The Official Kd-34xbr960 Thread - Page 16

CC has a 30 day return policy.... if they refuse, Just return it and get the same deal again (and this time put the 6600dp on the same receipt)

wonder if an inline DC block would cure the scan lines on SD with Audio
i'm also going to get a Terminator for the unused Rf input

Congrats on the good deal. FYI - Amex doesn't double the factory warranty, it extends it for up to one year. Since the XBR sets come with a 2-year factory warranty Amex will give you an additional year.

I would love to see a picture of the back of the 960. I would like to see if it will fit in my current TV stand.

Thanks!!!

gundyrat1,

Which terminator are you going to use on the unused RF input?

I was thinking about the same thing, but have not done much research yet.

Were you going to use it on the Terrestial Antenna input or the Cable TV input. I will be using CableCard, so the antenna input is what I need to 'cap-off'.

2 questions on this:

-Has anyone played with the DRC settings in analog/sd?

-Has anyone confirmed crappy picture using built in HD tuner? I only saw analog/sd with component in from a DTV receiver using an OTA antenna patched through it.

bob

What is HTIB, regarding a rebate? I wentot my local dealer and watched a 910. IT looks like the analog signals go through the digital circuitry and then you get it on the screen. I would bet that is what you are seeing on the 960 also. Is it any better with a DTV input signal, versus analog OTA?

S

What is the deal with the ANTI REFLECTIVE COATING?

Here's a product page for the KV34XBR910:

[can't post url yet cuz i'm a noob - coming soon]

notice the first bullet point under features:

*A/R Anti Reflective Coating

which is listed ahead of that other thing that made this set so awesome - the Superfine Pitch CRT

So I'm a bit concerned because none of the information we've seen on the KD34XBR960 so far indicates that there is and Anti Reflective Coating. Do any of the new owners know what the deal is?

It looks like there's an anti-reflective coating to me.

Just a couple of notes on the 34XBR960 that I have only played around with for a few hours:

As has been mentioned, the default setting under the Video/Mode menu is "Vivid" which is pretty horrible, even with DVD's. I used "Pro" but Standard looked better with SD TV, I think. However, as I think someone recommended, the brightness setting with Pro needs to be turned up.

I changed the color temperature to Neutral which also looked better. Under Color Axis, I changed it to "monitor" in order to reduce the red push.

I have not figured out the ClearEdge and DRC Palette yet. I didn't notice any differences with these features.

Analog TV looked pretty bad at first, but when changing the Video Mode to Pro or Standard, it looked better. Also, I turned down the sharpness which also helped but this lower level of sharpness didn't look as impressive with HDTV.

HDTV looked unbelievable. Even my wife, who thought this was all a waste of time and money, was quite impressed. We watched a program about Rome tonight on PBS and it was amazing. DVD's also looked great.

The top of the TV has enough space for my Ascend center speaker which weighs 26 pounds and is 7.5" x 21" x 10.5". If I had young kids, I would probably want to secure it better, but it seems fine for now.

So far, I am very happy with the purchase. The size is perfect for my 13x16 foot room which is dedicated to home theater since my viewing distance is only 7 feet or so.

so it's something you can actually see?

So I guess I need to have three posts before I can post urls.

http://www.dynaco.com/Merchant2/merc...ry_Code=TVto40

yeah... so there you go. Odd that it would be something Sony would touting as an important feature for the 910 and then no mention of it at all for the 960

Anti-Reflective coating.
From what I can find on Sony's website and in the "960" manual it is not referred to as such. I think that Sony may consider that phrase "out-dated" or already implied. Like here: "Sony's FD Trinitron picture tube is set apart by outstanding clarity and detail, pinpoint corner-to-corner focusing, minimal glare and accurate image reproduction. These come from Sony's Fine Pitch Aperture Grille, a High Focus Electron Gun, a Flat Glass Panel and Sony's High-Precision Deflection Yoke."
This was from their website. Here.
In the manual it is refered to as follows:
"Presenting the Trinitron WEGA"
"The FD Trinitron Wega is characterized by outstanding contrast, uncompromising accuracy, and corner to corner detail.
You will recognize the superiority of Wega technology almost immediately. The first thing you will notice is minimal glare from the flat picture screen." The flat-screen technology improves picture detail without distortion.....so you can enjoy a bright, clear picture from any location in a room."
This was taken from page 9 of the KD34XBR960 manual.

What I believe Sony is saying (IMHO), is that their technology implies anti-reflective is used on their flat screen tubes.

A 75ohm coax "F" type terminator and i'll put it on the cable Side.

I received my Cobalt Componant cables today Naturally I didn't order the right size on the short run from the DVD player to my VSX-49TX,
took a little bit before I figured out why I had sound but no picture.

I also replaced that thin push-on type cheapo RF cable for an RG6.
Well I now have no OTA channels I guess that cheapo wire was radiating like an Antenna.
So now with the SAT( Non HD) on going just thru the RF I do not have the half cocked horizontal scan lines anymore and the Noise in the picture is also gone.
Running through the HT Receiver now on the 960's Video input 5 all others are skipped everything now runs to the TV via the Componant cable.
The DVD player really didin't improve much. Cannot decide which is better Auto progressive or just full on progressive on the DVD player menu.
The VHS looks remarkably better and the Laser disc player Is now at the WOW level.

The sat dish however is watchable it just isn't that impressive its only 9yrs old maybe I need to move up to a HD model.
Not sure what direction to go though Stay the Course and plunk down another 799 like my current model was Priced 9yrs ago or Try Voom or the Dishnet
What ever I get I must have an RF capable remote!
and then put an Antenna Farm on the roof for the local stuff that will get dropped from Directv shortly.

As for the question asked about Analog vers Digital OTA reception If you can get everything Digital block all the Analogs everything looks better on the Digital side SD 480i HD 480P and 1080i

I was in a panic after reading the posts regarding SD to take delivery of my new 960 today. I bought it through the Sony employee program which does not allow returns. I do a majority of my watching of SD content. Therefore, I was horified that the picture would be terrible. Have no fear, the Directv channels look great after you play with the DRC settings. I have HiDef Tivo. Initially the picture wasn't great. Then I outputued all of the SD stuff via 480i and let the 960 DRC take over and the picture is amazing. Far better detail than my previous XBR analog set that I have had for the past 10 years. The wide zoom mode even looks great. Just make sure that you have the satellite receiver set to 16:9 first and you should be very happy. The folks that have concerns must not have a good Directv signal.

The HiDef and DVD's are beyond description. The antiglare screen is a joy and does not take away from the screen brightness or contrast at all. This is the best picture that I have seen and am very happy all the way around.

Don't worry if you have Directv. Any other source, I could not say as I know that cable signals are not as good as a whole.

Thanks for the post Trojanlaw. I like so many others have seen terrible non-HDTV images on this set; however, I have been waiting for someone to test this set with the best Non-HDTV signal available, DirecTV. Could you explian a liitle about what you did to get the great image from DirecTV? When you say outputed all the SD stuff via 480i, what does this mean? I would assume that you would connect the DirecTV set top box to the XBR960 and set the DirecTV box to 480i, is their any other option for non-HDTV? Was the DRC adjustmetns critical? Thanks.

Thanks for the post Trojanlaw. I like so many others have seen terrible non-HDTV images on this set; however, I have been waiting for someone to test this set with the best Non-HDTV signal available, DirecTV. Could you explian a liitle about what you did to get the great image from DirecTV? When you say outputed all the SD stuff via 480i, what does this mean? I would assume that you would connect the DirecTV set top box to the XBR960 and set the DirecTV box to 480i, is their any other option for non-HDTV? Was the DRC adjustmetns critical? Thanks.

Trojanlaw or RJB: Comments on DVDs, especially compared to DVDs on the 910??

The 960 is a bit smoother and has much more pop on the screen if you want it. The picture literally jumps at you if you set it right.

With regard to Directv, I must modify my post above. First, the picture does require alot of playing around with through the picture mode and drc. After that, the PQ depends a lot on the quality of the channel. I had only watched about four SD channels before posting above. There are many other channels, however, that are not as good. They can still look very good from four feet away, however, you can see artifacts and edges if you are within four feet. The picture on an analog set will be much smoother for these SD channels, however, I have found that even without the smoothness, the 960 makes these channels much more 3D and much more vibrant. The adjustments to Picture Mode and DRC are essential for the bad channels to look good, but it can be done. I have not found a single channel that is "Unwatchable" as many have posted. It is important to note that I have not found any additional distortion going with the Wide Zoom mode. Accordingly, you can watch everything ion wide screen with a good picture for the SD stuff.

In short, if you have a strong Directv signal, don't panic about the SD channels. The 960 can handle them. Its all subjective though.

There should be no dispute that this is the best picture your money can buy with regard to HD content or DVD playback. It is amazing.

At first, I was disappointed in the picture quality of DVDs since the picture was set to "Vivid". However, once I changed to Pro or Standard and increased the brightness, it looked great. I am very satisfied with the picture quality of DVDs. Of course, the picture quality is not as amazing as that of HDTV, which now makes me want to either get one of the new upscaling DVD players or hope for an early coming of HD DVD. I am currently using a several year old progressive scan DVD player. Turning off the progressive scan results in a noticeable decrease in picture quality, especially the color intensity, so I would definitely recommend someone go with at least a progressive scan player.

Sorry, I can't compare the 960 to the 910 since I never saw the 910 playing DVDs.

With regard to comments on poor SD pictures due to "weak" DirecTV signal, and purportedly better picture with "strong" DirecTV signal, please be advised that DirecTV is digital. It's either you have it perfect, or you don't. A true weak signal will result in frequent dropouts, freezes, or just a blank screen. But that has nothing to do with picture quality that people are complaining about.

For those that wonder about the picture quality differences between 910 and 960, as though you are trying to make to new-purchase decision, please just remember that people will make subjective comments, baseless for the most part. You'll need the two TVs side by side, under the same lighting condition, calibrated to the same standards, and showing the same video program. I doubt any poster here would have that setup before commenting.

If you are in a market for a new 34" tube HDTV, then get the 960. It is a better value-added TV compared to the 910. Picture quality should be at least as good as the 910, although at this point, I am still extremely skeptical about claims that the 960 somehow looks better without more data on the test setup and evaluation methodology.

Anyone on the East coast get the 960 yet?

This may be true but the specific DirectTV tuner/dish you use has a significant impact on PQ. I just bought my dad a new DirectTivo to replace one of the standard tuners he had and the PQ improved dramatically (on a standard 4:3 analog 32" set) with the new gear...for some reason the Tivo required a new dish too so this migh have been part of it. Bottom line is that digital may be digital, but the equipment that gets it from the air to your screen makes a significant difference.

I had mine delivered last Saturday and others have gotten it as well. I don't know if they're in the stores yet, however.

I asked for a picture of the back of the 960, but now all I want is a description. I know the documentation say the back is 25 inches in length, but I wanted to know what percentage of the back is the little tube.

This is a view from the top( I know I can't draw)

Front Back
|====|
| XXX |||| <-- Little tube in back
|====|



Thanks!!!

Mine is in the local freight terminal

How many tuners and of which type does the xbr960 have?

Can I for instance use an OTA antenna on one RF input to tune in ATSC and NTSC channels, and have the 2nd RF input connected to cableTV and tune QAM channels that the Cable Co's STB would normally tune?

How does the Cable card interact with the tuner(s)?

There is one on display at CC in Princeton, NJ. And it is on Sale at CC till Sat. 7-17. I had them look in inventory and there was something like 27 in the warehouse ready to be shipped to the stores on Thur.

The tube tapers back but not as much as I would have thought. The height in the back is still 22.5" and the width is 20" at it's minimum. The lower half of the back is inset slightly so the cords can fit easily underneath, but the inset is only about 2"