Sony XBR-75Z9D

[YashN]

As it turns out, the Z9D is nice and neutral after calibration.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/kd65zd9-201610164372.htm

Good to know then. I have great results after HD Calibration with our old Bravia, but then it doesn't have the new chip.

 

[YashN]

Of course, there will be those who criticize before asking pertinent questions about calibration, etc. I'm ok with how the set performs pre-calibration, displaying the quality that is not yet maximized.

The question was rather whether the colour settings can allow you to defeat or bypass in some way the colour-processing chip's effect and Sony's tendency to show you by default overly saturated colours.

Calibration is a must, it doesn't matter which TV you have.

 

[YashN]

Good to know then. I have great results after HD Calibration with our old Bravia, but then it doesn't have the new chip.

Here is their conclusion for the Colour section and you'll understand why it is important to ask the question I asked specifically for Sony and their TVs including that colour-processing chip:

Colour

This was probably the one rare occasion where we wished Sony had implemented a more advanced colour management system (CMS) on a Bravia TV beyond the basic [Colour] and [Hue] controls. As you can see from the CIE graph below, our 65-inch ZD9 sample painted most colours in a slightly oversaturated manner. Theoretically, lowering the global [Colour] setting could work to rectify the oversaturation, but unfortunately in practice, doing so also increased the colour luminance errors, making it a no-go.

That's precisely in line with their chip, their marketing of it and their intentions as well as default setup and how I see them on display (last time I saw them were in May at Best Buy so I probably didn't see the very latest ones) - they want you to see those oversaturated colours. Why? Because most people won't know better - they think the colours are 'vivid' or something like that. Vivid, OK, but realistic? Not at all.

Secondly, once you know about Sony's intention and colour-processing chip, the question becomes whether the TV's controls allow you to revert its effects totally. Look at the last paragraph and you can see this is not too easy with the single 'colour' global setting. This is important to know. Doesn't mean it's impossible, but now we have to figure out how and how difficult it is with the existing controls and what the results are.

Nevertheless, potential owners will be pleased to know that despite this mild oversaturation, only 1 out of 140 patches measured in the Colour Checker SG chart exceeded the humanly perceptible threshold of delta error (dE) 3. In other words, colours would mostly look accurate and realistic in real-world content.

So, after calibration, we finally see that the controls coming with the TV do allow you to rectify the tendency for over-saturation of the Sony TVs, not totally, but at least you can have satisfaction that you can manually alter it so that the chip's effect is minimised. It might take fiddling with several parameters to get it as right as possible, but it can be done, and in any case, with proper calibration, you will be adjusting several parameters anyway.

This is equivalent to having a chip which does a three band over-EQ (over-emphasises bass, over-emphasises mids, over-emphasises highs) by default in an audio gear. Wouldn't you want to know whether controls exist to allow you to mitigate the chip's effect? Furthermore, once the controls are adjusted for such, wouldn't you want to know if the chip still has a perceptible signature?

Here we see that the chip does still have a video signature after calibration, but only one exceeds perception thresholds.

Of course, only a troll would ascribe dumb intentions to my first post here... What to do, trolls will be trolls.

Another thing I saw with the latest Sony is that they over-hype the zone dimming in the marketing. It's not as advanced as an OLED one despite giving you that impression. There are other qualities for sure.

That site is good though: they know what to look for and share it.

 

[NorthStar]

I spent few hours on the best 4K TV websites...for the best 4K 75" TVs. WoW! Sony, Samsung, Vizio, Panasonic, LG, Sharp.

The Sony LCD LED XBR-75Z9D (with 650 zones) is very impressive ($9,000 in the USA and $12,000 in Canada...MSRP).
The competition is the top OLED 4K from LG...E6 and G6 series. But in the 75" class they cost more money. Size does matter.

Anyway...
• Sony Announces Z9D FALD-LCD UHDTVs
• OFFICIAL Sony XBR-65Z9D Owner's Thread

$9,000 is a lot of dough for a 4K 75" TV. ...LCD or OLED. Sure you can get some for only $2,000-3,000 but not @ the level of this Sony TV. And not a 75" OLED.
Ten grands can get you a 4K front projector, I think, from Sony. But the picture won't be as bright as their Z9 TVs.
I would love to have a 100" Z9 Sony. I also would love to have a new 2017 Bugatti.

Congrats Lee and happy/best movies/documentaries viewing. Share with us what you enjoy viewing on your brand new Sony baby.
Samsara ... I love it! But my Blu-ray version is only 1080p, and in 2D.

 

[RBFC]

Here's one more:

 

[audioguy]

On the music audio side of things, I went (not so gradually) from being a 2 channel purist/snob to listening to as many channels as my system can actively support. Accurate? No, but in my opinion, no less so than 2 channel if "accurate" is recreating a live performance in my room. Way more fun and involving (usually) with more channels.

On the video side of things, I, too, have moved from being a purist. I had all of my CRT projectors professionally calibrated (remember John Gannon?) but have not yet had any of my digital projectors professionally calibrated (I did my own with CalMan on my last PJ). With some of the available calibration discs (e.g. the one from AVS), I can get my picture "good enough". While I don't want the picture to have, for example, obviously messed up colors (my new Sony TV had a slight green hue visible on some faces as it came out of the box but was easily fixed), it is not catastrophic if the TV (or projector) is not calibrated to the max. Once the movie starts, and the sound gets cranked, I get totally immersed even if the blacks are not perfect or the color does not exactly fall within specs.

My Sony Projector (600ES) looks incredible and even the owner of the store that I bought it from asked me who calibrated it. When I told him it was that way out of the box, it blew him away. Could a calibration make it better? Absolutely, and if I don't sell it, I may have it done. But it is anappealing and enjoyable picture as is.

Getting older has its advantages.

 

[NorthStar]

• http://www.sony.com/electronics/projector/vpl-vw600es
• http://avscience.com/2014/03/sony-vpl-vw600-projector-review-by-avs/

Chuck, did you have a good deal on your Sony model 4K front projector?

* I searched around a bit and I've found some @ half price (used): https://www.audiogon.com/listings/p...theater-95130-san-jose-ca?refsource=hifishark

 

[audioguy]

• http://www.sony.com/electronics/projector/vpl-vw600es
• http://avscience.com/2014/03/sony-vpl-vw600-projector-review-by-avs/

Chuck, did you have a good deal on your Sony model 4K front projector?

* I searched around a bit and I've found some @ half price (used): https://www.audiogon.com/listings/p...theater-95130-san-jose-ca?refsource=hifishark

I'm trying to sell my 600ES for $5500 - close to 1/3rd the price of new - and no serious bites !! And my price includes the 4K server I also purchased for close to $1000 along with the Sony Pad to control it.