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- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 22 reviews Back to product review
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3 out of 12 people found this review helpful
0.5 stars
"Something wrong with TV at Sony Store, Tysons Corner"
Pros: Wonderful clarity when little to no motion was present. Great blacks.
Cons: Remnants with motion and scene changes made this the worst LCD I have ever seen. Color, especially on face, was lacking depth and correctness (probably needs calibration).
Summary: With motion or new scenes, the picture was truly HORRIBLE. Salesman couldn't fix it. Sony Style Store Tysons Corner Mall VA, 55xbr8 with Sony Blu-Ray player playing Transformers Blu-Ray DVD. It was as though the set was over-compensating for the Hockey-Puck effect. You did not see slightly lighter trailing image of what is moving. Instead whatever was moving would leave a trail of - as best I can describe - "Invisible Man" effect of what was no longer there. You could see the outline of what had been in the location on the set in previous frames as if through a water bubble or odd lens. Salesman was astonished when I pointed it out (perhaps because I told him it was the absolute worst LCD I had ever seen) and he tried to fix. He reset the Cinema settings and played with a few other items. Nothing resolved it. Another, apparently more knowledgeable salesman, busy with other customers. No other Blu-Ray DVD's to switch to - I asked (that was a disappointment in a Sony Style store full of Blu-Ray DVD's). Was this ever seen in testing? I saw some of the same scenes on Samsung LN55A950 at Best Buy and did not see such issues. Any thoughts on cause?
Based on this review, I was expecting to be blown away. I've generally agreed with the reviews here on, for example, the Pioneer 800, Samsung A950, and Pioneer Kuro 111/151.
Updated on Nov 22, 2008Motion Flow is one setting the salesman adjusted without improvement.
I have looked at TV's in Zobo's, Tweeter, Best Buy (Magnolia), Circuit City, SonyStyle, and HHGregg. All of these, with the exception of Circuit City and SonyStyle have had additional DVD's on hand (both Standard and High Definition, etc.). All of these, with the exception of SonyStyle, have changed channels and/or sources (Standard vs. High Definition,etc.). Looking at different sources is very important - we do not all watch the same thing. Not unreasonable to have DVD's on hand when selling a $7,000 TV.
My review is very credible. SonyStyle failed to adjust the settings. The 5 minutes was initial viewing, alone, not changing anything. I spent an additional 10+ minutes as the Salesman adjusted settings trying to improve the picture.
I understand the problem of customers changing settings, but no excuse is going to sell a TV. I often ask to have settings reset as I asked this salesman - no improvement.
- 7 replies to this review
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Sounds like you go around to stores and waste salesmans time with your large knowledge of tv's. You are one of those customers that sales people hate. You are what is refered to as a dead beet.
Try buying something. -
Dear David Katzmaier: Love your work but...HOW COME YOU UPDATE SOME TV REVIEWS BY LOWERING THEM BUT NOT THE Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD ?? This unfair practice show bias against any TV that is not the Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD
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You are reviewing the store experience and the TV settings. You need to make a review about the actual product, and not a 10 minute awful experience there with the wrong settings
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I suggest you walk into the store with a copy of the recommended settings from CNET. Have the salesman set them all or do it yourself. You should spend more than ten minutes testing. Ask permission to use your own copies of various DVDs or Blu-Rays. Make sure you also test the cable input. tbolt76 should consider a different approach to selling a $7,000 TV. Many major chains use a loop DVD that have different scenes from movies and sports and nature shows to show off the capabilities of the TV. CNET has some favorite scenes that they use in testing. Maybe tbolt76 should consider these.
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try noise reduction off for the "invisible man" effect
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I work at said store and the problem we have is that customers go into theater room and constantly change the settings on the TV. The first thing that is always done is the motion flow is disabled. Then they move onto the hue and color levels. Why, I couldn't tell you. I have spent countless time tweaking the settings on the TV and 5 minutes later, they are ruined. One thing of note about the XBR8 is that there is a specific motion flow setting, clear, that works with the dynamic LED backlight setting. If it is not set correctly, you will see ghosting and judder. The complaint about the availability of movies is unfounded. No retail space keeps a library of opened movies for display, none. Also, reviewing a TV on a 5-10 minute demo, which you admit seemed to set incorrectly is, at the least, not credible.
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I visited SONY store here in NYC, I was shocked to notice how bad was the picture on the new 55XBR8, its like a bride without make up.
the sales man was no help, he said this is the best TV on the floor.
I will do more research before spending $5000 on a TV.
Sony Bravia KDL-55XBR8:
