KD-65XD7505

[pmoverley]

I'm not very impressed with this TV.  I cannot set it so blacks are as black as my previous circa 2010 Sony TV (I'm not looking for plasma or OLED blacks but this is worse than my old one), the Android TV is laggy/freezes and 4K material is jerky with resolution changing despite a very stable 100MBps connection from Virgin.

I'm also aware of what looks like light markings in the background of the TV during horizontal pans with plain backgrounds (almost like a watermark).

I keep being asked by Netflix and Amazon to reset my TV but this removes all my picture settings and preferences.  I don't want to do a factory reset but will holding down the green power button remove all my preferences also?

Sorry this is a bit of a litany but any suggestions warmly received!

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Lets try and tackle this one step at a time.

1 - Black Levels

According to HERE, this TV uses an IPS panel.  Unfortunately IPS panels have bad contrast ratio and hence the poor black levels.  However they have the best viewing angle and colour accuracy.  IPS panels are more suited to brighter rooms than dark rooms.  In the TV's picture settings you can enable 'Black Adjust' and 'Adv Contrast Enhancer' to help automatically correct this.  However this also has its problem where you notice the adjustments in the contrast and annoys the hell out of you.

2 - Sluggishness and Freezes

Just like many Android based devices, the TV does seem to like a reboot every now and then.  Simply press and hold the power button on the remote control for more than 6 seconds and the TV will reboot itself

3 - 4K Content

Need more info on this one - Are you streaming 4K content from Netflix or Amazon Prime? Or are you streaming video files over your network via DLNA?  There are a number of bugs/issues reported, have a look at this list HERE to see if it matches yours.

4 - Light markings on horizontal pannings

Do you have 'MotionFlow' enabled or set.  If not, try setting MotionFlow to 'Standard' and see if that improves things.  If already set to 'Standard' try experimenting with other motionflow settings.

5 - Factory Reset

As an owner of an Android based TV as well, factory resetting the TV becomes all too common and familiar.  However this is also one of the best and quickest ways to fix issues.  It is also the first step in the troubleshooting process in order to resolve issues too.  So Sony and other companies will recommend this firstly.  Unfortunately you will loose all your picture settings.  My advice is to write all your settings down in a spreadsheet, this enables you to input them very quickly upon setting the TV back up again. 

I have created a spreadsheet that has the Picture/Sound settings listed.  See HERE.

6 - Holding down green button

Holding down the green power button on the remote control for more than 6 seconds simply reboots the TV (similar to rebooting a computer).  You will not loose any settings.

Hopefully this helps you.

Cheers

[pmoverley]

Thank you so much for such a quick and detailed reply - very helpful!

Have turned off 'Black Adjust' and 'Contrast Enhancer' for the reasons you mention! 4K is being streamed from Amazon and Netflix (and I would say Amazon is worse than Netflix) but will try solutions you have linked to and the others you mention over the weekend but just wanted to come back and say thanks and kudos.

All the best.

[Jecht_Sin]

Impressive post @Anonymous! Just a couple of questions about 1. and 5. :

1. Ok, IPS panels have bad blacks and contrasts, but why does my tv (49XD8099) have the worst black and contrast I have ever seen in a LCD (IPS or less) screen? Is it something to do with. the size of the screen? The UHD resolution?

5. I take screenshots of my settings as well before doing a factory reset. Which is something I am afraid I'll need to do soon. I am sick of force closes here and there. But still it is too much of a pain in the neck to do a factory reset. I see that in the DTV settings  there is an option to export the channel lists (so apparently something CAN write into the external USB devices..). Would it be so hard for Sony to implement a similar system for the image and audio settings? Because there aren't only a dozen modes. Each different input channell (HDMI 1, 2, 3, 4. App. App (Video). App (Pictures) and so on), have a custom set for all different image modes. Plus the HDR. Because it seems it rightly changes the picture settings when reproducing HDR signals (at least so it did when I tested it in Android 7.0).

Otherwise, but maybe it's asking too much, the Xperia have a "Backup and Restore" system tool (because the mythical stock Android obviously has nothing as such. Thanks again, Google!), that even synchronise with the Google Cloud. Not that I trust that much, because restoring after a factory reset the same settings just means asking for troubles. But still we could give it a shot, maybe restoring only what takes too long to configure again.

[Anonymous]

Hi @Jecht_Sin

See - A holiday was just what I needed

Yes, your TV is also an IPS panel - and so is mine:

http://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/308a635

I know that Black Adjust and Adv Contrast Enhancer annoys people, I have mine set to 'medium'.  My room is very bright during the day, but I view TV during the evening/night in the dark.  So for me, I have to compromise a little, otherwise im adjusting settings all the time.

Size etc doesnt matter - its the technology behind IPS panels.  Googling "IPS Panel contrast ratio" gives me:

http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/ips-led-vs-va-lcd

In regards to restoration of picture/sound settings after factory reset - I heard on the Sony grapevine that this is being 'worked on'.  When I know more info, ill share it.

Cheers

[pmoverley]

I do watch in a semi-lit room but have found adding a strip of LED lights round the edge of the back of the TV improves blacks.  

I did this with my old Sony TV and powered the LED's via the USB socket.  The problem with this on the new TV is that power to the USB does not switch off with the TV (the lights stay on when the TV is in standby).  I'm therefore using Philips Hue product for better control (which is quite an expensive solution but works well).

[Anonymous]

LED Backlighting strips does seem to help - it fools your eyes

The non-power down of the USB socket is still an issue im afraid.  However this is by design as far as I am aware - especially for remote recording which is probably a mute point now considering the Video and TV Sideview app being crippled.

[Jecht_Sin]

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Quinnicus wrote:

In regards to restoration of picture/sound settings after factory reset - I heard on the Sony grapevine that this is being 'worked on'.  When I know more info, ill share it.

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Oh, that would be GREAT news! Hopefully it will be implemented sooner than later. Actually I have been very surprised when I looked for it and I couldn't find anything. It isn't very smart after all, is it?

Instead I have checked the HDR settings while playing "Z" in Amazon Video. It became unbearable, it was like if the light was spread all over the screen (issue of my biggest complaints). So I realised now that the Brightness in HDR what set (by default) to Max. To remove that 'glooming" effect I had to put it down to 10. Which contradicts a bit the concept of HDR, but if that is what it takes I am happy to leave it as it is now.  I mean, I managed to get a decent picture in the past with the same TV show, then suddenly it was awful. I thought it was due to color/contrast/black level, I forgot to check the brightness (also because it does look better at Max level with the PS4).

Also the good news is that, contrarily to Android 6.0.1, changing the brightness level in HDR doesn't change it all over in all modes, either HDR or SDR. At least that (brightness changed globally) has been fixed.

Still, I am of the opinion that the IPS Retina 13" display of my MacBook Pro is much, much better. Since size doesn't matter (so she said! lol) I should check what are the main difference between the two, HDR apart. Unless someone knows already, sure.

[Kuschelmonschter]

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In regards to restoration of picture/sound settings after factory reset - I heard on the Sony grapevine that this is being 'worked on'.  When I know more info, ill share it.

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They should actually fix the necessity to perform a factory reset all the time. It is amazing how many things can break out of nowhere...

[Anonymous]

Spoil sport @Kuschelmonschter  - where would the fun come from?  We might actually begin watching our TVs then