Sony 4k Televisions- Sore to watch?

Found 5th Feb

Hi all,

I have recently ventured into the world of 4k television and the picture is amazing but I just don't find them very comfortable to watch. I have purchased a Sony XE558596 and XE498005 but there is just something about them which I just find tiring to watch which ruins the viewing experience. It feels a bit like eye strain/fatigue.

Has anyone heard of this happening before for other brands/4K TVs, could it be a settings in Sony's TV which I need to turn off, could it be Sony TVs in general(for me)? These are the first Sony TVs I have ever owned-I have never felt anything like this watching any other TV brand or screens.

I sit roughly 7-9ft away from the TV and the room is always well lit.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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14 Comments

5th Feb

Mines fine xe499005 version but i have done quite alot of tinkering with the picture settings from rtings.com/tv/…ngs

Original Poster

5th Feb

Thanks for the information. Was hoping that it perhaps wasn't just me!

5th Feb

What inputs are you feeding into it?

5th Feb

Make sure the brightness is set appropriately to your viewing environment. Too high an average brightness will cause eyestrain.

The other common thing would be the backlight strobing which improves motion but some people are sensitive to the flicker. I believe that's the clearness slider in motionflow settings.

5th Feb

Are the motion enhancement features on or commonly known as "soap opera effect"? I don't know if that would cause fatigue but very annoying.

5th Feb

Google Sony XE(your model number) optimal picture settings.

Factory settings on any TV is not great.

Original Poster

5th Feb

Thanks all, will continue to play about, I’m not a tv/picture expert so default settings are all normally fine for me, which is why it’s annoying me.

Standard inputs such as Virgin media, Apple TV, ps4 pro.

5th Feb

dav4652 h, 26 m ago
Thanks all, will continue to play about, I’m not a tv/picture expert so d …Thanks all, will continue to play about, I’m not a tv/picture expert so default settings are all normally fine for me, which is why it’s annoying me.Standard inputs such as Virgin media, Apple TV, ps4 pro.

Try this.

rtings.com/tv/…ngs

6th Feb

Most likely just eye strain from sitting to far away and trying to focus on the extra detail. Also HDR can cause issues much light shining a flashlight in your eyes. As endless says you need to have bias backlighting to keep your pupils undilated. Also depends on what you were using before as a lot of older tv's have softer more diffused lighting.

Edited by: "kester76" 6th Feb

Original Poster

6th Feb

kester765 h, 1 m ago
Most likely just eye strain from sitting to far away and trying to focus …Most likely just eye strain from sitting to far away and trying to focus on the extra detail. Also HDR can cause issues much light shining a flashlight in your eyes. As endless says you need to have bias backlighting to keep your pupils undilated. Also depends on what you were using before as a lot of older tv's have softer more diffused lighting.

Previous tv was HD 47inch Lg TV. When I go back watching it I normallu feel some sort of instant relief, its such an odd feeling. I want to enjoy some 4K! No one else experiences it in the house, seems to be just me.

I don't think I sit too far away 7ft-9ft (depending on seat) should be ideal.

Thanks all

6th Feb

dav4659 h, 28 m ago
Previous tv was HD 47inch Lg TV. When I go back watching it I normallu …Previous tv was HD 47inch Lg TV. When I go back watching it I normallu feel some sort of instant relief, its such an odd feeling. I want to enjoy some 4K! No one else experiences it in the house, seems to be just me.I don't think I sit too far away 7ft-9ft (depending on seat) should be ideal.Thanks all

Doesn't quite work like that, you need to be up close to enjoy 4k properly. At 55" it's equivalent to having 4x 27.5" 1080p screens combined so 9' away is a long way off and 7' is just in.

You need to remember that just because you can see the image on the screen doesn't mean you can see all the detail. Grab a chair and sit a little bit closer and see if that resolves the problem.

Original Poster

7th Feb

kester7614 h, 53 m ago
[Image] Doesn't quite work like that, you need to be up close to enjoy 4k …[Image] Doesn't quite work like that, you need to be up close to enjoy 4k properly. At 55" it's equivalent to having 4x 27.5" 1080p screens combined so 9' away is a long way off and 7' is just in.You need to remember that just because you can see the image on the screen doesn't mean you can see all the detail. Grab a chair and sit a little bit closer and see if that resolves the problem.

Thanks for this, perhaps that is a possibility. I never appreciated the better the tv the closer the optimal difference is, and the significant difference between 1080 and 4k.

I feel that 2m is very close!

7th Feb

dav4651 h, 35 m ago
Thanks for this, perhaps that is a possibility. I never appreciated the …Thanks for this, perhaps that is a possibility. I never appreciated the better the tv the closer the optimal difference is, and the significant difference between 1080 and 4k.I feel that 2m is very close!

Yeah. Full HD is as much as you need for most peoples viewing distances and TV sizes, 4K is just filling in around the edges for those with very large or very close TVs (e.g. desktop use).

Of course that comparison assumes that everything else is the same. Some offerings of 4K content are better quality in ways other than the resolution, when compared to their Full HD equivalents. And you can't just show them on a Full HD TV and get the benefits due to the new HDCP2.2 copy protection only being made available on 4K models.

7th Feb

dav4655 h, 26 m ago
Thanks for this, perhaps that is a possibility. I never appreciated the …Thanks for this, perhaps that is a possibility. I never appreciated the better the tv the closer the optimal difference is, and the significant difference between 1080 and 4k.I feel that 2m is very close!

For 1080p it would be kind of close. It's the same as pages out of a book, the text stays the same size but you have more pages. The down side is there's more information to absorb so you can sometimes get lost on the larger scenes.