Customer Reviews

60" Sony Grand WEGATM HDTV

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought Sony's 60" SXRD after spending the last year researching big screen TVs. The picture quality is top notch- blacks on par with those of a CRT or plasma television and stunning visual clarity. The liquid crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology combines the best qualities of DLP and LCD projection TV sets; the picture quality of Sony's SXRD LCoS impressed me more than JVC's D-ILA LCoS.

There is no screen door effect on this TV and it displays motion well. The user interface is very user friendly and I was able to access the vast majority of the television's functions without referencing the user's manual. There are more open inputs than I need (8 total, including a few accessible from the front) and the Picture in Picture can be used from both multiple inputs (e.g. DVD and Cable) or from the same input (e.g. both frames from the cable box)

Analog TV appears as good or better than other TVs this size and HD is incredible. With any TV this size, however, be aware that flaws in the picture quality of a broadcast signal will be more apparent. This hasn't been a problem with DVDs or HD channels.

The 60" SXRD also looks more elegant than other sets in this range, nice given that a set this size will dominate any room it's in. It's also light weight enough to be moved easily by two people.

I'm happy that I bought this model and strongly recommend it.

I looked at half a dozen 1080p true HDTVs in October 2005 before settling on the KDS-R50XBR1 (the 50" little brother to this TV). I am thrilled with the picture quality, especially after fine-tuning the Brightness, Contrast, Picture, and RGB balance settings using the Avia calibration DVD. Especially on true HDTV 1920x1080 sources, this TV has an absolutely outstanding picture! In fact, it's more like watching a film or looking out a window than a mere television picture. The SXRD picture is liquid smooth and silky with no screen door effect or harsh "graininess" you see in competing technologies such as DLP, LCD, and even plasma.

One important note: If you are debating between the 50" and 60" models, you should know that both models use the same 120 watt bulb. With the 60" model having approximately 20% more screen surface area to light up, that translates to approximately a 20% dimmer picture than the 50 inch model. (If you ask me, it's not a "bright" idea to use the same bulb wattage for two projection TVs of different sizes, but I guess it keeps manufacturing costs down.)

Compare the two models side by side on the same HDTV content (I did) and you'll see a marked difference in the vividness of the whites and bright colors. The KDS-R50XBR1 50" really "pops" (like looking out the window on a sunny day); whereas the KDS-R60XBR1 60" looks merely average in the brightness department (the overall picture is still excellent, just a bit dimmer).

For me, I decided that a smaller screen with a brighter picture was more important than a big screen with a slightly dimmer picture - especially since this TV sits in a daylight room. Hopefully Sony will correct this oversight in a future SXRD model because the 60" picture is considerably more impressive purely from a size perspective.

The pros: Its magnificent picture quality! SXRD is probably the finest picture you can buy for under $12,000. It has advanced picture fine-tuning feature for prosumers. The 50" model has a dazzling bright display that outshines everything I've seen so far.

The cons: The side speakers are relatively weak with no bass response (as one would expect from their diminutive size). They are not detachable, and add a considerable amount of horizontal width to this TV's footprint. They ought to be made detachable or placed beneath the screen instead at the sides. Also, there are only 2 HDMI ports. It is quite conceivable that a person might have 3-4 HDMI devices (Bluray DVD, Playstation 3, Dish Network, Digital Cable, etc.) but most TVs on the market only have 1-2 HDMI ports so this is not unusual. Daytime viewing is generally very good as long as no direct light hits the TV screen; however, projection TVs still don't seem as bright as the old cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs.

I welcome the opportunity to share my perspective as an owner of a SONY SXRD KDS-R60XBR1. I notice that the Amazon.com price has decreased 25% since the item became widely available in October 2005. I obtained mine through a traditional brick and mortar retailer, but believe the associates of Amazon.com can perform just as well. The item performs an excellent job. Once I had the cable card installed by the cable company the performance was outstanding, the best I've ever seen. On standard digital (SD) transimissions such as a 4:3 NTSC 480i HBO thru the cable card, I was wondering why the "16:9 HD" picture was cropped. It was an optical illusion. The clean-up, etc. circuits were that perfect. There are a minimum of 22 adjusts possible on "Pro" view mode. There are many others that only a ISF certified calibration technician with professional equipment should use for greyscale. A few notes about the information on this Amazon.com webpage as of 06 December 2005 --- the mass/weight of the item is about 120 pounds, not 300 pounds. The brightness of the 60" unit is fine in my living room at mid-day with all the lights on and shades open. (My windows face west). Hands down I think it beats the JVC LCOS, any wobulator DLP, and in most situations "all" front projectors (which require ideal conditions). As of December 2005 I have not seen a Hitachi LCOS or LG LCOS, but do not expect them (a first generation product) to be on par with this second generation Sony. (Sony Quallia was first generation). I have heard second hand from folks that have visited the trade show in Las Vegas that the Toshiba/Canon SED will not be price competitive. (Their opinions vary with regrd to performance results of the pre-production SED). If you have not seen a Sony SXRD LCOS 1080P display being feed with a dedicated source, you owe it to yourself. NOTE: Some retailers have Mitsi wobulator DLPs feed one on one by hard drives with true 1080P source. That is a huge advantage compared to a splitter of over-the=-air HDTV signal. But it is not realistic for the average consumer. Before you buy any TV display based on your subject viewing, watch it for 15 minutes and find out the quality of the source feed and how many times it is split upstream of your desired representative product. Bottom line is it looks like JVC low-balled the prices on their LCOS and retailers are cutting (the substantial) margin on the Sony LCOS SXRD to match. Sony is adding a 1000 humans and who knows how many robots in their factory in Pittsburgh, PA, USA to crank these babbies out. If you are a babby boomer, you know the meaning of the Wall Street Journal article of April 2005 that revealed that Sony's business mocel is to re-establish their dominance of the (HD)TV market with the SXRD in the years 2006, 2007 much like the Sony Trinitron made their reputation in the late 1960's. Thank you Sony. I'll report back after my unit is ISF calibrated.

I purchased this TV April 2006. The TV was advertised as 1080p capable. Salesperson in a store said that it can show 1080p resolution pictures. He also said that I can watch movies in 1080p resolution where Blue-ray player is available. I have waited for the devices to be available at stores and finally bought a PlayStation 3 which has Blue-ray drive equipped. I connected the PS3 to this SONY KDS-R60XBR1 TV with Blue-Ray Movie put in the player by HDMI cable. I was frustrated by realizing this TV is not an actual 1080p TV. I called SONY. They say KDS-R60XBR1 is not a 1080p TV but 1080p display. SONY said that it just shows pictures that look like 1080p pictures. How can a TV with 1080p capability and 1080p term in the upfront not show any 1080p resolution pictures? Be careful this TV is not a 1080p TV. It's a 1080p display which the screen output may look like 1080p TV by their definitions. It sure does not make senses at all to me.

I purchased this television 15 months ago from AFEES. Now I see I paid too much. Too bad they only back their purchases for one year. After intermitant use, mine stopped operating by displaying a flashing light indicating it may come on, but never does. For the time it did work, it seemed loud when powering up when I turned it on. I thought that was normal since it was new. Now I have a monument in my living room with a blank screen. Once again Sony has let me down. That's twice in three months. UPDATE... The technician replaced the $400 lamp and brought the TV back to life. Since then, I've waited for additional parts to correct the bright yellow appearance of my picture with large fuzzy rings and a lack of all reds and blues. The hits just keep on coming.

I'm just seeing this TV here while looking for other TV's and am reminded of my experience with it. I bought this TV in early 2006. By 2009 it became clear that, well, it wasn't clear anymore, everything took on a yellow-green hue. And I won't rehash it all here but there was indeed a number of class action lawsuits against this and other Sony rear-projection LCD units.

Enter the model number in google and you will see the dozens of class action law suits associated with this TV. It has a manufacturer's defect in the optical block - resulting in a yellow/green tinge to the picture. It looks like you are looking through a dirty fishtank. The problem doesn't present itself until 2-3 years of use ... Do your homework!

The Light Engine/optical block of this TV has a fatal design flaw. it is the subject of a class action lawsuit against Sony. The picture may look great at first by gradually begins to fail, producing the dreaded "green blob." I have had the light engine replace 4 times with no success. Do a google search on sxrd green blob class action. Stay away from this TV!

Yes, the optical block failed - which seems like a common issue with this model. If you own this TV you'll recognize the problem when everything starts to look greenish-yellow. Anyway, Sony has extended the warranty to cover this problem and sent out a repairman to replace it without any cost to me. It's a pretty significant repair, since they replace essentially the entire guts of the TV. Very good experience.

Kudos to SONY for doing the right thing for their customers, even in this economy and when so many other companies would simply walk away.

We've had our Grand Wega for over a year now and it is the most amazing tv out there. Nothing compares to it. People will be visiting and if the tv is on they are just stop and stare in awe of the quality picture. We had considered the plasma screens and projection screens for our little theatre room but upon seeing the Grand Wega's rear projection we just knew it was the one. Plasma can not really be viewed well from an angle and front projection screens really lack clarity and pureness in the image. A football game on this thing is better than being there.