- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 144 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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60 out of 61 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Simply the best microdisplay made to date!"
Pros: Amazing picture quality, Best black levels, color depth and vibrancy, and feeling of looking through a window you can just step through of any HDTV yet made.
Cons: Side Speakers extend width 10" for no reason, Shiny Black Bezel could be annoying to some.
Summary: This set and it's little brother (The 50" SXRD), are the best HDTV's made right now. Period. CRT-like black levels, Sony's famed interlacing-scaling-video processing make even poor SD sources look anywhere from watchable to good. You have not seen HD until you see a good HD feed on this set. It puts to shame all the 1080P DLP's. Sony's SXRD (LCOS-Based) system eliminates rainbows, artifacting, poor reliability problems inherent in DLP due to their spinning color wheel technology. also the SXRD is the first TRUE 1080 microdisplay, and it shows. Night and Day difference with the false, optical illusion -based "wobulated" half 1080P chip used in DLP. Sony's SXRD sets have true, full 1080P chips. If you are interested in having the best possible picture quality in a 1080P set produced today, this is it. Look no further. It is jaw-dropping!Updated
Just a note - the Specs listed here are a little off: The true dimensions are 66" X 39 3/4" X 20 1/4" and the real weight is 122 LBS 7 OZ.
- 13 replies to this review
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Oh, I forgot to say: 9 out of 10!
If it was not for my worries about reliability in the future, I'd give it a big 10.
I still own and use my Trinitron 27" that I bought some 18years ago.. I'd like to say the same thing about this one.. -
I bought this set (the 50 inches version)last christmas at quite a decent price, on sale. For the same price, I had the choice between this and a Panasonic Plasma 50.. Yes, the Panasonic are nice, especially on an HD feed.. but throw in a regular program or ordinary DVD and it's awful to look at, while the Sony gives very reasonable results.
Pros: The image is stunning, I'm stuck in admiration since I have it. HD is lifelike. I like the attached speakers. They give it a nice stylish look.
Cons: Well, impossible to use these speakers as center channels, since using the audio/out turns the speakers off.. stupid choice of the manufacturer.
"Dual images" or side by side images: you can view only "one" HD source.. since only one of the two tuners is HD.. and finally, built in clock/timer, looses track of time if any current interuption occurs. Small flaw, but I use my TV as my alarm clock..
I've recently read many complaints about the optical block having ongoing problems, and a law suit against Sony.. it really worries me, as the part itself costs nearly as much as the tv set.. it's my only worry.. Could not afford another tv set of that price.
Seen in store, I must admit the Samsung rear projection was damn good too. -
Several reports of these units failing with no available part to fix it. Sony is AWOL on this.
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This TV does not accept 1080P signals! So what?s the point of buying it unless you don?t plan to watch hd. You cant view Blue-Ray or HD-DVD in its full resolution! Or any new hd broadcasts in the near future. So then what?s the hype? Overpriced TV that is old technology. The Westinghouse kills it in performance and accepts 1080p and costs half the price. Be wise with your money.
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I contacted www.pcandplasma.com (1800-732-7960) and was told that there are two "versions" of this TV, Japanese and American. The American one is more expensive, but the instructions, codes, setup,..., all in English. The less expensive Japanese has everything in Japanese. Is this true? Can't we just pick the language we want from some code, button, etc? Please let me know if you have the answer. Thank you.
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You may think I'm kidding, but my cat has attacked my new Sony KDS-R50XBR1 more than once. She never bothered my old TV. My wife was watching the Nature channel when I heard a loud "THUNK" and then hails of laughter. The cat had tried to go after a chipmonk on the TV. She apparently lept at it from about six feet away. Fortunately, the screen was untouched. I own the 50" version and am absolutely amazed every time I turn on the TV. For weeks I studied and read reviews on TV's. I visited the BIG stores several times to look at them but the pictures in stores are not normally as good as you get at home. Finally, I went to Circuit City and saw the 60" version. There was NO comparison. From anywhere in the store I could see how much better the Sony was than the rest. There was one LCD TV that was fabulous, but when getting close to it, the "screen door" effect was horrible. This Sony is well worth the money in every aspect. The picture is unmatched and the sound is superb. My only complaint is the remote--(aluminum, long and skinny and very small keys). I plan on getting a Logitech 880 remote anyway, so I will have no need for the Sony one. OH----I don't have a dog. People with Great Danes or Saint Bernhards should be extremely careful NOT to watch the Animal Channel if dogs are in the same room as the TV.
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I am so amazed by the HD picture on this tv. I never knew what true HD was until I saw a 1080 source on this tv. I don't understand how you could get a better picture quality than this. It looks 3D and the colors are beautiful. This tv definitely by far puts any other HDTV that I have seen to shame right now. If Sony can produce a better picture than this 60" SXRD for its 2006 line I will be highly surprised!!!
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Sony's Qualia 006 microdisplay is by far their absolute best microdisplay that exists. Also, it's quite possibly the world's most advanced TV!
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In other words parts of the picture breaking up into large pixels with the resulting huge drop in resolution and uglyness (blockiness) of picture.
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May be the best microdisplay but CRT is still king. Microblocking is apparent on all microdisplays.
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Why not go the extra and take real advantage of 1080P with a Sony 'Ruby' projector and get a jaw dropping 12 foot screen and see a movie like it's supposed to be seen--BIG and gorgeous!
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Can this TV accept 1080p source? I've heard it cannot.
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I recently received the 50? ? it replaced a 32? SONY HD XBR direct view CRT.
I have followed the SXRD technology and its? various implementations since beginning.
The only Points I wished to emphasize are:
1. The TV has to be appropriately configured using settings already described ( see AVS FORUM), a relatively easy job even for novices like me.
2. The PQ is dramatically better at home than in stores (such as CC or BB etc.) using multi-set distribution/amplification systems for their signals.
Buying this set was a leap of faith for me as I was not at all impressed seeing a 60? at CC. They initially had it displayed running 480i output from their DirecTV system. Even after changing to 1080i output and switching to PRO mode, it did not look anywhere close to an A20 or 50? panny plasma displayed nearby.
However at home with few simple changes in settings, this TV is really AWSOME?a cinematic picture with HD or DVD sources. The blacks and colors are way better than I expected. The picture has a unique immersive, palpable, three dimensional feel to it.
NO BUYERS? REMORSE WHATSOEVER. The picture is dramatically better than the crt (except for SD) or my HLM 507W (which still has a very good HD/DVD PQ but nowhere close to SXRD.
My comments are meant more for prospective buyers who may be reviewing this thread to make their buying decisions.
