Sony 34XBR910 Reviews - Page 3  

NTN1
Really good review thanks, this is what we need some firsthand eyes on
Congrats on your purchase it sounds like this is a keeper I look forward to more insight.

NTN1,

Congrats on the new 910. Your observations confirm what I've only suspected for several months, and look forward to reading your posts on HD PQ w/this TV. I can only imagine how that Super Fine Pitch tube will handle a 1080i signal. Just makes my eyes water w/envy! Enjoy and good luck.

cajieboy
What do you have some kinda mind mel on me. I concur

Dnine,

Yeah, I perfected my Vulcan Mind Meld technique in the early 70's! This Sony 910 seems to be the first real HD TV to come to the US. I say "real" because it provides a more true HD resolution display that's been in Japan for years, but never before exported to the US. I recently read another post on this fact, and believe it to be true. Japanese consumers have had these high resolution monitors for quite some time. In the late 90's, I happen to see one of the Japanese HDTV's at a special exhibit touring a State Fair. This 910 seems to resemble that Japanese HD TV more than anything I've seen to date. Can't wait to read & see more.

Is the 910 made in Mexico like the 800? Where is the "40 made? Ever since
the almighty dollar beat the crap out of the Yen Japan can't afford to make
these sets in there own Country anymore plus NAFTA didn't help to much
I guess it depends on which side of the fence your sitting on that one though. I don't think the Quality control is there anymore at least not like it
was when we were invaded buy Walkmans and CD's

NTN1, thanks for getting your review to press quickly. It corroborated what I saw at CC., particularly the "red push" problem. Sometimes I have to bracket out comparisons, opinions, and/or ideas about something and look at it with a "beginners mind", so to speak. I'm curious....does the flat black around the tube help your viewing experience at all?

I have just pulled myself off the bed, after staying up 'til near 6AM this morning scrutinizing my 910 picture.

Quick day time comments:

It's mostly cloudy in Boston today. However, my TV was able to catch some sun. The screen is 9 ft away from a big south-facing, no curtain picture window. Sun light is in the room, on the ivory leather sofa, 6 ft away from the screen. Good news, this set rocks even in the day at "Standard" brightness setting. Well, I mean it's completely viewable. The reflection of the sun light hitting the sofa on the 910 screen is much, much less than what I saw on my 27in SD Sony that was at the same place. Much due to the diffused purple tint of the reflection.

The above observation about day-time picture brightness is subjective. But I think for most people, this TV is usable if they set it at "Vivid" mode.

Sorry I have to get something to eat, then get on the roof to setup that all-important antenna (Channel Master 3021). Have to hurry up because the rain comes later this afternoon. I can't wait to see how this TV display OTA HD signal. Like I have said, I don't trust the compressed *D*'s HD signals, although they look absolutely fabulous on the 910. I only trust OTA HD to judge this TV for now. Of course, if I could find true HD-DVD, then I would use that as reference signal, but it's not available.

Flat dark gray trim around the picture:
This TV is very well constructed, and very solid to carry around. The flat gray trim is a must because it doesn't relect ambient light. Sony engineers are thinking here. Of course, people who like to see reflection on or off the screen will be disappointed because the flat gray trim of the 910 doesn't reflect like the glossy black.

Bottom line, you get the same Sony quality with this TV as with any other Sony's.

Thanks for the early review. I hope to get my 910 within the week.

Any chance you could attach a scan of the receipt from Circuit City so I could use it to get a price match.

Unfortunately, the scan attached to the review is unreadable when it prints out.

NTN1
Keep it coming I think a food break is reasonable as long as you don't plan on cooking (takes to much time) How is DVD viewing and which DVDs are
you using as reference material? Spiderman is good, any superbit? I always
thought the first Blade was one great DVD for viewing. one more question
I don't know if this was answered already are the bars Grey or black in 4.3
and how is the stretch mode, alright that's two. Thankyou again for taking
the time out to give some excellent opinionated facts, if there is such a thing.

Dude, he doesn't have a DVD player...

I have a question though, NTN1, did you speak to a specific salesman at the Salem store? If I can get his name then I won't need your receipt when I get there in September, he should remember the deal he gave you. I'll give the guy a call next week just to remind him and let him know I'll be dropping buy in September to buy one from him. Thanks.

I've been an 34-xbr800 owner for about 9 months, and have had a chance to view the new 910 side-by-side with the 800 at circuit city. Both sets were running the in-store HDTV feed, connected with component cables. I'll try to answer the question many xbr800 owners are asking: "did I make a mistake in purchasing the 800? Is my TV now inferior?"

Well, I wouldn't say inferior, but the degree to which the 910 looks better than the 800 is directly correlated to your viewing distance. At 5 feet, you'll definitely see the 910's super fine pitch screen is better. Solid areas of color look...solid. On the 800, you'll see the vertical stripes of color with black in between, not solid.

However getting out around 8 feet, the difference really drops off. I did a good 15 minutes of continuous viewing at 8.5 feet, which is the viewing distance for my 800 at home. Here, you really had to scrutinize to see the difference in picture. Yes, the 910 was still better, but only slightly so. Also, I didn't think the light output difference was as drastic as some people have described it. Using the default standard, movie, and pro picture modes, the 910 was only moderately less bright.

So there you have it. If I was viewing my 800 at a 5-6 foot distance, I'd start looking for people to sell it to, and get the 910!

On a practical note, the 910 has one negative that the 800 does not. The top of the 910 is not flat, it slopes down towards the front of the set a little. This would make a less stable base for a center channel speaker. The 800 has a completely flat surface on top.

I'm going downstairs now to enjoy my 800, and remind myself I need to be satisfied with a $2000 television set!

Thanks for the great reviews.

I'm a newbie. What is overscan, and how does it affect viewing?

z0dd,
http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/learn.../overscan.html

Ok I guess he can't play a DVD then, we should sue.
sue who?
sue you!
sue me!
yeah!
why would you sue me?
because.
because why?
your a Lawyer.
so?
so I can sue you!
......... Jerky boys.

Too late. I've already got a bad case of dot pitch envy. (Maybe there's some ointment that can be taken for this.)

However, if it makes anyone feel better, I take back the Star Trek remarks. The 910 doesn't look that Star Trek... and I oughta know.

Sincerely, J-L Picard

NTN1,

The remarks are appreciated. Pls keep em comin, as DNINE said. I'm sure 1080i will look cherry. Save some room on your Xmas/Hannakuh/Kwanzaa list for a DVI STB though. I just sorta have the feelin that'll put an add'l exclamation point on the whole rig, after a few kinks are worked out.

J-L Piccard converses with Hal

Hi folks, just got my 910 delivered by CC today. Purchased yesterday and the delivery guy said my set was the third 910 delivered in the Orlando area. What a set. The PBS demo from Brighthouse was just mesmerizing. I have never seen anything sooooooooo clear and three dimensional in my life. This set is a pure winner. I just feel so fortunate in getting one. My bet is this one will be tough to find in the near future.

Holy crap, you're in Orlando? I'm thinking about buying the 910 this afternoon. Can I come over and watch TV with you (and raid your fridge)?

jjakaitis
Congratulations on your brand new state of the art Sony TV and welcome,
as you know it is mandatory for anyone who has just acquired this unit to
keep us informed (if you can manage to pull away from it long enough)
of any and all findings other then that you have the right to enjoy and
be happy.

Post your questions and I'll try to answer them for you. You must remember that I just received this set this PM and am still getting accustomed to the manual. I'll try to answer all questions. I will tell you this I have seen grey bars and black bars on this set in 4:3 mode. DVD pictures are soft since I have not made any adjustments to the set.I am using a Pioneer Elite DV-38A player The TV is currently running in vivid picture mode.

Vivid mode?! Oh no, I'd recommend not using that mode. It does the most altering of the image than any of the other picture modes. It has a way of ruining details and it tends to emphasize the compression artifacts on DVD or HDTV. You should check out the 34-xbr800 FAQ for info on the best picture settings to use.

In my experience with the '800, A well-calibrated pro mode is best for DVDs while standard or movie looks nice for video-sourced HDTV.

Of course, you can do whatever you want, it's your set!

I went and played with a set today in lousiville ky cc. I can't wait to get one!! ...but I'm suprised I'm saying that after seeing what I saw...

Q's:

Has anyone tried a MEMORY STICK in it yet? I had one w/ pics on it and the 910 wouldn't recognize my mem stick, though the 510 beside it displayed the pictures fine. The salesman was confused as well.

The graphical elements of the set, the menu's, lables, and mem stick menu's were blurry. The 510's menus were crisp (as in you could see the pixels that make up the letters, but the 910 was blurred, anti-aliased if you will). There were some other inconsistancies w/ what one would call the "focus". The salesman noted that it looked a little funny as well. THOUGH the HD feed was perfect looking. Do other 910s' menus look the same as the one I saw? (anti-aliased)


Unfortunately they didnt have component HD going into the 510, just SD/ntsc. The 510 looked better on the tuner, but I can't give that any validity b/c cc's signals are so funky - the 910's antenna feed had bad ghosting.

The set is a bit bigger than the 510/800 (the frame around the tube). I always thought the 800 was large (compared to other brands' 34" direct views). But the 910 was even bulkier, BUT the black was nice and diminished the effect.

The remote is virtually the same as the 510/800. I really wish it was like the remote that I played with that was on the sony LCD display (it was a sweet aluminum remote which was BEAUTIFUL - but on a $5000 display what do you expect... ??? I want an aluminum remote on a $2300 set, too!).

With all that being said, I still walked out of there drooling at the 910. If it had said "$1999 introductory price" as in another 910 thread, I would have probably bought it on the spot.

That's my in store impression. I'm glad I saw it.

Can anyone answer my menu and memory stick questions?

Well I bought one today after not looking at it very long. CC in San Jose Stevens Creek is selling it for $1999 today only. I got them to include delivery instead of charging $40 extra.

I didn't think about the menus or the memory stick. I did hear the other day that Sony was coming out with a new memory stick format where it would have 256 or 512 MB capacity and higher bandwidth than most flash media for streaming videos from camcorders and such.

The price was so shocking that I played with it only briefly and didn't really compare it much to the HS510, which was not next to it, but some RCA 34" and some 4:3 sets and it defintely was sharper and not too dark.

It was set on Vivid but I tried the other modes and didn't seem too dark in the brightly lit store interior.

What is astounding is that they can get OTA reception down in San Jose through an indoor antenna and a Zenith tuner (going for $400). They also had some kind of amplifier by Motorola between the antenna, which looked like a Silver Surfer (arrowhead) and the Zenith. There was no HDTV programming on this Sat. afternoon but there was plenty of SDTV broadcasts which they were receiving without any probs.

Want to wait for the HD Direct Tivo but may have to get an OTA-only tuner or Comcast once MNF starts up.

Guys, if I pay the $40 home delivery thing and I end up returning the set within 30 days, will they refund the $40? I highly doubt it, but thought I'd ask.

Also, does this set do 720p? I can't find that out anywhere...

I made sure they won't charge me for delivery or pickup if I choose to return.

Wco81, I tried haggling out of the delivery stuff, no go. Maybe if I say I'll pick up a DVD player, we'll see.

Just got back from CC, bought the 910 $100 off normal price ending today 8/16. I called to see if they had it, the guy said "yes" come on down. When I told him to ring it up, he said they didn't have it in stock. Really. I ran back home surfed Sony and CC website to see if I can save money on taxes and have it delivered. No, both charged tax. Sony with free delivery gave no indication WHEN to expect it. CC has free delivery advertised EXCEPT TV's over 30". I ran back to CC after I told the guy I wanted free delivery, normally $40, no problem, will be here Thurs. I told him to make sure enough was in stock in Orlando and I expect it Thurs. It better be here Thurs.

Oh, I asked him on the initial call if he had the stand too, "yes, we have the matching stand". No, they had the 800 stand. I pressed him to find out about the stand, he said after "investigating" that Sony doesn't even know when the stand will be available, but he quoted me a price of $449.
The $130 Z-line with two Tempered glass shelves looked fine, wife doesn't want silver though, so off to the furniture store for probably a $1500 piece of furniture!

Great forum, I believe you guys when you said the 910 is the way to go.

Now, I need some more help. I am starting all over in this AV game beginning with the 910.

I need a DVD player with DVI capability, what do you recommend? The Bravo D1 on the other thread?

I'm new to HDTV and the rest of this good stuff, my cable company has a subscription for HD signals, or do I buy an HD-tuner?

What else to get me started?

I will reciprocate on providing info on the 910 as soon as I get it.

Thanks,
MONGO1

This set does 480p, and 1080i. It will accept a 720p signal, but convert it to 1080i.

After much preparation and a hard day's work, I finally finished installing the antenna (Channel Master 3021), and running the cable from the roof to the basement, then to the living room and bedrooms. I am now getting all of the Boston's DT channels at 100% signal strength. On and off, I have been watching OTA HD from two networks that are broadcasting HD programs at the moment: PBS's HD demo loop + Soundstage, and CBS' The District. Early impression is that some, not all, PBS demo clips produce the best pictures on the 910. I'll comment on the OTA HD later because I need more time to observe. Right now, I can't help flipping between ESPN HD's Bills vs Titans football game, and Discovery HD's Greatest Fireworks On Earth. Both on the heavily-compressed *D*.

ESPN HD color level seems very strong. The socks on the Bill's players have an unhealthy red glow, usually associated with the red push problem. I haven't seen this on other HD channels. There you have it, the 910 may have a slight red push. This one is a no brainer to fix in the service menu if it bothers you. It's a non-issue.

The fireworks show on Discovery HD is just absolutely stunning on the 910. It's as close to watching the real thing as you can get. The fine pitch screen faithfully reproduces every little light particles of a fireworks' explosion, accompanied by subtle color details. Again, it's on *D*. I know for sure the fireworks would look even better OTA, such as PBS-DT.

Will switch back to PBS demo loop after the HD football game.

I too get the best HD from the PBS Loop. Really outstanding. Someone told me this is because PBS is actually filmed in HD. Does anyone know for sure?