I did see that, but for whatever reason was leary of a "cheap priced" cable from an online retailer.





I bought 2 of their 3 foot HDMI cables, I was skeptical too. They arrived and they both work great, good quality as well.

At 9 to 10 feet 50 inch would be the best screen size for viewing DVDs and HDTV. A 42 inch set is cheaper and easier to fit in a room; the 42A10 even fits in many spots a tube TV would. I would think anything smaller than 42 inches would simply be too small. Unless you need to see the picture from extreme angles either A10 set would be an excellent choice.


I'd recommend the 42" mainly bec. of the SDE. If you sit too close to the 50" you begin to notice screen door. you need some distance or you can just get a SXRD and forget about screen door. BTW, I own a 34xs955, similar to the 960, and I am going to be selling it for a larger set. I'm going flat panel lcd though, not rear projection. the a10 is a good value though, my parents have one and they are happy with it.

My radio shacks have plenty of those 6' hdmi cables. The reason they are $40.00--ouch. No sale on those--the 12' are on sale for $35.00 Crazy. Brad

See this append about "cheap" cables: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6357512&&#post6357512

My monoprice cable works just fine. I have been chastised before in threads for recommending them. Buy one and you be the judge.

I've had my 50" A10 now for 28 days now and love it. I have a Comcast PIII box and Hi Def is stunning. DVD's look great(although I wish the set had 2 HDMI inputs.) I do have one question though if anyone could answer it. I've read earlier posts about color "blotches" and burnt pixels. What I have notice noticed on my set, especially when watching DVD's, that when the set is black,aka between commercials, when DVD's start, you can see a red glow. You really can see it in the black space that is below some movies. Basically when the screen is dark, I see a red smear that covers a good part of the lower left hand corner. And it covers close to a quarter of the lower left of the screen. I don't believe I've heard of this in this forum. It may have been mentioned but I may have misinterpreted it. Anyway, I have 2 days left before I could exchange it at CC. The picture itself is fine. Yet I don't want this to get worse or to start effecting the picture. I'm going to call Sony today and ask them about it. Does anyone know what this is? :confused:

It could be a color uniformity problem, which is common on LCD RPTVs, or dirt or dust in the light engine. If it's faint in color it's normal. If you find it bothersome either exchange it or give Sony a call.

Thanks, Dark Rain. I called Sony Tech Support yesterday but they weren't of much help. They told me to unplug the set for 30 minutes and then try it after that. It didn't work. They also wanted to know how close my speakers and receiver were to the set. My speakers are magnetically shielded. I thought this only affected tube televisions? I'm still debating whether to take it back or not. I'm a photographer and I periodically calibrate my monitors. That's why I'm kind of picky with this issue.

Thanks, Dark Rain. I called Sony Tech Support yesterday but they weren't of much help. They told me to unplug the set for 30 minutes and then try it after that. It didn't work. They also wanted to know how close my speakers and receiver were to the set. My speakers are magnetically shielded. I thought this only affected tube televisions? I'm still debating whether to take it back or not. I'm a photographer and I periodically calibrate my monitors. That's why I'm kind of picky with this issue.

Sony tech support people aren't trained very well. This is the stuff they should tell you if you have a CRT, not a LCD. If it's a color uniformity issue then you probably should look at getting a DLP set because all LCD RPTVs have it to some degree. Sony could replace the light engine although this won't likely fix the problem. It might make it better but not perfect. And from what I've read, this issue can happen much later or get worse over time.

What I would do is try exchanging it for another A10 and see how well it looks. If you notice it again then go with a DLP.

Hi, has anyone been watching NHL hockey with A10? How does it look, especially in SD (digital preferably) since we don't get HD NHL here in Finland? How would you compare NHL to other types of screens (whatever you have used before)?

Thanks in advance.

Hammer,

I have asked this question about Hockey games in HD, and didn't get many responses here. I guess there aren't many hockey fans that have the A10. I read somewhere deep in this thread that since the ice is so white, you see black dirt-like specks(SSE) on the screen during hockey games or any events where the screen is so white. I have also read something about slight blurring of images during fast movements with the large screen TVs, but I don't know if that is the case with the A10s and RPHDTV. I would have to guess that the SD picture for Hockey would look much worse on the A10 than the picture you get on a SD CRT. I get Comcast Sports Net HD Channel in Philadelphia, and would be watching many Flyers games in HD if I get one of these HDTVs. Hopefully some Hockey fans can give us their opinons on how the A10 views Hockey games.

I've only watched Hockey on SD yet, but it is definetly the sport, where you see SSE the most. But it wasn't that disturbing to me. Hope to see some in HD soon (I only have HD ota, but there's no hockey on these channels).

The blurring of mast movements has nothing to do with the A10. It stems from the source material, e.g. the compression used by the provider. You might notice that on other sports with fast movements as well or even worse (I noticed this even more with athletics or cycling).

We get lots of Comcast games over here (Philly-Leafs tonight for example) but all in digital SD.

Hockey is the main reason I'm upgrading, the north-american feed is slightly fuzzier than European hockey games for some reason and I suspect it would be better from big-screen TV.

I did see that, but for whatever reason was leary of a "cheap priced" cable from an online retailer.

If I was able to get the one at Radio Shack for that price, I could always return it is there was a problem. Online stores are more of a hassle.

Unwarranted paranoia on my part? Probably so, call it a character flaw.

I am hoping that AlanBuck can find a few more of these and send one to me free of charge, since I'm such a swell guy ;) ;) ;)

:D :D :D

BTW Alan - have you ever been to Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN? Awesome amusement park with 2 of the best wooden roller coasters in the world and they are currently building one that opens in 2006, that looks like another winner. Hoping to get there again in the next few years.

I have a new Tosh and purchased all of my cables (2 HDMI) from MonoPrice and theyt all work perfectly. Give them a try, you won't be sorry.

Hockey is the main reason I'm upgrading, the north-american feed is slightly fuzzier than European hockey games for some reason and I suspect it would be better from big-screen TV.

I'm not sure, if a bigger screen really helps for a fuzzier feed. Bigger screens are good, if the feed is good. But a not so good feed might look even worse on a big screen. This is one of the reasons why analog feeds usually look pretty bad on such tvs.

Hi, has anyone been watching NHL hockey with A10? How does it look, especially in SD (digital preferably) since we don't get HD NHL here in Finland? How would you compare NHL to other types of screens (whatever you have used before)?

Thanks in advance.
Hammer Schultz, Is that referring to Dave the Hammer Schultz? Anyway, I have been watching Flyers hockey in HD from Comcast. To be honest, hockey does not look nearly as good as football or baseball. I guess it's because the white ice and the really fast motion. Dont get me wrong, it still looks really good in HD, but football, and baseball look absolutely incredible.

I've watch a couple hockey games on my A10. SD Hockey honestly does not look all that great. The all white ice is almost too bright on the a10 and it really shows off SSE and any "smudges"/fixed pattern noise that your set might have.

.....the north-american feed is slightly fuzzier than European hockey games for some reason and I suspect it would be better from big-screen TV.
The fuzzier look is probably because your European SD signal PAL has 576 lines of resolution versus 480 lines for North American NTSC. i.e. A North American feed must be upconverted during the broadcast process to fit your TV.

Hi,

While I watched a widescreen DVD and I press DISPLAY on the remote of the KDFE50A10 I see 480p 4:3. Is it normal ?

Thanks
Kafou

Hi,

I just got A10 50" Grand Wega. I didn't start tweaking it just yet. I'll be sure to go through all the tips you guys have posted.
I just wanted to quickly hook it up to my DVD player to see how good of a PQ I could get from DVD (I have pretty basic JVC XV-N44 which I'm planning on replacing). I'm just using component video and the picture is great by the I cannot seem to get the sound out of TV. When I switch to regular cable box input, the sound comes back. I'm sure this has happened to someone before. Anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong or not doing right?

Regards,

TS.

I am actually ashamed to ask this question but here goes. When I watched a widescreen dvd on my old Toshiba widescreen hdtv, it filled the screen. Now with the a10 and the same progressive dvd player, IM getting the black bars top and bottom. Is this a setting on the tv input or dvd player, that I need to change. PS I havent been thinking too clearly with a sinus infection. Thanks in advance

hey folks, been reading and reading for some time now preparing for my purchase.

for size and price point the 42" A10 sure seems to hit the mark for me. direct view is out as I simply don't want anything that heavy to wrestle with in my living room anymore.

the question I have though, oddly enough, is about DLP. I realize nothing is perfect, I get that, but I see mention of things like "color uniformity" and internal dust/dirt causing viewing problems and so forth with the LCDs. assuming I pick up my A10 and for whatever reason it doesn't work out, what is the comparable DLP (both in presumed quality and size)?

as I look around I don't see many 42" DLP sets and the one I see most frequently that fits my price/size specs (the Sammy 4266W) just gets routinely hammered opinion-wise everywhere I look.

so I ask here because the A10 is most certainly at the top of the list but I thought there might be some others here who have had to make the choice and sampled the difference.

if it matters, I am by no means a connoisseur. I am a basic knuckle dragging troglodyte who wants a bigger TV. my TV life experience consists of an old 20" Sony (which I could have thrown off a cliff and it would have continued to work), a 32" RCA which died last year leading to the little 24" wega I watch now (needed a tv, didn't want to spend too much, great open box buy).

I don't play video games on the TV (may someday who knows but lets assume not), can definitely see an increase in DVD watching and will of course be taking advantage of all the HD I can. I can imagine how much shite like my series 2 TiVo is going to look but I'll be giving Cox's DVR a whirl.

any thoughts? opinions? just get the A10 and quit worrying so much? :D

If 42" is as big as you want go, you're lucky to have available a great choice: the 42" A10. There is very little else in that size range unless you want to step up in price to a Plasma. There are several very nice Plasma sets in that size range, but at a greater cost. You are right to avoid the Samsung 4266. It's probably the worst DLP Samsung has put out and Samsung DLPs are not rated very highly anyway.

I wouldn't worry about it since if you want a Microdisplay, there isn't much around that small and fortunately, the one that is, the Sony A10, is one of the best sets out there as far as bang for the buck. Try it. You can always take it back if it doesn't agree with you....

Hi,

I just got A10 50" Grand Wega. I didn't start tweaking it just yet. I'll be sure to go through all the tips you guys have posted.
I just wanted to quickly hook it up to my DVD player to see how good of a PQ I could get from DVD (I have pretty basic JVC XV-N44 which I'm planning on replacing). I'm just using component video and the picture is great by the I cannot seem to get the sound out of TV. When I switch to regular cable box input, the sound comes back. I'm sure this has happened to someone before. Anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong or not doing right?

Regards,

TS.


So you have the three component cables and the red and white analog cables hooked to the same input on the tv?

Hi,

While I watched a widescreen DVD and I press DISPLAY on the remote of the KDFE50A10 I see 480p 4:3. Is it normal ?

Thanks
Kafou

that means your dvd player is outputting 4:3, the A10 is no doubt in widezoom mode, this is bad, make sure display says "16x9" on the A10, you probably need to set widescreen as the TV type in the dvd menu.

If 42" is as big as you want go, you're lucky to have available a great choice: the 42" A10. There is very little else in that size range unless you want to step up in price to a Plasma. There are several very nice Plasma sets in that size range, but at a greater cost. You are right to avoid the Samsung 4266. It's probably the worst DLP Samsung has put out and Samsung DLPs are not rated very highly anyway.

I wouldn't worry about it since if you want a Microdisplay, there isn't much around that small and fortunately, the one that is, the Sony A10, is one of the best sets out there as far as bang for the buck. Try it. You can always take it back if it doesn't agree with you....



Thanks Gazelle, I think that's pretty much what I was expecting to hear. Yeah, 42" is as big as I'll go, the living area I'm in now is pretty tight and I'll be there for at least another year and a half.

The current 37" Panasonic plasma has been on the shopping list as well and when on sale is not too much more than the A10. I found myself steered toward the A10 because of the larger screen size and lower price point.

We'll see how it all works out, if my history is any indication, I'll wobble on this decision until I am forced to choose which holographic projector I want!

Hello,

I have my A10 connected to my htpc as the primary display device. I have it set so after 10 minutes the "screen saver" kicks it with the screen saver set as "none". I am curious if this setting affects bulb life. You can tell the tv is on because the sceen is not fully black (more like a dark dark dark grey, that you normally see at startup time on the tv). Any other suggestions for how others do this as well are welcome!

Thanks for info.

Hareesh

If the TV is on, then the bulb is on. You are wasting bulb life, if you just let it run a long time even though you have the screen saver running.

So you have the three component cables and the red and white analog cables hooked to the same input on the tv?

Hi,

Thanks for answering.
Yes, I have them all hooked to the right places. I tried using all other TV inputs (I think 6 in total) with no luck.

Are there any settings for the Sony A10 SteadySound feature in the service manual ? Having trouble watching any stations with a steady volume. Have to constantly adjust the volume during the program.

that means your dvd player is outputting 4:3, the A10 is no doubt in widezoom mode, this is bad, make sure display says "16x9" on the A10, you probably need to set widescreen as the TV type in the dvd menu.
My DVD player is set to 16:9. The picture seem to be on the right size on my TV but when I press Display it show 480p 4:3

Are there any settings for the Sony A10 SteadySound feature in the service manual ? Having trouble watching any stations with a steady volume. Have to constantly adjust the volume during the program.

It's either ON or OFF. I believe it's a fixed audio compression ratio (probably light) and there's no way to make adjustments to it. Heavy compression would level things out more at the expense of lower dynamic range. My cable box has this option but it's fixed also.

just installed my E50A10 last night. HDTV will not be installed until tuesday. i did try out the XBOX just for fun. this thread is massive. any quick links to pages with setup specs? thanks.

My DVD player is set to 16:9. The picture seem to be on the right size on my TV but when I press Display it show 480p 4:3
Ok, can my trouble (if it is one) be the same related for the XBOX when someone play a 16:9 game and the Sony show 480p 4:3 instead of 480p 16:9. I also read something about the ID1 flag. My DVD player is in 16:9 via component and my A10 is set to full. The image seem to be ok but I want to be sure that I have the best picture that I can have.

Thanks
Kafou

I am actually ashamed to ask this question but here goes. When I watched a widescreen dvd on my old Toshiba widescreen hdtv, it filled the screen. Now with the a10 and the same progressive dvd player, IM getting the black bars top and bottom. Is this a setting on the tv input or dvd player, that I need to change. PS I havent been thinking too clearly with a sinus infection. Thanks in advance
Are you watching the same movie?... Movies are filmed in many different aspect ratio's. If you are watching a movie with a very wide aspect ratio, black bars top and bottom would be normal even on a widescreen TV.

I got a chance to see this TV at the Sony Store in the forum shops, it was very nice.

Michael

Hey, I have a quick question for you all concerning the A10 series (the 42 and 50 inch ones)

I was looking at getting a 36xs955, but can get a 42" for only a little more. Would I see a huge difference in picture quality between the two?

Also, if I decide to go wit hthe A10 series, is 50" too big for bedroom? I can get a 50 inch for only about $360 more. Worth it or stick with the 42"? (the viewing lenght of my room would be about 6-7 feet)

Ok, can my trouble (if it is one) be the same related for the XBOX when someone play a 16:9 game and the Sony show 480p 4:3 instead of 480p 16:9. I also read something about the ID1 flag. My DVD player is in 16:9 via component and my A10 is set to full. The image seem to be ok but I want to be sure that I have the best picture that I can have.

Thanks
Kafou

well the xbox has this problem cause the games are flagged wrong on the disc for 480p titles, it's not the TVs fault, and you're still getting a 16x9 signal even if the tv shows 4:3 for the display button. my dvd player shows 16x9.

Hey, I have a quick question for you all concerning the A10 series (the 42 and 50 inch ones)

I was looking at getting a 36xs955, but can get a 42" for only a little more. Would I see a huge difference in picture quality between the two?

Also, if I decide to go wit hthe A10 series, is 50" too big for bedroom? I can get a 50 inch for only about $360 more. Worth it or stick with the 42"? (the viewing lenght of my room would be about 6-7 feet)

The 36XS955 has a higher screen resolution than the A10. And being a CRT it will have a much better contrast ratio and excellent black level, meaning a nice punchy picture with inky-looking blacks. The PQ can't be beat. But, consider the 16x9 34" version if you watch HD and widescreen DVDs.

For 6-7 feet I'd get the 42" A10. The 50" will be too big at that distance and SDE will be very noticeable.

The 36XS955 has a higher screen resolution than the A10. And being a CRT it will have a much better contrast ratio and excellent black level, meaning a nice punchy picture with inky-looking blacks. The PQ can't be beat. But, consider the 16x9 34" version if you watch HD and widescreen DVDs.

For 6-7 feet I'd get the 42" A10. The 50" will be too big at that distance and SDE will be very noticeable.


So do you htink its better going with the crt or the lcdrp?

I konwthe CRT is better, but the size/weigh of it just kills me (like 260lbs!) compared the the lcd (70lbs)

just installed my E50A10 last night. HDTV will not be installed until tuesday. i did try out the XBOX just for fun. this thread is massive. any quick links to pages with setup specs? thanks.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567709

So do you htink its better going with the crt or the lcdrp?

I konwthe CRT is better, but the size/weigh of it just kills me (like 260lbs!) compared the the lcd (70lbs)

I had the same question a few months back and went with the 42A10. I was looking at the 34XBR960, but I really wanted a bigger screen. Sony's direct view CRTs need an ISF calibration to clean up geometry and convergence errors, so I would have been looking at another $300-$500 for that. This is something CRT zealots fail to mention since they know CRTs have poor looking geometry out of the box. And convergence is usually off quite a bit in the corners and will always be noticeable from any sitting distance. For some this isn't an issue, but for me it's very distracting. At least with LCD RP, geometry and convergence are near perfect. You give up some black level and contrast, but for me it was worth it since I grew tired of looking at horizontal and vertical lines curving and color fringing on everything.

What I would do in your case is buy the 42A10 from a store that has a 30 day return policy and test it out. If you like it and feel it's not big enough then return it for the 50". If you don't like it then get the XS955 or get the better 34XBR960.

So do you htink its better going with the crt or the lcdrp?

I konwthe CRT is better, but the size/weigh of it just kills me (like 260lbs!) compared the the lcd (70lbs)
What distance do you plan on watching the set from? Beyond 6 feet the larger screen size of the 42 inch trumps any resolution advantage a smaller CRT set might claim to have. Blacks will be better on the CRT at least in a darkened room but for most material the A10 black levels seem adequate to me.

Hey, I have a quick question for you all concerning the A10 series (the 42 and 50 inch ones)

I was looking at getting a 36xs955, but can get a 42" for only a little more. Would I see a huge difference in picture quality between the two?

Also, if I decide to go wit hthe A10 series, is 50" too big for bedroom? I can get a 50 inch for only about $360 more. Worth it or stick with the 42"? (the viewing lenght of my room would be about 6-7 feet)

Where do you plan on putting the TV? The 36XS is a beast, but the picture is great

What distance do you plan on watching the set from? Beyond 6 feet the larger screen size of the 42 inch trumps any resolution advantage a smaller CRT set might claim to have. Blacks will be better on the CRT at least in a darkened room but for most material the A10 black levels seem adequate to me.

The distance would be about 6-7 feet.


Where do you plan on putting the TV? The 36XS is a beast, but the
picture is great


The TV is going into my bedroom. The only reasons I want to go with the 42" is that
a) same price and 8" bigger b) only 70lbs vs the 260lb beast

I fixed the audio.

But now, the picture.

I got Scientific Atlanta 4200HD cable box. When I set it up, I left all HD modes in. 1080i, 480i, 480p, 720p).
When I press 'Display' on my TV remote control on any channel, it shows 720p, 16:9. When I'm watching non HD channels, the picture itself seems to be 4:3 with wide bars on both sides of the screen. When I hit "Wide" button it stretches of course. But is this the way it's supposed to be or do I need to set something else up? When I watch HD channels, the picture stretches to 16:9 by itself and "Display' mode is 'normal'.

Also, to those who have Cablevision: Are 700's channels the only ones I can catch HDTV programming?

The distance would be about 6-7 feet.
The TV is going into my bedroom. The only reasons I want to go with the 42" is that
a) same price and 8" bigger b) only 70lbs vs the 260lb beast
I think that you need to go look at them both. Don't worry too much about the crappy feed and picture adjustments stores use but instead look at the dark borders around the pixels (screen door effect or SDE) and the black level of the A10. The black level difference will be most obvious in a completely dark room. A bigger picture is very nice with a good quality feed but it will magnify the defects of poor quality SD shows. So you need to balance the bigger HD and DVD picture and lower weight of the A10 against the better blacks no SDE and smaller SD picture of the tube TV.

My dad has the 50" A10 arriving this week, and I'm going to do the hookup with the cable and Moxi. He got a very good price from Pacific Sales of $1999 including free delivery. I don't have time to review all of the posts here, but could someone link me to the tweaks recommendation? Thanks.

hey folks, been reading and reading for some time now preparing for my purchase.

for size and price point the 42" A10 sure seems to hit the mark for me. direct view is out as I simply don't want anything that heavy to wrestle with in my living room anymore.

the question I have though, oddly enough, is about DLP. I realize nothing is perfect, I get that, but I see mention of things like "color uniformity" and internal dust/dirt causing viewing problems and so forth with the LCDs. assuming I pick up my A10 and for whatever reason it doesn't work out, what is the comparable DLP (both in presumed quality and size)?

as I look around I don't see many 42" DLP sets and the one I see most frequently that fits my price/size specs (the Sammy 4266W) just gets routinely hammered opinion-wise everywhere I look.

so I ask here because the A10 is most certainly at the top of the list but I thought there might be some others here who have had to make the choice and sampled the difference.

if it matters, I am by no means a connoisseur. I am a basic knuckle dragging troglodyte who wants a bigger TV. my TV life experience consists of an old 20" Sony (which I could have thrown off a cliff and it would have continued to work), a 32" RCA which died last year leading to the little 24" wega I watch now (needed a tv, didn't want to spend too much, great open box buy).

I don't play video games on the TV (may someday who knows but lets assume not), can definitely see an increase in DVD watching and will of course be taking advantage of all the HD I can. I can imagine how much shite like my series 2 TiVo is going to look but I'll be giving Cox's DVR a whirl.

any thoughts? opinions? just get the A10 and quit worrying so much? :D

I think the A10 is a great value, especially when you find a sale price. I have enjoyed mine for a month. I was using a 27" Sony. Most places will let you try it for 30 days. I think you will be very pleased.

When I got my 42" a10 I ran the auto program for the chanels through the Tv tuner. Everything was fine until a few days ago. I no longer got Fox HD. I re did the chanels and it still doesn't show up. Before I go to my cable company, I thought I'd see if anyone else has has a similar problem.

I have had that happend with CBSHD tonight. When i tune to the channel, it says "Not authorized". I can still get it OTA but it sucks i can't get it through cable. Maybe they are having some problems? All the others come in over the cable fine.

How are you guys testing for dead pixels? Is there a way to get a solid black, white, red, blue, and green image without hooking the tv up to a pc?

How are you guys testing for dead pixels? Is there a way to get a solid black, white, red, blue, and green image without hooking the tv up to a pc?


Avia has these patterns.

Do cable cards work with the A10?

Sometimes.

Knock on wood, my Cablecard (Charter cable) has been working fine in my A10 for over a month now.

In that timeframe, my cable provider has added new channels (PBSHD and PBS subchannels) and they appeared automatically in my available channel list via the cablecard interface.

Of course now that I said this publicly, I expect it to start flaking out soon.

Do cable cards work with the A10?

I have a cable card with Adelphia service and it works.

Thought I would share will you all the TV stand we chose to hold our new 50" A10. We really didn't want a metal stand since we don't like the way they look and we wanted something that we could close and make child proof. So, we decided to get the Benno TV stand from IKEA. For $100 we couldn't go wrong. It fits our 50" A10 perfectly. There is literally only 1/4 inch on either side of the stand that the TV doesn't cover. It holds our Pioneer Elite receiver, Sony 400 Disc Changer and our Tivo with room to space.

There's a link to a picture of our setup.

http://www.pbase.com/coolpepper/image/51263894

Here's a link to BENNO product on the IKEA website.

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&productId=52065

Thought I would share will you all the TV stand we chose to hold our new 50" A10. We really didn't want a metal stand since we don't like the way they look and we wanted something that we could close and make child proof. So, we decided to get the Benno TV stand from IKEA. For $100 we couldn't go wrong. It fits our 50" A10 perfectly. There is literally only 1/4 inch on either side of the stand that the TV doesn't cover. It holds our Pioneer Elite receiver, Sony 400 Disc Changer and our Tivo with room to space.

There's a link to a picture of our setup.

http://www.pbase.com/coolpepper/image/51263894

Here's a link to BENNO product on the IKEA website.

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&productId=52065

That looks very nice! For future reference when I get the itch for a 60 inch SXRD I will check IKEA out for sure! For now my 50 inch A-10 is housed in a nice cabinet. I am very pleased with the TV for the price!

Guys I am really thinking about picking up this t.v over the 50" sammy DLP.. I watched them side by side and the picture was incredible.. I'm just worried about gaming... I can game a couple hours a day a few days a week and i'm afraid of burn in..

Do any of you play say Halo or Madden on your LCD? I'm wondering how it looks..

Guys I am really thinking about picking up this t.v over the 50" sammy DLP.. I watched them side by side and the picture was incredible.. I'm just worried about gaming... I can game a couple hours a day a few days a week and i'm afraid of burn in..

Do any of you play say Halo or Madden on your LCD? I'm wondering how it looks..


Only CRTs and Plasmas burn in....DLPs and LCDs do not have burn in issues.

Game away my friend! I do all the time...LOVE IT

Theres no lag or anything? I'm going to take my xbox and hook it up and see how I like it.. I understand it may not look that great, but once the 360 comes out it should look awesome running 720P right?


People are always talking about the black levels on LCd's.. Will I find myself upset at colors that my look too bright and fake while the darks look gray?
:(
I'm just so paranoid on making a purchase.. So confusing :(

Theres no lag or anything? I'm going to take my xbox and hook it up and see how I like it.. I understand it may not look that great, but once the 360 comes out it should look awesome running 720P right?(

No lag, no problems at all. I purchased this TV for the main purpose of the Xbox 360 and now repaing the benefits all around.

I've been playing, Fable, Splinter Cell: CT, Burnout Revenge and all look fabulous.

Nothing like playing games in 16:9.

If you do play Xbox games on this TV, just be aware that the Xbox does not flag the 16:9 signal to the TV, so the TV thinks it's 4:3 and will not go into FULL moe automatically.

This is a problem that will be corrected with the 360. Not really a big issue, just makes you remember to push the WIDE button every time you play a game each time.

Do yourself a favor, don't go overboard on research, I didm, all it will do is make you more paranoid. Buy the TV and enjoy it.

:D :D :D

Thanks man! :) I just want to hear that I can game on the t.v and it'll look good.

My dad has the 50" A10 arriving this week, and I'm going to do the hookup with the cable and Moxi. He got a very good price from Pacific Sales of $1999 including free delivery. I don't have time to review all of the posts here, but could someone link me to the tweaks recommendation? Thanks.
You just needed to look at Dark Rain's signature, here is the A10 tweaks thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567709

There are both user tweaks and a service menu red push fix. Do the user tweaks first and only do the red push fix if you are comfortable going into the service menu.

People are always talking about the black levels on LCd's.. Will I find myself upset at colors that my look too bright and fake while the darks look gray?
:(
I'm just so paranoid on making a purchase.. So confusing :(
When the TV is properly adjusted the colors do not look fake. the A10's have the best rp-lcd black levels yet but you will still notice that a black screen is dark grey in a darkened room- but small black objects look black not grey because they are surrounded by lighter areas. The black bars on the sides or top and bottom of non 16x9 material are large enough to look dark grey but items inside the image will typically still look black. Adding some room lighting on the wall behind the TV will help the perception of blacks and reduce eye strain.

Awesome Forum - I have learned alot from all that have posted. Thank you for sharing. Here are 2 photo's of my cabinet equipment setup. Maple Cabinet was custom built by my cabinet making brother at his shop in Modesto, CA. Our seating in this family room is 7 to 9 feet from the Sony TV. Enjoy the photo's!

I'm pretty much ready to buy my new TV. My house has a built in media nook that is 44.5 inches wide. I've narrowed down to either the 42" Sony A10 series, or the 46" Samsung HLR4667W. The samsung is a little more expensive, but it fits my space almost perfectly. The Sony seems a little brighter, more color saturation, and doesn't have a Color Wheel.

Is it worth getting a little smaller TV for a little better technology and no problems like the audio lag or color wheel things the samsungs are known for? Would I need an extended warranty with the Sony?

Thanks!

My take Corren is this......If you are going to game at all on the TV, then get the Sony.....I have the 50A10 and game all the time. No lag. I don't have any audio lag on anything. I watch alot of DVD's also. I plug into a reciever so I never use the audio on the TV. I liked the Samsung, but after looking at both I liked the Sony more, I didn't like the color wheel. I then found out about the gaming part (lag) and Sony won that. I bought the TV for Games 1st, DVD's 2nd and TV is just an after thought. I would get the Sony warranty. Longer and better for the price. If you get a Warranty from a store, you can just look at is as pre-paying for a bulb. I got the store warranty, but I wish I didn't. Sony doesn't cover the bulb after the first year and the store warranty will cover 1 bulb. I have been told some places do 2, but I am not really sure about that.

Theres no lag or anything? I'm going to take my xbox and hook it up and see how I like it.. I understand it may not look that great, but once the 360 comes out it should look awesome running 720P right?


People are always talking about the black levels on LCd's.. Will I find myself upset at colors that my look too bright and fake while the darks look gray?
:(
I'm just so paranoid on making a purchase.. So confusing :(

I can tell you that I had the Samsung HLP5063 a year ago and promptly returned it for various picture quality issues. The A-10 is heads above any comparable priced Samsung DLP for overall PQ...trust me because I have had both in my home.

How do you purchase the warranty from Sony if you bought the TV somewhere else? Is there a limit on how long you have to purchase the warranty?

How do you purchase the warranty from Sony if you bought the TV somewhere else? Is there a limit on how long you have to purchase the warranty?
You can purchase Sony TV warranty up to a 5 year plan. Search for Sonystyle for more information and their telephone number. It does not matter which retailer you purchased the TV from. Call the number at Sonystyle and ask questions. Some A10 owners are going to wait just prior to 12 month expiration of the Sony warranty to purchase the extended warranty. Hope that helps!

How are you guys testing for dead pixels? Is there a way to get a solid black, white, red, blue, and green image without hooking the tv up to a pc?


Do your self a favor...DO NOT look for dead pixels...what you don't know won't hurt you.

How do you purchase the warranty from Sony if you bought the TV somewhere else? Is there a limit on how long you have to purchase the warranty?
Great ? .. I been meaning to ask the same thing. Cant hardly wait for a reply.

The reply is in message #4402 above. Search the internet for sonystyle. Go the the TV model you purchased. Add it to the cart, then you will see the options for various length of warranty. Use the toll free number on that site to call.

alright, I've got mine. I'll list my opinions as well as some questions I have.

I won't go into any hardcore review because quite frankly, I'm not qualified for that, my opinions are purely subjective. I am indeed, joe sixpack.

I used settings from the "tweaks" thread so I haven't gone through an Avia setup on my own yet.

my opinion is definitely favorable. I've been watching it all afternoon. SD is awfully rough looking in some spots but when I popped the cable back into my 24" wega, I realized it looked rough there too when you pay attention, blowing the picture up to 42" is certainly going to make the flaws more apparent. I think that is pretty much universally understood so no need to spend much time on that.

one interesting point though is once I had run to the cable co's office (Cox) and grabbed the DVR, SD actually looked a bit better coming off the box. I would certainly say it is more watchable that way.

I am going to miss the functionality of my TiVo (the Motorola DVR is pretty weak on the feature side but hey, two tuners!) but my gosh do the recorded shows look horrible on the A10, even those that were recorded at "best". Truly unfortunate in that I am way behind on a number of my shows, guess I'll be watching those in the bedroom off the TiVo to get caught up.

I have the cable box (Motorola DCT6412 III) set to output in 1080i, I believe the recommendation here was to do that and let the tv do the scaling. It gives 4 further options though:

sidebar 4:3 pic
stretch 4:3 pic
preserve 4:3 480p
preserve 4:3 480i

is there a quick explanation of what the difference is and why would I want one over the other?


DVD has me a bit confused. I have my player set to output 16x9 but the TV keeps pillarboxing it. As soon as I switch the mode to "full", it's fine but the next time I switch inputs and come back, it does it again. I have also swapped between interlaced and progressive and can't really see any difference (I've read the same "let the tv do the scaling" logic on that too).

I am also contemplating a better DVD player, I'm using a $40 cyberhome and some of my DVDs just don't look as good as I feel like they probably should. I can't quantify or justify that, I just "feel" that way while watching them.

the sound is (to me) very impressive. I make no comparison to what it would sound like with a good home theater setup because, well, that's stupid! of course it would sound better (drives me nuts when people make that comparison). on its own, as sound from a tv, I find it very good.

the only downside I think I may be experiencing is as the day has worn on, I seem to detect what started as a purplish / rose patch in the upper right hand corner and has since become more bluish in its tone. if you were to hold a ruler in the corner so that it bisects the angle, measure about 5" in and you have the "wedge" from the top to the right side. The very fact that the tone of the "wedge" has changed through the day makes me wonder if it might be sunlight coming into the room (is that even a reasonable thought or am I just a moron?) the tv sits in a corner next to the window, no direct sunlight but just a bit might be striking the screen from an extreme angle. I think I'll see if there's any change tonight when it gets dark and that will answer my question.


well, that's a lot of babbling and I would appreciate any deconstruction you folks care to give.

I'm Joe, and I'm off to the store to get my six pack (12 pack really, what kind of pansy a$$ is this Joe character anyway?!) :D

oh, and one other point, as cliche as it is beginning to sound, using the term "jaw dropping" for the high def stuff is perfectly appropriate.

although I could do without the soap operas, Discovery HD and some junior league hockey game on INHD2 kept me fairly mesmerized for a good part of the afternoon.

...
I have the cable box (Motorola DCT6412 III) set to output in 1080i, I believe the recommendation here was to do that and let the tv do the scaling. It gives 4 further options though:

sidebar 4:3 pic
stretch 4:3 pic
preserve 4:3 480p
preserve 4:3 480i

is there a quick explanation of what the difference is and why would I want one over the other?


DVD has me a bit confused. I have my player set to output 16x9 but the TV keeps pillarboxing it. As soon as I switch the mode to "full", it's fine but the next time I switch inputs and come back, it does it again. I have also swapped between interlaced and progressive and can't really see any difference (I've read the same "let the tv do the scaling" logic on that too).

I am also contemplating a better DVD player, I'm using a $40 cyberhome and some of my DVDs just don't look as good as I feel like they probably should. I can't quantify or justify that, I just "feel" that way while watching them.

...

I think that you want the sidebar 4:3 pic. Standard definition content is bad enough without blowing it up further or distorting it. Burn in can't happen in an A10 so there are no worries about the black bars. If I could shrink the SD image so it only filled the center 640x480 of the 1280x720 screen then for some TV shows I would do that.

[edit] You are trying to display widescreen DVDs right? If they are fullscreen then the side bars are correct; otherwise the actors would all look fat and squat.

I don't have your DVD player problem with my Panasonic player using component cables. Maybe when you hook up the new player with component cables the problem will go away.

thanks deconvolver


yeah, they're widescreen DVDs


I turned the cable box off so I would be left with no signal to the tv and my "wedge" is most definitely there and it is most definitely blue. the best I can tell, it is not interfering with my viewing, I don't think I would have noticed it if it hadn't been for pillarboxed material and the black area on the side, heck I didn't even notice it with all the white in the background during the hockey game. I'll keep an eye on it.


here's another thing that is probably blindingly obvious but I'll ask anyway. since the signal from the cable box is 1080i through component, does the DRC help me in anyway on the regular channels? I notice the display function does not always indicate a 1080i signal when changing between channels, does the tv activate the DRC "on the fly" when it detects 480i?

Question for the pros- when watching a program (SD or HD) that has flashbulbs going off, the picture turns extremely boxy.

Is there a tweak to make it less obvious? (I'm using one of the recommended custom settings.)

Is it a bandwidth issue???

PS: Is it SSE or a cousin to SSE?

thnx

OK guys, ready to take the plunge on a 42" A10. Which online vendors qualify for price matching at Sears/BB/CC etc. ? Willing to sacrifice a few dollars to have a real building to take it back to. Also, does anyone have the shipping box dimensions or know where I can find them? Need to know if I can get it in my Wrangler through the hardtop liftgate. Thanks

Mike

OK guys, ready to take the plunge on a 42" A10. Which online vendors qualify for price matching at Sears/BB/CC etc. ? Willing to sacrifice a few dollars to have a real building to take it back to. Also, does anyone have the shipping box dimensions or know where I can find them? Need to know if I can get it in my Wrangler through the hardtop liftgate. Thanks

Mike
Must be carried upright 33 1/2" tall - 43 1/2' wide - 18" deep. I carried mine upright (tall) in my Chevy Tahoe. Price match works between retail stores - Ask Sears TV sales if thay will pricematch internet? Good Luck and enjoy your new Sony TV.

OK guys, ready to take the plunge on a 42" A10. Which online vendors qualify for price matching at Sears/BB/CC etc. ? Willing to sacrifice a few dollars to have a real building to take it back to. Also, does anyone have the shipping box dimensions or know where I can find them? Need to know if I can get it in my Wrangler through the hardtop liftgate. Thanks

Mike

You have a PM.

I just took a chance with A*****ized E*******ics via Pricegrabber.com. Seems like a hella deal!

Z

wats AA

wats AA

Post Edited above

I just got my 42a10 yesterday and have been doing a few of the tweaks from the tweaks thread since the out of box picture was terrible. After a few changes the picture has improved quite a bit :)
Since I have Direct HD with the RCA box and an attic antenna I get sat & OTA HD thru the box. Would I benefit any by running the OTA antenna thru the A10 tuner instead? Can I split the antenna cable and run it to both tuners?
When I turn the power off on my set should the red standby light be on?, mine does not.

BTW. Great threads on the A10 series since they helped me alot so far but I can see that I'm gonna have a few more questions as I try to get used to this thing.

thanks
dave

Just how many "starfields" can a person watch?
Save your money... you'll be buying Blu-Ray soon enough.

I've had my E50A10 about 2 weeks now and really like it. I've got an old Toshiba non-progressive DVD player and was hoping to use it until Blu-Ray comes out (and is affordable). I don't think, though, I'm getting that great a DVD picture.

What are some good inexpensive DVD players I should experiment with to see if I can get a better DVD picture?

Thanks

You have a PM.

I just took a chance with A*****ized E*******ics via Pricegrabber.com. Seems like a hella deal!

Z

Be sure to post your customer experience. There might be more on the boards who are interested in that "mysterious" vendor.

i could have bought the tv online for around $1,600.00 but chose not to and went to BB, since they have the rewards program (got a free $100) and reliable service. KEEP IN MIND, when you buy from an online store that cancels any manufacturers warranty! So if you are happy sending your TV back to the "online store" where you bought it... and not an ACTUAL Sony repair dealer... then save the money but beware! Sony does have a list of online certified dealers, but they are pretty expensive as well... just go to BB and try to get a deal... i got mine for 2100... worth the hassle-free later idea! Just beware of online dealers... and know that sony will not accept warranty on a tv bought at some rag tag online dealer!

That's your opinion, Chad, and you are entitled to it, but you are painting with a pretty broad brush there. You said yourself there are online authorized dealers, and some are very solid at that. BB worked for you, and that's great, but that doesn't mean you should just write off all online dealers as shady. I'm sure there are plenty of people on here who can share shady BB stories as well.

i could have bought the tv online for around $1,600.00 but chose not to and went to BB, since they have the rewards program (got a free $100) and reliable service. KEEP IN MIND, when you buy from an online store that cancels any manufacturers warranty! So if you are happy sending your TV back to the "online store" where you bought it... and not an ACTUAL Sony repair dealer... then save the money but beware! Sony does have a list of online certified dealers, but they are pretty expensive as well... just go to BB and try to get a deal... i got mine for 2100... worth the hassle-free later idea! Just beware of online dealers... and know that sony will not accept warranty on a tv bought at some rag tag online dealer!

See, here is the thing. I went to CC & BB as well as 2 smaller retailers here in town. All of them sell over the internet. None actually service the units, they contract it out. Additionally the 2 smaller 'specialty' retailers offer the same Phillips in home repair Policy as my online agent and the warranty policy is the same. ( And more often then not Phillips contracts the same local service people as Sony, etc ).

So, you may feel comfortable only with a big box or B&M store. My worst buying experiences have been with CC and BB by far. Many of the e-tailers have a heavy stack of positive reviews.

Time will tell. But no matter who I get it from, it is being delivered so the B&M option was far less attractive.

no i appoligize, i am sorry. i didn't want to make it seem as if i were bashin all online dealers. my MAIN point was that if you buy from an online unauthorized dealer, sony will not recognize their one year warranty (it will be void if you buy from an unauthorized online dealer) and THAT is not my opinion... that is the truth. i just wanted people to know the truth of unauthorized online dealers. not all are shady... but most are unauthorized...
here is the link to the list of authorized online dealers that sony recognizes... i hope this helps everyone...http://direct.where2getit.com/sony/#

sorry to confuse anyone... everyones buying experience will be different. just wanted to educate people on sony's policy...

From experience, if you do buy a TV from an online store, make sure you can return it hassle-free for an exchange or refund. Read the fine print and always call them to confirm it. As an added step, make sure you use a credit card that protects you from fraudulent purchases rather than sending a money order or check. The thing with many of these online stores that have a really low price is that the shipping charges are usually outrageous and they generally won't let you return it at their expense if there's a problem with it. In the end you may not be saving that much at all.

Research throughly before buying online and do make sure that they are an authorized dealer, so you know that you're getting a NEW unit rather than an open box one. In some cases it's better to just pay the full MSRP as long as you can return it hassle-free and at their expense.

Over the weekend I pulled the trigger on the 42" A10 through BB. Was strongly considering an internet purchase, but wondered whether some negotiations couldn't get me close enough with the benefit of a B&M retailer. I took the internet price in, added in the shipping, and asked if they could meet the combined price. Not quite, but they got within $50 before taxes, which seemed to be a reasonable price to pay for the comfort of dealing with an actual person, as well as for the overhead that I "use" in shopping for the TV (no way I'm going to buy a $2,000 TV without seeing it first, and I spent plenty of time at that BB looking at the Sony and various competitors, so it seems fair that they should get compensated for that). Moral of the story for me is that the big box guys will be realistic, but you need to be honest with them about what your actual price is going to be at the end of the day. It isn't fair to ask them to match a price that doesn't include the $200 shipping fee that you are going to have to pay.

Also got interest free financing for a year, which I didn't really need, but hey, its free money.

TV is great. Just waiting for Comcast to come and hook up digital TV tomorrow. Am getting some HD over the air and it is incredible stuff.

And, to the person who wondered about a DVD player, take a look at the basic Sony. I was in the same spot as you (right down to having an older Toshiba DVD player), and was able to pick up a new DVD player for $70 or thereabouts. Progressive scan -- will get the job done for a couple of years, and runs off the same remote as the TV (which made my wife very happy -- one less remote).

Are you sure your unauthorized warranty claims are true about Sony? According to this article:
http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2012p057id105833.htm
Sony will provide warranty service on all units, regardless of where they were purchased, as long as the serial number hasn't been altered/removed. I'd imagine most "legit" unauthorized dealers wouldn't be messing with the serial number.
Do you know firsthand of anyone that was denied warranty service on sony sets from the more popular unauthorized dealers?

And actually, if you go right to sony's site:
http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/lc/authorized_dealers/why_buy.html
it mentions right there that "Products with tampered serial numbers void the Sony Products Warranty.", which implies to me that as long as the serial number is intact, the warranty is still valid.

JHermon,

Funny thing is that I actually gave BB, CC and 1 local an actual shot at the sale. Never even got as far as pricing. CC/BB I could not even get anyone to help me. Literally asked for help and stood in front of the 42A10 for 15 minutes at both stores. Nada.

The local 'specialty' store didn't even acknowledge my presence for 5 minutes, not even a 'hello' on walk in and I was the ONLY one in the store. With service like that, I figured, 'screw it' I'll take me e-chances and save $140 in taxs alone, plus the online discount.

All told it probably came to a 1/3 price dif.

Your mileage may vary.

Z

(end of derail)

JHermon,

Funny thing is that I actually gave BB, CC and 1 local an actual shot at the sale. Never even got as far as pricing. CC/BB I could not even get anyone to help me. Literally asked for help and stood in front of the 42A10 for 15 minutes at both stores. Nada.

the same thing happened to me at the local CC, when I first got to the store, all the salespeople were already with someone, so i'm a patient person i stood in front of the A10 for a good 20 minutes. during that time the people they were already helping were finished, and new people would walk up, and they'd go right up to them, ignoring me. one salesman even walked right past me and looked me in the eye and didn't say anything, i'm in my early 20's and still look very young for my age, i could probably pass for a 12th grader in highschool, either way this was no excuse, as I actually was going to pay cash for the TV that day, oh well I left the store.

but it all worked out in the end, the local military NEX had both A10's to my surprise, i actually never thought to check there, i ended up getting the 42A10 for 300 below CC retail, tax free of course, and the 4 year extended warrenty through them was only 84.99. i ended up saving a good 700 bucks vs. getting it through CC with their 2 year EW for 249 + taxes + the retail price being 300 higher.

the sad part is i would have walked out of CC that day with the 42A10 had someone helped me cause i have no patience when i want something. ;)

Well, after browsing ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY PLUS pages on this thread, and various other threads here, I'm ready to plunk down on the 42" A10. As I moved into a new house with a fancy media nook built in, I had to sell my 55" Mitsubishi CRT RP and settle for something a little smaller. I don't think I'll be disappointed with the new sony sets.

I'll be buying mine from a salesman at the Bellevue Magnolia that I've been buying equipment from for nearly 20 years. My dad and I have worked with him for a heck of a long time and he treats us right every time.

If anyone in the Seattle area is looking for a professional to work with, let me know via PM and I'll get you his contact info.

--Ken

during that time the people they were already helping were finished, and new people would walk up, and they'd go right up to them, ignoring me. one salesman even walked right past me and looked me in the eye and didn't say anything, i'm in my early 20's and still look very young for my age, i could probably pass for a 12th grader in highschool, either way this was no excuse, as I actually was going to pay cash for the TV that day, oh well I left the store.

That's why I hate those places. And if you do get help the majority of the people that work there have no clue about the product and just tell you it's a "big seller" or some other BS. Moving product is the only reason they're there.

..., and the 4 year extended warrenty through them was only 84.99.
That is an interesting data point on the real cost of an extended warranty. The company that priced that warranty expects to make a profit even after paperwork costs so they must expect the average repair cost of an A10 to be pretty low. :)

Hey, I'm not trying to say that BB or CC (or any of the other big box retailers) are always going to be the best buy. Pun intended.

I was not in a rush to buy the set. My brother in law happened to be home with his pickup from college, and I thought it would be worth a try to get BB to match the internet price while I had access to transport and an extra pair of hands to help move the 32" WEGA down the basement (so freaking heavy...). If they had come back and said that they wouldn't get anywhere near the price, I would have walked and gone to the internet instead. At some point between the internet prices I found (including shipping) and the price tag on the set at BB, there was a price at which I was willing to buy from a B&M retailer rather than the internet. I'm not sure where exactly that point was, frankly, but apparently BB got there, since I bought.

To me, there is some value to having a physical retailer assist me with a sale of this type, not because of the information (like you said, I typically know more about the product than the salesman -- another miracle of the information age), but because if something goes wrong I can get better results by going back and pounding my chest than I can talking to someone on the phone.

To end the ramble, I'm simply trying to make the point that you may be able negotiate using internet pricing. Although you might not be able to get a price match, you may be able to end up in a place where the amount you are paying is a fair middle point between the internet price and the posted price at the store, and still get some peace of mind of having a real person to deal with.

I just got my 42a10 yesterday and have been doing a few of the tweaks from the tweaks thread since the out of box picture was terrible. After a few changes the picture has improved quite a bit :)
Since I have Direct HD with the RCA box and an attic antenna I get sat & OTA HD thru the box. Would I benefit any by running the OTA antenna thru the A10 tuner instead? Can I split the antenna cable and run it to both tuners?
When I turn the power off on my set should the red standby light be on?, mine does not.

BTW. Great threads on the A10 series since they helped me alot so far but I can see that I'm gonna have a few more questions as I try to get used to this thing.

thanks
dave
Dave: I have my antenna signal split between my Dish 811 and my 42A10. The tuner in the tv routinely gives better results than the tuner in the 811.

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie here. I have a good friend who sent me the link to this site. I just want to say thank you in advanced to everyone's contribution to this website. It really is incredible how much information is available here.

I have decided that the new Sony KDF-E42A10 would be a good fit for me but I am concerned that it only has one HDMI Input. This will be my first HDTV and I would like to keep it for a while. I plan on using the one HDMI input for my HDTV Receiver to the tv. I also plan on getting the new PS III when it comes out in the spring. Won't I want to hook the PSIII through the HDMI port too? If that is the case what are my choices? Do I have to pay more for another tv that has more than one HDMI port? Do i just manually change the two HDMI cables when i want to use one and not the other?

I hope that is a decent question. I tried the search function and found that there may be some type of switch I can purchase where both HDMI cables could be run through that but will the picture suffer?

Hey does any one know if final fantasy 7 or 8 looks good on this tv. I was just wondering since those games are pretty old and blocky

That is an interesting data point on the real cost of an extended warranty. The company that priced that warranty expects to make a profit even after paperwork costs so they must expect the average repair cost of an A10 to be pretty low. :)

well that 4 year warrenty doesn't cover bulbs, but that doesn't matter to me. it's still parts and labor for 4 years, even the sony style 4 year warrenty is around 80-90 bucks, which also doesn't cover bulbs.

i just couldnt see the point paying 250 for 2 years from CC (the 4 year was insane, over 400 dollars), yeah they do include a bulb (two with the 4 year), but I don't run my TV into the ground, so I don't expect my bulb to burn out in the 2 years time, unless I got a lemon bulb, as I know people with older grand wegas that are still going strong after 2-3 years with the stock bulb. and by the time i do need a bulb the prices will no doubt have come down, 100-150 for a new bulb isn't a big deal for me.

You can buy an HDMI switchbox, if you prefer.

However, I would connect one of them up via component cables and the other one up via HDMI.

If I had to decide "who gets the HDMI port" on my TV instead of a component input port or even a VGA port, it would go like this:

1) BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player (no choice - rumor is that component out will not be allowed)
2) HDTV cable box / DVR
3) HD gaming console or HTPC
4) Upconverting DVD player
5) Don't use it.

The high def BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player is not an option yet until it comes out at a reasonable price
I use a CableCard, so HDTV cable box / DVR is not an option for me
My HTPC card outputs VGA or Component and not DVI / HDMI, so not a problem for me
Don't own an upconverting DVD player and instead will put the money towards the future purchase of a BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player

So at the moment, my HDMI port is unused and will stay that way until I buy a HD movie disk player of some sort.

For high def gaming, I would have to assume that component would look "good enough" for me, so I would not bother with the extra expense of an HDMI switchbox.

You can buy an HDMI switchbox, if you prefer.

However, I would connect one of them up via component cables and the other one up via HDMI.

If I had to decide "who gets the HDMI port" on my TV instead of a component input port or even a VGA port, it would go like this:

1) BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player (no choice - rumor is that component out will not be allowed)
2) HDTV cable box / DVR
3) HD gaming console or HTPC
4) Upconverting DVD player
5) Don't use it.

The high def BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player is not an option yet until it comes out at a reasonable price
I use a CableCard, so HDTV cable box / DVR is not an option for me
My HTPC card outputs VGA or Component and not DVI / HDMI, so not a problem for me
Don't own an upconverting DVD player and instead will put the money towards the future purchase of a BLU-RAY or HD-DVD player

So at the moment, my HDMI port is unused and will stay that way until I buy a HD movie disk player of some sort.

For high def gaming, I would have to assume that component would look "good enough" for me, so I would not bother with the extra expense of an HDMI switchbox.

I didn't even think ouf using the cable card instead of hooking up the HDTV cable receiver to the tv. You just solved my biggest problem. I am pretty sure my cable company offers the card. Proof that I am a newbie. Thanks for your help.

the same thing happened to me at the local CC, when I first got to the store, all the salespeople were already with someone, so i'm a patient person i stood in front of the A10 for a good 20 minutes. during that time the people they were already helping were finished, and new people would walk up, and they'd go right up to them, ignoring me. one salesman even walked right past me and looked me in the eye and didn't say anything, i'm in my early 20's and still look very young for my age, i could probably pass for a 12th grader in highschool, either way this was no excuse, as I actually was going to pay cash for the TV that day, oh well I left the store.




Same here, local CC as well. 4 sales "associates" standing chatting amongst themselves, one guy doing all the work, lots of customers. I waited for the one guy doing all the work and bought it from him. Don't they work on base plus commision?

Thanks RAF49ER. Forgot to ask: I'm a long time DirecTV customer and I'm moving MD to MN. What's the best way to approach them about getting a good deal for upgrading to HD service? Do they still have a customer retention number?

I didn't even think ouf using the cable card instead of hooking up the HDTV cable receiver to the tv. You just solved my biggest problem. I am pretty sure my cable company offers the card. Proof that I am a newbie. Thanks for your help.

FYI-

I've seen a lot of posts saying that people have had LOTS of problem using a cable card.....I use the SA8300, so I'm just commenting on what I've read here.

I have a quick newbie question. I am sorry if the question was asked before.

Can or do the screen on the A10 burn in ?

I received my A10 last week and I Love it so far.

Thanks in advance.

I have a quick newbie question. I am sorry if the question was asked before.

Can or do the screen on the A10 burn in ?

No.

Got the TV! Looks great. Turns out, in my area, comcast is including the digital feed for all of the local channels and public access on my analog cable. So I don't even need an antenna. The numbering is a bit odd, but with favorites and labels who cares.

For example, Fox here in seattle is Channel 13, and digital is normally 18. But on Comcast, it's 81.1, Komo, usually Channel 4 for SD/HD, is 82.3 or something.

But it works, the picture (after some tweaking, WAY too bright out of the box) is great. Next up is an upconverting DVD player (Panny S97 maybe?) and saving for a 7.1 system.

I hope to have a picture or two up soon.

Thanks again for all the great advice!

hey guys!
this is a question for the people with a ps2

i recently got resident evil 4 for ps2 and when i start the game it seems to default to widescreen mode, when i go into the game options widescreen is off and i have to put it on to fill the screen, the ps2 is set at full screen and the tv to wide zoom, the thing is that every other ps2 game i have tried works perfectly (fits the entire screen) and im not too sure why this game doesnt behave like all the others?
anyone else play re4 on the ps2 with the 50a10? do you have the same issue?

thanks for any info!

hey guys!
this is a question for the people with a ps2

i recently got resident evil 4 for ps2 and when i start the game it seems to default to widescreen mode, when i go into the game options widescreen is off and i have to put it on to fill the screen, the ps2 is set at full screen and the tv to wide zoom, the thing is that every other ps2 game i have tried works perfectly (fits the entire screen) and im not too sure why this game doesnt behave like all the others?
anyone else play re4 on the ps2 with the 50a10? do you have the same issue?

thanks for any info!

I'm not quite understanding the issue you're having, but here's some info:

Resident Evil 4 was designed to be played in a "widescreen" mode, so even if you play the game on a 4:3 display it will present a letterboxed image on the 4:3 screen - this must be its default setting. When you turn on "Widescreen" in the options it switches the game to rendering it in anamorphic widescreen (an option not available on the Gamecube version, so playing the GC version you'd have to use zoom).

So, if I understand correctly, if you have "widescreen" in the options off you'd set the TV to however you'd generally watch a non-anamorphic letterboxed DVD, but if you set "widescreen" on in the options the TV should be set like you'd watch a regular anamorphic DVD. I don't think the game supports progressive scan, but I could be wrong.

He y'all. I returned my 42" dlp and am seriously considering this set (42" a10).
If I pick it up from a retailer, can I purchase the warranty from www.sonystyle.com, or sonystyle some sort of retailer?

Many of the brick&mortar shops are a ripoff for maintenance contracts!

As promised, here is a picture of my new 42" set. This is from a 480i DVD (Need to buy an upconverting one next) from Monsters Inc disc.

I'm pretty pleased, especially not even needing to have Digital Cable or an Antenna to get full HDTV!

As promised, here is a picture of my new 42" set. This is from a 480i DVD (Need to buy an upconverting one next) from Monsters Inc disc.

I'm pretty pleased, especially not even needing to have Digital Cable or an Antenna to get full HDTV!

That looks great. It's good to see a TV nook that's built at the correct height. You'd be amazed how many builders put them above fireplaces or in other ridiculous locations.


I've decided to buy the 50" A10 after reading these (and several other) forums. I think I'm going to wait and see if there are any Black Friday deals and get it by the end of next month. Thanks to everyone for all the great info. :)

Odd that you should mention that. That was a huge factor in my home buying decision. It's amazing how many builders building amazing new modern homes that fail to recognize that the average american citizens life does indeed revolve around the television. At least cater to that, rather than tossing the media nook on the floor, or in a corner, or above a fireplace.

I just replaced my 2 year old GVIII (610) with the GV V (42A10) and I notice that the picture with SD as well as HD is grainy. Grain in a way that you can see that the entire screen is made up of little dots. I'm not too close to the set at 9 feet so I'm wondering if the resolution is lower on these sets enough to be that noticible.
I have the same system on this set as the older model. DTV with RCA HD receiver.
I have a DVI to HDMI cable, I tried component and the results were the same.
Anyone else notice this? anyone have any ideas to remidy this if possible before I exchange the unit for something else?


thanks
dave

I just replaced my 2 year old GVIII (610) with the GV V (42A10) and I notice that the picture with SD as well as HD is grainy. Grain in a way that you can see that the entire screen is made up of little dots. I'm not too close to the set at 9 feet so I'm wondering if the resolution is lower on these sets enough to be that noticible.
I have the same system on this set as the older model. DTV with RCA HD receiver.
I have a DVI to HDMI cable, I tried component and the results were the same.
Anyone else notice this? anyone have any ideas to remidy this if possible before I exchange the unit for something else?


thanks
dave

The first thing you should do is turn the SHARPNESS down. Set it in the 25-35 range. For SD sources you need to work with the DRC palette to get better results. See my settings in my sig to get a better idea of what to do. The other option is to use the Noise Reduction feature.

So I picked up a KDFE42A10 2 nights ago and have gone through a ton of pages in this thread, and don't see anyone with the same problem I'm having. I have a Sony DVD player that has a switch for normal interlaced and progressive scan, and when it plays on normal it kinda looks crappy. It's real blocky and you have to be about 8 feet away for it to look smooth or remotely good.

When I hit the switch on the back the audio continues playing but the video goes completely black. I have no idea why it's doing this and can't find a solution. The DVD player is connected with normal 3 colored cable (red, white, yellow) until my HDMI cable comes in this week and I can move my component cables down to the DVD player.

Also, I have HUGE black bars on the top and bottom, literally displaying 12" vertical of actual video on this 42" screen. I know DVD movies has this but the movie even displays squished and it's not zoomed in or anything, it's on full.

UPDATE: I hooked up the component cables to the DVD player and progressive scan now works. Seems a bit odd that it can be used with the normal cable that was included in the box. I can zoom in and make the bars smaller now but they are still pretty big.

So I picked up a KDFE42A10 2 nights ago and have gone through a ton of pages in this thread, and don't see anyone with the same problem I'm having. I have a Sony DVD player that has a switch for normal interlaced and progressive scan, and when it plays on normal it kinda looks crappy. It's real blocky and you have to be about 8 feet away for it to look smooth or remotely good.

When I hit the switch on the back the audio continues playing but the video goes completely black. I have no idea why it's doing this and can't find a solution. The DVD player is connected with normal 3 colored cable (red, white, yellow) until my HDMI cable comes in this week and I can move my component cables down to the DVD player.

Also, I have HUGE black bars on the top and bottom, literally displaying 12" vertical of actual video on this 42" screen. I know DVD movies has this but the movie even displays squished and it's not zoomed in or anything, it's on full.

You can't play a progressive signal over the composite (yellow) cable. It requires component (red/green/blue), DVI, or HDMI.

Did you switch the DVD player to let it know you have a widescreen TV now (assuming you didn't before)? Is the DVD you are playing anamorphic or not (the TV setting will be different for anamorphic vs. non-anamorphic vs. full screen)?

I'm thinking of buying a 50A10 but need to put it on an actual piece of furniture that goes well with the remainder of my furniture (18th century style..no modern looking stuff in my house!) . This piece would be OK but is 28 inches high. Would that be too high for the 50 inch A10?? http://www.hookerfurniture.com/catalog.cfm?inc=cats&level=3&topCatID=9&parentID=260&gParentID=9&item=005-55-249

I'm thinking of buying a 50A10 but need to put it on an actual piece of furniture that goes well with the remainder of my furniture (18th century style..no modern looking stuff in my house!) . This piece would be OK but is 28 inches high. Would that be too high for the 50 inch A10?? http://www.hookerfurniture.com/catalog.cfm?inc=cats&level=3&topCatID=9&parentID=260&gParentID=9&item=005-55-249
For my furniture I figured the stand height should be in the range of 16 to 26 inches high so 28 inches would have been slightly higher than I would have wanted. I ended up just leaving it on a 22" high chest which works well.

Does the back of your E50A10 have a gap at the bottom like mine?

Also, can someone recommend a nice stand for this TV besides the Sony SURG11M stand (the one that is made for this TV). I have roughly 55" of room for a stand, but have only seen one or two at BB & CC that have caught my eye.

Mine doesn't have a gap. It just looks like they didn't get it together in that place. I don't think it is anything to worry about, except for a better place for bugs to get into (lol).............

that could be a problem, regarding the gap. you may want to exchange it if you can. If everything is working fine, I wouldnt worry so much. Nobody looks at the back of the tv when watching cable.

I decided not to by an A10, but would have went with the My Sony deal that Jimmyv first posted about on page 144 of this thread. Well that deal looks like it was caught and corrected(I guess) by someone at Sony, as the price of the 42a10 is now $2000 and the 50a10 is $2400. Now when you take the additional 15% off, you really aren't saving that much as the 42a10 would be $1700 and the 50a10 would be $2040(plus tax). So far no one has posted in this thread that they used that deal to purchase an A10, so I guess Sony didn't get a bunch of orders to alert them to the original prices of $1700 and $2130 before the 15% discount.

I decided not to by an A10, but would have went with the My Sony deal that Jimmyv first posted about on page 144 of this thread. Well that deal looks like it was caught and corrected(I guess) by someone at Sony, as the price of the 42a10 is now $2000 and the 50a10 is $2400. Now when you take the additional 15% off, you really aren't saving that much as the 42a10 would be $1700 and the 50a10 would be $2040(plus tax). So far no one has posted in this thread that they used that deal to purchase an A10, so I guess Sony didn't get a bunch of orders to alert them to the original prices of $1700 and $2130 before the 15% discount.
Why not, and what did you decide on?

I decided not to get an HDTV right now for 3 reasons. The first was the total price, including the bulb replacements/warranty and TV stand. The second was the technology needs to get better in my opinion. If I am going to invest $2 to $3K on an HDTV I shouldn't have to deal with SDE/SSE and poor PQ with SD programs. Then I read that there are some PQ issues with DVDs unless you upgrade your DVD player, and then you could still have problems with the DVD not filling the screen correctly. I would also like to get a HDTV with 2 HDMI inputs(1 for the DVD player). The final reason is that there aren't enough HD programs/channels for me. I watch a lot of sports. The NBA & MLB packages aren't in HD, and the general consensus on many of these forums is that Hockey has PQ issues in HD. Another problem I have is that you can't really view these sets in the stores the way you are going to use them at your house. They almost never have them hooked up to Comcast cable, but yet both CC and BB have a display/info on Comcast's HD service. Most of the time they are showing a loop of prerecorded HD programs or info commercials on HD and their partners. Would anyone buy a vehicle if they couldn't take it out for a test drive, and all you could do is sit in it at the showroom? Maybe in a year or two the total price will come down well below $2000 and there will be more HD programs to make the investment worth it to me, will see.

Mine doesn't have a gap. It just looks like they didn't get it together in that place. I don't think it is anything to worry about, except for a better place for bugs to get into (lol).............

The display E50A10 at Circuit City had the gap like mine as well.....weird. Since thats the only real flaw I have seen, and it's only noticable to my 'eagle eye', I am not going to worry about it.

I decided on the Nea Moda stand and just finished assembling it.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Nea-Moda-Wide-TV-Stand-220337-/sem/rpsm/oid/110765/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

RECOIL55
I just replaced my 2 year old GVIII (610) with the GV V (42A10) and I notice that the picture with SD as well as HD is grainy. Grain in a way that you can see that the entire screen is made up of little dots. I'm not too close to the set at 9 feet so I'm wondering if the resolution is lower on these sets enough to be that noticible.
I have the same system on this set as the older model. DTV with RCA HD receiver.
I have a DVI to HDMI cable, I tried component and the results were the same.
Anyone else notice this? anyone have any ideas to remidy this if possible before I exchange the unit for something else?


I don't know about DTV but on my Moto DCT 6412 cable box changing the output from the default 480i to 480p improved the SD tremendously. I no longer see any grain except on one network station that Mediacom can't ever seem to fix. I'm also using a DVI to HDMI cable (monoprice).

I decided not to get an HDTV right now for 3 reasons. The first was the total price, including the bulb replacements/warranty and TV stand. The second was the technology needs to get better in my opinion. If I am going to invest $2 to $3K on an HDTV I shouldn't have to deal with SDE/SSE and poor PQ with SD programs. Then I read that there are some PQ issues with DVDs unless you upgrade your DVD player, and then you could still have problems with the DVD not filling the screen correctly. I would also like to get a HDTV with 2 HDMI inputs(1 for the DVD player). The final reason is that there aren't enough HD programs/channels for me. I watch a lot of sports. The NBA & MLB packages aren't in HD, and the general consensus on many of these forums is that Hockey has PQ issues in HD. Another problem I have is that you can't really view these sets in the stores the way you are going to use them at your house. They almost never have them hooked up to Comcast cable, but yet both CC and BB have a display/info on Comcast's HD service. Most of the time they are showing a loop of prerecorded HD programs or info commercials on HD and their partners. Would anyone buy a vehicle if they couldn't take it out for a test drive, and all you could do is sit in it at the showroom? Maybe in a year or two the total price will come down well below $2000 and there will be more HD programs to make the investment worth it to me, will see.


So the difference between $2150 and $2400 made you realize all that? That's crazy!

It sounds like you've been spending more time in here reading about the nitpicking than at the store seeing how amazing the picture on these tv's are.

I agree with NAGGS. My 50a10 amazes everyone who comes to the house. Hockey HD looks great, as a matter of fact everything in HD looks great, including SD channels. If price is an issue or maybe lack of "test driving", buy the set from COSCO or Sam's Club they have a great return policy.

I agree with NAGGS. My 50a10 amazes everyone who comes to the house. Hockey HD looks great, as a matter of fact everything in HD looks great, including SD channels.

Hockey is not really the sport to advertise for this TV in my opinion, because of the SSE. Other sports like football or basketball look definetely better. But the overall picture quality is pretty good.

So the difference between $2150 and $2400 made you realize all that? That's crazy!

It sounds like you've been spending more time in here reading about the nitpicking than at the store seeing how amazing the picture on these tv's are.

I couldn't find a 50A10 for $2150 after you add tax/delivery, TV stand, & EW. And then you still have to worry about at least one $200 bulb replacement after the EW runs out. Thats the difference that made me realize that HDTV isn't right for me at this time.


You are right about one thing, I have spent too much time on the net reading HDTV reviews and this thread. I did go to stores to see the A10. The loop that they showed in most stores looked good, but I won't be watching that loop at home. Also, the sales help at BB & CC in my area seem to be college kids, who know less than me about HDTV, and probably have never seen the A10 off the in-store promo loop or DVD. The one kid first told me I couldn't hear the sound of just the A10 speakers because it was connected to a home theater system. After a few minutes, he figured out how to turn off the system so I could hear the A10 speakers. Then I asked him could I view some channels. He told me that this A10 was set up to play a DVD off the Home Theater system. I told him I would probably need a stand and the extended warranty, and could I get any type of discount. He quickly said no, and told me this is a bad time for discounts on HDTVs because black Friday is next month. They basically are no help to you until you are ready to buy.

And here we go again, Yankee says Hockey looks great, Rico doesn't think so. I'll never be able to tell, because the stores I go into don't have the HDTVs hooked up to Comcast Cable so I can check out the Flyers in HD for myself.

I decided not to get an HDTV right now for 3 reasons. The first was the total price, including the bulb replacements/warranty and TV stand. The second was the technology needs to get better in my opinion. If I am going to invest $2 to $3K on an HDTV I shouldn't have to deal with SDE/SSE and poor PQ with SD programs. Then I read that there are some PQ issues with DVDs unless you upgrade your DVD player, and then you could still have problems with the DVD not filling the screen correctly. I would also like to get a HDTV with 2 HDMI inputs(1 for the DVD player). The final reason is that there aren't enough HD programs/channels for me. I watch a lot of sports. The NBA & MLB packages aren't in HD, and the general consensus on many of these forums is that Hockey has PQ issues in HD. Another problem I have is that you can't really view these sets in the stores the way you are going to use them at your house. They almost never have them hooked up to Comcast cable, but yet both CC and BB have a display/info on Comcast's HD service. Most of the time they are showing a loop of prerecorded HD programs or info commercials on HD and their partners. Would anyone buy a vehicle if they couldn't take it out for a test drive, and all you could do is sit in it at the showroom? Maybe in a year or two the total price will come down well below $2000 and there will be more HD programs to make the investment worth it to me, will see.
I purchased my first hdtv 5 years ago. I just purchased the 50a10 last month and love it. Football, baseball, basketball, look great. Hockey looks good but not as "perfect as the others. It still looks a whole lot better watching it in hd than a non hd set. If you keep waiting for the the new technology to be perfect, you will never buy a set because something new will always be around the corner. Watching my tv at home, looks 1000% better than it did in any store I went to. Go out and but the set, if you're not happy, return it.

I just rented my 5th movie with the a10 tonight. So far all "widescreen" movies have given me black bars on the top and bottom. I know dofferent aspect ratios produce different screen size. I watched the movie Crash tonight and got bars on top and bottom. Is this normal or is there a mode I am missing?

I just rented my 5th movie with the a10 tonight. So far all "widescreen" movies have given me black bars on the top and bottom. I know dofferent aspect ratios produce different screen size. I watched the movie Crash tonight and got bars on top and bottom. Is this normal or is there a mode I am missing?


Normal, find a movie in 1.85:1 to see no black bars.

I just rented my 5th movie with the a10 tonight. So far all "widescreen" movies have given me black bars on the top and bottom. I know dofferent aspect ratios produce different screen size. I watched the movie Crash tonight and got bars on top and bottom. Is this normal or is there a mode I am missing?

This is something that I was suprised about at first. I always had 4:3 sets (even an HD one) and got the black bars and always just thought that widescreen TVs don't have the bars. But I just purchased the 42A10 and realized most DVDs do unless they offer a fullscreen option, in that case you can wide zoom it and it looks great (to me at least).

Crash (if it's the 2004 movie, rather than Cronenberg's) had a theatrical ratio of 2.35:1. Any movie shot in a 'scope ratio will still show up with black bars.

Snatta, The HD hockey on my 42A10 with Comcast is incredible. No SSE, SDE whatsoever. If you are a hockey fan, you surely are missing out. Save your money and use it to go to a couple of NHL games and you will come out about even.

snatta,

I'm as hyper-critical (my friends say anal-retentive) as they come. It took me a long time to get an HDTV. Everything from the HD programming available to the features on the TV, LCD vs. DLP, etc. Last year when Sony introduced the GWIV, I decided to take the plunge with the 42WE655. I realized I might be jumping too early but sometimes you eventually have to make a move.

Its not perfect (e.g. SD programming is only ok IMHO) but the HD programming is awesome. Overall I have to say I'm very very pleased. I've thoroughly enjoyed the set for the last 11 months. My only regret (actually this is envy talking) is that my set doesn't have the better looking exterior shell of the A10 series.

Anyway, good luck in your decision making........

I've seen some valuable suggestions on how to vary the A10 Custom
Settings between HD vs SD analog vs SD digital vs DVD, etc.

Is there a way to program these in or do you have to change the
settings every time you switch channels?

My A10 is connected to a cable box/DVR (Moto6412) via DVI to HDMI cable with separate audio cable. 99% of the time audio works normally. Occaisionally when the box and TV are turned on there is no sound, but at full volume I can hear speaker hash.
Restarting has no effect nor does changing between the Sound Modes. But if I play either a recorded program from the DVR or a DVD from the component connected DVD player, the audio is normal AND when I stop them the TV is back to normal sound. It stays normal for days and then inexplicably poof, silence again.
I don't know if Diagnostics in Settings would help because mine is always not accessible.

Any help would be appreciated .

First off, I have made no tweaks to the factory settings of my 42A10. I was pleased with the PQ the way it was. I am using a Dish 811 HDTV receiver.

I started out with component connections and have been generally pleased. SD looked reasonable and HD was awesome. I watched the TV thus for about a month.

Then I decided to check out the HDMI connection and purchased a DVI-HDMI cable to go with the 811. With HDMI some of the SD channels are downright pathetic. The PQ in some channels actually deteriorated considerably...kind of softer/diffused/slightly out-of-focus picture with not so bright colors. On HDTV channels however, I can see noticeable (let's say abt 5-10%) improvement! The colors are not quite so "popping" but much more realistic with definite improvement in details. College Football on HDTV channels over component was awesome; with HDMI it is even better with more realistic turf-greens, more detail etc.

I am now wondering if it is best that I use HDMI for HDTV and component for SD content. I don't know if I can accomplish this easily though.

Has anybody else had such experience? Any thoughts would be great.

My A10 is connected to a cable box/DVR (Moto6412) via DVI to HDMI cable with separate audio cable. 99% of the time audio works normally. Occaisionally when the box and TV are turned on there is no sound, but at full volume I can hear speaker hash.
Restarting has no effect nor does changing between the Sound Modes. But if I play either a recorded program from the DVR or a DVD from the component connected DVD player, the audio is normal AND when I stop them the TV is back to normal sound. It stays normal for days and then inexplicably poof, silence again.
I don't know if Diagnostics in Settings would help because mine is always not accessible.

Any help would be appreciated .


Thats a known bug with the 6412, not the tv. The workaround is to leave the 6412 on at all times.

Hi all, I need some help! I just bought the KDF-E42A10 and I really like it with one MAJOR exception!

I have my PVR (Microsoft Media Center 2005) connected to the Sony via the HDMI connection (Input 6). I have a VERY new ATI RADEON X700 card (PC video card)that is fully HDMI/HDCP compliant, and when things boot up (and all adjustments are made) things look great...BUT, when I switch to another Input (Of ANY type), and then come back to Input 6 (HDMI), it is a black screen (like it needs to be awaken)... If I unplug the HDMI connector from the TV and plug it back in, WHALLA!! there is a picture there. This is not a Power mode/savings issue at all...No screensaver type stuff, etc. I can go from Input 6 (HDMI) to anything else and all other inputs are awake and working, but when I go back to Input 6, NOTHING (Until I unplug and plug back in). Any ideas? I have tried everything, even called Sony, and they said that my Input 6 is bad, but that is so hard for me to believe that one input could be bad?? Anyone had this happen? Thanks very much in advance!

Greetings - after several weeks of wading through all of the posts in this forum I took the plunge yesterday and now own a KDF-E42A10. This size was a perfect fit for a spot I had previously set up for a 35" CRT TV in one of my home theater systems.

I haven't chased through all of the tweaks that have been posted here yet, but am delighted with the picture so far. I am currently just using an antenna as a digital source until I can get another DirecTV HD DVR as a receiver. I have an HD-10 on another system elsewhere in my house, but don't want to get another one until it's more clear when DirecTV is going to make the switch to mpeg-4 in my location (Portland/Vancouver).

I do have one question about the Toslink optical output however. My sound processor (an elderly Marantz DP870) shows that it sees a Digital Dolby signal, but only plays stereo when I have a ATSC picture on the screen. The sound processor has no trouble playing 5.1 output when connected to a DVD player. Anyone using this output at the moment to feed their audio system?

Greetings - after several weeks of wading through all of the posts in this forum I took the plunge yesterday and now own a KDF-E42A10. This size was a perfect fit for a spot I had previously set up for a 35" CRT TV in one of my home theater systems.

I haven't chased through all of the tweaks that have been posted here yet, but am delighted with the picture so far. I am currently just using an antenna as a digital source until I can get another DirecTV HD DVR as a receiver. I have an HD-10 on another system elsewhere in my house, but don't want to get another one until it's more clear when DirecTV is going to make the switch to mpeg-4 in my location (Portland/Vancouver).

I do have one question about the Toslink optical output however. My sound processor (an elderly Marantz DP870) shows that it sees a Digital Dolby signal, but only plays stereo when I have a ATSC picture on the screen. The sound processor has no trouble playing 5.1 output when connected to a DVD player. Anyone using this output at the moment to feed their audio system?
Not all HD stations broadcast 5.1, some only for certain programs, some never. Did you try all your HD channels? If the receiver shows Dolby Digitial, then it seems to receive the right signal.

The LEDs on the sound processor do show that it is locking onto a Digital Dolby signal. I will try to tune in to a wider variety of shows to see if anything comes up in 5.1 mode. I was hoping that the PBS show Austin City Limits would be 5.1, but maybe it's only a stereo broadcast :(

The LEDs on the sound processor do show that it is locking onto a Digital Dolby signal. I will try to tune in to a wider variety of shows to see if anything comes up in 5.1 mode. I was hoping that the PBS show Austin City Limits would be 5.1, but maybe it's only a stereo broadcast :(
Check this thread to see if your station even has the equipment for 5.1:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=422073

Hmm - thanks for the very informative link.

It looks like my local PBS broadcast lacks the Good Stuff(TM). :(

I have a problem that I haven't seen discussed yet. I've had the set for a little while, but the problem just started. My A10 is connected to a Moto 6412 Phase III via HDMI. Recently, it has stopped "synching" when I go from HD (1080i coming out) to SD (480i) or the other way. The sound is fine but the picture looks like the old days with scrambled cable channels and is unwatchable. Example: I'm on HD when the TV comes on and it's good, I switch to an SD channel and it's bad, I switch back to HD and it's good again. It does exactly the same if I'm on an SD channel when it comes on (good), switch to HD (bad), back to SD (good again). Cycling through inputs and back to Input 6 doesn't help. Turning off the Moto 6412 and back on doesn't help. Any thoughts?

I had my KDF-E50A10 delivered last week. I'm really happy with the set in almost every respect, except for a problem I'm having with white levels. A DVD or HD broadcast will look great until there is a scene with really high contrast. For example, some of the detail on white football jerseys will be lost on HD broadcasts. The problem of whites getting a bit "blown out" seems to happen primarily in DVD or HD scenes with sunlight. Interior scenes will look excellent, but when the action moves outside on the same DVD, some detail in the sky and other areas is lost. I've played with the iris, picture, and brightness settings, but bright whites still lose detail compared to my traditional tube televisions. Is anyone else experiencing these white issues? I'm trying to determine if this is just the nature of these sets, some adjustment I need to make to the settings, or a problem with my specific unit. Since most scenes are looking really good on my set, I don't think there is anything wrong with my hardware. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


I’ve been experimenting with the following settings, but still lose some detail on bright whites.

Iris: 1
Picture: 60 to 85
Bright: 45 to 51
Black Corrector: off
Advanced Iris: low
Gamma: low
Live white: off
Live color: off

Any suggestions for a good, <$150 stand for the 42A10?

Thanks,
Jerry

I had my KDF-E50A10 delivered last week. I'm really happy with the set in almost every respect, except for a problem I'm having with white levels. A DVD or HD broadcast will look great until there is a scene with really high contrast. For example, some of the detail on white football jerseys will be lost on HD broadcasts. The problem of whites getting a bit "blown out" seems to happen primarily in DVD or HD scenes with sunlight. Interior scenes will look excellent, but when the action moves outside on the same DVD, some detail in the sky and other areas is lost. I've played with the iris, picture, and brightness settings, but bright whites still lose detail compared to my traditional tube televisions. Is anyone else experiencing these white issues? I'm trying to determine if this is just the nature of these sets, some adjustment I need to make to the settings, or a problem with my specific unit. Since most scenes are looking really good on my set, I don't think there is anything wrong with my hardware. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


I’ve been experimenting with the following settings, but still lose some detail on bright whites.

Iris: 1
Picture: 60 to 85
Bright: 45 to 51
Black Corrector: off
Advanced Iris: low
Gamma: low
Live white: off
Live color: off
For DVDs you can check this with any THX optimizer DVD like one of the Star Wars DVDs. After clicking on THX optimizer in the DVD menu go to the screen for setting brightness and contrast. You should be able to adjust the set so it doesn't crush whites as shown by the whitest of the grey blocks.

Any suggestions for a good, <$150 stand for the 42A10?

Thanks,
Jerry

Check out Ikea.com...they have a number of tv stands...and many are even made out of wood...unlike most stuff in the <$150 price range. It's even better if you have an Ikea near you and you can go check them out.

I have done many tests with avia and DVE, the chaxis 0002 mod makes red and blue levels near perfect, but it does give green pull (or depression) it's about -10% on my set (using avia). this is fine IMO, it's better than red push at 15% anyday and i doubt you'll ever notice this short of looking at a color bar with a filter.

Which DVD works better for calibrating the A10? Are you able to successfully calibrate using just the user settings? (Or does the dreaded factory service menu need to be entered?)

I am very new to this, but have put money down on the 42" A10. I am excited, but want to get the best picture possible.

Well after a few tweaks that were reccmmended earlier (thanks guy's)
I have the color settings just right. However I still get a grainy picture on HD & SD.
Since I have the DVI to HDMI cable, I cannot use the DRC palette to adjust further.
Does anyone else have the A10 with Directv RCA DTC210 & HDMI, maybe I can get some tweaks more specific to this setup. Perhaps the STB has an adjustment that would correct my problem.

BTW, is the red standby light supposed to be lit when the A10 is powered off yet still plugged in? My older WE610 did but this A10 does not.

thanks
dave

The red light on my A10 is not on when powered down (yet plugged in), so I assume this is correct.

I saw a good price for the Sony KDFE50A10 on-line at Authorized Electronics (actually last night's price was $130 less than what I see today, but I am sure last night's price will re-appear in a few days). The store is also claiming they can sell a 5-year extended warranty (which includes in-home service and bulb replacement) for $259 - which seems like a good deal. The extended warranty is from Philips.

Q1 : Does anybody have experience with Philips Extended Warranty - on a Sony product ? Is this legit ??

Q2. Is this a good price for a 5-year extended warranty ? Or are these TVs so reliable that its not worth it ?

Any suggestions for a good, <$150 stand for the 42A10?

Thanks,
Jerry

(I linked to the CircuitCity URL but can't do it yet)

Z-Line Designs 23541S TV Stand - @CircuitCity

I picked this up at CircuitCity for $145. It's great and not one of those cheap Walmart type stand that look good but are low quality. The glass shelves on it are very heavy (two strong people to get this into your house) and it's very very solid when put together. It looks and matches perfectly with the silver and black scheme on our TVs.

By the way, I have the 42A10 and theres less than 2 inches of shelf on each side of the TV on top of the stand.

Attached image is my setup (still have to figure out what to do with the DVDs).

My parents have an E50A10 coming this Friday through Best Buy, I've been drafted to help them set it up.

They're upgrading to HD DirecTV w/ the HD Tivo box, and I'm looking at upscaling DVD players for them to use. I just noticed on the specs that it has a single HDMI input. Should I use that for the Tivo box (which gets more usage) or the DVD player? Which will suffer the greater loss in quality with other inputs?

My other question is whether there's a recommended upscaling player for this specific model. Do the Sony players play nice, or are there better quality models I should look at?

Reserve your HDMI input for true HD content.

A DVD player should still look fine using a component input, but you will need to find a good upconverting DVD player that will upconvert via component.

My approach is to continue using my regular DVD player (not even progressive) and let the Sony TV do the de-interlacing and the upconverting.

I am then going to take the money that I saved on an upconverting DVD player and contribute towards the purchase of a BLU RAY or HD-DVD player next year so that I can watch true HD movie disks.

But if you have money to burn and are unhappy with the performance of an "ordinary" DVD player, go ahead and buy an upconverting one.

There have been reports of improved picture quality from an upconverting DVD player so the internal Sony de-interlacer / upconverter can be surpassed if you buy the right player.

I am now wondering if it is best that I use HDMI for HDTV and component for SD content. I don't know if I can accomplish this easily though.

Has anybody else had such experience? Any thoughts would be great.

I know some people do not like the quality of the standard channels through their cable box, so they split the cable and watch non HD content directly from the coaxial cable, bypassing the cable box.

I myself don't do this as I would lose alot of the higher end channels and ability to record stuff on the DVR but it's worth a try if you are really unhappy with the picture on alot of the channels.

I was using component with my cable box until last week and upgraded to HDMI to HDMI for the cable box. To me the non HD channels didn't look quite as good, but it could have been "psycho sematic" with me, I dunno. I've done too much research that I'm more critical than I ever wanted to be. :D :D :D

Keven,

Swithing input almost guarantees that you'll need to re adjust your setting.

Which DVD works better for calibrating the A10? Are you able to successfully calibrate using just the user settings? (Or does the dreaded factory service menu need to be entered?)

I am very new to this, but have put money down on the 42" A10. I am excited, but want to get the best picture possible.
The Avia disk is a good choice for calibration. I lent mine out and haven't gotten it back so I am stuck with just using any THX optimizer DVD for now. Here is the tweaks thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567709
The only correction listed there that requires you to use the service menu is the red push fix.

I know some people do not like the quality of the standard channels through their cable box, so they split the cable and watch non HD content directly from the coaxial cable, bypassing the cable box.

I myself don't do this as I would lose alot of the higher end channels and ability to record stuff on the DVR but it's worth a try if you are really unhappy with the picture on alot of the channels.

I was using component with my cable box until last week and upgraded to HDMI to HDMI for the cable box. To me the non HD channels didn't look quite as good, but it could have been "psycho sematic" with me, I dunno. I've done too much research that I'm more critical than I ever wanted to be. :D :D :D

You should use the A10's RF input for the analog channels since the tuner inside it is MUCH better than any cable box analog tuner out there. By doing so you bypass the horrid A/D processing from the cable box which results in a degraded picture.

I'm not sure what you mean by losing a lot of "higher end channels?" I get every analog and digital channel that I'm paying for. Having to switch to the A10's analog tuner is a bit annoying, but it's worth it for the better IQ. What kills me is that the analog channels look better than the compressed digital channels. But that's cable TV for you. :rolleyes:

If I want to DVR something on an analog channel I just set it to record. I'll get the degraded image from the cable box's analog tuner, but I can still record it like anything else.

I've been lurking for a few months, and wanted to let everyone know how helpful the forum has been for me. My theater obsession has been growing gradually; last December I put the finishing touches on the sound system in my living room, with in-wall Boston surrounds. And then my wife said, "It's too bad we have such a small TV with such a nice sound system." Yes, I married a wonderful woman. :)

I was considering a front projector and screen but (as you'll see when I post photos) a rear-projection unit just fits better. And I didn't want to run cables through the ceiling.

So after looking around and reading this forum, I bought a KDF-E42A10 at Sears last week. The salesman took $140 off Fry's sale price, and set me up for a Saturday delivery. The delivery crew showed up with the TV right on time, about an hour after I finished running my TOSlink and component cables through the walls.

The Sony fits perfectly into the alcove above our fireplace, with about 1" to spare at the top. I built a tilted shelf to angle the set down about 10 degrees, so that we can see it better from the sofa. There's another 6" high alcove above the TV that holds the center channel speaker; I drilled two 3" holes between the two alcoves for ventilation, and put in a 12V 3" computer fan and a thermostat to turn it on when it gets too hot.

I live about 20 miles NE of Atlanta, and am able to get between 10 and 14 OTA digital channels with a small TERK antenna up in the attic. I'm supposed to be able to get a couple more, so I'll continue to experiment with the placement of the antenna. ABC showed "Monsters Inc." this weekend in HD, and the picture on the new TV was phenomenal.

Next test was the DVD player. I've had a JVC progressive scan player for a couple of years, and it does very well with the component outputs. Watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on Sunday evening; I will have to tweak some settings on the TV, as it's very bright when all the lights are off.

Finally, last night, I hooked up the old laserdisc player and watched some of "Star Wars." My LD player only has a composite out; still, the picture was very watchable, with some graininess and a little ghosting (especially in space). Looks a little better than OTA analog signals. (Proud dad moment: My 1-year-old son has a C-3P0 toy, and waved his arms up and down when he came on the screen. Too cool.)

I'll try and remember to take a couple of photos of my setup tonight. I'm really, really happy with how it turned out.

Update: Here's a photo of my TV setup.

I decided on the Nea Moda stand and just finished assembling it.

How is that stand working out for you. I need to pick up a stand soon, as I want to make sure it's all setup before my TV (50" A10) gets delivered. I guess I'll be furniture shopping this weekend.

I've seen some valuable suggestions on how to vary the A10 Custom
Settings between HD vs SD analog vs SD digital vs DVD, etc.

Is there a way to program these in or do you have to change the
settings every time you switch channels?

So after looking around and reading this forum, I bought a KDF-E42A10 at Sears last week. The salesman took $140 off Fry's sale price, and set me up for a Saturday delivery. The delivery crew showed up with the TV right on time, about an hour after I finished running my TOSlink and component cables through the walls.



what did you have to do to get him to take off $140 from the fry's price. I am looking at the 50 in version and I saw Fry's has it at 2249 which is already 250 below others in town, but if I can get more off it I would go to Sears.

I've seen some valuable suggestions on how to vary the A10 Custom
Settings between HD vs SD analog vs SD digital vs DVD, etc.

Is there a way to program these in or do you have to change the
settings every time you switch channels?

Each input can have it's own custom settings. So if you are using the cable box, you can tweak it to how you like. Then on the DVD input, you can set up what you like, etc.

I don't know of any way for the TV to change the settings when you are watching HD or standard TV channels, when it is all being pumped into the TV from the cable box.

To get around this, some people use the straight coaxial into the back of the TV to bypass the cable box, when they watch regular cable stations. I've seen some complain about the lousey quality of standard channels through the cable box.

And since the coxail is a separate input from the cable box, you can tweak your own settings for it, so you have settins for HD and non HD. But for me, not using the cable box will have me loose the higher end cable channels, like FUSE, G4TV, etc.

So it's a trade off if you really want to have separate settings. :D :D :D

I purchased my first hdtv 5 years ago. I just purchased the 50a10 last month and love it. Football, baseball, basketball, look great. Hockey looks good but not as "perfect as the others. It still looks a whole lot better watching it in hd than a non hd set. If you keep waiting for the the new technology to be perfect, you will never buy a set because something new will always be around the corner. Watching my tv at home, looks 1000% better than it did in any store I went to. Go out and but the set, if you're not happy, return it.

For those wondering which 50 inch RPTV to purchase, Consumer Reports finally got around to testing the A-10, and placed the updated tests on their website. The A-10 is rated # 2, out of 25 tested sets, and is a 'quick pick'. ( The obscure Sharp 56DR650 DLP was rated first, and essentially equal to the Sony. CU does warn buyers about the rainbow effect on DLP though) The A-10 outgunned all the Samsung's and 'was among the best HD performance in a rear projection TV.' It had an 'excellent' HD picture (only 3 of the 25 sets rated that high), and was 'very good' on DVD's, and 'good' on regular TV. This was quite an improvement over the lukewarm reviews of the GWIII and IV that Consumer Reports gave in the past. The outgoing Sony KDF-50WE655 is rated 21st out of the 25 sets tested. I suspected that the A-10 would do a lot better, since I too am much more impressed with mine than I ever was with my GWIII.

I have a problem that I haven't seen discussed yet. I've had the set for a little while, but the problem just started. My A10 is connected to a Moto 6412 Phase III via HDMI. Recently, it has stopped "synching" when I go from HD (1080i coming out) to SD (480i) or the other way. The sound is fine but the picture looks like the old days with scrambled cable channels and is unwatchable. Example: I'm on HD when the TV comes on and it's good, I switch to an SD channel and it's bad, I switch back to HD and it's good again. It does exactly the same if I'm on an SD channel when it comes on (good), switch to HD (bad), back to SD (good again). Cycling through inputs and back to Input 6 doesn't help. Turning off the Moto 6412 and back on doesn't help. Any thoughts?

I experincing the smiliar problems, only with cable box. Directly connecting through the coaxial seems to work but when I connect through component, HD channels are all scrambled.

Any help will be appreciated!

Do I need to purchase an 720p/1080i Upscaling DVD player with the A10 or will a regular DVD player be sufficient?

Thanks,
Jerry

I have my Motorola box set so that ALL channels are output to the TV at 1080I.
That way the tv and box are always in synch, and channel changes are smooth. The SD channels are not great PQ no matter what output you use anyway

I just got my A10 42inch & am not impressed at all.. Can anyone list some good calibration tweaks to make the picture look better.. & When I have game mode on, it goes off when I play games..

I just got my A10 42inch & am not impressed at all.. Can anyone list some good calibration tweaks to make the picture look better.. & When I have game mode on, it goes off when I play games..

Scratch that.. I found some tweaks from another post.. & the picture is begining to look awesome..:) But games still look like crap.. & Game mode is greyed out when I'm playing games..

where did you find the tweeks?

where did you find the tweeks?

There is a 'Grand Wega V tweaks' forum here on AVS.

There is a 'Grand Wega V tweaks' forum here on AVS.
This URL will help you with the information on tweaking your Sony A10.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=567709

Does anyone know if there is difference in using VGA over component? Will VGA look better? I ask this beacause of the Xbox 360 and the A10's PC input.

Was looking at this TV earlier this evening...I thought it had the best total overall picture out of anything we looked at, including plasma's. Plasma's looked great in HD but the blurriness was pretty bad on non-HD stuff, while the Sony looked good on the non-HD stuff.

Ordered the Avia disk already to help tune the tv, now just waiting the Sony to be delivered. This thread help immensely in my selection so I'd like to thank you all for your input, both positive and negative.

what did you have to do to get him to take off $140 from the fry's price. I am looking at the 50 in version and I saw Fry's has it at 2249 which is already 250 below others in town, but if I can get more off it I would go to Sears.

I sent you a PM about this. Sears will match online or local prices, but the salespeople seem to be allowed a lot of leeway in negotiating.

Does anyone know if there is difference in using VGA over component? Will VGA look better? I ask this beacause of the Xbox 360 and the A10's PC input.

General feelings are that they are EQUAL. I have no idea how Xbox 360 games will look via VGA though, so I'm just sticking with component. The Premium edition comes with component cables, so one less thing I have to buy.

I'm am so tired of purchasing cables for anything I buy. :D :D :D

You should use the A10's RF input for the analog channels since the tuner inside it is MUCH better than any cable box analog tuner out there. By doing so you bypass the horrid A/D processing from the cable box which results in a degraded picture.

I'm not sure what you mean by losing a lot of "higher end channels?" I get every analog and digital channel that I'm paying for. .

My cable provider, if I don't have a cable box, only gives channels up to 98. When you order Extended Basic Cable, you get a cable box plus a slew of other channels, like, G4TV, Fuse, slew of MTV's, 20+ Music Choice channels, Noggin, bunch of Discovery channels, ToonDisney, etc.

Normal basic cable without the cable box gives you the standard TBS, MTV, FoodNetwork, Discovery, Animal Planet.

If that stinks, chalk it up to Adelphia, who doesn't even offer ABC, WB or UPN on their HD package. I'm in Orlando and I don't get ABC, go figure. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Scratch that.. I found some tweaks from another post.. & the picture is begining to look awesome..:) But games still look like crap.. & Game mode is greyed out when I'm playing games..

what are you using game mode for? I have not found a use for game mode, yet, with ps2, gamecube and xbox.

General feelings are that they are EQUAL. I have no idea how Xbox 360 games will look via VGA though, so I'm just sticking with component. The Premium edition comes with component cables, so one less thing I have to buy.

I'm am so tired of purchasing cables for anything I buy. :D :D :D

Thanks. Yeah I lnow about the cables. You know Mad Catz is releasing an HDMI cable soon after launch for the 360. I saw it at a Vendor Show that I attended.

If that stinks, chalk it up to Adelphia, who doesn't even offer ABC, WB or UPN on their HD package. I'm in Orlando and I don't get ABC, go figure. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

No Monday Night Football in HD? Ouch! That sucks. But, don't feel too bad because my cable provider (Mediacom) still doesn't carry CBS-HD, WB, or UPN in my area. Thankfully we do get HDNet and HDNet Movies. I watch those more than any other HD channels.

Hi everyone.

Has anyone seen the new Star wars DVD Ep 3 on the 42/50 yet? I watched it on my 27 crt panny and it looked absolutly stunning! I found myself wondering if this is what it's like to own an HD tv!

If you've seen it on your TV, please let us know what you think. The colors were so bright, the reds, blues (lightsabers glowing) and greens in the space battles were just overwhelming. And my TV stinks!

I think that Lucas deserves some award for this movie. Just outstanding action and effects.

By the way, thanks to all the common posters, Darkrain, AlanBuck, etc. I plan to get my family a nice X-mas present and your info has been great (everyone).

Kurt

Do I need to purchase an 720p/1080i Upscaling DVD player with the A10 or will a regular DVD player be sufficient?

Thanks,
Jerry
No. A10 will convert nicely.

just wondering, what do you guys use to clean the tv? I read that it is easily scratched. Another question, do they sell protective screen covers of any sort?

Hi everyone.

Has anyone seen the new Star wars DVD Ep 3 on the 42/50 yet?
Kurt


I bought the DVD last night and watched it. Then I noticed that the DVD came with a THX optimizer to calibrate the set a bit better. I ran it and watched it again. I loved it both times.

I thought the PQ was excellent and the battles looked great.

Billy

No Monday Night Football in HD? Ouch! That sucks. But, don't feel too bad because my cable provider (Mediacom) still doesn't carry CBS-HD, WB, or UPN in my area. Thankfully we do get HDNet and HDNet Movies. I watch those more than any other HD channels.

They had the Monday night game on HD here and wow, it was probably the best HD signal and quality I've ever seen. The field was real grass and you could almost see every single piece of grass.

Thanks. Yeah I lnow about the cables. You know Mad Catz is releasing an HDMI cable soon after launch for the 360. I saw it at a Vendor Show that I attended.

I never could get it straight if the 360 even had an HDMI port or not. Microsoft said that when the market calls for it they will release one. I stupidly was under the assumption that meant they would add the port to the machine somehow, which never made sense to me.

I figured if it was only a matter of a cable, they would say it works, just that someone else is making the cable. PS3 likes to tout how it will have HDMI, you would think MS would say we have it too, if it was there.

I honestly didn't think too much about it cause I assumed the port wasn't even there and if it was people would be talknig about it, but I could be wrong.

:D :D :D

No Monday Night Football in HD? Ouch! That sucks. But, don't feel too bad because my cable provider (Mediacom) still doesn't carry CBS-HD, WB, or UPN in my area. Thankfully we do get HDNet and HDNet Movies. I watch those more than any other HD channels.

I like football, but could never get into watching in on Monday Night, even when my team played for whatever reason.

I did buy a $12 RCA antenna to pick up ABC HD and it works perfectly. We are really close to the HD towers so I only need to have the antenna on my entertainment stand, didn't even have to extend the ears or put it outside. Gotta love it. $12

:D

They had the Monday night game on HD here and wow, it was probably the best HD signal and quality I've ever seen. The field was real grass and you could almost see every single piece of grass.

Yep. And it looks sweet on the A10. ESPN HD Sunday Night Football looks awesome as well, but I think ABC-HD does it best. I only wish ESPN HD would start broadcasting in DD 5.1. With ABC it's like you're there at the game. :)

Hi everyone.

Has anyone seen the new Star wars DVD Ep 3 on the 42/50 yet?
I think that Lucas deserves some award for this movie. Just outstanding action and effects.

For whatever reason, I like Ep III the best of the newer movies, YET this is the only one I'm not running out to buy. Even after the prior 2 films and having problems with them, I still bought them immediately and geeked out on them while trying to ignore the bad points.

I actually sold my DVD's of the first 2 movies the other day, got like $1 each of them at EB Games, literally had no use for them. Lucas will eventually release all 6 of them as a set, so had no need for these copies. Heck I didn't even buy the original trilogy on DVD since I knew it would be released with alot of stuff eventually. (not to mention he refuses to give you the option of original & newer content).

I'll end my rant here so we don't get off track. :D

Yep. And it looks sweet on the A10. ESPN HD Sunday Night Football looks awesome as well, but I think ABC-HD does it best. I only wish ESPN HD would start broadcasting in DD 5.1. With ABC it's like you're there at the game. :)

I never really watch enough engrossing TV shows to justify hooking it up to 5.1 surround (besides LOST). My receiver only has Optical inputs, so I'm using that for my DVD & Xbox.

Seems like a hassle to get another optical cable & switch box, so I can hear someone get tackled in only the left rear speaker and not both of them. :p :p :p

Hi everyone.

Has anyone seen the new Star wars DVD Ep 3 on the 42/50 yet? I watched it on my 27 crt panny and it looked absolutly stunning! I found myself wondering if this is what it's like to own an HD tv!

Kurt

I watched about 30 mins this morning on my 50 in A10. The picture quality is really really good. Almost HD quality. I think it makes a very good reference dvd.

My only issue is the sound. The dvd is dolby digital 5.1 EX. I thought that meant it would have a rear center channel. It's not showing a rear channel on my AVR's display. I just watched a New Hope this weekend which is 5.1 EX and it had a rear center channel. Well at least I think it did. Sorry for the off topic rant.

teckademic are you a mind reader??? I came in here just now to ask the same question - what to clean the A10 screen with.

Thanks

teckademic are you a mind reader??? I came in here just now to ask the same question - what to clean the A10 screen with.

Thanks

My daughter's little hands are all over the screen unfortuantely, so only figner & handprints are on my TV.

The manual to the TV says you can use mild soap, but I only use a little water on a soft washrag. Gently rub the screen and it works fine. I let it air dry, which takes a few seconds. The rag you use shouldn't be able to ring any water out of it, if you can, you have too much in it.

So far this has been a weekly venture. Best bet would be to dedicate a new sponge just for TV cleaningas that is a nice soft mild surface.

I have a 3 year old boy and deal with fingerprints and chocolate milk on the screen. The absurdly overpriced monster cable screen cleaner is a great product. Just one small spray on the cloth and the sceen can be cleaned quickly and completely. At first, I tried water on a cotton cloth and kept missing spots. Although a bit expensive, the Monster spray should last a long time, since I use so little each time.
Arnie H

The trim down version of the A10 is now here in Canada. The list price is $400 cheaper than their full blown version. Sears Canada will has a sales on the Sony TVs starting Nov. 5 and the trim down version will be $300 off, 55A20 is $500 off. Don't know the detail yet on the other models.

The trim down version do NOT has the build-in turner and do NOT has the D-SUB computer input. Hope the picture quality is the same as the big brother.

I have a 3 year old boy and deal with fingerprints and chocolate milk on the screen. The absurdly overpriced monster cable screen cleaner is a great product. Just one small spray on the cloth and the sceen can be cleaned quickly and completely. At first, I tried water on a cotton cloth and kept missing spots. Although a bit expensive, the Monster spray should last a long time, since I use so little each time.
Arnie H
I"ll second that.

The salesman "threw in" a Monster cleaning kit when I bought my A10. Works great.
I use it about once a week, and at the rate it's going I estimate it'll last about two years. :)

You should use the A10's RF input for the analog channels since the tuner inside it is MUCH better than any cable box analog tuner out there. By doing so you bypass the horrid A/D processing from the cable box which results in a degraded picture.


Is there some way for me to take advantage of this? I have a Dish 811 receiver/settop-box. So would I connect both coax and hdmi from receiver to tv. And then switch inputs on the TV depending on whether I'm watching HD or SD?

I watched about 30 mins this morning on my 50 in A10. The picture quality is really really good. Almost HD quality. I think it makes a very good reference dvd.

My only issue is the sound. The dvd is dolby digital 5.1 EX. I thought that meant it would have a rear center channel. It's not showing a rear channel on my AVR's display. I just watched a New Hope this weekend which is 5.1 EX and it had a rear center channel. Well at least I think it did. Sorry for the off topic rant.


Same for me. My reciever is THX certified and has a THX Surround EX mode which is to be used for DD 5.1 EX material. I think there is supposed to be a flag to let the reciever know its EX. I am assuming it used all 7 of my speakers. Still the sound was very positional and was pretty sweet.

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone else has a problem with the a10's internal speakers distorting with bassy sounds? It really becomes distorted around volume 36 and up with Bass setting to 0 or min and BBE off or low.I've tried all the different settings with 0 bass. Sounds like a really badly blown speaker no matter what the source ie. DVD,HD,SD.

For those wondering which 50 inch RPTV to purchase, Consumer Reports finally got around to testing the A-10, and placed the updated tests on their website. The A-10 is rated # 2, out of 25 tested sets, and is a 'quick pick'.


Can/will you post the Consumer Reports link (Nov'05?) to the report on the Sony A-10? I checked the CR website and you have to be a suscriber to read it. Perhaps you can send me a copy?.........kmil123@msn.com. Please let me/us know one way or the other.

Thanks!









( The obscure Sharp 56DR650 DLP was rated first, and essentially equal to the Sony. CU does warn buyers about the rainbow effect on DLP though) The A-10 outgunned all the Samsung's and 'was among the best HD performance in a rear projection TV.' It had an 'excellent' HD picture (only 3 of the 25 sets rated that high), and was 'very good' on DVD's, and 'good' on regular TV. This was quite an improvement over the lukewarm reviews of the GWIII and IV that Consumer Reports gave in the past. The outgoing Sony KDF-50WE655 is rated 21st out of the 25 sets tested. I suspected that the A-10 would do a lot better, since I too am much more impressed with mine than I ever was with my GWIII.



See above question

Same for me. My reciever is THX certified and has a THX Surround EX mode which is to be used for DD 5.1 EX material. I think there is supposed to be a flag to let the reciever know its EX. I am assuming it used all 7 of my speakers. Still the sound was very positional and was pretty sweet.
I believe Ep. II is the same as well as Ep. IV, V, and VI. I have to set my receiver's DD setting to DD 5.1 EX to get it on those since the 'Auto' setting doesn't detect the flag.

just wondering, what do you guys use to clean the tv? I read that it is easily scratched. Another question, do they sell protective screen covers of any sort?

I use a microfiber cloth dampened with a hint of water to clean all of my LCD monitors, and I'll use it on the A10 as well.

** By the way, I have a Denon DVD-2200 w/ a blue jeans 1694a component cable running directly to the 50A10. Should I disable the cinemotion on the A10 or leave it at Auto?

can somebody post the consumer reports review of the a10 please

can somebody post the consumer reports review of the a10 please


19.00 is a small price to pay for a year of online access. Go pony up the dough.




They rated the A10 #2 out of #25

Hello all,

So i'm finally preparing to take the plunge on the 50a10 and all your insight has been amazingly helpful.

I'm doing the B&M vs. online debate right now, and was wondering if anyone has actually used Authorized Electronics for a big ticket item?

They have a great deal going on right now on the 50, but am a little leary of using the online shop (but not too leary if the price is right).

Any success, experiences?

A couple more questions - I got it all setup and plugged in for my parents, they get DirecTV HD on Friday.

For DVDs, I tested it out with two widescreen DVDs (Veronica Mars S! and Batman Begins). Both show up as 480p 4:3 in the display, but I know that the latter is 16:9 anamorphic and the former is 16:9 (but may not be anamorphic). I had to go to Zoom to get what appeared to be the best quality. Is that the right choice? Do all standard DVDs show up as 480p/i 4:3 on these sets?

I checked the DVD player and it's set up for widescreen output.

Hello all,

So i'm finally preparing to take the plunge on the 50a10 and all your insight has been amazingly helpful.

I'm doing the B&M vs. online debate right now, and was wondering if anyone has actually used Authorized Electronics for a big ticket item?

They have a great deal going on right now on the 50, but am a little leary of using the online shop (but not too leary if the price is right).

Any success, experiences?
50 is too big for our space... just ordered the 42A10 from Authorized... will report.

50 is too big for our space... just ordered the 42A10 from Authorized... will report.

I know I have seen "recommended screen size" web sites. (cnet, hp, etc.) However, for owners of a10 series sets.. what would people recommend for someone sitting 6-9 feet from the screen?

I have an entertainment center with a 50" wide opening. So, the 50" is tempting. But the way our furniture is arranged, the closest people are 6' from the TV while the back viewers are 9-10' away from the TV.

What do people recommend. I have put money down on a 42" A10 right now. Friday I plan to bring in a few DVD's to watch on the toshiba upscaling DVD player. (I own one.. and wanted to see what the DVD's look like.) Any recommended DVD's for watching?

For DVDs, I tested it out with two widescreen DVDs (Veronica Mars S! and Batman Begins). Both show up as 480p 4:3 in the display, but I know that the latter is 16:9 anamorphic and the former is 16:9 (but may not be anamorphic). I had to go to Zoom to get what appeared to be the best quality. Is that the right choice? Do all standard DVDs show up as 480p/i 4:3 on these sets?

I checked the DVD player and it's set up for widescreen output.

First, select the input on the TV from your DVD player, open WegaGate, select 'Settings' and find the 'Screen' menu (the third icon from the top). The first item listed will be 'Wide Mode'. Make sure this is set to 'Full'. Then, make sure the '4:3 Default' option is set to 'Normal' or 'Wide Zoom' (depending on your preference for centered 4:3 or stretched). This allows the TV to auto-select the correct format based on what the DVD player is sending.

I'd also double-check (triple-check?) the DVD's output setting, making sure it is set for anamorphic/16:9 output.

Whats the optimal Reality & clarity setting on the A10?

Hi All, great thread. Since I decided that I was going to go with the 50a10 I took a couple hours over the last three days to pour over most of these 150 pages. Essentially I'm just waiting for a deal I can't pass up. This might be a bit off topic, but over the last few years in HD sets, has it been typical for there to be price drops after the xmas season, or do you think the best deals for a while are found on Black Friday? I go to a different store each week and ogle over the a10... is it wrong? ;-)


oh and RE: the xbox360 and HDMI, it doesn't have it, at least on board for lauch. I don't see why they couldn't just make one with the current output, as far as I know it would just be a matter designing an HDMI cable sort of like when PS2 finally came out with the componant cables

I know I have seen "recommended screen size" web sites. (cnet, hp, etc.) However, for owners of a10 series sets.. what would people recommend for someone sitting 6-9 feet from the screen?

I have an entertainment center with a 50" wide opening. So, the 50" is tempting. But the way our furniture is arranged, the closest people are 6' from the TV while the back viewers are 9-10' away from the TV.

What do people recommend. I have put money down on a 42" A10 right now. Friday I plan to bring in a few DVD's to watch on the toshiba upscaling DVD player. (I own one.. and wanted to see what the DVD's look like.) Any recommended DVD's for watching?

How do I enable HDMI.. I plugged the into my DVD player & the TV.. Checked all the video singals.. All 7 & nothing? Am I missing a step? Thanks..

Whats the optimal Reality & clarity setting on the A10?

See settings in my sig. The DRC palette settings will vary depending on how good your SD sources are and your tastes. 'Reality' adds more grain, so add more 'Clarity' until the image starts to smooth out. You may find the default setting good enough and leave it at that. Just experiment with it and find a setting you like. Then just forget about it.

19.00 is a small price to pay for a year of online access. Go pony up the dough.




They rated the A10 #2 out of #25
I'll pick up the magazine. Thanks

I'll pick up the magazine. Thanks

The updated ratings with the A-10 are on-line now (you must subscribe to see them), and will be in the next issue of Consumer Reports coming to newstands soon. I pretty much summed up the report on the A-10 in my posting. Since it is copyrighted material I really don't want to paste and copy, or e-mail it. The paper version should be on newstands very soon. I was glad to see they agreed with me that the A-10 is a great RPTV.

I know I have seen "recommended screen size" web sites. (cnet, hp, etc.) However, for owners of a10 series sets.. what would people recommend for someone sitting 6-9 feet from the screen?

I have an entertainment center with a 50" wide opening. So, the 50" is tempting. But the way our furniture is arranged, the closest people are 6' from the TV while the back viewers are 9-10' away from the TV.

What do people recommend. I have put money down on a 42" A10 right now. Friday I plan to bring in a few DVD's to watch on the toshiba upscaling DVD player. (I own one.. and wanted to see what the DVD's look like.) Any recommended DVD's for watching?
I think 6' is too close for the 50" A10; too many people can see screen door effect from that distance and 720p is not enough for 50" at 6' either (9' is perfect for the 50" set though). So, I would recommend that you get the 42" A10. Or... you could get a 50" SXRD if you have the $$ but even then any SD sources would look really bad at 6'.

** By the way, I have a Denon DVD-2200 w/ a blue jeans 1694a component cable running directly to the 50A10. Should I disable the cinemotion on the A10 or leave it at Auto?

I turn CINEMOTION to AUTO for every input. The TV will automatically diasble it when HD content is displayed, so it's easier to just keep it on the take advantage of it and let the TV turn it off when it's not needed.

It works the same way ith DRC Mode/Palette. Viewing HD content disables it, then is enabled once you go back to standard channels.

I think 6' is too close for the 50" A10; too many people can see screen door effect from that distance and 720p is not enough for 50" at 6' either (9' is perfect for the 50" set though). So, I would recommend that you get the 42" A10. Or... you could get a 50" SXRD if you have the $$ but even then any SD sources would look really bad at 6'.

Thank you for the input. I would like the 50" SXRD, but it won't fit in the opening. :( I also like the prices of the A10 TV's better. :)

No. A10 will convert nicely.

You can make the A10 upconvert DVDs? How do you do that?

I'm new too all this stuff, and just got my 50inch A10 a week ago (love it.)

You can make the A10 upconvert DVDs? How do you do that?

I'm new too all this stuff, and just got my 50inch A10 a week ago (love it.)


Since the native resolution of the TV is 720p. All inputs are converted to 720p. Someone can correct me.

Since the native resolution of the TV is 720p. All inputs are converted to 720p. Someone can correct me.

My cable box is set to PASS THROUGH, which allows the TV to accept whatever signal is being fed into it.

My TV converts and pauses when going between 480i, 720p, & 1080i.

If you hit the DISPLAY button, it will say what resolution the channel is broadcasting in.

Of course the TV could be showing ALL HD content in 720p but just telling you what the channel is broadcasting in. And the delay could be the TV converting a 1080i signal into 720p.

The only thing though is, if I'm going from 1080i channel to a 720p, I still get the pause for conversion. So to me the TV is constantly converting to what is being broadcast. If every HD channel was converted to 720p, there should be no pause when I go to a 720p channel.

Boy that sounded kinda convaluted. :D :D :D

Yes the display shows the input resiolution, the pause could have nothing to do with conversion.

My cable box is set to PASS THROUGH, which allows the TV to accept whatever signal is being fed into it.

My TV converts and pauses when going between 480i, 720p, & 1080i.

If you hit the DISPLAY button, it will say what resolution the channel is broadcasting in.

Of course the TV could be showing ALL HD content in 720p but just telling you what the channel is broadcasting in. And the delay could be the TV converting a 1080i signal into 720p.

The only thing though is, if I'm going from 1080i channel to a 720p, I still get the pause for conversion. So to me the TV is constantly converting to what is being broadcast. If every HD channel was converted to 720p, there should be no pause when I go to a 720p channel.

Boy that sounded kinda convaluted. :D :D :D

On my 8300HD, I have it set to upconvert-1 which converts 480* signals to 480p, and all HD signals to 720p. I do get quite a delay (6 secs) when changing between a SD and HD channels, but otherwise theres no delay between changing from HD to HD or SD to SD.

I'll pick up the magazine. Thanks


It's not in the magazine...the A10 review is only online.

It's not in the magazine...the A10 review is only online.
The updated ratings with the A-10 are on-line now (you must subscribe to see them), and will be in the next issue of Consumer Reports coming to newstands soon. I pretty much summed up the report on the A-10 in my posting. Since it is copyrighted material I really don't want to paste and copy, or e-mail it. The paper version should be on newstands very soon. I was glad to see they agreed with me that the A-10 is a great RPTV.

I know I have seen "recommended screen size" web sites. (cnet, hp, etc.) However, for owners of a10 series sets.. what would people recommend for someone sitting 6-9 feet from the screen?

I have an entertainment center with a 50" wide opening. So, the 50" is tempting. But the way our furniture is arranged, the closest people are 6' from the TV while the back viewers are 9-10' away from the TV.

What do people recommend. I have put money down on a 42" A10 right now. Friday I plan to bring in a few DVD's to watch on the toshiba upscaling DVD player. (I own one.. and wanted to see what the DVD's look like.) Any recommended DVD's for watching?

If you will do most of your viewing at 9-10 feet plus I would go for the 50 incher for sure. If one of your primary seats is at 6 feet though, I would go for the 42 incher. I have the 50 inch, and I think 8 feet is about as close as I would care to sit to it. Maybe you need to re-arrange the furniture. :)

Is there some way for me to take advantage of this? I have a Dish 811 receiver/settop-box. So would I connect both coax and hdmi from receiver to tv. And then switch inputs on the TV depending on whether I'm watching HD or SD?


To answer my own query :-) There is no coax output from the 811. But I connected both component and DVI (to HDMI) to the A10 figuring that I could watch SD content on component and HD on HDMI by just switching inputs on the A10's remote.

The good news is that this works even though the 811's manual says that component output is disabled if DVI is connected to anything. So I was able to compare the same channel on both component and HDMI without much hassle. The bad news is that I really didn't see any difference between the two for SD (even though I had previously felt that component was better). Even for HD content with the 2-bars on the side, I see no difference. For true HDTV content (i.e with 16:9 aspect ratio) like on Discovery, I see only minute improvement (wonder if it's only my imagination type) on the HDMI input. Kinda a bummer that HDMI isn't that big a deal.

I will keep both inputs active for a few days to see if this analysis holds, and then use the HDMI connection exclusively.

50 is too big for our space... just ordered the 42A10 from Authorized... will report. Phone call from Authorized: "42 inch is too big for UPS. $70 extra for truck shipping."
Mainemanx: "Cancel the order. Have a nice day."
Authorized: "Uhhhh, just a moment. Oooops, it's the 50 inch that's too big. We'll send that 42 out for you 1st thing tomorrow."
Mainemanx: "OK."

Just received Authorized eMail indicating that it will not be sent by UPS afterall... it will be trucked.

Question: Has anyone received a 42A10 via UPS?

(i.e with 16:9 aspect ratio) like on Discovery, I see only minute improvement (wonder if it's only my imagination type) on the HDMI input. Kinda a bummer that HDMI isn't that big a deal.

I will keep both inputs active for a few days to see if this analysis holds, and then use the HDMI connection exclusively.

I have the same feeling myself, I can't tell the differene really. Part of me felt it was a little les quality, but I think it was pyscho symatic. I always and super critical when I change something.

I was at the point of not being hyper critical of the TV picture after having the for 1 month, now I guess I'll be calm next month after the "newness" of the HDMI cable settles in. LOL

P.S. - It's always good to free up your component inputs though, I needed the 2 on the back for my Xbox & DVD player. The side component is inaccessible for me since this fits into my entertainment center perfectly with no room to spare.

I just purchased the Sony 50A10, everything is great with the tv, great picture, great design, no noticeable screen door effect at 9 ft back , but one thing I do see is near the middle of the tv is a type of glare or silk look, very noticeable on white's or people's skin. What is this? Is there a setting that can tone this down?

I just purchased the Sony 50A10, everything is great with the tv, great picture, great design, no noticeable screen door effect at 9 ft back , but one thing I do see is near the middle of the tv is a type of glare or silk look, very noticeable on white's or people's skin. What is this? Is there a setting that can tone this down?

You might try cutting the fixed IRIS to a lower setting to lower the brightness if watching tv in a dark room. ( I set my IRIS at MIN, or 1 for dark room viewing, which also gives better black levels) The effect your are describing is common to all micro-display type rear projection TV's though. On AVS forum we call it the 'Silk Screen Efffect' or SSE. You will probably get used to it...but it is there for sure.

My neighbor bought a 42" A10 and is asking for my assistance this weekend to get it set up and calibrated. I got him set up to watch OTA programming (through the VHF/UHF input) the other night. I didn't have a lot of time to spend on it. Anyways I noticed when you select "Guide" on the remote control, and then use the arrow keys to navigate through the available channels, navigation speed is very slow. I could only navigate through the channels sequentially, one channel at a time, and the screen would blank out for a couple of seconds at each channel. I'm sure I'm missing something simple here. How do you navigate more quickly through the guide? I was on channel 2-1 and trying to skip through the guide to see what was on the higher-numbered channels. I was using the 'down arrow' button.

Tomorrow I am going to BB to have them do the exchange of my Samsun Hlp-5063 for the Sony 50" A10. I am really looking forward to being able to enjoy a good picture without any rainbows in dark scenes.

I looked at the Sony today and I am really impressed with it. Can't wait!

The 42A10 exceeds the common UPS delivery route dimensions. Brown has a heavy division, but the costs etc are different.

My 42A10 from Authorized arrives in about 2 hours.

As far as I am concerned, the 5 yr warranty package (with a bulb replacement) that I got with the A10 delivered came in at less than MSRP, NOT including tax.

I'll post my experience as it continues… but assuming it doesn't arrive destroyed and DOA I'll be pretty happy.

The 42A10 exceeds the common UPS delivery route dimensions. Brown has a heavy division, but the costs etc are different.

My 42A10 from Authorized arrives in about 2 hours.

As far as I am concerned, the 5 yr warranty package (with a bulb replacement) that I got with the A10 delivered came in at less than MSRP, NOT including tax.

I'll post my experience as it continues… but assuming it doesn't arrive destroyed and DOA I'll be pretty happy.Well that makes me feel better... as long as our serial numbers are intact, I think we're "all set."

My neighbor bought a 42" A10 and is asking for my assistance this weekend to get it set up and calibrated. I got him set up to watch OTA programming (through the VHF/UHF input) the other night. I didn't have a lot of time to spend on it. Anyways I noticed when you select "Guide" on the remote control, and then use the arrow keys to navigate through the available channels, navigation speed is very slow. I could only navigate through the channels sequentially, one channel at a time, and the screen would blank out for a couple of seconds at each channel. I'm sure I'm missing something simple here. How do you navigate more quickly through the guide? I was on channel 2-1 and trying to skip through the guide to see what was on the higher-numbered channels. I was using the 'down arrow' button.

I watch mine OTA as well. I had the same problem at first and thought it was very annoying, especially since I was pulling in 10 digitals and 19 analog signals. Simply go to the WEGA Gate (lower button on the disc panel on remote) and set up all the stations you want on your favorites list. Then you can hop and jump to any favorite at anytime through your favorites selections. It is still slow to change but you don't have to cycle through other channels to get to where you want to be.

It is amazing how good OTA looks. I have amplified rabbit ears and my set is in my basement. Monday Night Football looks as good as my brothers HD cable signal. I'm very lucky to be living so close to strong OTA signals!

That still sucks because if you select from your favorites list you don't know what's on until you select the channel. It would be nice to be able to zip through the guide so you can see what's scheduled for the next couple of hours on each channel - then select the channel you want to watch. I don't see the logic in having to tune to each channel as you navigate through the guide. IMO OTA is the best HD picture available. It's unfortunate because the tv's tuner appears to pull in more channels than my Sammy 360 STB does. My neighbor's getting cable hooked up on Wednesday and he will be getting an HD STB. Hopefully it has an antenna input on the back of it and will integrate the OTA channels with the cable channels in the same guide. I'm not holding my breath though. He may just have to live with the favorites solution.

It's here. Completely in tact and complete with Sony US docs. All set up. Easy as pie. Just ran it all out of my receiver (Onkyo 602) into a component input and I am off and running.

Just need to fiddle with the settings per tweaks in this thread and others.

Coming off a 27" CRT for a while… so it will be an adjustment. Viewing distance is about 7.5ft.

(I always use receiver audio, so no initial comment on audio until I set up OTA ).

At this point I could not be more pleased. Glad I did the Authorized E route.

-T-

Thanks for the advice on A10 size. I spent a good hour today watching upconverted DVD's over HDMI. Even at 6' on the 50" TV, there wasn't a noticable SDE for me. At 9', it looked even better. Of course, regular SD or the "recorded loop" HD was pretty awful at 6'.. and watchable at 9'. I think most of my viewing will be at 9'.. except when guests come over.. I will give them the choice seats and sit on the floor 6' from the TV. :)

I am leaning 50" right now.. only because the 42" doesn't seem to be much of a "bang" when I have used 32" TV's.. they are approximately the same vertical height. It's hard to figure if $500 is worth it. (In my case $550, because of the 5yr warranty and some sale prices.)

Thanks for the advice on A10 size. I spent a good hour today watching upconverted DVD's over HDMI. Even at 6' on the 50" TV, there wasn't a noticable SDE for me. At 9', it looked even better. Of course, regular SD or the "recorded loop" HD was pretty awful at 6'.. and watchable at 9'. I think most of my viewing will be at 9'.. except when guests come over.. I will give them the choice seats and sit on the floor 6' from the TV. :)

I am leaning 50" right now.. only because the 42" doesn't seem to be much of a "bang" when I have used 32" TV's.. they are approximately the same vertical height. It's hard to figure if $500 is worth it. (In my case $550, because of the 5yr warranty and some sale prices.)

How do you watch DVD's over HDMI?? I can't get a signal when I hook up my DVI/HDMI adaptor to the Sony & the Zenith 318.. Thanks..

I have been reading AVS forum nearly 3 years. I finally pulled the trigger and purchased my first HDTV, the Sony A10. AVS Forum members should know this tv is excellent and really raises the bar on other technologies, Plasma, DLP, LCOS (at least JVC's.) The picture is absolutely breathtaking, and at a great price.

Just wanted to thank AVS Forum and all the users for providing excellent information.

Duster, enter the channel number first, like 5.1 and then hit Guide.