Hey happy XBR960 owners,

If you are around, I'll be at the Equilibrium booth #113 with our client/server software for video processing. Ask for "The Cleaner", if you can make it - see you there!

Let me chime in with my settings....

Ever since I began following this forum, I keep seeing ppl posting there settings which are in "pro" mode. While I have to respect these guys for doing so, I'm just different I suppose.

Ya see, I've been spoiled by plasma and modern lcd sets that I have come to a liking with the vividness of those displays. Yet, they don't offer the resolution nor sharpness that my XBR960 does (for the most part). So with that being said, I'm enjoying my XBR more and more by the day and for all who wants a custom setting that "mimicks" the top-of-the-line plasma/lcd then I recommend you give mine a shot. Keep in mind, even "mimicking" plasmas still won't overdrown the image on this set because it still is a tube. That you can't change! So imho with the settings that I'm currently using I can have the best of both worlds. The vivid colors of the XBR LCD and the super sharpness of the tube.

Of course these settings aren't for everyone, in fact not many here won't like them since there true videophiles and demand that "certain" look. But I feel that most of the settings I see here are too dark. Again, my opinion.


Mode - standard
Picture - 48
Brightness - 31
Color - 31
Hue - 0
Sharpness - 20
Color Temp - Neutral
Clear Edge VM - off
DRC Palette - default
Color Axis - monitor

This is being used with a Hitachi P303 progresssive scan dvd player via component. I don't think the picture is gonna get that much better than a true 480p coming in from a well mastered dvd. Actually, from any dvd as it seems to make my old ones come alive.

I don't know about other sources, but if you watch dvds via component with a 480p player then its worth giving it a shot if you are like me and find a dark picture being subpar. Not saying there not accurate, but not to my liking. I'm sure all the "pro" ppl are gonna lunge at me but maybe someone can benefit from this.

Take care

Let me chime in with my settings....

Of course these settings aren't for everyone, in fact not many here won't like them since there true videophiles and demand that "certain" look. But I feel that most of the settings I see here are too dark. Again, my opinion.

Mode - standard
Picture - 48
Brightness - 31
Color - 31
Hue - 0
Sharpness - 20
Color Temp - Neutral
Clear Edge VM - off
DRC Palette - default
Color Axis - monitor

Take care

It's your TV, purchased with your money, to make you happy. Set it up how ever you want and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you like the settings then it's the best for you. :)

Thank you John ;)

Technician came out and replaced the B-Y Board, no joy. He said next they will try the "Q Box". If I have no HDTV over new years, that will not be good.
They will try to get the Q Box replaced by Friday. :confused:


Yesterday, 01/05, tech came out and replaced the MZ board. My problem is fixed. I sure missed my HDTV.
This TV is awesome(when it's working)!!!!

I have a question I hope someone can answer. In all fairness, I haven't read thru the 101 pages.
I've had the Sony for 1+ years. Last week, we got a new 61", and moved the Sony into a bedroom.
I just got it hooked up with the STB and for the life of me, I don't know how to get the "Video 5" off the screen. I thought it would just disappear on it's own, but it isn't.
Anyone know how I can do this? TIA.

I have a question I hope someone can answer. In all fairness, I haven't read thru the 101 pages.
I've had the Sony for 1+ years. Last week, we got a new 61", and moved the Sont into a bedroom.
I just got it hooked up with the STB and for the life of me, I don't know how to get the "Video 5" off the screen. I thought it would just disappear on it's own, but it isn't.
Anyone know how I can do this? TIA.

Hi Pat,

Press the "Display" button on the lower right of the remote and it should go away.

Hi Pat,

Press the "Display" button on the lower right of the remote and it should go away.

Thanks Rob....I just tried it and it's not working. :(
It is so annoying. We didn't have this showing when we were using it before.

I tried all kinds of settings with the cable box and the television itself, with no luck.
When I first turn the set on, it will also show "full screen" on the lower left hand corner, but that will disappear...yet the "video 5" display stays. :mad:

Everything else with the set seems to be working. There was nothing wrong with the television in the first place....we just decided to get a large screen.

Rob, I got it to work!! On the Sony remote, I first pressed the "tv" button, then "display" and it finally went away!
THANK YOU!!! I can now enjoy watching! :)

Ok...I've finally got my stand for the bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)!!!!!

Now I can finally purchase the 34xbr!!!

Does anyone know of any deals on the web or were I might get the best deal?

I should have jumped on the ABT deal last week for $1500.

Now it's $1899. I'm willing to pay that for the unit, but it would have been nice to save the $400.

Anyone have any ideas??


Thanks in advance!

Guys, i'm wondering why on some sites the 960 is listed as XBR960N and others it's simply the XBR960?

Even at Sony website, it states the XBR960N, but the user manual says just 960. I'm guessing it the exact same, but i'm not sure why sometimes it's listed with the "N" last.

TIA

Guys, i'm wondering why on some sites the 960 is listed as XBR960N and others it's simply the XBR960?

Even at Sony website, it states the XBR960N, but the user manual says just 960. I'm guessing it the exact same, but i'm not sure why sometimes it's listed with the "N" last.

TIA

Virtually the same set. I believe the newer "N" version has a different type of glare protection. Instead of a sheet I believe the protection is now applied to the glass of the screen. There are quite a few posts on the topic a few pages up. If you use the Search this thread feature, you'll find all of the specifics.

Ok...I've finally got my stand for the bedroom!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)!!!!!

Now I can finally purchase the 34xbr!!!

Does anyone know of any deals on the web or were I might get the best deal?

I should have jumped on the ABT deal last week for $1500.

Now it's $1899. I'm willing to pay that for the unit, but it would have been nice to save the $400.

Anyone have any ideas??


Thanks in advance!


B&H got it for $1400 + shipping

Well I am awaiting a ABT shipment which is 1 day away.
Monday 9 2006.
Will let everyone know the out come.

Video Only in Tukwila, WA has them on the shelf for $1,349... I got them down to $1,216 for a 34xbr960.... Might be worth giving them a call.

I'm pretty sure this can't be done, but thought I would ask anyway -- any way to get Closed Caption text to automatically appear on-screen when MUTE is used?

I just found this thread. Have searched for mention of this problem but found nothing on it, so here goes:

Purchased my 960 11/04 and have been extremely pleased with it until recently. About 5-6 weeks ago, began experiencing severely degraded picture quality upon first power-up in the morning (wavy vertical lines and much interference, as if receiving a weak station over antenna -- but I'm on cable.) Present on all channels. Power off, then on again and problem is gone. No trace of similar problems simultaneously on any other TVs. About the same time this started, I thought the degausser was louder than usual at power on. When I power off/power on to clear the problem, degausser is much, much quieter than it was at initial power-on. For several weeks, this only happened at the first power-on of the day. Lately, it has happened occasionally at subsequent power-ons. Have checked the diagnostic screen and it shows all zeros (i.e., no problems noted). Anyone else have this problem? Would appreciate any suggestions before calling in the tech. Thanks.


I posted the above back in October. By Christmas, the problem had become more than a nuisance, so I finally called the local franchise handling warranty repairs. The owner (it's a mom-and-pop shop) knew immediately what the problem was, ordered the right parts without ever seeing the set, and the parts (two of them) came in last week and were installed the same day! Problem solved!! It was the tuner. So, if anyone has a similar problem with their XBR, run one additional check: while the picture is still poor, check the picture quality from the VCR or DVD feed (i.e., avoid the tuner) and, if it's fine, it is likely to be the same problem described above. Hope this helps someone else.

This model is my first choice for a bedroom TV. Unfortunately, the matching stand is nowhere near tall enough for our raised bed.

Does anyone know of a stand that is 25" or taller, or any idea for that matter??

This is the tv that I really want, I've just been searching in vain for a stand tall enough, that's big enough, that will hold the weight of the tv.


(If you have already gotten a reply, I apologize for wasting your time. I just saw this post.) This one has everything you want...and it swivels!
Tech Craft model S-AV37X
Holds up to 240 pounds and is 26.6 inches high. I have one, and it is great!!

A little OT but related. Was wondering if anyone considered the 4:3 KD-36SX955 when doing their research. I realize it's the old-school screen ratio but when displaying letter boxed 16:9 material the diagonal measurement of the image is 33". It doesn't have PIP but appears to have most if not all of the other features of the 34xbr.

How do you know if your XBR960 is the original 960 or the newer 960N's?('n' for the removal of glare filter)?

Iv'e looked in back of my XBR960 and all it says is XBR960, and on the manaul it states the same..when it gives the serial number as well.

Also, while i bought this at the end of November of 05', it was made in May of 05'(is this supposingly a bad build month?, as a few have stated here), and i'm wondering if Best Buy slipped me the older 960 model...instead of the 960N, to get rid of it.

Do the 960N's have it listed on the back of the tv(where the serial number is) or must i call Sony to find out?

Or is there a specific way way to tell the original 960's from the 960N, buy the chassis or color or something else?

TIA

(This tv looks identicle to the 960N picture on Sony's website, btw)

(If you have already gotten a reply, I apologize for wasting your time. I just saw this post.) This one has everything you want...and it swivels!
Tech Craft model S-AV37X
Holds up to 240 pounds and is 26.6 inches high. I have one, and it is great!!


Thank you for the reply but I found a local cabinet make to build me one hell of a dresser that's 40" tall by 22" deep by 39" wide, out of solid wood. I pick it up on Friday and it ways as much as the TV does! It's beautiful though, and certainly pleases the wife factor!

How do you know if your XBR960 is the original 960 or the newer 960N's?('n' for the removal of glare filter)?

Iv'e looked in back of my XBR960 and all it says is XBR960, and on the manaul it states the same..when it gives the serial number as well.



I bought mine in mid December & it has a manufactured date of November '05. The box it came in along with the stickers on the manual & the back of the TV show the model number with the "N" suffix. Was gonna originally buy from Circuit City when they had a sale on it, but their website only shows the 960 & when called they likely said it's only a 960 so I hesitated. Luckily ABT Electronics had a lower price at the time & they listed the TV as a 960N so I bought it from them.

g'day
youth

I bought mine in mid December & it has a manufactured date of November '05. The box it came in along with the stickers on the manual & the back of the TV show the model number with the "N" suffix. Was gonna originally buy from Circuit City when they had a sale on it, but their website only shows the 960 & when called they likely said it's only a 960 so I hesitated. Luckily ABT Electronics had a lower price at the time & they listed the TV as a 960N so I bought it from them.

g'day
youth


Damn, i feel like i got the shaft now. The 960 was listed for $1899 at B.Buy and $1799 at C.City(at that time), and i got B.Buy to drop the price to $1599.(after going back and fourth to try to price match each other).

Did i get the shaft here..because i think i can still return this XBR960 for a refund or exchange until the Jan 15th.

And is this XBR960(no 'N') a bad choice instead of the XBR960, as i know Sony removed the glare filter in these original 960's for a good reason.

And if i decide to keep it(it's not so easy to return a 200lb tv), can i get Sony to remove the filter themsleves under warranty, since it may become an issue in the future?

TIA..wow, i love this tv, but i fell like i got ripped off. (or maybe in this small area the best anyone has is the 960 and not the 960N...?)

And is this XBR960(no 'N') a bad choice instead of the XBR960, as i know Sony removed the glare filter in these original 960's for a good reason.



What was the "good" reason?

What was the "good" reason?

From some earlier replies in this thread, it seems the original 960's had a glare filter, but Sony removed it with the "N" lineup, because of some thought that dust would build up in between the filter and the screen.

If anyone knows if this is indeed correct or not, please reply back here.

TIA

From some earlier replies in this thread, it seems the original 960's had a glare filter, but Sony removed it with the "N" lineup, because of some thought that dust would build up in between the filter and the screen.

If anyone knows if this is indeed correct or not, please reply back here.

TIA

I have the original XBR960, not "N", and I don't have any dust problems.

I don't have any dust problems either.

You know, i'm sure the original 960 was just replaced with the newer "N" models for the sake of Sony playing it on the safe side. However, the sales rep at B.Buy stated he would grab one from the main inventory..of which there were 50+ in stock, and i cannot see how he did so if they shipped me one that had a May 05' build date.

I'm really feeling po'ed now, somewhat at myself(for not making sure there was another model of the 960) and at the sales rep at B. Buy for simply lying. I have until the 24th to return this, and while i love this TV..it's the best i ever seen in-store, i just hate getting screwed.

What do you guys think..let it be and enjoy it anyway, or return it? Or go in store and compain and maybe they will refund some of the purchase price for the 'non truth'?

Believe it or not, the 960 is the model they still carry and have on display still at both B.Buy and C.City in this area(Syracuse, NY), and i think alot has to do with the fact this is not a large city and the demand is just not here.

Your thoughts, because i have about two weeks to return this or not. And if i do, i'm wondering if any major retailers in this area even stock the 960N.

Is it a big deal that they shipped me the May 05' (non "N") XBR960, or are these identicle anyway, and it's no big deal?

What would you do in this situation?

btw: At the time of purchase B.Buy had it selling for $1899 and C.City for $1799, i got it for $1599(after price matching back and forth), and two weeks later C.City had dropped the price to $1630(yeah, that much) but it was not in stock in the area. A couple weeks back it was finally back in stock at C.City, but the price raised back up to $1800. So both stores are selling it for $1800 or more, currently.

TIA

If you have a perfectly working set I'd just keep it. You never know if another set has convergence/geometry problems.

If you have a perfectly working set I'd just keep it. You never know if another set has convergence/geometry problems.

Great point, thanks.

I'm not sure if it's perfect, but from HD broadcasts and 360 gaming and DVD watching, it seems like it has little if no geometric problems. I'm leaning on just accepting it..it is the same as the 'N' model and i think i actually like that darker look with the glare filter..so maybe it was a blessing?

One thing is a no brainer, is that i will get this calibrated professionally in the next week or so, so at least i'll have the peace of mind to know it has no major issues to worry about.(at this time).

Well I am awaiting a ABT shipment which is 1 day away.
Monday 9 2006.
Will let everyone know the out come.

I'm in Northern NJ.

It just arrived via truck. I gave the driver $30 to help me get it into the house
and on the cabinet. Best $30 I have spent. The box was in absolutely perfect
condition . Looked better than most boxes I see when picking up something.
It was made in October 05 ....Hecho in Mexico.

I haven't turned it on yet, letting it come up to room temp. It was about 45F.
in the truck.

I'm amazed that something as obvious as a huge box with SONY HD TV on it.
made it all the way from Chicago without any incidents.

Will see soon.

I'm in Northern NJ.

It just arrived via truck. I gave the driver $30 to help me get it into the house
and on the cabinet. Best $30 I have spent. The box was in absolutely perfect
condition . Looked better than most boxes I see when picking up something.
It was made in October 05 ....Hecho in Mexico.

I haven't turned it on yet, letting it come up to room temp. It was about 45F.
in the truck.

I'm amazed that something as obvious as a huge box with SONY HD TV on it.
made it all the way from Chicago without any incidents.

Will see soon.

Good luck..and i'm glad you got the 960N(i presume), as it's an amazing HDTV that still blows my mind after some 4 weeks of having it.

You should get it calibrated as well, professionally that is.

To brighten the screen is what I read. A lot of people complained the 960 screen was too dark, but it just takes tweaking the settings.

Good luck..and i'm glad you got the 960N(i presume), as it's an amazing HDTV that still blows my mind after some 4 weeks of having it.

You should get it calibrated as well, professionally that is.

Wow!! It works great with ordinary directv. The screen is smaller than my
beloved 32XBR100 (which started getting weird last month) .

Yes, its a 960N. Serial number matches box and invoice.
( What suspicious people we be when we get a good deal :)

My hats off to ABT. Fast transaction, great shipper. The trucking company
put their own sealing tape on the box.

Well next stop is to get something in HD. I'm upgrading my satellite
receiver next week.

SD looks fine just smaller than "Old Blue" the 32xbr100.

Thanks to all who provided this great info on this forum. Its why I took the leap.

What do you guys think..let it be and enjoy it anyway, or return it? Or go in store and compain and maybe they will refund some of the purchase price for the 'non truth'?

Believe it or not, the 960 is the model they still carry and have on display still at both B.Buy and C.City in this area(Syracuse, NY), and i think alot has to do with the fact this is not a large city and the demand is just not here.

Your thoughts, because i have about two weeks to return this or not. And if i do, i'm wondering if any major retailers in this area even stock the 960N.


I was at Ra-Lin today. Display model on floor is last one, but they ar expecting new shipment any day. I would assume it will be the 960N. They are great to deal with and will beat any price around. Try them.

My 960 will be delivered tomorrow. This is not only my first HDTV, but I also got a cheapish surround setup to go with it. My question is how to best set up the audio on a 960. I see that it has digital optical audio out. Can I plug everything: DVR 942, xbox, and someday soon xbox360 into the xbr960 and then do one audio out with the digital optical to the surround sound tuner? That seems like the easiest way to go, but am I losing the surround sound or anything else by going through the TV? Does it make more sense to send all video to the TV and all audio to the tuner?

Thanks for any help. I've tried my best to find the answer to this on the forums and on other sites, but with no luck. I have a feeling it's either a stupid question or too basic for most people to ask.

Thanks for any help. I've tried my best to find the answer to this on the forums and on other sites, but with no luck. I have a feeling it's either a stupid question or too basic for most people to ask.

If you go to the Sony site you can download a pdf copy of the operator's manual. Pages 23-44 describe connection options.

Let me chime in with my settings....

Ever since I began following this forum, I keep seeing ppl posting there settings which are in "pro" mode. While I have to respect these guys for doing so, I'm just different I suppose.

Ya see, I've been spoiled by plasma and modern lcd sets that I have come to a liking with the vividness of those displays. Yet, they don't offer the resolution nor sharpness that my XBR960 does (for the most part). So with that being said, I'm enjoying my XBR more and more by the day and for all who wants a custom setting that "mimicks" the top-of-the-line plasma/lcd then I recommend you give mine a shot. Keep in mind, even "mimicking" plasmas still won't overdrown the image on this set because it still is a tube. That you can't change! So imho with the settings that I'm currently using I can have the best of both worlds. The vivid colors of the XBR LCD and the super sharpness of the tube.

Of course these settings aren't for everyone, in fact not many here won't like them since there true videophiles and demand that "certain" look. But I feel that most of the settings I see here are too dark. Again, my opinion.


Mode - standard
Picture - 48
Brightness - 31
Color - 31
Hue - 0
Sharpness - 20
Color Temp - Neutral
Clear Edge VM - off
DRC Palette - default
Color Axis - monitor

Take care

Hey Kristopher,

Congrats on picking up the XBR960.

I tried out your settings and I felt compelled to list my own so that you may try them out. I can't guarantee that you will like them more but to me there was more sharpness and clarity with mine.

What I suggest is that you try my settings BUT if you want a brighter picture just try switching between the color temp. settings. You can see that I prefer warm but the neutral and cool may add the additional brightness you are looking for while mainting the clarity of Pro mode.

Mode: Professional

Picture - 32
Brightness - 42
Color - 34
Hue - R1
Sharpness - Min
Color Temp. - Warm
ClearEdge VM - OFF

Color Axis - Monitor

Let me know what you think. For certain Discovery Channel shows in HD I prefer a neutral color temp. but I never use the cool. I think warm provides the most accurate skin tones but sometimes I need the added brightness that neutral provides.

If you go to the Sony site you can download a pdf copy of the operator's manual. Pages 23-44 describe connection options.

Thank you, gonna go do that now, though I wonder if it will answer my question on the benefits and detriments of putting all the audio through the tv and running one optical cord from the TV to the tuner...

Well, the manual wasn't that helpful. It sounds like running all audio into the TV and then out the digital optical cable into the surround sound tuner isn't going to cut it, but I'm not sure. I think the manual said that that would only work for digital content and that anything analog plugged into the TV would have to use different cables to the surround sound tuner. If I'm doing my viewing through DishNetwork and a dvd player, will everything be digital? If some channels are digital and some analog, does the TV know when to route what through which output to the sound sound tuner?

And I'm still left wondering if the surround sound information is lost by routing it through the TV instead of directly to the surround sound tuner...

Just to inform about the 'N' models, i just called Sony and they revised/switched to those models in August 05'.

Now i'm real upset at B.Buy for basically lying that they had a inventory of 70 in their main stock and this one would be one of those.

Eithier they are lying or every one in stock was of the older inventory of units.

All i know is, while i got the tv for $300 of the list price, i was lyed to(or it seems) and i hate to be taken for a fool here, so i'm headed to B.Buy this week/weekend and i want some answers, or else this may be returned for a newer model or i'll get a refund and wait until C.City gets these back in stock. Or maybe Raylin or another outlet in the CNY area.

btw: The Sony rep had no idea what the differences are beween the two models.

Well next stop is to get something in HD. I'm upgrading my satellite receiver next week.
Pete the XBR has a ATSC tuner, so pick up an antenna and try and get the NYC locals for some HD content in the meanwhile. You will be amazed with the PQ.

Just to inform about the 'N' models, i just called Sony and they revised/switched to those models in August 05'.

Now i'm real upset at B.Buy for basically lying that they had a inventory of 70 in their main stock and this one would be one of those.

Eithier they are lying or every one in stock was of the older inventory of units.

All i know is, while i got the tv for $300 of the list price, i was lyed to(or it seems) and i hate to be taken for a fool here, so i'm headed to B.Buy this week/weekend and i want some answers, or else this may be returned for a newer model or i'll get a refund and wait until C.City gets these back in stock. Or maybe Raylin or another outlet in the CNY area.

btw: The Sony rep had no idea what the differences are beween the two models.

You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Relax and enjoy the TV. Focus all this energy in to getting it set up and calibrated properly and you'll add years to your life.

Pete the XBR has a ATSC tuner, so pick up an antenna and try and get the NYC locals for some HD content in the meanwhile. You will be amazed with the PQ.

Thanks, I'm in the hills of Sussex County. We only wear shoes on Sunday :)
I think I need a major antenae.

Note:

The "Wife-y" came home and it was NOT a good time. Now she has objected
to every TV I've bought in the last 20+ years so this wasn't unexpected.

She did not look at the screen ( why should she??, Its a strategy :) )

She did not like the shape of the back of the 960!!! :eek:
She might have a point. She now loves the 32XBR100 which sits discarded by
the couch. ( I'm not leaving it yet ) .

She likes the shape of the 32XBR100 ( she hated it 8 years ago ).

Well we watched PBS all night and will watch PBS for the next 2 weeks
until I do enough to deserve another TV.

Life goes on, and technology does change certain things.... Thank God

Thanks, I'm in the hills of Sussex County. We only wear shoes on Sunday :)
I think I need a major antenae.

Note:

The "Wife-y" came home and it was NOT a good time. Now she has objected
to every TV I've bought in the last 20+ years so this wasn't unexpected.

She did not look at the screen ( why should she??, Its a strategy :) )

She did not like the shape of the back of the 960!!! :eek:
She might have a point. She now loves the 32XBR100 which sits discarded by
the couch. ( I'm not leaving it yet ) .

She likes the shape of the 32XBR100 ( she hated it 8 years ago ).

Well we watched PBS all night and will watch PBS for the next 2 weeks
until I do enough to deserve another TV.

Life goes on, and technology does change certain things.... Thank God


ROTFLMAO!!!


I thought I was the only one married to a wife that never likes anything I get.

Guys i need your opinion here, i respect you guys here: (btw: Thanks JohnGZ28 for your advise)

My overall question is this, if you were to have bought the XBR960 at Best Buy in November(and say you brainlapsed and were not thinking like me that night, to make sure it was the 'N' model) and they shipped you one that has a build date of May 05' and was the original XBR960(not the N model), and the sales rep. stated this would come from the main warehouse of some 50+ 960's, would you return the tv? (keep in mind i was assured of a brand new tv from this stock, because i had to wait 9 day for it's delivery..of which is only 10 miles away)

Also keep in mind..in this area(Syracuse, NY), that Best Buy is selling the tv for retail price-->$1899 and C. City had it for $1799, so there was not much room from haggling/price matching, and you got the price dropped to $1599, $300 off B.Buy's retail price.(This is what i payed)

What would you do?

1)Return the unit for a full refund(i have until the 24th to do so), and find a area here or order a newer model of this tv?

2)Keep the unit, calibrate it by a professional,..and if all is well, be happy that is works fine and while you could have gotten it for a better deal, you did knock off $300 offf the pricetag.

Thanks for your thoughts here, i'm sorry to bother everyone, as i love this HDTV, it's just i hate to think i got taken here for a fool.

BTW: Is the glare filter the only difference between the original 960 and the 960N models?. Because, even the phone reps at Sony don't seem to know of any difference.
Oh one last thing: For the component inputs 5 and 6, there is like sorta static like look..black screen that looks a bit fuzzy, when nothing is connected to it, but that goes away when my cable and Xbox360 are hooked into these inputs. Is this normal?

TIA

You're making a mountain out of a molehill. Relax and enjoy the TV. Focus all this energy in to getting it set up and calibrated properly and you'll add years to your life.

^^^
Thank you for the reply, i'll think about what you said.

Ok, I'm a noob myself teetering between a Panasonic Commercial Plasma and the 960. Have most of you seen posts like this on cnet and other places?

So what gives? CNET and consumer reports rank this thing #1 in its category. However if you keep reading the reviews below a TON of people are having MAJOR reliability issues with this TV and I am one more. It worked for 50 minutes out of the box, the screen turned red, and it shut off. I then got to spend 2 days arguing with Sony Style.com about how they needed to send me a new TV. Bottom line, if you're going to buy this TV DONT buy it from Sony.com. Buy it from some place local where you and a couple of your strong (it weighs 200lbs) friends can return it quickly. Also get the extended warranty. You'll notice in other posts that Sony immediately wants to "repair it" and they dont want to replace the set even though you spend +/-$2300.00 on it. Sony customer service, support, and quality all appear to be a thing of the past. Its a shame too because the picture was beautiful for the 50 minutes the thing worked.

I was able to find quite a few posts on various sites with people saying they went through 3 960s in a few months and then gave up.

Is it possible that the real difference between the 960 and the 960N is that they simply fixed whatever was causing the reliability problems? Its not the kind of thing most manufacturers would want to advertise, "Now with less bugs!"

Philip, did you get the extended warranty from BestBuy? If so, I'd be hesitant to demand a 960N. Maybe they didn't fix anything in the 960N. If the defect rate is less than 50%, you're probably better off keeping the one you have. Plus, from what I've read, you might be over the hump, since most of the bad units seem to go south sooner rather than later.

Just to inform about the 'N' models, i just called Sony and they revised/switched to those models in August 05'.

Now i'm real upset at B.Buy for basically lying that they had a inventory of 70 in their main stock and this one would be one of those.

Eithier they are lying or every one in stock was of the older inventory of units.

All i know is, while i got the tv for $300 of the list price, i was lyed to(or it seems) and i hate to be taken for a fool here, so i'm headed to B.Buy this week/weekend and i want some answers, or else this may be returned for a newer model or i'll get a refund and wait until C.City gets these back in stock. Or maybe Raylin or another outlet in the CNY area.

btw: The Sony rep had no idea what the differences are beween the two models.
My 960 has a Sept05 date on the back and Serial #4001414 and is not an N version so they must have made both versions if the Sony rep said they started the N version in Aug05.

I was able to find quite a few posts on various sites with people saying they went through 3 960s in a few months and then gave up.

Is it possible that the real difference between the 960 and the 960N is that they simply fixed whatever was causing the reliability problems? Its not the kind of thing most manufacturers would want to advertise, "Now with less bugs!"

Philip, did you get the extended warranty from BestBuy? If so, I'd be hesitant to demand a 960N. Maybe they didn't fix anything in the 960N. If the defect rate is less than 50%, you're probably better off keeping the one you have. Plus, from what I've read, you might be over the hump, since most of the bad units seem to go south sooner rather than later.

First off, great line about the "Now with less bugs!"..lol.

Second, no i did'nt since the sales rep was basically forcing it down my throat at that time, and since Sony has a 2 yr. warranty on this tv.

I just read from the below reply how someone got a 960 that was not the 'N' model and the build was in Sept, and even last night while playing PGR3(Xbox 360) on it, i was thinking "why mess with a great thing, here?"

So i'm leaning towards letting it go and being thankful it's working seemingly well, my only fault is that the component inputs(5 and 6) look not as dark when they have no connection to them..or when that something(ie..cable, Xbox360) is turned off.

So i'll be getting this calibrated next week to make sure it's working well, and if so..then i'll just appreciate it and let it be.

One thing that still concerns me is that Sony still cannot figure the difference between the two units, as three differenent phone reps have no idea the changes from the original to the 'N' models.

I'm glad some folks here said it was the glare filter and that's it, but i'd like to see a Sony (phone) rep. actually confirm it.

Afterall i bought this tv because of it's PQ(both in store and in reviews), and as long as the PQ is identicle to the 'N' models, i'm then at peace. (i don't usually spend $1600 so easily, in fact i never do, and this will be me(our) main HDTV for at least 4-5 years or so.

btw: I did'nt realize the defect number was that high with this unit, wow.

Thanks so much for the reply.

My 960 has a Sept05 date on the back and Serial #4001414 and is not an N version so they must have made both versions if the Sony rep said they started the N version in Aug05.

This is very strange, but like you noted it must be they kept on making both versions in Sept..or maybe still even do? Or maybe they kept on making the original with the newer 'N' units in Sept, and eventually kept with just making the newer 'N" models.(<--my logical guess)

And if the only difference is the glare filter being removed, i'm actually wondering why so..because i know it's indeed a bit darker with it, but i actually like the extra dark tint on this screen. (my eyes have bad sensitivity to light, btw)

The last Sony rep i spoke to on the phone said it was nothing he could find except for using different parts, but he did not know of which parts were changed around or how much.

Maybe it was as simply as using newer parts and they wanted the units to have a lesser defective ratio?

I really wish someone at Sony could give a simple and exact answer, this is Sony here and not say..Sanyo?, were dealing with.

This is for everyone:

With a professional calibration, will i find out all faults in this tv? I fully realize this will make the PQ alot better but i'm wondering if they can find out if the unit seems to be working well..in general. (say like geometric issues and such)

I never had a tv professional calibrated yet, so this is new to me.

TIA

My only call to Sony, rep told me difference between 960 and 960N is glare filter. He did not feel there was going to be any price drop, since the price had recently dropped and this is one of their flagship products. He was not aware of any planned introductions of newer versions or discontinuing of CRT's. He said he has "read some of the rumors on forums" too, but has not heard anything to support the rumors.

Hello

I have the australian version of the XBR910/960

I know how to get into the service menu

Can someone walk me through the steps for adjusting horizontal pincushion?

Cheers

MY 34xbr960 is fantastic but I noticed watching a football game ,that the
abc hd logo is cropped a little on the d,is there a way to fix this?
Thanks
Peter

My new 34XBR960 is excellent! I bought it for the bedroom, replacing an old 27" SD set. Of course, the new one would not fit into the entertainment center, so it had to go, too. We ended up buying a new stand for the 50" DLP in the family room (wide enough to place the right and left front floor speakers on either side of the screen) and moved the stand into the bedroom. Unfortunately, the slots for the a/v equipment in the existing stand are too low to see from the bed, so we have ordered an a/v pier to match the stand. Needless to say, the purchase of the new set has snowballed into a whole lot of work and expense. The PQ on the new set is awesome, after tweaking it using some of your suggestions about settings. Thanks a bunch.

John

This is for everyone:

With a professional calibration, will i find out all faults in this tv? I fully realize this will make the PQ alot better but i'm wondering if they can find out if the unit seems to be working well..in general. (say like geometric issues and such)

I never had a tv professional calibrated yet, so this is new to me.

TIA

A quality professional will tweak out any "faults" in the picture. So may or may not open up the box to adjust geometry issues that can't be tweaked out.

Glad you're keeping the set. I was about to send you some North Face gear 'cause you were getting pretty close to the summit. :D

A quality professional will tweak out any "faults" in the picture. So may or may not open up the box to adjust geometry issues that can't be tweaked out.

Glad you're keeping the set. I was about to send you some North Face gear 'cause you were getting pretty close to the summit. :D

Tweaking out?, how do they do this via just the remote and service menu? Or do they use something else?

And if the unit needs to be opened up so be it, as long as the PQ is perfected he can do whatever is needed.

Thank You, for the reply.

I just learned that BB will be clearancing these tvs out soon. The salesguy was respond to my speculation that Sony was getting out of tube tvs completely and that soon the 960 would be on clearance. He confirmned that the tv was going on clearance but wouldn't say when. He just said "soon".

Thanks to a very kind AVS member, I'm going off to purchase my 960 at an incredible price.

I just spent last 30 minutes on phone with Sony Customer Service, including a Supervisor. The question was real simple and I just wanted a straight answer....is Sony discontinuing ther XBR960 series TV's? I got an answer from rep, asked them to double check, then asked for Supervisor, got answer and asked him to double check.... final answer was that the Sony XBR960 is being discontinued, becuase it is replaced by the XBR960N, which is not being discontinued. He said if anyone is going to sell on clearance, it's his belief that it will be the XBR960, and that they may have negotiated a deal sith Sony to get clearance pricing.

I'm having trouble with ps2 video quality on the 960. I just puchased madcat component cable for the ps2 and I played Grand Torismo 4. When I go into options in the game and switched to progressive or HDTV (which was worst), the video quality was bad. I tried playing a movie, but it didnt give me the right options in screen mode. It gives me standard definition choices instead of high-definition. Is the component cable defective or is it the ps2?

Howdy. My new 960 has colors blooming/bleeding out of the corners. If it's a blue screen, a couple of the corners will have a bunch of red moving out and back in a couple times a minute, blue if it's a red screen. The Sony person I talked to had me turn my set off for a bit and unplug it, and that actually seemed to help a bit last night, but it was all back today.

Anyone had this happen? How did you fix it? The Sony guy said if leaving it turned off for a bit didin't fix it, a repair guy would have to come and check the magnets. It's too bad, everything else about the tv is fantastic.

No no no no nothing to do with landing magnets.

Can be fixed easily by adjusting LANDING in service mode

Go to the thread on the Sony service codes or read my post from yesterday

Thank you. I might try that tonight, though I'm pretty scared of the SM. I read the code thread you mentioned, but I still don't know what Landing actually does. Do you know?

I am having some problems with ghosting. It happens in digital cable, Xbox360 and dvd's when the screen goes from bright to dark or when a bright object moves across a dark background. Does anyone else have this problem or know of a fix?

Ghosting generally refers to old analog transmissions where you would see a "copy" of the picture persistently shifted off to the side.

It sounds like you may instead be talking about the "trailing" issue that has been discussed here. Do you see "streaks" briefly left behind rapidly moving bright objects on dark/black backgrounds? If so, that is the trailing. No known fix, it may be an inherent quality of the phospors on this TV.

I'm having trouble with ps2 video quality on the 960. I just puchased madcat component cable for the ps2 and I played Grand Torismo 4. When I go into options in the game and switched to progressive or HDTV (which was worst), the video quality was bad. I tried playing a movie, but it didnt give me the right options in screen mode. It gives me standard definition choices instead of high-definition. Is the component cable defective or is it the ps2?
I've got a PS2 hooked up to my set using the PS2 component cables and it works fine. I've used them with Gran Turismo 4 and all was well, in 480p and 1080i. So I'm tempted to believe it may be your cables.

I am new to a lot of this so I have a couple of questions. Sorry if some of this is answered in the thread previously, it is hard to pick out all of the info.

1. I have Comcast digital cable. How will the SD digital cable channels look on this TV?

2. How do Gamecube/PS2 480p games look on this set? I have a lot of Gamecube/PS2 480p compatible games I would like to play. How will these games look on this set in 480p compared to playing them normally on an SD CRT set? In other words, I want to have the best visual experience with these games, will this set provide this for 480p games?

3. Is there burn in problems with this TV? I plan on watching a lot of 4:3 television and playing 4:3 games on this TV, will this make burn in worse?

Thanks

QUOTE=Gage33 I am new to a lot of this so I have a couple of questions. Sorry if some of this is answered in the thread previously, it is hard to pick out all of the info.

1. I have Comcast digital cable. How will the SD digital cable channels look on this TV?

I have the same setup with the Comcast dual tuner PVR connected with component and the SD digital channels look great and they are heads and shoulders above the analog.

3. Is there burn in problems with this TV? I plan on watching a lot of 4:3 television and playing 4:3 games on this TV, will this make burn in worse?

YES! There is a burn in problem with any CRT based TV so you will need to limit 4:3 viewing or stretch it to fit, also watch out for score boxes etc. that stay in the same position all the time. An LCD based set would be far better for games because there is no worry about burn in.

my 34xbr960N is coming tomorrow (ordered from crutchfield)

any suggestions on reccommended settings?

I've got a PS2 hooked up to my set using the PS2 component cables and it works fine. I've used them with Gran Turismo 4 and all was well, in 480p and 1080i. So I'm tempted to believe it may be your cables.

What ps2 component cable are you using?

I notice that I get little or alot of artifacts and fuss on screen with dvd w/hdmi, ps2, or cable. Before I bought the 960, I was looking at the 955 at sears and it had an increadable picture, I mean crystal clear. I am doubting that my 960 will be that clear. What am I doing wrong or is the tv defective? I have the 960 and a cable box, I think atlanta broadband, with 2 or 3 splitters and a long cable (might be mix between RG6 and RG59) leading to the TV. That might explain the degrading in cable but what about the DVD.

Ive notice that it says NTSC on all of the channels when I press display. So if I get a HD channel, will it say HDTV? Should some of the OTA HDTV channels say HDTV like ABC and etc. What do I need to get HDTV channels? Do I need to pay extra for those types of channels or buy HDTV equipment?

YES! There is a burn in problem with any CRT based TV so you will need to limit 4:3 viewing or stretch it to fit, also watch out for score boxes etc. that stay in the same position all the time. An LCD based set would be far better for games because there is no worry about burn in.

But it is not as big of a deal with a directview compared to a projection, correct? How long would you have to play or watch something for burn in to be a problem?

Ive notice that it says NTSC on all of the channels when I press display. So if I get a HD channel, will it say HDTV? Should some of the OTA HDTV channels say HDTV like ABC and etc. What do I need to get HDTV channels? Do I need to pay extra for those types of channels or buy HDTV equipment?

The OSD on this set will indicate 720p or 1080i where it currently idicates NTSC if you are receiving an HDTV signal.

Your TV's internal ATSC tuner will decode terrestrial HD signals if any are broadcast in your area - to receive these you need to connect the set to an antenna and run a chennel search. This set also has an internal QAM tuner that will recieve unencrypted cable HD channels if your cable company transmits them "in the clear." You would only need to connect your cable, set it to Cable (instead of Air), and run a channel search to receive these. You can also receive HD signals over the HDMI or component connections connected to an HD capable satellite or cable reciever (assuming you have their HD package/offerings).

Deckels

read ur private message

But it is not as big of a deal with a directview compared to a projection, correct? How long would you have to play or watch something for burn in to be a problem?

If picture and brightness settings are not set extremely high and one does not use the "vivid" mode (stick with pro) there should be no prolem regarding the issue of burn-in. You will be safe with any setting up to two-thirds the available range (even those are too high for good quality picture).

Do this and you won't lose any sleep worrying.

I just learned that BB will be clearancing these tvs out soon. The salesguy was respond to my speculation that Sony was getting out of tube tvs completely and that soon the 960 would be on clearance. He confirmned that the tv was going on clearance but wouldn't say when. He just said "soon".

Thanks to a very kind AVS member, I'm going off to purchase my 960 at an incredible price.

Is this just for the 960 or does this include the 960N as well (the BB clearance)?

And where did you decide to purchase at?

If picture and brightness settings are not set extremely high and one does not use the "vivid" mode (stick with pro) there should be no prolem regarding the issue of burn-in. You will be safe with any setting up to two-thirds the available range (even those are too high for good quality picture).

Do this and you won't lose any sleep worrying.

Is this true for 4:3 viewing too? The reason I ask is my brother in law has an old CRT projection HD TV that has burn-in lines where the 4:3 picture stops on both sides.

Is this true for 4:3 viewing too? The reason I ask is my brother in law has an old CRT projection HD TV that has burn-in lines where the 4:3 picture stops on both sides.

We use the wide-stretch mode for all 4x3 broadcasts but watched many DVD's with original theatrical aspects and had no problem with top and bottom black bars.

Are those two different sets your brother-in-law has (projection TV is not CRT)? Old CRTs were more suseptable to burn-in than newer sets (I had a very old RCA which displayed the QVC box). Still would not worry - nobody else in this thread has had an issue with burn-in.

What does error code 161-6 actually mean when you have CableCARD hooked up to your set? Bad signal strenght, is my best guess bc went it comes up I lose and signal I'm getting on cable. They sent someone over to replace the old cable that was hooked up before and I still have this same problem. I'm hoping someone on this thread can tell me if it's just a bad card or is it still a problem with the signal. TIA

sorry for the double post.

Is this just for the 960 or does this include the 960N as well (the BB clearance)?

And where did you decide to purchase at?
I'm not sure about the first question.
I haven't finalized my purchase yet. Tomorrow is the day. I'll post back.

I would say there's no reason for most people to freak about N's vs. no N's or manufacturing date.

I've had my 960 since July 04 and have not had any problems with the tuner or the antiglare coating. I believe the antiglare dust thing is a manufacturing issue. If it looks good when you get it, it is likely to keep looking good. Of course, you don't want to gouge the coating or dissolve it with chemicals but a hard coating can be messed up by those things too.

ok i goty the tv today and its pretty badass (and thats without any HD content yet... my HD cable box is coming next week and who knows when I'm getting my 360)

so far I have it set up on pro, picture 32, brightness 42 color 34 sharpness min, hue R1, monitor...

kind of dark but looks great especially with the lights turned off

whats weird is none of the screen modes fit perfectly, even with a dvd that is 16:9. with DVD's it seems that "zoom" works best (very minimal clipping) and with non letterboxed 4:3 tv stuff "wide zoom" works best. I'm assuming that with a 2.35:1 dvd you will have no clipping with "zoom" but a little bit of letterboxing... havent tried that yet.

I havent tried anything with component inputs yet but from looking at the manual it seems that 16:9 content thru the component inputs will fill the screen properly on "full"... is this correct?

If this is your first 16:9 set, you need to go into your dvd player setup and change it to output to a 16:9 screen.

lol I dont even have a dvd player. I use my xbox.

I just pulled the trigger. I went to Ultimate Electronics and bought the XBR960N for $1199. I bought the stand and performance warranty also. They price matched and got a little lower than a Video Only receipt of $1216.

That is a good price, don't ya think?

I would say there's no reason for most people to freak about N's vs. no N's or manufacturing date.

I've had my 960 since July 04 and have not had any problems with the tuner or the antiglare coating. I believe the antiglare dust thing is a manufacturing issue. If it looks good when you get it, it is likely to keep looking good. Of course, you don't want to gouge the coating or dissolve it with chemicals but a hard coating can be messed up by those things too.


I agree with the above. My new 960N screen actually has a bit too much glare compared to my old 32XBR100. I'll live with it. I wouldn't lose sleep over the
anti glare coating.

Posted this in another thread, thought I should post this here to. We have a KD-34XBR970 in our system, according to our system the retail price is $1199. I have no information about it presently, anyone else know anything about this model?

Jared

Posted this in another thread, thought I should post this here to. We have a KD-34XBR970 in our system, according to our system the retail price is $1199. I have no information about it presently, anyone else know anything about this model?

Jared


Never heard of it.

That retail price is certainly hard to believe for a 34 inch XBR of any kind, but that would certainly be nice if that ended up happening at some point.

I was about to buy the XBR960 and sell off my HS510, but now I am a little unsure. I can see maybe a 15% decrease in price, but this large of a difference it must be a stripped down model. Not sure how they got this tv this low, if it is just features they sacrifice I would be all for it, but if the picture quality suffers it isn't worth it.

Jared

Posted this in another thread, thought I should post this here to. We have a KD-34XBR970 in our system, according to our system the retail price is $1199. I have no information about it presently, anyone else know anything about this model?

Jared

What "system" are you referring to?

I was about to buy the XBR960 and sell off my HS510, but now I am a little unsure. I can see maybe a 15% decrease in price, but this large of a difference it must be a stripped down model. Not sure how they got this tv this low, if it is just features they sacrifice I would be all for it, but if the picture quality suffers it isn't worth it.

Jared

I just purchased the XBR960 a couple of weeks ago and the price was just over $1600, but that was due to the set being on sale for $1799 (originally $1899) and on top of that, there was a 10% off store coupon from Boscovs. Let me know if you have any hard proof of a more reduced cost because the store will price match for me.

Go with the XBR960, the picture is excellent and is money well spent. I'm waiting for my 100 hour burn in period so I can get it calibrated.

oh and how the hell do u get this tv to work with memory sticks?

when I put one in it doesnt seem to recognize it

I have used mine with a memory stick pro and it shows every jpg size I have tried and it also played the mpg files from my old sony digital camera. The photos are crystal clear. If the TV is on and I stick the memory stick in it automatically switches to the input and shows the files.

yea it doesnt do anything when I put in a memory stick.

and the red led always stays on.

I see today (1/15) that Sears is selling the 34XBR960 (not 960N) for $1499

I see today (1/15) that Sears is selling the 34XBR960 (not 960N) for $1499

I believe that is supposed to be the 34xs955. They had the 34xs955 on sale for $1499 right after Xmas online. I noticed last week when I clicked on the link I have book marked it said xbr960, but it says the list is $1699 and only comes with 90 day/ 1 year warranty. The list and warranty info is not correct for the XBR960. I haven't seen a XBR960 on their online site since I started watching prices for this set in November. Anyone now if their local Sears carries the XBR960, and at what price?

I believe that is supposed to be the 34xs955. They had the 34xs955 on sale for $1499 right after Xmas online. I noticed last week when I clicked on the link I have book marked it said xbr960, but it says the list is $1699 and only comes with 90 day/ 1 year warranty. The list and warranty info is not correct for the XBR960. I haven't seen a XBR960 on their online site since I started watching prices for this set in November. Anyone now if their local Sears carries the XBR960, and at what price?

Sears has never carried XBRs., at least as far as tubes go.

XS is as high as they go.

Ok two things, first the system I am refering to is our retail system. Generally if we have new models coming in they are put into the system first, and within a month or two we see a purchase order. After that the product comes in, so I would expect it to be two to three months before we see this model.

As for the price, why is $1499 so unbelivable? We have it for that price everyday of the week, hell we have it for $1199 right now. Here (http://www.bernies.com/flyers/011506_CT.pdf) is the link if anyone wants it. Third page bottom right.

Jared

Darn, wish I lived in your neck of the words :(

It's MSRP around here.

I might as well forget about getting an XBR960 now. No way I am paying $1590-$1899 when some stores are selling this set for $1200. I don't buy a vehicle from a dealership that is trying to sell near sticker price, I go to another dealership that will sell at invoice price less rebates. I don't see the pricing in South Jersey falling below $1600 anytime soon. :mad:

I am new to this HDTV thing so bear with me.

Today I watched some of the football game and they said it will be broadcast in HD, but I wasnt getting it in HD (I think). It didnt say 720i or 1080i when I press display, just NTSC. The screen mode options where still Wide Zoom, Normal, Full, and Zoom, instead of Full, Zoom, Horizontal Expand, and Vertical Expand. I dont have the money to buy an outdoor HDTV antenna, plus its not my house. How about one of those small indoor antenna's? Which one would you recommend. If a channel that is broadcasting a show in HD, do they also broadcasting it in Standard Definition? If so that might explain the problem.

Im not getting a good picture from anything and thinking of returning the tv. But before I do I want to try to a few things first to make sure its not the tv. Another thing that bugs me is the screen modes for the standad definition.

If you are within 40 or so miles of your local stations you should be able to get by with an amplified indoor antenna. You can buy one almost anywhere including target wal-mart or radio shack. I use a Terk amplified antenna and get good results with my locals. There is more info in the HDTV forum.

Are you using cable? Is it a HD Digital box? Some (maybe all) cable companies use a different channel for the HD broadcasts. Example: Mine uses 03 for Local NBC StdDef and 166 for Local NBC HD

Concerning the Sears posting of XBR960, I emailed them. They replied that it was a mistake. The tv is the 34XS955. They were going to instruct the webmaster to take the ad off. I didn't see it for a couple of days under tube tvs. Then I saw it again under HDTV listings. I hate to think of how mad people would be in receiving the cheaper model tv.

Personally, I'm thinking about getting the 34XS955. I don't need Firewire nor Picture in Picture. When I upgrade to HD cable box, these features are on the cable box. I've looked at these 2 tvs and also the 36xs955 in stores. I believe all have identical picture quality. Does anybody believe the XBR960 has a better picture quality?

Today I watched some of the football game and they said it will be broadcast in HD, but I wasnt getting it in HD (I think). It didnt say 720i or 1080i when I press display, just NTSC. Were you tuned to the off-air "analog" (aka NTSC) or off-air "digital" (aka 720p or 1080i) version of the network channel? The comment that says you saw NTSC says you were tuned to off-air analog (and hence only saw non-HD standard 4:3), not off-air digital (where you would have seen 16:9 HD and the expected indicator of 720p or 1080i). The problem is not with the set... it's with your tuning to the wrong off-air channel.

Assuming you have some acceptable off-air antenna connected (a decent indoor VHF/UHF antenna should do, if you're within 10-30 miles of the tranmitters and don't have any horrible obstructions) you then need to run through the SETUP instructions to program the TV's tuner. As has been pointed out by others, off-air digital channels are up in the UHF frequency range but are shown by the TV as N.1, N.2, etc.). The set's tuner needs to "learn" what digital channels exist in your area, and what NTSC channels they correspond to (which is learned from the PSIP data imbedded in the digital data stream).

For example, here in LA standard definition (VHF "NTSC") 4:3 NBC is channel 4. Digital NBC-DT is channel 36. Letting the tuner learn this allows you to then select either analog channel 4 with crappy SD 4:3 picture or digital channel 4.1, which is actually channel 36 although you don't have to know that once the set has gone through its SETUP process successfully, with fabulous HD 16:9 picture.

Get an indoor antenna, run through the SETUP process, and then tune to a digital version of the network channels, where you will find the HD you're craving.

Has anyone purchased their tv from B & H photo and used the common curbside delivery method?

How does it work?

Does the carrier contact me and tell me they will be delivering in a certain "window" of the day?

Is there anyway to pick which day they will deliver?

What I'm getting at, is do I have to have someone sitting at my house for a week waiting on the tv, or do they work with you to make delivery?

I can wait around the house for a full day, but I'd have to know which day I would be waiting around.

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone purchased their tv from B & H photo and used the common curbside delivery method?

How does it work?

Does the carrier contact me and tell me they will be delivering in a certain "window" of the day?

Is there anyway to pick which day they will deliver?

What I'm getting at, is do I have to have someone sitting at my house for a week waiting on the tv, or do they work with you to make delivery?

I can wait around the house for a full day, but I'd have to know which day I would be waiting around.

Thanks in advance!

This is where I will be getting mine from........though I live in NYC so the White Glove shipping is only going to be $85 and it will be next day. They do work with you on some level but do understand that if you are out of state your options will be limited.

BTW, anyone use the Sony stand with this set? It is like 350$ and want to know if it is worth it.

I am getting alot of ghosting/trailing from this set. Does anyone know how to fix this or are u getting it at all? I thought that CRT's were not supposed to have much ghosting but I can clearly see a blur whene there is white against a black background. And when a persons bright face is displayed and then the scene chnges to all black I can still see the outline of the face. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? I just read it was due to phosphors but is there nyway to reduce this? Also do other tv's do this? What about LCD's?

Personally, I'm thinking about getting the 34XS955. I don't need Firewire nor Picture in Picture. When I upgrade to HD cable box, these features are on the cable box. I've looked at these 2 tvs and also the 36xs955 in stores. I believe all have identical picture quality. Does anybody believe the XBR960 has a better picture quality?

After seeing your post, my curiosity wants to know what the advantage would be, also. Since they are the same in every aspect EXCEPT the PIP and WARRANTY, I can't believe the pic quality would be any different. So, does it justify the extra $$ for the better 960 warranty ('cause I have no use for PIP).... tough choice. Not sure which way I would go. only other thing different I saw, (and it doesn't make sense) is that the 955 w/stand weighs more than the 960 w/stand.

I'm trying to chat with Sony right now to see if I can get some information.
========================
Okay, 20minute phone call and here is what they said:
960N has 2 anti-glare coatings applied to the Picture tube and the 960 has just one. Told him I heard just the opposite, that 960N "removed" one layer of coating...he rechecked, and swears that the 960N has 2 coatings. Don't know what to believe right now.

As for the 955, electronics, tube,m everything is SAME as 960, except those items already noted.

yea it doesnt do anything when I put in a memory stick.

and the red led always stays on.


My XBR had the identical problem, memory stick read light on all the time and no MS function. I was going to ignore it because I don't use the MS but called for warranty service after advice on this forum. The repair tech had to replace the Q? module and said the problem would eventually have evolved taken out power supplies and the TV would go inop. It is a known problem by sony and they knew what to replace from my description on the phone. Ordered the part without looking at the TV.

Regards, Rick

After seeing your post, my curiosity wants to know what the advantage would be, also. Since they are the same in every aspect EXCEPT the PIP and WARRANTY, I can't believe the pic quality would be any different. So, does it justify the extra $$ for the better 960 warranty ('cause I have no use for PIP).... tough choice. Not sure which way I would go. only other thing different I saw, (and it doesn't make sense) is that the 955 w/stand weighs more than the 960 w/stand.

I'm trying to chat with Sony right now to see if I can get some information.
========================
Okay, 20minute phone call and here is what they said:
960N has 2 anti-glare coatings applied to the Picture tube and the 960 has just one. Told him I heard just the opposite, that 960N "removed" one layer of coating...he rechecked, and swears that the 960N has 2 coatings. Don't know what to believe right now.

As for the 955, electronics, tube,m everything is SAME as 960, except those items already noted.
I don't believe there's ever been any claim the the XBR (N or otherwise) offers better PQ than the XS series. If memory serves, I do recall reading something about enhanced options within the DRC and/or advanced picture settings. Like I said, "if memory serves"...

ok I got my HD cable box today. I want to set up the tv for the channels, and so it displays whether its HD or not and the channel/show information.

I didnt do the autoprogram during initial set up and I want to do it now.

but in the menu, auto program is not highlighted (cant click it)

wtf

I've owned my 960 for about four months now and have been really impressed with it. However, I recently started noticing a very strange problem with a white substance "caking" in blobs on the front of it. Today I wiped some of them off, and not twenty minutes later there were some back on it again which I noticed after I turned it off. The caked substance doesn't isn't just dust. I have no idea what it is. A few times I have noticed it being so thick it would literally come off in chunks. I have never had this bizzare problem with any of the other televisions or other objects in my house, so I am wondering if there was actually a way the TV itself is causing this to appear.

I know this is a really off the wall issue, but has anyone else experienced anything like this? IS there any way it could be the television generating the substance?

Confused and a little intimidated by my tvs newly found ability,

Dan

ok I got my HD cable box today. I want to set up the tv for the channels, and so it displays whether its HD or not and the channel/show information.

I didnt do the autoprogram during initial set up and I want to do it now.

but in the menu, auto program is not highlighted (cant click it)Auto-programming is only for off-air tuning, not cable box fed through INPUT5/6/7. That's "line input" and does not require programming the tuner.

You need an off-air antenna attached in order to use the built-in ATSC tuner, and the set obviously is detecting that you haven't got one... hence graying out the option.

Ok they have had two days to correct their mistake...I just ordered one...I love their disclaimer...any mistakes not our fault...

Ok they have had two days to correct their mistake...I just ordered one...I love their disclaimer...any mistakes not our fault...

What model did you order? Someone posted the ad is wrong, and they don't even carry the 960.

KD-34XBR960...Called Sears customer service line twice and ask if this was the correct model number and was told twice yes...When I called the Sears store they told me that the Sears item number was for a 955 model...

KD-34XBR960...Called Sears customer service line twice and ask if this was the correct model number and was told twice yes...When I called the Sears store they told me that the Sears item number was for a 955 model...

and what are you expecting to show up on your doorstep?

I know they will ship the 955N...I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best... then I will raise cane about their false advertising...Some stores will honor their ad mistakes...guess it will be hard if they don't carry that model.. At least it is not coming to my door...will go to the Sears store to pick it up...then decide what to do...take it or let them keep it.

So how in the heck do you post an ad for a model that you don't even sell and then leave it up for three days even after your were told about the mistake...

Spend the energy you would use "raising cane" to set up and enjoy your TV rather than ruining the day of some CS rep trying to get through their day that had nothing to do with the ad. :)

The XBR does have adjustable DRC for tweaking standard definition signals. I've seen some XBR owners post that they don't use this feature. I'm more concerned about best PQ with high definition. Crutchfield shows the XBR as having a 10 bit digitial comb filter, and don't show the XS as being 10 bit. I haven't seen any thing else about this any where. Does any body know if there is a difference between the 2?

Just decided on this TV, wheres the cheapest most reliable sorce to order from?

ignore that, i just remembered i made a thread asking this..

I have that bernies ad, and a reciept from a place selling it for about 1200, .. im going to bring both of these in to best buy and or circuit city to see if i can convince someone to let me buy it for that.... if anyone else has any reciepts or adds of it being sold for that low, the more the better..

They won't match it unless you have a Bernie's locally.

The ad for whatever price you want them to match can't be from a different state than the one you live in.

boo

after reading these posts im concerned about not getting a 960N .. .arghhhhh!

weird issue with mine.

the LED for the memory stick stays on, and it will not read memory sticks.

but then yesterday after I installed my HD cable box, the light was off and it would read memory sticks.

and then the light came back on last night and it wont read them again. WTF?

and I just noticed that if I unplug the tv and pulg it back in the thing with the memory stick goes away, as it did yesterday. but I'm sure just like yestrday it will come back again.

Its possible that I pressed something on the remote but I dont see what would do that. Is there a button that would make the memory stick LED stay on and disable the memory stick feature?

Just turned the tv on again and the problem is there again.

it seems to go away if you unplug the tv, but then comes right back.

after reading these posts im concerned about not getting a 960N .. .arghhhhh!

how do i find out if its a N version

how do i find out if its a N version
The model number on the box and TV will be KV34XBR960N

I think pricing may be dropping a little. Just saw this on Circuit City website:

Sony 34" HDTV (KD-34XBR960)
Original Price: $1899.99
You save: -$320.00
You pay: $1579.99

Does anyone know how to get rid of or lessen the amount of trailing on the tv? Is this a common problem with other types of tv's or just crts, or even just this model. How come no one said anything about this before?

Just wondering what exactly you go thru for home service under warranty. Ive got an extended warranty thru SonyStyle, but the paperwork is pretty vague. It basically just has an order number and a certificate number. The place for the TV serial number is blank.

When the repair guy comes what will he ask for to prove its still under warranty. Just warranty paper, the orignal receipt...?? Will a photocopy of the original receipt work? Do they compare the name of the purchaser on the receipt to my name. The TV was paid for by someone else so my name is not on the receipt. I dont want to get a repair tech out and then be told that i owe for the call because its not covered or something due to paperwork conflicts or the like. Thanks for any help.

Does anyone know how to get rid of or lessen the amount of trailing on the tv? Is this a common problem with other types of tv's or just crts, or even just this model. How come no one said anything about this before?

Hey Shadow,

I'm on my 3rd SONY XBR960. They all had the same trailing, you probably read some of my posts. I still have it, currently taking a break from busting my Sony Customer Service guys' balls about it. He's offering me a buyback of about $2000.00 but I have to buy a Sony TV from sonystyle.com. Even though I can buy it for cheaper else where. So we are going back and forth on this.

Anyway this is a common problem, I saw it recently on my bro's Panny HDTV, as well. I think that some people's eyes here are more sensitive to this phosphor problem than others. Whenever I point it out to anyone, they start seeing it too. Right I have to live with it, I just try to ignore it when watching.

The model number on the box and TV will be KV34XBR960N

how bad is the problem so that they needed to change it to N

Hey Shadow,

I'm on my 3rd SONY XBR960. They all had the same trailing, you probably read some of my posts. I still have it, currently taking a break from busting my Sony Customer Service guys' balls about it. He's offering me a buyback of about $2000.00 but I have to buy a Sony TV from sonystyle.com. Even though I can buy it for cheaper else where. So we are going back and forth on this.

Anyway this is a common problem, I saw it recently on my bro's Panny HDTV, as well. I think that some people's eyes here are more sensitive to this phosphor problem than others. Whenever I point it out to anyone, they start seeing it too. Right I have to live with it, I just try to ignore it when watching.

common? i havent heard about any problems with the XS or XBR besides people saying its the best picture they have seen, but thats not really a problem

common? i havent heard about any problems with the XS or XBR besides people saying its the best picture they have seen, but thats not really a problem

Thanks for your interesting input... care reading a few pages of this thread before replying with more of your insight?

Just the facts...

yea ive read 10 pages back, should i read back more...

I think pricing may be dropping a little. Just saw this on Circuit City website:

Sony 34" HDTV (KD-34XBR960)
Original Price: $1899.99
You save: -$320.00
You pay: $1579.99

Yeah and it also says NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE - ONLY AVAILABLE IN STORES.

Do a search for your localy CC's and I guarantee you'll find that none of them have any left in stock. At least not in any major metropolitan areas. If you can find one from CC at that price I'd snag it up without even thinking about it.

yea ive read 10 pages back, should i read back more...

If you don't want to be ignorant on the subect.....well yeah.

Yeah and it also says NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE - ONLY AVAILABLE IN STORES.

Do a search for your localy CC's and I guarantee you'll find that none of them have any left in stock. At least not in any major metropolitan areas. If you can find one from CC at that price I'd snag it up without even thinking about it.

i was there the other day and they said they would order it, and since its a sale and Best Buy price matches, just tell them about CC's sale price.. win!

I went into Ultimate Electronics last night to pick up my Sony Stand for the 960 and to arrange for delivery of the XBR960N. They didn't have any of the 34" XBRs on display. I talked to the manager and asked him about the XBR970 possibility that someone mentioned on this site. He said he hadn't heard about it nor was it in the computer when he checked. He did predict that within one year he would not have tube televisions in his store (I think he was referring only to the big ones). I do believe that the time to snatch up an XBR960 is now. Personally, I think they are going to be very hard to find in a few months. Of course, I am merely speculating.

I'm looking forward to taking delivery of my set tomorrow and will report back.

common? i havent heard about any problems with the XS or XBR besides people saying its the best picture they have seen, but thats not really a problem

It all depends on your definition of common.

If you're one of the few people that have this problem then yes it is very common. If you're one of the many that don't have this problem then no it's not common.

Fortunately for me I'm one of the ones that don't have this problem and I don't have an "N" model.

Yeah and it also says NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE - ONLY AVAILABLE IN STORES.

Do a search for your localy CC's and I guarantee you'll find that none of them have any left in stock. At least not in any major metropolitan areas. If you can find one from CC at that price I'd snag it up without even thinking about it.


Hey guys, I just called my local Circuit City, and found out there was an XBR960 display model that I could buy for $1449! Since this model seems to have a hit or miss quality problem (meaning good sets stay good, bad sets go bad quickly), buying a display model might be a good way to get a properly functioning set, since bad ones would have been replaced.

Of course, the display model might have problems that the 16 year-old kid in charge of the TV section didn't notice ;)

i would just have them order one, or have BB price match it

any official word on wether dust was actually a problem with non N models between glare scree

i would just have them order one, or have BB price match it

The guy at CC told me this sale is to clear out a discontinued model, so they can't order anymore. I'm guessing that means they are non-N sets, but he was adamant they weren't getting a newer XBR960, so it might be an N. Forgot about BB, they said they would match the $1579 price, but not $1449.

It's hard to tell how many of the 960s are actually bad, since each bad one generates a lot of noise compared to the good ones that no one ever talks about, but I've read quite a few posts all over the net from people who went through 3 bad ones in a row.

I'm gonna hit BB and CC after work and get a first hand look at them.

I'm starting to think that combining the best HDTV picture with questionable quality-control and a clueless army of sales zombies is someone at Sony's idea of a practical joke.

Hey guys, I just called my local Circuit City, and found out there was an XBR960 display model that I could buy for $1449! Since this model seems to have a hit or miss quality problem (meaning good sets stay good, bad sets go bad quickly), buying a display model might be a good way to get a properly functioning set, since bad ones would have been replaced.

Of course, the display model might have problems that the 16 year-old kid in charge of the TV section didn't notice ;)

Paul,

As other have advised, purchasing a floor model is not recommended. One does not know how long the set was in use (including by the after store hour staff) which could mean purchasing a used set more than a year old. In addition, stores tend to keep contrast, brightness and color levels high which could result in a burn-in that might not at first be noticed. Finally, if something goes wrong right after delivery the store most likely will not accept a return.

If you are interested, the 960 is still sold at Crutchfield for $1,899 with no tax and free delivery. If one is investing a large sum of money, for a few hundred dollars more,a brand new set is much preferred over a store's demo.

- Joe

[QUOTE=PaulModz]but I've read quite a few posts all over the net from people who went through 3 bad ones in a row.
QUOTE]

Can you provide some links to these posts. I would really like to read them, since this is so contrary to all I have read on this forum and many professional reviews. I'm just days away from this purchase and like to be completely informed before I do so. That way, if it's a bad choice, then it's my fault for not looking into everything I can.
Thanks

the circuit city here said they could order em, wierd.. im going to try calling them again...
just called and they can order it, so what im going to do is bring my bernies add thats selling it for 1199.00 and bio's reciept, see if best buy will price match, if they wont im going to bring up circuit cities price, see if they will price match, which they will on that at least... then im going to go back to circuit city to have them give me a reason why i should pick them over best buy...

wonder how much tax on the mother will be

Since this model seems to have a hit or miss quality problem (meaning good sets stay good, bad sets go bad quickly)...

Since when has the XBR960 been known to have a "hit or miss" quality problem? This is news to me.

i hear mostly good things

I was very impressed with the HD PVR I saw at my neighbor's house. He has cable, and pays $5/mo extra for the device. Wow, it looked great! (Motorola unit/ComCast cable connection.)

Well, I'm very happy with my OTA antenna, and now I'm looking for an HD PVR for my system. I found an incredible Internet price on an RCA HD PVR. Too good to be true? Or, was the price dropped because it needs IEE-1394/Firewire? (Which the '960XBR can use!) So I'm planning to order it. Anyone have expience with this unit and this vendor on a '960? http://www.simplycheap.com/rcadvr2160.html

Thanks!
Mark

[QUOTE=PaulModz]but I've read quite a few posts all over the net from people who went through 3 bad ones in a row.
QUOTE]

Can you provide some links to these posts. I would really like to read them, since this is so contrary to all I have read on this forum and many professional reviews. I'm just days away from this purchase and like to be completely informed before I do so. That way, if it's a bad choice, then it's my fault for not looking into everything I can.
Thanks


Since I don't own one, and I don't know anybody who does, its kinda hard to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Someone posted in the last few pages of this thread that they've been through 3 960s. I guess my main cause for worry is the zdnet/cnet forums:

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Sony_KD_34XBR960/4505-6481_16-30787600-4.html

I'm probably over-thinking this, and its time to sh** or get off the pot. ;) I spend less than a few hours ordering a new PC every 2 or 3 years, which are more expensive than this TV, but I've been stupid loop for a few weeks now.

Anybody familiar with mytaxfree.com? They are selling the 960N for $1300 and shipping is $175 to my area.

http://www.mytaxfree.com/viewproducts3.aspx?ID=7003&REF=nextag

I'm off to BB and CC to have my first face-to-face with a 960.

Since when has the XBR960 been known to have a "hit or miss" quality problem? This is news to me.

I ordered a 960 from ABT in Chicago. I live in NJ.
4 days later the trucker called to arrange delivery.
The box looked like new and the TV was great.

I removed a small green spot in the upper left corner by messing around with
the "Landing" configuration in the service setup.

I would make the same purchase again.

I remember buying a 32XBR100 8 years ago and returning it because I saw some
convergence problems in the lower left corner. The second set was worse.
I drove back and requested my original set from the retailer who thought I was nuts. ( I was ).
I would still use that set today had it not started to flake out.

I love the 34XBR960 , haven't had to switch it. I can tweak it.

Anybody familiar with mytaxfree.com? They are selling the 960N for $1300 and shipping is $175 to my area.

http://www.mytaxfree.com/viewproducts3.aspx?ID=7003&REF=nextag

I'm off to BB and CC to have my first face-to-face with a 960.
Only one review showing, but it's recent and not very good:
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller11324.html

Shipping is too low for white glove, probably curbside...TV weighs in at 200#

[QUOTE=joebxr]


Since I don't own one, and I don't know anybody who does, its kinda hard to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Someone posted in the last few pages of this thread that they've been through 3 960s. I guess my main cause for worry is the zdnet/cnet forums:

http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Sony_KD_34XBR960/4505-6481_16-30787600-4.html

121 Personal reviews averaging 8.1 out of 10...I'd say that's pretty good. If you look at the reviews, most people are rating this TV as 8, 9 and 10. Very few are rating it 5 or 6. But the ones that are unhappy are giving it 1 and 2 ratings, and there is definately not a TON of them, and most of them are from Spring 2005 back. Online reviews like this are good "reference", but are easily skewed by the numbers....use your instinct. I'm still going to buy it, and I think the risk of a bad set is very low...more than likely lower than most others on the market today.

I was very impressed with the HD PVR I saw at my neighbor's house. He has cable, and pays $5/mo extra for the device. Wow, it looked great! (Motorola unit/ComCast cable connection.)

Well, I'm very happy with my OTA antenna, and now I'm looking for an HD PVR for my system. I found an incredible Internet price on an RCA HD PVR. Too good to be true? Or, was the price dropped because it needs IEE-1394/Firewire? (Which the '960XBR can use!) So I'm planning to order it. Anyone have expience with this unit and this vendor on a '960?
Thanks!
Mark

Hi Mark,

I wouldn't touch this thing. I looked at the manual on the RCA site. Its only connection is Firewire. No antenna or cable input, so it can only record from another firewire source. If you're lucky, it might be able to record what you are watching on the TV making it the least functional PVR there is.

If you want a functional OTA HD PVR, try a Sony DHG-HDD250 or Sony DHG-HDD500. I have the Sony DHG-HDD500 and it works well for me. It has an ATSC tuner, and can receive 7 day TV Guide data OTA for free. It can operate independently from the TV so you can record something while using your TV to watch something else. The 500 holds over 60 hours of HD programming. I believe these models are discontinued, but still available from some retailers.

If you have cable, it can also work with that, but you should read the "Sony DHG-HDD250/500" thread, because some people have problems when using it with cable. Sorry I can't post the url--I haven't made 5 posts yet.

Do BB stores carry the 960N?
The web site only has the 960.
Thanks.

I just got back from BestBuy, they have the 960 on the floor, not the 960N, but they may have Ns in the back. They list it for $1899, but will match the current Circuit City sale of $1579.

After comparing the XBR960 to the 42" Panasonic Plasma, I've had a change of heart. The XBR had the best picture I've ever seen, but too many other factors point me toward the panny plasma. The 42" ED plasma list is only $100 more than the XBR, and even though the picture isn't as nice, sometimes quantity trumps quality.

I'm going to buy my first flat-screen TV instead of my last CRT TV. Thanks for all the XBR info.

have fun

Hi Mark,

I wouldn't touch this thing. I looked at the manual on the RCA site. Its only connection is Firewire. No antenna or cable input, so it can only record from another firewire source. If you're lucky, it might be able to record what you are watching on the TV making it the least functional PVR there is.

If you want a functional OTA HD PVR, try a Sony DHG-HDD250 or Sony DHG-HDD500. I have the Sony DHG-HDD500 and it works well for me. It has an ATSC tuner, and can receive 7 day TV Guide data OTA for free. It can operate independently from the TV so you can record something while using your TV to watch something else. The 500 holds over 60 hours of HD programming. I believe these models are discontinued, but still available from some retailers.

If you have cable, it can also work with that, but you should read the "Sony DHG-HDD250/500" thread, because some people have problems when using it with cable. Sorry I can't post the url--I haven't made 5 posts yet.


Thanks, Rob. There's always a reason for things being "too cheap." Your reply was one of the most concise and valuable I have seen. I'll take a close look at the Sonys. (Don't have cable yet, but thinking I will be "forced" to go that way eventually.

Thanks!

Mark

I just got back from BestBuy, they have the 960 on the floor, not the 960N, but they may have Ns in the back. They list it for $1899, but will match the current Circuit City sale of $1579.

After comparing the XBR960 to the 42" Panasonic Plasma, I've had a change of heart. The XBR had the best picture I've ever seen, but too many other factors point me toward the panny plasma. The 42" ED plasma list is only $100 more than the XBR, and even though the picture isn't as nice, sometimes quantity trumps quality.

I'm going to buy my first flat-screen TV instead of my last CRT TV. Thanks for all the XBR info.

PAUL

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS TYPE OF TV IF YOU WANT HIGH DEFINITION!

ED is not HD!

From the Crutchfield website:

EDTV (Enhanced-Definition Television)
A designation applied to televisions that can not only display signals in 480-line progressive (480p) mode, but which can also accept 480p signals from video sources such as progressive-scan DVD players. 480p picture quality is superior to standard analog TV (480i), but not as sharp as true HDTV (1080i or 720p).

If you want a flat screen HD set, they will cost you more than an EDTV.

The guy at CC told me this sale is to clear out a discontinued model, so they can't order anymore. I'm guessing that means they are non-N sets, but he was adamant they weren't getting a newer XBR960, so it might be an N. Forgot about BB, they said they would match the $1579 price, but not $1449.

It's hard to tell how many of the 960s are actually bad, since each bad one generates a lot of noise compared to the good ones that no one ever talks about, but I've read quite a few posts all over the net from people who went through 3 bad ones in a row.

I'm gonna hit BB and CC after work and get a first hand look at them.

I'm starting to think that combining the best HDTV picture with questionable quality-control and a clueless army of sales zombies is someone at Sony's idea of a practical joke.

If you have a local BB that has a new XBR960 in stock and are willing to match the CC price of $1579, that is simply a no brainer. I would get over there and do that deal immediately. You will not get much better than that unless you live in a mystery town with a Bernie's(whatever the heck that is).

If you look at BB's website you can't even add it to the shopping cart anymore which means they are phasing it out just like CC for the "N" model. The ONLY reason the price at CC is where it is right now is because of this. Once the "N" model shows back up in inventory at these stores I GUARANTEE the price will be back up to a full MSRP of $1,899 so get that non-N model while you still can assuming it's a NIB model.

Just for reference sakes I believe if you purchase from BB and/or CC you will get a very recent production model. I purchased my 960 from CC back in October and it was a September 2005 production set.

get that non-N model while you still can assuming it's a NIB model.
How do I identify a "NIB" model.
Does anyone disagree and thinks its better to have an "N"?
Thanks.

How do I identify a "NIB" model.
Does anyone disagree and thinks its better to have an "N"?
Thanks.

i think its better to have an N, newer manufacturing dates, the issue with glare protection and dust getting between it and the screen and not being able to be removed, sony changed it for a reason... ill stay safe with N

How do I identify a "NIB" model.
Does anyone disagree and thinks its better to have an "N"?
Thanks.
NIB = NEW IN BOX
"N" model...plenty of owners of 960 on this forum that are not "N" model that will tell you it's great and no problem. If no one ever told us there was a technical difference between 960 and 960N, there is a good chance we wouldn't ever know or notice. I talked with a local Sony authorized repair shop and they agreed, and also said they have had absolutely no complaints on the 960 (anti-glare related).

Don't know if that helps you in any way, but thought I would try.

I've had the 960 for a year and a half now, and haven't had any problems whatsoever. If it weren't for this forum, I wouldn't even know there was an N model, or problems with the sets.
I guess it's like everything else in this world, some things will be lemons. We've been very happy with our 960 (non N).

im almost tempted not to take the chance

i just purchased a 34xbr960. the only issue i have is with the remote. it doesn't seem like i can control my sony receiver with it. i know you can program it to control other AV equipment, but only dvd players, cd players and cable/sat boxes. Not a receiver, not even a sony receiver?

i thought about getting a high-end universal remote, but wonder if i am going to lose functionality from the tv. especially features like "twin mode" and "favorites."

does anyone have any experience with this?

im almost tempted not to take the chance
HUH ?

read the other post i commented on, dont worry about that

triumph66,
You will not get much better than that unless you live in a mystery town with a Bernie's(whatever the heck that is).

That cut me deep...jk. Bernie's stores are located in only three states, Connecticut Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

nojokejones,

I use a MX-700 from Universal Remote and love it. You can do more with this remote then with the sony one, like being able to independantly pick each input instead of having to cycle through. You will not lose any functionality, since even if there isn't a button for what you want to do, you can program the remote to do it. A good universal remote makes everything much easier to do.

Jared

read the other post i commented on, dont worry about that

OOPS, sorry...didn't realize you were just having a discussion with yourself !

[QUOTE=PaulModz]but I've read quite a few posts all over the net from people who went through 3 bad ones in a row.
QUOTE]

Can you provide some links to these posts. I would really like to read them, since this is so contrary to all I have read on this forum and many professional reviews. I'm just days away from this purchase and like to be completely informed before I do so. That way, if it's a bad choice, then it's my fault for not looking into everything I can.
Thanks
I've read some of those posts too, but don't want to dig around and find them. What I noticed in the large majority was people not understanding CRT sets and returning a perfectly good set because of minor geometry issues and other easily fixable things. I've not seen anyone who's got 3 sets in a row that were actually bad.

[QUOTE=joebxr]
I've read some of those posts too, but don't want to dig around and find them. What I noticed in the large majority was people not understanding CRT sets and returning a perfectly good set because of minor geometry issues and other easily fixable things. I've not seen anyone who's got 3 sets in a row that were actually bad.

I think you are right on the nose with this... remember, we are used to buying "TV's" previously that out of the box you might change contrast or color settings to meet your preference. So for the most part, the expectation of many is that it should be just right out of the box. Let's face it, digital and HD have changed things and many of us, myself included, are not totally familiar with the expectations.

[QUOTE=joebxr]
I guess my main cause for worry is the zdnet/cnet forums.
Honestly, I wouldn't put ANY weight behind the zdnet/cnet forums. I stopped even reading those forums a while ago. They're filled with bad information and clueless posters/trolls/etc. Seriously. Have a peek through several other forums (such as the Windows forum) and you'll see what I mean. I find some of the writers for zdnet/cnet to be knowledgeable (sometimes...I've seen some who are utterly clueless), but their forums attract the worst of the worst. At least that's been my experience.

I spoke to sony only dealer here about a circuit city price match. He didn't have one, but mentioned if I was determined to get a tube I may want to wait for the 970. I asked for details and he told me the model was 34xbr970, retail price of $1199 with an expected release date of 3/6/2006. I was on the phone, but he seemed to be reading this information. Anyone know anything about this?

I spoke to sony only dealer here about a circuit city price match. He didn't have one, but mentioned if I was determined to get a tube I may want to wait for the 970. I asked for details and he told me the model was 34xbr970, retail price of $1199 with an expected release date of 3/6/2006. I was on the phone, but he seemed to be reading this information. Anyone know anything about this?

Didn't someone earlier in this thread mentioned that an xbr970 was in their store's computer? I hope you are not lieing and this is true, I will be all over it.

The guy offered to order one for me. I was on my way to CC for the 960 purchase, now I'm not sure what to do. Advice?

I spoke to sony only dealer here about a circuit city price match. He didn't have one, but mentioned if I was determined to get a tube I may want to wait for the 970. I asked for details and he told me the model was 34xbr970, retail price of $1199 with an expected release date of 3/6/2006. I was on the phone, but he seemed to be reading this information. Anyone know anything about this?
You would think there would have been an announcement or demo at CES if that were true...

I spoke to a sony rep and he knew nothing about an xbr970 and nothing was i n the computer. He did not seem like he knew a lot about their TVs so take it for what its worth.

yea, sorry.. was talking to myself

I had my xbr960N delivered yesterday. I only spent about 20 minutes with it, however, because of my kid's band concert, etc. Once I did get it hooked up to comcast cable and started looking at the HDTV channels, I was floored. The picture is incredible. I did not spot any obvious convergence issues. I'll know more tonight when I get home from work.

Just spoke with my Sony rep (has been an authorized dealer for 22 years) and he told me that the new 970 will be out in April. There will be NO significant changes (possibly a 2nd HDMI input) to the model other than a price drop to $11XX.00. He said that 960N's are becoming very difficult to find (he wasn't able to get me one for my father in law so I am now waiting for the 970 for him). Model and price are in response to slow crt sales and to compete with LCD (function/performance over form)

haha , just after i ordered my TV

heres the thing though, i actually called sony, and the N model is 2005's XBR model, a 970, sounds odd to me.. also considering i cant find anything what so ever about a 970 model anywhere on the internet im going to write it off as meh

it would be very odd to have it realeased that soon with no word officially on it before it comes out

it would be very odd to have it realeased that soon with no word officially on it before it comes out


I don't think it would be unreasonable for a manufacturer not to announce that they are releasing a new model that is essentially unchanged from the previous year but $700 less before the current inventory was cleared from the pipeline :)

Hey guys, I got a quick question. I was curious to know if anybody who has the xbr 960 did you have to take the tv out of the box outside for the set to fit through the door? Or will the box fit through the door? The only reason I'm asking this is because mine is suppose to be here Monday and there's a chance of rain. I sure wouldn't want the delivery guys taking this thing out of the box in the rain. That's why I'm hoping it will fit through the door box and all. Anyone care to shed any light on this? Thanks.

Just spoke with my Sony rep (has been an authorized dealer for 22 years) and he told me that the new 970 will be out in April. There will be NO significant changes (possibly a 2nd HDMI input) to the model other than a price drop to $11XX.00. He said that 960N's are becoming very difficult to find (he wasn't able to get me one for my father in law so I am now waiting for the 970 for him). Model and price are in response to slow crt sales and to compete with LCD (function/performance over form)

This would make sense to me. Lower the price to try and compete with the flat screens, and add a HDMI input. I hope this rumor is true, and that I will be rewarded for holding out for a cheaper price with the 970 model. :D

Hey guys, I got a quick question. I was curious to know if anybody who has the xbr 960 did you have to take the tv out of the box outside for the set to fit through the door? Or will the box fit through the door? The only reason I'm asking this is because mine is suppose to be here Monday and there's a chance of rain. I sure wouldn't want the delivery guys taking this thing out of the box in the rain. That's why I'm hoping it will fit through the door box and all. Anyone care to shed any light on this? Thanks.

I have a typical 36" front door. The box fit through fine. I think the box is about 30"
in its narrowest dimension.

Good luck. The top lifts off after you remove the white hand hold looking things.

If the box is only 30" deep, then I know it will fit through my door. I know this set is only about 23" deep but my concern was I wasn't sure just how big the box was with all the styrofoam they put on the corners. My door is also 36". But, I have a screen door that sticks out some and with it in the way there is only about 34" of clearance to play with. It should fit. Thanks for the reply.

gurrr

Hey guys, I got a quick question. I was curious to know if anybody who has the xbr 960 did you have to take the tv out of the box outside for the set to fit through the door? Or will the box fit through the door? The only reason I'm asking this is because mine is suppose to be here Monday and there's a chance of rain. I sure wouldn't want the delivery guys taking this thing out of the box in the rain. That's why I'm hoping it will fit through the door box and all. Anyone care to shed any light on this? Thanks.

Our set had to be removed from the box. Our doorway measures 32" but you must also allow another 2 or 3 inches for the thickness of the door when it is open to get it through the doorway. I was told by the delivery people they often had to do this for the 960.

If the box is only 30" deep, then I know it will fit through my door. I know this set is only about 23" deep but my concern was I wasn't sure just how big the box was with all the styrofoam they put on the corners. My door is also 36". But, I have a screen door that sticks out some and with it in the way there is only about 34" of clearance to play with. It should fit. Thanks for the reply.

It will fit with everything opened fully.

Don't worry, Its cardboard and it does slip by. :)

Hi guys i need advise once again.

I have a couple more days to return my Sony XBR960(not the "n" model) because of the extended holiday return policy, and i was going to live with..or accepting that i got a May 05' model when promised a new one from inventory in December.

But, last week the tv would not turn on for about 30 minutes and each time i turned it on by remote or by the power button on the buttom of set i got nothing on screen..as if the tv was not even turning on.

(To get it working i had to take out the power cord out of the surge protector and reinsert in. And i also took out the surge protector and re inserted it as well.)

But otherwise since then it's been fine, so now i'm wondering if it was a fluke or not.(btw: it's on a good quality surge protextor with only the cable box on the same line).

Now i have heard that the units built in May 05' had problems, so what should i do here?

Exchance it to be safe or is this a common occurance amoung all XBR960 for everyone?

TIA for any replies back, i need to make my decision probably within 24 hours.

Unplug it from the surge protector. As per SONY manual, this TV is designed to be plugged DIRECTLY into the wall. It has an automatic degaussing screen when you turn it on that draws a lot of power initially, more than most surge protectors allow. This could be causing your problem. Other than that i dont know.

Hi guys i need advise once again.

I have a couple more days to return my Sony XBR960(not the "n" model) because of the extended holiday return policy, and i was going to live with..or accepting that i got a May 05' model when promised a new one from inventory in December.

But, last week the tv would not turn on for about 30 minutes and each time i turned it on by remote or by the power button on the buttom of set i got nothing on screen..as if the tv was not even turning on.

(To get it working i had to take out the power cord out of the surge protector and reinsert in. And i also took out the surge protector and re inserted it as well.)

But otherwise since then it's been fine, so now i'm wondering if it was a fluke or not.(btw: it's on a good quality surge protextor with only the cable box on the same line).

Now i have heard that the units built in May 05' had problems, so what should i do here?

Exchance it to be safe or is this a common occurance amoung all XBR960 for everyone?

TIA for any replies back, i need to make my decision probably within 24 hours.



Watch out for that "quality surge protector". It could limit the current the set needs at turn on for proper deguassing. I would plug it directly into the wall since Sony already has its own surge protection or get at least a 1500 VA UPC UNIT.

Just a quick post to gush about the picture on the 960 I just purchased. I am still amazed. I tried the pro settings a lot of people use, but found it all too dark. I know, I know they are reference, yadda yadda. But it still looks too dark. I'm using standard mode and it looks beautiful. I find myself watching Sunrise Earth in HD and drifting away.

Furthermore, I find the 34 inch size very pleasing. I'm sitting about 7 feet away and find it immersive enough. I'm thinking our dedicated home theatre will be getting less use with this little beauty upstairs.

I ordered one of these sets from Best Buy last week using a price match from Circuit City. They had one in stock but the box was torn up, actually the packaging looked like a return, so I had them order one. It is supposed to be here on the 25th. I have spent the last 6-7 weeks looking at TV's and finally decided on the 960 after looking at LCD's, SXRD's, DLP's, Plasmas, etc. I thought for the money this would be the best set for us at this time.

We just moved into a new house 12/1 and I had a semi-dedicated HT room in the basement of my old house with a 65" Mits 65413 RPTV so I am concerned with the huge difference in picture size I will have now. There is no practical way to set up a large screen HT in this house and we will only be here 12-24 months. My plan is to use this set here and either move it to a bedroom of our next house or use it for TV viewing in conjunction with a projector when I get a HT room again.

I'm looking forward to getting this set up this week and enjoying HD again.

Just spoke with my Sony rep (has been an authorized dealer for 22 years) and he told me that the new 970 will be out in April. There will be NO significant changes (possibly a 2nd HDMI input) to the model other than a price drop to $11XX.00. He said that 960N's are becoming very difficult to find (he wasn't able to get me one for my father in law so I am now waiting for the 970 for him). Model and price are in response to slow crt sales and to compete with LCD (function/performance over form)

I would think a new model number would warrant some changes. Probably a new cabinet design and the removal of the Firewire ports. The tube would come from China instead of the US source. The current model is likely going to be the better deal.

Do you guys think i should exchange this amazing XBR960 for say a top LCD..say Sony'a Bravia ?

It's just so strange to have bought a new tv which ran me $1599 at B.Buy(and i had to haggle the price down from $1899) a month back..and has amazing PQ but now that Sony will be stopping it's CRT lineup forever, i'm beginning to think that maybe a no purchase would have been my best option(i also have a 27" Samsung HDTV, from 3 yrs back).

Don't get me wrong i love it's PQ, but there are very few HD broadcasts from Time Warner Cable in my area.(and no FOX-HD) and after the Super Bowl..while i have the YES network(thankfully) to look forward to, there is little else.

And then i'm reading up on the upcoming SED tv's that will combine the PQ of a CRT with the size/weight of the LCD/Plasma's, and i'm wondering if i should just return this HDTV..maybe for a new pc rig or digital camera or just wait until there are many more HD channels on cable.

And oddly the main reason i bought this HDTV was for 360/PS3 gaming, but i'm wondering if the upconverting of 720p to 1080i brings down the PQ to levels of say a LCD? Because every LCD(or most) are native 720p.

I could easily return this(i believe..easily) for a top 26" or maybe larger LCD for my den for 360(and upcoming PS3) gaming, or i could simply wait for the SED's to arrive and just get the VGA adapter for the 360 and pick up a 19" NEC monitor to use as it's display.

I went for months to come to the decision of the XBR960..and it's amazing in it's PQ but i'm wondering if i jumped the gun here a bit too early.

Your thoughts on what you would do if you were mainly into 360 gaming and how you would approch a HDTV now and for the next few years?

LCD? Plasma? SED? XBR960?

It seems there is no perfect answer here for gaming, because LCD's can't reach 1080i in case there are 360/PS3 games in 1080i(or 1080p-->PS3) and the Sony XBR960 has the best PQ but it's upconverting 720p to 1080i and some have said this downgrades the PQ. Add to that a VGA adapter and you would need a very high end pc monitor to reach 1080i/p as well.

There seems to be no right answer for the perfect HDTV/display for 360/PS3 gaming and HD broadcasts. This really is very frustrating.

(don't get me wrong playing COD2/Condemned/PDZ/King Kong and other 360 games on this HDTV is like pure gaming heaven, but then i'm reading in the official Xbox magazine how upconverting in CRT's downgrades it's PQ and since nearly every option for a HDTV is not the perfect choice..and while the XBR960 is closest thing to HDTV perfection for 360 gaming, i't like i'm sticking with a betamax in the 70's or a great technology that is no longer will be supported/sold. And it's not like i can throw down $1600 every 2 years on a new HDTV so i don't want to regret it if the SED's are all they are said to be two years down the road..for about the same price, all while these will be supported for years to come. It's a very strange time in the HDTV field right now, everything is changing so rapidly and there is still no ideal type of HDTV that is setting a standard)

TIA for any advise.

Hey Philip--
I'm sort of in the same boat as you except I'm agonizing between a 34xbr960 and the 50" SXRD. On the one hand, you hear that this CRT has the best picture quality, but it's on practically obsolete tech and is big and bulky. I kind of have my heart set on the 50" SXRD which, by nearly all accounts, has nearly CRT-like picture quality. I'm probably going to wait until we hear more about what the next gen SXRD's provide in terms of 1080p support, form factor, and price. I don't need to have HDTV right this moment and can wait. The 34xbr960/970 is my backup plan if I don't like what I see where SXRD is going. I don't really care for plasmas and lcd's at this point but if they come down in price, those would be something else I'd look at.

Edit to add:
SED doesn't seem like much of an option economically for another 3-4 years.

interesting read philip

Just a quick post to gush about the picture on the 960 I just purchased. I am still amazed. I tried the pro settings a lot of people use, but found it all too dark. I know, I know they are reference, yadda yadda. But it still looks too dark. I'm using standard mode and it looks beautiful. I find myself watching Sunrise Earth in HD and drifting away.

Furthermore, I find the 34 inch size very pleasing. I'm sitting about 7 feet away and find it immersive enough. I'm thinking our dedicated home theatre will be getting less use with this little beauty upstairs.

glad your enjoying it

Do you guys think i should exchange this amazing XBR960 for say a top LCD..say Sony'a Bravia ?

.....

And oddly the main reason i bought this HDTV was for 360/PS3 gaming, but i'm wondering if the upconverting of 720p to 1080i brings down the PQ to levels of say a LCD? Because every LCD(or most) are native 720p.

.........

I could easily return this(i believe..easily) for a top 26" or maybe larger LCD for my den for 360(and upcoming PS3) gaming, or i could simply wait for the SED's to arrive and just get the VGA adapter for the 360 and pick up a 19" NEC monitor to use as it's display.

I went for months to come to the decision of the XBR960..and it's amazing in it's PQ but i'm wondering if i jumped the gun here a bit too early.

It seems there is no perfect answer here for gaming, because LCD's can't reach 1080i in case there are 360/PS3 games in 1080i(or 1080p-->PS3) and the Sony XBR960 has the best PQ but it's upconverting 720p to 1080i and some have said this downgrades the PQ. Add to that a VGA adapter and you would need a very high end pc monitor to reach 1080i/p as well.

There seems to be no right answer for the perfect HDTV/display for 360/PS3 gaming and HD broadcasts. This really is very frustrating.

(don't get me wrong playing COD2/Condemned/PDZ/King Kong and other 360 games on this HDTV is like pure gaming heaven, but then i'm reading in the official Xbox magazine how upconverting in CRT's downgrades it's PQ and since nearly every option for a HDTV is not the perfect choice..and while the XBR960 is closest thing to HDTV perfection for 360 gaming, i't like i'm sticking with a betamax in the 70's or a great technology that is no longer will be supported/sold. And it's not like i can throw down $1600 every 2 years on a new HDTV so i don't want to regret it if the SED's are all they are said to be two years down the road..for about the same price, all while these will be supported for years to come. It's a very strange time in the HDTV field right now, everything is changing so rapidly and there is still no ideal type of HDTV that is setting a standard)

TIA for any advise.

I think you made alot of good points. Its like computers. Every 6 months there is something far better.
But I think you made a good decision in the 960 ( forget the N . My N has too much glare )
You must come to peace with yourself. I sometimes get this way but I don't intend
to go looking at anymore TV's for a few years. :eek: Thats my solution. ;)

too much glare... errr? what

too much glare... errr? what

As I mentioned in a previous post. I had a very nice 32XBR100 which had some
type of anti glare coating to the screen. My wife and I sit about 8 feet from the set
and in two chairs which are about 3 feet apart.

After purchasing the 960N , the only disappointment was that I now could
clearly see the reflection of the rest of the room in a very reflective screen.

I'm told that the 960 HAD an anti glare coating that was removed for whatever reason
in the 960N. I would prefer a bit more anti glare coating, similar to my old TV.

But I've learned to live with it.

My point is that if I had a 960 with the presummed better anti glare coating I wouldn't be dissappointed.

actually the 960N has the antiglare coating on screen,

actually I believe the anti-glare coating was removed to allow more light output

Sony's 34'' XBR is not only their best, it's the best there is!


For $350 more, the Sony KD-34XBR960N adds useful features and a longer warranty:

• adjustable DRC MultiFunction V1
• Twin-View 2-tuner PIP
• anti-glare coating on screen
• 3 i.LINK ports
• 2-year parts-and-labor warranty

from crutchfields site

the XBR960 non N had all those features
sounds like Sony/Crutchfield never bothered to update their site/info

and actually Qualia is the top of the line not XBR

the XBR960 non N had all those features
sounds like Sony/Crutchfield never bothered to update their site/info

and actually Qualia is the top of the line not XBR

this is from the page of the 34XS955 ,for 350 more, get the XBR960N , they only carry the N model, this is what sony told me as well about the glare thing.

well they use to carry the XBR non N model and AFAIK all the older models had the anti-glare coating on the screen(it was listed as a feature when I purchased my XS)

there are discussions around the forum here, you can draw your own conclusion

but I am pretty sure the N meant the anti-glare coating was removed
and as I said in my previous post, it sounds like the feature list was never changed from the XBR non N

Do you guys think i should exchange this amazing XBR960 for say a top LCD..say Sony'a Bravia ?

It's just so strange to have bought a new tv which ran me $1599 at B.Buy(and i had to haggle the price down from $1899) a month back..and has amazing PQ but now that Sony will be stopping it's CRT lineup forever, i'm beginning to think that maybe a no purchase would have been my best option(i also have a 27" Samsung HDTV, from 3 yrs back).

Don't get me wrong i love it's PQ, but there are very few HD broadcasts from Time Warner Cable in my area.(and no FOX-HD) and after the Super Bowl..while i have the YES network(thankfully) to look forward to, there is little else.

And then i'm reading up on the upcoming SED tv's that will combine the PQ of a CRT with the size/weight of the LCD/Plasma's, and i'm wondering if i should just return this HDTV..maybe for a new pc rig or digital camera or just wait until there are many more HD channels on cable.

And oddly the main reason i bought this HDTV was for 360/PS3 gaming, but i'm wondering if the upconverting of 720p to 1080i brings down the PQ to levels of say a LCD? Because every LCD(or most) are native 720p.

I could easily return this(i believe..easily) for a top 26" or maybe larger LCD for my den for 360(and upcoming PS3) gaming, or i could simply wait for the SED's to arrive and just get the VGA adapter for the 360 and pick up a 19" NEC monitor to use as it's display.

I went for months to come to the decision of the XBR960..and it's amazing in it's PQ but i'm wondering if i jumped the gun here a bit too early.

Your thoughts on what you would do if you were mainly into 360 gaming and how you would approch a HDTV now and for the next few years?

LCD? Plasma? SED? XBR960?

It seems there is no perfect answer here for gaming, because LCD's can't reach 1080i in case there are 360/PS3 games in 1080i(or 1080p-->PS3) and the Sony XBR960 has the best PQ but it's upconverting 720p to 1080i and some have said this downgrades the PQ. Add to that a VGA adapter and you would need a very high end pc monitor to reach 1080i/p as well.

There seems to be no right answer for the perfect HDTV/display for 360/PS3 gaming and HD broadcasts. This really is very frustrating.

(don't get me wrong playing COD2/Condemned/PDZ/King Kong and other 360 games on this HDTV is like pure gaming heaven, but then i'm reading in the official Xbox magazine how upconverting in CRT's downgrades it's PQ and since nearly every option for a HDTV is not the perfect choice..and while the XBR960 is closest thing to HDTV perfection for 360 gaming, i't like i'm sticking with a betamax in the 70's or a great technology that is no longer will be supported/sold. And it's not like i can throw down $1600 every 2 years on a new HDTV so i don't want to regret it if the SED's are all they are said to be two years down the road..for about the same price, all while these will be supported for years to come. It's a very strange time in the HDTV field right now, everything is changing so rapidly and there is still no ideal type of HDTV that is setting a standard)

TIA for any advise.

I have both, the 34" Sony and a new 61" JVC. To be perfectly honest, I like the picture better on the JVC. While there is nothing like good HD viewing, I just find that the 34" is too small for my liking. I've had the set for about a year and a half, and haven't had a single problem with it. I just felt I wanted something a little larger...hense the JVC.
I'd seriously give it some thought before jumping in and buying one over the other. There's a huge difference between a 34" and 50" screen. I don't consider the 34" to be large screen at all.

What if I don't need the HD-tuner? I'm a Directv customer and will be using their HD receiver. Which Sony has XBR960 quality but without the tuner? Any recommendations? Thanks...

Phillip and Redfoot: Good posts from both of you. As I posted a page or so back I am supposed to pick up my 960 from Best Buy 1/25 but am starting to have buyers remorse, especially now that the prices of the SXRD's have dropped. I am torn on trying to decide on canceling my order and going with the 50" A10 LCD or the 50" SXRD.

Just when I thought I was all set........

AFAIK the only difference from the non N model(early models) to the N models(started production in August 05') is the revoval of the anti glare screen and putting it somewhat on the front glass.(like a heavy tint)

One of Sony's phone rep's confirmed this and did note that both models have there advantages as there is more refelections possible off the N models and the blacks seem even darker on the non N models, on the flip side though, more light is being sent out from the N model...simply because a heavier filter was revoved and replaced with the tinted glass(filter on the glass), so overall the N models have more brightness being output.

However in reality all anyone needs to do is set the contrast and brightness higher on the non N models to equal the N model brightness. And visa versa for getting the real dark levels of the non N model, as you would just need to just lower the brightness/contrast settings.

And the rep did mention the concern was a 'possible' build up of dust with the glare filter on the non N models..but he did admit that it comes at the cost of the screen being more reflective in some high lit rooms. (the removal was done out of precaution that maybe the dust would be a factor in more recalls/returns, but he mentioned it really has not since the change over)

Also nothing else has changes from the two models, but this.

btw: I thought i was getting the N model when i bought one from B.Buy in late Nov. 05', but i got a May 05' non N model..and was real po'ed at it, because i was guaranteed the latest 960 in inventory. But after thinking it over i actually prefer this 'mistake?" as i have a bad sensitivity to light and i always prefered a darker tube..be it a tv or pc monitor.

I have one question to eveyone here:

Is the XBR960 the best HDTV available..any type, for under $2000 and in the 34" and under size range, for Xbox360 gaming(mostly 720p)?

It's cnet's reference HDTV set as they noted in their review for HD broadcasts, but i'm wondering if this is true for 360 gaming with 720p games being upconverted to 1080i.

To make it even simplier, is there a possible downgrade in PQ from upconverting 720p to 1080i that alone offsets the better PQ over LCD's and other 34"(or 32"/30") HDTV's?.

Iv'e searched many threads but nobody has mentioned 360 games specific to a 'ideal' gaming HDTV in this size range.

TIA

I have one question to eveyone here:

Is the XBR960 the best HDTV available..any type, for under $2000 and in the 34" and under size range, for Xbox360 gaming(mostly 720p)?

Yes.


It's cnet's reference HDTV set as they noted in their review for HD broadcasts, but i'm wondering if this is true for 360 gaming with 720p games being upconverted to 1080i.

It's handled very well. You can test the 360 at both 720p and 1080i and see which you prefer.




To make it even simplier, is there a possible downgrade in PQ from upconverting 720p to 1080i that alone offsets the better PQ over LCD's and other 34"(or 32"/30") HDTV's?

No.



Iv'e searched many threads but nobody has mentioned 360 games specific to a 'ideal' gaming HDTV in this size range.

TIA

Gaming is a dream come true on this TV. You'd be hard pressed to do better, quite honestly.

I have been running the settings reccommended in this thread:

pro
32 picture
42 brightness
34 color
min sharpness
R1 hue
warm color temp

monitor color axis

why is this the best setting?

It does look good with HD content when the room is dark. its pretty dark though so during the day it can be hard to see. the standard setting is ALOT easier to see during the day.

is this what you guys reccommend for video games too?

I have been playing Xbox 360 with the same settings except 31 sharpness and neutral color temp

I have been running the settings reccommended in this thread:

pro
32 picture 35
42 brightness 45
34 color default 31
min sharpness
R1 hue default dead center 0
warm color temp or neutral. Your preference.

monitor color axis Definitely! Pro and Monitor at all times, all things

why is this the best setting?

Notice a lot of us have said: "YMMV" Which means Your Mileage May Vary. These were simply ballpark recommended settings. By all means, tweak and adjust as you wish. Those are just nice starting points that a lot of us agreed upon.

Before my ISF job, I put my settings in bold besides yours above.



It does look good with HD content when the room is dark. its pretty dark though so during the day it can be hard to see. the standard setting is ALOT easier to see during the day.

Very likely.



is this what you guys reccommend for video games too?

I have been playing Xbox 360 with the same settings except 31 sharpness and neutral color temp

In the day time, if the room is bright, you may certainly want the TV to be a little brighter. If it looks good to you, that's all that matters. :)

I have been running the settings reccommended in this thread:

pro
32 picture
42 brightness
34 color
min sharpness
R1 hue
warm color temp

monitor color axis

why is this the best setting?

It does look good with HD content when the room is dark. its pretty dark though so during the day it can be hard to see. the standard setting is ALOT easier to see during the day.

is this what you guys reccommend for video games too?

I have been playing Xbox 360 with the same settings except 31 sharpness and neutral color temp

We all have different preferences so here are mine. Please note these are approximatations for HD (Video 7 with HDMI) since I'm writing from the office (don't tell anybody, ok? LOL):

MODE: Pro
Picture: 35
Brightness: 25
Color: 36
Sharpness: 27
Hue: -5
Color Temp: Neutral
Interlaced
Monitor (de-emphasis of reds)
Clear Edge: medium

Settings will be slightly different on DVD

Hey guys, I got a quick question. I was curious to know if anybody who has the xbr 960 did you have to take the tv out of the box outside for the set to fit through the door? Or will the box fit through the door? The only reason I'm asking this is because mine is suppose to be here Monday and there's a chance of rain. I sure wouldn't want the delivery guys taking this thing out of the box in the rain. That's why I'm hoping it will fit through the door box and all. Anyone care to shed any light on this? Thanks.


KR, how did it work out?

i order my TV and then all these negative things are being said, gee wiz

I have searched for low costs on the net and with the warranty and authorized vendor issues, I found myself forced to go Sony direct or Crutchfield.

Have doubts about Crutchfield's 3rd party warranties re Sony's.

bhphotovideo.com looked interesting but not for the 960N only the xb960.

Sony collects sales tax for me and Crutchfield does not. Crutchfield does delivery to curb or door.

I went with Sony direct as they will deliver, unpack and locate within the house with their free delivery, went for the 4 year warranty for the cost of three (phone in orders only), and signed up for the Sony credit card with a $100 credit, Sony points and 0% interest for 1 year.

Sorry if this is all old news. I thought that there were some compelling differences, and the added perks of the $150 offsets the sales tax that one gets purchasing direct from Sony.

I can retire my 13 year old XBR.

Hey guys, I got a quick question. I was curious to know if anybody who has the xbr 960 did you have to take the tv out of the box outside for the set to fit through the door? Or will the box fit through the door? The only reason I'm asking this is because mine is suppose to be here Monday and there's a chance of rain. I sure wouldn't want the delivery guys taking this thing out of the box in the rain. That's why I'm hoping it will fit through the door box and all. Anyone care to shed any light on this? Thanks.

For all those curious, the smallest side of the box is 30". If your doorway is not 30" you will have to take it out of the box.

KR, how did it work out?


Well, everything worked out "fairly" good. I say that because I almost crapped when the delivery guy pulled up in front of my house and was unloading this thing by himself! He had managed to get this thing out of the van by sliding the box down the bumper and getting one end on the ground before I immediately ran outside to give him a hand. It kinda pissed me off because I had to help him bring this inside, unbox it and sit it on the stand. It says on crutchfield's website that the delivery crew will unpack and put the TV in any accessable room in your home. But yet the guy was by himself and I had to help him lift this HEAVY thing into the house! I inspected the box and there were a few slight scuffs on it, but other than that is was in good shape. It also had a drop meter attached to the side of the box. So, other than the delivery, it worked out OK.

What if I don't need the HD-tuner? I'm a Directv customer and will be using their HD receiver. Which Sony has XBR960 quality but without the tuner? Any recommendations? Thanks...

none, Sony only includes its Super Fine Pitch tube in HDTVs (meaning tuner included)

anyways drop DirecTV and get a cable card, the quality will be much better

i order my TV and then all these negative things are being said, gee wiz

AFAIK, nothing negative was said,
if you were referring to anti-glare coating being removed, not sure thats a bad thing

As far as light output, I would appreciate a brighter image, in a well lit room
(yes my XS955 does have the anti-glare coating)

Have doubts about Crutchfield's 3rd party warranties re Sony's.

Crutchfield is authorized so you can get the extended warranty from Sonystyle following purchase

Sony collects sales tax for me and Crutchfield does not. Crutchfield does delivery to curb or door.

Crutchfield does free in home delivery with unpacking of the TV and placing on stand

sorry you misunderstood what they do, sounds like a wasted 150 IMHO

Crutchfield is authorized so you can get the extended warranty from Sonystyle following purchase




kny3twalker,
I went on the Sonystyle website but didn't see how you purchase the extended warranty as a separate item. Do you know how this is done? Thanks.

Guys i finally came to a conclusion about my XBR960(and i know your thinking..about time, lol).

Here's how crazy today went:

I'm first thinking while i had to haggle off $300 from a $1899 Best Buy price tag in late November, i could have done better. Then i'm thinking the tv one night did not work for 20 minutes(i needed to replug it in the surge protector to work again) and how it was a May 05' build..when i was promised one from an inventory of "at least 30" from the Best Buy saleman on the night i bought it.

So in all: 1) One time it did'nt work, 2) it has an older May 05' build date 3) and it's the older..non N model and now Sony is closing it's US CRT plant and all the others soon to follow.(So it's RIP Sony CRT's).

I was ready to return it..and maybe for a refund. (and maybe putting that toward a future 50" Sony 1080p Grand WEGA)
So i hooked up my HD cable box to my older Samsung 27" HDTV and the PQ was like going back to Digital SDTV in comparision to this XBR960.
Also i hooked my 360 up and it the PQ came noware near the 960..not in full screen 4:3 or WS 16:9.

Then i'm thinking..god i LOVE this damn tv, if only it was a newer model and Sony did'nt close it's CRT shop up.

Then i head to Best Buy and C. City and a few others. And i look at every HDTV from 26" to the Grand Wega's, and after three hours of comparing it vs the store model XBR960(non N model), i'm thinking the only HDTV that compares to this are the Grand Wega's..and in the under 40" size group nothing even comes close.

I just don't get how anyone can spend $2000 on a 34" or 32" HDTV and not look very close at it's PQ, because even the best LCD's(ie..Sony's Bravia line, Samsung's, Sharp's and others) have noware near the PQ in comparision to the XBR960, add to that the blurring effects while a few had the 360 running off them(COD2 and PGR3 were the demo's i cared about), and i'm shocked anyone would buy an LCD for gaming. For what are they buying it for..for it's smaller size? good looks? A HDTV is meant to be looked at for it's PQ not anything else..these are not pictures hanging off our walls for show. What is everyone thinking these days, do these idiots have minds?

(usually i never use the word idiot but co'me on, what are they thinking?)

Anyway..nothing comes close to the XBR960 not in the CRT group not in the LCD group and not in the Plasma/DLP group. Maybe you can make a case for the Grand Wega's but i was mainly concerned with 42" HDTV's and lower.

Seriously, if anyone would do the same and let their eyes be the judge the top CRT's(like the 960) would be selling bigtime, and not the LCD's or others, at least not in the 34" and under size range. And Sony would not be closing shop on it's CRT division..which is a damn shame because the majority of consumers these days seems to know nothing about PQ.

So in all i'm thinking it's a blessing afterall, because
1) i actually enjoy the dark tint of the non N XBR960's glare filter and i have bad sensitivity to light .
2) the tv was in a surge protecter when it did'nt work that one time[now it's in the wall outlet directly]..which is the probable cause and i have a 2 yr warranty from Sony to fall back on if needed.
3) the geometry seems really close to the best i can expect and io notice no problems in it's PQ at the least, so why mess with a good thing?

(btw: I had bought a Panasonic 20" Tau in early 2000' because it was top rated and had 600 lines of resolution..and it was a superb SDTV, but i had to go into the service menu to fix the problem of the left side being a inch or so offscreen, and that was a model with a build date only 2 months older then the day i bought it. So i know from the past, a new build date is not a guarantee for a better made tv)

So all in all, i'm very glad i got this XBR960(and the non N, for my eyes sake may turn out to be a benefit) as HD broadcasts are simply the best i have seen in any store HDTV being sold at Best Buy, C. City, Sears, Target, Sam's Club..and a few others in my area. With no visible scan lines showing..great contrast..amazing blacks, and the no worries about blurring..add to that 1080i and very good upscaling of 720p(ie..Xbox360 gameS), and the only thing lacking from it being perfect is not having a native 720p resolution.
(but no HDTV has both native 720p and 1080i i believe, right? At least not in the under 36" range and i'd rather a 720p image be upscaled to 1080i then have LCD that needs to downscale a 1080i image to 720p. And that not only includes HD broadcast but especially Xbox360 games of the future that may be native 1080i and PS3 games as well)

Thanks for reading all this, sorry if i rambled on, the XBR960 line is one amazing HDTV that many consumers seem to not know about..which is a damn shame.
(How can any consumer be willing to spend $2000 and not look for the best PQ possible? I just don't understand how so many consumers know little to nothing about electronics in general, even in 2006' with the internet and all the info available, it's not just mindboggling but also a sad fact, the majority of consumers are not very intelligent.

Now i need this amazing HDTV calibrated :)

PS: And about it not being able to hang off a wall or it's 200 lbs..who cares? This is not a picture here, it's a HDTV and PQ should be everyone's priority and nothing else should even come close.

kny3twalker,
I went on the Sonystyle website but didn't see how you purchase the extended warranty as a separate item. Do you know how this is done? Thanks.


Go to Sonystyle's website, click on the TV & Home Entertainment tab at the top. Halfway down on the right hand side of the page is a link in blue words that says "Extended Service Plan Options" under the heading 'Protect your Investment'. I looked it up online but actually purchased over the phone. It was an easy, quick process.

Or heres the link.... :rolleyes:
SonyStyle Extended Warranty for TVs (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/EW_ViewExtendedWarranty-Detail?CategoryName=CE_TV&TabName=Features&Telesales=)

Thanks for doing all that work for us all.

I think you reached a very logical conclusion.

If this flat screen craze starts to create too much peer pressure,
I'm just going to find an interior wall, cut a 40" by 25" hole in it and
put the TV in the wall.

I'll swear its a flat screen to my neighbors, they just can't go into the dining room anymore. :D

Well, everything worked out "fairly" good. I say that because I almost crapped when the delivery guy pulled up in front of my house and was unloading this thing by himself! He had managed to get this thing out of the van by sliding the box down the bumper and getting one end on the ground before I immediately ran outside to give him a hand. It kinda pissed me off because I had to help him bring this inside, unbox it and sit it on the stand. It says on crutchfield's website that the delivery crew will unpack and put the TV in any accessable room in your home. But yet the guy was by himself and I had to help him lift this HEAVY thing into the house! I inspected the box and there were a few slight scuffs on it, but other than that is was in good shape. It also had a drop meter attached to the side of the box. So, other than the delivery, it worked out OK.

KR,

Let Crutchfield know of the poor experience you had with delivery. We had two delivery men come with the set - having just one is inexcusable and unfair to the delivery man as well. I'm sure he appreciated your help.

- Joe

I'm just going to find an interior wall, cut a 40" by 25" hole in it and
put the TV in the wall.

I'll swear its a flat screen to my neighbors, they just can't go into the dining room anymore. :D

Pete,

That's a great idea , however, the vents on the 960 will be covered so much the set not only will overheat but burn an even :p bigger hole in the wall!

"A HDTV is meant to be looked at for it's PQ not anything else..these are not pictures hanging off our walls for show. What is everyone thinking these days, do these idiots have minds?"

Exactly my thoughts as well, Philip. There's only one reason to buy this set, and that's the picture quality. I wish it had a bigger screen, was only 2" thick, weight only 30 lbs, etc., etc., but I bought it for the PQ, not for anything else WHAT is it people don't get? Why isn't everyone as smart as we are?

Well, I guess the answer is we're all different, and some people buy features, not quality. And the weight/depth may be too much for some folks. And some may worry about the resale with Sony moving away from CRT's. Finally, they obviously don't care as much as we do about the picture quality. But still, it's hard for me to understand why these '960's aren't flying off the shelves.

Mark

People believe marketing, Mark. It's that simple. CRT's are "outdated." Ask any marketing firm.

The one that gets me is why so many people were buying 4:3 "HDTV's" back in 1998 - '99. There was MAYBE 1 HD source available, and it was like Discovery HD or something.... People were going out and spending $3K - $5K+ on a set with nothing to watch on it. Heck, here were are at 2006 and we still don't have HD-DVD/Blu-Ray out yet.

The other thing is, people don't understand that HDTV is not the same as regular TV. For many many years, there was a huge selection of SD sets, and they all displayed the same picture... though some did it FAR better than others. SO, when HDTV came out, people thought it was the same signal/image but on a better screen. It has been 7+ years since HDTV began being marketed, and I don't think most people understand that only HD signals are HD.

Sorry for the rant, I am just sick of the forced misperceptions put out by the media and marketing departments. Just yesterday they were explaining on the NEWS the difference between HDTV and regular TV. Quote: "Standard definition TV is only 240 lines of resolution, while HDTV is a full 1080 lines. 4 - 5 times as much." - Man, that pissed me off. If SDTV is 240 (480i = 240 lines move at a time) then HDTV is either 720p or 1080i (720 = 720lines move at one time, 1080 = 540 lines move at one time). There is no 1080p at this time!!

ARRRGH!!!!

I have one question to eveyone here:

Is the XBR960 the best HDTV available..any type, for under $2000 and in the 34" and under size range, for Xbox360 gaming(mostly 720p)?



TIA

A resounding YES


I have sampled Loewe and Metz, Toshiba and Panasonics version of the fine pitch tube and I am still of the opinion that the XBR960 is King

In fact , for its size , the Sony Super Fine Pitch televisions are the best consumer televions in history.

The only way to beat the picture quality is to go to Sony's professional broadcast monitors which will cost you the price of a Ford mustang.

When I see George Lucas abandon his Cine Alta monitor for LCD than we can say the others have caught up to CRT

Does anyone know of a website that clearly shows exactly how 720p is upscaled to 1080i and how 1080i is downscaled to 720p as well?

Also, when the XBR960 upscales a 720p input to 1080i is it downscaling it to 520p first or simply upconverting it to 1080i without ever downscaling it to 520p?

(in another forum..not here at avs, someone had said that a 720p input upscaled to native 1080i, is actually really being downscaled to 520p and then upscaled to 1080i. This seems so off base as i would have thought why downscale it?.)

TIA

PS: And about it not being able to hang off a wall or it's 200 lbs..who cares? This is not a picture here, it's a HDTV and PQ should be everyone's priority and nothing else should even come close.

Here, here! Someone has seen the light and needs to share it with others.

I have been running the settings reccommended in this thread:

pro
32 picture
42 brightness
34 color
min sharpness
R1 hue
warm color temp

monitor color axis

why is this the best setting?

It does look good with HD content when the room is dark. its pretty dark though so during the day it can be hard to see. the standard setting is ALOT easier to see during the day.

is this what you guys reccommend for video games too?

I have been playing Xbox 360 with the same settings except 31 sharpness and neutral color temp

The settings you have listed here are simply the PRO default settings you get when you hit "Reset". There is nothing to stop you or anyone from just keeping the mode at PRO and going in to the Video section of Menu and turning up or down any of the categories as you wish. Is there?

Mines here!!!!

It arrived this morning from B & H photo, by way of ABF freightways. They both did an EXCELLENT JOB. I didn't pay for white glove but the ABF guy helped me get the TV into the house, into our bedroom, unpack it, and get it on a 40" tall dresser. I tried, pleaded, and begged him to take two $20's. My wife even stuck them in his shirt pocket, but as he left, he pulled the money out and left it by the door. He told her he couldn't take the money.
I told my wife to call the ABF lady that called us last week to schedule a delivery time and get a supervisor, this guy went above and beyond and needs to be recognized.

ANYWAYS....

The box was missing the entire top left/front corner. It was just ripped off by something and the styrofoam was broken in that area.
The tv has zero visual damage, and was factory sealed (except for the hole in the box.) ABF had it straped to a pallet, so I guess the box damage was from B &H before shipping.

Regardless, the TV works fine, after almost an hour of channel searching, I'm watching tv!!

The picture is amazing. I'm still playing with the picture settings. Especially on the cable connection.

Does anyone have any settings they recommend? I find the PRO mode to be too dark. I have an ISF'd RP Tosh and the PRO model is A LOT darker than it.
I find VIVID to equal TORCH, the MOVIE mode to be too brown, and standard to be off.

I also noticed when I changed a picture setting in OTA digital, the same setting would tranfer over to the analog cable. I thought the XBR had user settings for each input??

Anyways, it's beautiful, works great, was shipped great, and I got a great price. Overall, I'm very satisfied with ABF freight and B & H photo.

BTW the 960 non N model (Sept. 05 manufacture date) I received does a FABULOUS job of cutting down on glare. The 20" superflat Pananasonic it's replacing could be used as a mirror in the daytime. The Sony blocks almost everything.

Awesome mahicks...congrats! My set is a September 2005 as well and so far it's been flawless. *knocks on wood*

Here are my settings for watching tv, not dvd. Give these a shot and see what you think.

Mode: Pro

Pic: 32
Bri: 44
Col: 34
Hue: 0
Sharp: MIN
Color Temp: Warm(Neutral ever so often but the Warm looks much better to my eyes and appears sharper with really bright scenes)

Clear Edge VM: OFF

Adv. Video -> Color Axis: Monitor

Mahicks

That was an especially nice gesture letting the supervisor know how pleased you and the Mrs. were with the extra and voluntary work by the deliveryman, who would not even accept the well deserved $40 he was offered. And welcome to the club of happy owners of the 960!

These are my settings for HD, DVD and VHS. Don't be surprised if you fiddle back and forth for a while until settling in - we all did! Don't forget, these are just suggestions - the final adjustments should be the ones you and your wife feel are best.

All are set to:

MODE: PRO
COLOR TEMP: NEUTRAL
CLEAR EDGE: MEDIUM
DCR MODE: CINEMOTION
COLOR AXIS: MONITOR

While close, adjustments are slightly different for each input:

VIDEO 7 (HDMI): Picture 32, Brightness 22, Color 37, HUE r5, Sharpness 36

VIDEO 6 (DVD): Picture 36, Brightness 22, Color 41, HUE r5, Sharpness 33, Custom Pallete r87, c85

VIDEO 5 (DVD Recorder): Picture 35, Brightness 32, Color 40, HUE r5, Sharpness 31, Custom Palette r87, d85

Video 4 (VHS): Picture 31, Brightness 27, Color 35, HUE r5, Shaprness 25, Custom Palette r87, d85

My DVD player has a high brightness output hence the lower setting for brightness.

Again, these are all subjective. I did use a THX optomizer for the two DVD units and adjusted HD and VHS to reproduce in the same manner. You are going to notice improved quality in VHS playback too!

Have fun and let us know how it's working out.

Thank you all for the settings.
I got a Sony HDMI/Upconverting dvd player delivered from electronics expo (great business, cheap price, great shipping) delivered from UPS a couple of hours ago. I set it up for 1080I output w/ a monoprice 6' cable.

I used the THX optimizer from the incredibles. My initial settings are a little off from both of yours. I'll post them after I try a few different discs. My settings will be a little brighter than both of yours. I actually prefer the darker picture, but this tv is for the bedroom and my wifes eye takes preference. She likes a brighter picture, so we will have to meet in the middle.

So far all i can say is OH MY GOD. I have great equipment in the Home Theater room, but this thing, w/ this dvd player is amazing. The debate over using an upscaling dvd player on a crt tv is now officially over! At least for me anyways. I watched about 20 minutes of the disc and it really seems to be HD quality. For as long as I've been in the hobby, it's still nice to get the "goose bump" factor, and this TV w/ this player surely fits the bill!!

Also, I posted a few times about the perfect stand i was searching in vain for.
All of the nice stands for this tv were too short for bedroom, high bed use. I instead purchased an unfinished solid oak 4 drawer dresser thats 40"H X 22"W X 40" wide from a local furniture maker. I spent a full day sanding it, and about two days straight applying MiniWax Ebony wood finish. The project turned out perfect. It's a chocolate"y" black in the darker wood grain with a slight amber tinge in the lighter woodgrain and is absolutely beautiful. The dresser is more than solid for this tv and is perfect fit for it. It's something that will last a lifetime. To see the TV sitting on it is stunning. If I can find what my son did w/ the digital camera, I'll take some pictures and post them.

Mahicks,

Sounds like a nice set up. We're so happy with our home theater system and agree, the DVDs look almost HD. As I mentioned before, even VHS tapes are nice to look at.

So your wife is the boss too? That makes two of us. Guess we're not a "king of the castle" but at least have a 960 LOL.

when I calibrate my brightness levels using VE, my contrast is at 32 but brightness is set at 48. My set seems awfully dim otherwise.