So there is no solution to this dilemma? I guess I have the same problem but I only have a DVD player over HDMI and the built in tuner to worry about. I say I guess, because I'm afraid to even look.

So am I correct in assuming that the only way to deal with this is to compromise between the various inputs?


I'm telling you bro! watch TV and while you do look at like the NBC logo, or a scroll, then mess with mid 2 settings like "DHVP and DHVS" to move the picture around inside the raster and you will see how much more picture there actually is. Especially on the HD channels. Then again you use the built in tuner, so maybe it's fine for you. I have my dvd player (hdmi set to 2 % overscan, my xbox 360 using component is at around 3% and my cable box,(using component cables) no clue since i did it by eye :P , so i tweaked it so it's right over the edge ( went to the point where i could see the end of the screen, then moved it a few clicks) so i'm guessing it's at around 2% Hope this makes sense, this is really hard for me to explain for some reason :P I think my brain melted from my all day service mode fun.

Some type of pattern makes it easier. If you just set to as little overscan as possible everywhere, it may not be right proportionally. I've noticed that the picture stretches a little horizontally as it moves out from the center of the screen, at least on my TV, so if everything is set to as little overscan as possible, the center is compressed horizontally. I used the THX circles and a ruler to get it right in all modes, it worked pretty good.

I use the Avia overscan pattern. Yea that happens with the compressing/ stretching,especially when using the mid2 settings such as the "stretching" ones like DHHS/ DHVS but then you can adjust the Horizontal and Vertical Linearity settings to fix that (vlin,vsco)

Some type of pattern makes it easier. If you just set to as little overscan as possible everywhere, it may not be right proportionally. I've noticed that the picture stretches a little horizontally as it moves out from the center of the screen, at least on my TV, so if everything is set to as little overscan as possible, the center is compressed horizontally. I used the THX circles and a ruler to get it right in all modes, it worked pretty good.

I have noticed the same thing. So if I understand you correctly, a properly adjusted 970 screen will have slightly more overscan on the right and left sides than on the top and bottom? Correct?

If so, that's how my 970 seems to be. I find it especially noticeable on 4 x 3 material.

That's how it is on my TV, more overscan on the sides than top and bottom to keep everything proportioned right. The THX circles and a ruler should tell you if it's right, the circle should be perfectly round. It worked for me. I use wide zoom for 4x3 sources. I've got a little bit of black bars on the sides to eliminate horizontal stretching. Hopefully if something goes wrong with the TV under warranty whoever fixes it won't see that and refuse to fix it.

Well, that was a bust.

The Sears tech came by to look at the slight geometric bows and he was a perfectly nice gentleman. But I knew I was in trouble when he started to explain to me how to change "aspect ratios" on my TV. When he finally realized what I was talking about, he explained it as a "pin cushion" effect that occurs because of how the tube conforms to the widescreen of the TV. He explained that the only real way to fix it is to replace some part inside the TV. He did say it might be possible to make adjustments through the service menu but that could also make things worse in other areas.

So basically, nothing was done. It was never that big a deal because it's not really that noticeable (in fact, there was no way of showing him what I was talking about because nothing was panning across the screen). But since I had the service plan, I thought it would be a good idea for him to take a look. He did say the TV looked as good or better than he's seen from most tube TV's...so that's something, I guess.

Still...the worst part was I was asked to wait between the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM...and he didn't show until around 3 PM! A whole day basically wasted.

Even when i didn't try adjusting by eye and put like straight piece of paper, or a ruler (since the eye can lie about whats straight) to help me straighten the lines, No matter what those lines DO NOT and never will get straight. That left corner has a mind of it's own, yea the middle of the line straightens or bends when adjusting, then it turns into a wave.

Crappy pic but it was the best i could take At the moment. That top left corner, i can't stand it. If adjust vcen/vpin anymore then the middle of the line bends down or up creating a wavy line. Has to be a combo of other geo settings that should help the problem, cause vcen and vpin aint cutting it. I just don't look forward to messing with everything again cause i have my picture pretty even all around. Plus it's pretty much unfixable, but i'm sure it can be made to look less bad.

I'm really starting to think it's the direction i have my TV facing, since that can affect geometry. It would also explain why i'm only having issues with the top left corner. I'm not about to move this TV to find out though :P It's not noticeable at all CEPT when viewing a test pattern, or the info panel (display) along with the menu of my HD box as i can see the bowing. But i know it's there, and hate knowing it's like that.

Another thing i notice is sometimes this TV doesn't recognize my dvd player in the HDMI input! and just shows a black screen for Video 6, even when the dvd player is on. A few power off/ons fixes this.

LOL guys wtf! after reading some posts i missed i was wondering why did you attack GlenC like that? You do know he is professional calibrator right? and has worked on these same TV's before? I admit though, i got into an argument with him early on ( only cause i wanted to know some calibrator secrets :P) But what you guys said is just childish! I own a xbr970, (have so for the past few months) i know all about it and read up. Getting mad cause somebody says the TV isn't a High resolution display, then thinking that he means it's crap? This TV is cheap for a reason, (besides being discontinued, 960 was also discontinued :P) you get what you paid for. It's not the "holy grail" of displays, otherwise i think more people would own one. The 960 still goes for a way higher price USED if you can find people who sell it LOL the 970 does not! Anybody who knows jack about TV's knows why. So you n00bs should do some research before thinking you scored a great HD TV at a small price. I know i got what i paid for! EDTV and nothing more.

LOL guys wtf! after reading some posts i missed i was wondering why did you attack GlenC like that? You do know he is professional calibrator right? and has worked on these same TV's before? I admit though, i got into an argument with him early on ( only cause i wanted to know some calibrator secrets :P) But what you guys said is just childish! I own a xbr970, (have so for the past few months) i know all about it and read up. Getting mad cause somebody says the TV isn't a High resolution display, then thinking that he means it's crap? This TV is cheap for a reason, (besides being discontinued, 960 was also discontinued :P) you get what you paid for. It's not the "holy grail" of displays, otherwise i think more people would own one. The 960 still goes for a way higher price USED if you can find people who sell it LOL the 970 does not! Anybody who knows jack about TV's knows why. So you n00bs should do some research before thinking you scored a great HD TV at a small price. I know i got what i paid for! EDTV and nothing more.

If you have EDTV, I must have EDTV on 'juice.. this thing is rocking.. :eek: ;)


There's still not a LCD I'd buy over this TV. I just recently helped two friends get LCD's (one 32" Olevia [$499] and one 32" Samsung [$1099]) and neither TV's overall PQ is close to my 970.

And it's by FAR the "Holy Grail" of TV's under a $1,000 for sure. I also wouldn't doubt if these 970's are better than TV's for $1,500.

Uwisconsin! been a long time man! Man though come on! jacked as compared to what? What TV did you have before this? a crappy 27 inch like me? Of course it's way better than that! But this is NOT the best TV i have ever seen. I have seen much better looking displays then this!

Keep in mind though they didn't calibrate their sets! right? Just plugged them in and use the default settings.

I been tweaking this set! Took a few weeks off, got a hdmi dvd player, had to recalibrate again and still shoddy geometry! I think i'm more into perfect geo than true black levels :( cause this is pissing me off!

LOL guys wtf! after reading some posts i missed i was wondering why did you attack GlenC like that? You do know he is professional calibrator right? and has worked on these same TV's before? I admit though, i got into an argument with him early on ( only cause i wanted to know some calibrator secrets :P) But what you guys said is just childish! I own a xbr970, (have so for the past few months) i know all about it and read up. Getting mad cause somebody says the TV isn't a High resolution display, then thinking that he means it's crap? This TV is cheap for a reason, (besides being discontinued, 960 was also discontinued :P) you get what you paid for. It's not the "holy grail" of displays, otherwise i think more people would own one. The 960 still goes for a way higher price USED if you can find people who sell it LOL the 970 does not! Anybody who knows jack about TV's knows why. So you n00bs should do some research before thinking you scored a great HD TV at a small price. I know i got what i paid for! EDTV and nothing more.

his posts were deleted so you're not getting the whole picture

i don't think we want to open this whole can of worms again

I been tweaking this set! Took a few weeks off, got a hdmi dvd player, had to recalibrate again and still shoddy geometry! I think i'm more into perfect geo than true black levels :( cause this is pissing me off!


No CRT TV will ever have perfect geometry, period. Even if it did, bright spots or screens expand the picture, causing geometry distortion. If you were that worried about geometry you should have sacrificed picture quality and bought an LCD. My 970 has what I'd call pretty good geometry for the size TV it is. I wouldn't consider the crappy quality of LCD just to get a little better geometry. To each his own I guess.

Also keep in mind that camera lenses distort straight lines, especially up close, so you are going to see bent lines sometimes even on an LCD.

No CRT TV will ever have perfect geometry, period. Even if it did, bright spots or screens expand the picture, causing geometry distortion. If you were that worried about geometry you should have sacrificed picture quality and bought an LCD. My 970 has what I'd call pretty good geometry for the size TV it is. I wouldn't consider the crappy quality of LCD just to get a little better geometry. To each his own I guess.
Yeah, I agree. I'm starting to think there's no such thing as a perfect TV. No matter what you get, you sacrifice something. With the XBR970 you may have to put up with the geometric issue, but you get excellent PQ for ALL sources (SD, HD, DVDs). But perhaps you sacrifice other things when purchasing plasmas and lcd's. Black-levels may not be as good...or SD broadcasts and older DVD's may not look as impressive.

LOL guys wtf! after reading some posts i missed i was wondering why did you attack GlenC like that? ...

Uhhh...and I'm wondering why you'd drag this out again?

You can say EDTV if you want. That doesnt make it true. 480p is EDTV. Resolutions above that are classified as HDTV. Whether the Sony has 853 lines of h-resolution or 1440 doesnt matter. It is High Definition as considered by both the people who make the standards and the manufacturers.

Uwisconsin! been a long time man! Man though come on! jacked as compared to what? What TV did you have before this? a crappy 27 inch like me? Of course it's way better than that! But this is NOT the best TV i have ever seen. I have seen much better looking displays then this!

Hey buddy, long time no see for you! I've been posting pretty regularly now.. :D where have YOU been? That's the question.. ;)


I've had a Insignia HD-CRT for a few years now. It just broke a few months ago; the power supply failed after a bad thunderstorm. And yes I use a power conditioner and a high-quality, high juled surge protector.

The PQ of the 970 is much better than the Insignia. I also gained 4" more inches of screen real estate as well with the 970.


What type of displays, manufactures and price range were you comparing at? I can comfortably say this is the best TV under $1,000 regardless of physical size, and I'd be willing to bet that the 970 doesn't have too much competition under $1,500 as well. I personally was torn between a Sharp 32" 1080p LCD, and this one. For $1,300 the PQ was very close, again giving a slight nod to the 970 for blacks/whites. I would have taken the Sharp 1080p if it wasn't for this sale. Honestly, I like the 970 a lot, but I wouldn't pay more than $700 for it. I would have bit the bullet and started comparing 720p low-end plasma to the 1080p Sharp if the 970 was any more (than I paid; @ $550 + tax).

It might be my eyes, but when I set up those two LCD's for my two friends, the 360 looked better on my TV, and HD channels looked far better on my TV than theirs. Although the SD on the LCD's does look better than on the 970, but I watch very little SD anyways. I either watch HD-DVD or HD cable. Also when watching HD-DVD's the main difference between the LCD's and the 970 is blacks. A big difference. Overall PQ comparing the two isn't "out of this world" better, but it's safe to say its better than the two LCD's I compared.

The $500 32" Olevia is a decent TV, if you NEED something thin.

Also keep in mind that camera lenses distort straight lines, especially up close, so you are going to see bent lines sometimes even on an LCD.

This is absolutely true. Anyone that doesn't think so, just go to an electronics store and watch an LCD or plasma for awhile, you'll soon see geometry isn't perfect from the source.

As CRT HDTV owners, it seems like we're on our own when it comes to fixing geomety woes in the service menu. It's strange because "the Man" doesn't want us to go into the service menu at all. But when you do get a tech to your house, and he starts futzing around in the service menu, why does it always end up looking worse than before? I'm shocked. He fixed one problem, only to cause another problem. And I always find this out after he's left. Pretty lame. Professional calibrators only seem to deal with brightness levels and color balancing. Who do you call for some hardcore geometry fixin' - magnet work included if needed! Seriously.

Anyhow, you've all scared me with your VPIN, VCEN and MID2 talk, but it seems I have no choice - I'm goin' in! I feel like he left me stranded. The good news is I watched him use the service menu for a bit. I read how to get into it, but I need to bone-up on how to get out of it. With and/or without saving my adjustments. I'll check out the Sony Service Menu thread. I have 2 main questions:

1) While adjusting, do I use my AVIA DVD patterns, or the patterns built into the tv? (I've read built-in patterns are under PATN, yes?)

2) Currently, when looking at a crosshatch pattern through the AVIA DVD, the squares on the left and right are perfect squares. But as you move your eyes toward the center of the tv, the squares gradually become more rectangular. The squares closer to the center of the screen are taller than the squares on the sides. What adjustment is that? The tech told me that ain't fixable. I don't think I belive him.

Any advice would be appreciated. I just printed out some your recent posts concerning service menu adjustments, so thanks for that. I'll add 'em to my pile.

My TV is the opposite, squares stretch a little horizontally at the edges instead of the center. I've found nothing to remedy this. The internal pattern is pretty good for geometry. It's down a couple of screens, press 5 twice to get there. Once you turn the pattern on with the 3,6 buttons you can navigate through the SM to get to geometry adjustments. When you're finished adjusting you have to go back to the pattern screen and turn the pattern off. Write down any adjustments you want to change first. You can play around with stuff in the SM all you want, it won't save anything until you press muting then enter. You have to save each individual setting seperately. If you just want to do geometry, you don't need to worry about the MID2 settings.

My TV is the opposite, squares stretch a little horizontally at the edges instead of the center. I've found nothing to remedy this. The internal pattern is pretty good for geometry. It's down a couple of screens, press 5 twice to get there. Once you turn the pattern on with the 3,6 buttons you can navigate through the SM to get to geometry adjustments. When you're finished adjusting you have to go back to the pattern screen and turn the pattern off. Write down any adjustments you want to change first. You can play around with stuff in the SM all you want, it won't save anything until you press muting then enter. You have to save each individual setting seperately. If you just want to do geometry, you don't need to worry about the MID2 settings.

Fortunately, after reading all the posts in the Sony Service Codes section, I know about the horror of having the test pattern stay forever. Yikes! But if I make a setting adjustment, when do I "write?" Won't I lose my settings if I navigate away from it to turn off the pattern?

And as for adjusting individual rows of squares that aren't even, I've read something in a KD-34XBR2 manual than makes me think it's possible. It mentions something about "vertical linearity" adjustment (VLIN), "vertical S-correction" (VSCO), and "horizontal linearity" (SLIN) - to be adjusted in that order. And I quote, "Adjust as necessary so that the boxes at the left and right sides of the screen are the same width as the boxes in the middle of the screen." Sounds promising, yes?

That's for later. I'm gonna start with the easy stuff first. Tomorrow I'm gonna go in for three seconds, acknowledge my victory, and than get out! When I wipe the sweat off my forehead, I'll go in for round 2. Baby steps for this paranoid freak. ;)

When you're happy with an adjustment you've made, write it then and it will stay no matter what you do. Just be sure to write down original settings and you can't do any harm. Some settings are mode specific, like the MID2 settings, but geometry settings cover all modes and inputs. I didn't mess with vertical linearty because I didn't need to. The SLIN did nothing to correct the slight horizontal stretching at the edges of the screen. You may get different results. If you use the AVIA crosshatch you'll probably see some convergence off too. That gets tricky, at least on mine. Convergence changes depending on the IRE of the crosshatch. If I converge it the best I can at 50 IRE, then bring up the 100 IRE pattern, the convergence is off on the 100 pattern.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Better to have the geometry be screwy than the picture itself. As much as we want it to get perfect, the geometry never will. The best we can do is get it as close to straight as possible.

is the XBR970, HDCP compliant?

is the XBR970, HDCP compliant?

yes

When you're happy with an adjustment you've made, write it then and it will stay no matter what you do. Just be sure to write down original settings and you can't do any harm. Some settings are mode specific, like the MID2 settings, but geometry settings cover all modes and inputs. I didn't mess with vertical linearty because I didn't need to. The SLIN did nothing to correct the slight horizontal stretching at the edges of the screen. You may get different results. If you use the AVIA crosshatch you'll probably see some convergence off too. That gets tricky, at least on mine. Convergence changes depending on the IRE of the crosshatch. If I converge it the best I can at 50 IRE, then bring up the 100 IRE pattern, the convergence is off on the 100 pattern.

Sorry, but I'm still unclear. Maybe I didn't ask my question correctly. You said I shouldn't "write" while the test grid is up, right? Turn on grid > go to VPIN (for example) and adjust > go back to grid and turn it off > go back to VPIN and "write." Is that correct?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Better to have the geometry be screwy than the picture itself. As much as we want it to get perfect, the geometry never will. The best we can do is get it as close to straight as possible.

I hear ya. But here's the thing - the tv was adjusted pretty darn good after the first tech visit, and I accepted the flaws that were left. But after the 2nd tech visit to fix a problem I thought he caused during the 1st visit, and after he told me there was nothing he could do about it, he didn't seem to put the tv back to where it was after all his tweaking. What's even more frustrating (and I can't believe this happened because he seemed very competent) is I had him correct the overscan for my PS3 so the Playstation Store fit on the entire screen and didn't touch the borders. He had it perfect, but I guess he forgot to "write" or something, because now it's back to where it was. I'm not gonna cry over it, but man - what a let down. So now, yes, I'm reading hundreds or forum posts to do exactly what I said I never wanted to do - futz around in the service menu. I'm gonna look at it as a positive thing, though. Knowledge is power, and it would be nice to take care of my own problems than put my tv in the hands of someone who doesn't seem to care or know what he's doing. I'm just taken aback at how much consumers these days are dependent on others to fix stuff they use every day and take for granted. (Cars, computers, HDTVs). Maybe I'll study to be a mechanic after this. ;)

Oops. I branched off into a mini-rant. Sorry. And just to let ya'll know, I'm posting service menu woes/questions here because the Sony Service Codes thread often gives great info, but when I finally write it all down, I often bump into a post that says it doesn't pertain to the 970. Grrrrrrrrrr. I figured it would be best to only talk to the people who own the tv I'm dealing with. Thanks in advance. :)

You can write settings with the pattern on. I don't think the PS3 thjng is because he didn't store the settings. As soon as he left the SM, it would have gone back to where it was on any settings he didn't store. If he was using the MID2 settings, they are different for each resolution. I've only let someone else mess with my TVs a couple of times, both times they got worse. I won't do it again.

What's this test pattern you guys are talking about and how do you get to it?

It's in the service menus.

I don't think the PS3 thjng is because he didn't store the settings. As soon as he left the SM, it would have gone back to where it was on any settings he didn't store. If he was using the MID2 settings, they are different for each resolution.

He had the Playstation Store screen up when he made the adjustment - I saw it move as he was pushing buttons. Doesn't that mean he had the right resolution? Anyhow, I'll check it out later. I need a break away from the tv for a while.

What's this test pattern you guys are talking about and how do you get to it?

According to my pile of printed notes, the tv's own test pattern is in the QM group under PATN. (Whatever THAT means!)

Hey samijubal - when I make the test pattern go away by making its value "0," do I have to "write" the zero value before I exit? If I understand things correctly, I think I do.

Yes, you need to write after exiting the pattern. If the PS3 only worked when he was in the SM, then maybe he didn't save settings. If it worked after exiting the SM, then that's not it. I don't know what you mean by the store screen, but if the PS3 outputs in different resolutions, he may have been using a different resolution. There are also seperate settings for HDMI that don't apply to component inputs.

Yes, you need to write after exiting the pattern. If the PS3 only worked when he was in the SM, then maybe he didn't save settings. If it worked after exiting the SM, then that's not it. I don't know what you mean by the store screen, but if the PS3 outputs in different resolutions, he may have been using a different resolution. There are also seperate settings for HDMI that don't apply to component inputs.

Yes, my PS3 is hooked up via HDMI. As for the "Playstation Store," click the link and look at the third photo box down. I don't have that much border room when I view the store on my tv. The tech fixed it to look like the photo. Now it's back to where it was. Odd.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6161997/p-4.html

Was it connected via HDMI when he worked on the TV? If it was connected component when he worked on it, that could be the problem.

Was it connected via HDMI when he worked on the TV? If it was connected component when he worked on it, that could be the problem.

Yes, it was HDMI when he worked on it.

I just poked my head in the living room, and my girlfriend is playing Twilight Princess on the Wii (480p) through input 4. Everything looks okay. Hopefully only the HDMI (PS3) input got screwed up. (Input 6)

Here's a question: How do I know when to use a test pattern from a DVD (my Avia disc), and when to use the test pattern generated from the tv itself when making adjustments? Which is the wiser choice? I assume the pattern generated from the tv would be best suited for global adjustments only, yes? I dunno. (Am I over-thinking this too much?)

It doesn't really matter what pattern you use. The TV pattern should work for geometry. Just remember geometry is never going to be perfect. You'll have to make some sacrifices and just get it the best you can. Don't forget to write down all settings first. If you are just doing geometry, all you need is the setting number for each adjustment. If you decide to do other stuff, some of the adjustments are mode specific, so the mode needs to be written down too. There are also some adjustments for each color temperature.

It doesn't really matter what pattern you use. The TV pattern should work for geometry. Just remember geometry is never going to be perfect. You'll have to make some sacrifices and just get it the best you can. Don't forget to write down all settings first. If you are just doing geometry, all you need is the setting number for each adjustment. If you decide to do other stuff, some of the adjustments are mode specific, so the mode needs to be written down too. There are also some adjustments for each color temperature.

Thank goodness I'm satisfied with my color settings. One headache at a time.

I finally went in and made some adjustments in the SM. Scary, but I now have a slightly better understanding of how things work in there. Printouts and manuals from the Sony Service Codes thread helped a lot.

Once global geometry is set, it looks like all I can do in the MID group is adjust the position and size of the screen (vertically and horizontally) for each resolution, input, and screen size setting, yes?

It also looked like it Automatically sensed which resolution and screen size setting you were using, and thus recorded the adjustments accordingly. For instance, if a DVD pattern at 480p in "wide" mode needed to be moved to the right a bit to be centered, and I made that adjustment, that would have no effect on my pattern when I switched to "normal" mode, right? I'd have to adjust "normal" mode separately, no? And it would have no effect on other inputs. At least that's what appeared to be happening. Then, if I use a DVD upscaler and bump the DVD pattern to 720p (same input), the tv would sense the change and I'd have to make a brand new "wide" and "normal" adjustment for 720p, all without leaving the MID group I was in. You basically stay put in the service menu and feed the tv different resolutions. You then make adjustments for "wide," and then the "normal" mode (if it needs adjusting at all). Is this correct? I was concerned that there might be separate groups for each resolution...then each screen size....and then each input. Seems like the TV is smart and does most of the hard work for you. You just feed it different resolutions and/or change the screen size in MID and it knows how to log your adjustments accordingly. Am I on the right track?

Only the MID2 settings are resolution specific. The MID1 settings cover all resolutions, I'm not 100% sure on that, so you may want to check to see, but I'm pretty sure. You will probably want to make adjustments with the TV tuner for HD. You'll need some overscan for the tuner that DVD players don't need. Wide zoom horizontal adjustments like HSIZ and HPOS are seperate from the rest, which are all the same. The MID2 settings are seperate for normal and horizontal expand, I'd guess vertical expand too but I didn't mess with that one, full, zoom and wide zoom are the same. Again I'm not 100% sure, but I think that's the way it is. It will let you adjust the MID2 settings for each resolution, but the only mode that's seperate is normal if I remember right.

I wonder why we all keep trying to get geometry perfect when we know it will never be perfect.

I wonder why we all keep trying to get geometry perfect when we know it will never be perfect.

Personally, I'm not trying for perfection - I'm trying to get it back the way it was before the tech "F"ed it up. But you bring up an interesting point. People can really get too obsessed with this stuff. I wanted 1 thing fixed originally, and now that I've messed around in the SM, I see tons of tweaks I need to do. I need to take a step back and choose my battles in there. For instance, with an overscan pattern, I noticed that my sides and top and bottom were not at the same percentage. Aren't the left, right, top, and bottom all supposed to be equal (at 5% or so?) Didn't notice it until a popped in a pattern. Do I fix it or not? Not sure yet.

I agree the tweaks can be addicting. I'll be careful.

I've got more overscan on the sides than top and bottom. That's the way it has to be to keep ratios right since the TV stretches the picture a little horizontally as it moves away from the center. If I set the overscan the same all around, faces are too thin. This is where the THX circles and a ruler were very useful.

I've got more overscan on the sides than top and bottom. That's the way it has to be to keep ratios right since the TV stretches the picture a little horizontally as it moves away from the center. If I set the overscan the same all around, faces are too thin. This is where the THX circles and a ruler were very useful.

In the Sony Service Codes thread someone said it needs to be same percentage all around. You suppose they were talking about a 4:3 set? That's why that thread kinda bugs me - they talk about ALL Sony tvs. Of course I'm just interested in my own - the 970.

And what are these "THX" circles I keep reading about? Is that on the AVIA DVD or generated by the tv?

In a perfect world overscan would be the same all around. In the real world it doesn't always work that way. If I set the overscan the same on the sides as top and bottom, it's clearly visible that the TV is off proportionally. Some DVDs have a THX optimizer included on the disc. There are 2 circles, 1 for widescreen and 1 for fullscreen.

Hi guys,

I have owned the 970 for about 1 year. It's a truly remarkable set! The PQ is ridiculous. And adding biased-lighting behind the set has made the black levels just POP. I think it's the greatest addition to this TV set you can make.

Anyway, my wife wants to move the furniture around in the room, and it would result in having the TV at a 9 foot seating distance. :rolleyes:

WAF issues aside, could you guys give me some insight on what a good recommended distance from the XBR970 would be?

I'd prefer not to have links to charts on CNET or About.com. I'd like to have some old-fashioned user experiences with this set. How far are YOU sitting away from your 970?

Recommendations for 1080i viewing / blu-Ray / PS3 would be appreciated!

Thanks! :)

5.5' is my prefered sitting distance:cool:.
But that is also the max for the room I have it in:eek:.

hyghwayman

Damn Hywayman, you beat me to the draw :)

I like to sit about 5-6 feet away. Any closer and you start to notice the "screen door effect" of the grill or whatever that mesh is called that's inside the tube. Any further than that and the picture gets too small for my tastes (which change).

I have an 18" florescent light sitting on top of the set in the very back, facing the wall that the TV butts up against. Another member on this forum recommended it to me. It was very cheap and works quite well at reducing eyestrain that can result from watching such a bright picture as the 970 puts out in a totally darkened room.

Yeah, that's sounding about right... 6 feet or so. I'm going to have to come up with a way to get the TV closer to our seats. Hmmmm.... :confused:

BTW, I'm using the Ideal Lume Standard. Really helps with that bright and beautiful screen.

I am about 9' from my TV, it's fine with me. I watch in the dark. 6' would be too close for me.

I've got a free Sony 34in CRT HD a couple of weeks ago from friends for
hauling it out of their garage. Its a KD-34XBR2 made in 2002, does
it qualify for this KD-34XBR970 thread? Its got both ATSC and NTSC
tuners . Seems the only thing it doesn't
have is the super fine pitch Trinitron CRT and separate video/ audio remote setups for each selected tuner and
video input. Since I live in the country, I don't get cable and I won't buy
small-dish, I only get one OTA DT station, KEYT, ABC Santa Barbara, CA.

When I get it into our bedroom, it will be to the left side of the bed at the
foot. I will be at 6.5ft and Judy will be at 9ft, both looking slightly to the side. I could get to 4.5ft and Judy at 6.5ft by moving it closer to the head, but this means a more severe side look. Has anyone tried this side-look setup?

I do have a copy of the complete Service Manual and can make copies of
selected pages for those interested. It has a great picture in HD as expected
from a CRT. SD is very disappointing, no where as good as my BIg Dish
satellite NTSC. Looking forward to doing a limited service setup to take out
some slight imperfections............Tom

...Its a KD-34XBR2 made in 2001, does
it qualify for this KD-34XBR970 thread? Its got both ATSC and NTSC
tuners and the super-fine Trinitron CRT.....Congrats on the new tv. I believe the XBR2 is the predecessor of the XBR800. I don't believe it has a super-fine-pitch (SFP) tube.

What type of SD signal are you talking about? SD channels through the TV tuner do look like crap, but my c-band dish looks great.

What , not super-fine! I'll just have to take it back to where I found it.

What type of SD signal are you talking about? SD channels through the TV tuner do look like crap, but my c-band dish looks great.
The only digital SD I've seen on this TV is OTA local KEYT, not known for its quality
equipment. However the non-HD SD ABC programming is better but never as good as the NTSC analog SD I've watched for years off my C-Band BUD. I'm watching Fox News analog on my 34xbr2 right now on wide-zoom, full width with the top and bottom slightly cut off. Its approaches NTSC DVD qoality!

I've never seen an OTA analog feed that's near as good as c-band, that's just normal. The only thing that's going to beat c-band is HD channels. 4DTV used to look good on my last TV. I don't have it anymore, so I don't know how it looks on the Sony.

I've never seen an OTA analog feed that's near as good as c-band, that's just normal. The only thing that's going to beat c-band is HD channels. 4DTV used to look good on my last TV. I don't have it anymore, so I don't know how it looks on the Sony.


I agree with you 100%, no digital OTA SD beats C-Band NTSC on the
34XRB2. The HD 720p I've seen OTA on KEYT-ESPN sports totally
beats C-Band NTSC, of course. It is truly awesome, especially shots
of the crowd and close-ups of the players, zits, whiskers, pocks and all.
ABC studio programs, GMA and View in HD look lifeless, maybe the
ladies on the show want it that way? They look like they have 1/8in
pancake makeup on! Can't wait to get the Sony into the bedroom
where I got my BUD 4DTV equipment. It won't be as good as BUD
analog but should be lots better than small-dish and OTA digital SD.

I'd be interested to know what the 4DTV looks like on the Sony. Does your 4DTV receiver have a setting for a widescreen TV? I was using the sidecar, it couldn't be set for 16x9.

I'd be interested to know what the 4DTV looks like on the Sony. Does your 4DTV receiver have a setting for a widescreen TV? I was using the sidecar, it couldn't be set for 16x9.

I just brought 4DTV from my sidecar over chn#4 rf from my bedroom
into the garage thru a chn#4 NTSC demodulator and then into the
Sony's video input. Even after all this hobble-up the picture is still virtually
perfect! Watching "travel Channel" one of the better 4DTV. PQ rivals
C-Band NTSC and super-better than any OTA digital SD! I run the Sony
34XBR2 on Zoom-Wide which fills the 16/9 screen completely. I get full
resolution width and only loose a little top and bottom with no geo distortion.
This is the way to watch 4DTV when all the C-Band analog is now gone.

Why are you using RF? You'll get better quality using the line output. I had the line out run from my living room to my bedroom with RG6 coax, a little over 40', the picture was fine.

Why are you using RF? You'll get better quality using the line output. I had the line out run from my living room to my bedroom with RG6 coax, a little over 40', the picture was fine.

The rf link was used only temporarily until I can get help moving the 200# 34XBR2 into the bedroom right next to my C-Band and 4DTV stuff. I'm well aware direct composite video linking is better than rf, but just barely.

Hi Sony CRT´s fans
I found a site where you can download the SERVICE MANUAL FOR FREE of 30/34/36xs955 and 34xbr960(all with DA-4 chassis):go to www.schematicsforfree.com and 1)click on "Click here to see the files" in blue big letters 2) click on "Sony" 3)click on "Video" 4)click on "KD34XBR960" or "KD34XS955".It´s a Zip file.

If you guys want the actual service menu to the Sony KD-34XBR970 TV I got the link right here.

http://www.manualdirectory.co.uk/Detailed/21144.html

Click on this link and then click "Visit / Download Sony KD-34XBR970 Service Manual" to download. You may have to skip past an advertisement, but otherwise you should be able to download it.

If you guys want the actual service menu to the Sony KD-34XBR970 TV I got the link right here.

http://www.manualdirectory.co.uk/Detailed/21144.html

Click on this link and then click "Visit / Download Sony KD-34XBR970 Service Manual" to download. You may have to skip past an advertisement, but otherwise you should be able to download it.


So has anyone downloaded this yet? Is it safe?

Thanks, hyghwayman

I downloaded either this one or a similar one that was in PDF format. I was a little disappointed because while it had all the service menu settings listed, it did not bother giving you any description of you what they actually did. The PDF file linked in the "Sony Service Codes" thread was much better for that.

However, the service manual I got did have some instructions regarding the proper procedure for adjusting geometry. The instructions were very methodical, probably too methodical for me to be able to follow.

I have the manual for the 970. There isn't any info in it, besides the presets for the different picture modes, that you can't get in the Sony service codes thread, there's actually less info.

So has anyone downloaded this yet? Is it safe?

Thanks, hyghwayman

This was how I got mine so it should be safe for you.

tv is pretty nice, but i've had 2 problems since i bought it...

first, on top of the screen it seems there is a faint red line of pixels on the very top of the picture, starting about 5 inches into the screen lasting to about 18".

Second, the bottom part of the screen is bent. its really wierd, but the pixels dont go straight down, they hook back at like 30-40 degrees to the left. kinda like this:

|||||||
////////

its annoying. what do you guys think?

To fix the problem on the bottom of the screen, you need to adjust PSTP in the service menu. My 970 had the same problem.

Hmm, while doing geometry repairs yesterday, I noticed the same thing. The set was severely overscanned on all sides (probably at the factory to cover these imperfections). My ////// problem area was a 1 inch horizontal strip on the bottom. Thanks for the tip on the PSTP command.

That adjustment is resolution specific, 720p, 1080i, etc. So you'll have to adjust in all resolutions that have a problem.

I have this tv and it has almost perfect geometry there is some but harldy noticable,i love this tv.

I got my 970 back in March. When I got it I was quite pleased with it...it was better then the 27" TV I was using.

But then I started to notice that the corners where starting to bend. My screen looks like this....

/---------------\


\_____________/

It's so bad you can help but notice it, especially while playing the Xbox 360, or watching movies that don't fill the screen.

I called Sony to have a guy come out to look at it, but I wasn't home when he came, and my wife said he turned it on looked at the screen and said it could not be fixed and that I had to live with it and left. :eek:

Is that true am I stuck with the screen being bent like that? I was going to call another place, but I'm not sure how to explain the problem to them. I don't want another guy to come out just to tell it can't be fixed.

I understand it probably can't be fixed perfectly, but anything is better that this. There is got to be something that can be done, isn't there? :(

I got my 970 back in March. When I got it I was quite pleased with it...it was better then the 27" TV I was using.

But then I started to notice that the corners where starting to bend. My screen looks like this....

/---------------\


\_____________/

It's so bad you can help but notice it, especially while playing the Xbox 360, or watching movies that don't fill the screen.

I called Sony to have a guy come out to look at it, but I wasn't home when he came, and my wife said he turned it on looked at the screen and said it could not be fixed and that I had to live with it and left. :eek:

Is that true am I stuck with the screen being bent like that? I was going to call another place, but I'm not sure how to explain the problem to them. I don't want another guy to come out just to tell it can't be fixed.

I understand it probably can't be fixed perfectly, but anything is better that this. There is got to be something that can be done, isn't there? :(

Your best bet is to fool around with the service menu. It may not solve the problem, but it can make it better at least.

That has to be fixed at the picture tube, if it can be fixed. Every WS CRT TV I've seen does this.

I have the same problem. I was able to fix a center horizontal bow, but according to my service manual, edge bowing can only be fixed by corner magnets.

Okay. Thanks for the info guys.

I got my 970 back in March. When I got it I was quite pleased with it...it was better then the 27" TV I was using.

But then I started to notice that the corners where starting to bend. My screen looks like this....

/---------------\


\_____________/

It's so bad you can help but notice it, especially while playing the Xbox 360, or watching movies that don't fill the screen.

I called Sony to have a guy come out to look at it, but I wasn't home when he came, and my wife said he turned it on looked at the screen and said it could not be fixed and that I had to live with it and left. :eek:

Is that true am I stuck with the screen being bent like that? I was going to call another place, but I'm not sure how to explain the problem to them. I don't want another guy to come out just to tell it can't be fixed.

I understand it probably can't be fixed perfectly, but anything is better that this. There is got to be something that can be done, isn't there? :(

It can and should be fixed as it is covered under your Sony 2yr warranty. Please don't let a rookie mess with your TV. Go to the Sony web site and search for an Auth. Serv. Center in your area.
Here is a link to my post about the same issue and my chat with
Sony CSR (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=901790).

Here is a small part of the chat log.
Larry_ > Hi Donald. Welcome to Sony Online Support. I'm Larry. Please allow me a moment to review your concern.
Larry_ > Thank you for waiting, Donald.I understand that you're getting black bars on both the sides of the TV. Is that right?
Donald Benson > No, I'm not getting any black bars at all. The picture fills the screen completely, too far.
Donald Benson > I have one more question to ask you about this TV. I also notice some geomentry bending at the top left, bottom left (picture dips down about 1/2" and bows up slightly in the middle on the bottom)
Donald Benson > Can this be corrected by a qualified Technician?
Larry_ > Yes, Donald.
Donald Benson > Do you have any info that may help me with this ?
Larry_ > Yes, Donald. The unit is under warranty for 2 years on parts and on labor.
Larry_ > Donald, as the TV is under warranty, the service will be free of cost.
Donald Benson > Once again, thank you very much for your time this morning and have a great day!
Larry_ > You're welcome.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0022b.JPGhttp://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0025b.JPGhttp://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/Sony_KD-34XBR970.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/Sony_KD-34XBR970.JPG)

Click on this picture to see it better, the top left corner is bent down.

My service date is Friday @ 10am, the Sony Auth. Serv. Tech. is scheduled to arrive. I will be watching every thing, maybe even taking pictures. I might even put diapers:rolleyes: on my dog so I don't have to take her out while the Tech. is here. When I was talking on the phone w/ the Tech. he said he would try to fix the geometry issue through the Service menu. Wounder if I could get him to check my greyscale too while he's in there.

Any who, I will take notes / pictures and post the results of this repair by next weekend, so stay tuned.

hyghwayman

still lovin my 970 :)

It can and should be fixed as it is covered under your Sony 2yr warranty. Please don't let a rookie mess with your TV. Go to the Sony web site and search for an Auth. Serv. Center in your area.
Here is a link to my post about the same issue and my chat with
Sony CSR (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=901790).

Here is a small part of the chat log.


http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0022b.JPGhttp://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0025b.JPGhttp://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/Sony_KD-34XBR970.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/Sony_KD-34XBR970.JPG)

Click on this picture to see it better, the top left corner is bent down.

My service date is Friday @ 10am, the Sony Auth. Serv. Tech. is scheduled to arrive. I will be watching every thing, maybe even taking pictures. I might even put diapers:rolleyes: on my dog so I don't have to take her out while the Tech. is here. When I was talking on the phone w/ the Tech. he said he would try to fix the geometry issue through the Service menu. Wounder if I could get him to check my greyscale too while he's in there.

Any who, I will take notes / pictures and post the results of this repair by next weekend, so stay tuned.

hyghwayman

Just because someone on the phone at Sony says it can be fixed doesn't mean much. They told me they could fix my last TV, they made it worse. If you get lucky enough to actually get someone who knows what they are doing it can probably be fixed. If not, it can get worse. Anyone that lets someone mess with their TV over something that small is taking a big chance on something else getting worse in the process. Ask yourself if you're willing to take that chance before letting anyone mess with your TV.

Don't want to break the rules, but anyone interested in this TV in Massachusetts? The Peabody Sears store had their floor model unplugged, around the corner, and marked for $300. Can't go wrong if it works. Probably ran for less than a year but 15 hours a day. I am not a store employee but if this set didn't weigh a gazillion pounds, would've scooped it up.

I got a guy from ABL Electronic Service here in Michigan coming out on the 24th. I'll let you guy's know how my repair goes.

I got a guy from ABL Electronic Service here in Michigan coming out on the 24th. I'll let you guy's know how my repair goes.

Hope you get a knowledgable Tech. like I did. My TV looks so much better now than it did yesterday morning:). It was awesome watching him go through the service menu with such ease, it only took about an hour for him to address and fix both my Geometry and Underscan?Overscan problems:cool:. He also checked my grey scale and it was spot on perfect for 10am with very little light in room (no more than at night w/ my back light on) Here are a few pictures to show how the TV looked before and after servcing.

I now have a little more understanding of how the service menu looks and works. That will make it easier for me to to go in there down the road when my TV is out of warranty;). I'll just leave it to the pro's while I'm covered under a 5yr. protection plan:D.


Before and After

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0022b.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/DCFN0022b.JPG)http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/Geometry_a.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/Geometry_a.JPG)


Before and after

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0025b.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/DCFN0025b.JPG)http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/geometry_b_.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/geometry_b_.JPG)

Best of luck to you dumpstertom and your TV on the 24th.,
hyghwayman

P.S. If you could post some before and after pictures for us all that would be cool too!

Oh man im so ready to blast this god dam tv with a shotgun! I just got it back after a week in repairs for a bow in the right hand corner, and THEY MADE IT WORSE! I GO AN ENTIRE WEEK WITHOUT A TV, only to get it back worse then before! now again i gota go fart around on the phone with complete morons at circuit city to get this crap solved! Forget this, im going with an LCD from now on!

Hope you get a knowledgable Tech. like I did. My TV looks so much better now than it did yesterday morning:). It was awesome watching him go through the service menu with such ease, it only took about an hour for him to address and fix both my Geometry and Underscan?Overscan problems:cool:. He also checked my grey scale and it was spot on perfect for 10am with very little light in room (no more than at night w/ my back light on) Here are a few pictures to show how the TV looked before and after servcing.

I now have a little more understanding of how the service menu looks and works. That will make it easier for me to to go in there down the road when my TV is out of warranty;). I'll just leave it to the pro's while I'm covered under a 5yr. protection plan:D.


Before and After

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0022b.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/DCFN0022b.JPG)http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/Geometry_a.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/Geometry_a.JPG)


Before and after

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/DCFN0025b.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/DCFN0025b.JPG)http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/medium/geometry_b_.JPG (http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/504/geometry_b_.JPG)

Best of luck to you dumpstertom and your TV on the 24th.,
hyghwayman

P.S. If you could post some before and after pictures for us all that would be cool too!

Maybe I'm not seeing those screens right, you've go a lot of glare. It looks like you just traded bowing up in the center for bowing up on the sides.

As I understand (based on my service manual), corner geometry can only be fixed with physical corner magnet adjustments. After I straightened my horizontal middle bow, the corner bowing was more apparent by comparison but not actually made worse. I believe it's an optical illusion.

Ya know, they should tell u this stuff about geometry issues and that BEFORE you buy the dam tv! I cant wate to get rid of this piece of crap! Its givin me nothing but headaches! Its a shame too, beautiful picture, but if you cant display it properly, then whats the point?

Ya know, they should tell u this stuff about geometry issues and that BEFORE you buy the dam tv! I cant wate to get rid of this piece of crap! Its givin me nothing but headaches! Its a shame too, beautiful picture, but if you cant display it properly, then whats the point?


:D Well, in a roundabout way they did tell us by discontinuing CRTs. With all the challenges of perfecting a large widescreen CRT flat tube, I can see why LCD and plasma technologies seemed like the logical conclusion for manufacturers. I mean, if a grade A company like Sony couldn't get widescreen CRTs right, there was no hope for the rest of them.

I'll take the slight geometry flaws over an LCD any day. Plasmas are too big for where my 970 is.

:D Well, in a roundabout way they did tell us by discontinuing CRTs. With all the challenges of perfecting a large widescreen CRT flat tube, I can see why LCD and plasma technologies seemed like the logical conclusion for manufacturers. I mean, if a grade A company like Sony couldn't get widescreen CRTs right, there was no hope for the rest of them.

they got it right. the masses chose the flat junk over quality

Hey, look, i love this tv, but, when i send it out for a minor issue, and it comes back worse then before, what choice do i have? Whats worse, is that they wasted a week of my time,NOT COUNTING the endless hours on the phone and wating for them to call me back when they never did, its just, ok, 6 months of this endless crap is enough! i have to give up now. Theres no one elese in the area to fix it!

To me, geometry is every bit as important, as proper color, darkness, etc. I want streight lines to be streight, darks to be dark, colors to be proper, no lag, ghosting, dead pixels, backlight leakage, etc. Why is that so god dam hard? i dont get it. Studios and other people dont have this problem, why oh why on gods green earth does it just have to happen to me?

There's no such thing as a perfect TV, period. You can't have it all. There's going to be some compromise on any TV. You just have to decide what's the most important and what's the least important. For me, PQ is by far the most important. If I have to sacrifice a little on geometry, so be it. Geometry isn't perfect from the source anyway, so it's not that big a deal to me if the TV isn't either. The Sony blows all LCDs away, no matter what the price. Try watching something SD on an LCD or plasma, they're pathetic.

Hey, look, i love this tv, but, when i send it out for a minor issue, and it comes back worse then before, what choice do i have? Whats worse, is that they wasted a week of my time,NOT COUNTING the endless hours on the phone and wating for them to call me back when they never did, its just, ok, 6 months of this endless crap is enough! i have to give up now. Theres no one elese in the area to fix it!

To me, geometry is every bit as important, as proper color, darkness, etc. I want streight lines to be streight, darks to be dark, colors to be proper, no lag, ghosting, dead pixels, backlight leakage, etc. Why is that so god dam hard? i dont get it. Studios and other people dont have this problem, why oh why on gods green earth does it just have to happen to me?

You stated that you had to send your TV in for repair. My question is why, Both Sony and CC told me that the XBR970 qualified for in home service repairs because of it weight and size.

Sorry to hear that you havn't got the results that you deserve. You may want to try again using the Sony e-support form (http://eservice.sony.com/webrma/web/index.do?ref=http%253A//www.sony.com/index.php) like I did. When I put in my zip code (suburb S. of Dayton Ohio) it came up w/ only one Auth Serv. center (All Points Video) in my area and I wouldn't trust them with a rock. So I put in another zip code 4 miles south of my own. It came up with Qualxserv In-Home Service out of Franklin Ohio (4mi. south from me). They are listed as a Platinum national authorized Sony servicer provider.
"Authorized Service Centers are independently owned and operated.
SES Column: Sony Excellent Service providers with a Platinum status have met the highest standard of customer satisfaction. Service providers with a Gold status have met a high standard of customer satisfaction."
All Points Video did not have any SES status:eek:

The Technician that worked on my TV siad he was from Cincinatti Ohio, that is about 50 miles away. So it is posible to get someone outside of you area to service you TV. here is the link again.
http://eservice.sony.com/webrma/web/index.do?ref=http%253A//www.sony.com/index.php

Best of luck to you,
hyghwayman

P.S. here are the zip codes I used, just in case you would like to see for your self. my zip is 45342 and the one for Franklin Ohio is 45005.

well, because i paid 220 bucks for circuit citys 5 year warentee, im stuck with who can fix the dam thing.

Also, circuit city is very misleading when it comes to there contract. Hell, ive spent hours arguing with them the terms of there own contract over the phone, and its plane as day IN HOME SERVICE. But, acording to them, "If it can be fixed in home. If not then it must be shipped out" So, IN home really doesnt mean, acording to them, inside your house.

And for what the "qualified" service tech did, all he did was futs around in the service menu, somthing completly capable of being done IN HOME, and apparently dident even do a very good job of that, because now the image goes uphill and pinches inward at corners, a problem i dident have before his "qualified" hands touched it.

Look, I know geometry on this baby is never going to be spot on 100% perfect. Its not a LCD! fine. i get that, but, you would think a "qualified" tech with apparently "the proper equiptment" would atleast ATTEMPT to get it as close to perfect as possable, not make the problem worse, or create a new one, then PASS IT OFF as fixed so he could get paid, yet, im still stuck with an OBVEROUSLEY OFF SET that is made all the more noticeable by HIS AJUSTMENTS!

Also, the only other repair center outright refused to look at the tv. Why, well, because when they dont even send out a tech to look at it, just cheech and chong over here to pick it up without giving me a document saying you were here and your taking it for repairs, and i tell them "well, sry im not just handing you over a thousand dollar tv without any documentation" they get pissed at me and give me an addatude over the phone. Its like, good lord, excuse me for actuley protecting myself from being ripped off. For all i know if i let you take the tv out of here, WITHOUT A TECH EVEN LOOKING AT IT WHEN IT SAYS IN THE WORTHLESS CONTRACT I HAVE IN HOME SERVICE, too two people who dont even speak english and wont give me proof you have it, i mean, how do i know the dam tv is not going to end up in there living room, and they can completly denie they have it?

Its just the shere fustration with stupid stuff with this tv that pisses me off to no end. First, they give me the tv, and i pay out of my own pocket money for the 5 year in serive protection plan, AND YOU CANT EVEN GET MY NAME RIGHT AND ADDRESS RIGHT on the dam plan? Im giving you 220 bucks that i might never need to use, and thats not enough to get the proper name and address correct? are you kidding me? Hell, the name and address was even in the wrong state! Thats how badly incompentent circuit city is.
Then, it takes MONTHS to correct the mistake, me having to explane the situation numerous times to numerous people, just to be correct so i can even qualfie for service?

THEN, your first service guy doesnt show up once, and i gave him a month, so i go to there only other qualified service place via the contract, and they give me an addatude because its a distance from my house to there place of buisness. Then they try to pull that crap, and i tell circuit city about it, and they bitch to me "well we know they have it" and im like "i dont care, because inless i have proof in my hand, that they have it, both of you could say anything you like, and im stuck with a missing thousand dollar tv"

So, instead of circuit city being a decent company, they send me right back to the first guy who never showed up in the first place, i have to go chasing after him to do his job, and then he makes the tv worse then it was before! ARE YOU F'ING kidding me or what? 6 months of this BS! 6 Fing months of endless fustration all for nothing, and i paid for this? I could have bought alot better things with the 220 bucks i paid for the worthless contract other then 6 months of the run around bs!

Thats why im so fed up with the tv and circuit city, i just wana throw the dam thing at them, say you sell crap, your worthless, give me another one or a replacement, and leave me the hell alone!

completly unexceptable in my view

OK, then go find a Circuit City forum and vent there. This isnt the place for it.

No, i understand. its just, i want people to be warned of this kind of stuff. I figure, if it happens to me, its sure as hell can happen to other people, and i want them to atleast be aware of it!

No, i understand. its just, i want people to be warned of this kind of stuff. I figure, if it happens to me, its sure as hell can happen to other people, and i want them to atleast be aware of it!

doesn't really matter, nobody sells the tv anymore, it's out of production

i think samsung and philips still make CRT HDTVs, you might want to go warn them

Allright. I apologise. I did go off on a rant, but its just so mind numbingly fustrating, ya know, over somthign that should be just simply amazing it just pisses me off

The TV getting worse is the chance you take when letting someone else mess with your TV. I've posted that here more than once. Virtually all sites that give repair tips for CRT TVs say not to mess with horizontal geometry problems that can't be fixed in the SM, unless they are so bad that it absolutely can't be lived with. Messing around at the yoke can screw up the TV in a hurry, unless you get someone that really knows what they are doing, and unfortunately there isn't many people that do. Warranties cover breakdowns, they don't state anywhere that the product will be perfect.

Hire Chad B.

The TV getting worse is the chance you take when letting someone else mess with your TV. I've posted that here more than once. Virtually all sites that give repair tips for CRT TVs say not to mess with horizontal geometry problems that can't be fixed in the SM, unless they are so bad that it absolutely can't be lived with. Messing around at the yoke can screw up the TV in a hurry, unless you get someone that really knows what they are doing, and unfortunately there isn't many people that do. Warranties cover breakdowns, they don't state anywhere that the product will be perfect.


Well, he'res "Fixed" Images of the tv. And yes, i have tried to ajust the level of it it just throws off somthing elese.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/Artieimage2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/Artieimage1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/0916072042.jpg

Now tell me, i dident have that problem so much before they "fixed" it, was that worth 220 bucks? I think not! And just to get to this point was 6 months worth of effort with the store. Now, do you understand why im so pissed off?

Whoever wants their overscan to be fixed, please contact me and I will walk you through
everything. I am advanced at this TV's Service Menu.

Has anybody had this issue when using HDMI? I've noticed this on both my Directv HD20 and my PS3. There is a section in the upper righthand corner of my tv monitor where there is a strange pixel issue..

Here is a screenshot.

89767

Well, he'res "Fixed" Images of the tv. And yes, i have tried to ajust the level of it it just throws off somthing elese.

....

Now tell me, i dident have that problem so much before they "fixed" it, was that worth 220 bucks? I think not! And just to get to this point was 6 months worth of effort with the store. Now, do you understand why im so pissed off?


That actually looks like the tilt is skewed counterclockwise, in addition to size being off. Why not read up on the service menu forum and fool with it yourself? It honestly isn't hard, and you can't hurt anything just piddling around with the geometry. If you get into trouble, just turn the TV off without saving and it will revert to previous settings.

That actually looks like the tilt is skewed counterclockwise, in addition to size being off. Why not read up on the service menu forum and fool with it yourself? It honestly isn't hard, and you can't hurt anything just piddling around with the geometry. If you get into trouble, just turn the TV off without saving and it will revert to previous settings.

That's what I'd do. Letting someone else mess with the TV could just end up being even worse. There's not much can be done about horizontal geometry, a couple of adjustments in the SM is all. Other than that it has to be done at the picture tube. If you let someone mees around at the PT, it can get a lot worse than it is. These TVs actually have pretty good geometry for a WS CRT of this size. Look at some other CRT TVs, most are far worse than the 970s are.

Has anybody had this issue when using HDMI? I've noticed this on both my Directv HD20 and my PS3. There is a section in the upper righthand corner of my tv monitor where there is a strange pixel issue..

Here is a screenshot.

89767

How much overscan do you have on the HDMI? If you shift the screen up, does it go away?

SLC, I'm in Ogden.

Well, if i do mess around with the service menu, i void my contract!

Well, if i do mess around with the service menu, i void my contract!

No one is going to know if you were in there or not. You've already been in there anyway.

Maybe I'm not seeing those screens right, you've go a lot of glare. It looks like you just traded bowing up in the center for bowing up on the sides.

I see what you are talking about:eek: and I checked the picture against my JVC TV and it looks the same, Now:D. The area with the names and station logo might just be shaped that way. All I know is that the center bowing is gone:cool:.

hyghwayman

Has anybody had this issue when using HDMI? I've noticed this on both my Directv HD20 and my PS3. There is a section in the upper righthand corner of my tv monitor where there is a strange pixel issue..

Here is a screenshot.

89767

Yes I have seen that, it was last Friday when the Serv. Tech was doing adjustments via the serv. menu.. After using the TV's test pattern, he told me to turn on the 360 to see how every thing looked. That's when I saw it, he just made final adjustments w/ 360 on. It appears that game consoles (360 and PS3) because of them having to work w/ all kinds of TV's and resolutions, the pictures aren't always centered.

It is a easy fix if you are willing to go into your TV's service menu.

hyghwayman

It seems to appear after the tv has been on for a while,at first
I thought it was my Directv box but then my ps3 started doing it last night. I know how to get into the Service Menu but I dont want to mess with it unless you guys can walk me through it.

Lets say I do adjust the overscan will this fix or just reduce the problem when I'm using 1080i?

Hope you get a knowledgable Tech. like I did. My TV looks so much better now than it did yesterday morning:). It was awesome watching him go through the service menu with such ease, it only took about an hour for him to address and fix both my Geometry and Underscan?Overscan problems:cool:. He also checked my grey scale and it was spot on perfect for 10am with very little light in room (no more than at night w/ my back light on) Here are a few pictures to show how the TV looked before and after servcing.

I now have a little more understanding of how the service menu looks and works. That will make it easier for me to to go in there down the road when my TV is out of warranty;). I'll just leave it to the pro's while I'm covered under a 5yr. protection plan:D.


Best of luck to you dumpstertom and your TV on the 24th.,
hyghwayman

P.S. If you could post some before and after pictures for us all that would be cool too!

When I first got my tv home, the horizontal bowing in the center was my issue too. The service tech took the back off my tv and adjusted the yoke, which fixed it right quick. Did your visiting tech only mess with the service menu, or did he "pop the hood" too? Congrats, by the way.

Well, he'res "Fixed" Images of the tv. And yes, i have tried to ajust the level of it it just throws off somthing elese.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/Artieimage2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/Artieimage1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/Yourbigpalal83/0916072042.jpg

Now tell me, i dident have that problem so much before they "fixed" it, was that worth 220 bucks? I think not! And just to get to this point was 6 months worth of effort with the store. Now, do you understand why im so pissed off?

The address bar on my PS3 internet browser ain't perfect either. But it looks like your tilt is off a tad. Tilt Correction is in the tv user menu (not to be confused with the service menu.) Did you try nudging it to the right a hair?

To fix the problem on the bottom of the screen, you need to adjust PSTP in the service menu. My 970 had the same problem.

PSTP? Oh crap, that's in the MIDs section. ANd resolution specific, eh? I haven't messed with those yet. The 970 service manual doesn't explain those well, and the PDF from the Sony Service codes thread doesn't list PSTP, and it's pretty vague in that area anyhow. Anywhere I can get more info on that? I ask because...

Here's the deal, I'm gonna play a little game with my head. Seems like every time I put in a calibration dvd and make adjustments, I get the grid to look fine, but when I go back to tv or a game console, I'm less than thrilled. So lately I've been making adjustments with my eye (no grid) in the service menu (making notes of what I've done, of course.) I'm sure if I put in a test pattern now I'd be horrified at what I've done, but when I watch tv, a DVD, or play a video game, everything finally looks pleasing to my eye. EXCEPT for my PS3 at 1080i through HDMI. For some reason I can't get that sucker to my liking. And it has to do with vertical lines, I think. Is there a general list of 1080i specific vertical line geometry adjustments I can make so I don't mess up my other geometry settings and inputs (which I'm quite happy with.) And does the fact that my PS3 is hooked up through HDMI make a difference? I think my 720p through the PS3 is okay. I'll have to do more tests. I wish I had a camera to post some shots, but if someone could steer me in he right direction, I'd be happy. Thanks.

When I first got my tv home, the horizontal bowing in the center was my issue too. The service tech took the back off my tv and adjusted the yoke, which fixed it right quick. Did your visiting tech only mess with the service menu, or did he "pop the hood" too? Congrats, by the way.

My wife said the first guy that came out only used the service menu. He didn't take the back off. She said he didn't seem to know what he was doing, and to think this is the guy Sony recommended to me.

I have faith that this new guy I have coming out will be able to correct my problems. All that's wrong with my set, as far as I can tell, is all 4 corners bend inwards and I know I have a small overscan issue. I can live with the overscan problem, but the corners bending inwards has to be corrected.

I just wish I had a camera to take some before & after pics.

PSTP? Oh crap, that's in the MIDs section. ANd resolution specific, eh? I haven't messed with those yet. The 970 service manual doesn't explain those well, and the PDF from the Sony Service codes thread doesn't list PSTP, and it's pretty vague in that area anyhow. Anywhere I can get more info on that? I ask because...

The PSTP is in the MID3 group. From what I've seen on my TV, it only fixes the bending at the bottom of the screen when using the TV tuner. I could be wrong, but it didn't seem to affect anything but the TV tuner.

Hey, ya'll -

Just bought another Wii game yesterday, and unlike Zelda or Wii Sports, the game suffers from underscan, leaving little black borders on the left and right. I know it's not my tv because like I said, Zelda fills the screen, and so does the Wii menu before the game starts. I always play in "full" mode. I'm noticing many Wii games are starting to suffer from this. I think this would scare the hell out of DLP, LCD, and Plasma owners, but we CRT folks are okay playing a multi-hour session with tiny black bars on the left and right, correct? Someone confirm this for me...please?

I still can't believe Nintendo allows this. This alone would prevent some HDTV owners from getting a Wii. Crazy!

LCD and DLP don't suffer from burn in, it's only plasma and CRT. To keep the possibility of burn in to a minimum, keep the contrast as low as possible.

Hey, ya'll -

Just bought another Wii game yesterday, and unlike Zelda or Wii Sports, the game suffers from underscan, leaving little black borders on the left and right. I know it's not my tv because like I said, Zelda fills the screen, and so does the Wii menu before the game starts. I always play in "full" mode. I'm noticing many Wii games are starting to suffer from this. I think this would scare the hell out of DLP, LCD, and Plasma owners, but we CRT folks are okay playing a multi-hour session with tiny black bars on the left and right, correct? Someone confirm this for me...please?

I still can't believe Nintendo allows this. This alone would prevent some HDTV owners from getting a Wii. Crazy!

You know I've been noticing weird stuff with my Xbox games like this. As in, different games that output the same resolutions and aspect ratios cause different overscan situations. For example, I fixed Brothers in Arms which was outputting at 480p widescreen. Then I popped in Destroy all Humans, again 480p widescreen, and the picture is underscanned. Wha??? So, I set the size again, and now each game is correct.

Sooo...what in the world made the TV think they were different sizes? Are there subtle signals the Xbox outputs, besides resolution and aspect ratio, that are confusing the TV's processor? Are some games output in odd sizes, like 15.5:9? None of these companies are going to bother telling us exactly what is up, so I reckon I'll never know.

You know I've been noticing weird stuff with my Xbox games like this. As in, different games that output the same resolutions and aspect ratios cause different overscan situations. For example, I fixed Brothers in Arms which was outputting at 480p widescreen. Then I popped in Destroy all Humans, again 480p widescreen, and the picture is underscanned. Wha??? So, I set the size again, and now each game is correct.

Sooo...what in the world made the TV think they were different sizes? Are there subtle signals the Xbox outputs, besides resolution and aspect ratio, that are confusing the TV's processor? Are some games output in odd sizes, like 15.5:9? None of these companies are going to bother telling us exactly what is up, so I reckon I'll never know.

Yeah. It's like they're forcing us to root around blindly in the service menu for solutions. I'm starting to make adjustments myself using DHHS and DHHP in the MID 2 section. Seems to be screen size specific. I fixed "full" and "normal," but messing with "wide zoom" seemed to mess with my "full" setting again, so I stopped. (I don't use Wide Zoom with my Wii anyhow.) That took care of my Wii in 480p. I'm gonna move on to my "original" Xbox next. My Xbox in 480p seems okay in widescreen, but due to a glitch from Midway, I have to play The Suffering: Ties That Bind in 480i...and that's where more underscaning begins. If my Xbox in "wide" mode is fine at 480p, what settings do I need to futz with to get my 480i "wide" from underscaning? Am I still safe using DHHS and DHHP? I know some stuff is resolution specific, but that only seems to pertain to 480p, 720p, and 1080i. 480i seems to be the bastard child of the bunch, and I may mess up things globally by mistake. Any advice?

You guys are trying way too hard at this. I have this TV and have been all through the service menus to tweak this thing perfectly. Just to let you all know, it's not gonna happen. You can stick a calibration DVD in your player and adjust to perfect 5% overscan and then find out that your XBOX or PS3 has over and underscan issues depending on what game it is. Video games don't all scan to the same width nor length. It has nothing to do with this TV. You have several different adjustments for each input type on top of each resolution the TV can display. You will have to make compromises and tweak the TV toward what is most important to you. The sooner you let go of the fact that the picture bends, the linearity is not exact, convergence issues, and that you bought a screen that was too small to lose more picture due to occasional underscan.......you will be able to enjoy yourselves using the TV for what it's worth.

There was way too much hype on this forum about this TV. I paid only 600 bucks for mine and would have been pissed if I had bought it for anymore than that. It puts out a beautiful picture most of the time, but can be spoiled easily if you focus on even just the picture bending.

The fact of the matter is that TV technicians are just as crappy as most technicians in any field. I can say that because I am a technician who works on electronics. Most technicians want to use the service mode to band aid a problem hoping you won't notice that they actually made things worse while adjusting out your main complaint. It would be no better if you had a PDP or LCD. The fact is that most techs are lazy, and don't want to have to remove the back cover from your set and break out the permalloy magnets. The service industry sucks guys. If you get a TV or anything for that matter that is even moderately calibrated, consider yourself lucky. For those who get totally whacked out crap like I get, you're better off on your own, trust me. I had a two techs from two different places look at my set and dick with the service mode that I am far more knowledgeable about, and watched them make elementary adjustments to my set that F'ed up other parts of the picture and sources. I was ready for this and said thanks, and unscrewed all the settings that they had messed with according to my record. No, it shouldn't be this way, but it is. Someday, when I really want a project to do, I'm gonna take off that back panel myself and place the magnets on myself to remove that annoying bend at the top right and left hand corner.

LCD and PDP don't have the same problems that CRT did, but they still can suffer from overscan, underscan, and God only knows what else. These days, if you're not one of those people who don't notice crap like this and just watch a TV that may be way out of adjustment in all respects because you just think that it's cool that you're TV is only 5 inches deep, then you must accept the annoying consequences and learn how to do it yourself.

Yeah. It's like they're forcing us to root around blindly in the service menu for solutions. I'm starting to make adjustments myself using DHHS and DHHP in the MID 2 section. Seems to be screen size specific. I fixed "full" and "normal," but messing with "wide zoom" seemed to mess with my "full" setting again, so I stopped. (I don't use Wide Zoom with my Wii anyhow.) That took care of my Wii in 480p. I'm gonna move on to my "original" Xbox next. My Xbox in 480p seems okay in widescreen, but due to a glitch from Midway, I have to play The Suffering: Ties That Bind in 480i...and that's where more underscaning begins. If my Xbox in "wide" mode is fine at 480p, what settings do I need to futz with to get my 480i "wide" from underscaning? Am I still safe using DHHS and DHHP? I know some stuff is resolution specific, but that only seems to pertain to 480p, 720p, and 1080i. 480i seems to be the bastard child of the bunch, and I may mess up things globally by mistake. Any advice?

The MID2 settings are resolution specific, but full, zoom and wide zoom are all in the same group, so if you change one, you change them all. The only mode that's seperate is normal.

When I first got my tv home, the horizontal bowing in the center was my issue too. The service tech took the back off my tv and adjusted the yoke, which fixed it right quick. Did your visiting tech only mess with the service menu, or did he "pop the hood" too? Congrats, by the way.


Thanks Fivestarav,

After reading the many post in this tread I feel very lucky that the Tech who worked on my set knew what he was doing.

The Tech did all adjustments thru the service menu. He came prepaired to do anything he had to, he even brought two parts (magnets and shims).

hyghwayman

It seems to appear after the tv has been on for a while,at first
I thought it was my Directv box but then my ps3 started doing it last night. I know how to get into the Service Menu but I dont want to mess with it unless you guys can walk me through it.

Lets say I do adjust the overscan will this fix or just reduce the problem when I'm using 1080i?

I believe it has more to do with centering the picture that with overscan.

hyghwayman

Great, tell me how to fix it,lol :)

Do any of you know why when I go into service mode on my 970 and do changes in there and then when I go back to the tv the settings are not the same? If I go back into service mode for that video input the settings seem to be fine in service mode but when I get out of it and back to regular viewing of that video input the settings dont seem to hold for what I changed in service mode.

You guys are trying way too hard at this. I have this TV and have been all through the service menus to tweak this thing perfectly. Just to let you all know, it's not gonna happen. You can stick a calibration DVD in your player and adjust to perfect 5% overscan and then find out that your XBOX or PS3 has over and underscan issues depending on what game it is. Video games don't all scan to the same width nor length. It has nothing to do with this TV. You have several different adjustments for each input type on top of each resolution the TV can display. You will have to make compromises and tweak the TV toward what is most important to you. The sooner you let go of the fact that the picture bends, the linearity is not exact, convergence issues, and that you bought a screen that was too small to lose more picture due to occasional underscan.......you will be able to enjoy yourselves using the TV for what it's worth.

There was way too much hype on this forum about this TV. I paid only 600 bucks for mine and would have been pissed if I had bought it for anymore than that. It puts out a beautiful picture most of the time, but can be spoiled easily if you focus on even just the picture bending.

The fact of the matter is that TV technicians are just as crappy as most technicians in any field. I can say that because I am a technician who works on electronics. Most technicians want to use the service mode to band aid a problem hoping you won't notice that they actually made things worse while adjusting out your main complaint. It would be no better if you had a PDP or LCD. The fact is that most techs are lazy, and don't want to have to remove the back cover from your set and break out the permalloy magnets. The service industry sucks guys. If you get a TV or anything for that matter that is even moderately calibrated, consider yourself lucky. For those who get totally whacked out crap like I get, you're better off on your own, trust me. I had a two techs from two different places look at my set and dick with the service mode that I am far more knowledgeable about, and watched them make elementary adjustments to my set that F'ed up other parts of the picture and sources. I was ready for this and said thanks, and unscrewed all the settings that they had messed with according to my record. No, it shouldn't be this way, but it is. Someday, when I really want a project to do, I'm gonna take off that back panel myself and place the magnets on myself to remove that annoying bend at the top right and left hand corner.

LCD and PDP don't have the same problems that CRT did, but they still can suffer from overscan, underscan, and God only knows what else. These days, if you're not one of those people who don't notice crap like this and just watch a TV that may be way out of adjustment in all respects because you just think that it's cool that you're TV is only 5 inches deep, then you must accept the annoying consequences and learn how to do it yourself.

your absolutley right my friend. the service tech messed this tv up way more then it was before, and passed it off as fixed. its amazing how lazy they are, and yet, still want to get paid!

now that i complained about it to circuit city, they are suppost to call today, and i plan on telling them that if this is the best you can do, then your useless. If you cant fix it to my standards, then simply say you cant fix it and then the store has to issue me a new one, but dont dick around and waste a week of my time for crap like this

Do any of you know why when I go into service mode on my 970 and do changes in there and then when I go back to the tv the settings are not the same? If I go back into service mode for that video input the settings seem to be fine in service mode but when I get out of it and back to regular viewing of that video input the settings dont seem to hold for what I changed in service mode.


Are you saving the settings? Each individual setting has to be saved. Stuff like picture shifting up and down and tilt in the user menu centers itself when you go into the SM and shifts back to wherever it was set when you leave the SM.

When I enter SM the picture looks great and positioned correctly, after I save and go back to the input I changed in SM it is totally off. I would have thought the changes that I made in SM would stay the same when I save and get out of SM. I changed just the standard tv cable. I don't have a cable box just straight from the wall socket. I also play games for my Wii and PS3 but haven't messed with those except for PS3 and that was doing the same thing. :confused:

When I enter SM the picture looks great and positioned correctly, after I save and go back to the input I changed in SM it is totally off. I would have thought the changes that I made in SM would stay the same when I save and get out of SM. I changed just the standard tv cable. I don't have a cable box just straight from the wall socket. I also play games for my Wii and PS3 but haven't messed with those except for PS3 and that was doing the same thing. :confused:

If you've shifted the picture any in the user menu, up, down, size, it all goes to center or zero when you enter the SM and goes back to user settings when you leave the SM.

I thought the whole point of going into the SM was to change the settings to get a better view. Are you saying that whatever changes I make in SM will not exactly be what will be seen in user settings? How do I make changes in SM so that they reflect what I will be seeing in the user settings.

I thought the whole point of going into the SM was to change the settings to get a better view. Are you saying that whatever changes I make in SM will not exactly be what will be seen in user settings? How do I make changes in SM so that they reflect what I will be seeing in the user settings.

If the user settings are all at zero or center, then what you see in the SM should be what you get when you leave the SM. If you've changed the user settings, then it will go back to them when you leave the SM.

I think you should define exactly what you mean by "user menu" before this gets into a terminology rut.

The menu. I can't be any more clear. All settings to shift or tilt the screen return to centered when entering the SM and go back to wherever they have been set in the menu after exiting the SM.

I believe that it is good practice to hit reset on the remote prior to making SERVICE menu adjustments. This reset puts the USER menu back to defaults. Most of the video USER menu defaults are listed in the service menu 2170P-4 area, UPIC, UBRT, UCOL, UHUE, USHP, UTMP. The reset should zero out the USER menu tilt correction and vertical centering, size and correction. BTW, I believe this reset only occurs for the picture mode currently selected.

After making SERVICE menu adjustments, there shouldn't be any reason to make USER menu adjustments on related items. For instance, NSCO (north/south correction) can be used to correct tilt in the SERVICE menu, therefore, a USER menu tilt correction setting, other than zero, should not be necessary.

I understand what you are saying. I actually did that last night before doing any changes in the service menu. Its still kinda hard to get exactly what I want but its better than what I started with. I had to reset the changes in the user menu for the tilt correction and then made changes to the service menu to get what I wanted.

can't believe I bought this set for $699 on sale at circuit city and 2 weeks later they dropped the price another $100 and gave me back rhe dough! what a steal

$599 is what I paid for mine from CC online with free shipping. I was going to buy one in-store, but they wanted $55 to deliver it. That's about $30 more than I paid for my Panasonic Superflat 27" with $10% plus another $10% off in 1994. That TV still works. Hopefully this one will last that long.

Here are the setting I'm using in Pro, after doing a self calibration. Color axis set to Monitor (picture taken at night in low light w/ no flash - picture on TV much brighter)


http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pyDTXCw47wymy2UimFIHPluDRHmAqlsViGc-tBlmUABcgTC8ujEQHjKeRY8cB8m0ux08QPyDXhLU

Just a quick question. Long story short, I want to nudge the raster background a tad to the right using HPOS. Of course this will unfortunately nudge all the tv shows I watch to the right too. Is it safe to use DHHS and DHHP in the MID2s to center the tv shows back to where they were once I move the raster? And are all resolutions treated differently? I watch SD 4x3, 720p and 1080i through rabbit ears. Having the black bar border on the left larger than the black bar border on the right when watching 4x3 content or cropped HD would drive me nuts!

And before anyone rolls their eyes and wonders why I'm being so picky, I just wanna say this falls under "me fixing what the tech messed up." This raster issue is also affecting my input adjustments concerning videogame underscan. Please help if ya can. Thanks.

Does a tech ever do anything but mess it up? Yes, you can use the MID2 settings instead of HPOS. They are only resolution specific though, not input specific. If the TV is still on factory settings in the MID2, you'll find a lot of the picture has been cropped off, way past what's done with overscan. That's the way mine was anyway.

I got a guy from ABL Electronic Service here in Michigan coming out on the 24th. I'll let you guy's know how my repair goes.

Yesterday the tech came out to fix my set. Well to keep it short he didn't fix ****. All he did was mess around in the service menu. I told him I though you were suppose to use magnets to fix my problem. He told me that magnets don't work and that if he used them as soon as I moved my set it would screw up the screen.

So I still have all four corners bending inward. It wouldn't be so bad if the top corners didn't bend a 1/2" inward. The bottom isn't that bad. I guess I'm stuck with it. :(

Magnets are for screen coner convergence. What geometry can't be done in the SM is done at the yoke. If he didn't know what he was doing, you're probably better off not letting him mess with it anyway.

I have an odd situation I wanna run by you guys. As you may have read, I've been trying to stretch the screen out a bit using the MID2 settings to prevent underscaning from my game consoles. I did pretty good. It got to a point where the left edge was fine, but the right edge had a slight greenish tint to it. It was just a sliver of green that ran along the edge of the right side. I thought it was simply distortion from the picture edge being just a smidgeon away from the tv edge, so I nudged it over a few clicks to make it go away. Much to my surprise, the picture kept moving with each click I made, but the green wasn't pushed away with it. Very odd. I thought this meant I reached the edge of the raster "canvas," but now I'm having second thoughts. Anyhow, I wrote down all my settings and decided to put everything back to where it was. Now that everything is back to where it was, I'm noticing that green stripe is still there - on the right side of the screen while watching SD 4x3 tv shows. In fact, it seems to plague NTSC, 480i and 480p stuff. My 1080i and 720p stuff seems okay (consoles and tv watching), as far as I can tell. More research needs to be done, but I thought I'd throw it out there, just in case someone has the same problem and can provide an explanation or solution.

CC has this TV on sale for $399. Looking for a HD for the bedroom no gaming just need a HDTV. Sounds like a no brainer for the $$$. CRT, depth, weight not an issue; just looking for HD with Directv feed. Am I missing something???

Thanks

CC has this TV on sale for $399. Looking for a HD for the bedroom no gaming just need a HDTV. Sounds like a no brainer for the $$$. CRT, depth, weight not an issue; just looking for HD with Directv feed. Am I missing something???

Thanks

If all that stuff is not an issue, than you're gonna be one happy camper. Go buy one a.s.a.p. Just make sure your bedroom has space for a tv stand that holds 200lbs.

Weight not an issue. Gonna buy one. Thanks.

Yesterday the tech came out to fix my set. Well to keep it short he didn't fix ****. All he did was mess around in the service menu. I told him I though you were suppose to use magnets to fix my problem. He told me that magnets don't work and that if he used them as soon as I moved my set it would screw up the screen.

So I still have all four corners bending inward. It wouldn't be so bad if the top corners didn't bend a 1/2" inward. The bottom isn't that bad. I guess I'm stuck with it. :(

where do you live?

i'm sure glad i don't live in these magnetic areas of the country

where do you live?

i'm sure glad i don't live in these magnetic areas of the country

Maybe there's one of those "magnet schools" in the neighborhood that's messing up people's geometry :)

Hi, I'm new to this forum and haven't read all the pages leading up to this since there are so many, so I'm not sure how to start a new topic regarding the 970 so forgive me if this isn't the proper way to do this.

Originally I was wanting to purchase a KV-34XBR960 after reading about them a long time ago and seeing one demo'd in a store once. But then I read in Sound & Vision mag over a year ago that Sony was going to stop producing them and replace them with the 970. Recently my previous Sony died on me after many years of flawless service so I decided the time was right to buy a 970. But after doing research on them on the web some things didn't look or sound right to me - I didn't see any reference to the Super Fine Pitch CRT or CableCard slot, etc. The photo of the unit just didn't look right for some reason. Finally I figured out this was not an upgrade of the 960 but an entirely different set that had some of the same features of the 960 but certainly not all the important ones that made the 960 so special - especially the aforementioned CRT tube and CC slot. Of course this doesn't mean that the 970 isn't a good set - I'm sure it is - my previous Sony lasted me almost 20 years before the picture tube went out and gave me a beautiful picture up until the very day it died.

Let me say right up front that this is not meant to be a slam against the 970 at all, but I had my heart set on the 1400 line resolution of the 960 and CableCard slot so I wouldn't have to add yet another piece of equipment to my system. So after searching the web fruitlessly for one last 960 in the USA (maybe the world) an insane idea possessed me - why not replace the picture tube in the 970 with a 960 tube. They must exist because the 960 is just too new for Sony to not carry important replacement parts. So my question is this guys -do you think this is a realistic possibility? How would one even go about finding this out for sure? Sony isn't going to give any assistance. I like many of Sony's products but their customer service center is almost anything but customer oriented. They can be excrutiatingly frustrating to even get the simplest question answered, but that's the subject of another forum someday. Anyway back to the subject at hand. Am I the only one that has contemplated this idea? Any help given would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi, I'm new to this forum and haven't read all the pages leading up to this since there are so many, so I'm not sure how to start a new topic regarding the 970 so forgive me if this isn't the proper way to do this.

Originally I was wanting to purchase a KV-34XBR960 after reading about them a long time ago and seeing one demo'd in a store once. But then I read in Sound & Vision mag over a year ago that Sony was going to stop producing them and replace them with the 970. Recently my previous Sony died on me after many years of flawless service so I decided the time was right to buy a 970. But after doing research on them on the web some things didn't look or sound right to me - I didn't see any reference to the Super Fine Pitch CRT or CableCard slot, etc. The photo of the unit just didn't look right for some reason. Finally I figured out this was not an upgrade of the 960 but an entirely different set that had some of the same features of the 960 but certainly not all the important ones that made the 960 so special - especially the aforementioned CRT tube and CC slot. Of course this doesn't mean that the 970 isn't a good set - I'm sure it is - my previous Sony lasted me almost 20 years before the picture tube went out and gave me a beautiful picture up until the very day it died.

Let me say right up front that this is not meant to be a slam against the 970 at all, but I had my heart set on the 1400 line resolution of the 960 and CableCard slot so I wouldn't have to add yet another piece of equipment to my system. So after searching the web fruitlessly for one last 960 in the USA (maybe the world) an insane idea possessed me - why not replace the picture tube in the 970 with a 960 tube. They must exist because the 960 is just too new for Sony to not carry important replacement parts. So my question is this guys -do you think this is a realistic possibility? How would one even go about finding this out for sure? Sony isn't going to give any assistance. I like many of Sony's products but their customer service center is almost anything but customer oriented. They can be excrutiatingly frustrating to even get the simplest question answered, but that's the subject of another forum someday. Anyway back to the subject at hand. Am I the only one that has contemplated this idea? Any help given would be appreciated. Thanks.

try it and let us know how you made out :p

also, give us the part# and the cost of the 960 tube

i doubt it would match up with the electronics in the 970's chassis

Sounds like an "easy" weekend engine swap.

"I'm sure this motor will fit in that truck."

6 months and $2,000 in replacement parts later, it still won't run right. Do yourself a favor and find a clean used 960 if that's what you really want.

You can't put a 960 tube in a 970 TV, it doesn't work like that. If the cable card slot is what you're wanting, it wouldn't have it anyway. You wouldn't be disappointed with a 970, if you could still find one. The 960s had many problems that the 970 doesn't have anyway. Do some searching on the web and you'll see what I mean.

where do you live?

i'm sure glad i don't live in these magnetic areas of the country

I live in Michigan. But now you have me thinking. I never thought of this before. I live in a apartment and on the other side of the wall that the TV is on there's all the power meters, the main power shut offs, the phone hub, the cable hub, and a few thing I'm not sure of.

Could all that stuff on the outside wall be causing magnetic interference, which in turn makes the corners of my TV bend inward? That's possible isn't it or am I grasping at straws?

I which I could move the set by myself right now, but I have no one to help me right now.

I've been through 3 of these TVs, they all bent in at the corners. I went through 3 other WS CRT TVs before the 970, they all did it too.

.....all the power meters, the main power shut offs, the phone hub, the cable hub, and a few thing I'm not sure of.

Could all that stuff on the outside wall be causing magnetic interference, which in turn makes the corners of my TV bend inward? That's possible isn't it or am I grasping at straws?.....If strong magnetic fields are being created by this equipment, maybe. Magnetic fields generated by electrical or electronic equipment are generally associated with the inclusion of a motor or transformer, usually associated with a power supply. I don't believe any of the equipment you mentioned would have large transformers or motors.

I've never tried this but maybe you can test for magnetic fields near that wall with a plain old compass. Move the compass around near the wall and see if there is any needle deflection.

CC has this TV on sale for $399. Looking for a HD for the bedroom no gaming just need a HDTV. Sounds like a no brainer for the $$$. CRT, depth, weight not an issue; just looking for HD with Directv feed. Am I missing something???

Thanks

Is this a floor model that's on sale in the store or a print ad? I would be amazed if any CCs have enough in stock for an ad.

I just checked CC online and they do indeed have the 970 listed for $399. However, it's only for in-store pickup and none of the 10 stores within 100 miles of me have it in stock. This is the first time I've seen it listed online in several months.

I checked many other zip codes around the country and I can't find any in stock anywhere. I'm not sure why they would put it back online if there aren't any available.

They're probably just beat up display TVs. They've been out of new ones where I am for 2 months plus, possibly 3 months.

Hey, guys. No one responded to my earlier post about the "green line" issue- right side of screen when watching tv programs or 480i/480p stuff. Either I'm being too much of a pest, or I didn't describe my issue well. Doing a Google search, I found other people complaining about the same thing on other sets:

"When I play on 720p there is green line on the right side of the screen, but when I change to 1080i there is no line and works great. I have LG RZ-23LZ55 hdtv. Can I adjust the picture or something? Please help." Etc.

Also, tanglemac76 has photos in one of his earlier posts, but his issue is on the left side. I don't think anyone answered his question either. Please check it out for a better description of my issue.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=446406&page=31

I'll keep searching the forums for an answer, but if any of you have suggestions, please drop me a line. It's driving me crazy. Thanks!

These TVs have a problem where black meets brighter areas, that's the way they are. I've found I can make what you are describing better by adjusting the convergence, RSAP and LSAP mainly, but by the time it goes away, the convergence is off.

These TVs have a problem where black meets brighter areas, that's the way they are. I've found I can make what you are describing better by adjusting the convergence, RSAP and LSAP mainly, but by the time it goes away, the convergence is off.

Ok. I found RSAP and LSAP described in the XBR970 service manual. Thanks for leading me there. Seems to make sense. I will mess with it late tonight or tomorrow. Like I said, my PS3 at 1080i seems fine (input 6 HDMI). And 1080i tv shows that fill the screen seem fine too. (I'll keep an eye on those cropped commercials while watching tv tonight to be sure.) But my Wii at full screen 480p - yikes! The sad part is I don't remember this being a problem before messing around with the service menu a few weeks back. True, I put all the settings back to where they were recently, but I wonder if I damaged something working on my underscan gaming issues. I could swear I pushed that green line right off the screen before using the MID2s, but now it just won't go away.

From your reply it sounds like you have the same problem but are willing to live with it. True?

Yes, I pretty much just live with it. My TV has a green line at the edge of blacks a lot, so the edge of the screen isn't a big deal. I adjust convergence every time I mess with horizontal settings. For some reason convergence seems to change a little when horizontal settings are adjusted. If you have a pattern like Avia geometry and convergence, the place to start is the CADJ, that adjusts the whole screen, then do LSAP and RSAP.

I dont have a green "line" issue as much as I do a green tint issue. Mostly green, sometimes more blue-ish, hard to tell because it more depends whats going on in the background. Basically while I'm watching tv or on the 360 (both component cables) a green tint will creep up from the right and left sides of the screen. Sometimes it stays for 1 second, sometimes 15. The longer it stays typically the closer it gets to the middle of the screen. Its really annoying and I have the extended warranty on it (bought it over a year ago) I'm just afraid to call the BB people and then have them tell me they can't fix it and I have to get a new tv.

I dont have a green "line" issue as much as I do a green tint issue. Mostly green, sometimes more blue-ish, hard to tell because it more depends whats going on in the background. Basically while I'm watching tv or on the 360 (both component cables) a green tint will creep up from the right and left sides of the screen. Sometimes it stays for 1 second, sometimes 15. The longer it stays typically the closer it gets to the middle of the screen. Its really annoying and I have the extended warranty on it (bought it over a year ago) I'm just afraid to call the BB people and then have them tell me they can't fix it and I have to get a new tv.

THAT sounds serious. True, Best Buy might rather convince you to scrap your XBR970 and give you another tv, but you still have time to call SONY directly for repair instead. Sony gave you a two year warranty. A Sony certified tech will be more likely to fix your issue. And of course SONY would rather have you keep their tv than run to the competition (Sharp, Samsung, etc.) for a replacement. You have nothing to lose. True, when you ask a tech to make geometry adjustments, they usually make a mess and let you down, but for horizontal bowing and your issue, I believe they can help.

I dont have a green "line" issue as much as I do a green tint issue. Mostly green, sometimes more blue-ish, hard to tell because it more depends whats going on in the background. Basically while I'm watching tv or on the 360 (both component cables) a green tint will creep up from the right and left sides of the screen. Sometimes it stays for 1 second, sometimes 15. The longer it stays typically the closer it gets to the middle of the screen. Its really annoying and I have the extended warranty on it (bought it over a year ago) I'm just afraid to call the BB people and then have them tell me they can't fix it and I have to get a new tv.Do you have any components or speakers near your set? If yes, than move them for a few days and see what happens. Magnetic interference could cause color purity problems. Don't assume that a speaker is adequately shielded just because they claim to be.

You don't have to take whatever TV they offer you, if they do. The repairs would have to be pretty costly for them to swap TVs. Your warranty doesn't come from BB, they are only the middle man, not the underwriter.

I'm in Connecticut and needed to replace my dead TV. I had great apprehension to go to CC, but I ended up there. Not knowing what I wanted other then a "flat screen" and about 32", I saw the Sony Wega KD-34XBR970 on the shelf. I didn't want to spend more then $400 (even THAT I didn't want to spend, lol). When I saw it, I thought FOR SURE it was gonna be pricey - but there was no price tag on the shelf. I asked the associate and was told it was the last one anywhere around and because of that it was $349. SOLD.

It will be delivered to me on Saturday (10/6). I've been reading this thread since I purchased it on Sunday. I have pretty good expectations for it. I can understand some people having mixed feelings. I'm not a gamer or a heavy duty DVD watcher. I just like to relax in front of the TV at night, before I doze off and wander to bed.

I have AT&T U-Verse which does HD (I hadn't subscribed for it before as I never had an HDTV before). I ordered an HDMI cable from ebay, so I think I may be all set for when it's delivered.

I'm thinking for my type of viewing this TV should be better then fine. I'm hoping it all works out well...lol. I guess I'll let everyone know on Saturday.

Any suggestions, etc? :)

I'm in Connecticut and needed to replace my dead TV. I had great apprehension to go to CC, but I ended up there. Not knowing what I wanted other then a "flat screen" and about 32", I saw the Sony Wega KD-34XBR970 on the shelf. I didn't want to spend more then $400 (even THAT I didn't want to spend, lol). When I saw it, I thought FOR SURE it was gonna be pricey - but there was no price tag on the shelf. I asked the associate and was told it was the last one anywhere around and because of that it was $349. SOLD.

It will be delivered to me on Saturday (10/6). I've been reading this thread since I purchased it on Sunday. I have pretty good expectations for it. I can understand some people having mixed feelings. I'm not a gamer or a heavy duty DVD watcher. I just like to relax in front of the TV at night, before I doze off and wander to bed.

I have AT&T U-Verse which does HD (I hadn't subscribed for it before as I never had an HDTV before). I ordered an HDMI cable from ebay, so I think I may be all set for when it's delivered.

I'm thinking for my type of viewing this TV should be better then fine. I'm hoping it all works out well...lol. I guess I'll let everyone know on Saturday.

Any suggestions, etc? :)

Just make sure you have a tv stand that holds 200lbs before it arrives. Other than that you're in for a treat. (Did they have the tv remote to give you? If not, we can tell you where to order an original.) Thanks for saving another XBR970 from its evil captors at CC. Avoid watching stuff in "torch" mode (Vivid), and post back with any problems you might have. We're all here to help each other out. I too bought a display model. They're often abused on the store shelf, and they tend to get banged up on delivery 'cause they're so friggin' heavy and awkward to carry. The heat from being on from store opening to store close sometimes softens the adhesive that holds the yoke in place, causing horizontal bowing, but Sony will come to your home under warranty and readjust that for you if necessary. Enjoy! Post back when it arrives.

Avoid watching stuff in "torch" mode (Vivid), and post back with any problems you might have.

This is sort of a half-truth in my opinion. It really doesn't matter which "mode" you're using as you can make the picture look EXACTLY the same in each mode with different settings. I think your point, and I agree, is to avoid boosting the contrast and brightness settings too high.

This is sort of a half-truth in my opinion. It really doesn't matter which "mode" you're using as you can make the picture look EXACTLY the same in each mode with different settings. I think your point, and I agree, is to avoid boosting the contrast and brightness settings too high.

Actually there are lot of hidden settings that change PQ. They're only available in the the service menu. If you set all User Menu settings identical in each Picture mode, there are still subtle differences.

Good luck getting the picture modes to look the same with user settings. I tried for a couple of hours and never came close. They have been tweaked in the SM so much it can't be done in the user menus.

Hello All -
I had a really good day today - I was in my local Sears, and, lo and behold, they had a 970 floor model for $800 - After confirming with the sales guy there that Sears price matches Circuit City, I ran home to print out their $399 price. Went back to Sears and, sure enough, they took care of me. It gets better: while they were ringing me up, the sales guy stops and says 'maybe we have a new one in the back' - and, wouldn't you know, they found one in the back, all the way in the corner. So, for $399, less another 10% (Sears' policy is to match plus 10%), add tax back in, I got a brand new 970 for $387.82- how amazingly lucky is that?? So, if you're still looking for a 970, try Sears -you never know ...

wow I didn't expect so many responses so fast, thanks for all the help.I probably should have mentioned this before but I happens less when using my ps3 (HDMI) versus using my 360 or watching cable (component). Not sure if that makes a difference. It also could just be the fact that I haven't noticed it as much on the ps3, I've also had it for a shorter time than the other two.

THAT sounds serious. True, Best Buy might rather convince you to scrap your XBR970 and give you another tv, but you still have time to call SONY directly for repair instead. Sony gave you a two year warranty. A Sony certified tech will be more likely to fix your issue. And of course SONY would rather have you keep their tv than run to the competition (Sharp, Samsung, etc.) for a replacement. You have nothing to lose. True, when you ask a tech to make geometry adjustments, they usually make a mess and let you down, but for horizontal bowing and your issue, I believe they can help.

Thanks for the help and thats probably what I'll do. Not sure why but to be honest I didn't even think about calling a sony tech. All I know is that from a family owned Wega back in the day the tech had to come out 3-4 times to fix an alignment issue and it was never fixed. We finally gave up, and the tv has since been without any sort of news ticker at the bottom.

Do you have any components or speakers near your set? If yes, than move them for a few days and see what happens. Magnetic interference could cause color purity problems. Don't assume that a speaker is adequately shielded just because they claim to be.

I don't have any speakers THAT close to the tv. I'm no expert in these matters and its the reason I came into this forum but the closest speaker I have is the center speaker for a 5.1 setup and that is probably about 1 foot below the tv. I'm in a small apt so there isn't much room to move things around and the speakers are placed for good sound throughout the room. How far away should the speakers be? As far as other things, I do have a few components around it, 360, ps3, reciever, cable box/cable modem, router.

You don't have to take whatever TV they offer you, if they do. The repairs would have to be pretty costly for them to swap TVs. Your warranty doesn't come from BB, they are only the middle man, not the underwriter.

The only reason I mentioned that is because a friend of mine had a situation where his tv was no longer in production and they offered him credit towards a new tv ($1600). Not saying I wouldn't mind my $ back 4 years from now to get something more up with the times, but like many of you know, its hard to find a tv with picture as good as this one.

Hello All -
I had a really good day today - I was in my local Sears, and, lo and behold, they had a 970 floor model for $800 - After confirming with the sales guy there that Sears price matches Circuit City, I ran home to print out their $399 price. Went back to Sears and, sure enough, they took care of me. It gets better: while they were ringing me up, the sales guy stops and says 'maybe we have a new one in the back' - and, wouldn't you know, they found one in the back, all the way in the corner. So, for $399, less another 10% (Sears' policy is to match plus 10%), add tax back in, I got a brand new 970 for $387.82- how amazingly lucky is that?? So, if you're still looking for a 970, try Sears -you never know ...

pretty awesome deal

:D:D:cool::cool:

Hey, gang. I often read posts stating you should turn on your tv and wait 30 minutes before making any adjustments. I've recently become a victim of this trying to correct my green line/raster edge showing issue. When I first turn on my tv and go to input 4 to watch a 480p dvd signal, the top right edge is fine, but as you move your eye down the right side of the screen, you can see it angle inwards a bit, giving off a green/black "not-filling-the-screen" impression in that area. This is usually when I whip out all my service manual notes and start figuring out a plan of attack to correct the bugger. Little did I know, the problem goes away in 30 minutes. It's as if the tv warms up and expands the screen a bit, correcting the problem. All this time I've been making service menu adjustments as the tv is starting to warm up, which makes me think I'm making progress with my service menu adjustments, so I stop. Then I shut the tv off, smiling at what a "genius" tv technician I've become, only to return later to the same problem when I turn it on again in a few hours. It was driving me crazy, but the problem seriously goes away by itself in 30 minutes. Still, I don't think I should have to wait 30 minutes for a tv to correct itself. I'm sure I can get it to look good from the moment I turn it on. It's only the 480p stuff. Everything other resolution looks great.

Anyone else experience the "30 minute effect?"

Aperture grille warming up maybe? I haven't noticed it myself, but I know phenomena like this aren't too unusual with big CRTs.

Are these aperature grille or shadow mask? They have been aperature grill in the past, but these don't have the horizontal lines that the past Sonys were famous for.

Are these aperature grille or shadow mask? They have been aperature grill in the past, but these don't have the horizontal lines that the past Sonys were famous for.

I can see the two "hair-thin" horizontal lines on my XBR970 when I have a white background. I believe that means aperture grille.

"The horizontal lines you see are the very thin wires that hold the aperture grille in place so it doesn't shift or sag from left to right." - quote from somewhere else on this forum.

Trinitrons have been AG for a very long time. I can still see the stabilizer lines on mine against a white test pattern. They're hard to see though.

is it ok to use windex on the picture tube?

so far all i've been using is a very soft cotton cloth to gently wipe away dust build-up

I wouldn't use windex even though it's glass. Use a micro fiber towel (damp if nec.).

is it ok to use windex on the picture tube?

so far all i've been using is a very soft cotton cloth to gently wipe away dust build-up

Use soap, warm water, and a cotton t shirt to dry. The anti-glare coating wears off under harsh chemicals.

Use soap, warm water, and a cotton t shirt to dry. The anti-glare coating wears off under harsh chemicals.

thanks :)

Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can purchase a Service Manual for the Sony WEGA KD-34XBR970?

I have searched online and several sites have them available for PDF download, but the companies are located in Chile, Panama, China, etc. I just don't feel safe purchasing them.

Can anyone suggest a reputable site? Or is there a "brick and mortar" store?

I've searched what I can on this thread and I think my eye's are going to fall out of my head. I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Your help / suggestions would be appreciated.

There was a link to a free one earlier in this thread from about 2-3 months ago. What do you need a service manual for anyway? The one I have is fairly useless unless you need a circuit diagram or something.

I need the service manual for all the preset default settings.

I found a link in this thread to free PDF service manuals but it did not have the Sony WEGA KD-34XBR970, only the 960.

Useless or not, I would like to know where I can get a service manual from a reputable source.

Could someone post a link to that XBR970 service manual that was up a couple months ago? Unless it was taken down by the site. I know it was here at one time, but I don't remember exactly where. Thanks! :)

Could someone post a link to that XBR970 service manual that was up a couple months ago? Unless it was taken down by the site. I know it was here at one time, but I don't remember exactly where. Thanks! :)
I downloaded one yesterday for $23.00 from ServiceManuals.com.

If you're looking to get the service menu settings, they aren't in the manual. Settings are different for each TV. The only preset settings you'll get in the manual are the presets for the 4 different picture modes, vivid, standard, etc. If you've changed settings in the SM and didn't write down the original settings, you're screwed and the manual won't do any good. I have the manual, it's a total waste of money, you can get everything in it and a lot more in this and the Sony service codes thread. The manual link is on page 78 near the top. There's links for the 960 and 970 both.

I downloaded one yesterday for $23.00 from ServiceManuals.com.I think I downloaded one from there a few months back and had my credit card # stolen , they used it for a few 30- 40 dollar things here and in denmark before I caught it, so watch your statement or call your c.c.bank to be sure

I have 2 970's my second one has a distorted service menu that is oversized and runs off so that I cannot see the settings , does anybody know if this can be corrected by me or do I have to have a service call. I'm not afraid to go into ser menu.thanks I tried to add pic not sure if it went thru

Have you tried adjusting the zoom mode to 4:3 while in the SM?

Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can purchase a Service Manual for the Sony WEGA KD-34XBR970?

I have searched online and several sites have them available for PDF download, but the companies are located in Chile, Panama, China, etc. I just don't feel safe purchasing them.

Can anyone suggest a reputable site? Or is there a "brick and mortar" store?

I've searched what I can on this thread and I think my eye's are going to fall out of my head. I just can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Your help / suggestions would be appreciated.


Looking for this Service Manual, after a lot of looking I e-mailed Sony Support for info. Here is the reply I received from them. Hope this is helpfull to everyone.

hyghwayman


[Thank you for contacting Sony's Direct Accessories and Parts Center (DAPC USA).
Model: KD34XBR970
Your question was: I'm looking for the Sony service manual for my KD34XBR970. (not the owners manual)


The items you requested are listed below.
Item - ( SM KD-34XBR970 06 US ), 996599802, $39.43 ea.


You may place your order using the link below or call 1-800-488-7669.
Shipping charges and local taxes will be added to your order at checkout.
Sony Direct Accessories & Parts Center web site - http://www.sony.com/accessories (http://www.sony.com/accessories) ]

Have you tried adjusting the zoom mode to 4:3 while in the SM?If you mean useing the screen button on remote for picture I just tried and it only makes it bigger or smaller but still distorted and shifted to the right. I can pull up the system status pages " in Blue" and they look normal so it is just in the green menu parts

I have 2 970's my second one has a distorted service menu that is oversized and runs off so that I cannot see the settings , does anybody know if this can be corrected by me or do I have to have a service call. I'm not afraid to go into ser menu.thanks I tried to add pic not sure if it went thru

Can you take a wide shot of the whole screen? I can't really see what's going on because of the camera lens distortion.

Can you take a wide shot of the whole screen? I can't really see what's going on because of the camera lens distortion.if you scroll over the whole screen is there, that's the problem. I only get half the menu

Can you take a wide shot of the whole screen? I can't really see what's going on because of the camera lens distortion.
here are some more pics, as you can see I can pull up the the other menu in srv mode but the green one is cut off. oops posted to soon I 'll try again

here are some more pics, as you can see I can pull up the the other menu in srv mode but the green one is cut off. oops posted to soon I 'll try againhere there are ,I hope

Thank you samijubal, ck100 & au revoir!

I found the link in post #2314. And it does have the service codes (pages 60-77).

You will need to unpack the rar file. There is a free download of a 30 day trial version of BitZipper that did the job really well. You can find it here: http://www.bitzipper.com/download.html?aid=pl-techpro

Congratulations to everyone who has been trying to find this file for free. You've finally found it!

If you guys want the actual service menu to the Sony KD-34XBR970 TV I got the link right here.

http://www.manualdirectory.co.uk/Detailed/21144.html

Click on this link and then click "Visit / Download Sony KD-34XBR970 Service Manual" to download. You may have to skip past an advertisement, but otherwise you should be able to download it.

I knew there was a link somewhere. I went thru the XBR970 and XBR960 threads but still could not find it. I hope it has the info you are looking for.

Watch out if you try to print out the service code pages though, I think they are laid out for an 11" x 17" page.

For those (including me) who are nervous about giving their credit card numbers to unknown entities, go with virtual cards with limited amounts and times. For example, you can create a virtual credit card with a $20 credit limit (total, not each time used) and it expires in 1 month.

If you have a Bank of America credit card, look for the "Shopsafe" link on your credit card account page. Click on the link and you can creat virtual credit cards there.

If you have a Citibank card, look for the "Virtual Account Numbers" link in the upper-right corner of your credit card account page.

If you have a Discover card, look for "Protection Solutions" along the left-hand side of your credit card account page. Then click on "Secure Online Account Numbers".

If you don't have one of these cards, and you worry about online purchases, I would get one of them. :-)

here there are ,I hope

:eek:! Sorry, I've never seen that before. Maybe Steve050 will drop by and check it out, he's a real live service tech.

Anyone here ever braved horizontal convergence adjustment at the picture tube? My red is off enough to be annoying. Just wondering how hard it is to adjust horizontal convergence.

I followed these instructions below, and they worked perfectly, I measured over 2" per side of Horizontal over scan and about 1.25" of Vertical over scan. you have to adjust the horizontal scale first then adjust the horizontal position and go back again and adjust the scale and back to position until you get it just right. then do the same for the vertical adjustments. I removed all of my over scan just leaving a 1/8" on both horizontal sides and vertical sides so I would not see the red/green line at the cutoff. This really works well. I also noticed this really helped with my GEO

Instructions for the KD-34XBR970 Overscann Adjustments

To enter service mode turn the TV off then press DISPLAY, 5, VOLUME+, POWER. The current parameter group appears in the top-left and the current parameter appears below it. You can change parameters with 1 and 4, parameter groups with 2 and 5, and the parameter setting with 3 and 6. To save a parameter setting hit MUTING, then ENTER. You have to save each parameter setting individually. I would recommend you write down the default for your TV before you change anything! Here are some parameters I found useful for adjusting overscan:

MID1/DHPH - horizontal position
MID1/DVPH - vertical position
MID1/MDHS - horizontal scale
MID1/MDVS - vertical scale

Anyone here ever braved horizontal convergence adjustment at the picture tube? My red is off enough to be annoying. Just wondering how hard it is to adjust horizontal convergence.

I played with mine, but was never able to fully correct it. My problem is that my misconvergence is slightly different in each quadrant, and I can't seem to get the red and blue straight in proportion. Plus factor in the difficulty of having to fix it for different resolutions and different inputs, and I felt overwhelmed after a few hours. Hopefully yours is a little simpler.

Horizontal convergence changes with different resolutions?

It seemed to be for me. I know overscan (something else I piddled with but could not master) is dependant upon resolution, and I swear that my convergence varies upon the source input, too. I could be wrong...

I'm pessimistic because I noticed a lot of vertical convergence trouble that would still be present even if I spent a ton of time working on the horizontal. I guess I kind of quit early. :rolleyes:

I've noticed that vertical convergence changes depending on how bright or dark the screen is, maybe that's what the horizontal problem was. If I use the Avia convergence pattern on 50 ire and set the convergence as close as possible, when I bring up the 100 ire pattern, the convergence is way off, especially on the sides.

Is ISF calibration worth paying for on a 960/970 at this point?

Well...how much do you want to spend on it? That's the determining factor to whether or not it's worth it, right?

I had my XBR-970 professionally calibrated about four months ago, and I must say that the image does look more realistic. I thought the picture was fantastic before calibration and could not imagine it looking any better.
It cost me $300 for calibration, but I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
The picture quality is noticably improved, but it is not a night and day difference.

i have hdtv sony wega 34", i dont have a blu ray player yet,..i do have a dvd upconvert hdmi im using and for some reason it has a ghost like border on white edges when using 480p and is even worse in 720 p...so im using 480p to minimize the double edge effect (and i tried another brand dvd upconvert and it did the same thing)




no its not edge enhancement. i tried that.

i cant plug the dvd player into another tv because i dont have another hdtv ,only a old analog tv....

its a sony wega 34' crt 16:9 hdtv 720p/1080i tv..the picture on hd cable is better than even $4000 lcd or plasmas ive seen at the store

its not "moving ghosting" like you see on lcds...its more of a "double highlighted white edge on bright objects" instead of a "ghost"

when i tried the s-video or component inputs it does the same thing, so i bought another dvd player and it was worse than the one i have now which is a very good one

but im just wondering if a bluray player will correct this?

problem is, if the problem is related to my hdmi processor input on my tv, then the blu ray will have the same double highlighted edge.

i have hdtv sony wega 34", i dont have a blu ray player yet,..i do have a dvd upconvert hdmi im using and for some reason it has a ghost like border on white edges when using 480p and is even worse in 720 p...so im using 480p to minimize the double edge effect (and i tried another brand dvd upconvert and it did the same thing)




no its not edge enhancement. i tried that.

i cant plug the dvd player into another tv because i dont have another hdtv ,only a old analog tv....

its a sony wega 34' crt 16:9 hdtv 720p/1080i tv..the picture on hd cable is better than even $4000 lcd or plasmas ive seen at the store

its not "moving ghosting" like you see on lcds...its more of a "double highlighted white edge on bright objects" instead of a "ghost"

when i tried the s-video or component inputs it does the same thing, so i bought another dvd player and it was worse than the one i have now which is a very good one

but im just wondering if a bluray player will correct this?

problem is, if the problem is related to my hdmi processor input on my tv, then the blu ray will have the same double highlighted edge.

My first guess was "input", but if it does it on all inputs it can't be a bad cable or input board on the TV. If it were convergence, you would see red or blue shadows instead of white. Sorry, I'm stumped... Can you post a few pics?

Well, I've never been much of a fan of Sony, just never really liked their reliability, after yesterday I'm remembering why. My 970 made a loud pop yesterday, the picture went for a second or two then came back on and now everything dark on the screen has a red tint. It popped a few more times today and some of the red went, but still everything dark or black has a red tint. With the service center we have here, I doubt they will be able to fix it. With the stand and all I'm in this thing for over $700 to have it last less than 6 months. This is why I've avoided Sony products in the past and will go back to that in the future.

Well, I've never been much of a fan of Sony, just never really liked their reliability, after yesterday I'm remembering why. My 970 made a loud pop yesterday, the picture went for a second or two then came back on and now everything dark on the screen has a red tint. It popped a few more times today and some of the red went, but still everything dark or black has a red tint. With the service center we have here, I doubt they will be able to fix it. With the stand and all I'm in this thing for over $700 to have it last less than 6 months. This is why I've avoided Sony products in the past and will go back to that in the future.

Bummer. But for the grace of God goes I. My 970 is approaching it's 6 month birthday. With all the problems I have been reading about with this set, it's got to be only a matter of time. I hope I'm wrong, but I just can't see this set lasting 10-15 years like TV's used to.

Well, I've never been much of a fan of Sony, just never really liked their reliability, after yesterday I'm remembering why. My 970 made a loud pop yesterday, the picture went for a second or two then came back on and now everything dark on the screen has a red tint. It popped a few more times today and some of the red went, but still everything dark or black has a red tint. With the service center we have here, I doubt they will be able to fix it. With the stand and all I'm in this thing for over $700 to have it last less than 6 months. This is why I've avoided Sony products in the past and will go back to that in the future.

I would spend some time Googling the problem, at least if you can't get satisfaction through the warranty. I say that because there are around 5 boards on this set that are modular and very easy to replace. If you can diagnose the failed board, you can buy it off Sony's website. I checked out the prices and most were $75-$100 range.,

I got some news, but I'm not sure if it's good or bad. I called and talked to a technician this morning, I wanted to see if he thought it was something he could fix before I move this 200 pound beast from a bedroom to the living room where he will have room to work on it (funzy wunzy). He said he's not even going to come look at it that from what I said it has to be the picture tube. He's going to order one and have it when he comes on Halloween. So what my convergence, geometry, etc. will look like when he's done, who knows. Right now everything is pretty good except the red is a little off horizontally. I asked him if the PTs go bad on these often, I've read on the internet people who have had them replaced 2-3 times on Sony TVs and still had a problem, he said he replaced one a year or so ago. So hopefully this will all have a happy ending. I guess I'll find out on Halloween.

I had my XBR-970 professionally calibrated about four months ago, and I must say that the image does look more realistic. I thought the picture was fantastic before calibration and could not imagine it looking any better.
It cost me $300 for calibration, but I decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about.
The picture quality is noticably improved, but it is not a night and day difference.

Forgive my ignorance, did you have Sony come out and do it or a local company?

I have had my Sony KD-34XBR970 since Feb. 21, 2007 and have had no real problems, other than a geomentry issue which I had a Sony Auth. Serv. Tech. come out to my house and repair it through the service menu.

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still luv'n my Sony.

hyghwayman

http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pyDTXCw47wymMtQxDSAbyv5_sDiJl1_jJf52zQYrMvJDEP0wH33k6BLPy7 1x8sFSOTUwWAcPSrbc

I'd like to make some current observations about my 34XBR970:

Before I bought this, I had an old Toshiba 42-inch rear-projection HD monitor. It had some great qualities (I sure miss it's aspect ratio options) and some not-so-great qualities. There were pixelation issues occasionally, Universal HD and TNT HD looked weak. And sports programs like football and basketball were unsatisfying (blurry movements, pixelation, etc). Also standard-def programs and older, lower quality DVDs looked only okay. Oh, and the TV suffered from burn-in thanks to my over usage of PiP!

But one thing is for sure...Discovery HD looked AMAZING! I mean it just came alive! You could almost reach out and touch the images projected from that channel.

So now I have the Sony XBR970! And standard-def programs look very good. My entire DVD collection looks outstanding. Sports looks WAY better! And all my HD channels have exceptional picture quality overall. Color and contrast are accurate and there's not one weak channel. One thing is odd. Discovery HD isn't as impressive. It just doesn't pop, if you know what I mean. At first I thought it was because all the other HD channels improved dramatically.

But after observing my dad's new 42-inch Panasonic plasma, I noticed that Discovery HD jumped right out of the screen even before he's properly calibrated his settings. It's safe to say, Discovery HD is MADE for big-screen HD!

Don't get me wrong, Discovery HD looks great on my Sony. But it seems to look as good, maybe even slightly better than the other ones. It doesn't have that three-dimensional quality it did on my old Toshiba and my dad's new Panny! Perhaps that's a quality direct-view TV's lack.

So would I change anything? Hell no! By compromise, everything else is several times better with my XBR970! My overall viewing experience is much more satisfying for standard-def, DVD and HD! I just miss that "WOW" factor I used to get from Discovery HD!

Will chime in. Had the purple corner issue and had to return at end of product cycle so couldn't get a replacement. I have had d-ila rp, crt rp (Tosh), plasma and the 970 hdtv's. Of all, the 970 had the best all around pic to me and I was sad to part with it. Sure it's not the biggest screen, or the brightest, or the straightest geometry, but (IMHO) the pic can't be beat at ANY price with the current technology. those complaining about the geometry crack me up. If you think you can get a better set, good luck.

I'd like to make some current observations about my 34XBR970:

Before I bought this, I had an old Toshiba 42-inch rear-projection HD monitor. It had some great qualities (I sure miss it's aspect ratio options) and some not-so-great qualities. There were pixelation issues occasionally, Universal HD and TNT HD looked weak. And sports programs like football and basketball were unsatisfying (blurry movements, pixelation, etc). Also standard-def programs and older, lower quality DVDs looked only okay. Oh, and the TV suffered from burn-in thanks to my over usage of PiP!

But one thing is for sure...Discovery HD looked AMAZING! I mean it just came alive! You could almost reach out and touch the images projected from that channel.

So now I have the Sony XBR970! And standard-def programs look very good. My entire DVD collection looks outstanding. Sports looks WAY better! And all my HD channels have exceptional picture quality overall. Color and contrast are accurate and there's not one weak channel. One thing is odd. Discovery HD isn't as impressive. It just doesn't pop, if you know what I mean. At first I thought it was because all the other HD channels improved dramatically.

But after observing my dad's new 42-inch Panasonic plasma, I noticed that Discovery HD jumped right out of the screen even before he's properly calibrated his settings. It's safe to say, Discovery HD is MADE for big-screen HD!

Don't get me wrong, Discovery HD looks great on my Sony. But it seems to look as good, maybe even slightly better than the other ones. It doesn't have that three-dimensional quality it did on my old Toshiba and my dad's new Panny! Perhaps that's a quality direct-view TV's lack.

So would I change anything? Hell no! By compromise, everything else is several times better with my XBR970! My overall viewing experience is much more satisfying for standard-def, DVD and HD! I just miss that "WOW" factor I used to get from Discovery HD!

i love discovery HD on my 970

i love this one show "alien instect: praying mantis", it's breathtaking

i liked it so much, i started a thread about it and it seems many other people liked that particular show as well:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=877538

it's on tomorrow (nov 1) @ 3pm

I have yet to calibrate anything for 480i. I been putting it off and just use 480p when watching standard def programs. Whenever i switch to 480i on my cable box it looks sooo bad, so i never bothered using it. But i wonder if the picture will look any better once i sit down and actually calibrate to 480i. I'm pretty sure the 480's (i and P) share most of the same settings, so I'm not sure i want to mess up my 480p settings to try and get 480i to look any better. I just went through another round of calibrations after taking a month off. Went and re did for HDMI, component(cable box) and xbox 360. Not sure about how your guys sets came from factory but the only way for me to get any decent overscan (under 4%) vertically is to change the DHVP setting in mid 2. Then of course going to another input i have to re do it all again since they aren't universal and different inputs have different overscan settings. The worst is getting everything right, then on a 108i program when it goes into 4:3 the black bars on the side are not the same distance and time to re tweak. I actually went and measured the 4:3 window this time to make sure it was the right size (was off) and had the right amount of black bars.

I still don't get how you guys calibrate your picture for cable box? since you can't throw on a calibration disc or anything! I actually went and plugged my oppo dvd player into my cable box input using component cables to use that thinking it would work, but once i plugged the box back in EVERYTHING was off overscan wise! I guess cause different devices scale the picture different there really isn't a sure way to do this unless having a calibrator do it. The way i do it is jst watch a HD program and just go until i see the raster of the pic, then back off and do the other side. There is so much overscan though vertically when watching TV ( noticed by actually moving the picture vertically using dhvp to see how much was cut off) I'm guessing mine is at like 6% on top and bottom. I can get it perfect if changing the DHVS settings but as i noticed doing that decrease picture quality, so i just leave it as is and use the DHVP setting and SCRL to just even it out. DHVP might cause a decrease too, but when i out up a grid pattern and change it i don't notice the scan lines blurring like i do when changing the DHVS settings, so who knows. Also no matter what i do i still cannot get the VCEN and VPIN settings perfect for the lif of me. Even when using a ruler to get the lines straight, my set just can't do it without a very noticeable bow either on the top or bottom, there is no happy medium. The bow is especially bad on the upper left corner. My set also has a few bad mis converged lines horizontally on the bottom left side thats a very noticeable "red" and sometimes when the image goes into 16:9 i also see blue. I don't know if i just got a bad set, or some of you guys just don't notice these problems as much as me. Some of you guys actually had a tech come to your house to fix these problems? Thats covered under warranty? or did you have to pay for it?

Bummer. But for the grace of God goes I. My 970 is approaching it's 6 month birthday. With all the problems I have been reading about with this set, it's got to be only a matter of time. I hope I'm wrong, but I just can't see this set lasting 10-15 years like TV's used to.


I had one scary problem a while back when trying to go back into service mode. Turned the TV off and it didn't make any sound like it normally does when it goes off, it was like the picture just went dark after hitting the power button, like no click noise. I turned the TV back on and again no noise! then the red stand by light blinked like 20 times. So i shut it off and decided to unplug it and when i did it finally made the "pop" noise like it shut off. No problems since but that scared me.

i love discovery HD on my 970

i love this one show "alien instect: praying mantis", it's breathtaking

i liked it so much, i started a thread about it and it seems many other people liked that particular show as well:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=877538

it's on tomorrow (nov 1) @ 3pm
Well, it looks great. But not as breathtaking to me. I'll be at work at that hour, but I'll be on the lookout for that show. Yeah, those insect shows are usually pretty amazing.

anyone remember a few years back when the tonight show went HD, they had something that looked like a sony 970 (or course it was one of the older models cuz the 970 wasn't out yet) that would come up on this electronic lift to play movie clips and it looked like they had one facing the audience also

I don't remember that, I did see a "making of" documentary about "The War" by Ken Burns. They showed him in his studio working on the editing and the soundtrack. He had what I assume was an XBR 970 or 960 that he was as a studio monitor.

Anyone else see that?

A few days ago I walked into BB and saw the Sony KD-34XBR970 34" tv for $400 and $100 for a 4 year warranty. The picture looked beautiful. But its a bit banged up and if I wanted to get it if I could try bargaining with them even tho they keep saying they lowered it from $1500? I've been reading a lot of good stuff about this tv and how hard it is to find. But it's a floor model that they have probably been using since this newer last model came out. So I was wondering if this tv's worth buying or not or wait and see if the Samsung Ultra Slimfit's ever comes out over here in the US?


p.s. I could take a picture with my phone and post it up on here to show the damages it has on it( but not on actual screen tho or anything major) to help explain what I mean?

A few days ago I walked into BB and saw the Sony KD-34XBR970 34" tv for $400 and $100 for a 4 year warranty. The picture looked beautiful. But its a bit banged up and if I wanted to get it if I could try bargaining with them even tho they keep saying they lowered it from $1500? I've been reading a lot of good stuff about this tv and how hard it is to find. But it's a floor model that they have probably been using since this newer last model came out. So I was wondering if this tv's worth buying or not or wait and see if the Samsung Ultra Slimfit's ever comes out over here in the US?


p.s. I could take a picture with my phone and post it up on here to show the damages it has on it( but not on actual screen tho or anything major) to help explain what I mean?

as far as picture quality, you wont be disapointed.

as far as price, the last known price of a 970 brand new in the box from CC with free shipping was 550 so 400 for a beat up floor model seems a bit high

tell them this, maybe they will go lower

by the way when this tv first came out it was about 1200 retail not 1500

as far as picture quality, you wont be disapointed.

as far as price, the last known price of a 970 brand new in the box from CC with free shipping was 550 so 400 for a beat up floor model seems a bit high

tell them this, maybe they will go lower

by the way when this tv first came out it was about 1200 retail not 1500

Ahh thx for the info, hope itill work. I read that someone on another forum bought the tv new for $350 at CC or Sears forgot. Is the warranty worth it since it's mest up around and even tho it's mainly for them to make easy profit off of?

A few days ago I walked into BB and saw the Sony KD-34XBR970 34" tv for $400 and $100 for a 4 year warranty. The picture looked beautiful. But its a bit banged up and if I wanted to get it if I could try bargaining with them even tho they keep saying they lowered it from $1500? I've been reading a lot of good stuff about this tv and how hard it is to find. But it's a floor model that they have probably been using since this newer last model came out. So I was wondering if this tv's worth buying or not or wait and see if the Samsung Ultra Slimfit's ever comes out over here in the US?


p.s. I could take a picture with my phone and post it up on here to show the damages it has on it( but not on actual screen tho or anything major) to help explain what I mean?

The price isn't bad, but I'm surprised they wouldn't work wit you a bit. It's taking up valuable display space and at some point, they'll have to pay to destroy it.

All that said, why not go back and ask tell them you're willing to take it off their hands and let them be done with it but could they go down another X due to all the cosmetic blemishes?

If it was me, I would have just bought it. These sets are nice.

*edit* not sure how relevant historical pricing (closeout) is. you could toss it out there but they just can't be found anymore to verify.

The price isn't bad, but I'm surprised they wouldn't work wit you a bit. It's taking up valuable display space and at some point, they'll have to pay to destroy it.

All that said, why not go back and ask tell them you're willing to take it off their hands and let them be done with it but could they go down another X due to all the cosmetic blemishes?

If it was me, I would have just bought it. These sets are nice.

*edit* not sure how relevant historical pricing (closeout) is. you could toss it out there but they just can't be found anymore to verify.

I would of gotten it if they would of lowered the price to $300 and lower the damn warranty that's to damn expsensive and it's beaten up pretty well but I don't have the cash to get it right now. The Samsung Ultra Slimfit for $550 warranty is $80. The tv is $150 more then the Sony even tho it isn't all banged up. One of the workers I talked to there said they arn''t gonna lower the price anymore since it's lowered from whatever the regular price and this was over a year ago and discontinued...

I would of gotten it if they would of lowered the price to $300 and lower the damn warranty that's to damn expsensive and it's beaten up pretty well but I don't have the cash to get it right now. The Samsung Ultra Slimfit for $550 warranty is $80. The tv is $150 more then the Sony even tho it isn't all banged up. One of the workers I talked to there said they arn''t gonna lower the price anymore since it's lowered from whatever the regular price and this was over a year ago and discontinued...

If it's too banged up for you then no price is good.

$500 for a 4 year warrantied 970 is a good price.

the 970 comes with a 2 year warranty so you have to decide if you want to pay an extra $100 for an extra 2 years

the 970 comes with a 2 year warranty so you have to decide if you want to pay an extra $100 for an extra 2 years

Actually I over exaggerated with how mest up it is but its a floor model that's been out for a long time and it shows when your in person. But I just got back from BB and worked out an extra $50 off the reg $400 price and if I were to buy it the warranty would only be $50 for 4 years. But my brothers good at bargaining better then me so hopefully he can work and extra $50 or $100 somehow, then ill buy it for sure.

I took the pic with my cell phone so it wont show the wears and tears it's got cept at the feet sorta.

Is the right silver "foot" kind of dinged up? I guess you could set a can of beer down in front of it maybe :) Or keep it in an always-darkened room and no one will be the wiser.

Actually that set looks like it's in great shape compared to some of the floor models I have seen. One of them had just a hole where the power button used to be. I guess when you wanted to power it up, you just sort of stuck your finger in the hole and felt around in there until the set turned on.

Other ones had massive scratches like they fell out of a pickup truck on the freeway, plus dents and holes in the cabinet.

Get a good price, and keep your brother around to help you move it. Even the Incredible Hulk could not move this TV by himself.

If it just has paint scratches, that's not unusual. That silver paint is pretty thin. I would worry more about picture quality: straightness of horizontal and vertical lines, color consistency, convergence (red/blue "ghosting" near the screen edges). If the PQ is OK, I would grab it for around $400. You can touch up paint nicks with a silver paint pen.

But it is heavy and very hard to move, as mentioned. Be sure you know where it's going before trying to move it in.

Is the right silver "foot" kind of dinged up? I guess you could set a can of beer down in front of it maybe :) Or keep it in an always-darkened room and no one will be the wiser.

Actually that set looks like it's in great shape compared to some of the floor models I have seen. One of them had just a hole where the power button used to be. I guess when you wanted to power it up, you just sort of stuck your finger in the hole and felt around in there until the set turned on.

Other ones had massive scratches like they fell out of a pickup truck on the freeway, plus dents and holes in the cabinet.

Get a good price, and keep your brother around to help you move it. Even the Incredible Hulk could not move this TV by himself.

Ya in the dark it shouldnt be to noticeable. Thx now I know that the one I could buy isn't near as bad as others. Lol ya. One more thing(I hope) where can I find a tv stand for this heavy tv and where?

Big lots has some cheap metal and glass stands for around $50-70.00. IIRC, the 970 is 39 1/2 inches wide, so bring a tape measure if you go looking at stands.

I just went to a thrift store with my tape measure and found a sturdy 40" wide table for $15. Then I got some flat black Rustoleum and spray-painted it black. Looks great! Of course I'm a single guy, so I can get away with stuff like this.

One more thing(I hope) where can I find a tv stand for this heavy tv and where?

WalMart has a stand for about $5o bucks new, I have my XBR970 on one and it fits completely and holds <250lbs on the top shelf. The matching A/V stand is priced the same too!

http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pyDTXCw47wymMtQxDSAbyv5_sDiJl1_jJf52zQYrMvJDEP0wH33k6BLPy7 1x8sFSOTUwWAcPSrbc
http://byfiles.storage.live.com/y1pyDTXCw47wyl15EQIaNTPYMpH4fDnNZbLA6Kafv2-Qca1k28G0dw1XTjYVUkenMu8Uo_CUzWv0YQ

Hope this helps,
hyghwayman

Wow, perfect color scheme match, too! For $50 that's hard to beat.

Ya it will help a lot on finding one a lot ez now if I do get it next week (I hope) if its still there. Was wondering if should I stick with my 27 in RCA analog tv for another year or 2 until lcd's get better (even tho it still has a longer way to go) or just go ahead and buy the tv and stick with it for 4 years or longer if it last that long?

Well I had my picture tube replaced on Halloween. The guy that did it was pretty clueless, he didn't even use any test equipment, just my Avia disc. It popped again today, so it still isn't fixed. All the settings are out of whack for nothing. I'm going to call and talk to someone higher up at than just the regular phone people at Sony on Monday and see if I can get some satisfaction that way. This is why I've avoided Sony products in the past. I've worked on enough of them to know their relibility isn't very good.

Well I had my picture tube replaced on Halloween. The guy that did it was pretty clueless, he didn't even use any test equipment, just my Avia disc. It popped again today, so it still isn't fixed. All the settings are out of whack for nothing. I'm going to call and talk to someone higher up at than just the regular phone people at Sony on Monday and see if I can get some satisfaction that way. This is why I've avoided Sony products in the past. I've worked on enough of them to know their relibility isn't very good.

Who came out to fix it but only used your Avia disk lol!? What is the problem with your Sony 970? Can you post a pic of the problem? (If you dont know how to) You can take a pic with your cell phone and send in message to your email and when you open it and see the pic just right click the pic and click save as then to desktop and when you post a message in additional options click manage attachments and browse desktop and click on the name of the pic, or take a pic with a digital camera and load it up on pc and follow the last steps I typed.

p.s.

If I where to have the same problem you have if I get the tv, can you explain what you did to finally get it fixed if it does? Sorry for talking forever.

It was the clueless local Sony authorized repair shop, the only one in my area. Something is popping or arcing somewhere inside the set. The tech said it couldn't be anything but the picture tube, obviously he was wrong. Now everything just looks like crap. Colors are off, geometry, just about everything is messed up.

That sucks. Hope it gets fixed.

Well today when I was at BB again looking at the tv I looked up closer around the edges of the tv and saw this gray line thats near 1 inch in weth (cant get the speller thing to correct it only has weight) and it covers the whole top of the tv and the right side. It isn't very bad but I'm wondering why that's there for. Anyone?


Heres a pic of it. Theres black above which is normal then the bottom left of the pic it shows the gray on the screen. The gray overshadows that part of the screen when your very close to it.

Before I bought my Sony KD-XBR970 I had been looking at the SamSung SlimFit HDTV's. I just got finished reading the last page off the SlimFit thread and I am soooooo happy I went w/ the Sony:)!

I did a lot of reading up on the two brands then asked a lot of questions too before even looking at them in the stores:cool:. When I was ready to shop I liked the picture of the SamSung in the store but couldn't overcome the negative reviews I had read. So I bit the bullet and against my wife:eek: and bought the Sony:D!

That sucks. Hope it gets fixed.

Well today when I was at BB again looking at the tv I looked up closer around the edges of the tv and saw this gray line thats near 1 inch in weth (cant get the speller thing to correct it only has weight) and it covers the whole top of the tv and the right side. It isn't very bad but I'm wondering why that's there for. Anyone?


Heres a pic of it. Theres black above which is normal then the bottom left of the pic it shows the gray on the screen. The gray overshadows that part of the screen when your very close to it.

I can't see or understand what you're talking about. Maybe you might want to turn off that XBR970 the next time you're in the store. Every minute that thing plays in the store is one less minute you'll get to watch it once it's yours :)