference if at all (and he allowed me to play with the user menu settings which I have tweaked on my set). You're right that the XBR may be a bit brighter with the same lamp being pushed to 120w (vs. 100w for WE610), but it's not so apparent that there's an obvious increase in PQ beause of it.

The XBR screen does have more reflections (but it doesn't have the WE620's slight SSE - silk screen effect that the WE610's anti-reflective screen texture causes). The XBR may have a few more user menu adjustments, but again, to my eye, I couldn't tell much of a difference in PQ. To me, it didn't look sharper or smoother than my WE610, but again, everyone has their own personal opinion. I have not done any SM tweaks to my WE610 (and so far, I don't plan on it unless I decide to get it ISF Calibrated down the road), but I would imagine that some of umr's SM tweaks and other SM changes might improve both the We610 and XBR's PQ a bit.

I admit the XBR's look and "floating screen" are cool and make it look more like a Plasma flat-panel display, but IMHO, the PQ alone doesn't justify the added cost (for me). Others may pereceive a huge increase in PQ or the built-in OTA HD tuner might be important or the XBR's different looks may justify the added expense. I do agree that people looking at the GWIII's and DLP's for that matter, should look at all of them and compare the WE610 to the XBR so they can decide for themselves. ;)

Did you not notice an increased viewing angle on the XBR?

Originally posted by mnc
Did you not notice an increased viewing angle on the XBR?

No, I wouldn't notice anyway because I have my GWIII sitting on it's appropriate stand, the Sony SU-GW1 so it's at the correct height. If I'm standing up watching my GWIII from my kitchen (about 20 feet back), it looks fine to me. However, I thought according to the specs of both the WE610 and XBR, that they both have the same vertical (60 degrees) and horizontal viewing angles (130 degress)?

IMHO, I think they both look very similar in PQ and unless, you have an unusal setup (like the tv up very high or your seating position high - as most people won't be watching a lot while standing up :) ), then I don't think the vertical viewing angle is all that important.

60" WE and XBR are both wonderful. Feel good about your purchase and live a long and fruitful life! :)

Originally posted by BTDT
60" WE and XBR are both wonderful. Feel good about your purchase and live a long and fruitful life! :)

Here, here...Let's drink to that! :D

Originally posted by jeffvb9
I was wondering....how easy is it to spot a stuck pixel? What exactly am I looking for. I have had my 50" GWIII for about 2 weeks now. No buzzing at all. My sofa is only about 8 - 9' from the TV.

I don't suggest that you go looking for stuck pixels. For the most part, you would almost have to have your nose right on the screen to see these stuck pixels. The more obvious ones are red and blue. It is very difficult to see these stuck pixels (even the red and blue) from a normal viewing distance. So, if you don't see any from your couch....don't worry about it!:cool:

Originally posted by dan57
I am a brand new member here and a first time poster (mercy please if I am doing something wrong.) I have decided to buy the 50" Sony LCD projector, but before I do, I want to set my mind at ease about an issue. I will be using this with my home theater setup and switching everything through my home theater receiver (an Onkyo Integra). I have been using the Harmony remote control as my wife is able to turn everything on by pressing one button. I want to know if this will be a problem with the Sony. The reason for my concern is that I read somewhere in this thread that the Sony doesn't have discrete input codes for the video inputs (or something like that, not sure if I understood correctly). Anyway, is there anyone out there who is using the Harmony with this TV and could give me some guidance? Thanks.

I am using the Harmony 768 with the KF50WE610. The Harmony has no problems switching directly to the input you define in your activities. The Harmony database has the KF50WE610 in it and the setup lists all the video inputs individually. There's no need to cycle through them.

A note about using a receiver to switch all your video. I am planning to do the same thing but have found an issue with PIP that I'm still working on for a best solution. If one of your PIP's is going to come from unscrambled cable directly into Ant-A (assuming your A/V can't accept this input like mine can't) you have to get the audio back to your A/V rec (because you've turned off the tv's onboard speakers, right?). When using PIP in this circumstance your receiver has to keep switching back and forth. So in your Harmony you have to send that signal to the receiver. The problem is after turning on PIP and switching back and forth you can get the video and audio out of sync. I think the solution is to program a custom PIP menu (available in all activities) with menu items that send both a video ir to the TV and an audio ir to the receiver each time.

I've only discovered this problem last night so I haven't had time to do it yet, and I'm likely to be shoveling snow for the next 24 hrs. :)

sorry, new here

what xbr are you referring to? Is it a big screen or the directview xbr?

Originally posted by chkelly
sorry, new here

what xbr are you referring to? Is it a big screen or the directview xbr?

GWIII XBR LCD RPTV (KDF-60XBR950) and the GWIII non-XBR LCD RPTV (KF-60WE610)...these are what all the buzz is about. :)

there are TWO versions of the grand wega??!?!??!?! I thought there were just 3 models (42,50,60). Im so confused :( :( :(

Originally posted by chkelly
there are TWO versions of the grand wega??!?!??!?! I thought there were just 3 models (42,50,60). Im so confused :( :( :(

Yes. The Sony GWIII (WE610) is offered in the 42", 50", and 60" while the Sony GWIII (XBR950) is offered in the 60" and 70" versions. See other threads in the Forum or see older posts in this thread for differences between the WE610 and the XBR. The XBR is considerably more expensive than the WE610; some will say the XBR offers better PQ, but most will say the PQ between the two are very similar with differences in cabinet and screen design and overall looks. Both have virtually the same electronics inside and offer the same pixel resolution. The XBR has a built-in OTA HD tuner and the lamp is pushed to 120w vs. 100w for the WE610. Both offer vast improvements in PQ over last year's Sony GWII LCD (XBR). If you're interested in either of these sets, it might be a good idea to read more threads in this Forum and do more online research as well as in-store comparisons. These are phenomenal LCD RPTVs and most will agree that they are some of the best RPTVs on the market today. Have fun! :)

Originally posted by bsgoren
GWIII XBR LCD RPTV (KDF-60XBR950) and the GWIII non-XBR LCD RPTV (KF-60WE610)...these are what all the "buzz" is about. :)
Literally.

bsg, i am currently just looking at the 42" so that will not affect me i guess. Thanks for the help

I am a brand new 60" owner and am watching Dvd's like Finding Nemo, I have a question is a dvd like Nemo (1:85 aspect ratio) supposed to fill the whole screen in "Wide Mode" under the "Full" Setting or am I supposed to be using something else.

oops Nemo is 1:78 ratio

Seems that "full" setting fills the screen horizontally with black bars above and below. I use full.

Originally posted by joselito
I am a brand new 60" owner and am watching Dvd's like Finding Nemo, I have a question is a dvd like Nemo (1:85 aspect ratio) supposed to fill the whole screen in "Wide Mode" under the "Full" Setting or am I supposed to be using something else.
If your DVD player is setup to connect to a 16x9 screen and you set your GWIII to "full" then you should get complete coverage of your screen when you play 1.85:1 or 1.78:1 Anamorphic -- Enhanced for Widescreen DVDs. Nemo is one of those DVDs. :)

For more than you probably ever wanted to know about black bars click on the link in my sig. Scroll done to the General section and click on the Black Bar thread.

Originally posted by chkelly
bsg, i am currently just looking at the 42" so that will not affect me i guess. Thanks for the help

Yes, the 42" is only offered as the KF-42WE610. I've had the 60" GWIII for about 3 weeks now and it's just about as "perfect" as it can get (excluding SM tweaks or ISF Calibration). No "buzzing," no stuck or dead pixels (but I don't want to jinx myself on that ;) ), no other problems that I can see or hear...just a beautiful razor sharp, bright picture with accurate vivid colors (especially in HD :D ). I know some people have had some stucks pixels (inherent problem with LCD RPTV) and/or a problem with the lamp or fan "buzzing", but the "buzz" I was talking about was the fact that the new Sony GWIII is all the rage! :D

i agree

i know newer TVs have problems with standard broadcasts, they dont look that good etc. Will it look bad with the sony 34" widescreen tube ? Or is it just the lcd/plasma/dlp that make the standard picture look poor

Originally posted by chkelly
i agree

i know newer TVs have problems with standard broadcasts, they dont look that good etc. Will it look bad with the sony 34" widescreen tube ? Or is it just the lcd/plasma/dlp that make the standard picture look poor

No, SD looks fine and HD looks spectacular on the LCD RPTV, DLP RPTV, and Plasma Flat-Panel displays; it's just that when you stretch a SD broadcast to fit any widescreen tv, you lose some quality. I have satellite, cable, and OTA digital/HD all connected through my Sony HD-200 SAT/OTA receiver, and all the broadcasts look fine. Quality of picture on my 60" GWIII is ranked as follows: 1. HD (1080i or 720p - D*TV Satellite or OTA HD) 2. OTA Digital 3. SD - D*TV Satellite 4. SD - Cable. This should be true for most tv's today. Note - I do not have "Digital Cable," only "digital" D*TV satellite with HD Package.

Obviously, any 1080i/720p HD broadcast will look better MUCH than SD...you can't get better than HD, but my SD D*TV satellite broadcats look fine when stretched to fit my GWIII or I can always set it to "normal" with no stretching it looks even better (but then there are black bars on the lfet and right). Now, my regular cable broadcasts stretched or not stretched look, well...acceptable, but that's just because it's a crappy analog cable signal.

I'm sure the HD broadcasts would look fine on a 34" widescreen HD capable CRT. But, you really can't compare any 34" CRT tv with a 42", 50", 60", or 70" LCD or DLP RPTV. There are just too many differences with these kinds of sets. If you really want more of a HT experience, then only a larger size will do. I suggest you read more on this Forum and go to the stores again to compare and play for yourself. Good luck. :)

Just wanted to contribute a note saying that after some indecision, I've decided to keep my GWIII 60", and explain why.

First, let me say I did not really set out to find "flaws" in my TV. However, I don't know about the rest of you, but to me, 3-4 grand is a lot to drop on a TV (just ask my wife), and I wanted to make sure mine did not have quality issues.

TV WATCHING HABITS:
By way of context: We're a 1-TV household. My primary reason for getting a bigscreen is to watch movies, the kind of movies that deserve a big-screen experience. The old 31" RCA just wasn't cutting it anymore. My wife and I don't watch much regular TV - we have an antenna in the attic (remember those?) - no cable or sat dish. However, that will likely change soon. If we HAD the option, I'd be watching Discovery, HBO, etc. We also don't watch sports, so that wasn't a consideration. I also don't currently own a game console, tho I'll probably get an XBox or similar when the next gen of hardware comes out, and the XBox is on deep discount. The no-burn in of these sets was a plus to me for that reason.

CONVERGENCE: There are what appear to be some slight convergence issues, toward the outside edges of the screen. (The white on screen display letters have rows of colored pixels at the edges.) But, since it is only really noticeable from a few feet away, it's a non-issue. I may try some service menu tweaks, but from what I've read, there may be no control over it (e.g. may be inherent in the design of the lenses, etc.)

FRINGING: My biggest concern was the "fringing" of dark objects on light backgrounds. But I went back to HH Gregg, and to my amazement, ALL of the LCD and DLP projection sets display the same artifacts - at least the 5 or 6 I saw in the store. Hitachi, Samsung, Sony. Once I realized it was not just my set, I decided to live with it. Yeah, maybe they'll solve those issues in a future version...but I'm tired of waiting.

STUCK PIXELS: I've seen 2 adjacent "stuck" pixels. I do NOT notice these unless I'm looking for them, or I'm 2 feet from the screen. Again, non-issue.

BLACK LEVELS: The black levels aren't ideal, but 95% of the time, I don't notice it.

SCREEN DOOR: I don't understand this "issue" - I can only see the pixel borders if I'm very close to the screen. WAY closer than normal viewing distance.

CONCLUSION:
This set delivers the in-home movie experience I was looking for. The picture is vibrant and warm. When the subwoofer and surround kicks in, it's just terrific.

SETUP:
TV: Sony 60WE610
DVD: Toshiba SD-1600, component outputs (Not sure if it's progressive scan - but I did an A-B comparison with a prog. scan unit, and could not detect a difference)
RECEIVER: harmon-kardon AVR 40 (5.1 Dolby surround)
SPEAKERS: a hodge-podge of misc. speakers.
VIEWING DISTANCE: about 15'

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PSC
[B]I am using the Harmony 768 with the KF50WE610. The Harmony has no problems switching directly to the input you define in your activities. The Harmony database has the KF50WE610 in it and the setup lists all the video inputs individually. There's no need to cycle through them.


Thank you so much for this reply as it is sets my mind at ease. If my wife can't turn the system on, I'll be in the dog house. Thanks for the words of advice on the PIP; I hadn't thought about this issue. PIP is not a high priority for me.

Stuck pixels question. I hate them, I truly do...a sore spot on the whole LCD technology but I may have to live with it as this line of sets seems the best cost/performance/weight combo. I do have a question on the warranty when it comes to these though...if anyone really know. The reason:

I ran into this with my laptop, where I had a dead cluster right in my work area. I had to fight the manufacturer (a major laptop player, name not to be disclosed) to service my brand new machine and fix the screen as it was disclosed that 'the industry' i.e. LCD manufacturers and their OEM clients (read, all the computer manufacturers and consumer electronics folks) had an 'agreement' that there are acceptable defects, as in stuck/dead pixels in new equipment and as such they are not bound to replace or fix said item if the defects fall within that range. I found this odd and later infuriating, as I was not part of that agreement and was not expressly warned at time of purchase. Fortunately, my laptop was eventually fixed and the company kept my business and good feeling. I swore then, however, that I'd never order an LCD product online again, and I would scrutinize the product before leaving the store. I don't money to burn on 'acceptably defective' merchandise...and I bet many of you out there feel likewise.

In short--be careful and read the fine print. Those that have read the fine print, what exactly IS Sony's stance on bad pixels in their fixed displays?

Originally posted by shanewalker
Stuck pixels question. I hate them
...snip...
In short--be careful and read the fine print. Those that have read the fine print, what exactly IS Sony's stance on bad pixels in their fixed displays? I'm not sure there truly is a 'magic number' of pixels where the manufacturer says they will definitely replace the set. It probably comes down to how big of a stink you make with the manufacturer. However, it seems most people here (myself included) are still dealing with the retailer - i.e. 30 or 60 day return/exchange policy and possible extended warranty. This seems to be one item where the warranty will actually pay off in the long run rather than just lining the pockets of the retailer. Only time will tell.

I haven't been able to read thru the massive thread yet but I thought I would chime in with what I'm experiencing w/ my 50" GWIII. I've had it for a little over a month now. Before my initial month was up, I noticed a green hue coming from the top right corner of the TV and then the bottom left of the TV. With bright color it isn't noticeable but with blacks it stands out. When watching the Two Towers EE the green hue on the bottom of the screen washes out detail. Even with no signal to the television, the hue can be seen as the screen is not one solid color all the way across. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

I work at BB part-time and I mentioned the problem I was having before my 30 days were up. They didn't have any 50s in stock so they didn't want me to return the TV yet. Now, I was told on Sunday that they weren't going to carry the GWs anymore because Sony cannot supply them enough. (I see there is a another thread started about this) So, I'm not sure how this is going to play out for me.

There is a thread about your "green" problem.

As for BB you might have to get a refund and buy somewhere else. If BB or Sony have terminated their GWIII connection, I don't see any other way you can get a "good" GWIII.

I have now had my GWIII 70 XBR for about a month and I am really starting to see what I would call "digitizing of the PQ". I saw it really bad when I was watching a cartoon. It looks like the image is not smooth at all. Has anyone seen this on their GWIII? Can this be fixed?

I've had a 42we610 for almost a week now. Things are great with it too. The only thing is the shut down. If I turn the set off, then back on before the whole two (or so) minute 'shut down' time (fan running), the set will not turn on. The green power light blinks continuously, and the fan never goes off. If I unplug the set and plug it back in, everything is back to normal.

I can appreciate the need for a shutdown cooling, but it is normal for things to go this haywire? This issue found me when I accidentally turned the TV off instead of the DVD player. I turned the TV right back on, and here we are.

Is this typical?

Hello, All.
I purchased my GWIII lastnight.
Of course the item was not in stock, but I should get it in about 7-10 days.
I ended up at UE. I thought I would ask for some help deciding on a dvd player for the the TV. I know there are lots of threads on the best DVD player, But I'm looking for one around $100.00
The sales man gave me a $80.00 credit on any DVD player they sell, So I have been trying to decide which one to get in that range.
Thanks,
Derek

:rolleyes:

williamtell - the GWIII has a cooldown routine that it runs through upon power-off. this routine should not be interrupted. (when people turn off all power to the set from a power strip, for instance, this can damage the bulb. You should always do a 'soft' power-off. ) So your TV not coming back on right away is probably normal, and for the best. Just be more careful.

DVDerek, if you just spent $2500-plus on a TV and now you want to skimp on a $100 DVD player, you should seriously be reexamining your priorities. Ever hear the phrase "garbage in, garbage out?" You could spend $100 on just cables for your DVD player if you get serious enough.

The players that seem to get the highest recommendations around the forum are by Denon and Bravo. Though I think my Sony 5-disc proscan changer is just fine, myself. But these are all above $175.

Oh my, who should we pick on first. Cheap DVD man or overpriced cable guy. ;)

Overpriced cable guy :) There are some great cheap DVD players out there.

hey, don't get me wrong. i spent $30 on my component cable personally. i'm just saying there are SOME people out there who want the $100 cables :)

My co-worker was talking about his $500 cables the other day. I think that's just a little too far for me.

^^ Depends on if they are worth $500 to him or or to you!

If you can afford X for cable Y does it matter?

dvderek: I'd go with something from Panasonic for the DVD player. They make a few different ones in different price categories, but all of them are good and inexpensive. They are a really good value.

Amazon carries them.

Sean

williamtell: I have the 60" version of this set. If I turn it off by accident, it lets me turn it right back on. In fact, the lightbulb stays on for a couple of seconds after turning it off before going off, probably for this reason. I've never had a case where I had to wait to turn it back on, even if I wait long enough for the lamp to completely turn off.

Maybe the 42" is different, but this sounds odd to me. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?

Sean

Thanks for the replys, I have more than one nice DVD player.
I was only saying, if they are going to give me one for free (well not really free) I would like to find the best possible one for the money.
I may have to exchange the player for cables later.
We will see.
Anyway thanks and look forward to getting the TV soon.
Derek

The best DVD player ever made was the Panasonic RP82 (about $200), it outperformed even boutique players costing 2 - 3k $. Unfortunately this was discotinued and all their current players have the CUE bug. To my knowledge the best reasonably price player out there now is the Dennon 2900. You can find more info. here by clicking on 'Progressive Scan Shooouts':

hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_3/dvd-benchmark-introduction-9-2000.html

There will be a new dvd shootout some time before christmas.

Silvertone

I've had my 50we610 for about 2 weeks, and I love it. My only real gripe so far is in the channel labeling. I decided to label the channels so that my wife and father could tell where they are. I got part way through and got an Out of Memory error. I checked the manual, and sure enough you can label only 40 channels!?!? What kind of genius does it take to decide to label only 40 when the tuner is capable of over 100. What did it save, a few hundred bytes? It's design decisions like these that make me worry about what's inside the set.

My gripe is similar to the one above but for the labeling of inputs. I want to name them any way I want not by a bunch of preset names which are mostly meaningless. ARGH! For example, I'd like to label an input DVDR for my dvd recorder...no such option with preset names they give you. Just a minor gripe worth putting up with for the beautiful picture.

Hey, at least the input labels are more expansive then those provided on the Tosh LCoS. You would expect a higher end set to cover some of these more-minor, and minimal cost details, but they don't seem to.

More important than any of these is the lack of per-input and/or per-input type settings on these sets, at least in the UM. I am not even sure if the SM lets you set things such as contrast, brightness, etc. on a per-input basis. I have found nice compromise Pro mode settings that cover my SD, DVD, and HD viewing, but in reality need slightly different tweaks for each.

umr's tweaks implied that some of the settings are at least input type based. Does anyone know the extent to which deep down in the SM things can be more input/type specific?

Originally posted by obermude
The best DVD player ever made was the Panasonic RP82 (about $200), it outperformed even boutique players costing 2 - 3k $. Unfortunately this was discotinued and all their current players have the CUE bug. To my knowledge the best reasonably price player out there now is the Dennon 2900. You can find more info. here by clicking on 'Progressive Scan Shooouts':

hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_3/dvd-benchmark-introduction-9-2000.html

There will be a new dvd shootout some time before christmas.

Silvertone
A good alternative to the RP-82 is the XP-30 and XP-50. They have virtually the same internals and PQ characteristics. These are also not currently being manufacturered, but there is a small chance you might be able to pick one up.

There are a few on eBay for example.

Got the 42WE601 in early-October. Pup ran like a charm - no buzzing, no lamp problems until tonight. I go to turn it on (in a dark room) and can barely see a picture. Red light blinking 5 times, then 5 times again. I get a bad feeling. Called Sears service - they'll be out on Friday morning - that's the good news - the bad news is that due to the cost of the buld, the tech may only be here to verify the problem - and then order the bulb. If that happens, it really sucks - especially with the Eagles on MNF.

Oh well - so much for being on the bleeding edge. . .

David

I'm no video expert and was wondering if anyone had an answer to satisfy my curiosity. I've watched a couple of movies from my DVD collection since picking up my GWIII 42" last Friday (Raiders and Matrix) and I have calibrated to the point where it looks pretty good from my old Toshiba DVD through component. Tonight I decided to watch Monsters Inc and I could not believe the picture quality, I swear it looks as clear as the HD feed demo running at BB (I don't have HD yet).

My question is how can computer generated graphics look so much better then a movie if the quality and resolution of the source are the same? I understand CGI Movies are recorded at pretty high rez but once transferred to DVD it's still 480P. I've got my GWIII setup pretty good I guess through the video options as even movies look fairly sharp and clean but Monsters Inc, wow! Gonna have to watch Finding Nemo tomorrow night!

Thanks,
Rob!

well bit the bullet. was at CC Monday and they had the 60we on sale for 4000.00 off retail. My wife said lets get it for our Christmas gift. since our 20+ yr 27 inch Curtis Mathis is on its last legs. ask if they had any in stock. They had one at warehouse and store would get it Saturday and they would deliver Sunday. Ask wife if she was sure. Told her this technoldge is still being worked out. She still wanted it. Got love her.

Originally posted by bubblegum1647
well bit the bullet. was at CC Monday and they had the 60we on sale for 4000.00 off retail.

Someone's gonna do it, may as well be me :)

For $4000.00 off retail, please tell me where you got it so I can order 10 of em :)

if i am correct retails for 3,999 got mine for 3,500

Originally posted by williamtell
I've had a 42we610 for almost a week now. Things are great with it too. The only thing is the shut down. If I turn the set off, then back on before the whole two (or so) minute 'shut down' time (fan running), the set will not turn on. The green power light blinks continuously, and the fan never goes off. If I unplug the set and plug it back in, everything is back to normal.

I can appreciate the need for a shutdown cooling, but it is normal for things to go this haywire? This issue found me when I accidentally turned the TV off instead of the DVD player. I turned the TV right back on, and here we are.

Is this typical? I have, more than once, "fat fingered" off my 42" GWIII and had to wait to restart. I considered it "normal" since shutdown takes about 15 seconds or so until there's a completely dark screen. I have not unplugged it. I installed a UPS to deal with power failures in the neighborhood easily averaging once a month year round.
:(
YMMV

I am a proud owner of a new 50" WE610, but I am not happy because there is a faint green dot the size of a silver dollar on the mid-right side of the screen.

Has this happend to anyone else? Will it go away? Just called CC to have the set replaced, just in case.

Audio-dude

I had that same effect in my old Hitachi V500. Crop Circles!

I've got a 60we610 on order and want to get the stand ready. I'm planning on building a permanent platform with shelving below for componets. I was thinking to make this platform 24" H, can I go higher? My viewing distance will be around 15 ft. Sony states the vertical angle to be +/- 30 degrees, at a 15 ft distance that veiwing angle should easly be floor to ceiling. 30 degees if roughly an 8" drop or rise for every 12" of distance. Am I looking at this correctly? I'd like to go a little higher to give more space for my component shelves. Any opinions would be great.

Originally posted by Hellbreed
My question is how can computer generated graphics look so much better then a movie if the quality and resolution of the source are the same? I understand CGI Movies are recorded at pretty high rez but once transferred to DVD it's still 480P.
I'm definitely not an expert and maybe one will chime in. I think it is because there is no interpolation of reality required in CGI. They also could be "tuning" the CGI to be perfectly displayed at 480p.

Originally posted by dj81462
I've got a 60we610 on order and want to get the stand ready. I'm planning on building a permanent platform with shelving below for componets. I was thinking to make this platform 24" H, can I go higher? My viewing distance will be around 15 ft. Sony states the vertical angle to be +/- 30 degrees, at a 15 ft distance that veiwing angle should easly be floor to ceiling. 30 degees if roughly an 8" drop or rise for every 12" of distance. Am I looking at this correctly? I'd like to go a little higher to give more space for my component shelves. Any opinions would be great.

i have mine 12" off the ground AND THAT IS AS HIGH AS I WOULD GO... ikea makes great and cheap stand, fits perfectly and costs $89 in black...

24" high is quite high IMO

The Sony stand is 16" high, so that's a good starting point.

I had my 60" on a stand that was 22" high (because they delivered it with the wrong one), and it felt too high. Personally, I thought the brightness was fine at this height, though (the viewing angle was okay). The extra height seemed to make the TV much more prominent in the room, too.

They delivered the stand I ordered a week later. It is 18" high, and this seems much better to me. It is an Omnimount VT-2 stand. It is a bit too shallow, and the two tab "feet" in the back hang over it about an inch, but it feels very secure and looks great.

Sean

I am a proud new daddy of a bouncing baby KF50WE610. It was finally delivered yesterday after a long wait of almost 1 month. It is set up on the SU-GW1 and IMO, it's a perfect height, especially with our low profile couch. I haven't had a chance to tweak it properly, but the PQ is excellent right out of the box. I have been reading about this RPTV for months now and it's great to finally have it set up.

Now I hope I don't experience any of the common GWIII problems in the near future. :)

My KF50WE610 sits on a built-in corner shelf 27" high in our family room, with the components and subwoofer on shelves immediately underneath. Because of our furniture configuration (sofa and 2 loveseats in a U-shape), the extra height is necessary (since viewers sitting on 2 of these have to see partially over the back of the 3rd). Yet despite this, I can honestly say that the somewhat high position of the GW screen poses no viewing angle problems whatsoever. The picture looks absolutely stunning from anywhere you're sitting IMO.

Originally posted by audio-dude
I am a proud owner of a new 50" WE610, but I am not happy because there is a faint green dot the size of a silver dollar on the mid-right side of the screen.

Has this happened to anyone else? Will it go away? Just called CC to have the set replaced, just in case.

Audio-dude

Crop circles or not, it went away. Probably caused by the cold during the delivery, but once warmed up it went away. Although, when the set is completely blank (no input on the selected input), I can see a very faint greenish glow in the upper right and lower left corners of the screen. Has anyone see this? And will it go away? Doesn't see to affect PQ, so I am not bothered.

Otherwise the set seems excellent, not out pixels or buzzing fans.

Audio-dude

audio-dude

Got my second 50WE610 last Tuesday. Very cold, came in from Denver and through a snowstorm in the mountains.
Left it on an unused input all night the first night. Greenish glow in the corners.
Glow seems to have almost disappeared by today.
Also noticed a general improvement in PQ today.
Might be condensation?

been watching the forums for awhile and thought i would say hello. i am the owner of a 60we610, got mine last weekend. it sits on the sony stand that is supposed to go with it and it seems like a nice height. i just ordered the avia disc today and am thinking about the dve one as well. are they similar? i saw one post that said the dve disc was alittle better than the avia one. anyone have comments on those? i have dishnetwork and am also thinking about getting either the 921 or 811 receivers for the hd broadcasts and an outside ant. for the ota broadcast hd channels. in the chicago area the ota seems to be ok from what ive read in forums for hdtv. lovin mine so far

:) Well, I read every post a couple of weeks ago. Very helpful, especially with the cost of the 60WE610. Paid x - $600. Took three weeks for delivery but yesterday it came, WOW.

PQ is great in HD and really really good in SD. Haven't tried a DVD yet. Went with Monster cables and a power filter. I think the SD is every bit as good as my old 35" CRT and a whole lot BIGGER. Noticed no artifacts. Getting twin view to work was a bit of a chore bu it works now.

As to the question earlier about stand height. I built a stand 28" high as a temporary measure, cost $30, to see if I lost any brightness or clarity from my normal 15 - 17 foot viewing area. No loss unless I try to lay on the floor @ 14 foot distance. Looks like the wife can order her stand (furniture) now.

Great TV set and well worth the money spent.

Can someone answer a question for me? I am interested in the LCD kf60we610. Does anyone know if it converts down to 480 from 720p? It is not stated in the online owners manual. The 51ws500 is listed as downconverting.

It doesn't downconvert. In fact, it converts everything to its native format, which is a little higher than 720p.

Sean

Assuming the Superbit version was done well, has anyone noticed whether they're that much better on their GWIII than the standard dvd counterpart?

Originally posted by marvincbr
. . . I have dishnetwork and am also thinking about getting either the 921 or 811 receivers for the hd broadcasts and an outside ant. for the ota broadcast hd channels. in the chicago area the ota seems to be ok from what ive read in forums for hdtv. lovin mine so far

Get the 811 as soon as possible. I use my dish 6000u for the OTA channels in Pittsburgh and they are supurb. The HD channels on Dish also look great - just wish there was more actual HD material, especially on ESPN-HD. Charlie has promised the 921 (HD personal video recorder) before Christmas but it isn't here yet. It's supposed to be shipped this week though. Here's a link to a beta testers review of the 921:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=21399

Hey everybody...I'm the proud new owner of a 60" GWIII!!!

Anyway, I was wondering if someone could help me that has the HD Comcast box (5100 i think?) getting the PIP setup correctly on this tv.

I've tried everything I could think of, read the manual and can't get it to work. I basically want to view the component connection channel on the left, and view regular cable on the right, and be able to switch channels on either of the PIP's. Is this possible???

I know that the component signals can only be viewed on the left PIP, and this works fine, the problem is I only get channel 3 on the right and can't switch it. :(

Hopefully there is some easy standard way that everyone is using to hook up PIP on this tv. Help anyone??? I'm dying over here! :)

Thanks for your help

-Mike (proud owner of a kickass tv!!!)

Cobra

How is your cable hooked up?

Thanks Jim for a such a quick reply..

The cable setup is the part I've been toying with.

I'm up for any suggestions on the best way to hook up the cables.

I don't have anything fancy in my setup. I have the cable coming from the wall and i've tried going directly to the Comcast box, i've tried going into the uhf/vhf connection on the tv, i've tried a splitter and sending one to the cable box and one to the tv. This is the part I'm unsure of.

I don't have a reciever, vcr, tivo, etc.

My comcast box has component outs to the video 6 on the GWIII.

Cobra...in order to utilize the PIP on your model you either have to have two cable lines from seperate sources running into the TV. For example I have the GWIII 50" and have two Dish Network receivers running into VID1 and into VID 6 on my GWIII. If you hooked up an antenna to your tv along with the cable line you could view PIP that way also but its not as good as having two cable lines. Hope that helps. Jeff

I don't have my mannual with me but somewhere you can lock an antenna input into a default like channel 3 in case you want the channel switching to be done by a VCR. This sounds like this could be your problem. I am sure it is in the mannual, probably in te antenna/input section.

I have my cable split before it goes into my cable box with the split line into an antenna connector and then the cable box line enters as component on Input 6 I think. Input 5 is DVD I believe. It is kind of a hassle to get them on the right two channels to use the split screen, the antenna feed uses the channel switching on the TVs tuner and the component feed uses the switching on the cable box so I have to jump back and fourth (or use two remotes which would work better) but once you get the two channels you want it works great.

Hope that helps. I haven't looked at the mannual, my wiring or done this in a while.

Cobra:

What Troy said is what I would do. Split your cable input sending one to the antenna/cable input of the GWIII and the other to your cable box. Output your cablebox to another input of the GWIII. You can only display the non digital stations with the direct cable input.

The owners manual has another approach to doing this which cleans up some of the noise from the original signal, but I found that it also softens the image.

Thanks for the replys....I'll try this suggestion tonight and see how it goes.

Originally posted by faceoff
NICE! How deep is the center channel speaker? I thought that the top of the set wasn't deep enough, or maybe that's just going to be an issue with the 42".

THANKS!

David nice-but the center chan i feel should be bigger-i have the infinity 1l36c center-humungous speaker-i put a shelf from the wall to and resting on the tv top--using brackets and molleys-the speaker rests on the shelf and somewhat on the tv-teriffic sound-and using the circa 1987 infinity ref series 5000 for left and right-(10 in woofer-3 in mid and EMIT)with the old 1984 infinity infinitesimals for the rear and infinity il 100 sub with monster cable all around-powered by an onkyo 696 ht rec.-im in heaven lol enjoy-PS room is only 12x14 and the 42 in sony lcd fits in better than my old sony 36 in-stood 24 in from wall and 240 lbs--good riddance

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

Originally posted by BMW330iFan
Have just purchased 50" GWIII after comparing it with the Panny 50. The price was the same for both so after reading other favourable threads and checking them both out myself decided on the Sony. My concern at this time is what height of stand is the best to maximize the tv's viewing angles. The Sony stand is pricey and doesn't look to be very good value for the money so I was looking at alternates and found one I liked but I thought it may be a little high at 26" for that set. Any suggestions as to stand heights? I think the Sony stand is about 16" off the floor and I assume that is their recommended height. Thanks for any input. same tv-check out bush model vs 47377-20 in high- and 2 glass shelves-ive found it perfect and cost is 250.00 and took half hr to assemble

Originally posted by ThorsHammer
For anyone who has replaced a CRT set with the Sony...what is the difference in quality on SD viewing? Is the Sony better but not as good as you'd like, or is it worse? How would you compare the two? SD tv flat out stinks-i dont care what tv or the cost-and im being honest ANY tv -at any price will only give out whats being put in-i have the sony 42 in and cable-the HD is glorious-just what this tv was made for-reg tv as usual=stinks-until they all go hdtv we will just have to live with it

Originally posted by Hellbreed
I'm no video expert and was wondering if anyone had an answer to satisfy my curiosity. I've watched a couple of movies from my DVD collection since picking up my GWIII 42" last Friday (Raiders and Matrix) and I have calibrated to the point where it looks pretty good from my old Toshiba DVD through component. Tonight I decided to watch Monsters Inc and I could not believe the picture quality, I swear it looks as clear as the HD feed demo running at BB (I don't have HD yet).

My question is how can computer generated graphics look so much better then a movie if the quality and resolution of the source are the same? I understand CGI Movies are recorded at pretty high rez but once transferred to DVD it's still 480P. I've got my GWIII setup pretty good I guess through the video options as even movies look fairly sharp and clean but Monsters Inc, wow! Gonna have to watch Finding Nemo tomorrow night!

Thanks,
Rob! ALL animated movies look superb-even on reg tv-lol because there are many colors and the brights(white)practically bleed thru the movie-and they MASK the defects

I just sold my 47" Panasonic CRT RPTV set, and am going to buy a Sony Grand Wega III this weekend. I was sitting 12 feet away from the 47" and found it slightly too small. Will a 60" be 'slightly' too big? 90% of my viewing is HD and upscaled 1080i DVDs. My gut tells me to get the 50" but the 60" looks awefully tempting. Will I see pixel structure on the 60", at 12 feet away? What do you think?

Happy Holidays!

Marc.

I sit about 12-13' away from my 60" and it is fine. Not too big, not too small, just right. It is also big enough so that if I choose to watch regular 4:3 television unstretched, the picture is still large enough.

I was worried the 60" would be too big as well, but I am very happy with my decision. Obviously, this is a personal choice, though.

Sean

I agree with splogue.. I have a 60" at 12-13' also and it looks great.

Do you see any pixel structure at that distance?

Marc.

Originally posted by Marc D Carra
Will a 60" be 'slightly' too big? 90% of my viewing is HD and upscaled 1080i DVDs. My gut tells me to get the 50" but the 60" looks awefully tempting. Will I see pixel structure on the 60", at 12 feet away? What do you think?

Marc.

Our vewing distance is about 9.5 feet away from our GWIII 50". When we first set it up, my wife got a little dizzy. :D She has adjusted since and we would definitely not want anything bigger. As with most things of course, it's a matter of preference.

By the way, when you say "upscaled 1080i DVDs", is your DVD player doing the upscaling? If so, can you give me a comparison as to the differences in PQ when compared to normal 480p? I ask because I have been contemplating upgrading my DVD player, but I'm not quite sure if performance is worth the price.

Thanks!

I don't see any pixel structure at that distance, and I've tried. In fact, I have to get pretty close to the screen before I can. I think others may be able to discern the pixels farther away, but I can say that for me it is not an issue.

Sean

Is it usual to have HALF a stuck pixel ??.:confused:...well thats what I found on my 60WE610 after careful checking - It is grey/black in color and is not a complete square pixel, more like a speck of dirt on the inside of the screen.

Other than that, the PQ is fantastic. :)

It might actually be a speck of dirt on the inside of the screen (no, really).

Other than that I don't know if you would typically see any half-stuck pixels, although based on which panel is "stuck" (or panels) you will get different effects.

Originally posted by Marc D Carra
I just sold my 47" Panasonic CRT RPTV set, and am going to buy a Sony Grand Wega III this weekend. I was sitting 12 feet away from the 47" and found it slightly too small. Will a 60" be 'slightly' too big? 90% of my viewing is HD and upscaled 1080i DVDs. My gut tells me to get the 50" but the 60" looks awefully tempting. Will I see pixel structure on the 60", at 12 feet away? What do you think?

Happy Holidays!

Marc.

We replaced a 57" CRT RPTV with the Sony 60" GWIII and sit about 9.5' back and think it's perfect. It's definitely a matter of preference, but I think it also matters what you're used to watching; i.e. if you're going from a 47" RPTV to a 60" LCD RPTV, sitting at the same position will be fine...it will just make your HT experience better with the bigger RPTV. Plus the GWIII has a much better PQ than your older CRT RPTV and you'll love it. :D

Although from my viewing distance, I cannot see any SDE (screen door effect - individual pixels), sometimes, the SSE (silk screen effect) from the anti-reflective coating obvious, but I'm used it now and it doesn't bother me at all. The tradeoff is there are virtually no reflections in the screen, which is great for high ambient light rooms. I do not have any stuck pixels either...it's been about a month since I've had the GWIII. Enjoy!! :)

Originally posted by starlights
Is it usual to have HALF a stuck pixel ??.:confused:...well thats what I found on my 60WE610 after careful checking - It is grey/black in color and is not a complete square pixel, more like a speck of dirt on the inside of the screen.

Other than that, the PQ is fantastic. :)

I have the same thing on my 60" GWIII. But, I cannot see it further than 3 feet away, so I don't worry about it. It's like a tiny black piece of dust on the very edge of 1 pixel...very strange, but it's definitely not a stuck pixel...no colors and it seems to just overlap an edge on 1 pixel.

If you can't see it from your viewing position, then don't worry about it. Eventually, if you have your GWIII serviced at some point, then someone can clean it out. I'm just happy I do not have any stuck pixels and to me, the PQ (after a little UM tweaking) is nearly perfect as well. :)

Let me start by thanking everyone in this thread. It took me 3 hours to read this, but it was well worth it. You all have convinced me to give up on waiting for LCoS and go for LCD.

Last night I spent an hour watching the 50" Hitachi and Sony LCD's side by side at CC. My local store finally replaced the Sammy DLP with the Hitachi in front of their couch so that I could sit down and compare like technologies. I'm sold on the Sony.

Questions:

Should I go ahead and buy because it's on sale until Saturday?

Will I be able to get that price or better after the holidays?

Who has the best warranty? Sears and GG have 5 year plans whereas CC is only 4. (so far I've been on a consistant 5 year cycle upgrading my TV's)

Should I pay more at another location for that extra 12 months coverage?

TIA

Matt

I am 9 feet away at the "best" position on our sectional couch. The closest is about 5 feet. NO joke, i can still watch regular cable at teh 5' range.. i'm not too picky about hte pixelation.

Collisionrepair

Sears will price match another stores deal and I hear they have 10% off this Saturday, not sure on that. then you can get the longer warranty and have a good 30-90 day return period from what I hear.

I believe it may be hard to get a 60" Sony right away so don't be surprised with delivery in mid to late January. At least then you can change your mind if you want, keep looking for btter deal for Sears to price match, while locking the price in now in case the prices are higher.

what was it about the Sony you liked over the Hitachi?

I see screen door on my 60" up to about 6 or 7 feet and then it disappears but I doubt my vision is 20/20 anymore.

Originally posted by Troy
what was it about the Sony you liked over the Hitachi?

The Sony seemed to me have better color. I'm no expert, and it just may be adjustments that are off. I like the more modern Sony cabinet. The Hitachi looks like all the old CRT cabinets, very similar to what I'm replacing. Also, I know this isn't a great reason but, Sony seems to be a bigger company with a better reputation. They are exactly the same price. I would normally expect to pay more for the Sony.

After months of research I've decided to go ahead and take the leap of faith and lay out the dough for the 70" XBR.

Does anyone have any tips for getting a good deal that they would'nt mind sharing??

Please don't hesitate to PM me...as a newbie...I don't want to violate any rules here.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Originally posted by Collisionrepair
Also, I know this isn't a great reason but, Sony seems to be a bigger company with a better reputation.
FWIW, Hitachi is actually a much, much bigger company than Sony. Like GE, they're into everything from construction equipment to nuclear generators. Appliances and consumer electronics are a side business, but they do make the LCOS chips and other OEM parts for Toshiba and and several other TV manufacturers. Still, though, if the Sony's the better TV to your eyes, than that's the bottom line.

Originally posted by s2silber
FWIW, Hitachi is actually a much, much bigger company than Sony. Like GE, they're into everything from construction equipment to nuclear generators.

I was thinking more on the electronics being a bigger core business for Sony. For Hitachi, being a huge company like Hyundai or Daewoo, consumer electronics, like you said, is a "side business." That would make for an easy exit from that market, much like Daewoo cars in the US. Very likely leaving you stranded with no support. The Daewoo situation certainly hits home with me, considering my being in the autobody industry. All too often I have to tell "Mrs. Jones" that her 2 year old Lagonza is a total loss because I can't get an important $20 part.

That said, I see Sony sticking with LCD for the long haul. Constantly improving, as they have with the three generations thus far.

Are there any owners of GWIII who also own Pioneer DV 563 A ?

I just picked up this DVD Player yesterday and have a couple of questions.

1. Should I use the DVD Player on Progressive or Interlaced mode ? (which is better - Progressive conversion on DVD Player or GWIII? )
2. How does one stop the "onboard Progressive conversion" on GWIII ?
3. Are there any tweaks to the player or TV while using this combo ?
4. what is "Flagging" on DVDs ?
5. Any other useful tips ?

TIA

Be wary of the new WE610 series. All retail stores are having massive returns due to defective units because of bulbs and defective power supplies. All special orders from sony will be filled slowly over the next 6-8 weeks at ALL RETAILERS. Sony is working to resolve the problem for shipment

Originally posted by bsgoren
I have the same thing on my 60" GWIII. But, I cannot see it further than 3 feet away, so I don't worry about it. It's like a tiny black piece of dust on the very edge of 1 pixel...very strange, but it's definitely not a stuck pixel...no colors and it seems to just overlap an edge on 1 pixel.

If you can't see it from your viewing position, then don't worry about it. Eventually, if you have your GWIII serviced at some point, then someone can clean it out. I'm just happy I do not have any stuck pixels and to me, the PQ (after a little UM tweaking) is nearly perfect as well. :)

Funny enough I have the same "half dead" pixel on my 60WE
at the top of the screen.
About 3 inches from the top of the cabinet just off center.
I agree it looks more like a piece of dirt either behind the anti-reflective
screen or stuck to the LCD panel. I did reset my bulb so was able to
see the LCD panel but didn't want to fuss with it making it worse.

Other than that, no dead or bright pixels that I can see. Been running
fine for 7-8 weeks.

Best wishes,

Originally posted by CC3111
Be wary of the new WE610 series. All retail stores are having massive returns due to defective units because of bulbs and defective power supplies. All special orders from sony will be filled slowly over the next 6-8 weeks at ALL RETAILERS. Sony is working to resolve the problem for shipment
Any guidance from Sony or other authoritative sources as to which units, i.e., build dates, serial numbers, etc., are subject to this purported bulb/power problem? I if wait to buy one until after the holidays is there less of a chance of getting a dud?

Originally posted by CC3111
Be wary of the new WE610 series. All retail stores are having massive returns due to defective units because of bulbs and defective power supplies. All special orders from sony will be filled slowly over the next 6-8 weeks at ALL RETAILERS. Sony is working to resolve the problem for shipment

Funny, all three stores in my area (CC, BB, and Sears) have only had a few returns. Please post your source with actual numbers.

Not to be overly critical, but I would not put too much into such a sweeping statement made by someone making their first post to the forum. There are certainly light driver issues with *some* sets, issues that are supposed to be fixed by a service bulletin that Sony issued earlier this month. There are rumors going around about Best Buy dropping them because of this problem, but that rumor appears to be unfounded. A reasonable reading of the tea leaves indicates Sony has not been able to keep up with demand for this set, forcing Best Buy to drop it for now until the supply can be ramped up. Circuit City, Sears, and other retailers appear to be selling them as fast as they can and report very few customer returns.

For more info see the GWIII Buzzing thread.

I agree, I think people are spreading rumors based on nothing more than their opinion.

ditto

The TV arrives tomorrow (figures crossed that 1) it arrives and 2) that it doesn't buzz and 3) that pixels aren't stuck).

My question is I'm going to use component for my HDTV box rather than DVI. The thought was Sony doesn't keep it all digital anyway, so I am not going to lose much with this decision (the DVD doesn't have DVI).

edited to ask an actual question: Does this line of reasoning make sense or I'm I going to lose something in the picture?

A diagram posted earlier shows that the DVI digital input bypasses the front-end analog-to-digital converter. The component inputs go through this A/D. Yes, a wee bit of signal quality is lost in the A/D, but you may not notice THAT much difference.

I have a GWIII on order. How well do the stretch/zoom modes
work with 4:3 SD? Are only the sides of the pic stretched or the
whole thing?

Several choices. Full mode stretches SD material to fill the entire width of the screen (So all pixels in the picture get a little fatter (by a third). Zoom mode zooms in till the picture fills the entire screen (both height, and width of each pixel get increased by a third). This means you lose some of the top, and bottom of the picture, but the pixels maintain their original aspect ratio. Wide Zoom also fills the screen, keeping the original image as much as possible. That's a quote from the manual (which you can download from somewhere on Sony Style. It appears that images are stretched horizontally, and vertically, but with less lost at the top and bottom. Don't know if it does more of it's scaling at the edges, allowing less distortion at the center, or not, since I'm entirely depending on the manual, and it's example photos. Personally, since burn in is not a worry, I like to see the picture as intended, so I rarely zoom on my HS10, and don't plan on zooming on the 50 inch WE610 (once it finally arrives), but ... each to their own, at least there are a variety of choices.
Does someone have more info and that last mode (Wide Zoom)

Wow, I guess I must have a counterfeit set (50") as it was ordered in December and delivered to my home in December (9 days later). It also had a build date of December. Oh well, it works great and looks great. I guess I will just have to enjoy the mystery unit that was delivered.

anybody have any recommendations on dvd players or settings? i have a denon 910 and when it runs in progressive, i see several horizontal lines during moving scenes. that is eliminated in interlaced mode; however, it looks like the pq suffers.

Originally posted by Marc D Carra
I just sold my 47" Panasonic CRT RPTV set, and am going to buy a Sony Grand Wega III this weekend. I was sitting 12 feet away from the 47" and found it slightly too small. Will a 60" be 'slightly' too big? 90% of my viewing is HD and upscaled 1080i DVDs. My gut tells me to get the 50" but the 60" looks awefully tempting. Will I see pixel structure on the 60", at 12 feet away? What do you think?no dear-it will fit perfectly-i have the 42 in and sit 10 ft awat-book says 7 ft for 42 in and about your distance for the hiher up screens-only from the tubes did you have to run lol due to brightness and the crummy picture to make it look decent--enjoy

Happy Holidays!

Marc.

Originally posted by mlbspike
Several choices. Full mode stretches SD material to fill the entire width of the screen (So all pixels in the picture get a little fatter (by a third). Zoom mode zooms in till the picture fills the entire screen (both height, and width of each pixel get increased by a third). This means you lose some of the top, and bottom of the picture, but the pixels maintain their original aspect ratio. Wide Zoom also fills the screen, keeping the original image as much as possible. That's a quote from the manual (which you can download from somewhere on Sony Style. It appears that images are stretched horizontally, and vertically, but with less lost at the top and bottom. Don't know if it does more of it's scaling at the edges, allowing less distortion at the center, or not, since I'm entirely depending on the manual, and it's example photos. Personally, since burn in is not a worry, I like to see the picture as intended, so I rarely zoom on my HS10, and don't plan on zooming on the 50 inch WE610 (once it finally arrives), but ... each to their own, at least there are a variety of choices.
Does someone have more info and that last mode (Wide Zoom) i have the 42 inch sony lcd-and tried all settings-i just have it set now at 1080i-i found at the 480i setting the pic settings distort the pics even the HDTV bcasts-but as far as wide zoom goes it was the best of the bunch IF you have to have the features--matter of taste-but at 1080i you have the PROPER settings for the tv to decode as meant to do

The 60" will be great at 12', don't go smaller.

The 60" is big enough and with no burn-in issues there is no reason to stretch/distort your picture. A smaller picture on non HD or DVD stuff isn't the worst thing either since the quality is a little lower and the 60" still gives a big 4:3 image.

I split my cable and then run one line is as straight cable and the other in after the cable box. Since my digital cable box is connected with component cables, the stretch modes don't work on this component input. If I switch to the input where cable is running in before the cable box, the stretch modes work but I never use them anyways.

Originally posted by db13
anybody have any recommendations on dvd players or settings? i have a denon 910 and when it runs in progressive, i see several horizontal lines during moving scenes. that is eliminated in interlaced mode; however, it looks like the pq suffers.

Interesting. I will be hooking up a Denon 2200. I will let you know if there are any lines. I am pretty hopeful that the upconvert inside the Denon will be satisfactory. How are your cables for shielding / noise etc? I will have power and video running through different bundles.

Originally posted by Troy
I split my cable and then run one line is as straight cable and the other in after the cable box. Since my digital cable box is connected with component cables, the stretch modes don't work on this component input. If I switch to the input where cable is running in before the cable box, the stretch modes work but I never use them anyways.
I'm using component cables also right out of the digital cable box. The stretch modes work fine for me, just not on HD material.

Maybe I need to check my settings...

Checked on my 60WE610 order from Good Guys and I'm 20th on the list for Dec 23rd delivery. Added the extended warranty so I can get a new TV if this one dies in the next 5 yrs. With any luck I'll have this big beauty in time for opening presents on X-Mas morning.

I'm thinking National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation would be the perfect movie to watch while enjoying this holiday. What do you think?

"Debbie Does Santa" for later that night...

I have the KF60WE610. I have had it about a week. Love it so far. I would like to find a code for a Motorola digital cabel box so that I could enter code into Sony remote. Book does not list a code for Motorola. anyone know where I can get codes?

Originally posted by bubblegum1647
I have the KF60WE610. I have had it about a week. Love it so far. I would like to find a code for a Motorola digital cable box so that I could enter code into Sony remote. Book does not list a code for Motorola. anyone know where I can get codes?

A few months ago, I was programming my Theatermaster MX-700 remote control with the codes for all my devices, one of which is a Motorola digital cable box sourced from Brighthouse cable. It seems that I learned that this cable box is built with both the Motorola label and General Instruments label(G.I.), but the boxes are identical. Reading pages 87 of the Sony manual, they give quite a few codes for these boxes. 201...208, 218, and 222.

If non of these work, you might want to consider using the Motorola remote and programming it with the code for the Sony TV.

Do you have any other devices such as a receiver with a remote you would rather use??

Originally posted by bubblegum1647
I have the KF60WE610. I have had it about a week. Love it so far. I would like to find a code for a Motorola digital cabel box so that I could enter code into Sony remote. Book does not list a code for Motorola. anyone know where I can get codes?

Try 287. That's the code listed on Sony's support site for Motorola boxes. Sony doesn't list the codes for your particular remote but does give this code for other Sony remotes.

I had success with a code listed on this site for a Philips DVD player---also not listed in the owners manual.

i use "wide zoom" for SD signal and it barley distorts and looks great... why buy a 60" TV and make it a 46" by putting bars on its side ??? dose not make any sense to me. give the wide zoom a shot and more than a few minutes. if it bothers you still after a few days... go back to normal

I'm curious if it was anyone here who returned a 42" GWIII to Circuit City in Westminster, CA. If so, why? I bought an open box from them, and I'm curious if they fixed the problem that may have caused the return. (Of course, I'm hoping you loved it, and just upgraded to a larger screen) :)

Thanks Jimp & Cdavidness. I will try the codes and see what happens. If none work will get and try a universal remote.

Originally posted by grumpy
Checked on my 60WE610 order from Good Guys and I'm 20th on the list for Dec 23rd delivery. Added the extended warranty so I can get a new TV if this one dies in the next 5 yrs. With any luck I'll have this big beauty in time for opening presents on X-Mas morning.

I'm thinking National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation would be the perfect movie to watch while enjoying this holiday. What do you think? good luck grumpy and id check to see if BBs warranty includes REPLACEMENT during the 5 yrs and NOT just getting it fixed-if thats all they do they just get it fixed by a sony rep-i never take the extended warr-figure in 3-5 yrs if i have to get it fixed prob cost the same anyway

Originally posted by Troy
Maybe I need to check my settings... at 720p and 1080i the mones dont work-only on 480i and p

Originally posted by slayerav
Funny, all three stores in my area (CC, BB, and Sears) have only had a few returns. Please post your source with actual numbers.

My source is myself going in the computer database at work and seeing 1-2 defective units in every store in the chicagoland area. Most were just exchanged for new units but all units purchased before this coming January will have the possibility of this issue.

Originally posted by s2silber
Any guidance from Sony or other authoritative sources as to which units, i.e., build dates, serial numbers, etc., are subject to this purported bulb/power problem? I if wait to buy one until after the holidays is there less of a chance of getting a dud?
The whole series of them produced before they stopped shipping them to all retailers as of a week ago had this issue. From what i can tell its roughly every one in thirty of these units is having the issue in our area (rather high for any product). If you are told that you need to special order the unit by your retailer you should be fine as sony has stopped shipping the units until they resolve the lamp and power supply issue. Expected shipping date for all special ordered units at all retailers is 6-8 weeks.

I just returned my GWIII to best buy because of a green dot on my screen the size of an eraser. The guy I spoke to said 46 of 48 units sold at that store had been in service.

that's a separate issue with a batch of units

Originally posted by faceoff
NICE! How deep is the center channel speaker? I thought that the top of the set wasn't deep enough, or maybe that's just going to be an issue with the 42".

THANKS!

David DEPTH on a center chan spkr should be NO concern at all--jeesh--just use a little imagination! i have the sony 42 inch lcd-14 in deep-add 3 inches from wall-for air circ.-depth that is-all i did was(owning the super large infinity il36c center-23inw-x12d-x9in H}was put in a thin shelf above the tv(CENTERED)used molleys and brackets from home depot-total cost-about 3.00(spkr is ABOVE the tv-centered)-from the wall to top of tv-shelf is about 3 inches wider than spkr-and let the speaker on the shelf rest on top of the tv with pads under the shelf to protect the tv finish-i mounted the shelf to wall with brackets and molleys--egad!! cmon guys lol thought you were all rocket scientists here lolol couldnt you fig this out?i mean jeesh already-no wonder newbies doubt the oldies opinions on here

studranger

I wound up putting my center channel under the TV.

Although I'm going to experiment with raising the center channel to be just under the screen, I'm a bit surprised that having it under the set in the stand sounds as good as it does.

most nicer speakers will actually have a way to mount them as well

Originally posted by JimP
studranger

I wound up putting my center channel under the TV.

Although I'm going to experiment with raising the center channel to be just under the screen, I'm a bit surprised that having it under the set in the stand sounds as good as it does. whatever jim-as long as its NEAR the tv-above-below etc-wherever it sounds good to YOU

db13 - The Denon 2200 had no lines or picture problems in progressive, and the picture was a little worse in interlaced. Seems like the Denon is doing a better job than the Sony. If the moving line only shows up in progressive maybe its not the cables but the DVD player. Can you try it on someone else's tv?

Anyone have trouble with audio on the Avia DVD? Not the audio set up, but the actual voice instructions not coming through. I borrowed one to set the tv up and had entire sections where audio did not come through. Makes it hard to follow the instructions.

Also, Sony sure cheaped out in some parts of the tv. Pushing the component cables on flexed the back panel / board so much I thought it would break.

So far no visible "on" pixels, and I'm not going to really look for "off" ones. HDTV through the Motorola 5100 is great even without using the DVI.

My GWIII is on its way. Does anyone know what Sony's warranty covers regarding bad pixels? I know they will allow a few dead pixels as "normal", but how many bad pixels does it take before Sony will fix/replace the set?

Originally posted by bphipps
My GWIII is on its way. Does anyone know what Sony's warranty covers regarding bad pixels? I know they will allow a few dead pixels as "normal", but how many bad pixels does it take before Sony will fix/replace the set?
sony says 3% of the pixels must be burned out. keep in mind that sony's warranty is NOT in home service

Originally posted by bphipps
My GWIII is on its way. Does anyone know what Sony's warranty covers regarding bad pixels? I know they will allow a few dead pixels as "normal", but how many bad pixels does it take before Sony will fix/replace the set?

Before getting my 50" GWIII, I contacted Sony with just this question. After having to contact a lot of different people, the answer I got was that there was no specific number. The bad pixels had to cause a degradation of a normal picture from a normal viewing distance. That was good enough for me. I don't care what is visible at 1', only what I can see when watching something from a normal viewing position.

Thanks for the input on the warranty for bad pixels. I guess it comes down to a matter of being able to SEE the problem from a "normal" viewing distance. Sony may consider this to be 10 feet. My viewing distance will be 8.5 feet and I have good vision. What bothers me is that it becomes a subjective determination whether there's picture degredation due to bad pixels. This technology is new and not time tested, so we all HOPE that the pixels don't die with age. The answer may be to buy a good (and expensive) extended warranty that includes a replacement clause.

Just a personal observation and far from technical.

When watching widescreen formatted DVDs I thought the "Full" mode works for all ratios - not so.

1. 16x9 formatted movies - works with "Full" mode.
2. Two types of letterbox formatted movies:
a. when on "Normal" mode and all sides (top, bottom, left and right)
have approximately the same distance to the edge of the screen,
then use the "Zoom" mode.
b. when on "Normal" mode and the top and bottom sides are closer
to the edge of the screen than the left and right sides, the use
the "Wide Zoom" mode.

Again, just an observation, but hope it helps.

Merry Christmas!

Originally posted by calgary kid
db13 - The Denon 2200 had no lines or picture problems in progressive, and the picture was a little worse in interlaced. Seems like the Denon is doing a better job than the Sony. If the moving line only shows up in progressive maybe its not the cables but the DVD player. Can you try it on someone else's tv?


Thanks for sharing your experiences. After doing a bunch of fumbling around, moving from progressive to interlaced and back, as well as, changing some menu options, I no longer see the lines. I don't know if I was receiving noise or what? I had to move things around to get to the back of my DVD player to change modes, I might have moved something into the "right" place. Don't really like not having a better reason than the one I've got, but my PQ is excellent now and I'm extremely happy. I had the same observations regarding Denon doing a better job in progressive than Sony. Thanks again.

I have tried to compare the PQ on my 60" GWIII specifically for dvd's while the Progessive Scan on my Sony DVD Player is On and then Off, but have not found a significant difference. It's been suggested in the past to keep the DVD Player's Progressive Scan off (DVD player set to Interlaced mode) and let the GWIII do the 3:2 Reverse Pulldown. In this situation, I currently have my GWIII's Advanced Video set to Cinemotion with DRC - Reality/Clarity set to my personal liking.

Has anyone noticed a significant difference between 'setting your DVD player to Interlaced and letting the GWIII do the Cinemotion' and 'setting your DVD player to Progressive Scan (thus disabling the GWIII's Advanced Video)'?

Either way, the PQ looks amazing to me, but I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something. Thank you. :)

This site is great. I found it extremely useful in helping me make my purchase of the GWIII 50".

I've had it for about a week, and finally got my hands on the DVE tuning disk. I've been playing around with it, but notice when I go to adjust the Sharpness that nothing changes, from one extreme to the other.

Is this a characteristic of the set, or do I have a problem?

Thanks for the help.

Originally posted by bigthys
Just a personal observation and far from technical.

When watching widescreen formatted DVDs I thought the "Full" mode works for all ratios - not so.

1. 16x9 formatted movies - works with "Full" mode.
2. Two types of letterbox formatted movies:
a. when on "Normal" mode and all sides (top, bottom, left and right)
have approximately the same distance to the edge of the screen,
then use the "Zoom" mode.
b. when on "Normal" mode and the top and bottom sides are closer
to the edge of the screen than the left and right sides, the use
the "Wide Zoom" mode.

Again, just an observation, but hope it helps.

Merry Christmas! if you have tv or box set at 720p or 1080i the modes wont work--these are the proper settings-happy holiday

Originally posted by studranger4
if you have tv or box set at 720p or 1080i the modes wont work--these are the proper settings-happy holiday

You are absolutely right. My HDTV STB is set at 1080i and I could not change the screen modes. Cheers!:D

Originally posted by bigthys
You are absolutely right. My HDTV STB is set at 1080i and I could not change the screen modes. Cheers!:D big-the problem here with MOST but not ALL folks is that they dont know the ins and outs as per the proper setting-ex=at 1080i-OR 720p-(1080i being the most used which is the PROPER setting for HDTV depending on your area)-the MODES wont work--whereas you set at 480i or p-they will work but at a cost!you suddenly have bars above or ,and, to sides of the HDTV pic and and have to STRETCH the pic-totally unacceptible,as you are in MY opinion distorting the HD pic-same as the dvd player,in the set up it asks =what is the tv type?IF you have 16x9-CHOOSE it and all is well,that way you are letting the dvd player AND tv work together-to DETERMINE what is to be shown-as to the screen ratio, but most dont and go back and forth between the settings for each dvd played to fill the screen-once you have the proper ratio-BOTH on tv and dvd there is nothing else to do-it all sets itself lol-happy holidays

I recently found this forum after purchasing my 60" GWIII from Circuit City. The Comcast cable guy came out today and hooked me up with HD. All I can say is Wow!!! I watched some show on Alaska and was blown away by the clarity and picture quality.

Keeping my fingers crossed that there are no problems with it. So far so good. Best thing to hope for now is CBS HD in time for the Superbowl.

Cheers,

Yeah. Super Bowl. Okay.


ROSE PARADE!

Originally posted by Roo_man
Best thing to hope for now is CBS HD in time for the Superbowl.


Per the recent Comcast/Viacom deal, you should be seeing CBS HD real soon....there's more information over in the HDTV Local Info and Reception forum...

I'm having a minor problem with my GWIII, in that the 'reset' button the remote does not reset the video settings when pushed while inthe video options menu. Has anyone else encountered this?

Yes, I saw it when I owned the set. If I remember correctly you have to select the picture mode (Vivid, Standard, or Pro), then hit the reset.

Originally posted by TWD
Yes, I saw it when I owned the set. If I remember correctly you have to select the picture mode (Vivid, Standard, or Pro), then hit the reset.

That did it! Thank you!

Just picked up my 60WE610 today and I love it!!! We watched Finding Nemo and I couldn't see one bad (stuck) pixel. The color reproduction was great. I've got Dliquid's settings and can't wait to try them. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but 3-4 blinks and it is on (no buzz)!!! What a Christmas miracle to receive it sooner than the store projected. I will probably be around the forum less for the next week or two while I enjoy the TV.

Not so grumpy anymore :)

I think 3-4 blinks on the green led during power up is normal. I've been paying close attention to mine since reading about the buzz issue last week. I'm going on 1 month now with my Oct. build 60WE610 and so far it's been working flawless (knock on wood).

To be honest, I'm not sure I would have made the purchase had I known this issue was fairly common.

Originally posted by grumpy
Just picked up my 60WE610 today and I love it!!! We watched Finding Nemo and I couldn't see one bad (stuck) pixel. The color reproduction was great. I've got Dliquid's settings and can't wait to try them. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but 3-4 blinks and it is on (no buzz)!!! What a Christmas miracle to receive it sooner than the store projected. I will probably be around the forum less for the next week or two while I enjoy the TV.

Not so grumpy anymore :)

the thread is so big now i can't seem to find his settings. Can you recap them?

I bought the GWII or III several days ago with a manufacturer date of Oct. 03. I've been looking for somewhere on the boards where one knows if they have a GWII or GWIII. I know this sounds like a dumb question, but I really don't know the difference.
Also, I read on one of the boards about DLP that RPTV always have to be tweeked for aging problems and the DLP doesn't. Can someone please give me some input on these two issues.
I bought the 42" Sony, but I"m either going back for the 50" or may just go with the DLP depending on the answers I get from this board.
What a great way to learn info. on your purchases. BTW, I have had no buzzing issues with this tv at all. We are loving this television so far.....
Finding Nemo was an exceptional experience!!!!!

If the manufacture date is Oct 03 then it must be a GWIII. The model numbers are different between the two. The GWII's end in XBR800 the GWIII's in WE610. There is also the GWIII XBR's which are about $1k more.

I think your comment about RPTV's really has to do with convergence for CRT RPTV's. This is really not an issue with the GWII or GWIII which are LCD RPTV's.

Congrat's on your GWIII, I love mine.

Thanks for replying so promptly, old muggle. Yes, we love our new tv too. I'm so glad to hear that we don't have to worry about the convergence thing with ours, but what about the tweeking of the pic. as I've also read so much about. Gosh, I can't believe all the info that is on this forum; this is truly a great forum in becoming educated about the purchase. Iwent back and forth between the DLP and the RPTV and finally decided on this because of the moving part issue. The picture is just wonderful, although, I probably think we could read some more on the best setup for the tv. Right now we have it on full screen for regular viewing and vivid pic.
I've also been reading about the sound system, because we also bought one of those. We bought the Onkyo 900 with the progressive scan, but I was reading that it may not be the best choice, because of the DVI recorders that allow you to use your tv as a comp. I'm not sure I know enough to even discuss it, but that is the beauty of this forum. That will be my next research project. Our tv just arrived on Xmas eve from CC, so we have a little time to check things out.
Thanks,
mrsflweb

Originally posted by bobby_t1
the thread is so big now i can't seem to find his settings. Can you recap them?

I believe it's in this thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=316355)

I received a reply on one of my posts that the video Monsters,Inc. can help with the settup on our GWIII. My husband just went out to get a battery pack and the Monsters video. I can't believe how much we love this new contraption.
Does anyone here recommend a certain sound and DVD player for this tv? We bought a combination progressive scan DVD and home theater sound by Onkyo. Any comments?
Happy New year everyone!!

Originally posted by mrsflweb
I received a reply on one of my posts that the video Monsters,Inc. can help with the settup on our GWIII. My husband just went out to get a battery pack and the Monsters video. I can't believe how much we love this new contraption.
Does anyone here recommend a certain sound and DVD player for this tv? We bought a combination progressive scan DVD and home theater sound by Onkyo. Any comments?
Happy New year everyone!!

Onkyo makes quality components. I'd guess it will outperform most home threater in a box type systems out there.

I know many purists will disagree with me on this, but I've found more difference in the operational controls for modern components than with the quality of the output they provide.

Things like a comfortable remote control with buttons that are logically arranged and big enough for your fingers can have a big impact on your day to day enjoyment of the system.

All current DVD players will give you a great picture. Based on input I've read here on the board, you should try your DVD player with progressive scan on and off to see which picture you find better. When the progressive scan in set to off, the tv does the signal processing instead of the DVD player. If the tv does a better job with this than the DVD player, you will get a better picture.

I am using a 3+ year old Toshiba DVD player with my GWIII and the picture is excellent. I don't have progressive scan on the DVD player at all and am using the older S=video connection method. I am so pleased with the picture that I haven't even been tempted to invest in new component cables, even though the player has component outputs.

Bottom line, plug everything in and enjoy.

If you have quality components that are hooked up properly, the difference you'll see as you move up the price line will be very small. If you are using an 100" screen and a $10,000 front projector, you might see a difference in DVD players, but you'd have to move up the price line considerably to do better than the basic players you see on the market now.

Originally posted by aydu
...I don't have progressive scan on the DVD player at all and am using the older S=video connection method. I am so pleased with the picture that I haven't even been tempted to invest in new component cables, even though the player has component outputs.
...

You should be able to see a significant improvement in PQ by using component outputs with a well authored DVD. I would not skimp here. S-Video is frequently the worse than composite depending on the devices in question.

I use my Xbox as my DVD player using the S-Video connection. I must say that the picture (both games and movies) is absolutely remarkable.

I'm in the market for a progressive DVD player, but think I'll hold out for one that is DVI enabled rather than going component.

I've heard many ppl speculate that 2004 will be the year of mass market DVI equipped DVD players. Comments?

I suspect that is correct. Right now DVI-equipped players are so rare that people will buy almost anything if it has a DVI connection. Reminds me of the "old" days of component video connections.

Now that the specs are all finalized and the support chips for it are available, there isn't anything holding them back. I wonder how much longer it will be before Apex introduces one for $150.

I bet every major manufacturer introduces at least one DVI model next year.

Sean

My previous post got buried without an answer :( so I'm reposting it in hope some of you might be up for a brief discussion on this subject...

I have tried to compare the PQ on my 60" GWIII specifically for dvd's while the Progessive Scan on my Sony DVD Player is On and then Off, but have not found a significant difference. It's been suggested in the past to keep the DVD Player's Progressive Scan off (DVD player set to Interlaced mode) and let the GWIII do the 3:2 Reverse Pulldown. In this situation, I currently have my GWIII's Advanced Video set to Cinemotion with DRC - Reality/Clarity set to my personal liking.

Has anyone noticed a significant difference between 'setting your DVD player to Interlaced and letting the GWIII do the Cinemotion' and 'setting your DVD player to Progressive Scan (thus disabling the GWIII's Advanced Video)'?

Either way, the PQ looks amazing to me, but I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something. Thank you. :)

BTW - on a side note, I just got the Harmony SST-659 remote control for my HT system and so far, I think it's an amazing all-in-one HT remote (but I've only had it for a few days). Turns everything on with 1 button, turns everything off with 1 button, sets the tuner to the right input; controls everything. It's very simple for my wife and I to use - no more switching remotes for different functions, no tedious macros to set up, no opening any remote 'flip top' to control my tuner's volume or dvd functions; just set it up online, download the settings via a USB cable and go. I had some minor tweaking to do and added a few missing button functions, but so far, it's fantastic. I highly recommend it! :D

Originally posted by bsgoren
..
Has anyone noticed a significant difference between 'setting your DVD player to Interlaced and letting the GWIII do the Cinemotion' and 'setting your DVD player to Progressive Scan (thus disabling the GWIII's Advanced Video)'?...

I should have an answer for you tomorrow. I am sure it depends on how you tweak the SM and UM.

Originally posted by umr
I should have an answer for you tomorrow. I am sure it depends on how you tweak the SM and UM.

Thank you, umr. I didn't do any of your suggested SM tweaks (I have a WE610 not an XBR GWIII) mainly b/c I'm too chicken to mess with it :D and also b/c I'm very happy with my UM tweaks via Sound & Vision HT Setup & THX Optimizer...we watch a lot of HD which looks phenomenal and obviously the DRC settings do not come into play with 1080i/720p sources. But, I am interested in this question of Progressive scan vs. Interlaced on dvd...we watch about 30% dvd, and currently have the DRC set to Cinemotion and Reality-50/Clarity-50...I think it's a good balance although it's a bit sharper than some others may have it. I think Reality-0/Clarity-50 is too soft for my taste. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this. :)

After reading how a few people posted that they got 20-25% discounts on the Sony 50", I'm sick because of what I paid for my 42". I decided I would put out an all points for someone to mail me their receipt on the 50", so that I may get a more reasonable price on mine. I can't tell you how much this would mean to me.
My email is: mrmrsflweb@aol.com

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bsgoren
[B]My previous post got buried without an answer :( so I'm reposting it in hope some of you might be up for a brief discussion on this subject...

I have tried to compare the PQ on my 60" GWIII specifically for dvd's while the Progessive Scan on my Sony DVD Player is On and then Off, but have not found a significant difference. It's been suggested in the past to keep the DVD Player's Progressive Scan off (DVD player set to Interlaced mode) and let the GWIII do the 3:2 Reverse Pulldown. In this situation, I currently have my GWIII's Advanced Video set to Cinemotion with DRC - Reality/Clarity set to my personal liking.

Has anyone noticed a significant difference between 'setting your DVD player to Interlaced and letting the GWIII do the Cinemotion' and 'setting your DVD player to Progressive Scan (thus disabling the GWIII's Advanced Video)'?

Either way, the PQ looks amazing to me, but I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something. Thank you. :)



I think you've answered your own question for your components. By seeing no significant difference in PQ with progressive scan on and off, you've found that the tv does as good a job with signal processing as the DVD player. A different tv or dvd player would result in different findings.

I suspect you would have to go to a very high end dvd player for their to be a difference you can see.

i've had my 42" GWIII for ~3 weeks with no problems ( glad i got the ext. warranty though ).

I was playing with a philips multi-device remote control and seem to have generated the message 'TEST' in red letters, displayed in the upper right corner. The display lasted maybe 5 seconds.

Might someone know what, if anything, is being tested ?

tia

mrsflweb:

Unless you paid full list price, I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are always a few people who are able to swing discounts for various reasons. 20-25% off is amazingly high for a set that just came out and is in high demand -- it certainly isn't the norm. The folks that got a deal like that should feel good about it, but that doesn't mean that those who paid more should feel badly. 10-15% is more usual, I'd say, and that's when on sale, with heavy negotiation, or both.

Sean

bsgoren,

I just got back from tweaking a 50" GWIII WE. We could not make the 480p input look correct. The resolution was poor and it pulsated with some kind of strange enhancement. This is probably what people are calling interlaced artifacts.

I would recommend a 480i player until someone can figure out what it going on with 480p on these things. You really need to tweak the SM these sets are very soft for 480i if you don't.

Originally posted by umr
bsgoren,

I just got back from tweaking a 50" GWIII WE. We could not make the 480p input look correct. The resolution was poor and it pulsated with some kind of strange enhancement. This is probably what people are calling interlaced artifacts.

I would recommend a 480i player until someone can figure out what it going on with 480p on these things. You really need to tweak the SM these sets are very soft for 480i if you don't. WHATS with the tweaking!?HDTV is 1080i and if you set the tv and the dvd at that there IS no problem!jeesh-gimme a break already-when you set up the dvd player it asks=what is the tv type=std or wscreen16x9-and as for the box if on cable-set at 1080i-all else will just distort the HD pic-meaning youll have to STRETCH the pic to fit--just set it and forget it

Originally posted by studranger4
WHATS with the tweaking!?HDTV is 1080i and if you set the tv and the dvd at that there IS no problem!jeesh-gimme a break already-when you set up the dvd player it asks=what is the tv type=std or wscreen16x9-and as for the box if on cable-set at 1080i-all else will just distort the HD pic-meaning youll have to STRETCH the pic to fit--just set it and forget it

studranger4 -

My DVD Player is of course set up for my 16x9 GWIII (not 4x3) but that has nothing to do with my original question of Interlaced vs. Progressive. Just b/c you set your DVD Player to "16x9 TV" doesn't mean you convert it's source signal to 1080i (unless you have one of those DVD Players like the Samsung which connects via the DVI port and it upconverts its signal to HD or "near HD" quality); it's still a 480i or 480p signal that fills your entire screen or has black bars on top and bottom (for wide-screen anamorphic dvds), and does not have to be altered for proper aspect ratio.

For 1080i and 720p sources (true HD), my Sony HD-200 SAT/OTA receiver is set to 1080i or 720p. For D*TV and cable sources (480i), my receiver is also set to 1080i (as it does it's best to upconvert the signal, and I think it looks best at this setting instead of 480p) + the on-screen menu looks best for all channels at this format. However, for DVD (480i or 480p), it cannot be set to 1080i b/c the DVD source has nothing to do with the HD-200 SAT/OTA receiver, so I don't know what you're doing, but my DVD Player is connected through Video 5 while my HD-200 SAT/OTA receiver is connected through my GWIII's DVI port (Video 7).

Oh, and BTW - you cannot "stretch the HD picture" as a true 1080i or 720p broadcast is already in wide-screen HD format and cannot be altered, while upconverted 480i broadcasts can be stretched to fit the screen (or left as 'normal' to be displayed in 4x3 format with bars on the left and right...personally, I like the 'Panorama' stretch mode on my receiver the best - similar to the GWIII's 'Wide Zoom'). My question was not for HD broadcasts; it was for a DVD source only which can be either 480i (GWIII's 3:2 reverse pulldown/DRC enabled) or 480p (GWIII's 3:2 reverse pulldown/DRC disabled)...that's it, and umr was only trying to respond to that issue, nothing else.

UMR,

Can you go into a little more detail regarding your attempt to tweak the 480p input. Did the image pulse prior to the tweak attempts? What exact tweaks did you try? Occasionally I see a flicker/pulse when viewing 720p/1080i content that can be eliminated by going into Pro mode, mild mode on. This is would then be in-line with your thought that some kind of enhancement is causing the pulsing. I've personally tried to find it in the SM and have had no luck. I'd be happy to experiment if you had any suggestions.

nyrjoe,

The image definitely pulsed before and after all attempts on 480p. It looked like Mild Mode was On, but that was not it. We ended up in Pro, but nothing helped much at all.

We tried the typical user menu adjustments and several service menu adjustments. These included all Picture modes, sharpness, SHF0, several others in DCP-ADJ2, and POP (all values). I would have tried them if I had any other ideas, but thanks for the offer. We had the service manual, but nothing obvious or familiar jumped out at me as a candidate. I believe raah is going to try experimenting to see what is causing this.

Originally posted by mrsflweb
After reading how a few people posted that they got 20-25% discounts on the Sony 50", I'm sick because of what I paid for my 42". I decided I would put out an all points for someone to mail me their receipt on the 50", so that I may get a more reasonable price on mine. I can't tell you how much this would mean to me.
My email is: mrmrsflweb@aol.com

You should be able to easily achieve a +/- 19 % off list by Buying at Sears during one of their 10% off weekend deals. The last one I knew about was from 7-10 am on a Saturday. This assumes that Sears (or a competitior that Sears will price match against) has the TV selling at a price approximately 10% below list which wasn't too difficult to find before Christmas; however, actually finding someone with the TV you want, available for delivery, may be the harder thing to accomplish. Sears is typically pretty easy to work with in my opinion as long as you took a few minutes to do your homework and come in ready to buy.

May have mentioned the service menu in this thread. How do I get to the service menu?

Originally posted by Chadnutz
May have mentioned the service menu in this thread. How do I get to the service menu?

Check out this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=331875

troy, so you are saying the 10% off is the beginning point for bargaining? You would think that they would say "10% is the discount already, cant go any further"

wouldnt this 10% off be pointless if you want them to pricematch a place in which the price is already below that 10% price?

Very glad to see you back(for a while, I know), umr. Are you going to start another thread for GWIII WE seris please? I thought you have already played with the WE610. Thank you so much!

Originally posted by mightihd
Very glad to see you back(for a while, I know), umr. Are you going to start another thread for GWIII WE seris please? I thought you have already played with the WE610. Thank you so much!

This thread now addresses both WE and XBR versions. Read the first post.

UMR Does GWIII XBR & WE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=331875)


[updated]

Thanks umr. I followed the thread a while back and didn't realize that you have already included the WE. Thanks again.

Good Day, I was able to swing the extra 10% off the already rebated price for the 50 GWIII last weekend. CC had the tv for 10% below sony’s listed price, but sears was offering a extra 10% from 7-10. So after talking with the CC manager he ended up giving me the extra 10% off. So I ended up walking away with a preordered “Should be delivered on the 31st” 50in GWIII for 20% off. All you need to do is be prepared when you go to buy, most managers will work with you. That’s if your nice…….

I am so looking forward to getting new tv!

:p

kevin

Help! I am new to the forum, so if there is a thread I should be on instead of this one, please direct me to it. I purchased a 60" GWIII about 6 weeks ago, and have a few questions-problems that I hope someone can help me with. First off, so far I do not have the buzz problem I have read about elsewhere. But just yesterday I noticed a bright green pixel stuck on. during a bright scene. so I finally went up close to the TV to check for more ( I had been purposely trying to avoid this) and found around 18 more . About 4 of them are very bright green, 2 are black, and the rest are dim green, and all are scattered. This seemed to me to be a large amount even though I knew I would probably get a few. From normal viewing distance you really don't notice them too much, except occasionally the 4 brighter ones. With this number of stuck-dead pixels, should I exchange it for another at Sears? Or do others have this amount? On the Sony site it warns that the replacement might be just as bad or worse. I am having a hard time justifying keeping it as it is such costly item. Another question I had was when I have on a screen which does not have an input at this time, like video 7, for example. should the letters have a double image or ghost? Mine does and I tried messing around with the auto shift in different modes , but it stayed the same on all the selections. The letters and channel numbers are also very blurry when I have on the station guide, or select a channel on my cox digital cable. They are also blurry on the few HD channels I have so far. Is this normal? Is this the TV or the cable feed? I have SD set to 480p on my cable box. The picture on the HD stations is great. I do notice some blurriness in the corner sometimes, ( the same one that the video 7 appears) but no one else in the family sees it. Is this the "trails" some people speak of? Any help or advice would be appreciated. rotty2

I have only two stuck dim pixels, one red one green, in each bottom corner. Can't see them from more than 6 inches. Your number seems high, also if you have stuck bright pixels that affect your viewing and it is within your return period, you should exchange the set. I wouldn't keep a $3k+ set if I wasn't happy with my viewing experience. Good luck with the new one!

Originally posted by rotty2
Help! I am new to the forum, so if there is a thread I should be on instead of this one, please direct me to it. I purchased a 60" GWIII about 6 weeks ago, and have a few questions-problems that I hope someone can help me with. First off, so far I do not have the buzz problem I have read about elsewhere. But just yesterday I noticed a bright green pixel stuck on. during a bright scene. so I finally went up close to the TV to check for more ( I had been purposely trying to avoid this) and found around 18 more . About 4 of them are very bright green, 2 are black, and the rest are dim green, and all are scattered. This seemed to me to be a large amount even though I knew I would probably get a few. From normal viewing distance you really don't notice them too much, except occasionally the 4 brighter ones. With this number of stuck-dead pixels, should I exchange it for another at Sears? Or do others have this amount? On the Sony site it warns that the replacement might be just as bad or worse. I am having a hard time justifying keeping it as it is such costly item. Another question I had was when I have on a screen which does not have an input at this time, like video 7, for example. should the letters have a double image or ghost? Mine does and I tried messing around with the auto shift in different modes , but it stayed the same on all the selections. The letters and channel numbers are also very blurry when I have on the station guide, or select a channel on my cox digital cable. They are also blurry on the few HD channels I have so far. Is this normal? Is this the TV or the cable feed? I have SD set to 480p on my cable box. The picture on the HD stations is great. I do notice some blurriness in the corner sometimes, ( the same one that the video 7 appears) but no one else in the family sees it. Is this the "trails" some people speak of? Any help or advice would be appreciated. rotty2 well rotty thats a decision you have to make-i have the 42 inch 2 months now and NO probs-as far as dead pixels go i dont see any-my set has oct build date and i bought it in oct-shows how fast these are selling-as far as the blurriness goes, if you have nothing connected to inputs you can delete it -the input that is-from the tv and i have my box set at 1080i--at 480 i had to stretch the HDTV pic to fit the screen-to get rid of the bars-totally distorting it to ME anyway-i prefer the black bars on std tv opposed to the grey-but NOT at the aforementioned cost--good luckPS IF set at 1080i and or 720p the MODES will NOT work-cant wide,zoom etc-BUT in vcr they will work lol confusing?you betcha!

sony fan, as far as the inputs I had nothing connected to, I only had them on to look for the stuck pixels and noticed how that the "video 7" label on top, produced by the TV,was doubled and kind of looked like ghost letters slightly to the right. Was just wondering if this is normal. The letters in my cable guide, and when I select a channel are also showing up blurry on the screen and didn't know if that was also commonplace for the set, or if there is something not right with mine. I am leaning towards an exchange, but with my luck I'm sure I'll get one with a buzz or an even worse stuck pixel problem. It is getting to tthe point that I'm driving myself crazy thinking about it. I've also started to think about a pioneer CRT, but don't know if I want to start this process all over again! Thanks, rotty2

Don't return your set due to a blurry cable guide. My Scientific Atlanta 3100HD guide is very blurry on highdef component in, but fine on s-video. It is the box, not the TV. The more recent 3250HD is better, but still a little blurry. The picture is fine -- the issue is only with the graphics generated by the box.

I've got two highdef sets, so I know for certain it is the box, not the TV.

Sean

I agree with splogue. My SA3100HD produces terrible graphics on the guide via component. On the other hand, my SA8000 DVR produces excellent graphics on the guide - both with the same 70XBR950.

The program image quality of both (HD and SD) is excellent though.

I'm glad to here that it is the cable box, but should the "TV produced" graphics in the upper left corner, i.e. "video 7" be somewhat doubled with a ghost image. This is when displayed on a plain black screen with no input. I am mostly concerned about the 18 or so stuck pixels. I noticed this morning that some of the stuck pixels only partially occupy the square of the screen that contains them, while the 4 brighter ones take up the whole square space. Will these smaller ones grow? Will I continue to get more? Do they sometimes get unstuck? Are these questions only the good lord can answer? Does anyone out there have THIS MANY? The smaller ones are not a problem YET. I just want to decide whether to trade in to Sears for a replacement before my time is up. When I called Sony, The person I spoke with was polite, but unbelievably had never heard of stuck pixels on an LCD TV! He gave me a # for an authorized service center? Is there anything they can do? Can the LCD panels be replaced or not since they are aligned at the factory? This would be an option since so far I don't have the buzz or startup problem. Thanks rotty2

Hello, All.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the great help here, and my GWIII came today!
So far just watching dvd's with a JVC XV-N40BKand comp Monster cables. I I will soon get HDTV.
Date of manfacture DEC. 2003.
Thanks again.:)

I just bought this TV, actually still waiting for it to arrive.....50" Grand WEGA™ LCD Rear Projection TV
KF-50WE610


Is this a GWIII?

I have seen alot of recommendations about stands, what is the best for value and use?

Thanks, I have a million questions....

Originally posted by VIDEOdream
I just bought this TV, actually still waiting for it to arrive.....50" Grand WEGA™ LCD Rear Projection TV
KF-50WE610


Is this a GWIII?

I have seen alot of recommendations about stands, what is the best for value and use?

Thanks, I have a million questions....

VIDEODream: yes, that is what is referred to as the GWIII. There are 2 types of GWIII though -- an XBR and non-XBR. You have the Non-XBR version. The non-XBR version comes in 42, 50 and 60", while the XBR version comes in 60 and 70" only.

This thread contains posts mainly about stands, so just take soem time to read it through. But to save you some time, more popular stands are the ones from Ikea which range from $100-$200:

Ikea Oppli
Ikea Bonde

Other stands that are also popular are ones by Sanus and a few other manufacturers avail through www.standsandmounts.com or www.racksandstands.com. Both have free shipping I believe.

I have mounted my October now DEAD GWIII 50" on the 42" successfully!
it is a lot less expensive than the 50-60" stand, and i think it is less obstrusive ( the 50-60 stand is ay too big )


I have never posted in this thread yet i think..
had the GWIII for 2-3 weeks, then BYE BYE!

BSOD syndrom , they lended me an hitachi 50" in the meantime,
so i asked the store rep if they could wait and give me a december or later build of the GW


does anyone know if there has been any problems with sets manuf. in december ???

I've seen a couple of people make mention of a registration/fill-in type card with the GWIII. Do these sets come with a registration card to be sent to Sony, and if so, where was it located in the box?

Hey everyone. I need some advice and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me make up my mind. I'll describe to you my problem which might not seem like it belongs on this forum but it is so just bear with me for a minute.

A few months ago I bought a 34" Sony widescreen tube model number KV34HS510. I went with a tube cause it provides the best picture quality. I've had many problems with this set. Color was bad out of the box and the yoke (sp?) had to be replaced. The picture was also misaligned. I watch regular tv at 4:3 mode and the black bars were uneven as if the picture wasn't centered. The border on the right seemed thicker than the one on the left and the border was also thicker at the top left corner than at the bottom. The biggest problem I had though was that in certain channels from my satellite provider (bell expressvu in Canada) the color could not get into sync. This resulted in the color flickering from normal to bright constantly which drove me nuts.

Technicians that were over my house told me that they've seen this problem before and that it's a problem with this particular model being unable to decode the expressvu signal properly.

After 2 month of getting the run around from Sony tech support I threatened legal action and they'll replace the tv via what you might call a free upgrade.

I was thinking about which tv to get from them. It has to be widescreen tv and HD ready. I will not accept a CRT rear projection cause of the poor picture quality. I don't think they'll give me a plasma so the only real option is the GWIII. I was thinking about the 42" model but after reading all the posts here I'm starting to wonder. I've read about the buzzing problem, the dead pixels and even a few complaints of black borders being misaligned in the same manner as the tv I'm getting replaced.

I'm just wondering what your thoughts on this situation are and if you think I should get this tv and hope I get lucky or get a different model from them (although I'm not sure which) any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Well, it is a TV, and a rear-projection one at that. You say you don't like CRT rear-projection sets due to "poor picture quality." But the GWIII is a rear projection set, albeit one with LCD panels instead of CRTs, so I'd recommend looking at one and see if it will work for you.

The buzzing concerns really don't concern me too much, but then I'm not having the problem.

Sean

I got a chance to check out the GWIII. I'm aware that it's a rear projection set but the picture quality is much better than your standard CRT rear projection units so owning one would be nice....of course that's assuming I could somehow avoid the problems that might come with it.

I would be getting this tv directly from Sony and not a retailer. This would probably complicate matters if the unit was bad.

Originally posted by rotty2
I'm glad to here that it is the cable box, but should the "TV produced" graphics in the upper left corner, i.e. "video 7" be somewhat doubled with a ghost image.

Mine does it too, and is otherwise perfect (knock wood). There is the tendency to think of convergence problems since we're used to CRTs. But if your HD picture is good, there's no intrinsic convergence issue.



I am mostly concerned about the 18 or so stuck pixels.

It's a subjective thing. If they bother you, exchange the set. Obviously there is no guarantee that the replacement will be better, but the odds are in your favor. I've heard few reports of bad pixels visible at normal distance. OTOH, I've heard no reports of sets with that many bad.

Originally posted by slayerav
I've seen a couple of people make mention of a registration/fill-in type card with the GWIII. Do these sets come with a registration card to be sent to Sony, and if so, where was it located in the box?

you have the warranty as well even if you never fill out a card... but you can always go online and register there...

Originally posted by slayerav
I've seen a couple of people make mention of a registration/fill-in type card with the GWIII. Do these sets come with a registration card to be sent to Sony, and if so, where was it located in the box? I didn't locate a card either but figured that since I bought an extended warranty from Sears, I'm covered ....
YMMV

Originally posted by MrMike6by9
I didn't locate a card either but figured that since I bought an extended warranty from Sears, I'm covered ....
YMMV NEVER got a registration card in my manual for my 42 in lcd-just keep my receipt and an eye here lol

Mine does it too, and is otherwise perfect (knock wood). There is the tendency to think of convergence problems since we're used to CRTs. But if your HD picture is good, there's no intrinsic convergence issue.



While watching HD this morning the wife and I noticed that the white letters shown on a black background on HBO HD were also blurry as they sometimes seemed doubled or had a white shine around them. She asked me if the letters could not be in HD and the rest of the picture was. I of course could not give her an intelligent reply. I didn't think only the letters could be non HD in a HD broadcast, or can they? Only the letters themselves seem to be blurry. Is this normal for this TV? Thanks, rotty2

Originally posted by rotty2
While watching HD this morning the wife and I noticed that the white letters shown on a black background on HBO HD were also blurry as they sometimes seemed doubled or had a white shine around them. She asked me if the letters could not be in HD and the rest of the picture was. I of course could not give her an intelligent reply. I didn't think only the letters could be non HD in a HD broadcast, or can they? Only the letters themselves seem to be blurry. Is this normal for this TV? Thanks, rotty2

Have you done the UMR tweaks for the GWIII? They should minimize what you are seeing.

Is there any way to change the colors of the bars on the side of the screen. I had my old non-HD cable box hooked up by coaxial and it had black bars on the side with 4x3 material. I got my new HD cable box yesterday (SA 3250HD) and hooked it up with component only to notice ugly grey bars on the sides. Any way to change this? Thanks.

Originally posted by brentunc
Is there any way to change the colors of the bars on the side of the screen. I had my old non-HD cable box hooked up by coaxial and it had black bars on the side with 4x3 material. I got my new HD cable box yesterday (SA 3250HD) and hooked it up with component only to notice ugly grey bars on the sides. Any way to change this? Thanks.


Not in the TV and apparently not in your HD cable box either.

Originally posted by brentunc
I got my new HD cable box yesterday (SA 3250HD) and hooked it up with component only to notice ugly grey bars on the sides. Any way to change this? Thanks.

Hit the Settings button twice on your remote (to get to main setup screen). Scroll down to "Set: TV Borders". Change the setting to "Dark". You will then have black bars.

I'm sure it is this 62 page thread somewhere, but what is the concurrance on the best DVD player for this system.....?


Also, what wires is everyone running.....I heard that monster was nothing but hype....is that true?



thanks:)

Brentunc: If you don't want any bars at all, go to the cable box settings button, scroll down on the quick settings menu to Picture Size, set it to stretch

Has anyone done side by sides with a Bravo (or Momitsu) and a high quality component player like a Panny XP30, RP82 or Denon 1600? I have a XP30 and a D1(upgraded power supply, loader and cables) and I honestly can't see much difference between the PQ of these players (Bravo using DVI on either 720p or 1080i). I have run AVIA on both setups. Am I missing something or does the GWIII processing hide a difference in PQ between the players?

Thanks for any thoughts.

John

Originally posted by Grasschopper
Has anyone done side by sides with a Bravo (or Momitsu) and a high quality component player like a Panny XP30, RP82 or Denon 1600? ...


I did a comparison of an XP30 vs. the D1. I would stick with the XP30. The D1 was buggy and offered little or no improvement in PQ on a GWII. The performance on the GWIII WE should be the same. I see no difference in how these sets handle their inputs. It "might" have more of a difference on a GWIII XBR, but the other sets are so close to perfect that any difference is going to be very small. The deinterlacer performance on the XP30 is reported to be superior to the D1 as well.

Originally posted by umr
I did a comparison of an XP30 vs. the D1. I would stick with the XP30. The D1 was buggy and offered little or no improvement in PQ on a GWII. The performance on the GWIII WE should be the same. I see no difference in how these sets handle their inputs. It "might" have more of a difference on a GWIII XBR, but the other sets are so close to perfect that any difference is going to be very small. The deinterlacer performance on the XP30 is reported to be superior to the D1 as well.

Thanks UMR that is sort of what I thought I might hear. I also did the side by side on a friends FPJ and the Bravo was the clear winner in PQ but on the GWIII they looked just about the same. Time to sell my buddy the Bravo. LOL

John

has anyone have any problems with the audio on digital channels? I do no know if its the cable box a motorola HD box or coming from the DTV local stations. its very noticable on news broadcast. sound going up and down constantly. its so bad i have to switch to SD station to watch. I have steady sound on on the tv. Have switch audio on cabel box to TV and back to what they have matrix stereo. I also tried going through receiver, its a little better but still can here it. any ideas?

I am having problems with lip synch on HD channels and some didital. Not all the time. Using TW cable. Any suggestions?

Does anyone use the Samsung HD-931 using DVI with their GWIII?

I compared it with a SONY DVD (Progressive) player and while the 931 might have better resolution (maybe), it's contrast is way too high... to the point where I have a hard time getting it "pass" the THX test (on Pirates of the Caribbean).

Any experiences with this DVD player?

Thanks,

George

Originally posted by VIDEOdream
I'm sure it is this 62 page thread somewhere, but what is the concurrance on the best DVD player for this system.....?

This thread is about TVs, not DVD players.


...I heard that monster was nothing but hype....is that true?

Monster is good. But Monster is expensive and their better product lines may be serious overkill for your application. Go with what you can afford.

DMF: Please read the posts. Both mine and the one from wxperson specifically ask about specific DVD players interaction with the GWIII which is an important topic IMO. Since the GWIII (WE610 anyway) converts the DVI signal to analog and then does the processing there are questions to be asked.

Monster DVI cables are all hype and markup.

wxperson: There is a known incompatibility between the Sammy HD-931 and the GWIII. The GWIII DVI uses (correctly) the video standard and the HD-931 uses the PC standard which has more info. What you get is the blacks and whites being crushed due to the incompatibility. I have heard that people think this can be corrected in the HD-931 firmware but I have not heard that it has been. I would say that any higher quality DVD player will give you a slight PQ improvement over the Sony (speaking mainly of the Panny XP30, XP50, RP82, and Denon DVD 1600, 5900). With UMR's comments above about how the GWIII processes the DVI signal and my own side by side between my XP30 and Bravo D1 I am saving the DVI input for HD cable (if it ever gets here) and selling my Bravo.

John

Originally posted by Grasschopper
DMF: Please read the posts. Both mine and the one from wxperson specifically ask about specific DVD players interaction with the GWIII...

Grasschopper: Please read my post. I quoted the specific question I was replying to. It wasn't yours.


Monster DVI cables are all hype and markup.

Again, read my post. I was talking about Monster in general. I have no experience with their DVI - too expensive - but I'll bet they work. So it's not "all hype", is it?

I actually sold my Samsung DVD-HD931 after using for 2 weeks on my 50" GW III. Since there was only one DVI cable and I didn't want to keep switching DVI cables with my STB, I decided the my component DVD player was good enough. I may reconsider if Sony ever released a DVD player with DVI out.

I'm using the DAV-FC9 Dream System and it works well, but I'm going to upgrade to either the DVP-NC555ES or the RDR-GX7 DVD recorder.


No complaints with my GW III by the way, since this is a GW III thread...

I got the 50" WE several days ago.

Out of the box,
PQ on progressive-scan DVDs (via component video, of course) looks beautiful.
PQ on analog cable looks bad (very pixelated or SDE?).
PQ on my S-VHS VCR's NTSC tuner looks worse
so do recorded programs via S-VIDEO
but pre-recorded tapes are not that bad.

Fonts in closed captioning don't look smooth from any analog source.
Same thing with subtitles in DVDs (TV's own CC decoder won't work via component video).

I already ordered a CM 4228 for ATSC so I will need a HDTV DVR receiver such as LG LST-3410a. I hope PQ will look great like DVDs or better and CC will look clearer, too. (Lord, please make me happy.)

Overall, I am not 100% satisfied yet because my cable company sucks so I have to wait and see when DirecTivo HD is connected to my GWIII this coming spring.

Originally posted by CC3111
The whole series of them produced before they stopped shipping them to all retailers as of a week ago had this issue. From what i can tell its roughly every one in thirty of these units is having the issue in our area (rather high for any product). If you are told that you need to special order the unit by your retailer you should be fine as sony has stopped shipping the units until they resolve the lamp and power supply issue. Expected shipping date for all special ordered units at all retailers is 6-8 weeks.

Hi guys...I'm a new member. Great Forum and I have enjoyed reading. I just want to ask CC3111 about the power supply / lamp problem. Do you have more information on what the problem is? Where did you get the information? I'm looking at buying a 50" WE unit soon. I wonder what they do with all the returns? I'm assuming they refurbish them. While it is not good the TV is having a problem.....It might be good for the refurb market.

Thanks!

Does raise an interesting question. What happens to the refurbs?

Originally posted by freezo
........ Do you have more information on what the problem is? Where did you get the information? ....
Thanks!

See the GWIII Buzz thread.

Thanks TV21CHIEF! I get an idea of the problem now. Hope they get it fixed soon!

Originally posted by JimP
Does raise an interesting question. What happens to the refurbs?

They sell them to Sony employees like me for really cheap! I'm actually happy to see that there are a good amount of returns. That means I'll have no problem buying one once it's fixed up at a mega discount.

Originally posted by JimP
Does raise an interesting question. What happens to the refurbs?

Last week the Sony Outlet in Grove City, PA had a Refurbished 50" GWIII and a 60" XRB at very good prices.

Can you please give an estimate of the prices. Like list price on the 60" XBR is Five Four, so how much less was the price at the Outlet?

I have a GWIII on order and coming within 2 weeks. Can someone tell me what Sony covers under warranty regarding stuck/dead pixels ... what is the exact language in their warranty statement?

Received delivery of my 50WE610 on Dec 20. Worked PERFECTLY until today... the problem? A nice 3" diameter green half-circle on the bottom center of my set. It is only visible during black/dark scenes. Not visible at all for most viewing. It looks like a faint green ligt shining on the bottome, definitely something to do with the LCD light engine or something.

After reading these threads I was worried about the power issue of not starting. I didn't get that problem, but a different one. The set is only 20 days old, with light usage. THIS SUCKS! The PQ is AMAZING, but I don't want a useless $3000 brick.

Abt Electronics is sending out a technician on Thursday. They assured me I can return it even after the 30 days, so I'll wait to see what the tech has to say. Fortunately I purchased it from a top dealer (with a 3yr extended warranty).

SHAME ON SONY!

For the record:
Manufactured: December 2003 LA2
S/N: 9111157.

Unless the tech convinces me otherwise looks like I'll be returning it for a refund. Too bad because the picture was awesome.

I got my KF50We610III back from the shop for the lamp issue but didn't turn it on since it had been in a very cold truck. After an hour, I turned it on and my gorgeous picture has now been replaced by an ugly mess of almost an overdriven picture. It has a look of the solarization effect with all skin tones and anything other than dimly lit rooms. I made sure all color, contrast, and other user accessible picture controls were returned to the middle or default values but nothing helps. The shop was closed before I turned it on. Does any one have any idea what might be wrong? Did these people damage the alignment of the lcd, mirrors or something catastrophic like that? I am just sick about this. I had a gorgeous picture but a TV that wouldn't turn on some of the time without screwing around. Now I have a TV that turns on after the third green blink but is unwatchable. Note that the bad image remains even after letting the TV sit overnight so that it is unlikely a condensation issue .

Thanks,

Jeff

There has been some discussion on the GWIII forums about what DVD player might be a suitable substitute for the Panny XP30 (discontinued). Today I did a comparison of a "new" XP30 and the Progressive output from a Samsung HD931. They both have the Faroudja chip.

By using various material and the DVE CD, I cannot find a significant difference. The HD931 did show all 3 bars on the Pluge test where the Panny only showed 2... but I am not sure that is significant. Picture quality, etc. were comparable. I did like the remote better on the Panny but remotes are something one gets used to anyhow.

Please note... while the Samsung HD931 does have DVI output capabilities, I would NOT recommend using it.. The picture quality is no better and it "failed" the brightness test using the DVE pluge pattern (no darkness bars were visible!).

So.. if you want a relatively inexpensive/good CD player and cannot get the Panny, I would recommend trying the Samsung HD931.

FYI... I will be selling one of these units on ebay soon.. whichever one I can get more $$ for.

Thanks,

George

wxperson

Since you still have both players, try using component at 480i as see how the picture compares to 720p on DVI.

My reason for asking is that I recently got LG LST-3510 which is a combination OTA HD tuner/ DVD player. To my eyes, component 480i looks better than 720p on DVI. Since the GWIII isn't a native 720 set(does anyone know?), I'm thinking that at 720p, I might be double scaling causing image degradation.

Thanks,

jimp