Jump to content

Time To Enjoy The 65 Vt20a


Recommended Posts

Here's what one review http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-t...20100520694.htm says (in relation to the UK 50" model):-

Gamma tracking was a little crooked, closely resembling the characteristics of the Panasonic S20 Plasma display which we reviewed last week. The Panasonic TX-P50VT20 does feature a Gamma control, which allows the user to select from one of several preset gamma curves — but in the THX picture mode, it does absolutely nothing! No loss, though: switching over to the “Professional1″ mode, which is identical to the THX mode before any adjustments are made, gives full control. It also unlocks the Colour Management System, which will be of use later.

Has anyone other than re-boot tried switching their 65" Australian VT20 between THX and default Prof1?

How weird.

THX and Pro 1 are 100% definitely _not_ identical on my TV. I have a 50", so I don't know if that makes any difference.

I just pause it on a scene with a fair bit of white on it, and switch between the modes.

It's as clear as day to me.

Mind you I see flicker, and sometimes rainbow like effects on high contrast scenes, so maybe it's just me.

Edit: I just that article and they state floating blacks aren't a problem on this model. But I've witnessed it. Only once, but it's repeatable. I've played the same scene over and over again in different modes and lighting and can say it only occurred in Cinema/Normal mode with ambient lighting in the room. The brighter the room, the more prominent it was. If I shut the blinds, it didn't happen at all. It does not happen at all in THX or Pro modes.

Edited by re-boot
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Replies 264
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

How weird.

THX and Pro 1 are 100% definitely _not_ identical on my TV. I have a 50", so I don't know if that makes any difference.

I just pause it on a scene with a fair bit of white on it, and switch between the modes.

It's as clear as day to me.

Mind you I see flicker, and sometimes rainbow like effects on high contrast scenes, so maybe it's just me.

My THX and Pro 1 where the same on my VT20 65inch - the only reason I went for Pro 1 (apart from doing my own adjustments) was to turn Overscan On to get rid of the FTA edges. THX has over scan OFF.

Yes, THX is yellow - and it can be a rather rude shock depending on what settings and TV you have used in the past - but give it an hour viewing or so and you will never look back.

THX is also very close to perfect straight out of the box - only very minimal adjustments are needed when time comes to calibrate (if your into adjusting/calibrating your TV).

The other thing you can do if the THX settings are not the same in Pro 1 or 2 - you can use the copy settings function so you don't have to write everything down etc etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did some exploring last night and found that Cinema Mode with the colour knocked back and Colour Balance set to cool was an improvement on my previous Normal Mode settings. Black levels jumped out. I'll do some more trials with other modes soon.

I checked online on the Bonus Pack and downloaded the UK manual for the SC-BTT775 HT system. I became concerned about it's connectivity. Now I find there are conflicting statements and opinions as to whether the bundled 3D/BD player can be integrated with our AVR/HT setup.

This morning, three people at Panasonic Customer Care had different views. One says the HDMI will output both audio and video to the AVR if you select some setting in the Menu. Another says it all depends upon whether your AVR can handle it. The third says NO - the HDMI will only output video to the TV and not audio. It is labelled ARC and will receive TV audio from the HDMI ARC in. And it will only work with the included speakers connected.

One of our local HN salesmen said he'd found the same thing when a customer had enquired some time ago.

Anyone found it works with their AVR system?

Looks like I better get a standalone 3dBD player to “wow” the guests over Xmas. I’ve got until this afternoon’s close to decide. Thinking of the Sony BDP S470 as an entry unit.

AHHH! - - - Just remembered, we need to wait for the Bonus Package to get the second pair of glasses. The urgency has all gone.

Seasons Greetings to All.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems there are several VT20 65inch threads but I'm going to put my post here in regards to panel settings.

Basically I'm running THX settings in Pro 1 - these settings I use for 2D viewing only.

Pro 1 -

Contrast 40

Brightness 0

Colour 50

Sharpness 10

Tint 0

Eco Off

P-NR Off

Panel On

Advanced Settings -

All Default (0)

Gamma 2.2

Today I used the DVE Bluray to see what I could come up with. My main issue is with the "Colour" setting. Using the enclosed RGB DVE filters to get the RGB settings right - the "Colour" I came up with should be around 65. Although when I set up the "blue" this could have easily been on 47-48 but R and G were not giving me clear blocks - to get each channel clear, as per the filter, 65 was the best setting.

To me this was to high, as most of the calibration settings I have come across for "Colour" are around 30.

I know it is personal choice - but 65 looks a little too saturated (eventhough DVE filters say it is correct(ish) ) and 30 looks unsturated. I've compromised at 50 (which is the default THX setting).

Anybody have a view on the "Colour" setting or any of my settings above?

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems there are several VT20 65inch threads but I'm going to put my post here in regards to panel settings.

Basically I'm running THX settings in Pro 1 - these settings I use for 2D viewing only.

Pro 1 -

Contrast 40

Brightness 0

Colour 50

Sharpness 10

Tint 0

Eco Off

P-NR Off

Panel On

Advanced Settings -

All Default (0)

Gamma 2.2

Today I used the DVE Bluray to see what I could come up with. My main issue is with the "Colour" setting. Using the enclosed RGB DVE filters to get the RGB settings right - the "Colour" I came up with should be around 65. Although when I set up the "blue" this could have easily been on 47-48 but R and G were not giving me clear blocks - to get each channel clear, as per the filter, 65 was the best setting.

To me this was to high, as most of the calibration settings I have come across for "Colour" are around 30.

I know it is personal choice - but 65 looks a little too saturated (eventhough DVE filters say it is correct(ish) ) and 30 looks unsturated. I've compromised at 50 (which is the default THX setting).

Anybody have a view on the "Colour" setting or any of my settings above?

Cheers.

I too used the DVE BD disc. I found like you that colour setting goes over 50 UNLESS you adjust the White Balance and Colour Management settings.

These are my regular settings:

Professional 1

Contrast 36

Brightness 0

Colour 45

Sharpness 0

Tint +2

Eco Off

P-NR Off

Panel On

Advanced Settings -

White Balance

R-Gain +9

G-Gain -8

B-Gain 0

R-Cutoff +2

G-Cutoff 0

B-Cutoff +1

Colour Management

R-Hue +3

G-Hue -4

B-Hue 0

R-Saturation +3

G-Saturation +11

B-Saturation +8

Gamma 2.2

The above settings gives me as near as damnit the same colour as my calibrated 50" Kuro.

I get no crushed or floating blacks. Environment is darkened room with ambient panel backlighting setup as per the DVE suggestions. Backlight is 6400K.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Thanks Pfeff.

I haven't done much on the 3D side of things at the moment - due to lack of content. Currently just running James Cameron's preferred 3D settings for Avatar (although I don't like the contrast being up so high - but that's probably just me! :D )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Pfeff.

I haven't done much on the 3D side of things at the moment - due to lack of content. Currently just running James Cameron's preferred 3D settings for Avatar (although I don't like the contrast being up so high - but that's probably just me! :D )

I’ve always found that colour calibration was over saturated using firstly the DVE for DVDs a few years ago, then recently, Spears & Munsil for Blu-ray.

With both the Sony SXRDs previously, and yesterday, the P65VT20A, things were very similar.

I find the best way to do the display is to enable Source Direct on the player, select a default viewing mode on the TV, check out the disc’s patterns and adjust the “pluge” and Contrast accordingly - as close as I can get because the results never quite match the “correct” examples. (Actually the VT20A defaults are very close.) Then the colour bars as per blue filter. But every time, I’ve got to drop the colour level considerably for actual viewing (from 50 to currently 23 - I dislike rich, saturated colours). And, sometimes, tweaking the Bright and Contrast also helps to lift some sources. To be honest, as an outright amateur, I’ve not got much faith in my ability to calibrate from the disc. After a while, I get the feel and a nudge here and there (by eye); including White Balance (and now Colour Management with the VT20A) improves matters.

AVICAL will be coming up this way early next year. I might call upon his services.

Pfeff, I set up Pro1 as per your settings and experienced an over-rich, heavily “warm” colour balance. It is very good to try out other users’ preferred settings for comparison. Sometimes a particular characteristic goes unnoticed until brought to your attention and then you see the benefit (or otherwise).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve always found that colour calibration was over saturated using firstly the DVE for DVDs a few years ago, then recently, Spears & Munsil for Blu-ray.

With both the Sony SXRDs previously, and yesterday, the P65VT20A, things were very similar.

I find the best way to do the display is to enable Source Direct on the player, select a default viewing mode on the TV, check out the disc’s patterns and adjust the “pluge” and Contrast accordingly - as close as I can get because the results never quite match the “correct” examples. (Actually the VT20A defaults are very close.) Then the colour bars as per blue filter. But every time, I’ve got to drop the colour level considerably for actual viewing (from 50 to currently 23 - I dislike rich, saturated colours). And, sometimes, tweaking the Bright and Contrast also helps to lift some sources. To be honest, as an outright amateur, I’ve not got much faith in my ability to calibrate from the disc. After a while, I get the feel and a nudge here and there (by eye); including White Balance (and now Colour Management with the VT20A) improves matters.

AVICAL will be coming up this way early next year. I might call upon his services.

Pfeff, I set up Pro1 as per your settings and experienced an over-rich, heavily “warm” colour balance. It is very good to try out other users’ preferred settings for comparison. Sometimes a particular characteristic goes unnoticed until brought to your attention and then you see the benefit (or otherwise).

Actually I understand your summary quite well. I find FTA channels, especially 9 and some Foxtel channels are over-saturated with my Pro 1 settings. The main point for anyone trying mine or anyone elses' settings from that matter, is everyone is going to have personal preferences and anyone who prefers cool settings won't like mine that's for sure.

But I find BDs quite good, bearing in mind I was trying to emulate the source to the colour the director intended. I was reluctant to post the settings at all but since so few seemed prepared to share settings I decided to take the plunge. For Foxtel and FTA channels I use the following settings which are cooler but still probably warmer than you might like;

Professional 2

Contrast 40

Brightness 0

Colour 43

Sharpness 0

Tint +4

Eco Off

P-NR Off

Panel On

Advanced Settings -

White Balance

R-Gain -2

G-Gain -8

B-Gain +3

R-Cutoff 0

G-Cutoff 0

B-Cutoff -3

Colour Management

R-Hue 0

G-Hue 0

B-Hue 0

R-Saturation 0

G-Saturation 0

B-Saturation 0

Gamma 2.2

I am still working on the right 3D settings for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pfeff, I set up Pro1 as per your settings and experienced an over-rich, heavily “warm” colour balance. It is very good to try out other users’ preferred settings for comparison. Sometimes a particular characteristic goes unnoticed until brought to your attention and then you see the benefit (or otherwise).

I think it's horses for courses.

There are a number of variables - like what you are used to looking at, light in the room (and its colour temperature) etc etc etc.

I ran THX and when I first turned it on - yes it did look yellow/warm but I soon got used to it and after a while didn't notice it at all.

I been doing a bit of adjusting of late from the original THX setting.

I used Pfeff settings for most of today and found them to be OK - baring in mind, while we run the same model TV there are going to be some differences like I mentioned above. The only thing I found was on my set was Pfeff settings gave me a yellowish flatish skin tone - not tragic but I like a bit of punch to my skin tones. :D

I've basically gone back to my above settings now with a bit less Colour and a few adjustments to WBalance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually I understand your summary quite well. I find FTA channels, especially 9 and some Foxtel channels are over-saturated with my Pro 1 settings. The main point for anyone trying mine or anyone elses' settings from that matter, is everyone is going to have personal preferences and anyone who prefers cool settings won't like mine that's for sure.

But I find BDs quite good, bearing in mind I was trying to emulate the source to the colour the director intended. I was reluctant to post the settings at all but since so few seemed prepared to share settings I decided to take the plunge. For Foxtel and FTA channels I use the following settings which are cooler but still probably warmer than you might like;

Professional 2

Contrast 40

Brightness 0

Colour 43

Sharpness 0

Tint +4

Eco Off

P-NR Off

Panel On

Advanced Settings -

White Balance

R-Gain -2

G-Gain -8

B-Gain +3

R-Cutoff 0

G-Cutoff 0

B-Cutoff -3

Colour Management

R-Hue 0

G-Hue 0

B-Hue 0

R-Saturation 0

G-Saturation 0

B-Saturation 0

Gamma 2.2

I am still working on the right 3D settings for me.

SNAP - Beat me :D

Yeap - without seeing your above settings before my last post - that's basically what I am running :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites



We've now had our 65VT20A for about three weeks. Had previously and cursorily read CNET's reports on black levels but was somewhat comforted following comments that 2010 models (and larger panels) may not suffer as much.

Having just thoroughly digested all the related posts, and some of the links, I'm a little more aware - perhaps - but it really boils down to what may/may not happen to our unit.

Compared with our 60” SXRD RPs the Pana blacks are "gorgeous" - and if any deterioration becomes evident in time, we will still be presented with one of the best pictures around.

Yesterday we visited several retailers and I was very glad we did. Most brands were playing simultaneous loops of the same music videos - and the ubiquitous Avatar promo.

Without a doubt, the Pana VT20As were the best overall picture in town. It was with skinned eyes that I compared PQs and the amount of processing control the Panas revealed indicated to me they are the best out there. Closest in 2D was the Sharp Quattron - to my eyes. I was astonished by how bad some of the others were, whether plasma, LCD or LED.

I always lusted for a Kuro but could never rationalize the cost. Current pricing has made the 65" 3D Pana attainable. Very pleased with the result.

Still boning up on picture adjustments (many thanks to members who have contributed). I’ll have some settings to post soon.

When we used to watch the SXRDs all the recommendations were to switch “GAMMA” off - so I did and everything seemed to work fine.

“GAMMA” - a frightening word; best left alone I decided.

Now, I see there is quite some reference to Gamma settings, in plasmas, so I decided to look it up. It’s always amazed me how a little knowledge can be either dangerous or a brain-snapping revelation. Having sorted out some of the “confusing” definitions of e.g, Brightness, Luminance, Contrast - and what they can do to “black levels” has helped me to discern a little about the “Gamma Curve”. It leads me to think that this maybe the crux; towards obtaining the most suitable picture for our total viewing environment.

I’m only just scratching the surface but it is fascinating.

Maybe I’m raving - but be gentle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've now had our 65VT20A for about three weeks. Had previously and cursorily read CNET's reports on black levels but was somewhat comforted following comments that 2010 models (and larger panels) may not suffer as much.

Having just thoroughly digested all the related posts, and some of the links, I'm a little more aware - perhaps - but it really boils down to what may/may not happen to our unit.

Compared with our 60” SXRD RPs the Pana blacks are "gorgeous" - and if any deterioration becomes evident in time, we will still be presented with one of the best pictures around.

Yesterday we visited several retailers and I was very glad we did. Most brands were playing simultaneous loops of the same music videos - and the ubiquitous Avatar promo.

Without a doubt, the Pana VT20As were the best overall picture in town. It was with skinned eyes that I compared PQs and the amount of processing control the Panas revealed indicated to me they are the best out there. Closest in 2D was the Sharp Quattron - to my eyes. I was astonished by how bad some of the others were, whether plasma, LCD or LED.

I always lusted for a Kuro but could never rationalize the cost. Current pricing has made the 65" 3D Pana attainable. Very pleased with the result.

Still boning up on picture adjustments (many thanks to members who have contributed). I’ll have some settings to post soon.

When we used to watch the SXRDs all the recommendations were to switch “GAMMA” off - so I did and everything seemed to work fine.

“GAMMA” - a frightening word; best left alone I decided.

Now, I see there is quite some reference to Gamma settings, in plasmas, so I decided to look it up. It’s always amazed me how a little knowledge can be either dangerous or a brain-snapping revelation. Having sorted out some of the “confusing” definitions of e.g, Brightness, Luminance, Contrast - and what they can do to “black levels” has helped me to discern a little about the “Gamma Curve”. It leads me to think that this maybe the crux; towards obtaining the most suitable picture for our total viewing environment.

I’m only just scratching the surface but it is fascinating.

Maybe I’m raving - but be gentle.

I know exactly what you are experiencing. 65vt20 is as you have described it.

I took up an offer I could not resist and swapped my beloved 63 7000 for one and seriously see a vast improvement iin pq.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone noticed how green the screen is during the day? I am surprised that there are ANY decent blacks with any ambient light.

Also IS everyone elses screen have a speckled green look about it when the set is switched off ?

As my room is dim compared to most peoples mine looks black. However I noticed what you are speaking about when light was reflecting from a neighbours white wall adjacent to my room and it entered my room from an opened blind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



I used to watch my SXRD and wonder what all the fuss was about black levels.....I thought it seemed fine. But after having the Pana for a while I see what the fuss was about. As you say, they are "gorgeous". I'm still in thrall of them.

I noticed from day one that my SXRD’s blacks left a lot to be desired, that’s why I stripped the set down and modified it, improving blacks by 70%.

The 70” SXRD has no flicker, no posterization (colour banding), no dither/pwm noise and a natural artefact free non digital look that no flat panel can offer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone noticed how green the screen is during the day? I am surprised that there are ANY decent blacks with any ambient light.

Also IS everyone elses screen have a speckled green look about it when the set is switched off ?

As you can see no TV is without its problems.

Panasonic Plasmas have always had sub par screen filters (giving the green look) but the VT20 is the best of them by far.

I thought it would be close to the Sammy C7000 but it would appear not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone noticed how green the screen is during the day? I am surprised that there are ANY decent blacks with any ambient light.

Also IS everyone elses screen have a speckled green look about it when the set is switched off ?

Like CC, we too have a very dark room when viewing and the screen looks black when the TV is switched off. But even with the wall lights on low to medium level the screen is still black. I did notice when we first unpacked the unit - in a well lit room - the screen definitely had an even, deep jungle green hue. I was somewhat surprised considering the blacks, and hence how faithfully colours are rendered after some tweaking.

Perhaps your speckling is a result of shades of light hitting the screen?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Owen, I was forever saddened that you didn’t live close by. I would have gladly commissioned you to modify our SXRD to attain your vastly improved blacks.

I have always agreed with your description of the SXRD PQ; including the blacks (which in video blacks were quite acceptable). Indeed, the picture can still run rings around most flat panels. If we hadn’t had so much trouble with degradation of colour with optical block failure we would still be happy. But two replaced OBs, both of which have degraded over time - and that other “nuisance” issue - forced me to look elsewhere. Decided on the Sony NX810 but they pulled the 60” at the last moment. Only option, in my mind, was the 65” VT20A - and it turns out a good choice - very good. Actually, I’ve learnt to be a little more forgiving these days; not quite so obsessive. The Pana is not perfect - but what is? It ticks more boxes than anything else at this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Samsungs screen was decidedly blacker when the set is off than the VT20. In fact The 50PZ800 is blacker as well. Quite odd really seeing the magnificent blacks it displayed last night when I was watching " To catch a Theif " on SBS. The picture was stunning ( if a little soft )

I think in a lit room the Samsung 63C7000 may have an edge on blacks. I cant dim down the living room succesfully during the day ATM. May have to get better blinds.

Wonder why they decided not to include a filter on the screen? Seems it would have been a cheap way of increasing contrast even more and may have reached Kuro blacks. ANSI contrast doesnt matter one iota to me as long as blacks are black.

Another thing I have noticed the last day or so. ( only had the set since Thursday) IS increased FTA sharpness using the Play TV box through the PS3 and HDMI inputs compared to the Inbuilt tuner.

I have the inbuilt tuner and the HDMI inputs set to pixel match and sharpening set to 50% on both inputs. Both set to THX mode.

Comments??

Edited by graham johnson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing I have noticed the last day or so. ( only had the set since Thursday) IS increased FTA sharpness using the Play TV box through the PS3 and HDMI inputs compared to the Inbuilt tuner.

I have the inbuilt tuner and the HDMI inputs set to pixel match and sharpening set to 50% on both inputs. Both set to THX mode.

Comments??

I have noticed the same thing - thus I watch TV using PlayTV rather than the Panasonic inbuilt tuner.

Inbuilt tuners (on the Panasonic) seem to be "soft" compared to outside devices - reason why?? Maybe it's a cost cutting thing?? Where as a Set Top Box or a PVR is designed just to do one thing thus has slightly better components?? Maybe someone with more knowledge can answer this.

In regards to sharpness though, whether it is at 0 or 100% on the Panasonic (65 VT20) you shouldn't notice anything. I have tested it on 0 and 100% and didn't notice a thing. Also all the calibration settings etc etc I have read about by the "Pros" have had the sharpness set to 0.

Slightly OT - With your PlayTV did you get the black borders (especially on the left hand side) on your 65 VT20? I've had to turn on "overscan" to get rid of them but apparently having "overscan" on is not uncommon (infact it is a default on most sets).

Link to comment
Share on other sites



B-force, it may also be a design thing. (Blu-ray videos are not all that sharp. They are designed to look very smooth like a cinema picture. They contain no aliasing whatsoever with oblique lines. Sharper is not always better if the source contains artifacts.)

It is conceivable that the 65VT20As have a more pronounced softening than the 50VT20As. I don't know. I comment on my 50VT20A below.

Another thing I have noticed the last day or so. ( only had the set since Thursday) IS increased FTA sharpness using the Play TV box through the PS3 and HDMI inputs compared to the Inbuilt tuner.

I have the inbuilt tuner and the HDMI inputs set to pixel match and sharpening set to 50% on both inputs. Both set to THX mode.

Comments??

I'll respond to this, despite having a 50" VT20A, rather than a 65", as it is a claim I have seen made about the 50VT20A, but one I have difficulty seeing myself.

It is known that in prior years Panasonic adopted a policy of smoothing the tuner output for SD aggressively, to such an extent there was criticism. There is no aggressive softening of the digital SD tuner signal with the 50VT20A.

A preliminary issue is what FTA channels to use for comparison. A Full HD container, 1920x1080, has practically disappeared. In Brisbane the highest resolution formats we get are 1280x720p (ABC24 and SBS HD), and 1440x1080i (commercial HD channels). And the SD channels range down to 9's GO! channel at 704 x 576i.

The softness of stations like GO! is very very noticeable relative to a station like ABC24. For my eyes, my 50VT20A doesn't make an SD channel look even softer than what my HTPC provides via a 1920x1080 desktop.

However with ABC24, by studying text at an abnormally close viewing distance, I can see that my VT20A does produce a slighter greater softness for text, but the analysis is complicated by the fact that the transmission itself contains MPEG-2 artifacts around each character of the text (patterns of fuzziness, sometimes reassembling the distortion of looking through air immediately above a hot surface). In other words, the transmission itself is not capable of supporting a perfectly clear high resolution picture. My VT20A displays sufficient resolution for the MPEG-2 artifacts to be noticeable on close inspection. This to me is indicative of sufficient resolution for the source picture. There is no true detail in the ABC24 transmission that the VT20A fails to reproduce. [A further factor to consider here is the black level setting and the gamma. Shadow detail often contains MPEG-2 artifacts. A higher gamma and setting the screen to show full black at slightly above video 16 can give sharper looking text.]

Turning up the wick on resolution analysis to maximum, inspection at close range of computer desktop characters at 1:1 mapping on my 50VT20A reveals colour tinges for black text on a white background. This arises because plasma sets, like flat panel LCDs, must physically offset the red green and blue subpixels. This is an inescapable resolution limitation when using a flat panel TV for computer text. It can also be noticed on LCD computer monitors if you study the screen carefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Turning up the wick on resolution analysis to maximum, inspection at close range of computer desktop characters at 1:1 mapping on my 50VT20A reveals colour tinges for black text on a white background. This arises because plasma sets, like flat panel LCDs, must physically offset the red green and blue subpixels. This is an inescapable resolution limitation when using a flat panel TV for computer text. It can also be noticed on LCD computer monitors if you study the screen carefully.

Did you turn off ClearType?

EDIT: That may seem a little blunt, I should say, remember to turn off ClearType if you are going to try this!

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the detailed answer MLXXX.

I was more making the point about the FTA through the HDMI inputs being noticably sharper than the inbuilt tuner.

Thats wierd about the black edges. I get them as well. But havent worried about them too much. I love the PlayTV box. Its so easy to use. Its a shame it can only record 1 channel at a time. I have comtemplated buying another box to see if it will co-exist and work as a second tuner.

Edited by graham johnson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed from day one that my SXRD’s blacks left a lot to be desired, that’s why I stripped the set down and modified it, improving blacks by 70%.

The 70” SXRD has no flicker, no posterization (colour banding), no dither/pwm noise and a natural artefact free non digital look that no flat panel can offer.

In all fairness mate you literally have created a completely different TV . . Not what Sony intended . You have modified it to achieve what appears acceptable to you.

When people are comparing their Sony SXRD RPTV they are commenting on the out of box variety with the out of box Panny

It should also be pointed out Sony have had problems mastering the technology of mass producing the rear projector version of these displays. There has been a high failure

rate on the optical blocks of these displays which results in the need to repeatedly replace the optical blocks on a percentage of these displays. Sony previously settled a class

action lawsuit filed by owners of the first generation of the SXRDs, and apparently was unsuccessful in correcting this defect which has resulted in Sony ceasing production of all

SXRD rear projector sets and having new class-action lawsuits filed by owners of most the second generation sets.

So their is a more than probable chance that the set can be a potential lemon as far as reliability is concerned.

I put mine up for sale as soon as I got wind of what was happening in the US. I must admit it did have a nice pic but felt I was sitting on a time bomb and since I am not as

technically savvy as yourself it was a no brainer to sell it.

Edited by CC Rider
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was more making the point about the FTA through the HDMI inputs being noticably sharper than the inbuilt tuner.
Perhaps I should have clarified: my HTPC is connected to my VT20A via HDMI. As I said, I find there is no difference in sharpness with SD FTA on my 50" VT20A from its internal tuner compared with my HTPC, and only a very slight difference with ABC24.
Thats wierd about the black edges.

Colour fringing on the edges of text is a normal feature with computer text on an LCD or plasma panel if you inspect closely. There are anti-aliasing fonts (e.g. ClearType as mentioned by Jasaroony) in use to reduce the visibility of the effect. If the screen uses a different layout of its subpixels a different anti-aliasing font setting is needed. [some LCD monitors arrange the subpixels Red Green Blue (from left to right), others use the layout Blue Green Red.]

Interestingly my SXRD TV has much less colour fringing than a computer LCD monitor, because the SXRD subpixels are superimposed on each other, through optical projection. [The slight colour fringing that can be seen when inspecting text at the single pixel level is due to slightly imperfect convergence of the Red Green and Blue light sources rear-projected onto the SXRD screen.]

Edited by MLXXX
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...
To Top