Sony KD34XBR Question..or dillema lol

[Fellfromgrace]

Ok, I have alittle short story to go along with this b/c I'm not sure what to do. Any help and or suggestions would really be greatly appreciated.

About 3 months ago I went to Tweeter and purchased a Sony XS955 (I believe thats the correct model #) for $1200, it was used, however I was told b/c that price it was a steal. Anyway I got it home and it had a few problems. One the darkness of the set was horrible, I mean ANYTHING that had shadows whether it be watching a DVD, playing video games or watching digital cable was just terrible. Completely black, you couldnt see anything. It could be fixed somewhat by adjusting the brightness, but you had to set the brightness extremely high thus making everything else way to bright and kind of "washed out" looking or getting pixalated like.

Another problem this set had (and sorry I dont kow very many techinical terms) was about 3 or 4 "dead lines" I like to call them. These were very thin completely black horizontal lines that went across the tv from one side to the other. It was like those lines of the tv had not been turned on, no matter what was being displayed on the tv, those would always be black. They were VERY thin as in you would really have to look for them in order to notice it. But since I knew they were there I always did.

Finally, every now and then (and only during certain times) I would notice a very weird red looking vertical line that would go down the middle of the tv. I really have no idea how to explain this but I think it might actually be the "cables" fault as opposed to the tv. It would show up only during different random scenes on TV.

Anyway, moving on, Tweeter was very nice about this and let me have this deal. They said bring that tv back and give us 400 more dollars, bringing my total to arround 1600 and we will give you a brand new Sony 34 XBR the "cadillac" of Sony Tv's the man said. Well anyway I said "ok"

Heres where the problem starts again. They call me up and say "well sir Sony is cutting back on these tv's so we dont have a new XBR ANYWHERE throughout our entire company to send you, so we would have to give you another used one, but its still good and you will still have your 5 year warrenty.

Well I said "ok" like a moron maybe?!?!

The tv gets to my house, I plug it in, fire it up and now it has ALL of the same problems. I mean its terrible it made me sick I feel like I've tossed 1600 bucks to someone just to screw me over.

But my question to you guys is, is this my fault? Is it possible (my house is alittle older) that maybe the tv's arent getting enough power to display properly? I was told by someone there that the Monster Cable Surge protector that cost like 150 bucks would give my tv the correct ammount of power it needed. Is this true? Could it be something in my house thats messing these things up, or is all thay a bunch of bull? No other tv in my house has any problems (none of them are HDTV though)

What should I do? I was thinking about trying to get my money back and going to Best Buy to buy a brand new 32 inch LCD HDTV, the Samsung LNR28

[kny3twalker]

Another problem this set had (and sorry I dont kow very many techinical terms) was about 3 or 4 "dead lines" I like to call them. These were very thin completely black horizontal lines that went across the tv from one side to the other. It was like those lines of the tv had not been turned on, no matter what was being displayed on the tv, those would always be black. They were VERY thin as in you would really have to look for them in order to notice it. But since I knew they were there I always did.

are you sure that were not the damper wires that support the aperature grill?

do a search and you can more info

About 3 months ago I went to Tweeter and purchased a Sony XS955 (I believe thats the correct model #) for $1200, it was used, however I was told b/c that price it was a steal. Anyway I got it home and it had a few problems. One the darkness of the set was horrible, I mean ANYTHING that had shadows whether it be watching a DVD, playing video games or watching digital cable was just terrible. Completely black, you couldnt see anything. It could be fixed somewhat by adjusting the brightness, but you had to set the brightness extremely high thus making everything else way to bright and kind of "washed out" looking or getting pixalated like.

have you tried calibrating the set a Digital Video Essentials or AVIA disc
this will help you correctly setup the brightness/contrast and color settings

and all sources maybe need different tweaking but this will help you get started

if you are having trouble with pixelation, you either are using Vivid mode or have the VM turn on

Heres where the problem starts again. They call me up and say "well sir Sony is cutting back on these tv's so we dont have a new XBR ANYWHERE throughout our entire company to send you, so we would have to give you another used one, but its still good and you will still have your 5 year warrenty.

Well I said "ok" like a moron maybe?!?!

The tv gets to my house, I plug it in, fire it up and now it has ALL of the same problems. I mean its terrible it made me sick I feel like I've tossed 1600 bucks to someone just to screw me over.


well in either case you paid way too much for a used aka floor model

I was told by someone there that the Monster Cable Surge protector that cost like 150 bucks would give my tv the correct ammount of power it needed. Is this true? Could it be something in my house thats messing these things up, or is all thay a bunch of bull? No other tv in my house has any problems (none of them are HDTV though)

nope Monster ripped products will not improve your picture

What should I do? I was thinking about trying to get my money back and going to Best Buy to buy a brand new 32 inch LCD HDTV, the Samsung LNR28

the new Sharps and Sony XBR line would be a much better option if you think you have no options but LCD
the XBR960 can be found new still

[Fellfromgrace]

I havent tried calibrating it seriously outside of using the THX thing on a couple Star Wars DVD's..

But the thing is just really not acceptable at all. Another thing I've notived that I forgot to mention was that no matter what I try and do to mess with the settings everything is always bordered with jagged lines. Like tables or people faces are always jagged like instead of smooth lines..

I dont know, sorry for ranting I am just "lost" with what to do, I dont know nearly as much as you guys about this stuff.

But what I do know is it doesnt make sence when my 200 dollar TV from Wal-mart (27 inch flat screen, Emmerson) looks better than my 1600 dollar Sony from Tweeter

[kny3twalker]

But the thing is just really not acceptable at all. Another thing I've notived that I forgot to mention was that no matter what I try and do to mess with the settings everything is always bordered with jagged lines. Like tables or people faces are always jagged like instead of smooth lines..

sounds like VM is enabled and you are using progressive mode
also maybe using Vivid mode

I would try turning VM to low, changing DRC to interlaced
and using Pro mode

But what I do know is it doesnt make sence when my 200 dollar TV from Wal-mart (27 inch flat screen, Emmerson) looks better than my 1600 dollar Sony from Tweeter

I do not know what to say, did you look at the TV at tweeter before taking it home?

did you ask how long it had been sitting out for, on 16 hours a day?

[Fellfromgrace]

I didnt have a chance to see it. They were supposed to send me a new one but then called and said the only tv they had of the XBR was a used one from another store. So they just shipped it to my house

I'll try those settings you gave me and hope for the best :)

If that doesnt work I dont know what I will do short of calling Sony. I'm kind of afraid to go back to Tweeter b/c I've allready returned one and I'm sure they will be like "your just impossible to please we wont do anything"

[kny3twalker]

I doubt tweeter will give you the run around on two used TVs

I would not waste your time with Sony though if you can avoid it

I just went through a 9 month problematic TV with Sony, and did get a perfectly working XBR LCD as my desired replacement for an incredible price
but I am not sure thats quite what I wanted
but I am quite happy with it now that its home

and it took three repairs, one by Sony tech(did nothing in home, I watched him do nothing but beat on the TV), second by Sony authorized service center (apparently did nothing and the color and geometry came back terrible), by now TV is out of normal 90 day repair, so same service center has to do repair after fighting Sony for two months to get them to pay for the repair again(apparently service center did nothing again and they were also suppose to fix the color purity problems they created and geometry problems, which they did not)

then finally I had the tech bringing back the TV, admit there was a problem with the sound on the TV and I have him put it writing
even though every tech at the service center said nothing was wrong, WTF???

then after another month of dealing with Sony, they authorize a new TV, we say NO
we want a different TV, they say credit? and we accept
(9 months at this point)
then after paying and ordering the new XBR LCD, another month before receiving it

TV did come perfect though, not a dead pixel, like I have read some people have accepted when buying new LCDs

[Fellfromgrace]

guess I'll go to Tweeter earlier today, haha when normal people are up ! And then see what they say. I guess it cant hurt to ask or find out

[DSperber]

[QUOTE=Fellfromgrace]Anyway I got it home and it had a few problems. One the darkness of the set was horrible, I mean ANYTHING that had shadows whether it be watching a DVD, playing video games or watching digital cable was just terrible. Completely black, you couldnt see anything. It could be fixed somewhat by adjusting the brightness, but you had to set the brightness extremely high thus making everything else way to bright and kind of "washed out" looking or getting pixalated like.[/QUOTE]I have a reply posted in the "Official 34XBR960" thread to your question about those pesky little "black lines". As has already been pointed out here in this thread as well, these are true wires that press the aperture grill up against the back of the glass in EVERY Sony Trinitron tube made. Nothing's wrong here... just move back from your 10" viewing distance and stop watching white backgrounds in freeze-frame, nose pressed up against the screen confirming that those lines are present. At normal viewing distance of 5-7', and with normal moving content that does not often have white background onscreen long enough for your eyes/brain to even have a chance of perceiving these lines, everything should look fine. These very fine lines are simply too tiny to register on our minds among everything else that's also onscreen.

On your other comments above, regarding black/dark, and jagged edges, well at the very least the basic necessary user-menu adjustments of picture, brightness, sharpness, color, hue, picture mode (e.g. ->PRO), color temp, Advanced video, etc., are always required. Who knows what the previous owner or store had set, and that you received in both of your used TV purchases. Then there's the service menu adjustments (for advanced and experienced owners). Not to mention Sony-provided factory-installed "characteristics" (or defects), affecting convergence, geometry, curvature/bowing, etc. These are all concerns for all of us Sony CRT owners. Some of these can be addressed by us owners (with the great assistance of knowledge learned from the "Owner's" thread, along with the "Service Codes" thread), and some might justify a free visit from a Sony factory tech (or authorized local service provider) to check out for you and provide professonal adjustment service (or determine that the set truly is defective, requiring replacement).

But I haven't read where you actually were using true HD input as a source that you were looking at. DVD, games, "digital cable" (SD channels? analog or digital on those channels?)... doesn't sound like 1080i HD input to me, which is where this tube and host set really shines.

Do you have HD available? OTA, cable STB/DVR? Or are you watching SD content (or at least not 1080i HD) and commenting on that?

[Fellfromgrace]

Yes I have true HDTV, I play an Xbox 360 on it and I also have Charter Digital Cable with the HDTV service, I watch ESPN on it all the time

[Q of BanditZ]

[QUOTE=joebxr]I agree on the RETURN and REFUND, unless they can provide you with a NEW NEVER USED, NOT RETURNED 960. Tweeter is pretty reputable, and they should take care of you. Push the issue with Manager if needed...remember, you are the customer and they need you.[/QUOTE]

From the 960 main thread.

[greenland]

Anyway, moving on, Tweeter was very nice about this and let me have this deal. They said bring that tv back and give us 400 more dollars, bringing my total to around 1600 and we will give you a brand new Sony 34 XBR the "cadillac" of Sony Tv's the man said. Well anyway I said "ok"

Heres where the problem starts again. They call me up and say "well sir Sony is cutting back on these tv's so we dont have a new XBR ANYWHERE throughout our entire company to send you, so we would have to give you another used one, but its still good and you will still have your 5 year warrenty.

Well I said "ok" like a moron maybe?!?!

The tv gets to my house, I plug it in, fire it up and now it has ALL of the same problems. I mean its terrible it made me sick I feel like I've tossed 1600 bucks to someone just to screw me over.

But my question to you guys is, is this my fault? Is it possible (my house is alittle older) that maybe the tv's arent getting enough power to display properly? I was told by someone there that the Monster Cable Surge protector that cost like 150 bucks would give my tv the correct ammount of power it needed. Is this true? Could it be something in my house thats messing these things up, or is all thay a bunch of bull? No other tv in my house has any problems (none of them are HDTV though)

What should I do? I was thinking about trying to get my money back and going to Best Buy to buy a brand new 32 inch LCD HDTV, the Samsung LNR28[/QUOTE]



You want Tweeter to refund you $1.600.00 so that you can switch from Sony tube to Samsung LCD, and you want to take the $1,600.00 to Best Buy, when Tweeter carrys the Samsung 32 for $1,599.00. You will have a better chance of working that swap with Tweeter than getting them to give you the cash to spend elsewhere. Remember: you have admitted that Tweeter never mislead you about the two sets used status. You agreed to what the proposed, so they did not mislead you. The price you agreed to pay for the items was your decision, and you are either going to have to keep the Sony, and make use of the warranty,or try to work a swap for an LCD with Tweeter. However, the facts that you laid out, that you were aware you were purchasing used merchandise, does not require Tweeter to do anything other than service your set, under the terms of the extended service contract.

[kny3twalker]

You want Tweeter to refund you $1.600.00 so that you can switch from Sony tube to Samsung LCD, and you want to take the $1,600.00 to Best Buy, when Tweeter carrys the Samsung 32 for $1,599.00. You will have a better chance of working that swap with Tweeter than getting them to give you the cash to spend elsewhere. Remember: you have admitted that Tweeter never mislead you about the two sets used status. You agreed to what the proposed, so they did not mislead you. The price you agreed to pay for the items was your decision, and you are either going to have to keep the Sony, and make use of the warranty,or try to work a swap for an LCD with Tweeter. However, the facts that you laid out, that you were aware you were purchasing used merchandise, does not require Tweeter to do anything other than service your set, under the terms of the extended service contract.

and for what reason can Tweeter not return his money?

[greenland]

[QUOTE=kny3twalker]and for what reason can Tweeter not return his money?[/QUOTE]

Don't misunderstand me. Tweeter can,if they choose to, give him a full refund. Reading the purchase history that the poster provided, it looks like he is beyond Tweeters standard 30 day refund on returned items. I am not sure if they apply that to demo items. A lot of merchants tend to make all demo sales final, and will only honor service contracts on such items.

Since his ultimate goal was to use a refund to buy a Samsung LCD. I thought he might find that Tweeter might be more receptive to a swap rather than a full refund. The Samsung LCD that he wants is listed for the same price at Tweeters, as it is at Best Buy. I was just providing him with some negotiating ammo, that might get him the same end result that he said he desired.

[kny3twalker]

personally if stuck getting something from tweeter, I would not get a Samsung LCD

look at the 37" panasonic HD plasmas, Sony XBR Bravia LCDs, and Sharp Aquois LCDs