LED Motion not fit for purpose

[avfann02]

I recently bought a Sony KDL42W706 and, at the top of the product details, I was told the following:

"This Sony LED TV set gives 'reach in' depth, rich colours and, thanks to Motionflow XR200, smooth motion. This high quality Motionflow system works especially well with fast moving action, such as sports events, without the blur you can see with standard 50Hz TVs".

Not surprisingly, I believed I was buying a television with an excellent motion processing system, not something that darkened the picture to unwatchable levels.

When will Sony fix this pile of junk? Users have been complaining about it on these forums for ages, yet Sony would rather quote the Advertising Standards Agency than listen to their customers. They are deliberately misleading people into thinking they're getting a state of the art motion processor, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

Come on Sony, try adding those two words 'customer service' to your vocabulary.

PS - Could a firmware update sort out this useless LED Motion or am I stuck with it?

A very disappointed customer.

[Anonymous]

Hi

Have you tried turning off eco settings? This can solve many brightness issues

Cheers

[avfann02]

All eco settings off including light sensor, and ramping brightness etc up is still insufficient and gives a dreadful picture. This of course still doesn't resolve the underlying problems with LED Motion. Thanks for the reply though. 

Does anyone have the name of someone senior to contact in customer services? Reading about the appalling treatment folk here have received trying this though hardly inspires confidence,.

Sony are clearly misleading people regarding their motion processing. I suspect this TV will have to be returned. I certainly won't be buying Sony products again.

[jumpsuit]

Hi avfann02

I just wanted to ask first if you had fully researched or seen this model in store etc. before you purchased it?

(You didn't buy it based on just a few lines of description did you?)

If not its worth you going in to your nearest Sony store to see if the model there is also darkening

and compare it to yours in case it is just your set that needs exchanging / repairing.

I do understand disappointment can be a terrible feeling after you have made a purchase. (I once had 7 faulty television sets from different manufacturers delivered from Currys a few years back.)

Ultimately though If I wasn't happy with a product I would simply return it.

[avfann02]

Wasn't able to view beforehand, but went on the strength of reviews and, Heaven forbid, Sony's misleading spiel. None of the user reviews mentioned the LED Motion isuue but expert reviews such as HDTVTest did and said it was unusable because it made the picture too dark, but thought the picture without any motion processing was acceptable (since coming to this forum I've noticed others complaining about LED Motion for a number of years). I guess my eyes are more sensitive to blur and judder than those of the HDTVTest guys because I find the picture very poor and quite a strain on the eyes. Fortunately Richer Sounds have been excellent and the TV will probably be going back.

[jumpsuit]

Hi again

Good to see you did your research!

Unfortunately the HDTVTest review you saw would appear correct.

I'm glad though that Richer Sounds are helping you.

Don't let it put you off Sony though. (My 10 year old set still has a better picture on it than most mid-range TVs do nowadays.)

Note to members (including me lol):

I would urge all our members splashing out large amounts of money on a product to always get reviews / search Youtube / go into store and physically see the product before buying where possible.

[avfann02]

Thanks for your replies. However difficult and inconvenient, I'll have to try and make the time to view my next set before buying. Having said that, it doesn't excuse Sony deliberately misleading customers regarding MotionFlow/LED Motion (and it's something they're fully aware of, hence them quoting the Advertising Standards Authority on other threads regarding it). Plus, it's quite possible I may not have noticed the degree of blur and judder viewing instore - I've found in the past there's no substitute for getting the TV up and running in your own home, and indeed in the past I've noticed anomolies at home that I'd missed at the instore demo.

I have to say though that I am put off buying Sony again, not just because they are misleading customers over this, but also with the way they respond to people who complain, both on these forums and when contacting them..

[Jonnie1266]

Hear hear, to echo Jumpy

We have four KDL-52W3000 TV's wall mounted in our Control Room at work used for monitoring purposes. These TV's have been on continuously 24/7 for over seven years now and they are still in perfect service !! 

Okay, they may not be the deepest blacks nor the whitest whites any more but it certainly inspires regarding longivity. It is most suprising just how much these TV's can take. I no longer worry about the one in my living room, it doesn't get a quarter of the abuse.

[rooobb]

Given that I don't have a W7 by myself, my understanding is that LED Motion (in Sony as in other manufacturer's product) implement a tecnhnique called Black Frame Insertion (BFI) that, as the name suggest, insert a black frame between the originale 25Hz frame received from the source in order to enhance the sharpness and reduce blur. Its backside is that by design it reduce the brigthness.

AFAIK there is no control on W7 about the Motionflow setting even if it is implemented, it is managed automatically by the TV. I suggest you to try with different scene setting, the Sport one should be the one that make more use of the motionflow interpolation.

Don't use LED Motion.

[avfann02]

As you suspect, this television has no user controls for MotionFlow settings and, according to hdtvtest, there is no motion processing without LED Motion being enabled, despite Sony advertising this television as having MotionFlow, which has various settings, including settings providing motion-compensated frame interpolation (MCFI), far superior to BFI, which you mention, and which is all you get with LED Motion. In fact, possibly the most effective MotionFlow setting is 'clear', which is mainly MCFI with just a touch of BFI. Again, this option is not available with LED Motion. 

As for sport mode, these eyes can't see any improvement in motion handling, in keeping with hdtvtest's findings.

And yes, I had gathered by now that LED Motion should not be used.