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The Official KDL...XBR9 Thread - Page 88

post #2611 of 2854
12/31/10 at 6:51am
Check out the owner's opinion at the NX800 topic. They seem to iike it a lot.
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post #2612 of 2854
1/1/11 at 12:01am
My XBR6, XBR9 and XBR9 replacement had uniformity problems. LCD turf.
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post #2613 of 2854
1/5/11 at 11:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ggsantafe View Post
I've had significant Netflix streaming issues over the last few months an posted my observations on "A Might Heart" a few pages back. I was about to give up on the XBR9's streaming capability and actually went out and purchased a network DVD player. But before hooking it up, I went through the arduous task of contacting Netflix, Sony & Qwest (my ISP). Netflix customer support is pretty good - they were able to check the bandwidth on some films I had previously streamed and noticed some slow bandwidth issues - they had previously identified the problem as a Sony issue.

I must say that I am not impressed with Sony support - both the Chat and live support versions are poor - dispensing inaccurate information (they claim that you need at least 10mbps to view HD content - Netflix confirms that you need 5mbps) and/or ineffective suggestions. Anyway the Netflix rep eventually suggested I contact Qwest to see if they could review download speed and any other issues regarding my DSL modem, connected through Powerline Ethernet to my XBR. Turns out they identified some "errors" in my line and switched me to another "Gateway." As a result my download speed has increased from the 6-7 mbps range to 9-10mbps and HD streaming has been trouble free.

So - it seems that there are 3 parts to the streaming equation - Netflix, Sony and your ISP - in my case the ISP needed to make adjustments for the streaming process to work correctly. Anyway - if you want to check your download speed at your computer you can always check http://www.speedtest.net/

Happy streaming & Happy New Year!
Thanks for posting this information. I'm glad it worked out for you, but your post had me thoroughly confused about my issue. My TV is hooked up to a wireless bridge which can stream anywhere from 10-13mbps. My ISP speed is around 12mbps - 16mbps. Given this, I should not be having any issues streaming HD titles for Netflix on my TV, but the reality is that I often get the reloading/rebuffering issue. Don't have this issue on the PS3 hooked up to the same wireless bridge. Monitoring bandwidth usage, I see the PS3 making full use of the available bandwidth and the Sony TV only using 2-5mbps average.

Given my observations, when they switched you to a faster gateway, you should have still had issues, but you don't with less available bandwidth than what I have.

As I said, I'm utterly confused as to what the issue is for me as no other devices such as the PS3 or laptop have this issue on the same wireless bridge.
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post #2614 of 2854
1/10/11 at 7:38pm
I found a problem on my 52" XBR9. The TV was shut off, but I can hear a sound "ta" (just same as turn on the TV) several times a day. Why I have this sound when the TV is off?
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post #2615 of 2854
1/10/11 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by truelies1 View Post

I found a problem on my 52" XBR9. The TV was shut off, but I can hear a sound "ta" (just same as turn on the TV) several times a day. Why I have this sound when the TV is off?

That's annoying, but normal. It turns on by itself to check for updates.
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post #2616 of 2854
1/10/11 at 8:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by c3 View Post

That's annoying, but normal. It turns on by itself to check for updates.

Really? Are you serious? I've never heard of that & in the 18 months or so that I've had my 52XBR9, I've never heard any sounds from the TV when it's turned off....
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post #2617 of 2854
1/11/11 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkushin View Post

Really? Are you serious? I've never heard of that & in the 18 months or so that I've had my 52XBR9, I've never heard any sounds from the TV when it's turned off....

That has been reported and discussed many times in this thread.
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post #2618 of 2854
1/11/11 at 7:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by c3 View Post

That has been reported and discussed many times in this thread.

OK - sorry, I guess I missed that - haven't read all 90 or so pages of the thread. Guess I've never noticed my TV turning itself on...
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post #2619 of 2854
1/11/11 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by c3 View Post
That's annoying, but normal. It turns on by itself to check for updates.

What? is that true? I never heard a TV can turn itself on
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post #2620 of 2854
1/12/11 at 2:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by truelies1 View Post


What? is that true? I never heard a TV can turn itself on

It all depends on the content of the channel you watched last!
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post #2621 of 2854
1/12/11 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by truelies1 View Post

What? is that true? I never heard a TV can turn itself on

It turns itself on yes, but the LCD doesn't turn on, only the electronics of the TV turn on so it can download the guide and refresh internet content.
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post #2622 of 2854
1/12/11 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by russr View Post

Thanks for posting this information. I'm glad it worked out for you, but your post had me thoroughly confused about my issue. My TV is hooked up to a wireless bridge which can stream anywhere from 10-13mbps. My ISP speed is around 12mbps - 16mbps. Given this, I should not be having any issues streaming HD titles for Netflix on my TV, but the reality is that I often get the reloading/rebuffering issue. Don't have this issue on the PS3 hooked up to the same wireless bridge. Monitoring bandwidth usage, I see the PS3 making full use of the available bandwidth and the Sony TV only using 2-5mbps average.

Given my observations, when they switched you to a faster gateway, you should have still had issues, but you don't with less available bandwidth than what I have.

As I said, I'm utterly confused as to what the issue is for me as no other devices such as the PS3 or laptop have this issue on the same wireless bridge.

Sadly - my initial euphoria is now tempered by recent experience with Netflix streaming which has now reverted to the "miserable" category. Last night, as well as previous nights, streaming has been constantly interrupted by buffering issues - I checked download speed during the interruptions and measured >6mbps, so I now don't think it is entirely an ISP download issue, but may in fact be a Sony issue - with the XBR9 software/hardware configuration just not up to the rigors of managing minor bandwidth fluctuations, or perhaps some other issue that I'm unable to identify. Once again considering purchasing an internet enabled Blu-Ray player, but not certain this will resolve the issue. Amazon VOD streams without any problem, as does DirecTV pay per view.
Would love to get a conclusive answer, but figure that will come from fellow forum correspondents - since Sony customer support is of little help.
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post #2623 of 2854
1/12/11 at 4:46pm
Ps3
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post #2624 of 2854
1/12/11 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ggsantafe View Post


Sadly - my initial euphoria is now tempered by recent experience with Netflix streaming which has now reverted to the "miserable" category. Last night, as well as previous nights, streaming has been constantly interrupted by buffering issues - I checked download speed during the interruptions and measured >6mbps, so I now don't think it is entirely an ISP download issue, but may in fact be a Sony issue - with the XBR9 software/hardware configuration just not up to the rigors of managing minor bandwidth fluctuations, or perhaps some other issue that I'm unable to identify. Once again considering purchasing an internet enabled Blu-Ray player, but not certain this will resolve the issue. Amazon VOD streams without any problem, as does DirecTV pay per view.
Would love to get a conclusive answer, but figure that will come from fellow forum correspondents - since Sony customer support is of little help.

I have no issues streaming. I do have a pretty fast 38-40mb download, and the tv is hardwired into the router.
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post #2625 of 2854
1/13/11 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chdwil View Post

I have no issues streaming. I do have a pretty fast 38-40mb download, and the tv is hardwired into the router.

Yes- increased download speed should definitely help - I spoke with Qwest last night and they indicated that they are installing a fiber optic network in my area that will provide 20+ mbps speed - but they didn't say when it will be available!
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post #2626 of 2854
1/13/11 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ggsantafe View Post

Sadly - my initial euphoria is now tempered by recent experience with Netflix streaming which has now reverted to the "miserable" category. Last night, as well as previous nights, streaming has been constantly interrupted by buffering issues - I checked download speed during the interruptions and measured >6mbps, so I now don't think it is entirely an ISP download issue, but may in fact be a Sony issue - with the XBR9 software/hardware configuration just not up to the rigors of managing minor bandwidth fluctuations, or perhaps some other issue that I'm unable to identify. Once again considering purchasing an internet enabled Blu-Ray player, but not certain this will resolve the issue. Amazon VOD streams without any problem, as does DirecTV pay per view.
Would love to get a conclusive answer, but figure that will come from fellow forum correspondents - since Sony customer support is of little help.

I hate to say this, but I do not think it is a bandwidth issue in that a faster pipe would solve the problem. First of all it only happens in HD titles, but the streaming rate for HD titles is not very high at all. For me at least, it's not even making full use of available bandwidth. I think most likely the TV just doesn't buffer enough and I also think that there's some other bottle neck maybe with the way the TV works it hits the Sony server and then the Netflix one?

I too have very few problems with Amazon VOD. It does occasionally rebuffer there as well, but it may happen once or twice during a 2 hour movie. With the Netflix app, once it starts it seems to keep doing it sometimes every few seconds.
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post #2627 of 2854
1/14/11 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by russr View Post
I hate to say this, but I do not think it is a bandwidth issue in that a faster pipe would solve the problem. First of all it only happens in HD titles, but the streaming rate for HD titles is not very high at all. For me at least, it's not even making full use of available bandwidth. I think most likely the TV just doesn't buffer enough and I also think that there's some other bottle neck maybe with the way the TV works it hits the Sony server and then the Netflix one?

I too have very few problems with Amazon VOD. It does occasionally rebuffer there as well, but it may happen once or twice during a 2 hour movie. With the Netflix app, once it starts it seems to keep doing it sometimes every few seconds.
I've included a quote from another forum dedicated to Netflix Streaming Quality and it also appears that it is not only the download speed of your connection - but the stability and consistency of the stream as well. It may be that the PS3 has better software enabling it to provide a continuous feed while monitoring and adjusting to download fluctuations
When shopping for a streaming blu-ray player I noticed that both the SOny 370 & 570 indicated on their boxes that a minimum of 10mbps was required for streaming on these sets.
Anyway - the the search for a solution continues......

"The tweet from October seems to confirm what I've been saying, that the highest quality netflix stream is higher bandwidth than 5Mbps. Netflixhelps tweeted "a downloaad speed of at least 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps for DVD quality and 5Mbps for HD quality for the duration of a film." and "5+ mbps for hd and 8+ mbps to get 1080 on the ps3"

I read this as meaning the stream is 8+ mbps. Note that he said "download speed of at least ____ for the duration of a film". To me this means that if you have a flaky internet connection, you'll need additional overhead. The numbers he provided read as streaming bitrates, not the required broadband speed with overhead already included."
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post #2628 of 2854
1/14/11 at 2:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ggsantafe View Post
I've included a quote from another forum dedicated to Netflix Streaming Quality and it also appears that it is not only the download speed of your connection - but the stability and consistency of the stream as well. It may be that the PS3 has better software enabling it to provide a continuous feed while monitoring and adjusting to download fluctuations
When shopping for a streaming blu-ray player I noticed that both the SOny 370 & 570 indicated on their boxes that a minimum of 10mbps was required for streaming on these sets.
Anyway - the the search for a solution continues......

"The tweet from October seems to confirm what I've been saying, that the highest quality netflix stream is higher bandwidth than 5Mbps. Netflixhelps tweeted "a downloaad speed of at least 1.5Mbps, 3Mbps for DVD quality and 5Mbps for HD quality for the duration of a film." and "5+ mbps for hd and 8+ mbps to get 1080 on the ps3"

I read this as meaning the stream is 8+ mbps. Note that he said "download speed of at least ____ for the duration of a film". To me this means that if you have a flaky internet connection, you'll need additional overhead. The numbers he provided read as streaming bitrates, not the required broadband speed with overhead already included."
Try to download a large file from a fast server and monitor the bandwidth usage on your PC. It'll give you a good idea of the highest speed you can sustain. When I've done this, I was able to download a file at over 1 MB (that's 1 megabyte not megabit)/second. That's roughly 10mbps. So I don't see an issue.

Bottom line is that no connection no matter how good it is is impervious to bandwidth fluctuations due to the nature of internet routing. That's what buffering is for. Maybe the Netflix app on the TV is not optimized to buffer well. It certainly doesn't adjust the quality of the image based on available bandwidth either (unlike the PS3 one).

What gets me though and makes me think that it isn't so much of a bandwidth thing is that sometimes when it rebuffers, it plays and then rebuffers again and again. If I quit the app on the tv and then reload it, it's back to normal. So it's almost like the app gets glitchy. And how come the Amazon VOD app isn't like this? Not only are those streams HD, but they also have DD5.1 which should use even more bandwidth.
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post #2629 of 2854
1/14/11 at 2:15pm
I agree completely with your observations, especially the Netflix vs. Amazon VOD issue. It's certainly disappointing that Sony has not addressed the problem, and since the XBR9 is now an "old" model, I doubt we'll see any additional firmware updates. I wonder if any of the newer Sony's have the Netflix buffering issue?
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post #2630 of 2854
1/14/11 at 2:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by russr View Post
I hate to say this, but I do not think it is a bandwidth issue in that a faster pipe would solve the problem. First of all it only happens in HD titles, but the streaming rate for HD titles is not very high at all. For me at least, it's not even making full use of available bandwidth. I think most likely the TV just doesn't buffer enough and I also think that there's some other bottle neck maybe with the way the TV works it hits the Sony server and then the Netflix one?

I too have very few problems with Amazon VOD. It does occasionally rebuffer there as well, but it may happen once or twice during a 2 hour movie. With the Netflix app, once it starts it seems to keep doing it sometimes every few seconds.
In my case problems with Netflix seem to be movie-dependent (or, to be more specific, probably server-dependent). I tried streaming one movie from Netflix and it would start re-buffering every minute or so. Then I just picked another movie to watch and had no problems at all. Both movies were SD. This leads me to believe that in some cases this can be a problem with a streaming server in Neftlix where specific movie is hosted. I experienced this several times - when I selected different movie I had no problems.
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post #2631 of 2854
1/14/11 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeschmoe007 View Post
In my case problems with Netflix seem to be movie-dependent (or, to be more specific, probably server-dependent). I tried streaming one movie from Netflix and it would start re-buffering every minute or so. Then I just picked another movie to watch and had no problems at all. Both movies were SD. This leads me to believe that in some cases this can be a problem with a streaming server in Neftlix where specific movie is hosted. I experienced this several times - when I selected different movie I had no problems.
Wow, did you mean both movies were HD? I've never had it rebuffer with SD because the bandwidth requirements for SD movies is so low. Did you try going back to the first movie that rebuffered a lot after you second one didn't? Like i said, sometimes just loading another movie gets the app out of the glitchy state.

I really wonder if they even have different streaming servers set up with this app. Has anyone done any monitoring of where the requests are going? Curious to know if it is going to Sony first.

I think with the XBR9/Z5100/W5100 now being more than a year old and with Netflix streaming available on every gaming console and blu-ray player, the reason to use Netflix on the TV is becoming less and less.

I find myself using the TV's netflix app now just to see how much it rebuffers.
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post #2632 of 2854
1/15/11 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by russr View Post

Wow, did you mean both movies were HD? I've never had it rebuffer with SD because the bandwidth requirements for SD movies is so low. Did you try going back to the first movie that rebuffered a lot after you second one didn't? Like i said, sometimes just loading another movie gets the app out of the glitchy state.

No, I meant what I said - both movies were SD. And going back to the first movie didn't help. I had a problem 2 days ago streaming one SD movie, tried another at the same time - it was fine. Today I streamed the movie I couldn't stream 2 days ago just fine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by russr View Post

I really wonder if they even have different streaming servers set up with this app. Has anyone done any monitoring of where the requests are going? Curious to know if it is going to Sony first.

It may or may not be going the Sony first (I personally see no need for Sony to insert yourself in the middle and pay for all bandwidth) but it is not feasible for all Netflix library to be streamed from one server in Netflix data center. They most likely have thousands of computers doing the streaming, probably from different data centers as well. I am not surprised that on the network of this size streaming server may have problems once in a while, or maybe these are intermittent connectivity problems at some level.

To sum it up - I watch probably several hours a week worth of streaming from Netflix using XBR9 application and problems are rare.

So far I experienced problems of 3 kinds:

1) Excessive buffering on particular movie (other movie would play fine at the same time) - probably a problem on Netflix end. Very rare

2) Streaming just stops with network error message popping up on TV - fixed by restarting the stream all the time. Rare.

3) Audio and video become out of sync - fixed by restarting the stream all the time. Very rare.


TV is hard-wired to the router and my internet service is Verizon FIOS (15/5)
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post #2633 of 2854
1/19/11 at 8:19pm
About 2 weeks ago, I decided to give Netflix's video streaming service a try. From day 1, I have been having a problem that Netflix and Sony's support teams seem to think I am dreaming up.

About 3 out of 5 times that I try to play or resume a movie on Netflix through my Sony Bravia XBR-52hx909, Netflix will test my connection speed, show the loading box at the bottom of the screen, start the movie, play for about 5-10 more seconds, and then cause my TV to turn itself off and then back on again.

Since I can't find anything about this issue online, and since Netflix's and Sony's support techs think I'm crazy, I decided to post the video of it here and see if anyone out there had a clue as to what to do about this.

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post #2634 of 2854
1/19/11 at 8:26pm
Sorry you're having that issue, but this isn't the thread for your TV. This thread is for the 2009 XBR9 model. You have a 2010 model, so you'll have to post in that thread.
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post #2635 of 2854
1/20/11 at 7:31am
I'm sorry if this is a duplicate post. I don't really know what is causing the issue I am having so it makes it hard to look it up.

When I first turn the TV on I get "lines" on the right hand side that lasts any where from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. It seems to do it if the TV has been off for awhile. Once it warms up it is fine. It has the lines in it with and without the rest of the entertainment components attached to it. I have attached two pictures of the TV when it is messing up.



Thanks for any help.
LL
LL
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post #2636 of 2854
1/20/11 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhh72 View Post

I'm sorry if this is a duplicate post. I don't really know what is causing the issue I am having so it makes it hard to look it up.

When I first turn the TV on I get "lines" on the right hand side that lasts any where from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. It seems to do it if the TV has been off for awhile. Once it warms up it is fine. It has the lines in it with and without the rest of the entertainment components attached to it. I have attached two pictures of the TV when it is messing up.



Thanks for any help.

Looks like you should get it serviced. Is it under warranty? I would recommend calling Sony. Seems like a hardware issue like a bad panel.
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post #2637 of 2854
1/20/11 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhh72 View Post

I'm sorry if this is a duplicate post. I don't really know what is causing the issue I am having so it makes it hard to look it up.

When I first turn the TV on I get "lines" on the right hand side that lasts any where from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. It seems to do it if the TV has been off for awhile. Once it warms up it is fine. It has the lines in it with and without the rest of the entertainment components attached to it. I have attached two pictures of the TV when it is messing up.



Thanks for any help.

Saw that same issue on anther xbr9. It will get worse. The panel was going bad on the particular one I saw. I hope you have a warranty.
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post #2638 of 2854
1/20/11 at 11:05am
Thank you both (russr and chdwil) for the quick reply's. Unfortunately it is no longer under warranty. Is it something that I can fix myself, if I can find the part or just best to take it to a repair shop?
Thanks again guys!
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post #2639 of 2854
1/20/11 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhh72 View Post

Thank you both (russr and chdwil) for the quick reply's. Unfortunately it is no longer under warranty. Is it something that I can fix myself, if I can find the part or just best to take it to a repair shop?
Thanks again guys!

Unfortunately, no; the panel needs replacing.

A_C
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post #2640 of 2854
1/29/11 at 7:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhh72 View Post

Thank you both (russr and chdwil) for the quick reply's. Unfortunately it is no longer under warranty. Is it something that I can fix myself, if I can find the part or just best to take it to a repair shop?
Thanks again guys!

Most likely you need a new panel. I had a panel replaced on V and the new panel had one or two horizontal lines which would disappear after a few minutes. Sony decided to replace that set with a new one, apparently because it was more cost effective. I don't know the price on 52xbr9 panel, but I won't be surprised if it's way over $1k.
Sorry
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