Official Sony XBR2 (60" & 70") Owner's Thread - Page 58

I have the older model Panamax 5300 that I think I paid 550 bucks for and have had it for 5 or 6 years now and it is still running strong with out one issue.

1. I love it and have yet to have any issues with it. The best thing about it is once you plug something into it you never have to deal with it again.

2. Does it improve picture? I don't know for sure but the insurance I have with piece of mind was well worth the price I paid for it.

3. I don't use Coax protection since the coax runs to the cable box first. But the cable box is plugged into it.

For the price I paid for my TVs, receiver, dvd player and Xbox360 the price of the power conditioner is minimal compared to the cost's of everything else.

The Moose.......What are you using for the battery backup and does everything go in to the power conditioner and then to the battery backup or does just the TV go to the battery backup and then in to the power conditioner. We have a PurAV Home Theater Power Console PF31 and want to add a battery backup at least for the TV.

Well, it has been confirmed that tommorow (Oct 31st) the XBOX 360 will get the fall update with the full 1080p support the HD GAMERS have been waiting for.

So for those of you with 360's and a nice HD set .... let's try the following

1. 360 using the VGA cable into the VGA port of the TV at 1080 and see the results

2. 360 using the component. Let's see what max res we get (1080i or 1080p for some supporting sets)

3. Any overscan issues

4. PQ

5. Anything else you can think of.

PS
As many pics as you want to show us.



Full info HERE

I was thinking about that yesterday. Is there a VGA to HDMI adapter or cable out there? The XBR2 won't allow 1080p full screen via the VGA port so it's pretty useless.

To make matters worse, my cable box and PC video card (AIW X1900) don't play nice with HDMI extenders (like my Monoprice HDMI switcher or receiver) so they need dedicated HDMI TV inputs.

^^

I know, that is why I am not sure if the XBR2 is for me. To bad, I really wanted this set ... but support for my 360 is very important to me. I am sure MS will release a HDMI cable for the 360, but for now I am looking at other sets that DO accept 1080p over VGA and Component

It's a Tripp lite home theater battery back up, It's plugged in to the Monster HTS 3500MkII & the TV & Sat reciever is plugged in to the batt back-up.
I haven't found one big enough to run everything with out spending a butt load of cash but at least the TV doesn't go off when the power blinks, I have the sat reciever plugged in because if it loses power it does a complete restart & that takes 5 min or more.

Regarding DVI-D to HDMI conversion Cable:


What about sound? There must be a cable out there that has HDMI on one end, and Audio / DVI-D on the other.

Does anyone know of any such product? I realize many of you are using the amplifier to pass the sound, but that's not an option for me. I would much rather use the TV speakers.

This sucks!!! I want my PC on the XBR2!!

Sounds like you should move over to the Samsung and Mits threads.

Regarding the XBR2, does anyone think it is worth it to get the extended warranty? I could opt for the standard 1 year and get the 60" for around $3400 or opt for the 5 year extended with bulbs for $3800. Is the $400 worth it? Do I really need an extended warranty?

Yes it is worth having. The price of piece of mind is well worth the 400 bucks. $400 for 5 years is only $80 a year to have your TV set protected. It cost's 75 bucks just to have the tech come out and look at it, never mind the cost of servicing and parts if something should ever go wrong.

These are expensive TV's, I spent $350 for a 5 year in house warranty with bulbs included.
That's a good deal for peace of mind, it is a good thing to have.

Glad to hear that maximum. Since you started your journey with the XBR1 could you give us a comparison between the xbr1 and xbr2. You already mentioned that the color uniformity and green blob issues seem to have been resolved. How about PQ in general? Does the XBR2 have the same WOW factor as the XBR1 did with a HD source? Black levels compared to XBR1? Big difference, or just slightly????

you can get a 5 year for about 280 that includes the bulb for 3 yr so well worth it. And youll need it for the SXRD once it developes the green glob it will be a constant return and repair cycle.

Where are you guys getting such great deals on the extended warranty?!

Please tell us.

Thanks,

nv

I'm still not at 100 hours but now that I've had time to really look things over, black levels are probably about the same (green and blue blotches on black areas were the main negatives on the XBR1 but they seem to have been resolved....for now). PQ is about the same as well. Like I said before, the XBR2 is what the XBR1 should have been. The main draws is that the XBR is out of the beta stages and 1080p has been added (plus another couple digital enhancements).

I'd really like to get this thing hooked up to a PS3 or HD DVD player to see what it can really do.

MS can't release a HDMI cable for the 360 without redesigning it. The current XBOX 360's can only output analog.

I have an XBOX 360 connected to my R60XBR1 and it is fantastic! Holding out on an XBR2 because you can't do 1080P with the 360 is silly. The VAST majority of games for the 360 aren't going to be written to support 1080P. The XBOX 360 simply doesn't have the horsepower to output a game with high quality graphics (of a game like Gears of War) in 1920x1080P. Most of the games will just be upconverted which happens anyway with the SXRD's since they run in 1080P native.

Please share from where you all are getting such great warranties!

there are several places: pagecomputer.com, tedunlimited.com (televisionwarranties.com)

Amazon.com also carries the warrantech EW. Its a little more then the places above but probably worth the small price to buy from a major retailer like Amazon.

That's it. I just pulled the trigger on the KDS 60XBR2. I will not get it delivered right away however, since I am renovating a room just next to where the TV will go and the work will generate a lot of dust. So, delivery will have to wait until the dust settles (litterally)
I have hesitated between the 70" and the 60", and I have as well considered going with the Pearl front projector. I have also looked at plasma and LCD panels. In the end, both for space reasons, picture quality issues and budgetary issues, I chose the 60".
I still have problems with overscan (too much of it on those TVs) but, all things considered, I think that the rear projection XBRs offer the best compromise (for me).
I got the stand, a power conditioner, and an extended service plan.
I do not intend to use the set as a computer display, so problems related to a computer display not filling the screen do not bug me.
Planned use of the TV:
- Watching HD broadcast (will be getting a HD cable box)
- Watching standard DVDs
- Watching HD DVD (planning to get the XBOX360 HD DVD unit)
- Playing XBOX 360 games
- Playing XBOX games

Now, I still have to get the sound system. For speakers, I am targeting the Infinity Cascade 9 for front speakers, the Cascade 3C for center, and the Cascade 5 as surrounds, with the Sub 15 (a 5.1 set up).

On the AV receiver side of things, I am still hesitating between the Harman Kardon AVR 745 and the Arcam 350.

Now, for connections things together, I would like to be able to watch the TV casually (with its own speakers) as well as playing the sound through the 5.1 setup when I want to. With that in mind, does the following plan for connections makes sense?



1- Use a a cable splitter (with amplification) and run one of the resulting cable signals into the antenna input of the TV and the other into the cable box.

2- cable box HDMI out to TV HDMI in-------- cable box optical out to the AVR input

3- DVD component out (including stereo audio to component input on TV)----- optical out of DVD to AVR input

4-XBOX 360 component out (including stereo audio to component input on TV)----- optical out of XBOX 360 to optical input AVRut

5- XBOX component out to component input on AVR (with optical XBOX out to optical input AVR

I may use more of the AVR vide processing and switching capabilities if doing so improved picture quality.

Thanks for any advice!

QUOTE

Whether 1080p support will be added on a game-by-game basis, or will be part of a larger, Microsoft-sponsored effort to make all Xbox 360 games 1080p compliant is a separate issue we'll try to sort out. We're already reaching out to Microsoft for further clarification.

But while we do our snooping, this is still big news -- 1080p support has finally hit the Xbox 360, and the first game to have the honor is Splinter Cell. And one month before the PlayStation 3 and Wii launches, no less.

This isn't the first we've heard of 1080p support for the Xbox. At September's Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft vowed to add 1080p support to the Xbox 360 as a software update. As part of the 1080p announcement, Microsoft Game Studios Shane Kim explained that "720p is the sweet-spot for high definition."

END QUOTE ( Link Here

and as for HDMI

READ THIS

or

HERE

or pre-order it HERE

We will know for sure VERY SOON what the new update brings.

I guess I will see you in the line for the PS3 right .....
---------------------------

So .. brings me back to the 1080p issue I stated above. I don't want to wait for the HDMI cable (which is coming out) ... I want to be able to use my VGA which will outpt 1080p from the 360. The XBR2 DOES NOT give a full 1920x1080 .... therefore I am looking elsewhere.

This is not a knock on this set, just a feature I really want. I have been following the XBR2 for a while and IT WAS THE SET. The PDF manual (which I still have) stated that 1920x1080 "WAS" supported over VGA . As it turns out ... it is not !!!

That is all I am saying. I was pointed to the Sammy sets that do 1080 ove HDMI, VGA and Component. If Sony did this ... I'd be all over the set .. AGAIN !!!

As I said .. I have seen the set and it is STELLAR, but missing a few things " I " really want on the connection side of things. So I am off to the Sammy side of things .. Just thought I would correct the XBOX 360 comment.

Anyway, sorry for the hi-jack of the thread. I know this is not a GAME thread so I will not turn it into one. For that stuff go to "news4gamers" and I will be glad to expand on the topic.

Can't we get 1080p over component on the XBR2?

If they do come out with an HDMI cable for the 360 I might pick that up as well.

My understanding is the Sony sets only accept up to 1080i over component. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I am looking to purchase the XBR2. I currently have a Denon 4306 that has internal scaling from all input sources. I currently receive basic Cable from Adelphia (Comcast). I have looked at both Cable Card and the STB approach and am leaning towards the STB/DVR option.

One key factor is that I want to be able to take advantage of the Twin View capability to watch 2 different TV channels at the same time. If I understand correctly, a STB/DVR like the SA8300HD should allow me to do this (not totally sure if this is true or not).

I have been reviewing the various hook-up options and its not immediately obvious how best to hook-up all these components together. I have taken a first shot at hooking these up as shown below. Note, this is different than what is shown on page 19 of the manual as I was hoping to take advantage of HDMI out of the STB/DVR.

Please let me know if this approach will give me the best video/audio hook-up and provide the Twin View Capability to watch multiple TV channels or not. If not, what hook-up changes would you suggest?

[IMG]

No, component doesn't support 1080p. I've tried it (accidentally from my scaler), and it doesn't seem to sync.

eric

I was playing around with the twin view over the weekend. Right now, I've got three signals--one DTV HD, one DTV SD and my attic antenna (which gives all the local HD and UHF feeds with the internal tuner.

Important things to realize about twin view--1) the digital signal will only be shown on the left--the right will only show analog signals, that means 2) that the signal on the right will have to be a non digital OTA or pluged into either a composite or S-Video input (nothing in HDMI or component inputs).

It's still very cool--very easy to watch two games at once on Sunday ticket--you can toogle back and forth to change which one that you are listening to and you can change the sizing of each image to emphasize one over the other. Another surprise (I need to confirm this tonight), I think that there are two OTA tuners on the TV. I'm pretty sure that at one point I had two different OTA channels on in the twin view windows.

I am considering the XBR2 and have a noob question. From what I am reading, I get the feeling that twin view will not work with a cable card even if I split the cable to both inputs and only watch analog channels on the right. Is this correct? Thanks in advance for any help.

I have an Adelphia/Comcast card installed and the twin view works fine. i have only one coax going into the tv and when i go to twin view I can put digital on one window and analog on the other. I cannot put two digital channels on both windows at the same time. So answer is yes...go for the cable card if twin view is the only thing holding you up.

it's now been 30 days since this thread was started, so let's review. we've had one report by blinkster of a "greenish tint" problem with his newly delivered xbr2. he was supposed to have a service rep out to look at it a week or two ago and report back. i don't remember blinkster getting back to us. so what happened with your set dude? we also had, I believe, 2 reports of defective optical blocks. pbmpharmacist and one other. both sets were replaced with new ones and the owners are satisfied. have i missed any other problems? the reason i raise this is to track whether the xbr 2s have the same green haze/green blob problems manifested and well documented in the xbr1 and a2000s. while it's way too early to say the xbr2 has overcome the color uniformity issues of it's predecessors, it's worth noting that i went back and reviewed the a2000 owners thread. 30 days after the commencement of that thread there were 4 separate documented color uniformity problems (see sourcery's post on 8/20)
(sorry, i don't know how to create links on here).

OWNERS PLEASE REPORT ANY OTHER COLOR UNIFORMITY ISSUES WITH YOUR SETS THAT I MAY HAVE MISSED.


here's hoping we're free of the green haze/green blob. if so what will the trolls do?

If I understand correctly, you have the incoming cable feed running to the 'Cable' input with a Cable Card installed and no input into the 'VHF/UHF' input and are able to watch two different channels in Twin View, assuming one is a Digital Channel and one is an Analog channel, correct?

Does your cable company offer a DVR? I have the DVR from Time-Warner cable (the SA 8300) which allows picture-in-picture of any two cable channels--both can be HD! It works with any TV. I like PIP better than twin view, as one is full size. The PIP screen has two sizes and can be moved around.

Costs about $7 a month. Well worth it to me. Since HD fare is still pretty limited, I record anything remotely interesting for a rainy day. A few nights ago I recorded the first two Matrix movies that were in HD on TNTHD while watching something else--when I'm in the mood later, I'll watch them.