KDL52XBR5 + BDPS500: Initial impressions

[Carmien]

First off, I'm in the middle of a basement reno - so, the full setup is not in place. I'm likely going to follow up with a more extensive review that'll include the ES5300.

For now though, here are my initial video impressions (sound isn't worth reviewing altho the TV did a decent job and blows my old Samsung out of the water) on combining the 52" XBR5 with the BDPS500. I'm still tweaking the configuration settings (props to those capturing the links *smiles at Gandalf*). By the time I write the final review I should be happy.

Overall: This is a hot setup! I'm not a fanboy, but I did just upgrade from a 50" Samsung 1080i DLP rear Projector. 1080p is a tangible and clear difference. My initial test blus include Spiderman 3 and Planet Earth. I'll likely include a more cartoony flick for the final review.

Let's get the opportunities for improvement out of the way. They are few:
- BD player load time. I didn't time things but I had to wait a while. I'd estimate at least 15 seconds for the blu logo. But the load time on the film was heinous. I'm new to Blu so this may be a reality of loading a Java OS to support some stressful decompression during play time. However, the net effect of the total time to wait was my wandering around the basement checking on the work done today. Of the 3 negatives this is actually my only real complaint.
- Some flicker/artifacts. I don't believe Spidey 3 is 24p. I do have all the setup done for 1080/24p. I took a very careful look at some of the more stressful scenes. In two instances of my initial view I caught some flicker. I've got sharp eyes but am not convinced all would see these. One was a white van coming in behind the police chief. It looked fuzzy for a moment. I'll check that scene out again for the final review and see if it wasn't my eyes. Given that these are two brief flickers over a 1 hour viewing sequence you have to view this as an anal hyper-criticism. But they happened so I'm going to list them. See the positives for the amazing fast action viewing experience...
- Bravia Theatre sync only worked one way. Turning on blu turned on the TV. However, turning off Blu did not turn off TV. I double checked the settings to verify it was up correctly. I'll likely dig deeper into this. A very minor negative that may also go completely away when I set this up through the ES5300.

Now to the good...or should I say, amazing:
- Overall, an amazing visual treat. My eyes gorged on the sensory feast and it's only work that's pulled me away. Spidey 3 was clearly made with a alot of attention to the CGI work and trying to make it appear real. What really stood out was being able to see Parker's expressions as his head was being bashed along buildings by Goblin junior.
- The motionflow was set to standard and delivered. Some people have commented on this taking getting used to. Personally, I'm used to it already. Watching other setups are going to annoy me now I'm sure. I may even do a comparison with my old setup just see how my brain reacts. Motionflow = marvellous idea. But if I was impressed with motionflow for Spidey, Planet Earth was perfectly suited to it. The lack of fast motion for this documentary results in a silky experience for the eyes.
- I did some switching between my custom calibration and cinema mode and liked what I saw. I have to say that I'm quite impressed with the default cinema mode. It wasn't that far off. However, I dig that the custom settings suggests turning the backlight down. That'll make for longer life I suspect.
- The colours really popped for me. This is evident in both movies. But Planet Earth really jumps since you're taking a slice of all sorts of nature based colours. The lack of CGI leads to a really vivid experience. Ironically, watching Planet Earth in Vivid mode was quite interesting on the eyes. The textures were a little off but the colours simply danced off the screen. I'll probably stick to custom but I'd show off vivid mode to friends just for the reactions. It is quite striking on the eyes.

Well, that'll do for starters. It's a light and disorganized review given I've only spent a couple of hours checking things out. But it's one take at least. Overall, the videophile in me is extremely happy. The three negatives are not show stoppers for me and I'm working very hard to write a balanced review. But in the end the emotional experience for me was a lot of finger dancing and inner excitement at the visual experience I was undergoing.

I'll be sure to check things more deeply and watch a bunch more movies yet. But if you're thinking of the 500 blu and have a great TV then I'd say give it a whirl. And as for my serious review, well, that'll include the 5300, 7.1 Bose speakers and a lot of fun along the way