Official Sony XBR2 (60" & 70") Owner's Thread - Page 4

I think it is likely that the photo shows an XBR1 on the new stand. The set itself looks like my XBR1. Thats my hypothesis.
Wish it were not so.

KT

Please see the attached photos of both the xbr1 and xbr2 from the crutchfield site. There are three "things" along the bottom right part of the tv just outside the black frame in the xbr2 photo. There are only 2 in the xbr1. The 3 things are shown in the photo in the stand. What am i missing?

Have you considered the Samsung HPS6373? Datavis a Samsung Dealer has it for less than the SXRD and 63" may work for you. ABT Carries it as a pre-order but much higher at MSRP but perhaps use Datavis as a pricematch perhaps.

Last Thursday I replaced my 6 or 7 year old Sony KP-61XBR200 (a 4:3 SD set) with the KDS-R70XBR2. (If I had known this discussion was going on here I would have posted sooner.)

I didn't even ask the dealer to open the 70XBR2 box, much less turn it on. I'd read the XBR1 reviews, I trust Sony's abilities as much as I trust any manufacturer, I'm susceptible to blue smoke and mirrors, I've been waiting to go HD long enough, the TiVo Series 3 (which is what really tipped the scales) is here, and plus, I didn't have to re-program my Marantz MK2000II (too much anyway).

So far I am very happy. My wife somewhat less so. More on that issue in a moment.

Looks like this can sometimes be a pretty rough crowd so I posted a couple of pics below. I don't expect a whole lot of street "cred" from this though. I also don't deserve much as: 1) this is my first HD set, 2) I don't and won't have any HD signals until Cox arrives with 3 cable cards next Friday (1 for the XBR2, 2 for the Series 3 TiVo), and 3) it's been a long time since I last ran Video Essentials. Truth be told, my Avia DVD is still in its shrink wrap.

In an SD kind of way I was pretty pleased with how my setup was working and the occasional loose cable was my only challenge. This is why I'm not going to be making any comments (not yet anyway) on how to setup the XBR2 or on the relative quality of its picture. For now I'm just listening, and appreciating the expertise of others.

But, I don't want to be a parasite, and I can answer some of the questions here, so - it's my first time, please be gentle.

I thought I'd been pretty clear with my wife that I was going to do this. She, on the other hand, didn't think I was clear by quite this amount. Thus I have spent more time this weekend on ameliorating her decorating issues than on tuning up my tuning expertise.

I have been spending more time staring at TV stands on web pages than I have at the TV. I should have been staring at this forum. Mixdoctor already has one of the few good non-Sony solutions out there. Because the TV is so tall, any stand taller than 17" (the height of the loaner in my Pic below) is going to be too tall for most people. The PTV72B is one of the few out there that's shorter than this. So I just got back from Circuit City with the Omnimount CCH1. But, I can't even discuss moving the propeller. We'll see.

The other solution is the new Sony SURS51U stand which is indeed intended for both the 60 and 70 XBR2s. Here is a clear text link (I can't post URLs yet) to the Sony Manual for that stand. I got this link from a Sony online chat rep:

(SORRY I know some of you will want this, but I've tried everything I can think of to get this link in here but I guess I'll have to make four more posts unless someone has an idea! I'll see what I can come up to post that's not completely useless in the mean time.)

Page 6 has a detailed set of measured drawings (including the cutout). This stand will drop the height of the base (in the cutout) to 14 7/8. This is great but the monster is 74" long. This is perfect if it's a 70 with the speakers on. Without the speakers it's going to be 3.5" longer on each side.

So don't lose those 60XBR1 stands yet. These are a much better length for the 70 without the speakers. I saw one at the dealer (although it had a different Sony on it?) and it looks like it might work. The XBR2 base is larger. I don't know if it can just be placed over the cutout. This might put a strain the base as it would only be supported on three edges.

But it also looks lake someone with a router could expand the cutout to the size of the new XBR2 base. The cutout in the metal cover in front would also have to be deepened about ½ inch. I don't know if this metal work can be done with a router. I'm going to stay tuned to you guys, and I will post any further findings.

A couple of other things people were asking about.

Location of Inputs: Without the speakers the set is 67.75 wide. All the inputs, except the HDMI, are in a recessed cutout that is approx. 10"w 8.5" h 2.25 d, and are 1.75" from bottom of base. Facing the XBR2 this cutout begins 21" from the left side of the XBR2's frame w/o speakers. If the speakers were attached add approx 3.5". The HDMI jacks are in a different recessed cutout. They are oriented vertically 40" from the left side. That cutout that begins 5" from the bottom of the base, and is about 2.5"w 5"h. They are about 4 to 5" from the rearmost point of the set. They are about 6" closer to the right edge of the set than the left. I made all these measurements bending and stretching but they should be pretty close. Close enough for cable sizing!

Time to power on: It takes about 20 seconds to get a picture from a cold (overnight) start to a picture on the HDMI inputs. The picture is initially dark and takes another 40 seconds or so to get bright enough so that you no longer see it getting brighter.

Time to switch inputs: This is the only negative/irritating thing I've found so far. Switching from HDMI to coax cable takes 2 seconds, BUT switching from cable to HDMI takes 8 to 10 seconds to get video (you get sound almost immediately). I found it doesn't matter if my Denon 4806 is passing thru the 480i or up-converting to 1080p. It still takes this long for the XBR2 to (I assume) analyze and start processing either of these signals.

The HDMI is the only external input I currently have connected. For a period I did have component inputs from my Yamaha DVD S700 connected and this seemed to take just as long to switch to as the HDMI.

Here's the somewhat irritating part though - this same delay seems to occur with ANY change to an external input signal. For instance, while keeping the XBR2 set to the HDMI input from the Denon AVR, any of the following causes the video to go black for at least 8 seconds: switching inputs on the Denon, calling up the Denon's OSD, exiting the Denon's OSD (even without making a change), changing to any AVR setting, powering the DVD player on or off. All these actions cause this video delay.

As no one else has commented on this I wonder if it's perhaps a known issue with HDTVs (or Sony?). I'll stay tuned, but now I've got to go find something other than the 5th Element and Star Wars III to run before my wife comes down.

The very mangled link to the SURS51U stand's manual follows.
Someone who's been around longer and gets this link should probably repost it.

This is the domain name - replace the 2 spaces with periods:

docs sony com

This is the directory - put a forward slash on both sides

release

This is the document - put it last

SURS51U.pdf

Add the w's to the front and string that + the 3 parts together with no spaces!

Also you can see pictures of this by going to the SonyStyle site, navoigating to the 70XBR2 page, clicking the accessories tab, and following the link to the stand, then click on more images.

Thanks for commenting on the 70XBR2. Are you running basic cable right now? In 4:3 format, do the vertical bars look straight?

I'm planning to get one of these Tuesday and will be using the SUGW12 stand and mounting it without the speakers. Like you said, it should be close to a perfect fit. Fortunately, the pieces on the stand the make up the "hole" detach by removing 4 screws (on each side) from under the top, thus leaving a flat surface. All, that is left to do is dremel the front bezel so it will enclose the pedestal.

Looks great! And the set isn't bad either.



Seriously, thanks....I will definitely consider that...could be a great compromise. I hope that latest plasma does a better job of handling fast moving images and motion blur. The 5073 seemed to pixellate pretty badly with motion when viewing an NFL game today in the store.

Thanks for the detailed post rillson! Keep the pics coming

DirecTV's overcompressed feed was probably more responsible for that than the plasma.

Definitely have an hour glass effect with 4:3 cable (it's running thru a digital cable box).

measuring between the edge of the frame and the picture:

Top 7 20/32
Middle 7 23/32
Bottom 7 16/32

The bottom actually bows out further than the top.

Here are 3 pictures of the rear of the 70XBR2. I copied the measurments I made of these from my previous post and edited them to make them more readable,


Location of Inputs: Without the speakers the set is 67.75 wide. All the inputs, except the HDMI & PC, are in a recessed cutout that is approx. 10"w 8.5" h 2.25 d, and starts 1.75" from bottom of base.

Facing the XBR2 from the front this cutout begins 21" from the left side of the XBR2's frame w/o speakers. If the speakers were attached add approx 3.5".

The 2 HDMI jacks (a third is in the front) and a PC jack are in a different recessed cutout. They are oriented vertically 40" from the left side. That cutout that begins 5" from the bottom of the base, and is about 2.5"w 5"h. They are about 4 to 5" from the rearmost point of the set. They are about 6" closer to the right edge of the set than the left. In the picture you can see a black HDMI cable running to the top one, Input 7.

On a possible problem with the stand adaptation ideas:
In thinking about how the front sheet metal trim is held onto the stand it became clear to me that the trim piece is wedged in place with the bottom section sliding under the front board and the top section sliding on top of the special <1 inch thinner pieces at the front of each top board . These 2 top boards have what appears to be metal fittings that are intended for the top of the trim piece to fit over and lock on to.

In other words if you simply remove the 2 side top boards you will also be removing the anchor for the trim piece.

The solution would be to cut away the inside areas of both side boards and leave behind some remaining part of the special trim support on the far left and right of the base.

I hope this makes sense to you.

I have already made a 1 inch pressed fiber insert piece for my stand because I decide I do not want to deal with cutting into the sheet metal trim. Cutting into stainless steel -if that is what it is -I have found difficult to do in projects some years back.

Anyway, good luck.

KT

Hi KT, I know exactly what you are describing. I took the side pieces off a while ago to test the fit of the front trim piece without them and the ball clip that is embedded on them. It still clips onto the stand tightly, but would probably look a little better with the trimmed side pieces. I might try it without the side pieces, and if I decide to use them I will draw a line around the TV on the stand, then remove it so that I can get a establish a pattern where the pieces need to be trimmed. Let me know how it goes when you get your set. Thanks.

Thanks rillson for measuring the distances. MIXDOCTOR and BJBBJB, do you guys notice this hour glass effect in a 4:3 aspect ratio on the 70XBR2?

Thanks!

Thats called 'pincushioning' and is not unusual in a rear projector. Optical distortion.

I spent most of yesterday watching HD on Sunday ticket and was generally pleased with what I saw. Some pixelation associated with motion but is this really the TV? I haven't upgraded the satellite receiver to the MPEG-4 capable one and what what I saw could have been the result of an overly compressed feed.

I will say that the pixelization was at it's worst last night during NBC's telecast of the Bears/Seahawks game.

My antenna coverage is pretty bad out where I am, so I can't really compare with OTA HD.

Anyone have any comments on this?

Thanks for the post, KTTV. Answers below:


No, it is a 1080i HD-DVD homegrown test disc that I got from one of the other AVSforum members.


It was the Toshiba, no scaling since it was a native 1080i feed from the disc.


Yes.


Yes.


Yes, only not as much as with mode 2. The flashing only goes away if I turn off DRC altogether.


I believe I had them at the defaults when I did the test.


I will have to try this tonight.

Can someone do the following:
1) State me a store with specific location (Name of store, City, State) where the TV can be viewed.
2) Post the actual dimensions of the base of the 60xbr2?

I didn't notice anything significant in this regard.

360 looks great. I tried taking some pictures of the action but my camera isn't good enough to capture non-blurry pictures without pausing, and pausing games takes you to a less interesting image.

1. ABC Warehouse, Utica, MI.
2. 41" width at front, 43" width at middle, 19" deep.

Mr. Foo, thanks for the response.

TAGATAYA,
Thanks for the response!!!!

Can someone take the measurements of the 60" XBR2 (Not just the stand)? I have one on order from Tweeter, but who knowws when I'll get it - I have some custom cabinetry on hold until I get those dimensions and I do not trust Sonys Manual..

And thanks for all the great info everyone!

This was the area that the XBR2 really excelled, when I watched it this weekend. I watched some college football on ESPN2HD in the SonyStyle Store for about 20 min and saw no pixelating whatsoever. When fast moving graphics swooshed across the screen, it looked great (while other sets I have seen can't handle that without breaking up pretty badly). With the outstanding 2.5ms response time of the XBR2, I am certain the problem was in the source in your case.

it was the source. 2.5ms is good for lcos, but keep in mind the response time on the mits dlp is 15micro seconds.

PARASITE, this brings up a question that I have wanted to ask.....the Mits is 15ms, the Sony lcos is 2.5......where is the point at which the delay is visible to the average person? It's hard to make comparisons since much can be attributed to the source signal.....

I'm interested in knowing if there is any overscan via VGA port. If any of the new owners can try that out and post some pictures, that would be great.

It seems to me that this is an apples to oranges comparsion. DLP has to have really fast response times because the mirrors have to turn on and off to control gray scale level plus stay in sync with the color wheel. LCD/LCOS only has to adjust when the frame changes.