Official Sony 40",46" XBR2, XBR3 - Owner's Thread - Page 59

Supposedly if you label an external input "skip" it will not show up when you view the list of 9 inputs using the TV/VIDEO button. When I view the list, I get the following to show up: VIDEO5-Home Theater System, VIDEO6-No Signal C6, VIDEO8-Cable Box, VIDEO9-PC. Why does the VIDEO6 input show up even though it is labeled "SKIP?" Thanks.

isnt 6 the vga input?

Other news
semi-good news everyone
I now know the MS has knowledge of this 1080p issue and is working on it. No timetable for a fix but at least they know about and are supposedly working on it. This info comes straight from Major Nelson's podcast.
I have used all of my MS contacts as well as Krevniks great information to get out what the probelm might be. Hopefully this info will expediate this issue.

Thanks.

This is good news.

Keep us posted.

Hello,

I bought 46XBR2 last night and I noticed clouding on all four corners, top left corner was worst. I looked at the TV this morning and clouding was virtually not visible. I guess the clouding is more visible in darker room. Anyway I'm deciding whether I should return this product or not. I haven't tested dead pixel yet, but if I have no dead pixel is it worth to return the TV and try my luck to get another XBR2?

And one other thing, I did played around with backlight setting, but didn't make any difference.

Thanks.

Phono plugs for both 5 and 6 inputs.

I just bought the XBR2 yesterday myself. Three corners look fine. There is backlight bleeding in the top left of my set that is noticeable (as a sort of white fog) in any dark scenes. I, too, wonder if I have cause to return it or not. I read on some post on this site that the backlight bleeding could take a month or two to die down a bit (caused by new and bright lamp/s???). Does anyone know if this is the case? Should I wait and see? I bought mine at Best Buy with full in-home service plan. I appreciate any feedback or help as well.

If you haven't, take a look at my cloudy pics and compare them to what yours looks like. Is it better or worse? I don't know about the set getting better after a month or two. I too read someone say that was the case. Can anyone that had a noticable uneven backlight problem confirm that it did in fact get better over time and maybe even disappear entirely?

sweetp, I think you have a case to exchange or return your set. For the price we paid I think we shouldn't have to settle.

Yes I would like to know too then if it was due to new bright lamp.

All LCD tv's suffer from some kind of backlight leakage, some more than others.

I never heard of backlight bleeding getting better after a month or two, if
anything it would get worse. If your not comfortable or it affects PQ you
should bring it back, but there is always a chance that your next tv will be
worse.

Just feel lucky that these sets don't suffer from banding like some of the Sharp's do. Banding is much worse than backlight bleeding in my opinion.

Hi

I want to buy a LCD TV for DVDs, video games (XBOX 360 or PS3) and sometime watching TV. I read very positive reviews about the Sony's LCD, but I feel complicated to chose between so many models...

My budget is 2000-2500$. What are the main differences between :
- KDL-40XBR3
- KDL-40XBR2
- KDL-40V2500
- KDL-40S2400

Thanks in advance for any help!

- KDL-40XBR3
- KDL-40XBR2
- KDL-40V2500
Between those 3 is not much of a difference.
the xbr2 and xbr3 are exactly the same with one exception, the color of the bezel. The 2 is silver and the 3 is black.
The v2500 is the same as the xbr except the processor/engine of the tv. Some of the ports are gimped as well, such as the vga port on the v2500 is not 1080p. The v2500 doesnt have the "special features" of the xbr which does not make that much of a difference unless you are purchashing a bluray or hddvd player as well.
Hope that helps, other owners will post info as well.

I called Sony about my cloudy 46XBR2. The only thing the guy I talked with suggested is to unplug the set for a couple minutes and plug it directly into the wall outlet, not the power strip I have it plugged into usually. I'm at work so I haven't been able to try it yet. I really don't think it'll make a bit of difference but I'll try it just so I can say I did it.

I also called the authorized Sony repair dealer in town to see what they thought about the issue. I e-mailed them the pictures I took showcasing the problem. I'll let everyone know what they think when I hear back.

Is there a way to get non-anamorphic 16x9 content to fill the whole screen of the XBR2? On my previous TV, the 34XBR960, there was a "vertical stretch" option, separate from "zoom" and "wide zoom", which allowed a nonanamoprphic letterboxed DVD (or a widescreen SD program) to fill the whole screen. On the XBR2, the vertical size of the image can be increased--but only within the "zoom" or "wide zoom" modes, which makes it useless for vertical expansion (since the picture is already being stretched horizontally).

So far, it seems that to get the best possible picture with this kind of program I have to watch in "normal" with black bars on all four sides of the image. Most of what I watch is in HD, of course, but there are letterboxed shows I watch regularly that are only available in SD on my cable system (Nip/Tuck, Battlestar Galactica) and, as a TV critic, I get a lot of advance screener discs from the networks of letterboxed shows that aren't anamorphically enhanced. Am I pretty much doomed to watching them all boxed in on the XBR2, or is there a stretch option I just haven't found yet?

I wish video 9 had label customization...sheez

Alright. I've had my xbr2 for about 2 1/2 weeks now. I do have the issue with cloudy uneven backlight on the left hand side of my panel. It doesn't bother me when there is something being shown but if that area goes dark, I see it and it bothers me. Do you think I can excahange the unit for another because of that issue?

I believe most of LCDs are having this problem, so my plan is to replace the set and "clouding" still shows then I'm going to let Sony fix the problem. I havd Sony fixed my other TV several years ago, Sony sent service guy to my house and replace the board.

I am having a problem with my 46" XBR2 LCD used in conjunction with a DirecTV HR10-250. I posted the following message on the HD/TiVo forum but, since this may be TV-related, I'm posting it here as well.

I've got a problem with my HR10-250, purchased in September. When watching a movie with a lot of action (explosions, bright colors with a lot of movement, etc.) on my new Sony 46XBR LCD, the screen will intermittently go blank and sound stops. This set is hooked up with component video and a composite stereo connection. The interruptions last a few seconds, then the picture and sound come back. During extended action scenes, this can happen multiple times with less than a minute between interruptions. Funny thing is, my older CRT TV (hooked up via S-video) and DD receiver hooked up in another room to the HR10-250 continue to show the video and play the sound without a problem.

I have mostly noticed this when watching recorded movies (the two that were the worst came off of Showtime HD). I told my wife that I had narrowed it down to recorded shows only.. but right after saying this, it happened on a live TV show (not sure if it was truly live or a few minutes behind because one of us had hit the pause button). I thought maybe there was a problem with the amount of information my TV was trying to process so I turned the picture quality down from 1080i to 480i, 480p and 720p but it made no difference. I swapped component video cables and inputs on the LCD TV but this made no difference. I thought maybe the harddrive was going bad or at least performing poorly but don't understand how it would be able to continue to produce S-video and DD sound in the other room.

Have some of you who are dealing with the infamous DD audio dropouts been losing your puicture too? If this were associated with DD drop-out, why would I be losing picture/sound on the TV with no DD connection and the sound/picture continues to play in the room with DD and a CRT TV hooked up via S-video? I doubt this has to do with the TV and am wondering whether it could be the HD processing in the HR10-250? They are sending a replacement out to my house.. not sure if this will fix the problem. Any help/suggestions welcome.

Thanks!

Wait wait............so when I goto the store this week to get my 46-XBR2 I won't be able to play my xbox360 on it?? What the holy hell. Someone reccomend me a TV that will support avid game play, normal DVDs and normal tv watching with some HD channels.

I have had no sound or video issues, time warner cable box and no issues with dvds and optical output.

Sorry for the delay...There is a TINY amount of clouding in the upper left hand corner. However, it is so faint, it is almost undetectable. Even in vivid mode, I doubt I could photograph the set in such a way to even show the clouding.

There is no way you could see the clouding during normal viewing. My previous xbr2 was noticable during any dark scenes. I am very picky and this clouding doesn't bother me in the least.

I will check the manufacture date and serial # when I get home this evening for comparison purposes.

Sooo Is It Gonna Be Any New Update For 360 Babe

Thanks for this helpful answer. As I intend to use it with a PS3, or a XBOX360, it may worth the price to buy a XBR2 ? Or do you think a V2500 should be enough to play and watch some DVDs ?

You'll totally be able to use the XBR2 with the Xbox 360 in 480p/720p/1080i via either component or VGA, and it'll look fantastic. 1080p over VGA is the only problem area, and I expect MS will sooner or later (hopefully sooner!) release a patch to address the issue.

Actually you can't get 1080i over VGA either as the XBR's pc input does not
support an interlaced signal. See owner's manual - page 51.

It's 1080i over component only.

Did this fix your problem?

I haven't been home yet to try it but I did get an interesting reply from the Sony authorized service center in town. Here's the reply from the technician after seeing the pictures I e-mailed of my set:

"I have not seen this symptom before. Looks to me like the panel may be defective.
We have seen very few sony LCD sets in our shop and therefore no history of problems.
I would recommend having it looked at by a sony service center (such as ours) to have it evaluated."

At this point I have called the place I purchased it and scheduled an exchange for a new one. I will still try the power swap when I get home but I don't think it'll make a bit of difference.

ok, so i called x box support today and got a completely different response than all of you guys.

i told the guy my tv (kdl-40xbr2) supports 1080p via vga, and yet goes crazy when i switch my 360 to 1080p.

HE SAID THE UPDATE IS NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK UNTIL THE 360 HD DVD DRIVE COMES OUT THIS WEDNESDAY. HE ALSO SAID THERE ARE NO GAMES THAT CURRENTLY USE THE UPDATE (duh), SO IT IS NOT MEANT TO WORK YET. does this mean the 360 will somehow change the signal once it detects there is an hd dvd drive connected????

i then asked why the uptate works on some tvs, but not mine. he had no answer, but said the update was only released early so that everyone who gets a hddvd will have 1080p support right when they plug it in. this also makes no sense bc the drive comes with a dvd with the update on it.

i really hope the signal works once the 360 detects an hd dvd drive.... guess well have to just wait and see.

p.s. my support guy was american, well spoken, and very nice. he sounded like he kind of knew what he was talkin about.

swizzir , May I ask where you purchased your "cloudy" XBR ?
Thanks,
Gary

PS: Best of luck

His explanation sounds a bit wonky to me but word is that MS is working on a fix.

Okay, the unplugging, wait two minutes, plug directly into the wall outlet did not fix the problem (surprise). When I get it exchanged I'll let everyone know how the new one is. Keep your fingers crossed.

jedi29: I bought it at Video Only (http://www.videoonly.com/index.htm). They're a west coast A/V dealer. Great place to buy. They said I had 30 days after Christmas to exchange or return it which I thought was pretty amazing. I have until the end of the month to decide on an extended warranty too. If I'm not mistaken (and I may be) most places won't let you buy the extended warranty unless it's on the same invoice.