Sony HX 820/920 review & discussion

[kray]

Hi Guys,

I just heard from sony guys that latest models in HX series will be launched by 15th May. Since I am waiting for almost 2 months now for the right 55inch 3D LED model, thought of starting a discussion on Sony models.

I believe most of us have already seen Samsung, LG models including Cinema 3D and D8000, D7000. Now few (there is rarely any full review of Sony HX models) reviews suggest it is much better than all other LED TVs this year. Most encouragingly, Sony seems to have become wise (finally ) and kept the prices for 820 series much lower than D8000 in all countries where it is launched so far. Amazingly, the price of the flagship model this year (HX929) is also comparable with D8000 with an added advantage of full array LED. I am excited!!

Regarding other brands with 2011 TVs, I have seen Samsung D8000 and liked t. But was frustrated with their pricing strategy as they are asking for over 2L for D8000. For LG cinema 3d, i haven't seen it yet by in general my main atrraction for LED is its brightness, so if that is gone due to passive glasses thenI am not game for it.

Hopefully through this thread we can share more information about HX series when it gets launched later this week.

Cheers!

 

[adder]

The HX series are just hitting the stores in the US and are yet to be launched in europe.

In asia it has been launched only in Japan and China/HK.

Here is the first review/impressions from a chinese forum about the HX820
Google Translate

 

[aks316]

Hi all leading sites always review HX models. I am waiting to see these models. Hx920 is my favorite and my dream tv. I cant wait to see the whole range including Hx820, Nx720 and Hx720. Sony has become wise finally and i love Sony tvs.Thanks for the info bro. :yahoo:

Hi Guys,

I just heard from sony guys that latest models in HX series will be launched by 15th May. Since I am waiting for almost 2 months now for the right 55inch 3D LED model, thought of starting a discussion on Sony models.

I believe most of us have already seen Samsung, LG models including Cinema 3D and D8000, D7000. Now few (there is rarely any full review of Sony HX models) reviews suggest it is much better than all other LED TVs this year. Most encouragingly, Sony seems to have become wise (finally ) and kept the prices for 820 series much lower than D8000 in all countries where it is launched so far. Amazingly, the price of the flagship model this year (HX929) is also comparable with D8000 with an added advantage of full array LED. I am excited!!

Regarding other brands with 2011 TVs, I have seen Samsung D8000 and liked t. But was frustrated with their pricing strategy as they are asking for over 2L for D8000. For LG cinema 3d, i haven't seen it yet by in general my main atrraction for LED is its brightness, so if that is gone due to passive glasses thenI am not game for it.

Hopefully through this thread we can share more information about HX series when it gets launched later this week.

Cheers!

 

[kray]

Sony has updated its website with the pricing info on top end model HX925.
MRP is INR 3 lac, with full array LED.

Not sure when they are going to launch HX820 though..

 

[aks316]

Yes n they will also launch 65inch hx925 for 4lac soon. I think Hx820 and Nx720 are also going to be launched this may. This a good lineup by Sony this year. The have finally woken up but they still have a long way to go. Samsung and lg wont let Sony go so easily. I think its time for panasonic to get their act together. i

Sony has updated its website with the pricing info on top end model HX925.
MRP is INR 3 lac, with full array LED.

Not sure when they are going to launch HX820 though..

 

[Jay5150]

Sony has updated its website with the pricing info on top end model HX925.
MRP is INR 3 lac, with full array LED.

Not sure when they are going to launch HX820 though..

Ouch!

So i think we can expect the 55" HX820 for about 2.2 Lac

That would be too rich, looks like I have to consider the EX720 or HX800

 

[adder]

Ouch!

So i think we can expect the 55" HX820 for about 2.2 Lac

That would be too rich, looks like I have to consider the EX720 or HX800

HX820 will be more expensive then older HX800 for 2 reasons one it has a expensive Gorilla Glass and it has a pro processor which the older one lacks and it may well have a panel similar to the one found in HX925.

 

[kray]

that would be too bad for consumers. in every other market, pricing of HX929 is similar to Samsung D8000 while HX820 is much lower than D8000. Not sure why they would price it higer than D8000 in India, that would be unfair to consumers!

Jay, btw you can have a look a d8000/d7000 too as I have read reviews of ex720 and HX 800 which are not very good when compared to sammy models of 2011, especially in temrs of 3D.

 

[adder]

The 55" HX929 costs 1.86 lakh in thailand,so i guess this should be much cheaper in the grey market,considering Sony models sold officially carry a 35% custom duties.

 

[prankey]

HX820 will be more expensive then older HX800 for 2 reasons one it has a expensive Gorilla Glass and it has a pro processor which the older one lacks and it may well have a panel similar to the one found in HX925.

Pro processor WAS in HX800 as well!

 

[adder]

Pro processor WAS in HX800 as well!

Nope, the HX800 just had a BE3.It did have 200hz motionflow pro.

Where as the HX820 has a 400hz motionflow XR and it has the 2 chip X-reality pro processor(X-reality processor along with the XCA-7 processor).

 

[prankey]

please delete

 

[prankey]

Nope, the HX800 just had a BE3.It did have 200hz motionflow pro.

Where as the HX820 has a 400hz motionflow XR and it has the 2 chip X-reality pro processor(X-reality processor along with the XCA-7 processor).

Its NOT 400Hz! Its 400XR Motionflow. 2 chip (doesn't tell us anything), X-reality pro chip is similar in functionality to what 200Hz Motionflow Pro of last year.. More like change in terminology with PROBABLY mild improvements...

 

[avmaxfan]

Nope, the X Reality PRO chip offers much better SD as well as HD quality than previous year's BE3 Engine. So its not just a change of terminology or gimmick.

Also guys I think the pricing is okay, definitely not great value but its not that bad either.
Also thankfully the Indian version comes with 2 of the 2011 Sony 3D glasses :clapping:
US and EU models do not come standard with 3D glasses IIRC.

Anyways I am glad Sony launched the HX925 in India, I was worried that they will not launch it in India like last year they did not launch the HX900 in India. Can't wait to get this beast of a TV :yahoo:
And its the best Sony Bravia to date.

P.S. What is the price of Samsung 55" D8000 in India ?

 

[adder]

Its NOT 400Hz! Its 400XR Motionflow. 2 chip (doesn't tell us anything), X-reality pro chip is similar in functionality to what 200Hz Motionflow Pro of last year.. More like change in terminology with PROBABLY mild improvements...

The 200hz pro nor the 400hz motionflow XR doesn't have anything to do with the XCA-7 chip.

The old 200hz pro was based on frame insertion.The new 200hz motionflow XR uses 100hz frame insertion and backlight scanning ,these is enough for getting 1080lines of motion resolution and removing judder without any soap oper effect.

The 400Hz XR is a combination of 200hz frame insertion coupled with backlight scanning.It also has a 240hz panel,these advantages are for 3d part.

The XCA-7 chip offers bit mapping.

 

[kray]

Nope, the X Reality PRO chip offers much better SD as well as HD quality than previous year's BE3 Engine. So its not just a change of terminology or gimmick.

Also guys I think the pricing is okay, definitely not great value but its not that bad either.
Also thankfully the Indian version comes with 2 of the 2011 Sony 3D glasses :clapping:
US and EU models do not come standard with 3D glasses IIRC.

Anyways I am glad Sony launched the HX925 in India, I was worried that they will not launch it in India like last year they did not launch the HX900 in India. Can't wait to get this beast of a TV :yahoo:
And its the best Sony Bravia to date.

P.S. What is the price of Samsung 55" D8000 in India ?

55D8000 is around 2l in Hyderabad currently. So the difference is huge in India between Hx929 and D8000, unlike other countries where they have been launched already.

 

[avmaxfan]

Hmm. Anyway thankfully Sony has priced the other models competitively, and lower than last year's prices.
Sony is being its cocky self with regards to its flagship But that's Sony for ya!
And regardless, the HX820 is more than a match for the D8000 and that will probably have a more competitive price

 

[prankey]

The 200hz pro nor the 400hz motionflow XR doesn't have anything to do with the XCA-7 chip.

The old 200hz pro was based on frame insertion.The new 200hz motionflow XR uses 100hz frame insertion and backlight scanning ,these is enough for getting 1080lines of motion resolution and removing judder without any soap oper effect.

The 400Hz XR is a combination of 200hz frame insertion coupled with backlight scanning.It also has a 240hz panel,these advantages are for 3d part.

The XCA-7 chip offers bit mapping.

That is what I was trying to say - even the last year's HX800 had 200Hz motion interpolation with backlight scanning (Samsung C7000 and higher models also had this feature).

As indicated, I agree that X-reality engine may be better than BE3 (I honestly haven't done much research between the two, however feel for a 1080p 2D source, the difference might not be huge).

Do they support NTFS yet?

 

[kray]

Yesterday I managed to get the first demo of 55HX925 at hyderabad. Blacks really looked awesome and overall look is good for the TV.

However surprisingly, 3D did not look that great and i was a bit shocked to see that. Personally, I am a sony fan and always thought their TVs are better than Samsun etc. After seeing great improvement in 3d TVs for 2011 models by Samsung this year, I had high hopes for HX model. But shockingly the 3D was average, with some crosstalks and major drop in image brightness. Mind you, the 2D was great.

Also, the price is a dampener since they quoted a final price of 3 lakhs!! I know this is a full array LED model, but considering its the only comparable model from Sony so far this year against D8000 and LG cinema 3D, i dont think sony's got the pricing right for Indian market (everywhere else the price is exactly same as Samsung for this model. )

Finally, I also enquired about HX820 model but it seems Sony has no plans to launch that soon in India.

 

[aks316]

Hi i think they are going to launch hx820, nx720 & bx420 by next month. The only models they might not launch are hx720 & ex620. I dont think sony is that stupid now that they will price themselves out of the market. They have become very competitive. No dealer will tell you about new models. As per my knowledge Hx820 will compete with d8000 and d7000 whereas nx720 will compete with d6600. I am a Sony fan also.

Yesterday I managed to get the first demo of 55HX925 at hyderabad. Blacks really looked awesome and overall look is good for the TV.

However surprisingly, 3D did not look that great and i was a bit shocked to see that. Personally, I am a sony fan and always thought their TVs are better than Samsun etc. After seeing great improvement in 3d TVs for 2011 models by Samsung this year, I had high hopes for HX model. But shockingly the 3D was average, with some crosstalks and major drop in image brightness. Mind you, the 2D was great.

Also, the price is a dampener since they quoted a final price of 3 lakhs!! I know this is a full array LED model, but considering its the only comparable model from Sony so far this year against D8000 and LG cinema 3D, i dont think sony's got the pricing right for Indian market (everywhere else the price is exactly same as Samsung for this model. )

Finally, I also enquired about HX820 model but it seems Sony has no plans to launch that soon in India.