Sony 65inch 4K Display

Tornado Red

I was at a local store today where a salesman invited me to demo their new Sony 65inch 4K Ultra HD TV - Black - XBR65X900A. He started by running a copy of Jurassic Park 3D, upscaling from a Samsung 4k capable player. The picture wasn't any better than I had seen this movie before, all it really did was confirm my dislike for 3D. I asked if he had any actual 4k material to play on this thing, and he stuck in a Sony-provided USB with 4k promo clips on it (non 3D). Got to admit, I was very impressed. Supposedly, we're going from 1080p of 2 million pixels to 8 million here. My old eyes couldn't really tell if it was 4 times as good, I am guessing not, but it sure was better. Colors (reds, greens) were absolutely incredible, though of course Sony has done the clips up to look good. Such smoothness too, with the objects on the screen, almost a "live" appearance. And so begins the next phase in video evolution I guess, with a price that will scare off most without deep pockets. And of course, there's nothing much to play on it yet. Chicken or the egg, we've all seen this before, but I think it will come in time. Oh yeah, price was $7600 CDN, and they only had one. I asked if I could get it for half price, since it was a demo model. He scoffed at me. SCOFFED I tell ya. Oh well, my Panny will have to do a few more years. Great TV though, if anyone gets the chance to view it with some 4k material, I highly recommend having a look.

specd_out

dont rush into 4k. in reality it is not that much better too the eye at normal sitting positions. 4k's biggest benefit is the ability to place a 90" in a bedroom and sit 3' from it and it still looks crisp. where a normal 1080p screen will look quite blocky. Eventually 4k will be the norm, but IMO i dont see the point to pay the ridiculous prices they go for

Drenis

Which store?

BlueFox

They are still LED TVs aren't they? Anyone make plasma 4K sets? It seems like every week there are Blurays being released remastered for 4K.

brgman

Tornado Red wrote: »

I was at a local store today where a salesman invited me to demo their new Sony 65inch 4K Ultra HD TV - Black - XBR65X900A. He started by running a copy of Jurassic Park 3D, upscaling from a Samsung 4k capable player. The picture wasn't any better than I had seen this movie before, all it really did was confirm my dislike for 3D. I asked if he had any actual 4k material to play on this thing, and he stuck in a Sony-provided USB with 4k promo clips on it (non 3D). Got to admit, I was very impressed. Supposedly, we're going from 1080p of 2 million pixels to 8 million here. My old eyes couldn't really tell if it was 4 times as good, I am guessing not, but it sure was better. Colors (reds, greens) were absolutely incredible, though of course Sony has done the clips up to look good. Such smoothness too, with the objects on the screen, almost a "live" appearance. And so begins the next phase in video evolution I guess, with a price that will scare off most without deep pockets. And of course, there's nothing much to play on it yet. Chicken or the egg, we've all seen this before, but I think it will come in time. Oh yeah, price was $7600 CDN, and they only had one. I asked if I could get it for half price, since it was a demo model. He scoffed at me. SCOFFED I tell ya. Oh well, my Panny will have to do a few more years. Great TV though, if anyone gets the chance to view it with some 4k material, I highly recommend having a look.

I saw the same setup in Crutchfield in VA a few weeks ago.Nice picture but there is nothing much to use with it except what Sony releases on the magic box they made.That's an additional grand or so I think.
Hurry up and wait.

polkfarmboy

4K is only good for passive 3d sets and projectors or maybe some pc's with awesome graphics cards

Tornado Red

Drenis wrote: »

Which store?

London Drugs, St. Vital Mall.

Tornado Red

BlueFox wrote: »

They are still LED TVs aren't they? Anyone make plasma 4K sets? It seems like every week there are Blurays being released remastered for 4K.

Good question on the 4K plasma BF, haven't heard of any. And yes, the Sony was LED. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the remasters we're seeing are only 4K rescans with the end result still being 1080p. That's not to say they don't look better than previous releases but don't think they're actual 4K source.

polkfarmboy

Tornado Red wrote: »

Good question on the 4K plasma BF, haven't heard of any. And yes, the Sony was LED. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the remasters we're seeing are only 4K rescans with the end result still being 1080p. That's not to say they don't look better than previous releases but don't think they're actual 4K source.

Movie theater film is 4K so don't think they may not be a 4K source

Tornado Red

Here is an explanation by Martin Liebman over at Blu-ray.com on the 4k blu-rays we're seeing lately. I cropped this from his "The Amazing Spiderman 4K" review, for what it's worth...

Sony's commitment to releasing the finest Blu-ray products is evident with every spin of a Sony-branded disc. The consistency of product -- from the latest blockbusters to the most cherished classic titles from years gone by -- is arguably tops in the entire industry, and why shouldn't it be; Sony was a lead Blu-ray design and advocacy outfit, its PlayStation 3 console offered disc playback and instant wide format adoption, and the first wave of titles released back in 2006 bore the Sony label on the spine. Since then, and through a few growing pains and spurts -- a bloody format war, a misstep or two, the transition from Dolby TrueHD to DTS-HD Master Audio -- the studio has emerged as the most trustworthy in the industry when it comes to its Blu-ray product. When it says Sony, chances are extremely high that the movie is going to look (and sound) about as good as the format allows. Now, Sony is recalling the days of its "Superbit" DVD releases with the emergence of "Mastered in 4K" (*) Blu-ray discs. The initial wave consists of a handful of films, all of which have enjoyed previous, and largely very high quality, Blu-ray transfers. The new transfers are sourced from 4K masters but here's where the giant asterisk comes in: they're then downscaled to standard Blu-ray 1080p resolution. That means buyers can enjoy them on their regular old Blu-ray players and their regular old HDTVs -- no fancy new hardware required. The downside is that viewers aren't really seeing the material in 4K; even those who shell out the large sum of cash for a new 4K TV will be treated only to an upscaled presentation, much the same way today's regular old TV/playback 1080p device combos upscale standard definition DVDs.

Watching the "Mastered in 4K" transfer in 1080p does yield some benefits over the standard 1080p Blu-ray releases, even if it's not a true 4K experience. The discs take advantage of a significantly higher bitrate than regular old Blu-ray discs, meaning more muscle to produce the finest picture quality, revealing superior details and showcasing that perfect cinematic, pleasing grain texturing for pictures photographed on film and more accuracy for those photographed in the wholly digital realm. "Mastered in 4K" discs also promise superior color balance and accuracy, reproducing a more faithful-to-the-source palette that will reveal the sort of natural shading and subtle nuance even the best of 1080p Blu-ray cannot match. More, Sony promises enhanced viewing on its own line of 4K TVs thanks to a proprietary upscaling algorithm that's designed to squeeze the most out of the "Mastered in 4K" line of Sony discs, above and beyond what any competitor's display can offer. Makes sense considering some branch of Sony is at work along every step of the process. Unfortunately, one of Sony's shiny new 4K televisions was not available for review purposes, but suffice it to say that either of the launch displays -- the 55" and 65" XBR-labeled sets -- will undoubtedly offer the best consumer viewing picture to date, whether joined with a Sony "Mastered in 4K" disc or a regular old Blu-ray from any studio.

Mikey081057

So you didn't buy it yet?

Tornado Red

Mikey081057 wrote: »

So you didn't buy it yet?

Naw, lol. I was thinking I have less invested in my whole HT than they want for this thing. I remember though when rear projection sets went for over $4000. My plasma display is only a year old, maybe by the time I'm ready for something new these will be affordable...

tonyb

I wouldn't hold my breath, 4k when it finally comes down in price for us average Joes to afford and broadcast TV evolves to showing 4k content......8k will come out.

nguyendot

I saw it, and it's definitely clear and vibrant. I hate that you can only detach the speakers on the larger model.

badchad

I think it's almost impossible to determine the "quality" of TV sets in the store. The lighting and lack of calibration make in store comparisons almost worthless in my opinion. With that being said, I was unimpressed with 4k. I probably saw the same 4k set in Bestbuy as it flipped through its demo mode.

Unless I was unreasonable close to the set, I didn't notice much of an increase in quality. Until I move to a front projection, 100"+ set, I'll be patient for 4k.

Tornado Red

tonyb wrote: »

I wouldn't hold my breath, 4k when it finally comes down in price for us average Joes to afford and broadcast TV evolves to showing 4k content......8k will come out.

Yeah Tony, seems it hasn't been that long since we moved from dvd to blu-ray/1080p content. I don't know, guess they need SOMETHING new to entice us with, I think they've wrung what they could from 3D, which was probably short of expectations.

Tornado Red

badchad wrote: »

I think it's almost impossible to determine the "quality" of TV sets in the store. The lighting and lack of calibration make in store comparisons almost worthless in my opinion. With that being said, I was unimpressed with 4k. I probably saw the same 4k set in Bestbuy as it flipped through its demo mode.

Unless I was unreasonable close to the set, I didn't notice much of an increase in quality. Until I move to a front projection, 100"+ set, I'll be patient for 4k.

Interesting you say that, the salesman kept trying to get me closer to the screen, like 6 feet away. And I'm saying yes, it looks great, but I can't watch a 65" screen from 6' away, I need to move my eyes left and right to take in the whole thing, so that's kinda lame. Something else I thought of after I got home... in the colorful clips he was showing, I don't recall seeing anything black. Since LED/LCD black levels have in the past been inferior to plasma, according to many, I wonder if this 4K set LED is no better with blacks?

nguyendot

There were plenty of dark scenes in the 4k content I saw at Magnolia... while not on par with my VT30, it was still quite good. Around Sharp Elite good.