Official Sony XBR4/5 Owners Thread(NO PRICE TALK) - Page 2

I view a 57" Sharp from 8.5' and could easily do 65" (if they lowered the price a few K). If the panel truly displays 1080P/24 and can do similar mode to Sharps dot-by-dot believe me you'll crave larger than 52" as I crave 65-70" at the same distance. Even my SD is pretty good and I bet the Sony does it even slightly better. Go Big - but feed it HD source and you'll love it and wished they made em bigger! Check out my viewing distance calculator in my sig block and it will confirm - they must have been rating a 4:3 SD viewing panel not a 16:9 1080P panel whoever made such a statement.

Whoever stated it's too close has never owned one themselves. I'm speaking as an owner of about the largest they make and my only regret is I didn't buy the 65" last October for $1500 more. In dot mode I can get within inches and not see any artifacts - SD is usually pretty good and to be tolerated but I maximize my HD with HD STB, w/HD Premiums/Local Prime, HD DVD and BD 1200 and a Netflix membership to draw on both libraries.

Thanks for the insight westa6969 and bpmurr. That's what I thought. Whoever mentioned it earlier wasn't speaking of PQ as much as the eyeball fatigue aspect of it. Kinda like sitting in the front row of the movie theater and your eyes are constantly darting from one side of the screen to the other. Something you always do, but it's more of a physical effort (something you actually notice) when you sit too close. I'm not implying it's too close, just wanted to ask. I'm gonna go ahead get the 52", which is what I wanted anyway.)

Can a couple of volunteers get their tape measure out and let me know what the screen size is for the 40 XBR4 and 46 inch XBR4? I am looking for inches high/inches wide of the actual screen and have googled this without results.

I'm just trying to figure out the screen footprint here in my living room compared to my current set. I went to the local CC tonight and the set (only the 40 was on display) was mounted high on the wall. Thanks.

Just ordered my 46" XBR4 tonight from CC!

Thanks for all of the insight from those on this and the old thread!

Well, seeing they're 16:9, my math would lead me to believe that a 40" would be:
34.86" x 19.61"

46":
40.09" x 22.55"

That's assuming I did it correct though

Here's what I found with game mode on my 46XBR4; It IS necessary with some games, an example is playing the Minno No Golf 5 (Everybody's golf) japanese demo on the PS3. The golf dynamics require you to hit buttons at precise moments on a moving meter to get good, accurate shots. I could not time this correctly with motion flow and regular movie watching mode on. My timing is honed from my previous RPTV and I just couldn't get it right because there WAS noticable lag. Changed to game mode and I was back to hitting perfect shots. So for any game that requires precise button timing game mode is a must, for other games that have a more linear flow it might be up to the player.

One thing that was odd was that the settings for the same input are different between the regular and game modes, each stores different settings. The default color for game was "warm2" and was way too yellow/orange, so I set it to neutral and all was good. It'll remember these so once set up you can switch back and forth to game mode without having to tweak settings again.

Measured my 46" and those numbers are about spot on, maybe more like 22.25" on the height, but maybe I looked at my tape at an angle. BTW the full bezel size is basically 50"x29".

Anyone know when canada is getting these? I was in futureshop a couple of weeks ago and those guys are clueless cause they told me october.

I got a question i payed around 32xx for my xbr3 46inch a little bit ago and i do have clouding issues that can be noticed sometimes, im an advid gamer and dont rely notice it while playing games on the ps3,
You can for sure notice it on a blank input,
I have a 2 year warrenty with pc-richard that i payed 400$ for.
Now my question is should i call pc richard up and tell them about my clouding issue and have them come look at it, then when they see the problem and want to xchange my tv, inreturn get the xbr5? 46inch.

Westa, if I ever win the lottery, I will buy you one of those KDL-70XBR3 monsters.

Larry King's head would look gigantic!

Just saw a XBR4 playing bluray and have to say that in one scene there was significant clouding. I didn't notice it as much in other scenes but I also wasn't looking for it very closely. Also, any movement seemed quite unnatural. The salesman said this unnatural movement was only evident with Bluray. This also might include HD DVD but I don't think they had it set up for that. Maybe it was the cables the store was using. Colors looked amazing and the picture was quite crisp.

Doh, got my 46 XBR 4 today from CC, There's a dead pixel! Damnnnnnn. I guess ill make the trek to exchange it tomorrow, argghhh.

I'll let HD DVD fans know today....mine on it's way,

Man, when are the freakin 52's gonna hit the store? No one has them in and no one can give a date. You guys that got yours, I am very jealous. I can buy it over the internet, but I decided I need to see it myself first before I plop down $4k.

I am still waiting for mine from Frys.com, and no one seems to have any idea when they will hit the stores.

I called my local Sony Style store and they said they wouldn't be getting the 52" until October, and I said that doesn't make any sense because they have been shipping already and I've seen pictures of them posted on AVS Forum.

So, as of right now, I think the ONLY place you can get the 52" is sonystyle.com, not sure why it is taking so long to get them to the brick and mortar retailers of America.

Sony really needs to get going with shipping, etc. NFL and Fall TV scheduled is right around the corner, and people (like me) will go buy something else (Like a Samsung 81) if they don't ship soon.

And keep in mind, these models only have a 12 month shelf life, the XBR2/3 came out September 2006 and are now "obsolete"...so next year we can expect new models from Sony in August/September....

Hi everyone,

I've been reading these forums for the last 2 months or so, but this is my first time posting. I'm in the market for an HDTV, and I had decided that I wanted an LCD. I'm an avid gamer, and the thought of plasma burn-in scares me. Also, the room I'll be placing the TV in has a massive, pain-in-the-@$$ window which I can't completely block all of the light from, so an LCD is really the only thing I can put in this room.

Ever since I went into the Sony store a few months ago I was hooked on the XBR2. The incredible detail, sharpness and picture quality, and the way they handled motion with very little noticable motion blur had me hooked. Then, after doing some research, I discovered that Sony was releasing a new XBR and I knew that I had to get one.

Fast forward to now. People have started receiving their XBR4's and from what I can tell, MotionFlow 120Hz, which is the feature I've been most excited for, is apparently not all it's cracked up to be. People have been saying that they can't stand watching movies with it enabled, because it makes it look like a "documentary of the movie", or something to that effect.

So now I must ask, is MotionFlow overrated? Does it actually help with gaming? Would it be worth it to save a few hundred dollars and get one of the W models? Also, what features does "gaming mode" disable? Why is it that people recommend gaming mode especially in games where timing is critical? Do all of the "bells and whistles" really add that much delay to the display? If I got a W model instead, would I still have to use gaming mode?

If someone could help me out with this it would be greatly appreciated!

If you need an excuse to visit the beautiful low country of South Carolina (25 miles from Hilton Head), drop by the BB store. A 52XBR4 went on display Sunday August 19.

Is it this one?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=e...&t=h&z=18&om=1

Thats it. The store across the street is a WalMart.

My father is buying a 52XBR4 from his local specialty electronics dealer, and they've told him first week in September is when they'll receive their 52XBR4's. Since these guys are a specialty store that deal exclusively in high-end A/V equipment, I'm more inclined to believe them than the average BB or CC clerk. But given that Sony Style's employees seem to have no idea when the TV's are shipping, I think the whole issue still remains shrouded in mystery.

It seems like it would be an easy thing to figure out-- somebody, somewhere, knows where these TV's are in the production process, whether they're rolling off an assembly line in Mexico or just sitting in vast warehouses somewhere.

Hey XBR4 owners!

I'm sure most of you aren't oblivious to the fact that many of us, prospective buyers, are comparing the XBR4 to the Samsung 71 series.

As of now from what we've heard Motion Flow and Motion Plus seem to be quite similar; the only big difference that hasn't been talked about much yet is the difference in contrast ratios and blacks.

Some pictures in the 71 series owners thread hint at a VERY dark screen in a pitch black room. How is the XBR4 performing in a home theater environment? Do you get deep blacks or greys? Can someone post a picture of a black screen in a black room, to see how much light passes through?

Yesterday, at CC, i was able to compare both the Samsung 71 and the new Sony XBR4 (both in 46" sizes). They were sitting right next to one another and playing the same content, same feed. I can say, after spending about 30 minutes tweeking all kinds of settings on both tvs, that the Sony was by far the better looking tv. For the first time in my life, i saw a tv that looked as if it was 3D. The depth of the sony blew the samsung away. I of course was completely surprised because i was banking on the Samsung. After seeing what i saw, i proceeded to order yesterday from pc richards. I wanna thank whoever put up the info on pc richards yesterday.

As for black levels, again, the sony was far better. It was dead on black, with ZERO evidence of clouding. There was no evidence of light escaping thru on scenes with deep contrast (white letter box on pitch black scene). The samsung looked gray compared to the sony and i had both settings on the same. Mind you, the Sony's backlight was on high and the screen still looked ridiculously black, which made the colors pop like crazy. Again, the samsung always had a tint of gray. All i can say, is that the Sony XBR4 is by far the most beautiful tv i have ever seen. And i have been researching this stuff for years.

But you compared them in a store? I appreciate the info but I'm really wondering how they compare in a pitch black room.

If it was beyond noticeable in the store, with a lot of light, i think you can come to your own conclusion in the dark...

This puzzles me since I have a LN-T4665F home and at day the blacks look deeper than the bezel. It's when darkness comes that the picture looks gradually lighter and lighter. At night when all lights are off the set illuminates the room with its blacks. They seem to be much better than any other LCD but they still aren't complete blacks.

I know we'll have to wait for newer technologies (as the one in the 81 series) to get complete blacks but since I'm looking at the 71 series and the XBR4 I'm wondering which one is blacker and how much the difference matter.

I just find it hard to believe that the Samsung set you saw was properly calibrated; mine NEVER looks grey at day (and it's supposed to be less deep than the 71 you saw).

We put our 52"XBR4 on display last night. BB in Niles,Ohio.

I think it's real hard to say which set, Samsung 71F or Sony XBR4, is blacker in the dark since you need to have both sets at home under the same condition to determine the winner. Comparing them in stores is a little useless to me.

I've been trying but not having much luck with the ditigal camera - either comes out too dark or too bright. Gotta fiddle with it some.