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.

[frogger38]

@sonybox You might be right about the app interface. I don't use Netflix but Amazon Instant Video menus looks marginally softer than when using the FireTV stick. It is only just noticeable and doesn't cause me concern as when the video is playing, they are equally sharp.

[sonybox]

@frogger38 I think it has to do with sharpness settings. I changed hdmi 1 sharpness to 0 (usually at 75) and menus in the firetv were also blurry like Sony TV. 

But how does one setup sharpness for Sony tv interface to 75 also? I can only setup sharpness for hdmi inputs and not the interface itself. 

[royabrown]

I just tried to use the Music app.

Every song, though shown, said 'Cannot play this song'

Choosing Songs, rather than Albums, crashed out of the app immediately.

Choosing Artists produced a list of Artists OK, but on choosing any particular Artist, to get a list of their songs be it 3 or 73, produced an endless whirly. Which I gave 20 minutes, in two cases, and then gave up.

And no, I have not tried a soft reset. Even if this fixes it when I try it tomorrow, this should never have gone wrong in the first place.

[Pete4L]

Unresponsive Remote control Bravia KD-55X8507C

 Is anyone else experiencing problems with the remote control not changing the channel or when the TV is turned off the picture goes off but sound stays on? I have encountered this issue at least once a day (ever since the youview update of 4th November 2015) I have to turn the TV off & on again to get it to respond... what a joke!

[scoopy6]

royabrown said: "I have not tried a soft reset. Even if this fixes it when I try it tomorrow, this should never have gone wrong in the first place."

I haven't tried music, and know very little about this sort of thing, but in the forum it seems that there may be quite a few other actions by the user which have turned out to be capable of crashing the system, and that few of those have been sorted out since the Tv went on sale.

The principle, that a soft reset should be tried but should not be required, seems very reasonable, and it surely also applies to all the problems, including those which have been reported by members as having needed a mains-power-off instead.

I do hope that is wrong, because at worst it could mean that there are still an equal number of different things which need to be corrected by Sony.

[Softtoptel]

Me too. Done a reset and it seems ok for now 😃 Sent from my Terry's iPad 4g

[Heckie]

I don't understand how UK sets are getting HDD recording on 24th Dec, but everyone else isn't.

Does that mean its coming to YouView ?

Pretty annoying not being able to pause or rewind live TV. I can live without recording, but not pause or rewind! 

[frogger38]

---

@Heckie wrote:

I don't understand how UK sets are getting HDD recording on 24th Dec, but everyone else isn't.

Does that mean its coming to YouView ?

Pretty annoying not being able to pause or rewind live TV. I can live without recording, but not pause or rewind! 

---

As I understand it, after the update, we will have to disable YouView to use HDD Rec. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Currently if you press REC now, the error says "not available with YouView" if you disable YouView then the error says " you need an update to use this function". 

I'm not sure you will ever be able to pause / rewind live TV although I can on my 5 year old Panasonic. 

[royabrown]

---

@Heckie wrote:

I don't understand how UK sets are getting HDD recording on 24th Dec, but everyone else isn't.

Does that mean its coming to YouView ?

Pretty annoying not being able to pause or rewind live TV. I can live without recording, but not pause or rewind! 

---

My working hypothesis is that Sony have to finalise successful native HDD operation and then give an API to YouView before YouView can add HDD capability to their code.

Even on YouView boxes, which are pretty tightly specified by YouView, a lot of the bare-metal operation devolves to the box suppliers' firmware, so while YouView has a pretty good idea of how HDD recording should work, and what the feature set should be, it's not like they have a body of code for HDD recording that can be ready before Sony can implement their version.

Accordingly, I see no way that HDD recording in the UK can be ready before it is ready elsewhere, and the only reason we still have the 24 Dec date is that Sony won't publish a revised UK date until they are more sure about this, and the best we can hope for is Feb 29 2016.

I'd be more than happy to be wrong about this, and perhaps Sony would like to contradict me, but as long as the announcement continues to say that YouView will not get HDD until after the Freeview side gets it, I don't see any way that YouView can ride to the rescue here, and I also don't see any way the UK can get HDD those magical two months before anyone else.

Sony, anything to say here?

[GypsyB]

The helpline told me a couple of days ago (December 3rd) that the update is now coming in March!! Disaster! I thought I would have record etc on my new tv like I had on my 2010 Panasonic.

cant believe Sony don't tell customers that the tv doesn't have features until after we have bought it and rung the helpline.

I wish the online and/or inbuilt instructions were easier to navigate (with a search option) and also much more comprehensive - they're extremely basic and minimal.

If I try to go to the Google store app to buy more apps it just crashes, I wish you could block or delete certain channels rather than just having a blanket age related parental block and I have a host of other problems that I don't unberstand.

Bought KDL55W807C December 2015