I think it is overpriced. Not that it is a horrible TV, but for how much you pay for it... there are better models out there.

While blacks on the W804 is decent (you have to activate Adv. Contrast though), it does crush shadow detail if you put Gamma at -2. Unfortunately, having Gamma at anyhting higher than -1 would make the TV too washed out, no matter what your contrast on brightness settings are.

Color accuracy is poor on the W804, especially blue levels. Enabling the Clear White helps a little bit but you will have to offset the Red and Green bias a little bit so that you still keep proper greyscales.

In terms of input lag, the W804 is amazing if you play games. Meassured around 16ms with a Leo Bodnar lag tester device. I usually think passive 3D is stupid (as is 3D entirely), so I'm not going to comment on this one.

So once again, the W804 isn't really a bad TV but just decent enough. Just that paying over RM3k (I don't know how much of a discount you got, but I assume the total price is still at least RM3k) for the TV isn't a good deal.

A plasma, specifically a Samsung PS51F5500 for RM3.2k. Has everything the Sony W804 has but just leaps better.

Better blacks, way better color accuracy, handles motion better, a more robust Smart TV option (this though doesn't mean anything if you're using a HTPC or a media player with XBMC of course), has 3D as well (bleh), and just downright better picture quality with a lot more options to really calibrate the TV unlike the W804's fairly limited options.

About the only thing the W804 does better is lower input lag, lower power consumption and it handles bright rooms better (as is with all LCD TVs).

Well, I wouldn't know the variable circumstances you are facing in your own stead because you didn't mention it. The question from you was which TV between RM3k - RM4k would I pick.
No offense taken of course, no worries.

Therefore in my eyes, 3D all together is a stupid thing. I meant no offense to 3D lovers, I respect the fact that you like 3D.
But 3D is still stupid to me, at this point in time.

Youtube doesn't crash as much. That's about it.

I understand. I've got no issues with people liking 3D, but that's also why I've been saying in my opinion and in my eyes all this while in regards to 3D being bad.

Yes to bolded.

Your room is 8 feet from wall to wall or you're gonna sit 8 feet away from the TV? There's a difference.

If you just use 1080p sources, then 55" is... well, barely fine. Play 720p or worse, SD content and you'll see the darkside of upscaling.
So if I were you, honestly no deal. A 46" would be a better bet.

Wow... that far, even SD would look like HD. It'll be extremely hard to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p too.

If you are asking if USB playback supports movies encoded in DTS, then yes it does.

Most if not all TVs don't send DTS out from the optical port, so no way around it. Otherwise, get a Dolby Digital AC3/5.1 version for the movies you are watching.
The solution is to get your source directly to your HTS and let it decode from there.

Well if your HT cannot switch sources then there's a little bit of trouble there. You can try getting a HDMI switcher box perhaps?


You mean HDMI out from the TV to your HTS? The TV doesn't have HDMI out though.

They just announced new models at CES 2014 last week.
The W950B, W850B, W800B, W630B, and W600B. Very sure they'll have a new IPS panel on the W8B series.

Here are some brief details - http://store.sony.com/-cms-ces.2014.television.landing.page

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Jan 15 2014, 04:32 AM

Yes, looking forward to it too. After how Sony has sort of dissapointed with the current W8 series (in comparison to what they did with the W9 and W7/W6 that is), really hoping they have a better IPS panel in hand.

IIRC, the Samsung 7500 series has an input lag of 47ms and above. The 7100 is also about that high although I'm not quite sure.

The Samsung obviously looks better than the W804 though, but I personally feel that 47ms is a little bit too high for gaming. You may not be able to tell the lag if you aren't sensitive to it and aren't playing competitive games however.
So here's the deal, if you are going to get a Samsung ES7500, why not just get the Sony W904a instead? You get an input lag of 19ms, a TV that looks as good as the ES7500 (I personally feel W904 is even better with the deeper blacks and screen uniformity) and you pay less (last I checked).

Do you even need 3D? If you don't, save some money and get the W7 instead. I've never recommended the W8 due to its decent-at-best black levels.

I personally think 3D is stupid for a TV size under 60". It's just not immersive enough to be worth the trouble, it's also just a gimmick in my eyes that doesn't add visual flair to most movies save for a few special ones that does it well.
So it's up to you decide if 3D is important to you or not, if so then head for the W804 or even the LG LA7400.

For W8? LG.

Because it's not hard to find out? Check the panel serial, verify on the manufacturer's site, use a zoom lens to check on panel pixels, etc.
Do some research on panelook.com.

It's not difficult to find out what panel which TV uses, unless it is modified.

W6 - AUO VA panel
W7 - AUO VA panel
W8 - LG IPS
W9 - AUO VA Panel

ARC has got nothing to do with 5.1, in a way whether they work or not. Read up on ARC - http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/arc.aspx

Explain more on why your HT isn't working though. No audio? No signal?
As for Sony's Smart TV, unfortunately it is something they'll never be able to match Samsung or LG in. Ridiculous, coming from a company who owns the PlayStation brand, lol.

At least there's Netflix and Hulu Plus however.