[Nasdbull]

Placed an order for the Sony KDE 50 xbr today, very excited and to be honest I am a bit nervous with all these burn in reports, considering what it costs should I be worried? Does Sony have any burn in prevention features? I wont be abusing the set but reading some reports that watching tennis on espn has left burn in, makes it seem almost impossible to prevent. In my local CC the have the dvd menu on Finding Nemo for hours on end and noticed there was no burn in when I asked them to play the movie, what gives? Any other advice anyone recommends on plasma maintence?


Regards

 

[Jake34]

I have had my Sony KDE50XBR950 for about 3 weeks now.

I have been careful in how I use it and now feel very comfortable with burn in issue. I make it a rule to stretch my screen to fill it as SOP. I do not think it distorts the picture and it is a good way to avoid burn in. I do the same with any DVD's we have watched too.

I use the OTA reception and usually do not watch a digital broadcast if it is not in high definition and just watch the analog broadcast. Digital non definition does not always allow for filling the screen. YOu will probably not be disappointed with quality of analog anyway since this tv does an excellent job with it.

I guess the bottom line is that I fill the screen when I watch it. This is probably a little bit of overkill on my part, but I have tried to be careful to not do something stupid to cause burn in. I am sure you do not have to be this careful but I am no doubt being anal since it is new and costs quite a bit of money as you already know.

Do not interpret any of this as saying I do not like the plasma. It has been great so far. I have had no second thoughts and we love it. The high defintion will blow you away and the analog is really pretty good after expecting it might not be.

Let me know how you like it after you get it and welcome to the club.

 

[jrock65]

I've hear that 2:35:1 movies should be zoomed so that the black bars disappear in the first 200-300 hours of use. After that watching in the OAR should be fine.

 

[GoHerdIBG]

I just got my 42XBR950 last week and I am happy as could be with it. I do pretty much the same as Jake34 in that when I am watching a non-HD show I bypass my cable box and view SD in Full mode - which stretches left and right only. I do not mind the little bit of distortion that happens - especially with shows like the news.


I am especially impressed with the high definition quality on the display. I had some friends over last week for the playoffs and every one of them left in awe.


Have fun with the new display.

 

[Nasdbull]

Thanks for the info all, the KDE is an amazing set its simply gorgeous, the picture clarity is incredible in the few places that I saw it, I also like the way the picture comes across from the floating glass design, it is a bit pricey though and they should inculde a stand for that price, that being said waiting for delivery is torture lol. I just hope I will enjoy to its potential without worrying about burn in too much. I also decided to match it up with a Denon 1815 dvd which has 5 disc changer and faroudja chip,wanted the samsung with dvi connection but read it has a few problems.


Regards

 

[gregkabob]

GoHerdIBG, I also have the 42XBR950 and the picture is fantastic. Do you have a problem with excessive noise coming from the plasma screen especially on a bright picture? I call it a high pitch sound. It not the slight buzz you hear from the electronics. I had a tech come over and he picked it out. It's rather annoying and can be heard over the speakers when set around 15. The tech called Sony and they are going to replace the power supply as soon as Sony sends them one as there are none in the parts system and they have to pull one off the line. I'm interested in if you hear any noise being generated by the plasma screen.


Greg

 

[GooglyBear]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nasdbull Placed an order for the Sony KDE 50 xbr today, very excited and to be honest I am a bit nervous with all these burn in reports, considering what it costs should I be worried? Does Sony have any burn in prevention features? I wont be abusing the set but reading some reports that watching tennis on espn has left burn in, makes it seem almost impossible to prevent. In my local CC the have the dvd menu on Finding Nemo for hours on end and noticed there was no burn in when I asked them to play the movie, what gives? Any other advice anyone recommends on plasma maintence? Regards

WOOHOO!!!! congratulations fellow sony guy i got a KV27FS100 too which i'm upgrading.. right now my top 3 plasmas to get are

Pana 42

KDE45xbr950

the pana 50


but pricepoint of the kde 50 is way too high for me (overkill, overkill!) so i shan't be going that route..


i can't believe i'm excited and happy for you, LOL as for plasma maintenance...


can't be much help there.. i haven't got my plasma yet but soon.. soon...


itsss wantsess usss, it's teh preciousss...

 

[Zglass]

Am looking at the KDE50. Is anyone using the DVI connection with their Cable Box?


Is the HDTV reception much better or not noticeable? Our cable company is upgrading to DVI. Not sure if I want to tie up the DVI connection with the box or hook-up a DVD player (when the problems are corrected in the 2nd generation DVD players coming in April).

 

[GoHerdIBG]

Gregkabob,


I do not have any overbearing noises coming from my display. I do notice some noise if I am right next it, but it appears to have some fan noise and some low level electronic noise.


However, I will listen a little more closely tonight and turn the volume to 15 and let you know what I hear, if anything.

 

[gregkabob]

GoHerdIBG, Thanks for the input. I appreciate you listening for it. Mine is very noticeable and as a matter of fact the first time my 18 year old daughter sat down to watch it with us here first comment was "whats that annoying noise". As I said it changes pitch with the brightness of the screen. The brighter the pitcher the louder and higher the pitch. On the Oklahoma HD site a guy suggested that it might be from a weak power supply. The tech call the noise a horizontal something (can't remember the second word). When he talked to Sony they said that they were having some problems with a noisy fan on some units but no power supply problems reported but after trouble shooting they said they would swap it out. They guy on the OK HD Site alluded as being a sales guy and the local Ultimate electronics where they sell the Sony's and suggested the prower supply was the problem. I'll keep you informed on the outcome. It might be a couple of weeks for the part to get in.


I really do like the esthetic's of the set and the picture is outstanding.


Greg

 

[GoHerdIBG]

I am at home now and can not hear any unusual noises at all. I specifically put the volume on 15 and nothing. I put my head right up the rear of the unit and the only thing I heard was what appeared to be a small fan.


Even though the picture quality on both the SD feed and HD feed are OUTSTANDING and impresses everyone who has seen the dislpay - the unit design is the first WOW that comes out of their mouth. I just wish I had already put the cables in the wall.

 

[gregkabob]

Thanks for the input. Another one to put in my pocket when they tech shows back up. I sure hope it's just the power supply that's making the noise. Still amazed at the picture everytime I watch it. I'm in the process of moving a door opening and making a wall unit to put it in along with all the equipment.


Greg

 

[Zglass]

Quote:

Originally posted by gregkabob Thanks for the input. Another one to put in my pocket when they tech shows back up. I sure hope it's just the power supply that's making the noise. Still amazed at the picture everytime I watch it. I'm in the process of moving a door opening and making a wall unit to put it in along with all the equipment. Greg

Does this KDE have a white screen to help with burn-in?


If you use the split-screen does it fill up the entire 16:9 display area or are the black bands visible?


THANKS!


Really like this set but noticed a comment in the tread ... A burn-in report.... where a salesman said this model is the WORST for burn-in, hope it's just a salesman trying to convince someone tobuy another model.

 

[bill4d]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jake34 I do not think it distorts the picture and it is a good way to avoid burn in.

Hate to "knit pick" but that is an absurd statement. While I can understand wanting to avoid burn in, stretching to fit most certainly does distort the picture.


I'm just a stickler for seeing something as clearly and accurately as possible. I hate it when scrolling bars at the bottom of the screen distort the rest of the screens aspect ratio (school closings etc.). Why can't all stations just keep the proper proportions by putting up a side bar up too ??


Anyway, I also plan to purchase an XBR model and think they are beautiful displays!!

 

[dreggman]

I currently have a 34XBR2 34" CTR HDTV.


I am considering the 61" SONY Plasma. The thing I love about my Current SONY is the Wide Zoom setting. My TV has 4 settings - Normal (4:3), Full (16:9), Zoom (Chops the top and bottom off of 4:3 to make it 16:9) and Wide Zoom (which keeps the middle portion normal and allows you to change how much the picture is stretched on the sides). I prefer Wide Zoom. Do the plasma's have this feature? I prefer to watch Standard 4:3 in this mode.


Also which picture filters do the plasmas have? Right now - my TV has: Standard, Movie, Game, Pro and Vivid. I use Standard and Vivid for HDTV and I use Pro for watching SD. I wanted to know if these filters still exist on the plasma.


Thanks,

Gregg

 

[GoHerdIBG]

I will try and answer some of the questions from memory since I am at work right now.


- Yes, the 42XBR950 does have the white screen along with a "screen saver" feature where it moves the image around some. I assume the 50" version has these features.


- In split screen mode there are black bands on the top and bottom when the two images are the same size. You can, however, enlarge one side to eliminate the bars around that image. Of course, the alternate image then becomes teeny tiny.


- Haven't had my display long enough to comment on the burn-in. On the other hand, I do NOT notice any image retention at all - which others have mentioned with new sets.


- Agree with bill4d about the distortion. But - I am willing to accept the small amount of distortion on some shows to help avoid any possibility of burn-in. I do love my HD feeds though!


- My 42" has the four zoom modes mentioned by dreggman. For some reason I am not a big fan of the Wide Zoom on either my plasma or my 34hs510. I use the Full mode (which stretches right and left only) when watching most SD feeds. I am not exactly sure why I don't like Wide Zoom. I need to talk to my therapist about that!


- My 42" plasma has three filters (once again, going on memory) - Vivid, Standard, and Pro. I have not tweaked my set at all since I am giving it some time for burn-in (not the bad kind) and pretty much watch everything in standard mode. Vivid is way to bright and bad for new plasmas with the high picture settings and Pro, from the factory, is analogous to putting all stereo equalizer settings at 0 (no negative and no positive).

 

[Zglass]

After looking at many many Plasmas and reading a ton of stuff on AVS finally decided to get the Sony KDE50. The combination of PQ and the aesthetics of the set are hard to surpass. Thanks all for the comments and responses in this thread in particular.


Peter, aka CINERAMAX here, was a great help in getting me a nice deal from my local Tweeter even though he is not in my locale. Very very competitive with the authorized Sony on-line dealers. For me, I just like the convenience of dealing with a local store if there are any problems. If anyone is interested in purchasing this set from Tweeter I highly recommend sending Peter a message.