Official KDL..EX500/501 Thread - Page 3

just got a 46V5100 that I could return due to the hdmi sound issues. Found the EX500 for $100 more, think its worth it?

That is what I did. Actually got the same price but I would do it even for $100 more. I could not accept the HDMI issue on a new TV. It is happening to quite a few V5100 sets. So I would pay the extra and get a better TV in my opinion. Good luck either way.

I believe it does, one of the differences from the V5100. The manual says 5.1 out, I am guessing that applies to the digital out also. The V5100 did not output 5.1.

Thats a nice plus, big improvement over the 5100.

I do not use it, have all my sound going through my receiver. But I guess if you do not have a receiver it would be a plus. I wonder how good the sound would be?

why is that ?

I would assume it makes for easier hookups....I dont have HDMI on my receiver, so it would be nice to run all the HDMI to the TV, and an optical out to the receiver.

If you have membership to the warehouse clubs like Costco or Sam's, I'd seek out one of the the EX501s, which come standard with a 3-year factory warranty. And as noted earlier, pay with an American Express card and it adds an additional year. The EX500 has a one-year warranty.

Despite what one consumer magazine's statistical odds suggest, I think a long warranty is still wise for flatpanel TVs.

The 501 appears to be a solid, if not great, value for people who don't want to be on the LEaDing edge. The old Sony TV selections at Costco didn't have any great attraction before, but 2010 is a different story.

Heck, even with the cost of a new membership factored in, it's still cheaper than a 3rd party extended warranty that you'd have to buy for a 500, and you'd still receive the other membership benefits.

The only potential gotcha is whether that membership must be maintained during the warranty period for it to remain in effect. I believe this is the case with some of the Costco/Kirkland-branded merchandise like the car batteries, but I doubt it applies here.

I just saw these new Sony's at Costco. I was planning on buying a new LCD in a couple of months but at 799.99 and a 4 year warranty (I always buy with Amex at Costco) these "seem" like a really sweet deal.

My only concern is it too early to be buying a model that just hit the stores?

Be careful and don't assume 5.1 out applies to any external source connected via HDMI--it almost always doesn't. All sets I know of will output 5.1 over the digital audio output when using the tv's own internal tuner, but won't pass 5.1 from external sources like BD players or Cable/sat boxes connected to the set via HDMI.

Good point. The manual does not explain it very well. So you may be right if that is the way most work.

Just noticed that the specs on SonyStyle have been updated to include contrast ratios. The dynamic contrast ratio for the EX500 is given as 150,000:1.

GeoPop: may i know where on SonyStyle's pages this contrast ratio is? i can't find it.

I tried these and put in 2001 A Space Odyssey as it is a reference Blu Ray and the PQ needed lots of help. First off those settings were way too dark. I can barely see the stars and only very little when I did. So I ust fiddled until I got the best balance with the most stars showing without screen being too light. In the next scene where the lady and guy are sitting in the room and there is a patterned wall behind him. It gets all squirrely. By putting Sharpness to MIN it went away. Anyway here are my results. I just did it to the best for my eye, no DVE disc used.

Backlight 7
Picture 95
Brightness 60
Color 55
Hue G4
Color Temp Warm 1
Sharpness Min
NR off
MPEG NR off
Motion Flow Standard
Cinemotion Auto 1
Adv. Settings:
Adv. Contrast Enh. Off
Black Corrector Low
Gamma 0
Clear White Off
Live Color High
White Balance
Everything 0 except:
R Gain -5
R Bias -4
Ambient Sensor Off

I found backlight on 4 works better with above settings when using cable

What mode is that in Vivid , standard , custom ??

I see that also. it is under Specifications, then Display. Interesting in that the V5100 was at 50,000:1. The blacks are to me much better with the EX500/501 series. Overall a better picture too.

These are my settings so far for my 55EX501. This is for normal cable tv/standard DVD viewing. For Blu-ray I do not use MotionFlow or Cinemotion usually. For Sports I may use MotionFlow at High (usually standard). I also only watch HD programming on cable, no SD tv.

This is done by using only my eyes. I have not used any software. That is the reason I probably change the settings sometimes But to my old eyes the picture looks very good.

Scene: General
Mode: Standard

Backlight :3
Picture: 90
Brightness: 50
Color: 57
Hue: 0
Color Temp Warm: 1
Sharpness: Min
NR: off
MPEG NR: off
Motion Flow: Standard
Cinemotion: Auto 2

Adv. Settings:
Adv. Contrast Enh: Low
Black Corrector: Low
Gamma: +1
Clear White: Off
Live Color: Low

White Balance
Everything: 0 (Default)

Ambient Sensor: Off

Edited 3/5/2010

It's in Custom mode. I just love the PQ with these settings. I feel there may be a little red push but I wouldn't know how to fix that. I would love to try other settings if people would post them. Or better yet, if someone gets theirs calibrated.

Not ALL 5100s. MyZ5100 outputs 5.1 through the optical out. I believe the V5100 and W5100 did not.

Thanks..I'll pass these along to my bro..

I just got mone delivered on Saturday and so far I'm very happy with it. I haven't made any adjustments to the settings because I can't get to the HDMI cable running out of my Tivo yet so I have the TV connected with component video. But the picture looks great right out of the box.

I got this as a replacement for my 5 year old kdf-60xs955 with the bad optical block for $825.

One question, the manual gives a suggested mount for hanging the TV but when I looked it up on amazon that model states that it's for up to 46 inch TV's only. I have the 55 inch model.

Any suggestions for a wall mount that will allow me to angle the TV?

Thanks

I calibrated my tv for my pc hooked up through hdmi using the test patterns from this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496
I used the graphic setting because in the manual it says to use it for pc timings. All picture enhancement settings are turned off and greyed out in the graphics setting.

Scene: Graphics

Backlight : min
Picture: 73
Brightness: 63
Color: 50
Hue: 0
Color Temp: Neutral
Sharpness: 4

Ambient Sensor: Off
Display Area: Full Pixel

My PC is set to output full rgb.

http://www.peerlessmounts.com/

Go to Monoprice.com. They have extremely stout mounts for a fraction of the price of any of the other sites. Great deals on cables too.

I got my 55ex500 as a replacement to my XBR1 yesterday and I'm in need of assistance. My audio receiver is 12 years old, and although a great receiver, it is all analog. In the past, I used the stereo audio out from the TV with variable audio. On the ex500, the analog audio out is fixed, meaning I have to use the stereo remote to adjust the TV volume. Before I spend the money on a digital receiver, can anyone tell me if the optical audio out is variable? The manual doesn't say.

40EX500 review.

This review is not for the models released here in the USA. The USA models are different (no internet, etc).

applied these settings for the XBR9 which turns out make the PQ pretty nice. Much richer colors and great blacks.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...dl-52xbr9.html

Did you leave the motion flow off ?

LOL, I now use the CNET settings for the w5100 as it seems to have the closest specs. I am sticking to these. Totally content now. The XBR9 settings left some sunburned faces. These are just what I was looking for. Until I see some professionally calibrated settings I will stick with these.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-19410_10...&tag=mncol;txt