CRT Zealot's SXRD review thread

What sold me on SXRD? The glass screens of plasma really bother me. I hate reflections. I never was able to get over this. Plasmas have also not completely eliminated dithering. I never seriously considered DLP. They still look too digital to me with certain sources. Also, although I rarely see rainbows, I did not want to risk visitors seeing them or having other side effects (like headaches). As an engineer, I am fascinated by the technology behind DLP (mirrors, color wheel, wobulation) but a part of me doesn't want to view a display with all that going on long term. When I started to hear that Sony had solved the LCoS production issues, I was quite interested in a LCD type RPTV with no SDE and good black levels.


The SXRD is the most CRT-like microdisplay. I say this because Sony has avoided the "digital" look of other displays by driving the panels with an analog signal. An analog grayscale and gamma curve really make a difference. Sony has also included good deinterlacing/scaling in this set. So many microdisplays are plagued by poor deinterlacing/scaling. Combine all this with decent blacks and a bright picture and you have a great looking display. The SSE is slightly annoying, but is much less in comparison to other microdisplays.


Following are my impressions of the 60" SXRD vs. a fully tweaked 7" CRT. I can't fully comment on a 9" because I've never owned one. On a fully tweaked 9", I see scanlines from normal viewing distances. Visible scanlines are unacceptable to me (much like SDE). Most CRT sets are not fully tweaked (even ISF calibrated ones). It generally takes an expert like CraigM or the guys at www.lionav.com to fully tweak your CRT. Most people don't want to pay for simple ISF calibration, much less a full tweaking.

Resolution: This is where SXRD really excells. I believe that the SXRD resolves more resolution than it needs to. Why, because MPEG compression artifacts are much more visible on the SXRD when using DVI/HDMI, internal tuner, or firewire vs. a CRT. Input component, and the SXRD seems to become a CRT as these artifacts are no longer as noticeable. With the best sources (Praying Mantis: Alien Insect has long been one of my references) and digital input, SXRD displays a more detailed picture than I have seen on any RP CRT. With component input, it is at worst equal to that of a tweaked 9" and still easily outperforms a 7". The SXRD does all this with zero edge enancement (once detail enhancement is defeated). It should be noted that the 9" Mits sets require an expert calibration with I2C EPROM access to defeat edge enhancement. While the SXRD can fully resolve 1920x1080 [with digital input] it is still rolled off in the highest frequencies. There is still room for improvement in terms of frequency response and panel convergence (the edges of the screen are not as sharp as the middle due to the misconvergences I see on all SXRDs to some degree). I expect color-wheel based DLP to always have a resolution advantage over LCoS technology. Not having to manually converge R, G, and B is a great advantage Microdisplays have over CRT.

Black levels: This is the area where SXRD really doesn't compete with CRT. In terms of absolute black, DLP is darker than SXRD (yes, IRIS engaged) from my observations. The SXRD's black is still a dark shade of gray when all the lights are off. With even just a little bit of room light, the SXRD black level is quite acceptable. If you want to watch in complete darkness, CRT is still king. I recommend a backlight for the SXRD for nightime viewing.

Black detail: SXRD almost matches CRT in terms of shadow detail. I would say it equals it but I have occasionally seen some slight digital artifacting/dithering in the darkest torture scenes. It should be noted that I been looking for flaws and viewing with all the lights out. Again, I recommend a backlight for the SXRD for nightime viewing. SXRD is still a leap forward in terms of shadow detail over plasma and DLP.

Color: This is a tricky area. The SXRD is more colorful than any CRT display I have ever seen. However, it achieves this by using oversaturated primary colors that are out of the range of the ATSC standard. This rarely results in a distracting image with HD video and many will find it more pleasing. However, I do find it distracting with many movies. Turning color down a few clicks helps a bit, but more than just a couple clicks screws the skin tones up. Sony could have given us an out by having selectable color spaces (NTSC, ATSC, and EXPANDED), but they didn't so we are stuck with EXPANDED. Most tweaked CRTs will outperform the SXRD in terms of color accuracy (however, many CRTs have inaccurate primaries).

Color/brightness uniformity: Color uniformity has been a big issue among some SXRD owners. Truth be told, color uniformity on SXRD is better than that of RP CRT. Color/brightness on CRT differs greatly between the center and edges of the screen. Many people (including myself) are not sensitive to this gradual shift. People who are decided RPTV wasn't for them long ago (they usually own tubes or plasmas).

Source evaulations:


Video games: The bright, crisp picture of SXRD makes it superior for gaming. Black levels are not too important when it comes to gaming. CRT cannot compete IMO. (If I had to buy a set only for gaming, it would be a DLP)


HD Video: I watch a lot of DiscoveryHD, football, and basketball. HD video greatly benefits from the increased resolution and brightness of the SXRD.


TV Dramas: I enjoy CSI and Law & Order. The experience is about equal to me on the SXRD as it was on the CRT. It's a wash.


Movies: This is the area where I miss my CRT. Letterboxing bars do not fade into the background of a dark room on the SXRD like they do on CRT. Outer space isn't the inky black that it should be. CRT gives me the theater feel that the SXRD gets me close to, but still doesn't fully achieve. Some HD transfers are more detailed on the SXRD, but ultimately the CRT is more film-like and color-accurate.

Conclusion: I consider the SXRD to be the ultimate Microdisplay. For a self-contained, single-display solution it is the best I have encountered. It's not perfect, but it is the closest to it IMHO. If you want a self-contained display primarily for movies in a light-controlled environment, CRT is still king (provided you are willing to pay for calibration and keep the convergence maintained). What I have realized is that all this tweaking and convergence takes up a lot of time, or money, or both. The beauty of the SXRD is that a professional calibration is not really needed. An ISF calibration will not greatly improve on the PRO mode. There is no convergence to maintain. There is not much need to regulate lighting (my mom often likes to read while we watch TV...no longer an issue with the SXRD). It performs great with all sources and doesn't take up the space a CRT does. SXRD is the new standard in RPTV IMHO. I also expect to see improvements in the coming years as well.

tl;dr

(too long; didn't read)


















j/k

Thanks for the detailed review and comparison. Have you been able to not notice the SSE as much now that you've owned the SXRD for awhile?

Are you experiencing any color uniformity issues on B & W material and gray scale?

I am and not quite sure how to deal with it.

Can it be "calibrated "out?

Active color picture has none of the color uniformity issues.

Would another set make a difference?

Thanks for your opinion!

two things I disagree with some of the above posts:


1- The SXRD's black are as black as black can get...the black area of the screen during text credits to a movie look so black on my set that it seems like the tv is turned off in these areas


2- I like the way my SXRD looks! the design is cool to me, how the speakers almost float...its a weird trend that ive seen with SXRD design being hated upon, but I notice alot of people that have this opinion have not had it in their house or do not have a proper matching stand...I wasnt a big fan of the tv's design until I saw it in my house and atop my new Sanus Lowboy stand, it looks so futuristic that i am completely satisfied with just staring at it (tv off) a few seconds a day.

A square picture frame tv seems boring, at least the SXRD is created with distinct design


To me there are too many anomolies in a crt picture be it 7"/ 9" guns...Hdtv on the SXRD with 24fps source material is so detailed that it retains the real film graininess and resolution...crt has a washed out blurry picture compared to SXRd, but I guess this is all subjective.

Quote:
I'm not sensitive to the color uniformity issue. Can it be calibrated out? Not likely. Would another set make a difference? Depends on how bad your display is and your sensitivity to the issue.

Sxrd Color Uniformity Issues

Quote:
I realize that ambient light effects our perception of black, but what perplexes me is that professional reviews (which are using tools to measure the black level) seem to be in disagreement about how black the SXRD blacks are.


The HomeTheaterMag, which measured black at .006 ft-L, did not indicate whether or not this was the blackness measured once the display had been properly calibrated or if that was as black as they could make it.


So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am unsure whether the differences being reported for BL are related to production inconsistincies, lack of uniform testing methodology, or both. It's just hard to understand when one mag says that it is hands down the blackest black ever recorded on an RPTV (when they've measured plenty of CRTs) and another says that black is just okay.


By the way, Marc, excellent thread.