The Sony KDL40EX723 TV is being delivered today, and I'm wondering what I'm going to have to do to get the picture looking good. I've read this thread here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...ure-issue.html

and found this Facebook calibration settings page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5620125&type=1

and I'm wondering what will be the best thing to do. I'm going to be using the following with my new TV:

Technica HD Freeview box (HDMI)
Xbox 360 (HDMI)
Playstation 2 (AV)
Blu Ray player (when I get around to buying one) (HDMI)

Obviously I will be watching both SD and HD channels on the Freeview. So should I try the factory settings first and see how I like it? Or try AJ1000's settings in that thread? Or try the Facebook calibration settings? And are these two sets of calibration settings supposed to be good for all-round stuff, like the stuff listed above?

I would. They're not bad at all on this set. Except the eco/auto brightness adjustment (I forget what it's called).

Cheers,
David.

stick with the factory settings.

a calibration guide is all well and good, but what is the most accurate still may not be the easiest on the eye.

my advice is do remember the colouring will look different. give yourself a week to get used to that before you change anything. and then if you do make a change don't just use one program to inform your new settings.

Yeah it looks pretty good by default actually. Just a few tweeks helped.

For the USB recording, does anyone have a rough idea of what the storage size is for recorded programmes?

This is a bizarre one...when the TV is set to TV (i.e. the built-in Freeview box), it tells me that the resolution is 576i. When I switch to HDMI 1 (my HD Freeview box, which is set to maximum resolution), the TV says that HDMI 1 is at 1080i, and the picture looks a lot better. Is there any way I can set my TV's built-in Freeview box to 1080i or 1080p?

The other annoying thing is, I can't get the HD channels in my EPG (TV Freeview or Freview box), when I retune now. I do have an indoor aerial, but all the SD channels are fine, as they were before, and I was able to tune in the HD channels before too.

The TV displays shows what the incoming signal is, NOT what is shown on the screen - on the internal tuner the set tells you it's 576i, because that's what the signal is (on SD channels). With your external HD box, the box upscales it to 1080i, so that's what the TV reports, as that's what it gets.

The TV will be upscaling the inbuilt SD to the exact same resolution as pictures from your external box - and Sony scalers are usually better than you get in boxes. Are you sure you're not comparing HD channels from your external box with SD ones internally?.

You're right, my mistake. I retuned both boxes (internal and external), and they both picked up the HD channels, and now the info pane says 1080i for both, and the same channel looks great on both.

Great, there's a problem with my new Sony KDL40EX723 TV. It has banding issues on the left, right and centre of the screen. It's only noticeable during left and right motion, so it's very annoying when watching football. I had a look online and it seems like I am not alone:

http://www.sony.eu/discussions/message/710410

http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...ng-issues.html

So now I've got to decide whether to put up with it, get a replacement (and by the sounds of it have a good chance of getting one the same or worse), exchange it for another one, or get a refund and get one from Richer Sounds instead.

The whole point of getting a Sony TV was that I was hoping I would be investing in a bit of reliability (especially with the John Lewis 5-year warranty as well). But all I want to do now is get a 42" (bigger) LG (cheaper) one with the money instead. Which would mean getting a refund and going to Richer instead, because JLP have very few TV's to choose from at the £500 mark.

Now I can't tell if there is a problem or not, and if there is, which inputs the problem is on. There are definite visible vertical bars though. And last night's football didn't look great.

Is there some kind of calibration video I could download from somewhere and put onto a DVD to test my TV? Something light, with plenty of horizontal panning?

If I were to change this TV for another one, say a 42" non-3D one, do you think there could be any kind of an argument to say that maybe the picture quality might be better, due to the manufacturer not having to concentrate on the 3D aspect as well?

Banding is a common problem with LCDs, the recent top-end Samsung D6/7/8000 range has the same issue, most noticeable during football.

The only way you're going to guarantee escaping this phenomenon is by switching to a plasma, eg Panasonic's new 42" ST50 (http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panas...1203191731.htm). Otherwise, you'll be exchanging in the panel lottery hoping you'll get one without banding three sets down the line!

My Samsung C750 (LCD) has banding exactly like you describe and also my Sony EX503 had the same problem which I returned. I'm looking forward to getting the plasma mentioned above so I can finally watch fast pans without banding winding me up every time!

I think I'll keep it for now, and do something about it if it becomes really annoying.