Official Sony KDL-40/46/52 XBR4/XBR5 Owners Thread

[gand41f]

Looks like we have a few owners of the new Sony XBR LCD's so I figured we can use a thread where we can get together and talk/discuss/complain about our toys.

Despite the thread title, owners of other Sony LCD models are welcome too. I can only answer questions about the XBR4 though, so someone else needs to answer questions regarding others.

The following is taken from the description of 46" XBR4 at

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665116636

Features

Over the years XBR has stood for the best consumer TV's Sony has to offer and this year's line up is no exception. The XBR line of Full HD 1080p televisions incorporate all of Sony's latest technologies (including HDMI v1.3 features such as x.v.Color and Deep Color). Additional features like Motionflow™ 120Hz enable smoother motion when viewing movies or fast-action sports. BRAVIA Engine PRO with Digital Reality Creation upconverts all interlaced and progressive video signals including HD signals directly to 1080p for amazing detail and sharpness. And it's only fitting that your XBR make a statement not only through breathtaking picture quality, but by taking your breath away with optional color bezels. Now your LCD TV can be as distinct as your own personal style.

Full HD 1080

There are a lot of ways to define high-definition but BRAVIA® Full HD means you’re getting the best resolution that high-definition has to offer consumers. With Sony BRAVIA XBR HDTVs, Full HD 1080 means 1920 x 1080 pixels5 and 1080p video inputs. Your lifestyle demands the best in high-definition and with BRAVIA Full HD 1080 products you get it.

1920 x 1080 Native Panel Resolution

When it comes to high-definition TV the pinnacle of performance is achieved by using 1920 x 1080 display panels. Full HD 1920 x 1080 panel resolution with over 2 million pixels 5(more than twice that of 720p HDTV) is exactly what you need to reproduce the 1080p content that can be delivered by our cutting edge 1080p Blu-ray disc™ player.

10-bit Processing and 10-bit Display

While it's great to state that a TV is capable of creating billions of colors it's a whole lot better when you have a display that can actually display them. That's the logic behind Sony's 10-bit processor and 10-bit display. Sony follows 10-bit processing with a 10-bit panel, allowing 64 times the levels of color expression than an 8-bit panel. What that translates to is smoother transitions from color to color and subtle color changes faithfully reproduced.

Motionflow™ 120 Hz with Full HD high frame rate capability

Taking motion performance to the next level requires innovation and expertise. Enter Sony's Motionflow™ High Frame Rate technology. Motionflow™ detects the incoming video signal and applies the appropriate processing for optimum motion reproduction. Taking full advantage of film sourced 24fps encoded content available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, Motionflow™ eliminates the need for 3:2 pulldown and delivers smooth, judder free video, faithfully preserving the integrity of the original film. When 60fps content is detected, Motionflow™ doubles the amount of frames and uses real-time calculation to create a new level of natural motion reproduction. You'll experience movies and sports with a greater sense of realism than ever before.

BRAVIA Engine™ PRO Full Digital Video Processor

BRAVIA Engine™ PRO builds upon the BRAVIA Engine system's outstanding video processing functions making it Sony's most advanced video processing system. It is the culmination of our legendary picture quality expertise, featuring the latest generation of proprietary video processing technology: Digital Reality Creation - Multi Function (DRC-MFv2.5). This technology creates a high-density video signal that traditional interpolation video processing cannot achieve. This latest generation of DRC-MF features increased processing power and provides a sharp, crystal clear image with both 480i and 480p standard definition and all high definition sources (except 1080p). It also features "1080p Direct Creation" which minimizes loss in interlace-to-progressive (IP) conversion by performing Digital Reality Creation and IP Creation algorithms simultaneously.

Live Color Creation™ System featuring WCG-CCFL

Many colors in the real world such as deep reds, greens and clear blues cannot be expressed with conventional display technologies. Working in combination with the special WCG-CCFL backlight in LCD HDTVs or the optical engine in our MDPJ HDTVs, Live Color Creation technology achieves wide color reproduction using advanced chroma signal processing algorithms. The primary benefits are clear blues, natural greens and an overall vibrant color for all scenes.

Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) Function

Sony’s Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) builds on our excellent on-contrastratio performance of 2,000:1(1). A Dynamic Contrast Ratio of up to 18,000:1(2) is achieved by using real-time image processing to adjust the contrast along with optimizing backlight levels. But rather than focus on the "numbers", Sony focuses on actual picture performance avoiding exaggerated blacks where detail can be lost. ACE translates to blacker blacks in darker scenes, as well as better shadow detail in other scenes for a difference that you can see.

x.v.Color™ technology

BRAVIA® HDTV's performance has now advanced to the point that the color range can be defined by limitations in the original video source, rather than the TV. Thanks to the adoption of a newly approved international color standard called xvYCC (an option in the HDMI v1.3 spec and which Sony participated in creating), the color space has been greatly expanded. 1.8 times as many natural colors as existing HDTV signals will now be faithfully reproduced. x.v.Color enabled products can now offer more accurate color reproduction and natural colors beyond broadcast HDTV.

24p True Cinema (24p Input Capability)

Many movies are filmed at 24 frames per second (fps) and prime time TV programs are recorded at 24p. Seizing on an opportunity, some studios are taking a purist approach and encoding high definition video content such as Blu-ray Disc™ in 24p. Sony wisely takes advantage of this by including 24p output capability on our Blu-ray Disc™ players as well as including 24p input capability select 2007 BRAVIA TVs. The benefit? Images are smooth and natural looking. Once you experience 24p video it will be hard to view video without it.

DMex - Ready (Digital Media Extender)

Sony's Digital Media Extender (DMex) ready televisions offer a digital connection path for the addition of the optional modules like the new BRAVIA Internet Video Link. 6 With innovative DMex expansion capabilities featuring the Emmy® award winning XMB user interface, these models are not merely TVs, but powerful entertainment platforms that not only meet your needs today, but extend to add new features seamlessly.

Xross Media Bar® (XMB) interface

When was the last time you saw an on-screen display that was fast, fun and easy to use? Sony's award-winning Xross Media Bar™ (pronounced Cross) provides a logical and fast way to access set up menus, user controls, and more. The on-screen display comes to life by pushing the XMB menu button on the remote. Navigation through the menus is smooth and fast.

BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ technology

Sony® created BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ to go beyond basic digital audio and video transmission. Based on the HDMI-CEC function, BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ will be included on select BRAVIA® Theatre home A/V systems and components. This useful function reduces the hassle and time consuming job of powering up, routing signals, etc. to the simple push of one button.8 Want to play your DVD on your Sony® A/V system? Easy, just push PLAY on the BRAVIA® HDTV remote and everything is taken care of for you. Even when the system is off! Want to change from TV sound to digital surround sound through your Sony BRAVIA® Theatre A/V system? Just one push of the Theater Sound button on the remote and voila, surround sound through your system. Want to power down everything once you've finished enjoying it? Push one button and the TV and A/V system powers down. BRAVIA® Theatre Sync™ helps make things a whole lot easier to operate.

Photo TV HD

BRAVIA® HDTVs are not just optimized for movies. More and more people want to view photos on their large-screen HDTV sets, expanding beyond only viewing them on computer monitors. The new Photo TV HD mode brings the look of actual printed photography to the HDTV reproducing high quality digital photos by fine-tuning parameters, such as sharpness, gradation and color.

enjoy
gandalf