I measured me sitting down and where my eye level is or would be if I was slouching, etc. and am having my wall built in my addition with the hole for the display (thinking the 55WF) 24" from the floor. I don't mind if my display is a little higher...but that's just me.

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
Run back to CC and return that cable!!!

Monster cables and other products are extremely over-priced...it's criminal. You can get a good quality dvi/hdmi cable online for $30-40 that will be every bit as good as the Monster.

TH3_FRB,

Could you recommend any other good quality brand that is cheaper? I would appreciate that and return the Monster cable. I have another 12 days to return it.

Comparing the prices on the HDMI cables in the Sony web site link MtnMike sent, the Belkin cables were for $119.99, except they were 8ft instead of 6.6ft for the Monster.

Thanks.

Morten

Originally posted by Turd Burglar
Hi - I'm looking at the 55XS955 as well. I noticed the height on this Bush stand is 22 7/8" - I take it you don't think it's too high for this TV? I noticed some of the other stands for TVs of this size are in the 17-20" range. I would imagine a less than 3" differential shouldn't make too much difference, but thought I'd ask.

Also, is the middle shelf adjustable on that Bush stand? I couldn't figure this out from the BB website.

Thanks.

The shelves are not adjustable. The lower shelf is tall enough to fit your oversized components such as a receiver. The middle shelf's height is sized for standard sized components. I have a DirecTivo receiver, DVD player (Panny S97) with my center speaker stacked on top of it, and a 5-disc CD player on that shelf. My lower shelf has a receiver, XBox and accessories, and plenty of room for an eventual home theater PC.

Regarding the overall height of the stand, for my setup it is not too high. Because of the size of my room, at a distance somewhere between 8-10 feet, I probably sit a bit closer to the television than is considered optimal for this television. Since I am a bit closer, the 16" Sony stand for this set would be far too low in my opinion. The height of this stand is pretty good for my situation.

Originally posted by jmenard
Regarding the overall height of the stand, for my setup it is not too high. Because of the size of my room, at a distance somewhere between 8-10 feet, I probably sit a bit closer to the television than is considered optimal for this television. Since I am a bit closer, the 16" Sony stand for this set would be far too low in my opinion. The height of this stand is pretty good for my situation.

So in your expert opinion, do you think a 30" high stand with a 60XS955 viewed from 11' away will be too high?

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
So in your expert opinion, do you think a 30" high stand with a 60XS955 viewed from 11' away will be too high?

This is my exact setup and it works great. I have my 60XS on a 30" high stand and I sit 11' away. The reason I have it so high is so I can watch from my kitchen table that is 40' away with a bar between it an the TV. Initially I was concerned, but turns out it works great. That said, if it were not for my specific need of watching from the kitchen, I might lower it by about 6".

Originally posted by TheMostToyzWins
This is my exact setup and it works great. I have my 60XS on a 30" high stand and I sit 11' away. The reason I have it so high is so I can watch from my kitchen table that is 40' away with a bar between it an the TV. Initially I was concerned, but turns out it works great. That said, if it were not for my specific need of watching from the kitchen, I might lower it by about 6".

You da man. Anyone else?

Originally posted by Plex
Sauder.com this stand holds my 60XS955, pm me i'll send photo's, also good price on without breaking the bank

Plex,

What are the dimensions of the center section where the speaker is? My center speaker is pretty big and I don't know if it would fit.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
So in your expert opinion, do you think a 30" high stand with a 60XS955 viewed from 11' away will be too high?

Not an expert opinion, but in my personal opinion it would be a little too high. You would have to judge for yourself if it's tolerable.

In general, taller stands require greater viewing distances. Size of screen aside, let's say for the sake of argument that you determine that your most comfortable viewing angle for a point in space 24" off of the ground in height is at a distance of 10 feet. In order to maintain that same angle if the height was increased to about 35", you would need to be at a distance of roughly 15 feet (unless my trigonometry has failed me).

Bottom line though, it's all subjective. I will say though based on my furniture and what I would say is a comfortable viewing angle, at that distance, 30" would be a bit too high for me.

Honestly I'd say that any dvi/hdmi cable will work just fine for a short run. This might not be the case for analog signals but digital either gets there or not. You might read about digital dropouts but that is really only a concern with damaged cables or long runs. Bettercables.com has a 1m for $80 and a 2m for $90 but that is still pricey if you ask me...and I'm by no means cheap. Hit RamElectronics.net for a nice $40 hdmi-dvi cable.

Originally posted by mortenharket
TH3_FRB,

Could you recommend any other good quality brand that is cheaper? I would appreciate that and return the Monster cable. I have another 12 days to return it.

Comparing the prices on the HDMI cables in the Sony web site link MtnMike sent, the Belkin cables were for $119.99, except they were 8ft instead of 6.6ft for the Monster.

Thanks.

Morten

What if I tilt the screen down a degree or two. Maybe put a piece of cardboard under the base towards the back. Hmm....

I was thinking of doing this actually, mostly cause I will have a window directly behind the viewing area and might help cut down the glare during the day.

Originally posted by midnightscape
I was thinking of doing this actually, mostly cause I will have a window directly behind the viewing area and might help cut down the glare during the day.

Does it work?

Thanks guys for all your help. Will either of these stands hold my 400 DVD Player though. The Dimensions (WxHxD): Approx. 17 x 7.4 x 21.1"(TBD) (430 x 189 x 537mm). It has big fan unit sticking out in the back. That's why it's so deep. Is the Sauder one open in the back. If it has to stick in the back, I am okay with that.

I have to chime in here and thank everyone who's posted their opinions on the Sony IV series. I read every page of this thread, and found myself bouncing around a bit, but finally decided on a 60WF, although the anti glare coating recently reported on the XS has me wondering whether I may have erred. It's set for delivery on Saturday - got a very good deal at my neighborhood CC through price matching and picked up a floor sample of the current Sony stand @ a discount that made it worthwhile. Again, thanks to all the posters and I'll be lurking looking for tweaking hints.

Originally posted by oldnacl
I have to chime in here and thank everyone who's posted their opinions on the Sony IV series. I read every page of this thread, and found myself bouncing around a bit, but finally decided on a 60WF, although the anti glare coating recently reported on the XS has me wondering whether I may have erred. It's set for delivery on Saturday - got a very good deal at my neighborhood CC through price matching and picked up a floor sample of the current Sony stand @ a discount that made it worthwhile. Again, thanks to all the posters and I'll be lurking looking for tweaking hints.

No worries man. The set you bought is awesome and there's very little difference between it and the XS series.

Originally posted by mortenharket
TH3_FRB,

Could you recommend any other good quality brand that is cheaper? I would appreciate that and return the Monster cable. I have another 12 days to return it.

Comparing the prices on the HDMI cables in the Sony web site link MtnMike sent, the Belkin cables were for $119.99, except they were 8ft instead of 6.6ft for the Monster.

Thanks.

Morten

Check out Pacific Cables. You can get a 1 meter for $28.00 and 2 meter for $31.00 plus shipping.... Link to Cables (http://www.pacificcable.com/HDMI_Cables.html)

You won't notice a difference and your wallet won't be as light.....

Originally posted by oldnacl
I have to chime in here and thank everyone who's posted their opinions on the Sony IV series. I read every page of this thread, and found myself bouncing around a bit, but finally decided on a 60WF, although the anti glare coating recently reported on the XS has me wondering whether I may have erred. It's set for delivery on Saturday - got a very good deal at my neighborhood CC through price matching and picked up a floor sample of the current Sony stand @ a discount that made it worthwhile. Again, thanks to all the posters and I'll be lurking looking for tweaking hints.

I too have decided on the 60WF, but the reason was not in spite of, but because of the 'anti' glare coating on the XS (among a few other reasons). I have seen the XS in person at the local BB and the WF in person at the local CC. If I'm standing right in front of the XS, I can see myself and even read the words on my shirt backwards, as if I’m looking into a mirror. I don’t understand why that is called anti-glare. I have windows behind my couch and that would drive me nuts. (It already does on my 35” tube TV). Maybe this is a stupid question, but can somebody clue me in on why they call the ‘mirror’ screens anti-glare, and the ‘matte’ screens are not? In the case of having windows behind my couch, would I be right to choose the WF?

I am hopefully pulling the trigger this Saturday and you can believe I am pumped!
:)

jimmyv99:

Are you sure you're talking about the XS and not the XBR? I have the XS and it definitely has a matte screen with very little to no glare. I think its screen looks very close to the WF screen in that regard. The XBR screen is glass and and has lots of glare.

ohhh. Maybe. I'm going to BB tomorrow at lunch, so I'll check to be sure. If I'm wrong (which I'm suspecting now that I am), I apologize for the misinformation in the previous post. My bad.

Thanks heywood for setting me straight.

I just ordered my KDF-55WF655 from onecall, sort of a Christmas present to my self. I was real close to going with the XS, but the extra 400+ in cost kept me from doing so. I picked up the 5 year warranty, which is practically free when you consider the sony rebates 200.00 and the special 100 off "onecall" plus free ship, 18 months interest free on the sony card.
Should be here by wed or thurs. So I will need you guy to help be tweek it.
been using my Toshiba 35 since 1995 and it has a great picture but its time for HDTV :)

Brian

speaking of stands...

Everyone has been talking about height, but what would the side to side length requirement be for a 60xs955? I have my 35" tube TV on a nice glass-enclosed stand and would love to remove that TV and set the 60" on it, but I know the ends of the Sony's base will stick over the left and right edge of the current stand.

Does anyone think this is a problem? The stand I have is 35" wide....

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW

So in your expert opinion, do you think a 30" high stand with a 60XS955 viewed from 11' away will be too high?

For me 20" stand is just right with a viewing distance of 9 feet on a 55WF655.

Just an update for those who wondered if we would ever take our 55xs955 out of its box (long story - trying to find a suitable stand). As noted here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4825859#post4825859), the TV is in operation. In short, cable TV looks far better than expected, especially with the weak signal to our home.

Late last night, we hooked up our 5 year-old Onkyo Integra DPS-5 non-progressive single disc DVD player. All we had available was an S-Video cable, so we didn't expect too much. Trying out POTC (family favorite), the dark scenes looked much like we had seen in the stores. Decent enough, certainly not great, but similar to what we had seen with the xs955 (and the Hitachi vs810 and vx915 LCDs, for that matter). At this point, I'm thinking that a new DVD payer and cables are in order.

Our DPS-5 has only two picture adjustment options, one for shape (4:3, 16:9) and one for black level. The black level was set to Enhanced (7.5 IRE) with the prior TV (35" Mits tube), so on a whim I set it to Normal (0 IRE). OMG!!! Now the dark scenes in POTC (and Spiderman and Fifth Element and ...) had very good shadow detail, very good color, yet the black levels were the best we have seen on an xs955 TV.

Can anyone explain the black level option in our DVD player and what it means? Does anyone know of a Secret HiFi-like review for the Onkyo Integra DPS-5? This could be a matter of low expectations, but the picture we saw using our old DVD player, an S-Video cable, and some by-the-eye video adjustments in the 55xs955 was nothing sort of outstanding. :)

Michael

Oldnacl,

You won't be sorry. I've had the 60WF about 2 weeks now. I've got a Denon 2910 plugged into it via HDMI running 720p. I've not seen a better picture. The ONLY tweaking I've done is to turn the sharpness down. I'm using the "Vivid" mode on the tv, I thought the other two modes were a bit soft/dull. But that's just my opinion. I'm also using an OTA antenna for HD plugged into the Sony's internal tuner. Simply stunning. You haven't lived until you've seen MNF in true HD. (Can you tell I'm a football fan?)

I plan to use my DVE to check the settings, but haven't had time. I can't imagine the picture getting much better. Lastly, I've found that once you turn the tv off, you need to leave the tv off until the fan stops. I tried turning back on too quickly last night and the HDMI port was freaked out..let me know if you have further questions..bob.

I ordered a 60xs (got it for the same price as a 55, fantastic deal with extra discount), will be receiving it on Jan 3. Now looking at DVD players and a receiver to match with the Axioms and Outlaw Sub that I've planned.

Michael Mohrmann:
At least get some component cables for your dvd and stop using the S-video. It makes a BIG difference in my case, as I have the components hooked directly to the tv and S-video routed through my Sony ES9000 pre-pro, so it's easy to compare the two.
PS. I'm going to try your trick of using the 0 IRE level on the dvd player: I hadn't thought to try that, but had noticed "darks" were poorer on dvd, to the point I am using "standard" mode on the tv rather than "pro", which does look better with over-the-air sources.

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
Hit RamElectronics.net for a nice $40 hdmi-dvi cable.

I picked up a RAM "high end" DVI - HDMI a few weeks back and have no regrets. Also got a nice componet cable from them as well. Both quite nice and much cheaper than Monstor or Accoustic Research.

/Sean

Originally posted by RMP in KY
At least get some component cables for your dvd and stop using the S-video. It makes a BIG difference in my case, as I have the components hooked directly to the tv and S-video routed through my Sony ES9000 pre-pro, so it's easy to compare the two.
Our previous TV only had composite and S-Video connections, so I never used the component video outputs on our DVD player. I would expect it to be better than S-Video, but then again I never expected it to look as good as it does.

Originally posted by RMP in KY
I'm going to try your trick of using the 0 IRE level on the dvd player: I hadn't thought to try that, but had noticed "darks" were poorer on dvd, to the point I am using "standard" mode on the tv rather than "pro", which does look better with over-the-air sources.
I find that the "Pro" mode is best for every source because you can make the appropriate adjustments, including the Advanced Video settings. If you do make the switch on your DVD player, you will probably need to use the "Pro" mode.

I would still like to know what this switch does (0 vs 7.5 IRE), and what the proper setting is suppose to be.

Michael

Does anyone know the deal with the difference in the screens on the present models....seems like a lot of discrepencies. In the beginning I thought that the lower end models would have less glare being that it was said they would get the matte screen (whatever that means...please explain) and the xs the plexi. Then the older xbr had glass so that is the most glareful screen. Now I hear about coatings. What is the difference in the actual screen and is there something behind the screen that is what is referred to as the matte?

So, after having read through the whole GWIV owners thread, and having given up on DLP (headaches from rainbows...and that's just in store!) I took delivery of the 55XS a couple days ago.

I'm so far very pleased. But, being a noob, I'm not sure where to pick up an OTA antenna (didn't even know TVs still needed antennas!). If someone could post a link to some threads on the issue, or a link to a store that has one on sale, I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks! :D

Go to the HDTV forum, you'll find tons of options there. Personally I'm using the Samsung TV5.1 from Best Buy. It works great. I'm 40+ miles from the HD signals and I get everything...bob.

I got a flyer in the paper today that says Se@rs is doing 10% off tomorrow from 7-10am, just like the one mentioned in this forum last week. Barring a natural disaster, I'm buying a 60WF tomorrow (WOO HOO!). Since CC and Se@rs are advertising the same price right now, there is really no lee-way that I know of for price matching. Anybody got any good ideas for getting even a better deal? Thanks.

I will also be choosing between a 3yr and a 5yr Protection Agreement. If anybody has any insight they'd like to offer on this decision, I would appreciate it. Does anybody know if the Se@rs Protection Agreement covers bulb replacement? This may have been mentioned before, but I've looked all over and can't find it.

BTW, this forum has been absolutely fantastic in helping me make my decision. Thanks.

10% sale tomorrow at Se@rs? That's funny because I got a 10% off coupon from them about a week ago...I wonder if that coupon can be used in addition to their special sale day.

go get yourself a UHF antenna (that's all you need to get HD OTA).
Also look at winegaurd antenna's (sp?).

Check www.antennaweb.org to see what size antenna you need.

get it, hook it up, and enjoy!

Congrats on teh XS55!!!

Aceman

Yes, they will stack the 10% coupon with the 10% sale.

Originally posted by Squawks
10% sale tomorrow at Se@rs? That's funny because I got a 10% off coupon from them about a week ago...I wonder if that coupon can be used in addition to their special sale day.

The protection plans do cover the bulb. After getting this answer from the sales guy and sales manager I called the warranty department and confirmed. I went with the 3-year plan...I honestly don't think I'll have this set more than 2-3 years with the way technology is advancing right now.

Originally posted by jimmyv99

I will also be choosing between a 3yr and a 5yr Protection Agreement. If anybody has any insight they'd like to offer on this decision, I would appreciate it. Does anybody know if the Se@rs Protection Agreement covers bulb replacement? This may have been mentioned before, but I've looked all over and can't find it.

Bought mine at sears too. Is the 3 yr $399 warranty plan eligible for the 10% discount? Anyone know if and when the 10% discount is available in the Chicago area?

just picked this up tonight, Z-Line Designs 55" Maxim Collection TV Stand
http://www.circuitcity.com/IMAGE/product/enlarged/zln/EC.ZLN.Z221S.JPG
must be over 125lbs in the box, 2 guys to get it in the truck .
I opened the box in the Tahoe and brought each sheet of glass in seperate Whoo, two 1/4 inch tempered glass shelfs
and a 5/16 top shelf holds a up to 240lb on the top and 65lb each on the lowers. they had a 5 hour sale and knocked the price down 79.00 off the regular price. should look good with my KDF-55WF655 since it has a dark front

I used to like Pacificcable and always used them for any expensive cabling needs. My last experience with them was not so great however. I ordered a 3 meter DVI-->HDMI cable with Fedex priority shipping on 12/10. I got the confirmation e-mail but never got a shipment notice so cancelled on 12/15 after reading on their forum with people having trouble with some of their HDMI cables. By that time I had also already moved to component cabling on my Sony 50WE655 and started reading about black crush while using the HDMI component on this set so have no intention of even using the HDMI input now.

Originally posted by jimboeau
Check out Pacific Cables. You can get a 1 meter for $28.00 and 2 meter for $31.00 plus shipping.... Link to Cables (http://www.pacificcable.com/HDMI_Cables.html)

You won't notice a difference and your wallet won't be as light.....

Dose1174 Asked: I'm so far very pleased. But, being a noob, I'm not sure where to pick up an OTA antenna (didn't even know TVs still needed antennas!). If someone could post a link to some threads on the issue, or a link to a store that has one on sale, I'd be most appreciative.

Well your local radio shack has some to chose from. Some of the best out there are at:

Antennaes Direct (http://www.digitaltvantennas.com/)

Check out their DB4

Squawks,

How does one get a 10% off coupon from Sears? Is this something they mailed you?

Thanks.....wjr

Thanks to everyone that's posted here, I decided to pick up a 55WF yesterday from Circuit City. Got them to match the web price of $2999, plus I had received an email for a 10% gift card for puchases made on 12/17 and 12/18, and then gave me the deduction on my purchase, so the final cost was $2699. Pretty good deal, I think. TV and HD cable DVR are to be delivered Tuesday. Can't wait. Thanks again for all the great input.

Originally posted by cmassa
I was watching Hidalgo (widescreen version) last night on DVD. My DVD player is a Pioneer 525 connected through componentto my 55XS. It outputs at 480i only. At the top and bottom of the picture, next to the black bars, there were 2 lines which were very bright and a little distracting. If the image was black (only black) at the edge of the screen, the lines were gone.

Is this "normal?" Is it related to the DVD itself, the player (non-progressive) or the TV? Should I be worried? Do I just need a newer DVD player?

Thanks, Chris

Does anyone have any thoughts on this issue? It occurs on other DVD's as well. I love this TV, now if I just had a high def source.

Chris

Originally posted by kkj1961
Thanks to everyone that's posted here, I decided to pick up a 55WF yesterday from Circuit City. Got them to match the web price of $2999, plus I had received an email for a 10% gift card for puchases made on 12/17 and 12/18, and then gave me the deduction on my purchase, so the final cost was $2699. Pretty good deal, I think. TV and HD cable DVR are to be delivered Tuesday. Can't wait. Thanks again for all the great input.

WOW thats pretty good work there, I went with onecall
and is was 3158 total including a 5 year warranty
I still have a 100 cash rebate and 100 rebate to my cable from sony
so that should put me at 2958 total. looks like yo did pretty good
on a 55WF655

oh so you paid ? 2999 plus tax and they gave a 300 dollar gift card?

0 vs. 7.5 IRE: This may not be the best place for this discussion, and others could probably give a better explanation, but since the question was asked, here goes:
IRE units are simply a way of describing the brightness of the tv picture, essentially the same as percentage of "white". 100 IRE units = 100% white = brightest possible. You would think, then, that 0 IRE would equal 0% white = black, and when the NTSC tv system was designed in the late '40's this was the case. However, when color tv was introduced in the '50's, it was found that very dark signals, below 7.5 IRE, could overmodulate the existing transmitters, so the definition of "black" was changed to 7.5, thus insuring that signals below 7.5 ("blacker" than black ) were not transmitted. Aside: NTSC signals are actually sent "negative"; the highest power is used to transmit black, not white as you might expect.
Thus signals with values of brightness below 7.5% of the white level should not exist in program material, and the "brightness" or "black level" control of the tv should be set so that a 7.5 IRE signal produces black. The calibration discs such as AVIA have instructions and test signals for this. This will have the "brightness" or "black level" of your DVD source match that of the tuner source.
Then why do some DVD players allow the option of 0 IRE? Good Question! I believe this option was designed mainly for front projector users who watch only DVD's and may not even have a tuner connected. These projectors may have their circuits designed originally for computer use and are calibrated such that they "expect" a "black" signal to be 0 volts, so a higher signal, such as 7.5%, will show as a dark gray instead of black.
So what happens if you set your DVD player to output 0 IRE for black instead of 7.5? If your display is correctly calibrated to 7.5 for black, signals below 7.5 will be "blacker than black" and will not show at all, resulting in a loss of very dark portions of the picture into black. This is one cause of the "black crush" you have probably seen mentioned in this forum.

Originally posted by RMP in KY
At least get some component cables for your dvd and stop using the S-video. It makes a BIG difference in my case, as I have the components hooked directly to the tv and S-video routed through my Sony ES9000 pre-pro, so it's easy to compare the two.
This is exactly what we are going to do. Using 3 of the many cheap composite (yellow) video cables we had around the house, I connected the component video output to the TV. Although it is daytime, we see a clearer picture (less blur), a touch more color saturation, and better background detail.

I thought that the S-Video connection was good, but the component video is better, as most would expect. The THX Optimizer shows all 8 distinct black levels using component video without having to crank up the brightness (ours is set to 27), while THX Optimizer shows 6 (not quite 7) black levels with S-Video.

I still have the Black Level set to Normal (0 IRE) in the DVD player, so later tonight I may try the Enhance setting (7.5 IRE) to see if the blacks are even better in conjunction with the component video connection.

Time to find a quality set of component video cables. :)

Michael

I FINALLY ordered my 60WF today from Se@rs! Taking delivery on Jan. 3 and I CAN'T WAIT. :D Got the 7-10am 10% discount applied to the already on-sale price, plus the $100 cable rebate, plus a $30 off coupon that I found on the web last night. I was not lucky enough to have the 10% coupon to get even a better discount, but it didn't matter because once I walked into the store, there was nothing that was gonna stop me from buying that TV. After 6 months of patience and research and waiting, I was practically expecting a marching band and confetti once the deal was done...

I also decided to go with the 5 year Service Plan. It was pretty pricey, but I figured that since I NEVER buy these plans, I could treat myself to the longer one for the TV. All in all after tax, delivery, svc plan and all, it came to a hair over 4, not including the cable rebate. I guess that's not bad and, most importantly, I'm satisfied with the deal.

Thanks again everyone for all of the advice over the past few months. Hopefully I won't be back to complain about fan noise or dead pixels...Once I get it all set up and everything, I'll give it a review.

Originally posted by RMP in KY
So what happens if you set your DVD player to output 0 IRE for black instead of 7.5? If your display is correctly calibrated to 7.5 for black, signals below 7.5 will be "blacker than black" and will not show at all, resulting in a loss of very dark portions of the picture into black. This is one cause of the "black crush" you have probably seen mentioned in this forum.
That's the odd part. Setting our DVD player's IRE setting to 0.0 instead of 7.5 actually opened up the shadows, brightened the scene some, yet produced decent blacks. From your description, it seems like our IRE setting is working in reverse.

Michael

Originally posted by wwwTOPDJcom
WOW thats pretty good work there, I went with onecall
and is was 3158 total including a 5 year warranty
I still have a 100 cash rebate and 100 rebate to my cable from sony
so that should put me at 2958 total. looks like yo did pretty good
on a 55WF655

oh so you paid ? 2999 plus tax and they gave a 300 dollar gift card?

No, they actually gave me the credit off the price of the tv upfront. Better than I was expecting.

Nice. I just got back from Sears where they gave me a 10% price adjustment for the 7-10am sale...on top of the price match they gave me last week when I made the original purchase. Overall I got a 55WF655 for $870 below MSRP plus the 3-year warranty and $45 for delivery. I'm still keeping my eye open for a free delivery option to get that $45 back :)

Originally posted by kkj1961
Thanks to everyone that's posted here, I decided to pick up a 55WF yesterday from Circuit City. Got them to match the web price of $2999, plus I had received an email for a 10% gift card for puchases made on 12/17 and 12/18, and then gave me the deduction on my purchase, so the final cost was $2699. Pretty good deal, I think. TV and HD cable DVR are to be delivered Tuesday. Can't wait. Thanks again for all the great input.

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
I'm still keeping my eye open for a free delivery option to get that $45 back :)

Weak.

We've had our 55xs955 up and running for a few days now. Picture is better than expected with our cable TV and is very good with our DVD player (5 year old Onkyo Integra DPS-5). We initially used an S-Video connection with the DVD player, and after trying out the component video connection using some cheap composite (yellow) video cables we had available, we went and purchased a component video cable set. DVD player is only capable of 480i output via component.

With both the cheap composite cables (with the component connection) and the just purchased component video cables, we are getting random video cutouts. The audio remains, but the screen goes blank for a second or two, then returns. In an hour of video playback, we might see the cutouts 1-3 times. And in case anyone is wondering, these are not DVD layer changes.

The interesting part is that this problem does not exist with the S-Video connection. Since we are using new component video cables, that would seem to isolate the problem to either the DVD player or the 55XS955 or maybe the interaction between them.

Has anyone experienced this problem? I thought I read on one of these threads that some RPTVs have problems with certain DVD players when receiving 480i input, maybe a compatibility issue. I also thought I read that switching to 480p fixed the problem in at least one case.

Michael

Tell ya what...you send me $45 and I'll never mention the great deal I got on my TV again. You've made it very clear that you don't agree with the price-match methods I used to purchase my new TV...and that's great for you...but why don't you stop riding my f*cking a$$. Get over it and move on already. You're free to pay full retail if it makes you feel like abetter person.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Weak.

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
Tell ya what...you send me $45 and I'll never mention the great deal I got on my TV again.

What's your PayPal account?

:D

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
What's your PayPal account?

I really wanted to buy a 60xs955 at Sears... hoping they would price match Circuit City's on-line price. An extended warranty was important to me and Sears is one the places I trust with these things. Well, no go... they were out of stock and had no idea when they would be able to order more.

I went to a CC store but ran screaming from them because their very overpriced warranty and clueless salesman.

I had given up, but skeptically peaked in Best Buy and actually found a salesman and his manager who was not only willing to price match CC on-line but also give me the 10% gift card discount CC offered today through e-mail! :cool: BB's extended warranty DOES include bulb (I have it in writing!) and it was 4 years for the price of Sears' 3 year warranty.

I didn't expect Best Buy to be the place, but I have to say they put a good effort into the sale and was trying to give me as much as they could. The salesman even showed me standard definition broadcast on a HDTV so I was clear what it would look like... a nice fair warning.

Sorry Sears... I really wanted to give you my money. :( I normally don't support Best Buy, but they surprised me and did good on this sale.

A BIG thanks to everyone on this forum, especially this thread, who helped me make this very expensive decision. I'll post my thought on my new baby when it shows up on the 30th.

Congrats! I much prefer BB to CC for some reason. Toobad Sears was out of stock but it sounds like you made out okay anyway. You should have signed up for the BB Reward Zone and you could have gotten another 5% gift card. It only costs $10 to join.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
This is interesting. I bought a stand that is 30" high but I'm concerned it's too high (don't have the TV or stand yet). So I went to Sony online and chatted with a rep, and he said it would be fine. I don't believe him, but that's what he said. Many people have said 30" is too high, while someone else has the same stand I bought and says it's ok. Can we get some opinions here?

There are two issues regarding height:

1. The 60XS is a monster. If you put it on a high stand, it will definitely dominate the room. Lower stands are more wife-friendly, to say the least. I'm single, but I really like my 60 XS much more esthetically, or how it blends with other furniture, on a 16" stand vs. my original 23" stand. On the 23, mine felt like I was living inside the opening monkey scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even in a room with 400 sq. ft. of floor space.

2. LCDRPs have a narrow viewing angle height-wise, of about 25 degrees, vs. 170 degrees horizontally. The single benefit plasmas have over LCDRP is that they don't have that drop-off. If you are looking up or down, not only will brightness suffer, but contrast (which as we know is critical with these sets) will ramp from top to bottom or bottom to top, depending, which will play hell with setting contrast properly for the entire screen at once. The best performance is to be directly in line, tilt-wise, with the center of the screen, regardless how far away you sit or at what viewing angle you choose. Imagine a horizontal plane emerging perpendicular to the center of the screen. That's the sweet spot. Anything else is a compromise. at 4 grand, I really hate to compromise.

So, its reduced to simple arithmetic. Find your seated viewing eye height. find the distance from the bottom of the set to the middle of the screen. Subtract B from A. That is the optimal height for your stand, and I highly doubt that it resolves to 30 inches, unless your Laz-Y-Boy is sitting up on concrete blocks.

Width? The 60XS is about 66 7/8 inches wide. This presents a problem, because other than some of the IKEA stuff, nothing is 16" high and 67" wide. But as it turns out, form follows function. What I mean by that is the extreme width of the XS is primarily due to the hanging speaker pods. Since the entire set is not that wide at the base, a 54"-wide stand actually works better, and looks better, than one that is 67" wide, IMHO. I was worried about that, but uneccessarily so, as it turned out.

People will tell you that what they bought is fine for a lot of reasons, many of them not at all in your best interests. Stockholm syndrome, for instance. Also, folks are understandably nervous about large purchases and need to validate that they made the right decision by telling themselves (and anyone who will listen) over and over again that they made a proper decision and everything's OK. Even if it's not. That's human nature, sadly enough. The Sony rep doesn't have to live with your stand and TV, so of course it's OK in his opinion.

I learned the hard way. You now have the benefit of my experience to not make the same mistake. I tried to tell myself for a week that 23 wasn't too high. But I finally faced facts. I needed a lower stand. Period. So do you. Be like the TomCat and do the right thing, Buck. You can thank me later.

And the sage continues ... :(

I decided to swap our our Onkyo Integra DPS-5 for our other DVD player, the Sony DVP-S530D. Both of these DVD players are 5 years old and do not have progressive scan capability. I kept the component video connection.

All was well for about 90 minutes into a movie my wife and kid were watching, and then it happened. The video dropped out for a second or two, then came back. I started to march up the stairs to write this post when my wife said it happened again (20-30 seconds after the first video dropout).

I quickly reversed the video to a point prior to the first dropout and watched the scene again. This time, there wasn't a video dropout. Oh swell, a non-repeatable video problem! :mad:

As far as I can tell, we didn't have this problem with the S-Video connection, although we may never have let the movies run long enough as we were demoing several scenes with our new TV. We also haven't had a video dropout problem with the cable TV (connected via Cable Antenna input).

Are our 5 year old DVD players to blame for these issues, or is there a problem with our 55XS955 (or a combination of both)? After all of this time, worrying about the black levels on this TV, which now isn't an issue at all because we can produce 8 distinct black levels with the THX Optimizer. I'd rather have charcoal-gray blacks than having the video randomly drop out.

Other than this, the TV is exactly what we wanted and more. :(

Michael

Michael, I think the best course of action is to pick up the Sony S975 DVD player and see if the problem occurs with HDMI. That would be the responsible thing to do. :D Good luck man, I'm pulling for you.

Originally posted by TomCat
There are two issues regarding height:

1. The 60XS is a monster. If you put it on a high stand, it will definitely dominate the room. Lower stands are more wife-friendly, to say the least. I'm single, but I really like my 60 XS much more esthetically, or how it blends with other furniture, on a 16" stand vs. my original 23" stand. On the 23, mine felt like I was living inside the opening monkey scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even in a room with 400 sq. ft. of floor space.

2. LCDRPs have a narrow viewing angle height-wise, of about 25 degrees, vs. 170 degrees horizontally. The single benefit plasmas have over LCDRP is that they don't have that drop-off. If you are looking up or down, not only will brightness suffer, but contrast (which as we know is critical with these sets) will ramp from top to bottom or bottom to top, depending, which will play hell with setting contrast properly for the entire screen at once. The best performance is to be directly in line, tilt-wise, with the center of the screen, regardless how far away you sit or at what viewing angle you choose. Imagine a horizontal plane emerging perpendicular to the center of the screen. That's the sweet spot. Anything else is a compromise. at 4 grand, I really hate to compromise.

So, its reduced to simple arithmetic. Find your seated viewing eye height. find the distance from the bottom of the set to the middle of the screen. Subtract B from A. That is the optimal height for your stand, and I highly doubt that it resolves to 30 inches, unless your Laz-Y-Boy is sitting up on concrete blocks.

Width? The 60XS is about 66 7/8 inches wide. This presents a problem, because other than some of the IKEA stuff, nothing is 16" high and 67" wide. But as it turns out, form follows function. What I mean by that is the extreme width of the XS is primarily due to the hanging speaker pods. Since the entire set is not that wide at the base, a 54"-wide stand actually works better, and looks better, than one that is 67" wide, IMHO. I was worried about that, but uneccessarily so, as it turned out.

People will tell you that what they bought is fine for a lot of reasons, many of them not at all in your best interests. Stockholm syndrome, for instance. Also, folks are understandably nervous about large purchases and need to validate that they made the right decision by telling themselves (and anyone who will listen) over and over again that they made a proper decision and everything's OK. Even if it's not. That's human nature, sadly enough. The Sony rep doesn't have to live with your stand and TV, so of course it's OK in his opinion.

I learned the hard way. You now have the benefit of my experience to not make the same mistake. I tried to tell myself for a week that 23 wasn't too high. But I finally faced facts. I needed a lower stand. Period. So do you. Be like the TomCat and do the right thing, Buck. You can thank me later.

Thanks for the post Tom. What do you think about angling the TV down a degree or two by putting a piece of cardboard underneath the stand towards the back? That's not the best solution, but I like the stand I bought and I am trying to find a solution. There isn't a nice furniture option yet that offers both style and function, so I'm struggling here.

Michael Mohrmann wrote:

__________________________________________________________

"decided to swap our our Onkyo Integra DPS-5 for our other DVD player, the Sony DVP-S530D. Both of these DVD players are 5 years old and do not have progressive scan capability. I kept the component video connection."
__________________________________________________________


Michael, Michael come on now you just spent a fortune on your TV and your plugging an ancient player into it. Come on now get a new player. I have the new Sony DLP-NS975V upconverting player running HDMI to HDMI and it is a FANTASTIC PQ. Just do it Mike.

What do you think about angling the TV down a degree or two by putting a piece of cardboard underneath the stand towards the back?

Might work until gravity takes over or some one bumps the set and it takes a $3,000 plus nose dive to the floor.

Originally posted by Mtnmike
What do you think about angling the TV down a degree or two by putting a piece of cardboard underneath the stand towards the back?

Might work until gravity takes over or some one bumps the set and it takes a $3,000 plus nose dive to the floor.

I wonder if that's covered in the extended warranty...:D It would be stable though.

Originally posted by Mtnmike
Michael Mohrmann wrote:

__________________________________________________________

"decided to swap our our Onkyo Integra DPS-5 for our other DVD player, the Sony DVP-S530D. Both of these DVD players are 5 years old and do not have progressive scan capability. I kept the component video connection."
__________________________________________________________


Michael, Michael come on now you just spent a fortune on your TV and your plugging an ancient player into it. Come on now get a new player. I have the new Sony DLP-NS975V upconverting player running HDMI to HDMI and it is a FANTASTIC PQ. Just do it Mike.

Exactly what I was thinking... (of course, I also have the new Sony DLP-NS975V...). I have learned quite a bit on this board, but have been amazed at the discussions over saving $30-40 on a cable, or running a 5 year old non-prog DVD player into this fine machine, (and experiencing problems)when serviceable progressive players can be picked up for not much more than $100.

Don't buy the Ferrari, and put watered down gas into it.... :)

actually I still kind of think that a good interlaced output will be fine for this tv since it is going to scale it no matter what, why scale it several times.

This is kind of a question too.

About 2 weeks ago I purchased the 55XS955 tv which arived yesterday about 2:00pm. I was finishing putting together the stand when they arrived just had to put the top glass on. For the stand I got the Bush VS74377 which is 22 inches high. The main thing I was worried about was the PQ of SD sources. I have Dish Network and the PQ is much better than what I have seen in the stores. I am very happy with this purchase so far and have not noticed any stuck pixels or other problems. I have not tweaked any settings other than switch from the default Vivid to Pro. This is a GREAT TV.


Now I have to work on getting High Definition setup. Any antenna suggestions are welcome but I will checking the other forums as well.

Does your stand have legs that you could cut down or some other creative solution to make it shorter? I've got my 55WF on a 16" stand and sitting on the couch ~10ft away it is the perfect heigt. It's obvious that I move into the sweet spot when I sit down...it's a little darker and less dynamic standing at the same distance.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Thanks for the post Tom. What do you think about angling the TV down a degree or two by putting a piece of cardboard underneath the stand towards the back? That's not the best solution, but I like the stand I bought and I am trying to find a solution. There isn't a nice furniture option yet that offers both style and function, so I'm struggling here.

Start by checking antennaweb.org and punching in your address. It will return a listing of broadcast stations with distances and directions from you. That will be a good start to deciding what you need. I do just fine with a $9 set of rabbit ears...about 12 miles out from the towers.

Originally posted by bkuner

Now I have to work on getting High Definition setup. Any antenna suggestions are welcome but I will checking the other forums as well.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
, my concern for the future is what will our 55XS955 do with a 480i component video input, say an XBox or DVD recorder?

I'm not sure if I understand your concern, but my response is that Xbox isn't limited to 480i... almost all games have 480p, many have 720p and some have 1080i. Just be sure you have the "HD pack" add-on. Microsoft designed the Xbox with HD tvs in mind.

As for a DVD recorder... I can't imagine one of these not having 480p.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Michael, I think the best course of action is to pick up the Sony S975 DVD player and see if the problem occurs with HDMI. That would be the responsible thing to do.
Originally posted by Mtnmike
Michael, Michael come on now you just spent a fortune on your TV and your plugging an ancient player into it. Come on now get a new player. I have the new Sony DLP-NS975V upconverting player running HDMI to HDMI and it is a FANTASTIC PQ.
Originally posted by jmdaniel
Exactly what I was thinking... (of course, I also have the new Sony DLP-NS975V...). I have learned quite a bit on this board, but have been amazed at the discussions over saving $30-40 on a cable, or running a 5 year old non-prog DVD player into this fine machine, (and experiencing problems)when serviceable progressive players can be picked up for not much more than $100.

Don't buy the Ferrari, and put watered down gas into it.... :)
We are probably going to end up with a new DVD player, but it seems like we shouldn't have to. I was hoping one of our DVD players would work just fine until HD-DVD is released, at which time we would get a new HD-DVD player.

I am just having a hard time believing that both of our DVD players are at fault here. Oh sure, if I had a couple of cheap, sub $100 DVD players, then I would understand. But both the Onkyo Integra DPS-5 and the Sony DVP-S530D retailed for $500. Plus the fact that there doesn't appear to be problems using the S-Video connection, other than some loss of picture quality, makes me wonder how DVD players could be at fault at the same time.

Beyond that, my concern for the future is what will our 55XS955 do with a 480i component video input, say an XBox or DVD recorder? If someone could explain why both of these DVD players are the source of the problem, an explanation other than they are "old", I would appreciate it.

Michael

Originally posted by DaverJ
I'm not sure if I understand your concern, but my response is that Xbox isn't limited to 480i... almost all games have 480p, many have 720p and some have 1080i. Just be sure you have the "HD pack" add-on. Microsoft designed the Xbox with HD tvs in mind.

As for a DVD recorder... I can't imagine one of these not having 480p.
I did not know that about XBox. I'm sure my 11 year old does!

About the DVD recorder, it's not a matter of having 480p (or beyond), it's that I shouldn't have to avoid 480i via component inputs. The 55XS955 and every other RPTV on the market can handle 480i, so I just need to find out why ours blanks out randomly when using our two DVD players.

Michael

connecting HTPC to 55WF ? I have a video card that has DVI out but I been told if it doesnt support copy protection , that I cannot use a DVI to HDMI cable? its NVIDIA I have the new force drivers and it even has a setting in the driver for Sonys funny resolution. I just dont want to drop 100 on a cable that dont work.. maybe its time to try ATI again

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
We are probably going to end up with a new DVD player, but it seems like we shouldn't have to. I was hoping one of our DVD players would work just fine until HD-DVD is released, at which time we would get a new HD-DVD player.

I am just having a hard time believing that both of our DVD players are at fault here. Oh sure, if I had a couple of cheap, sub $100 DVD players, then I would understand. But both the Onkyo Integra DPS-5 and the Sony DVP-S530D retailed for $500. Plus the fact that there doesn't appear to be problems using the S-Video connection, other than some loss of picture quality, makes me wonder how DVD players could be at fault at the same time.

Beyond that, my concern for the future is what will our 55XS955 do with a 480i component video input, say an XBox or DVD recorder? If someone could explain why both of these DVD players are the source of the problem, an explanation other than they are "old", I would appreciate it.

Michael

1. HD-DVD won't be mainstream for a few years so spending around $250 on a new DVD player to hold you over shouldn't be that big a deal. $250 is still good money but you gotta make your set shine.

2. You definitely need to find out if the problem lies with your TV. I think the best way to do that is buy the NS975V player and try using the component connection. Then you'll know. After you check, you can return the player or keep it. (KEEP IT! :D)

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
Does your stand have legs that you could cut down or some other creative solution to make it shorter? I've got my 55WF on a 16" stand and sitting on the couch ~10ft away it is the perfect heigt. It's obvious that I move into the sweet spot when I sit down...it's a little darker and less dynamic standing at the same distance.

The stand has legs I could chop off but that would defeat the purpose of having the nice stand in the first place. It's a fine piece of furniture and I don't want to ruin its looks. I am seriously considering cancelling the order and finding a temp stand until my company comes out with one.

Firstly, thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I've been lurking and waiting.... and now its done. Thought I'd contribute back.

Buying Sony wasn't easy, as a long time Hitachi customer. After deciding LCD vs Plasma I got spooked by the postings about the 50vs810 and shifted to Sony's 55XS955. I hope it is as reliable as my Hitachi's have been.

Now for the buying. I could not believe my eyes today (12/19) at bb.com to find it for $3150. - yes, less than the 55WF! On-line wouldn't offer EW, so I bought at B&M and did it (for the on-line price of course). Done!

However, I was prepared to pay $250 for the 4 Yr EW (after reading previous postings), but paid the $399. I was told the bulbs are covered, but that the $250 for EW was for earlier CRTs, and that it didn't cover the LCD & Bulbs.

BS? I don't know, but thought I'd post so those buying at $250 can check.

Including getting RZ points, I'm happy with the numbers - even the $40 shipping vs. Free on-line. We'll see about the unit. Lastly, stopped by CC and watched a Kirk roll out as I waited for my new stand. Felt sorry for the dude.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
And the sage continues ... :(

I decided to swap our our Onkyo Integra DPS-5 for our other DVD player, the Sony DVP-S530D. Both of these DVD players are 5 years old and do not have progressive scan capability. I kept the component video connection.

All was well for about 90 minutes into a movie my wife and kid were watching, and then it happened. The video dropped out for a second or two, then came back. I started to march up the stairs to write this post when my wife said it happened again (20-30 seconds after the first video dropout).

I quickly reversed the video to a point prior to the first dropout and watched the scene again. This time, there wasn't a video dropout. Oh swell, a non-repeatable video problem! :mad:

As far as I can tell, we didn't have this problem with the S-Video connection, although we may never have let the movies run long enough as we were demoing several scenes with our new TV. We also haven't had a video dropout problem with the cable TV (connected via Cable Antenna input).

Are our 5 year old DVD players to blame for these issues, or is there a problem with our 55XS955 (or a combination of both)? After all of this time, worrying about the black levels on this TV, which now isn't an issue at all because we can produce 8 distinct black levels with the THX Optimizer. I'd rather have charcoal-gray blacks than having the video randomly drop out.

Other than this, the TV is exactly what we wanted and more. :(

Michael

Michael,

No doubt. It is the player. In a few thousand Sony LCD rear projection posts I have yet to hear of one person having a drop out problem.

You may have already answered this, but why are you using a 5 year old player w/ this TV?

Lastly, you are apparently happy w/ the black levels?

-Brian

Originally posted by IamtheWolf
Now for the buying. I could not believe my eyes today (12/19) at bb.com to find it for $3150. - yes, less than the 55WF!

What are you talking about? It's $4199 right now!

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
What are you talking about? It's $xx99 right now!

The 60" is the price you mentioned, not the 55".

I seriously thought about going down to the 55" because it was save me so much money that I could put toward a HD DirecTivo. However, my rule when I find myself in a dilemma like this is I'm always happier in the long run when I go with the more expensive option. Whenever I choose the cheaper route, it's great for a while and then invariably I wish I had paid a little extra. But never the other way around....

Originally posted by Bghead8che
Michael,

...you are apparently happy w/ the black levels?



I too would like to hear more people's in-home impressions, especially on black levels after tweaking and fan noise.

Originally posted by DaverJ
The 60" is the price you mentioned, not the 55".

I seriously thought about going down to the 55" because it was save me so much money that I could put toward a HD DirecTivo. However, my rule when I find myself in a dilemma like this is I'm always happier in the long run when I go with the more expensive option. Whenever I choose the cheaper route, it's great for a while and then invariably I wish I had paid a little extra. But never the other way around....

My bad, I thought it was the 60XS955 for some reason.

Originally posted by Bghead8che
No doubt. It is the player. In a few thousand Sony LCD rear projection posts I have yet to hear of one person having a drop out problem.
But I have two DVD players doing the same thing. Two! If it were one DVD player, I might agree. But two DVD players, from different manufacturers (including one being a Sony), having the same problem?

Originally posted by Bghead8che
You may have already answered this, but why are you using a 5 year old player w/ this TV?
Because up to now it's been a great DVD player. Best audio of any DVD player less than $1000 that we auditioned 5 years ago. At this point in time, I'm not ready to audition DVD players to find another one that excels at audio.

Originally posted by Bghead8che
Lastly, you are apparently happy w/ the black levels?
Surprisingly satisfied. I thought we would be fine with the black levels, but with the THX Optimizer showing all 8 black levels without having to crank up the TV's brightness (ours is around 25-27, middle is 31), the black levels are pretty good. I'm sure there is a bit of black crush at the extremes of the black levels, but we aren't that critical of it.

My wife and daughter were watching Princess Diaries 2 last night, and at one point I entered the room to look at the picture. The scene was showing the body guard for the queen (Julie Andrews) who was wearing a black jacket, a black shirt, black pants, and a black belt. I could make out the distinct color and texture separation for each black clothing item.

Of course, all of this with a mediocre, 5 year old DVD player kicking out 480i via component! :D

Michael

Well, I wasted the better part of the afternoon trying to find the Sony NS975V DVD player. Finally found one about an hour ago (at least I didn't pay full price). Have it hooked up via component video cables, forcing the player to output 480i. Sorry, but if the 55XS955 burps with the NS975V connected this way, the 55XS955 goes back to the dealer for another one.

BTW, with the NS975V set to its standard video mode, the detail and color on the 55XS955 is not as good as it is with my older DVD players. I realize that I haven't set the player to progressive scan yet, but you would think that the N975V would easily top my older DVD players in an even playing field. Apparently not. Wife's not happy, I'm pissed! :(

We'll watch some movies tonight and see if the 55XS955's video drops out again.

Michael

Don't give up. I am on my 2nd set as I got mine back in Oct and had the earlier firmware with the channel probs (sept build I think). Now with the Nov build all is good and I couldn't be happier with my 60xs.
Now I've had the itch for a tivo but the comcast dual tuner dvr which also records HD seems to be the best value. Getting it setup on Thurs (just in time for vacation). I think a much better value than an HD tivo. These people paying a grand for hardware that might not be worth much in a year is too much for me to swallow.

Originally posted by DirtRider
Don't give up. I am on my 2nd set as I got mine back in Oct and had the earlier firmware with the channel probs (sept build I think). Now with the Nov build all is good and I couldn't be happier with my 60xs.
Well, our 55XS955 has a November 2004 build date, so I don't think I could get one much more recent.

I may have just seen another video dropout using the N975V via component video @480i. My wife missed it, so I'll wait for either her or my daughter to see on. The movie was playing fine, but my wife complained about lacking of some of the shadow detail. I set the black level in the N975V to whatever produces a brighter display. It was soon after that I thought I saw a video dropout.

Michael

I am going to be viewing tv from 9 feet away. I have a 56 inch Samsung DLP that I will be returning. Wondering if 60 inch sony will be too big? 56 inch sansung looks fine for HDTV at this distance wondering if a 60 wega is going to be to close for comfort.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
I may have just seen another video dropout using the N975V via component video @480i. My wife missed it, so I'll wait for either her or my daughter to see on.
My daughter just saw a video dropout with the N975V, so it appears to be our 55XS955 that can't handle the component video @480i. I'm going to set the N975V's component video to progressive (480p), but I think I am going to call the dealer tomorrow and arrange for a trade anyway. The 55XS955 should be able to handle a 480i signal via component.

I guess waiting three years to purchase our first HDTV wasn't long enough! :( :mad: What's probably the most depressing aspect is that the 55XS955 looks absolutely wonderful with our older Sony DVP-S530D DVD player, if you ignore the video dropouts.

Michael

That's crazy Michael. Are you going to stick with the same model TV? You keeping the NS975V? Sorry to hear about your problem. That's another example of the benefit of buying local.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
That's crazy Michael. Are you going to stick with the same model TV?
We would like to. It is interesting that during the search for the N975V today, we had a chance to view a bunch of TVs. We would choose the 55XS955 in a heartbeat again just based on the picture. Unlike some of the problems that pop up in RPTVs these days, this one is annoying, but has little to do with the picture quality.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
You keeping the NS975V?
Debatable. I switched the N975V into 480p for the component output and my wife said a video dropout occurred within 15 minutes. So, it isn't just a 480i problem. We still think that the Sony DVP-S530D at 480i has a better picture than the N975V at either 480i or 480p.

One last test I am doing is that I have removed the cable TV coax from the 55XS955. We have a grounding problem with our cable TV system where we can hear a buzz/hum through the audio system with the VCR connected to our prepro (audio isn't set up right now). Just trying to eliminate all other variables.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Sorry to hear about your problem. That's another example of the benefit of buying local.
Since we are still within the first 30 days (8 days left), we can get an exchange based on a defect problem. I just hope they have one in stock when I call them tomorrow.

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
One last test I am doing is that I have removed the cable TV coax from the 55XS955. We have a grounding problem with our cable TV system where we can hear a buzz/hum through the audio system with the VCR connected to our prepro (audio isn't set up right now). Just trying to eliminate all other variables.
Our video dropped out again 35 minutes into a movie with the cable TV coax disconnected. I have now run out of ideas. We've tried new cables, a new DVD player, different DVDs, 480i, 480p, and nothing connected to the TV except for the DVD player. The random video dropouts still continue. Sounds like an overly sensitive video board inside of the 55XS955.

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
Since we are still within the first 30 days (8 days left), we can get an exchange based on a defect problem. I just hope they have one in stock when I call them tomorrow.

Michael

Good luck man.

Michael,

I find it hard to believe you have had all of these problems. My 55WF655 and 975V work together like they were meant to. The TV PQ is outstanding as is the PQ from the 975V via HDMI. I find the 975V IMHO to be a great transition technology until true HD DVD presents itself in about a year or more.

After running DVE calibration and tweaking an already great PQ with the DRC palette with SD and analog I couldn't be more satisfied. From what I have heard and read this is the norm. Sorry about the unusual bad luck you have experienced.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Good luck man.
Thanks. The good news is that the TV is still usable. Cable TV doesn't have the video dropouts. Also, we can use the S-Video connection for the DVD player instead of the component video connection. We'll take a slight hit in the picture quality, but it still looks quite good, better than what we are use to.

My daughter and I watched the last 1:20 of Back to the Future III using the N975V and the S-Video connection. No video dropouts. I suspect that the problem lies in the component video circuitry of the 55XS955. I'd rather have a new 55XS955 in exchange, but a component board switch may also solve the problem.

Michael

Originally posted by Mtnmike
I find it hard to believe you have had all of these problems.
Mtnmike,

Actually, we've only had one problem. Our 55XS955 appears to be unable to process any component video input (480i, 480p) without experiencing a video dropout. The S-Video connection works fine and the cable TV system to the Cable Antenna input works far better than expected.

With the component video input of both Sony DVD players (old and new), we are able to see all 8 black levels with the THX Optimizer, although I think their test sets the Brightness a bit too high. Again, a far better than expected video performance.

Other than the video dropouts, we have only one other complaint. I wish there was an option to show the Mute box for a few seconds, then disappear.

Michael

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
...What do you think about angling the TV down a degree or two by putting a piece of cardboard underneath the stand towards the back?...There isn't a nice furniture option yet that offers both style and function, so I'm struggling here.

I feel your pain. The Sony-suggested stand is pretty perfect, but is 800 smackers. I got a close-out SUGW1 (for last year's models), instead, for less than half that price. It's a little smaller, but works perfectly. If you really want sticker shock, check out Sony's glass-wall plasma mount stand, yours for a mere $4999.99!

Angling the set down makes sense to me. It solves issue 2 (or at least helps in that regard) but does little to help issue 1. It might also help minimize glare from windows or room lighting. Also, remember the horizontal plane analogy. Angling the set down works well for seating directly in front of the set, but helps less for seating off to one side.

Good luck. Having a new Sony GWIV and fussing about the stand is actually what I consider a "good" problem. Not having the Sony would be a real problem.

Originally posted by bent98
I am going to be viewing tv from 9 feet away....Wondering if 60 inch sony will be too big?...

I'm 7.5 ft. from my 60 XS, which feels about right. SD stuff looks a little soft, but that's because its SD, and its much bigger than what I was used to.

The ATSC figured the optimal viewing distance for HD to be 3.3 times the screen height, which is about 7'4" for this set. That's what everything else in the HD specs is designed around, as the first question they asked themselves was "how close will folks be expecting to sit for the optimal viewing experience?". 3.3 times the screen height was the answer.

Of course SDE is a function of pixel size vs. viewing distance, too, but I find that with a native rez of 768, pixels are pretty invisible at 7 ft.

Here's a link that takes a comprehensive look at your question:
http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

As you can see, once you pass 7.8 ft., 1080i images actually resolve better than the human eye. IOW, for a 60" set, if you sit further than 7.8 ft. away, there is resolved detail that you can't even see, which seems like a waste to me. To get the full benefit, you really need to be at about 6.7 to 7.8 ft. from a 60" set, but YMMV. Of course CLOSER than 7.8 ft. just means SD material will look that much worse, so to me, 7.5 ft. or so is perfect.

Of course that 1080i resolution is theoretical and doesn't take into account Kell factor, interlace factor, interlace flicker, or any other devaluer of perceived resolution. Under the best of conditions, perceived rez of 1080i images is about 756 lines, so that 7.8 ft. threshold might be a bit optimistic, and in reality you could probably be at 9-10 ft without really "wasting" resolution.

Sign of future problem???

I turned on my sony 60xs955 after having no problems for 2 months and the screen was full of a snow. There was normal sound, but the picture on every input had a snowy picture. Turned the TV off and turned it back on 5 minutes later and all was normal. Could this be a sign of something going wrong?

I got my 60WF655 delivered on Saturday. Combined with the Sony stand, it's a great looking set. PQ OOB is great - waiting for my Avia disk to arrive to try some tweaking. One question though - cable feed connected to cable antenna connection - when I let it find the channels (I did it twice, once for all and again for digital only) it came up with 160 digital channels found. However, as I surf through them, only 1 channel actually has a picture although I do receive 40 music channels. On all the others I get B/W snow only. I subscribe to their digital offering through Adelphia, which includes about 20 digital channels and 40 music channels. Is this to be expected? Everything works fine when I use the STB via component cables to tune. Great forum and great contributors. Thanks.

I've had my KDF-60XS955 about 3 weeks now. Overall I am extremely happy with my television. The PQ is superb. The only little glitch that I seem to have is that occasionally the channel display will stay on the screen instead of disappearing like it should. When it does this, I can hit the display button and it will disappear. It doesn't happen often, but it is annoying when it does this. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for it?

Im getting rid of my Samsung DLP and want to get a Sony 55 or 60 inch. I have a tech craft pv-58, which is a 58 inch wide stand. I know the sony has its own stand for like $800. I also know it has a lip that the tv slides into. Can I use the tech craft stand. I know it will fit on it but will the TV fall over. Do I have to some how secure it?

Bent it should be fine on there without any extra securing unless you have earthquake potential or kids around your TV.

Originally posted by oldnacl
...cable feed connected to cable antenna connection - when I let it find the channels (I did it twice, once for all and again for digital only) it came up with 160 digital channels found. However, as I surf through them, only 1 channel actually has a picture although I do receive 40 music channels. On all the others I get B/W snow only. I subscribe to their digital offering through Adelphia, which includes about 20 digital channels and 40 music channels. Is this to be expected? Everything works fine when I use the STB via component cables to tune. Great forum and great contributors. Thanks.

That's a really interesting one. I think what the Sony does during setup is look at each channel frequency one by one for evidence of real carriers. When looking at analog channels it typically looks for something from which it can demodulate analog sync, placing the channel into the rotation if it finds it, and skipping it if it does not. For digital channels its probably the same, except it looks for information of digital carriers. Since about the only thing that would distinguish a digital channel from no channel is digital sync segmentation, that is likely what it uses.

In your case Adelphia may be placing sync in all of its channels, used or unused, or possibly the STB generates sync no matter what on the RF output specifically so that auto-setup doesn't limit the set to one channel, which would be a customer nightmare at the point where a STB customer downgrades and connects without the STB.

A digital channel with modulation that has no video but does include a carrier and sync could appear as a true channel to the autosetup routine yet as noise to the eye, due to the power randomization used in digital signals that keeps the modulated carrier energy dispersion even throughout the bandwidth of that channel. That also explains why a digital signal shows no evidence of any signal when tuned by an analog tuner. There's a signal there, but the randomization masks it to look very similar to random noise if demodulated conventionally. Music channels most definitely contain sync. Sometimes setup either picks or skips an individual channel in error, such as when analog sync suppression (scrambling) is being used.

It's interesting that the set doesn't see the unused channels when connected by component, but not unexpected. At that point any channels are analog sync and video, and digital "empty" channels are probably not recognized by the STB itself and so don't output sync/video, allowing the setup routine to skip them.

This is all assuming the STB does not convert the RF channels to a single RF output channel. If the STB works in that manner, autosetup rarely works properly for obvious reasons.

In your case the best course is likely to use component cables for setup, and then switch to whatever works best for you afterwards.

Originally posted by BassHog
I've had my KDF-60XS955 about 3 weeks now. Overall I am extremely happy with my television. The PQ is superb. The only little glitch that I seem to have is that occasionally the channel display will stay on the screen instead of disappearing like it should. When it does this, I can hit the display button and it will disappear. It doesn't happen often, but it is annoying when it does this. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for it?

I've had my 60WF655 for a week now and soemthing similar happened once. On mine the channel display (along with all the other info like Video 6, program notes etc.) popped up in the middle of a show without anyone touching a remote. Had to hit the display button to make it dissapear. Not sure what triggered it, but it has only happened the one time. Will keep an eye out for it.
Oh, I agree the HD picture quality is superb. I watched the HD football games mostly with my mouth hanging open in amazement and not really paying attention to the score. Even my football hating wife sat there staring at the screen mesmorized. That is the ultimate WAF :D

Originally posted by bent98
...the sony has its own stand for like $800. I also know it has a lip that the tv slides into. Can I use the tech craft stand. I know it will fit on it but will the TV fall over. Do I have to some how secure it?

The practice of securing a set so that it will not fall over is a legacy holdover from the days of CRTs. Flat CRTs have thick glass on the front so that the tube will not implode if struck accidentally (curved CRTs were automatically protected by their eggshell-shaped construction, which is also why they don't make square light bulbs). 90% of the weight in a modern CRT set is in the front 2 inches, making them candidates for maiming rambunctious small children, something that understandably keeps their corporate lawyers awake at night. The Sony stand has a lip and a polypropylene strap to keep this from happening, but it is very likely not an issue with LCDRP, which distributes its weight evenly. A 36" CRT Sony weighs over twice what a 60 XS weighs, simply because of the thick glass, and would be extremely difficult to knock over short of an earthquake.

If you're concerned, get the Sony stand and strap it in. If not, you can still connect a piece of aircraft cable to the strap connector on the back of the Sony and secure it to any stand. I'm not about to tell you you don't need it, because then I will need one of those expensive lawyers. Read between the lines and make your own decision.

Well,

I've been mullnig this decision for some time (forgive me if this is the wrong thread but you guys all have them already so i'll bounce my th oughts off you).

I couldn't get the blacks to my liking at CC but when to a private dealer after reading this thread and realizing the advance adjments are noly available when in pro mode. Wala, big improvement. looked very good IMO in a dark room for a RPLCD.

One question - they had a direct tv feed, and the digital channel displayed was 4:3 with black bars on each side. On one side of the picture, there was video noise - are many of you guys seeing this??? best way to describe it is like when the entire screen has "snow" except the snow is only visible on an 1/8" vertical line down the side of the 4:3 picture (hope this makes sense).

Another question - would you get it now or wait 3 weeks for CES to see the next gen wega's next year??? how long does sony usually keep a set on the market???

Aceman

I've been lurking for a month now, but decided to join the fold. Thanks to everyone for the great information posted here, it's been very helpful.

I've had my 55xs955 since November 13th and yesterday while watching a DVD on my Sony NS975V, the picture went pink. Since this is my second 975 (first one initiated the tray lock by itself and would not release) I thought that maybe I have another bad 975. Switched to my Direct TV source (both the HR10-250 and the 975 run off Monster 400 series HDMI cables) and it was pink as well. Everything had a pink/reddish hue and very dark areas were dark green, not black. Yellows are now orange, greens are blue. Tweeter is sending someone out tomorrow to look at it (they better just replace it before Christmas) - does anyone know what's going on or has anyone experienced this? Thanks

Originally posted by BassHog
I've had my KDF-60XS955 about 3 weeks now. Overall I am extremely happy with my television. The PQ is superb. The only little glitch that I seem to have is that occasionally the channel display will stay on the screen instead of disappearing like it should. When it does this, I can hit the display button and it will disappear. It doesn't happen often, but it is annoying when it does this. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for it?

I reported this problem over a month ago on this thread and received numerous replies from others with the same issue. I called Sony service, who were clueless, and they sent out a technician. He was unaware of this problem until I handed him printouts of the posts on this site. He said he would look into it but I never heard back from him.

Meanwhile, he suggested I send the unit back and CC gladly swapped me out for a new 55WF (I almost felt bad getting a completely new set for such a minor flaw). Final result -- the new set still has the same problem, although not as often.

I THINK WE NEED TO COMPLAIN TO SONY AND GET THEM TO FIX THESE OBVIOUS DEFECTS!

Originally posted by oldnacl
I got my 60WF655 delivered on Saturday. Combined with the Sony stand, it's a great looking set. PQ OOB is great - waiting for my Avia disk to arrive to try some tweaking. One question though - cable feed connected to cable antenna connection - when I let it find the channels (I did it twice, once for all and again for digital only) it came up with 160 digital channels found. However, as I surf through them, only 1 channel actually has a picture although I do receive 40 music channels. On all the others I get B/W snow only. I subscribe to their digital offering through Adelphia, which includes about 20 digital channels and 40 music channels. Is this to be expected? Everything works fine when I use the STB via component cables to tune. Great forum and great contributors. Thanks.

Using Comcast in Denver on the cable RF input, the TV found over 200 digital channels, of which 70 or so were viewable. The others I presume were encrypted and only available using an STB or cablecard. Of the 70 that were viewable most were music channels and most of these had a bit of video along with the music showing the ablum, artist and song title. Of the channels that were not music, I got 5 HD versions of the local broadcast stations, a couple of digital channels that weren't encrypted, some STARZ channels that were available on a trial basis, and the on-demand channels (I get to watch what my neighbors are requesting, but they control the fast-forward, pause and rewind buttons :D ). None of the digital station channel numbers matched what Comcast advertises, but that's because I don't have an STB to translate channel 18.1 (CBS HD) to channel number 653, or whatever they say it is. What you are seeing sounds normal.

After spending a good portion of my life browsing these forums, I finally caved in and made an educated purchase on a 55XS from BB, along with a cheap 19.5" tall/50" wide/19" deep stand from Ikea that only costs $99 (Benno). The TV is going to be delivered this Wednesday, so hopefully no obvious glitches...then TWC with digital cable via CableCARD to be installed that evening...I've no need for STB's.

Now, for my question to the more experienced consumers out there: when I purchased the TV I didn't buy the extended warranty (wanted to explore more options) but I am planning on doing so - the funny thing is that the BB salesman told me that the only way to buy extended warranties is to buy it on the day of purchasing the TV...I'm not sure if he's right or not but I am assuming that he's wrong, since I am aware that you can buy extended warranties from other retailers (i.e. CC, Sears, etc.) despite where you purchased your TV. Is there any truth to what BB has said in regards to restrictions in purchasing extended warranties?

TomCat - Thanks for that informative reply regarding the digital channels. I'm not sure that I made it clear that I plugged in the cable straight from the wall (no STB in the picture) when I ran setup. Then, when I saw only the music channels (accompanied by the still picture/album information Adelphia broadcasts with the music) and the single active channel, I put in an amplified splitter and connected the STB to another feed off the splitter, then fed the Sony via Component to Video 5 inputs. The STB also feeds a ReplayTV via S-video which controls and takes over the STB when recording. My thought on the cable feed into the tuner is that I can still watch something using the set tuner while the RTV is controlling the STB. Anyway, I'm going to stop @ the Adellphia office and see if they have experience with cable cards - hopefully that will get me the digital content w/o using the STB. I'd really hoped I'd have the same experience as others who've reported receiving multiple digital channels when going cable direct into tuner. As they say, YMMV.

(I get to watch what my neighbors are requesting, but they control the fast-forward, pause and rewind buttons :D ).

????

Originally posted by drengka
I've had my 60WF655 for a week now and soemthing similar happened once. On mine the channel display (along with all the other info like Video 6, program notes etc.) popped up in the middle of a show without anyone touching a remote. Had to hit the display button to make it dissapear. Not sure what triggered it, but it has only happened the one time. Will keep an eye out for it.
Oh, I agree the HD picture quality is superb. I watched the HD football games mostly with my mouth hanging open in amazement and not really paying attention to the score. Even my football hating wife sat there staring at the screen mesmorized. That is the ultimate WAF :D

If you notice, the display comes as exactly how it does when you turn on the set. This tells me that the power dipped or something else happened to make the set believe it was just turned on. I noticed that when I plugged the set into my new UPS, it never happened again. The set seems unusually sensitive to the power fluctuations.

bent98 asked:

Im getting rid of my Samsung DLP and want to get a Sony 55 or 60 inch. I have a tech craft pv-58, which is a 58 inch wide stand. Can I use the tech craft stand. I know it will fit on it but will the TV fall over. Do I have to some how secure it?

__________________________________________________________

Bent98,

I have the Techcraft PV-58 and it works and looks GREAT for my 55WF655. No issue of stability. As a matter of fact the local CC recommended it and they have it as a display stand for the 55 inch sony's in the local store. The height is perfect for a 9 foot viewing distance. The TV sits solidly on top the depth is slightly more than the depth of the 55WF655. You will not have to secure the set to the stand.

Dave72 wrote:

I've been lurking for a month now, but decided to join the fold. Thanks to everyone for the great information posted here, it's been very helpful.

I've had my 55xs955 since November 13th and yesterday while watching a DVD on my Sony NS975V, the picture went pink. Since this is my second 975 (first one initiated the tray lock by itself and would not release) I thought that maybe I have another bad 975. Switched to my Direct TV source (both the HR10-250 and the 975 run off Monster 400 series HDMI cables) and it was pink as well. Everything had a pink/reddish hue and very dark areas were dark green, not black. Yellows are now orange, greens are blue. Tweeter is sending someone out tomorrow to look at it (they better just replace it before Christmas) - does anyone know what's going on or has anyone experienced this? Thanks.
_______________________________________________________

Dave it could be a cabling problem. Try a different HDMI cable and re-check your connectors for a secure fit.

Originally posted by BrianBHD
I noticed that when I plugged the set into my new UPS, it never happened again. The set seems unusually sensitive to the power fluctuations.

Ah, I realized my other question that I was aiming to ask but forgot - I've been thinking about getting a UPS for its power-filtering/cleaning ability and surge protection...but I don't think I'll need the battery backup feature of them. Are there such things as powersurge protectors that also cleans the power source in addition to regulating power levels to a stable level (i.e. prevent over and undersurges)?

There are quite a few UPS out there with different watt ratings - I understand the 55XS955 uses about 132watts for the bulb itself, but couldn't find anywhere in the manual the total power rating of the TV - I'm assuming it shouldn't be over 200 watts...anybody know the details? Thanks.

Originally posted by Mtnmike

Dave it could be a cabling problem. Try a different HDMI cable and re-check your connectors for a secure fit. [/B]

I have the 'complimentary' HDMI cable that came with the Tivo HR10-250, I can see if that gives me a different result I already turned everything on/off, re-set the connections wth no improvement. I didn't suspect a cable problem since the picture over two different sources (with the same Monster HDMI) was equally poor.

Since the DVD player freaked out the day prior to the TV, I'm worried that the NS975V was the cause of the damage to my TV. I'm getting a replacement 55XS955 on Wednesday, now I'm leary of hooking up 975 number 2.

Does anyone else set their 975 to 1080i output? This seems to look the best for me, but maybe it caused some problem.... :confused:

I've used my 975 over HDMI to 60XS at AUTO (1080i) and also have been running it at 480i to play with the 60XS scaler. Haven't seen pink problem yet.

Here's an update on our situation with our 55XS955. I called Video Only where we bought our TV and they referred us to Sony service. Video Only did not even make an attempt to offer a switch for a new TV, even though we are still within the first 30 days. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but in some stores that seems to be standard operating procedure.

Next came the call to Sony service. I spent nearly 15 minutes describing in excruciating detail the extent of our problem and what we did to troubleshoot it. Much of the conversation was directed at how I was able to isolate the problem, almost like they didn't believe I was thorough enough in my troubleshooting. The only suggestions they had were to perform a reset on the TV, and if the reset did not work, arrange for a repair of our TV.

Here's the procedure we were given to reset the 55XS955. Power off the TV (if it isn't already). Make sure that the cooling fan has stopped, then disconnect the power cord from the AC. Wait at least one minute, then reconnect the power cord to the AC. Power on the TV and test.

About an hour into a movie using the N975V, I saw a video dropout. About five minutes later, a second video dropout. So, the reset did not correct the problem.

I guess I'll call one of the two service centers they gave me the names and the phone numbers for, but I almost feel like boxing up the TV and dropping it off at Video Only. Problem is, they don't have a refund policy like BB or CC or GG, only an exchange or store credit.

Michael

I was watching Bad Boys 2 on Cinemax HD last night. Anytime there were camera flashbulbs, lightning strikes, or any very rapid panning of the camera, the picture would severely pixelate. It happened everytime in such instances, and I've noticed it while watching other HD movies as well.

Is this the TV not being able to process the information fast enough, or a problem with the feed?

Any way to remedy this. It's horrendous.

Originally posted by doose1174
I was watching Bad Boys 2 on Cinemax HD last night. Anytime there were camera flashbulbs, lightning strikes, or any very rapid panning of the camera, the picture would severely pixelate. It happened everytime in such instances, and I've noticed it while watching other HD movies as well.

Is this the TV not being able to process the information fast enough, or a problem with the feed?

Any way to remedy this. It's horrendous.

what model are you using, I have a 55wf655 on the way

Originally posted by Squawks
Ah, I realized my other question that I was aiming to ask but forgot - I've been thinking about getting a UPS for its power-filtering/cleaning ability and surge protection...but I don't think I'll need the battery backup feature of them. Are there such things as powersurge protectors that also cleans the power source in addition to regulating power levels to a stable level (i.e. prevent over and undersurges)?

There are quite a few UPS out there with different watt ratings - I understand the 55XS955 uses about 132watts for the bulb itself, but couldn't find anywhere in the manual the total power rating of the TV - I'm assuming it shouldn't be over 200 watts...anybody know the details? Thanks.

You may want a UPS for its backup (read LAMP SAVING) feature. A surge protector is better than nothing but it does not regulate the power. I actually have my set plugged into a UPS (hopefully to save the lamp in case of a power failure - assuming of course that I'm in the room to turn off the set!) but I still get the OSD problem occasionally. BTW, the power requirements for your set are listed in the back of the manual; the 55WF uses 265W.

Originally posted by doose1174
I was watching Bad Boys 2 on Cinemax HD last night. Anytime there were camera flashbulbs, lightning strikes, or any very rapid panning of the camera, the picture would severely pixelate. It happened everytime in such instances, and I've noticed it while watching other HD movies as well.

Is this the TV not being able to process the information fast enough, or a problem with the feed?

Any way to remedy this. It's horrendous.

I've had HD for only a couple of weeks and noticed similar things to this. From what I can tell by watching different HD channels and DVD's is that it seems to be the source when things like this happen.
All my DVD's play great, the only time I see this pixelating is certain HD programs or HD channels. KCET HD (PBS) is always like this, I don't even watch it anymore.

Originally posted by wwwTOPDJcom
what model are you using, I have a 55wf655 on the way

I have the 55XS. When it happens, the screen becomes unwatchable :mad:

while pixelation can be caused by cheap encoders, it is usually caused by signal loss (dropped bits). if your hd feed is cable, you need a service call, if OTA, then check signal strength.

Originally posted by blb
while pixelation can be caused by cheap encoders, it is usually caused by signal loss (dropped bits). if your hd feed is cable, you need a service call, if OTA, then check signal strength.

Doubtful if signal loss is the cause. If it were, it would occur randomly, not in association with rapid change in lighting or movement. More likely is an insufficient amount of data to maintain a good picture due to mpeg compression losses when confronted with a whole screen worth of changed data in a short amount of time. Most likely has little or nothing to do with the tv. I've seen the same phenomenon on premium satellite channels on both my current 55XS955 Sony and my older big screen analog Sony XBR.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
I guess I'll call one of the two service centers they gave me the names and the phone numbers for, but I almost feel like boxing up the TV and dropping it off at Video Only. Problem is, they don't have a refund policy like BB or CC or GG, only an exchange or store credit.
One of the two service centers was able to come to our house this afternoon. A service tech took a look at the set, discussed the problem with me, called back to his service shop, and then proceeded to tell me there was nothing he could do in our home since they had never heard of this problem.

The best they could offer was taking the TV away to their service center, run some tests, and then work with Sony to try and figure out our intermittent problem. I had a better solution: order the component input board and we'll keep the TV until it arrives. No go!

So, after a quick call to my wife, we decided to forgo the servicing and instead return our TV to Video Only for an exchange, which I did this evening. Unfortunately, they don't have any in stock, so we need to wait for the next shipment of 55XS955s (no ETA). They just received some 60XS955s, so hopefully the 55s will follow.

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
So, after a quick call to my wife, we decided to forgo the servicing and instead return our TV to Video Only for an exchange, which I did this evening. Unfortunately, they don't have any in stock, so we need to wait for the next shipment of 55XS955s (no ETA). They just received some 60XS955s, so hopefully the 55s will follow.

Michael

Don't forget to write down your settings. Have faith, will prosper.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Don't forget to write down your settings. Have faith, will prosper.
Too late, the 55XS955 has been returned. Then again, I can apply my default settings to the Pro mode in one minute with any XS955. They're seared in my brain! :)

I had an opportunity to take their demo 55XS955 home tonight, which was put out on display the same night we took home our 55XS955, but given that the screen was at "kid" level, I can imagine the number of times the screen was bumped in the last 3 weeks.

This was a real heart breaker. The screen had no stuck or dead or hot pixels, cable TV looked surprisingly good, we were able to see all 8 levels of black in the THX Optimizer (without Service Menu adjustments), and our 5 year old Sony DVP-S530D DVD player kicked the snot out of the Sony NS975V DVD player with this TV, even when comparing 480i (S530D) to 480p (N975V).

BTW, I also returned the N975V back to Good Guys. Without the dropouts, the S530D will be more than sufficient for the time being. I would sure love to find a demo or heavily discounted Denon 2900 (good for audio too).

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
Too late, the 55XS955 has been returned. Then again, I can apply my default settings to the Pro mode in one minute with any XS955. They're seared in my brain! :)

You gotta hook me up when I get my 60XS955! :)

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
This was a real heart breaker. The screen had no stuck or dead or hot pixels, cable TV looked surprisingly good, we were able to see all 8 levels of black in the THX Optimizer (without Service Menu adjustments), and our 5 year old Sony DVP-S530D DVD player kicked the snot out of the Sony NS975V DVD player with this TV, even when comparing 480i (S530D) to 480p (N975V).

What do you mean it was a heart breaker? You mean that you now had a perfect set in your house that wasn't yours? That was pretty nice of them to let you borrow it. No video dropouts? Maybe you should offer to keep the demo at a discount.

Michael,

Your story is more along the lines of a soap box opera. Do you write novels for a living? Are we trolling or is this saga for real??????

Originally posted by doose1174
I was watching Bad Boys 2 on Cinemax HD...the picture would severely pixelate...Is this the TV not being able to process the information fast enough, or a problem with the feed?

Any way to remedy this. It's horrendous.

The problem is bit starving, and it is equivalent to a bottleneck in the delivery system. The bottleneck can be anywhere, but it only manifests during decoding, as the decoder can't find enough bits within the stream to adequately reconstruct the video frames. That is not to say that the set is at fault, as that is not likely. CBS 0&0 HD stations usually maintain a bitstream of approximately 18 Mb/s, for instance, and the decoder in the GWIV has no trouble at all keeping up with that sort of throughput, even in the encoder-intensive scenes such as those in "CSI:Miami". Cinemax HD, delivered by cable or DBS, is likely much more highly compressed, which is likely where the bottleneck is. Don't blame your set, blame your content vendor. They were hoping you wouldn't notice, but you did. Don't let them get away with it.

Originally posted by jeff abc
I reported this problem over a month ago on this thread and received numerous replies from others with the same issue. I called Sony service, who were clueless, and they sent out a technician. He was unaware of this problem until I handed him printouts of the posts on this site. He said he would look into it but I never heard back from him.

Meanwhile, he suggested I send the unit back and CC gladly swapped me out for a new 55WF (I almost felt bad getting a completely new set for such a minor flaw). Final result -- the new set still has the same problem, although not as often.

I THINK WE NEED TO COMPLAIN TO SONY AND GET THEM TO FIX THESE OBVIOUS DEFECTS!

I agree. I am going to contact Sony and see if they've learned anything more about this.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
What do you mean it was a heart breaker? You mean that you now had a perfect set in your house that wasn't yours? That was pretty nice of them to let you borrow it. No video dropouts? Maybe you should offer to keep the demo at a discount.
I was talking about the 55XS955 we had purchased. It was perfect in every way except for the video dropouts. Even with the video dropouts, it was hard to return the TV.

Originally posted by Mtnmike
Your story is more along the lines of a soap box opera. Do you write novels for a living? Are we trolling or is this saga for real??????
Well, I have 1000 posts on this forum for you to read to see if I am trolling. I have easily that many posts on the hometheaterforum.com under the same name if you wish to check me out further.

If that isn't enough, call Video Only at (650)578-1212 and ask them about the TV I returned, serial # 9003851. Additionally, you can call Sony Support at (800)222-SONY and mentioned Event ID # E26675282.

Michael

Originally posted by Mtnmike
Michael,

Your story is more along the lines of a soap box opera. Do you write novels for a living? Are we trolling or is this saga for real??????

What are you, some sort of detective? :D

Well, I have 1000 posts on this forum for you to read to see if I am trolling. I have easily that many posts on the hometheaterforum.com under the same name if you wish to check me out further.

_____________________________________________________

It would appear if it wasn't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all. Hopefully things will brighten for you and the replacement TV etc will change all of that. Good luck.

His predicament is unfortunate, but not all that unbelievable. I've been following this saga with interest, and wish Michael better luck with his replacement.

Godspeed Michael... please keep posting and ignore snide "troll" remarks.

Originally posted by TomCat
The problem is bit starving, and it is equivalent to a bottleneck in the delivery system. The bottleneck can be anywhere, but it only manifests during decoding, as the decoder can't find enough bits within the stream to adequately reconstruct the video frames. That is not to say that the set is at fault, as that is not likely. CBS 0&0 HD stations usually maintain a bitstream of approximately 18 Mb/s, for instance, and the decoder in the GWIV has no trouble at all keeping up with that sort of throughput, even in the encoder-intensive scenes such as those in "CSI:Miami". Cinemax HD, delivered by cable or DBS, is likely much more highly compressed, which is likely where the bottleneck is. Don't blame your set, blame your content vendor. They were hoping you wouldn't notice, but you did. Don't let them get away with it.

Hoping I didn't notice :confused: . I think a blind person would have seen this, it was so bad. I'm actually not sure where the Cinemax is coming from. Right now I just have basic (non-digital) cable, and don't subscribe to any of the pay channels. But, for some reason my new set picks up HBO HD, TMC HD, and Cinemax HD for free (I'm not complaining!) Are these OTA broadcasts? If so, the TV shouldn't have these pixelation issues, right?

BTW...anybody know how I might be getting these channels for free? I'll decline to list my cable provider so as not to spoil a good thing :D .

Originally posted by doose1174
Hoping I didn't notice :confused: . I think a blind person would have seen this, it was so bad. I'm actually not sure where the Cinemax is coming from. Right now I just have basic (non-digital) cable, and don't subscribe to any of the pay channels.

(*record scratch sound effect*)

Wait a minute... are you complaining about an "unwatchable" pay channel that you aren't paying for??? :rolleyes:

Originally posted by DaverJ
(*record scratch sound effect*)

Wait a minute... are you complaining about an "unwatchable" pay channel that you aren't paying for??? :rolleyes:

Yeah, why? :p . I'm assuming it would be the same problem if I was paying, so it is just some pre-emptive problem solving :D . Plus, I wondered if anyone else had this problem. I haven't seemed to notice it yet while watching DVDs.

Originally posted by doose1174
I'm assuming it would be the same problem if I was paying, so it is just some pre-emptive problem solving :D .
Not true. Your TV's tuner is not suppose to be able to descramble a premium channel. What's required is a cable TV box (descrambler) or a cable card.

Michael

Originally posted by doose1174
Yeah, why? :p . I'm assuming it would be the same problem if I was paying, so it is just some pre-emptive problem solving :D .


I *wouldn't* assume that it would look that way if you were paying for it. Maybe your set is locking in a weak signal that would be perfect if you subscribed...?

Interesting question.... anyone know?

For the first time since I've my second 60xs I noticed the display go on when I didn't push a button. Not detrimental but as was mentioned it could get annoying if that repeated. Only seen it once so far. At least the channel memory works with this nov build.

Originally posted by DirtRider
For the first time since I've my second 60xs I noticed the display go on when I didn't push a button. Not detrimental but as was mentioned it could get annoying if that repeated. Only seen it once so far. At least the channel memory works with this nov build.

Were you watching an HD channel at the time? I've noticed a few times while watching an HD channel, the cable company would scroll something on the top of the screen (in my case, it was about a monthly mandatory test). After the scroll finished, the display came on screen. It was only after the scroll, and it happened 3 times so far.

So, maybe this random display is related to some signal sent from the cable company :confused: . Though, mine never did it without something scrolling across the screen first.

Originally posted by DirtRider
For the first time since I've my second 60xs I noticed the display go on when I didn't push a button. Not detrimental but as was mentioned it could get annoying if that repeated. Only seen it once so far. At least the channel memory works with this nov build.

DR, are you using a UPS for the TV? Like Brian (above this page) said, it could be due to brownouts/undersurges and the TV could be very sensitive to power levels.

I am not using a ups but it is connected to a decent surge protector.

I was watching HD at the time actually. It was PBS I think and was coming through comcast and was tuned by the internal sony tuner (analog cable). Nothing was scrolling before or after though.

Anyone have or can give me a link to the discrete remote codes for the kdf-55xs955?

Bent98,

Try this:

With power off,

1. Point the remote at the TV, and consecutively press DISPLAY, 5, VOL+, and POWER (on)...press 1 immediately after turning the TV back on.

2. To navigate use 1 and 4 on the remote to switch between parameters

3. Press 3 and 6 on the remote to decrease or increase the parameter value

4. To save, press MUTING then ENTER, to reset EVERYTHING press 8 then ENTER.

When saving, there will be a line that says write which will turn red for a moment upon saving.

I just added a $20 RS set-top antenna to my 60wf655, and while it found several local channels (within about 10 miles), only a couple are watchable - in HD. The plus is that these are channels not included with my paid HD cable subscruiption (3 lousy channels for an extra $5 a month). Now I'm wondering what a better antenna would do for the several channels more distant (15 miles +). I'm really limited to a set-top antenna - cathederal ceiling and I don't want to pay someone a small fortune to crawl around up there to drop a feed - nor do I want a rooftop antenna for the same reason. Anyone willing to recommend a particular antenna brand / supplier that might improve this already wonderful experience?

Have any XS955 owners had any success with a Cox cable installed Scientific Atlanta cable card? They tried two months ago several times to get it to recognize the digital and subscription channels with no luck. I figure it was just a matter of time till someone breaks the code. Any rousing tales of cable competence out there?

I just got the 42" last week, still running on non-digital cable but I am picking up 1 local HD, all the digital music channels and some of the pay channels without the cable card or anything as well.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
And the sage continues ... :(

[...]
All was well for about 90 minutes into a movie my wife and kid were watching, and then it happened. The video dropped out for a second or two, then came back. I started to march up the stairs to write this post when my wife said it happened again (20-30 seconds after the first video dropout). [...]

Michael

Just to eliminate possibilities... try cleaning DVD before watching?

Cheers,
Evan

Originally posted by evanron
Just to eliminate possibilities... try cleaning DVD before watching?
Evan,

That was one of the first things I checked. We then tried other DVDs and got the same result, including a couple of new movies we opened just prior to inserting them into the DVD player. We also repeated this for two other DVD players, including a newly purchased one (Sony N975V).

One idea that did occur to me, unfortunately after returning our 55XS955, was whether the XS955 is sensitive to any power fluctuations. I have tested our AC lines before, and I usually get stable results via a voltmeter, somewhere between 119.0 and 119.4 volts.

Of course, we might be having some spike or drop that I am not catching. If the next 55XS955 does the same thing, then I'll borrow a line conditioner from a dealer that I have dealt with before and see if that corrects the problem. But I am jumping the gun here, as I don't expect the next TV to have this problem, unless someone else reports having it also, which hasn't happened.

Michael

Originally posted by evanron
What happened to the Auto Wide mode from previous versions of the TV?

What happens if I'm watching a DVD that has mixed content (Movie is 16:9ish but Previews, Documentary, etc is 4:3). I hate DVD's like that, but I have them. Am I manually going to have to change the wide mode?

Thanks,
Evan

Thought I'd ask this again... the GWIII had an Auto Wide mode as I recall. I don't see this in the current GWIV manuals.... is it still a feature? Is it not needed now (why)?

Thanks in advance.

Just my 2 cents... my 60XS also does the display on without my prompting, we think it's because the ghost in the house doesn't like the old RPCRT is now in the room where the 60XS was to go.

Originally posted by evanron
What happened to the Auto Wide mode from previous versions of the TV?

What happens if I'm watching a DVD that has mixed content (Movie is 16:9ish but Previews, Documentary, etc is 4:3). I hate DVD's like that, but I have them. Am I manually going to have to change the wide mode?
Originally posted by evanron
Thought I'd ask this again... the GWIII had an Auto Wide mode as I recall. I don't see this in the current GWIV manuals.... is it still a feature? Is it not needed now (why)?
Evan,

I am not sure, but I think that the 4:3 Default setting in the Screen Menu can accommodate what you are requesting here. It is a setting that defines how your 4:3 source material will be displayed (page 101 of the owner's manual).

You can force the 4:3 source material to be displayed in Wide Zoom, Normal, Full or Zoom. You can also set this option to Off, which keeps the currently selected Wide Mode (page 100 of the owner's manual). In your case, you would probably set the 4:3 Default to one of Wide Zoom, Full or Zoom, depending on your preference.

Michael

Originally posted by DaverJ
I *wouldn't* assume that it would look that way if you were paying for it. Maybe your set is locking in a weak signal that would be perfect if you subscribed...?

Interesting question.... anyone know?

I have a theory (now that I know what the "subscription" situation is). Cable sometimes puts filters in the line to block certain tiers of channels. That usually works well for analog signals, but occasionally a faulty trap will let more signal through than they might expect. If that were the case for a digital tier, they would have to rely on the inability of the tuner to lock to the smaller signal, because if it can lock, the decoded digital picture will look very similar to the same picture decoded from a strong signal, and won't be noisy like an analog picture would be if so attenuated.

But, the smaller digital signal is harder to properly decode, since there is a lot of relative thermal noise that may corrupt some of the bitstream meaning that it must employ a great deal of its error correction and concealment routines to maintain that good picture. In high motion scenes, if you are on the edge like that the decoding will suffer, meaning you might get what looks like a normal picture for stills and a crappy picture for motion.

If that is indeed the case, this is a testament to the tuner in the GWIV for its ability to pick a low-level signal out of the noise.

Of course if one was actually to dip into one's wallet and pay for the service, not only would one have the right to complain, but the trap would be removed making the signal stronger and the picture better during fast motion. Who knows? I took a shot.

Originally posted by Mtnmike
Bent98,

Try this:

With power off,

1. Point the remote at the TV, and consecutively press DISPLAY, 5, VOL+, and POWER (on)...press 1 immediately after turning the TV back on.

2. To navigate use 1 and 4 on the remote to switch between parameters

3. Press 3 and 6 on the remote to decrease or increase the parameter value

4. To save, press MUTING then ENTER, to reset EVERYTHING press 8 then ENTER.

When saving, there will be a line that says write which will turn red for a moment upon saving.

Hmmm. While that's undeniably cool :cool: I hardly think that's what he had in mind. Bent98 is likely looking for codes that will allow direct access to video sources. (Try remote-central.com).

This is a neat back door, but completely useless unless you can decipher the code used for the parameters. If I knew, that would REALLY be cool.

And thanks...now that curiousity has killed the cat, I'm embroiled in a factory reset. Very funny. I can live without ever seeing all three LEDs turn red again. Since I have about 2 hours of button-pressing to get my tweaks back to where they were, I'll be signing off the boards for a while. :rolleyes:

All,

I have a 42WE655 and have been applying various tweaks from this forum. I recently received the THX blue filter glasses and I used SWEII's optimizer this evening to tweak my set's PRO settings - WOW! Although I had used DVE before, I was shy on maxing the brightness. I maxed it out and tweaked all of the other parameters and am blown away by the picture.

My question - Is there a way to get similar test patterns (THX/DVE/Avia) generated from the set? In all resolutions? My DVD is outstanding but when I go to my DirecTV inputs I need to calibrate all over again. I imagine that my settings will be different because of the NTSC signal.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike

Add another to the list that is getting display information on the screen with no button being pushed. I've had my 55" XS for about a month now and its happened about 4 times. I doubt this many people are having power problems. My TV is plugged into a Monster Power HTS-3500 surge protector.

Cheers,
HeavyB

so far so good - analog looks MUCH better than I thought it would, hd is awesome.

One problem - humming noise which i can hear sitting 12ft away while the volume is low. is this norma???

aceman

You maxed the brightness? Most folks have their brightness set around 18-22 and contrast (picture) maxed (62) or close.

Originally posted by mpesta
All,

I have a 42WE655 and have been applying various tweaks from this forum. I recently received the THX blue filter glasses and I used SWEII's optimizer this evening to tweak my set's PRO settings - WOW! Although I had used DVE before, I was shy on maxing the brightness. I maxed it out and tweaked all of the other parameters and am blown away by the picture.

My question - Is there a way to get similar test patterns (THX/DVE/Avia) generated from the set? In all resolutions? My DVD is outstanding but when I go to my DirecTV inputs I need to calibrate all over again. I imagine that my settings will be different because of the NTSC signal.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by Aceman
so far so good - analog looks MUCH better than I thought it would, hd is awesome.

One problem - humming noise which i can hear sitting 12ft away while the volume is low. is this norma???

aceman

Oh no, cooling fan issue???? :confused:

I was hoping this issue was a thing of the past.

Originally posted by DaverJ
His predicament is unfortunate, but not all that unbelievable. I've been following this saga with interest, and wish Michael better luck with his replacement.

Godspeed Michael...
Well, we received a surprise today when our dealer called to tell us they had a replacement 55XS955 for us. I honestly wasn't expecting one until at least next week, or early January.

All looks well so far, but we've only played a few chapters here and there to fine tune the video settings. We played mostly 10-20 minutes at a time, and while we have yet to see a video dropout, we will need to watch an entire DVD movie to see if it is going to happen again.

Michael

Originally posted by TH3_FRB
You maxed the brightness? Most folks have their brightness set around 18-22 and contrast (picture) maxed (62) or close.
We have some DVD calibration discs coming in the mail, but the THX Optimizer and my "by the eye" adjustments puts our Brightness around 24-25 and Picture around 57-58. I may try maxing out the Picture setting and see where the Brightness ends up.

Michael

<< SWEII's optimizer >>

What is this? Do you have a link?

-Brian

Michael,

I bet your will get dropouts again. Let us know if you get a chance to watch a movie that previously exhibited the problem.

-Brian

On my first set I ran the thx optimizer and ended up with the following on my 60xs

Comcast Cable TV (just minor tweeks from the dvd settings)
--------------------------
Mode - standard
Picture - 40
Bright - 28
Color - 30
Hue - 0
Sharp - 45
Color Temp - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Medium
Mild Mode - off
Power Saving - Reduced

DVD (Toshiba sd4800 connected via component through denon 3805 switching)
--------------------------
Mode - standard
Picture - 40
Bright - 26
Color - 28
Hue - 0
Sharp - 45
Color Temp - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Medium
Mild Mode - off
Power Saving - Reduced

This is my second xs and I just copied the values from my first one. I haven't gotten real scientific with this yet as I haven't spent much time in the more advanced features and settings.

How close am I to the rest of you with the xs models?

Originally posted by evanron
Thought I'd ask this again... the GWIII had an Auto Wide mode as I recall. I don't see this in the current GWIV manuals.... is it still a feature? Is it not needed now (why)?

Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I was just watching a disc with mixed content (previews in 4:3 and the movie in 16:9) on my 60XS955 with my Sony DVD player set to output progressive 16:9 - it displayed the previews in 4:3, during which the wide mode was at "normal", and displayed the movie in 16:9, at which point, without me switching anything, the wide mode said "full". The 4:3 default is set to off. So I guess this is an "Auto Wide" mode.

Originally posted by Bghead8che
<< SWEII's optimizer >>

What is this? Do you have a link?

-Brian

I think he's talking about the THX optimizer included in the Star Wars Episode 2 disc. You can access it from the "options" section of the menu. It's on all the Star Wars discs, and I'm sure on many others as well.

Originally posted by Bghead8che
Michael,

I bet your will get dropouts again. Let us know if you get a chance to watch a movie that previously exhibited the problem.
Brian,

I am not so sure it will happen again. It seems to be too unique of a problem. The fact that I tried different (and new) cables and DVD players would seem to have isolated the problem to our first 55XS955. The only other possibility I could come up with would have to do with our room's AC power.

There won't be a problem finding a DVD movie that previously exhibited the problem, as each movie that we watched in its entirety had at least one video dropout. Unfortunately, it is a very tiring process of concentrating on a movie that may not exhibit a video dropout until later in the second half of the movie.

Michael

All,

I'm sorry I stated that I had the brightness maxed but it's the picture setting that is maxed. Here is what I'm using on my DVD (component) input:

Mode - Pro
Picture - Max
Brightness - 35
Color - 39
Hue - G1
Sharpness - 38
Color Temp - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Off
Mild Mode - Off

Also, yes I was referring to the 'Star Wars Episode II' DVD for the THX optimizer. I also paid the $2.00 for them top ship the blue filter glasses.

I have a Samsung DVD/VCR combo unit DVD-D3500 that looks better when set to interlaced instead of progressive. The progressive setting has a very, very slight 'vibrating'effect, it looks like the picture is never at rest. Interlaced mode and the above settings have the picture looking outstanding.

Now if only I could get the same performance out of my NTSC input (DirecTV) and OTA HD, I'd be thrilled! That's why I've asked about internally generated test patterns.

Thank you,
Mike

Originally posted by heywood jablomy
I'm not sure if this answers your question, but I was just watching a disc with mixed content (previews in 4:3 and the movie in 16:9) on my 60XS955 with my Sony DVD player set to output progressive 16:9 - it displayed the previews in 4:3, during which the wide mode was at "normal", and displayed the movie in 16:9, at which point, without me switching anything, the wide mode said "full". The 4:3 default is set to off. So I guess this is an "Auto Wide" mode.

Bingo! Thanks!! Looks like in previous models this was a feature that had to be selectively turned on, but now it is integrated into the display mode.

Evan

Ok , What is the best in this mode? I was told to set default to wide zoom or set them both to this. What is the bottom line on this? I know to set the DVD to 16:9 . How about HD when they go to analog does this stop it from going to 4:3 ?

...with my Sony DVD player set to output progressive 16:9 - it displayed the previews in 4:3, during which the wide mode was at "normal", and displayed the movie in 16:9, at which point, without me switching anything, the wide mode said "full"
Are you sure you had your DVD player set to progressive output? On my 42WE655, the auto-wide feature only works when my DVD player is set to interlaced output, and I'm pretty sure it's been this way with Sony TVs for quite sometime.

Originally posted by mpesta

Mode - Pro
Picture - Max
Brightness - 35
Color - 39
Hue - G1
Sharpness - 38
Color Temp - Neutral
Noise Reduction - Off
Mild Mode - Off



Those settings seem like they are mighty high. I guess it could be the dvd player is different but if the settings are the same for other inputs (high) then either there is something different between our tv or you like things much more saturated than I. However, we both used the same dvd to test this so that is interesting. I didn't have the glasses through. Do you think they are worthwhile and if so where/how can I obtain them.

Thanks

Originally posted by Schwa
Are you sure you had your DVD player set to progressive output? On my 42WE655, the auto-wide feature only works when my DVD player is set to interlaced output, and I'm pretty sure it's been this way with Sony TVs for quite sometime.

Yep - I double checked it - the DVD player is the Sony DVP CX875P - a 301 disc changer - and it's set to progressive. I used the Finding Nemo DVDs - disc 1 is widescreen, and disc 2 is fullscreen. It automatically switched modes when changing discs, and on the disc 2 there is a preview for The Incredibles which is widescreen, and it auto switched there as well. Again, this is with the 60 XS - I don't know if the WE series works this way also.

Great now how do you have your menu set up?

Well Heywood, that's certainly interesting. The wide mode auto-switching definitely only works when the DVD player's in interlaced mode on my TV. I guess my DVD player might not be passing the widescreen flag properly or something...I'm using a Sony Dream System DVD player in this case (DAV-FR8). Does anyone else have any experience with the auto wide mode switching with respect to progressive vs. interlaced component video?

Hi all, just a couple things I wanted to share. If anyone is looking to get a DVD player this holiday season with HDMI output, I highly recommend! I got my Sony 975 today, and unfortunately had to shell out $119 for the Monster HDMI to HDMI cable (didn't think my player would arrive so soon, and just couldn't wait for one to come in the mail :D ). The picture difference between my previous component hook-up with my Panasonic player is staggering. Very nice!

Second, when i was hooking up my player, I was behind my TV, which was turned off, but plugged in, and I noticed a high pitched squeal coming from around the area where all the inputs are in the back. Is this normal? It's very faint, but definitely there.

Happy Holidays!

Originally posted by doose1174
Second, when i was hooking up my player, I was behind my TV, which was turned off, but plugged in, and I noticed a high pitched squeal coming from around the area where all the inputs are in the back. Is this normal? It's very faint, but definitely there.
That doesn't sound normal. Our 55XS955 makes no sound back there. Do you happen to have a Cable Card inserted into your TV?

Michael

I got my 55WF yesterday and WOW I just cant enough HDTV
Discovery channel, I only have like 10 or so HD channels but they are much
sharper than the straight Digital TV, But I will say it does a good job even with the non HD channels.

Originally posted by DirtRider
Those settings seem like they are mighty high. I guess it could be the dvd player is different but if the settings are the same for other inputs (high) then either there is something different between our tv or you like things much more saturated than I. However, we both used the same dvd to test this so that is interesting. I didn't have the glasses through. Do you think they are worthwhile and if so where/how can I obtain them.

Thanks

DirtRider,

I thought the same thing but I watched Star Wars II and was blown away by the vividness of the colors. Maybe I'll get tired of it after awhile but for now, it's great.

As for the other inputs, it's definitely no good for my DirecTv input. I've sent an e-mail to their tech support asking if there are any channels that I can call up or a service menu in my receiver that will generate test patterns. If I hear anything I'll post that information.

Regards,
Mike

Originally posted by G.B.
Great now how do you have your menu set up?

Which menu - TV or DVD - and which settings specifically?

LOCATION OF IR RECEIVER SENSOR ON 55XS
--------------------------------------------------------
Does anyone know where the IR sensor is located? I'm assuming it's near the POWER switch on the front, but it's location is not obvious.

doose1174, I second the nod to the Sony 975. I have been using it for about two on my 60XS weeks and it is incredible.

Also, I don't hear anything like you are describing from the rear of the set when I am back there.

Originally posted by Gary Willett
LOCATION OF IR RECEIVER SENSOR ON 55XS
--------------------------------------------------------
Does anyone know where the IR sensor is located? I'm assuming it's near the POWER switch on the front, but it's location is not obvious.

I don't know where the sensor is on that set, but on my 55WF65, I found the pointing of the remote to be far too critical. I upgraded to a Radio Shack 15-2116 8-in-1 remote, and now it doesn't matter where I point the remote. I can control all of my boxes with one remote. Pointed at the TV, up, down, left, right, -- it picks it up. The remotes that come with these TVs are very weak.

Has anyone tried the Sony 975 hooked to their display with the secrets recommended auto component mode. I am curious if there is that dramatic of an impact on PQ. If so how was the A/B comparison of 480I/480P. Secrets did not state what mode the player was in for the test.

Originally posted by Gary Willett LOCATION OF IR RECEIVER SENSOR ON 55XS
--------------------------------------------------------
Does anyone know where the IR sensor is located? I'm assuming it's near the POWER switch on the front, but it's location is not obvious.

Your owner's manual front panel diagram will show you exactly where the IR is located. Lots of other information in the manual that you may find useful.

Originally posted by DaverJ
Oh no, cooling fan issue???? :confused:

I was hoping this issue was a thing of the past.


I can hear fan noise at 14 feet away with the volume at 7. I listen with the volume at 2 during late night. With my SPL meter I measure 58db behind and around the set. I love the TV but is this normal? I have listened to others and they don't seem as loud but the environments are not identical. Should I exchange the set?

I read through the threads and didn't see too much information on this. I hooked my Xbox up to my 55XS with the HD pack and it looks amazing. What I am wondering is if anyone has done any high-end computer gaming on this TV using the HDMI to DVI cable and a good video card? Has anyone tried any of the newest games like Doom3 or Far Cry or Half Life 2 on this TV? I have a cable on order from Ramelectronics but I was just curious if anyone else has tried some PC gaming with it. I borrowed a cable from BB and it looked amazing hooked up to the HDMI port with the 1280x720 resolution, a bit of overscan though, but I will work on that once I get my new cable. Overall an amazing TV though.

Originally posted by sasquatch
I can hear fan noise at 14 feet away with the volume at 7. I listen with the volume at 2 during late night. With my SPL meter I measure 58db behind and around the set. I love the TV but is this normal? I have listened to others and they don't seem as loud but the environments are not identical. Should I exchange the set?

I didn't notice any fan noise until all the talk on the forum...now I hear it loud! Only from certain viewing positions, and when the volume is low. Seems like it's just something normal you have to ignore.

Though, I'd still appreciate if someone else hears a faint whine from the area right where the cord attaches to the TV. When I put my ear right up to it, I hear the squealing...faint, but there. Anyone else? I don't want it to blow! :(

When I put my ear right up to it, I hear the squealing...faint, but there. Anyone else?
I hear it too on my 42WE655. It's very, very faint...I mean you have to put your ear right up to it, but it's there. I'm sure it's normal.

FWIW, my bulb makes more noise than my fan. I can hear the buzz from the bulb from my viewing position (this TV is in the bedroom, so I'm not very far from the set) at low volume settings, but it's not objectionable. FWIW, my Sony front projector does the same thing, and its fan noise is substantially louder.

Sony could really do themselves a favor by describing all these noises (power off squealing, bulb buzz, fan noise) in the owner's manual and explaining that they're normal. These TV's aren't silent, and they're a heck of a lot quieter than your average direct-view tube TV!

Originally posted by davis03
...The remotes that come with these TVs are very weak.

Weak on purpose, oddly enough. When IR remotes first got popular in Japan there were a lot of issues of one unit controlling the neighbor's set, apparently because in urban settings like Tokyo folks are crammed in like sardines (and some of the walls were paper?). Japanese manufacturers have since both narrowed the focus of their remotes and reduced the strength so that they only work within 30 ft. or so.

TO MTNMIKE:

"Your owner's manual front panel diagram will show you exactly where the IR is located. Lots of other information in the manual that you may find useful."

I must be blind - I searched the Operating Instructions Manual and the Service Manual and could not find the location of the IR sensor.

Could you be so kind and give me a page reference in either of those documents? Thanks in advance.

Gary Willett wrote: I must be blind - I searched the Operating Instructions Manual and the Service Manual and could not find the location of the IR sensor.
__________________________________________________________

No problem Gary go to Page 22 of the KDF55XS owner’s manual item six posted below the front of console diagram which reads:

"6. Power/Standby LED: Press to turn on/off the LCD projection TV. The POWER button has a built-in Infrared (IR) Receiver that receives IR signals from the remote control."

Seems to me to be an odd place to put it but I am sure there's a good reason.

Here's a link to the specific page:

KDF55XS Owner's manual (http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/documents/specifications/KDF55XS955.pdf)

Merry Xmas!

Build Date concerns with 60xs955

I had a November build date and thought the fan was too loud. I returned and now have a September build and serial # appears to be areound 10,000 lower than previous. I have read about a software update with regards to channel memeory. Are there any other things anyone knows about that I should be concerned with? BTW the fan does seem quieter so far, but the real teat will be tonight when the kids are in bed.

Thanks for all the info. Happy Holidays!!

I have a Sony KDF-60WF655 and Samsung SIR-TS360 HD DirecTV Receiver and am trying to hook up the DVI/HDCP out port of the Samsung to the HDMI in on the Sony. I have a Belkin HDMI-DVI cable (AV52400-04) and I get no signal. I configured the Samsung to use this output still no good. It only seems to work with the component outputs.

I have used the HDMI port on the Sony to connect to a Panasonic 97s DVD player and it works perfectly. (HDMI to HDMI)

Anyone have this issue with these 2 devices? I have not been able to confirm that Sony supports HDCP on the HDMI port.

Has anyone got this to work?

Thanks...

We returned from visiting the family for Christmas early in the evening, and the first thing my wife and daughter did was watch Pirates of the Caribbean on our 55XS955. No video dropouts for the entire movie! :)

Between that and the various snippets (10-30 minutes) of movies we watched Wednesday and Thursday when we received our second 55XS955, we have yet to experience a video dropout. So, maybe our first 55XS955 just had a slightly defective component video board.

We're jazzed that the second 55XS955 has worked out, because after looking at the TVs again when our first 55XS955 went back to the dealer to await an exchange, we decided that this was a far better TV for us than our previous "runner-up" choices (Hitachi 50vs810 and 50vx915 LCDs, Mits 52725 DLP, Samsung 5085 and 5685 DLPs).

All are good TVs, but there's something about the 55XS955 that makes you want to sit in front of it and watch a movie. And I'm not that much of a movie person! The bonus is that the 55XS955 displays really good blacks and shadow detail. I wish I could show it to those who constantly voice their opinion that LCD RPTVs have weak black performance. Maybe the XS955s are the exceptions to the rule. Maybe we're just lucky! :D

Michael

I am seriously reconsidering the 55XS955 after initial purchase of a DLP set (I get head aches and see rainbows).

I've seen plently of good postings with the XS955 and now I'm wondering:

1. How do high speed action scenes look? For example sports? When comparision shopping, I thought this set was prone to pixelization, but one never knows if it's the set or the video source.

2. What is the "bulb" problem I see some people talk about?

3. This seems like a stupid question, but is the Sony DVP-NS975V a compatible "up converting" DVD player? I understand the Sony has a somewhat uncommon native resolution.

Thanks,

RH in Corrales.

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
We returned from visiting the family for Christmas early in the evening, and the first thing my wife and daughter did was watch Pirates of the Caribbean on our 55XS955. No video dropouts for the entire movie! :)

Between that and the various snippets (10-30 minutes) of movies we watched Wednesday and Thursday when we received our second 55XS955, we have yet to experience a video dropout. So, maybe our first 55XS955 just had a slightly defective component video board.

We're jazzed that the second 55XS955 has worked out, because after looking at the TVs again when our first 55XS955 went back to the dealer to await an exchange, we decided that this was a far better TV for us than our previous "runner-up" choices (Hitachi 50vs810 and 50vx915 LCDs, Mits 52725 DLP, Samsung 5085 and 5685 DLPs).

All are good TVs, but there's something about the 55XS955 that makes you want to sit in front of it and watch a movie. And I'm not that much of a movie person! The bonus is that the 55XS955 displays really good blacks and shadow detail. I wish I could show it to those who constantly voice their opinion that LCD RPTVs have weak black performance. Maybe the XS955s are the exceptions to the rule. Maybe we're just lucky! :D

Michael

This is great to read Michael. I'm glad your new set is working out. Any chance you can post your settings in the tweak section. I won't be getting my TV for maybe a month, but I'd sure be interested in getting the same picture you're loving.

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
Any chance you can post your settings in the tweak section. I won't be getting my TV for maybe a month, but I'd sure be interested in getting the same picture you're loving.
Right now, we're just using some settings that seem to work for us. Around the time we get about 100 hours on the TV, we should have our calibration DVDs that we ordered online. It will be interesting to see how close or how far off we are. We also have the service manual, but it is of little help as I could have gotten this information from this forum (not counting the numerous schematics).

Michael

TO: MTNMIKE - re: 55XS Remote IR Sensor Location

"No problem Gary go to Page 22 of the KDF55XS owner’s manual item six posted below the front of console diagram which reads:

"6. Power/Standby LED: Press to turn on/off the LCD projection TV. The POWER button has a built-in Infrared (IR) Receiver that receives IR signals from the remote control."

Thanks a lot! I did not read the detailed text for item #6. I was expecting a "traditional" IR sensor. I really appreciate your help.

Regards, Gary

Originally posted by corrales_avs
I am seriously reconsidering the 55XS955 after initial purchase of a DLP set (I get head aches and see rainbows).

I've seen plently of good postings with the XS955 and now I'm wondering:

1. How do high speed action scenes look? For example sports? When comparision shopping, I thought this set was prone to pixelization, but one never knows if it's the set or the video source.

2. What is the "bulb" problem I see some people talk about?

3. This seems like a stupid question, but is the Sony DVP-NS975V a compatible "up converting" DVD player? I understand the Sony has a somewhat uncommon native resolution.

Thanks,

RH in Corrales.


1. Depends on the feed. I've never noticed any pixelation/artifact ever while watching DVDs. Some of the HD feeds tend to pixelate with fast motion, but my case may be abnormal, since I'm somehow getting HBO, Max, and TMC HD for free.

2. Haven't had any bulb issues

3. The Sony automatically will upconvert to your TVs maximum resolution...at least as per the users manual...though I'm also curious if others use "Auto" mode or have had better luck setting their own resolution in the setup menu???

As far as rainbows/headaches...I had the same problem with DLP. I even notice a similar phenomenon on my cousin's Pioneer Elite Plasma. I find the picture on the Sony by and large fantastic, and superior to both DLP and many plasmas (subjective opinion, of course). However, I must say that my TV does occassionally give me a headache. I have it narrowed down to one of two possible explanations...either the fact that I'm about 8 feet away, and it's similar to being in the first row of a movie theater...or because the TV can get so bright that the massive flux from dim to insanely bright taxes the muscles that control my iris, and this strain leads to a headache.

I have a question about Finding Nemo. I've noticed a couple of issues that I'm not sure are from the movie itself, or my set (55XS).

In the opening scene where Nemo's dad and his wife are swimming around the anemone, I notice there's a definite halo around both of them. It's about an inch or two thick, and totally encircles them. It was the first thing my brother in law pointed out when I was showing him my TV. Noticed it both with component, and HDMI connection.

Also, the fish played by Ellen Degeneres is a color that seems to disagree with the set. She seems sort of washed out.

Finally, in the scene where Nemo's Dad, the Ellen Degeneres fish, and the sharks are in that abandoned ship, there is severe color bleeding from Nemo's dad and Ellen Degeneres' character. The surrounding water seems to reflect the orange and blue color something fierce. There may be problems elsewhere in the film, but that's how far I got through the disc so far.

Overall, the movie looks amazing, but these issues are blatant, and I'm not sure if it's the set, or the movie.

I watched Shrek 2 last night, and no similar issues noted, and the picture quality through my Sony via HDMI was superb.

I believe this is a known issue with the Nemo DVD , try turning down the color a tad.

Originally posted by jojo57
I believe this is a known issue with the Nemo DVD , try turning down the color a tad.
The following review talks a little about the video problems with the Nemo DVD. Scroll down to the Video/Audio paragraph:

http://www.dvdlard.co.uk/content.php?id=1082

Here's a post from someone in the Plasma and LCD forum showing an example of the halo problem. Someone a few posts later in that thread comments on Nemo:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4868221#post4868221

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
The following review talks a little about the video problems with the Nemo DVD. Scroll down to the Video/Audio paragraph:

http://www.dvdlard.co.uk/content.php?id=1082

Here's a post from someone in the Plasma and LCD forum showing an example of the halo problem. Someone a few posts later in that thread comments on Nemo:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4868221#post4868221

Michael

Ah, excellent, thanks. I knew it had to be the disk, because I've never seen such flagrant problems with other movies. Of course, now my brother in law thinks my TV is a hunk o' junk :rolleyes: .

Regarding the "halo" around Nemo:
I noticed this immediately the first time I watched Nemo on my 42we655, so I sent Disney an email at their customer support site, and received this reply:
"The glowing effect seen in some of the scenes on your Finding Nemo DVD was an intentional effect put into the movie by Pixar. This was done so the fish would have iridescent quality to them." This from WDHE Technical Support.
I don't think I buy that explanation, but that's what they said.

Originally posted by RMP in KY
Regarding the "halo" around Nemo:
I noticed this immediately the first time I watched Nemo on my 42we655, so I sent Disney an email at their customer support site, and received this reply:
"The glowing effect seen in some of the scenes on your Finding Nemo DVD was an intentional effect put into the movie by Pixar. This was done so the fish would have iridescent quality to them." This from WDHE Technical Support.
I don't think I buy that explanation, but that's what they said.
There are some scenes where there IS an intensional glow, but the pic referenced above is a definite compression artifact.

Originally posted by doose1174
Also, the fish played by Ellen Degeneres is a color that seems to disagree with the set. She seems sort of washed out.


She should be showing as washed up, not washed out... :D

Originally posted by corrales_avs
I am seriously reconsidering the 55XS955 after initial purchase of a DLP set (I get head aches and see rainbows).

I've seen plently of good postings with the XS955 and now I'm wondering:

1. How do high speed action scenes look? For example sports? When comparision shopping, I thought this set was prone to pixelization, but one never knows if it's the set or the video source.

2. What is the "bulb" problem I see some people talk about?

3. This seems like a stupid question, but is the Sony DVP-NS975V a compatible "up converting" DVD player? I understand the Sony has a nonstandard native resolution.

Thanks,

RH in Corrales.

I saw the rainbows and got headaches after I purchased a Sammy DLP. The DLP Sets are sharp, however I think you will be impressed with the LCD 'at home' factor...I think that I got the headaches from eye strain as well. Some people don't see it, some do.

1. Action scenes look great, no pixelization from a decent DVD player (which I do not yet have...now on a Sammy 931 via Component, and I'll be getting a Sony-Ns975v via HDMI this week, ram cables... :) )

edit: Sometimes my cable company is cheap with bandwith and my HBO feed is not great with HD. However, every game on Sun Night ESPN-HD is AWESOME. Not so stingy with the bandwith there :rolleyes:

2. No bulb issues with the GWIV, yet. May not know for some time.

3. Its is compatible with an 'up-converting' DVD player...it has a non-standard resolution (just ask the guys in the HTPC thread if it does or not :D) but it will work without issue with the upconverting as it changes the signal to work with the TV. However this is some dispute as to weather it is an improvement over other settings ie. running over component and 480i.

HTH
Steve Jones

Anyone out there that hooked up DVD or SAT box with a DVI to HDMI cable? I saw a few posts and they had issues.I just bought a cable at monoprices.com and am awaiting KDF55XS955. I am returning my Samsung DLP 5663W.

On my Sony KDF-60WF655 I hooked up a Samsung HD SIR-TS360 using a Belkin Pure AV cable (DVI to HDMI Part # AV52400-04) with no issues.

I also have a Panasonic DVD-97s with a DMI cable, no issues.

I have been using a DVI to HDMI cable since October to connect my Motorola digital cable box to my 55" Sony. Works flawlessly, but then we only use the cable box for it's digital recorder to time-shift programs. For all other cable, we use the cablecard installed in the Sony.

I posted in this thread if anyone has the discrete codes for Sony kdf-xx XS955 and someone told me to look for them at remote control central. They have all video modes except for video mode 8. Since the XS has 2 HDMI ports I will need video mode 8 code. Anyone out there have the code for it??

Originally posted by bent98
I posted in this thread if anyone has the discrete codes for Sony kdf-xx XS955 and someone told me to look for them at remote control central. the have all video modes except for video mode 8.
Do you have a link to the web page or document that lists the discrete codes for the XS955? Are they similar or the same as the previous Sony LCD RPTVs?

Michael

http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=discrete&br=sony&dv=television&fc=


XS model has 1 extra input. It has extra HDMI.

Now I could use the discrete code for video 7 then change mode once, but that is not as good as going directly to video mode 8.

Originally posted by bent98
http://www.remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=discrete&br=sony&dv=television&fc=

XS model has 1 extra input. It has extra HDMI.

Now I could use the discrete code for video 7 then change mode once, but that is not as good as going directly to video mode 8.
Thanks for the information.

Michael

Originally posted by Michael Mohrmann
We returned from visiting the family for Christmas early in the evening, and the first thing my wife and daughter did was watch Pirates of the Caribbean on our 55XS955. No video dropouts for the entire movie! :)......
Michael

Michael, that's great to hear. Probably the component board. My 55xs arrives Wed. Can't wait!

E

Well Wed is the big day, and we can't wait. I can use input from others that are up and running with the GWIV.

Are you using a Power/Line Conditioner and if so how has it helped (if it did)? I'm considering it for comfort against the unknown (mainly surge and power spikes).

Are you using HDMI instead of Component, and if so how has it improved the picture (if it has in your opinion)? I think I'm going to need a DVI to HDMI cable due to Time Warner's box (will know when it arrives).

Are you using optical audio from your cable provider? If so, how has it improved (if you feel it has).

Obviously the cost of wiring is driving my questions. Right now I'm thinking of stepping in slowly after initial set-up and collecting the cables as gifts later on since they're so expensive.

Thanks!

E

Thursday is my big day! It looks like Santa was nice to quite a few people in this thread.

I hope by the weekend we are posting positive experiences. :D :D :D

As for cabling, I'm starting with s-video and once the PQ is adequate and I'm happy with the LACK of fan noise, I'm going to move up to component cable and break out the Avia and the THX optimizer.

Still up in the air is where to put the Polk center speaker... :confused:

Best of luck to all new Grand Wega owners!

Long time lurker here. Thanks to everyone for all the informative information.

After a price drop (today I think) I took the plunge and am a proud new owner of a KDF55WF655 !! Delivery in a few days, hopefully in time for new years.

How I get everything connected will be a challenge.

The biggest limitation is a Series 2 stand alone Tivo that is a non-optional part of the setup. Today I swith everything (DVD, CD, PS2 and Cable STB) through an AVR quite cleanly, albiet on S-video. Tomorrow, great strides forward with component, DVI and/or HDMI, but no easy switching.

Happy New Year!

Originally posted by gadgetboy
Long time lurker here. Thanks to everyone for all the informative information.

After a price drop (today I think) I took the plunge and am a proud new owner of a KDF55WF655 !! Delivery in a few days, hopefully in time for new years.
What price drop?

The price today was $300 less than their already-on-sale price yesterday. I went to price match them down some, and they were already lower. I don't know why, but I didn't complain.

Then they tried to price match me back up! ;) ;)

Where?

Myer Emco, Arlington VA

Originally posted by Buck's SCSW
What price drop?

Speaking of price drops...even CC has the 55XS for only $100 more than the WF...which is almost at cost for the XS. Anyone looking to get the WF should seriously consider negotiating for the same price on the XS, or just pay the measly extra $100 for the better TV.

just pay the measly extra $100 for the better TV.

If a couple of more bells and whistles means BETTER then I agree. As far as PQ and basically all the same "guts" they are the same TV. But I agree for an extra HDMI port and additional fine tuning I would opt for the XS for only $100 extra but not $500 .

Originally posted by Mtnmike
just pay the measly extra $100 for the better TV.

If a couple of more bells and whistles means BETTER then I agree. As far as PQ and basically all the same "guts" they are the same TV. But I agree for an extra HDMI port and additional fine tuning I would opt for the XS for only $100 extra but not $500 .

Right, PQ the same...meant the better stock speaker package, and extra HDMI port...not to mention I think it looks waaaayyy better aesthetically. Everyone who has seen it says they love the way it looks. Yeah, and $500 more is too much!

Originally posted by doose1174
not to mention I think it looks waaaayyy better aesthetically. Everyone who has seen it says they love the way it looks.


Are you saying you like the looks of the XS better? I specifically got the WF b/c I did not like the looks of the speakers on the XS. Everyone has different opinions though.

I personally like the XS series better.

Originally posted by doose1174
Right, PQ the same...
I guess it depends. I managed to find a CC that had both the XS955 and the WF655 right next to each other (note: when I came back two days later, they had moved the WF655!). Anyway, after adjusting the video settings on both I found I could get better blacks, more shadow detail, and better overall color with the XS955.

This difference may be due to the half dozen extra user-set parameters available in the Advanced Video menu on the XS955. Most of these are probably available in the Service Menu on the WF655, so it is possible that some of the differences I noted may be reduced if one is knowledgeable enough to venture into the SM.

Michael

hey gadgetboy...check your private messages

Originally posted by gadgetboy
Are you saying you like the looks of the XS better? I specifically got the WF b/c I did not like the looks of the speakers on the XS. Everyone has different opinions though.

Same here, didn't like the silver border, thought the black makes the picture stand out more.

you can get yourself some high quality velvet and use a contact (sprayed) glue aournd the border. works well - we do it to HT screens all the time. also easy to remove.

i suspect if you go real dark (black) w/ the border, you will make the blacks look lighter than they are(now that you a reference point for your eyes) and you may not think the blacks are as black as they are now!

Aceman

On the sony site they posted a $300 reduction in MSRP, so I guess that explains why I received a discount as well.

Mike can you expand on some of your settings on the Sony XS model. I am about to get mine in a couple of days. I reviewed the owners manual online to get an idea of different settings. Id be curious to see what needs to be turn on or off out of the box.

https://secure.brandlocker.com/promos/thxpromo.cfm


Also just incase anyone is interested the above link is where you can get the THX blue filter glasses for the THX test patterns ov the movie dvd's. Its only $2. Took about 2 weeks for me to get.


Also this link below will give you instructions on how to adjust the THX test patterns.

http://www.thx.com/mod/products/dvd/optimizerIntro.html

I know its not complicated, just figured I would post for someone new getting into this.

Guys,

I just tried a DVI to HDMI cable between my cable box (motorola dct6200) and the 60xs and compared it to the component cables i already had hooked up.

To my surprise, there seems to be a red push with the hdmi input vs. component, colors just seemed too vibrant. Its to the point where after flicking back and forth between inputs (the 6200 outputs video through both at the same time), i actually thought the component was better with color and saw no visible difference so far as other screen attributes.

any input/comments???

thx.

Aceman

I picked up a Panny DVD-S97 instead of the Sony which is SOLD OUT everywhere on the internet. :( Well, the panny performs very well for what its worth, I'm impressed. I like the HDMI hookup. Very nice, crisp, video.

joneSi

Originally posted by jonesi
I picked up a Panny DVD-S97 instead of the Sony which is SOLD OUT everywhere on the internet. :( Well, the panny performs very well for what its worth, I'm impressed. I like the HDMI hookup. Very nice, crisp, video.

joneSi

I checked out pricegrabber, and pricescan...and the Sony is almost universally in-stock.

Yup, until they want to deliver it to you. Etronics, Expo, Amazon all of them were out. UE locally had the Panny in stock and they hooked me up with a good deal after a bit of discussion.

Regardless, I like the Panny and I'll keep it. :)

S.Jones

http://www.hifi-remote.com/sony/Sony_tv.htm

This site is very good for sony discrete codes as well. Still no luck with video mode 8. If anyone else has discrete code for video mode 8, please post.

Originally posted by bent98
Mike can you expand on some of your settings on the Sony XS model. I am about to get mine in a couple of days. I reviewed the owners manual online to get an idea of different settings. Id be curious to see what needs to be turn on or off out of the box.
I would rather not get into specifics because we haven't utilized a decent calibration disc (Avia, DVE) yet. But here are some general guidelines that seem to work for us with the XS955s. Just be aware that they may not work for you, or they may be in conflict with some other settings you might have from the actual use of a calibration disc. My goal is the enhancement of the XS955's ability to display black and shadow details.
Unless you need the extra brightness, setting the Power Saving option to Reduced helps somewhat with dark colors and shadow details Contrary to its name, I find it is better to leave the Black Corrector option set to Off I like the Clear White option set to On I will set the Gamma Corrector to Low or Medium in conjunction with setting the Brightness to below midpoint, say 22-28
Some of this may change once we start using our copies of Avia and DVE, coming in the mail any day now. I'll probably do that once we have 100 hours or so on the lamp. Also, should I attempt umr's service menu tweaks he has for the GWII and GWIII, then all bets are off!

Take my suggestions with a grain of salt. My wife and I are video novices, and the above advice is based on "by the eye" perception and personal preferences.

Michael

Yes the Umr tweaks is always a good thing to do. Don't forget you can use the THX calibration on some DVD's. This is good for the fact to do a quick check on your settings. I also use the power saver it's easier on the eye's if you watch tv in subdue light.

Originally posted by G.B.
Don't forget you can use the THX calibration on some DVD's. This is good for the fact to do a quick check on your settings.
The THX Optimizer does help, although I found myself adjusting the Brightness, Picture and Sharpness settings somewhat after running their tests. It could be either personal preference kicking in or the THX tests aren't completely accurate.

Michael

Yes Some say they are custom for each DVD. So you could be right. The main thing I always recommend to use a pattern of some kind, don't just watch a picture & guess...

Correct me if I am wrong, but using THX, DVE or AVIA you are only calibrating the PQ for a DVD playback on only the Video Input that displays that mode. To my knowledge there is no other way to depict these calibration patterns on any other video input source including Satellite, Cable or Antennae inputs. Simply duplicating the settings for the DVD Video Input to other Inputs may not result in optimal calibration or PQ from other input sources.

Since those video input sources have different characteristics and signal (source) quality ETC, then their PQ could vary widely depending on the DVD player you are using. If you have an older DVD player (non-progressive) or one that plays a poor video signal then you are calibrating to that signal. Since there are no true HD DVD players out there you are calibrating to a non-HD source whose PQ may not be very good depending on the player. The closest you may come to calibrating for HD is with a new up-converting DVD player. So what may work for your calibration via DVD video input may not display as a well calibrated PQ for the other inputs. Thus you may have a well calibrated PQ for DVD but "eyeball" calibration for every other video input.

That being the case a professional video calibration is the only way to truly calibrate those other inputs unless you have a way of generating the DVE, AVIA or THX calibration patterns into your other inputs. Is this correct?

Yes, Some stations on the air like they always did, do some test patterns Early in the morning. But a lot of the HD is also transmitting 24 hours so it makes it hard to get patterns. They say one of the Satellite channels send them early Tuesday morning. D- VHS has test pattern tapes so this is the only way other than a calibration transmitter could you check them all.

Picked up my 55XS595 last Friday with the Z-Line Stand ( VERY SWEET) at CC. HD Picture looks great, DVD looks good, but my Directv/TIVO S-Video signal needs help.

I see the differences between Vivid, Standard, and Pro modes, and that you can adjust the advance settings with the Pro mode. But I don't have a clue what the DRC, Live Color, and BN Smoother do.

Does anyone have this connection? If so, can you please advice on the settings you have used.

PS: I don't want to go thru the Service Menu at this time.

Thanks, Scott