HD Beat Review: Sony KDS-R50XBR1
There are so many words that can describe the Sony KDS-R50XBR1. Breathtaking, gorgeous, astounding, and unfortunately, expensive. This new rear projection by Sony employs a proprietary version of LCoS called SXRD to produce one of the best looking pictures I have ever seen. Sony has a winner on their hands with this set, but more importantly with, SXRD.
This is the second line of televisions that has employed SXRD. The first was the uber-expensive Qualia 006 that was released last year and was widely considered to be the BEST picture available. But that set was out of reach by the average Joe with a price tag of $13,000 for the 70-inch. Sony took nearly an identical mold and formed these little brothers of the 006 that are available at 60-inches and 50-inches for $5,000 and $4,000 respectively. The two different lines of TVs have nearly identical parts and the picture quality is amazing on both.
Remote
This is the same remote that Sony has used on XBRs for the past 2 or 3 years. (picture below) That’s OK by me though as it is a cool remote. It is sleek and made out of metal. The buttons have a nice solid feel to ‘em and the layout is fine. The only complaint I have about it is that it gets nasty after a few months of use. The metal gets dirty and fast.
Oh, and note to Sony; this remote would look killer if you put LED backlighting on it Apple Powerbook style.
Menu
The menus on Sony’s newer TVs are all the same, but that’s OK ‘cause it works fine. They are easy to navigate and provide the user with enough adjustments. This TV has an ‘Advanced’ menu though that can fine-tune the TV even more. It even allows a person to adjust the ‘Iris’ of the lamp in order to increase contrast and brightness.This XBR however, allows the common man to access the holy grail of TV adjustments: Sony’s DRC palette. This little devil is like a line doubler for TV signals. There are plenty of options (picture below) to allow the user to find the sweet spot of detail versus smoothness. Once you find the right spot for your set, you'll be happy you have this option.
Inputs
This TV has it all, well almost.- 2 HDMI
- 3 Firewire/iLink
- 2 Component
- VGA
- 2 sets of composite/S-Video
It
has tons of inputs but that’s where I have a problem. Check out the
picture below and look at how spread out they are. I understand that
people don't like to be messing with inputs that are crammed together,
but Sony laid them out over the entire back panel. Wire maintenance on
this guy is terrible. Having the cable card on the side however is
smart; I like that.
The
one input that is missing, however, is a front HDMI port. I was sure
that Sony was going to start putting them on their sets with this
generation, but I was wrong. My line of thought was that the
Playstation 3 has dual HDMI so you would want to take the PS3 over
to a buddies house and have a quick connection. Oh well, not on this
set.
Picture quality
-SD-Hey, this is a rear-projection and this TV is aimed at those that have a bigger wallet and therefore at least digital cable or satellite. Nevertheless, the expected pixelation was evident with a standard signal, however, it was not worse then any other set.
-DVD-
Perhaps I cheated a tad when I chose Toy Story to review this set but it sure was bright and pretty: very crisp and clear. It did however, produce the grayish blacks that are characteristic of its LCD brethren. I was a tad disappointed with it. But my god, it was bright and crisp!
Master and Commander produced a similar problem with the black levels. The TV made easy work of the dark shadows but struggled with the deep blacks. The lines were as crisp that a 480p picture could be. Overall though, the picture was great.
-720p High Definition-
The picture is amazing. Even at 720p it is gorgeous and by far the best looking picture I have ever seen on a rear-projection set. The blacks are black and the whites are white. Blue sky is as smooth as God made it. And to think that the 720p signal from DirecTV is only half of what this 1080p set can do; it makes me anxious to see the full quality of this guy. What more can you ask for?
The SXRD technology resolves the biggest issue Sony has had in the past with their microdisplays built off of LCD: screen door effect. This TV is smoother then any DLP I have seen and shows no effect of a grid. LCoS shoots light off a panel rather then through it like LCDs. Plus, the SXRD variant of LCoS has a denser pixel count and so the chance of seeing the grid is reduced even more.
Sound
Buy a sound system. You will not be happy with the one that is in this $4,000 TV. Sony should consider beefing up the power on the speakers; not everyone has money left to buy a good sound system after dropping four-grand on the television!
Overall
I love this TV. It has almost everything that a person could be looking for out a large screen set. Besides having crappy sound, I have no major issues with it. The blacks are not incredible, but they aren't bad ether. I would like to start seeing front HDMI ports on higher end TVs but that is not something to mark this TV down on. The jacks are spread out but at least there is every kind a person could need.If you are looking for a great picture from DVDs and HD, consider this TV. Sure it is expensive, but man the picture is amazing.
Overall Score: 8 out of 10
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Leon @ Oct 15th 2005 4:17PM
It would be interesting to tell us what 1080i HD would look on it as after all, that is the only reason why someone would buy that tv
Matt Burns @ Oct 15th 2005 4:47PM
I am assuming that you are refering to 1080p rather then 1080i. And trust me, I wish I could see it but there is nothing out there right now that has that type of content. There are some Windows Media HD clips but I had no way of getting them on the screen with my test equipment.
Even if you are refering to 1080i there is not much difference between 720p and 1080i due to frame rates. 720p is 60 frames a second and can make a smoother image while 1080i is 30 frames but has a higher resolution; on a 50-inch size there is not much of a difference. Plus, when you add in MPEG 2 compression thanks to DirecTV, there is NO difference. That is why they are upgrading to MPEG 4
Richard Kinley @ Oct 16th 2005 11:58AM
I may be mistaken, but I thought I read that this model can upconvert to 1080p but not display a 1080p signal. Anyone who buys this RPTV might not be happy once BluRay, etc. comes out next year. Something about the display is 1080p but not all the circuitry.
RK
Lance Wethey @ Oct 17th 2005 7:49PM
What about screen geometry? I noticed in your picture of the on screen menu that the menu itself did not appear perfectly square. One more thing, did you observe the picture with the iris at its lowest setting? I've read that although this setting has the narrowest contrast level, it delivers the deepest blacks. I'm very interested in using this TV with its main duty to be for videogames and horror movies(yeah, I refuse to grow up). Any comments would be appreciated.
H60Ace @ Oct 29th 2005 7:54PM
If this TV had a true 1080P input capability over HDMI, I would buy it in a heartbeat. It is a damn shame that this beautiful set must upconvert every signal it receives. A crying shame.
Does anybody know if the Qualia 006.
Too bad the HP is the only TV that will do this, and it is a wobbler.
Moe32274 @ Nov 10th 2005 2:12PM
This HDTV does not accept a 1080p signal. However, it does accept a 1080i signal, which it then de-interlaces to display as a 1080p picture.
Meurig Davies @ Nov 12th 2005 12:08AM
Same comment as 7. above. I just viewed the KDSR50XBR1 at Circuit City. The picture on Satellite HD was really great. I then had the sales guy hook it up to non-HD channels, and the picture was terrible. Ghosting all over the place. and no contrast. He said it was because of "weak signal". I dont know if that waas true or not. What are other people's experience with non-HD channels using this TV ?
Matt Burns @ Nov 12th 2005 12:20AM
Meurig, when you went to Circuit City, did you compare the non-HD signal against other rear-projection sets. I agree, the non-HD signals do not look great; they never have on large screen sets. Like I said in the review, the signal is not great but not any worse then other sets. Plus, the coax feeds at Circuit City are very week and will produce ghosting because if it. Trust me, I know about Circuit City.
Suggestions for Mark...I really do not have any to improve existing stations. If you use an antenna though to pick up your locals, you will get a better picture even if the program is just 480p.
BARK @ Nov 13th 2005 12:18AM
I really want this set!!! but I just cant spend that much on a 1080p tv that wont except a 1080p signal. How will this set handle a true 1080p signal?
Meurig Davies @ Nov 13th 2005 12:41AM
Matt, thanks for the response. However, at the moment I am kind of "in limbo". I actually went in to Circuit City to buy the Sony KDLV40XBR1 LCD flat panel. (Had my wife talked in to letting me buy it and all...). I really like that model, but my only reservation has been screen size, and I have been hesitating because of it. It's the largest direct view flat panel LCD Sony make, but it's still only 40 ". Grrrrr ! What I REALLY want is a 50" screen for my TV room. That's when the Sales guy suggested the rear projection 50" SXRD. I had read up on the SXRD previously, but discounted it because generally I think the picture quality of the rear projection models (on HD) are not as crisp and sharp as the direct view flat panel LCDs. BUT, when I viewed the KDS-R50XBR1, the picture quality (on HD) blew me away. It is really good, compared to other rear projection TVs I've seen. I guess LCoS works, and I could be tempted to go for it. However, since most channels are not HD yet, it really needs to produce a sharp picture with standard input signals, and from what I have seen so far, and read here, I am not convinced that it can do that. So, I guess I am now waiting until :
1) I can be convinced that the 50" Sony IS in fact capable of a (reasonably) crisp picture with standard input,
or,
2) They produce one that is
or,
3) Sony comes out with a 50", or maybe even a 46" LCD flat panel direct view model in the near future. That's what I would REALLY like. Any word on that for the new year ?
Mark Diomede @ Nov 14th 2005 8:49PM
Just bought this TV.Hooked it up and the picture for standard channels is VERY BLURRY? Any suggestions? HD is awesome, but not all channels are HD. Incidentally we have the direct TV HD receiver as well.
Chad Wadsworth @ Nov 16th 2005 12:38AM
Just bought the KDS-R50XBR1 this past weekend. After tuning with Avia, I am impressed. For the benefit of some of the posters here I'll just say one thing: garbage in, garbage out. Feed this beast a good HD or DVD signal and you are in for a treat. Give it MPEG2 compressed Noggin and you will be disappointed (as you would be with any of these large view screens). And for those of you waiting on technology, you'll always be waiting for something better. Get off the pot and buy what you like so I don't have to listen to you spew about how something sucks because what is going to come out tomorrow is going to be better. Blacks are black on this set and colors are richly saturated (again, with a good signal). Everyone needs to realize that not all content is equal. Motion pictures are mastered darker with less dynamic range per scene then say, Trading Spaces. Any set is going to have trouble looking good when the camera is fighting bad lighting. When shopping for one of these guys, don't bother trying to compare a TV feed, as they are ususally split and degregaded to hell. Kindly ask the sales folk to hook up a DVD player and compare the same disk on multiple units. Sure, you are not going to see true HD, but you will be able to better tell how a set handles black and white levels, motion, color accuracy, etc.
tom bwana @ Nov 27th 2005 1:34AM
I have to say I agree with Chad #12 above. I own the 50 in sony, as he does, and the picture is literally awesome in HD. So rich and full, with zero pixilation. I find the basic signals quite tolerable, the HD channels "out of this world", and DVD's awesome. So much talk about blue ray dvds, but not much talk about how great this set looks in today's HD. Maybe we should bring the actors into our living room, lol. With today's moving technology, you can always wait til tomorrow for the latest and greatest, but a person only has so much time to live. I hooked up a Polk home theatre system, and it is just like being in the movie theatre. This is the best entertainment investment I have made.
bwanatom
Steve @ Dec 5th 2005 6:32AM
I have had the KDS-R50XBR1 for a few weeks now and am quite pleased with it. I was wondering if any other owners have noticed a problem with washed out blacks in the lower left hand corner of their screen? I notice this when viewing a 4:3 picture with black bars on the left and right and also when viewing a 16:9 picture with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Otherwise, the blacks in the picture itself are great. Just wondering if this is the norm or if my set may be defective or require some adjustment.
Steve @ Dec 6th 2005 2:25PM
Great TV...2 questions though...
1) I cannot get even standard broadcast signals to display in 4:3. (I've tried all the menu selections.) It's no big deal becasue the 'Full' screen always look great, but am I missing something?
2) Sometimes the image goes offscreen. (Ex.: The NBC peacock is only partially visible in the lower right corner. Seems to be only some channels. I see no way to make any adjustment. It happens in any picture mode. Again, am I missing something?
Thanks
Steve @ Dec 6th 2005 2:56PM
Great TV...2 questions though...
1) I cannot get even standard broadcast signals to display in 4:3. (I've tried all the menu selections.) It's no big deal becasue the 'Full' screen always look great, but am I missing something?
2) Sometimes the image goes offscreen. (Ex.: The NBC peacock is only partially visible in the lower right corner. Seems to be only some channels. I see no way to make any adjustment. It happens in any picture mode. Again, am I missing something?
Thanks
Steve @ Dec 6th 2005 2:58PM
Great TV...2 questions though...
1) I cannot get even standard broadcast signals to display in 4:3. (I've tried all the menu selections.) It's no big deal becasue the 'Full' screen always look great, but am I missing something?
2) Sometimes the image goes offscreen. (Ex.: The NBC peacock is only partially visible in the lower right corner. Seems to be only some channels. I see no way to make any adjustment. It happens in any picture mode. Again, am I missing something?
Thanks
Steve @ Dec 6th 2005 2:59PM
Great TV...2 questions though...
1) I cannot get even standard broadcast signals to display in 4:3. (I've tried all the menu selections.) It's no big deal becasue the 'Full' screen always look great, but am I missing something?
2) Sometimes the image goes offscreen. (Ex.: The NBC peacock is only partially visible in the lower right corner. Seems to be only some channels. I see no way to make any adjustment. It happens in any picture mode. Again, am I missing something?
Thanks
Steve @ Dec 14th 2005 8:03AM
To set the 4:3 default for standard broadcast signals or any of the video connections, select Menu, Screen (should be 3rd choice down), 4:3 Default, Normal. You can then use the Wide button on the remote to cycle through the widescreen selections.
Larry @ Dec 24th 2005 8:21AM
I just bought the KDS-R50XBR1 and I don't yet have access to a digital signal (switching from sat to cable due to equipment bumps and a narrow access window to satellites.)
In the review I see stated: "This XBR however, allows the common man to access the holy grail of TV adjustments: Sonys DRC palette."
Is access to the "Advanced Video" settings shown somehow context sensitive? I don't see the options in my menu tree and I was wondering if they are only available if the set detects a digital signal.
Thanks, and happy holidays to all.
Larry