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[San Dan Glokta]

So I used to work at an electronics store after school where we had games, phones, appliances etc. I remember the Bravia TVs being like 30% more expensive then everything else we had. They use to sell like hot cakes and whenever I came at opening times they would be loading a new batch on the displays since the previous ones sold out. In our home we had a no name Chinese TV for like a decade before replacing it with a Samsung after it started ghosting so I never had any experience with Bravia.

Were/are the Bravia TVs really that good? Have they maintained their quality over the years and are good for gaming? I can personally attest to the quality of some Samsung, Benq and LG OLED displays. I'm currently abroad but back home I kept a HP Envy 32 QHD for my all in one consumption.

 

[AJUMP23]

You were paying more for the brand recognition. They were the best tvs but there is a Sony tax on them.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

In those days, the best LCD displays were made by S-LCD which was a Sony/Samsung 50/50 jointly owned venture

Both Sony and Samsung today do not manufacture any LCD panels, all LCD manufacturing has moved to China

However it is still true today that Sony has the best image processors in their TV's and it makes a big difference in picture quality compared to other brands

Unfortunately it also makes a big difference in input lag and Sony TV's have noticeably inferior input lag in Game Mode compared to competitors

 

[bender]

Kuro Elites were the cat's pajamas in that time frame.

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

No. Pioneer Kuros were the best TVs in existence from 2008 until like 2015 when consumer OLED tech had improved enough to take the crown. Pioneer had stopped manufacturing the Kuros in 2010 but the TVs were so good that nothing could touch them for years.

That said, the high end Bravia plasmas were pretty great too.

 

[DinoD]

I bought the top of the line Bravia TV a few months after I got the launch PS3. Yes. They were the absolutely the best you could get.

 

[freefornow]

Pioneer Kuros

Came to post this.

 

[Ebrietas]

No. Sony only made LCDs but in those days it was all about plasma. Pioneer Kuros, Panasonics, and even Samsung who made some good ones towards the end.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Pioneer and Panasonic TVs always had the best reviews back then. They skewed pricey though.

 

[SABRE220]

They were easily the best lcds but the peak of tv image quality was undoubtedly the Pioneer Kuros, what an absolute beast of a set. At its target resolution, it stayed competitive with modern sets for a freakishly long time.

 

[bender]

Pioneer and Panasonic TVs always had the best reviews back then. They skewed pricey though.

$5000 was a lot of money but my Elite lasted 11.5 years before I upgraded to an OLED (E7) which got burn in less than two years. I still have it in a spare room. One of the capacitors is going out so it buzzes even louder than normal which is fairly loud (Plasma's buzz louder at elevation). It's my favorite set ever. Runner up would be my WEGA XBR HDTV KD-34XBR800. Wish I would have kept that set too.

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

They were easily the best lcds but the peak of tv image quality was undoubtedly the Pioneer Kuros, what an absolute beast of a set. At its target resolution, it stayed competitive with modern sets for a freakishly long time.

They still handle motion better than modern OLEDs. Watching sports on plasma was fantastic.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

$5000 was a lot of money but my Elite lasted 11.5 years before I upgraded to an OLED (E7) which got burn in less than two years. I still have it in a spare room. One of the capacitors is going out so it buzzes even louder than normal which is fairly loud (Plasma's buzz louder at elevation). It's my favorite set either. Runner up would be my WEGA XBR HDTV KD-34XBR800. Wish I would have kept that set too.

Back then I had two Panny plasmas. A 42", and then a 60". They werent even the high end models which cost more. But they blew away any TVs friends and fam had until my bro bought a Panny higher end model! lol

 

[drotahorror]

I still have a Sony 60" W850B. It was pretty much a top of the line 3D TV. Had some of the lowest input lag available at the time. Still a great TV and works perfectly.

 

[bender]

Back then I had two Panny plasmas. A 42", and then a 60". They werent even the high end models which cost more. But they blew away any TVs friends and fam had until my bro bought a Panny higher end model! lol

I still remember the stack of rewards certificates that Best Buy sent me in the mail after that purchase (back when those were physical). It paid for an iPod of some sorts.

 

[The Lunch Legend]

Cat's pajamas?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Those Panny plasmas were heavy though. That 60" might had been 100 lbs. I dont know.

But I remember I was concerned my shitty TV stand might snap putting it on it. It didnt thanks god.

Also, I remember the first time opening it up I must had got it delivered or maybe my bro only helped me drop it off at my place and left because I remember putting it together myself. And I had to grab it by the sides, hope I dont drop it and put it in the stand pegs. lol. I sold the 60" in 2017 for $400 cdn. I think I bought it in 2010 for close to $2k.

Looking back I should had kept it but got hyped up with 4k and Xbox One X. So I sold it and got a Sony 900e which is the biggest piece of shit TV I ever had. Slow OS, dead pixels, wouldnt recognize my HDMI audio from my Panny home theatre system so I had to use an optical cable. While everything was perfect on the Panny plasma. Got rid of it back to Costco years later and they sent me a mid range LG Nanocell as the repair place couldnt fix it. Way better TV. Zero issues in 3 years. At some point when this TV bombs, I'm either going to get an LG OLED, or cheap out and save $1000+ and get a high rated TCL.

 

[Loomy]

Bravia TV - especially top of the line models - are still some of the best TVs you can buy today (they were in those days too). They're also some of the most overpriced TVs on the market.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

They still handle motion better than modern OLEDs. Watching sports on plasma was fantastic.

How can they handle motion better than per-pixel emission of OLED? OLEDs can feel judderry because motion representation is perfect.

 

[FMX]

Sony has always made top of the line products but their arrogance got the best of them. Let's just say hypothetically that Sony makes a tv that is a 10. They are going to charge a 1000.00 dollars for it. LG, Samsung, TCL will make a television that's a 9 and only charge 700 for it. Sony makes the best televisions in my opinion but not that much better to justify their prices. I rarely see folks with Sony televisions anymore. Even I have gone LG OLED.

 

[Spooky Scary Skeleton]

In those days, the best LCD displays were made by S-LCD which was a Sony/Samsung 50/50 jointly owned venture

Both Sony and Samsung today do not manufacture any LCD panels, all LCD manufacturing has moved to China

However it is still true today that Sony has the best image processors in their TV's and it makes a big difference in picture quality compared to other brands

Unfortunately it also makes a big difference in input lag and Sony TV's have noticeably inferior input lag in Game Mode compared to competitors

Both Sony and Samusng has been pulling out of manufacturing in china since then, since their price has significantly spiked and not worth the hassle of risking their IP constantly getting stolen from their manufacture factories. They both have been shifting manufacture re-location to South East Asia.

 

[Puscifer]

Sharp Aqous > Everything

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

How can they handle motion better than per-pixel emission of OLED? OLEDs can feel judderry because motion representation is perfect.

I think it comes down to the pixel response times on OLEDs being so fast that it makes individual frames more perceptible than something like plasma where there's a slightly more gradual transition between frames. This guy talks about it at 11:40:

 

[Elginer]

I’m a bit of a Sony whore, I just love their image processing. I pay more but I always do it. Have had a few Samsung tvs but they seems to not be built like they used to quality wise

 

[Autistic_Pancake]

Sony TVs were the best in terms of quality (at least back then). I bought a goddamn Samsung once for my parents and its backlight croaked in less than a year. Guess what, 1 month after repairing it - power supply burns out. Meanwhile, there's an old Sony 46HX853 (2012?) still working perfectly to this day, and it's practically being tortured on a daily basis (mom just sleeps through the night with TV turned on).

 

[Xellos]

Pioneer Kuro was the top TV but Sony did offer some great LCD sets. I bought a HX929 back in 2011 - fantastic picture and it's still working today.

 

[John Wick]

Sony TVs were the best in terms of quality (at least back then). I bought a goddamn Samsung once for my parents and its backlight croaked in less than a year. Guess what, 1 month after repairing it - power supply burns out. Meanwhile, there's an old Sony 46HX853 (2012?) still working perfectly to this day, and it's practically being tortured on a daily basis (mom just sleeps through the night with TV turned on).

Yep Sony TV quality was outstanding. I've never had a Sony TV fail. I've been through two Samsung's and two LG's with both brands developing faults within three years. My next TV will be the Sony mini led RGB.

 

[Lunarorbit]

Got a bravia/ps3 bundle from bestbuy. The TV still works but it's always had a problem when I turn it off. The heat expanded the plastic on the bezel so when the TV was off the plastic would contract and make a slight crackling sound

Good TV besides that

 

[Rockondevil]

My Bravia from like 2008 is still going strong. I got a new TV a year or so ago, but my son still uses the old Bravia daily and it's great.

 

[CamHostage]

Oh interesting, I got in my head before reading the title again that this was about the PS2 era of Bravia CRTs, those p-scan widescreen TVs they did before HDTV and LDCs. Those were incredibly enviable if you knew somebody who had one; our office had it and man, that was the time to be.

 

[Rentahamster]

My Bravia XBR CRT was the tits. Plasmas at the time were awesome too.

 

[Axelon]

My family were always Sony from when we switched to LCDs in 2005 all the way until 2016 then we switched to an LG OLED.

They were bar none the best picture quality from the ones we looked at and we knew they were quality.

We were always scared of burn in on plasmas so we didn't even consider them. In hindsite I wished I could've tried a pioneer kuro.

 

[bad guy]

I was already using a LG OLED in 2011 or 2012.

 

[DragonNCM]

Sony or Samsung that was only choice !!!

 

[cireza]

LCD TVs were complete crap back then, it was unbelievable how bad they were. I played several years of this gen on CRT with a SCART RGB cable.

 

[RoboFu]

Basically that was Samsungs era because they brought in lower priced high quality sets, but I had two bravias that were awesome.

 

[Ashamam]

Meanwhile, there's an old Sony 46HX853 (2012?) still working perfectly to this day, and it's practically being tortured on a daily basis (mom just sleeps through the night with TV turned on).

Yeah I had the 46HX850 I think it was. Loved the design and picture quality for the time. Gave it away to family but still am blown away (relatively speaking) by how good it looks for sport when we visit.

 

[Beechos]

I think we're a generation or 2 ahead. Sony wega's were the best.

 

[San Dan Glokta]

My Bravia XBR CRT was the tits. Plasmas at the time were awesome too.

Love me a tv thats also a pair of funbags

 

[CompleteGlobalSaturation]

Pioneer and Panasonic TVs always had the best reviews back then. They skewed pricey though.

We had a Panasonic Plasma long before the 4K LCD craze and the image quality was exceptional.

 

[Punished Miku]

I had a pretty sick Vizio 32 inch at the time. Got all the way up to 720P.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Panasonic plasmas >