Sony XBR-HX950 Owners' Thread (XBR-55HX9​50 and XBR-65HX95​0) - Page 79

Do you mind me asking what is the manufacturing date of your set and where did you purchase it? Thanks.

I just took delivery of the 65" 950 last week. It came from Sony, the stand already assembled on the display. I thought it swiveled, but it doesn't... not that big a deal. However, it is not completely vertical, instead it leads back a bit. Can anyone tell me if this is normal?

You have to assemble the stand on the 55" version. It comes assembled on the 65". So, yes, that is normal. Also, the 55" stand swivels, while the 65" version does not.

Manufactured September 2012. Purchased from Crutchfield.

RE: post #1556 , 1707
Quote:
Originally Posted by Garloo57

I sent an email to my Best Buy rep and store manger outlining the above. I agree that we are not talking about small potatoes here... I know that even though it is only one dead pixel, it is like the micro scratch that only you can see on the car door; once you know the location your eyes will always gravitate to that spot.. If another set is coming that will make 3- 929's and 3- 950's.. Lets see how Best Buy handles it.....

Here is my response from Best Buy......

Wow, I am truly sorry to hear that. Given the history with the Sonys, and knowing your love for a quality image, I'm curious if you've looked at or entertained the idea of the Panasonic 55vt50, as it's the best TV on the market, my own personal favorite, and in my experience has not come back with any such defects out of the box, let me know if you'd entertain that idea. I'll touch base with Mike about the Sony.

Thanks,

Happy Thanksgiving.





and my response just emailed..


Hi A----,
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. As for the Panasonic, I don't really want a plasma set. I know that quality control on the XBR panels may be an issue but I know that "good ones" are out there. After all of this effort on both our parts l want and deserve a problem free XBR... Take care.. I know that you will be ultra busy... Just let me know.



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 et than the last one which had the screen burn and dead pixel....



1-17-13

I wanted to let the readers know that the light abnormality which was located around the center of the screen has now developed into 2 separate burnt out pixels.... Ii sent another email to Best Buy.... so they can order another set.. They had asked me if it would be ok to "open" the new set and set it up at the store... to check it out and make sure it is ok etc.. I told them , no, I want the new set delivered and unpacked by the Geek Squad and set up by them .... as evidenced by the nearly 45 days for this set to exhibit 3 separate burnt out pixels clusters, nothing is apt to show up when the set is first plugged in anyways....


Edited by Garloo57 - 11/24/12 at 11:53am
Edited by Garloo57 - 1/17/13 at 11:26am

That's one reason I always check for dead pixels out of the box and promptly return or exchange immediately. I've found from past experience that one dead pixel usually leads to another, and another, etc.

So pulled the trigger on a 65HX950. Delivery scheduled for Monday. Hands still shaking as I can't believe I'm spending this much on a TV. Hoping I have better luck with the panel lottery with the Sony as I've already had my fair share of returning sets for dead pixels, noticeable vertical banding, and unusual high amounts of 3D crosstalk.

What would be the best 3D glasses to get for someone who who would be wearing them over my regular glasses. I think I read that the simple PS3 glasses produce the best 3D image with this particular set?

I was told by one of the moderators to combine these posts of my experience in a recent calibration service of my 2 TV's. This is to share with all owners of both TV's. Calibration was done by Robert Busch. Below are quotes from another thread of mine in the Calibration Forums. TV's calibrated were a Sony XBR950 (55") and a Panasonic VT50 (55"):






Hey, good question ! You know, I just didn't want to clog up this thread by giving out this info here and talking about it, but since you asked , now I can !

Regardless of what others may want to say about each technology these TV's use (the obvious Plasma vs LCD debates) both these TV's are just great sets out the box. (NOW IMO) Out the box the XBR950 looks a touch more "toony" and razor sharp like (not in a bad way though, its character just leans more that way out the box). Out the box the VT50 looks rather the opposite, and not so much in a good way (IMO) all the presets (Cinema, THX, etc..) either look too dark or too pushed and all with some sort of hazy colored haze over the pictures background (again, IMO), and its a rather "soft" picture. So thats what we're dealing with (just for a little precursor info).

When Robert came over (from the way everyone speaks about the VT50) I/we were expecting the VT50 to of course calibrate way better, easier (due to ISF mode) and then obviously look way better than the XBR950 too. Literally to a point where a few professionals (priorly) pre-warned me to not expect the XBR950 to ever calibrate and look like the VT50, cause it just can't. I could totally understand that, especially from seeing them out the box, and also understanding the 2 different technologies, etc.. So I was expecting that as well, and had accepted it.

Ok (extremely long story short) - lol, after calibration, both sets almost looked identical ! On top of that EVERY aspect I mentioned earlier about the "out of box" impression of both TV's totally went away and they both looked so "correct" and stunningly deep, rich with "pop factor". I was amazed (and others were too) from the XBR950 really. Only because we didn't expect it to look as close to the VT50. Color wise, they were spot on to each other. Other characteristics though were indicative of the sets though, for instance the VT50 has no "bloom" what-so-ever and its viewing angle is just the most excellent I've ever seen. Where-as the XBR950, if you are not looking at it dead center white text over a black background has "bloom" and once your off center, the color representation, contrast, shadowing, etc.. begins to deteriorate and badly.

That said though, and the point to all this, is, after calibration, IF you sat dead center in front of the XBR950, these sets looked ridiculously close to each other. Color, spot on for sure. So much that indeed, we both were very surprised and amazed. The VT50 IMO holds a SLIGHTLY better picture though when there is "hard light" in the background of a scene. It is slight, but the XBR950 makes it look slightly more washed out and the VT50 just holds it perfect to everything else in the foreground. Again, this is slight. And again, it is surprising how awesomely close to the VT50 this XBR950 looks once their both calibrated AND how awesome they both look period, compared to how they looked out of the box.

There actually has been a few scenes I've come across where the XBR950 looks better and presents the scene better than the VT50 even ! But again, they are ridiculously close to each other visually, and even spectrum wise as well from the gear's analysis. So Sony has really done something on this new XBR950 for sure ! The VT50, well man, its a VT50 doing what you expect it to do. The XBR950 is doing beyond what was expected. (if thats a good way to put it ?)

Mine leans back a little bit too.

Anyone know what the ANSI contrast ratio of a calibrated 950?

http://www.hometheater.com/content/sony-xbr-55hx950-3d-lcd-hdtv-ht-labs-measures

I have a 65 inch and I have banding. I have contacted BB and they stated they have one in store and I can stop by and check panel before delivery. Can someone recommend a good way to test for dead pixel and banding and anything else?

Download Calman free color and grey field patterns in mp4 format from AVSForums put them on the USB stick and plug them into the TV, TV will let you play them. 40%-50% grey will show you banding, color patterns will help check for dead pixels.

Thanks for the article.

I tried searching? cannot find it?

I viewed a 65" that a built date December 2012. As soon as we turned it on I could see the banding at the Sony blue menu screen. This panel had very bad banding issues. Worst than the one I got at home. Sales Person said "WOW that is not good! Sony has quality has gone done in the last two years" LOL

Hello all,

Just wanted to know if there are optimal settings for 3D viewing rather than the default .
i'm viewing from the bluray s590 and it seems a bit blurry and laggy and the objects are not as detailed as i would have hoped.
it definitely hard to view for a prolonged period
I'm using the ps3 glasses

any ideas?

thx

this really has nothing to do with your question but i see more pop with reality creation set on while watching 3d..i have it set off for 2d...

Thx for response...
So i have to modify this setting on the 2d side ?

I thought the 3d settings were independant

ive been reading a bunch of articles about oled.. i def think we all made a good decision to get the 950 now and wait 5 or 6 years until oled has more content, better value and works out any issues that comes from this new tech..

More content?

What?! You never heard of the blu-OLED disc?

where is all the content for a 4k oled set, wise ass

For a while now Samsung and LG are planning to launch 55'' 1080p OLEDs, 4K OLEDs were shown at the CES 2013 for the first time and were only prototypes
http://www.techradar.com/news/television/hdtv/eyes-on-sony-and-panasonics-56-inch-4k-ultra-hd-oled-tvs-1123767

Expectation is that majority of larger sized mass produced OLEDs (+ 50'') will be 1080p TVs.

Gents,

I just posted this on the GT50 forum to get feedback as well-i hope that's ok. Wanted top get your thoughts as well. After a year of TV research I passed on 2011 sets finally pulled the trigger on a 60" GT50. I'm coming out of a 36" Toshiba CRT Cinema Series that i really liked. I have to say while I love the price and the size i'm left a little disappointed at how inconsistent the picture is depending on which channel I watch. I ran the slides as directed by Dnice for 200hrs and firmware is up to date. DirectTV just installed HD, a Genie, all fresh lines, and new dish.

I have tried 1080 and 720 settings, Dnice settings, other settings, and sitting 13 feet away. Some channels and movies look darn good although even the best pictures still seem a little dark and lack detail like the Sony and Sammy LED's i saw at BB. I can see how this would be great for a night viewing motion picture vibe or perhaps for Blue Rays. However being a regular TV show watcher, some of my favorite channels and every day TV shows are very inconsistent. I see blur and graininess on some content, so bad that it's worse than my old CRT. Even the best HD content still gets grainy at times-the foreground of the picture is clear but the background blurs out.

I have tried to use various settings gain more pop like an LED or my CRT ,but just like turning up the brightness...any degree of extra light coming through makes the picture very very grainy.

I'm wondering if i should return for a 55" HX950 but price and size are holding me back. Would an LED be more consistent from channel to channel? I know LEDS have their own issues too. Seems like top LED's have cleaned up the blooming and motion issues to a tolerable level and might be a bit more crisp. SI have seen Vizio's and lower line Sammy's that seem crisper with more pop. Anyone given up on a GT or VT 50 for an HX950? Would love your thoughts. Thanks much

As a owner of both a VT50 and a XBR950, and able to compare them side by side (before calibration and after calibration), me personally would NEVER give up a VT50 for a XBR950 if I didn't game alot (as the IR on the VT50 is worrisome for GAMING). For channels, I'll be honest, the VT50 is better than the XBR950. And FYI for both units, professional calibration is a must before you judge them.

I can not speak on a GT50. But if you trade in for anything, trade the GT50 for the VT50 so you can gain ISF calibration. Put 200 solid hours on the TV of careful non-static images, then call a high end professional local calibrator. ONCE calibrated, the VT50 will actually have a broader bandwidth (for lack of a better word).... it will be brighter cause the bandwidth gets "opened". It also will show darker areas darker = bandwidth opened.

This in turn will make the set look like the best picture possible on the market today IMO. It will portray a much more consistent picture and simply be doing what it was built to do. The GT50 does not have this ISF capabilities, so it can be calibrated, but the "bandwidth" will not get opened like it does with ISF software.

Remember, channels are probably the weakest link in any TV watching path. They are very inconsistent from their sources. The higher resolution and accuracy these newer tv's put out now-a-days just shows/exposes that a lot more. On our providers HD channels (comcast) I see night and day differences from some HD channels to the others. Add commercials to that and it gets even less consistent. On one channel that looks GREAT on the show, the commercials may look bad. Or even more funny, only SOME of the commercials look bad. Then on some channels that look bad all the time, sometimes the commercials look great ! But for the most part, channels that spit out a awesome looking picture all look the same awesome'ness. And channels that look bad, all look equally bad. And so on. To judge a TV by channel watching is just not fair nor accurate at all.

But from my experience, the VT50 is simply the best picture on the market right now. And don't forget if this is for a living room, ONCE your not dead center in front of a XBR950, the picture degrades and quality issues arise (fine for me in my bedroom playing games though !)... And it only gets worse the farther you go out. Once your past the edges of the tv, its not even the same picture to me, and basically depressing looking. Whereas the VT50 looks DEAD on the same no matter where you are at in the room ! Not only past the edges of the TV but literally all the way to the complete side !

Yes at the store the had a 65inch VT50 next Sony XBR 950 and once you move away from center Sony degrades. Very noticeable next to VT50.

Hey I really appreciate the feedback. Vert interesting stuff. That said in speaking to a lot of people and some top notch calibrators on this forum the VT is better but not by a ton to justify the price which is why I bought the GT. I'm starting the think i just don't like anything about plasmas besides the motion and price. Every LED I look at is much more crisp, more vibrant, has better shadow detail in the grays (and I saw them next to the VT), and doesn't get grainy at all. Im picking up a 950 tomorrow and running them side by side for for both games. I wish the Sony came in 60". Maybe I'll grab the Samsung 8000. I'm also wondering if I should pick up a new receiver that up converts? I will report back.

cmay91472: I purchased the Sony PS/3 3D glasses and I really do not like them at all. I find them claustrophobic and clunky. I much prefer the Sony TDGBR750 Titanium glasses:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FXQQZS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Im returning my 850 due to a dead pixel. Sucks cuz everything else is ok and only slight dse. No more in stock for an exchange and i wont pay an extra 1k for the 950 but i wish i could!