Official Sony KDL-xxV5100 Thread - Page 7

Why wouldnt they have fixed the KDL-XXW4100 auto dim issues a long time ago? I really want this TV but I am scared the auto dim will be annoying/if they ever fix it at all it wont be for months.

I am so pleased after changing a bunch of the settings my picture for non-HD channels is greatly improved. Now I'm interested in doing this a little more systematically rather than trial and error because I really don't know what I'm doing so I'm sure this can be done a lot better.

Some of you mentioned a DVE calibration disk. Can someone briefly fill me in on how this works? Is it like a DVD disk you insert into a DVD player? I'm curious to try it out. Thanks.

EDIT: Read up a little more on this and think I understand. One concern, though, is do I need to somehow calibrate the DVD player? I mean, if that is off won't that throw off the settings I make to the TV?

Coolowl,

One of the things you must do is if your DVD player has any picture enhancement settings on it such as 'black enhancer' that you turn them off. I would also recommend you do the same for your display. I assume you have a V series Sony so make sure 'noise reduction' (which I've noted doesn't seem to do a thing anyway) and gamma, advanced contrast enhancer should be off. Live color and clear white are useless, so keep those off. Everything else should start off at the default settings. Make sure you check in 'advanced settings', as well. Make sure the 'white balance' controls are all set to default.

Since you have never calibrated a set with DVE, VE or Avia, I would recommend you do some reading. When you first look at the patterns, you may not have any idea how it should look. You can start out at http://www.videoessentials.com/ and there will be plenty to keep you quite busy. Also, after you calibrate your set, give it a couple of weeks to get used to. When a display has that 'film like' quality it is going to look strange at first. Once you get it right, everything else will look like crap and you'll wonder how you tolerated it any other way.

Best of luck...Will

Thanks for the advice. I contacted the store where I bought the V5100 and they are going to loan a copy of Avia II to me. The fellow then added that they have a $175 service to do the calibration for me. I wonder if he expects I'll screw it up or maybe it is harder to do than I think.

I plan on only changing the Custom settings and leaving the other three alone. That's the right thing to do, right? Then if I screw stuff up bad on the Custom I can always look at the numbers on the others (or use serialmike's) to get back to where I was. I mean nothing I can do is going to permanently affect anything, right?

I'm looking forward to playing around with this.

Coolowl,

Unless this company is using a coloromiter to do grayscale tracking and the technician is ISF certified, don't do it! There is nothing that you can mess up that is not reversible in the user menu. The service menu (which requires a sequence of key presses) is a different matter. You can quickly make an 85 pound paper weight messing around in there.

As far as using other peoples settings, you've got to understand that displays are like snowflakes...No two are alike. Electronic components have varying tolerances. Also, a sets components change slightly through time. This is why you should not have an ISF calibration until you have at least 200 hours on your TV.

Both Avia and DVE have instructions for the basic test patterns, such as contrast, brightness, hue, color and sharpness. If you get those tackled, I guarantee your TV will look better. It's not that hard and just takes a little practice. You can find tons of advice on this site, as well.

Question how do we get the DL? Do we DL it to a USB flashdrive? Or is there another way. Though I will say one thing. I don't have this darkness problem, maybe I just don't notice it, because I am so new to this HDTV stuff.

Any suggestions for how people, who are color deficient, adjust their settings?

With cameras, I've always used forum supplied settings to set up my colors. I just have to assume that it looks ok, because I can't always tell. No one seems to complain, but they could just be polite.

I see far more than grey scale, but I am deficient in certain spectrums.

I have a copy of DVE coming, on route from Netflix, for the arrival of my 52V5100. I'm hoping I just won't end up with some absurd color settings after, causing everyone else that views it to think that I must need a helper to dress myself in the morning.

Has anyone else, as it's a pretty common issue amongst males, set their own configuration, even though they can't assume to see what others do?

What about Geek Squad? That is who I am looking at.

I actually think it works by inserting the DVD between your butt cheeks, but I could be wrong.

It's an acronym. Digital Video Essentials: HD Basics [Blu-ray] (2008)

Inserting it rectally may require medical attention, if you're not from Chicago.

That's not a bad thought!

A woman I work with has a husband, that's a geek squad manager. I think he's more of a computer nut, but if I have enough beer, and some good wings, maybe, just maybe, he'd drive the 45 minutes out to help me.....

Worth a shot, anyways!

I would go for that! I think I will go that route.

I used the Avia II DVD yesterday and it did wonders for my set...and I only did the basic settings. Not even sure I need to fool with the others because things look so good now.

The COLOR was pretty easy and wouldn't surprise me if a person who is color deficient could also do it. But if not, I'm sure you could have it all figured out what to look for and then just get a friend to pop in and do that one test with you.

There is also a test where you need to look through a blue filter to determine hue and saturation but with that one there are blinking boxes. So, you make the adjustments until the blinking boxes go away. You might be able to do that one without the help.

Thanks again to the poeple who suggested this calibration thing. Because without it I was pretty disappointed with my TV the first night. The non-HD channels looked pretty bad and I was giving serious thought to returning the set. Now, I'm very pleased and this baby is mine!

I apologize, I never considered people that had issues with color perception. However, addressing your last paragraph...What looks good to you is all that matters. I have several friends who are proficient at setting AV equipment and the way each of them sets their televisions would be nearly unwatchable to me. One of them prefers more blue and the other leans towards red. It may very well be as you brought up: Different people perceive colors differently.

I would also chock this up to another reason people should not use others settings. What looks good to one may be unacceptable to another.

Good point, bladebarrier...Will

If you want a professional ISF calibration that includes both one's video and audio one of the best is a long time member here - User name "UMR" he schedules tours in different regions of the country and no Geek Squad Amateur is going to match his results and the specialty tools he has.

He requires that a calibration be both the video and the HT SS System since he finds that about 90% of his customers have their SS all screwed up.

Actually, I do not require audio, but I do prefer to do both.

It is more like 99.9% have serious sound issues.

I own 52W4100 for my office, audio sucked big timeI saw W5100 @ sony style, looks, pq was extremely un impressive for new set.

imho, this tv is not worth throwing away another 3-500 for calibration.

Looks like this is alot of work. I am actually downloading those calibration DVD right now. I might just run it from my PC without burning it on the DVD or CD.

I am lurking here as I still waiting to get my first HDTV. I might get it sooner if Sony would fix their auto backlight problem! Now I dont know if they are every going to fix it. I do have three HDMI cables.

My 35" tube TV seems to last forever.

Like I said, I have absolutely no experience or knowledge in any of this but got my Sony V5100 looking great in less than half and hour just setting the basic settings using Avia II.

Some of my earlier notes questioned my purchase but with just a small bit of effort on my part I'm totally pleased with this set. The picture is superb.

I'm very happy with my week old V5100, however while watching tv (non-HD channels), the volume dissapears for 15-25 seconds and then comes back on. I have a HDMI cable from my cable box to the Tv and dont have any issues with the picture. Has anyone encountered this problem? Is my set defective? I checked to make sure the connections were not loose.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Coolowl,

Good to hear. I told you it wouldn't take much time. I, personally love this set. And it's replacing what was considered Sony's flagship set three years ago, the XBR2.

I've seen a few mentions that their thought was the TV was sub-par but IMHO, it is a great display. I also didn't have to spend nearly $4,000.00 for it, like I did for the XBR2.

If you've got the money these days, I'm sure the XBR series that can cost more than twice the price of the V series looks spectacular. I just wouldn't be so quick to say the V5100 sucks because that is just plain incorrect.

I have read about the audio on and off. Are you the same user?

BTW, please keep calling up Sony and ask them to fix the auto backlight thing.

Please read this thread about this issue:

http://www.tweaktv.com/forum/lcd/re-...w-52.html#6906

I'm another one of those 60XBR2 owners who have had multiple optical blocks replaced. I was going on my 3rd replacement, as the last one was bad upon installation. I originally had an XBR1 with the same OB problems that it replaced. They finally offered to swap the tv for any of the ones on Sonystyle website. They offered me the equivalent of a credit of $1,912 toward the purchase. Question 1 is: for those of you who have gone this route, is this figure in line with what they offered? Should I fight for more since I'm giving up 8 inches? Question 2: I've seen the V5100 in stores and the picture looks excellent. Is it worth an additional $1,500 for the XBR7 or 9? Any responses are appreciated.

I paid Sony $312.00, which is basically shipping since it shipped on a Friday and it arrived early Monday afternoon. Plus, I get to keep the XBR2. As far as the XBR series is concerned, as you, I thought paying the premium for a flagship TV would be worth it. I am now very happy since I am not constantly looking for yellow and green staining and blue lines.

Sony wanted me to pay $1000.00 for the XBR9. I am sure that there are plenty that think the 'premium' series is worth it. IMO, the 52V5100 is a fine set and I don't miss the 8 inches of screen real estate at all. The picture is sharper and more 3D like than my XBR2 could ever hope to be.

Yes, the auto-dim and the fact that the toslink doesn't pass Dobly Digital annoy me but I'm willing to live with it.

I was looking at the XBR7 as well and I could not justify the price difference between the V5100 and XBR7. The picture quality was very close in quality and the extra features did not justify the expense. I watched Kill Bill last night on DVD and was stunned by the picture quality during the fast fight scenes.

Chong,

In a nutshell, this is what I was told, as well. I was not given a specific time-line though. If this update is going to be released next week, I will be extremely happy since the auto-dim is almost annoying as having three optical blocks replaced on my older Sony.

If you have an Onkyo AVR, mute it and the flashing 'muting' graphic will make the set go bonkers.

I so hope this is true!

Can you please post your calibration settings ? I just installed mine last night. All I see around are calibration for w4100. Would be nice to get actual figures figures for 5100.

Thanks

Id say this is good news. There are way to many people claiming its coming. I dont mind if its a month or more. Just knowing its coming is news enough for me.

I dont find it problem enough to annoy me 1/4 as much as my optical blocks but hey if a fix is coming I sure as hell will take it

Here are my settings for the 52V5100

Blu-Ray and HD DVD

Mode - Custom
Backlight - 2
Picture - 70
Brightness - 45
Color - 43
Hue - R2
Temp - Warm
Sharpness - 8
Noise Reduction - Off
ACE -Medium
Gamma -Low
Clear White - Off
Live Color - Off
Cinemotion - Auto 1
Game Mode - Off
MotionFlow - Standard
White Balance - Default, for now

Tuner Settings

Mode - Custom
Backlight - 4
Picture - 74
Brightness - 46
Color - 43
Hue - R2
Temp - Warm
Sharpness - 12
Noise Reduction - Off
ACE -Medium
Gamma -Low
Clear White - Off
Live Color - Off
Cinemotion - Auto 1
Game Mode - Off
MotionFlow - Standard

I would see if you can wait until the XBR9 is released and some reviews are up. I like the look of the XBR9 and the new BE 3 and 240Hz might make a $1000 difference (if you can get Will Munshower's deal).

I took an XBR4 52" for my SXRD XBR1 50" and I really hate the smearing. I'm hoping it craps out within the extended warranty so I can trade up.