Sony 46" XBR Review

[vlad]

I have got a Sony 46" XBR and would like to share some experiences, running it with MCE 2005 and Vista Media Center .
First thing - it is huge. I have miscalculated its size. It was looking smaller in stadium-like showroom, but in my lounge room it is all totally different matter. I am believer in "bigger is better" so no problems here But be aware of the fact that it will look much bigger in your room.
It is not as slim as I thought it would be. My former 42" plasma was slimmer. But it is no rear projection so it is just a matter of some extra centimeters.
It is heavy - 38kg. I have no idea how, monitors are getting lighter every year. But it is not that I need to lift it every day.

After happy unpacking and heavy lifting it was ready to be connected and switched on. I have decided to try built-in tuner and speakers first.
Auto tuning was a quick affair but picture had to be adjusted, from default horrific "Vivid" to "Standard" and some color reduction.
I was generally satisfied with the picture quality, but it was much better looking on HD channels. It was not that obvious on my previous 720p TV.
Sound quality of built-in speakers was as crappy as I suspected it would be, so no miracles here.
Then I have connected it to my 2005 MCE with 1650 Pro ATI card via DVI/HDMI cable. 1080p was not a problem with 50Hz. No overscan as TV have sensed PC connection and switched on 1:1 pixel mapping. Desktop and MCE interface looking flawless.
TV quality is better than on built-in tuner. After some more picture adjusting I was happy. So have decided to put BD disk in. It is X-Men III. I had PowerDVD BD edition installed, but no luck here. The picture got wobbly and message appeared that HDCP is giving me the finger
I have expected this from reading some posts here, therefore had a Palit 9600 GT Sonic ready to take it's place. I was expecting it to be noisy, but I was wrong - it is very quiet.
I have removed Catalyst and installed latest WHQL Forceware driver. 1080p - no problems, no overscan. Picture is crispier somehow, or it is an illusion. TV PQ is better IMO as well, but now I was ready to watch my first BD. Prior to BD expirience I have decided to watch XMen III on DVD. Now it was a BD time.
It is really good, I had a reference to compare and happy that have spent my money well.
This TV is built for 1080p, and motion compensation(100HZ) is working well, as I have latest F1 race in 1080 mkv and it looks majestic. I have even watched some of that game which mistakenly called football and it was looking good (visually) I think that any NRL/AFL fan will love it

I am happy with this TV in pair with 2005 and think that it is a good choice for HTPC user.
Tomorrow I will dual-boot it with Vista and post here my experiences.

[krypto]

46" X (not xbr) series at the Good Guys today for $3217!

[krypto]

Well vlad, reading your threads and knowing how fussy you are made the decision easy. Now the proud owner of an x series.

Couple of questions:
1. Is this you?

2. Why did you change from ATI graphics to Nvidia. I have searched the forums.

Thanks

[vlad]

Originally Posted by krypto

Well vlad, reading your threads and knowing how fussy you are made the decision easy. Now the proud owner of an x series.

Couple of questions:
1. Is this you?

2. Why did you change from ATI graphics to Nvidia. I have searched the forums.

Thanks

1. Nope, not me.
2. I think it was dgaust who convinced me that PureVideoHD is good. I have got NVidia not for HTPC, but for my main rig. It did not go well with my 28" Viewsonic monitor, because of overscan. I have got ATI 3870 instead, and it is fine with Viewsonic.
So I just put it in because I did want to see on how it will go with BluRay.
It is noisy some times, but mostly quiet, so I will change it to some silent card in 3 months I think.
But it does produce a good quality picture and seems to take all BD processing off CPU.

[vlad]

I am watching "Starship Troopers" on BD - WOW !!!
I highly recommend this one to anyone with DB hardware.
What a difference.

[vlad]

I have installed Vista with SP1 and now remember why I liked it. It was a breeze - quick and painless.
Installed drivers, updates (not many after SP1), iceTV, and GlenR's reg file. ffdshow as well.
1080p in perfect pixel mapping, automatically after forceware install and reboot.
Scanned TV channels and assigned content.
Installed PowerDVD BD edition and iMon for second display.
That's it, done.

How does it compare to MCE 2005?

1. TV picture quality not as good as 2005, better on 1:1 pixel screen than what I had before with scaling, but still not as good.
2. BluRay quality is the same, which proves the fact that MS decoder is crap, not video drivers.
3. Video library (on 2008 server with gigabit network) is slow as hell, comparing to 2005.
4. Drivers from Newmagic seems much better - channel changing time is phenomenal and less then a second on my 2x Hauppauge 1300

I guess I am back to 2005, but will keep second partition running, just in case someone will come up with Video Library fix.

[krypto]

The inevitable has happened. After being very happy with my x1250 IGP, since getting the 46X3100 I've noticed when watching live tv that colours appear a bit washed out compared to the Sony inbuilt tuner.

Should I tweak the catalyst settings or lash out on a graphics card? I suspect the latter because I've noticed that the x1250 struggles a bit on true 1080p content.

I know its been discussed a lot but having read many threads, if I get a new graphics card I'm unclear what the best solution is. All I want it for is watching HD content, no games.

1. What are the current key differences between nvidia and ati
2. Whats the best passive solution in both types.

Thanks in advance.

[vlad]

I don't think that your color problem is related to the card itself. I would try to adjust colors via CCC.
I think that ATI has better drivers for HTPC, therefore if I was in position to spend money I would choose ATI. But life is an interesting place, so I run NVidia.

They both works fine with 1:1 pixel mapping panels.
You can start with something like this:
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/72051/VI...0GT_SILENT.asp
http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/82068/VI...N-HTDI-512.asp

Actually the second one is amazing value for money

[duaned]

I have noticed this as well on my Pioneer panel. I just reduced the contrast within the panel (not the CCC), and bingo! My HTPC's image is now way better than the in-built tuner!

[vlad]

Vista SP1 has failed me again. Now it's failure is complete
My watched folders have disappeared, and every time you reboot, it finds a new tuner.
I was about to search for solution, but have decided that enough is enough with Vista.
I have removed Vista partition from my HTPC.
How do you people can stand that second grade quality of TV picture, problems with Video Library and inability of M$ fix it?
MCE 2005 has a superior PQ, and no problems with Video library.
I can watch TV in great quality, browse my Video Library without frustrating delays and my tuners are not rediscovered every time I reboot(I realize that this could be fixed)

Now I will wait SP2 and probably try again.

[bigdonk]

not every vista user, is of the view that the MS mpeg codec is crap, but i think you'll find that the majority of folk actually like the PQ they get from the MS codec, myself included.

I seem to remember a vote not too long ago on this specific topic, searching, searching...

EDIT:
Ah yes, here it is

over 3/4 of folk using the MS codec, stats speak for themselves.

And i've never had any issues with the video library either.