# 4K TV Impressions



## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

As requested I am starting this thread, to give my impressions of the Sony XBR65X900A that I purchased late last week. As part of the deal I also received the Sony 4k media player FMPX1.

Out of the box, the TV just bursts with color and is quite impressive. Of all the reviews I have read, they all say that you need to sit close to see a difference in 4K vs 2K. From what I have seen with my own eyes this does not in fact seem to be the case. I think I'm in agreement with many of the owners of this set, over at AVS. The difference is noticeable. Is it 4x better or 2x better? No, it's just better.

As I mentioned earlier the colors just pop. I see shades of the same color in the same scenes that I have never seen before. Making details in shots just stand out all the more.

I had a chance over the weekend to play The Dark Knight BD using the BDP-S5100 (also part of my deal) I had watched this movie before on my Sharp 70-732 (quatron) and my Sharp 80-632 (non quatron) While the PQ was outstanding on both of those sets, thay can not hold a candle to the Sony.Again there are colors in that movie that I never noticed before.

I watched a little football on it yesterday, and saw zero fast motion blurr. The colors on the uniforms were acurate as was the color of the grass, as well as skin tones. I did not watch a complete game as this TV is in my livingroom, and I have a mancave setup out in my garage with 8 TVs and can watch all the games at one time.

As to 4K. What can I say? It's just amazing. The media player comes with 10 4K movies and a bunch of shorts already in it that are free. I watched The Amazing Spider Man, and The Other Guys. (never heard of it before, but funny as hell) and several shorts. Both movies looked fantastic and the shorts are eye candy to say the least. I have Amazing Spider Man recorded on DVR, so Later I will play it again on the Sony as well as the 70-732 to compare.

I know I'm not the only member here to have bought a 4k TV. The comments and impressions from other owners are most welcome. Any questions from the rest are also welcome. I will do my best to answer.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Thanx for starting the thread. What you wrote in your OP is exactly what I was looking for. But, we shouldn't limit this thread to just pros, let's hear some cons. No cons, that would be great!

Could you go into more detail about the Sony media player? I'm assuming it will upscale content to some degree, but I'd like to hear some more about that.

Rich


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

The media player is more or less like a DVR. It offers numerous 4k movies for sale or rent, with 10 full length feature films, and quite a few shorts for free. Watching the 4k feature films, you can see better PQ with the colors once again just popping off the screen. The shorts are just off the charts ! With the PQ being as good in most cases as you see in the in-store demos. As for upscaling the TV takes care of that on it's own. Day to day TV viewing is new experience. For me it's all about the colors.

The only big negative I can come up with is that the vast majority of the available fims are for purchase only, with the price being way too high. Off the top of my head, I think Lawrence of Arabia is going for over $40.

Sony had a promotion that should have expried in July, in which you would have been able to get three free mastered in 4k Blu-ray titles. I was able to jump in on those too. (don't know why) (just got lucky maybe) The only one I watched so far is Ghost Busters. On the 4k Sony it was brilliant. I played it again on a another of my TVs and there was no comparison. Now to be fair, the second viewing was on a 60 inch edge lit Vizio E series. (which had very good reviews on CNET) I also own a 70 and 80 inch Sharp, which are both full array. I plan on checking it out again on both of those, with the 70 being a Quatron and the 80 being non Quatron.

One other little perk that comes with this particular TV is that It comes with a year of free Netflix, and Hulu Plus, as well as 30 days of Music Choice. I only signed up for Netfix. Once again, I can't find anything to complain about. PQ is outstanding.

Getting back to the media player. The big negative on that, is that it does not have Wifi. It needs to be hard wired. The work around is to connect it to a wireless bridge.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

What are your options once the original content has been watched to the max? 
What internet speeds do you get (in re: Netflix and resolution thereof.)

Thanks for the report. I switched to Sammy a while ago, and I am a candidate for 4k in the not distant future. Currently, Sammy doesn't even have the external gear that Sony does afaik.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> What are your options once the original content has been watched to the max?
> What internet speeds do you get (in re: Netflix and resolution thereof.)
> 
> Thanks for the report. I switched to Sammy a while ago, and I am a candidate for 4k in the not distant future. Currently, Sammy doesn't even have the external gear that Sony does afaik.


Well as time goes by, they will add more content for the media player. I had read someplace that the plan was to have a hundred movies by the end of the year. Last time I did a quick count there was over 70. My hope is that Blu-ray jumps in down the road. I'm only using DSL for internet, so my internet is not al that quick. So far I have had zero drop outs or buffering issues.

You are correct. Samsung, at this point does not come close in content. http://www.homemediamagazine.com/samsung/samsung-offers-free-4k-content-tv-buyers-31855


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Oh., I forgot to mention earlier. There was a firmaware upgrade for the media player a couple of weeks ago. It will allow the addition of an external hard drive.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> What are your options once the original content has been watched to the max?
> What internet speeds do you get (in re: Netflix and resolution thereof.)
> 
> Thanks for the report. I switched to Sammy a while ago, and I am a candidate for 4k in the not distant future. Currently, Sammy doesn't even have the external gear that Sony does afaik.


Sammy's lack of a 4K media player kinda surprised me. I thought they might have one built in.

Rich


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

I'm kinda hesitant to get the 4k 55 inch model because I'm worried it can't match the plasma tvs. I really don't like LCD/LED anymore and my last 2 sets have been plasma. I'm interested how it compares.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Having never owned a plasma myself, I can't compare them head to head. I have owned many LCDs, LED-LCDs, rear projection, and CRTs. By far this is the best looking TV I have ever owned or seen. (have not seen OLED yet) If 3D is important to you stay away from the 55. It does not display 3D in full 1080p.

Also the media player is free right now with the 65x900a. With the other models it costs $500 extra.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> I'm kinda hesitant to get the 4k 55 inch model because I'm worried it can't match the plasma tvs. I really don't like LCD/LED anymore and my last 2 sets have been plasma. I'm interested how it compares.


I just saw a demo in Costco yesterday. Now I have to get to a better store to see what they actually look like. I have the same concerns as you do regarding plasmas, but if this demo was a decent indication of what to expect when 4K takes off, it will be a much better picture than we see on our plasmas. My son and I were stopped dead in our tracks by the one 4K set. And it was a Toshiba 55". Best PQ I've ever seen on a TV. $3800.

I'll get to a BB one of these days. That Toshiba was unbelievable. And anyone that reads my posts knows how I feel about Toshiba anything. We should wait until there is content available and the prices drop on the 4K sets, I think. I really think 4K is gonna take off.

Rich


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

My concern as well being a plasma owner, but Im actively looking because of all the sets bringing back full array local dimming this year. The Vizio "R" series with 384 zones looks to put the big boys on their heals in the 65" price range. The XBR's are outstanding, but pricey. Toshiba has UHD full array models as well. 

Im going to be watching closely over the next 6 months to see if I can find a 65" HDMI 2.0 UHD set. The 4K blu-ray discs and players are set to go by years end so we should see then next year at CES, the BDA just needs to agree on a codec.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Since I cant afford a 4K at the moment, I jumped on one of the last of Panasonics plasma sets 55ST60. Hopefully, by the time I am ready for my next set, the 4K's will be reasonably priced with plenty of content. After having LCD for years, and now seeing how much better this plasma looks, the 4K set would have to have local dimming. I just could not go back to washed out blacks again after having this plasma tv.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Jason Whiddon said:


> My concern as well being a plasma owner, but Im actively looking because of all the sets bringing back full array local dimming this year. The Vizio "R" series with 384 zones looks to put the big boys on their heals in the 65" price range. The XBR's are outstanding, but pricey. Toshiba has UHD full array models as well.
> 
> Im going to be watching closely over the next 6 months to see if I can find a 65" HDMI 2.0 UHD set. The 4K blu-ray discs and players are set to go by years end so we should see then next year at CES, the BDA just needs to agree on a codec.


The Vizio R series looks as if it's going to kick some serious butt !! I just hope it actually comes to market. Since is the past they have been known to announce things that never came out. Their P series also looks quite good, and should help prices drop big time across the board.

The Sonys got the upgrade to HDMI 2.0 a couple of weeks ago. Now that we have it, we just need something plug in to it. There is a great deal of confusion with 2013 Sony owners, as to if we are going to be able to view the 4k offerings from Netflix. There is talk that we may have to upgrade the media player. No one seems to know if the old one can handle the new codecs., and at Sony's own community page, no moderator has answered the question.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> Since I cant afford a 4K at the moment, I jumped on one of the last of Panasonics plasma sets 55ST60. Hopefully, by the time I am ready for my next set, the 4K's will be reasonably priced with plenty of content. After having LCD for years, and now seeing how much better this plasma looks, the 4K set would have to have local dimming. I just could not go back to washed out blacks again after having this plasma tv.


From what I have read, the ST60 is a fine set. Enjoy.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

ST60 is very nice, I love my VT50.

Yeah, the P series Vizio could give Sharp an issue if they are nice. I mean 70" and a MSRP of around $2700 for a UHD set...


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

I expect the 70 to be even lower than that. Since Costco is usually $100 lower than MSRP.

Here's the pricing from Vizio's site

VIZIO P-Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED backlit LCD Smart TVs 
(P502ui-B1) $999.99 (MSRP)
(P552ui-B2) $1,399.99 (MSRP)
(P602ui-B3) $1,799.99 (MSRP)
(P652ui-B2) $2,199.99 (MSRP)
(P702ui-B3) $2,599.99 (MSRP)


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

Crazy cheap.

Dolby Vision at CES, which is used in the "R" series.

http://www.twice.com/articletype/ces2014/dolby-launches-dolby-vision-program-ces/109659



> Dolby Vision provides a picture-optimization technology and standard that expands the dynamic range of content and display characteristics of LED-based LCD TVs to produce higher contrast ratios, deeper black levels and a wider color gamut - all of which contribute to more lifelike and vibrant images.


From the TV hardware side, Dolby Vision offers direction for the use of local dimming technology behind full-array LED-backlit LCD TV panels. This local dimming instructs sectors of tiny LED lights across the LCD back plane to increase or decrease their brightness in accordance with the properties of the image.

By controlling the level of dimming in areas of the picture, deeper, truer blacks emerge while enabling enough control to ensure that details within shaded areas not blotted out of the field of vision. The effect also serves to boost the apparent brightness of the panel, when called for in the image.

*During CES, Dolby announced that Sharp, TCL and Vizio *had signed on as manufacturer partners that will be participating in the Dolby Vision program on select TV models.

From the content side, Dolby Vision expands the information in the signal source to help properly equipped TVs, including non-Dolby Vision-enhanced sets, better respond to yield better levels of dynamic range.

Thus far, Netflix, Vudu, Amazon and Microsoft (Xbox) have signed on with the Dolby Vision program.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Yea the R series looks to be too sweet for words. I can't wait to see one. Too bad for me, I most likely will never own one. The 120 inch I'm sure will be priced way over my head. While the 65 inch may be doable, I promised the wife, no new TVs for a while.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> Since I cant afford a 4K at the moment, I jumped on one of the last of Panasonics plasma sets 55ST60. Hopefully, by the time I am ready for my next set, the 4K's will be reasonably priced with plenty of content. After having LCD for years, and now seeing how much better this plasma looks, the 4K set would have to have local dimming. I just could not go back to washed out blacks again after having this plasma tv.


The Sony sets do use some plasma technology. I read that somewhere. Sorry I can't supply a link, but that stuck in my mind. I guess that explains why the Sony sets I have looked at are the only LCD sets I considered. I have looked at a wall of TV sets in a store that is now extinct and from a good distance away, I could pick out every Sony set. They had the World Cup Soccer tourney on at the time. The best sets I saw that day were the 240 LED LCDs. They were Sonys, too.

It never ceases to amaze me just how stupid we can be. All anyone had to do was watch a plasma against an LCD set in the proper setting and it would have been obvious that the plasmas are better. Just plain better.

Rich


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Rich, I have to disagree with you here. Plasma, as good as it was, had certain limitations. While the overall PQ may have been a bit better, there was also drawbacks. In my own situation, I have TVs all over the house. I don't have, nor will I ever have (again) a situation that I need to close curtains, and draw blinds. (CRT and Projection days) I have 13 LCD and LED-LCDs in my house at the moment. Only one of them sucks as far as a dark room viewing is concerned . That one was a high end (at the time) Samsung C700. While it's picture is fantastic in our normal viewing environment , it just sucks while watching in a dark room. I write that off as an early attempt at edge lit LED-LCD.

I may not ever have owned a plasma, but I have seen quite a few. Outside of viewing angles I have never seen a big advantage of plasma over LCD or LED-LCD.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

Watching a movie with letterbox bars in a dark room, edge lit or otherwise cant touch it. But thats another debate all together.


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## madmadworld (Dec 4, 2007)

good review Rock
seen a demo of this at Frys last week. it is very nice, it seems almost 3d in that it seemed to add depth. it well be a few years before i need a new TV by then hope to get a 75'' er. worth going to check out for sure.
they had a oled LG on demo also but liked the Sony better and i hate Sony.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Rockaway1836 said:


> Rich, I have to disagree with you here. Plasma, as good as it was, had certain limitations. While the overall PQ may have been a bit better, there was also drawbacks. In my own situation, I have TVs all over the house. I don't have, nor will I ever have (again) a situation that I need to close curtains, and draw blinds. (CRT and Projection days) I have 13 LCD and LED-LCDs in my house at the moment. Only one of them sucks as far as a dark room viewing is concerned . That one was a high end (at the time) Samsung C700. While it's picture is fantastic in our normal viewing environment , it just sucks while watching in a dark room. I write that off as an early attempt at edge lit LED-LCD.
> 
> I may not ever have owned a plasma, but I have seen quite a few. Outside of viewing angles I have never seen a big advantage of plasma over LCD or LED-LCD.


You must not notice blur or don't care about black levels.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> You must not notice blur or don't care about black levels.


Both areas where plasmas really shine. At least some reviewers agree. The other possibility is not comparing plasma to LED side by side under controlled viewing conditions. It's very easy to make a display look comparatively worse in a showroom, especially when the profit margins on plasmas might be a lot thinner than the margins on LED. Funny thing is it didn't used to be that way. Plasmas used to sell at a huge premium, vs. now.

I've been using plasmas for about 8 years now, and the only downside I see is reflections off the glass during the daytime in bright rooms. Similar to CRTs, you need to be more careful about room placement or window treatments.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

There have been several LED-LCDs that have excellent black levels. My Samsung C-700 is not one of them. My Sony XBR65X900A is outstanding and Sharp 80-632 does a very good job as well. My Sharp 70-732 is not too bad either, but it's back light is not as even across the board as the 632.

There was a new model 80 inch Sharp that was available at Costco. My friend got one, and it's back light is so even that you can't tell it's even on in a dark room when you leave the TV on and turn off the source.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

sigma1914 said:


> You must not notice blur or don't care about black levels.


Why argue? He seems set in his ways and we're not gonna change that. BTW, what brand of plasma do you have?

Rich


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Rich said:


> Why argue? He seems set in his ways and we're not gonna change that.
> 
> Rich


I'm not, I'm just saying it's possibly his reason.


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## Rockaway1836 (Sep 26, 2007)

Guys, I'm not set in my ways. I am all for better tech, and better PQ. In my situation , LED-LCD, and LCD works better.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

As I have stated many times on this site "One man's candy can be another man's poison". Plasma, LED-LCD,and LCD all have their pros and cons. After all is said and done what really matters is personal preference.


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## Hoffer (Jun 18, 2007)

I have admired the 4K sets at Best Buy. They have this like 85" Samsung playing scenes from the new Transformers movie. At first, the video looked fake. Almost like seeing The Hobbit in high frame rate. I quickly got used to it though. Right next to the huge screen was a 50" Samsung 4K. I couldn't believe how great that one looked too. This night scene of a city was amazing. There were all these street lights in the distance and it just looked great.

I for sure can see a difference with 4K. My next TV will definitely be 4K. I'm in no rush to buy one though. I will wait for 4K Blu-ray or something. I sure hope they are working on that!!! I'd love to be able to get a quality 65" for $2,000 or less. Prefer much less.


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## RG6-Q (Apr 21, 2013)

Rockaway1836 said:


> As requested I am starting this thread, to give my impressions of the Sony XBR65X900A that I purchased late last week. As part of the deal I also received the Sony 4k media player FMPX1.
> 
> Out of the box, the TV just bursts with color and is quite impressive. Of all the reviews I have read, they all say that you need to sit close to see a difference in 4K vs 2K. From what I have seen with my own eyes this does not in fact seem to be the case. I think I'm in agreement with many of the owners of this set, over at AVS. The difference is noticeable. Is it 4x better or 2x better? No, it's just better.
> 
> ...


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Most of us have seen 4K at Best Buy, Sam's or Costco. It hasn't taken too long for prices to drop below $2K for a 65 inch Samsung 4K Smart TV and below $3K for a Samsung 4K 3D TV at BB. 4K Blu-ray players are available for $125 or less. 4K consumer grade camcorders can be found as low as in the $300 range. Today, BB announced availability of a quadcopter with 4K video. (David Bott, take note!).


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