[Firstknight_sf]

So I know both of these have the super fine pitch tube but I read somewhere that the 955 has a "lower generation resolution." I found a pretty good deal on a 955 that is only a year old and in great condition with matching stand for $850. Is the 955 as good as the 960? I dont really care about the extras like memory stick, Firewire, PIP and all that jazz...I just care about picture quality. I read that the 960 has second generation resolution and I also read that they both have the same resolution. So which one is right? Thanks guys.

 

[RWetmore]

It isn't true. The PQ of the XS955 and XBR960 is identical..resolution and all. They both use the exact same picture tube.


I think that the 34XS955 may not have the antiglare coating too, which is big plus over the 960 (though it can be removed on the 960).

 

[Firstknight_sf]

Thanks RWetmore. That is the answer I was hoping for. So I think I'm going to buy this tv. The XS955 for $850 with matching stand AND extended warranty. He bought the tv brand new a year ago so it should still be under the Sony warranty. He has the reciept. He also bought the extended warranty thru Magnolia HIFI.


You guys think this is a good deal?

 

[RWetmore]

If it is truly in great condition, I think it is a very good deal, especially with the extended warranty. I say go for it.

 

[avhed]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Firstknight_sf /forum/post/0


I dont really care about the extras like memory stick, Firewire, PIP and all that jazz...I just care about picture quality.

They both have the memory stick, and Firewire never caught on, so PIP is one of the few differences, besides the silver trim on the XBR.

I bought a 2.5 year old 955 a couple weeks ago and cannot wait for an ISF calibration.The colors are so deep!

The only thing that concerns me on mine is how much brightness has it lost? I will find out when I get the calibration.

 

[Firstknight_sf]



Quote:
Originally Posted by avhed /forum/post/0


I bought a 2.5 year old 955 a couple weeks ago and cannot wait for an ISF calibration.The colors are so deep!

The only thing that concerns me on mine is how much brightness has it lost? I will out when I get the calibration.

Well this guy bought this tv brand new about a year ago with limited viewing. So the brightness should still be perfect. Did you buys yours open box? How much did you pay?

 

[avhed]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Firstknight_sf /forum/post/0


brand new about a year ago with limited viewing. So the brightness should still be perfect. Did you buys yours open box? How much did you pay?

A CRT loses half its brightness during its first 5000 hours.

You can forget about perfect, but yours must be brighter than mine. They are not that bright to begin with, so I am wondering if the torch mode on these are less harmful?. Someone measured a peak of 51 ft lamberts on a new set. My Panasonic CT30WX15 was running at 89 ft lamberts before calibration.

I paid $599CAN from the original dealer.

 

[Firstknight_sf]



Quote:
Originally Posted by avhed /forum/post/0


A CRT loses half its brightness during its first 5000 hours.

You can forget about perfect, but yours must be brighter than mine. They are not that bright to begin with, so I am wondering if the torch mode on these are less harmful?. Someone measured a peak of 51 ft lamberts on a new set. My Panasonic CT30WX15 was running at 89 ft lamberts before calibration.

I paid $599CAN from the original dealer.

That is interesting. I didn't know that the CRT loses brightness after its first 5000 hours. Is there way to fix this? Well I heard the 970 is brighter than the 960/955. Well doesn't brightness equal to better picture quality?


WHY IS IT SO HARD TO PURCHASE A TV???? CANT SOMEBODY JUST RELEASE A PERFECT TV??????????

 

[RWetmore]

I've never heard that a CRT loses half its brightness either. Assuming one doesn't have the contrast at maximum, you could "fix" it simply by raising the contrast setting, I would think.


As far as being concerned about it with your 34XS955, I wouldn't worry about a 1 year old set in the slightest.

 

[RWetmore]

Yes, the 970 does have a maximum brightness higher than the XS955, but at the cost of significantly lower resolution. The XS955 is plenty bright enough since most people don't keep their set anywhere near its maximum brightness anyway, especially after calibration.

 

[Vega78]

The only CRTs that I have seen that suffer from losing significant brightness over years of use are rear projection sets and cheap crappy quality tvs like toshiba and symphonic. I've never seen a overly significant loss in brightness on any trinitron. Besides, even if they did lose alot of brightness, 50,000 hours is an extremely long time. I've actually heard 60,000 hours being the number, but even if it's just 50,000, it would take being on 24/7 for almost 6 years to reach that number the quickest. Picture tube tvs have never lasted forever. Yeah, some of them lasted 20 years but by then the picture wasn't too pretty and it may have had the intermittent shrinking of the picture due to the tube going out. Just accept that one day your beautifull tube tv is going to break and that someday you'll have to buy a plastic tv and you'll be alot happier.

 

[Firstknight_sf]

Well if the tube loses its brightness in 50,000 hours I'll be happy...but he said it loses half the brightness in 5000 hours. Maybe that was a typo. Oh well, I'll be looking at the 955 tomorrow. The seller said it's in "MINT condition barely used".....but don't they all say that????

 

[avhed]

About the 5000 hours, I was quoting someone on this forum. I should of checked it. The only thing I could find is a CRT computer monitor loses half of its brightness at 10,000 to 15,000 hours.

 

[RWetmore]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Firstknight_sf /forum/post/0


Oh well, I'll be looking at the 955 tomorrow. The seller said it's in "MINT condition barely used".....but don't they all say that????

Yes - take that with a grain of salt. If the back cover and front bezel truly look mint when you arrive, I think it's a reasonably safe bet it hasn't been abused or mishandled.


Also, after he turns on the set, check what picture mode he has it in. If it's in Vivid mode, chances are it was in this mode from the time he got it. Vivid mode is often referred to as "torch mode" because it really drives the tube hard and can put stress on the aperture grill. It shouldn't be a big issue as long as there are no visible picture problems. This is generally more of a concern with floor models that have been running 9 hours a day for a year or more.

 

[Firstknight_sf]

Thanks for all the great advice RWetmore, I really appreciate it

The only problem he says with the tv is that it has 2 cracks on the bottom right of the tv when they were trying to move it to their apartment. I uploaded 3 pictures and you can see the cracks on the bottom right. But acording to him the picture quality is not effected. What bothered me is that screenshot of the tube where you see the guide for Direct TV. It almost looks like the bottom right has a darker color.


Either way, I get the tv, tv stand, and extended warranty from Magnolia Hifi for $850. Sounds like a great deal. Maybe to good to be true???

 

[RWetmore]

I saw that one on ebay. With that damage, I'd try to negotiate a lower price.