frozenblaze Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 After enjoying my LED series 9 55" for a week now, I have realised a few issues. 1. The contrast is very hard to get right. Ive played around with all the settings, and it seems to either go beautifully black (Which is the deepest I have ever seen on LCD, but it "Crushes it" to remove detail), or too bright. When bright, the blacks are no better than any my previous 46" Bravia XBR, and on a light seen the LED's seem to overcomenstate making it too bright. 2. Brightness and Colour are also unpredictable. By that, I mean that when I have a perfect setting for one scene, if that scene changes intensisty (Say an indoor too outdoor shot) it will push the brightness and colour too far. If I tone it down for a bright scene, it is then too low for a dark. 3. Its not the sharpest. Blu-ray will alsways look great, but when Im playing xbox360 or PS3 the picture is clearly not as sharp as my previous screen. If I increase sharpness, it gets a horrible shimmering/edgy effect around sides. Please note, its a beautiful picture, especially if your upgrading from an older TV, but too say that LED is an advantage over the previous tech and charge a premium is incorrect. If anything it isnt quite as good the older TV, other than on very dark screens. (The only thing LED really shine on is when the picture is very dark, as it literally switches off to allow true blacks, which is really just a trick, as only a small portion of viewing is on a near complete dark screen). Im interested to hear any feedback, as I want to love this TV, but am seriously considering taking back to swap for a new Z Series Bravia.
shano23 Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I thought this might be the case with led backlighting, that's why I didn't bother waiting for the 9 series and went with the 6. I think in a few panel generations time led lighting will be much better controlled. If it's not something you can get used to it would be better to exhange it sooner rather than later
Sea Kitten! Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I thought this might be the case with led backlighting, that's why I didn't bother waiting for the 9 series and went with the 6. I think in a few panel generations time led lighting will be much better controlled.If it's not something you can get used to it would be better to exhange it sooner rather than later Hmm, makes me feel a little better that I have a 6, even though I have flashlights in the top corners.. Hopefully some of the 9 series' problems will be overcome with new firmware, which, to their credit Samsung seem to be updating.
frozenblaze Posted November 28, 2008 Author Posted November 28, 2008 Something funny has happened, just as I had pretty much given up. After trying numerous settings, copying Review settings and the like I couldnt find anything to improve my problems, but then this, from the AVforum site thanks to GrahamTriggs (Its copied straight from the site , link http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-televis...950-led-28.html ) It has improved the picture 1000%. Off angle viewing is still a problem with Dark/Brightness, but front on it is like a different TV. lol, after 1 week of use, and finally deciding to take it back I find the Tv I thought I had purchased! I've also been doing some more work with the setup following the firmware upgrade, and have some new settings to share - most notably in the white balance. This should give better gamma performance: Mode: Movie Backlight: 5 Contrast: 87 Brightness: 45 Sharpness: 0 Colour: 50 Tint: 50/50 Colour Tone: Warm2 White Balance R-Offset: 27 G-Offset: 28 B-Offset: 25 R-Gain: 38 G-Gain: 24 B-Gain: 21 Colour Space: custom Red: red 35, green 0, blue 0 Green: red 53, green 50, blue 3 Blue: red 0, green 0, blue 50 Yellow: red 55, green 50, blue 8 Cyan: red 50, green 50, blue 50 Magenta: red 40, green 8, blue 55 Power saving: medium HDMI Black Level: Low (or normal with HDMI 'full range' on source) Smart LED: on All other settings (DNIe, Black Adjust, Gamma, etc.) set to 'off' or 0
the dude1503560501 Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Hi, You mentioned a firmware upgrade. Is this referring to the upgrade I have been reading about on the American sites. I would like to know wether the sets we are getting in this country are the ones with the updated hardware and firmware. Thanks Damien
Guest Lordveda Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Got problem with the 55' 950, seems to have very distinct black horizontal lines running almost half right side of the panel in all inputs including HDTV. Contacted JB HiFi, according to the sales person Samsung been having some problems with 950 progressive scan. Well going to get a new panel next week, will see!!!
gunblade Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Same here. After owning it for a week I am kinda disappointed with my set. Flashlight issues etc. Before applying the settings above, HDTV look so grainy. Even my brother commented that his XBR looks better than the samsung. Still need to play around with the settings.
smokenz Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 i'm guessing that since the price dropped from aroudn 6K to 4K for these 55" tvs, shows the quality is not up to scratch that first thought. id luv to hear reviews from anyone with a new bravia 55" with tri luminous LED.
Owen Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I believe OzTHfan has the LED 55” Sony as a secondary TV. He’s had it for a couple of weeks now so he may be able to give you some feedback.
Rooster1503561091 Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I was about to commit to buy this set, but now I'm back peddling, with the worry of not knowing whether your purchasing the one with the hardware & software mods combined with the unproven led backlighting, when viewing the set in question at jb, I did notice how grainy it appeared but was led to believe that the signal runs through a network and will appear that way because of inevitable loss, the only way to trial these sets is to have it at home with plenty of time to play with the settings, and thats why these forums are great, because you can read first hand from people who have done just that, for what it's worth the price we are paying should be a reflection of picture quality on all grounds, ie: hdtuner should be as crisp and clear as blue-ray, uncompromising.
mantronic Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 Saw this set playing transformers in blue ray. The motion was worse than ive seen for years. Worst of all the blooming seemed to take up half the screen at times (but thats just my sight ... its sensitve to uniformity etc)
raziel79 Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 I want one of these, but the reviews of this screen are killing me , either it's the best LCD out (except xbr45 but way too expensive) or it's full of faults (Flashlighting, Blooming). From what I read everyone that has a post september build are happy with it, all others have major issues. What one's are we getting here in OZ? For the people that have all these issues, have you done a calibration disc yet? or is just settings your pulling from the web.
rodadus Posted November 28, 2008 Posted November 28, 2008 i'm guessing that since the price dropped from aroudn 6K to 4K for these 55" tvs, shows the quality is not up to scratch that first thought.id luv to hear reviews from anyone with a new bravia 55" with tri luminous LED. You wont have many feedbacks on the new xbr45 because not many people are buying them.The price diff between the 9 series and the xbr45 is huge and the pq diff between the two is very little (if any). Many people in the us are very satisfied with the 9 series (source AV forums).The xbr8 thread is dying because nobody is buying them(last time I checked).Not that I'm saying they are bad tv's but the price is just too high,so people who want led they go buy a sammy.
Wags69 Posted November 29, 2008 Posted November 29, 2008 ie: hdtuner shouldbe as crisp and clear as blue-ray, uncompromising. Yeah, if the broadcasts were in 1080, which they are not.
hazzad Posted November 29, 2008 Posted November 29, 2008 (edited) Yeah, if the broadcasts were in 1080, which they are not. little to do with the broadcast res of HD as most now do 1920x1080. It has to do with low bitrate HD channels. You will never get near Bluray quality on FTA HD channels unless they change to Mpeg4 and use the same bitrate they use now, but thats not going to happen. In regards to the price drop, last time i saw, most shops still had it at about 6k. Thos who are bargaining at getting mid to high 4's. You could also argue they are flushing old stock if they are in fact pre sept builds. Which may indicate that prices may go up with new batches/builds arriving. But its anyones guess. I love the blacks of this screen but i too have noticed how grainy thye are. Much more so than most other screens. And its not just the 9 series, its the 6-9 series. All are very grainy when showing HD content. Either they are very badly calibrated out of the box or there is something in them that is producing this behaviour. Edited November 29, 2008 by hazzad
boogie1503560529 Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 any more opinions on this screen? I'm this <-> close to ordering but opinion seems to vary...I guess you only read about the unhappy few online,not the majority who are happy with their sets...???
frozenblaze Posted December 1, 2008 Author Posted December 1, 2008 any more opinions on this screen?I'm this <-> close to ordering but opinion seems to vary...I guess you only read about the unhappy few online,not the majority who are happy with their sets...??? The picture can be great but, but it also misses badly. I have up until Wed to decide to take mine back. The biggest issue I have at the moment is even after calibration, the brightness hurts your eyes. I didnt experience this on my Bravia, and would be interested if anyone else notices this?
phoenixman78 Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 I have series 4 through 9 in my store and when we got the 7, 8 and 9 in the only one that I wasn't overly impressed with was the 7. The 8 is a stylish lcd with deep blacks and a sharp picture and the 9 is beautiful. I've watched Transformers on Blu Ray on the 9 and see no motion issues because I let the TV run at 24p through Blu Ray and turn motion flow off. Everyones eyesight is different but maybe check into the calibration of your pictures because I've got a series 6 which has a great picture once I got the settings right and the series 9 easily has a better picture than the 6. Also when you see the TV's in stores, most of them won't be calibrated to their best settings, they're just left on dynamic or even standard so what you see in stores is just the basic picture. Get the salesperson to play with it a bit or have a go yourself if the remotes there. I've seen the sony xbr4500 series as well, and while they are a very nice TV they are very overpriced. The rrp on the 46" xbr4500 is around 6599 while the rrp on the samsung is around 4599. Samsung give a 3 year warranty and sony only give 12 months so why would I spend another 2k for a tv that does roughly the same job with a third of the warranty?
mantronic Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 The picture can be great but, but it also misses badly. I have up until Wed to decide to take mine back. The biggest issue I have at the moment is even after calibration, the brightness hurts your eyes. I didnt experience this on my Bravia, and would be interested if anyone else notices this? I used to get this on my viera plasma turned all the way down. 10 min headache sometimes. Nobody else experienced it on my set. So yes all eyes are different. But Ive found both my sonys sort of cooler to my eye ... even on vivid. Some peoples eyes are very different so you need to make your own choice. If money were no object Ive had a good look at the xbr 45 and think its the only set the offers much more than the a650, which itself is an incredible set at any price if you dont mind reflection.
Rokkz Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 I have series 4 through 9 in my store and when we got the 7, 8 and 9 in the only one that I wasn't overly impressed with was the 7. The 8 is a stylish lcd with deep blacks and a sharp picture and the 9 is beautiful. I've watched Transformers on Blu Ray on the 9 and see no motion issues because I let the TV run at 24p through Blu Ray and turn motion flow off. Everyones eyesight is different but maybe check into the calibration of your pictures because I've got a series 6 which has a great picture once I got the settings right and the series 9 easily has a better picture than the 6.Also when you see the TV's in stores, most of them won't be calibrated to their best settings, they're just left on dynamic or even standard so what you see in stores is just the basic picture. Get the salesperson to play with it a bit or have a go yourself if the remotes there. I've seen the sony xbr4500 series as well, and while they are a very nice TV they are very overpriced. The rrp on the 46" xbr4500 is around 6599 while the rrp on the samsung is around 4599. Samsung give a 3 year warranty and sony only give 12 months so why would I spend another 2k for a tv that does roughly the same job with a third of the warranty? Good points phoenix, by the way where is your shop? Cheers
HiDef Jules Posted December 1, 2008 Posted December 1, 2008 I have the 55" and there is certainly no mostion issue at all. The picture is fantastic and is alot better than the Series 6 Samsung I had previously, it also destroys the Sony X series I had previously. Ive found that this set does show deficiencies in source material more than the other sets, but that is a testament to its accuracy and quality. Good transfers on bluray look superb, good quality HD TV looks fantastic - lesser quality looks average, but thats not the TV's fault! The blacks are certainly plasma levels and the picture has a lot of "pop". There is very MINOR blooming rarely that doesnt impact on the experience for me, the vast majority of the time it is not present at all. Overall I think its a fantastic TV and easily the best LCD Ive ever seen.
Sea Kitten! Posted December 2, 2008 Posted December 2, 2008 I have the 55" and there is certainly no mostion issue at all. The picture is fantastic and is alot better than the Series 6 Samsung I had previously, it also destroys the Sony X series I had previously. Ive found that this set does show deficiencies in source material more than the other sets, but that is a testament to its accuracy and quality. Good transfers on bluray look superb, good quality HD TV looks fantastic - lesser quality looks average, but thats not the TV's fault! The blacks are certainly plasma levels and the picture has a lot of "pop". There is very MINOR blooming rarely that doesnt impact on the experience for me, the vast majority of the time it is not present at all. Overall I think its a fantastic TV and easily the best LCD Ive ever seen. Well my 6 doesn't have blooming, so why would the picture quality be better on a 9? isn't the only real difference an LED backlight which would only affect very dark scenes?
dlcx Posted December 2, 2008 Posted December 2, 2008 In the store I compared the two, the series 6 seemed to have more pop and was alot sharper. Now it does depend on what settings they use in the store I suppose, but HiDef Jules - do you think the series 9 has more pop? How about sharpness compared to the two?
HiDef Jules Posted December 2, 2008 Posted December 2, 2008 Well my 6 doesn't have blooming, so why would the picture quality be better on a 9? isn't the only real difference an LED backlight which would only affect very dark scenes? As I said, the blooming is VERY minor when it occurs and the vast majority of the time its not present at all. I had two 6 series TV's and both had clouding that was infinitely more distracting and annoying than blooming on the 9 series. The 9 series screen is much more uniform and whilst the blacks on the 6 series are great, the 9 series blacks are superior which gives the colours more pop. Increased blacks doesnt just improve quality on dark scenes, it improves contrast and colours generally. Theres no question that the general picture quality is better on the 9 series. But, let me say, the 6 series is a fantastic TV - the 9 series doesnt blow it out of the water, but it is certainly noticably better.
HiDef Jules Posted December 2, 2008 Posted December 2, 2008 In the store I compared the two, the series 6 seemed to have more pop and was alot sharper.Now it does depend on what settings they use in the store I suppose, but HiDef Jules - do you think the series 9 has more pop? How about sharpness compared to the two? Both TVs are incredibly sharp, but I think the 9 series has the edge in sharpness - but really they are pretty close and you would have to have them side to side to notice a difference. There is no way the 9 series is less sharp then the 6 series. I think the 9 series has more pop - better blacks, colour and contrast.
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