As you might know, there are 3 major problems when you get your Kuro ISF calibrated using the ISFccc modes (ISF-Day/Night/Auto).

1. For some strange reason, drivemode is fixed to mode 1 (75hz) under ISF modes. This basically renders the ISF calibration modes useless for 50/60hz material, so basically all SD- and HD satreceivers and cable-settopboxes for PAL, mode 2 (100Hz) gives a judderfree result for 50Hz material. Same is true for (NTSC) 60Hz material, this will not play well under an ISF mode since drivemode is fixed to 1. In fact, The ISF or Pioneer decided for us that their ISF modes on Kuro panels can only be used for 24Hz/Bluray material, because with 24hz material drivemode is ignored and the set goes into the '4th & hidden' drivemode, 72Hz.

2. Next problem is when you enable ISF modes, there can be only 1 ISF mode per input. Probably the reasoning is 'if drivemode is fixed, there is no need for extra memories'. See 1. Yes you could simultaniously use day&night, but read the next point:

3. Linked to this is probably the third problem; if you use e.g. PURE you can set up more than 1 PURE memory. My KRP-600M has a calibrated PURE mode for drivemode 2 (100Hz) and one for mode 3 (60Hz) so the panel automatically switches between those 2 whenever it recognizes 50 or 60hz (or derived) material. It will NOT enable ISF day/night/auto when a 24hz is connected though... so it recognizes and switches automatically, but NOT if you put in your favorite BluRay, then you have to manually set it to ISF-xxx....

So, even though the ISF-Day/Night/Auto modes will give you a bit more lightoutput and a more precise way of calibrating, and a advanced gamma correction, it's practical use is pretty limited if you play more than just bluray...

Personally, i'm using a network player (HDI Dune Center) and i mix all kinds of material, i switch from 24p bluray to 1080i25, from 1080p60 to file based 1080p24 material, DVD ISO's and 720p stuff, 29,97/30 and 60Hz, etc etc... and all this time, i wonder why some material is stuttering... ah! ISF mode is still enabled. I have to switch to Pure... very annoying...

So, i've made a litte tool that will take care of this, using either the RS232 or the TCP/IP port on board the Kuro models...

How does this work?

Well, you need a PC, and you need to either connect your panel to the PC using a serial cable, or connect the PC and the Kuro to your network.

Next is to install the software i wrote. The program will poll the panel every 5 seconds, it will determine what signal is playing, and it will automatically set the right AV Selection mode accordingly. For now, since this is beta, i only use PURE and ISF-Day.

So, if the software detects 24hz signal, it switches the panel to ISF-Day, and if it detects 50/60Hz it enables PURE mode. That's it! No more manual switching...

Screenshots:

Once you start the software, first thing you see is the about screen. This is done on purpose, this is a beta/test program, in the future things will be more friendly:

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/about.jpg

After that, you have to set the way you want to communicate. For ip adress ad/or rs232 settings, enable it in the tv and use the settings:

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/settings.jpg

If all is correct, the program will now start. A mini window is shown which you can mimimize, and every time a change is detected, a tooltip will pop-up in the taskbar to notify you the software has changed a setting (will be made silence in future versions, don't worry).

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/running.jpg

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/taskbar.jpg

Also, since this is a testrelease, it's not ment to be used forever, it's just a teaser, to see if people like it as much as i do. So, every 10 'changes' the software pops up the about box again. In future releases this will be removed.

That's it! Like i said, for now only PURE and ISF-Day are used, so for best results, those modes should be installed and configured propery, and calibrated for best results. Next versions will hold a little database in which you can place more settings, so you could make all sorts of combinations of input, av mode, purecinema mode, drivemode etc.

Try it out, and if you have any questions, remarks, problems, ideas etc, feel free to ask me! And also hit the PayPal button if you *really* like this :)

Have fun! :)

*ONLY for KRP-500M/KRP-600M/PRO-141FD/PRO-101FD models

Uh, the Drive Mode feature on the NA KRPs and Signature Elites is completely different than the EU models. In other words, Drive Mode 1 on a NA Kuro is not the same as Drive Mode 1 on an EU Kuro.As you might know, there are 3 major problems when you get your Kuro ISF calibrated using the ISFccc modes (ISF-Day/Night/Auto).

1. For some strange reason, drivemode is fixed to mode 1 (75hz) under ISF modes. This basically renders the ISF calibration modes useless for 50/60hz material, so basically all SD- and HD satreceivers and cable-settopboxes for PAL, mode 2 (100Hz) gives a judderfree result for 50Hz material. Same is true for (NTSC) 60Hz material, this will not play well under an ISF mode since drivemode is fixed to 1. In fact, The ISF or Pioneer decided for us that their ISF modes on Kuro panels can only be used for 24Hz/Bluray material, because with 24hz material drivemode is ignored and the set goes into the '4th & hidden' drivemode, 72Hz.

2. Next problem is when you enable ISF modes, there can be only 1 ISF mode per input. Probably the reasoning is 'if drivemode is fixed, there is no need for extra memories'. See 1. Yes you could simultaniously use day&night, but read the next point:

3. Linked to this is probably the third problem; if you use e.g. PURE you can set up more than 1 PURE memory. My KRP-600M has a calibrated PURE mode for drivemode 2 (100Hz) and one for mode 3 (60Hz) so the panel automatically switches between those 2 whenever it recognizes 50 or 60hz (or derived) material. It will NOT enable ISF day/night/auto when a 24hz is connected though... so it recognizes and switches automatically, but NOT if you put in your favorite BluRay, then you have to manually set it to ISF-xxx....

So, even though the ISF-Day/Night/Auto modes will give you a bit more lightoutput and a more precise way of calibrating, and a advanced gamma correction, it's practical use is pretty limited if you play more than just bluray...

Personally, i'm using a network player (HDI Dune Center) and i mix all kinds of material, i switch from 24p bluray to 1080i25, from 1080p60 to file based 1080p24 material, DVD ISO's and 720p stuff, 29,97/30 and 60Hz, etc etc... and all this time, i wonder why some material is stuttering... ah! ISF mode is still enabled. I have to switch to Pure... very annoying...

So, i've made a litte tool that will take care of this, using either the RS232 or the TCP/IP port on board the Kuro models...

How does this work?

Well, you need a PC, and you need to either connect your panel to the PC using a serial cable, or connect the PC and the Kuro to your network.

Next is to install the software i wrote. The program will poll the panel every 5 seconds, it will determine what signal is playing, and it will automatically set the right AV Selection mode accordingly. For now, since this is beta, i only use PURE and ISF-Day.

So, if the software detects 24hz signal, it switches the panel to ISF-Day, and if it detects 50/60Hz it enables PURE mode. That's it! No more manual switching...

Screenshots:

Once you start the software, first thing you see is the about screen. This is done on purpose, this is a beta/test program, in the future things will be more friendly:

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/about.jpg

After that, you have to set the way you want to communicate. For ip adress ad/or rs232 settings, enable it in the tv and use the settings:

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/settings.jpg

If all is correct, the program will now start. A mini window is shown which you can mimimize, and every time a change is detected, a tooltip will pop-up in the taskbar to notify you the software has changed a setting (will be made silence in future versions, don't worry).

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/running.jpg

http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv289/jowi916/kuro/taskbar.jpg

Also, since this is a testrelease, it's not ment to be used forever, it's just a teaser, to see if people like it as much as i do. So, every 10 'changes' the software pops up the about box again. In future releases this will be removed.

That's it! Like i said, for now only PURE and ISF-Day are used, so for best results, those modes should be installed and configured propery, and calibrated for best results. Next versions will hold a little database in which you can place more settings, so you could make all sorts of combinations of input, av mode, purecinema mode, drivemode etc.

Try it out, and if you have any questions, remarks, problems, ideas etc, feel free to ask me! And also hit the PayPal button if you *really* like this :)

Have fun! :)

*ONLY for KRP-500M/KRP-600M/PRO-141FD/PRO-101FD models

Uh, the Drive Mode feature on the NA KRPs and Signature Elites is completely different than the EU models. In other words, Drive Mode 1 on a NA Kuro is not the same as Drive Mode 1 on an EU Kuro.
Uh, i doubt it. Service manuals are the same for both sets, there is no mentioning of any difference there... then again, if it does, it really doesn't matter, fact is that both sets will not autoswitch between 24/50/60hz, for *all* modes, including ISF modes... With this tool you can. And again, this is a TEST tool, a teaser just to see if there's people interested. If NA models need a bit of different set to use, no problem, i fix it.

What DOES drive mode do on the North American models?

Uh, i doubt it. Service manuals are the same for both sets, there is no mentioning of any difference there... then again, if it does, it really doesn't matter, fact is that both sets will not autoswitch between 24/50/60hz, for *all* modes, including ISF modes... With this tool you can. And again, this is a TEST tool, a teaser just to see if there's people interested. If NA models need a bit of different set to use, no problem, i fix it.Exactly what has to switch on the NA KRPs/Signatures? Drive modes, refresh rates, or something else? 24/50/60 material work just fine on the NA Kuros... regardless of the Drive Mode. NA owners deal with refresh rates per the Pure Cinema control.


Sorry, but I see zero benefit for NA owners using this tool. EU owners is a different story.

What DOES drive mode do on the North American models?Absolutely nothing. Its something that should have been taken out of the menu on the NA models.

Absolutely nothing. Its something that should have been taken out of the menu on the NA models.

Wow, interesting. Strange that they left it in the menu.

Does IP mode do anything?

According to the manual for the 101/141FD, the "Drive Mode is unavailable when setting Game Control Pref. to Off". So it seems to be for Game mode only for these models.

From my own observation, Pure Cinema in the 101FD is set to 0 (off) by default for the isf modes. It can be set to other values by ControlCAL.

I've not read anywhere that the NA Kuros can do 100Hz but it'd be nice if they do for 50Hz input.:p