Sony KDL-70R550A 70-Inch 120Hz 1080p 3D Internet LED HDTV (Black)

Brilliant picture and 3D, May 1, 2013

By 

Faisal Yaqoob –

  

I generally like Plasmas for their better picture quality (I already own 5 HD TVs and this is the 6th one). The only reason I decided to go with LED TV was there’s no 70″ Plasma in the Market. And my 60″ looks too small in my great room – possibly because of high ceilings. After researching Sharp’s 70″ TV I decided to wait for Panasonic to come up with a 70″ Plasma, but then Sony came out with this. It was decently priced, had 3D, there were no reviews. But I decided to take a chance – given Sony’s reputation. I must say I am not disappointed!

The GOOD:

Overall Picture Quality:
Overall picture quality is good. I would say it is awesome given that it is not a Plasma yet Sony was able to produce brilliant blacks.

720p Quality:
Picture was not pixelated with 720p output from my Verizon box. I was able to see bigger picture without any quality degradation due to bigger size. It was really surprising. The picture was at least as good as on my 60″ Plasma on 720p.

1080p Quality:
I put in Avatar bluray movie and played it. I turned off all the lights to see how darks appear. Even with factory settings the result was amazing. After looking at the picture quality of this TV I can no longer argue with my friends that Plasma is superior than LED.

3D:
This TV uses passive 3D!!! And this was a pleasant surprise. I like passive 3D better than active 3D for two reasons.
1. In passive 3D TV produces two images at a time, while each lens in your polarized 3D glasses can see only one image which feeds different images to both eyes – resulting in 3D image in your brain. I like it because instead of glasses completely blinding your each eye one after the other some 240 times a second (active 3D), your both eyes just see different images – which I have found to put less stress on your eyes and brain.

2. Passive 3D glasses are cheap – these are the same one used in theaters. You can order around a dozen for less than 25 bucks. And they don’t need to be recharged and they are light in weight. Compare that to an active 3D glass where each cost a minimum of 50 bucks and you have to recharge them and they are not as lightweight as passive.

3D Quality:
Again, I restarted Avatar in 3D mode and the result was just WOW!!! My three year old daughter when walked across the TV I almost screamed that she is going to bump in the guy – but wait – the guy was in the movie. I am not kidding it happened a few times – that is when I noticed that 3D is just amazing – and it does have a pop-out effect usually experienced only in theaters. May be the screen size helped in producing life sized images.

Now the BAD:

Menu’s are not intuitive and has a slow response time. But I wouldn’t have given it 4 stars just for this reason. The reason I gave it four stars is that when changing resolution (i.e. when PlayStation goes from playing bluray video to home screen and back) the screen goes blank and TV stops responding to commands. I could still hear the sound but no picture. I have to turn it off and back on and I start to see the picture. This is most likely a manufacturing defect. I still have to contact Sony about it (as I just got TV last night). Will update the review when I have this resolved.

Tip:

I had my PlayStation connected with an old HDMI cable which worked fine with my old TV. When I connected PlayStation to the new TV with the same cable I was able to see the menus and stuff. However when I try to play a 3D movie the picture would go blank and I would hear sound after long pauses. I remembered reading somewhere that 3D requires newer faster HDMI cables. I had some newer HDMI cables in my stash. So when I changed it everything started working. So if you are unable to play 3D movies try a newer (I think ver 1.4 is required but I am not sure – just google it) HDMI cable.

EDIT 5/7/2013:

My issue above was resolved by a call to tech support. I had to unplug both TV and Playstation while they were “on”. Then disconnect the HDMI cable, wait for one minute and then plug TV and Playstation back in. Connect the HDMI cable. This resolved the issue above – so I updated my rating to 5 star!

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Sony – the one and only – It’s a great TV, with some caveats, June 15, 2013

By 

Jonathan C. Cauthorn (Madison, wi) –

  

See the pics I posted!
It’s a great TV, for a good price. I like the remote, but it could have been better.

What I like:

1. It’s a Sony.
There’s something special about using Sony equipment, especially when you use a lot of their stuff, they work well together.

2. Bravia Sync:
This Bravia sync is cool, and it was unexpected – I can actually control my PS3 with the TV remote – yeah, that rocks. So I can put a blu-ray disk in the PS3, and use the TV remote to pause, play, select options and all that. I’ve got some other Sony stuff I have to hook up now to see how that single remote works with it. That’s just cool.

3. Great Picture:
It looks great. Ok, so I’m coming from a Sony 32″ picture tube that isn’t properly aligned anymore, but I’ve taken my time looking at TVs in the stores.

4. The Netflix button:
There’s a NetFlix button on the remote. I know, that’s not really a big deal, and I know my way around a remote, but it’s a cool feature. It’s nice that Netflix looks so good on the screen too. Considering my internet speed is just high enough to work most of the time without pauses on NetFlix, the picture is fantastic.

5. Great 3D:
The 3D is very good. I have only tried The Hobbit 3D so far, but my goodness it’s smooth and lifelike. I’m looking forward to playing with the controls on 3D tweaks. I’ve been saving my 3D glasses from theaters for over a year now so I have plenty of glasses for a house full of guests. The Real-3D glasses work great. So do the included Sony 3D glasses.

6. Keyboard and Mouse support via USB:
You can plug in a USB Keyboard and mouse, or a wireless keyboard and mouse, and that does work.

7. The TV is software up-gradable:
Granted, I found this out when I first went to set it up and found that there was a newer version already so I updated it. It’s nice to know that they have the ability to add or fix features (and most likely give the NSA more information about your viewing habits).

8. I particularly like the feel of the remote:
The back of the remote is not slippery or sticky – it’s a perfect balance in between. It has horizontal and vertical lines running the length and width of the remote. These seem to help you grip it better without being sticky.

What I don’t like or found irritating:

1. Noticeable lines in 3D when you are too close:
When I first put on the 3D glasses I was (apparently) too close to the TV and noticed the lines. Ug. That was irritating. When I went back to the couch, the lines disappeared or blended together and I didn’t notice it again. I have a Sony PS3 monitor with the Active Glasses so I know what full 1080p 3D looks like. As far as I can tell so far, when I’m sitting across the (not terribly large) room, there doesn’t seem to be much difference.

2. The Remote control is IR only:
The Remote Control is IR only. Really. I thought it would make much more sense to go to bluetooth or wifi or something. I’m used to the bluetooth remote on the PS3 and it doesn’t matter where you point it. Well, unless you point the IR in the general direction of the fire alarm which uses IR to put it in “test” mode which scares the cat and dogs and causes my son to get upset that I set it off —again—.

3. The Remote control has no keyboard:
When I was looking at TVs I was particularly enamored with the Vizio remote – it’s bluetooth and it has a FULL KEYBOARD on it! So, here I get this Sony TV which has no keyboard or even a simplified way to enter letters. Even the LG (or Toshiba? one of them) has a “magic remote” that works like a pointer device (like a mouse). So I was really disappointed that Sony didn’t have something more advanced for this.

4. No Skype:
No Skype on this model. Granted, it’s one less way for the NSA to monitor me, but the option would be nice Maybe with a software upgrade Sony? Or Other IM/video chat app like Google? Please?

5. Keyboard and Mouse only work in Browser:
When you plug in the wireless keyboard/mouse, they only work on the Opera Browser. Really Sony? Why? Why can’t I use it for searching in other apps like Hulu & Netflix? Please unlock the keyboard and mouse and set them free!

About my experience so far:

I’ve had this KDL-60R550A for a week and only had it setup for a couple days. I got it from buy dig which had the best price at the time and now Amazon appears to be matching it but always shop around first so you know.

I’ll try to add stuff as I discover it.

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Great TV, June 2, 2013

By 

H. Barden “camper-11” (Richmond, VA) –

  

TV is everything we expected. Great picture, huge screen. All of my buddies are jealous (until bigger TV’s are more mainstream….) For those of you wondering what the actual box size is, so you can say put it in your car, it’s 69.5 X 40.3 X 8.5 inches.

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