Sony & Clouds: My Facts

[Nick_Shepherd]

If anyone still cares, here is my experience of a Sony 40WE5.

Great looking set in, lovely white frame which does not effect the viewing at all (if you thought it might as we are so used to black sets).

First class motion (Really notice the difference over my 32 Panasonic), great colour and contrast, and dark blacks.

At first I found SD poor, colours looked a washed out compared to same settings with HD source, but, after a few weeks of tweaking, SD from a good channel (BBC etc) looks as god as you would expect, no problems there.

Sky HD images are splendid. Sharp, detailed, great motion and colours really are superb.

Bluray is a step up again, its not a massive jump from Sky HD, but Quatum of Solace was a joy to watch (if not the best Bond film ever).

So, take the above and this is a really spot on TV. Untill you watch it in a drak room showing dark scenes. There is definate clouding, or bleed visable in the top left corner, and sometimes on the right hand side. Once you spot it, your eye looks for it everytime. Its odd, as it also bleeds into the black bar at the top of the screen, or appears to at least.

Now, this is key to the clouding debate. If you dont ever watch movies (more likely to have more dark scenes than TV shows) in a very dark room (even a lamp on would hide the clouds) I can say that you will absoloutly NOT notice the clouding (if the set had any). This will IMHO explain why so many people are happy with Sony sets this year, and others are not.

This is a real shame as the it does everything else so well. John Lewis will kindly swap or refund, but I like the white frame. JL dont sell it anymore (more people will buy the balck frame they say), so I have a choice of refund and try another WE5 from the Sony Centre, or the Philips 9664 (will start a new thread with questions about that)

From what I can see, if Sony had no backlight issues, these sets would be have pushed the Philips all the way.

I am frustrated, as I looked for so long, and the WE5 is so nearly perfect. But, I will always see the clouding and I'm afraid it will always be a problem, for me, when watching movies in a dark room.

If you dont, or have even just a lamp on, its a great TV.

 

[Anonymous]

I was wondering when the Sony Brigade would try to savage some pride in their ownership. It's all quiet at the Sony Camp.

Firstly, I don't like the white picture frame models, Sony should ditch those feeble attemps to make a white TV then sell it for hundreds more. The Black ones don't look classy or sexy compared with the Sumsung with the floating screen chassis.

None of the Sony V,W,E and Z series can push the top Philips. As I said linear improvements on its own don't necessarily translate into a great image.Onces you seen say a V series then you have an idea what the Sony's are about. By the way the less you need the motion tracking wizardary the better, artifacts are introduced.

The Philips 40 inch offer Spectra 2 ambiment light, Wi Fi and a 3D surreal image on a 2D TV. Its special and looks classy.Don't let the name deter you.

2008 was Sony's year but not 2009. I am not surprised that none of the models won any TV categories...but hey the competition offer more and maybe for less.

In case you think I am Sony basher, well think again, I own a Sony and think its great but I didn't spent the extra cash on the cosmetic improvements or the models with the fancy motion tracker.I am glad after these reviews.

If I was to look for another TV, I can confidently pump £1500 in a model that has ownership and peformance values.That would be a Sharp Aquos, Samsung or Philips. INNOVATION is the word.

I wouldn't want a top range Sony TV in 2009.What Hi Fi's decision was bang on!

Do we want more Briavia 4 and 5? Or for them to take the

LED for mass market seriously as Sumsung have.Give us something new and refreshing in 2010. Incidentally, Sumsung are even mass producing PC screens with LEDs!

 

[Anonymous]

Any chance you can post your settings Nick?

Thanks

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Sure:

Picture Mode; Standard

Backlight: 2

Contrast: 70

Brighness: 45

Colour: 45

Temp: Wam 1

Sharpness: 20

Noise Reductin: High

Motionflow: Standard

Film mode: Auto 1

Have left all advanced settings as they are as I dont understand waht they are for! Apart from Live clour which is high

 

[Anonymous]

hi nick , sorry to hear that your sony wasnt perfect , you obviously really wanted it to be , its a shame such a great tv was let down by the dreaded clouding , i noticed that you have the backlight set to 2 as sonycentre recomended , but can still see slight clouding when watching in a dark room , and lets face it , most people watch their movies with the lights down ..

at least you seem to be able to get a refund , so all is not lost , whfi seem very impressed with the philips 9664 ,when i asked in another thread how could it be £500 better than the w5500 andy clough said seeing is believing , high praise indeed ..

id say your particular tv would have been perfect for most people , but for you 95% is not good enough , rightly so in my opinion , i hope the philips lives up to the hype , please post your views on it , if i ever get the money ( are you reading this bankers ? ) i just may become an lcd convert ...

 

[matthewpiano]

JLP have stopped selling the white WE5 because its being discontinued. The black will remain a current model for the forseeable.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Maxflinn: spot on. I did really want it to be. And it is 95% right. As I say, many many people who dont have dark rooms, and ir really does only take the lamp on to cure the problem, will be very very happy.

Nothing vetured nothing gained I guess!

matthewpiano: Yes I heard that also. Are Sony dropping it completly, or just John Lewis?

If so, the Philips it is.

 

[matthewpiano]

The white is being dropped completely, although you may still be able to get hold of remaining stocks from some retailers.

 

[Anonymous]

What a relieve that Sony has got its senses back to abandoned its white Tele fashionista horrors maybe with optional Paris Hilton embossed remote accessory. Sony still do a 24 inch white eyesore at £420 to £490 for the bedroom. Get rid of that overpriced set as well. I have seen it in M and S as SC don't stock it in their stores. You guess it, no one in their right mind would be interested.It has got everything a V seriies has,an overkill midget of a set. It look like a childs toy!

With another £100 you can buy a Philips 32 inch test winner

 

[Anonymous]

I was in exactly the same position as Nick. I wanted and bought a Sony set - the Z4500. Was fine when room was lit, but in dark rooms with dark scenes the clouding was noticable and your eyes get drawn to it all the time. Was the same for both of the examples that I saw. When I took the 2nd set back I went for the Philips and I haven't looked back. The picture is fantastic and the ambilight really enhances the viewing experience IMO anyway.

Obviously the Philips is more expensive than the Sony's mention here, but if you are able to stretch the extra £500 then it is well worth the investment - you won't look back!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Judging from the recently revamped entrance of Sony UK HQ at Brooklands, I think I know where most of the white-framed models have gone...

 

[Anonymous]

I have a 40W5500 and dont notice the clouding issues to be honest, but what i do notice is when playing dark scenes or faces in shadow etc, i get alot of motion blurring. The affect on faces is like they are melting! Could this just be a setting issue?

 

[ElectroMan]

Almost certainly!

You want to turn most processing off (especially noise reduction). If you haven't done so already, take a look at the set up videos on this site.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

I agree. no such issues with my set. ts spot on with motion, well,spot on with everything other than the clouding. I am going for the Philips.

Whatever anyone has t say about the white frame, in a room with white furniture, it looks splendid, though you propably wouldnt bother if it didnt mstch the furniture, it would look odd, or an attempt to be flash or something. But, if all your furniture us white, its a cracker.

 

[matthewpiano]

Sorry the Sony hasn't worked out for you Nick. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the Philips. They seem to be making some pretty superb sets at present. Good luck with it and let us know how you get on.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Cheers.

I will. I did try!

It will be good to compare the two sets from personal experience, I will probably ingnore the clouding issue and compare the two sets, see if the Philips really is so much better as What Hi Fi think....