One improvement is that most of the picture-affecting items are now grouped under the picture menu, and another is that the secondary "options" menu calls up a few more selections, reducing the need to visit the main menu much. Of course, the majority of users probably won't access those functions, so we question the value of giving them so prominent a location in the menu. Unlike some less-expensive 2008 Sony TVs, which only have three horizontal selections among myriad vertical ones, the XBR8's menu adds two more selections, "photo" and "music," for use with the USB port, an optional Bravia Internet Video Link (which adds a "videos" choice) or a networked media server for photos. Here's how we mention that we find the PS3-like "Cross Media Bar" (XMB) arrangement a bit cumbersome to use on a TV. That said, if you have a room full of light, a penchant for video processing modes, and a bank account bursting with cash, you'll find the flagship Sony mighty appealing.Īlthough still tedious to navigate, at least the PS3-esque XMB menu system finally groups all of the picture controls under the appropriate heading. But as good as the Sony is, it still couldn't knock out the champion of the superheavyweight plasma division, Pioneer's Elite Kuro, which still reigns supreme as the best HDTV overall and it costs less, even at 60 inches, than the 55-inch KDL-55XBR8. It delivered deeper black levels than the Samsung, along with less blooming and off-angle fade, two issues you'll have to read about below. In case you don't have time to read the complete blow-by-blow, we'll cut to the chase: the Sony XBR8 won. In this corner is the Sony KDL-55XBR8, the most-expensive flat-panel HDTV we've ever tested at CNET and possibly the worst deal per square inch since Sony's own XEL-1. This bout involves cutting-edge, top-of-the-line LED-backlit models most of us can't afford, but it's entertaining nonetheless. Although not quite the best HDTV we've tested so far, the wallet-busting, LED-powered Sony KDL-55XBR8 comes mighty close.Īmong LCD heavyweights, Sony and Samsung have been trading blows for the last couple of years at the top of the standings. There is stuff like this Very big and very expensive. LCD displays need a backlight, and work poorly in low temps so in some cases may need heating. It amazes me that after all this time we still don't seem to have a decent dot matrix display for industrial products, which "just works". And very expensive TVs use OLEDs and I can tell you half this country has the TV on 16hrs/day I wonder if perhaps the key lies in - specific materials - the life increases dramatically if brightness is below a specific value The evidence for assertion #2 lies in the way latest phones implement "flash" for selfies (the front camera): they illuminate the whole screen with an intense white which seems to be a lot brighter than the normal screen brightness. I never expected these replies! So how do mobile phone makers achieve a life of at least a few years? Is it really due to the screen going blank after say 2 mins of non-use? That would not work for the "average young person" who might spend hours a day messaging, playing games, etc. There isn't a lot I can see, apart from ones which are self evidently junk. I am looking for an SPI-interfaced one, about 5cm x 5cm. Mouser (don't know how to create a clickable link, and the URL is very long) which one would think can't be complete trash, but actually one Futaba data sheet gives a 4 month life to 50% brightness, which is a joke. I don't know whether this is normal with OLED displays, or whether there is something wrong with the ones used in Chinese DVMs. I see a fair number of these advertised on Alibaba/Aliexpress, at prices around $20, but there seem to be issues with them, like the one in the Voltcraft VC890 DVM which goes dim and dimmer over just a few years of very light usage.
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