Official Sony 40",46" XBR2, XBR3 - Owner's Thread - Page 105

No problems with my Official cable and Opera or Zelda.
On a side note, when is the full (non-beta) release of Opera going to be available for the Wii?

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

And a special thanks to Jeff for making the download available to owners who expect more from Sony support than they care to provide. Sony must be in cahoots with MS these days.

With the GOOD files the upgrade only took a couple minutes to complete, and my picture looks as good or better. (I haven't watched more than a few minutes since the upgrade.)

If I owned a thumb drive I probably would have avoided Sony Support altogether, and obtained good files from someone on this forum. Now I have one for future firmware upgrades.

Gregg

FOLLOWUP -- After a day of watching various HD and SD programming, I see know discernable difference. Oh, well, at least I have my TV working again.

Did anyone ever confirm this? I get no sound if I connect the optical out from the xbr2 to my sony receiver input. I am experiencing a sound delay as well. Also, I cannot seem to find the a/v sync in any of the tv menus. What am I doing wrong?

Try connecting from receiver to the cable box.

cheezz

I was watching Tales From the Crypt: Bordello of Blood last night and I could have sworn I was watching it from a high def DVD player. Was using compositie connection with a Sony NS75h player. It was that crisp and vibrant. Any comments on your sets with standard DVD players?

cheezz

I hope you mean component

I;ve never seen HD-DVD quality from composite on my XBR

was just wondering why everyone has COLOR SPACE set to WIDE instead of NORMAL. Mine is at NORMAL per the ISF technician who calibrated the set. The individual, who is one of the best in the field, if not the best, advised that setting it to WIDE was wrong.

Any thoughts.

Sorry...I meant to say component. My bad!
I wish all standard DVDs were made like that. Then I wouldnt need a hi def player.

COLOR SPACE controls the WCG-CCFL backlight. The "WCG" stands for Wide Color Gamut, referring to the NTSC color space. Wide Color changes the backlight output from Normal, which is about 72% (for "most LCDs") of the defined NTSC color space, to Wide, about 95% of the color space, an increase of "33% more colors" according to Sony.

Color Gamut is discussed in a thread here in AVS.

You can see from that thread that understanding what color space is, isn't all that easy...

But, in general a Wide Color Gamut Is Good. I'd be interested to know why the 'pro' said it was "wrong". Maybe good for SD but bad for HD? Or the other way around? Something else?

Salut!
-3Gun

the 40XBR2 yesterday. I am seeing little lines on letters on some SD channels. Actually seeing it away from letters as well. Just on some channels. Is it because of the cable signal? Probably not explaining it well, but is this common and can something be done about it?

That's explaining it well enough...

Yes, it is all-too common, and is probably due to the cable signal since it appears on some SD channels and not on others. But there are several things you can do to minimize it's distraction when viewing.

1. If you are using a cablebox or a satellite source, set the box to "pass thru", "auto-DVI", or "native" output (whichever your box has for this setting) to let the TV do the up-scaling of the signal and not the cablebox/satellite.

2. Reduce the Sharpness setting on the TV, to below 25

3. Turn off most all of the Advanced Picture Settings, like in Petmic's settings listed here . While you are at it, try his settings overall as his are widely appreciated by 40 and 46 owners.

4. Sit a little further away from the TV.

These should help you out some, but you can only do so much with a bad signal!

Cheers!
-3Gun

Hi,

I was just wondering if the 40XBR2 supports standard def PAL over composite, component or HDMI?

I'd like to import a TV to New Zealand as the equivalent model of the 40XBR2 costs $8000 here.

I know the NTSC/ATSC tuner won't work for PAL signals but that's not an issue and I see the power supply is 110-240 which is good for me too.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks 3gun. I looked on my cablebox and don't see where to make those adjustments for "pass through" I have a Charter box. Do I access that by using the remote? While I am at it, I have seen people talk about "look to see if signal is 480, 720, 1080, etc." I can't seem to find where to go to access that info. Have tried while watching DVD as well as SD. Some person mentioned clicking display button on remote but it still doesn't show the number. Thanks

To see what resolution is being sent to your XBR, you press the Display button on the XBR remote. The on-screen display will then show the current resolution in the upper right corner of the screen, along with the aspect ratio (4:3, or 16:9).

I don't think I can help you with how to access the cable box settings menus, but someone else here on these forums likely can. You need to specify what your cable provider is (sounds like Charter Cable) in what area (such as NYC or DC, etc.), and the cable box manufacturer name and model #. I see from their web site that Charter Communications offers plain Digital cable, Charter HDTV , and a Charter DVR, so you'll need to state which of those you have (it should say on your bill).

You could also just call up your cable provider and ask them for the make and model information, and they can probably tell you how to access the cable box menus and change the output settings too.

Cheers!
-3Gun

Through the menu button on cable remote, I found an RF Bypass. Is that it? As for the number issue, when I click on Display, in the upper right hand corner it shows NTSC, and on the SD Channels, C3 and NTSC. Not sure what NTSC means. Maybe that is my problem.

I am using regular digital cable box- General Instrument. Haven't hooked up the HDMI Monster Cable yet- yes I know I got scrrewed by the price. Will get Motorola HD box from Charter on Monday. Is that why numbers aren't showing up yet?

Yes, NTSC is the resolution, the poorest SD and the lowest on the Resolution food-chain.

The RF bypass isn't what you need. When you get your new box, I expect you will get better SD. Make sure you tell the installer (assuming one comes to install the box) to set the box to pass through the signal and not do any upconverting. If he doesn't know what you are talking about, tell him nevermind and then you can come back here with the make and model # of your new box and we'll get it set correctly...

-3Gun

Will do. Appreciate it.

I am about to order a 40" xbr3, probably online since I live in Alaska. I want to use the set as a primary pc monitor and was willing to try the dvi to hdmi cable from monoprice. am I on the right track?

Greetings fellow Alaskan!

DVI > HDMI works fine if you are using any card that isnt too old (read: modern ati/nvidia). I use my 40xbr2 as my primary computer monitor and its fantastic ~ 3.5 months till fishing starts!

haha saw you in this thread, how do you have yours mounted, i want to do a chief articulating arm the PDR.

I don't have it wall mounted.

I have a large computer workstation area (two L-Shaped glass workcenters joined together to make a giant "U" shaped area. I have the XBR in the corner of the left desk and I love it. (the desks are all slightly blue tinted glass with grey trim, the XBR and my Sony FW900 blend nicely with the "Sony Grey". I'm still in College but will be graduating in about a year. When I get my own house I'll do some sort of fancy wall mount rig. I really like the Sanus Java stand with backdrop but damn, its more than half of what I payed for the XBR!



That stand with the Sienna Brown XBR faceplate would look stunning

I did tone down the sharpness, turn off DRC and the adv. PQ features but I still couldn't get the font's looking like they do when it's hooked up via VGA.
Maybe it was the color settings on my Nvidia video card, but some font's on Apples Quicktime HD Gallery webpage had white inside the fonts ( http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/ The paragraph that starts like- "Welcome to a revolution in resolution."). No matter what setting I tried it wouldn't go away. When I tried the VGA cable it looked perfect.

Also I like how the PC can go into standby or power down the LCD. If using VGA the Sony goes into Standby and the redlight goes on and I can just move the mouse to activate the LCD to turn back on.

I had the xbr1 but since i got the PS3 for xmas I wanted something capable of putting out 1080p, so xbr3 was the logical choice since I was going to use the same bracket already on the wall--

some people will probably say the tv is too high, but we did that taking into consideration people sittin on the bar stools/and or standing in the back--the mid-point off the tv is exactly 5 ft--

couple pics i took last night

CHeck out price on Best Buy and add it to your cart. Then pick pick something from the qualifying list that gets you 10% off the whole order (pick the 5.1 system with one of the lowest prices) and add that to your cart. This will get you a great price, but you can get even more with REWARD ZONE Points yielding $5 for every $250 you spend on order. This may be the best price going from a Authorized Dealer.

those of u in the ny area should take a look at J and R--i know theres no price talk here but it is significantly cheaper than wat i have seen at authorized stores --


from what I can see I paid less for the XBR3 shipped to my door than the XBR2 @ Best Buy

IF you want to pick up yourself, then Best Buy may be good a good price with SAle price PLus 10% additioinal discounts & reward zone points for certificates.

If you want it shipped, than JR looks to be a great price form an authorized Sony Internet Dealer. How was it shipped? Did they place it in your home and upack and set it up?

they ship it Urban Express--outsourced delivery company similar to wat pottery barn and crate and barrel use i think--

My xbr1 from SonyStyle was delivered the same way--

they have to deliver it to you because they must open the box and have you inspect it before leaving -my doorman could not do it for me--

the J and R the sales associates over the phone can negotiate more from my experience- whereas the floor guys cannot as much--

I paid less than the advertised internet J and R price including shipping--(i named a price delivered and said take it or leave it--they took it)

also if u live in NJ or have it shipped there, you save on tax---

PS i dont work for j and r-ive just had good luck (and pricing) from them on all my major electronics purchses

Yea I found some fonts looked a little "off" as well. I found using different StyleXP Visual Styles improved the clarity of the text dramatically tho. With all advanced PQ/DRC off, Sharpness @ 35 with DVI > HDMI, this display is as better than the dedicated Viewsonic computer LCD's at the other end of my workstation. I agree RGB looked better outta the box with no tweaking but I have my 360 hooked up to the VGA port right now. Tried using a VGA switch and it didn't work so sticking with HDMI for PC.

I think with all the hoopla about clouding, people are willing to spend a bit more to buy at a B&M to get the peace and mind of an easy exchange if need be. I, of course, never get to order big ticket items because I take it in the ass for shipping here in Alaska. (I ordered a solutions manual for my Physics class and needed it overnight, shipping was 53.00! Can't even imagine what reasonably fast delivery of a large screen TV would cost)

yeah, but with J&R if there is a problem with the tv you are screwed, atleast with BB and CC you can exchange it. Me personally I just hated the customer service at J&R.