Sony 46hx903 (again)

[admin_exported]

After waiting since the start of Sept i have FINALLY had a delivery date confirmed for my hx903, its getting delivered on the 3rd of Dec, so it only took just over 3 months for me to recieve my hx903, but im sure it will be worth the wait, before i get it i would like to know the settings that WHFI used on their test model, or any one else for that matter as i would like to extract the best possible picture straight from the box.

Regards Justin.

 

[Anonymous]

youve no chance here mate. very very shady subject with the what hifi team. shrouded in mistry. just finding out which motionplus they prefere would be nice. but like i say very cloack and dagger stuff this one.

 

[Anonymous]

Surely theres someone out there who has already, luckily, recieved there hx903 and would like to share the settings that they have found to be the best?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, jst23

I've had my HX903 for a couple of weeks now and have been messing with the settings for several sources. I first tried the T2 Blu Ray as its got a THX HD tuner on it. If you use this don't lower the brightness to the level it advices as it will be to dark. Its trial and error on this. I lowered the brightness in stages and then tried different Blu Rays with dark scenes like, Predators, Dark Knight and Aliens.If you've got blocks of extreme black then your probably to dark.This is because the full array back light can produce much deeper backs than most LCD TVs and can obviously just turn the back light off if necessary. Remember to turn off everything in the advanced menu before you start as well or your settings will vary with different media types, or end up almost useless in some conditions. This caused some confusion to start with as I'd think I'd nailed the settings, only for them to appear to change. Also be aware that if you leave the SCENE setting on auto, the TV will alter the contrast and brightness settings, depending on which source type or of program it thinks your watching. Motionflow also alters the look of the picture quite a bit so make sure that you have selected the setting you intend to use before calibrating the TV. I use standard mostly, but turn it off when using my Mac Mini. When I first intend to use my computer with the TV, I found I preferred using the RGB PC input over a HDMI input as it gave me the best results. The TV gives more flexibility in the PC settings and fills the screen better with most resolutions. I'd also recommend calibrating the PC/MAC by starting with the settings you use for normal viewing, then use the display colour calibrating tools to get the best results.

The settings I use are as follows but may or may-not be the best ones for you. If everyone chips in with their own settings we might get the perfect set up. It doesn't look like we'll be getting them anywhere else.

Back light.-8

Contrast- Max

Brightness-47

Colour-50

Hue-0

Colour Temperature-Neutral

Sharpness-50

Noise Reduction-Off

MPEG Noise Reduction-Off

Motionflow-Standard

Film Mode-Auto2

In Advanced Settings, everything off except,

Black Corrector-Low

LED Dynamic Control-Standard

Hope this is of some use to you. Let me know how you get on and if you find any better solutions.

 

[Anonymous]

For a start I would recommend to set contrast to a more moderate setting, for example 70 on a scale of 100. And raise the brightness.

If you set contrast to max, it will kill your gray scale.

 

[Andy Clough]

deany:youve no chance here mate. very very shady subject with the what hifi team. shrouded in mistry. just finding out which motionplus they prefere would be nice. but like i say very cloack and dagger stuff this one.

Nothing "cloak and dagger" about it deany: there's no one range of settings that will suit each TV in every circumstance. Correct calibration depends on the room the TV's used in, lighting levels, the source material used, personal preference etc etc.

We repeatedly recommend using the THX Optimiser found on some Blu-ray/DVD discs as a good starting point, plus there's our 'How to get the best from your TV' video to help you (go to the 'How To' tab on our video channel).

As always, personal experimentation with your own TV in your own home is the best way forward.

 

[TKratz]

I agree very much with Peter.

It is not recommendable to pull up contrast to the max!
It might seem like you gain something, but actually the levels of details goes down.

 

[Anonymous]

fair enough. but you must have a preferrence on which motionplus you used, thats nothing to do with different room conditions. same as contrast and advanced settings these could be revealed but you seem a little shy here gang

 

[jcshutts]

Jase Brown:
Hi, jst23

I've had my HX903 for a couple of weeks now and have been messing with the settings for several sources. I first tried the T2 Blu Ray as its got a THX HD tuner on it. If you use this don't lower the brightness to the level it advices as it will be to dark. Its trial and error on this. I lowered the brightness in stages and then tried different Blu Rays with dark scenes like, Predators, Dark Knight and Aliens.If you've got blocks of extreme black then your probably to dark.This is because the full array back light can produce much deeper backs than most LCD TVs and can obviously just turn the back light off if necessary. Remember to turn off everything in the advanced menu before you start as well or your settings will vary with different media types, or end up almost useless in some conditions. This caused some confusion to start with as I'd think I'd nailed the settings, only for them to appear to change. Also be aware that if you leave the SCENE setting on auto, the TV will alter the contrast and brightness settings, depending on which source type or of program it thinks your watching. Motionflow also alters the look of the picture quite a bit so make sure that you have selected the setting you intend to use before calibrating the TV. I use standard mostly, but turn it off when using my Mac Mini. When I first intend to use my computer with the TV, I found I preferred using the RGB PC input over a HDMI input as it gave me the best results. The TV gives more flexibility in the PC settings and fills the screen better with most resolutions. I'd also recommend calibrating the PC/MAC by starting with the settings you use for normal viewing, then use the display colour calibrating tools to get the best results.

The settings I use are as follows but may or may-not be the best ones for you. If everyone chips in with their own settings we might get the perfect set up. It doesn't look like we'll be getting them anywhere else.

Back light.-8

Contrast- Max

Brightness-47

Colour-50

Hue-0

Colour Temperature-Neutral

Sharpness-50

Noise Reduction-Off

MPEG Noise Reduction-Off

Motionflow-Standard

Film Mode-Auto2

In Advanced Settings, everything off except,

Black Corrector-Low

LED Dynamic Control-Standard

Hope this is of some use to you. Let me know how you get on and if you find any better solutions.

so we are saying that the contrast should be lower around 70. I also think the brightness is too low here and have mine around 65?

 

[Anonymous]

so is Brightness best at 65 or 70? If watching movies like Aliens, Avatar, T2 etc?

Thank-you, Please.

 

[Anonymous]

jcshutts:Jase Brown:
Hi, jst23

I've had my HX903 for a couple of weeks now and have been messing with the settings for several sources. I first tried the T2 Blu Ray as its got a THX HD tuner on it. If you use this don't lower the brightness to the level it advices as it will be to dark. Its trial and error on this. I lowered the brightness in stages and then tried different Blu Rays with dark scenes like, Predators, Dark Knight and Aliens.If you've got blocks of extreme black then your probably to dark.This is because the full array back light can produce much deeper backs than most LCD TVs and can obviously just turn the back light off if necessary. Remember to turn off everything in the advanced menu before you start as well or your settings will vary with different media types, or end up almost useless in some conditions. This caused some confusion to start with as I'd think I'd nailed the settings, only for them to appear to change. Also be aware that if you leave the SCENE setting on auto, the TV will alter the contrast and brightness settings, depending on which source type or of program it thinks your watching. Motionflow also alters the look of the picture quite a bit so make sure that you have selected the setting you intend to use before calibrating the TV. I use standard mostly, but turn it off when using my Mac Mini. When I first intend to use my computer with the TV, I found I preferred using the RGB PC input over a HDMI input as it gave me the best results. The TV gives more flexibility in the PC settings and fills the screen better with most resolutions. I'd also recommend calibrating the PC/MAC by starting with the settings you use for normal viewing, then use the display colour calibrating tools to get the best results.

The settings I use are as follows but may or may-not be the best ones for you. If everyone chips in with their own settings we might get the perfect set up. It doesn't look like we'll be getting them anywhere else.

Back light.-8

Contrast- Max

Brightness-47

Colour-50

Hue-0

Colour Temperature-Neutral

Sharpness-50

Noise Reduction-Off

MPEG Noise Reduction-Off

Motionflow-Standard

Film Mode-Auto2

In Advanced Settings, everything off except,

Black Corrector-Low

LED Dynamic Control-Standard

Hope this is of some use to you. Let me know how you get on and if you find any better solutions.

so we are saying that the contrast should be lower around 70. I also think the brightness is too low here and have mine around 65?

I taken onboard about max contrast and adjusted it down to 80. Anything below and you start to loose to much contrast. I don't know if all setting advice so far is specific to the HX903 but brightness above 60 and all blacks turn grey.

I'm starting to wonder if our expected picture parameters are blurring our view of what the picture should be.
I know going to the pictures that I've seen plenty of dark films, where it difficult to make out fine details. So what drives us to expose everything that's available just because we can?

 

[grdunn123]

darkdealx:
so is Brightness best at 65 or 70? If watching movies like Aliens, Avatar, T2 etc?

Thank-you, Please.

Are you unable to look at your own tv in your own room and decide what actually looks good??? Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???

 

[Anonymous]

grdunn123:darkdealx:
so is Brightness best at 65 or 70? If watching movies like Aliens, Avatar, T2 etc?

Thank-you, Please.

Are you unable to look at your own tv in your own room and decide what actually looks good??? Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???

Relax, when the whisperer shouts louder than the shouter ...the afore prevails more dividends.

Simply i sough the wisdom of others of whom have play around with their HX903U, to give me an idea.

Do you go to culinary lessons and ask how to peel a banana?

 

[Anonymous]

grdunn123:darkdealx:
so is Brightness best at 65 or 70? If watching movies like Aliens, Avatar, T2 etc?

Thank-you, Please.

Are you unable to look at your own tv in your own room and decide what actually looks good??? Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???

Relax, when the whisperer shouts louder than the shouter ...the afore prevails more dividends.

Simply i sough the wisdom of others of whom have play around with their HX903U, to give me an idea.

Do you go to culinary lessons and ask how to peel a banana?

 

[jcshutts]

I agree, we are just sharing info to see if we can see a discernible improvement in picture quality. People refer to professional calibration as making a massive difference. I for one, am keen to see whether our own attempts can go some way towards this. I have been watching my 903 on the standard factory setting for weeks, but thought 'hey, why not have a go!'

The feedback about the brightness and the blacks is interesting. I will tone mine down and see what its like. My reference material probably wasn't a good choice. My wife and I were watching 'curious case of Benjamin Button' on 1080i and I was trying to subtly change the picture during some of the 'love' scenes. Much to the annoyance of my wife!

Keep the advice coming! although I did get a bit lost at the mention of banana's

 

[Anonymous]

jcshutts:
I agree, we are just sharing info to see if we can see a discernible improvement in picture quality. People refer to professional calibration as making a massive difference. I for one, am keen to see whether our own attempts can go some way towards this. I have been watching my 903 on the standard factory setting for weeks, but thought 'hey, why not have a go!'

The feedback about the brightness and the blacks is interesting. I will tone mine down and see what its like.

Keep the advice coming! although I did get a bit lost at the mention of banana's

I couldn't agree more. Keep it coming.

Any advice is always welcome and if in the end we end up getting the best out of a very expensive investment.

 

[Anonymous]

jcshutts:
I agree, we are just sharing info to see if we can see a discernible improvement in picture quality. People refer to professional calibration as making a massive difference. I for one, am keen to see whether our own attempts can go some way towards this. I have been watching my 903 on the standard factory setting for weeks, but thought 'hey, why not have a go!'

The feedback about the brightness and the blacks is interesting. I will tone mine down and see what its like. My reference material probably wasn't a good choice. My wife and I were watching 'curious case of Benjamin Button' on 1080i and I was trying to subtly change the picture during some of the 'love' scenes. Much to the annoyance of my wife!

Keep the advice coming! although I did get a bit lost at the mention of banana's

Jschutts,

Was merely being sarcastic to the following comments made by a certain other member on this 'thread'. They'd quoted:

'Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???'

 

[grdunn123]

darkdealx:jcshutts:
I agree, we are just sharing info to see if we can see a discernible improvement in picture quality. People refer to professional calibration as making a massive difference. I for one, am keen to see whether our own attempts can go some way towards this. I have been watching my 903 on the standard factory setting for weeks, but thought 'hey, why not have a go!'

The feedback about the brightness and the blacks is interesting. I will tone mine down and see what its like. My reference material probably wasn't a good choice. My wife and I were watching 'curious case of Benjamin Button' on 1080i and I was trying to subtly change the picture during some of the 'love' scenes. Much to the annoyance of my wife!

Keep the advice coming! although I did get a bit lost at the mention of banana's

I got lost with that one too...

Jschutts,

Was merely being sarcastic to the following comments made by a certain other member on this 'thread'. They'd quoted:

'Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???'

 

[jcshutts]

darkdealx:jcshutts:
I agree, we are just sharing info to see if we can see a discernible improvement in picture quality. People refer to professional calibration as making a massive difference. I for one, am keen to see whether our own attempts can go some way towards this. I have been watching my 903 on the standard factory setting for weeks, but thought 'hey, why not have a go!'

The feedback about the brightness and the blacks is interesting. I will tone mine down and see what its like. My reference material probably wasn't a good choice. My wife and I were watching 'curious case of Benjamin Button' on 1080i and I was trying to subtly change the picture during some of the 'love' scenes. Much to the annoyance of my wife!

Keep the advice coming! although I did get a bit lost at the mention of banana's

Jschutts,

Was merely being sarcastic to the following comments made by a certain other member on this 'thread'. They'd quoted:

'Do you log on to central heating forums and ask what you should set your thermostat to???'

I know, only kidding

 

[Anonymous]

Well thanks for all the replies guys, i will try these settings as a starting point and then tweak as i feel necessary, its a pity that it has had to resolve to sarcasam, as some people take advice as the be all and end all, this was simply ment as a starting point for my new tv, to which i expect will save me about an hour of trundling through endless blu rays trying to find a starting point, then tweaking to my own tastes.

Thanks again Jase Brown.

Regards Justin.

 

[Anonymous]

jst23:
Well thanks for all the replies guys, i will try these settings as a starting point and then tweak as i feel necessary, its a pity that it has had to resolve to sarcasam, as some people take advice as the be all and end all, this was simply ment as a starting point for my new tv, to which i expect will save me about an hour of trundling through endless blu rays trying to find a starting point, then tweaking to my own tastes.

Thanks again Jase Brown.

Regards Justin.

No problem. Hope we can keep thread going to share settings and fine tune . I've tried some small changes to improve picture.

Backlight-8

Contrast-87

Brightness-47

These seem good for all sources. Keep in touch with anything you come across that I can try.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Black corrector should be OFF

Anything else and your crushing black detail

 

[Anonymous]

I've set-up the 52 variant, bloody gorgeous of a TV. Does anybody have the Sony RHT-G11 Home Theatre Stand via HDMI. But has 'Dolby Digital' coming out, as oppose to Dolby Pro-Logic II. Sort of become clueless on this. As having read the manual, the HDMI is suppose to carry this over via 'ARC'. Thus no requirement for a Digital Optical Out. To which where do i make the change then?

Cheers!!!

 

[grdunn123]

darkdealx:
I've set-up the 52 variant, bloody gorgeous of a TV. Does anybody have the Sony RHT-G11 Home Theatre Stand via HDMI. But has 'Dolby Digital' coming out, as oppose to Dolby Pro-Logic II. Sort of become clueless on this. As having read the manual, the HDMI is suppose to carry this over via 'ARC'. Thus no requirement for a Digital Optical Out. To which where do i make the change then?

Cheers!!!




Come again????

 

[Anonymous]

Did you turn off all settings in Picture - Advanced Settings to Off???

I've turned mine off, just wondering if other owners have left them on default and what they are. As for the 'life of me' i can't remember them. Don't wish to 'reset' what i have currently?

Allowing the minimum 100 hours to set in for the picture, so i can get the best out of the quality.

Regards

Andrew