Hello all, I have an inquiry to make.

I’ve had my XBR960 since last June and I love it. The HD picture is great, although I absolutely hate how my Direct TV looks on it, but that’s fine. Most of the time I use it for DVDs and videogames (360 looks beautiful on it).

Anyway, for a while now I’ve noticed something with my screen that has bothered me. I now have about three horizontal lines which I can see on the screen. They are practically unnoticeable to the naked eye and really can only be seen if there is a solid bright color on the screen. But I guess the best way to describe it is that they look like dead scan lines (or something, I’m not familiar with the technical terms of tvs). Like I said, there are three of them, one towards the top and the then two more towards the bottom. It is not an issue when watching movies, but now that I am “aware” of them, I almost tend to look for them and they bother me when I finally see them in very bright scenes, like an all white screen or bright solid color in the background. I tend to notice it more when playing games than anything else. Like in the sky of the game I am playing (I noticed it a lot while playing Shadow of the Colossus which has a very bright, saturated lighting effect most of the time).

Has anyone encountered something like this? Is this something that can be fixed with calibration? I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment and I would really hate to go through the trouble of having to send my set somewhere to get repaired. I’m just worried that something might be wrong with my screen and more of these lines will slowly start to show up.

Any info is appreciated and if needed I could try to explain it a little better.

Hello all, I have an inquiry to make.

I’ve had my XBR960 since last June and I love it. The HD picture is great, although I absolutely hate how my Direct TV looks on it, but that’s fine. Most of the time I use it for DVDs and videogames (360 looks beautiful on it).

Anyway, for a while now I’ve noticed something with my screen that has bothered me. I now have about three horizontal lines which I can see on the screen. They are practically unnoticeable to the naked eye and really can only be seen if there is a solid bright color on the screen. But I guess the best way to describe it is that they look like dead scan lines (or something, I’m not familiar with the technical terms of tvs). Like I said, there are three of them, one towards the top and the then two more towards the bottom. It is not an issue when watching movies, but now that I am “aware” of them, I almost tend to look for them and they bother me when I finally see them in very bright scenes, like an all white screen or bright solid color in the background. I tend to notice it more when playing games than anything else. Like in the sky of the game I am playing (I noticed it a lot while playing Shadow of the Colossus which has a very bright, saturated lighting effect most of the time).

Has anyone encountered something like this? Is this something that can be fixed with calibration? I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment and I would really hate to go through the trouble of having to send my set somewhere to get repaired. I’m just worried that something might be wrong with my screen and more of these lines will slowly start to show up.

Any info is appreciated and if needed I could try to explain it a little better.

While I haven't noticed it others in the forum have pointed out this is not a defect and part of the way the set is built. If you go back a few months or so, you might come across it. But don't worry, it's not your set - and they might become less noticable with slightly darker settings.

- Joe

You are not alone i have those three vertical lines too, i vaguely remember someone saying something about they are holding in the aperture grill or something like that.

Thanks Joseph and motorhead. I feel better now. Let me go back a few months and see if I find some more info on this.

EDIT: Ah, found it. Back on 2/19/06, Fellfromgrace wrote about this same problem and did a much better job describing it than I did. He wrote:

"Another problem this set had (and sorry I dont know very many technical terms) was about 3 or 4 "dead lines" I like to call them. These were very thin completely black horizontal lines that went across the tv from one side to the other. It was like those lines of the tv had not been turned on, no matter what was being displayed on the tv, those would always be black. They were VERY thin as in you would really have to look for them in order to notice it. But since I knew they were there I always did."

That's EXACTLY what I'm getting.

Dsperber then wrote the following:

"If I follow this description correctly, I think you are talking not about something which is the "absence" of a scan line from the electron gun of the tube. Rather, these are truly and actually very very thin wires which run horizontally across the back of the glass. The wires actually press the "aperture grill" (which you can't see) up against the back of the glass and hold it there."

Sorry, just wanted to post that in case somebody else is noticing this problem, to make it easier for them. I gotta admit, I feel alot better because I thought something was wrong with my set. Those damn lines still annoy the hell out me though :mad:

Check out the clearances. I've seen some incredible prices on new units. (That glare coating is an important part of the set.)

I just had the chance to compare a 34XBR960, 34XBR960N, and 34XS955N side by side in a store. The last two (N models) exhibited significantly higher (brighter) glare off the screen whereas the non-N model exhibited lower (duller) glare. This seems consistent with the discussions I have found in this forum.

Since they were out of the non-N model, is there a way (i.e. video settings?) to compensate for the excessive glare from the "N" models, other than turning off all the lights in the room? TIA for any replies.

Lou

these are on sale for the next week:

http://www.boltz.com/productinfo.asp?item=36&deptcode1=503

Seems like both stands have glass tops and probably designed for large LCD screens where the weight (less than 100 lbs) is spread out over 50" or 60". Will the glass be strong enough to not buckle (and break?) under the weight of the 34XBR960?

I think the Sony stands are a bit too low to the floor for optimal viewing angle when sitting (slouching) down on a couch. Has anyone tried using an aquarium stand for the XBR960?

Thanks Joseph and motorhead. I feel better now. Let me go back a few months and see if I find some more info on this.

EDIT: Ah, found it. Back on 2/19/06, Fellfromgrace wrote about this same problem and did a much better job describing it than I did. He wrote:

"Another problem this set had (and sorry I dont know very many technical terms) was about 3 or 4 "dead lines" I like to call them. These were very thin completely black horizontal lines that went across the tv from one side to the other. It was like those lines of the tv had not been turned on, no matter what was being displayed on the tv, those would always be black. They were VERY thin as in you would really have to look for them in order to notice it. But since I knew they were there I always did."

That's EXACTLY what I'm getting.

Dsperber then wrote the following:

"If I follow this description correctly, I think you are talking not about something which is the "absence" of a scan line from the electron gun of the tube. Rather, these are truly and actually very very thin wires which run horizontally across the back of the glass. The wires actually press the "aperture grill" (which you can't see) up against the back of the glass and hold it there."

Sorry, just wanted to post that in case somebody else is noticing this problem, to make it easier for them. I gotta admit, I feel alot better because I thought something was wrong with my set. Those damn lines still annoy the hell out me though :mad:

If you have a Sony computer monitor you will notice the same. These are commpon for the aperture type screens........wires that hold the screen up. Actually they are more noticeable on computer screens.

Seems like both stands have glass tops and probably designed for large LCD screens where the weight (less than 100 lbs) is spread out over 50" or 60". Will the glass be strong enough to not buckle (and break?) under the weight of the 34XBR960?

I think the Sony stands are a bit too low to the floor for optimal viewing angle when sitting (slouching) down on a couch. Has anyone tried using an aquarium stand for the XBR960?


I have mine on top of a wood armoire. The height is around 52 inches and the width 40 inches. Can see it perfectly lying down in bed. I figured the perfect height to be between 40" and 52" for the bedroom if it is in front of your bed.
Any lower and it is hard to see.

I have mine on top of a wood armoire. The height is around 52 inches and the width 40 inches. Can see it perfectly lying down in bed. I figured the perfect height to be between 40" and 52" for the bedroom if it is in front of your bed.
Any lower and it is hard to see.

Placed the 960N in the bedroom in a entertainment center I built 20 years ago that previously housed a 25" XBR. I modified it to fit the 960N. Here is a picture: http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c392/iseti1/EntertainmentCenterTVMod.jpg

The top of the TV is at 68" and it works great for watching TV while lying down in bed. That is if I don't fall asleep during the show. But that's what Tivos are nice for. :)

1) Is that groundhog's day?
2) Are you persian?

Okay, I adjusted the TV according to what was suggested on this forum (Pro, with picture and brightness in the 30s / 40s value) and it looks a little too dim. I turned up the brightness and picture settings to compensate for this.

One thing that I am still disappointed about is that the images don't have a bright punch!

I have a smaller Sony Wega upstairs and my Shrek Two DVD just has a nice bright crisp "glow" on the characters that the 960N just doesn't seem to be able to produce. The pictures settings on the smaller TV are NOT maxed out.

Any suggestions? Is ISF calibration the only way to fix this? Can anyone suggest a good ISF calibrator in the Northern NJ area that's good and NOT too expensive?

Okay, I adjusted the TV according to what was suggested on this forum (Pro, with picture and brightness in the 30s / 40s value) and it looks a little too dim. I turned up the brightness and picture settings to compensate for this.

One thing that I am still disappointed about is that the images don't have a bright punch!

...Any suggestions? Is ISF calibration the only way to fix this? Can anyone suggest a good ISF calibrator in the Northern NJ area that's good and NOT too expensive?
You really need to get a calibration DVD (Avia, DVE) and properly calibrate your new set. This cannot be done by just eyeballing the results of tweaking the menu. These DVDs provide test patterns that giude you through a proper calibration. Once done you'll get that picture you're looking for. Both DVDs are available from Amazon.com.

I use PRO for HD sources only, actually I'm all over the place in SD, in some of the dark passages in 24 and Lost vivid is the only way to go. I have a DVR and the luxury of being able to pause and adjust. I hardly ever use pro for DVD's

P.S. I haven't watched a commercial in five years.

P. P.S I agree with justsc

I already own Digital Video Essentials. After playing around with it, the screen seems to be darker than normal.

Seems like both stands have glass tops and probably designed for large LCD screens where the weight (less than 100 lbs) is spread out over 50" or 60". Will the glass be strong enough to not buckle (and break?) under the weight of the 34XBR960?

I think the Sony stands are a bit too low to the floor for optimal viewing angle when sitting (slouching) down on a couch. Has anyone tried using an aquarium stand for the XBR960?

it is not glass, it is steel. i bought this stand on sale and it is great. the casters really make it nice way to wheel it around the room. the tvx1 is lower than the tvx2, that's my only complaint. plus it has much more storage space than the OEM Sonystand

I already own Digital Video Essentials. After playing around with it, the screen seems to be darker than normal.

I've been unable to get Pro mode looking bright enough on my XBR960 either, especially when comparing movies on my Sony 32HS510 hdtv , I just stick with Standard mode myself.

Ever notice how text gets blury when the contrast and picture is set too high?
It is specially noticible if your in the iLink screen.

Also SD content on certain DTV channels, look a little fuzzy from close up. Not too bad from eight feet away though. Really love that Charter HD signal though!

Those 3 horizontal lines you guys are seeing are the stabilising filaments.

An inherent part of aperture grill technology.

Id rather 3 miniscule horizontal lines than the 1000 odd horizontal lines of the accursed shadow mask grills.

Remember Sony won an Emmy Award for its aperture grill- till SED arrives thats as good as it gets.

You really need to get a calibration DVD (Avia, DVE) and properly calibrate your new set. This cannot be done by just eyeballing the results of tweaking the menu. These DVDs provide test patterns that giude you through a proper calibration. Once done you'll get that picture you're looking for. Both DVDs are available from Amazon.com.
The only drawback to using a DVD callibration disc is that it is geared for DVD and the settings will not be as sufficient when used for HD. For example, adjustments for my DVD input were made using a THX optomizer which are different from HD settings (HDMI) based on the 1080i test pattern broadcast on INHD.

Suggest you purchase a callibration disc for DVD and tune into INHD Saturday mornings at 7:00 AM for your HD. If you happen to have a HD DVR then you don't have to get up so early and can use it a few times until your satisfied with the results.

You really need to get a calibration DVD (Avia, DVE) and properly calibrate your new set. This cannot be done by just eyeballing the results of tweaking the menu. These DVDs provide test patterns that giude you through a proper calibration. Once done you'll get that picture you're looking for. Both DVDs are available from Amazon.com.
The only drawback is that a DVD callibration disc is geared for DVD and the same menu settings will not be as sufficient when used for HD. For example, adjustments for my DVD input were made using a THX optomizer and are different from my HD settings (HDMI) which were based on the 1080i test pattern broadcast on INHD.

Suggest you purchase a callibration disc for DVD and tune into INHD Saturday mornings at 7:00 AM (EDT) for HD. If you have a HD DVR you can record it and won't have to get up so early (and it can be used as often as you like until satisfied with the results). One of the many beauties of the 960 is it supports separate settings for each video input - take advantage of it.

I get HD, OTA from an $13.00 antenna I bought from Target. I don't care, the picture looks amazing! :D

Will the picture look better if I were to subscribe to HD from my DirecTV?

What channel does INHD come on?

I get HD, OTA from a $13.00 antenna I bought from Target. I don't care, the picture looks amazing! :D

Will the picture look better if I were to subscribe to HD from my DirecTV?

What channel does INHD come on?

No, it will look worse if you subscribe to Directv.

INHD comes on cable only at this point.

Hi everyone, just found this forum yesterday. If only I found it 2 years ago, I would have saved a bunch of money and most likely all my questions answered. This is gonna be a bit long but I thought I'd share my experience with the KD-34XBR960.

It all began two years ago, when finally I had money to start my home theatre project that I had dreamt about since I was in my teens(I'm 30 now.)

I hadnt kept up on very much of the progress of TV's. I was a bit blinded by all the hype of plasma and LCD. I ended up getting the Sony KF-50WE610 LCD/rear projection TV. I didnt do any real research(BIG MISTAKE) and thought this would be an excellent TV. I play alot of games and thought this would be good for that as well. Well, I was very dissapointed in its performance. It looked great in the store with HI-DEF material, but games were bad as well as SDTV.

I finally did some research and was shocked to read that the tube TVs were getting the best reviews for picture quality---better than plasmas! I came upon the 960 which had just been released on Sony. I gave the 50 incher to my Mom for her birthday and quickly ordered the 960 in June of 04. By August I still didnt have it, but I saw that Crutchfield had it in stock. Cancelled my order with Sony and ordered from them. Had it in 5 days with free shipping.

To this date, I've no problems. HD material with HDMI is incredible!!!! Kicks the crap out of the one I gave my mother. I have a Denon 2910 DVD player with 1080i upconversion through the HDMI cable as well and it looks great too! The best thing about this TV is the black levels! Watching Sin City on HD blew me away!!! Even watching coming attractions on the Universal HD channel looked better than when I saw the same coming attractions in a digital theatre!

My only gripes are it doesnt handle SDTV too well when compared to my Sony KV-20TS32(purchased in 94) which is in my bedroom. As for games, it tends to do better with the polygon based games from PS2/Xbox through component cables----sharper, better color but the jagged edges are more apparent. Now my sprite based games from my older systems through S-Video look better on the old TV in my bedroom. On the 960 they look bland---almost washed out. I'm looking forward to playing the next-gen systems on this TV, however. Even Sony said in their ads that this TV was designed specifially for HD, so perhaps not much thought was given to SD???

Oh one other thing is the 3 horizontal lines that are visible in very light scenes. At first I thought that was abnormal but was told that is the design it.

The only TVs that I have seen in person that performs(HD material) close to this TV are the Pioneer Pro Elite models. I mentioned this to a salesman at my local Harvey Electronics store and he passed me off like some peasant and claimed that nothing beats plasma. I politely smiled and walked out.

I really hope the rumors I keep hearing are false that Sony CRTs are being discontinued. Sony seemed to pioneer the CRT design over the past 20 or more years. I'm more than happy with screen size due to my living room setup, but I would love to see a 1080p XBR model. Is it even possible???? If the rumors are true maybe these forthcoming SED TVs would be the way to go, once the rumored price drops...if at all?!?

Sorry to make this long, I'm sure many feelings similar to my own have been post in the last 134 pages, I just didnt feel like going through all of them.

Any and all comments welcome.

I mentioned this to a salesman at my local Harvey Electronics store and he passed me off like some peasant and claimed that nothing beats plasma.

He's right! Nothing beats plasma for putting fat commission checks in salespeople's wallets :p

On a serious note, you shouldn't be able to see the 3 wires (even on light scenes), at a normal viewing distance (>5'). What mode and brightess level are you using?

If I keep the screen on the TV in "normal" mode (i.e. - 4:3 format), will the vertical black bars on the left and right side of the screen cause a burn in?

If I keep the screen on the TV in "normal" mode (i.e. - 4:3 format), will the vertical black bars on the left and right side of the screen cause a burn in?

No.

Somebody convince me NOT to return my XBR960, I love the dvd / movie / HD channel quality but im finding video games suffering from substantial black crush (Xbox 360) just when I think I have it all fixed in the service menu I pop in another game and im back to square one, I talked to Crutchfield and they offered to give me a refund even tho its 2 weeks past the 30 day return period (now THATS customer service) , They have a 37" Panasonic Plasma for $100 more than I paid for the XBR ,Ive never owned a plasma and when searching through the appropriate Forum im not finding many negatives with them either ,other than Burn in which appears easy to avoid.

This Panasonic model has 2 hdmi / 2 component / svideo / composite / ATSC QAM tuner 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (4,000:1 GTG) . What do you guys think, Will I be even more disappointed by going this route?

Hi Mathesar,

I am a professional documentary editor who works with pro broadcast monitors on a daily basis. So I can say without a doubt that there is indeed some black-crush going on with this set. That being said though, everything else is so good. My understanding is that the black-crush can relieved through the hidden Service Menu without increasing overall brightness. Have you tried that yet? There is a long thread in this forum telling you how.

I have not tried yet because I have been too busy, but black-crush and RGB convergence errors (where a white line or text can have a red or blue halo) can be fixed in the Service Menu if I understand correctly.

But all of this discussion of flaws is within the context of "the best" set I have ever seen outside of a broadcast studio.

I would keep it. There is too much good and tight detail in this tube to turn away from it. I am going to use it for a home HD editing system for documentaries. I am sure the plasma looks very nice and "punchy".

-Christopher

He's right! Nothing beats plasma for putting fat commission checks in salespeople's wallets :p

On a serious note, you shouldn't be able to see the 3 wires (even on light scenes), at a normal viewing distance (>5'). What mode and brightess level are you using?

Using pro mode on games, brightness is at 54. On DVDs, usually switch between movie and pro modes with brightness at 45.

Have a few months on the warranty left. Maybe I should have it checked out?!?

Thanks

Wow! 54 is extremely bright. Using Pro Picture Mode I have

DVDs at Picture 47 & Brightness 24
OTA broadcasts at Picture 46 and Brightness 40

Even counting on model to model inconsistencies, thats a big difference from your "54" number. My guess is that you are trying to bring hidden detail out of those overly inky blacks. Am I right? I don't blame you. The problem is that I bet your highlights are getting washed out when you go that high with Brightness. Don't you think?

Try to either put some money aside for an ISF calibrator guy or start reading the Sony Service Menu thread here at AVS. I think it is possible to bring out detail in the blacks WITHOUT washing out the mids and highs. Personally, I'm going to dive into the Sony Service Menu thread here next week.

-Christopher Johnson

In regards to that post concerning Fry's Electronics, I would like to say that the one in San Jose really sucks.... The first TV that was delivered was defective (completely missing all the ports on the front panel). The second TV was a total disaster. Though the audio/video manager promised that a new set was being sent, a demo was actually delivered (it had no box, and a lousy sticker in the upper right-hand corner. Plus, there was a sticker on the back of the remote, and no instructions whatsoever). The worst part was that the tuner wouldn't even pick up any cable channels. He initially tried to convince me it was "brand new" -- pure stupidity. I ended up returning both sets (there are no new ones remaining, plus last week's sale is over, so I'm still looking...)

BruceG

I just had the chance to compare a 34XBR960, 34XBR960N, and 34XS955N side by side in a store. The last two (N models) exhibited significantly higher (brighter) glare off the screen whereas the non-N model exhibited lower (duller) glare. This seems consistent with the discussions I have found in this forum.

Since they were out of the non-N model, is there a way (i.e. video settings?) to compensate for the excessive glare from the "N" models, other than turning off all the lights in the room? TIA for any replies.

Lou


I maybe wrong, but I've always believed that the "N" model was the one that had the Anti-Glare treatment. I just purchased a non "N" model yesterday and after close examination, I don't see any sign of an Anti-Glare coating on the glass. I've never seen an "N" model so I can't compare the two.
Anybody out there with an "N" model care to comment about the coating being obviously visible,, or not,, on the glass??

Also, I saw this line about the "N" model at Park Avenue Electronics' website:
Quote:
Description:
NEW "N" MODEL HAS AN ANTI REFLECTIVE PROTECTOR. The cutting edge just got sharper with Sony's new KD-34XBR960 34" Super Fine PitchT XBR Television.

I am also curious if anybody knows if this ANTI REFLECTIVE treatment is a coating that is bonded to the glass,,, or is it a film overlay type of material??
And would it be something that a Sony tech. could apply to a set that didn't come with it from the factory??

Thanks In Advance,

I'm looking forward to hearing from others regarding this ANTI REFLECTIVE issue.
/
/

Hey guys,

I am new to the forums and was wondering how best to invest my hard-earned money. I am in the market for a HD CRT and these two seem to be the cream of the crop. Sony has discontinued the 960 from their website but it is still available elsewhere. They still carry the 955 for now. What are the differences between the two? I am somewhat a noob to the world of Hi-Def, but don't be afraid to use technical terms. I will greatly appreciate any help!

vivid

Wow! 54 is extremely bright. Using Pro Picture Mode I have

DVDs at Picture 47 & Brightness 24
OTA broadcasts at Picture 46 and Brightness 40

Even counting on model to model inconsistencies, thats a big difference from your "54" number. My guess is that you are trying to bring hidden detail out of those overly inky blacks. Am I right? I don't blame you. The problem is that I bet your highlights are getting washed out when you go that high with Brightness. Don't you think?

Try to either put some money aside for an ISF calibrator guy or start reading the Sony Service Menu thread here at AVS. I think it is possible to bring out detail in the blacks WITHOUT washing out the mids and highs. Personally, I'm going to dive into the Sony Service Menu thread here next week.

-Christopher Johnson

Yep Ive been into the service menu to adjust black crush although Ive only tried a couple settings, there are so many settings associated with black levels im sure theres a way to fix this,I havent given up all hope yet and I have a few more days to decide, I think one of my mistakes is making these adjustments with the in-game brightness adjusted higher than default ..then when I goto play a game that doesnt have its own brightness adjustments im left with black crush.

I've also noticed 1080i/720P HD ATSC / Cable channels suffer from this black crush pretty badly yet standard 480i channels look fine, Im just suprised Sony would release this tv with such a problem ..the average user certainly wouldnt venture into the service menu.

Thanks for the reply.

I have the "N" model, and I still get reflections on the screen!


I maybe wrong, but I've always believed that the "N" model was the one that had the Anti-Glare treatment. I just purchased a non "N" model yesterday and after close examination, I don't see any sign of an Anti-Glare coating on the glass. I've never seen an "N" model so I can't compare the two.
Anybody out there with an "N" model care to comment about the coating being obviously visible,, or not,, on the glass??

Also, I saw this line about the "N" model at Park Avenue Electronics' website:
Quote:
Description:
NEW "N" MODEL HAS AN ANTI REFLECTIVE PROTECTOR. The cutting edge just got sharper with Sony's new KD-34XBR960 34" Super Fine PitchT XBR Television.

I am also curious if anybody knows if this ANTI REFLECTIVE treatment is a coating that is bonded to the glass,,, or is it a film overlay type of material??
And would it be something that a Sony tech. could apply to a set that didn't come with it from the factory??

Thanks In Advance,

I'm looking forward to hearing from others regarding this ANTI REFLECTIVE issue.
/
/

Yep Ive been into the service menu to adjust black crush although Ive only tried a couple settings, there are so many settings associated with black levels im sure theres a way to fix this,I havent given up all hope yet and I have a few more days to decide, I think one of my mistakes is making these adjustments with the in-game brightness adjusted higher than default ..then when I goto play a game that doesnt have its own brightness adjustments im left with black crush.

I've also noticed 1080i/720P HD ATSC / Cable channels suffer from this black crush pretty badly yet standard 480i channels look fine, Im just suprised Sony would release this tv with such a problem ..the average user certainly wouldnt venture into the service menu.

Thanks for the reply.

I dont think it was a mistake. I think that it is a purposeful look for Sony. Although it is overboard for my taste, the somewhat crushed blacks can increase perceived depth and contrast and reduce noise on the darker areas. Its on purpose, I'm sure.

Still, I think this set has the potential to reproduce blacks better than an LCD panel or projector.

-Christopher Johnson

Wow! 54 is extremely bright. Using Pro Picture Mode I have

DVDs at Picture 47 & Brightness 24
OTA broadcasts at Picture 46 and Brightness 40

Even counting on model to model inconsistencies, thats a big difference from your "54" number. My guess is that you are trying to bring hidden detail out of those overly inky blacks. Am I right? I don't blame you. The problem is that I bet your highlights are getting washed out when you go that high with Brightness. Don't you think?

Try to either put some money aside for an ISF calibrator guy or start reading the Sony Service Menu thread here at AVS. I think it is possible to bring out detail in the blacks WITHOUT washing out the mids and highs. Personally, I'm going to dive into the Sony Service Menu thread here next week.

-Christopher Johnson

Christopher---yes, I'm trying to bring out some of the hidden detail. I just joined and Im gonna start digging into this whole thread as well as take a look at the Sony Service menu thread. I'd also like to put aside money for an ISF calibrator. Last I heard, they were a few hundred dollars, I think? But I'm sure it's worth it. I bought one of those 20 dollar tune-up DVDs and it was a total waste.
Thanks for the suggestions!

I dont think it was a mistake. I think that it is a purposeful look for Sony. Although it is overboard for my taste, the somewhat crushed blacks can increase perceived depth and contrast and reduce noise on the darker areas. Its on purpose, I'm sure.

Still, I think this set has the potential to reproduce blacks better than an LCD panel or projector.

-Christopher Johnson

From my understanding, the SD NTSC standard uses a brighter level of blacks doesn't it? In other words, they really aren't totally black. I think on some DVD players you can adjust this - the IRE level? - to make it blacker.

But with the HD standard, this is not the case, so the blacks can really be totally black, and many shows are filmed or shot to really make stuff black.

Whats this? Mathesar defecting to the plasma camp?? Someone spiked his drink???

DJF,
I got my 960 in July 05. Took me a month or so of tweaking to get SD to look better, basically I turned everything down as far as I could esp Sharpness. this improved SD for me.

For 960 shoppers - Sony has added the 960 to their online outlet store but it has no price listed, only says Limited Quantities.

DJF,
I got my 960 in July 05. Took me a month or so of tweaking to get SD to look better, basically I turned everything down as far as I could esp Sharpness. this improved SD for me.

For 960 shoppers - Sony has added the 960 to their online outlet store but it has no price listed, only says Limited Quantities.


gigaguy,

Can you be more specific about the online outlet store??
I just looked at sonystyle and didn't see the 960.

THX

DJF,
I got my 960 in July 05. Took me a month or so of tweaking to get SD to look better, basically I turned everything down as far as I could esp Sharpness. this improved SD for me.

For 960 shoppers - Sony has added the 960 to their online outlet store but it has no price listed, only says Limited Quantities.

Thanks giga, will give that a try for SD.

gigaguy,

Can you be more specific about the online outlet store??
I just looked at sonystyle and didn't see the 960.

THX

I think he is referring to the Outlet Store link on the right hand side of the Sonystyle home page. That takes you to the special discount items. Most, including the 34XBR960, items are marked as refurbished. You will have to call for a price, shipping costs, and warranty details etc. You might be better off to see if there is a Sony Outlet site, that has refurbished sets, near you. Hope this helps.

On sonystyle.com click on TV, drop down list, last item is Outlet.

I live near a Sony Outlet retail store too. they had 960s (and 955s) for a steal (xxx.xx) about a month ago. If I had the room I would have grabbed one.

Someone else in this forum expalined that the non-N models have an antiglare "filter" as part of the tube glass and that the N models , instead, have an antiglare "sheet" applied either to the tube glass or to the material protecting the tube glass.

Either way the N models do exhibit much brighter reflections off the screen than the non-N models, in a well lit room, and this was also confirmed by the same article where a Sony rep. pointed out this was one of the con's on the N models.

Searching for "glare" will get you posts with more details.

I maybe wrong, but I've always believed that the "N" model was the one that had the Anti-Glare treatment. I just purchased a non "N" model yesterday and after close examination, I don't see any sign of an Anti-Glare coating on the glass. I've never seen an "N" model so I can't compare the two.
Anybody out there with an "N" model care to comment about the coating being obviously visible,, or not,, on the glass??

Also, I saw this line about the "N" model at Park Avenue Electronics' website:
Quote:
Description:
NEW "N" MODEL HAS AN ANTI REFLECTIVE PROTECTOR. The cutting edge just got sharper with Sony's new KD-34XBR960 34" Super Fine PitchT XBR Television.

I am also curious if anybody knows if this ANTI REFLECTIVE treatment is a coating that is bonded to the glass,,, or is it a film overlay type of material??
And would it be something that a Sony tech. could apply to a set that didn't come with it from the factory??

Thanks In Advance,

I'm looking forward to hearing from others regarding this ANTI REFLECTIVE issue.
/
/

960 anti-glare plastic sheet on surface of tube. 960N no anti-glare sheet.

Hey guys,

I am new to the forums and was wondering how best to invest my hard-earned money. I am in the market for a HD CRT and these two seem to be the cream of the crop. Sony has discontinued the 960 from their website but it is still available elsewhere. They still carry the 955 for now. What are the differences between the two? I am somewhat a noob to the world of Hi-Def, but don't be afraid to use technical terms. I will greatly appreciate any help!

vivid

Hey, vivid

I'm new to this forum too but have been reading it for years. I am also the proud owner of a XBR960 and have spent a long time tweaking it. You're right about the 955 and the 960 being the best in CRT Land and these sets have identical PQ. The only differences are a few bells and whistles. The new 970 is also a contender. It doesn't have the Super Fine Pitch (SFP) shadow mask that the 955 and 960 has but this feature is a bit of a double edged sword. While the SFP mask reduces the pitch of each "pixel", thereby increasing the visable resolution, there is a significant reduction (@-25%) in peak white level (contrast) compared to the 970. If you're going to be sitting more than 8 feet away from the set, I would recommend the 970, because as you step further back, the advantage of the SFP mask becomes smaller and smaller. Also, the 970 has a much lower retail than the 955 and 960. The only knock I can give the 970 is that uses the same chassis as the 955 and the 420 :o series which, IMO, isn't as purdy as the 910 and 960 series. But thats about it. Just make sure to change the Color Axis setting from Default to Monitor. Doing this will give the the set near perfect RGB color points. Hope this helps.

960 anti-glare plastic sheet on surface of tube. 960N no anti-glare sheet.

Just to clarify a little. The 960 has an anti-glare coating on the front of the tube and the 960N does not. In a dark room, there will be no difference between these sets.

I am very happy with the picture. I think I have the settings tweaked to my pleasure. I have a lot of jealous friends and family.

Hey, vivid

I'm new to this forum too but have been reading it for years. I am also the proud owner of a XBR960 and have spent a long time tweaking it. You're right about the 955 and the 960 being the best in CRT Land and these sets have identical PQ. The only differences are a few bells and whistles. The new 970 is also a contender. It doesn't have the Super Fine Pitch (SFP) shadow mask that the 955 and 960 has but this feature is a bit of a double edged sword. While the SFP mask reduces the pitch of each "pixel", thereby increasing the visable resolution, there is a significant reduction (@-25%) in peak white level (contrast) compared to the 970. If you're going to be sitting more than 8 feet away from the set, I would recommend the 970, because as you step further back, the advantage of the SFP mask becomes smaller and smaller. Also, the 970 has a much lower retail than the 955 and 960. The only knock I can give the 970 is that uses the same chassis as the 955 and the 420 :o series which, IMO, isn't as purdy as the 910 and 960 series. But thats about it. Just make sure to change the Color Axis setting from Default to Monitor. Doing this will give the the set near perfect RGB color points. Hope this helps.

Dicey, thank you so much for the reply. I will be sitting relatively close to the screen (less than 6 ft. usually) so I will probably be wanting the SFP. I will probably go with the 955 since SonyStyle still stocks it. Nice tip on the Color Axis setting. Thanks again.

Vivid

Dicey, thank you so much for the reply. I will be sitting relatively close to the screen (less than 6 ft. usually) so I will probably be wanting the SFP. I will probably go with the 955 since SonyStyle still stocks it. Nice tip on the Color Axis setting. Thanks again.

Vivid

I wouldn't give up on the idea of still being able to find an XBR960 at an amazing close out price point. (Worth a try anyway...)

(Referring to local retail, not the Internet.)

This is the first I've heard of the 970. Is this an upgrade over the 960, as the number sequence would indicate? If so, what new features are included?

No -- 970 is a downgrade, but cheaper.

Super Fine Pitch tube is replaced with a low resolution tube to reach a more competitive price point.

I wouldn't give up on the idea of still being able to find an XBR960 at an amazing close out price point. (Worth a try anyway...)

(Referring to local retail, not the Internet.)

There are some still out there. I finally joined the club of XBR960 owners after looking for a long while at every thing. It seems to be the perfect size and best tv from 6 - 7 feet away. After working every day for over 2 weeks, I finally got back in to local Best Buys. I was afraid I would be too late. I bought a 34XBR960N open box for 1700 in Greensboro, plus got a $200 gift certificate to use in the store. They had it hooked up to a good source, and the picture was superb. I figured it couldn't have had much use, being an N. Earlier, when they first went on clearance, there were 2 960s in this store in boxes. One was an N then. This unit wasn't on display then. They have one other unit on display as open box, for the same deal (not N). There is also a boxed 960 (not N) high on a back shelf. I noticed it 3 weeks ago also. There is a paper attached to it. I don't know if it is for sale.

Their computer said there were none left in Winston-Salem. I went there any way. I had been looking at one that had been a display unit back around Christmas. It got knocked off the shelf and took cosmetic damage. The case is cracked on the front bottom left, and the speaker cover has a tear. They have had it hooked up to a good source. I had been checking on it several times. The picture is always great. If they marked it down good, I might be interested. The last time I was in, they were trying to sale it for 1700 plus a 800 gift certificate. Today, they still had it, and had marked it down to 900 plus a 200 gift certificate. I jumped on that one too, for a second unit in the bedroom. Now, I have 400 in certificates to shop for TV stands and cables. It will be next week before either one is delivered. There was also another open box, undamaged, in Winston-Salem.

I wanted to share my research on web sites that were still selling the 34XBR960 and 960N as of 3 weeks ago. I was afraid to try them, since they are not Sony Authorized, and alot of them are from the famed Brooklyn area. Does any body have any good or bad experiences with any of these web sites?


Edited by moderator. I know your trying to be helpful but please keep street price off the forum. MSRP only. Thank you.

Just to clarify a little. The 960 has an anti-glare coating on the front of the tube and the 960N does not. In a dark room, there will be no difference between these sets.


It is in fact a plastic sheet that is bonded to the front surface of the 960 (without the N) the "coating " is in fact a sheet of plastic. The procedure for peeling off this anti-glare filter is explained in an eairler post in this thread.

There are some still out there. I finally joined the club of XBR960 owners after looking for a long while at every thing. It seems to be the perfect size and best tv from 6 - 7 feet away. After working every day for over 2 weeks, I finally got back in to local Best Buys. I was afraid I would be too late. I bought a 34XBR960N open box for 1700 in Greensboro, plus got a $200 gift certificate to use in the store. They had it hooked up to a good source, and the picture was superb. I figured it couldn't have had much use, being an N. Earlier, when they first went on clearance, there were 2 960s in this store in boxes. One was an N then. This unit wasn't on display then. They have one other unit on display as open box, for the same deal (not N). There is also a boxed 960 (not N) high on a back shelf. I noticed it 3 weeks ago also. There is a paper attached to it. I don't know if it is for sale.

Their computer said there were none left in Winston-Salem. I went there any way. I had been looking at one that had been a display unit back around Christmas. It got knocked off the shelf and took cosmetic damage. The case is cracked on the front bottom left, and the speaker cover has a tear. They have had it hooked up to a good source. I had been checking on it several times. The picture is always great. If they marked it down good, I might be interested. The last time I was in, they were trying to sale it for 1700 plus a 800 gift certificate. Today, they still had it, and had marked it down to 900 plus a 200 gift certificate. I jumped on that one too, for a second unit in the bedroom. Now, I have 400 in certificates to shop for TV stands and cables. It will be next week before either one is delivered. There was also another open box, undamaged, in Winston-Salem.

I wanted to share my research on web sites that were still selling the 34XBR960 and 960N as of 3 weeks ago. I was afraid to try them, since they are not Sony Authorized, and alot of them are from the famed Brooklyn area. Does any body have any good or bad experiences with any of these web sites?

TVCity.TV 1465
allhometheater.net 1695 (n)
surroundcity 1675 (n)
electronicebuys 1465
store.epayright 1608
brand-electronics 1689
***************** 1495 (n)
everything4electronics 1465
sensibleaudio 1415
sourceoneaudio 1249
wholesaleconnection 1500
gbshopping 1549
1597 (n)
savinglots 1825
parkaveelectronics 1441
ezhotdeal 1627
hotbuyselectronics 1633
audioexcellenceinc 1898
bigdealtv 1465
click4tvs 1395

Check the back of the set for the month and year it was manufactured. While the "N" series began production in early Fall don't despair if you find it as much as six months old since from what you describe it could not have been on display for so long.

You think it looked great in the store - just wait till you watch it at home! Good luck with both your new sets.

I have connected my Sony DVP-NS70H HDMI output to my 960N's HDMI input. Within the DVD setup menu, I have a choice of outputting either RGB or YCbCr over the HDMI interface.

The DVD manual isn't too helpful with what each option does.

Which output do you guys recommend?

YCbCr

Use that.

Save HDMI for Blu-ray or HD-DVD, or a HD DVR.

I agree. I have a Denon 2910 DVD player and the only difference I get in PQ when using the HDMI cable with 1080i upconversion is excessive video noise. Needless to say I keep it in 480p with component cables.

Light guns do not work with HDTV's. The only one that I have seen that does was specifically made to work with HDTV's and is a piece of junk.

I ended up buying the ereal games G1 light gun to check it out. It comes with an eyeball sensor. On top of being large, ugly, and unwieldy because it requires 2 hands, this gun WILL NOT work well with your xbr960.

Once the gun is calibrated, if you move the it slightly towards or away from the tv at all the calibration fails, I'm talking inches! If you move it too far to the left, right, top, or bottom of the screen (maybe a foot from where it was calibrated) the calibration fails. When testing the calibration via the video game calibration screen the crosshair is visibly shaky, noticeable worse than the stock NAMCO guns on an old SD monitor.

My guess, being that there was so much hype about it being the first HDTV gun ever, is that the G1 was pushed to market as quickly and cheaply as possible with the buzz words "HDTV" and "Wireless".

I immediately returned both guns without even opening the 2nd one.

I've since then heard of another one that has sensors on the left and right of the screen. Has anybody had any success with any other HDTV light guns on their 960?

I have followed this thread with great interest and had decided that a CRT was what I wanted. Today I got a chance to go to the big city and actually compare the 970 to other LCDs, Plasmas and rear projection. I was extremely dissapointed. I even asked the sales person if maybe the 970 was not recieving the HD signal. It was! PQ is not a lot better than the 32" 5 year old Wega that I have now. Maybe the 960 was all that but the 970 certainly is not. The Sony SXRD 42" rear projection blew it away. It is entirely possible that something was indeed amiss with the way they had the 970 set up.
I definitely ruled it out of my hunt.

Almost assuredly there was a problem with their set-up in some way. A 970 with a HD signal will look much better than an old SD Wega, and IMO no worse than any of the other formats you mentioned. Now if you are comparing SD, it's probably a toss up with your Wega. My old 27" FV Wega looked pretty good with SD, but that's due in part to the size. If you look at a .4" by .6" thumbnail of a digital picture it looks pretty good. If you take those same pixels and view them at 4" by 6" it'll look like cr*p. I've yet to see any HD set that can make SD look as good as my 32" XBR did.

If you really want to get a true idea of the PQ, and the sales staff is willing, have them hook up a known good tap and then use some of the video settings from Sony owners threads for the similar models. I've found that customers (and staff) usually have display models set to "blinding", "washed out" and "red push".

That said, I love my 960 and I believe the PQ is superior to my Mother's Sony 42" plasma and the 50" SXRD she just bought, although I will admit to some desire to buy a 60" SXRD just for movies.

I have followed this thread with great interest and had decided that a CRT was what I wanted. Today I got a chance to go to the big city and actually compare the 970 to other LCDs, Plasmas and rear projection. I was extremely dissapointed. I even asked the sales person if maybe the 970 was not recieving the HD signal. It was! PQ is not a lot better than the 32" 5 year old Wega that I have now. Maybe the 960 was all that but the 970 certainly is not. The Sony SXRD 42" rear projection blew it away. It is entirely possible that something was indeed amiss with the way they had the 970 set up.
I definitely ruled it out of my hunt.

Dicey, thank you so much for the reply. I will be sitting relatively close to the screen (less than 6 ft. usually) so I will probably be wanting the SFP. I will probably go with the 955 since SonyStyle still stocks it. Nice tip on the Color Axis setting. Thanks again.

Vivid

Update: Got a chance to purchase a 960 and went for it. I'll let you guys know when it arrives. I'm really excited!!!

vivid

I am new to this forum and thread. I have searched to see if the problem I am having is here, but I am not finding it. I am now on my second xbr960N that I purchased at Ultimate Electronics at the beginning of April. Both sets have had the same problem. One was manufactured in December. Its replacement was manufactured in February. Both sets are exhibiting the same problem, which makes me wonder if it is something with my setup. After warmup, the picture tube will either flash white or turn off (I can hear the picture tube making a noise when this happens) for a split second and then go back to normal for anywhere from 5-30 minutes before it flashes/cuts out again. It keeps doing the flashing/cutting out until the set is turned off. The second set seems to do the flashing/cutting out more frequently than the first. I have the Motorola HD cable box attached to Video 5 and a Denon 1920 attached to Video 7, and both of these inputs have the same problem with flashing. I have the XBR3 stand on a carpeted floor about 3 feet away from some planar speakers with large magnets. I already talked with Sony and have done the reset and tried plugging the set directly into the wall and through a surge protector and an isolation transformer. Anyone have any idea what might be going on?

It is in fact a plastic sheet that is bonded to the front surface of the 960 (without the N) the "coating " is in fact a sheet of plastic. The procedure for peeling off this anti-glare filter is explained in an eairler post in this thread.

Well, we've seen about every possible combination of information and misinformation in response to that question. My take from both experience and the most credible posts here:

Both sets have antiglare features.

960: plastic sheet bonded to the front surface of the glass
960N: a chemical coating applied to the glass

The 960 plastic sheet approach does a somewhat better job cutting down glare.

The 960N approach is less prone to manufacturing issues and *may* be less susceptible to damage by cleaning products.

Abrasives will for sure damage either one and chemical cleaners might also, depending on what they are. A soft cloth and water is the recommended cleaning agent for both.

Well, we've seen about every possible combination of information and misinformation in response to that question. My take from both experience and the most credible posts here:

Both sets have antiglare features.

960: plastic sheet bonded to the front surface of the glass
960N: a chemical coating applied to the glass

The 960 plastic sheet approach does a somewhat better job cutting down glare.

The 960N approach is less prone to manufacturing issues and *may* be less susceptible to damage by cleaning products.

Abrasives will for sure damage either one and chemical cleaners might also, depending on what they are. A soft cloth and water is the recommended cleaning agent for both.


That's about all there is to it.

Considering what we have already seen with mp3s and the like, I wouldn't say they are crazy paranoid. They are being financially responsible, imho.

Do I like it?

No.

It is those that abused the system for the past 10+ years now making us all pay the price of this aggrevation.

I wouldn't call it financially responsible. I believe it's nothing more than greed. Between hollywood and the music industry, the profits and insatiable greed know no bounds. I'll believe video or music pirating is responsible when either of these industries stop posting record profits like they have over the last 30 yrs.

I wouldn't call it financially responsible. I believe it's nothing more than greed. Between hollywood and the music industry, the profits and insatiable greed know no bounds. I'll believe video or music pirating is responsible when either of these industries stop posting record profits like they have over the last 30 yrs.


If you think they have record profits, you haven't paid close attention over the last few years.

I believe thats what is called free enterprise and what seperates use from a Socialist or Communist Society.

But, I do understand you misguided statements. It's the attitude that will make us pay with DRM and non-working forced upgrades in the future.

Thanks alot.

If you think they have record profits, you haven't paid close attention over the last few years.

I believe thats what is called free enterprise and what seperates use from a Socialist or Communist Society.

But, I do understand you misguided statements. It's the attitude that will make us pay with DRM and non-working forced upgrades in the future.

Thanks alot.

Agreed 100 percent.

I just noticed a blueish/purple tint in the lower left corner of my XBR960 screen. I have had the set for almost 2 years, and generally have the pic mode set on Pro. Has anyone else seen this? Better yet, is it symptomatic of a bigger problem? Tube on its way out already? I really hope not after not even 2 years and the $2000 price tag. Thanks in advance for any input.

I have followed this thread with great interest and had decided that a CRT was what I wanted. Today I got a chance to go to the big city and actually compare the 970 to other LCDs, Plasmas and rear projection. I was extremely dissapointed. I even asked the sales person if maybe the 970 was not recieving the HD signal. It was! PQ is not a lot better than the 32" 5 year old Wega that I have now. Maybe the 960 was all that but the 970 certainly is not. The Sony SXRD 42" rear projection blew it away. It is entirely possible that something was indeed amiss with the way they had the 970 set up.
I definitely ruled it out of my hunt.
A 970 that is truly receiving an HD signal, of an HD show that is set-up somewhere near anything reasonable will not disappoint.

You may have prematurely ruled-out a very nice value.

BTW, Sony doesn't even make a 42" SXRD set.

A 970 that is truly receiving an HD signal, of an HD show that is set-up somewhere near anything reasonable will not disappoint.

You may have prematurely ruled-out a very nice value.

BTW, Sony doesn't even make a 42" SXRD set.

Yes, but it would be disappointing to settle for a 970 if one can still find a 960 out there for a similar price on close out. (I'm not saying that one still can though...I don't know...)

Yes, but it would be disappointing to settle for a 970 if one can still find a 960 out there for a similar price on close out. (I'm not saying that one still can though...I don't know...)
No argument from me. I agree wholeheartedly. I just think that the poster to whom I was responding may not have seen the 970 in an optimal set-up.

Misguided HDTVFanatic? Somehow I'm not surprised by that response. And not to get away from the theme of this thread, but why would you assume that these two industries haven't been making record profits. Not that I owe anyone "insider" information, but maybe I'm privy to some info that bears my point out.

These industries have yet to prove with any tangible evidence that folks choosing to file swap or record video or audio for personal use has adversely affected sales. I haven't seen it, nor have any of my contacts who work in these industries provided such proof.

Control over what we view, listen to and buy in the name of profit seems to be the consistant reality that anyone with their eye on the ball can see. Misguided? No, just acutely aware of greed and arrogance when I see it

By the way, as the owner of a 960n myself, I find the info in this thread by many to be rather informative.

Misguided HDTVFanatic? Somehow I'm not surprised by that response. And not to get away from the theme of this thread, but why would you assume that these two industries haven't been making record profits. Not that I owe anyone "insider" information, but maybe I'm privy to some info that bears my point out.

These industries have yet to prove with any tangible evidence that folks choosing to file swap or record video or audio for personal use has adversely affected sales. I haven't seen it, nor have any of my contacts who work in these industries provided such proof.

Control over what we view, listen to and buy in the name of profit seems to be the consistant reality that anyone with their eye on the ball can see. Misguided? No, just acutely aware of greed and arrogance when I see it

Agree with you, Vance. Corporations want to achieve maximum profit (which is the norm for free enterprise) and this is not limited to the entertainment industry. While record profit can be achieved through ethical business standards, so often costs become higher when demand is high (notice the price of gas lately?) or through cutting costs on product control.

A 970 that is truly receiving an HD signal, of an HD show that is set-up somewhere near anything reasonable will not disappoint.

You may have prematurely ruled-out a very nice value.

BTW, Sony doesn't even make a 42" SXRD set.
Yes I made two mistakes. One I posted here when I should have posted in the official 970 thread and I have since corrected in the other thread that it was the non SXRD 3LCD 42" projection Sony. Right now I cannot remember the whole model number Kxx-42A10 ? The 970 still didn't compare favorably. Maybe it was in the setup? Maybe a signal issue? Or maybe I just got sucked in by the sharpness of the LCD.
I have since re-evaluated my needs and since my viewing distance is close to 13' we'll be looking for the biggest we can budget for.
Plasma, LCD, DLP, LCos, rear projection, 720p, 1080p, 1080I, HDTV, EDTV, motion smear, rainbows, ugly in SD, burn in, contrast ratios, update times, HDMI, IEEExxx, QAM, cable ready, cable card slot. :confused:
Too much to swallow in just a few days. I'll eventually figure it all out.

I THINK MY XBR960 JUST TOOK A CRAP :( :mad: :( Ok so I got this TV brand new at Best Buy in the middle of Feb. The manufacturing date on the back said July 2005. Everything was going great until a couple of days ago when I encountered the "not powering on while plugged into a surge protector" issue. I simply plugged it directly into the wall and it came back on. Then I plugged it back into the surge protector and and everything was great....until this morning. I was playing on my PS2, then all of a sudden my whole screen got very blurry. At first I thought my PS2 component cables went bad, but when I started viewing regular TV the PQ was blurry as well...not to mention a strange red tint. Also when I click on 'display' the time and imput numbers are no longer solid while...now it has a red/green/bluish look to it. Also when I go to an imput channel thats not in use...instead of the screen being all black...there is a red tint with some faint red diagonal lines. Thank goodness for the extended warrenty. I just hope they have some left to replace mine with.

I THINK MY XBR960 JUST TOOK A CRAP :( :mad: :( Ok so I got this TV brand new at Best Buy in the middle of Feb. The manufacturing date on the back said July 2005. Everything was going great until a couple of days ago when I encountered the "not powering on while plugged into a surge protector" issue. I simply plugged it directly into the wall and it came back on. Then I plugged it back into the surge protector and and everything was great....until this morning. I was playing on my PS2, then all of a sudden my whole screen got very blurry. At first I thought my PS2 component cables went bad, but when I started viewing regular TV the PQ was blurry as well...not to mention a strange red tint. Also when I click on 'display' the time and imput numbers are no longer solid while...now it has a red/green/bluish look to it. Also when I go to an imput channel thats not in use...instead of the screen being all black...there is a red tint with some faint red diagonal lines. Thank goodness for the extended warrenty. I just hope they have some left to replace mine with.

Synster,

Sorry to hear about the trouble with your 960. If you haven't already tried, unplug the set once again, wait five minutes and plug it back into the wall (not the surge protector). I was advised by Sony Service that full electrical consumption is required when the set powers up for proper re-gausing. Hopefully, this might resolve the problem for you.

- Joe

Synster,

Sorry to hear about the trouble with your 960. If you haven't already tried, unplug the set once again, wait five minutes and plug it back into the wall (not the surge protector). I was advised by Sony Service that full electrical consumption is required when the set powers up for proper re-gausing. Hopefully, this might resolve the problem for you.

- Joe

Thanks for the info. Is this a common problem? I did unplug it for like 30 seconds, but not 5 minutes so I will try that when I get back home.

So, have any fellow 960 owners tried out the new Toshiba HD DVD player yet? I'm dying to know how high-def discs look on the 960.

I read another post on the HD DVD forum and they said there that if the display size is less than 50" it is almost impossible to see any real improvement over standard DVD's on a good quality player. They seem to think it is kind of a waste because the display quality difference is just not worth the expense.

I read another post on the HD DVD forum and they said there that if the display size is less than 50" it is almost impossible to see any real improvement over standard DVD's on a good quality player. They seem to think it is kind of a waste because the display quality difference is just not worth the expense.
I doubt that, actually. I can tell a noticeable difference between standard DVDs on a good upscaling DVD player vs. broadcast HD of the same movie on my XBR960.

I doubt that, actually. I can tell a noticeable difference between standard DVDs on a good upscaling DVD player vs. broadcast HD of the same movie on my XBR960.
I've got the 34HS420, the model without the SFP tube, and I can easily tell the difference between a DVD on a standard PS 480p player and my Oppo Upscaling DVD Player. I am certain we'll be able to enjoy and appreciate the picture quality of the HD players.

I have a friend who has the XS version of the display (don't remember the full product number, but it's the same tube that's in the XBR960). He has an HD-DVD player. I'm going over tomorrow evening to see what it's like. I'll report back.

I have a friend who has the XS version of the display (don't remember the full product number, but it's the same tube that's in the XBR960). He has an HD-DVD player. I'm going over tomorrow evening to see what it's like. I'll report back.

Can't wait to hear about it!!! :)

So, have any fellow 960 owners tried out the new Toshiba HD DVD player yet? I'm dying to know how high-def discs look on the 960.

I saw this on ZDNet site on the Toshiba and the 960

"The resulting image was jaw-dropping, even on a modestly sized Sony 32-inch LCD flat-panel and a 42-inch Panasonic plasma. Of course, we also auditioned the player on our Sony KD-34XBR960 direct-view CRT reference monitor. Minute details on The Last Samurai HD-DVD--the blades of grass, the cresting waves, the pores of the actors' faces, the stitching of uniforms and tapestries--leapt from the screen with startling crispness. It was among the best high-def images we've viewed, free of the softness and noise that are often seen on some overcompressed or poorly transferred HD cable and satellite broadcasts."

Thanks for the info. Is this a common problem? I did unplug it for like 30 seconds, but not 5 minutes so I will try that when I get back home.
Synyster,

It's not common but does happen on occasion. With me it occured twice; about two weeks after I received the set in August and again last week.

Please let me know if this resolved the problem. Good luck!

Joe

I doubt that, actually. I can tell a noticeable difference between standard DVDs on a good upscaling DVD player vs. broadcast HD of the same movie on my XBR960.
Has anybody compared a HD/Blue Ray HD or HD TV broadcast of a movie they own on DVD by simultaneously playing them and switching back and forth? When a title I own comes on HD I will record it onto my HD DVI for such a test.

So many DVDs appear so sharp and vibrant on the 960 that I wasn't aware of any significant improvement on HD (for example "Ray" or "Shrek 2") but a back and forth comparision would be better than relying on memory.

I agree. LOTR or Batman Begins on the 960 by a Panny 77S thru HDMI loks better than the HDTV versions shown. Sound is better too! The best HDTV seems to me to be live broadcasts.

Hi guys, i recently got my 34xbr960 a few weeks ago, i was wondering if someon can point me in the right direction, im trying to find some good settings (contrast, brightness, picture, sharpness).

Looking for these settings for the HD inputs Video 5/6.

thanks,
Dennis

I THINK MY XBR960 JUST TOOK A CRAP :( :mad: :( Ok so I got this TV brand new at Best Buy in the middle of Feb. The manufacturing date on the back said July 2005. Everything was going great until a couple of days ago when I encountered the "not powering on while plugged into a surge protector" issue. I simply plugged it directly into the wall and it came back on. Then I plugged it back into the surge protector and and everything was great....until this morning. I was playing on my PS2, then all of a sudden my whole screen got very blurry. At first I thought my PS2 component cables went bad, but when I started viewing regular TV the PQ was blurry as well...not to mention a strange red tint. Also when I click on 'display' the time and imput numbers are no longer solid while...now it has a red/green/bluish look to it. Also when I go to an imput channel thats not in use...instead of the screen being all black...there is a red tint with some faint red diagonal lines. Thank goodness for the extended warrenty. I just hope they have some left to replace mine with.

UPDATE: Ok so the best buy tech come outs, takes the back off and does some adjustments, while better, I still notice very slight blurriness with certain programs. Also if you click here (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/tempbgol/DSC00001.jpg) you can see some blue bleeding from the letters and if you click here (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/tempbgol/DSC00002.jpg) you can see some red bleeding from the letters. Surprise surprise when the tech came the whole 'there is a red tint with some faint red diagonal lines" issue was gone. Now the tech was telling me how I will get some slight bleeding and that it will never be 100%, and that most people dont look at the TV that hard. I told him it wasnt about me looking at the TV that hard...I just know what was present before the issue happened. Unfortunatly I have to 3 service calls before they can even give me a new TV.

Does anyone have the box to this tv? I'm moving soon and I would like to use the Sony box and packaging if I could. I would pay for shipping and handling. Please PM me if your interest in removing your box is great enough to help me out.

I have a friend who has the XS version of the display (don't remember the full product number, but it's the same tube that's in the XBR960). He has an HD-DVD player. I'm going over tomorrow evening to see what it's like. I'll report back.

I am going to be hooking up the all black Toshiba HD-D1 HD DVD model to my XBR960 on Sunday using the HDMI connections and I will report back after some testing.

Here's a suggestion for anybody in the market for a tv stand. I just bought a Sauder 1153-465. Its the exact color of the 34xbr960. It is also wide enough with a fraction of an inch left over. It isn't deep enough. The back hangs off. I don't think that's a problem. None of the ones I looked at were deep enough. It is also the perfect height to put it across from a bed. It has glass doors over a component area. There is a storage area with a door. Also, a huge point to me, it has a swivel base. You can move the tv around a bit when hooking up cables, or adjust the tv for viewing.

I had an ISF calibrator "tweak" my TV. He did not do a great job. He did however tell me that the geometry adjustments are automatically done at the factory. I called a local service repair shop and was told they may have to order a new 400 dollar module to correct the goemetry. IF all of this is fact, does the SONY factory where my TV was made, have the numbers my TV was adjusted to in a data base somewhere?

fredd

I had an ISF calibrator "tweak" my TV. He did not do a great job. He did however tell me that the geometry adjustments are automatically done at the factory. I called a local service repair shop and was told they may have to order a new 400 dollar module to correct the goemetry. IF all of this is fact, does the SONY factory where my TV was made, have the numbers my TV was adjusted to in a data base somewhere?

fredd


Not only did he not do a good job, by your words, but he also fed you some misinformation, to boot.

None of this should be necessary. A good calibrator will come out and do at least one of two things:

1.) Service menu/computer magic.

2.) Physically remove the back of the TV and manually/physically adjust the actual magnets and so forth, as was done on mine.

I realize you probably feel burned right now, and I certainly would be looking for satisfaction in THAT regard, but I'd really try at some point to get a GOOD ISF calibrator out there to finish this off for you.

No way in hell you should have to buy some $400 part or anything like that.

Check out http://www.hdtvbychadb.com/. Check out www.lionav.com, or go into our display calibration forum here and put up a thread and see who you can get in your area.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=561596

^^ This gives you an idea of what's supposed to happen when you get a quality ISF calibration job done by someone who knows what they're doing.

Here's a suggestion for anybody in the market for a tv stand. I just bought a Sauder 1153-465. Its the exact color of the 34xbr960. It is also wide enough with a fraction of an inch left over. It isn't deep enough. The back hangs off. I don't think that's a problem. None of the ones I looked at were deep enough. It is also the perfect height to put it across from a bed. It has glass doors over a component area. There is a storage area with a door. Also, a huge point to me, it has a swivel base. You can move the tv around a bit when hooking up cables, or adjust the tv for viewing.

Sounds nice...., we have a few Sauder products ourselves. Can you post a photo once completed? Is the weight capacity more than 200 pounds?

Sounds nice...., we have a few Sauder products ourselves. Can you post a photo once completed? Is the weight capacity more than 200 pounds?


Hear is specs on tv stand http://www.audio-video-furniture.com/Sauder-1153-465-TV-stand.htm

Google is a wonderfil thing. ;)

The ISF calibrator adjusted my color, but I am not happy with it. He also told me it would take HOURS to adjust my geometry. In the end, he was at my place for about 3 hours and charged $350. He said if he or someone were to come back to adjust the geometry, it would take a long time and cost more money

fred

Not only did he not do a good job, by your words, but he also fed you some misinformation, to boot.

None of this should be necessary. A good calibrator will come out and do at least one of two things:

1.) Service menu/computer magic.

2.) Physically remove the back of the TV and manually/physically adjust the actual magnets and so forth, as was done on mine.

I realize you probably feel burned right now, and I certainly would be looking for satisfaction in THAT regard, but I'd really try at some point to get a GOOD ISF calibrator out there to finish this off for you.

No way in hell you should have to buy some $400 part or anything like that.

Check out http://www.hdtvbychadb.com/. Check out www.lionav.com, or go into our display calibration forum here and put up a thread and see who you can get in your area.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=561596

^^ This gives you an idea of what's supposed to happen when you get a quality ISF calibration job done by someone who knows what they're doing.

The ISF calibrator adjusted my color, but I am not happy with it. He also told me it would take HOURS to adjust my geometry.

In the end, he was at my place for about 3 hours and charged $350.

He said if he or someone were to come back to adjust the geometry, it would take a long time and cost more money

fred


I have very serious concerns that you were:

1.) misinformed

2.) misled

3.) ripped off

Not your fault at all. :(

I had an ISF calibrator "tweak" my TV. He did not do a great job. He did however tell me that the geometry adjustments are automatically done at the factory. I called a local service repair shop and was told they may have to order a new 400 dollar module to correct the goemetry. IF all of this is fact, does the SONY factory where my TV was made, have the numbers my TV was adjusted to in a data base somewhere?

fredd

Unfortunately it sounds like you had a bad calibrator. Adjustments are done at the factory but that does not mean they are done correctly.

What city and state are you in? Perhaps someone can recommend one for you if we knew your city.

I had an ISF calibrator "tweak" my TV. He did not do a great job. He did however tell me that the geometry adjustments are automatically done at the factory. I called a local service repair shop and was told they may have to order a new 400 dollar module to correct the goemetry. IF all of this is fact, does the SONY factory where my TV was made, have the numbers my TV was adjusted to in a data base somewhere?

The ISF calibrator adjusted my color, but I am not happy with it. He also told me it would take HOURS to adjust my geometry. In the end, he was at my place for about 3 hours and charged $350. He said if he or someone were to come back to adjust the geometry, it would take a long time and cost more moneyAt times, the results of a calibration can seem magical and others show slight change. It depends on the initial settings and capabilities of the TV and the ability of the calibrator.

One thing all should remember; the scope of an “ISF” calibration. The goal is to take a properly functioning display and adjust the image to industry standards taking into account the viewing environment. The ISF does not support the disassembly and excursion to the inner workings of the TV. Many calibrators have migrated from TV service professions others may have extended experience with a specific model and offer extended service. I restrict my calibration work on DV TVs to the service controls in the service menus.

Fred, “adjusted my color, but I am not happy with it” do you mean the color of white (grayscale), or the saturation or the hue (phase)? Just saying you are not happy doesn’t say much. Yes geometry adjustments are pre set at the factory, however this is a device subject to changes in geomagnetism. Alignment will change every time you move the TV into a different place or orientation on the planet.

My position on geometry is to have noticeable problems corrected by the factory, under warranty. Then, if you are not happy, consider fine tweaking during the calibration (additional cost). I may be slower than some, however, I have spent as much as 10-hours working on a XBR960 tweaking geometry and calibrating multiple inputs.

Some people that are use to watching TV with white way above the 10,000 to 15,000K range can have difficulty with D65 in the beginning. Calibration can be done to 6500K and still look terrible (usually too green). For $350, you should have received calibration of two inputs and possible minor tweaks of convergence. You should have reviewed the results with the calibrator and watched source material you are familiar with to verify the changes. If it didn’t look right to you at that time did you confront the calibrator with your concerns?

The Geometry adjustments could easily cost more than your calibration did. It is a very tedious, involved job to do and takes time to get it all corrected.

You may have been misinformed/mislead if you TV needed or should have had service before the calibration was done.

If you are truly unhappy with the calibration, is/was the calibrator willing to come back and review your issues? Did these issues exist when he left?

At this time, it’s hard to determine if you got a poor calibration or just don’t like a calibrated display. We don’t know what your “Color” issue is, but, did you get more dark/light detail and improved picture quality (reduced edge enhancements)? Did you get settings for Day/Night?

Greetings

RE: fred33's items.

The geometry / overscan can be significantly improved with just the service menu items. Convergence issues on a CRT tube set are another matter. Things that involve opening the back of the set move into the realm of the TV repair man and out of the hands of the calibrator. An ISF calibrator is not usually a repair man ... but a repairman can become a calibrator if he chooses.

Many people confuse the two ... although calibration and repair do not need to have anything to do with each other.

Opening up the back of the set and playing with yokes and magnets is not something that most calibrators do. I won't do that because of the liability issues involved as well as the high voltage ... fear of death. few walk into a $250 job and want to walk out down $1500 for TV repairs or replacement.

I find that a calibration session works far better when the client is part of the session. If they understand or are made to understand all the steps involved in the process as well as the history of why this service is important ... then the end result is far more satisfying. It also helps if the calibrator person has the proper tools and experience with a particular set.

Sometimes, a casual calibrator ... (someone who attended the seminar because his company sent him there.) won't even bother to upgrade knowledge or make sure the testing equipment is well maintained and "calibrated" itself. The analyzer devices also require routine re-certification to make sure that they are up to snuff and not giving bad results.

A casual calibrator looks at the analyzer device as a black box. It must always be right ... and does not look at the actual image resulting from the work.

I feel for you ... a typical crt tube calibration has a srp of $225 ... for one input signal type.

Regards

The ISF person was adjusting my color and he put in a CD and adjusted to make sure the "faces" and other colors looked right. He did hold up color filters and made more adjustments while he generated color bars. He adjusted the greyscale. Now my sturation setting is way below half. I can NOT get any kind of uniform color across imputs and even some of the chanells are that way.
When I set up the appointment, he said he could do geometry. When he started tweaking..it was obvious from the "hmmms" and "this is not good" comments that he could not fix the situation BUT he kept trying...I think to waste time and increase the cost. THEN he went on to "tweak" the color and that took him less than 20 minutes.
SO there you have it. 20 munites for color and 2 hours going "hmmm" "wow" and "this is not good" and not fixing it but telling me it would take a long time.

He did NOT have to open the set.

fred33

It sounds a whole lot like you may have been defrauded. This sounds for the world like somebody that invested in Avia and is selling themself off as a trained calibrator. Maybe you should call the Better Business Bureau. You might also call this guy on his apparent lack of ability given what you've already learned here.

If it were me, I would not let this guy near my set again and I would demand a refund.

Best of Luck!

Opening up the back of the set and playing with yokes and magnets is not something that most calibrators do.


100% correct

Most will not even open the back of the set - for reasons such as you stated.

If you feel this is something you need, ask before you contract with the tech.

As have been shown in this thread, at least one has been willing to do it, but most do not and will not.

Is anyone else noticing a 'freeze' in their picture? Whenever certain commercials come on and have quite a bit of red in it, my picture and sound go berserk. This is either through the HDMI or even the QAM tuner. This is a rare occurance and only a couple of television commercials do this.

Well after working for about 4 weeks with the new DZ board, my XBR960N is back to the 4 blinks and shutdown after 20 minutes. It worked awsome while it worked! Needless to say, I am a bit disapointed with Sony. Has any one on this board experienced this with their XBR960? The new DZ board fixed the orginal problem. But it is right back to the V-Sync Low B error codes in the diagnostics screen. Maybe something is taking out the DZ board? At least it has a 2 year warranty.

Greetings

It is not even clear that the calibrator had proper equipment to do the grayscale. If filters were all he had ... then you were scammed. The ISF does not condone this type of service. All practicing calibrators are required to have professional analyzing equipment of one form or another.

Regards

Michael, I had that feeling too. Your ISF Calibrator should have use some sort of color analyzer to set the grayscale and should have used the SM color isolation to adjust color saturation, phase and color decoder (more accurate than the filters).

Another point is, when the customer has been the service menu making adjustments, it can take a lot more time and cost much more to correct the additional problems created. fred33 has previously posted that he has been into the service menu changing geometry, and who knows what else. The calibrator may have been doomed from the begining, however, he still should have been able to get the grayscale, color, hue, brightness, contrast and sharpness correct without dealing with geometry, a basic ISF calibration. I too, put in a DVD or HD channel to see how the colors, fleshtones, etc. look after calibration. The source material is not always the same as the test equipmnet.

I just love the way you ISF calibrators tell us how good you are and how we should hire you all to tweak our tv. It is also interesting how you tend to find fault with those who hire an ISF person and are not happy with some results.
The isf person I had did use a calibrator. He did say words like "oh wow, this is way off" Fact is, I did NOT touch any color anything on my tv except to use AVIA.

Also, if ISF calibrators can not do, or need hours upon hours to fix some geometry concerns, then they need to tell us this.

fredd.

Greetings

Fred33, did your calibrator guy use proper calibration equipment to do the grayscale? Not Filters.

What paperwork did he provide you? Any before and after documentation?

I am the last person to come to a bad calibrator's defense. There is no calibration brotherhood out here. The greatest divide is that of the enthusiast calibrator and those that simply treat calibration as a job and could care less. Unfortunately, calibration services are not listed as such.

Just like there are no listings for "good doctors" and then one for "bad doctors."

If the man did not have the right equipment, you have grounds to complain against him right up to the ISF if you choose if he does not address your issues.

As usual ... one always expects clients to try to resolve their problems with the service provider first rather before going "public" with their issues.

(Should note that geometry is not something that ISF covers ... it just happens that many calibrators provide some form of service in that area no different than an enthusiast figuring out how to do it himself.)

Regards

Michael, well put!

Fredd, we are not trying to defend a calibrator or blame you, just trying to get the facts to form an answer. To me, your first description was kind of like saying you went to the doctor and now you don't feel good. I have had to spend extensive hours fixing problems that customers have created by using the SM adjustments.

You say you don't like the "color", well, tell us what is wrong with the "color"? Are whites too green, blue or red, are the colors over/under saturated, are all of the colors too green or red? what do flesh tones look like? . . . . . . . . .

Obviously calibrations cannot be done via the internet, however rough diagnosis or possible causes/remedies cannot be done without details.

I fully agree with the idea of getting the calibrator to fix the problem or possibly refund your money before you go "public" . At that point contacting the ISF would be a next step. I offer full guarantees on my services, adjust prices at time of service if needed (I don't charge full rate for additional services when there is on-site learning involved). I also inform customers that I could spend x-hours to y-hours, depending on the potential services they desire.

i think im gonna pass on it after all :mad:

ive been going thru all these post and its been nothing but headaches for the owners.

fred
What you're describing is a consequence of "perception of value." If you hire someone to do an ISF calibration and only a couple of things are but a little bit off and he then tweaks those things, you may in fact be just fine with that and feel that it was money well spent. However, your average person may think, "Gee, that was a waste of money." Turn lots of knobs and suddenly said hypothetical person may think, "Wow--this is some really complicated stuff. I'm glad I didn't try to just make due with Avia."

Of course, the calibrator burns his reputation with you by doing that sort of thing if when he's done with all of that smoke and mirrors stuff, he doesn't set it back to something that actually looks really damned good. But being the cynical analyst I am, I'd have to ask what his motives are, what the risks are and what the potential rewards are. If you bought a "one off" TV set and had him come out to your house this one time for a TV you'll keep for years, you may never frequent his business again. If you don't work in the business or have a large opportunity to bring new business to him, he may just not have any vested interest in your long term support. If that's the case, the simplest coarse of action is the one which allows him to get his money, get out of there and keeps you from complaining as he's walking out or wanting your money back.

Remember, a good salesman isn't someone who sells a good person a good product. A good salesman can sell someone the most worthless crap that person could imagine. A great salesman can do that and have that customer with his worthless crap just beaming with happiness with it. And whose to say that's really wrong, anyway. Truth is a purist's pursuit but happiness is for the masses.

...but I know nothing about this individual who did service for you. I am only a student of human nature.

And I do wonder how many unnecessary return visits and prescriptions I had to deal with last year as a result of the same emotional processes on the parts of the doctors and staff. But I know one thing I didn't know before... that next time: I do not want the Prednisone.

Well, even if I DID change geometry and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE, if I called you to come over and correct things would you come over? Or would you say that you won't because I had changed some geometry?
This forum is loaded with information about how to get into the service menu. Its loaded with information on how to change things once in there. If,and I repeat IF, some ISF folks in here will not touch a set that has been changed because of the information in here, then just state that concern.
I am willing to bet that if I said my geometry was off, and I called SONY service and they would fix it via a module for 400 bucks, some ISF folks reading this would say I could have save money by hiring them.
As far as my color being OFF, I am sorry I did not include the tiny details some of you wished. But let me try this...
The hue is off on each input. OFF = not right = to much red and or green. Flesh tones are rarely what they used to be. Saturation also varies from input to input more than it ever has. If I turn up the saturation to see a nice red tone to a HDTV broad cast (lets say an american flag) then the flesh tones become saturated also.
Now, I hope that helps.

Michael, I had that feeling too. Your ISF Calibrator should have use some sort of color analyzer to set the grayscale and should have used the SM color isolation to adjust color saturation, phase and color decoder (more accurate than the filters).

Another point is, when the customer has been the service menu making adjustments, it can take a lot more time and cost much more to correct the additional problems created. fred33 has previously posted that he has been into the service menu changing geometry, and who knows what else. The calibrator may have been doomed from the begining, however, he still should have been able to get the grayscale, color, hue, brightness, contrast and sharpness correct without dealing with geometry, a basic ISF calibration. I too, put in a DVD or HD channel to see how the colors, fleshtones, etc. look after calibration. The source material is not always the same as the test equipmnet.

i think im gonna pass on it after all :mad:

ive been going thru all these post and its been nothing but headaches for the owners.

That's a good idea. This TV isn't for you if that's the only opinion you can draw from reading this thread.

Greetings

Fred33, I'm still trying to determine if the calibrator guy used the proper equipment. You have replied many times and have not addressed this ... please do.

Regards

I'm not indicting your abilities, but many people make the mistake of assuming this is like baking a cake, you just throw 1/2 x and 2/3 y into the mix and cook at Z degrees and you get a perfect cake. Sometimes a little information doesn't equate to knowledge but rather the ability to get in more trouble. Every single set requires a different matrix of geometry, color, and other settings. It seems lately there has been some prevalence of home brew adjusters that missed all the warnings about not touching the service menus if you don't know what you are doing. That means understanding the ramifications of one change on another parameter and being able to decipher what changes in what order need to be made. Applying that to the analogy above, if you bake the eggs before mixing them in the batter, it won't matter how precisely you follow the remaining steps.

Inversely to your statement, this forum is loaded with people who should not be diving into the service menu just because they can. Maybe you have the technical acumen to effect the changes in the right order, but if that was the case, an ISF adjuster shouldn't have had to do much to get your set dead on.

To answer your question, if I knew someone had been screwing around in the service menus the first thing I'd ask is if they'd logged ALL of the original settings. If they had I'd agree to come out only on the terms the set was returned to those settings.

This forum is loaded with information about how to get into the service menu. Its loaded with information on how to change things once in there.

"To answer your question, if I knew someone had been screwing around in the service menus the first thing I'd ask is if they'd logged ALL of the original settings. If they had I'd agree to come out only on the terms the set was returned to those settings."

Well Hammerli, why would I pay you to do something I could do. No, the setting were not saved. If they were, I would evem be even in this conversation. I would have set them all back myself.

"Every single set requires a different matrix of geometry, color, and other settings. It seems lately there has been some prevalence of home brew adjusters that missed all the warnings about not touching the service menus if you don't know what you are doing. That means understanding the ramifications of one change on another parameter and being able to decipher what changes in what order need to be made. Applying that to the analogy above, if you bake the eggs before mixing them in the batter, it won't matter how precisely you follow the remaining steps."

THis is a great analogy. I wonder why someone like youself, who no doubt is very knowlegable about our subject matter would only attempt to correct my TV if the original settings were put down?

My whole point to this is, if you do not want to try to fix some item on a TV set, then let your customers know. People often screw up things with limited knowlege. They also like to get that fixed by hiring a professional who can do the job.


...Michael..
The calibrator had a generator and he used it for color adjustment and tried some geometry fixes with it. He then put in a CD and adjusted again using the owner friendly controls. I am saying when it was all over with, it was hard to adjust the color of some of the inputs....thanks.

fred

Well after working for about 4 weeks with the new DZ board, my XBR960N is back to the 4 blinks and shutdown after 20 minutes. It worked awsome while it worked! Needless to say, I am a bit disapointed with Sony. Has any one on this board experienced this with their XBR960? The new DZ board fixed the orginal problem. But it is right back to the V-Sync Low B error codes in the diagnostics screen. Maybe something is taking out the DZ board? At least it has a 2 year warranty.

One thing I forgot to mention in my orignal post, the room temp was 76 degrees when the problem started. The next morning it was 67 degrees and the TV ran for 3 hours with out a problem. The following evening it was 72 degrees and it ran for another two hours. Makes me think it could be a heat related issue.

Anyone on this board experienced the 4 blinks and had a successful repair? What board did they replace to fix the problem?

Greetings

Thanks Fred,

Sounds like he did not even use a color analyzer to do grayscale then. It is a probe that he puts on the screen ... a little hockey puck as we like to call it ... or a pod. Put up a gray box ... take a reading ... almost as if the TV is sick ...

If this is the case ... yes you got hosed ... sorry to hear that ... you can start yelling at him to demand satisfaction ... (note ... not satisfaction as in you are satisfied with the end result ... but in reference to him not doing what he was paid to do. Like a car shop ... if they have a 40 point inspection ... you expect them to go through that ... but if they don't ... then you should be dissatisfied.)

I have never found geometry errors on these sony sets to be that profound. Even if the end user is toying with the geometry ... they logically can't do that much harm that can't be undone. There are limits to image geometry where even someone with little knowledge says that the image is not right ... so they back off.

Regards

Greetings

Main question though ... how do the DVD's look? Do you find that you have to adjust the color and tint a lot on DVDs too. I am assuming that he must have optimized the TV for some signal set ... which in most cases is your DVD player.

From the ISF class ... calibrators are supposed to calibrate the TV as a system ... rather than a stand alone unit. It means the DVD player must be optimized to the TV since it is part of the system.

Once this level of calibration is done ... one should always take a look at the other sources and go from there.

(In my case, I always tell clients that their TV is now optimized for that DVD player ... therefore ... change the player and the calibration can become suspect and may need to be retweaked. For things like cable signals ... the optimal DVD settings are supposed to serve as a starting point only for that signal type. Cable/satellite programs can vary and do from channel to channel ... program to program ... and cannot be specifically calibrated as a result. One simply hopes that the optimal DVD settings bring the cable closer. Because of this reality, I make sure that the TV setting reset point is always the point of optimal dvd performance. If a program is too dark on cable ... you gotta change it. Color wrong ... change it ... tint wrong ... change it a few clicks ... but with a press of the handy reset button on the remote ... back to optimal settings again. A good foundation to start with. )

Regards

i think im gonna pass on it after all :mad:

ive been going thru all these post and its been nothing but headaches for the owners.


Agree, from a certain point of view, though most of these headaches are fixable.

Motion blur, dead pixels and burn in are not.

For example Synester recently posted a "blue bleeding" to the edge of his images. It might be a 40 second convergence fix in service mode.

Hopefully if SED comes out we can all look back and laugh

I just noticed a blueish/purple tint in the lower left corner of my XBR960 screen. I have had the set for almost 2 years, and generally have the pic mode set on Pro. Has anyone else seen this? Better yet, is it symptomatic of a bigger problem? Tube on its way out already? I really hope not after not even 2 years and the $2000 price tag. Thanks in advance for any input.

It may be just a shift in the earth's magnetic field. I had the same problem in Jan 2005 fixed it in service mode. 5 minutes all up

I just hope you haven't rung the clowns at Sony yet

http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24229&forum=34&keyword2=electronics

Joe had a similar problem, if he still has his hair left, I think he was happy NOT to let someone replace the tube

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=650535&page=1&pp=30

Well Hammerli, why would I pay you to do something I could do. No, the setting were not saved. If they were, I would evem be even in this conversation. I would have set them all back myself.


This is the point of the whole conversation; you're paying someone to fix what you thought you could, but couldn't.


THis is a great analogy. I wonder why someone like youself, who no doubt is very knowlegable about our subject matter would only attempt to correct my TV if the original settings were put down?


Because you already baked the eggs. In my experience it always takes much more time and detective work to calibrate a set that the owner has "fixed". In my experience with Sony's 34" wide tubes, very few have what I would call good geometry without removing the back and adjusting with permalloy. But then I'm an OCD engineer, and my 960 is literally yardstick perfect. I understand most calibrators don't want to get into that level of time/potential for hazards, but if one of the primary concerns of the owner is geometry(usually is) it can only partially be dealt with in the SM (if the owner is really picky and looking for perfection, which some here on this forum probably are).

Well, even if I DID change geometry and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE, if I called you to come over and correct things would you come over? Or would you say that you won't because I had changed some geometry?
This forum is loaded with information about how to get into the service menu. Its loaded with information on how to change things once in there. If, and I repeat IF, some ISF folks in here will not touch a set that has been changed because of the information in here, then just state that concern.
I am willing to bet that if I said my geometry was off, and I called SONY service and they would fix it via a module for 400 bucks, some ISF folks reading this would say I could have save money by hiring them.
As far as my color being OFF, I am sorry I did not include the tiny details some of you wished. But let me try this...
The hue is off on each input. OFF = not right = to much red and or green. Flesh tones are rarely what they used to be. Saturation also varies from input to input more than it ever has. If I turn up the saturation to see a nice red tone to a HDTV broad cast (lets say an American flag) then the flesh tones become saturated also.
Now, I hope that helps.Fred33, YES, I would, and I have, gone out to fix geometry on displays that the customer changed and couldn't get back to factory. I did inform them it could take additional time and money than normal, depending on the severity of the problem. If you called Sony and complained that the geometry is off, they will send a tech, however, service techs are paid a flat rate for the service call and they spend more than 15-minutes they loose money, from their normal billing rates (kind of like HMO doctors). Factory acceptable specifications are not for the videophile, they are for the masses. Calibrators, ISF or not, who specialize in full service, including geometry, will take the time to perfect the geometry.

Michael's concern about the calibrator using a color pod analyzer is important. If an analyzer was not used, I agree, you were "hosed". The XBR960 is calibrated on each input, however there is a global gray-scale and each input and scan rate is tweaked with the offsets. From the price you paid, you should have two inputs that look reasonably good.

Service menu adjustments are like a Tax Return, you can make one change and everything else changes, sometimes for the good, sometimes not.

Sorry for your experience, however, when the XBR960 is properly calibrated, the picture is stunning, it doesn't get much better. Michael also gave some very important information, in his statement and is worth repeatingMain question though ... how do the DVDs look? Do you find that you have to adjust the color and tint a lot on DVDs too. I am assuming that he must have optimized the TV for some signal set ... which in most cases is your DVD player.

From the ISF class ... calibrators are supposed to calibrate the TV as a system ... rather than a stand alone unit. It means the DVD player must be optimized to the TV since it is part of the system.

Once this level of calibration is done ... one should always take a look at the other sources and go from there.

(In my case, I always tell clients that their TV is now optimized for that DVD player ... therefore ... change the player and the calibration can become suspect and may need to be re-tweaked. For things like cable signals ... the optimal DVD settings are supposed to serve as a starting point only for that signal type. Cable/satellite programs can vary and do from channel to channel ... program to program ... and cannot be specifically calibrated as a result. One simply hopes that the optimal DVD settings bring the cable closer. Because of this reality, I make sure that the TV setting reset point is always the point of optimal DVD performance. If a program is too dark on cable ... you gotta change it. Color wrong ... change it ... tint wrong ... change it a few clicks ... but with a press of the handy reset button on the remote ... back to optimal settings again. A good foundation to start with. )

what the HELL is super fine pitch anyway...no really!

no lcd's have it? or something like it, how does the technology work?

an expert refered the xbr960 as a movie industry set he used terms like..

reference tv or studio set!! he said the movie guys have this set and swears by it if so it's to bad that they're NOT being produced again..EVER

what the HELL is super fine pitch anyway...no really!

no lcd's have it? or something like it, how does the technology work?

an expert refered the xbr960 as a movie industry set he used terms like..

reference tv or studio set!! he said the movie guys have this set and swears by it if so it's to bad that they're NOT being produced again..EVERFrom Sony:
Super Fine Pitch CRT

Created especially for displaying high resolution pictures like high-definition broadcast, the new Super Fine Pitch CRT features the proprietary Super Fine Pitch Aperture Grill with 65 percent increased number of vertical "slits," which improve image resolution, for crisp, brilliant, highest picture quality reproduction from corner to corner.

Together with a new electron gun and high intensity luminescent phosphor, the Super Fine Pitch CRT delivers exceptional picture performance. The improvement is immediately noticeable, with no visible vertical lines on the screen and higher resolution to all corners.Same thing as the dot-pitch in CRT computer monitors

Only tubes (and not all tubes) have aperture grills AFAIK. It's a Sony thing but other brands have them too.

Only tubes (and not all tubes) have aperture grills AFAIK. It's a Sony thing but other brands have them too.

and NO LCD'S could duplicate this technology, or come close

Yes he did use a color analyzer. Yes he did do some color adjustments with my DVD player. My point was, that after he was finished, the User friendly adjustments had to be moved around a lot per imput and even on some channels. Previously, I had not had to move or re-adjust hardly at all. He did say he did 2 imputs, and I remember him commenting that some color adjustments were way off...but in that case I NEVER have touched any color adjustments in the SM.
I do have a general understanding of grey scale and how the will affect my viewing. (thanks to lots of reading and looking at this forum).



To Hammerli :
Quote:
Originally Posted by fred33
Well Hammerli, why would I pay you to do something I could do. No, the setting were not saved. If they were, I would evem be even in this conversation. I would have set them all back myself.


This is the point of the whole conversation; you're paying someone to fix what you thought you could, but couldn't.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fred33
THis is a great analogy. I wonder why someone like youself, who no doubt is very knowlegable about our subject matter would only attempt to correct my TV if the original settings were put down?


Because you already baked the eggs. In my experience it always takes much more time and detective work to calibrate a set that the owner has "fixed". In my experience with Sony's 34" wide tubes, very few have what I would call good geometry without removing the back and adjusting with permalloy. But then I'm an OCD engineer, and my 960 is literally yardstick perfect. I understand most calibrators don't want to get into that level of time/potential for hazards, but if one of the primary concerns of the owner is geometry(usually is) it can only partially be dealt with in the SM (if the owner is really picky and looking for perfection, which some here on this forum probably are).

,,,AND my point is, all adjustments done to geometry were done in the SM. IF I had put down all the original settings, I would just put them back and therefore no need for "professional" assistance. You said your set is yardstick perfect....do I take that to mean you are really picky and looking for perfection??

....
Finaly, would anyone reading this with real experiece, let themselves be hired to fix geometry concerns that were mal-adjusted by the owner in the SM? What would the cost be? And, would you gladly help for your price, or would you chastise the owner for going into the SM and act like some fix it god.

Finaly, would anyone reading this with real experiece, let themselves be hired to fix geometry concerns that were mal-adjusted by the owner in the SM? What would the cost be? And, would you gladly help for your price, or would you chastise the owner for going into the SM and act like some fix it god.As I mentioned before, no problem, I have done this before and would do it again. Just a matter of your being within my service area. Michael TLV would be an excellent choice in his service area. There are many "Professional" ISF calibrators that can and would solve your problem, many travel. You just need to communicate with them to find a solution. As for cost, you will get various rates, however, most will be on an hourly basis for geometry corections, and some may quote a "not to exceed" price. I have done that before. You can look here (http://www.isfforum.com/viewforum.php?f=60&sid=78af2fa2824603f3ff19d961bea0ce9a)

There is a two year warranty on the XBR, have you tried Sony, or has the warranty expired?

Still under warranty.
I am not so sure as to what to tell the local service guy so I can get it fixed for free.

fredd

Wow I just realised watching 4:3 material in Normal mode (with the black bars on sides) looks much nicer vs. any of the zoom modes,the picture is brighter & crisper.. I had been using Wide Zoom all along.

Still under warranty.
I am not so sure as to what to tell the local service guy so I can get it fixed for free.

freddFredd, I would call Sony service and explain the problems you are having. If it appears to be outside the "acceptable" range, they should send a tech. Just remember, "acceptable" geometry is not perfect.

Fredd, I would call Sony service and explain the problems you are having. If it appears to be outside the "acceptable" range, they should send a tech. Just remember, "acceptable" geometry is not perfect.


not for nutin
but what kind of equipment do you guys use to calibrate these 960's and are they different from other calibrators or is it all the same?

not for nutin
but what kind of equipment do you guys use to calibrate these 960's and are they different from other calibrators or is it all the same?For geometry, a HD signal generator is used to display test patterns through any of inputs at any scan-rate, including the ATSC input. The rest of the geometry is left to the skill of the calibrator.

For the grayscale, a color analyzer, for CRTs, is used.

For color decoding, saturation and phase, a test pattern and the internal color isolation works best.

For geometry, a HD signal generator is used to display test patterns through any of inputs at any scan-rate, including the ATSC input. The rest of the geometry is left to the skill of the calibrator.

For the grayscale, a color analyzer, for CRTs, is used.

For color decoding, saturation and phase, a test pattern and the internal color isolation works best.


^^ And none of this stuff comes cheap, kids. ;)

^^ And none of this stuff comes cheap, kids. ;)

how much money does this type of equipment cost, just wondering!
how much of a difference will you notice after calibration 5%-10% ect?

how much of a difference will you notice after calibration 5%-10% ect?

Good question, but impossible to answer. Some sets (even within brand/model) need it more than others. Other "fixes" may be valued by some viewers more than others. Does overscan adjustment on set x for viewer y yield a 10% viewing improvement? 15%?

What I can say is this... the calibration dramaticly improves performance on the 960. Colors are more vibrant/accurate, text over blacks appear as if someone painted black enamel over the screen and the smoothness (for example blue of the sky at a baseball stadium is stunning. In a word the PQ is ... lifelike.

I can't imagine not doing it for any set I buy in the future, but for a set like the 960 (where enthusiasts are sacrificing screen size, weight, cabninet size, etc. for PQ)... IMHO it is an easy decision.

how much money does this type of equipment cost, just wondering!
how much of a difference will you notice after calibration 5%-10% ect?

Greetings

I can only speak for my own equipment line up used for a set like this.

Laptop $1000
Color Analyzing software/hardware $2500
Signal Generator $1300
Test Discs $400
Optical Comparator $900
Training/Certification $1500

I have much more elaborate equipment for more complex displays (like the $12000 Minolta CS200 spectrometer).

The second part of the question falls into the world of subjectivity.

How much of a difference will you notice?

Answer me this ... how long is a piece of string?

If you can answer this one ... I can answer the other one.

How much of a difference depends on a number of things ...

1.) The state of your TV / equipment compared to others off the assembly line. All different. Without owning many ... you won't know if you got an average one or an above average one or a friday afternoon one.

2.) Your Value system. Subjectivity to the max. No answer can be provided unless I can crawl into your head and look at the world through your eyes and know how you value things. Value Judgements ...

A picture that is slightly out of focus means nothing to one person and everything to someone else ... who is right? Who is wrong?

For my own clients ... I have worked hard to take subjectivity completely out of the calibration equation when potential clients talk to me. The service provides a set series of tasks to be performed to the best of my ability and knowledge at the time of the work and within the limitations of the equipment. When completed ... payment is expected. There is no further discussion about this. If the potential client still has doubt ... then calibration is not a service they should seek ... or certainly not from me.

Regards

how much money does this type of equipment cost, just wondering!
how much of a difference will you notice after calibration 5%-10% ect?

a calibrator- who buys good equipment, can spend, and reasonably write off $10-20K in gear. yes, $20,000.


i will get my next display calibrated. as it will have to last years and years.

Some advice, speak with the ISF guy/gal, be polite, and they should quote you around $270 total/ not to exceed price for a CRT up to 36"

plasma, LCDs, projectors cost more.

Good question, but impossible to answer. Some sets (even within brand/model) need it more than others. Other "fixes" may be valued by some viewers more than others. Does overscan adjustment on set x for viewer y yield a 10% viewing improvement? 15%?

What I can say is this... the calibration dramaticly improves performance on the 960. Colors are more vibrant/accurate, text over blacks appear as if someone painted black enamel over the screen and the smoothness (for example blue of the sky at a baseball stadium is stunning. In a word the PQ is ... lifelike.

I can't imagine not doing it for any set I buy in the future, but for a set like the 960 (where enthusiasts are sacrificing screen size, weight, cabninet size, etc. for PQ)... IMHO it is an easy decision.

Hi, care to say who did your calibration??? I'm not too far from you in Ocean County, NJ and am considering getting my 960 calibrated pretty soon. You can reply to me privately if you prefer. Thank-you

Need some input please. I don't have the 960 but do have the 955. Can anyone confirm if they have the below issue or not with the 960? I only have 10 days left to decide if this issue is going to bug me enough to warrant a return. I also know this might be me being very picky... ;)

The issue I have is with what I will call an "offset shadow ghost" that is always about 1/10" to the right of images viewed on my TV. Kind of like the grayscale image is to the right by 1/10" of the color image. It does it with all inputs and with HD and SD TV as well. It is most noticeable with animated DVDs like Aladdin, Lion King, Nemo, etc, because of the solid color fields. With 4:3 content it is very obvious to see to the right of the left black bar.

Here is a close up shot I posted a while back of Simba's paw. Notice the shadow to the right of each paw pad.
http://www.meettheferrells.com/photos/albums/userpics/junk/paw.jpg
Does anyone else have this type of issue? Can you play an animated DVD and look close to see if you see it? Do you see a shadow line to the right of the left bar is 4:3 mode?

Since the above shot, I have gone into the service menu and adjusted
SYSM=3 (flat)
VMLV=0
VMCR=0
VMLM=0
VMFO=0
VMDL=0

This keeps the problem from being emphasized by Scanning Velocity Modulation especially SYSM=3 but it is still slightly visible.

The Circuit City tech guy came out today and acknowledged the problem, but said the rest of the image looked so good, he did not want to adjust anything since he did not know exactly what was causing the problem.


Thanks much for any input!

Ronnie Ferrell

Interesting I notice the exact same thing on my 2 month old XBR960N , anyone else notice this as well? It's not a huge deal but I would be interested to know if its common, I even see this ghosting on the memory stick screen and user menu so its not related to the video source or inputs.

Interesting I notice the exact same thing on my 2 month old XBR960N , anyone else notice this as well? It's not a huge deal but I would be interested to know if its common, I even see this ghosting on the memory stick screen and user menu so its not related to the video source or inputs.
This looks exactly like edge enhancement. EE is added to the more vertical lines line portions as the beam scans from left to right in the picture, and usually to the right and a little bit downward, just like the paw in the picture, because it happens in time after the vertical edge of the line is drawn. You've done well by turning off artificial EE and you also need to turn down the Sharpness setting in the user menu. Also in the user menu turn off ClearEdge.

This looks exactly like edge enhancement. EE is added to the more vertical lines line portions as the beam scans from left to right in the picture, and usually to the right and a little bit downward, just like the paw in the picture, because it happens in time after the vertical edge of the line is drawn. You've done well by turning off artificial EE and you also need to turn down the Sharpness setting in the user menu. Also in the user menu turn off ClearEdge.

Hrm disabling Clearedge and lowering sharpness helps but its still there, It's easily noticeable when looking for it on the Cartoon Network channel , I just checked my HS510 tv w/ Cartoon network and this ghosting isn't present *at all* even if I set Clearedge on High.

but it's really not noticable from normal viewing distance at least...

It's not going to work long term over the optical output like you think. Even the article you posted appreared to speak to that fact.Just to continue with trying to understand exactly what a buyer of BRD or HDDVD players might expect...

In this month's May/June (issue #68) of "The Perfect Vision", on page 8 there's a letter to the Editor regarding audio connections from a new BRD/HDDVD player to an AVR using either (a) HDMI, (b) discrete analog, or (c) TosLink/coaxial. The question is specifically with respect to obtaining the benefits of the new high-resolution audio formats, but in replying Robert Harley mentions and describes the results of using the legacy TosLink/coaxial audio path as well:

"According to Craig Eggers of Dolby, high-definition audio formats decoded in the player can be heard at their full resolutions if the AVR is equipped with HDMI Version 1.1 or higher. In your example, the player would [perform the decoding and] pass up to eight channels of [uncompressed] PCM to the connected AVR through HDMI, which performs bass management and other DSP.

"In AVRs without HDMI input, you can simply connect the HD DVD or Blu-ray player's eight line-level analog outputs to the AVR's eight (or six) line-level analog inputs. The [uncompressed high-resolution discrete] analog input can be assigned to any video input.

"Version 1.3 of the HDMI spec carries the [non-decoded] high-resolution bitstream to the connected AVR which will decode the signal, provided the AVR is equipped with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoders. It will be some time before HDMI v1.3 is available.

"Finally, note that HD DVD and Blu-ray players will output a conventional Dolby Digital or DTS bitstream on the coaxial or TosLink digital jacks for backward compatibility with "legacy" Dolby Digital AVRs. With this connection method, however, you will not hear the advantages of the the new high-resolution audio formats."


While admittedly this is just an Editor's reply to a letter, note that there is no mention of the HDMI-connected (from the AVR) display device's ability to handle HDMI v1.0 or v1.1 or v1.3 as optionally influencing the audio sent from the player to the AVR. In particular, there is also no mention of the TosLink/coaxial path from player to AVR being in any way compromised or down-rezzed with something other than today's non-HD "legacy" Dolby/DTS multi-channel digital audio.

Now there should be at least one or more 34XBR960 owners reading this thread who have already gone out and bought the new now-available Toshiba HD-DVD player, and who can quickly and easily tell us what the poop really is... from real world experiments. If they don't have a new HDMI-enabled AVR then they're likely just connecting the HDMI output from the player to the HDMI input on the XBR960, and using the TosLink/coax audio path to their existing AVR. Surely they can tell us definitively what results they're achieving.

Anyone with a new HD-DVD player care to tell us the true story? Please?

Hi, and sorry if I'm breaking some rule posting like this...kinda new here. I just bought what was supposed to be the last xbr 960 at a local suburban Detroit area retailer, new, in the box. When the set was delivered today, I noticed a number of scratchces on the case, and after cleaning it, found the top of the set to be very dirty. I'm sure the set was a floor model, because the kind of scratches and dirt I found would not come from someone's home. Plus, the remote was out of the bag, batteries installed, and the manual had clearly been thumbed-through quite a bit. I got the set for $1050.00, plus I spent another $129.00 for an additional two year warranty (I was told it only came with a 90 day warranty). I will start calling all the local stores from this company tomorrow (about 40 in all) to see if I can find a new, in the box, set, and swap them out. If not, I was wondering if I should just keep it (manufactured september of 2005, made in mexico) or take it back and get an xbr 955 for a few more hundred bucks, assuming I can get a brand new one. I have lurked here a bit (thus I got the 960 and not thenew but non-sfp 970 model) and would appreciate the input of the caliiber of folks who generously post their advice and experiences here. Thanks.

If it had scratches on it, they lied to you- ring em up & tell em to shove it up their pipe hole .

It's either someone elses return or a floor model , either way legally you can tell them to stick it.

Hi and thanks for the encouragement. I called my sales rep, and after about three sentences he interrupted me and said he'd get me a new, in-the-box, factory sealed xbr 960, with apologies all over the place. I think the fact that I told him I was not interested in having some of the purchase price knocked off helped him to understand the genuineness of my concern. I appreciate the postings here, because I was reminded, in one of the postings, that if this tv was a floor model, it sat burning 7 days a week, 10 hours a day, with every jack-knows-who pushing whatever buttons they can on it. And lets not even think about the probing fingers of kids....

Anyway, that's the update. The picture on the set (even my soon-to-be-gone-one) is truly breathtaking in hd. I thought of the Bravia xbr 40 inch lcd, but the comparison led to only one choice; the 960. Add to that the $ saved (nearly an $1800.00 price difference) and I can see why Sony is starting to turn out a lesser quality tube set like the 970: how does one justify almost three times the price of an lcd for lesser quality picture? Ah well, not my problem at this juncture.

Interesting I notice the exact same thing on my 2 month old XBR960N , anyone else notice this as well? It's not a huge deal but I would be interested to know if its common, I even see this ghosting on the memory stick screen and user menu so its not related to the video source or inputs.

Well we might be discussing two different artifacts here: inputs/cables and RGB convergence errors.

1) inputs/cables: when I first hooked up my Standard Def DVD player I used an S-video cable. It looked pretty good, but I noticed the very shadow lines you mention. I then tried Component cables and inputs and the problem almost completely disappeared.

2) RGB Convergence errors, where the red, blue, and green guns aren't shooting completely straight, and you can see a red, blue or green "halo" around white text or lines. I find that every CRT has this to some degree and I look forward to trying to reduce it in the Sony Service Menu.

And finally, we have to remember that we are blowing up a Standard Def picture to an HD screen, which is always bound to have some issue somewhere. SD doesn't really belong on an HDTV, in my opinion. But DVD's can can be nice and I understand wanting to make them look their best. What kind of connection are you using for DVD?

-Christopher Johnson

Well we might be discussing two different artifacts here: inputs/cables and RGB convergence errors.

1) inputs/cables: when I first hooked up my Standard Def DVD player I used an S-video cable. It looked pretty good, but I noticed the very shadow lines you mention. I then tried Component cables and inputs and the problem almost completely disappeared.

2) RGB Convergence errors, where the red, blue, and green guns aren't shooting completely straight, and you can see a red, blue or green "halo" around white text or lines. I find that every CRT has this to some degree and I look forward to trying to reduce it in the Sony Service Menu.

And finally, we have to remember that we are blowing up a Standard Def picture to an HD screen, which is always bound to have some issue somewhere. SD doesn't really belong on an HDTV, in my opinion. But DVD's can can be nice and I understand wanting to make them look their best. What kind of connection are you using for DVD?

-Christopher Johnson

I just checked for this ghosting / shadow effect on my new DVD player (Panasonic S97 via HDMI @ 1080i) using a SpongeBob dvd as a test and I dont see any ghosting on images (yay!) , This symptom is most noticeable on SD cable stations so you're probably right ,Even then its really not bad I've just always been overly picky about picture quality / artifacts etc :cool:

The convergence on my set was suprisingly good out of the box, the only area that really needed adjustment was the lower left corner but I was able to correct most of it with service menu adjustments.

Mr.Williamtassone,

i have read your knowlageable info on the importance of proper protection of this crt while alowing enough power on start up. Based on your advise (and my own limited reserch) I have pluged the XBR directly into the wall socket bypassing my
http://www.monstercable.com/power/productPagePower.asp?pin=1901&LastPage=Home%20Theater%20Power

Would this http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=LE1200 unit suffice? Or does the spec that reads "let thru voltage rating <450" mean that it will limit the startup voltage to the TV to a lower voltage than is nessacary for proper start-up/de-gaussing?

Thank you again for sharing you expertise!

I called. They are coming out Monday. I hope they believe me! :)

fred

Fredd, I would call Sony service and explain the problems you are having. If it appears to be outside the "acceptable" range, they should send a tech. Just remember, "acceptable" geometry is not perfect.

I called. They are coming out Monday. I hope they believe me! :)

fred

Make them believe you. ;) Don't take no for an answer. Don't let them leave that house until things are 100 percent to your satisfaction.

Archon

Don't get me wrong- surge arrestors have their place but based on my 3 year experience with them

1. They are a complete waste of time for a direct lightning strike

2. They don't protect against power sags (brown outs)- only a UPS can do that

3. In neighborhoods with a good power supply remember (as Dakota has pointed out on agoraquest) the power utility plant has circuit breakers "in-situ'- these are also located periodically along the power grid.

4. Some preclude the massive in-rush current required to correctly power up the degaussing coil of CRT's- hence this can lead to colour purity problems. I emphasize the word "can"

5. I truly believe in the power of the subconscoius mind- if I tell you that my $1500 line conditioner will improve sonic fidelity and yield a sharper picture you will hear and see these changes. Over-riding the placebo effect is hard.

6. APC is a tried and trustest brand- used by a large proportion of people in the IT industry- If the monster power bar that you currently have is serving you well, and you are not getting color impurities from poor degaussing, perhaps you could continue using it. Its not that I object to Monster Pty Ltd because their stuff doesn't work, its just that its horrifically overpriced.

That APC device you have highlighted rings a bell- I remember seeing it 2 years ago and couldn't work out then how it offered brown out protection if there was no internal battery. If your neighbourhood has a good power supply then all u need is the surge arrester , not a UPS

Whether or not a particular brand surge arrester/ UPS box is impeding the in-rush current or not I cannot scientifically say. If i try a brand and I keep getting green corners I ditch it. If the degaussing is fine so be it.

As to whether a UPS box/ Surge suppressor that impedes an in-rush current could cause premature failure of a thermisistor is beyond my limited electrical knowledge. Remember for CRT direct views Sony does not condone them. I use one though, as I'd rather a blown surge arrester than having a SOny tech fix my TV.

Now about that $2000 Hammer of Thor power cord...:D

Will

Well, they took the TV...hope the fix it LOL
fred


Make them believe you. ;) Don't take no for an answer. Don't let them leave that house until things are 100 percent to your satisfaction.

Sent back the 34xbr960N to ABT three weeks ago. The 34xbr960N i got was a used one . They said they dont sell used item online but the TV has 4 missing screws, dents on the base and scratches on both sides and the packaging was not right. After so many phone calls to ABT they will just send the 4 missing screws. I will never deal with them again. ABT blew my chance on having a brand new xbr960N. Now my sony SU34xbr3 stand is still waiting for a xbr960 or maybe the xbr970 and I am still waiting for the refund...

Sent back the 34xbr960N to ABT three weeks ago. The 34xbr960N i got was a used one . They said they dont sell used item online but the TV has 4 missing screws, dents on the base and scratches on both sides and the packaging was not right. After so many phone calls to ABT they will just send the 4 missing screws. I will never deal with them again. ABT blew my chance on having a brand new xbr960N. Now my sony SU34xbr3 stand is still waiting for a xbr960 or maybe the xbr970 and I am still waiting for the refund...

Sorry to hear about this.

You should write about your experience with ABT on http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1845.html

Sent back the 34xbr960N to ABT three weeks ago. The 34xbr960N i got was a used one . They said they dont sell used item online but the TV has 4 missing screws, dents on the base and scratches on both sides and the packaging was not right. After so many phone calls to ABT they will just send the 4 missing screws. I will never deal with them again. ABT blew my chance on having a brand new xbr960N. Now my sony SU34xbr3 stand is still waiting for a xbr960 or maybe the xbr970 and I am still waiting for the refund...

I, too, am sorry to hear about your experience. I am a satisfied ABT customer, and have been for 27 years. While I preferred them before they got so big and so hi-pressured, they are an outstanding retailer and have bent over backwards to help when I had occasion to call them. Perhaps it helps that I live only a few miles from their facility.

That said, I will admit that I had to go to the service manager in order to get them to authorize a service call when I had some convergence issues on my then-new XBR-960. But he did authorize the service call, and the technician adjusted the set to my satisfaction, so I'm a happy camper.

So, it just doesn't sound right that they treated you like this. Are you sure you have contacted the right person? I know they wouldn't want an unhappy customer experience.

Just my thoughts.

Mark

Interesting I notice the exact same thing on my 2 month old XBR960N , anyone else notice this as well? It's not a huge deal but I would be interested to know if its common, I even see this ghosting on the memory stick screen and user menu so its not related to the video source or inputs.
I see this too. It has happened on every single TV I've ever had.

I have a question concerning DVD playback on the 960. I have a Phillips DVP642 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000204SWE/103-0753466-8323058?v=glance&n=172282), which I mainly got for its ability to play all sorts of media files. It doesn't upconvert, but it does have progressive scan, which I've had turned on. However, I've read that I would get a better picture quality with the 960 by turning progressive scan off and using DRC on the 960. Should I do this? If so, what DRC palette should I use? I don't notice any difference at all when I switch between the various palettes while watching normal TV, so I have no clue what they do.

Thanks!

I wonder how much i could sell a 45 day old 960 for?

Sent back the 34xbr960N to ABT three weeks ago. The 34xbr960N i got was a used one . They said they dont sell used item online but the TV has 4 missing screws, dents on the base and scratches on both sides and the packaging was not right. After so many phone calls to ABT they will just send the 4 missing screws. I will never deal with them again. ABT blew my chance on having a brand new xbr960N. Now my sony SU34xbr3 stand is still waiting for a xbr960 or maybe the xbr970 and I am still waiting for the refund...

Yeah, I had a similar fun buying experience with ABT. I ordered the 2nd to last XBR960N (see earlier in this thread) for 1400. The salesman agreed they would hold onto it for several weeks while my stand was on order (http://bdiusa.com/avfurniture/axis_8024.shtml Cognac) in return for charging my credit card right away.

To my horror they delivered an XBR970 which I noticed several minutes after the delivery guys left. Customer Service tried to convince me it was an 'upgrade'. Imagine substituting an MSRP 1199 set for an MSRP 1899 set and not saying anything about it. I told them to call me back asap to schedule a return pickup. After waiting 6 hours I called and made an appointment for them to return the next Tuesday. The truck people finally called back after 7 hours after I had left the house. On Tuesday they said they had no record of the appointment. They finally came on Friday, late, but did issue a full refund. I never even turned the thing on.

Choices (about 10 days ago) were a new in box XBR960N for 1700, Sony Outlet refurbished (1 year/90 days warranty) for 1300, Best Buy / Tweeter floor models for 1500 - 1529, and a Fry's return/open box for 1049.

The Fry's looked immaculate, stated it was fine or restored to full factory condition, and came with manufacturer's warranty (2 years) and so I went with it. I'm happy with it so far (4 days).

Net savings was $322 countered by the extra half day of vacation I had to take off work.

I have a question concerning DVD playback on the 960. I have a Phillips DVP642 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000204SWE/103-0753466-8323058?v=glance&n=172282), which I mainly got for its ability to play all sorts of media files. It doesn't upconvert, but it does have progressive scan, which I've had turned on. However, I've read that I would get a better picture quality with the 960 by turning progressive scan off and using DRC on the 960. Should I do this? If so, what DRC palette should I use? I don't notice any difference at all when I switch between the various palettes while watching normal TV, so I have no clue what they do.

Thanks!
Rule of thimb is go with what looks best. Don't worry about what others report, stick with what you like. Try out both approaches and see what looks best. The question of "which is best" usually refers to which gives the best picture quality.

Most mid-level to high end players have a better internal video processor than the one in the tv, and many users will elect to send 480p to the tv. Lower end players may or may not have better processors.

DRC - For film based DVDs (most movies) the best DRC setting is CineMotion.

Rule of thimb is go with what looks best. Don't worry about what others report, stick with what you like. Try out both approaches and see what looks best. The question of "which is best" usually refers to which gives the best picture quality.

Most mid-level to high end players have a better internal video processor than the one in the tv, and many users will elect to send 480p to the tv. Lower end players may or may not have better processors.

DRC - For film based DVDs (most movies) the best DRC setting is CineMotion.


Good advice, I agree.

In my experience, going from standard composite video to component video made by far the biggest improvement. Component cables keep the colors "pure," because the video is never encoded to standard NTSC and transferred over a single wire.

I also have a DVD player with HDMI output. That gives another "step" improvement, but it's only slightly better.

Mark

Well....I just got my Tv fixed yesterday....Sort of...

Heres my original post

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Had my unit plugged in and working for exactly 90 days. Go figure....

When I leave the TV unplugged for a time and then plug it back in, here is what happens:

Plug TV in...

Hear unit "Click".... Light starts flashing....At 6 flashes, unit "Clicks" again.....Flashing Continues until 8....

At this time, the unit clicks again, the standby light recycles and then starts a blink rate of 7 then a pause, 7 and then a pause, etc..etc...

I've already called Sony, which referred me to the only authorized repair place in my area, which goes straight to voicemail and hasn't called me back.

Any suggestions?

What does this "Blink Code" of 7 mean?
Would be nice If I could tell the repair guy what was wrong so he could order/bring the right parts!

How long must I wait for the authorized repair place calls me back?

What other options do I have if any?

I purchased the TV from B&H Photo, which is a Sony Authorized seller for this unit. So my warranty is good.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyways,
Lous TV in Tallahassee (GREAT GUY) came out yesterday and replaced the entire bottom "Power/High voltage" board and all of the high voltage wires that come out of the board.

He then turned the tv on and used a screwdriver to adjust two screws (I assume Potentiometers) on the high voltage "transformer" to adjust my "focus" and called it a day.

TV worked great while watching tv for about 30 minutes, DVD for 30 minutes, XBox 360 for 45 minutes. I then turned it off and cooked dinner.

After that, I powered the TV back up and proceeded to watch CSI in HD. A commercial came on and BAM...The TV powered off and flashed the standby light 7 times.

I freaked, then pressed the power button and the tv came back on.

It did this about 15 times last night on various channels, inputs.

The only common denominator is it seems to only power off on high brightness/contrast sources. Such as commercials with bright white backgrounds, Cartoons, etc.

I have one of the preset modes set to a REALLY dark picture that I like to set it on while we sleep because my wife MUST have the tv on. It never powered down in this mode.

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?

When Lou comes back out to fix it, should he use a calibration screen/source/equipment to adjust the "focus" and what ever else he did with the adjustment screws? Or does "eyeballing" it suffice?

Also the tv has some terrible geometry/size/overscan issues (always had it.) Should Lou be required by Sony to correct this?
Some examples are:
-Cut off Logos on the right side of the screen.
-Slightly cut off menu screens on the left side.
-Not true straight lines when the tv picture is "pillar boxed"
-Bottom letter box MUCH larger black area than the top letter box black area.

I've also noticed (especially on white/light screens) The picture tube has "dotted lines" like this --------------------------------------
That run horizontally from one side to another in two places, perfectly splitting the screen into thirds. You can only see this up close, but it still worries me.

It looks kinda like this like this on the TV:
(Without the "stray" vertical lines that the website keeps trying to insert into my drawing.)
___________________
| |
| |
|---------------------------- |
| |
| |
|-----------------------------|
| |
|__________________|

I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but can you guys see if you can explain some of this to me and tell me what I should have Lou do.

Thank You,
Michael Hicks.

Short answer -

Your TV should not shut down like that. Call them back out.

The lines are typical of every trinitron tube in America. You will even find them on the Sony Trinitron Computer Monitors (or if you have a Trinitron Tube in a Computer Monitor from Dell or Gateway).

The overscan can be adjusted.

In rare cases, the lines can be straightened out in the setup menu which your repair person should be able to do.

In most cases, you will need the Sony Magnet Field Repair kit and a really good repair guy. The Sony kit is better than the magnets they slap on out West and gives one much more control in adjusting the lines.

In the most extreme cases, nothing can straighten the lines. I have had 2 of these tubes in this condition.

This is why I recommend against buying this set mailorder or from someone that does not have their own repair center.

All you can do is continue to insist that they fix it to your satisfaction.

Also of course document all your calls and repair visits, and if it gets to the point of 3 or more tries then you can begin pushing Sony to replace your set.

This sounds for all the world like a failing power supply. Did that get replaced with the board that got replaced? Sometimes, when a new power supply is installed it can cause older, stressed components to fail. Sometimes it's necessary to replace the entire power subassembly all at the same time if there is such a thing.

Those horizontal lines are normal - no sweat.

Most of the anomalies you mention are fixable in the SM.

I would recommend that you keep this repair effort constrained to the power-off failure. If you get too diverse with your complaints the essential repair may get lost in the shuffle and the red tape. You can fix the other issues with help here.

Also of course document all your calls and repair visits, and if it gets to the point of 3 or more tries then you can begin pushing Sony to replace your set.

With what??

Thanks for the responses.

Lou called and said that Sony has a new service bulletin for the tv shuting down like that.
He said he ordered a couple of small parts and will call me to setup a service call when they come in.

Can you post which parts they replace to fix the TV shutting off. I went through something similar although mine did the 4 blink error code. It went off a couple times a few weeks ago. After that one evening it has been fine ever since. Makes me believe I may have had a low voltage condition from the Power Co. If it happens again I will measure the voltage coming out of the outlet.

The main power board that controls most of the voltage regulation is the DZ board. This is what they replaced the first time and it seemed to solve the problem. It was shutting off every 30 minutes before this board was replaced!

Hi everyone, I have an XBR960 that has had numerous problems (all of which have been posted in this thread) and I had a some questions about Sony's warranty. My television is under full warranty (still has over a year left) and Sony has tried to do the following:

1) Sent the TV to a local repair place to have the CRT replaced
- Disaster, the picture is pretty much worse than before.

2) Sent a refurb replacement
- Even worse; the refurb was visibly used and the picture was bad.

3) Are now sending out another refurb replacement
- We'll see

From what I've read in the thread there are others that have had to jump through the same hoops... could you please help answer these questions:

How many times did they replace the TV before they actually sent you something different?

What TV did they send as a replacement? Is it a Bravia or some other TV or what?

I'm afraid that since this TV isn't being made anymore they will try to give me an inferior TV or they will try to keep sending refurbs till I tap out in submission.

Thanks,

Nishant

I had a service tech work on the TV when mine failed to turn on. Picture was the same, but the repair man did a poor job.

I would try to contact Sony for a new replacement.

Well....I just got my Tv fixed yesterday....Sort of...

Heres my original post

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Had my unit plugged in and working for exactly 90 days. Go figure....

When I leave the TV unplugged for a time and then plug it back in, here is what happens:

Plug TV in...

Hear unit "Click".... Light starts flashing....At 6 flashes, unit "Clicks" again.....Flashing Continues until 8....

At this time, the unit clicks again, the standby light recycles and then starts a blink rate of 7 then a pause, 7 and then a pause, etc..etc...

I've already called Sony, which referred me to the only authorized repair place in my area, which goes straight to voicemail and hasn't called me back.

Any suggestions?

What does this "Blink Code" of 7 mean?
Would be nice If I could tell the repair guy what was wrong so he could order/bring the right parts!

How long must I wait for the authorized repair place calls me back?

What other options do I have if any?

I purchased the TV from B&H Photo, which is a Sony Authorized seller for this unit. So my warranty is good.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyways,
Lous TV in Tallahassee (GREAT GUY) came out yesterday and replaced the entire bottom "Power/High voltage" board and all of the high voltage wires that come out of the board.

He then turned the tv on and used a screwdriver to adjust two screws (I assume Potentiometers) on the high voltage "transformer" to adjust my "focus" and called it a day.

TV worked great while watching tv for about 30 minutes, DVD for 30 minutes, XBox 360 for 45 minutes. I then turned it off and cooked dinner.

After that, I powered the TV back up and proceeded to watch CSI in HD. A commercial came on and BAM...The TV powered off and flashed the standby light 7 times.

I freaked, then pressed the power button and the tv came back on.

It did this about 15 times last night on various channels, inputs.

The only common denominator is it seems to only power off on high brightness/contrast sources. Such as commercials with bright white backgrounds, Cartoons, etc.

I have one of the preset modes set to a REALLY dark picture that I like to set it on while we sleep because my wife MUST have the tv on. It never powered down in this mode.

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?

When Lou comes back out to fix it, should he use a calibration screen/source/equipment to adjust the "focus" and what ever else he did with the adjustment screws? Or does "eyeballing" it suffice?

Also the tv has some terrible geometry/size/overscan issues (always had it.) Should Lou be required by Sony to correct this?
Some examples are:
-Cut off Logos on the right side of the screen.
-Slightly cut off menu screens on the left side.
-Not true straight lines when the tv picture is "pillar boxed"
-Bottom letter box MUCH larger black area than the top letter box black area.

I've also noticed (especially on white/light screens) The picture tube has "dotted lines" like this --------------------------------------
That run horizontally from one side to another in two places, perfectly splitting the screen into thirds. You can only see this up close, but it still worries me.

It looks kinda like this like this on the TV:
(Without the "stray" vertical lines that the website keeps trying to insert into my drawing.)
___________________
| |
| |
|---------------------------- |
| |
| |
|-----------------------------|
| |
|__________________|

I'm sorry to ask so many questions, but can you guys see if you can explain some of this to me and tell me what I should have Lou do.

Thank You,
Michael Hicks.

Every Trinitron tube has those horizontal lines, those hold the tube together.

At first when reading this thread I was worried about the reliabitlity of the set, then I realized you guys are overtly anal about things. This thread is becoming pretty sad in that regard. It is almost as if half the things you guys complain about are imagined in your minds.

As this is a public message board, many complaints have been made about the set. Most of us are very sensitive to any imperfections in our TV sets.

Overall, the XBR960 is a very good TV.

Every Trinitron tube has those horizontal lines, those hold the tube together.

At first when reading this thread I was worried about the reliabitlity of the set, then I realized you guys are overtly anal about things. This thread is becoming pretty sad in that regard. It is almost as if half the things you guys complain about are imagined in your minds.
This is a forum for direct view enthusiasts. What do you expect? "Everything's fine - great set - no need to talk about it?"

No. The folks here are into the why's and how's of their sets. When you start learning these this then you begin noticing what's not working just as you expected. It's cool when you can solve problems on your own. This is the place to learn how to do that.

"Imagined in your minds?" These sets have enough problems - no one needs to go imagining anything.

If this is sad to you then move on, or start a thread of your own that interests you.

Has anyone here been to the CRT Projectors forum? They really know about the works of their sets and solve similar problems or correct minor defects.

Again, this is a Direct View Forum, filled with enthusiasts who want to learn about their sets and get the best picture. I am not surprised that most of us find some imperfection with our sets.

Again, this is a Direct View Forum, filled with enthusiasts who want to learn about their sets and get the best picture. I am not surprised that most of us find some imperfection with our sets.

Your point is well taken, however, I'm not complaining about the set. I LOVE my XBR960... when it's working properly. Again, my reason for posting has to do with Sony support.

could you please help answer these questions:

How many times did they replace the TV before they actually sent you something different?

What TV did they send as a replacement? Is it a Bravia or some other TV or what?

I'm afraid that since this TV isn't being made anymore they will try to give me an inferior TV or they will try to keep sending refurbs till I tap out in submission.

Thanks,

Nishant

As this is a public message board, many complaints have been made about the set. Most of us are very sensitive to any imperfections in our TV sets.

Overall, the XBR960 is a very good TV.

When it works it is a GREAT TV! If and when you have a problem with it, that's when the fun begins. This is a very complicated TV to repair unlike a typical CRT. Reading various review sites there seems to be a higher failure rate atributed to this model.

I have owned 4 Sony TVs for the last twenty five years. This is the only TV that has ever needed to be repaired. I have had a problem with it since I bought it the first of March and am still waiting to get it "sucessfully" repaired. :confused:

When it works it is a GREAT TV! If and when you have a problem with it, that's when the fun begins. This is a very complicated TV to repair unlike a typical CRT. Reading various review sites there seems to be a higher failure rate atributed to this model.

I have owned 4 Sony TVs for the last twenty five years. This is the only TV that has ever needed to be repaired. I have had a problem with it since I bought it the first of March and am still waiting to get it "sucessfully" repaired. :confused:
I have to believe that it's inherently more difficult to design and manufacture hd sets than it was with standard tv sets. HD sets are certianly more complex than standard tvs, especially for users. And I bet the manufacturers and the repair shops were not prepared for the level of service calls being made.

The most serious problem facing manufacturers and end-users is how (larger) hd sets expose the weaknesses of analog signals when it comes to picture quality. Even the most minor flaw in an SD image gets blown-up on an HD set for all to see. People get these sets home and just expect to see HD shows. Even if they realize they need to be able to acquire hd signals, they are unprepared for the degraded PQ of SD material, out of the box. Very few are ever told that if they want decent PQ they're going to have to spring for a calibration disc and spend time making the picture right.

Most end-users are also totally unaware that their new tvs are set-up to look ok in showrooms but possibly awful in a home environment.

IMO, it's these things that are probably causing the phones in dealers and repair shops to be ringing off the hook with complaints and calls for service from new HDTV customers. I bet there's all kinds of folks frustrated as they wait in the repair shop queue. IMHO, I think all new HD sets should be shipped and installed in user's homes by professional installers, like the days of old (late 50's early 60's). It wouldn't have to take too long and the value added would be tremendous. the new sets could be adjusted within probably minutes and any problem sets would be immediately identified and a repair/replacement ticket could be initiated on the spot - making customers feel like they're in good hands. I bet the complaints and repair calls would go way down.

I have to believe that it's inherently more difficult to design and manufacture hd sets than it was with standard tv sets. HD sets are certianly more complex than standard tvs, especially for users. And I bet the manufacturers and the repair shops were not prepared for the level of service calls being made.

It's also inherently more difficult to get a round tube to display an image on a more and more rectangular screen. PQ on a 4:3 screen is much easier to maintain and control than PQ when you start to stretch that to 16:9.

The Information Age is a double-edged sword in this case. On the one hand, manufacturers can take many proactive steps to get information to their customers about potential issues and features of their TVs, but on the other, it's given everyone a voice to bitch about the manufacturers and find more people with the same problems.

Eventually, the technology will mature, but it will take a while before the general public is able to comprehend the capabilities and limitations. I don't expect that to happen for many years after Digital TV replaces Analog.

I noticed that this issue was raised a few pages back in this thread, but it doesn't seem to have been answered (unless I missed it). Does anyone who has the XBR960 use it with the new Toshiba HD-DVD player? How does it look? What resolution/settings?

I'm considering getting a floor model/demo for a decent price as a stop-gap until a 40" or so 1080p set becomes affordable, and I really like what I've seen in the XBR960.

So, any HD-DVD experience with the 960?

Thanks,

Larry

I noticed that this issue was raised a few pages back in this thread, but it doesn't seem to have been answered (unless I missed it). Does anyone who has the XBR960 use it with the new Toshiba HD-DVD player? How does it look? What resolution/settings?

I'm considering getting a floor model/demo for a decent price as a stop-gap until a 40" or so 1080p set becomes affordable, and I really like what I've seen in the XBR960.

So, any HD-DVD experience with the 960?

Thanks,

Larry

I tried the New HD Toshiba on my 960 via HDMI set at 1080i and the picture was very very good on both HD movies and very good onSD DVD's.

But it was already very good with the Pioneer DVD player I already have and in the end the picture quality difference was just not enough to justify keeping the Toshiba HD DVD and I returned it. I have found no matter what I input into the 960 if the source is decent at all the picture is usually outstanding.

Thanks, RJRSW, for the input. Which Pioneer DVD player do you use, and do you have it upsampling?
I'll be picking up a Pioneer Elite 79avi on Saturday -- got a deal on it because it has a silver faceplate... Oh, well, nothing matches anyway...

Anyway, I know the 79avi upscales, but I've never even been able to use component inputs on my setup (an old 32" Sony XBR), so upscaling, using component and/or HDMI is pretty exciting... can't wait!

Thanks,

Larry

I have owned 4 Sony TVs for the last twenty five years. This is the only TV that has ever needed to be repaired. I have had a problem with it since I bought it the first of March and am still waiting to get it "sucessfully" repaired. :confused:


I have to believe that it's inherently more difficult to design and manufacture hd sets than it was with standard tv sets. HD sets are certianly more complex than standard tvs, especially for users. And I bet the manufacturers and the repair shops were not prepared for the level of service calls being made.



Another reason why Sony dumped the line. It was costing them too much in after sale repairs and replacements. If they could have sold it and not have had the issues with proper alignment of the crt, we probably would have seen the line continue.

I'll be picking up a Pioneer Elite 79avi on Saturday -- got a deal on it because it has a silver faceplate... Oh, well, nothing matches anyway...



Define "deal" please, especially when talking about the HD-DVD drives in the same breath :)


(Within reason, given board rules...)

I have to believe that it's inherently more difficult to design and manufacture hd sets than it was with standard tv sets. HD sets are certianly more complex than standard tvs, especially for users. And I bet the manufacturers and the repair shops were not prepared for the level of service calls being made.

The most serious problem facing manufacturers and end-users is how (larger) hd sets expose the weaknesses of analog signals when it comes to picture quality. Even the most minor flaw in an SD image gets blown-up on an HD set for all to see. People get these sets home and just expect to see HD shows. Even if they realize they need to be able to acquire hd signals, they are unprepared for the degraded PQ of SD material, out of the box. Very few are ever told that if they want decent PQ they're going to have to spring for a calibration disc and spend time making the picture right.

Most end-users are also totally unaware that their new tvs are set-up to look ok in showrooms but possibly awful in a home environment.



You are correct. When I first got my new XBR960 the picture was not sharp and D** in SD was terrible. A calibration disk got the picture better. But what made the biggest difference was to turn the sharpness setting all the way down. Let the TV upconvert the signal, set DRC to CINEMA. Set the set to NEUTRAL, MONITOR, and turn CLEAR EDGE OFF. My Picture level is a few clicks below the default level in PRO and the brightness a few click above default. Picture mode I use is Wide Zoom.

The picture I get with SD D** is now pretty amazing. Not as good as HDTV, but nothing to complain about. Signal is being fed by a DVR39 with a high quality S-Video cable.

My issues had nothing to do with PQ, as it is absolutely stunning in this regard. The issue I keep having is the TV will turn off by itself after getting warm and put up the 4 Blink Error Code. Sony Authorized Service came out and replaced the DZ board for the 2nd time last evening. I hope this time the 960 will work for a long time without further aggravation. "FINGERS CROSSED"

Another reason why Sony dumped the line. It was costing them too much in after sale repairs and replacements. If they could have sold it and not have had the issues with proper alignment of the crt, we probably would have seen the line continue.

Sony is still selling the 955. I was under the impression that it is pretty much the same as the 960 minus the firewire and two year warranty.

Sony is still selling the 955. I was under the impression that it is pretty much the same as the 960 minus the firewire and two year warranty.

Correct.

Define "deal" please, especially when talking about the HD-DVD drives in the same breath :)


(Within reason, given board rules...)

Within board rules... hmmm... I got the silver Pioneer Elite 79avi for 60% of list price at Magnolia -- I could only get 10% off the black faceplate model.

The 79avi isn't an HD unit, it's an upconverting one. There are lots of those out, but my interest in this one comes because I also have the Pioneer Elite 59txi receiver that uses an i-link connection for SACD and DVD-Audio, both of which I enjoy and NEITHER of which will be supported any time soon by either of the new HD DVD/BLu-ray formats. Grrrrr...

I'm surprised, nay, shocked that there are apparently not many using the new Toshiba HD-DVD player with the 960's. Seems like a good match to me...

I'm waiting to jump on the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray bandwagon for a little while until things shake out -- my first CD player was not a good experience for price or reliability, and I see this as that kind of quantum leap in technology having some similar issues.

Assuming I'll be able to find a good open box/display unit for a good price ($1k or so), I'll need to upgrade my Dish to HD. Way cool...

Larry

You are correct. When I first got my new XBR960 the picture was not sharp and D** in SD was terrible. A calibration disk got the picture better. But what made the biggest difference was to turn the sharpness setting all the way down. Let the TV upconvert the signal, set DRC to CINEMA. Set the set to NEUTRAL, MONITOR, and turn CLEAR EDGE OFF. My Picture level is a few clicks below the default level in PRO and the brightness a few click above default. Picture mode I use is Wide Zoom.

The picture I get with SD D** is now pretty amazing. Not as good as HDTV, but nothing to complain about. Signal is being fed by a DVR39 with a high quality S-Video cable.

My issues had nothing to do with PQ, as it is absolutely stunning in this regard. The issue I keep having is the TV will turn off by itself after getting warm and put up the 4 Blink Error Code. Sony Authorized Service came out and replaced the DZ board for the 2nd time last evening. I hope this time the 960 will work for a long time without further aggravation. "FINGERS CROSSED"

This is a really helpful post as far as settings and experience with the unit. Letting the 960 upconvert the SD satellite signal sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

Larry

Thanks, RJRSW, for the input. Which Pioneer DVD player do you use, and do you have it upsampling?

I have the Pioneer DV-656A DVD/DVD-audio player and I have found it works best when I let the TV handle the progressive scan, so I feed it 480i signal instead of 480p done by the player.

I have the Pioneer DV-656A DVD/DVD-audio player and I have found it works best when I let the TV handle the progressive scan, so I feed it 480i signal instead of 480p done by the player.

I'm anxious to see what the XBR960 will do with the Pioneer Elite 79AVI's 1080i output. I bought the 960 today and am having it delivered Tuesday. It's a Feb. 2005 build, and it came with the matching stand for "free." I got the 4 yr extended in home warranty so I should be ok for a while on this set even though it's a floor model. No remote, but they're getting one for me for "free" also.

I was amazed at the quality of just 480p dvd's on this tv -- it's going to be fun experimenting with it. Anyone else send 1080i signals to the 960?

I plan to use the HDMI output from the 79avi dvd player, but I'll also try component -- it would be a LOT more convenient using my Pioneer Elite 59txi receiver to do all the switching. I have to admit I don't understand HDMI and how the audio would work if one used HDMI for the picture and i-link or toslink for sound. Any clarity offered here?

Larry

My issues had nothing to do with PQ, as it is absolutely stunning in this regard. The issue I keep having is the TV will turn off by itself after getting warm and put up the 4 Blink Error Code. Sony Authorized Service came out and replaced the DZ board for the 2nd time last evening. I hope this time the 960 will work for a long time without further aggravation. "FINGERS CROSSED"

Well, this did not work. Three days later, fade to horizontal white line and the set turns off and the diagnostic LED starts up with the 4 blink code again. It only happens when it is 78- 80 degrees or so in the room, can this set not take the heat? Could someone help me out, and place a thermometer on their set and report the temp after it has been on for a few hours at the hotest part of the day. It seems like it does build up a fair amount of heat coming from the top of the set when the room temp is warm. Or, could the heat be coming from a bad connection or failing component on a circuit board?

Another call to Sony Support and this time they will escalate it to a Tech review level. I will give them one last chance, (This will be the 4th time) that Sony Service comes out to work on my set. It has not been working since the day after we bought it, in the beginning of March. If it happens again after that, it's time for Sony to either find me another 960, or at this point, I would even settle for "WORKING" 955.

This episode has been an excercise in frustration! :(

It only happens when it is 78- 80 degrees or so in the room, can this set not take the heat?

Is your set in a cabinet, or in open air?

It got warm up here in Iowa a few weeks ago (up to 92), and my house was up in the lower 80's, but I didn't have any problems with my 960 shutting off. I was on bed-rest, though, so I didn't check any temps on the set or anything.

Mine's in a cabinet and I'm in TX, (read:hot). No problems. It sticks out the back of the cabinet about 3-4" so it gets ventilated. Mine was build date June 05, got it July 05.

For the guy mentioning the Sony Outlet, I thought the Outlet told me all TVs come with same as new warranties. I saw both the 960 and 955 for cheap, cheap, (less than the model #'s!) there a few months ago, but this week the 960 I saw was up $400! still a very good buy IMO.

I've seen 2 960s at Best Buy for the same low price recently. I think there are lots of the 960s available if someone is looking for one.

Mine's in a cabinet and I'm in TX, (read:hot). No problems. It sticks out the back of the cabinet about 3-4" so it gets ventilated. Mine was build date June 05, got it July 05.

How much room is around the front bezel and the sides?

3-4 inches out the back, where there isn't very much heat, won't do much to ventilate the TV. You need space around the bezel to let heat out the front, which is where it will naturally go.

That said, it might not be heat causing the issue, only exacerbating a different issue. But a tight cabinet is definitely a less-than-ideal setup for a TV, especially in a climate that stays hot year-round.

So, in preparation for the delivery of the XBR960 about noon today, I was trying to program a new Harmony/Logitech 880 (I have the 676 and will use it in another room with the old tv). The software setup asks A LOT of questions about which inputs to use for which devices (DVD player, vcr, sat receiver, coffee maker, and so on).

I had assumed I would route it all through the receiver (Pioneer Elite 59txi --it CERTAINLY has enough inputs for heaven's sake!), but the process got me thinking that I should maybe just hook all VIDEO directly into descrete inputs on the 960 itself and let the 960 handle upconversion to the appropriate resoltion for the screen.

The Pioneer receiver upconverts inputs -- i.e., it wil upconvert a composite or s-video input and route it through component cables to the 960, but the receiver does nothing with resolution at all . The receiver has no HDMI inputs/outputs, so I plan to route the audio of my Pioneer Elite 79avi dvd player through the i-link connection on the receiver and the video through an HDMI cable directly to the 960.

The 721 Dish satellite receiver that I have and will use with the 960 until the HD 622 receiver comes in 30 days or so, has only a s-video output, so I was thinking I would run s-video into the receiver and component from the receiver to the 960, but the only reason I can think of to do that is to minimize cables (a worthy goal). However, this adds another conversion into the mix.

Should I just run the Dish receiver's s-video directly to the 960 and let the tv do the upresing and not worry about the conversion? I guess the same question applies with the vcr... let the tv handle any upresing from it as well?

So, is the 960 up to the task? It seems that since each input is directly addressable, I could do it that way as well as through the receiver, but why add the extra conversion step? Make sense? What do some of you do for this?

Thanks,

Larry

Larry, I'm one of these "less is more" guys. Keep the signals as straight and as clean and requiring as few steps as possible. You're exactly right: Why add the extra conversion? You don't need it.


OT: I'm considering that 880 Harmony myself. I notice there's an 890 but I'm not sure about that thing...

It's an open cabinet, tv has plenty of space to vent. I've had 3 different Sony TVs in it. a 27", 32" and 34". The vents are not on or near the front bezel.

92 is not that hot, electronics run much hotter. My Sony HDTV recorders have temperature gauges, they will shut down at 133, I gets reads from 98 to 123. It's normal operating temps, No problems.

I don't think heat is your issue. sorry you are having set problems.

Sorry 'bout that, gigaguy, I wasn't paying attention to who was responding to whom. Sounds like your setup isn't causing any heat problems for you, so I have a feeling that seti1 has issues other than heat, like you mentioned.

I guess in a cabinet is not the ideal but it sure looks better to me.

Sorry your tv is acting up, drag to be having issues with such a heavy TV to move. Would be especially bad for me cause I live down a hill from the street level, so just to get to my front door is a set of stairs, more stairs inside too.
(but the view is worth it).

love my 960 but I'm eyeing the Sony flat panels, but my pocket book says, not yet.

Larry, I'm one of these "less is more" guys. Keep the signals as straight and as clean and requiring as few steps as possible. You're exactly right: Why add the extra conversion? You don't need it.


OT: I'm considering that 880 Harmony myself. I notice there's an 890 but I'm not sure about that thing...

Q... can I call you Q? (just kidding). I looked at the 890 my self but it was quite a bit more $$ and added only rf capability. My stuff (currently) isn't behind cabinet doors or out of line-of-sight, so I didn't think I would need rf capability.

I may regret that because both my tv's are Sony and will respond to the same commands (the older one will be in an adjoining room separated by a wall with glass). The two dish receivers (a 721 and upcoming 622 ARE rf both and ir capable, but can be set to use different "languages" to communicate so there won't be a conflict.

As far as straight signal paths, that of course has to be better UNLESS the conversion brings something that you want. The receiver's conversion to component doesn't do much for me and I think I can do with out it, but the XBR960's upresing of the signal is something I really want.

The idea behind using the receiver to do the conversion would make sense if I didn't have enough component inputs on the 960 (I think I do) OR if the receiver offered trouble-free HDMI switching (HAH!) and you then could have one cable from each device to the receiver and one HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv.

Someone saw a prototype of my receiver (Pioneer Elite 59txi) at a show recently with an HDMI upgrade. I had hope for a while that it was going to happen, but I really doubt that Pioneer will do that, or if they do, it will be so expensive that I might as well just upgrade to the next flagship.

This is giving me a headache!

Does this make sense?

Larry

Q... can I call you Q? (just kidding).

:)

I looked at the 890 my self but it was quite a bit more $$ and added only rf capability. My stuff (currently) isn't behind cabinet doors or out of line-of-sight, so I didn't think I would need rf capability.

I may regret that because both my tv's are Sony and will respond to the same commands (the older one will be in an adjoining room separated by a wall with glass). The two dish receivers (a 721 and upcoming 622 ARE rf both and ir capable, but can be set to use different "languages" to communicate so there won't be a conflict.

Good points. I'll have to research a bit further. The 880 seems to be a "sure bet" if nothing else.



As far as straight signal paths, that of course has to be better UNLESS the conversion brings something that you want. The receiver's conversion to component doesn't do much for me and I think I can do with out it, but the XBR960's upresing of the signal is something I really want.

The XBR960 uprezzes any 480i signal and you have control over that. Either 960i or 540p mode or CineMotion. I prefer CineMotion at all times for the nice 3:2 pulldown it does.


The idea behind using the receiver to do the conversion would make sense if I didn't have enough component inputs on the 960 (I think I do) OR if the receiver offered trouble-free HDMI switching (HAH!) and you then could have one cable from each device to the receiver and one HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv.

It just depends on how HDMI devices you ultimately will end up with.

For that, I've been eyeing either one of these down the road:

2x1 HDMI (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2778&seq=1&format=2&style=/)

OR

5x1 HDMI (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2&style=/)


Someone saw a prototype of my receiver (Pioneer Elite 59txi) at a show recently with an HDMI upgrade. I had hope for a while that it was going to happen, but I really doubt that Pioneer will do that, or if they do, it will be so expensive that I might as well just upgrade to the next flagship.

I won't upgrade my receiver again until it dies. That's just the way I am with electronics. The only thing my HK AVR 635 doesn't have is HDMI or DVI switching and I just don't think those things alone are worth the hassle, angst, or expense.

You have an awesome receiver. Why not contact Pioneer directly and see what they say to you?



This is giving me a headache!

Does this make sense?

Larry

I think so. ;)

Larry, I'm one of these "less is more" guys. Keep the signals as straight and as clean and requiring as few steps as possible. You're exactly right: Why add the extra conversion? You don't need it.


OT: I'm considering that 880 Harmony myself. I notice there's an 890 but I'm not sure about that thing...
Q,

I got the Harmony 688. It's a great remote and $50 less than the 880. The 688 is especially geared towards DVRs as in my Comcast 6412. I compared them all (except the 890 which wasn't available then) and, for me, the 688 was the winner.

Check it out! ;)

I won't upgrade my receiver again until it dies.

HAHA, same here:)

I'm quite happy with my sony tv and will upgrade when i feel it's time.

The XBR960, a floor model from Magnolia, was delivered today, and I set it up with my new Pioneer Elite 79avi dvd player using HDMI for the video and i-link for the audio. HOLY COW, this is really nice. I used The Fifth Element as my test disk -- the new deluxe superbit expanded two disk extravagenza version -- and although I've seen the movie many times, it was completely new. Detail, colors, even sound was so much better than anything I've seen. I am impressed! I woud say it's really close to HD-DVD that I've seen. It looks that good.

Not so great is Dish sd material. It needs some help. I've ordered the HD dish upgrade, but it won't be here until the 12th of June, so I'll have to put up with it. I bought an hd off air antenna, but so far am not impressed with the signal quality or stability of the thing. I've got some more tweaking to do. I DID figure out how to get digital sound out of the tv and into my receiver (toslink cable out), and it sounded ok, but the signal wasn't stable.

So, thanks to all who offered advice on this set. Now I've got to sort out the settings -- lots of posts about that here!

Larry

It's an open cabinet, tv has plenty of space to vent. I've had 3 different Sony TVs in it. a 27", 32" and 34". The vents are not on or near the front bezel.

92 is not that hot, electronics run much hotter. My Sony HDTV recorders have temperature gauges, they will shut down at 133, I gets reads from 98 to 123. It's normal operating temps, No problems.

I don't think heat is your issue. sorry you are having set problems.

The entire cabinet top over the TV is open. It has room for air to get on all sides. The room temp at the location of the set when off was 84 F.
Placed a thermometer on top of the TV last evening and it read 98 F with the set running for about an hour.

I did place a large 120V Papst Fan at the right side blowing air over the Sony QBox. This is the small Linux computer box located inside the TV. It never shut off last evening with the fan blowing air on it. It will run for hours if the room temp is in the low 70s and never shut of. One thing I would like to try, is blow the Qbox out with a can of compressed air. Maybe there is some dust in there coating some of the components?

Some specs on the Qbox can be found at this link:
http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=18696&forum=25

So, in preparation for the delivery of the XBR960 about noon today, I was trying to program a new Harmony/Logitech 880 (I have the 676 and will use it in another room with the old tv).

.....
So, is the 960 up to the task? It seems that since each input is directly addressable, I could do it that way as well as through the receiver, but why add the extra conversion step?


Not sure you meant it this way or not, but one of the things people wished that the 910/960 had but does not is to have direct addressable access to each input.

For example, you cannot go directly from OTA to HDMI unless you have nothing connected on Inputs 1-6.

It would be nice to be able to input #5 on the remote and be there, but such is not the case.

It sure would make life MUCH easier if you need remotes with macros to execute multiple devices with a single push of a button.

Not sure you meant it this way or not, but one of the things people wished that the 910/960 had but does not is to have direct addressable access to each input.

For example, you cannot go directly from OTA to HDMI unless you have nothing connected on Inputs 1-6.

It would be nice to be able to input #5 on the remote and be there, but such is not the case.

It sure would make life MUCH easier if you need remotes with macros to execute multiple devices with a single push of a button.

The Sony remote that came with my HS510 cant' but my Harmony 676 remote is able to select individual inputs without cycling through all unskipped inputs. I would suspect that the 910/960 also has this capability but the Sony oem remote can not make use of it.

I bought an hd off air antenna, but so far am not impressed with the signal quality or stability of the thing. I've got some more tweaking to do.

I've been using an OTA antenna since I got my set in July, 2004. IMHO, this is the way to go, especially if you don't like whatever down-rezing/digital compression your cable or satellite provider will do to the signal. Since broadcasters control the quality all the way to through, you'll provide your set with the best possible signal.

That said, the '960--probably all '960's, but my vintage for sure--are not particularly sensitive. There are newer tuner chipsets available that do a better job in terms of sensitivity.

But if you give your '960 a good, strong OTA signal, you'll have the best picture available for those OTA stations.

Mark

But if you give your '960 a good, strong OTA signal, you'll have the best picture available for those OTA stations.

Mark

I can vouch for that. That HD signal at its best is my reference point pretty much. When Blu-Ray comes along and the rest of it, I'd better see PQ at least equal with that.

Not sure you meant it this way or not, but one of the things people wished that the 910/960 had but does not is to have direct addressable access to each input.

For example, you cannot go directly from OTA to HDMI unless you have nothing connected on Inputs 1-6.

It would be nice to be able to input #5 on the remote and be there, but such is not the case.

It sure would make life MUCH easier if you need remotes with macros to execute multiple devices with a single push of a button.

HDTVFanatic, Yikes! That would put a crimp in my plans. I haven't had time to revisit the 880 programming, but if that's the case, I'm in trouble... Right now I have to manually cycle through and select HDMI (Pio 79avi dvd player), s-video (Dish SD sat box), and OTA. I'll spend some time with it tonight to see what I can do with it.

The Harmony setup seems to be able to manually select individual inputs on the 960. It wanted to know which input is being used for which device, and each one is numbered. I'll know for sure by tomorrow.

Larry

The harmony remotes can direct tune video channels on the XBR960. I just purchased one for just that reason (and to coalesce all the remote to one so my Grandmother can at least turn everything on).

The harmony remotes can direct tune video channels on the XBR960. I just purchased one for just that reason (and to coalesce all the remote to one so my Grandmother can at least turn everything on).

Thanks for the affirmation on that, ErikDR, I'll work on it tonight...

Larry

Sometimes when I start my 960 up it will work fine for a minute then the screen goes black then comes back after a second or 2, just exactly like you hit the button to change through the inputs. It takes a few extra seconds when you are watching OTA for it to come back. And it only takes a sec when you running a Xbox 360. Then its fine for about 20-30 seconds and does it over and over again. Anyone have this problem? When this happens I turn it off, unplug the power to the set and then plug it back in and turn it on and it doesnt do it anymore. Any info on this??

The harmony remotes can direct tune video channels on the XBR960.I don't own one, so I am just commenting as an outsider, but I think there may be some confusion here.

There's a difference between (1) being able to tune to a digital or analog video channel (e.g. 4.1, 7.1, 13, etc.) on the XBR960 using the set's ATSC or QAM tuners, and (2) being able to select one of the INPUT1-INPUT7 sources, none of which correspond to "channels". And with (2), can it (a) randomly "direct select" that input, or (b) must cycle sequentially through all available inputs that have not been "skipped" in the setup menu of the XBR960?

So... just because the Harmony remote can do (1), does not necessarily mean it can do (2a). The Sony remote that comes with the XBR960 can only perform the (2b) method, as well as (1) of course. But the Sony remote cannot perform (2a), which is why the pessimism as to whether the Harmony remote can. If the set doesn't support the mechanism, then the remote won't bring about any miracle.


Note: with my previous Sampo 34WHD5 set, the original model of the remote only supported (2b) for that set. And to make it worse, there was no way in its setup menu to actually "skip" an unused input.

However they did come out with a second generation remote which, amazingly, supported (2a) even with the same original unmodified 34WHD5 set. That indicates the capability (i.e. infrared codes) for "direct access" to its inputs was always inherently present in the set's design but simply not implemented in that first generation remote. Apparently, all it took was a smarter remote to make it possible... which they did.

So it may be the same way with the Sony XBR960, or maybe not. We'd all like to know your final results, to tell us whether only (2b) is available with the Harmony or if truly (2a) is also available.

I don't own one, so I am just commenting as an outsider, but I think there may be some confusion here.

(2), can it (a) randomly "direct select" that input, or (b) must cycle sequentially through all available inputs that have not been "skipped" in the setup menu of the XBR960?

So... the Sony remote cannot perform (2a), which is why the pessimism as to whether the Harmony remote can. If the set doesn't support the mechanism, then the remote won't bring about any miracle.

So it may be the same way with the Sony XBR960, or maybe not. We'd all like to know your final results, to tell us whether only (2b) is available with the Harmony or if truly (2a) is also available.

My Harmony 676 remote can do (2a) with my Sony KV34HS510. Discrete selection of inputs. Absolutely, positively. My Sony OEM remote can not do (2a).

BTW, the Harmony remotes are "activity based". As an example, I push a button for Watch Cable TV and the remote turns on the HS510 and selects the correct input, and turns on the cable STB. It does not require cycling through inputs. I currently have eleven activities set up and I love my Harmony :D

The Sony remote that came with my HS510 cant' but my Harmony 676 remote is able to select individual inputs without cycling through all unskipped inputs. I would suspect that the 910/960 also has this capability but the Sony oem remote can not make use of it.

Really????

I have an iPronto coming this weekend and this would be the BEST NEWS I've heard this year!!!!

How does one access the individual inputs?

The harmony remotes can direct tune video channels on the XBR960. I just purchased one for just that reason (and to coalesce all the remote to one so my Grandmother can at least turn everything on).

W00T!

I'm doing the happy dance!!!!!! :D

Okay, okay, I know this is going to sound like a million other people posing similar questions on various threads, but I suppose these type of questions are simply for reinforcement.

I'm in the process of buying my first HDTV, and I narrowed it down to either this 960 tube set, or a 50" Panasonic Plasma. I can still get the 960 brand new. I understand there's a big discrepancy in screen size (16 inches), but I've always been a CRT guy, so its been tougher than I thought pulling the trigger on the plasma. I'll also be buying a receiver and speakers to set-up, so I'm basically starting from scratch.

I assume the vast majority of you believe the 960 blows away a plasma, and is clearly the winner as far as PQ goes? I'm so tired of putting off this decision, but I guess I want to hear from 960 owners (pro or con) if buying this set is still a good idea, or maybe you'd get the 50" plasma if you were just now buying, as opposed to a year or two ago. Please let me know your thoughts.

I assume the vast majority of you believe the 960 blows away a plasma, and is clearly the winner as far as PQ goes?.

you'd be right.

My mates bought plasma and after they saw my 910 were visably devastated.

The extra inches aint worth the loss of quality for most videophiles.

Yes there are problems with the 960 such as geometry issues but usually they can be fixed either by yourself or an ISF calibration (better). How are u going to fix dead pixels and burn in ?

I assume the vast majority of you believe the 960 blows away a plasma, and is clearly the winner as far as PQ goes? I'm so tired of putting off this decision, but I guess I want to hear from 960 owners (pro or con) if buying this set is still a good idea, or maybe you'd get the 50" plasma if you were just now buying, as opposed to a year or two ago.Probably the biggest factor is just how far away are you planning on watching your HDTV from. The difference in screen size for the choice you've proposed is quite dramatic, and planned viewing distance is significant in terms of how much enjoyment you will get from your acquisition.

The 34XBR960 picture quality is truly stunning, astonishing, jaw-dropping... you name it. Unlike anything else in its reality, clarity, 3D-likeness, and overall WOW factor. But you need to ideally be sitting no further than 5-7' away, with closer the better. If you are going to be sitting back at 10' or more, the 34" screen is going to be disappointing in terms of impact. It will just seem too small and not really provide HDTV pow!

So first, where will you be sitting? Then we can talk XBR960 vs. anything else in terms of picture quality.

Just to reiterate, 2a is supported by harmony on the XBR960, even though 2b is all that is supported by the Sony OEM remote. And it is much nicer not having to scroll through all the inputs just to go back one.

Okay, okay, I know this is going to sound like a million other people posing similar questions on various threads, but I suppose these type of questions are simply for reinforcement.

I'm in the process of buying my first HDTV, and I narrowed it down to either this 960 tube set, or a 50" Panasonic Plasma. I can still get the 960 brand new. I understand there's a big discrepancy in screen size (16 inches), but I've always been a CRT guy, so its been tougher than I thought pulling the trigger on the plasma. I'll also be buying a receiver and speakers to set-up, so I'm basically starting from scratch.

I assume the vast majority of you believe the 960 blows away a plasma, and is clearly the winner as far as PQ goes? I'm so tired of putting off this decision, but I guess I want to hear from 960 owners (pro or con) if buying this set is still a good idea, or maybe you'd get the 50" plasma if you were just now buying, as opposed to a year or two ago. Please let me know your thoughts.

All we can add besides size not being the issue is burn-in. Even Crutchfield suggests an alternate type set should one watch lots of news and sporting events which display tickers and scores. If you just want the best picture quality, then go with the 960 (while you still can!).

...I assume the vast majority of you believe the 960 blows away a plasma, and is clearly the winner as far as PQ goes? I'm so tired of putting off this decision, but I guess I want to hear from 960 owners (pro or con) if buying this set is still a good idea, or maybe you'd get the 50" plasma if you were just now buying, as opposed to a year or two ago. Please let me know your thoughts.
I recently helped a buddy pick out a new HD set. He was looking at about a 50" tv to hang on the wall in his family room. I recommended he go with Plasma as it can look very, very good, and IMHO is the closest technology to crt. We both work in flight simulation and are very familiar with displays.

We narrowed our search down to a 50" Panasonic plasma, and a 50" model from Samsung, both selling for $3,999. These sets were remarkable. Then my buddy noticed a 45" Sharp Aquos 1080p LCD set. I have to admit, it was gorgeous. And the off-axis viewing was better than I had ever seen with an LCD set. With the 1080p resolution, you could watch from very close and not notice the artifacts that usually accompany these kind of sets. This was especially important, as the closer one can sit, the more "cinematic" the experience. Well, he was sold on the Sharp set. I ran the HQV Benchmark DVD and it performed as well as any of the Plasma set, as also as well as any crt sets. It obviously doesn't have black levels quite as good as crt, but it was darned close.

Since you are looking at the 50" Panasonic, as we did, you might also give the Sharp 45" 1080o set a look. The benefit is that it has multiple digital inputs and it makes one heck of a computer monitor. I hooked-up my 17" Apple PowerBook using DVI cables and it was stunning.

I am an ardent crt fan, and have my own 34" Sony set, but there are plasma and lcd sets out there that are knocking hard on the door to best picture quality.

I have searched this tread, but I don't seem to find anything about my problem. I have a two month old 34XBR960N. It has a low hum or buzz inside the tv. At first I thought ground loop problem, but the noise is not in the speakers. I disconnected everything and muted and turn off the speakers, but the hum is still there. It sound just like the low hum of a florescent light. I thought maybe the picture tube is humming and this is the way all of them are, but it is just enough to annoy me. Does anyone else have this in their set or have I got a problem?

Well, after THREE weeks of bs, I got my Tv back today...I was told a new module was put in..........the problem is NOT fixed. Geometry problems are obvious...curved lines in the menu and on receptions...........sheesh...


Make them believe you. ;) Don't take no for an answer. Don't let them leave that house until things are 100 percent to your satisfaction.

Anyone know which Sony Remote code set the 34XBR960 uses?

I would like to see a Poll on how many people that actually own this set have had to have it serviced. After reading the Cnet reviews it looks like the QC on the 960 is pretty bad.

Mine is being picked up for the fourth repair on Tuesday. If it breaks again, Sony can have it back. At that point I don't know what to get. It will be between a 34" 955 or a 970. If I could get Sony to refund my money, I would end up buying the 34" Panasonic. This has been a most frustrating purchase.

My 960 is almost a year old, (June 05 build) no problems, plus I keep it in a cabinet and have numerous power outages where I live. the most recent outage was for 4 days. Mine seems very rugged and I've very happy with the picture.

Anyone here know is there a direct access code for the ANT button over the #2 on the OEM Remote?

It's a toggle between the OTA and the Cable Input.

Trying to find a way to call each direct for an aftermarket remote.

Thanks!

I would like to see a Poll on how many people that actually own this set have had to have it serviced. After reading the Cnet reviews it looks like the QC on the 960 is pretty bad.

Mine is being picked up for the fourth repair on Tuesday. If it breaks again, Sony can have it back. At that point I don't know what to get. It will be between a 34" 955 or a 970. If I could get Sony to refund my money, I would end up buying the 34" Panasonic. This has been a most frustrating purchase.


You're not going to get accurate data when you ask that question on a forum that has an unusual amount of people that joined because they were already having problems with their set. You'd be better off calling sony and asking for that data. Good Luck. :)

Trying to find a way to call each direct for an aftermarket remote.Well, according to the earlier post, ErikDaRed should know the details... having apparently programmed the Harmony as you are similarly trying to do.

Just to reiterate, 2a is supported by harmony on the XBR960, even though 2b is all that is supported by the Sony OEM remote. And it is much nicer not having to scroll through all the inputs just to go back one.

Erik?

Guys
For those of you who have more money than Art Sonneborn why not grab the Made in Japan XBR 960's ? They have northern hemisphere tubes and work a charm in the US. Sold in Japan and Sony Dubai. Of course the freight + insurance would rival your mortgage.

Seriously though our experience in Australia regarding the 910 +960 is positive. The ones that get sent back are usually bogus tube replacements that never happened. The forums here rarely report failures in our Japanese made XBR's.

Too much Tequila on the Mexican production line??? :D

Will

My last XBR made in Japan was built in 85 and lasted 18 years before it went poof. I got my money out of it for sure!

was it straight before it turned to the dark side? :)

I have a 20" Sony (non-xbr) with a manufacture date of 1989 that was made in Mexico (I thought it was Japan but just verified recently) Anyhow it still works to this day and has never been serviced. It just has a slow warmup period ,picture has a reddish tint for the first 5 minutes but then looks suprisingly good for a TV this old.

My 3 year old Sony 32HS510 hdtv (mexico) is still going strong and never been serviced ,and my 3 month old XBR960 (mexico) is working fine so far.

I have many Sony products, a 27" and 61" Tv both over 14 yrs old and have pix as good as when I bought them. My XBR960 is 4 months old and is great, even geometry issues are very minimal. It has a stunning picture in Both HD and STD.

I would like to see a Poll on how many people that actually own this set have had to have it serviced. After reading the Cnet reviews it looks like the QC on the 960 is pretty bad.

Mine is being picked up for the fourth repair on Tuesday. If it breaks again, Sony can have it back. At that point I don't know what to get. It will be between a 34" 955 or a 970. If I could get Sony to refund my money, I would end up buying the 34" Panasonic. This has been a most frustrating purchase.
You've hung in there much longer than I would have. I admire your patience.

This is just me thinking outloud, for whatever it's worth...

Assuming Sony can repair your 960, how comfortable are you really going to be with it long term? I'm talking about "warm Fuzzies" type of comfort. What I'm thinking is, why not just exchange it right now for a 970 and get some cash back for the difference in cost? We have yet to hear about any problems with the 970s. The HS420, the 970's precursor, has had relatively few complaints to date, nowhere near the level of the 960. You've hung in there admirably, but are you prepared to go the distance with the 960?

Like I said, just thinking outloud. Best of Luck! ;)

I wouldn't tolerate another bigazz heavy tube if it didn't present the picture the 960 does. I've seen the 970 and it ain't no 960.

I wouldn't tolerate another bigazz heavy tube if it didn't present the picture the 960 does. I've seen the 970 and it ain't no 960.
This is true.

But, the 970 is now the best 34" crt set currently in production. And, by all accounts, the 970 enjoys the same PQ as the HS420, which makes it one fine HD set.

Well, according to the earlier post, ErikDaRed should know the details... having apparently programmed the Harmony as you are similarly trying to do.



Erik?

Unfortunately I don't know the black magic that Harmony uses, it just automatically sets it up using its configuration files.

However, if you know someone with a Harmony remote, you should be able to temporarily set it up for th 960 and teach any decent universal remote using the IR signal.

You've hung in there much longer than I would have. I admire your patience.

This is just me thinking outloud, for whatever it's worth...

Assuming Sony can repair your 960, how comfortable are you really going to be with it long term? I'm talking about "warm Fuzzies" type of comfort. What I'm thinking is, why not just exchange it right now for a 970 and get some cash back for the difference in cost? We have yet to hear about any problems with the 970s. The HS420, the 970's precursor, has had relatively few complaints to date, nowhere near the level of the 960. You've hung in there admirably, but are you prepared to go the distance with the 960?

Like I said, just thinking outloud. Best of Luck! ;)


The reason I am willing to have another go at repairing my 960N is when it works it is really nice. The PQ is picture perfect as far as I can tell. The company that is picking the set up tomorrow is supposedly the best repair outfit in the area. A Sony supervisor kindly agreed to extend my warranty by another 6 months if it get's repaired this time around. I really would prefer to keep my 960 instead of Sony finding me another refurbished 960 which could have worse issues. This happened with a Dell notebook once. Each screen they came out to replace, was worse then the previous one. Finally shipped it back and bought a Thinkpad.

Actually, I did have an opportunity to play with the 970 the other day. When I changed the settings similar to the 960 it looked pretty good. It was not quite as good as the 960 but it was not that bad either.

I really do hope I get my 960 back and it will work fine. If it goes out again, this is the end of the road for me. I will ask for a "NEW" 970 and a 5 year extended warranty.

but you can't exploit the 1080i from bluray with a 970

The reason I am willing to have another go at repairing my 960N is when it works it is really nice. The PQ is picture perfect as far as I can tell. The company that is picking the set up tomorrow is supposedly the best repair outfit in the area. A Sony supervisor kindly agreed to extend my warranty by another 6 months if it get's repaired this time around. I really would prefer to keep my 960 instead of Sony finding me another refurbished 960 which could have worse issues. This happened with a Dell notebook once. Each screen they came out to replace, was worse then the previous one. Finally shipped it back and bought a Thinkpad.

Actually, I did have an opportunity to play with the 970 the other day. When I changed the settings similar to the 960 it looked pretty good. It was not quite as good as the 960 but it was not that bad either.

I really do hope I get my 960 back and it will work fine. If it goes out again, this is the end of the road for me. I will ask for a "NEW" 970 and a 5 year extended warranty.

Just as an FYI the 34" 34XS955 has the super fine pitch tube also and if you can find one i would consider that over the xbr960 since these xs955 sets seem to have lessissues or none at all for that matter since i never heard of anybody posting issues about them yet.

My cousin Kevin owns the 34" 34XS955 and it is a great tv!