Official Sony XBR4/5 Owners Thread(NO PRICE TALK) - Page 13

I did indeed get my 52" XBR4 from BB this weekend. Not on the floor or website, but certainly in the store inventory computer. Of the two BBs in my area (Eastern WI), only one had one 52" in stock.

For my set, minor clouding is noticed only when a blank screen is up, never during letterboxed movies or other times. The black level is good for LCD, but not perfect, yet. I still have more tweaking to do, but am overall very pleased. This set blows away my old 57" Hitachi RPTV. Everything's so damned crisp!

Letterbox bars aren't completely black, but not distracting. I'm currently running the PS3 via HDMI on standard mode, cool color, blacklight 5, brightness 45 (or 50, can't remember right now), contrast 80, with CE on medium, black enhancement on low, and power saving on low. I tried upping the power saving to high and although the black level improved, the picture just lost the 'pop' that I love so much. Lowering brightness or contrast took away too much detail.

And for those wondering, yes, the TV still lights up a room with no image present on screen, though only minorly.

i have had my 40" XBR4 for about a week now and am absolutely loving it. I am running PS3 via HDMI and i have to say that the Blu-ray movies look outstanding. HD broadcasts look outstanding as well.

One thing that i am having trouble with, however, is the look of SD broadcasts. Sadly enough i don't have ESPN HD (yet, lol) and the color and crispness just arent there. I know that i cannot expect it to be as nice a picture as the HD channels, but does anyone have any suggestions for improving the picture? Possibly some personal settings that you have found to like.

Thanks in advance.

Who's your cable provider?
What Cable Box?
How's it hooked up?

Some cable boxes allow "pass-thru" so that the TV is converting, not the cable box.

John

i think that is my problem. i will definately look into a new box. thanks for the suggestion.

Anyone know how the Directv HR10-250 fairs with the XBR4? Or how it fairs just in general with HD and SD content? I will be using it when my TV gets set up.

Since there arn't a lot of HD channels currently, how does xbr4 compare to 71in SD?

I'm weighing the W3000 and the XBR4 in either 46" or 52." I haven't seen any pro reviews of the new models, but this Jan '07 Home Theater Magazine review of the 46XBR2 has me concerned:
http://hometheatermag.com/lcds/107sonykdl

The only thing that holds back the KDL-46XBR2's performance is its handling of standard-definition DVD and NTSC sources... If you don't plan to invest in a Blu-ray or HD DVD player anytime soon, you definitely need a good upconverting DVD player or, better still, a high-quality scaler that can feed this TV a clean signal at all times.

I thought a key step-up on XBR was the DRC 2.5 to clean-up standard def sources. I'm not ready to turn my DVD collection into coasters, and I'm still watching a lot of SD material.

1) Do owners here believe the XBR improves SD material or actually expose its flaws?
2) Will the 52" exacerbate the problem moreso than 46"?
3) Should I suck it up and buy an up-converting Blu-ray player?

Thanks in advance!

came to visit my mom and walked in to her place to see a new 40" xbr5 and BDP-S300. i don't know squat about this set or LCD's - do you guys have some recommended settings that i could use? not sure how much time i'm going to have to play with it before i leave but i'd like to tweak it a little before i go. looks like the cable guy (comcast) has her hooked up from blu-ray to tv via component and motorola DCH3416 to tv via hdmi. thanks.

^
Thanks gordong11.

can anyone confirm if there is clouding on the 40inch xbr4 , or if this is just a 46" issue

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=893076

im new to postign in the LCD forums so fogive me if this queastion has been asked. What is the diference between the xbr4 and xbr5? all i can see from the comparison on sonystyles.com is the xbr5 has a longer warrenty.

Can someone post a couple pics of the backside of their XBR4? I would like to see the location of the inputs/outputs. Thanks!

all of the inputs are on the right side of the back of the set. So, if you are looking at the TV from the front they would be located on the left. This is also where the side inputs are located. The cable/ant connection is located in the exact center of the back of the set.

Sorry i couldn't get pictures up, hope this helps.

The dimensions document linked from the following page shows exactly where the hook ups are:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/mod...R4&region_id=1

How well does this tv display sports with alot of panning and action.. I've been holding off from buying an LCD because of the refresh rate issues (which apply to gaming as well I suppose).. Can someone give me some input on this?

In a nutshell: Is this a GREAT tv for watching soccer/hockey?

how far is everyones seating distance from the 52inch?

I bought mine (52xbr4) from Circuit City in North Charleston SC, today.

Kevin

does that mean you have the 52's in stock, and ready to be shipped?

8 1/2 ft.

My settings

KDL40XBR4

CUSTOM
Backlight: 2
Picture: 80
Brightness: 51
Color: 63
Hue: 0
Temp: Neutral
Sharpness: 50
Noise Red: Off
DRC Mode: Off
Black Corrector: Off
Advanced CE: Off
Gamma: Off
Clear White: Off
Color Space: Standard
Live Color: Off

WHITE BALANCE:
Red Gain: -2
Green Gain: -4
Blue Gain: -10
Red Bias: -4
Green Bias: -4
Blue Bias: 1

Detail Enhancer: High
Edge Enhancer: Off
Power Savings: Off

Motion Enhancer: High

10 ft.

I just unboxed my 46" xbr4 and wow, kingdom of heaven on blu ray looked phenomenal, it really blew me out of the water. I still can't get over how good it looks.

Anyways, i'm still running with basically factory settings, but i did notice a small bit of ghosting, what can i do to fix that? Thanks alot.

im figthing myself between the 52inch LCD XBR5 and the 60 inch SXRD XBR5. my distance is 10 feet.

im a little worried the 52 will feel to small at that distance and not feel engrossing, but it has all the features i wont in a TV. the SXRD does also but i dont think its 10 bit deep color like the LCD is and i really want that in my TV.

any sugestions?

Take a look at the CNET article on this. Basically says minimum and maximum distances for 50" set are 6.3' and 12.5', 55" set are 6.9' and 12.8', and 60" set are 7.5' and 15'. "With wide-screen sets showing DVD or HDTV, you can sit as close as 1.5 times the screen's diagonal measurement and still not notice much of a loss in quality, while sitting farther away than three times the screen size means you're likely to miss out on the immersive feel."

Post pics! I want to stare in awe!


See solution. Har har...(j/k. I'd wait for the experts to reply).

ahah yeah so that doesnt really help cause my 10 feet fits in the middle of all those sizes. Man i really hate tough desicions

I've stood in back of the couch at almost 10 ft. and the 52 is still good at that distance. With an HD signal it still felt like I was "into" the scene. SD benefitted as well by being a little further away.

I just brought my 46xbr4. I am very happy with it so far. But can someone explain to me Motion Enhancer. I had my settings on standard but it look kinda weird with it on like when watching a movie it's looks like the the movie is in fast paste and the tv is trying to catch up with it or something it's hard to explain but it looks kinda weird. Maybe i'm not adjusted to it yet. Am I the only one that experience this and should take my tv back for another one or what? so far I just turned it off and it's looks good to me.