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.

[baz4096]

Yeah I'd disable auto update and make sure you disconnect your geo proxy/vpn before performing any updates. I wish I could give you advice on getting the UK firmware back, but another user a few pages back had a similar issue and Peter (community guy from Sony) recommended getting in touch with Sony Support.

[Peter_S.]

Hi everyone,

Yes, if you changed your proxy settings and a wrong software has been installed to your TV you won't be able to change the software back or update it to another version since the TV will update to newer versions only.

So if this has happened to you unfortunately you have to contact service. They should be able to change your firmware back to the correct version.

Cheers

Peter

[MrLizard]

So the TV's current region is based entirely on the location of whatever proxy server a TV is connecting via?  That's far from ideal.

Firstly, depending on the type of geographical service that's in use, that may cause problems even for non-proxy users.  IPv4 address depletion has meant that contiguous IP address ranges are becoming less easy to obtain, and indeed IP blocks that do exist are being sold off to the highest bidder.  As such an IP range that may have once belonged to, say, a large company in Sweden could pop up over night in an ISP in Canada if they happen to buy the range and put it into use.

Otherwise, there is no hard relationship whatsoever with IP address and physical location and there never has been.  It is entirely implicit.  I guarantee that this will cause problems sooner or later.  I suggest that Sony gets a fix in to their firmware as quickly as possible that allows a user to define their physical location to prevent such issues from occurring.

If anyone from Sony's engineering team wants to discuss further please PM me.

[baz4096]

MrLizard: I agree completely, determining firmware version based upon the current geolocation of your IP address seems silly to me. Why not look at the currently installed firmware (EU/UK/IE/USA etc) and simply apply the relevant update based on that? Or as you suggest, let people set the region in the update menu.

[waynefatboy]

Weird thing is tho the dns proxy was set to an American ip but the software version says eu, I would have thought it would have changed it to American when doing the update

[waynefatboy]

Also would factory reset sort it, have only had it a couple of weeks so haven't really finished customizing it yet so won't lose much

Cheers

Fatz

[Publiclyavailable]

A New Problem?

I've managed to post this here at last. 

Last evening, I watched a 4K UHD example broadcast from a European station via satellite for a few minutes - a bit like the Sky UHD one.  When switching channels to the next station, the picture is ultra zoomed-in. The result is that the picture occupies the right hand half of the screen, approximately, and the picture that is there is ultra zoomed in such that only about the top left 10-15%% of the picture is actually visible; like the newsreader's right ear and a bit of neck. This is made up of low res lines and then persists on all channels; it can be removed only by unplugging.

Another interesting quirk for the Sony Boffins to ignore....?

Regards,

PA

[UKPiglet]

Your previous post with that got here. Page 368

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/2015-bravia-android-tv-issues/td-p/1949079/page/368

[Peter_S.]

Hello everyone,

Hardware specific the European models are equal (except power plug) but different to US sets.

Therefore the IP check detected that you're not living in the UK and applied the EU version to your TV.

Unfortunately I factory reset won't solve the issue.

Anyway, probably the next firmware update for UK end of March will turn your TV back into a UK version.

Cheers

Peter

[noelc63]

@Caledonian_TV

1) Random freezing and resetting

Still there. I had one reset just yesterday after switching between channels on different LNBs.

2) Satellite tuning

Still a pig. Still losing channels that were supposed to be kept and re-adding those that were deleted. See below.

3) 'Favourites' set up on satellite channels is unreliable

Absolutely nothing has changed with respect to this aspect of the set.

5) Using optical out lip-sync issues; picture leads the sound.

I can confirm that this is still an issue with the latest firmware. There is a noticeable lag in anything output over the optical out.

6) No DISEQC control;

I have three sats switching using Diseqc. However, the sat configuration is such a pig, I had to choose the TPs satellite by satellite that contain channels I wanted and tuned each separately.

7) UI is just nuts!

Still nuts. They should look at WebOS to see how a UI should be done.