The Official Sony 2006 KDS-(XX)A2000 [NO PRICE TALK] SXRD Owner's Thread - Page 305

The Oppo 981HD made a significant improvement for us on our 55A. My older Elite DVD player didn't come close. You'll note some folks don't see a difference but most do. The scaler in the Oppo is first rate for the money involved.

The Oppo will not make every SD outstanding but it'll do more for PQ than your standard DVD player. As with SD transmissions, you'll see a great deal of variability in DVD discs with respect to PQ. For us the Oppo salvaged our DVD collection and permits us to continue enjoying DVD rentals until the HD DVD/Blu-Ray wars develop a winner.

Raptorx, Thanks for the work around for input selection. It works fairly well. The only problem is if you are watching tv and a person hits the tv button on the remote (to light up the touch screen) then the tv goes up one channel since I hit channel up first in the macro to get to tv input. If you are coming from any other input it works perfect. I am using a Sony RM3000 remote to operate my system. I do not think that I can input discrete codes into this unit. I remember reading about using another remote to enter a discrete code into the Sony. I have a cheap one for all remote. Will this work and what is the procedure? Thanks.

Good post. I agree.

I noticed in today's Sunday ad, Best Buy has the 55 and 60 a2000 on sale "while supplies last." Why are they discontinuing? Just for a2020?

Probably. Doesn't really matter because they're exactly the same other than price and the silver on the cabinet. I think the new model with some actual changes is due this summer or fall.

Hey guys i have a problem it looks as if my 50'a2000 is out of alignment the right side of the screen looks like it further back than the left side is there anyway to fix this problem in the service menu?

I have my local cable (Charter) connected directly to my 60A2000. Actually, I also have a 50A2000 and am having the same problem on this set as well. Anyway, the problem is that my local cable company seems to frequently change the channels that they broadcast our local ABC, CBS, and NBC stations. Therefore, every so often I have to let the TV go through it's 50 minute procedure to refind all digital channels. This works okay and it does find the new channels, but for some reason some of the new channels do not appear in my master channel list and therefore I can't label these channels. For example, my local CBS channel is now on channel 104.1, however when I go to the "channel label" section within "Settings" channel 104.1 is not showing up. It is almost as if my TV doesn't think channel 104.1 is possible. Most of the channel numbers (e.g. 103) have both a master 103 and also another 103 where you can access all the "sub" channels like 103.1, 103.2, etc. Has anyone run into this? It seems strange that some channel numbers (e.g. 104) have no sub-channels listed, others (e.g. 103) have many sub-channels listed 103.1, 103.2, 103.3, 103.4, etc., and some other channels may only have a few sub-channels listed.

Thanks in advance.

This is exactly what I wanted to determine. Many thanks.

I am wondering if all the people that said the Oppo 981 made a big difference are comparing it to a non progressive scan dvd player and those that said it did not make a lot of difference are comparing the Oppo 981 to a progressive scan dvd player. To know if the Oppo 981 does make much of a difference we would need to know what they are comparing it to.

No, I had, and still have in another room, the Onkyo DV-CP701 changer which is progressive scan. That is what the Oppo 981 replaced in my living room.

My wife, bless her heart, doesn't oppose spending for stuff that makes a marked improvement and the Oppo did that in an apples-to-apples comaprison.

My system is being further modified this week with the addition of a Lumagen VisionHDP and an ISF calibration, so it will be very interesting to see what changes become apparent after that. I am also adding a A/V UPS to the system because it finally dawned on me what happens to the A-2000's bulb when the lights fail and the fan doesn't cool it. After these changes I thing my system will then hopefully remain the same for quite awhile.

Bottom line, the Oppo made one heck of a difference. There are a few threads over in the standard definition DVD hardware topic and will provide even more information. Those folks over there are **serious** about their video and I am learning a lot just reading their posts.

I am editing to add this just so my post doesn't sound too much like a free ad for Oppo. There is one thing that I have noticed the Oppo doesn't do that my Onkyo did and that is remember where you left off on a DVD. The Oppo doesn't do this except from a stop command and then a play command. If the unit is powered down or the door is opened the information on where you last were watching is gone. I read in the other forum that this was intentionally left out to keep the price point as low as possible considering the added electronics already in the unit to maximize the actual viewing experince. So, it is a small trade-off and one that I am still happy with.

Hey everyone-I have noticed an occasional problem with compatibility with my sony 50a2000 and TW Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR box. Today, I turned everything on and the signal flashes for a millisecond repeatedly, otherwise the TV is a black screen...I tried cycling through the TV inputs-no difference. Turned the cable box off and on, no difference. what is going on and how can it be fixed? Other than this new problem, most of the time everything turns on okay but occasionally I'll have to cycle through the inputs on the tv to get the signal from the cable box.

All the connections are tight and I get a fine signal from my DVD player...anyway, rebooting the box seemed to fix the problem, but there seems to be a compatibility issue, or maybe it's this cable box/system?...

I haven't seen the Oppo 981, but I can tell you I had a JVC progressive scan player before my Oppo 971 and there is absolutely no comparison between the Oppo 971 and the JVC I used to have on my 1080p TV. We watched a dvd last night and it was about as close to hi-def as you can get without a hd dvd or blu ray player in my opinion. I've been extremely happy with mine, especially for that price!

That's a good question, but what progressive player are we talking about? A lot of them really are crap. I'd bet the Oppo (at 480p) would win comparisons with just about any progressive player under $250. It's difficult to find anything with more flawless deinterlacing in that price range. I think the kinds of errors these players typically make (and the artifacts they lead to) will be more noticeable to the average viewer than the slight differences between the Oppo's scaler and the Sony's scaler are.

So really, whether you just want an excellent (arguably the best for the money) 480p player, or you want a reasonably priced upconverter, the Oppo should probably get top consideration.

I'm looking to buy a DVD player for my new 50A2000. It seems like everyone likes these Oppo players so I'm seriously looking into the Oppo. The question I have is is the Oppo 981 worth the extra cost over the 970? I know the 981 upscales to 1080p so I would assume that would produce a better picture on my 50A2000. But is it that much better than the 970 given the cost difference?

There may be two winners. There are players (LG) that play both formats and there will be disks with Blu-Ray on one side and HD-DVD on the other (Warner is one studio that will be doing that).

Not that you have anything to lose by waiting...I'm sure you will save a few bucks. Of course you are missing out on some good viewing in the mean time, however...

If I were a betting man, I would say that both formats are here to stay. But this is off-topic and I should shut up now.

Thirty posts in 40 minutes. Dang you are a quick troll!

Great. Now it is certain Sony will close ranks and we wil get NO god info on the nature of the real problems and their solutions.

You make it sound like you have some information that we don't. Care to share? Are you a shill for Robert Lax, esq?

This lawsuit will result in a settlement that will have Sony doing exactly what they would have done anyway, a payoff for the attorney that moderately increases his profits, and Sony becoming more defensive and less likely to produce techinical explanations of the caveats in the technology. Check my prediction in a coupl;e of years.

Now does anyone have any real technical info on the matter. I have yet to find a single set that we have sold that has thee issues, beyond a little yellow/green gray scale when they are first turned on that clears up in a couple of minutes.

Maybe I'm biased, but I find it hard to believe that people would spend $200 for an upconverting DVD player when for the price of two of these things you can get an awesome upconverting player that also plays HD DVD's (Toshiba HD-A1). In fact, it was the reviews that spoke of the upconversion quality that actually sold me on the thing.

Not that the Oppo is a bad player...it probably ranks up there +/- with the HD-A1, but if you spend $2K-$3K on an HDTV, maybe a few hundred on a stand and a few hundred on a calibration, why not $400 on an HD DVD / upconverting DVD player instead of $200 for just an upconverting DVD player? If you're worried about the 'format war', you risk is only $200.

OK, I am biased...

Yikes! Off-topic, too.

Don't forget your quote!!!

"Don't argue with idiots; observers might not be able to tell the difference. "

I have a 50A2000 I got from Sears a couple weeks ago. Are there any folks who do calibration in the Asheville NC area? Also which DVD self calibration disc is prefereed by most for this set.

Hi all, I've been lurking in this forum for about a month now. Just took the plunge on a 50A2000 and wanted to relay my experiences for any other lurkers out there like me who are sitting on the fence because of all this green haze talk. Yes, I just created this account today, and no, I am not a troll.

I spent a lot of time driving around from store to store checking out televisions. The SXRD, to my eyes, always had the best picture. I decided that I was getting the extended warranty anyway, might as well take the chance and buy one.

The set arrived Saturday morning. 50A2000, October 2006 build. The first time I turned it on, there was a visible green oval shaped ring laid horizontally in the center of the screen. Big sucker, like 1/3 of the screen. It disappeared within about 60 seconds. I have not seen it since on startup. Ambient room temperature is between 60 and 65 degrees.

I have not done any tweaking to the picture other than changing to Standard mode and turning the power save mode on. I do notice that flesh tone is sometimes just a touch too red, I need to adjust that.

I have a Motorola 6412 DVR, second series, set to 1080i output for HD and 480p output for SD. I experimented with just letting the TV upscale the SD but couldn't see a difference one way or the other. Any advice from a pro on that would be appreciated.

HD picture is amazing. The first real HD content I watched was Saturday Night Live. Almost 3D looking, and not a hint of green. Same with NASCAR on Sunday afternoon, and last night's Oscar broadcast. Normally I would never watch the Oscars but the picture was so good I just couldn't change the channel.

Wii looks OK set to 480p. I noticed the edges of the pins in bowling looked more jagged, but then later I noticed that I had the picture width set incorrectly, making the center of screen slightly narrower, so it may have been related. Didn't try again once I had corrected the screen setting. Zero green haze. PS2 also looks OK.

DVD is fantastic. I have a cheap Phillips progressive scan DVD player that was seventy bucks when I bought it two or three years ago. Set to 480p output, wonderful. I'm thinking about an Oppo but I have no complaints about the picture I'm getting now so I can't quite justify the cost to myself. No green haze.

SD is so-so, depending on the quality of the source. This is the only place where I see green haze. It's not a green "spot" on the screen that seems out of place with the rest of the picture, it's more like you see green relections on things when there's a green light source in the room (duh!), and there is sometimes a touch too much green in the flesh tones for me. Not too much, I don't have Martians, but just a little bit of green on the cheeks and around the eyes, and only because I'm really looking for it. Looks like it would be easily dialed out.

All in all, I'm happy I bought it.

Anyway, that's my experience so far, hope someone finds it helpful.

Thanks, I found it very helpful! I'm considering buying this model, but am now awaiting news on the 2007 models before pulling the trigger. I'll likely get the A2020, but since it is being reported that Sony will release some info soon on the new models, I'm going to wait and see what's up with that, and also may wait for the price to come down a bit on the 2020 when the new models are released.

Has anyone had experience with a "soft-lens" type of look on the screen? I exchanged my KDS 50" Saturday for a brand new one and on this set when I play on the PS3 the picture has a misty/hazy look to it. It's not green, but it's like there's some type of lens over the picture and the lights and white colors on screen kind of mesh out into the other graphics. There's also a double image on some of the motion-oriented graphics (such as my hand and gun in an FPS). I've messed with the inputs and settings on the TV but it hasn't resolved itself. I don't notice it when watching cable either. I'm going to most likely exchange it one more time.....maybe I can request a newer manufacture date (this one is October). Any help or advice is wonderful.

Well, I just ordered the Oppo for my new 50A2020, based upon the reviews everywhere and my extensive SD DVD collection. Even though you mention that the risk is only $200, I would counter by saying that the "risk" is that $200 plus every title that I would purchase on HD-DVD. Once you get started, it's difficult to stop.

There are two reasons I went with the non HD-DVD Oppo. First, the Toshiba is HD-DVD but doesn't output at 1080p. (I still don't understand why they would do that if the source is 1080p.) They are coming out with a 1080p model, but it's significantly more expensive. Second, I still don't want to commit to one of these new technologies yet. I figure that even a year or two down the road, players will be more moderately priced, there will be more titles available, and they will be offered at more reasonable prices.

I see your point, but to me, the choice was the Oppo.

Our A2000s have serious issues with the 8300HD DVR when hooked up with HDMI. This is the most frustrating part of this TV for me. Some might say that it is a result of the box, but I have a hard time believing that the box causes all TVs to malfunction like this. If I'm not mistaken, this never used to happen until a 'software update' was pushed through on 8300s a few months back.

In any case, you are not alone and, to my knowledge, there is nothing you can do aside from switching from HDMI to component or switching boxes or TVs. I have run into the 'flicker' problem many times. It's very annoying. But the biggest problem I have with this setup is the gray 'snow' screen that appears sporadically when switching channels with different resolutions. I have found that the easiest fix is cycling through the inputs on the TV - this should bring the picture back up.

I'm surprised that more attention isn't paid to this issue on the forum. It's an incredible pain in the ass to cycle through inputs everytime you change channels...

Well, I have spent a good amount of time reading this thread. Many insightful posts.

My conclusion? Im waffling LOL

The green blob issue has me worried, so I paused my pulling of the trigger for the 60 inch.

What to do what to do!

If you want the Sony 60inch. Get it. Understand that there is always a chance to get a defective unit. Regardless of make or model. Thats what the 30day return policies and warranties are for. Also understand that after a products release, the forums related to that product turn into problem posts and set up questions. Most who enjoy their display hardly come back to these forums. Unless something new comes up. I am one of the few Sony A2000 owners that has had no issues, but still read and post on this forum. Dont be alarmed or worried about the green glob issue. It is nowhere near as common as the XBR1. In fact the number of actual green glob A2000s is very small. At least from what this forum shows. Also understand that some of the problems people have are not the "green glob". Some are related to bad set up/calibration and bad source material. However, since they may see green. It is assumed to be the dreaded "green glob".
My advice is to go for it. If you have a problem, return/exchange it. That would be my same advice on any display you may choose. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I went for it, the 50a2000, despite the blob discussion and have no issues despite the first time i turned it on. When i got it home, i threw in LOTR III and saw some green tint to some skin....i applied the cnet settings , tweaked it to my liking from there and have had no issues at all since that first day. Go for it!!!

Thanks for the advice. I heard about the green tint flesh.

Sorry for being a newb, but what do you mean by cnet settings? I take it to mean someone posted some calibration stuff on here somehwere to get rid of it.

The infamous 'CNET' settings are simply what the CNET reviewers used to tweak their TV to their liking. While every TV, viewer and environment is different, many find these settings preferable to the factory 'torch mode' settings.

These settings are a good starting point for someone learning how to navigate through the different options, but are not nearly as good as an actual 'calibration' using a calibration disk or from an ISF tech.

CNET Settings