So I did it, Sony 65WS550 (1 Viewer)

[Alan Galbraith]

I made the plunge. After haunting HT stores for the past couple of months, reading this and other forums, I finally pulled the trigger and got the big Sony.

I've had a 50" Mits VS-5051 for over 10 years, and it has served me well. But in the age of progressive input, HDTV, DVI and Firewire, its S-Video inputs and 4:3 screen were becoming outdated. The PQ on the Mits is still great, it needs to be aligned after a recent move, but its still looks as bright as the day I bought it.

Because of that, I leaned heavily towards another Mits. The new Diamonds are hard to beat, execpt in the price dept. Big $$$. I'm not afraid to spendd for quality, but I couldnt justify the new Mits with the deal I got on the Sony ($3200 OTD with a 5 year in home warranty).

Did I check around? Yep. I wanted to like the Sammy DLPs, until I got one for work. SD stuff looks horrible on the 50", and DVD sources still showed the mirror flip in my eyes. I would focus on that and not the overall picture.I really wanted to like the Sony 70" LCD. I have a large viewing room and thought it would fit the bill... until I saw the Sony and a Mit Diamond side by side in a store. The detail just wasnt there on the LCD. Shadows and dark scenes looked washed out compared to the Mits. And there was a noticeable screen door to the Sony, even at my 17 foot viewing distance. And again SD signals fell apart worse on the Sony.

I was headed towards the Mits until I found the deal on the Sony WS550. Where? From Sears of all places. Yesterday they had a 10% off everything in the store sale from 7-10am. Plus they will price match, plus 10% the difference off. CC has the set fro $2799, Sears $3299. So I got the $500 off, plus another $50 off, and then 10% of that off. Oh yes, there is a $200 rebate too. Couldnt pass it up.


That being said, right out of the box I am dissapointed with SD signals on the Sony. I've got Comcast Digital (Sacramento CA) and I can see alllll the digital artifacts, color tearing, ghosting.... None of which I saw on my old Mits. Perhaps its just that I've blown the picture up soooo big with the 65 inch screen, that I'm going to see these things from now on. That would suck. I'd hate to think that I'd be better off with a smaller set (cuz we all know bigger is better ).

Today I'm off to get a HD antenna so I can pull in Monday Night Football and see how the HD picture looks. I'm also picking up a DVI cable for the Sammy HD931 I picked up at the same time.

I may have to make the switch to a Dish/DirectTV feed for good SD.

Any thoughts?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

You may be able to improve the SD picture by using only the Pro or Movie modes and turning sharpness down to about 1/3.

I have a similar Sony and find my analog cable to be fair at best. I also have a DirecTV HD-capable stb and outdoor antenna for ota local digital and analog tv reception. My stb is one of the LG-built units (currently sold under the LG, Sony, and Hughes HTLD designations). The picture quality using this stb is very much better than my cable pq.

 

[Alan Galbraith]

So I got the HD antenna (its doomed to be returned as I can only intermitently pick up the PBS station, I go t a crappy littl eindoor one, what should I have expected eh?), but the HDTV picture is amazing on the Sony.

I've made some tweaks to the Sony using the standard pq menus and have got it a little better. Running the sharpness down a bit helps (thnx).

I am WAY disapointed with the HD931/DVI cable combo though. I get a better picture quality out of my XBox with a component output than I do with the Sammy and DVI. The DVI crushes the blacks, and looses a TON of detail in the picture. Dont know, maybe it needs more tweeking, but so far the Sammy might head back to the store.

 

[Eric F]

I am looking hard at the 65WS500 because it can be hand for ~$1800.

Still considerng it.

 

[John S]

Interesting......

I use an amplified indoor antenna, an old one from RS, get a long coax and extension cord, so you find the optimal spot to set it. I can get 6 stations with that one, only like 2 without and even then they were intermittent.

HD NFL is way way cool and worth some effort to get.

 

[Alan Galbraith]

Ok, I moved the placement of the crappy little indoor Antenna and picked up all the local HD stations. PVBS in my town is having issues:frowning: , its dropping signal (and its not just me).

So, a short review...
HD signals - WOW. Amamzing. Watched Monday Night Football, and i never knew the Packers helmets were METALLIC yellow. HD picks up some great detail.

Up-converted SD signals OTA HD stations - my local ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX affiliates upconvert SD signals for OTA digital broadcast. The PQ is good. Nothing to crow about, about what you'd expect from a SD direct view CRT set. Still, it looks good.

DVI - input from a Sammy HD931. Crap. WAY too dark. black levels crushed. No detail to picture.

Component - Output from Sammy 931 or XBox. GREAT. Lovely PQ, movies pop off the screen. Nice black levels, good overall color tone, good detail.

SD - (comcast digital cable) Crap. Absolute crap. Looks all grainy, no contrast, picture falls apart, chroma tearing.... Makes me want to take the derned thing back its soo bad. either that or get a direct view CRT to watch SD stuff on. I'm getting a Comcast HD box today, we'll see if by chance that improves the SD picture quality. I'm holding out until the HDTivo comes out to switch to DirectTV. Going to dish may also help SD picture quality.





soooooooo, has anyone else noticed this?

To me it seems that it isnt so much that large RPTV CRT HDTV's (hows that for acronym soup?) amke HD stuff look great, as it is they make SD look like crap, so when you see HDTV, it looks good. To me, the upconverted SD signals look like how tv SHOULD look, and origianl format HD stuff looks a great.

is it just me?


Perhaps I'm spoiled, I work in a TV studio and sit in front of GREAT monitors all day being fed high quality signals.

 

[John S]

Well, weaker SD NTSC channels look bad. Plain and simple.
The SD performance overall is decent.. (Til you watch a DVD, or HD presentation, or even a Laserdisc and compare)

I do tend to watch my morning news, and the Today show in Upconverted HD, with borders though, as it is much better, than standard NTSC.

The Dolby Digital sound is a way plus too. At least it seems way better when I compare it to NTSC analog 2 channel anyways. Even if it is not DD 5.1.............

 

[Alan Galbraith]

Update: I got an upgrade to an HD Comcast cable box today (Motorola DCT5100). Picture quality for SD channels is MUCH improved. Watchable now in fact. I've got component output to the Sony. The box has DVI output but it doesnt seem to be active, any thoughts?

HD programming comes in strong, with few drop outs.

MUCH happier with my Sony 65WS550 now.

Also have OTA HD issues ironed out, and am enjoying the National PBS HD feed from my local station (they were having a little problem earlier today, but enough of us HD view in SacTown called/emailed and they fixed it).

ESPN HD and INHD1/2 are coming fine over cable.


All in all I'm pretty happy with the Sony at this point. Time to hunker down over the holidays and give it workout.