New Sony XPR 800 series (1 Viewer)

[Rick Faldo]

Just spent a little time viewing the new sony XPR 800 series LCD rear projection TV...it looked amazing. Has anyone out there had a chance to spend any time checking this unit out? Wonder how it compares to the Toshiba LCOS set? Appears to be less expensive and available right now. Downside is, you need to use some type of stand as the unit is very low and compact....base is very pricey adding to the overall cost. List price appears to be twice of a CRT system but the picture is far superior in my humble opinion.
Anyone have any input? Maybe this is what I have been waiting for....
Cheers,
Rick

 

[Mary M S]

I have last years model forget the whole string but ends with 100. Be careful they are putting the new 800 models at Christmas discounts right now with stores still selling last years 100 model. Some sales people will tell you a 100 sitting on the floor is this year new LCD, to be fair I think they really don’t know any better.. In Texas tonight at CC and IU for 4399 for the 60”.

I love mine and all that troop through are floored by it. (None of whom are videopilles) they all comment along the lines of ….what IS it…is it one of those plasmas….etc. None of them have thought it was ‘just’ this years model RP.

Downside: Some jaggies on tiny vertical portions of a pic when the camera is panning fast in some of the background scenery noted here. (I’m talking one tiny ½ inch window in a skyline in the background for a sec now and then etc.
All your 4 default color modes should be changed as soon as you get it home with VE’s or some such. These are listed as mild/vivid…etc. The factory settings for these are horrendous. Pull your contrast and brightness back from factory again according to VE Way to high and will extend the life of your (200. Replacement) bulb.
This Display (as do the Samsung DLP and Panny LCD to an even worse degree) requires HD satellite feed and progressive DVD. It is what they call signal hungry. Plus side even without these I could live with some of the feed, some of the time, if say your were trying to live without and upgrade these other items over months, but your not doing anything any justice.
I hear some post in theory that pixelatzation should be smaller on the Samsung DLP’s etc. I took a long hard look at the Panny LCD and the DLP’s tonight as they stacked against the GW, since we may be purchasing a second unit. I still would purchase over the others, and while none of these displays are optimized on the showroom floor. I could ‘see’ pixalzation on the other two contenders at all times.
(All 3 units on the same feed it looked like). And could only spot it on the Sony on occasion very faintly.
At home with my higher quality hookup, we NEVER see the pixels and we sit laughable close.
Dead pixels. Blacks

Plus: We love it. The bulb hasn’t burned out yet after 6 months of constant usage (on all the time like our old CRT). I worried about this one.
Equal to the best reflective screen of any on the market….IMO, which creates a lot of the film like ambiance in my Living Room which everyone comments on.
Best for light control problems no other RP/FP can beat it under non-dedicated un-controlled normal Living/Fam Room light variations.
One green dead pixel here, and we can’t find it when we warn other people who ask about their own purchase unless we leave the screen on with no feed. Do your research on what's acceptable over at AVSforum.com and how this goes. ( Bugger bear of the beast now). Absolute non-issue with our set as it sits now.
Blacks? The 800 is supposed to be improved over the 100 yet I still gave the 100 a try when I bought it over everything else which has better levels. A black tux still looks like a black tux. …etc. The totality of the pic in my house still beats the competition with their more regal ratings in black level. (For me).

I have not purchased Sony in years and years, some family members have been nuts for their pic. I always found it ‘soft’ even when Trinitron was the big buzz years ago, and shopped elsewhere….until now. I believe it’s the first Sony display I’ve ever owned.

Go to AVS do a search, arm yourself, we all choose our trade-offs. Have fun.

 

[Rick Faldo]

Mary:

Thanks for the great reply. I too have never owned a Sony before as I found the color washed out on them compared to others...I prefer Toshiba. Which brought up the question of comparison to the new Toshiba LCOS set. This set has much written about it on this and the AVS forum. Downside for me is expense, they are getting in the plasma price range.
The AVS forum members don't seem to be overly impressed with the 800 Sony, which surprises me as I found the set to look fabulous. Maybe I should have spent more time looking for faults but I was so taken with the vivid picture even in the bright showroom, I guess I lost my objectivity. Did however spend a few moments adjusting the picture as they had it pushed way up there, would definitely use my Sound & Vision set up disk on it. There seems to be mention of dead pixels on the LCD, is that normal or acceptable? You would think a new unit should not have any dead pixels. Are dead pixels covered in the warranty?
Another downside with this unit in my mind is it needs a stand, being almost a table top application. The Sony stand is almost $1K here in Canada, which now makes the set a $9k unit here(60" version) Since it is a LCD, I wonder if the two different sizes, 50" or 60" have any difference in image quality, especially with cable TV programming.
Thanks in advance.
Rick

 

[Ian C]

I don't have the set, but am also doing some research in this area. Over at AVS, I noticed a few posters had bought stands from IKEA.com - http://www.ikea.ca/product_presentat...p?id=8886,8881 - The stands are actually reasonably priced as compared to the Sonys and look good to boot.
Ian

 

[Rick Faldo]

good plan, never thought about Ikea.
Have you given any thought or researched the new Panasonic PT-53DL20? It looks really good in print, haven't seen the picture yet. No one around here carries this model but it looks close to the price of the XPR
Cheers,

 

[Joe Reed]

hi guys, I have the 50" GWII, and while dvd is amazing and lifelike, blacks are black to me. Cable doesn't look that good (not that I was surprised by that) but it is watchable. IF you play video games alot this set is not for you, I have all 3 of the "next gen" consoles. And Xbox looks okay on 480p it looks great on 720p, but ps2 is laughable, vice city is horrible, (my gamecube has not yet been hooked up to the tv yet) IF you will mostly be using the set for dvd's it is amazing right out of the box, I have only watched three movies on it so far, but WOW, and now I just got my Avia disc so I guess it will only get better. You will get a better picture for cable feeds (SD) on the 50". I sit between 7 to 11 feet away, depending on what I am using the set for. I have the US Sony stand, while it was expensive at $600.00, ithink it was worth it, very high quality wood. While my motto of "you get what you pay for: is true, it is making me broke.

 

[Mary M S]

Rick,

The Toshiba LCOS in theory I would estimate (have not seen it) would beat the Sony LCD, but that’s in a different price bracket especially now that the Sony LCD’s are coming down, as this tech for Sony has been out a bit.
I ‘expected’ the Panasonic LCD’s and the DLP Samsungs to possibly beat the Sony (IMO) but when I saw them personally still preferred the GW’s.
Something which gets me on almost all the RP’s and Directs is non-uniformity in color/brightness corner to corner, including the Toshiba’s and the Mits, of which many models have been endlessly popular with the AVS crowd etc.
I just don’t want to ‘trade off’ the hugh sweet spot the Sony GW has for those, and will ‘trade off’ other things for its brightness no strange faint edge strech/squeeze , clarity, and lack of ‘solarization’ etc the GW exhibits on a corner to corner basis.

Dead pixels. Be armed. I was very concerned as I researched what little I could find on this subject when I purchased the first GW 6 months ago. I really don’t feel that any one can tell me for sure the potential for either LCD or DLP’s in largescreen version accurant lifespan for the future. Most have a few out of the box. And the idea that that is likely, - all you’ll ever get baring damage (as in impact) to the screens, well, - just does not sit well with me. My question is how many and how prone? I don’t have my facts straight but Sony’s original LCD in NA was 40 or 50 inches and has been out at least 3 4 ? years with much fewer sold than current numbers ramping up.
My 60” ending in 100 has been out 2 years?. No major screaming on the web…we’ll all see.

There are some who used to argue back when launch price for the GW was 8K, - they would NEVER accept a screen with even 1 dead pixel. The people that own them/live with them counter….its where and what color it sticks at…the possibilities are red/blue/green and I believe even white/black. Our set had one green very very faint and an even fainter blue in non-critical screen areas and with a feed you could never spot them….even with matte screen/no feed and lamp on you had to hunt for a while.. So real life issue……No. Some purchasers have posted taking delivery on a set and receiving an unfortunate cluster of say 5 or 6 red pixels all located with a few inches of each other. This would be unacceptable.

If you purchase. Get the store to put it in writing (regardless of their ‘satisfaction’ policy) that you have the right to return a unit if it has even 1 dead pixel that is ‘objectionable’ to you. Sony has a disclaimer about a certain amount being normal in the user manual. So make sure you have the option at the store to reject a delivery on this basics in writing. The magic # I see on the web listed with dealing direct with Sony on this issue is ‘5’ pixels. I wouldn’t’ count on this though and some theorize the number to be much higher.
The second set purchased had no dead pixels but, this is rarer than not. The stated rational for ‘accepting’ this current situation is that the units would cost thousands more if QC had to reject every but a ‘perfect’ screen. IE: a few bad pixels are acceptable from factory.
The ‘first’ stand Sony offered for my display was 1,200. American and (IMO) not worth buying, many considered it downright ugly. One problem for tradition homes is it was a very plastic/modern styling. There’s a Bello glass/wood it looks great on. We built a stand, - many choose to mix and match this display with their personal preference. The Sony has an extremely wide horizontal viewing range but the vertical range is not as high as its horizontal. Whatever stand one chooses it should be 18” in height. I got out a tape and figured we could go to 20/21” but that was pushing.

Again this set is prone to severe ‘trash in/out’ syndrome. If you have HD quality components feeding it, a progressive player, - it is stunning. Try to run it on a reg. sat feed, or non-progressive player I’d recommend another purchase.
A side note when looking at units like this (for me) is that they often ‘lock into’ full screen on a progressive feed, thats why I purchased the Panny 91 DVD player even though it was aging to pair with this display as it deals better with this situation than many other players. Look for great improvements on this issue in the future, but it is an under addressed situation in most displays and players.

We are running this set with a HD satellite receiver without yet changing out the original non-HD little round dish. I’ve been waiting on the triple LNB’s to come out on the new dishes so I don’t have to buy a kit and add the third. They should be out now? But I have not checked being busy. But alrady having bought the HD box (for another reason, -in advance) cleaned up the signal to the display remarkably over the original run of the mill Sat decoder even without the ‘proper’ dish.