Sony KDF-55/60XS955 owners thread - Page 3

I had these problems when I first set up my set... I watched one of the Star Wars movies and in a dark scene Darth Vader's outfit blended into the background.

After experimenting, I found that I could tweak the black levels much better when my DVD player was set in Interlaced mode (480i). In that mode, the player passed pluge and I could tell the set where where black "ended" without going too dark.

If you have access to a DVD with the THX optimizer, check to make sure your DVD is set for interlaced and check out the THX tests... they will get you in the ballpark for a much improved movie picture.

Feedback from y'all.....
I've had my eye on the Sony LCD projection series for some time. Saw some great looking DLPs, (thought the Tosh beat out the Sammy but not by much) and others.
The CC near us had the older (non X) Sony 50" unit playing an extract from Fox Sports on the Superbowl, in HD.
Incredible! I could eat the colors!
I have been trying hard to like the Mits and Sony CRT-RPTVs and no matter how hard I try, and they do look very good for the price, they seem to say, "This picture is being projected from the rear...."
It's very hard to explain. But I can look at a DLP or LCDRP and it does not look that way at all.
If I tried hard, very close up, I could begin to see SDE. But at normal viewing distance, nothing but a bright colorful and sharp picture.
Up to this point I can not really see anything consistently better than the Sony except for a plasma.
Also, in reading all these posts, the Sony seems to have the fewest unsatifsfied customers, returning sets, etc.
The WAF is high on this one too...

I have the 60XS955. Anyone having problems with the info screen popping up during operation? This has happened several times while watching cable and playing XBOX.

Hi as a consumer you have to make an informed judgment.The CRT are good sets however it is my understating that the majority of manufactures will cease production June 2005.
The other types of sets DLP and LCD have become too popular and a lot easier to move than the crt.
I would suggest that you go to a store that has a 30 day refund policy and make your purchase.
Also have a cable or analog signal put through the set.This will show the worst of the particular set you are contemplating.HD picture in the majority of sets is terrific it is suppose to be 6 times the resolution and colour of the analog set.

As I have stated in previous posts I settled on the 60 in xs very happy with the purchase and performance of the set. The wf series is cheaper most of the time by about $500.00 but some members have reported a diferrance of 1 or 200.The WF has a few less features mostly in fine tuning the picture but still has great performance as all the sony lcd sets. I would suggest that you go to www.sonystyle.com and compare the sets one on one.

It happened once, and separately on my son's hitachi (more so with him playing PS/2). My theory is there is some radio frequency interference that causes the remote to transmit.
Solution? point the remote away from the TV when not using it. I'm not kidding, and let me know if this works since my sample size is one.

Thanks, James! That has to be one of the most objective replies I've read in a long time. Especially coming from an Sony 'owner'. It's appreciated.

After writing the post last night, I am bed reading my latest issue of HTMag.
They have assembled a budget system sans display. Finishing off the system, they have $3000 left for the TV.
The editors recommend these two:

Plasma: Panasonic TH-42PD25

or

LCDTV: Sony KDF-50WE655

My choice for my system: the 50" Panny or the X version of the Sony, the 55" model.
I would find it hard not to have the X version. I am a born tweaker.

As I get closer in my decision I will get demos with SD broadcast as well as my own DVDs ....thanks again.

Videoaddik

Unless you have a really small room say away from the 42 inch you will regret buying it in that size.
The Sony website recommend minimum viewing distance for the 55in and 60 inch 7.8 feet that surprises a lot of people
Many people believe it should be 10to 12 ft not the case.

At present I watch my from 7ft and 9 ft and I encounter no problems.
You will hear complaints about the silk screen affect or the black crush but you really have to look for that, the overall performance of the set outweighs the so called deficiency of the LCD models.

If your budget allows go for the 60 in.

In Canada I believe you can no longer get the Panny LCD only the DLP and one time both were available.
The Panny is a good set I have heard many good reviews about it.
What this boils down too is do you prefer a chevy or Ford or more appropriately do you prefer a Chrysler on a Buick.

I have a 60xs and have this problem 3 times. When turning on the tv, the screen is full of snow. You can hear sound and barely see the picture through the snow. If I turn the set off for a while it fixes the screen and pictures look fine. Anyone else have this problem????

I was only citing the 42" Panasonic(Plasma not LCD) as a technical review recommendation from HTM. The 50" would have been out of THEIR planned budget.
For size and distance I am looking at 55". 50" minimum if I went with the Panny .. my distance is about 9-10'. I agree, no way anything less than 50" would do it.

Others have mentioned this... It has happened to me 2 times since owning the set for over 6 weeks. Once I was watching a DVD and other times I was watching Tivo.

Folks,

I've had the 60XS for almost 2 months now. Overall, VERY satisfied w/ the set. HD is as usual, killer! My question to you is for SD.

I'm seeing jaggies on lines that should be straight, almost banding if i had to describe it. for example, on some shows, if there's an armchair, the arms of hte chair where its curved look jagged.

I just got my dad a 60WF and saw similar banding/jaggies and he has a different cable company.

ANyone seen this???

Aceman

You do not say what your signal source is. I anticipate that you are not working on the cable card. There are some problems with the cable card and it reacting with different cable companies.

1.The problem could be caused by an intermittent signal getting to the set. Check the cable leads and make certain the outer mesh cable which is under the plastic cable covering is grounded to the chrome ring at the end of the terminal. In other words your signal cable is not grounded properly.

2. The ant button to the right of the channel button on the remote will put the picture into snow where there is no signal. It usually leaves a header bar on the screen. Make certain that this button is not getting pressed accidentally.
When you get a signal press the button and see what happens to the tv.


3.Top right on the remote below the power button tv/video try that and scroll through the eight options that you have.

4. Re program the tv with all the channels that is provided by your cable or satellite provider.This could take up to 60 minutes

5. Check all connections on the back of the set to make certain there is a snug fit on them

6. Check to make certain that the cable connection is attached to the cable terminal on the back of your set not the antennae terminal.



I have given you some trouble shooting ideas and if all else fails contact Sony help line and if they can not help
perhaps it may be time for a service call.
There were some issues with the tuner mentioned on the sticky for GWIV
about a month ago but I don recall what they were but Sony was interested in them because this is a new tuner for the model year.

I noticed this lately... I'm thinking it might be the DRC mode. Mine was set to Cinemotion, which adjusts the 3:2 pulldown. I changed mine to Full Density mode for moving images. I don't know if it was the cause... haven't watched enough yet to notice.

Me too. I've had mine since early Nov. 2004 and it has done it maybe six or seven times. I think this is a known problem with firmware. The rumor is that Sony is aware of it and working on a firmware fix.

How do we check firmware version on XS? What is latest?

It happened to me once in very limited viewing. I found a simple fix though: push display on the remote.

I have this problem too sometimes. I don't suppose there's any chance the firmware is user upgradable..

I have only had my set for 4 days now. I have seen the info screen pop up several times. I cannot say whether it was user error, remote error, or something else. I bought a univrsal remote that is not very useable with 55XS955 (Harmony 658). I will keep an eye out to see if I can figure out if I caused it or if it is the remote.

If anyone has a recommendation for a good universal remote for this TV, it would be appreciated.

What's the problem with the remote? I have a 688...

Here is my issue with the remotes:

Sony (came with the TV)
1. Horrible IR signal to the HD. If it is not pointed right at the lower right corner nothing happens.
2. To navigate inputs, I have to press teh button a gazillion times.
3. Cheap

Harmony 659
1. Works very inconsistantly.
2. Does not power on my DVD player unless I use an Activity key
3. If component mapped to the Activity key is turned on, pressing the Activity key turns it off. Pressing it again turns the TV off, but the component on. Very annoying
4. You have to scroll through a multitude of menus by pressing Next to get to the button you want. Once there, they don't work.
5. Very slow response time from pressing the button and the signal being sent.

I have to admit, I have not done more tweaking that simply setting up the remote the first time. I am going to be taking this one back anyway. The cost is just too high. I was at Best Buy and decided to try it out knowing I can return it in 30 days with no hassle. I can get it online for more than 50% off of what I paid for it (approximately $75). To me, $75 is $75.

I saw my info screen on my XS show up once. I noticed it happen when there was a glitch in the Time Warner broadcast of some HD channel. I'm wondering if this is the problem that everyone is seeing.

Yep, I use a Sony RM-VL900 instead and it has a much stronger IR emitter.

Regarding navigating inputs, you can have the TV skip unused inputs by labeling the input "Skip". Or, if you have the VL-900, you can jump to a specific input by pressing Video and a number button (of the input # to go to) simultaneously.

You might want to be careful bad-mouthing those other sets. I think that this can be a helpful and constructive thread, but nothing good comes of talking badly about other people's gear. There's no need to further alienate this thread (and yourself) from the GWIV thread and posters. Let's try to stay on topic.

Just a thought...

Jason

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Especially since this IS a thread about the XS series. I'm sure he's just trying to stress how much he likes the way it looks. For me I preferred the way the WF series looked but after having the 55XS955 I like it better.

I understand and appreciate that he is happy with his set and wants to express his opinion, but there's a way to do it without bashing other sets by calling them "very boring, plain and cheap looking." All that kind of comment does is piss off the owners of the WF or WE sets and push this thread further away from the wealth of information that is the GWIV thread.

FWIW, I don't own either the XS or WF or WE, so it's not my parade that's being rained on. I'm very interested in purchasing the 55XS, thus my interest in this thread.

Jason

Don't worry, they'll get over it. There's plenty of information there, here, and everywhere in between. Besides, I'm sure they think the opposite and could care less what some in this thread may think. The design of the XS gets bashed in the owner's thread more times than not but it doesn't bother me.


So pipe down noob!

Wow! Breakin' out the "N" word...

Jason

Only sensitive people would find that offending. Someone could say the XS series was the uglyiest tv ever made. Don't matter to me. Now if someone said my kid was ugly thats a different story The thing is everything offends someone. Especially these days. Can't always be worried about offending someone. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Anyone here get their set calibrated? Where are your user settings at? Such a shameless attempt to get my TV looking good...