Sony W6 series LCD review - 2013's best gaming TV

[Midnight Milkshake]

Haven't seen anything here about Toshiba's new range for Japan, they have a demo of the game mode with SFV gameplay at his website:

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/regza/special/SFV/index_j.html

They use to have models with a game mode that seems to work very well, but are Japan only :/

[ryu]

If even progamer momochi is astonished, what could possibly go wrong?

[juji82]

lol!

[Andrei671]

Speaking about the TV, the review mentions Sony's scaler which is pretty good on 480p source and above. Let's say I'm gonna use emulation rather than original consoles. PS 2-DC-GC/Wii is not an issue sinse 480p is a native res for majority of titles but what about older systems? Which resolution should I use on emulators for NES/SNES/MD/PS1/N64 taking into account the TV's scaler? Is it a better option to up the resolution 3-4x times (960x720 or 1280x960)? Or maybe it's optimal to set up an HD res, 720p or even 1080p, setting the original aspect ratio with black borders on the side (pretty much like framemeister)?

[Fudoh]

totally depends on the shaders you want to (or can) use. Really can't be generalized.

[Xyga]

This might be an okay topic to talk about that I think; has external 4K upscaling gone anywhere today ?

It's bothering me that outside of buying a Sony set again there are apparently no reliable alternatives, I mean in a situation where I would buy a 4K from another brand or a a 4K monitor.

The iScan Mini you reviewed seemed rather limited (no RGB 4:4:4 for instance)...

[Xyga]

new Vizio D series 4K feature extra low lag and decently responsive VA panels (PWM-free too) at a low price...
...but suck balls in almost every other department, like scaling of lower resolutions.

http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/vizio/d-series-4k-2016

That's good news for HD console gamers who need a really responsive TV, but again the brand is only available in the USA (afaik).

Not sure all model sizes perform identically though, people will have to keep an eye on possible variations info.

[kebrank]

The KDL40W600B model is right now $299 at Walmart and Bestbuy. I know it doesn't have great input lag and the picture quality is not the best but I would like to get one for my WiiU and I was wondering if anybody here has one and what it's his/her experience with this TV.

Thanks,
\o/.k.

[Xyga]

austin532 has got one, he says lag is very acceptable (a little under 2 frames) and I believe picture quality is on par with the other W series Full-HD sets.
@$299 it's a really good purchase IMHO.

[kebrank]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, $299 is a really low price. That's the best part.

\o/.k,

austin532 has got one, he says lag is very acceptable (a little under 2 frames) and I believe picture quality is on par with the other W series Full-HD sets.
@$299 it's a really good purchase IMHO.

[bobrocks95]

I paid $700 for my KDL-50W700B and it's only slightly better in each area you mentioned. Definitely worth less than half for its younger brother, especially if you were looking around that size anyway.

[accaris]

So there's really only one 32-inch Sony on the shelves now in the U.S., and it's the KDL32R300C. There's something weird about it though.

Apparently there are two versions of this TV, one that's 720p/60hz, and the other that's 1080p/120hz. They seem identical in every way, the model number is exactly the same. In fact the box doesn't even say what resolution it is on the outside. However, the 1080p version has a manufacturing date of November 2015, and the 720p version is earlier.

What's more interesting is the fact that the TV is on sale at both Wal-Mart and Best Buy for $169.99. This price is for the 720p version, here: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-KDL-32R3 ... ethod=p13n But if you go to the store and find a box that says 11/2015 on it, and "MotionFlow 120," then it's the 1080p version. A very good price for a 1080p Sony Bravia regardless of model.

As far as I know, nobody has tested the 1080p version yet. I'm going to buy it and see if there are any discernible differences.

[andykara2003]

I'm on the lookout for a TV for modern consoles for the games room ATM. I haven't got too much experience with LCD/LED TVs but I'm perhaps a bit 'stuck' on plasmas as I love the image of my Panasonic. As plasmas are long gone from retail outlets, I'm looking to get a Panasonic GT30 second hand (last of the 46" models), which seem to be going for about £250 at the moment. The lag is about 20-24ms which is fine by me.. Am I going down an unnecessary path here? I love the contrast, motion and viewing angles of plasmas - but I don't know if I'm missing something re. LCDs. I don't have much to spend (say £500 max ).

[accaris]

I'm on the lookout for a TV for modern consoles for the games room ATM. I haven't got too much experience with LCD/LED TVs but I'm perhaps a bit 'stuck' on plasmas as I love the image of my Panasonic. As plasmas are long gone from retail outlets, I'm looking to get a Panasonic GT30 second hand (last of the 46" models), which seem to be going for about £250 at the moment. The lag is about 20-24ms which is fine by me.. Am I going down an unnecessary path here? I love the contrast, motion and viewing angles of plasmas - but I don't know if I'm missing something re. LCDs. I don't have much to spend (say £500 max ).

If you were buying a Panasonic brand new out the box, I'd say you weren't going down an unnecessary path, but if you're getting a second hand one, unless it has extremely low hours, I can't imagine it being an outright superior choice to a really nice modern VA panel or OLED.

[andykara2003]

Cheers for that - I'd thought about the hours - my logic may well be off here but I'm thinking that the GT30's are 4-5 years old now & most have probably had under 10,000 hours (which would be over 5 hours a day for 5 years). I think the half life for these plasmas gets quoted about 60,000 hours, so even after that much use, wouldn't one of these still have a lot of life left?

As an alternative I'd have to rule out OLED (price) - so would be going for a VA or IPS. I understand VA has better blacks & PQ but poorer viewing angles. Would 2 people be able to sit next to each other 5 foot from a 46" VA screen & not lose PQ? If so, I'll go with a VA.

Also assuming I don't need the ultra-low lag of the Sony W6/7/8/9's, is there a LCD/LED under £500 with reasonable lag (say under 24ms) that would be significantly better than the Sony's PQ wise or would it be just as well to go with the one of the Sonys? Apologies if I'm getting too specific here...

[Xyga]

I have relatively different opinion to accaris's, because the now discontinued Sony sets this thread is (was) about, were really something, standing a step above the rest.
But the Sony era of great gaming LCD TVs has ended, if you wanted one new today you'd have to be very, very lucky to find one last unit collecting dust in some warehouse (but hey, you can try).

And yeah seriously, AFAIK there aren't really any other models, any name brand, worthy to take over those when you consider the full performance/quality/price package.
(Haven't read any reviews of the just released 'WD' series though, but I'd be very surprised if they'd turn out being as good as the old 'W')
Current available LCD TV sets in comparison all have either higher lag, or PWM, or too slow response, or too grainy coating, or worse colors/contrast, or worse signal management, or worse scaling, etc, etc.
You won't find a model/series today ticking as many boxes as the previous Sony W did. Maybe in the future, just.. not now.

So then why not stick to plasma indeed ?
24ms is very good, if it's in very good shape, no burn-in, don't even think twice and snatch it.
The IF weighs a lot here though...

OLED ? er, yeah I'm all for it, one of the LG's got 2 frames~ish lag, but that's going to be a bit over £500 I believe.

[andykara2003]

Thanks very much Xyga :) To cover all bases I'll have a search for a leftover 46 Sony W series (avoiding the higher lag 'c' models) & get back here....


EDIT: just saw a post from this thread that seems to be echoing my suspicions:

"If your already accustomed to Plasma's, then your probably going to have the same experience I did, and won't like any LCD you ever come across. Plasma's - especially Panasonics final ones in 2013 - are leaps and bounds beyond anything LCD will ever accomplish."

I can totally see the attraction of the Sonys for the ultra low lag (especially when using an XRGB mini), but I'm not too lag-sensitive so after seeing this I think I'll take your advice & wait until a mint-ish GT30 comes up....

[Xyga]

Well yes that's it. If you really care about the extra low lag then yes, that's at least 70% of the reason to go for those. But that won't be easy I think, there really isn't a 2nd hand market for LCDs that recent.

Otherwise there are W705C, W755C, W805C etc available new, and they got +/- your size I believe.
Lag should be around 2 frames, and their VA panels can 'cover' 2 people in front (not many more than that though) quality overall should be equivalent to that of the 'old' B and A models.
But then why not go for the used plasma ? See what I mean ?

Ranting more but you see that's the problem since approximately mid-2015 when stocks of W 'B' models faded out, and prior to that the end of plasma: in 2016 you either buy something new with at least one thing that makes it miss the 'really great' category...or go for the absolute ultimate forgotten stock units, and 2nd hand ones keeping fingers crossed.

You could also wait, until past this summer maybe, after reading possible late reviews of actual 2016 models, even though there's very little hope on that side I think since most websites now review almost exclusively 4K sets.

[andykara2003]

I see - we seem to be in a bit of a dead period until we get cheaper OLEDs then. The only thing that worries me about 4K is running 1080p games on them - won't the scaling inevitably degrade the image to some extent? If so I guess we should keep our existing HDTVs long term for 1080p gaming...

[Xyga]

Depends, Sony 4K do the job well, someone posted Mini pics and the output was right with every output resolution (no messed up scanlines) overall softened of course though nicely so (not a fuzzy-blurry mess).

It's really the selling point of Sony: competence in all areas.

Then they're still only LCDs...

[andykara2003]

Nice one thanks Xyga - appreciate all the advice :)

[accaris]

I bought the KDL32R300C. It did turn out to be the 1080p version. It's a VA screen and the black levels are excellent. Trying to rein in the input lag now... for some reason I feel like I actually get less input lag with the scene set on Graphics than Game Mode. But I don't have any tools to test it. Running through an iScan HD with DVI to HDMI, but I might try VGA to YPbPr to see if that affects the lag at all (it probably won't.)

If you turn on Game Mode while connecting NES via composite, this TV does some kind of single field deinterlacing and it doesn't look that bad, to be honest. Very little lag too.

[andykara2003]

I have a question:

The plasma I'm will be just for gaming (in a bedroom) and I'll be sitting just 5 feet from the screen. My choices are a 46" or a 50" set - would 50" be too big/overwhelming do you reckon?

[Fudoh]

would 50" be too big/overwhelming do you reckon?

no.

[waiwainl]

would 50" be too big/overwhelming do you reckon?

no.

Depends where you sit

[andykara2003]

I'm sitting about 5 feet away - I can't sit further away as I'm in a confined space. It's a subjective thing I suppose. I looked into it a bit - THX puts the recommended screen size at 5 feet at 45 inches - I tested the PS4 on our main TV (46") at 5 feet & I can see why they say that as you can take in the whole screen comfortably at that distance. Any closer and you i get almost 'drawn in' to the image & can't take it all in as easily.

To try and get an idea of what a 50" would look like at 5 feet I moved to 4 feet from the 46" and image looks quite a bit more pixelated - the difference between a cohesive image and a what I typically associate with a coarser 720p image. Not sure if that's really representative - if so it's a shame as I found a *perfect* 50" Panasonic owned by an AV guy and the later 46" models are rarer, especially one that have been properly looked after. I'll just have to be patient..

[bobrocks95]

I wouldn't write off a great looking 50" you found because you want it a whole four inches smaller... Take what you can get; even if you downsize in the future it will be easy enough to get rid of a 50" plasma. These things don't grow on trees.

[andykara2003]

True - it's hard to let this go but I came to the conclusion that actually 46" is pushing it to the limit as it is in the situation I'm using it in. I can wait, loads of plasmas are coming up on eBay & Gumtree ATM - just got to wait for the right model...

EDIT: picked up a mint 46" GT30 - image looks gorgeous.

[RGB32E]

New contender for 2016's best gaming TV - Sony PVM-X550! Apparently this was unveiled at NAB 2016 this week. Too bad it's list price is $27,810.00 USD.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-monito ... t-PVMX550/

[accaris]

New contender for 2016's best gaming TV - Sony PVM-X550! Apparently this was unveiled at NAB 2016 this week. Too bad it's list price is $27,810.00 USD.

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-monito ... t-PVMX550/

I bet the black levels on that are godly.