Sony XBR-HX950 Owners' Thread (XBR-55HX9​50 and XBR-65HX95​0) - Page 59

Well I picked up my 55hx950 and love it. It's replacing a 5 year old sony I spent $2200 on and I wasn't sure that moving up was logical or that I'd get anything out of it. This is the single nicest looking TV I have ever seen. It is light years in PQ beyond my previous TV and I'm glad I decided to pick it up. No dead pixles or anything yet but I haven't had the time to go thru any calibrations or anything. I had some friends over for movie night and they were amazed too. I have no interest in any smart TV functions but the extra tv guide info is great. I only use rabbit ears (I get 40 channels, most in HD) but previous all the TV would tell me is what I'm watching, now I get a full TV guide and desciptions of what I'm watching.

The TV is being feed by my new oppo 105 and I also just picked up an emotiva power amp (which was a noticeable improvement over my marantz AVR) so it's an early Christmas at my house.

I'll not touch TV with 200 dead pixels in this case
Do we get it right < 200 is Ok for QC?

I just look for official / formal QC for this matter to avoid be stuck with dead pixels TV
This is also new to me that Sony sales XBR with dead pixels

is there a usable center speaker shelf that works well on these skinny tv's? I had one that worked pretty well but can't be adjusted for a TV this skinny. The stand is low enough that if I sit it on the cabnit it blocks the tv.

For Avengers blacks : http://youtu.be/Gr1Fr4rviCw?hd=1

I was told 2 yrs ago that unless the pixels are in a group of 4 or more pixels, that it was not considered a failed panel. 1 or 2 in the same area it is considered acceptable and within industry standards. I had an XBR4 that had two bad pixels one along the lower edge (not so critical) but the other was in the mid/center of the panel, fortunately the use of a disc with pixel flipper freed the stuck pixels and they never returned.

Does anyone know the IR code for switching the input directly? There is no way of doing it with a standard remote but it should be available for more advanced or universal remotes.

or maybe someone knows of a remote that has this as a dedicated set of buttons?

Deleted
Edited by Shazi00 - 11/23/12 at 9:54pm

Hey Superfrecles

This is not my first high end Sony TV. I presently have a Sony 55XBR8, Sony VPL-HW30AES projector, 46HX850(returned to upgrade to 65HX950) and a Wide Screen CRT at present. My XBR8 is almost 4.5 years old and I had no dead pixel or any issues with any Sony product i own hence accepting to pay the premium price for Sony's product and the reliability at the back of my mind. When i purchased the 950 i was told at the Sony store the product is returnable within 30 days or if any defects and I have only had it for a week so I don't see a reason for them not to replace the set.

My only concern: what if the new set is worse than the only one dead pixel. If that will be the case then I guess my only option will be to return that wait it out for a new lot or get something cheaper and accept the fact that there's a reason why everything else on the market is cheaper.

I have no clue what everybody was talking about gaming lag on this set. My 65 inch HX950 has no lag on FPS and 3rd Person Shooters. I played Halo 4, Borderlands, Fear 3, Max Payne 3, Ass Creed 3, Spec Ops and noticed nothing. I had the Motionflow set to Standard and Reality Creation turned ON.

I had lag on my XBR8 which is 120Hz so I am guessing since this tv is 240Hz and the motionflow XR, it does make a difference and minimizing the effect.

hey, i had a 929 for a month and now have 850. didnt see that much of a change in picture to justify the 1000 price diff., however i love 3d and the 850 just doesnt have the depth or pop the 929 had so now i'm thinking about going back to buy a 929 floor model. where did you read that the 850 has better 3d because maybe i'm just crazy but i dont see it. i'm just not getting the same 3d effect maybe im doing something wrong with the settings. do the reviews say that the 850 has better 3d?

would love to know what 3d blu ray player you guys are using. i have 3net but need a decent one since i'm about to get rid of direct tv. sony has one for a hundred bucks but i'm not sure because a few other brands go for 400-500. will i see much of a diff in 3d p/q to justify the price increase?

no such thing as no lag on sets like this with all the processing. this tv could be much better than other sets but will still have some lag. the very good cod/bf3 online players play on a computer mon. or a old tv set. those kids get on my last nerve.

I have the panasonic bdt 500 and my main consideration was the 7.1 analog output and the two hdmi outputs. If you ave an older receiver you would be better served with two hdmi outs (older avr's don't pass 3D). I like the PQ over the sony bdp s790 and the audio quality rivals some of the better audiophile cd players; as it has a quartet of Burr-Brown 192kHz/32-bit DACs with separated power supplies for analog and digital.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/news/article/panasonic-dmp-bdt500-blu-ray-player-review/12590

You said you have NO lag; every display I have come across has input lag period. I play fighters where I have to hit 1 frame links (button press must be timed at 1 60th of a second) and am very sensitive to lag. You are lucky if you can't feel it as that is a blessing; I would never play anything with motionflow on except a point and click adventure like walking dead.

11-24-12

I just wanted to attach for the learned followers .. The dead pixel as well as a milky white abnormalady which is is visible on the lower center part of the screen.. it appears to be a cluster effecting at least 3-5 pixel area... Any ideas and would everybody agree that I should request another 950 ???? The picture is otherwise better on this set than the last one which had the screen burn and dead pixel....






Edited by Garloo57 - 11/24/12 at 9:17am

If the abnormalities are visible during regular television/movie viewing I would return

*sigh* I already did a lag evaluation several pages back. We're talking maybe 40-50ms in Game Mode and 100ms or so in General with MotionFlow, CineMotion all other goodies turned on. In Game Mode I would rate it VERY GOOD for lag. Not excellent by any means. In General mode, it is.... acceptable, unless you are fighting game expert or love your online FPS. Halo 4 looks equally good in Game mode as General mode with MotionFlow on for this TV. Can't explain it, since I usually NEED MotionFlow for most of my games. But that's impressive because Game Mode on most TVs looks awful. Not this one, though I wouldn't watch movies in it, for sure. If you're playing something like Assassin's Creed or other single player adventure or RPG games, no need for Game Mode. But any twitchy, arcadey game or online FPS type game, you'll want Game Mode on.

The slowest laggy mode on this set is MUCH FASTER than the equivalent non-game mode on an ES8000, and I have visual proof of it. So in other words, since its just as fast in Game mode as the flagship Samsung and FASTER by far in non-game MotionFlow modes, it is a GREAT TV for LAG, IMHO. But still slower than a small crappy 2008 TV LCD which doesn't process much.

Has anyone had the opportunity to compare the HX950 side-by-side to Sony's 2010 XBR LX900 TV ?

Have you tried the PS3 glasses? They are half the price and are reportedly better than the x103, 250s and 750s as well.
Edited by DoctorM - 11/24/12 at 12:26pm

I'm loving my 55" HX950!!

Those of you using a ps3 for Blu-Ray and 3D Blu- Ray, what settings are you using on the ps3 for "1080p 24hz Output?" I have an 80GB version from '09.

What about BD Audio Output Format (HDMI)? Linear PCM or Bitstream? I use a Sony CT-260 Soundbar connected with an optical cable to my 950.

OK sorry for misleading everybody saying there is no lag. There might be but with my present settings i have i did not notice any lag in FPS I currently have. It's probably only me but i guess for trained eyes it will be noticeable. Comparing the 950 to my XBR8 there is a clear difference and i can notice the lag on the XBR8 but not on 950.

At present I have the Ambient LED control turned on and I kind of like how it changes the backlight in different settings as i have a window in the the room with the sunlight during the day. I know this is a dumb question and saves me from changing settings all the time but would this have a huge impact on the life of my TV ?

I have the 750 and PS3 glasses. While PQ is similar with both, they still have pros and cons. The 750 are more confortable to wear an the built quality is better, but the frameless design is more sensitive to reflections. I find the on-off battery slider button on the PS3 one annoying to use.

Garloo save your self the trouble and return the set. I went to the Sony store today and after quite some arguing the supervisor agreed on opening a set. I plugged my flash drive in with solid Red, Blue and Green 1080p jpeg images. At present on my current set, I have only one Red portion of the pixel dead. I tested the first box that they open and i saw multiple dead pixels across all three RGB patterns. DUring this time the manager walks in and let me tell you this is guy is a first class #$!*%! and had one of the worst attitudes of a manager I have ever seen. He told me to bring my present tv back and return it and dont bother buying any more Sony TVs. In addition to this he also said that i will box the same unit with the dead pixels and sell it to other customer that won't even notice (average consumer). I just wish i had a recorder on me at this time. Anyways I got his name and will be filing an official complaint with Sony USA and JAPAN on the quality of the products which is unacceptable according to my standards.

But after arguing some more the manager finally left cuz I threatened to complain leaving the supervisor and the sales person. The supervisor offered one last option and opened another TV for me which had at least 7 or 8 dead pixels just like the first unit at the store. He also agreed on returning my present set. But I kept the current one I have as i have til January to return the set. In this time i would try to explore any more options which would include the ELITE or some other cheaper Samsung TV.

So i would agree to the story that the Quality Control accepts a couple of dead pixels and they could care less. For this price i expected a lot more from Sony like all the previous products I owned and had no issues ever. I am really disappointed and dishearted with Sony at this point.

You all may not want to hear this, but there seems to be a LOT more complaints with dead pixels report with the 950s than the 929s.
Might be worth taking a look at a year older if still available.

Yea, it sounds like the 950 is just the 929 but using inferior parts. Clever marketing scam.

thanks man, that looks nice but i dont think i'm going to use the 7.1 analog output. do you really see a diff in p/q over the sony bdp 790. bb has the sony for 200 so i was thinking about going with that one. ive been using my ps3 but i'm told it doesnt play blu rays with the same p/q that these players put out.. i'm really only worried abt p/q.

i plan on looking into a good receiver to run my direct tv and blu ray player into next but i'm still new to all this and i'm taking it one step at a time. i heard running these into a good receiver will also do wonders on the p/q, for these expensive tvs we just bought.

cnet said this in its reviews of blu ray players..
"Don't get bogged down worrying too much about image quality, as all players are pretty much the same". however i'm told this is not true by some and others tell me they dont see a diff from just using a ps3..
Edited by hellotv - 11/24/12 at 9:55pm

As far as these Sets from Sony being a "bad" set I say I think its a bad run. I have the 55 inch and its flawless.

I also have seen 3 more set's all of them are flawless. Two of them were 65 inch set's no banding not one dead pixel on them.

My set is fantastic in every way, its detail is stunning the contrast is very good, and Black is truly black on this set.

the Depth and realness this set produces is hard to beat.

Now I'm really thinking there are some defective runs on these Sony's.

My question is what is every ones manufacturing date who has a problem ???

Could it be there was a bad run ? Sony should have made sure this did not happen to these high end sets.


Tj8xp..............

HX850 is better in 3D: are you sure? Comparing with the last fw of 929 or with the earlier reviews with OLD fw?

less crosstalk (x4 High speed panel): also HX929/950 has x4 high speed panel!!

brighter picture: an "edge led" with brighter picture than a "full led"? Full led has well more dynamic and contrast

in 2D have little worse black: much worse black...

but much less blooming/halo: little less blooming...

Both have exactly same panels: no chance, one is full led the other one is edge led


Some reviews got high overall ratings to 850 mainly for "value"...


929/950 vs. 850: the full led wins hands down...
Edited by thegladiator75 - 11/25/12 at 5:16am

Not aware the 929 has 4x high speed panel...

Full led has well more dynamic and contrast...is that even English? And based on what, any measurements to back that up?

Much worse black, again based on what? Any ansi measurements to back that up?

Just sounds like opinion with no facts.

Aaron