|
Anonymous | I have decided to buy the Sony KDF55WF655. When I mentioned it to a friend of mine, he suggested that I find out when the new Sony models will be coming out and perhaps waiting until that time to see if the price drops on the model I want to buy. Does anyone know how to find out this information and might I benefit by a lower purchase price if I wait? Thanks - |
|
HD Fanatic Unregistered guest | Here's a link that might interest you. The new 55 and 60" Sonys are supposed to be due out this spring but I'm thinking it will probably be early summer. The new models are supposed to have much improved contrast and black levels due to the automatic iris. The technology is based off their highly praised front projection systems like the HS-51. I'll hold my judgement until I see one with my own two eyes. http://news.designtechnica.com/print_featured_article18.html |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 36 Registered: Feb-05 | Looking at the link, it seems that the new 42" and 50" sets have a lower resolution than this year's KDF models. My KDF-50WE655 has the same resolution specs as the new 55" and 60" models. Looks like from that article that the black levels are improved. BTW, I have been very pleased with my Grand Wega and find side by side comparisons with DLP that Sony's LCD technology produce a much crisper picture. |
|
HD Fanatic Unregistered guest | quote: "it seems that the new 42" and 50" sets have a lower resolution than this year's KDF models" Yeah, the 42" and 50" are supposed to be 1280 X 720, vs. 1366 x 768. Some say that the 1280 X 720 will actually be better for native 720P material because the TV will not have to up-scale the image. This makes sense because ED displays (852 X 480) tend to look better when displaying 480P (progressive DVD) than 720P sets do. This is likely because the native resolution matches the source, which equals less scaling. IMHO, I do not think anyone would notice much difference between 1280 X 720 and 1366 X 768. |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 38 Registered: Feb-05 | This is where I need a little education. If the new 42" and 50 " GWs are native 720p, what are the KDF models? Native 1080i? What does "native" mean? Thanks! |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 39 Registered: Feb-05 | And how can you control what comes into your set top box. My set top box from my cable company does not easily change how the signal comes in. I called my cable company and asked if there was a way to select the input signal source. They did tell me some channels broadcast in 720p but advised against going into the converter box menu to change it as it would affect other channels. All HD channels come in as 1080i. |
|
FLBuckeye Unregistered guest | Steve, Native resolution is the physical size of the screen 1366 pixels wide X 768 pixels high. So with a native resolution of 1280 X 720 you get 1 to 1 pixel mapping with 720P input. No scaling to fit the physical screen. |
|
HD Fanatic Unregistered guest | Steve, all Sony's with the 1366 X 768 are by technical terms 768P. There are lots of theories on why Sony does this but in the end, every incoming signal gets scaled to fit the screen. The scaler that Sony uses does a decent job, and even sets that have 1280 X 720 will sometimes have to scale a 720P signal due to lost packets of data. Don't worry about trying to change your cable box settings. You would likely gain absolutely nothing by doing it. The TV senses what the incoming signal is and scales accordingly. |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 41 Registered: Feb-05 | Thanks! FLBuckeye and HD Fanatic. I understand better now. |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 42 Registered: Feb-05 | I successfully changed my Motorola's set top box setting to 720p and I can see the fast action seems to refresh better but the overall crispness of the image isn't as good. It could be that I converted a 1080i broadcast to 720p. I would imagine convertng the 1080i setting for a true 720p broadcast would be ideal. |
|
Bronze Member Username: PugcharlieN, E, PA USA Post Number: 43 Registered: Feb-05 | I meant to add that I set it back to 1080i and will change it to 780p when a specific channel is broadcast in 720p. How did I do it? With the TV on and the converter off, I pressed the converter's remote control menu button. That brought up the service menu for the converter box. |
|
HD Fanatic Unregistered guest | I suppose I could understand why it could look better. If a braodcast is transmitted in 720P, and the box is set for 720P, then the original signal is simply passed through to the TV with no manipulation by the STB. Same would be true with 1080i. I honestly didn't think it would make that big of a difference, but I guess that depends on the quality of the electronic components of the Motorola. Sounds like it would be a pain in the rear to always be changing the setting though. Too bad the box doesn't sense the incoming signal and automatically select the optimal setting. |