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253K views 1K replies 237 participants last post by  First XBR 
#1 ·
I've searched and found "official owner's threads" for the Z5100, V5100, S5100, but not the W5100.


Is there one for the W5100? If not, can we start one?


Specs.. (taken from sonystyle.com)


Available in 40, 46, 52 and 65" models....
  • 16:9 Full HD 1080p Resolution Panel (1920x1080)
  • Motionflow 120Hz technology
  • On-Screen Contrast Ratio : 3,800:1
  • Panel Bit : 8-bit
  • BRAVIA Internet Video
  • BRAVIA® Internet Widgets
  • BRAVIA Engine 3 fully digital video processor
  • USB with photos, music, and video
  • DLNA® with photos, music, and video
  • Networked TV Guide® Interactive Program Guide
  • HD input x 7
  • Xross Media Bar menu navigation
  • Favorites Menu function
  • BRAVIA® Link compatibility
  • BRAVIA Sync capable
  • Scene Select
  • Exceeds Energy Star 3.0 Requirements
  • ATSC/NTSC tuner with QAM


I got a 40" for my family room in Mid July. We use it mostly for PS3 and Wii, and on occasion, to watch TV.


Even though I'm still using the "out of box" settings, I'm please with the picture quality, especially when you factor in the price. If I get a chance to tweak its settings, I am confident its picture quality will get close enough to the 46XBR6 we have in the living room.


The menu is the same as any other TV or PS3 using XMB. Its easy to navigate.


The remote is simple, well laid out, and easy to use.


Football looks very good, as does the PS3. Wii, since its only 480i (with standard composit cable) or 480p (with optional component cable), looks about as good as you could expect.


I haven't been able to run an ethernet cable down to the set yet, but I have setup an old Linksys WRT54G with 3rd party firmware in "wireless bridge mode" to give the set internet access. It doesn't get the best signal, so the access is kind of slow, and not very stable. (Its not the TV's fault, as I've experienced the same internet issue when hooking my laptop to the bridge). So I've not really played with the internet Widgets much, but there are a few yahoo widgets. Sony's annoucement earlier this summer about Netflix coming to some of their TV's and bravia link this fall mentions this series TV, so hopefully I can run a wire from the office upstairs by then.


The TV does not recognise TVersity as a compatible DLNA media server. Others in TVersity's support forms have found this as well. The TV did connect to Nero Media Home (included with Nero7 Ultra) fine, and the basic file types NMH can streem, the TV played.


Does anyone else have one of these sets? What do you think? And what settings have you changed?
 
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#2 ·
ha, i was just looking for a w5100 thread and didn't find one either, I just ordered the 52" TV last night (good price at Frys PMed to Sears).....was looking for some calibration settings.


I'm going to receive the set either tomorrow or saturday and set it up above the fireplace in the living room...will post my observations then.
 
#3 ·
Look like you just started one
need to get the mods to change the title to "*official* Sony Bravia KDL-xxW5100/W5500 owners/calibration thread" or words to that effect
I have a 40W5500 (UK model number, in the lounge) & love it, I'll post my settings when I get home later (at work)! Was actually browsing for info on the Z5100/Z5500 as I'm looking at getting one of these for the HT room but a decent calibration thread for the W series is a nice bonus. Heres to many hours of tweaking the nuts of these things
Count me in.

Thanks,

Thick As
 
#4 ·
The settings I use for my Sony Bravia KDL 40W5500 (In a fairly dark room, mainly for evening viewing & the kids who are not allowed in the HT room unsupervised):


picture mode: cinema

backlight: 3-4

contrast: 75

brightness: 51

colour: 52

colour temp: warm 1-2

sharpness: min

noise reduction: off

mpeg nr: off

motionflow: off/standard

film mode: auto 1


adv settings:


black corrector: off

contrast enhancer: off

gamma: -1

auto light limiter: off

clear white: off

live colour: off


white balance:


r gain: -6

g gain: 0

b gain: 0

r bias: 0

g bias: 0

b bias: -5


Where you have 2 values, the first is for blu ray & the second is for SD TV. Works fine for me, hope that helps you calibrate your Sony's. I did have some minor backlight bleed just out of the box but these setting reduce it to a minimum, still slight in the bottom right hand corner but only when the screen is almost completely black i.e. credits. Its not really noticable with these setting unless you are really looking for it
. Got the set for £699 delivered online & now has gone back up
to approx £750 (4 month ago) and have to say for the cash the picture is superb, very happy camper.

Cheers,

Thick As
 
#7 ·
I got last weeks sweeter Frys 52W deal via Sony - cheaper than most Sony 40'ers. Frys went up a little today.


anyway, those settings helped a lot. My display is at 95% of where I want.

wish there were mac/PC monitor settings threads. I use it as a Mac monitor HTPC. Getting text and graphics to balance is tricky on any HDTV.

It looks very good now.
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by greyv /forum/post/17249433

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-19410_10...hreadID=357618

The cnet settings look quite interesting, might have a go with those ....let you know how I get on
For the mac/PC usage make sure you are getting 1:1 pixal mapping or it will make the screen look quite soft
I use mine with a HTPC & unless the PC is outputting 1080p picture it looks crap! Think you got a good deal there mate, think the prices may be on the rise now for Christmas, no new bravia W5100/5500 replacement has been anounced as yet (Got a W5810 anounced here in UK but its the same set just with freesat built in). CEDIA will be interesting because I heard that Sony is keeping the Z4500 even though the replacement Z5500 is now released (a stop gap between the Z5100 & the W5100).

Thanks,

Thick As
 
#9 ·
Couple of decent images of the sony bravia W5100/W5500, which no calibration thread should be without
(based on UK W5500, got permission via email
):


Front:




Rear:




Side:




Top:




& also found a pretty good review with calibration details (D65) here:

Sony Bravia 32W5500 review - avforums.com


Hope these are usefull for you guys/potential owners. Can somebody point out if there are any diff's with the W5100 (US model)? They should be documented if so! Also doing a bit of reading, in the UK there is a new firmware (1.5?) which is supposed to remove lag from BE3 making for a much improved gaming experince! Anything in the US? I'll try to dig up more details & post a link if I get chance.

Thanks,

Thick As
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Viche /forum/post/17265720


Thanks for getting this started. I wanted to hear user impressions on their W's. Been following the V's...lot of Red-flashing issues over there. How does the W look?

Not heard of this ...what is "red flashing issues"? In the UK we have had a few clouding issues (seems to be commmon to most Sony Bravia LCD's).

Cheers,

Jiff
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Viche /forum/post/17265720


Thanks for getting this started. I wanted to hear user impressions on their W's. Been following the V's...lot of Red-flashing issues over there. How does the W look?

Not sure what you mean by red-flashing? Over here in the UK we have had reports of bleed & cloading (but seems to be fairly limited with respect to the W5500 series) & there is a fair amount of info regarding the fact that Sony do not manu the 37" panals (sourced from a Korean company) which many have said to be inferiour to the panels used in the 32", 40", 46" & 52" bravia sets. Aside from that, the W series bravia is regarded as being the best set in its class (along with the Sam B650). If you explain what you mean I will check to see if its present


Thanks,

Thick As
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Viche /forum/post/17265720


Thanks for getting this started. I wanted to hear user impressions on their W's. Been following the V's...lot of Red-flashing issues over there. How does the W look?

"red-flashing"?? Not sure what you mean. I don't notice the clouding that I've seen mentioned in a few other Sony threads.


I haven't had time to try some of the settings posted in this thread (or on the links), but I'm still pleased with the picture on my 40w5100. HD TV looks nearly as good as my 46XBR6, SD is definately watchable. PS3 is crisp and clean.


If I had to buy a 2nd TV all over again, I'd by another w5100... If I had to buy another primary TV and didn't have an unlimited budget, I'd gladly pickup a W5100...
 
#14 ·
I did have a chance to play more with the "Widgets" installed on the TV, and watch some of the internet videos yesterday. Quailty varies based on the "channel." Some of the SI content looked near HD quality. Some of the Howto stuff looked like lower quality internet video. The Yahoo widgets for weather, news, etc look clean. I kind of like how you can put the weather "on top" of what you are watching. Then again, it does get distracting after a while. When you select Netflix, it still just says "coming fall 2009"


I've been trying to find a working DLNA server so I can stream my media files stored on my PC on the TV. Problem is, the TV is limited on what formats it can play, and I have all different types of files on my hard drive, so I need the server to also transcode the media files on the fly.


Here's a recap on the ones I've tried.


TVersity v1.7 doesn't work with this TV. The TV either doesn't see it, or when it does, it complains that TVersity is not a DLNA server when I try to launch it. Its a shame. I've used TVersity with my D-Link DSM-510 and it worked well, including transcoding the media files on the fly into a format the DSM-510 can play. NOTE: I also have a problem with TVeristy correctly identifying my LG BD-390 bluray player. It auto-detects the LG as a PS3, so its not 100% compatible with the BD-390 either and ends up either not transcoding some files the BD-390 can't play, or it transcodes them into a format the 390 can't play.


Twonky Media Server v.5.068 (latest trial linked on their download page) connects but doesn't transcode. It allows me to view photos (.JPG), and play .MP3 music just fine. The only videos it allowed me to stream were .VOB files from a DVD folder I had ripped to the PC's hard drive. I tried the TMS v5.1 beta linked in their forums. I couldn't figure out how to enable the newly added transcoding feature for videos.


Nero Media Home v4. Works for pictures and Mp3's. For videos, it does transcode, BUT, it doesn't support all "input" file types. Like I have some .MT2S, .MKV, Divx, Xvid, etc. Nero is picky about what files types on your PC it will serve up.
 
#15 ·
The widgets are pretty slow to load (and im on a 12mbps connnection), the weather is neat, but I don't see myself using the widgets very often at all.


I haven't had time to run any actual media on the TV yet though, but the TV does look beautiful physically...
I'll post some pics of my wall mount setup and picture quality impressions later.


Also, there was a software update available for this TV, took about 3-4 minutes to update.
 
#16 ·
You haven't heard of "red flashing"? They are just about obsessed with it over in the V forums. Everyone seems to have it, Sony is apparently aware, but there is no fix. A lot fo unhappy V owners wish they never purchased their tvs.


One guy describeds it simply this way:

"It would be really hard to capture the problem to show. Here is a good way to picture it. the scene centers on someones face and for a split second it looks like someone went in the menu and turned the color saturation up to 100 and then back down to normal."


This guys describes it as a "palette shift":
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post17242057


So no sign of this on the W's?


How about horizontal viewing angles....a lot of complaints on V's about that.


And black crushing.
 
#17 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Viche /forum/post/17272361


You haven't heard of "red flashing"? They are just about obsessed with it over in the V forums. Everyone seems to have it, Sony is apparently aware, but there is no fix. A lot fo unhappy V owners wish they never purchased their tvs.


One guy describeds it simply this way:

"It would be really hard to capture the problem to show. Here is a good way to picture it. the scene centers on someones face and for a split second it looks like someone went in the menu and turned the color saturation up to 100 and then back down to normal."


This guys describes it as a "palette shift":
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post17242057


So no sign of this on the W's?


How about horizontal viewing angles....a lot of complaints on V's about that.


And black crushing.

No sign at all on my W series bravia ....well I have not noticed it at least! Will keep an eye out and report back, but I'm pretty anal when it comes to PQ so would have thought if my little Sony was doing it, I would have noticed! But I'll keep an eye out.


No black crushing either (wonder weather the panals are diff between the Sony V & W series? ...will look into it a bit more
)! The viewing angle does cause some wash out if you go too far of axis but I have to say its never really bothered me, you need to be looking from quite an angle to notice it to any great degree


Thick As
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thick As /forum/post/17278136


So there is a US update then ...any idea what it addresses? ...

The Aug 21, 2009 update from the Sony Style web site ( http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...mdl=KDL40W5100 ) appears to be the latest for the USA.


It lists...
Code:
Code:
*  The television picture freezes momentarily, then the TV powers off and then on. This may occur shortly after powering on the TV, while viewing programming, changing channels, or using the TV's xross media bar.
    * When changing channels, the TV powers off and the POWER/STANDBY LED flashes red. Pushing the Power button again (only once) restores the TV's function.
    * When viewing 1080p formatted signals through the Component (Y/Pb/Pr) Input, a horizontal scratch-like line may appear on the screen.
    * Intermittent remote commander response when the TV is first turned on and the backlight is dim.
    * The television turns off and then back on again when powering on the TV with a programmable remote commander.
    * Correction of the "Current time has been lost. Please reset the time" message repeatedly coming up.
    * Further improves the use of the Network functions (Internet Video and Widgets).
 
#20 ·
hi does anybody know hows this model for gaming? is there any input lag? im between this one, samsung or a 50' panny plasma..


the panny plasma looks great but im kinda afraid of the IR/BI and i read the similar samsung models have some input lag.. so this one is a strong candidate.. ill be using it mainly for gaming
 
#24 ·
The W5100/5500 use the joint Sony/Samsung S-LCD (the joint company) S-PVA panels! Sony only just renegosiated the deal with Sharp Corp in July for 10th-gen facility rights ($1.1 billion), so I would expect these in the next batch of Sony Bravia Models.

Cheers,

Thick As
 
#25 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Element1 /forum/post/17292623


How does the 46w5100 compare to the samsung ln46b750, ln46b650 or the ln46b630 ?

Use the same panels for the most part so are quite simular (both sets are top contenders in this price bracket) but do have diff due to backlight, processing, build quality etc. The Samsungs have higher input lag due to post processing of signal but overall very simular.

Cheers,

Thick As
 
#26 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Larhalt /forum/post/0


hi ive been doing some research and i couldnt find more info on this model KDL 40W5100.. i guess its too new?


i plan to use it as my gaming tv on PS3 so hows the input Lag? i was thinking of getting a samsung but i heard similar models had horrible response time


does the W series has the same auto dimming problem ive been hearing the V series has? can you turn it off?


thank you

I'm not really a TV or gaming expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I was asked (via PM), so I'll try to answer (here since more people can read it, and might benefit from it)...


Playing GT5, Motor Storm, and RB2, the games, and screen, respond as expected. i.e. I don't notice any lag between when I press a button, use the controls, etc and when the game does what I want.


While I've read about the "dimming problems" some Sony LCD's have, I haven't experienced it on either my XBR6 or my W5100. I know the W5100 is set as "auto light limiter: off" I don't recall how my xbr6 is set
 
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