Sony's biggest historical LCD blunder..must read!!

What was the point of that? As you said it was 5 years ago, LCD technology has moved on several generations, it's no real surprise that an early LCD wasn't much good is it?

You call it a blunder, others might consider it a trailblazing piece of technology, more still probably won't care anymore.

Seems to be an excuse for Sony bashing to me. 5 years ago LCD technology was very much in its infancy for TVs and the majority of viewers were still using CRTs. Prices for LCDs were high and the results were un-spectacular, if not downright poor. 12 months, at that stage, was a lot of development time and things improved very quickly so its hardly surprising that there were fairly dramatic changes in future models.

I bought my 32" Bravia just over 2 years ago and its very good but the latest models absolutely leave it for dead, particularly in terms of motion handling and black levels (and yes, my set does suffer from a little bit of backlight bleed in the top corners). I'm not bitter about the fact that my set has been left behind. Technology is fast-paced and I never expected it to be state-of-the-art for very long, if ever.

Sony aren't perfect. They've not always got everything right, and I always thought the entry-level U-series and P-series sets were pretty shoddy, but this thread and the gutter press style title just seem designed to un-necessarily slag the brand off.

sonyse2t5:

That TV was Sony's biggest mess-up since the minidisk.

How the hell can you say minidisc was rubbish,It was and still is stunning tech.And it is still used today,radio stations,film crews,tv adverts(for audio).I still use mine for transfering northen soul albums to take away the rawness of the record,and minidisc makes it sound warmer,like i like my records to sound.We still have customers who love,and still use this format.As matthew says,sony are not perfect,but there are not many companys who innovate as much as sony do,Its like us"To be a better person you have to make mistakes to lern more about life".And a company to invest as much as sony do.As for the tv,s don,t get me started on that again lol.

I know soem wouldnt be surprised at early products being rubbish. However, not protesting when copanies started releasing pants TVs has resulted in us all being brainwashed into saying "well its fine if you just do this, tweak that, attach this, buy one of these...".

Oh dear, im on an anti flat panel rant again. and ive had a good one for a year.

but itll all be ok when we all go HD after the switchover. Or theyll just find new ways to do us.

Good lord, i really must go take my pills.

EDIT - and English lessons, it seems.

sonyse2t5:

I like Sony Bravia 3, but before this and the VEGA 2 range they had this other monstrosity backlit LCD called GRAND VEGA,I owned one and we had an Xbox then, no SKYHD or BD. It was about 5 years ago.Like a fool I brought it 6 months into the launch. It boosted this crummy upscaler and it looked alright, but within one year they rehashed it, with new features like BBE virtual dolby etc.

But what got me wound up was that Sony realised that the contrast was absolutely a joke, then I wasn't too well versed into this TV techno babble,and the truth was.... even with contrast turned up the Blacks were dark greys! Sony had to relauched it with improved contrast!

Now How they can launch a set and then within 12 months launch the same model with improved contrast prove that the orginal Grand Vega at 5K was not fit to be lauched into the market in the first place. Why also did the UK model had no component input, but the US version did???

To make it worse the backlight cost £450 to replace????  There was no backlight dimmer to save power.

That TV was Sony's biggest mess-up since the minidisk. 

Like the the current backlight clouding issue, the grand vega lack of contrast was not deemed a fault.....it certainly was... if it retailed at 5 THOUNDSAND POUNDS!! You could buy two Pioneer KURO at todays prices.

 

  

What a strange post. It's like saying cars of ten years ago did not have ABS fitted as standard.

The point of my post is to say that Grand Vega costing 5k should never have been launched! Other older sets like the 17 HR 2 which was launched just after GV's debut I still have and respect.as the older LCD technology. But you don't relaunch a set within 12 months because you realise the contrast was substandard. This is what Sony did.How can it took Sony 12 months to realise that? I also own their old CRT 17, 20, 24 imch and they had super blacks and still going strong! Thats Sony quality.  

GV was a mistake! Too bold too earlier and TOO EXPENSIVE

Most companies release new models after 12 months on electrical goods - it's pretty much standard practise. In fact, if you're Panasonic, you seem to release a new Blu-Ray player every 6 months!

Add me to the list of people who don't really understand the point you're trying to make... (other than having another go at Sony).

 

Must read exclamation exclamation ??

Please rephrase your point. What is it you are trying to communicate here? Even your rephrasing is difficult to follow. What should we do? boycott Sony? What point is it you are making.

So tell me Professorhat, did Pana launch 2 BD players a year because the previous models had faults??? Or to cater to different taste based on price? I trust its the latter. Sony have the 350 and 360 BD player and they are equally good. The 360 was launched not to remedy a fault withr 350 model

I'd imagine their objective was to improve on the performance of the previous model (including ironing out any flaws) and possibly add new features. Which is what it sounds like Sony did with the Grand Vega.

 

If you read the review on the BD 350 and 360, they were given the same  acolade. The 360 adds DTS master output without decoding onboard.Its adds a useful feature but BD didn't look better on the 360 model.AND These Player SOLD!!!

The GV TV model ended in less that 2 years in the market! It didn't sell in the UK! The magazine Reviews on it, oh I forgot to mention,save that for last, trashed even the improved contrast version.Othe LCD from Sony in that time did well.  Nuff said.

If you serach the internet you will see the damp squid review....

Well said in support of an excellent and reputable company.  I have over the years bought numorus equipment from various Sony shops and in all my years of buying from them (over 45 years)I have only good things to say about the company and the equipment they make.  Don't forget without Sony there would be no compact disk, also I believe that the MD was and is still one of the best formats to record onto and listen to your music on the move, have had mine for 5years and is still in excellent working condition, so well done Sony,  one very happy Sony user. 

sonyse2t5:

you will see the damp squid review....

Aren't squid by definition at least damp? At last I understand something you're saying in this thread...

sonyse2t5:

If you read the review on the BD 350 and 360, they were given the same  acolade. The 360 adds DTS master output without decoding onboard.Its adds a useful feature but BD didn't look better on the 360 model.AND These Player SOLD!!!

The GV TV model ended in less that 2 years in the market! It didn't sell in the UK! The magazine Reviews on it, oh I forgot to mention,save that for last, trashed even the improved contrast version.Othe LCD from Sony in that time did well.  Nuff said.

So your point is, they made a duff set and really shouldn't have ever made it or tried to sell it (since it didn't sell well)?

Forgive me, but I think this is pretty obvious to everyone in hindsight, including Sony. But they're hardly the only company to have ever released a duff set, so surely you must have another point?

Or are you just still bitter because you were one of the few who actually bought this model (presumably without reading the reviews of even looking at the set before you bought to experience how bad it was)?

5 years is a long time - let it go!

 

professorhat:

sonyse2t5:

If you read the review on the BD 350 and 360, they were given the same  acolade. The 360 adds DTS master output without decoding onboard.Its adds a useful feature but BD didn't look better on the 360 model.AND These Player SOLD!!!

The GV TV model ended in less that 2 years in the market! It didn't sell in the UK! The magazine Reviews on it, oh I forgot to mention,save that for last, trashed even the improved contrast version.Othe LCD from Sony in that time did well.  Nuff said.

So your point is, they made a duff set and really shouldn't have ever made it or tried to sell it (since it didn't sell well)?

Forgive me, but I think this is pretty obvious to everyone in hindsight, including Sony. But they're hardly the only company to have ever released a duff set, so surely you must have another point?

Or are you just still bitter because you were one of the few who actually bought this model (presumably without reading the reviews of even looking at the set before you bought to experience how bad it was)?

5 years is a long time - let it go!

 

I think he is saying that companies should not attempt to bring a new concept to the consumer (like Sony with it's LCD's five or so years ago) unless it's fault proof - mate nothing would be made or sold if that were to be the case. The OP is ridiculous - "must read!!"? Why? If it wasn't for Sony not making a perfect set years ago, no one, including them, would have strived to improve things and we wouldn't be at the level we are now. My Dad has a Wega LCD about 5 years old. It's 32 inches and he paid about £1300 for it. When it first came out, it was £2800!!! At that price it was reviewed and talked about as if it was the greatest screen ever. It now looks pretty poor compared to most screens. Does this mean that Sony should never have sold it? Of course not.