2015 Bravia Android TV Issues

[NickCo1979]

I thought I'd create a generic thread to cover off the issues being encountered on the 2015 Bravia Android TVs. I've listed my issues below with fixes / workarounds and responses from support. All comments and solutions welcome!

1) Hot Swap HDMI doesn't work - manifested by no input on HDMI channels 2, 3 and 4 on the KD-49X8305C. Workaround - reset the TV, either by holding down the remote power button for 5 seconds or by switching the TV off at the wall and then back on again. Further details on this thread: https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/kd-49x8305c-hdmi-2-3-4-inputs-not-working/td-p/1944435

2) HDD Recording doesn't work - error message states a system update is required but none is available when checking. Hopefully this will be fixed soon by a firmware update.

3) Netflix App doesn't work - this seems like the app has been deliberately disabled. So far a support case has only recommended that a factory reset be performed (took two days to get to that cracking piece of advice.....), with no improvement as a result. A temporary (albeit for advanced users only) workaround is provided by MikeLothian on this thread - https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/netflix-support-for-kd55x8509c-android-tv/td-p/1945360 

4) Sound lag and performance issues after the TV (KD-49X8305C) has been on standby for a while - manifested for me as stuttering and sound / picture sync issues in all apps (youtube, amazon instant video etc) and HDMI sources (PS4, seperate YouView box etc). Hopefully this will be fixed in a firmware update, at the moment workarounds involve either changing channels to get the sync to work or in my case having to turn the TV off and then on again at the socket.

As stated previously, all comments welcome. Personally I'm willing to give Sony a couple of weeks to fix this, but if it's not done soon I'll be sending my new TV back for a refund as it's not really fit for purpose.

[Caledonian_TV]

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@UKPiglet wrote:

John Lewis collected my KD55X9305 yesterday.

When the refund comes...does anyone have recommendations for a good quality 55" smart tv with great sound or do I have to have a TV and a less wife-approved sound system too?

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The problem is you cannot change the laws of physics... And the smaller and thinner TV cabinets become the closer to impossible it gets to incorporate a functional loudspeaker enclosure...

Although a soundbar would be much much cheaper, and at the price a surround system looms into reach - as your wife is perhaps averse to the invasion of these things - have you considered something along the lines of the NAD 3020 paired to a suitably-stylish speakers on brackets either side of the set?  - Cambridge Minx Minis perhaps? 

http://nadelectronics.com/products/digital-music/D-3020-Hybrid-Digital-Amplifier

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/speakers/minx-min-11-21

Cambridge also do some good soundbases...

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/tv-sound/tvb2  

You're then well beyond 'great' sound territory and into 'excellent' territory...

[Caledonian_TV]

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@jowettandrew wrote:

Hi I am new to this forum and I am currently looking for a new TV to replace my 10 year old Sharp panel. Many retailers are pushing this KD43X8309c from Sony saying crashes a bugs are gone from this forum I am guessing this is not the case. Would you guys recommend waiting to see if 2016 improves sony sets or am I better going to another brand like Panasonic or Samsung?

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If you want a new TV in that range now then it pains me to say thet Sony have nothing reliable on the market at the moment.  - Additionally, even if the 2016 models turn out to be 'rock-solid', given what has happened with the 2015 Android range, it will realistically be in the region of eighteen months to two years from now before any kind of certainty can be established as to whether they're on top of their game or not again.

I'm afraid the retailers are lying through their teeth...  To the extent that I have seen examples on their shop floors locked up and re-booting just as my old set did. 

Others have pointed to the Samsung range and they do look like excellent contenders.  - We have small Samsung panels in our edit suites and they are excellent performers; especially set against their budget price.  - I'd see no reason not to give them very serious consideration.  

[UKPiglet]

"Cambridge also do some good soundbases..."

Thanks - yes, I think this is the route I need to go. I've had good experienace with that brand.

[mark-bo]

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UKPiglet wrote:

John Lewis collected my KD55X9305 yesterday.

When the refund comes...does anyone have recommendations for a good quality 55" smart tv with great sound or do I have to have a TV and a less wife-approved sound system too?

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I returned my KD55X8509C just before Christmas due to the whole range of problems reported here, including the constant need to reboot, the sluggishness of the whole UI, the random turning itself on and the failure to turn off, plus the issues with the satellite, I had them all. The picture was excellent so I was very concerned that choosing an alternative brand would match the Sony picture quality.

In the end I settled for the Samsung UE55JS8000 (The flat screen version of the curved JS8500 that What HiFi awarded best TV in its range in this year’s awards). It was more expensive, however, the picture is stunning even better than the Sony. Watching HD TV is a real enjoyable experience. It has the option for either Freesat or general sat with diseqc, although you get the option to use either terrestrial or satellite not both together. The Hard Disc recording is excellent with the choice of single or series recording. No Youview but all 4 catchup services work perfectly. Not as good selection of apps as you get with android but more than adequate. I even got a free 6 month subscription to Netflix including their UHD programmes. One unusual feature is that HDMI and USB inputs are located in a small separate box which in turn plugs into the tv with a single cable. This makes cable management easier and tidier as well as being much easier to plug or unplug additional items as necessary such as a portable hard disc for recording. On the Sony the HDMI cables were visible sticking out the side which I thought was a design fault locating some of the sockets so close to the side. Sound quality is not bad either, much better than the Sony although not as good as a soundbar, but quite acceptable after boosting the treble and bass with the equaliser. I have had two firmware updates one out of the box and one a few days ago and both installed in less than a minute.

All in all I am very pleased with the Samsung, everything works just as it should, but equally disappointed that the Sony could not equal it or perform as a tv of a premium price and premium brand should. For the sake of those waiting on the end of March update, I hope it solves the problems for you.

[MaxUHD]

But what is puzzling me is that some TVs, mine included, do indeed seem pretty stable.

I've had the TV almost 4 months now I think and I've never needed to disconnect the power yet. I can count on one hand the number of times it has become a bit sluggish and a soft reboot from the remote control has fixed that every time. I've not had any of these random reboots, power on, power off, lost settings etc issues. I basically just watch my TV, from my FreeSat recorder with occasional catch-ups from YouView which seems to work ok for me. I also have Kodi installed which I use to watch my own content from a USB attached HDD and to stream some stuff and that works fine. I usually dip into YouTube every day also to watch some music videos mainly and again going into and coming out of that seems ok? It goes without saying that picture and sound is top quality. I use a wired connection to my LAN rather than WiFi and that seems stable. Although I did set up a static IP address and changed the DNS settings to what I prefer.

I know that the issues people are raising are real because frankly you just wouldn't get this many pages of complaints otherwise. I just wish I knew why some people seem to be trouble free whilst others seem to get grief and glitches all the time? Is it the TVs themselves? Am I doing something different? Is there a configuration change that I have applied that has helped? If we could figure out something like that then maybe we could come up with something that mght help at least some of those dissappointed with their TV? Just a few thoughts of mine as I have no axe to grind for or against Sony.

[cozzykim]

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@UKPiglet wrote:

"Cambridge also do some good soundbases..."

Thanks - yes, I think this is the route I need to go. I've had good experienace with that brand.

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There's the Cambridge TV5, with 5 star reviews, and about £299

http://www.whathifi.com/cambridge-audio/tv5/review

There's also the Sony HT-XT1 (I liked it so much that I bought two), 4star review, but currently £199 at JL and Curry's:

http://www.whathifi.com/sony/ht-xt1/review?oq=HT-XT1&src=dropdown&aq=Sony%2CHT-XT1&type=review&pos=t...

The HT-XT1 has a far more flexible range of connectivity that either the TV5 or its sister TV2 and even has some sonic advantage over the TV2

A 'no brainer' at the price in my view, and something that Sony have made an excellent design and build of, in this case at least.

Edited to change price of HT-XT1 to £199, because What HiFi link was to HT-XT100 

[royabrown]

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@Caledonian_TV wrote:

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Mine was a KD49X8305C - Not quite the same model but possibly very close?  Yours has a slightly higher processing rate (900Hz) - it may also be rarer since the 800Hz models are £40 cheaper, and most people wouldn't appreciate the difference...   - That small tweak may well account for better stability.  

...The 1000Hz '09 model seems to account for a fair few complaints too; and is the same price as the '07.  - Possibly contributing further to the rarity of the '07...  

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I continue to exhibit a healthy scepticism that 05s, 07s and 09s differ in any way other than the cosmetic ones of bezel and stand colour.

Why on earth would Sony offer different processing rates, to gain the advantage of which you are forced into a particular colour selection? Indeed, why offer different processing rates at all?

And why would the 09 and the 07 be the same price and the 05 not? If a 100Hz really cost you £40, then the 09 should be a further £40 dearer surely?

i know somebody from Sony confirmed these numbers, but I'm backing my hunch that this would not make the remotest commercial sense, even for Sony, who on present showing, could not find their a--e with both hands under a bright light 😞

Not of course, that it is a processing rate. It's the MotionFlow enhancer rate. But, even as a totally experienced broadcast professional, could you, or any instrument in your armoury, tell the difference between these three rates, and objectively confirm that they are indeed different on these three sets?

I suspect that it would be easier to measure the density of three samples of snake oil.

What say you - is there any way these supposedly different rates could be put to the test by an independent laboratory, outside of Sony?

[ricsmith5]

MaxUHD,

first set bought August 2015, replaced first week of Novemeber 2015, just awaiting date for exchange to third!

[ricsmith5]

MaxUHD,

Your useage of the tv - I have the same model - almost replicates my own use.

Mine to was very stable to begin with but has slowly started to have numerous issues.

Fiest tv was better than the 2nd, who knows what no.3 will be like................

[Caledonian_TV]

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royabrown wrote:

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Caledonian_TV wrote:

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Mine was a KD49X8305C - Not quite the same model but possibly very close?  Yours has a slightly higher processing rate (900Hz) - it may also be rarer since the 800Hz models are £40 cheaper, and most people wouldn't appreciate the difference...   - That small tweak may well account for better stability.  

...The 1000Hz '09 model seems to account for a fair few complaints too; and is the same price as the '07.  - Possibly contributing further to the rarity of the '07...  

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I continue to exhibit a healthy scepticism that 05s, 07s and 09s differ in any way other than the cosmetic ones of bezel and stand colour.

Why on earth would Sony offer different processing rates, to gain the advantage of which you are forced into a particular colour selection? Indeed, why offer different processing rates at all?

And why would the 09 and the 07 be the same price and the 05 not? If a 100Hz really cost you £40, then the 09 should be a further £40 dearer surely?

i know somebody from Sony confirmed these numbers, but I'm backing my hunch that this would not make the remotest commercial sense, even for Sony, who on present showing, could not find their a--e with both hands under a bright light 😞

Not of course, that it is a processing rate. It's the MotionFlow enhancer rate. But, even as a totally experienced broadcast professional, could you, or any instrument in your armoury, tell the difference between these three rates, and objectively confirm that they are indeed different on these three sets?

I suspect that it would be easier to measure the density of three samples of snake oil.

What say you - is there any way these supposedly different rates could be put to the test by an independent laboratory, outside of Sony?

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Factually Sony offer versions of these sets with different 'processing' rates. Legally that means that they must be able to produce clear evidence that there is a material difference between those three different versions...

At no point do I offer any sort of endorsement of these variations; it should tell you something that I didn't think the 1000hz worth the extra £40...   Actually I wouldn't think such a variation was worth an extra 40p!

I merely acknowledge their existance and note (tacitly) that this will mean minor variations in circuit configuration...  A resistor value here, a link there... Perhaps even a clock crystal changed or an L-C network altered... Variants like this are not remotely difficult to produce in a modern assembly facility... With a common PCB it's just a different pick-list  for the board to be populated with.

Very small circuit variations in a complex structure can have effects on overall performance and reliability.  - Even something as trivial as a 'bad batch' of one component like an inductor or capacitor can leave a manufacturer with a 'bad batch' of product. - Therefore it is entirely possible that one variant may or may not behave slightly differently from another in reliability terms... 

Similarly...  I neither know nor care why Sony would offer different 'processing' rates! But living in the world where they sell toy cameras by the megapixel and trashy stereo systems by the Watt it should't be too hard to work out the commercial 'sense' of this...  Likewise; how the heck would I know or what would I care about the logic behind Curry's pricing policies? 

If you have doubts as to the probity of Sony's claims please DO feel free to raise them with both Sony themselves and Trading Standards.