new Sony SXRD displays

Phantom -

I own the current 60" SXRD. It is a great unit and I would certainly recommend it.

Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll try to answer them for you.

Cheers!
Chris

I can't say that I have noticed any green blobs any where on the screen.

I wonder if it is because they keep those on incessantly in the stores. I have had mine since February with no issues (the Steelers looked even better in HD in the Super Bowl!).

Chris

Phantom -

I'd say the viewing angle is about 110 - 120 degrees (just an estimate).

I watch a ton of TV in the 4:3 ratio (there is a setting to use that ratio as a default for regular broadcasts). I am NOT certain, but I do not believe this presents an issue. I have to admit that I get paranoid at times and switch to a stretch mode to "refresh" the crystals. However - I don't do this when watching hours of letterboxed movies.

Power up time is about 30 seconds to get to full brightness. Not a hardship given the picture quality.

Ambient light is not a huge issue. There is a coating on the screen that really diffuses the light. Instead of seeing reflections in the screen, it looks like more of a washed out area. I get very strong sunlight in the late afternoon, but the TV is still viewable. A significant step up from the 57" Toshiba RP I replaced.

The Full mode (if I remember correctly) will show the broadcast in its native format. If you always watch in full, you will not have to toggle between the modes and wide will show as wide, and so on.

My biggest complaints are having to cycle (rather than direct select) the view modes and the video source. With 8 sources, it tends to get annoying. If I had my way, the speakers would have been removable - they add a great deal of width to the over all package.

The box the TV came in is gigantic. You will need an open bed pick-up for the DIY thing. Personally, I had it delivered.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions.


Chris

Hey - great ideas on getting around the cycling issue. I will have to check it out.

Good luck with the purchase and let us know what you ultimately choose.

C-

Ive said it many times...best picture I have ever seen...I recently went over my cousin's house and he had purchased the Sharp 45" 1080p lcd a few months ago....without a side by side comparison I could tell off the bat that the sharp while sporting a great picture really wasn't up to the standards of my SXRD....The SXRD (in home) just takes you a step further into what HD should be, more than any other TV I have seen.

The AVS forum is filled with many who have the green blob but I truly believe that many more such as myself and the gentleman above have no image quality problems with SXRD. I prefer the side speakers makes the TV look different, many disagree but no one should argue the picture quality.

While mine lacks the 1080p input I am in the camp who believe that 1080p won't make much of any difference especially since 1080p sources will be limited for a few years.

You can watch movies from Pixar on it and be amazed but what impresses me equally is when you pop in a Criterion dvd of a black & white movie like lets say 'Elevator to the Gallows' and the picture is so black & white, all the film grain & 3 dimensional qualities of film are there as if it was on the big screen.

One more thing, yes the SXRD strectches a 4x3 picture but when it comes to dvd at least if its 4x3 nowadays then thats the original aspect ratio of the movie. With no worries of burn in on the screen, I prefer the 4x3 if thats what the original material is. The 4x3 quality is so good that I could never dream of strecthing an old B&W movie, it would be sacrilege. The beauty of SXRD is that if you pop in a dvd and if you have the tv set to not stretch 4x3, of course it will do so but if you throw in a 16x9 disc than it will automatically display 16x9, this is great when the movie is 16x9 but not the menu. Instead of having a stretched out menu you get a square native aspect ratio of it, as soon as you click play it goes into 16x9 without any noticeable transition.

Drumingman wrote:

Is there anything wrong with running them constantly?

The green blob problem is not something that develops. It is noticed in the first few days of operation or perhaps as soon as you turn on the TV. From what I have heard Sony's customer service is fair if it is them (warranty wise) you are dealing with. If you have a good set like mine you can leave it running for months and it won't have green blob. It is a problem native to the inner screen components. I am of the opinion that the problem has been blown out of proportion simply because you will hear as much complaints as you will praise in a discussion thread.

I just purchased one a Sony SXRD recently, and its without doubt the best display I've ever owned. Phantom is right bert, you can skip sources that have no connection when cycling through.