Quote:
Originally Posted by dan007  i still have my ex723 i tried your settings and it does look better....but i still find the picture to be a little washed out...
would the upgrade to the 929 make a big difference over the ex723? and when do prices usually go down?
|
Washed out? Hmmmm.... I guess I'd like to hear how the washed look changes as you adjust brightness a little lower, lower the back light, or start making changes to the Black Level and Advanced Contrast by setting them to low.
IMHO, what your eye sees as appropriate amount of contrast is like sharpness. It's very easy to get used to too much or an amount which begins to induce image quality issues.
What you might really notice with the hx929...
- better 3D performance due to almost non existent ghosting/cross talk. Motion Flow also works better under 3D on the hx929. On the ex723, there was a very slight cadence/bump during vertical and horizontal panning moves under MF. The hx929 does not do this.
- darker blacks due to the local dimming, both on/off contrast when you go to a screen black out and ANSI contrast of the difference between black and white within a scene.
- color is a little less saturated at default settings and not having measured either the ex723 or hx929, it's hard to know which is closer to being "flat" and which is slightly off from proper color decoding. I would assume the ex723 is running color tracking just a little hot. I would note my wife thought color was better on the ex723 until I boosted saturation on the hx929.
- Out of the Box Grayscale tracking on the hx929 is better. But like color tracking and not having measured either display, it's hard to qualify this observation beyond the hx929 not exhibiting any obvious grayscale color shifts at various IRE values.
- Basically, many folks will be able to live with the hx929 out of the box and not need an advanced calibration. I will be interested to see what an advanced calibration can do for the hx929.
- Motion Flow on the hx929 is cleaner during extreme moves as far as artifacts induced by the process. However, the only time I could cause these differences to appear were during very fast landscape panning while playing Fallout. In normal viewing, you may not see a difference between MF on Standard or Smooth. I feel MF Standard on the hx929 is a little more refined at fixing motion but not showing SOE but I did not really test this out. It's just the overall feeling of watching MF Standard on the hx929 and feeling the process being more transparent and content not feeling affected in a negative way.
- Flashlighting and Clouding are apparent on the ex723 but not on the hx929 allowing the hx929 to show better overall screen uniformity. That said, I didn't think the ex723 was bad in this regard, the hx929 is just better. The trade off the hx929 due to it's full back light and local dimming, will exhibit halos around bright elements on a dark background as your viewing position moves off to extreme angles. .
- Clear and Clear Plus do their job but with less picture dimming on the hx929. I'm not sure what's going on here. I think it's the hx929 ability to flash the backlight at a faster rate to freeze motion AND thus leave the back light on for longer durations.
- Increased Clarity due to the glossy monolithic/Corning screen design. This is something I noticed right away watching Avatar on Blu-Ray. This is a common observation when comparing glossy and matte finish screens, the down side I definitely see more glare on the hx929. If I had the choice, I would probably go with a Matte finish on the hx929 at the expense of a little clarity.
- Sound... the hx929 is 2.1, which means it has a modest sub woofer capability which does translate into a slightly fuller low end sound, but no where as much as running a proper audio system with the display.
- Form... the hx929 is a little sexier in it's form with thinner panel edges but I would not complain about the ex723 design.
- all rear connections are from the side, allowing for more connections when wall mounting.
Do all of these items add up to roughly $1000 higher cost? If you have the extra $$$ I say yes. Even more so if you will end up having to pay someone else to calibrate the ex723.
The alternative readers should consider, is snagging a good deal on a HX909 while inventory is available. The hx909 is much closer in performance to the hx929 and there is some deep discounting on the hx909. However, I'm sure the supply of hx909 will dry up fast.
I don't know when we will see promotions on the hx929. At almost 25% off MSRP on my 46hx929, that's a pretty good discount and a price anyone might be able to negotiate at their local Sony dealer.
