Sony XBR-HX950 Owners' Thread (XBR-55HX9​50 and XBR-65HX95​0) - Page 52

In some previous posts, I attached pics showing that the 55HX950 can provide excellent PQ for live HD cable TV. Furthermore, you acknowledge that BluRay viewing is great, Therefore, IMO, the inconsistency comes from the broadcasts not the TV. Garbage in = garbage out.
Edited by mike50 - 11/10/12 at 2:11pm

That may be however the 929 did a superior job of blending the over the air broadcast viewing experience..... HD or standard... If you have the opportunity audition the 55" 929 and the 950 55" in your home in the exact same location and settings you will be amazed at how much better the 929 is in handling the over the air content...

Man, funny you bring that up. I notice all the "big series" tv shows that I watch religiously look like CRAP compared to something like The History Channel (literally the best HD channel I've seen so far). Walking Dead is a big one for me, Revolution, Once Upon A Time, etc.. these are my main channel ones I watch... and man, they look literally no different from SD channel to HD version. But put on The History Channel HD vs the SD version and there is a HUGE difference !

So yes, I have come to the conclusion that Walking Dead and the others that look bad simply are not broadcasting in full true HD, and The History Channel must be. Or (worse case scenario) the film is simply not shot in HD. And your right, we will find out when we purchase the Series Box set on BD.

But in EITHER case, it is not the TV's fault. You judge a TV's PQ by a BD, not a broadcasting channel. There is too many variables that arise in broadcast channels to do fair testing/comparisons on PQ on a TV.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hdfanboy444 View Post

The 55" panel is the same one used in the 46" so what exactly makes the 46" panel better?
And may I suggest to greenslime that before you jump ship back to a 55" set if the whole issue is just brightness, make sure you have the 65" set up properly.
Go into preferences and make sure ambient sensor and light limiter (all the crap in there for that matter) is set off.
I can tell you I have a 65hx929 and I always leave backlight at 3 and its extremely bright. I can't bare to have it any higher especially in a fully darkened/dimly lit room. Don't see why it should be different for the hx950.
And wasn't it confirmed that the 65hx950 had 125 zones? That's about the same ratio to screen size as having 105 for the 55" and 96 for the 46" so I don't see why picture quality should be different.
I know 46/55 have SPVA vs SMVA for the 65 and most people would actually argue that the SMVA is superior to SPVA+Psa especially for 2d pq as the Psa tech sacrifices 2d performance (contrast+ viewing angles) in order to provide better 3d performance.
This would also explain the reports we got earlier about the 55" version having bad viewing angles whereas the 65 has been reported to be quite good for of axis viewing.
It also falls in place with flavius reporting somewhat poor 3d performance on the 65 whereas we are not seeing people say the same about the 55. Probably the Psa tech kicking in which is causing these differences. I'm not saying for sure, but just a guess base on the spec differences between these panels.
thanks, I thought I was the only one who could see that...

Yes up close with a magnifying glass the pixels will be smaller and therefore have a sharper picture on a smaller panel but its not like we are viewing them that close.

I'd personally rather sit farther away and get an image that appears to be just as sharp while still gaining the benefit of more immersion which the smaller screen couldn't offer. That's just me.

My 65 pops like popcorn. Serious poppage. Sounds like a quality control issue. No bends or warps in the glass either.

K, finally did it. So as you know, for us on the 950 the best motion handling setting is MotionFlow: Standard, and Cinemotion: Auto 1

On the VT50 you have a choice of only something called "Motion Smoother". It has the choices of: Off, Weak, Medium or Strong. There is another setting that sorta handles motion, but in a different way (flicker handling I like to call it), it is called "24p Direct In" and its choices are 48Hz, 60Hz and 96Hz.

Between these 2 settings, I found that Motion Smoother on MEDIUM and 24p Direct In on 60hz seems to look the best I can get it to look. It handles all motion scenes thrown at it just like our settings on the 950 from what I can tell so far from all the content tested. I see absolutely no problem in the motion of the VT50 at all IF on these settings. Looks beautiful and smooth and honest. But this is still pretty prelim so far.

Regarding motion sharpness/blur we cant use any Motion flow on when comparing LCD with Plasma. Ideal situation would be taking HX950 with Motionflow off and VT50 with IFC set to off and compare using mid-fast test patterns and real 24p movie scenes. The reason is mantaining the film look and not looking at telenovel (SOE). From my experience, VT/GT/ST series has issues with false contouring ( @24p and horrible @ 50hz - EU ) and flickers. The plasma defenders say always, its inherent in the panel tech and cant be removed absolutely. Although many reviewers will rave about 900-1080p lines of motion sharpness by plasma, with the mentioned artifacts the result looks weird, at least to me. I have compared Panasonic 50VT30, Samsung 60E6500 and 55HX850 side by side with the same motion sequence ( for example 2min. sequence starting 0:45:25 in Crazy Stupid Love movie ) and suprisingly I kept HX850. Sony does a very good job on keeping these artifacts on minimal level, but as there is no true intelligent backlight scanning implemented yet, the motion is blurry not only in mid to fast pans, but also when a object changes position slower. Someone would say - motion on LED is not so natural as plasma offers, which is true especially on the eye perception level ( plasma uses sub-field drive to achieve this ). This project explains more on this topic.

Flavius can you post some pictures of your set in action?

Can anyone confirm if Sony has upgraded the Netflix app in the 55HX950 or 65HX950 to output in Dolby Digital 5.1 (Either by ARC or fiber optic)
The Netflix app in the 65HX929 output in stereo only.
If I remember correctly, ARC would not work with Netflix and I had to use a fiber optic out of the 65HX929 to the processor for sound with Netflix.

Can you compare judder in games between the two? Find something super juddery with MotionFlow/Cine off.. Skyrim works, or any AC game. Maybe even DD, I forget. And then pan pan pan the camera.

I can try. Found some outstanding movie samples on my WOW disc.

If you can, take a pic of the third monsters inc scene when the blue furry monsters first comes out of the tunnel.

Also grab one of the white robot with light on him in the wall-e scenes.

yes, I had a 13X16 room before but 46 was just fine as furthest seat was about 10'.
now just bought a house with HT room 17X21 dimension and looking to get a larger screen.
not sure if most seats will be 15 to 20 feet away....funny thing is the screen will look
about the same size as the 46" that far back.
I am going to have to study that "immersion."

A comparison of the Sony PS3 3D glasses and the Titanium 3D glasses.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/sony-3d-glasses-tale-two-pairs

Nothing we already didn't know, but others may need "professional" validation.

Just recieved my 65" 950. install will be done in a few days. How many people actually own this TV? Actually have in their living room. And for all the people that find its flaws. What TV is perfect?

Are you installing before checking for any anomaly's, ie banding / dead pixels etc ? by 'installing' I'm assuming your talking about wall mounting, correct ?

Has anyone attempted to color (paint) the stand. I would think the use of a spray can of black Testors modelers paint a few light coatings (applied dryly) will create a darkened (not completely black) smoky stand, a lot less obtrusive that the present shiny, distracting finish.
Edited by IMRIZZO - 11/12/12 at 6:09am

The stand isn't that obtrusive after you get used to the design. You actually tune it out like someone who is nagging you in the background when you are watching a TV show.

Unrelated note, went back to the living room 950 and noticed the central band on the set in there is a lot more prominent than the other set that I have. I turned off the eco light sensor and turned the backlight up to 4-5, instead of the 3 which I preferred. It eliminated most of it, but is still there. Just wanted to poll you guys, in panning shots with sky backgrounds for example, are these the only areas you ever notice this in?

Oh yeah. I think every 65 inch TV has the exact same banding issue with this TV.

On a side note, did anyone get the Auto Update? Any idea what it does?

I would go with a vinyl dye, as it soaks into plastic without streaks. I have used it on plastic multiple times with no issues or uneven color.

"But in EITHER case, it is not the TV's fault. You judge a TV's PQ by a BD, not a broadcasting channel. There is too many variables that arise in broadcast channels to do fair testing/comparisons on PQ on a TV."


I agree 100% on that comment. Well said!

How about some BLACK FABRIC instead, maybe velvet? Much classier and easier than attempting to paint chrome.

I thought the base was a polished aluminum material ? my bad if it is plastic you might want to apply dye lightly at first, and see your results and then darken to please. (it does look better with an opaque coating vs solid, black,- flat / glossy / satin) ? Satin the less obvious of the choices, IMHO.

It's plastic that looks like aluminum.

I have attached several photos revealing the dead pixels and halo or screen burn which plagues the XBR 950 55" which was delivered the end of October by Best Buy. Has anyone else observed this malady? By the way I was told in a just received email....

"Sorry to hear about how things have been carrying along, I assure you we've exhausted every outlet possible in search for a new 929 but unfortunately could only get our hands on multiple open ones. Again, I am very sorry for the original miscommunication. Please do not feel that I was neglecting your emails as I was away on vacation. I'm back now, and I was able to set an exchange for you Wednesday morning. Let me know if that does not work for you, otherwise I sincerely hope that this TV is up to your standards and can be enjoyed to the fullest."

and this was from the store manger ...."I have been trying really hard over the weekend to locate any of the Sony 929's. Every store that listed one in stock, the item was either an open box or a display. We also tried to order on BestBuy.com with no success. "A...."should be getting in touch with you soon about helping you with the issues you are currently having".



you can easily spot the problem in the light blue field above the "N."..



The dead pixels and the "halo" standout with the white screen

observe above the E and N in enter


Burnt pixels and halo standout within the cream backround

look at the top of the F in free
...


The last photo was taken with the set off... It is definitely behind the gorilla glass, the defect ( or screen rupture?)is approx. 1/2" in wide and nearly 3/4" long


I have just forward the same photos to Best Buy/Geek Squad.
Edited by Garloo57 - 11/13/12 at 11:24am

Get another 950. But because they can't get you what you want have them discount the 65" one way down since they dropped the ball. It can be done.

They aren't allowed to discount the Sonys. Some kind of deal they have with sony.

That imperfection is on the inside of your front panel ?? That is totally unacceptable, you will never be able to keep your attention away from that blemish.

I've had mine for a little over 3 weeks. Aside from a very faint verical band in the center of the screen, mine has no other flaws. The banding isn't anything close to the 2 Sammy ES8000s I had. The PQ is amazing. If I were to return it, the only thing I would consider at this point would be the Sharp LC-80LE844U. My understanding is that Sharp is the only set without any vertical banding and now that I mounted the 65" on the wall, I think I could go with something bigger. My concern would be that the PQ would be inferior and I'd be disappointed.