Hi all,

this is my first post and I'm looking for some info to help me decide which of the following Sony HDTV models to get and where:

KD-34XS955 KD-34XBR960

I live in Toronto and I'm considering going to the US to buy the set as the XBR is not available in Canada and to add insult to injury the US XBR is cheaper than the XS955 in Canada!

I have three concerns

1. Differences between the cable card readers for Canada/US. It's a standard so they should be the same right? I have Look as my provider and I'm wondering if the built in card reader can replace my STB from look. This would be a real plus as the Look one is a crappy RCA that breaks down every two years.

2. Is HDCP (Highband Digital Copy Protection) built into the US models as well? I only see it listed as a "feature" on the Canadian Sonystyle website. Could this be the reason of the price difference? I always thought it was just the price of the French manual and some gouging but wouldn't be a nice coup for the CRTC to force Sony to include a copy protection scheme for their Canadian customers and charge us for the privilege!

3. And finally I read a lot of reviews of the XBR being a dud out of the box. Obviously this is an issue if I'm getting it from the states. It has been suggested that due to the size/weight of the set they get dropped during delivery and as long as I pick it up I should be Ok.

I'm really torn between a crt and LCD BTW. The purist in me says CRT is best but I love the impact of a large picture. Going with LCD would be against my better judgement I think. I'm looking the take the leap in the next few months.

Thanks in advance

Cable Card is ONLY for QAM cable TV (digital encryped, ie what you would get from Rogers or Shaw or Cogeco). Look is that microwave system, right? So it's essentially the same as satellite - Cable Card has absolutely nothing to do with it, so you'll need to keep your STB. I should also note that, in at least the case of Rogers, they have zero plans currently to support Cable Card. From what I hear, no one over there even knows what they are.



HDCP is a required part of any current DVI or HDMI interface. It does not apply elsewhere.

That's too bad. It would be nice to lose it. It has a card in the back just like bell's does. I don't know how cable stb works but I thought they would all work on the same principle.


So it's part of the standard it just that Sonly USA doesn't bother listing it on their website.



Thanks for clearing it up.

For a while Sony of Canada was releasing specialized models up here that stripped out certain advanced features like DVI/HDCP ports, so HDCP it probably is still a new thing to them, while it's old hat in the US. :-)