Sony KDL-EX645

Look to the EX640 thread. Someone mentioned, that the only difference is built-in WiFi (you had to use a dongle with 640).

I was just offered the 60EX645 as a replacement for my KDS-60a2000. The Sony website says it will ship on 9/18: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666479232

I found some documentation here: http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KDL-EX641_EX645.pdf

There are no reviews anywhere yet. If I accept the offer, I'll let you know how it is.

I've been looking at this tv, as well, to replace a 6 year old Sharp Aquos 42". Please post your thoughts and cost, if you don't mind. I'm also thinking of a Vizio M3D550SL. I like the 55", but don't really need/want 3D and worry about Vizio's reliability. Anyone had experience with that particular set? I also saw the Vizio M550SL on sale and had a great looking picture. I'm not sure if there is a difference, other than the 3D, to the M3D550SL.

Please post your impressions as soon as it arrives! I'm leaning towards plasma, and KDL50EX645 is the only LCD that I still consider!

What is the "frame dimming" mentioned in the specs? Does it cause noticeable brightness fluctuations either in the scenes or black borders for aspect ratios other than 16:9?

I may need to get a new TV if I can't find a working T-CON board for my 40W4100. The replacement I ordered works fine until it warms up for a minute or two, and then the screen goes completely nuts. My original one is still watchable in the meantime, with only two segments about 4" long each of one row of pixels flickering, and this is completely stable over time. So I think I'm on the right track. Sony has the T-CON board, but it's $273, and they say very explicitly "sales are final", "no returns on circuit boards", and I ain't biting on that.

i plan on getting this 60" instead of Sharp. I am happy Sony is releasing this tv so late in the year..i guess alot of people really demanded a 60" with out 3-D.
My last 2 lcds are sonys and i don't trust another brand.
S2000 26" (2006) and v5100 46" (2009)
I see on amazon it is available in October...I bet it will be on sale the first week. I can't wait til November!
Let us know what wall mount you choose for this.

Dont pay $2000 for the 60" that's retail!

I am curious about the analog audio out on this TV. The manual shows what looks like a single RCA jack for the analog audio out. Is that actually the case or is it a mini phono plug? The specs simply say "Audio out". Hard to imagine it would be a mono output.

It's a mini stereo headphone type jack, not a mono RCA jack. This is becoming common on several brands. adapter cables to break this out to left/right RCA jacks are available--try Monoprice or Blue Jeans cable.

Wondering about this TV also. What internet apps does it have and is the screen matte or gloss finish?

Vizio with 3D but not Sony
Comparison at http://tv-compare.blogspot.com/2012/09/sony-kdl50ex645-vs-vizio-m3d550sl.html

it is a matt screen which i like but for some reason i think not quite as matte as the ex640 which i think is an awesome tv.

got the 60 inch. coming Friday. Anyone have calibrated settings for it yet?

Ditto. My set arrived today. Looking for optimized settings advice.

I saw the 50EX645 at a friends house last night. Really a nice looking unit. He had spent some time calibrating it and the PQ was excellent. His daughter was watching one of the Harry Potter movies, no idea which one as I know nothing of HP, and it looked really good. Blacks didn't quite seem to be a truly deep black, but they compared well with the Samsung 7100 model he has in another room.

Going over there this weekend to watch some football and I'm interested to see how it does with that.

What do you folks that have the set think about it? I was originally looking at either the HX750 or 850 in 55 inch size, but the wife has said she thinks 55 may be too large so know I'm looking at the 645. From the specs, reviews and what I saw last night it looks like a very nice until at a quite reasonable price.

Last week I picked up a 55EX645 to replace the KF E42A10. I was concerned that in going from a 42 to 55 the TV would be too large for the room but the frame is so much narrower than the 42 that the increase in total dimensions does not make the set too overwhelming.

I do not nitpick about black levels, uniformity etc. I just look at the picture quality and I am very impressed. Out of the box I found most of the picture settings (scenes) to be rather garish with overly saturated colours so I used Cinema mode but then I found suggested calibration settings for an EX640 courtesy of :

Asthmatic Zero:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Backlight: Min
Picture: 95
Brightness: 50
Color: 52
Hue: G2
Sharpness: Min
Color Temp: Warm 2
Everything else: Off


Or at CNET
Home menu>Settings>Picture & Display

--Picture Adjustments menu--
Picture Mode: Custom
Backlight: 9
Picture: 97
Brightness: 51
Color: 50
Hue: 0
Sharpness: Min
Color Temperature: Warm 2
Noise Reduction: Off
MPEG Noise Reduction: Off
Motionflow: Off
CineMotion: Auto 1

-Advanced Settings submenu-
Adv. Contrast Enhancer: Off
Black Corrector: Off
Gamma: 0
Clear White: Off
Live Color: Off
LED Motion Mode: Off
White Balance: [see below]

-White Balance submenu-
R-Gain: -5
G-Gain: 0
B-Gain: -5
R-Bias: -2
G-Bias: +2
B-Bias: +3

--Screen menu--
Wide Mode: Full
Auto Wide: Off
4:3 Default: Off [grayed out]
Auto Display Area: Off
Display Area: Full Pixel
Horizontal Center: 0 [grayed out]
Vertical Center: 0 [grayed out]


--Home Menu>Settings>Preferences--

--Scene Select menu--
General

--Eco menu--
Power Saving: Off

Either of these give me what I think is an excellent picture.

In terms of other features the set easily logged into my home wifi network and connection to Netflix (once you enter your account info) is a one remote button simple process. We will enjoy this. The remote is small with lots of buttons and I do find that if I am not careful I do press the wrong one quite often.

The SEN (sony entertainment network) has a bunch of apps that do not interest me at all : NHL, YOutube, Crackle, NPR , Wiggles... which at first glance just look like links to web sites but I have not bothered with them. You can also rent or movies from SEN which is another feature I will not use. There is also an Internet Browser and an connection option that gives Yahoo TV with connection to news, weather , Flickr... Another option I will not likely use.

What has impressed me is the DLNA capability. I can put movie, music or photo files onto a USB key or external USB hard drive and play them on the TV. The EX645 plays a wide range of files including mkv files which have always been a problem for my 1st gen Apple TV. In fact with this and the easy Netflix capability I may not use the Apple TV very much at all and previously I was using it on a daily basis. I should add that the interface for this option is not very good. Often it does not show thumbnails or it shows files that are otherwise invisible - but it plays mkvs which for me is a big deal. Alternatively I can stream these files from my Mac to the TV using Eyeconnect or PS3 MEdia Server. Having an external hard drive is much faster than streaming. No more having to convert mkv files to m4v or mp4 - a great time saver.

I use my son's PS3 to play blu ray discs and they look stunning. I can also use PS3 Media Server to stream or copy movie, music or photo files from my comp to the PS3.

Sound from the built in speakers is no better than OK. There are optical and a single mini jack for audio out to external audio equipment - I use an NAD/Mission stereo system which sounds very good. I tried the Sony HTCT260 soundbar but was underwhelmed. It has various options for sound modes and a wireless subwoofer but the general quality of the audio is not as good as my stereo.


So, all in all I am very happy with the set. To my eyes and tastes it is easy to get an excellent picture, good sound and is very flexible in what devices can be connected and what file types it will play.


Edit: I played around with the settings on the Soundbar and was able to get acceptable sound from it when the correct sound mode is selected. If you can get this device on special it will be an improvement over the built in speakers.
Edited by demoetc50 - 11/14/12 at 10:17am

Does anyone know why when using the optical out of the TV and the TV speakers are set to external and variable sound that the TV volume/muting has no effect?

Is everyone still happy with the TV? I plan on buying it for my bright living room for mostly TV/Cable viewing as I have a dedicated HT room.
Edited by Drakul - 12/15/12 at 8:48am

I have the 46" for three months now and could not be more happy with it. It has the best picture quality of any TV I have owned, including the four year old XBR it replaced. At first I was concerned about the glossy screen but I also have it in a bright living room and find no problem viewing it.

Thanks. I ordered the 50" last night. We shall see .

I am another very happy owner of a 55 EX645.

The picture is so good that I almost refuse to watch non HD programming of any kind. Had it for 2 months now and there are a few things I would add to my earlier post.

First is that I am now used to using the remote and the small buttons are not a problem because they have small raised dots that make the remote easier to use.

Perhaps the only weakness is the narrow viewing angle. If I move a little off center horizontally or vertically there is a noticeable but not major decrease in contrast.

I have connected my camcorder ( a 720p model) to the TV and the movies look great. Watching a group of 40 grade 1 kids unintelligibly singing Mele Kalikimaka on a 55 inch HD TV brings tears to my eyes .

I can also connect my iPad2 to one of the HDMI ports and find this to be a good way to Skype.

The biggest problem I have is of my own making. I have a 1st Gen Apple TV and a PS3 connected. But I also use the two USB ports with a USB key and an external hard drive. Also, I can stream video from my Mac to the TV using PS3mediaserver. I can play video files from all of those devices( the Apple TV chokes on mkv files, the others do not) and it drives my wife crazy because she never knows where I put various files. Why do I do this? Just because I can and I love to experiment with options Really for my wife's sanity, and therefore mine, I should rationalize all this.

Yeah to beat out the viewing angle I got a pivoting mount. I figured it'd help if we want to watch TV while cooking int he Kitchen or some such.

I've had the 60" for a couple months now and it is awesome. In some ways I find it is too good. As most TV shows are not show on HD video, I find I have to use the "Cinema" scene settings to smooth out and flatten a bit the appearance, or else poor scene lighting jumps out at me and makes it look like a student film. Always before, set designers could count on things appearing normal even if in person they might look fake. No escaping that now. Try watching The Tonight Show with the 'General' scene setting and you'll notice how dingy the set appears...

Yes the set can be too good at times. I have noticed that when a scene switches to a different camera e.g. for a close up , very occasionally there is sometimes a second or so when I can see the shot come into sharper focus. This happens during live events like soccer games where you do not have people standing on their marks.

Where is that Cinema setting? I'm looking int he setup and only seeing 'vivid', 'standard' or 'custom'
I'm noticing the skin tone seem fairly saturated so I'm going to tweak things around.

Its called cinema scene, so basically you have to change the scene mode.

Is the (analog) audio out jack on the back of this TV for a 3.5mm stereo plug (so I can then buy a 3.5mm plug to 2 RCA plug adaptor to hook to my 2-channel preamp)? The manual isn't very specific on what plug form factor it accepts. I'm assuming this is where you'd hook an analog 2-channel audio system but the manual isn't specific on that either.

(I'm referring to "Item 6" on page 11 of the manual at:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KDL-EX641_EX645.pdf )
Edited by BB99 - 12/22/12 at 8:48pm