Sony KP-57HW40 or KP-57WS500 (1 Viewer)

[James Brown]

Anyone know the better of the two? I thought I knew wich one I wanted until today. I didnt know that the HW40 existed. The difference I see while comparing the specs is the WS500 has 3:2 pulldown and DVI interface. Is there more or is this what I get for $500 more? Best Buy has HW40 for $1999 and WS500 for 2499. Their website shows the HW40 for $2799 and the WS500 for 2499 which confuses me even more.

help anyone?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

James,

The HW40 is last year's model, the WV500 is the new model. The HW40 does have 3/2 pulldown, it's called "Cinemotion". It also has an anti-reflective screen coating that the WV500 doesn't have if I remember correctly. You are correct about the DVI inputs, WV has 'em and HW doesn't.

Service menus are different between the 2 models so there are other differences.

I've had a KP57HW40 for a year now, and love it.

 

[Phil L]

James,

I've got the 51ws500. The HW and WS series are basically the same, except the ws has DVI. I don't know about the screen coating.

I would go with the WS because of DVI and not having to worry about the flicker bug the many in the HW line have.

Steve,

My understand is that the HW/WS service menus are virtually the same, while the WV series is different.

 

[Ed L]

Hi all...can anyone confirm on the reflective coating difference for the two...I just bought the WS500 and have noticed quite a bit of glare for this model...anyone know of any options for this other than removing the glass screen
or having a darkened room...thanks

Ed -

 

[James Brown]

Thanks for the input!

I got a coupon in the mail for 10% off at Best Buy and it expires today. More than likely I wont be getting any sleep tonight knowing Ill have a new TV delivered soon!

Thanks again for helping out.

 

[elMalloc]

How'd you get this coupon?
Do you have a best buy credit card?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Phil,
I think the service menu differences do involve the WV600 and 700 and not the 500s, as you said.

Mine has never had the flicker problem, but it's an early production model and probably has the Panasonic CRTs rather than the Sonys they started using around last January. It's my understanding from checking around over at Home Theater Spot that Sony has come up with a cure for the flicker problem.

I do like the service menus on these, I was able to disable or adjust the amount of SVM for each picture mode. Also found one item that, according to the AVIA color decoder check pattern, totally eliminated red push, and was able to easily correct a bit of green in the low end of the grayscale.

One other thing I've noticed about this Sony vs the other 3 rptvs I've had is that the out of box picture was pretty decent with just a quick AVIA setup and that the picture didn't change radically during the break-in period, just gradually got better. The other sets also seemed to change a lot more during the first half hour or so of warmup from cold turn-on than the Sony does.

Overall my Sony has been a very stable and consistent set. I recheck my AVIA settings every month or so and haven't had to change anything since the set was about a month old.

Maybe I got lucky, but I've never even seen a need to do a manual convergence on mine.

 

[James Brown]

Just got my KP-57WS500, now what?
What are some of the things I should try to avoid or do?

This thing is huge. i alomost feel like I should have bought the 51.

What modes do you guys use for different types of sources?

 

[Phil L]

Turn the Picture settting way down on all modes. Run the Avia disc. Remember that Avia can't tell you where to set the picture setting, it tells you where not to set it.

I never use Vivid or Standard. I use Movie mode for cable or when I'm watching something with the lights on. For DVDs and HD I use the Pro setting.

Don't worry about the TV looking big, in 2 or 3 weeks you'll be wishing you got the 65.

 

[David_Giles]

James,i have the same t.v and i found the red push fix to greatly improve flesh tones.I would post the red push fix for you,but im not sure if thats allowed,could a mod let me know if its ok?

 

[Rain]

Sure it's allowed. And here it is courtesy of Steve Schaffer from another thread:

This thing is huge. i alomost feel like I should have bought the 51.

I considered the 57" myself. Once the 51" arrived in my home, I realized anything bigger would have been insane in my tiny little apartment.
They do look bigger at home than in the showroom, don't they.

 

[David_Giles]

Here's a more detailed version for someone that isnt sure how to get to the service menu..



If you've never been in the service menu before and just want to fix red push...

To get in the service menu, starting with tv off, using remote press "display", then "5", then "vol+", then "power". You can exit the service menu at any time by pressing "power" to turn off the tv.

Then press "2" until you see category 2150P4 on the top left hand side, if you pass it, press "5" to go back.

Press "1" until you reach item 7 (AXIS) which is in category 2150P4. If you pass item 7 you can press "4" to go back.

Change the value of AXIS to 1, by pressing "3" or "6", on the remote, you will see the value on the right of the word AXIS change (from 0), you want it to be 1. Press "mute" and then "enter" to save your change. Switch to each of your other inputs, and then change the value of AXIS to 1 and save ("mute" and then "enter") for each input. Use "live inputs", you will see the effect of the AXIS change on the fly. It does not have to be done for each picture mode, as SVM does.

Press "power" to exit service menu (tv turns off). Only the values that you changed AND saved by pressing "mute" and "enter" will take effect after exiting the service menu, so you can "chicken out" with no risk at any time if you made changes but did not save anything.


Doing this along with the Avia disk should result in a great picture for ya.

 

[David Barteaux]

I believe the new WS series upconverts 720P to 1080i, where the HW40 downconverts 720P to 480P.
Also, I would reccommend that when in service mode you write down all values that you change so you can go back later

 

[David_Giles]

Actually the WS,just like the HW series,downconverts 720 to 480P.So says the manual.

 

[David Barteaux]

Your right, I just checked my manual. I read over on The Spot just the opposite.:frowning:

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Only a handful of HD boxes will output native 720p anyway. The vast majority convert it to 1080i. Dish 6000 boxes and the newest Sony boxes will output native 720p but also will convert it to 1080i. Currently only ABC is broadcasting HD in the 720p format, though the upcoming ESPN HD is rumored to also use it.

I have a Tosh DST-3000, a clone of the Hughes E86. It converts the 720p from my local ABC affilliate to 1080i, and the picture quality is indistinguishable from native 1080i from HBO-HD or ShowtimeHD.

 

[James Brown]

Thanks David for the how to on the red push. I tried it out and looks good!
Theres a THX calibration deal on the Toy Story DVDs that I've been using. Theres a test on there and it shows that my horizontal may be a bit too far to the left (missing the left bar on the rectangle).

Does anyone know how to fix that?

Also, why do a few of my WS DVD's still have the black bars? LOTR is one of them. I have my DVD set to 16:9 and both Wide mode and 4:3 mode set to FULL on my TV.

 

[Rain]

Also, why do a few of my WS DVD's still have the black bars? LOTR is one of them.

Because the ratio of your TV is 1.78:1 (16:9) and the ratio of the film is 2.40:1 (or probably 2.35:1 on DVD).

Since some movies are still wider than the TV, you gotta have the bars.