I am looking for another 40". I noticed Crutchfield has a amazing deal on this Tv ($1000 shipped).

Just seeing if anyone has the good and bad on this unit.

 

It a great TV. You will not be sorry with it. Paid $1700 six months ago.
Here are the settings tweaks that work well with this model.


Picture Mode: Standard
Backlight: 3
Picture :87
Brightness: 51
Color: 54
Hue: 0
Color Temp: Warm 2
Sharpness: 5
Noise Reduction: Off
MPEG Noise Reduction: Off
DRC Mode: High Density
DRC Palette: Reality 30 / Clarity 9
Advanced Settings:
Black Corrector: Off
Advanced C.E.: Off
Gamma: Low
Auto Light Limiter: Off
Clear White: Off
Color Space: Normal
Live Color: Off
White Balance:
R-Gain: -3
G-Gain: -4
B-Gain: -1
R-Bias -3
G-Bias:0
B-Bias: 0
Detail Enhancer: Off
Edge Enhancer: Off
Motion Enhancer: Standard
Cinemotion: Off

 

I have this unit, and for the most part, its awesome. The picture quality is great. Standard definintion channels look good, not as bad as other HD tvs. My only qualm with the unit in its very early stages was with the backlight bleeding thru on the corners and edges. On black/dark scenes you see splotches of with light. Overtime and with adjusting the backlight, the problem is not all that noticeable anymore. Many vendors are aware of this problem, and if you purchase one suffering from it, simply exchange it.
Most Sonys have this annoying problem.

Check out this thread

https://acurazine.com/forums/home-theater-electronics-45/sony-40-xbr7-cloudy-exchange-717266/

 

When watching sports on HD, how bad is the pixelation.

 

The Tv is a bedroom tv for me, so i just run off an HD over the air antenna. From that, watching football is pretty amazing. Clarity is crisp and I dont notice the pixelation from 2+ feet away. Im sure if I was to connect up a sat/cable box to it, the picture would be much improved. But to answer your question, When i do get up close to it, i do see the pixels, but then again, who watches tv from <2 feet away lol. I hope i answered your question.

If bestbuy still has the units on hand, maybe check it out one day over there? The colors of the xbr7 were more to my liking than the samsungs. The flat matte screen is also a plus over a glossy black screen. I believe a comparable samsung will have a higher contrast ratio (not sure, but do need to check on this).

 

I bought a 46" XBR5 a year ago. No issues at all, great results whether watching movies or sports.

 

I've got a 46XBR6. When watching football I don't notice any pixelation at all. Maybe just a very slight bit of ghosting. But if I turn the motion enhancer on, it goes away.

 

Thanks man, I just ordered it. The higher contrast ratio bewteen other brands doesnt mean anything, there is no industry standard for that or panel response time.

This TV is replacing my Samsung A630 40". I got a good offer on Craigslist and took it. So down the road I will also be moving this to the bedroom.

 

one more thing, I went to Best Buy last night and they still have teh 40" xbr7 there. I noticed the picture was alot more natural than the samsung 650. I set the settings to my liking and the TV really poped. Skin tones looked natural and not as grainy. I just hope I dont get cursed with clouding on the panel.

 

Siggy does a great job explaining clouding / backlight bleed in the thread i had pasted. If it is too much to tolerate, Im sure Crutchfield will happily replace it for you. But, if you have to go down that route, i would have them setup the new TV next to the original unit so you can do a comparison. I followed Siggy's advice and turned the backlight (just turned on the light sensor) and it really worked wonders. I still have very slight backlight bleed in the upper right hand corner, but it is barely noticeable. No one else in my family can see it. Best of luck dude!

 

got the TV today, my backlight isnt so bad. There is a small cloud/flashlight in one of the corners, but i believe my Samsung had the same thing. I do see a different from my Samsung 6 to the xbr7. The colors are great on this thing. Thanks for the suggestion on the settings Dan. I am using them right now and it looks great.