Sony XBR-HX950 Owners' Thread (XBR-55HX9​50 and XBR-65HX95​0) - Page 23

Anybody in here have any experience with the Xpand line of 3D glasses on Sony TV's? The x104's have a good review on Amazon for the HX929. Just wondering if anyone else has tried these and how they fared...

Hello everyone,
I joined this forum and looked for a thread about my new Sony XBR55HX950 to find out more about settings, usage etc.. I am just a regular user.. loves a great display and movies. I have been reading thru this thread till page 15 and it is almost depressing just how much there is being nit picked about this unit. Are there no "here is what I love about my tv and a few helpful hints while I am at it" ?
I only have this tv now for 3 days and it replaced the Panasonic VT50.. which, I was so unhappy with. The only time, I enjoyed that Plasma as in complete darkness watching BluRay content. I do have a well lit living room and knew that it is best watched in the dark, but I did not think it would be that bad. The glare and the less than impressive brightness of that tv, had me return it and go with this model.
So far, I am very happy with my x950.. What blooming I did see, did not bother me, since credits after watching a movie, is not something I care for.
What I do care for, is watching tv during the day and still loving the display and thinking, ok, that was money well spend.
I know, I am not providing much of a review .. but I did feel compelled to share my impression.
Mostly what I got from reading thru this thread was doubt that I indeed did buy a good tv (invested my money well) and the confidence that this tv will stand the test of time for the next 4-5 years.
You can make yourself crazy nitpicking over every aspect..
What I would like to hear from owners is.. are you happy with your purchase? What settings worked well for you and would you recommend this to your family and friends?
Please don't be too harsh on me about my post..
Peace
Bea aka Explorer

Explorer, congrats on your HX950. I've had a few weeks with my 55" HX950, and I'm still very happy with it. I'm much happier with it than my brief experience with a Panny VT50 before it.

When it is turned off, the monolithic design looks like a piece of art in the living room. When you turn it on, it displays images beautifully. I always sit front & center, so I'm not bothered by its off-axis performance dip. My only complaint is that there is some blooming, but it is well within my tolerances. You can minimize it with some of the settings. It has perfect pitch black blacks, bright whites, great color, flicker free (except when wearing 3D glasses), smooth, a very crisp image that is perfect for HTPCs & text, silent fans, etc. I wish it would have slightly less lag, or be able to go completely pitch black when in gaming mode, but that is relatively minor for my usage.

But with all that said, I'm still scratching my head wondering what is different between the HX950 and the HX929. The HX929 is a fine TV, too.

You should try the Playstation 3D glasses. I'm not kidding. Look at one of the reviews on Amazon for them. They are rated above the Xpands and above the BR250 by the reviewer. And I personally like them better than the fancy Ti glasses. Plus, they're CHEAP!

What didn't you like about the VT50 again, and DID THE VT50 have less crosstalk in 3D??

PS3 glasses are already in my cart... the xpands are the only other ones I could find that were polarized, tho. One review for the x104 claims "they have vertical and horizontal filters which eliminates the color shift and loss of 3d when tilting your head." Think I may get one pair of each for now to test them out.

Thank you Rizzo and Thank you for sending me the settings, I can not reply to your PM because of my new status .. I am only allowed 2 private messages a day.
Like you, I am not missing my VT50. I tried so hard to like that tv but in the end, after 25 days of use, back to Amazon it went.
I will post on a separate thread, what exactly I did not like on the VT50 and this odd issue showing up a few days prior to the return. I don't want to hijack the thread by changing the subject. :)too
The blooming I did notice, was no bother to me at all and I too sit front and center most of the time
I am glad that the stand turns for the occasional sun avoidance .. the VT50s stand was disappointing.. cheap plastic and it did not turn. (I had to order a swivel just to accommodate that part)
For me this model is a happy medium between soap opera effects of an older 46" Samsung (which is now in my son's room) and the seemingly dull plasma display.
During the day, I still have a great crisp bright image and at night its just stunning imo.

I purchased both the PS3 Glasses and the Sony TDG-BR250/B.. The jury is still out which pair I prefer.. I like both although I did notice a difference.
When hunting these down, look for an amazon warehouse deal.. I got my ps3 glasses for 27 dollars and the other pair for 32.. just keep your eye on the deals.
I also ordered the titanium glasses. They arrived before my tv did and I returned them immediately, the glare form the side rims was so distracting not to mention some odd gummy residue around the glass that if you run your fingernails over it, came peeling off. (Also a warehouse deal.. maybe I got a bad one?)

Do you find the 250 glasses have any less crosstalk than the Playstation ones? I know the Ti had more crosstalk than the PS ones.

I just upgraded to XBR-55HX950 from a 46XBR3 care of Hurricane Isaac. (Got a new Yamaha RX-A1020 to go along with the TV) . My XBR3 had a signal meter for aiming off air antenna on digital channels. However, I cant seem to find one on the HX950. Does anyone know if there is one if its just tucked away somewhere and hard to find? Thanks . For those that mess with OTA, I find this tuner is more sensitive then the XBR3.

I own the xpands 104's and they are the best 3D glasses for the 929 that i have used. No head tilt issues because they use horizontal and vetical filters. I've owned the 250's and 750's and neither were in the league of the Xpands. Plus they are light and fit well over glasses is you where them.

Thanks. I look forward to trying both the X104 and the PS3 glasses out. Now, if only my tv would ship so I could.

A fellow coonass! Lol...I live in Prairieville, but I'm originally from Cut Off. Way down south. Congrats on the 950..how are ya liking it so far? Sorry about the circumstances of how you got it. You guys got hammered over there. Hope it wasn't too bad. Luckily all we got was a three day power outage. I just recently put in my order for the 65 inch and I'm getting anxious. I want it now! Anyways, always good to run into a fellow Louisianian. If you don't have a solution by the time I get mine I'd be happy to jump in the settings and help you look around.

I have hook a Mac mini via hdmi. I tried playing a 1080p movie using vlc. The movie was very jerky. But on a plasma it is fine?

Review is lacking on solid info reads more like a Sony advertisement the only good point is:

The review was a bit light on details, but it was uplifting to see what he thought in comparison to the elite and edge lot sets.

I was at BB today and saw a 929 next to the 60" elite. The elite looked muted and I could see the pulsing everyone talks about on the elite too. The pulsing alone would drive me crazy. For the money and tech that it has, this will be the best bang for upper end sets I think for at least the next 7-10 months. I don't know of sharp will update the elite at CES. Every place I talk to says they hardly sell any.

I have the xpand 103 and 104 they worked perfectly for me. now all of a sudden i have to download a windows based app for them. i am confused. i am a a mac user. and i cannot get my tv to recognize them the 103's needed a new battery. i put it in and watched a movie. it was perfect. i put turned them on the next day and they would not show 3D. what gives? the 104's were perfect. i connected them to my mac and charged them. i turned them on and cannot use them xpand says they must download some exe file which does not work with mac. does anyone know what i am talkiing about.? i want them to work so much. they were great when i used them. weird.

"As a matter of fact, this set has less crosstalk, aka ghosting, than any other 3D television currently available."

What a bunch of BULL$@#@! The HX950 has serious crosstalk, its the main reason that I'm trying an ES8000 as well. I can tell you for a fact that the HX950 has MUCH more crosstalk than the Samsung E7000 Plasma. But then again, you have to deal with plasma problems. But the review's statement is completely ridiculous. I fully expect the ES8000 to have less crosstalk. But even if it does not, the statement is false, because of Samsung plasma, like I said. I could not see ANY crosstalk on that set, and I looked for it. Meanwhile I spotted it immediately on the Sony. I'm not saying the HX950 is not a keeper, but crosstalk is the most disappointing aspect of this set aside from the light vertical banding. Aside from these two issues the HX950 is more or less perfect. Also the minor issue of lacking MotionFlow for 3D games.

With Prometheus 3D, I had absolutely no "crosstalk". The quality was excellent.

Here is a raw image of a random 3D scene from Prometheus with Closed Captioning that stands away from the screen, and a view through the right lens to show the lack of crosstalk from the left image.

EDIT: While I don't see any crosstalk when vertical, the closed captioning does separate if you tilt your head >30˚.




Edited by jmjunker - 10/13/12 at 10:15pm

Avengers has plenty of crosstalk in certain scenes. Try the scene where Loki is in the foreground on some ship and you see his profile looking to the left. Tons of crosstalk on his whole outline. In any event movie crosstalk on the HX950 is minor, and almost invisible for motion scenes. But static image and especially 3D gaming are a crosstalk nightmare. Hence why I'll be testing the ES8000. If this Sony's idea of improved 3D, I hate to think what the 929 looked like. Maybe the 55" is better than the 65" or maybe I have a bum set. But 3D performance is my main disappointment on the HX950.

The Sharp Elite Pro models, as most reports quote, have deeper blacks and superior 3d handling than the Sony HX series. Its major problem, it seems, is the price. It's still in the pinnacle of LCD Tvs.

To me it seems a bit of a neutral review Rizz.

''Haloing seldom factored into the equation, except when there was bright light, such as a star, on a black background''
So when you are watching a space movie you will see a lot of haloing. When you watch a lot subtitles stuff (in Europe) there will also be a lot of haloing. <- not good

''Off-center viewing was typical for a LED/LCD television. Once you moved more than two chairs away from center the colors turned to dishwater, and the contrast didn't fare any better.'' <- not good.
The haloing/ off-center problem is not a big problem for most people, a lot of those who can't stand it will go Plasma.

I agree 100% and I agree that the statement regarding 3D qualities sounds like typically Sony hype.
My settings have reduced haloing to a minimum ( basically visible on scrolling credits against a black background) which doesn't bother me as I don't normally watch credits.

I can verify for you now that The Avenger's does have crosstalk on the ES8000. Watched that one a little over a week ago. Some parts were worse than others, and for some parts there was none at all, but there was most certainly crosstalk present throughout the movie. Watch a movie like Avatar in 3D on the HX950 and let us know what you come up with. This movie has the least amount of crosstalk I've seen on the es8000. Would be a better comparison for the 3D tech, I think.

Well after reading most of this thread I've come to the conclusion that the top plasma models from Panasonic and Samsung are still the best overall televisions on the market. Of course for some I can see how the Sony XBR-xxHX95​0 and Sharp Elite would be their top choice.

One comment caught my attention though, I'm paraphrasing here: why should one be limited to night viewing with their critical viewing? The keyword is "critical" and I would counter that with why wouldn't you want to do your "critical" viewing in the best viewing environment. If I'm waiting for a must see blu-ray I'm going to want to watch it in the evening (or pull the shades) to get the full effect. Not saying one shouldn't watch TV only at night as it's not critical that a NFL game be viewed in a dim environment. LED LCDs have an advantage in a bright environment but for me it comes down to utilizing a technology that shines in the proper environment as opposed to one that holds up better in a bright environment.

I do love the better clarity of LED LCD technology especially when watching SD content. But the video processing on some Samsungs are so exemplary even their plasmas have a crisp look to them that the Panasonics lack when watching less than HD sources. For me anyway plasma technology is easier on my eyes. But as someone pointed, plasma isn't an option for many on this board.

I have a Samsung plasma E7000 and a Samsung LED D7000. Yes, I understand the XBR-xxHX95​0 is in a different league than my edge lit Sammy.

Is it true that Sharp won't be coming out with a next generation Elite?
Edited by venus933 - 10/14/12 at 11:03am

Just got this TV out of the box, and default Game mode settings look good but not perfect. The colors look a bit dull, although that could just me being used to the VIvid setup on my last Sony (strangely, you can't pair Vivid with Game mode on this tv).

Has anyone figured out a good Game-mode based settings configuration? I'm looking for a bit more color and visual pop than the default settings give, but am afraid to mess with it too much myself, as I'm no good with AV settings.

I think it's questionable if the elite will be updated at CES or not. I did got to best buy adm see a elite exhibiting the pulsing many talk about. I would have thought it was failing by looking at it. My takeaway from the elite is its a money maker for Sharp and they put cheaper parts in it such as the IR sensors failing and powering up issues. Plus the color cyan that is minor and the DSR make it'd just that much worse. The last thing is they have mortgaged the company and are trying to stay afloat. Sharp is a great company, but there are too many question marks at that price point. And the elite is the only set image wise I'd buy from them if the other issues were resolved.

And Samsung has nice panels, but I've had 3 failures from Sammy in my family over the last 3 years. All sets were under 3 years old and couldn't be repaired. That is bad in and of itself, but calling Samsung sealed the deal when they were very rude over the phone.

I've got two Panny plasmas that are good image wise, but the IR, heat, and poor whites are all downers of the tech.

The 950 has blooming, but the motion handling, contrast and price point are good in my opinion.

I love it so far. Apparently my calibrated eye ball isnt as keen as some of the guys on here. A lot of my friends and family use this site and we have always said take some things on here with a grain of salt. Other then 3D which I havent viewed yet, I see nothing wrong. Coming from a XBR3 that was 6 years old, I cant believe how much better XBOX 360 looks, 1080P blu-ray, and OTA antenna picking up local HD. I have D* coming Thursday to to fix my System. They bringing the new HR34. So we'll see how that looks. But my family that has seen it so far and have HD TV's themselves or wow'd by it and nothing but compliments. I kinda wish I waited for the 65", but NEw Orleans AV said it would be a couple of weeks and had the 55 now. I needed a TV now, so I jumped on it.