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Help with Sony KDL-70XBR3 info

post #1 of 18
3/30/07 at 3:28pm
Thread Starter 
Sony KDL-70XBR3 TV
The CEO at our company has asked me to make a recommendation about this $32,000 tv for his personal use. While I'm an avid home theater DIY guy, this is considerably out of my area of personal experience.

I'm looking for info concerning:
1) LCD panels & the LED back lighting used in this unit.
2) Links to unbiased reviews (I've read that there may be a conflict of interest on some online magazine reviews due to revenues from advertisers).

About him:
1) Upgrading from a 65" Sony RP-TV with 7" crt's.
2) EE degree
3) Interested in HDMI v1.3 color support
4) Looking to buy a universal HD player for this tv.
5) Wharfedale speakers I believe.
6) Sony fan

Thank you for your time and consideration,
-Ward
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post #2 of 18
3/30/07 at 4:05pm
For $32k he could have a k1ck @$$ front projection system that would drop jaws for years...

Is he set on RP or flexible at all?
What's his viewing environment? Any ambient lighting?
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post #3 of 18
3/30/07 at 4:30pm
Thread Starter 
Very large and open great room with cathedral ceilings and many windows without light control.
He's never mentioned any interest in fp, but he knows I run a Panasonic AX100U 720p system in my basement.
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post #4 of 18
3/30/07 at 6:34pm
The 70" doesn't start shipping until May, so it might be a few weeks before you start seeing too many informed reviews.

I've got the KDL-52XBR3 in my family room for casual TV watching or when we don't feel like watching movies in the HT. I've also got the KDL-46XBR3 in my second home. They both use the same processing engine as the 70, but the 70 has the 10 bit panel, deep color, and the LED backlight. My only complaint about the Sony LCD's is that the panels have a problem with ghosting or clouding that is appearant during solid black backgrounds,etc. There's a long thread about this in the flat panel forum. Some people say it doesn't bother them, but some do. I'd probably be bothered by it if I spend $32k on it. Some panels are better than others and some people have said they had to return a few before finding one that had minimal clouding.
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post #5 of 18
3/30/07 at 7:57pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monty Williams View Post

...but the 70 has the 10 bit panel, deep color, and the LED backlight. My only complaint about the Sony LCD's is that the panels have a problem with ghosting or clouding that is appearant during solid black backgrounds,etc.

Any idea if the newer panels are still affected by the clouding issue?
I read several pages of that thread & that's more of a personal choice whether to take the risk and hassle. I did that with my Panasonic AX100U pj, fortunately I lucked out on the first one & have had no issues.
As you said, this may not be apparent until they start shipping in qty. I would imagine the CES and any current review models are cherry picked from the line.
Regards.
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post #6 of 18
3/31/07 at 11:42am
The triluminous led is impressive, for that kind of money I bet the panels are hand picked, the advantage of this set over a FUJITSU AVIAMO 65" "THE CONTENDER" IN ANY prudent selection process for this SONY, is that LCD does not reflect like plasma glass does.

I would plan on personaly seeing one before comitting, with the aviamo as the plan b.
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post #7 of 18
4/4/07 at 10:56pm
I have had Sony 65HD1 set since 1999.

Triluminos set is really awesome. I have Qualia 005 with Triluminos LED backlight
and am very impressed with the picture quality. It's clearly better than what 65HD1 can do.

Now, the only hesitation I have is the $33k sticker on the 70XBR3.

The way LCD prices are dropping, this set may cost $20k or less in 12 months.

With emphasis on *may*. You can never know for sure.

Plus, I'd like to at least see it in person first before dropping that much cash into a TV.

No one seems to have it on display. I heard that Sony may have *one* in vegas show room.

So, I probably wait a bit myself.
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post #8 of 18
4/5/07 at 4:35pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by anawat View Post

I have Qualia 005 with Triluminos LED backlight and am very impressed with the picture quality. It's clearly better than what 65HD1 can do.

Thanks for the reply. I'm curious how you would rate the Triluminos LED backlight technology compared to CRT's and CCF's. I guess black levels and shadow detail may be the only apples to apples comparison among these; and even that may not be truly fair as a lot depends on the designers implementation.

As to buying sight unseen. We routinely do that with Asian consortium's so it comes with the job. Although this might be a first for both personal use and single unit price w/o a sample.

-Ward
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post #9 of 18
4/5/07 at 5:06pm
I think the black level is still the best on direct view CRT. My reference is Sony 32XBR100.

Q005 go in quite deep in grey level in shadow, much deeper than all LCD and Plasma that I've seen.

Bright colors are very good on Q005, in fact, it claims that it can do over 130% of NTSC color gamut.

The detail is obviously much higher than CRT can do.

Overall, Q005 is a big upgrade to direct view CRT 32XBR100 set that I used to have
in the bedroom.

I haven't seen the 70" myself. I hope that it's as good, maybe better than Q005 as it
has newer and better panel (120Hz) than the one on Q005.
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post #10 of 18
4/5/07 at 7:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by anawat View Post

...The detail is obviously much higher than CRT can do.
Overall, Q005 is a big upgrade to direct view CRT 32XBR100 set that I used to have
in the bedroom.
I haven't seen the 70" myself. I hope that it's as good, maybe better than Q005 as it
has newer and better panel (120Hz) than the one on Q005.

Thanks, I believe that's what he's looking for. The new panels I think run faster than 4ms which is really impressive, unfortunately I've yet to see one with a BD or HD dvd source.

OT: He bought an LG BH100 universal player yesterday, but decided to return it today after finding out the salesman misinformed him on DeepColor support.
I spent the last hour online reading universal reviews and each has it's cons. I really don't expect to see anything emerge until Q3 or Q4 of this year that will dominate in its class, if only briefly. Perhaps it may be better to go with single format players.

I have discovered that it's an equally large pita researching high end equipment as it is for my modest budget. I was under the impression that more money would make my problems irrelevant. Apparently that doesn't apply to new technologies.
-Ward
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post #11 of 18
4/10/07 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ward216 View Post

OT: He bought an LG BH100 universal player yesterday, but decided to return it today after finding out the salesman misinformed him on DeepColor support.
I spent the last hour online reading universal reviews and each has it's cons. I really don't expect to see anything emerge until Q3 or Q4 of this year that will dominate in its class, if only briefly. Perhaps it may be better to go with single format players.

I think so. If your boss is spending $35k on a TV, getting two players (BD and HD-DVD)
shouldn't even be an issue. 70XBR3 should have enough HDMI ports.
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post #12 of 18
4/11/07 at 3:04am
Thread Starter 
The XA2 player arrived at work yesterday. My first look at the 2nd gen player.
Also got to look at samples of active copper DVI extender cable and active fiber HDMI extender cable. Playing with all this was a nice break from my regular duties.
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post #13 of 18
5/28/07 at 6:38pm
Sony style NY not getting the demo unit until June.
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post #14 of 18
5/28/07 at 9:40pm
I am somewhat curious about what is so special about the KDL70? I have seen the latest LCD and they are not that good IMHO.... What would make this particular set stand out?
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post #15 of 18
5/29/07 at 1:44pm
1. It would be the largest available LCD flat panel.

2. It would be the first large lcd panel with LED backlighting.

3. It would be the first to fully support HDMI 1.3 spec from the video side of that spec.

3.a 120 hz refresh rate. 1080P etc etc

4. In theory, it should be the best large flat panel on the planet and would have no competition in its size class. IF they get it right, it will be a milestone product.

Hence the 30 large tag. The exciting thing is that next year, other's will have competing products at greatly reduced fees. Promting a 100 plus inch version that will kill a lot of new FP sales.

New Yorkers will get to see it first, at the New York Sony Style store in June.

If it bests the 80 inch Samsung plasma I saw at the Samsung NY display store, it will be something to behold. Hopefully, Sony will leave the shiny, reflective screen off. That really kills all big plasmas, and the new high end Samsung LCD's in normal light.
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post #16 of 18
6/6/07 at 12:23am
Poor choice since it would be surprising to see comparable 70"+ lcd's (that one included) being sold for well under $10k within the next couple years
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post #17 of 18
6/7/07 at 11:13am
Pushed back to Mid July.

Typical.

New Yorkers keep your eyes peeled.
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post #18 of 18
6/15/07 at 11:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TUKE View Post

Poor choice since it would be surprising to see comparable 70"+ lcd's (that one included) being sold for well under $10k within the next couple years

I just saw a Sharp Aquos 65" LCD under $8K in Austin TX AV shop...anything's possible.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Ultra Hi-End HT Gear ($20,000+) › Help with Sony KDL-70XBR3 info