They are some of the best, They just have a small problem with macroblocking. Others have many more issues though.
sony has had zero issues so far... on some TVs, it has a shift problem, but not on the toshibas... I've had mine well over a month and no issues at all...

Oh, yeah. The dog scratched the screen. Is there a protective coating that is easily replacable?

The only fix is to SHOOT the dog so it don't happen again. Seriously, what did the dog scratched, the bezel, the casing, or even worse the screen?
Oh, yeah. The dog scratched the screen. Is there a protective coating that is easily replacable?

Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster.
I have a 52HM95 and love it, but reading all of the bulb issues, it kinda scares me, I hope that Toshiba has gotten better, especially with the newer units. Anyway, how can I check the hours that have already been put on the bulb? I checked all of the menu screens and also tried the 84 series half mute, mute then press menu..., with no luck.

Thanks

How do you get local channels in HTDV if your cable co. does not offer them yet? What about an HTDV antenna? Do they work? If so how...? Please be specific....thanks..

Start with www.antennaweb.org which will tell you what digital stations are available off the air in your area and give you a general idea of what antenna you'll need. You might get lucky (like I did) and get away with a fairly inexpensive indoor antenna, or you may need an outdoor model. Remember, there really is no such thing as an HDTV antenna, the digital signal is broadcast using good ol' UHF and VHF just like traditional analog. I will say that over the air HD looks amazing on my 62HMX94, and you can't beat the price :D

It appears as if I had a lot more hours on my bulb then previously stated. I got the new bulb today and installed it. Everything is working great, like a new TV. Kids must keep it on constantly when I'm not home.

Bulb Time-3411 hours!!!
Since 3/11/05.

On the 94 series:

With TV turned on:

1. Press "mute" on the remote - 1/2 mute appears on the screen
2. Press "mute" on the remote again - mute appears on the screen
3. Press "mute" on the remote and hold the mute button -
4. Press the "Menu" button on the TV's front panel. "S" will appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
5. Press the "Menu" button a second time and the "S" will disappear. On the left side of the screen you will see "RCUT" followed by two numbers.
You are now in the service mode.
6. Press "9" on the remote and you will access the diagnostics page. In the right hand corner is the lamp time in hours.
7. Press "power" button on remote to exit the menu and power off the TV.

CAUTION: Do not use the up and down volume keys on the remote in this menu as it can alter the data and can be dangerous.

Here is how you check the hours

Here is how you check the hours
Ok, I had a duh moment, I was pressing menu on the remote, not on the TV. Ok it says hours 000800 (Bulb: 1040) , So I guess the bulb has 1040 hours on it, Yikes, I got the TV on the end of august. Thats an average of 9 hours a day. My wife stays at home with our daughter right now, so I need to tell her take it easy on the sesame street.

as far as the DVD player... I highly recommend the Sony DVPNS70H

it's inexpensive, and upconverts without the evil faroudja chip...

It truly is just barely worse quality than HD... as long as the DVD is decent quality...

I compared it by using Arrested Development DVDs as compared to Arrested development in HD...

If you need a few more bells and whistles, sony also makes a 90H model...

I owe you a beer sir :)

Picked up the DVPNS70H and, i kid you not, a WORLD of difference... The TV just SHINES on dvd's now, i love it.... I shoulda known that Sony Dreamtheater system was a POS, nothing combined like that ever works well in all aspects...

BTW your right, looks very close to HD quality now..

BTW, it was on sale at CC for only $125ar :)

I owe you a beer sir :)

Picked up the DVPNS70H and, i kid you not, a WORLD of difference... The TV just SHINES on dvd's now, i love it.... I shoulda known that Sony Dreamtheater system was a POS, nothing combined like that ever works well in all aspects...

BTW your right, looks very close to HD quality now..

BTW, it was on sale at CC for only $125ar :)


Really good to hear that the DVPNS70H looks good with this set. I had the LG upconverting player and after a month it started having audio video sync problems. I took it back and just got a regular Sony player and I've been happy with it but it does not come close to the pic quality of the LG upconverter. I think I'll go pick up the DVPNS70H next weekend. I thought I would be getting HD DVD or Blue Ray DVD player by this time. Unfortunately they could not get things ironed out by the end of the year like they said they would.

I owe you a beer sir :)

Picked up the DVPNS70H and, i kid you not, a WORLD of difference... The TV just SHINES on dvd's now, i love it.... I shoulda known that Sony Dreamtheater system was a POS, nothing combined like that ever works well in all aspects...

BTW your right, looks very close to HD quality now..

BTW, it was on sale at CC for only $125ar :)


Are you having any issues with the picture cutting off at the top and the bottom while in 720P or 1080i? They have an entire string devoted to this problem on the DVPNS70H in the DVD Player forum. It appears to only happen on certain televisions. Hopefully the Toshibas are immune from this phenomenon. Click on the link below.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=581265

Ok, I had a duh moment, I was pressing menu on the remote, not on the TV. Ok it says hours 000800 (Bulb: 1040) , So I guess the bulb has 1040 hours on it, Yikes, I got the TV on the end of august. Thats an average of 9 hours a day. My wife stays at home with our daughter right now, so I need to tell her take it easy on the sesame street.


Got my 62HM95 Aug.4th had 1800 hours by thanks giving lamp blewup the day after still don't have a replacement lamp yet.

Are you having any issues with the picture cutting off at the top and the bottom while in 720P or 1080i? They have an entire string devoted to this problem on the DVPNS70H in the DVD Player forum. It appears to only happen on certain televisions. Hopefully the Toshibas are immune from the phenomenon. Click on the link below.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=581265

With the DVD output set at 720p, its pefect... Havent even bothered to try 1080i, this looks amazing...

Tried Star Wars as well which is filmed in 2.35:1 (i think)... The bars on the top and bottom and both perfectly even... Even went ahead and measured them w/ a ruler :)

EXCELLENT dvd player for our tv!

With the DVD output set at 720p, its pefect... Havent even bothered to try 1080i, this looks amazing...

Tried Star Wars as well which is filmed in 2.35:1 (i think)... The bars on the top and bottom and both perfectly even... Even went ahead and measured them w/ a ruler :)

EXCELLENT dvd player for our tv!



Great news. I think I'll go pick it up tommorrow. I had not heard any reviews on this player with the Toshibas.

I got the Oppo upconverting DVD player. It is more expensive at 199 but it does an excellent job of upconverting to 720p and 1080i. Not quite as good as a true 1080i signal, but close enough for government work.

Ken

Has anyone played around by connecting the Thinc port to a wireless converter?

My TV is downstairs, computer upstairs, and I refuse to dangle ethernet through the ceiling.. I've used this "Buffalo Wireless-G Converter" to connect to my Tivos fine... but I can't seem to "see" my shared computer from the TV.

Anyone played around yet?

I've seen advertisement of a device that will allow you to use your home wiring to round ethernet. You hook up a device at either end on the power outlet and then connect your ethernet twisted pair to the device. A lot less messy than stringing ethernet cable through out the house.

Here's a url for one such device: http://www.netgear.com/products/details/XE104.php

Ken

Toshiba 52HM95-

I have HD service through Armstrong, and have the Motorola 6612 DVR Series III system. The picture is awesome, the channel lineup is good and cheap, the DVR functions are junk, but not Armstrongs fault, all of the cox users I have seen comment on the box have the same issues. How can you consider a DVR a DVR without a 30 second commercial jump forward?

Anyway, they initially installed the system with component video out, and the picture looked great. I was experimenting today and picked up a phillips HDMI cable to see if it was any better, and it isn't. I'm glad I bought it at Walmart so I can take it back and spend my money elsewhere (like the future bulb replacement fund, I've been thinking of charging admission).

Are you having any issues with the picture cutting off at the top and the bottom while in 720P or 1080i? They have an entire string devoted to this problem on the DVPNS70H in the DVD Player forum. It appears to only happen on certain televisions. Hopefully the Toshibas are immune from this phenomenon. Click on the link below.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=581265
yeah, no problems here either... if you read my post you'll notice that I mentioned it... ;)

for the money it's a great unit... just don't expect a ton of extras like SACD...

when i bought my 46hm95 last week, i asked about the 4 year extended warranty which i thought was a no brainer because of the bulb issues i'd read about. i was ready to add it to my order, but when i asked abour bulb replacement, he said i'd need to "re-buy" the warranty after they replaced a bulb. what?! that doesn't make sense since a bulb and warranty are about the same price. it sounded more like a scam than a warrannty so i opted against the extended plan. now im thinking i either misunderstood him or he was wrong. i called bb's 800 number and they said that it does cover bulb replacements.

in short, i can add the extended warranty from bb when i pick up the tv. does anyone know how bb's extended warranty deals with bulb replacement? any info on needing to "re-buy" a warranty?

thanks!

Re-buying a warranty sounds like a scam to me (extended warranties in general IMO are a waste). If you're planning to keep the set for a number of years, protect yourself now and buy a spare on your own. Great peace of mind to know its there for whenever your bulb does die. My set has been on for about 4hrs a day for over 12months and its still running strong. Just my .02.

Well, I've just watched The Two Towers on TNTHD and all I can say is I'm impressed with the black levels on this set (72hm195). The experience is just as good as going to the theatre to watch a movie with this 72 inch set :-). Viewing the set from an off angle is also very good. At this point, I'm very happy with my purchase, and I haven't even had a chance to fine turn the TV yet :-)

Ken

I did another view of several 1080P RPTVs: Sony SXRD 60", Samsung 67", Mits 72" and the Toshiba 72" 72HM195. I had drawn my line in the sand with the Samsung due to the price vs size. After spending 45 minutes compare viewing a HDNET program on ice sculpting (it was a good test due to extreme brightness changes) , I liked the Toshiba best. I thought it had the best skin tone and blacks. A black jacket on the other TVs was a black blob, but the Toshiba had shades of black.

Are there any written reviews out on the 72HM195 or smaller screen size models? when when this model at the retailers....im hadnt noticed it a few weeks ago when I visited.

thanks for any tips

thanks. i've never bought an extended warranty before because i feel exactly the same way, but if they're going to cover four years of bulbs, as it sounded like on the phone, it's a deal i can't pass up. obviously i'll ask at the store when i pick it up, but i'd like to know what to expect if anyone has experience with the bb warranty.

Well,I'm a newbie.Made a spur of the moment purchase of a new 56HM195 today at Conn's in Dallas. Never had considered this model at all.DEAL was just too good to pass up. Anyway,now as I spot read through this thread, I am beginning to have that feeling some of you have had,I'm sure. Issues with bulbs,firmware,and Lord only knows what else.I dont't have a build date,as it is supposed to be delivered tonmmorow (Sunday). I am sure I will be pestering you all soon. Really,I try to believe that the majority of Toshibas are great,but,this is a new 150 bulb,sooooooo. Thanks in advance.

Ogami,

I don't think you have to worry about the ew at BB. I would feel confident about that one for sure. Big company that would stand to lose alot of business / marketshare if they started screwing people with a bum warranty. My only problem with their warranty is the cost, but it does have unlimited bulb coverage and a 3 repair lemon policy. Pretty much the most coverage out of a single warranty that i have seen so far.

Well,I'm a newbie.Made a spur of the moment purchase of a new 56HM195 today at Conn's in Dallas. Never had considered this model at all.DEAL was just too good to pass up. Anyway,now as I spot read through this thread, I am beginning to have that feeling some of you have had,I'm sure. Issues with bulbs,firmware,and Lord only knows what else.I dont't have a build date,as it is supposed to be delivered tonmmorow (Sunday). I am sure I will be pestering you all soon. Really,I try to believe that the majority of Toshibas are great,but,this is a new 150 bulb,sooooooo. Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't be too concerned just yet - I'm not and I just bought a 52HM84(95) last week. The majority of lamp failure stories I could find online were concerning the HM84 models (slightly different lamp). Of course, this doesn't mean it's fixed in the new models as they have not been around long enough to really tell, but Tosh does warranty them for a year. I still think that 98% of people who buy a new TV and have no problems don't feel the need to get online and proclaim it's greatness to the masses in forums like this. 98% of the people who have a problem do, though, and it tends to shadow the small number of good comments. I've looked at a lot of poster profiles on different board who reported lamp or other problems for these TVs and saw that most, NOT ALL, but most indicate that the only reason they joined was to bad mouth Tosh, customer service, bad lamps, etc. Mine has 1600 hours on it so far and looks fantastic.

Couple of questions for others:

1. Above I posted that I have a 52HM84(95). I was shopping around last week and hit a BB store and saw that the 52HM84 was on clearance for far less than the 46HM95. I asked about the availabily since I had gotten the runaround from several other BB's about getting a 46HM95 (was told that due to popularity it was backordered and could take 5 days to a month for it to arrive). After doing a bunch of running around the salesman said that he couldn't find any in their system or warehouses and it would be an open box purchase and an addition 10% off. He also mentioned that they had the 95's in the warehouse but wouldn't be putting them out until the weekend because of the Sunday Ad. I ended up getting the TV, EW, upconverting DVD plaer, and a low end HDMI cable for still less than the sicker price of the 46er. They took it down and wrapped it up on the spot.

This week I was fiddling with connection when I noticed I had 2 HDMI connections and a cableCard slot?!?!?!? I checked the nameplate and saw that the TV was in fact the HM95. Lucky me, I guess? Maybe not... My receipt and EW are both on the HM84. Should I go back to BB now and report their mistake or wait until I need a new bulb or something and try to argue it then? Honestly, I'm just afraid that if I went back now they'd want their TV back.

2. I thought I had a stuck mirror today, but after looking at it for a while I think it may be dirt/dust. I noticed today that in the middle left of the screen I had a small dark spot. It's slightly oval in shape and not completely black, just darker than the areas around it. It measures about 1/8"x1/8" and is very noticable from about 12' away when sorrounded by any light, solid color. If I press on the screen it defiantely moves with the image, but other than that really doesn't LOOK like the descriptions I've seen online about stuck mirrors. Is there a lens or anything inside between the color wheen and screen that may have gotten some junk on it?

Brianlive,

I think that i would tell them about the goofup on the reciept for sure because if you need to have it serviced they will want to see your receipt. If they see that the model # doesn't match, they might try to wiggle out of honoring its warranty.

Secondly, I think you just found the flaw that caused someone else to return the set in the first place. Either that or it was a floor model that had the flaw in it anyway. I wouldn't necessarily return the tv over it, just make a call to Toshiba.

Little stuff like that is what made me decide to purchase the warranty for my 46hm95. I still haven't recieved my tv yet though (ordered through BB)

What do they mean by [via component sockets] on the 62hm195?The specs list them as 1080p able.

I have a 52hm84 and just purchased an Oppo DV971H upconverting DVD player. Does anyone know if I will suffer from the macroblocking problem? I've searched the web but haven't found any info on whether or not the toshiba DLP's have problems with Macroblocking.

Isn't the Toshiba 72HM195 suppose to have a crystal clear image in HD? I have only had this TV for a month and I am not very happy with it so far.

This is my first DLP TV and I always notice a fuzzy effect, artifacts, and not a awesome HD quality picture. Is it just the size of the screen that just shows off all these issues?

I exchanged my first 72HM195 I had for another (since there was a big old ding in the side of it) with another and still get a not so great picture.

I have tried both HDMI and component hookups with:

DVD Players:
Panasonic DVD-S77S (really bad picture and macro blocking, returned for sony)

Sony DVPNS90V (not as bad as Panasonic - a lot of macro blocking gone)

I have tried these dvd players in 720p and 1080i with just ok results. No were near HD quality.

Time Warner HD Cable TV:

Explorer 8300HD (normal channels look terriable, while HD Channels look ok. Having them come out and check my signal strength this tuesday.) I have tried in 720p and 1080i with not much of a change.

XBOX 360

Looks great, no problems


So am I expecting to much from this TV? I was expecting crystal clear images from my DVD and HD cable channels, but its not like that at all. The picture quality when watching DVDs and HD TV its just not that good. There are little fuzzy artifacts all the time which are even more noticable when text is on the screen.

Is there something I am missing? Is there some magical setting I did not find in the book? The input screen shows that it is receiving 1080i and 720p signals.

1. Tried different HDMI and component cables. Currently using Monster Cables.

2. Tried using 720p and 1080i with HD Cable and DVD Players. with hardly any changes.

3. Tried different DVD Players

4. Using a Monster HTS 3500 MKII Home Theatre Reference PowerCenter to make sure its getting clean power.

Any suggestions? Are all DLP TVs this bad? My old Sony 61 inch 4:3 1080i rear projection TV looks much better then this Toshiba TV and its 5 years old.


Any help or suggestions would be appriciated.

What do they mean by [via component sockets] on the 62hm195?The specs list them as 1080p able.

Video System
Resolution
1920 x 1080
Comb filter
3D-Y/C digital
Image contrast ratio
5000:1
HDTV resolutions supported
1080p, 480i (via Component sockets), 480p (via Component sockets), 720p (via Component sockets), 1080i (via Component sockets)

Isn't the Toshiba 72HM195 suppose to have a crystal clear image in HD? I have only had this TV for a month and I am not very happy with it so far.

This is my first DLP TV and I always notice a fuzzy effect, artifacts, and not a awesome HD quality picture. Is it just the size of the screen that just shows off all these issues?

I exchanged my first 72HM195 I had for another (since there was a big old ding in the side of it) with another and still get a not so great picture.




Your source is probably bad, as I have the 62HM195 and the SD channels look excellent. HD is outstanding, and I'm using $6 HDMI cables I got from monoprice.com. You're ripping yourself off using tremendously overpriced monster cables.

Try using a cable card instead of a STB. This may help in your situation as I honestly believe you have a bad quality source coming into your home. Also, think about getting a professional calibration done on your set. Honestly, there is no reason, other than a bad source, for your poor picture quality.

I have a 52hm84 and just purchased an Oppo DV971H upconverting DVD player. Does anyone know if I will suffer from the macroblocking problem? I've searched the web but haven't found any info on whether or not the toshiba DLP's have problems with Macroblocking.


Unfortunately, yes you will get macroblocking with an Oppo on a Toshiba DLP. It's because of the Faroudja chip inside the Oppo. It's a problem with all DLP's and the Faroudja chip. The level of macroblocking is different from DVD to DVD. Well mastered DVD's should reveal very little macroblocking. Poorly mastered DVD's show more. Adjusting the picture settings on both the player and the TV can greatly reduce the macroblocking, though. I have the Oppo with a 62HM195 and I see some macroblocking, but it is so minimal that is doesn't bother me.

Isn't the Toshiba 72HM195 suppose to have a crystal clear image in HD? I have only had this TV for a month and I am not very happy with it so far.

This is my first DLP TV and I always notice a fuzzy effect, artifacts, and not a awesome HD quality picture. Is it just the size of the screen that just shows off all these issues?

I exchanged my first 72HM195 I had for another (since there was a big old ding in the side of it) with another and still get a not so great picture.

I have tried both HDMI and component hookups with:

DVD Players:
Panasonic DVD-S77S (really bad picture and macro blocking, returned for sony)

Sony DVPNS90V (not as bad as Panasonic - a lot of macro blocking gone)

I have tried these dvd players in 720p and 1080i with just ok results. No were near HD quality.

Time Warner HD Cable TV:

Explorer 8300HD (normal channels look terriable, while HD Channels look ok. Having them come out and check my signal strength this tuesday.) I have tried in 720p and 1080i with not much of a change.

XBOX 360

Looks great, no problems


So am I expecting to much from this TV? I was expecting crystal clear images from my DVD and HD cable channels, but its not like that at all. The picture quality when watching DVDs and HD TV its just not that good. There are little fuzzy artifacts all the time which are even more noticable when text is on the screen.

Is there something I am missing? Is there some magical setting I did not find in the book? The input screen shows that it is receiving 1080i and 720p signals.

1. Tried different HDMI and component cables. Currently using Monster Cables.

2. Tried using 720p and 1080i with HD Cable and DVD Players. with hardly any changes.

3. Tried different DVD Players

4. Using a Monster HTS 3500 MKII Home Theatre Reference PowerCenter to make sure its getting clean power.

Any suggestions? Are all DLP TVs this bad? My old Sony 61 inch 4:3 1080i rear projection TV looks much better then this Toshiba TV and its 5 years old.


Any help or suggestions would be appriciated.


I just got the 62hm195 a little bit smaller screen, but same TV other wise, I think.I also have the same cable box as you. My HD on the cable box looks incredible the SD channels are so-so to very good.The Xbox 360 shines.

I would think that if the Xbox is giving you a great picture then your HD cable box or cable signal is the problem. The TV is obvioulsly capable of a good picture if it displays the Xbox to your satisfaction. I know this post probably doesn't help ya much, but I just wanted to let you know that the TV is very capable of putting out a high quality HD picture from cable.

BTW my SD channels look much better after using Avia.

BTW my SD channels look much better after using Avia.

What are SD channels and what is Avia?

What are SD channels and what is Avia?

SD means STANDARD DEFINITION and Avia is a DVD that you use to do basic video calibrations on your TV.

SD means STANDARD DEFINITION and Avia is a DVD that you use to do basic video calibrations on your TV.

wow am I ever a newbie to this HD ****, that's what happens to you when your old CRT projection TV lasts for 13 years before it dies and forces you into the latest technology before your ready.I was hoping I wouldn’t have to make that move for another 2 or 3 years till today’s technology settled down just a bit more and had a chance mature. Oh well I'm stuck here now ready or not. :eek:

Sith- I have a CC and a STB at my house and the CC offers the best PQ. The STB produced a fuzzy picture even in HD.

The CC offers a crystal clear picture. But go to Radio Shack and buy a $30 antenna and pull in some free HD channels with it. They will offer a better PQ than a CC or a STB.

Good luck and let us know how well it works.

Regarding Calibration, Does this just correct color or does it also improve sharpness / PQ???
I am curious about this AVIA DVD. Does it really make a difference after using it?? How much is it and where should I buy it?? Or would having it professionally calibrated turn out better???

Regarding Calibration, Does this just correct color or does it also improve sharpness / PQ???
I am curious about this AVIA DVD. Does it really make a difference after using it?? How much is it and where should I buy it?? Or would having it professionally calibrated turn out better???


It definately gave me a better picture then what I could adjust with my eyes. It has a bunch of calibration screens for your contrast, brightness, color, tint, and sharpness. I think it also has calibrations for surround sound too, although I didn't get into that yet. It seems to have a lot of useful info on the DVD.

I got it from Amazon for under $40. As far as I know professional calibration would be the best calibration option, but it also costs a few hundred dollars.

I wonder what the professionals use that makes it even better than the AVIA disc?? I mean, if you can only adjust the aforementioned settings, how much more can be gained?? I would understand if there were convergence settings like the crt.

I wonder what the professionals use that makes it even better than the AVIA disc?? I mean, if you can only adjust the aforementioned settings, how much more can be gained?? I would understand if there were convergence settings like the crt.

Actually the Avia dvd can adjust convergence settings for crt's if I remeber right. I'm not sure what more a professional could do, unless he does things in the service menu.

Unfortunately, yes you will get macroblocking with an Oppo on a Toshiba DLP. It's because of the Faroudja chip inside the Oppo. It's a problem with all DLP's and the Faroudja chip. The level of macroblocking is different from DVD to DVD. Well mastered DVD's should reveal very little macroblocking. Poorly mastered DVD's show more. Adjusting the picture settings on both the player and the TV can greatly reduce the macroblocking, though. I have the Oppo with a 62HM195 and I see some macroblocking, but it is so minimal that is doesn't bother me.

What settings did you change on the player and the TV?

Secondly, I think you just found the flaw that caused someone else to return the set in the first place. Either that or it was a floor model that had the flaw in it anyway. I wouldn't necessarily return the tv over it, just make a call to Toshiba.

I'm now 99% sure it's just a speck of dust/lint. I'm 100% sure it wasn't there when I bought it or for the next several days. Like I said... it's very noticable on light screen. When I got home from work this morning it also appeared to have grown a "tail". It looks like a small piece of hair or something similar sticking off of it. If I bump the TV slightly it even wiggles. Whenever my bulb goes I'll also get the set cleaned and hopefully that will fix it.

What settings did you change on the player and the TV?

Contrast and brightness.

2. I thought I had a stuck mirror today, but after looking at it for a while I think it may be dirt/dust. I noticed today that in the middle left of the screen I had a small dark spot. It's slightly oval in shape and not completely black, just darker than the areas around it. It measures about 1/8"x1/8" and is very noticable from about 12' away when sorrounded by any light, solid color. If I press on the screen it defiantely moves with the image, but other than that really doesn't LOOK like the descriptions I've seen online about stuck mirrors. Is there a lens or anything inside between the color wheen and screen that may have gotten some junk on it?

When I first brought home my 52HM95, I noticed a small black line towards the bottom of the screen that measured 1mm by 1" in diameter. I was pissed and ready to take it back to Best Buy, I turned off the power and it was still there. I waited 5 minutes and lightly tapped on the screen and the plastic shaving fell off. No problems ever since, but give me a break. There is no reason that they can't fully airblast or clean the plastic parts before assembly. It is rediculous to have a plastic shaving ( I know I am in Injection Molding).

DVD Players:
Panasonic DVD-S77S (really bad picture and macro blocking, returned for sony)

Sony DVPNS90V (not as bad as Panasonic - a lot of macro blocking gone)

I have tried these dvd players in 720p and 1080i with just ok results. No were near HD quality. I'm not sure what you call macroblocking but you wouldn't get any with the Sony DVD as it doesn't use the Faroudja chip that causes the problem. They use their own proprietary chip. ;)

I'm not sure what you call macroblocking but you wouldn't get any with the Sony DVD as it doesn't use the Faroudja chip that causes the problem. They use their own proprietary chip. ;)
i agree... i've yet to see anything of the sort...

I'm now 99% sure it's just a speck of dust/lint. I'm 100% sure it wasn't there when I bought it or for the next several days. Like I said... it's very noticable on light screen. When I got home from work this morning it also appeared to have grown a "tail". It looks like a small piece of hair or something similar sticking off of it. If I bump the TV slightly it even wiggles. Whenever my bulb goes I'll also get the set cleaned and hopefully that will fix it.

I just fixed it. I undid the 12 screws around the top and sides of the screen and was able to tilt it back about 6" without putting any stress on it. I tried to get the lower side undone but after removing the bottom panel and the 4 screws under that the panel still would not come off easily and I didn't want to force it.

Needless to say there was plenty of dust in there. I ended up finding a couple of other dark spots and was easily able to match them to large dust particals on the back mirror. The picture looks flawless again but there is still plenty of dust on the mirror and lens (didn't want to even get close to that!)

I have a 12 year old SOny XBR 53" that I thought was going bad. I heard you are supposed to clean the mirrors every year. I opened and cleaned about 1/32" of dust of the mirror and crt lenses and the picture was great again. On the bad side it made a purchase of a new 1080P less rationalized. I started with camera lens clearn and lens paper but immediately realized that was not going to work on a 53" dia mirror so ended using a cotton cloth and windex. Worked fine.

yeah, no problems here either... if you read my post you'll notice that I mentioned it... ;)

for the money it's a great unit... just don't expect a ton of extras like SACD...

I have the sony ns90v. I am using a hdmi cable and 720p
the picture is shifted down a little. The black bar is a litle bigger at the top.
My set is a 62hm84. Other than the shift the picture quality is awsome. If I switch the res. to 480 it is deffinatally not as good. Are you guys that are NOT getting the shift problem using component or hdmi?
thx
bryan


oh by the way partstore.com has bulbs for $189 for my set.

I have the sony ns90v. I am using a hdmi cable and 720p
the picture is shifted down a little. The black bar is a litle bigger at the top.
My set is a 62hm84. Other than the shift the picture quality is awsome. If I switch the res. to 480 it is deffinatally not as good. Are you guys that are NOT getting the shift problem using component or hdmi?
thx
bryan


oh by the way partstore.com has bulbs for $189 for my set.
I haven't had a shift problem at all... easiest way is to find a 16:9 movie and see if you have a black line at the top... if you do, you have a problem with the shift...

I've heard a lot of people who kept the sony player even with the shift because it's very little, and the pic quality is that much better than the faroudja players...

I'm a new owner of 62mx195 for couple of weeks now. There is on thing that is aggravating me and I wanted to get your opinions on it. When I'm watching DirecTV a lot of my SD content has jagged edges/distortion. Is this normal?? Notice it on Red a lot and some white. How do you DirecTV's out there have the Noise Reduction Set?? Just curious to others thoughts on improving my picture quality watching D* thru HDMI.

It's too bad that the 94/84 models came with such an ugly menu, the newer models 95's have a much nicer interface.

I keep thinking windows 3.1 with the 84/94 models. :)

I'd be great if they could do an update for that, although it's such a minor thing that I would never expect it.

I own a 52HMX95 and previously had firmware version 1.2.2 installed. I too had issues with the TVGOS not working properly through my cable card. A quick call to Toshiba and they sent me the newest firmware, version 1.2.8, on a 128Mb SD card. I installed the new firmware and gave the set a day or two to update the TVGOS info. I found ALL TVGOS info as well as the ADD/DELETE channel info to be properly labeled and complete. My initial impressions are that this new firmware has indeed corrected the TVGOS and ADD/DELETE channel problems my set suffered from. Now when I tune to a channel it not only shows the channel number but correctly identifies the channel by it's proper naming such as "HBO", "ESPN", "TOON", etc...
Now if I can only get either Toshiba or my local cable company to address/fix the issues I have with the cable card or cable company not allowing me to tune all the channels I'm paying for. I'm supppose to receive basic cable along with the digital tier which includes both the HD channels and the (audio only) music channels. Once I cross into the digital tier it's a crap shoot on which channels will tune in and which ones won't. Some will tune in for 10 seconds or so before the A/V locks up and the cable card info box pops up telling me to call my cable company to get service. Whereas other channels may tune in and work fine and some may display nothing more than a black screen.
Anybody else have any good luck with the newest firmware release?

what is the difference between these two models......HM195 and MX195. I can't tell much from the Toshiba website when looking at the two specsheets.

thanks in advance
.

Although Toshiba 62MX195 is able to natively display 1920x1080p by converting 1080i signal received from HDMI to progressive format, I have been unsuccessful obtaining this resolution with the following setup: A2M277 motherboard with Athelon 2100+, AGP4x and ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 card. Best I could get is 1280x720p resolution with a slight overscan which I easily corrected using ATI's custom resolution support. However, upon each PC reboot this resolution is rest to 480p which is very annoying.

Just for kicks, I hooked up my better, newer PC that runs P4 3GHz with AGP8x and much cheaper NVIDIA 6200 (? could be 5600... i'm not sure) graphics card to see if it worked any better, and to my surprise windows came up in crystal sharp 1920x1080 resolution! Slightly overscanned, but I should be able to fix that. There was no flickering at all that is normally associated with interlaced signal which was a very pleasant surprise, and even small text looked sharp and readable from 8ft away. What was also really nice is that this resolution was automatically detected as well like it should have been by the ATI graphics card.

What is somewhat strange though is that the NVIDIA graphics card setting is for 1920x1080 60Hz non-interlaced. Based on the moninfo output, 62MX195 does not support this format so the graphics card must be reporting it incorrectly showing 60Hz instead of 30Hz.

What I have to figure out next is:
1) try the ATI card with same setup again attempting to set 1920x1080 at 60Hz
1) is it the ATI card that sucks ( put NVIDIA card in original setup )
2) is is the combination of AGP4x with this ATI card ( put ATI card in PC that works with NVIDIA and see if ATI card works as well )

In general, I have had problems with ATI cards before. When my LCD NEC2080U+ is hooked up to any ATI card through DVI, it shows annoying "swimming stripes" that keep on flowing down the screen. I couldn't figure out what it was for a long time until I finally got NVIDIA card and the problem went away. So I'm not totally surprised that NVIDIA also works better in this situation.

For those interested in this TV, below is what moninfo utility app shows me:

Monitor
Windows description......... Plug and Play Monitor
Manufacturer description.... TSB-TV
Manufacturer................ Toshiba
————————————————————————————
Plug and Play ID............ TSB0202
Serial number............... n/a
EDID data source............ I2C bus (real-time)
————————————————————————————
Manufacture date............ 2005
EDID revision............... 1.3
Display type and signal..... Digital
Sync input support.......... n/a
Screen size................. 1960 x 1420 mm (~102")
Power management............ n/a

Color characteristics
Display gamma............... 1.00
Red chromaticity............ Rx 0.640 - Ry 0.330
Green chromaticity.......... Gx 0.300 - Gy 0.600
Blue chromaticity........... Bx 0.150 - By 0.060
White point (default)....... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329

Timing characteristics
VESA GTF support............ Not supported
Horizontal scan range....... 15-46kHz
Vertical scan range......... 59-61Hz
Video bandwidth............. 80MHz
Extension blocks............ 1
Timing recommendation #1.... 1920x540 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "1920x540" 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 540 542 547 562 +hsync +vsync
Timing recommendation #2.... 1920x1080 at 30Hz
Modeline................ "1920x1080" 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1094 1124 interlace +hsync +vsync
Timing recommendation #3.... 720x480 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "720x480" 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync
Timing recommendation #4.... 1280x720 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "1280x720" 74.250 1280 1390 1430 1650 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync
Timing recommendation #5.... 1440x240 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "1440x240" 27.000 1440 1478 1602 1716 240 244 247 262 -hsync -vsync
Timing recommendation #6.... 1440x480 at 30Hz
Modeline................ "1440x480" 27.000 1440 1478 1602 1716 480 488 494 524 interlace -hsync -vsync
Timing recommendation #7.... 720x480 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "720x480" 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync
Timing recommendation #8.... 1440x240 at 60Hz
Modeline................ "1440x240" 27.000 1440 1478 1602 1716 240 244 247 262 -hsync -vsync
Timing recommendation #9.... 1440x480 at 30Hz
Modeline................ "1440x480" 27.000 1440 1478 1602 1716 480 488 494 524 interlace -hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported
720 x 480 at 60Hz - Toshiba
1280 x 720 at 60Hz - Toshiba
1440 x 240 at 60Hz - Toshiba
1440 x 480 at 30Hz - Toshiba
1920 x 540 at 60Hz - Toshiba
1920 x 1080 at 30Hz - Toshiba

Raw EDID base
00: 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 52 62 02 02 00 00 00 00
10: 00 0F 01 03 80 C4 8E 00 0E EE 91 A3 54 4C 99 26
20: 0F 50 54 00 00 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
30: 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 1D 80 18 71 1C 16 20 58 2C
40: 25 00 C4 8E 21 00 00 9E 8C 0A D0 8A 20 E0 2D 10
50: 10 3E 96 00 C4 8E 21 00 00 18 00 00 00 FC 00 54
60: 53 42 2D 54 56 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 FD
70: 00 3B 3D 0F 2E 08 00 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 01 3D

Raw EDID extension (CEA-861)
00: 02 03 16 76 47 85 04 03 07 02 06 01 23 09 07 07
10: 65 03 0C 00 10 00 01 1D 00 72 51 D0 1E 20 6E 28
20: 55 00 C4 8E 21 00 00 1E 8C 0A A0 14 51 F0 16 00
30: 26 7C 43 00 C4 8E 21 00 00 98 8C 0A D0 8A 20 E0
40: 2D 10 10 3E 96 00 13 8E 21 00 00 18 8C 0A A0 14
50: 51 F0 16 00 26 7C 43 00 13 8E 21 00 00 98 00 00
60: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07

EIA/CEA-861 Information
Revision number............. 3
DTV underscan............... Not supported
Basic audio................. Supported
YCbCr 4:4:4................. Supported
YCbCr 4:2:2................. Supported
Native formats supported.... 6
DTV formats supported....... 7

CE standard timings supported
1920 x 1080i at 59.94/60Hz (16:9) - HDTV (Native)
1280 x 720p at 59.94/60Hz (16:9) - HDTV
720 x 480p at 59.94/60Hz (16:9) - EDTV
720 x 480i at 59.94/60Hz (16:9) - Doublescan
720 x 480p at 59.94/60Hz (4:3) - EDTV
720 x 480i at 59.94/60Hz (4:3) - Doublescan
640 x 480p at 59.94/60Hz (4:3) - Default

Display adapter
Adapter description......... ALL-IN-WONDER 9800 SERIES
Adapter device ID........... 0x4E481002
Display settings............ 1280x720, 32bpp

Tom,

To my knowledge you are the first to report 1080 res on these DLP sets. I have used the VGA plug to hook my laptop into on my HMX95 and it worked super at 1024 x 768. Out of curiousity how were you hooking your PC into 62MX195? DVI to HDMI adaptor I assume? I may want to make full use of my screen res as well but haven't had time to try anything yet.

What is somewhat strange though is that the NVIDIA graphics card setting is for 1920x1080 60Hz non-interlaced. Based on the moninfo output, 62MX195 does not support this format so the graphics card must be reporting it incorrectly showing 60Hz instead of 30Hz.



That may not be incorrect. From the info I've read on the xHD4 wobulated chip, our 1080p sets are refreshing the entire screen every 60 seconds. The way I get that is from the wobulation mirror which switches odd and even lines every 8 ms, which is 125 times/second. Therefore the entire screen is refreshed every 62.5 seconds. So if your PC is outputting 1080 @ 60Hz, the TV should be able to display at the same refresh rate. Interesting.

what is the difference between these two models......HM195 and MX195. I can't tell much from the Toshiba website when looking at the two specsheets.

thanks in advance
.


This is what I've been able to find as the differences based on my own experience as well as comparing the two spec sheets:

The Main Difference:

MX has the THINC Ethernet Jack to connect the TV to a home LAN. This allows you to access picture or MP3 files on a PC via the TV. This also allows you to remotely send recording instructions to the TV via email for any programmed device (VCR, Symbo) using an email template.

MX has a 15-pin D-Sub connector to connect a PC.

Not completely sure, but this is from the spec sheets: MX has Virtual Dolby and SRS WOW, HM only has SRS WOW.

Cosmetically, the MX has a black bezel around the screen, the HM has a silver bezel.

Video game question, i just got an Xbox 360 and haven't gotten a good pic yet on my tv. My tv is 52hm94.

Now should i have this in game mode?

When i set up xbox 360 i had it set in 720 mode, cause my tv is 720p but it looked like crap, but i set it at 1080i and it looked alot better.

Should i have it in film mode or Video mode?

What about cool temp or warm temp?

I have everything in sports preferences right now, but still see jagged lines in the background so im not sure if i got brightness up to high or contrast up to high.

Anyone here have an xbox 360 and how is your tv set up?

I have call of duty and it just don't look as good as it does at walmart with the 27 inch LCD tv they have it on.


Just don't understand contrast at all. its the thing that is kills me on regular tv viewing too.

Well Please help, i want my tv to look its best.

What is the angle that the back of the TV looking down.? I want to tuck into a corner and I wonder how far I can push it in.

Is there a top down drawing of it somewhere on the web?

Im looking at the 72HM195 or the 62.

thanks for the input

I have viewed the 56HM195 in too separate Conn's stores, both displays were terrible. One was a cable feed and one was Direct. The Direct signal was better, but not any better, and possibly worse than the 720p pictures (primarily on the Samsungs).

I believe the first image (cable) had the television set at 1080i for input source, and I'm hoping that is why the image was so bad. I was not able to determine what the second image was set at, but I'm assuming it was something similar.

On these televisions, do you have to tell it what the source video display is or does it automatically sense it?

They are running a pretty good deal at Conn's right now, but the image I have seen has made me turn away from the Toshibas.

Oh, both were connected via Component Video.

Thanks for any info.

Video game question, i just got an Xbox 360 and haven't gotten a good pic yet on my tv. My tv is 52hm94.

Glenn, I have an XBOX360 hooked up to my 52HM95 and it looks great. I'm at work right now so I can't tell you my exact setting, but there are a few things I can fill you in on.

I've got the XBOX set to output 16:9 @ 720p. It didn't make any sense to me to use 1080i as it cuts framerates nearly in half and the TV's just going to downscale it back to 720p anyway.

I'm pretty sure I'm just using the sports mode with low power lamp for picture quality. The picture was so much better over my SD TV that I haven't had any desire to tweak any color settings at all. Game mode is really intended for non-HD XBOX1/PS2 games that don't have a native HD output. Since the TV has to upscale the image there can be a momentary delay between pushing a button and seeing it onscreen - game mode supposedly cuts this delay down big time. Regardless, I haven't heard of any delay problems using a 360.

Also, I'm sorry to say that no game will look as good on a 52" display as it will on a 27" unless you're sitting pretty far back. The smaller the image is, the less noticable these little things are going to be. When I got my 360, though, I had it on a 36" SD TV and played both PGR3 and COD2 on it for a couple weeks before seeing them on the WalMart demo kiosk. After that I started to notice little things in both games that I saw at Wally World but not at home (road textures, relections, smoke grenades, etc). After upgrading to the 52HM95 I can now see all this detail and I'm loving every minute of it.

EDIT: CNET has a good calibration artical about TV picture settings, what each one does, and you you should adjust it...

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6463_7-5085739-1.html

I have the sony ns90v. I am using a hdmi cable and 720p
the picture is shifted down a little. The black bar is a litle bigger at the top.
My set is a 62hm84. Other than the shift the picture quality is awsome. If I switch the res. to 480 it is deffinatally not as good. Are you guys that are NOT getting the shift problem using component or hdmi?
thx
bryan


oh by the way partstore.com has bulbs for $189 for my set.

I ordered from these guys the other day and got confirmation via email. I'll be curious to see what if any delays there are in receiving the lamp from them. In searching the net I've found several sites cautioning about the extreme shortage of these lamps and only one or two who boldly claim to have them in stock and ready to ship. They are the ones who want much more than the $189 listed above of course. Time will tell.

Video game question, i just got an Xbox 360 and haven't gotten a good pic yet on my tv. My tv is 52hm94.

Now should i have this in game mode?

When i set up xbox 360 i had it set in 720 mode, cause my tv is 720p but it looked like crap, but i set it at 1080i and it looked alot better.

Should i have it in film mode or Video mode?

What about cool temp or warm temp?

I have everything in sports preferences right now, but still see jagged lines in the background so im not sure if i got brightness up to high or contrast up to high.

Anyone here have an xbox 360 and how is your tv set up?

I have call of duty and it just don't look as good as it does at walmart with the 27 inch LCD tv they have it on.


Just don't understand contrast at all. its the thing that is kills me on regular tv viewing too.

Well Please help, i want my tv to look its best.

Glenn,

Game mode is for the 480i games that the tv upconverts to 720p, there is a delay or lag when doing so and game mode cures that. So you don't need to have game mode on, in fact I don't think you can turn it on when the TV is getting a 720p signal.

My first question would be, did you flip the switch on the A/V cable to HDTV? If you read the instructions that came with the 360 you will see that there is a switch on the component cables that needs to be set to HD. A lot of people miss this and wonder why it doesn't look that great until they "flip the switch". :)

I just got my 360 last night and I think everything looks fantastic. I have it set at 720p and things ran great and looked great. I'm going to give 1080i a go tonight just to see how it looks and plays but from what I'm reading in the gaming forum 720p is the way to go.

I have mine set to the middle temp... I forget if it's called warm or what.

As for the video mode, don't change it. The manual says Film mode is only for 480i signals.

The rest of the settings you will have to set using what looks best to your eyes. None of the calibration DVD's would help because they would be calibrating the set in 480p, not 720p.

I ordered from these guys the other day and got confirmation via email. I'll be curious to see what if any delays there are in receiving the lamp from them. In searching the net I've found several sites cautioning about the extreme shortage of these lamps and only one or two who boldly claim to have them in stock and ready to ship. They are the ones who want much more than the $189 listed above of course. Time will tell.

Best Buy online "Parts and Accessories" has the lamp for the same price. They told me the lamp is scheduled to be shipped 12/16.

I noticed a lot of complaints about the amount of dust that these TV's accumulate. I'm wondering if one of the reasons for the lamp failures coming in around 2500 hours is the build up of dust on the lamp creating additional heat. I read that some if not most of the ceiling mount type DLP projectors have filter elements. Maybe a similar filter element located in the vent area at the rear of the TV's would help reduce that problem without decreasing air flow to significantly. You would think that the Tosh and others would have thought of that. An element would also reduce the Fan noise some complain about. My concern would be that the current fan is not big/powerful enough to keep the lamp cool while filtering.

Just a thought since I'm replacing my 8 month old lamp and already replaced a light engine due to DMD chip overheating.

UPDATE:
Last night I tried my All-In-Wonder 9800 ATI card with Pentium4 PC in AGP8x slot but still couldn't get 1920x1080 resolution neighter at 30Hz interlaced nor at 60Hz progressive. And resolution still reset to less then 720p with each PC reboot. This leads me to believe it is not the AGP4x vs. AGP8x problem, but rather this ATI card simply can't do 1920x1080 resolution with Toshiba 62MX195 TV. Next I'll try the NVIDIA 6200 with my Athelon 2100+ in AGP4x slot...

My screen is starting to flicker. I understand this is a sign that the bulb is about to go. My 1 year warranty is good for only a few more weeks. Does Toshiba accept a claim based upon the flicker or must I wait until the bulb is completely blown (and by then I may be out of warranty)?

My screen is starting to flicker. I understand this is a sign that the bulb is about to go. My 1 year warranty is good for only a few more weeks. Does Toshiba accept a claim based upon the flicker or must I wait until the bulb is completely blown (and by then I may be out of warranty)?

I'd call them now. It's obviously not supposed to flicker so they shouldn't give you a problem with fixing it.

My screen is starting to flicker. I understand this is a sign that the bulb is about to go. My 1 year warranty is good for only a few more weeks. Does Toshiba accept a claim based upon the flicker or must I wait until the bulb is completely blown (and by then I may be out of warranty)?


Hoops
I agree with shaner call them and report the flicker now. Dont assume what the problem is let Toshiba make that call. It probably is the lamp but as far as their concerned you have "a problem" now. Good Luck.

:( My local repair just informed me that my lamp for my 52HM84 is back ordered with no ETA. They suggested I go to HHG and speak with a manager on getting a replacement TV (yeah right....dream on). Anyway, I did just that and I suppose to be getting a phone call in the next day from their customer service dept with my options...we shall see. :mad:

Well,I'm a newbie.Made a spur of the moment purchase of a new 56HM195 today at Conn's in Dallas. Never had considered this model at all.DEAL was just too good to pass up. Anyway,now as I spot read through this thread, I am beginning to have that feeling some of you have had,I'm sure. Issues with bulbs,firmware,and Lord only knows what else.I dont't have a build date,as it is supposed to be delivered tonmmorow (Sunday). I am sure I will be pestering you all soon. Really,I try to believe that the majority of Toshibas are great,but,this is a new 150 bulb,sooooooo. Thanks in advance.
Got my 56HM195 delivered in time for MNF.Prefect HD picture. Games over,wife puts on a movie she just got to check out how it looks to her. SCREAMS for me to come and see. Two mushroom shaped grey "blobs" in mid-right side of screen as credits begin to roll.Can only see them in total black. Called for tech.advise,and later in-home service call.Showed up today and explains its the light engine "leaking". After explaining the option of a replacement set or order new engine,I take the new engine option,hopefully at this later date(build 08/24/05),they may have a "later" model engine.Slim chance of a rebuilt as this model just came out and is 1080P. Also,he can come back next week when they recieve the new engine and put it in and I still watch it in the meantime.Bummed about it,but,I knew this was the "latest and greatest" tech from Toshiba. PQ really is stunning.I do'nt throw around "wows",but,it is way better than I had imagined.Oh,called Toshiba and they are sending the new firmware,no problem.

Received my second 52HM95 today from Onecall, first one had a hole punched through the box and had small scratch on the screen and then some smudges on the other side of the screen that apparently were inside the screen. Turned TV on and abou the right 1/4 of the TV was blacked-out, so they sent me another one which I received today. Box looked fine, just a small dent and tear in that back corner, no physical damage to TV. Freight guy helped me move it into the house because he wanted to see it, we both noticed a greyed-out area in the lower right hand side of the screen about the size of a half a football, thought it was a reflection or just some condensation, but alas it wasn't. On top of that the TV shows ZERO picture, red LED light comes on so the lamp is fine, apparently I have to wait for a service tech to call me back now. Didn't really want to order a TV over the 'net, but couldn't afford it any other way. So, what do you all think the problem is? Light Engine, control board, something else I would have no idea about?

I have viewed the 56HM195 in too separate Conn's stores, both displays were terrible. One was a cable feed and one was Direct. The Direct signal was better, but not any better, and possibly worse than the 720p pictures (primarily on the Samsungs).

I believe the first image (cable) had the television set at 1080i for input source, and I'm hoping that is why the image was so bad. I was not able to determine what the second image was set at, but I'm assuming it was something similar.

On these televisions, do you have to tell it what the source video display is or does it automatically sense it?

They are running a pretty good deal at Conn's right now, but the image I have seen has made me turn away from the Toshibas.

Oh, both were connected via Component Video.

Thanks for any info.
Hm195's auto detect and upgrade imput to 1080P. Your hoping 1080i is responsible for poor pq??Most stations in Dallas are in 1080i.Component is ideal here and PQ is outstanding.Bought at Conn's in Mesquite.PQ at store was only so- so.I have found I always get better PQ at my home. Happy with Conn's price-unreal bargain at this time-not their fault my light engine is "leaking" as explained in my other rambling post.Good luck in your search for the PPQ

Received my second 52HM95 today from Onecall, first one had a hole punched through the box and had small scratch on the screen and then some smudges on the other side of the screen that apparently were inside the screen. Turned TV on and abou the right 1/4 of the TV was blacked-out, so they sent me another one which I received today. Box looked fine, just a small dent and tear in that back corner, no physical damage to TV. Freight guy helped me move it into the house because he wanted to see it, we both noticed a greyed-out area in the lower right hand side of the screen about the size of a half a football, thought it was a reflection or just some condensation, but alas it wasn't. On top of that the TV shows ZERO picture, red LED light comes on so the lamp is fine, apparently I have to wait for a service tech to call me back now. Didn't really want to order a TV over the 'net, but couldn't afford it any other way. So, what do you all think the problem is? Light Engine, control board, something else I would have no idea about?
Sounds like a shipping problem.Guys name wasn't Curly or Moe,was it?Just kidding.Gotta laugh,right?Can't be a light problem,as you have no picture. Shouldn't really accept any thing with a damaged box.Makes for a hard luck story more times than success.Was it curbside delivery and Curly just wanted to see if it worked after he bumped or droppped it??Good luck

what the difference between HM and MX models?
Nothing on Toshiba website give a clue.

thanks

what the difference between HM and MX models?
Nothing on Toshiba website give a clue.

thanks

Quick answer, the mx has vga input, ethernet connection and simulated dolby. It also has a shiny black bezel. Otherwise, the electronics are the same.


I had mine shipped from NY to SC and it was in pristine condition when I received it :-)

Ken

what the difference between HM and MX models?
Nothing on Toshiba website give a clue.

thanks
As far as I know, the primary difference between the two is the type of inputs they can take. The MX model has an Ethernet port as well as a PC-Input (15-Pin D-sub) jack, which are not available in the HM model.

Hello, I have been the proud owner of the 46HM95 for about a month now. For the most part the television has been excellent and has definitely been worth the upgrade. However, there remains a nagging issue I have yet to resolve, so I thought I would bring it up here....

I currently have both my cable box and Xbox 360 hooked up using the component video inputs. I would have assumed that for the most part, the transmission of video signal should be close to flawless and produce a high quality image on my tv. However, there seems to be an issue (which I apologize, I'm not sure what to call it) that is causing noticeable video noise/flickering/interference. It is creating varying levels of lightness/darkness to the screen. I wish I could describe it better, but I haven't seen this occur on another tv of mine.

It is very noticeable and VERRRRRY annoying. I notice it most when I am playing my Xbox 360 and also on the tvguide/solid colored menus of my cable box.

Any ideas? It's not grainy (although I have that too...I assume that is inherent to DLP tech though), it is just flickery (but not uniformly over the entire screen).


Any help would be appreciated. Please ask any questions which you think would clarify the issue better as well. Thank you.


:confused:

Sorry, I gotta rant real quick.

Ordered a 62HM195 from Onecall last week. ABF (the freight company they use) said the TV would be delivered yesterday. All they said was they will call 30 minutes before they arrive at the house. So I called them yesterday to get an ETA. The lady at their local office said the TV was still on the delivery truck (to them, not to me) and wouldn't be delivered until today. So I say OK and expect the TV today. Well, most of the day goes by and I get no call. So I call them up again and they say the TV is still on the delivery truck and would be delivered tomorrow. So that'll be 3 days my TV has been sitting in a loading dock waiting for them to move it out of the truck and into a delivery truck. I would have requested a different freight service if I'd known they were so slow. So I have the Bush TV stand all set up and I've been waiting for the TV for a week now.

Hm195's auto detect and upgrade imput to 1080P. Your hoping 1080i is responsible for poor pq??Most stations in Dallas are in 1080i.Component is ideal here and PQ is outstanding.Bought at Conn's in Mesquite.PQ at store was only so- so.I have found I always get better PQ at my home. Happy with Conn's price-unreal bargain at this time-not their fault my light engine is "leaking" as explained in my other rambling post.Good luck in your search for the PPQ

No I was hoping the poor quality was due to a manual setting they did not have right at Conn's, and I'm more concerned with SD or Directv SD specifically and how it will appear on these TVs.

It seems the sets in the stores are lacking, but work better on a single feed (home).

Sorry, I gotta rant real quick.

Ordered a 62HM195 from Onecall last week. ABF (the freight company they use) said the TV would be delivered yesterday. All they said was they will call 30 minutes before they arrive at the house. So I called them yesterday to get an ETA. The lady at their local office said the TV was still on the delivery truck (to them, not to me) and wouldn't be delivered until today. So I say OK and expect the TV today. Well, most of the day goes by and I get no call. So I call them up again and they say the TV is still on the delivery truck and would be delivered tomorrow. So that'll be 3 days my TV has been sitting in a loading dock waiting for them to move it out of the truck and into a delivery truck. I would have requested a different freight service if I'd known they were so slow. So I have the Bush TV stand all set up and I've been waiting for the TV for a week now.

Either you got a crappy customer service person or didn't follow all of the instructions they sent. OneCall was top notch just as ABF was when they sent out my set. I had tracking numbers supplied to track the set from OneCall to my local ABF hub. I was given an ETA for my set to reach the hub. I was told once it did I needed to call that local hub, the tele number supplied, and arrange a delivery date and time.
Lastly, don't forget, a large portion of the midwest fell under a decent snow storm recently. This in itself could definitely delay your set. Check all the emails OneCall sent you and see if they indeed left you a tracking number with further instructions. If you purchased it via phone as I did, they still verbally gave me that tracking number as well as in an email.

Sounds like a shipping problem.Guys name wasn't Curly or Moe,was it?Just kidding.Gotta laugh,right?Can't be a light problem,as you have no picture. Shouldn't really accept any thing with a damaged box.Makes for a hard luck story more times than success.Was it curbside delivery and Curly just wanted to see if it worked after he bumped or droppped it??Good luck

Well, followed up with another call to Onecall and talked to a man named Thomas (well actually my girlfriend talked to him, knew I loved her for some reason ;) ) The slight damage to the top corner of the box didn't warrant me refusing delivery of the box, buy Thomas and his manager soon agreed that me getting to broken sets in two weeks was a little ridiculous. So, I'm going to see if I can get a local toshiba tech in to see it this week, and if the problem isn't major then just get it fixed, if it is major and will take forever, Onecall is going to arrange to have the set returned to them and refund my money. As for shipping problems, there was no way to tell if the box was slightly damaged in shipping to me or in shipping to Onecall. We'll see how things go.

Hello, I have been the proud owner of the 46HM95 for about a month now. For the most part the television has been excellent and has definitely been worth the upgrade. However, there remains a nagging issue I have yet to resolve, so I thought I would bring it up here....

I currently have both my cable box and Xbox 360 hooked up using the component video inputs. I would have assumed that for the most part, the transmission of video signal should be close to flawless and produce a high quality image on my tv. However, there seems to be an issue (which I apologize, I'm not sure what to call it) that is causing noticeable video noise/flickering/interference. It is creating varying levels of lightness/darkness to the screen. I wish I could describe it better, but I haven't seen this occur on another tv of mine.

It is very noticeable and VERRRRRY annoying. I notice it most when I am playing my Xbox 360 and also on the tvguide/solid colored menus of my cable box.

Any ideas? It's not grainy (although I have that too...I assume that is inherent to DLP tech though), it is just flickery (but not uniformly over the entire screen).


Any help would be appreciated. Please ask any questions which you think would clarify the issue better as well. Thank you.


:confused:



I'm no service Tech but its my opion that if it was uniform flickering it would be lamp but if its spotty it may be the light engine. You should get a factory auth tech out to look at as soon as possible so you can get your order in. My replacement light engine was 30 day back order and the lamp is now on bo.

I have about 250+ hours on my 52HMX84 and I think it’s now starting to show it’s true joy as I think I’m pass the break in period. However all the talk about bulbs breaking after only several months of use is disturbing. Like many I want to be prepped when my bulb blows and have a replacement on hand then ship the blown bulb back to Toshiba for the warranty re-issue. We should start a list of on-line retailers who sell our Tosh bulbs for the 84/94/95/195 model DLPs. The main problem I’ve noticed is the demand is greater than the supply.

So far we have:

Best Buy online "Parts and Accessories"
www.partstore.com

Like many I want to be prepped when my bulb blows and have a replacement on hand then ship the blown bulb back to Toshiba for the warranty re-issue. We should start a list of on-line retailers who sell our Tosh bulbs for the 84/94/95/195 model DLPs. The main problem I’ve noticed is the demand is greater than the supply.

So far we have:

Best Buy online "Parts and Accessories"
www.partstore.comDon't forget to try contacting authorized service centers in your area. The list is available on the Toshiba web site. I purchased a spare lamp from one of the local service centers in my area. You figure if they can repair the sets they would stock some of the parts, especially lamps. ;)

I was wondering can the integrated speakers on the HM series be used as part of a surround sound system (as the left and right or middle speaker?) Or is it that they simply turned off when hooking to a surround system?

I was wondering can the integrated speakers on the HM series be used as part of a surround sound system (as the left and right or middle speaker?) Or is it that they simply turned off when hooking to a surround system?You want to turn them off or at least the volume all the way down. It's too difficult to balance TV speakers with ones with your receiver and they aren't very good to begin with.

You want to turn them off or at least the volume all the way down. It's too difficult to balance TV speakers with ones with your receiver and they aren't very good to begin with.


I'm such a cheapo I had to ask. I had the feeling. I guess I have to get out the Sawzall and cut the speakers off so I can have some room for new ones...

Buy the way I got good news my Lamp was shipped yesterday by Tosh and I should receive it Friday. Now if I can get them to swap out the crappy replacement light engine they installed, I maybe be able to regain some sense of justification for buying this TV.

Either you got a crappy customer service person or didn't follow all of the instructions they sent. OneCall was top notch just as ABF was when they sent out my set. I had tracking numbers supplied to track the set from OneCall to my local ABF hub. I was given an ETA for my set to reach the hub. I was told once it did I needed to call that local hub, the tele number supplied, and arrange a delivery date and time.
Lastly, don't forget, a large portion of the midwest fell under a decent snow storm recently. This in itself could definitely delay your set. Check all the emails OneCall sent you and see if they indeed left you a tracking number with further instructions. If you purchased it via phone as I did, they still verbally gave me that tracking number as well as in an email.

I don't think you get it. They had the set on a truck at their local warehouse for 3 days. There were no snow delays. I'm in Texas. It's 60 degrees outside and they said the set was in Fort Worth. It was already set up to expect the set to be delivered on tuesday. The set just sat on a truck until today. And when he did finally bring it, he went by strict curb side delivery. The house is a hundred yards from the road and said he would only drop it off there. So I hooked up my trailer and had to meet him at the road.

But now it's set up and the HD looks awsome on it.

I don't think you get it. They had the set on a truck at their local warehouse for 3 days. There were no snow delays. I'm in Texas. It's 60 degrees outside and they said the set was in Fort Worth. It was already set up to expect the set to be delivered on tuesday. The set just sat on a truck until today. And when he did finally bring it, he went by strict curb side delivery. The house is a hundred yards from the road and said he would only drop it off there. So I hooked up my trailer and had to meet him at the road.

But now it's set up and the HD looks awsome on it.

What a bunch of slugs :(

My guys screwed up delivery on me the first day as it sat on the loading dock and they never showed up. I made sure they did not repeat this the following day :)

I too had curbside but I lucked out with a couple of great guys. My driveway is 700 feet and they navigated the truck up the steep incline and walked the items into my foyer. They asked if I wanted it placed in the TV room but I declined. Nice of them to ask though.

Good luck with the new set. HD does look amazing on these TV's.

/Joe

After waiting 3 months for Patt Goff's to get my 62hm95 in, they delivered it last night. I can't begin to express how satisfied I am with this TV. I purchased it as an exchange for an RCA HDLP61w151. Suffice it to say that this tv is better in every single regard.

I've heard all of you guys mention bulb life issues, and that has me a little concerned. I'd hate to be without this tv for as long as it's taking some of you guys are saying you're having to wait. I'm just wondering what percentage of sets are actually experiencing this short bulb life.

Anyways, I just thought I'd make a post in this thread as I'm now a Toshiba DLP owner!

Charles

Hey guys,

Just recieved my 46hm95 last night. The PQ is not that great when watching a DVD. I have a samsung progressive scan player that also has a tuner and amplifier built in. The sound quality is actually much better than anticipated because I don't expect much out of these "all-in-one boxes." However, I have a "ripple" effect that occurs when watching a DVD on certain scenes. The picture looks as though it is being projected onto a piece of cloth that is flapping in the wind. That is the best way I can describe it.

Do you guys think it is the DVD player causing this?? Or have any of you also experienced this?

I only remember hearing about one or two 95 owners that had a failure. As far as the 84-94's go there seems to be about a dozen or so complaints. I tried starting a poll on the subject but didn't get much response (see below).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=611627

Another poster and I had one of the longest lamp lifes at around 3000 hours but in nine months that's a lot of use. I have two kids and a wife that works part time so the TV is on quite a bit. Unless you have your TV on 10 hours a day you will probably get over a year at least on the lamp. Only time will tell what the average will be for lamp life as more and more owners experience failure.

I have a 46HM95 that is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I'm going to have to hook it up myself since I probably don't have all the right cables. I am looking for a little guidance so as to maximize the look I can get from it. If I am in the wrong place please direct me to the correct area.

This is what I have:
Standard cable (I will be getting digital in the future)
DVD-Player (It's quite a many years old so I doubt it's anything special)
VCR
Standalone TiVo
I'm also going to want to hook up XBox with their HD pack.
Lastly, I have a A/V Reciever as well.

Would a kind soul mind giving me a little guidance as to what I should put where to make the most of my TV?

Thanks.

Hey as for the DVD player if it has component your going to want to hook it up with a set of components. To be honest though look into getting an Oppo Digital DVD Player or the Panasonic S77 or S97. I use the S77 on my Toshiba DLP and it looks pretty amazing. And yeah get the HD pack to and make sure you hook it up to your receiver using optical cable. What receiver do you have? If it has video switching you could wire most of your video to your receiver and then use one wire back up to the TV PREFERABLY component. You really don't want to feed this TV less than component. And if you get the Panasonic you can give it and HDMI signal which would be great. enjoy the TV. An buy AVIA that way you can properly calibrate the TV. You need any additional help feel free to E-Mail me.

I ordered a replacement lamp (23311083) from partstore.com on Dec 9th. It was back ordered and shipped yesterday (Dec 15th). Total with shipping = $205

Well I thought I would say some good about Toshiba on here. I know most people only come here to discuss problems or issues with there sets or Toshiba. I have a 62hm84.
It has had 2 Light engines replaced in 1 year. The local service center that replaced it both times scratched my bezel the second time. They then refused to fix it. I called Toshiba cust . service and they agreed to contact the repair center, to try and resolve the issue. I got a call back today from Toshiba, telling me that they were going to replace the bezel. The repair center would install it and Toshiba would pay for the part. Thats pretty nice of Toshiba considering its not there fault at all for the scratch. Also my picture has been starting to get darker over the last month or so. Ive got 2400 hours on it about 1/2 in Hi-bright mode. I told cust service about the darkening pic and they are sending out a new lamp. Hopefully the new lamp will fix the darkening pic. It shipped today (overnite shipping). Also my lamp I ordered Monday from partstore shipped today as well. The rep from Toshiba said I didnt have to send them the lamp back blown. The return label is so they can dispose of the mercury lamp properly. DO NOT throw you old lamps in the trash. they contain MERCURY.
Toshiba also gave me a 6 month extension on my warranty. If it requires a new Light engine or other major part, they may issue a replacement set. I hope its all good now.
Thumbs up to cust service!

Well I thought I would say some good about Toshiba on here. I know most people only come here to discuss problems or issues with there sets or Toshiba. I have a 62hm84.
It has had 2 Light engines replaced in 1 year. The local service center that replaced it both times scratched my bezel the second time. They then refused to fix it. I called Toshiba cust . service and they agreed to contact the repair center, to try and resolve the issue. I got a call back today from Toshiba, telling me that they were going to replace the bezel. The repair center would install it and Toshiba would pay for the part. Thats pretty nice of Toshiba considering its not there fault at all for the scratch. Also my picture has been starting to get darker over the last month or so. Ive got 2400 hours on it about 1/2 in Hi-bright mode. I told cust service about the darkening pic and they are sending out a new lamp. Hopefully the new lamp will fix the darkening pic. It shipped today (overnite shipping). Also my lamp I ordered Monday from partstore shipped today as well. The rep from Toshiba said I didnt have to send them the lamp back blown. The return label is so they can dispose of the mercury lamp properly. DO NOT throw you old lamps in the trash. they contain MERCURY.
Toshiba also gave me a 6 month extension on my warranty. If it requires a new Light engine or other major part, they may issue a replacement set. I hope its all good now.
Thumbs up to cust service!


Nice to see a manufacturer stepping up and taking some positive action to solve problems in the field. Your story is the way things SHOULD go for all people who encounter these types of issues. Bet it makes you want to buy another Tosh again down the road. Given the reports of lamps shipping from parts sources and that Toshiba is much quicker than in the past about supplying replacement lamps directly to the customer, it seems that they finally have a *surplus* of lamps for these models. Get 'em while the gettin's good. Mine shipped Thursday and will be a spare for the day the OEM unit dies.

Does anyone know how to differentiate between a light engine problem and a bulb that is starting to go (ie, flicker)?

I have a 46HM95 that is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I'm going to have to hook it up myself since I probably don't have all the right cables. I am looking for a little guidance so as to maximize the look I can get from it. If I am in the wrong place please direct me to the correct area.

This is what I have:
Standard cable (I will be getting digital in the future)
DVD-Player (It's quite a many years old so I doubt it's anything special)
VCR
Standalone TiVo
I'm also going to want to hook up XBox with their HD pack.
Lastly, I have a A/V Reciever as well.

Would a kind soul mind giving me a little guidance as to what I should put where to make the most of my TV?

Thanks.

Well, first I'd consider skipping the VCR entirely, and moving it to a secondary TV. You'll most likely be very disapointed with the picture quality of VHS on a 46" TV.
For a DVD player, if your budget allows, go for an Oppo or one of the Pannys mentioned in another reply. The consensus seems to be that these are very nice DVD players. If you don't have any budget left for a player in this price range, just make sure you have a progressive scan DVD player connected via component. While it won't look as nice as these players, it will still give a decent picture until you save up for a better player (or hold out until the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray stuff sorts out). If your current player doesn't support progressive scan output via component, I'd highly recomend spending $60-70 and a decent, name brand progressive scan player, you will see a noticeable improvement over older non-progressive scan players.
Make sure to connect your Tivo with the best connection possible (s-video? I'm not 100% sure on that one). Also, be sure to record at the best quality setting. A highly compressed image on a large DLP can look a bit fugly.
Remember, your 46HM95 has a built in digital tuner, so you might be able to pick up some channels in HD just by plugging in the cable. Also, if your cable company offers it, CableCard would be a good option. Finally, don't forget over the air. Of all the mainstream options, over the air HD yields the best picture quality, IMHO. check http://www.antennaweb.org/ to see if you can get over the air HD. I actually get Fox, ABC, CBS, PBS, NBC and UPN digital broadcasts using a $30 indoor antenna from WalMart. HD sporting events and primetime looks incredible!

So, skip the VCR, hook up a progressive scan DVD player and your Xbox via component, Tivo by s-video and give your regular cable a shot (or try an antenna). Finally, give yourself some time to test out various options, feel free to experiment to get the right combo.

Good luck and enjoy the TV!

I have had a 52HMX95 since November 1st. I have had chronic problems with the TV losing the channels and get random messages that state it is "re-aquiring channels". This can happen while I am changing channels or when the TV is turned off. I have also noticed the remote control is very slow and un-responsive.

To fix the problem I have to go into the Install Menu, Channel Add/Delete, and then Reset.

I have been working with Time Warner and Toshiba. To date I have:

-Changed cable cards
-Applied a software upgrade (currently at 1.2.8, October 27, 2005)
-Had a new cable line installed from the street to my house on the outside

I thought the problem was fixed after Time Warner spent 3 hours at my house but the channel loss has happened four times within the last week. I am really starting to get torked. I am an IT manager and understand the need to trouble shoot and try different fixes but now I am just a frustrated consumer. I feel I have gone above and beyond what the average consumer would do to fix a problem.

I don't know alot about HDTV and am learning on the fly. Does anyone have any advice? Lastly, college basketball in non-HDTV is awful. Any suggestions on that one?

Appreciate any assistance. Thanks.

Well, first I'd consider skipping the VCR entirely, and moving it to a secondary TV. You'll most likely be very disapointed with the picture quality of VHS on a 46" TV.
For a DVD player, if your budget allows, go for an Oppo or one of the Pannys mentioned in another reply. The consensus seems to be that these are very nice DVD players. If you don't have any budget left for a player in this price range, just make sure you have a progressive scan DVD player connected via component. While it won't look as nice as these players, it will still give a decent picture until you save up for a better player (or hold out until the HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray stuff sorts out). If your current player doesn't support progressive scan output via component, I'd highly recomend spending $60-70 and a decent, name brand progressive scan player, you will see a noticeable improvement over older non-progressive scan players.
Make sure to connect your Tivo with the best connection possible (s-video? I'm not 100% sure on that one). Also, be sure to record at the best quality setting. A highly compressed image on a large DLP can look a bit fugly.

So, skip the VCR, hook up a progressive scan DVD player and your Xbox via component, Tivo by s-video and give your regular cable a shot (or try an antenna). Finally, give yourself some time to test out various options, feel free to experiment to get the right combo.

Good luck and enjoy the TV!


Thanks for the info.

The only reason I would like to keep the VCR connected is so I can record things I TiVo on to videotapes if I want to keep them. I would like to get a DVD player/recorder in the future. Does anyone know of a good, somewhat inexpensive DVD player/recorder. I have also seen combo units of DVD recorder and VCR. Are these any good?

Thanks again.

I have had a 52HMX95 since November 1st. I have had chronic problems with the TV losing the channels and get random messages that state it is "re-aquiring channels". This can happen while I am changing channels or when the TV is turned off. I have also noticed the remote control is very slow and un-responsive.

To fix the problem I have to go into the Install Menu, Channel Add/Delete, and then Reset.

I have been working with Time Warner and Toshiba. To date I have:

-Changed cable cards
-Applied a software upgrade (currently at 1.2.8, October 27, 2005)
-Had a new cable line installed from the street to my house on the outside

I thought the problem was fixed after Time Warner spent 3 hours at my house but the channel loss has happened four times within the last week. I am really starting to get torked. I am an IT manager and understand the need to trouble shoot and try different fixes but now I am just a frustrated consumer. I feel I have gone above and beyond what the average consumer would do to fix a problem.

I don't know alot about HDTV and am learning on the fly. Does anyone have any advice? Lastly, college basketball in non-HDTV is awful. Any suggestions on that one?

Appreciate any assistance. Thanks.

Well It sounds like I'm getting the same problem you are I think....

I have the same TV and just updated to the new firmware as well. I did get all my channels so that was good...The TVGOS didn't work though so I changed the Time warner listing number (I forget which but I can look if you need it) and it seemed to fix the problem. Then I started playing with it and the screen went blank and the channels changed a couple of times then the channels started to acquire again. strange. I'll give it a day or so in hopes it just needs more data or something. I'm new to this game to.

It's hell being a Beta tester LoL! I do love the TV so far though...hope the bulb nightmare is a small %!

P.S. I have Time warner Cincinnati and have a Scientific atlanta cable card.

Well It sounds like I'm getting the same problem you are I think....

I have the same TV and just updated to the new firmware as well. I did get all my channels so that was good...The TVGOS didn't work though so I changed the Time warner listing number (I forget which but I can look if you need it) and it seemed to fix the problem. Then I started playing with it and the screen went blank and the channels changed a couple of times then the channels started to acquire again. strange. I'll give it a day or so in hopes it just needs more data or something. I'm new to this game to.

It's hell being a Beta tester LoL! I do love the TV so far though...hope the bulb nightmare is a small %!

P.S. I have Time warner Cincinnati and have a Atlanta scientific cable card.


I will say once I finally heard back from Toshiba they put me directly in contact with Paul, the "cable card" guy. He assured me this problem would get resolved or they would give me a new TV or a full refund - regardless of the time it takes to resolve the issue. Paul is very customer focused and good. He arranged an engineer from Time Warner to call me directly to coordinate installing a new cable line and card.

Anyway, Paul did mention there were various flavors of the Scientific Atalanta card with different issues. Sounds like the cable companies make a change and then the tv manufacturers and cable cards have to be updated accordingly. I did try a different card and no luck. I still have a set top box as a backup - TW agreed to let me keep it as a backup over the weekend.

Was hoping I would get more suggestions. If anything, does anyone have recommended settings for non-HDTV basketball or football games? I am learning this on the fly. I can't imagine the "non-technical" consumer having to ever go through this process.

Should I just get a replacement? I think from what I have been reading that the Toshiba is one of the best values and PQ out there. However, I have no background to compare it to if I decide to get a refund and buy something else.

Well I thought I would say some good about Toshiba on here. I know most people only come here to discuss problems or issues with there sets or Toshiba. I have a 62hm84.
It has had 2 Light engines replaced in 1 year. The local service center that replaced it both times scratched my bezel the second time. They then refused to fix it. I called Toshiba cust . service and they agreed to contact the repair center, to try and resolve the issue. I got a call back today from Toshiba, telling me that they were going to replace the bezel. The repair center would install it and Toshiba would pay for the part. Thats pretty nice of Toshiba considering its not there fault at all for the scratch. Also my picture has been starting to get darker over the last month or so. Ive got 2400 hours on it about 1/2 in Hi-bright mode. I told cust service about the darkening pic and they are sending out a new lamp. Hopefully the new lamp will fix the darkening pic. It shipped today (overnite shipping). Also my lamp I ordered Monday from partstore shipped today as well. The rep from Toshiba said I didnt have to send them the lamp back blown. The return label is so they can dispose of the mercury lamp properly. DO NOT throw you old lamps in the trash. they contain MERCURY.
Toshiba also gave me a 6 month extension on my warranty. If it requires a new Light engine or other major part, they may issue a replacement set. I hope its all good now.
Thumbs up to cust service!


bmob,

Sorry to hear about you having to change the light engine out twice. I'm the one that worked with you on the first one. What happened to your second LE that required a replacement? If you remember my replacement worked but had slightly worse performance. Just enough for me to notice but not enough for Toshiba to replace. So I'm stuck with a substandard replaced light engine therefore a lesser picture quality.

In my experience Tosh cust service has never been rude or uncooperative. On the contrary they have been somewhat eager to help. My dealings however have been more in them being incompetent in dealing with me. Promises that dont appear, promised return calls that are never come... that sort of thing.

Some people have stated that most of the folks on a forum come because of problems. I find that most come for research on products either prior to purchase or after so they can discuss the products. I think maybe a good portion do come on after having a problem they cant solve, but I dont think they are the majority.

I think it would be fair to say that the lamp life stated in the owners manual is about twice as long as the lamps will last. I think thats a problem for Tosh. I dont base that just on this forum and others like it but the fact that they are in constant back order -- Nation wide back order. When a cust rep guesses what my problem is just by me telling them what model I have is somewhat of an indication. So for those out their look at or using the 84 or 94 series I would take it to the bank your lamp is going to pop around 2500 -3500 hours.

my second light engine was replaced because of one pixel not lighting up.
Since ive gotten it back the picture seems darker. Im thinking its the lamp.
I just got my new lamp in today so well see if thats the problem.

I just got a 62hm195 today and am VERY pleased. I played a movie in 480i and it looked fantastic, and I also played halo 2, forza and rallisport 2 in 480p. All of these looked great especially forza. The viewing angle is great. I love the slots for SD memory cards and whatnot. I don't have HDcable but SDcable looks surprisingly good compared to my old big screen (10 years old). I am thinking about getting HDcable. Anyone know about how much that costs? Also do you guys think its worth it to get a DVD player that upconverts (since I paid the extra for the 1080p) w/HDMI. Right now I am using component. Thanks

Also do you guys think its worth it to get a DVD player that upconverts (since I paid the extra for the 1080p) w/HDMI.

Along these lines, anybody had any experience out there with the toshiba 1080p DLPs and the toshiba SD4980. I am thinking about pulling the trigger on the 72HM195. After getting a stomach ache thinking about spending all this cash (it's a lot of money for me), I was hoping to go cheap on the DVD - the sub 100 price and include HDMI cable are pretty tempting to get me by until all this HD stuff sorts its self out. Just curious what the "total package" might look like?

And another thing. My eye might not be as critical as many out there. I gotta ask you this even though it's been hashed out a few times. Do you think, for the somewhat casual observer, there will be any real noticeable difference between 1080i>hdmi>1080p (my understanding of the current toshiba 1080p DLPs) vs. 1080p (someday) >hdmi> 1080p, ie. TVs that are truy able to accept native 1080p input. I hope that made just the smallest bit of sense, instead of just highlighting my newbie status :p

Paxi,

I don't think you will notice a difference between 1080i and 1080p.

I went for the Toshiba sd5980 DVD and it ran $124 with HDMI cable and included free shipping. It has the extra card reader on in in case i decide to move it to another TV in the future.

I could not be more please with the 72hm195 or the Toshiba DVD player. Now all my friends want me to have cocktail parties or football at my house every weekend. :)

HD on these sets is unreal! And OTA HD (free) is the absolute best!

UPDATE:
Last night I tried my All-In-Wonder 9800 ATI card with Pentium4 PC in AGP8x slot but still couldn't get 1920x1080 resolution neighter at 30Hz interlaced nor at 60Hz progressive. And resolution still reset to less then 720p with each PC reboot. This leads me to believe it is not the AGP4x vs. AGP8x problem, but rather this ATI card simply can't do 1920x1080 resolution with Toshiba 62MX195 TV. Next I'll try the NVIDIA 6200 with my Athelon 2100+ in AGP4x slot...

My AIW 9800 Pro AGP works great on a resolution of 1920x1080 but I'm using component output and the latest Catalyst driver right now.

I own a Toshiba 56HM195 - still waiting for my HDMI cables to arrive

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum and its a great place to be informed!

I hvae a question about the 56HM195 -

I've been trying to access the service menu - as posted from this thread

Mute 2 times hold 3rd time press menu.

I get the S but I cannot seem to access the bulb hours by pressing 9 on the remote

Can anyone help here?

Also anyone know more about the service menu navigation for this set?

Or even where to get the service manual?

Thanks!

I went for the Toshiba sd5980 DVD and it ran $124 with HDMI cable and included free shipping. It has the extra card reader on in in case i decide to move it to another TV in the future.

Thanks again for the info. Is the only difference b/t the 4980 and 5980 the extra card reader?
Does Toshiba honor the warranties if the TV is purchased from internet retailers? I know its buyer beware with these guys, but there do seem to be a few reputable ones out there, and b/c I'm getting several components, it might be a must. Man, can't wait to post here as an actual owner.

Thanks again for the info. Is the only difference b/t the 4980 and 5980 the extra card reader?
Does Toshiba honor the warranties if the TV is purchased from internet retailers? I know its buyer beware with these guys, but there do seem to be a few reputable ones out there, and b/c I'm getting several components, it might be a must. Man, can't wait to post here as an actual owner.

There is a list of authorized Toshiba e-tailers posted on their website. They will warranty any products purchased from these e-tailers.

Thanks again for the info. Is the only difference b/t the 4980 and 5980 the extra card reader?
Does Toshiba honor the warranties if the TV is purchased from internet retailers? I know its buyer beware with these guys, but there do seem to be a few reputable ones out there, and b/c I'm getting several components, it might be a must. Man, can't wait to post here as an actual owner.

I have the 4980 (was thrown in when I purchased my 62HMX94). To be honest, I'd skip it if I were you. First, no HDMI cable, so plan ahead or face the prospect of buying locally (luckily, I found a realtively good price on a cable at Target, wasn't going to spend as much on the cable as on the player!).

I had a Pioneer 578a progressive scan hooked up to my Toshiba (while waiting to buy an HDMI cable). I did some A/B testing between the 4980 (720p via HDMI) and the 578a (480p via component) and was had pressed to tell the two apart. Both looked great on my TV, though the 4980 did have a sharper, crisper picture.
So, why did I go back to the 578a? The 4980 has a problem with occasional pausing/freezing. I also had audio synch issues about 20% of the time (stop then restart fixed it, but still...).

So, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you're better off saving your way up to the $200-$250 range for an upscaling HDMI DVD player. The 5980 looks interesting, and it could easily have different components under the hood, but from reviews I've read, I'd hold out with your current DVD player until cash flow allows for one of the Panny upscalers, or the Oppo...

Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum and its a great place to be informed!

I hvae a question about the 56HM195 -

I've been trying to access the service menu - as posted from this thread

Mute 2 times hold 3rd time press menu.

I get the S but I cannot seem to access the bulb hours by pressing 9 on the remote

Can anyone help here?

Also anyone know more about the service menu navigation for this set?

Or even where to get the service manual?

Thanks!

I've been trying to see my lamp hours also on a 62hm195.

The acess codes posted here for other toshiba models don't seem to work on the 195 series. After following all the steps I get a message "no display" instead of the service menu. Somebody else also posted that they got that message.

I'm also curious to know the correct way to get to the service menu.

I have had a HMS since November 1st. I have had chronic problems with the TV losing the channels and get random messages that state it is "re-acquiring channels". This can happen while I am changing channels or when the TV is turned off. I have also noticed the remote control is very slow and un-responsive.

To fix the problem I have to go into the Install Menu, Channel Add/Delete, and then Reset.

I have been working with Time Warner and Toshiba. To date I have:

-Changed cable cards
-Applied a software upgrade (currently at 1.2.8, October 27, 2005)
-Had a new cable line installed from the street to my house on the outside

I thought the problem was fixed after Time Warner spent 3 hours at my house but the channel loss has happened four times within the last week. I am really starting to get torked. I am an IT manager and understand the need to trouble shoot and try different fixes but now I am just a frustrated consumer. I feel I have gone above and beyond what the average consumer would do to fix a problem.

I don't know alot about HDTV and am learning on the fly. Does anyone have any advice? Lastly, college basketball in non-HDTV is awful. Any suggestions on that one?

Appreciate any assistance. Thanks.

OK I thought I was done but the TV keeps doing the same thing as your's. I had the TVGOS working with the right time and now the time is lost but the listings are still there. It also keeps acquiring channels several times as well. Did you get your's fixed yet? I have the 52HMX95 as well and updated firmware too. It is crazy.....So close to working :0(

Thanks for any input.

When you get the 'S' in the upper part of the screen press 'menu' on the remote control. Then press 9.

When you get the 'S' in the upper part of the screen press 'menu' on the remote control. Then press 9.

Yep, that works on my 72hm195.

Ken

I have the 4980 (was thrown in when I purchased my 62HMX94). To be honest, I'd skip it if I were you. First, no HDMI cable, so plan ahead or face the prospect of buying locally (luckily, I found a realtively good price on a cable at Target, wasn't going to spend as much on the cable as on the player!).

I had a Pioneer 578a progressive scan hooked up to my Toshiba (while waiting to buy an HDMI cable). I did some A/B testing between the 4980 (720p via HDMI) and the 578a (480p via component) and was had pressed to tell the two apart. Both looked great on my TV, though the 4980 did have a sharper, crisper picture.
So, why did I go back to the 578a? The 4980 has a problem with occasional pausing/freezing. I also had audio synch issues about 20% of the time (stop then restart fixed it, but still...).

So, I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you're better off saving your way up to the $200-$250 range for an upscaling HDMI DVD player. The 5980 looks interesting, and it could easily have different components under the hood, but from reviews I've read, I'd hold out with your current DVD player until cash flow allows for one of the Panny upscalers, or the Oppo...

If you don't mind ordering over the internet. This place sells the cable cheap. I purchased a 15 foot dvi to hdmi cable for 35 including shipping. Got it in in 3 days and it worked great.

Here is their url:

http://www.monoprice.com/home/?CartID=&style=

Ken

monoprice.com has nice cables

can anyone here tell me what kind of DVD player they use for their TVs? Anyone got one that upconverts to 1080i or 1080p?

Thanks

sony ns70v or ns90v
get a $10 cable from monoprice
the picture is awsome
for a dvd player under $150 you cant beat it.
plus no macroblocking
SWEET

OK I thought I was done but the TV keeps doing the same thing as your's. I had the TVGOS working with the right time and now the time is lost but the listings are still there. It also keeps acquiring channels several times as well. Did you get your's fixed yet? I have the 52HMX95 as well and updated firmware too. It is crazy.....So close to working :0(

Thanks for any input.


Mine is still losing channels but not as frequently. I updated my call with Toshiba yesterday and will wait for Paul the cable card guy to call me back. I think I am going to ask for a new TV but will see what he says.

My TV Guide works but when you change the channel the wrong info is displayed. Instead of saying "NBC" it says FitTV for example. I find the TV guide to be very clumsy but haven't speant time reading the manual on it works. Does anyone know how to get the TW cable guide without having a TW remote?

Spitfire - when I speak to Paul I will mention you are having the same problem.

Mine is still losing channels but not as frequently. I updated my call with Toshiba yesterday and will wait for Paul the cable card guy to call me back. I think I am going to ask for a new TV but will see what he says.

My TV Guide works but when you change the channel the wrong info is displayed. Instead of saying "NBC" it says FitTV for example. I find the TV guide to be very clumsy but haven't spent time reading the manual on it works. Does anyone know how to get the TW cable guide without having a TW remote?

Spitfire - when I speak to Paul I will mention you are having the same problem.

Thanks, As far as the TWC menu the only way you can get that is by using their box :0(

Your channel lineup sounds like it's off to me did you try another lineup? My lineup is OK just no time still. maybe it just takes my time.... ?

I'll keep updating the board as it goes too. I'm also going to try Paul next time.

Thanks Sufan

sony ns70v or ns90v
get a $10 cable from monoprice
the picture is awsome
for a dvd player under $150 you cant beat it.
plus no macroblocking
SWEET

Thanks for your input. One question - why are some HDMI cables 150 and others 10?

name brand
the mono price cable i got was there premium one. It has the largest gauge wire I found anywhere and the insulation looks to be heavy. you wont be dissapointed

You can also call Toshiba to ask if they will honor the warranty from an on line retailer and they will say yes, as long as you have a dated receipt.

The SD5980 comes with a HDMI cable :) and I have not had one problem with a movie freezing. These units upconvert and for $124 it was an easy decision because I am enjoying watching my DVD's while I save my $$ for Blue Ray or HD Dvd when they come out :)

I've been trying to see my lamp hours also on a 62hm195.

The acess codes posted here for other toshiba models don't seem to work on the 195 series. After following all the steps I get a message "no display" instead of the service menu. Somebody else also posted that they got that message.

I'm also curious to know the correct way to get to the service menu.

Ok I found out the problem. I have the TV on HDMI (6) input mode. When I change the TV to Ant (0) input mode the lamp hours come up fine. If anyone is having trouble trying to see lamp hours make sure you are not on the HDMI input.

I've had my 46HM95 for a day now and I'm loving it. I still only have standard cable but I do pick up some HD channels just by hooking up the coaxial cable so that's neat. I do have a few things to ask.

1. Certain channels seem darker than others. Does anyone have recommendations for settings they use. Should I go pick up something like DVE or Avia?

2. When watching one of the OTA HD channels during the commercials the picture will revert back to 4:3 instead of the 16:9. Should I be changing the pic size so as to eliminate the stripes on the sides? I change the pic size when watching standard tv channels to fit the full screen but I don't know what to do about these other times.

3. When playing XBox what settings should I be using on the television, eg. contrast, brightness, etc.? And if a game doesn't play widescreen should I change the pic size to stretch it to wide screen?

I probably have other questions but I can't think of any at the moment.

Thanks for all your help.

I've had my 46HM95 for a day now and I'm loving it. I still only have standard cable but I do pick up some HD channels just by hooking up the coaxial cable so that's neat. I do have a few things to ask.

1. Certain channels seem darker than others. Does anyone have recommendations for settings they use. Should I go pick up something like DVE or Avia?

2. When watching one of the OTA HD channels during the commercials the picture will revert back to 4:3 instead of the 16:9. Should I be changing the pic size so as to eliminate the stripes on the sides? I change the pic size when watching standard tv channels to fit the full screen but I don't know what to do about these other times.

3. When playing XBox what settings should I be using on the television, eg. contrast, brightness, etc.? And if a game doesn't play widescreen should I change the pic size to stretch it to wide screen?

I probably have other questions but I can't think of any at the moment.

Thanks for all your help.

I just ordered the SpyderTV. It has a sensor that measures different parameters of the tv then calculates the optimum settings. It should be in in the next few days.


Ken

I've had a 46HM95 less than a month and had to reset it twice. It lost the video to my OTA HD channels (ant2) both times, SD has video & sound (ant2), cable (ant1) has video and sound and my DVD (component 1) has video and sound.

Anyone else had this problem?

I've had a 46HM95 less than a month and had to reset it twice. It lost the video to my OTA HD channels (ant2) both times, SD has video & sound (ant2), cable (ant1) has video and sound and my DVD (component 1) has video and sound.

Anyone else had this problem?

I had the same problem 1 month ago on a 62HMX95. My set is 2 months old. It happened only one time.

Has anyone got any of these DLP tvs to work with media center? I have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card and it seems to work until I switch inputs. Once I try to switch back to (6) HDMI1 I lose the signal and the only way to get it back is to unplug the dvi cable from the pc then plug it back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :confused:

I've had a 46HM95 less than a month and had to reset it twice. It lost the video to my OTA HD channels (ant2) both times, SD has video & sound (ant2), cable (ant1) has video and sound and my DVD (component 1) has video and sound.

Anyone else had this problem?


I just had that happen today (lost HD video on ANT1). How do you fix it? How do you reset?

Anyone know where i can get a hold of the 56HM195 service manual, specifically info on navigating thru the service menu?

Thanks

Grogster

I am thinking about possibly purchasing an 46HM95 for Xbox 360 HD gaming. Has anyone here had any issues with this TV regarding dlp delay time between button presses on the controller and the response on the screen. We have a Samsung HLR5087W and it had a slight delay. I do not want to have to return the tv after I buy it so if anyone here knows for sure about the 46HM95 than any response or advice would be appreciated!

I am thinking about possibly purchasing an 46HM95 for Xbox 360 HD gaming. Has anyone here had any issues with this TV regarding dlp delay time between button presses on the controller and the response on the screen. We have a Samsung HLR5087W and it had a slight delay. I do not want to have to return the tv after I buy it so if anyone here knows for sure about the 46HM95 than any response or advice would be appreciated!

I have the 52HM95 and there is no delay at all when playing the 360.

I've had my 46HM95 for a day now and I'm loving it. I still only have standard cable but I do pick up some HD channels just by hooking up the coaxial cable so that's neat. I do have a few things to ask.

2. When watching one of the OTA HD channels during the commercials the picture will revert back to 4:3 instead of the 16:9. Should I be changing the pic size so as to eliminate the stripes on the sides? I change the pic size when watching standard tv channels to fit the full screen but I don't know what to do about these other times.



I probably have other questions but I can't think of any at the moment.

Thanks for all your help.

Just leave it be. The broadcast station send it in 4:3 and it will get stretched if you change the size. Remember, it's only a commercial :)

What I hate is the 4:3 which broadcasts using gray side bars!!! :(

What I hate is the 4:3 which broadcasts using gray side bars!!! :(

I appreciate the reply. I just wanted to be sure what was proper. I'd hate to do something to ruin the screen. When watching a non-HD channel should you stretch it to eliminate the gray side bars? Do the gray side bars harm the screen?

Hello
I set up my 62HM195 on Saturday and enjoyed the set all weekend ,beautiful picture,no fan noise,was very happy.
This morning I turn on the set and only the left side of the screen turns on,the right side is dark with multicolor dashes.I have both a 8300HD DVR for cable and a DirecTV receiver and switching inputs does not change anything.
I did a factory reset and that did not work.
I Played with the POP split screen and that did not work.
Called Toshiba service and they told me to unplug the set overnight and plug it back in tomorrow,they think it might be an overheated microproccesor.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ray T :rolleyes:

I appreciate the reply. I just wanted to be sure what was proper. I'd hate to do something to ruin the screen. When watching a non-HD channel should you stretch it to eliminate the gray side bars? Do the gray side bars harm the screen?


No harm to the screen. DLPs are immune to burn-in issues of some other technologies like CRT. The screen cannot be harmed by the light.

I took delivery on a 46HM95 around 10/1/05 - overall a great product at a decent price. Unfortunately, after about 10 weeks and about 400 hours, my lamp has failed. Of course they're back-ordered, but are supposed to be in any day. I did my homework before buying & it seemed like lamps were costing around $200 and lasting 2000 - 3000 hours. Only later did I find out that the new lamps for the 95 series were much more expensive than the ones for the older models. After reading through a lot of the lamp issues that have been posted - I have a few suggestions for Toshiba (in case they have someone reading the forums).

1. (and most important) You absolutely must keep these lamps in stock at all times. You will lose your customers very quickly if parts continue to be backordered.

2. The lamps have to be provided at a reasonable cost. (For me $200 seems reasonable, $350 does not)

3. Replacement lamps should carry a 1 year warantee. (Seems that I should be able to expect a light bulb costing hundreds of dollars to at least work for a year)

4. Be truthful in your ratings of lamp life. If your manual says the lamp will last 6000 - 8000 hours, you should be ready for major backlash from your customers if they only last 1/4 of that time. People will be much more willing to accept these problems if you at least tell the truth up front

Oh well, that's my free public relations advice for Toshiba - does anyone else think thse are reasonable requests?? They probably won't listen - but it doesn't hurt to try.

Has anyone tried using something like this?

www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103913&cp=2032057&f=Taxonomy%2FRSK%2F2032057&categoryId=2032057&kwCatId=2032057&kw=signal+amplifier&parentPage=search

I am only using standard cable right now and I'm just trying to get myself a better picture for the time being until I get digital cable. Anyone have success in a similar situation? If so what did you use?

Thanks.

Has anyone tried using something like this?

www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103913&cp=2032057&f=Taxonomy%2FRSK%2F2032057&categoryId=2032057&kwCatId=2032057&kw=signal+amplifier&parentPage=search

I am only using standard cable right now and I'm just trying to get myself a better picture for the time being until I get digital cable. Anyone have success in a similar situation? If so what did you use?

Thanks.If your signal is not strong enough your cable provider should be able to add an amplifier if necessary. I have Comcast and they had to add one to my incoming signal. You shouldn't have to pay for a device to boost your signal if needed.

Just an update. PartStore.com definitely came through with replacement lamp. Ordered, shipped and received all within a week and for $189. This applies to 84/94 models only. Nice to have a spare.

No harm to the screen. DLPs are immune to burn-in issues of some other technologies like CRT. The screen cannot be harmed by the light.


If you have comcast stb you can set the 4:3 overide to off and the bars will turn from grey to black.

This morning I turn on the set and only the left side of the screen turns on,the right side is dark with multicolor dashes.

Hi to all forum members,

Bought a new 52HM84 two month ago. Had very similar problem (multicolor dashes) happened only once. Unplugged it for half an hour, then it all came back to normal. Never happen again ever since... :confused:

I keep my finger crossed and thought the TV needed some 'break-in period' to adapt the new environment (eg, my home)...


Tim

Ok I found out the problem. I have the TV on HDMI (6) input mode. When I change the TV to Ant (0) input mode the lamp hours come up fine. If anyone is having trouble trying to see lamp hours make sure you are not on the HDMI input.

Hmm no luck for me still - I get a square S and when I press 9 it changes to that channel.

Here is my sequence

1. Press "mute" on the remote - 1/2 mute appears on the screen
2. Press "mute" on the remote again - mute appears on the screen
3. Press "mute" on the remote and hold the mute button -
4. Press the "Menu" button on the TV's front panel. "S" will appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
5. Press the "Menu" button on remote.
6. Press "9" on the remote and you will access the diagnostics page. In the right hand corner is the lamp time in hours.
7. Press "power" button on remote to exit the menu and power off the TV.

Original Step 5 was press Menu again on the front panel.. doesnt work either

UPDATE:
Last night I tried my All-In-Wonder 9800 ATI card with Pentium4 PC in AGP8x slot but still couldn't get 1920x1080 resolution neighter at 30Hz interlaced nor at 60Hz progressive. And resolution still reset to less then 720p with each PC reboot. This leads me to believe it is not the AGP4x vs. AGP8x problem, but rather this ATI card simply can't do 1920x1080 resolution with Toshiba 62MX195 TV. Next I'll try the NVIDIA 6200 with my Athelon 2100+ in AGP4x slot...

Update: Yes I get the same issue with my AIW 9800 pro

Last email I said I was able to use 1920x1080 at 30hz using the breakout to component outputs YPrPb which works fine and when I rebooted the box, the resolution saved at 1080i 30hz

I just tried a DVI to HDMI cable and I cannot get it anything higher than 720p. At 1080 the picture was out of sync.
1080 which had previously worked with a component breakout cable no longer worked. When i set to 720p I would reboot and it would come back as 480p.. sucks

Guess I may need to get another video card.

Hmm no luck for me still - I get a square S and when I press 9 it changes to that channel.

So you are on the ANT1 input and you tried pressing "menu" on the front panel after you get the S and then press 9?

hi, i've searched for this issue and found a few others with the same problem but no solution. i have my computer hooked up via DVI -> HDMI. if i switch to any other input and back to the computer, the picture is gone. if i change resolutions on the computer, it appears again, but i hate having to "remote desktop" in with my laptop every time i change inputs! any ideas besides switching to component?

Checked my bulb hours last night on my HDMI input and followed the directions and everything came up fine. I'm at 315 hours on my 52HMX84. Love this tv, finally approaching the 500 hour break in period and it's looking good.

So you are on the ANT1 input and you tried pressing "menu" on the front panel after you get the S and then press 9?

Yep I have tried that too after I get my initial S, I hit menu on the front panel then 9 on remote... ends up swithcing channels.

Also tried after I get the initial S on screen, to hit menu on my remote and then 9 on remote... no go.

Looks to be different on the 56HM195..

Thanks for your input. One question - why are some HDMI cables 150 and others 10?

My understanding is that the HDMI video signal is in the digital domain. As long as the cable can get the signal to the other end without changing bit values then the picture will look the same using a cheap HDMI cable as with the most expensive HDMI cable in the world.

This is, of course, not true for video signals transmitted in the analog domain (component video) where every distortion can degrade the signal.

Gold plating on the HDMI connectors, good shielding, and reasonably strong construction are important factors for any cable design. But that pretty much describes a cable from any reputable company. Hyper expensive cables are just a rip off in my opinion.

Your local Radio Shack may still have the discontinued 6 foot HDMI cable that I am using, P/N 15-1085 (12.49 USD).

for the bulb hours.
you need to press 9 when the "s" goes away, and on the left of the screen it says "rp10" or somthing like that. If you are seeing the "s" when you press "menu" then press "menu" again and it will go away. Then press "9" on your remote (you can let go of "mute" as well)

Yep I have tried that too after I get my initial S, I hit menu on the front panel then 9 on remote... ends up swithcing channels.

Also tried after I get the initial S on screen, to hit menu on my remote and then 9 on remote... no go.

Looks to be different on the 56HM195..

It eventually works on my 72hm195. I just keep on pressing menu (on the remote) and 9 and the screen eventually displays.

Ken

It sounds like the only part of the process that's different with the new sets is using the "menu" button on the remote as opposed to the front panel. Here is an excerpt from another user in a different forum for his HM95.

I pressed "Mute" on the remote twice, and held it down the third time while pressing "Menu" on the TV. This displayed an "S" in a box at the top right of the display (as well as the menu).

Then...pressing "Menu" a 2nd time on the TV had no effect, but pressing "Menu" on the remote brought up the following text on the upper left side:

RCUT
ADDR DATA BINARY
224DH 00H 00000000B

Next, pressing "9" on the remote brought up the "Self Check" screen with the following:

Firmware :HM95_1566B
Time :000142(Lamp:000138)
Bus line :OK
Bus cont :OK
Block :UV V1 V2 V3 V4 V5
:V6 V7
DLP :+34 +38

I then switched the TV off to exit Service Mode.

It sounds like the only part of the process that's different with the new sets is using the "menu" button on the remote as opposed to the front panel. Here is an excerpt from another user in a different forum for his HM95.

I pressed "Mute" on the remote twice, and held it down the third time while pressing "Menu" on the TV. This displayed an "S" in a box at the top right of the display (as well as the menu).

Then...pressing "Menu" a 2nd time on the TV had no effect, but pressing "Menu" on the remote brought up the following text on the upper left side:

RCUT
ADDR DATA BINARY
224DH 00H 00000000B

Next, pressing "9" on the remote brought up the "Self Check" screen with the following:

Firmware :HM95_1566B
Time :000142(Lamp:000138)
Bus line :OK
Bus cont :OK
Block :UV V1 V2 V3 V4 V5
:V6 V7
DLP :+34 +38

I then switched the TV off to exit Service Mode.


thats what works for me

Your local Radio Shack may still have the discontinued 6 foot HDMI cable that I am using, P/N 15-1085 (12.49 USD).

Don't get your hopes up on that $12.49 cable. I posted this in another thread, but 4 local Radio Shacks were listed on the website as having it in stock. They all did, but it was $99.95. Yes, it was the cheap in-house brand, too. I ended up getting 2 of them for under $3 each from monoprice.com. I took about 4 days to arrive and they have a far better picture than my $100 Monster component cables.

Wow this thread is huge. I'm gonna try to read as much as I can, but i'm taking delivery on a 46HM95 tomorrow.

Anything I should know? I'm hoping it looks good, because it's very hard to tell when one signal is being fed to 50 TVs in the store :o I have Avia, hopefully that will help me calibrate it.

Does anyone have a bad lamp for a toshiba 95 series they would like to make a couple bucks off of? I would be intrested in buying it off of you, Just shoot me a PM.

OK I thought I was done but the TV keeps doing the same thing as your's. I had the TVGOS working with the right time and now the time is lost but the listings are still there. It also keeps acquiring channels several times as well. Did you get your's fixed yet? I have the 52HMX95 as well and updated firmware too. It is crazy.....So close to working :0(

Thanks for any input.

Spitfire - any update on your situation? I updated my ticket with Toshiba on Satruday and have yet to hear back. Tried calling today but they were already closed.

Can anyone else offer adivce on our cable card problems? We both keep losing our channels. Time Warner ran new cable on the outside of my house and I have a second cable card. I have also applied software fixes but am going to try that again tonight.

What is the latest firmware/software date?

I have the 52HMX95 and just recently updated the firmware to what was the latest then, ver 1.2.8. Time Warner / BrightHouse has supplied me with a SA cable card which has been dealing me fits with TVGOS issues. That is until I updated my TV's firmware. Now TVGOS is perfect. However either the TV or the cable card is keeping me from getting all the channels I'm supposed to receive. Basically most all of the digital tier channels are defunct in one way or the other. Out of say 112 channels I prolly get 12 of them. Not very good results in my opinion.

And - pack a replacement bulb in the box with the TV. This totally sucks. We have had our 62HM95 less than 4 months. I'm sure it had less than 2000 hours since we both work full time. I asked for 3 replacement bulbs free, since the life is supposed to be 6K to 8K hours. The cheapest I found so far is 375 bucks. Ridiculous. I knew it was going to blow. The TV was getting dimmer. My husband and brother didn't think so, but I could tell it was not as bright.

Toshiba you need to come through for your customers - free light bulbs for life until you fix the problem!

Ive got an extra bulb for the 84/94 series
tosh sent me my replacement and I got one from partstore the same day.
If anyone is interested pm me

sony ns70v or ns90v
get a $10 cable from monoprice
the picture is awsome
for a dvd player under $150 you cant beat it.
plus no macroblocking
SWEET
+1

great player, great price... but you gotta buy your own hdmi cable...

Don't get your hopes up on that $12.49 cable. I posted this in another thread, but 4 local Radio Shacks were listed on the website as having it in stock. They all did, but it was $99.95. Yes, it was the cheap in-house brand, too. I ended up getting 2 of them for under $3 each from monoprice.com. I took about 4 days to arrive and they have a far better picture than my $100 Monster component cables.
i have that cable... i bought it before i even needed it... i saw the price and knew i'd be getting an upconvert DVD player, so i splurged... ;)

works just fine... :D

So far I've heard of lamp problems from the 84/94 series. Has anyone had any lamp problems with the 195 series?

Thanks,

Ken

So far I've heard of lamp problems from the 84/94 series. Has anyone had any lamp problems with the 195 series?

Thanks,

Ken
Probably to new for lamp problems,but,mine was delivered with a bad light engine.I am still watching it until new engine arrives.Was ordered week ago tommorow.It just "leaks" a little light onto a black screen.Lamps for 195 series are $389(lowest I've seen) and they don't have any.

Probably to new for lamp problems,but,mine was delivered with a bad light engine.I am still watching it until new engine arrives.Was ordered week ago tommorow.It just "leaks" a little light onto a black screen.Lamps for 195 series are $389(lowest I've seen) and they don't have any.

Dumb question but how do you know if you have a bad light engine?

So far I've heard of lamp problems from the 84/94 series. Has anyone had any lamp problems with the 195 series?

Thanks,

Ken


Yes the 95/195 series is having lamp problems as well - Toshiba can't get enough replacements to cover the demand. My 46HM95 lamp went out after 10 weeks & about 400 hours. They keep telling me they're coming in "any day", but its looking more & more like I won't be seeing any college bowl games in HD this year :mad:

Hello, a friend of mine has a 52HM84 and bye mistake dropped a speaker on the screen and it le 3 inch finger nail like scratch on the center of the picture screen.Does anyone out there no of any tweeks we could do to remove the blemish?

Yes the 95/195 series is having lamp problems as well - Toshiba can't get enough replacements to cover the demand. My 46HM95 lamp went out after 10 weeks & about 400 hours. They keep telling me they're coming in "any day", but its looking more & more like I won't be seeing any college bowl games in HD this year :mad:

If you want to buy one to have as a spare, All TV Lamps has them in stock. http://www.alltvlamps.com/toshibalamps.html

If you want to buy one to have as a spare, All TV Lamps has them in stock.

Thanks for the heads up. $359 + shipping is an awful steep price, but I might have to bite the bullet to prevent being without the TV for weeks at a time, waiting for Toshiba to make good on their warantee.

Kinda ticks me off that they have plenty of lamps to keep building new sets, but they can't spare any to replace the defective ones in the sets they already sold. :mad:

Well, look at it this way, at some point you would've had to replace the lamp anyway (after the warranty expired). This way you just end up purchasing it early. When Toshiba does finally send you the replacement lamp, you now have a spare.


Ken

Thanks for the heads up. $359 + shipping is an awful steep price, but I might have to bite the bullet to prevent being without the TV for weeks at a time, waiting for Toshiba to make good on their warantee.

Kinda ticks me off that they have plenty of lamps to keep building new sets, but they can't spare any to replace the defective ones in the sets they already sold. :mad:

Steep price, indeed. Looks like we will all need one at some point in the future though, so might as well keep a spare. I ordered mine today and already have verification that it has shipped. Hopefully, I won't need it for years, but I'd much rather have it when the stupid thing goes out.

I was worried about this as I had read this and other forums and there appears to be an issue with bulbs in the 95 series Toshiba DLP sets. I did everything that could possibly be done to prolong the life of my bulb and instead end up having it go out in 3 months (less than 100hrs of usage). Of course it is covered by warranty and my new bulb will be here in 2-3 weeks (nationwide back order).

I can only hope my next one lasts longer because having to purchase one of these every 3-6 months is not going to happen especially at the $395 price of these bulbs.

Toshiba assures me there is no issue however they seem to always be out of the bulbs!

Thoughts? I have owned many Toshiba televisions, DVD players and VCRs in the last 15+ years and have had excellent luck with them (none broke).

Dumb question but how do you know if you have a bad light engine?
Please read previous posts of mine,last ten days

Has anyone got any of these DLP tvs to work with media center? I have an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card and it seems to work until I switch inputs. Once I try to switch back to (6) HDMI1 I lose the signal and the only way to get it back is to unplug the dvi cable from the pc then plug it back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :confused:

i have the same problem. i have an ati 9700 pro hooked up dvi -> hdmi. i'm hoping it's an issue with ati because i'm planning to get a 6600gt soon. when i restart the computer, i have to re-set the resolution every time and if i switch inputs i need to adjust the res and re set it so the tv will see the computer. does anyone know of a solution or if nvidia cards will work properly?

I have a few questions about a DVD player I am going to get for my 62HM195
Its the Toshiba sd5980
I understand it upconverts to 720p and 1080i.
I understand DVDs can do 480p.
I understand upconverting isn't as good as native resolution.
So whats the picture difference from what I see now (a regular sony DVD player w/regular component cables running a DVD at 480p)
And a Toshiba sd5980 w/HDMI running at (whatever it runs at, that was going to be my other question - what mode do you put it at for this DVD player, because its not a native 720p or 1080i/p resolution, its a 480p resolution upconverted)

So, whats the difference?
If anyone could answer these questions I would GREATLY appreciate it. :)

Brandon,

I wish I could answer your questions for you but I can't. I will tell you that I have the same DVD player and it's great!

I used a non progressive sony and it looked like crap. The 4980 toshiba looked good but not great so I returned it and got the 5980 with free HDMI cable.

I have not had any problems with the player and the only movie it showed some flaws with was Batman begins. I did not bother playing wih the setting but I am sure I could have improved the PQ.

Good luck with the 5980- great unit.

/Joe

Thoughts? I have owned many Toshiba televisions, DVD players and VCRs in the last 15+ years and have had excellent luck with them (none broke).

My thoughts - I think the Toshiba DLP's are great products overall. While I'm ticked that they are continuously back ordered on the lamps (and other critical parts), this is really not just a Toshiba problem. This is pretty much a common issue with all the lamp based RPTV's. In my opinion, this issue will spell the end of DLP/LCD rear projection TV unless they find a way to correct it.

A lot of people bought these sets based on the 8000 hour lamp life that the owner's manual promises. How many of these people would still have bought the sets if they knew that they would actually be lucky to get a year out of a $400 lamp (and in some cases much less)??

The serious TV enthusiasts may be willing to live with this issue, but I just don't think the average TV watching family can afford it.

I must say i'm quite disappointed in this set.

I just purchased two HDTVs actually, this being one and a ViewSonic 27" N2750W for my bedroom being the other.

Both look good when playing games on the XBOX360 at 720p, but both look TERRIBLE when playing DVDs or regular TV.

Broadcast TV i'm not concerned about, I need to call my cable company to upgrade to digital cable, but DVDs look horrible and that's a disappointment.

What do I need to do to get DVDs to look good? Adjusting the settings on the TV won't help. Must I have a DVD player that upconverts to HD modes? Will nothing look good at 480i/p?

EDIT: I guess it's not the TVs fault since both of my displays do it, but it's still a disappointment. I was playing the DVDs through my XBOX360 hooked up via component cable. It doesn't upscale to HD for DVDs, it looked great on my old CRT though.

My suggestion is to purchase an upconverting dvd player. You can get them between 150 and 200. I have the oppo and the picture it produces is fantastic.

Using Dish network with my TV and keeping the black bars for SD programming, the picture is adequate. Not great but definitely watchable.

Ken

Thanks Ken, what exactly is the Oppo :o

I have a few questions about a DVD player I am going to get for my 62HM195
Its the Toshiba sd5980
I understand it upconverts to 720p and 1080i.
I understand DVDs can do 480p.
I understand upconverting isn't as good as native resolution.
So whats the picture difference from what I see now (a regular sony DVD player w/regular component cables running a DVD at 480p)
And a Toshiba sd5980 w/HDMI running at (whatever it runs at, that was going to be my other question - what mode do you put it at for this DVD player, because its not a native 720p or 1080i/p resolution, its a 480p resolution upconverted)

So, whats the difference?
If anyone could answer these questions I would GREATLY appreciate it. :)First thing is no matter what signal you send to your display it is going to convert it to it's native resolution which in your case is 1080p. The question of whether an upconverting player would be beneficial depends on the TV's scaler as opposed to the DVD player and which one is better. In theory a digital connection will give you a better signal as it doesn't have to do any D/A and A/D conversions. This means either DVI or HDMI connections and standard progressive players (i.e. 480p) most likely only have component connections so to take advantage of the DVI or HDMI connections you are limited to upconverting players. With that being said your best PQ may be using HDMI but leaving the player at 480p and letting the TV upconvert the signal to 1080p. With 720p or 1080i settings you have two conversions, one in the DVD player and one in the TV. Experiment with each setting and choose the one that looks best to you.

My thoughts - I think the Toshiba DLP's are great products overall. While I'm ticked that they are continuously back ordered on the lamps (and other critical parts), this is really not just a Toshiba problem. This is pretty much a common issue with all the lamp based RPTV's. In my opinion, this issue will spell the end of DLP/LCD rear projection TV unless they find a way to correct it.

A lot of people bought these sets based on the 8000 hour lamp life that the owner's manual promises. How many of these people would still have bought the sets if they knew that they would actually be lucky to get a year out of a $400 lamp (and in some cases much less)??

The serious TV enthusiasts may be willing to live with this issue, but I just don't think the average TV watching family can afford it.

Exactly. I came really close to just buying a CRT projection as they seem to be more resilient and don't have bulb issues. Not to say they can't have problems, but are less likely. I would bet a CRT projection unit wouldn't need the crt replaced every year!! Hopefully if Toshiba can't resolve the problem, they will figure out how to get the bulbs down to 150 or less. I'd probably settle for 200 like the previous years model (84/94). I'm just pissed, luckily VISA adds another year to the manufacturers warranty so i'm covered for at least another 21 months on bulbs.

FYI, If you purchased your TV with VISA, they will automatically extend the manufacturer warranty by 1 year. Even at the end of that you can still extend it for 3 more years for about 180 (not sure if they will do bulbs or not with the extension), but if it keeps popping bulbs every 90 to 180 days, I would probably make the case that the TV is defective since Toshiba states 6000-8000 hours!!!

We'll have to see.

Thanks Ken, what exactly is the Oppo :o


Oppo is the make of the DVD player. The model number is OPDV971H. Some people say there is a problem with this dvd player and the TI chip used in the Toshiba DLPs. I've played a number of dvds and haven't seen any issues yet. I think they were talking about macro blocking. There are other players on the market though in the same price range.

Ken

Spitfire - any update on your situation? I updated my ticket with Toshiba on Saturday and have yet to hear back. Tried calling today but they were already closed.

Can anyone else offer advice on our cable card problems? We both keep losing our channels. Time Warner ran new cable on the outside of my house and I have a second cable card. I have also applied software fixes but am going to try that again tonight.

What is the latest firmware/software date?


No not yet...called Monday and was told Paul would get back to me....

Have the TVGOS working with the time this morning and after pulling out the CC for a day put it back in last night and had channels with descriptions this morning as well. :0) Then........................ :0(

I've been writing down all the channels one by one with descriptions to see if I am in fact getting them all. This morning I picked up list and worked on channels 116 and up...I got to 119 then the card started searching again wiping everything out yet once again, (The TVGOS is still working). This is starting to piss me off good now, I know It's close to working but not there yet. Going to call tech again today.

The Seine version is 1.2.8 The most recent I believe.

I'll keep you updated :0)

Steep price, indeed. Looks like we will all need one at some point in the future though, so might as well keep a spare. I ordered mine today and already have verification that it has shipped. Hopefully, I won't need it for years, but I'd much rather have it when the stupid thing goes out.


I've heard this theory a couple of times and even bought an extra lamp from partstore.com. However, after receiving my Tosh replacement. I realized that (for me at least) its not worth the possible problems associated with storing an extra bulb. So I returned it for a refund. Here is my reasoning.

Warranty issue:
- The bulbs warranty starts when you purchase it even if its sitting on a shelf. Therefore if in 6-10 months your Tosh lamp goes out again and you put in your 250-350 replacement lamp. What happens if it blows in a couple of weeks or a few months. Your out of luck.

Availability Issue:
- I also believe that the lamps are on constant BO now because they were'nt prepared for these problems. Its my guess in about 6month - 1 year their going to be okay with replacement stock.. Why wouldnt they? Look at the money their going to make from them. Maybe I should go into the Lamp reselling business.

Price Issue
- Third someone is going to come of with a generic competing lamp. I saw a refurbished one on Ebay already. Or there are going to be so many on the market the price will probably go down.


That said I didnt have to wait more than two weeks for my lamp (as others have) so it just maybe worth it if I couldnt stand the down time.

i have the same problem. i have an ati 9700 pro hooked up dvi -> hdmi. i'm hoping it's an issue with ati because i'm planning to get a 6600gt soon. when i restart the computer, i have to re-set the resolution every time and if i switch inputs i need to adjust the res and re set it so the tv will see the computer. does anyone know of a solution or if nvidia cards will work properly?

What kind of resolutions are you able to push through the DVI-HDMI set-up? I understand the resolution is limited to what your video card can output. However I'm curious if anybody has gotten anything better than 1024x768 that the VGA connection can handle.
I'm currently using my 52HMX95's VGA connection but would consider going DVI-HDMI if I "knew" that I could extend my resolution out to 1280x720 the TV's native resolution.
As far as the VGA hook-up goes, I've hooked my nVidia to it, swapped back to ANT1 as the input and can easily swap yet again to the VGA input without any res issues.

I know this has been talked about, but I wanted to give my 2 cents.

I bought the 62HM94 because it has a game mode. The game mode works great. I can't play any games without it on because of the lag. So if you are a gamer, I would get a DLP with Game Mode.

Casino,

I'm not so certain your comment on gaming lag is valid. Do you own any other DLP set and game on it? Have you gamed on any other DLP sets? My son is an avid gamer and uses our HMX95 to play Xbox online. Our set does not have a game mode nor have either of us experienced any gaming lag.
That's just my $0.02 worth.

Casino,

I'm not so certain your comment on gaming lag is valid. Do you own any other DLP set and game on it? Have you gamed on any other DLP sets? My son is an avid gamer and uses our HMX95 to play Xbox online. Our set does not have a game mode nor have either of us experienced any gaming lag.
That's just my $0.02 worth.


That's weird. This is the only DLP I've played my PS2 on, but it definetely has lag. I wasn't sure at first, but I hooked up the camera (eyetoy) and when I moved my hand across it, it was delayed on the screen. I turned game mode on, and it corrected this.

Maybe the newer TV is better or maybe the Xbox is better, I don't know. Maybe some people don't notice it, but I do. Who knows.

I think this debate will never get settled, but I find it hard to believe that some sets would have it and others don't (of the same brand).

Warranty issue:
- The bulbs warranty starts when you purchase it even if its sitting on a shelf. Therefore if in 6-10 months your Tosh lamp goes out again and you put in your 250-350 replacement lamp. What happens if it blows in a couple of weeks or a few months. Your out of luck.

Availability Issue:
- I also believe that the lamps are on constant BO now because they were'nt prepared for these problems. Its my guess in about 6month - 1 year their going to be okay with replacement stock.. Why wouldnt they? Look at the money their going to make from them. Maybe I should go into the Lamp reselling business.

Price Issue
- Third someone is going to come of with a generic competing lamp. I saw a refurbished one on Ebay already. Or there are going to be so many on the market the price will probably go down.


That said I didnt have to wait more than two weeks for my lamp (as others have) so it just maybe worth it if I couldnt stand the down time.Personally I don't believe the prices will come down much and I think if you look at front projectors you'll see that they have been pretty consistent in the cost. As far as availablity goes it may be that the lamps will become readily available and then again they may not as more people have their sets longer requiring a replacement. The warranty could come into play but I watch my TV quite a bit and got 3000 hours and nine months of use on my original so there is a good chance the replacement would last longer than the six month warranty. I also puurchased my set with my Amex card so I have another 12 months on my original warranty to get another replacement if needed. I would rather have a $200 part on hand then risk the fact that I could be two weeks or more without being able to enjoy my TV as I still have to pay my cable bill whether I am watching it or not.

To me, the cost is worth the piece of mind that I'm not going to miss the Super Bowl or some other major event because I was reluctant to spend the $200. To each his own I guess but I'm not looking back on my decision. I still have six months on the replacement lamp Toshiba sent me which is the same amount of time that I get with the one I purchased being used today. At some point your warranty will run out and you will have to purchase one anyway and I will take the odds that it will last longer then the warranty anyway.

What DVD players are you guys using with this TV? Are you using ones that upconvert? Every DVD player I have looks terrible with the 46HM95 but they are nothing special.

What kind of resolutions are you able to push through the DVI-HDMI set-up? I understand the resolution is limited to what your video card can output. However I'm curious if anybody has gotten anything better than 1024x768 that the VGA connection can handle.
I'm currently using my 52HMX95's VGA connection but would consider going DVI-HDMI if I "knew" that I could extend my resolution out to 1280x720 the TV's native resolution.
As far as the VGA hook-up goes, I've hooked my nVidia to it, swapped back to ANT1 as the input and can easily swap yet again to the VGA input without any res issues.

i have my video card set at 1280 x 720 @ 60 hz and it looks great to me, although i'm only comparing it to my old 27 inch crt tv. there is hardly any overscan (about half of the start bar worth around all sides) and text is really clear. i just need to find a solution for this "switching inputs" problem! unforunately i don't have a vga port to try or the dongle thing to see if component suffers from the same problem. does anyone have an nvidia card hooked up w/ dvi? i'm really hoping i can find some solution!

What DVD players are you guys using with this TV? Are you using ones that upconvert? Every DVD player I have looks terrible with the 46HM95 but they are nothing special.

I've got the Toshiba 4980 that upconverts to 720p or 1080i. Personally, I like the picture better on 720p. Stay away from this model, though... I've had 2 now and have had both randomly freeze up on me while playing a disc. The first one I had would also randomly turn on and "hard lock" requiring me to unplug it and plug it back in just to get the tray open.

Personally I don't believe the prices will come down much and I think if you look at front projectors you'll see that they have been pretty consistent in the cost. As far as availablity goes it may be that the lamps will become readily available and then again they may not as more people have their sets longer requiring a replacement. The warranty could come into play but I watch my TV quite a bit and got 3000 hours and nine months of use on my original so there is a good chance the replacement would last longer than the six month warranty. I also puurchased my set with my Amex card so I have another 12 months on my original warranty to get another replacement if needed. I would rather have a $200 part on hand then risk the fact that I could be two weeks or more without being able to enjoy my TV as I still have to pay my cable bill whether I am watching it or not.

To me, the cost is worth the piece of mind that I'm not going to miss the Super Bowl or some other major event because I was reluctant to spend the $200. To each his own I guess but I'm not looking back on my decision. I still have six months on the replacement lamp Toshiba sent me which is the same amount of time that I get with the one I purchased being used today. At some point your warranty will run out and you will have to purchase one anyway and I will take the odds that it will last longer then the warranty anyway.

Would you still feel that way if your lamp cost you $375.00?
That's what they are for the newer sets!

Goldfingiz
I have a 46HM95 with a progressive DVD using component and a new 400 disk Sony via HDMI. I have to tell you that both pictures look great with the sony having the edge. The upconverting makes it almost HD.
I suggest you look at your connections and settings. From personal experience I can tell you the set can produce a fantastic picture.

Bulb Issue
Just my personal thoughts here:

There is a definite problem with the bulbs. Far too many are failing in too short a time.
Toshiba is playing a game, they know about the failures but are not stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.
The cost is out of line at $395. Toshiba needs to improve availability.

i have the same problem. i have an ati 9700 pro hooked up dvi -> hdmi. i'm hoping it's an issue with ati because i'm planning to get a 6600gt soon. when i restart the computer, i have to re-set the resolution every time and if i switch inputs i need to adjust the res and re set it so the tv will see the computer. does anyone know of a solution or if nvidia cards will work properly?

I'll make you a deal. You send me your DVI-HDMI cable/converter and I'll let you know if it's just your ATI card or another issue. I have the nVidia Geforce 6?00 Go in my laptop as well as several other nVidia video cards in my desktops. Testing with a nVidia card will not be an issue.

Bulb Issue
Just my personal thoughts here:

There is a definite problem with the bulbs. Far too many are failing in too short a time.
Toshiba is playing a game, they know about the failures but are not stepping up to the plate and doing something about it.
The cost is out of line at $395. Toshiba needs to improve availability.


I can tell already my decision to purchase the 5 year warranty from HHGregg has made me feel better already after reading many posts here. For 385.00 I got the extended warranty and that also covers unlimited bulb replacement....If you haven't bought a TV already don't think twice about a good warranty IMO.....

My CC issues have started to get better BTW not sure but I think Time Warner is working on their end as well as Toshiba on the firmware.....channels are getting more stable and the TVGOS is keeping the time as well today.....crossing my fingers :0)


spitfire

I can tell already my decision to purchase the 5 year warranty from HHGregg has made me feel better already after reading many posts here. For 385.00 I got the extended warranty and that also covers unlimited bulb replacement....If you haven't bought a TV already don't think twice about a good warranty IMO.....

My CC issues have started to get better BTW not sure but I think Time Warner is working on their end as well as Toshiba on the firmware.....channels are getting more stable and the TVGOS is keeping the time as well today.....crossing my fingers :0)


spitfire

Not that I disagree at all, but I paid for a 5 year warranty on my last 57" HD RPTV and didn't use it at all. My daughter now has it with 1.5 years of warranty left.

Also, not that it matters, but I have a gut feeling the failure rate on the lamps is not as great as you would think reading forums like this. We hear mostly the negative and not the positive. I do have my spare lamp here now though, just in case :)

Not that I disagree at all, but I paid for a 5 year warranty on my last 57" HD RPTV and didn't use it at all. My daughter now has it with 1.5 years of warranty left.

However, you probably bought that warranty when CRT RPTV were at the advance of their technology. I think DLP RPTV are two new. Heck it only took Tosh a year or less to go from a hm94 to a hm95 and then to 195. Mostly a lamp and card change on the 95...what does that tell ya?

Also, not that it matters, but I have a gut feeling the failure rate on the lamps is not as great as you would think reading forums like this. We hear mostly the negative and not the positive. I do have my spare lamp here now though, just in case :)

I would like to believe that but when the Tosh's CSR guesses what my problem is when all I've told her is that I have a 52hm94 and the fact that these Lamps have been on continual back order tells me otherwise.

I agree with spitfire. I wish I had bought a 5 yr EW (with lamp replacement) for this TV. His lamp is definately going to blow in the next 5 years and pay for itself anything else (like another couple lamps along the way) is icing on the cake. I think the two items that really should be considered for EW are these TV's and duel turner DVR's. Everything elses becomes outdated and cheaper to replace then fix.

How do I know what kind of HDMI cable I need to get to go from my 62HM195 to be Toshiba SD5980 DVD player. I know that there something called DVI which I heard was 'the same thing' and there are many HDMI/HDMI cables and HDMI/DVI etc etc. I really don't know what kind I need. (I'm going to buy it on monoprice.com)

PS and what does 'male' to 'male' mean exactly?

Personally I don't believe the prices will come down much and I think if you look at front projectors you'll see that they have been pretty consistent in the cost. As far as availablity goes it may be that the lamps will become readily available and then again they may not as more people have their sets longer requiring a replacement. The warranty could come into play but I watch my TV quite a bit and got 3000 hours and nine months of use on my original so there is a good chance the replacement would last longer than the six month warranty. I also puurchased my set with my Amex card so I have another 12 months on my original warranty to get another replacement if needed. I would rather have a $200 part on hand then risk the fact that I could be two weeks or more without being able to enjoy my TV as I still have to pay my cable bill whether I am watching it or not.

To me, the cost is worth the piece of mind that I'm not going to miss the Super Bowl or some other major event because I was reluctant to spend the $200. To each his own I guess but I'm not looking back on my decision. I still have six months on the replacement lamp Toshiba sent me which is the same amount of time that I get with the one I purchased being used today. At some point your warranty will run out and you will have to purchase one anyway and I will take the odds that it will last longer then the warranty anyway.


The 12 months you get for using your Amex is significant. I may consider purchsing one in just before my new lamps warranty runs out . The only thing I couldnt bare to watch on my CRT's would be the Superbowl or a few choice college bowl games. Everything else I could watch for a few weeks on a reg TV.

Even Tosh believes that in a few years 30% of the market will be using the new flat panel SED (CRT) tv's that they themselves are coming out with in 06'. I am looking back only because I feel like this TV is going to be high maintenance.or disposable.

Would you still feel that way if your lamp cost you $375.00?
That's what they are for the newer sets!I wouldn't buy one right away but would definitely consider when I had only a few months left on the warranty. To me being without the TV for a few weeks or more is more important then biting the bullet and buying one as a spare.

What DVD players are you guys using with this TV? Are you using ones that upconvert? Every DVD player I have looks terrible with the 46HM95 but they are nothing special. I have the Sony DVP-NS975V and I am more than pleased with it. it did have the early "tray lock" problem but Sony repaired it and updated the firmware and it's worked great since then. I've had it for as long as I've had the TV which is about nine months. This model may no longer be available and the closest model to it is the DVP-NS90V. Panasonic and Oppo are two other brands of upconverting players that have received good reviews. Here is a good place to get feedback on the different players.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi

How do I know what kind of HDMI cable I need to get to go from my 62HM195 to be Toshiba SD5980 DVD player. I know that there something called DVI which I heard was 'the same thing' and there are many HDMI/HDMI cables and HDMI/DVI etc etc. I really don't know what kind I need. (I'm going to buy it on monoprice.com)

PS and what does 'male' to 'male' mean exactly?

the cable you need depends on the type of output your dvd player has and the inputs available on your tv. converting dvi to hdmi is lossless because they are pretty much the same except for the shape of the connector on the end and the fact that hdmi can also carry audio signals.

i don't know off hand what connectors those two units have, but they will say in the manual. if one has hdmi and the other has dvi, you will need a dvi/hdmi cable which just means there is an hdmi connector on one end and a dvi connector on the other end.

I have a 52HM95.

1. It is a fixed resolution tv @ 720p. Toshiba CS said that if it receives a 1080i signal, the pq will look better than a 720p. Is this for real?

2. Is having a fixed resolution tv a problem over one that can change resolution? I have a Xbox 360 which lets me choose between 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. My HD Cable Box does all of these as well.


3. I am watching DVD's through my Xbox 360. Would they look better if I got a seperate DVD player?


4. Even though this tv is a fixed resolution, I sometimes see 480p in blue text in the lower left hand corner of the screen. I don't understand this either.




Any help for a HD newb would be very much appreciated.

Even Tosh believes that in a few years 30% of the market will be using the new flat panel SED (CRT) tv's that they themselves are coming out with in 06'. I am looking back only because I feel like this TV is going to be high maintenance.or disposable.

This technologoy seems very interesting. CRT picture with a flat panel.

It seems like it will be several years before these become mainstream though. Toshiba will be producing 15000 50" panels a month in Jan 07 and 70000 a month by 2008, supposedly. The price is supposed to be quite a bit more expensive than an equally sized plasma. I think it will be quite a while before the mainstream can afford a set like this, but eventually, I think Toshiba made a great move with this technology.

I have a 52HM95.

1. It is a fixed resolution tv @ 720p. Toshiba CS said that if it receives a 1080i signal, the pq will look better than a 720p. Is this for real?

2. Is having a fixed resolution tv a problem over one that can change resolution? I have a Xbox 360 which lets me choose between 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. My HD Cable Box does all of these as well.


3. I am watching DVD's through my Xbox 360. Would they look better if I got a seperate DVD player?


4. Even though this tv is a fixed resolution, I sometimes see 480p in blue text in the lower left hand corner of the screen. I don't understand this either.




Any help for a HD newb would be very much appreciated.

1. I don't know but it also says that in the manual of my 52HMX94: "You can connect the component video cables (plus audio
cables) from the DVD player to either set of ColorStream
jacks on the TV (HD-1 or HD-2). The ColorStream HD-1 and
HD-2 jacks can be used with Progressive (480p, 720p) and
Interlaced (480i, 1080i) scan systems. A 1080i signal will
provide the best picture performance."

2. No it's not a problem per say. It just converts any of those signals to 720p. I can't tell you which one will look best, your eyes will be the best judge. I can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080i on my set, both look fine to me. :confused:

3. Yes, get a separate DVD player. The 360 is not a good stand alone DVD player, take a look at the xbox forum here and see the reports from the guys that have tried it.

4. The 480p is the signal the TV is receiving from the source (DVD, etc..)

Is the AVIS Calibration worth getting?

1. I don't know but it also says that in the manual of my 52HMX94: "You can connect the component video cables (plus audio
cables) from the DVD player to either set of ColorStream
jacks on the TV (HD-1 or HD-2). The ColorStream HD-1 and
HD-2 jacks can be used with Progressive (480p, 720p) and
Interlaced (480i, 1080i) scan systems. A 1080i signal will
provide the best picture performance."This is just Toshiba doing a poor job of updating their manuals. If you download one of the last CRT models you will see the verbiage is taken word for word from that manual. It's like they just cut and pasted the information in the new DLP manuals. The CRT's were 1080i native resolution and that is why the manual recommended that resolution. There is no reason why a 1080i signal would provide a better PQ than a 720p signal on a TV whose native resolution is 720p. The bottom line is don't believe everything you read in the manual as it may not be accurate.

P.S. All TV's have a fixed resolution.

How do I know what kind of HDMI cable I need to get to go from my 62HM195 to be Toshiba SD5980 DVD player. I know that there something called DVI which I heard was 'the same thing' and there are many HDMI/HDMI cables and HDMI/DVI etc etc. I really don't know what kind I need. (I'm going to buy it on monoprice.com)

PS and what does 'male' to 'male' mean exactly?

Did you see the reviews? http://www.crutchfield.com/S-oJbLTJI3Osv/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=54400&id=review&i=052SD5980#Tab

Anyways, I have a Monoprice cable and they are really very nice. But why not just use the HDMI cable that comes with the DVD player? If for some reason you do not like it, then order a new one. I am using the one that came with my Samsung and although it is no where near as nice as the Monoprice HDMI cable I use for my cable box, IMHO it will not get any better with a thicker cable. This upconvert DVD tech is a bit overrated.

This upconvert DVD tech is a bit overrated.It's not so much the upconverting aspect as many TV's have good scalers/deinterlacers but the signal medium. With DVI/HDMI you don't have the D/A and A/D conversions necessary with component inputs. Since the only players that use DVI/HDMI outputs are upconverting players that is what will most likely provide the best PQ. There are also upconverting players that do have better scalers/deinterlacers so it is possible to improve your PQ by converting the signal to the native reasolution of the display. The difference may not be significant but it still can be an improvement.

I am a new owner of the 46HM95 DLP. My first experience viewing it was football in HD and everything was fine. However, after that I've been experiencing a bad case of nausea while viewing various programs for the past few days. First it happened while calibrating with DVE. Yesterday it happened while just watching the evening news. I took a break, began to feel better, then played my PS2 on the TV and the nausea returned at an even greater severity.

I am able to see the rainbow affect normally during dark scenes with light objects within them, especially if I blink or dart my eyes across the screen. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing any nausea and whether I will eventually adjust to the DLP. Perhaps I'm part of the unlucky “small percentage” and should return the set for a different technology.

Is there a typical number of hours for the break-in period on a 46HM95 or does it vary from set to set?

First AVIA is totally worth it. Best thing you can do for the tv outside of a professional calibration. Secondly I to did see rainbows in my first two or three weeks of ownership. In fact it started to give me some headaches. I stuck through it though and I have no problems at all. I dont even see rainbow on material like Sin City

No not yet...called Monday and was told Paul would get back to me....

Have the TVGOS working with the time this morning and after pulling out the CC for a day put it back in last night and had channels with descriptions this morning as well. :0) Then........................ :0(

I've been writing down all the channels one by one with descriptions to see if I am in fact getting them all. This morning I picked up list and worked on channels 116 and up...I got to 119 then the card started searching again wiping everything out yet once again, (The TVGOS is still working). This is starting to piss me off good now, I know It's close to working but not there yet. Going to call tech again today.

The Seine version is 1.2.8 The most recent I believe.

I'll keep you updated :0)


Well Paul is going to try and replace my TV but its been handed off to someone else. He Toshiba doesn't have any available and they are going to arrange and RMA with the store I purchased it from. Seeing all these Bulb problems I am wondering if I should just get a different brand. Man, it sucks to spend so much money and then have all these issues. Unacceptable in my opinion.

I am a new owner of the 46HM95 DLP. My first experience viewing it was football in HD and everything was fine. However, after that I've been experiencing a bad case of nausea while viewing various programs for the past few days. First it happened while calibrating with DVE. Yesterday it happened while just watching the evening news. I took a break, began to feel better, then played my PS2 on the TV and the nausea returned at an even greater severity.

I am able to see the rainbow affect normally during dark scenes with light objects within them, especially if I blink or dart my eyes across the screen. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing any nausea and whether I will eventually adjust to the DLP. Perhaps I'm part of the unlucky “small percentage” and should return the set for a different technology.


Welcome to the forum (from another newbie)...

Did you come from a small TV? Before I got my 52HM84, I had a 27" CRT which is now in my bedroom. The first week was terrible: always feel 'motion sickness' when I see fast-moving objects. Then I started out watching the travel programs, or something like Jay Leno's talk show that don't do fast panning. You need to get used to the big screen first, IMO. After a week or two, you should find yourself watching sports comfortably.

I can see rainbow, too. :( But I was aware of the potential disadvantage way before I made the purchase. The key is not to make fast eye movement. I wanted the high contrast and vivid color that DLP can offer and willing to accept rainbow. You can try different technology but unfortunately, there is no perfect set on the market, yet...


Happy holidays,
Tim

This technologoy seems very interesting. CRT picture with a flat panel.

It seems like it will be several years before these become mainstream though. Toshiba will be producing 15000 50" panels a month in Jan 07 and 70000 a month by 2008, supposedly. The price is supposed to be quite a bit more expensive than an equally sized plasma. I think it will be quite a while before the mainstream can afford a set like this, but eventually, I think Toshiba made a great move with this technology.

Poplular Science has a great article explaining how its designed. Basically instead of one gun scanning their are many guns in a stationary position. I read also that Tosh will have a high price on the first year or two then will cut their prices considerably. Its Tosh thats projecting 30% of the market will have these type TY's in 3-5 years.

Poplular Science has a great article explaining how its designed. Basically instead of one gun scanning their are many guns in a stationary position. I read also that Tosh will have a high price on the first year or two then will cut their prices considerably. Its Tosh thats projecting 30% of the market will have these type TY's in 3-5 years.

Not just many guns, but 1 gun per pixel.

Ken

I am a new owner of the 46HM95 DLP. My first experience viewing it was football in HD and everything was fine. However, after that I've been experiencing a bad case of nausea while viewing various programs for the past few days. First it happened while calibrating with DVE. Yesterday it happened while just watching the evening news. I took a break, began to feel better, then played my PS2 on the TV and the nausea returned at an even greater severity.

I am able to see the rainbow affect normally during dark scenes with light objects within them, especially if I blink or dart my eyes across the screen. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing any nausea and whether I will eventually adjust to the DLP. Perhaps I'm part of the unlucky ?small percentage? and should return the set for a different technology.

Mookie

I tend to believe the rainbow effect is related more to the speed of the light engine and color wheel than the person. Even though some folks are more prone to see it. The reason I beleive this is I never saw rainbows the first month I had my 94, I did get a little nauseaus the first week. However a month later the light engine was replaced and I not only could see the rainbow effect but the overall picture seemed to be processing slightly slower. More effects artifacts and such. I have gone to different stores to verify I wasnt seeing things...so to speak... Most of the Tosh's I looked at I didnt see the rainbow effect. Only one at Best buy and I had to cut may eyes quickly to the left of center to get the effect.

I'm use to it now and found that the darker the room the more likely I'll notice rainbows also.

i have the same problem. i have an ati 9700 pro hooked up dvi -> hdmi. i'm hoping it's an issue with ati because i'm planning to get a 6600gt soon. when i restart the computer, i have to re-set the resolution every time and if i switch inputs i need to adjust the res and re set it so the tv will see the computer. does anyone know of a solution or if nvidia cards will work properly?

I have an ATI AIW 9800 pro.. I get the same reset of resolution and 1080i didnt sync properly... Someone used some Nvidia 62xx? i forget its on page 136 or 137... and it works fine at 1080i and does not reset resolution everytime you reboot

Groggy

I am a new owner of the 46HM95 DLP. My first experience viewing it was football in HD and everything was fine. However, after that I've been experiencing a bad case of nausea while viewing various programs for the past few days. First it happened while calibrating with DVE. Yesterday it happened while just watching the evening news. I took a break, began to feel better, then played my PS2 on the TV and the nausea returned at an even greater severity.

I am able to see the rainbow affect normally during dark scenes with light objects within them, especially if I blink or dart my eyes across the screen. I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing any nausea and whether I will eventually adjust to the DLP. Perhaps I'm part of the unlucky “small percentage” and should return the set for a different technology.

Yes I have very sensitive eyes and after the first day when I got my 56HM195 I got headaches and eyes really tired because of the rainbows.. took me approx a week to get used to but I didnt watch it everyday because it made me feel uncomfy.

There was good news tho, I did get used to the rainbows.. I still see them in dark scenes or moving back and forth... I guess you get used to moving your eyes less and concentrate on the movie/tv - now it doesnt bother me. Its great... I never thought I'd get used to it.

Practice by watching more brighter content first perhaps.. then go darker movies when you're a rainbow pro :)

Groggy

My thoughts - I think the Toshiba DLP's are great products overall. While I'm ticked that they are continuously back ordered on the lamps (and other critical parts), this is really not just a Toshiba problem. This is pretty much a common issue with all the lamp based RPTV's. In my opinion, this issue will spell the end of DLP/LCD rear projection TV unless they find a way to correct it.

A lot of people bought these sets based on the 8000 hour lamp life that the owner's manual promises. How many of these people would still have bought the sets if they knew that they would actually be lucky to get a year out of a $400 lamp (and in some cases much less)??

The serious TV enthusiasts may be willing to live with this issue, but I just don't think the average TV watching family can afford it.

My 46HM94 just blew it's 2nd lamp in 1 year of life. Both lamps were set to "low power" and neither made it past 6 months. Toshiba says that these lamps should last 3 to 4 years and that a service rep needs to look at my TV. OK fine, I hope he finds something not grounded right or something, but I suspect that he will say, "yes sir, your TV needs a new lamp alright".

I am very unhappy with the failure rate of these $200 lamps and I will get rid of this TV and I will not purchase another DLP unless the lamps are guaranteed for at least several years and NOT 180 days. Of course, both times, the lamps are "backordered" and so my TV is down for the Christmas holidays when everyone is home and there are guests staying with us and we would like to be able to watch a DVD.

Ok Folks,
my 62HM95 lamp failed after 3321 hours, I ordered the replacement last friday 12/16 under warranty, They said 7 to 10 bussiness days. today is friday12/23 and I just received the replacement.

I just wanted to make this note to let people know not everyone is having these lamp problems, My lamp lasted 3000+ hours and I had no issues with backorders.

Also I am still looking to purchase a broken 95 series lamp from someone, for experimental purposes.

Woohoo! After being told by Toshiba yesterday that it wouldn't arrive until next week, my replacement lamp showed up on my doorstep today. A couple turns of the screwdriver & I'm back up and running :)

The cable card even re-acquired the channels automatically after being unplugged for almost 2 weeks - thanks to the latest firmware update.

Now all that remains is to get the dark spot on the screen fixed. Probably just some dust inside the light engine, but the local authorized service company won't open it up to clean it - they want to replace the whole light engine. Seems crazy to replace a $1000+ part when all you need to do is clean up the old one. :confused:

Getting the TV back is a nice Christmas present for me - at least I'll be able to watch some bowl games. :cool:

I hope everyone else has a great Christmas....................

Ragtop

Spitfire1980
I understand how you feel about having purchased the extended warrenty. With all of this information on bulb failure I'm relieved I also purchased a 5 year warrenty from VISA that covers bulbs. I hope that when our bulbs go, and they will, we don't have to wait too long to get the replacement.

Ok Folks,
my 62HM95 lamp failed after 3321 hours, I ordered the replacement last friday 12/16 under warranty, They said 7 to 10 bussiness days. today is friday12/23 and I just received the replacement.

I just wanted to make this note to let people know not everyone is having these lamp problems, My lamp lasted 3000+ hours and I had no issues with backorders.

Also I am still looking to purchase a broken 95 series lamp from someone, for experimental purposes.


OK Sir, look at what you just wrote here...your lamp failed after 3321 hours. Well, congrats, that is at least twice as long as either of mine lasted but....it says right here in my owner's manual, "The average useful life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours..." So, dude, you got less than half of the life of the lamp the manual told you to expect. You got a free replacement, and you were extremely fortunate to get it so quickly; my set was down over 2 weeks the first time and now they are saying no sooner than Jan. 5. But NEXT TIME, when it blows at less than half expected life, and perhaps, WAY LESS (like me, twice), and you have to fork over the $300, I wonder how satisfied you will be...?

Folks, there is a Very Serious technical issue with these lamps. If money is no object to you, great; the picture is very nice on these DLP sets and you will be very happy when viewing a show in HD. I just hope that, unlike me, you can easily afford to have a few spare lamps in your closet at $200 to $400 for when they pop. For me, it happened the 2nd time, right over the holidays.

Toshiba says that these lamps should last 3 to 4 years and that a service rep needs to look at my TV. REALLY?? I don't doubt they said that a service rep needs to look at your set,but,I definately doubt that a Tosh rep told you,or anyone else,that your lamp should last 3 or 4 years. Reasons to look at set could be many.Have uyou had power outages in the past,if so, how often? Sudden loss of power results in extreme heat,as the cooling fans shut down.these sets have 3 different fans.Many factors effect lamp performance and longevity. Its a lamp.Thats why it has the incredibly bright picture and contrast. Lamps burn out .We all would like to have our cake and eat it too. I just got my replacement light engine today.This set is 12 days old. I would hate for my lamp to go before the bowl games,but if it does,so be it. I'll get one and keep watching. If you're on the leading edge in technology,there is a certain amount of risk involved.These sets are built here in the USA.I have found that many manufactures may let us down,I don't believe that is the case with Toshiba. I may very well be out there,thats just my .02. Also,read the paragraph before your selective quote as to lamp light

Toshiba says that these lamps should last 3 to 4 years and that a service rep needs to look at my TV. REALLY?? I don't doubt they said that a service rep needs to look at your set,but,I definately doubt that a Tosh rep told you,or anyone else,that your lamp should last 3 or 4 years. Reasons to look at set could be many.Have uyou had power outages in the past,if so, how often? Sudden loss of power results in extreme heat,as the coolong fans shut down.these sets have 3 different fans.Many factors effect lamp performance and longevity. Its a lamp.Thats why it has the incredibly bright picture and contrast. Lamps burn out .We all would like to have our cake and eat it too. I just got my replacement light engine today.This set is 12 days old. I would hate for my lamp to go before the bowl games,but if it does,so be it. I'll get one and keep watching. If you're on the leading edge in technology,there is a certain amount of risk involved.These sets are built here in the USA.I have found that many manufactures may let us down,I don't believe that is the case with Toshiba. I may very well be out there,thats just my .02. Also,read the paragraph before your selective quote as to lamp light

With all respect sir...they had to replace your light engine and your set is 12 days old and you are defending them? Ok, well, like I said, it's a great picture when it's working.

And that is actually a good point about power outages. I know we have had some and it might have been a factor in the first lamp. Not the second, I don't think. If you have been a proud owner for 12 days, congratulations on your purchase, and please tell me again how happy you are after a year.

By the way, if you definitely doubt that a Toshiba rep said that the lamps should last 3 to 4 years, well, you would lose a lot of money in Vegas. That is exactly what they told us on the phone yesterday. That is just my word for it, but right in the manual, I can quote that it says that, on "low power" the lamps should last "approximately 8000 hours". My 2 lamps, may they rest in peace, were both set for low power.

I still say there is a huge problem with these lamps. But now, I will also be worrying about the light engine. Thanks for the input.

Well I just got my new bulb delivered by Fedex. Pretty good turn around figuring the bulb went out last Sunday and was called in on Monday.

Looking at the new bulb enclosure, it appears they made a change to allow better airflow. We'll see how long this bulb lasts but it looks as if Toshiba is making an effort to fix this problem.

I'm happy I have a working television again!!!

My set is the 52HM95.

OK Sir, look at what you just wrote here...your lamp failed after 3321 hours. Well, congrats, that is at least twice as long as either of mine lasted but....it says right here in my owner's manual, "The average useful life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours..." So, dude, you got less than half of the life of the lamp the manual told you to expect. You got a free replacement, and you were extremely fortunate to get it so quickly; my set was down over 2 weeks the first time and now they are saying no sooner than Jan. 5. But NEXT TIME, when it blows at less than half expected life, and perhaps, WAY LESS (like me, twice), and you have to fork over the $300, I wonder how satisfied you will be...?

Folks, there is a Very Serious technical issue with these lamps. If money is no object to you, great; the picture is very nice on these DLP sets and you will be very happy when viewing a show in HD. I just hope that, unlike me, you can easily afford to have a few spare lamps in your closet at $200 to $400 for when they pop. For me, it happened the 2nd time, right over the holidays.

That's one of the higher number of hours I've read.

Just out of curiosity has ANYONE ever had their lamp or heard of a lamp that has lasted anywhere near 8000 hours or even 4 or 5000 hours. Don't get me wrong, I love my new set, but it sounds to me like Toshiba and other companies are just outright lying about the life of bulbs. Is this even legal?

My issue was probably caused by mishandling in transport,either to Conn's or to my house. Was able to watch it all the while,as described in earlier posts. Was handled as well as possible.I believe the premise of this forum to be of an educational nature,pre and post sale. Decide on a model,after researching hopefully,buy it and then discuss virtues as well as issues as they arrive. Through reliable information,issues may be resolved or prevented.An occasional rant is perfectly ok and understandable.It helps to cope. It is the "worry about" factor that is needless to this forum or any other for that matter.It neither helps those undecided or educates those of us who are already committed to DLP,specifically Toshiba models. I am sure there is a "worry about" forum somewhere, but this is not it.If you were to have your set looked at and a prevelant problem is found,the handling of said problem would be of greater value to the members than merely denouncing Toshiba. Help thine ownself. But,I could be just ignorant to the perceived values of this forum. Good luck and well wishes

OK Sir, look at what you just wrote here...your lamp failed after 3321 hours. Well, congrats, that is at least twice as long as either of mine lasted but....it says right here in my owner's manual, "The average useful life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours..." So, dude, you got less than half of the life of the lamp the manual told you to expect. You got a free replacement, and you were extremely fortunate to get it so quickly; my set was down over 2 weeks the first time and now they are saying no sooner than Jan. 5. But NEXT TIME, when it blows at less than half expected life, and perhaps, WAY LESS (like me, twice), and you have to fork over the $300, I wonder how satisfied you will be...?

Folks, there is a Very Serious technical issue with these lamps. If money is no object to you, great; the picture is very nice on these DLP sets and you will be very happy when viewing a show in HD. I just hope that, unlike me, you can easily afford to have a few spare lamps in your closet at $200 to $400 for when they pop. For me, it happened the 2nd time, right over the holidays.

I wonder (I yet to see any bulb at all ever last 8000 hours and I didnt see the manual before I purchased it), However, My tv goes on and off constantly thru the day, I keep the brightness up and the lamp on full bright mode. Also overall I average 300 hours a month on the tv, And I have it plugged directly into the wall.
I did my homework well before I purchased this tv and yet I still purchased the toshiba, Even though I knew about the lamp problems. Why, because I love the picture and frankly overall this tv works well (Especially with the symbio and a CC.) And I expected to replace the tv with newer tech at the end of the warranties in 5 years, anyways.
My point to be made was not everyone is unhappy with there purchase, And quite franky if you cant afford to fix problems not covered under the warranty with this tv even though you know theres a good possibilty of failure, You should purchase something that is alot less likely to fail like a CRT. Otherwise Its like purchasing a Hummer and complaining that you cant afford the gas.
I am real sorry for your problems, My suggestion to resolve the problem is to (A): have a tech take a real good look at your tv and find out why your bulbs are blowing like they are or (B): return or sell your tv while there is still a warranty and you can get most of your money back and by the biggest heaviest CRT you can find.

Well said

Im glad you folks have plenty of money to spend to correct problems that should not occur no matter what your research said. Two posters that responded to me have had results that were significantly worse than they could have expected by reading about Toshiba's claims for it's product. Yet they defended those claims. And gimme a break, to suggest that I bought something that I should have stayed away from if I couldn't afford to maintain it at far beyond the manufacturer's predictions is not just elitist but also ludricrous.

All I did was quote, verbatim, what it says in the Toshiba owner's manual. If getting less than half of what your research and your dollars gave you reason to expect is good enough for you, then great. I honestly reported what has happened to me.

Somehow I suspect that prospective buyers of this otherwise fine product will balk at the prospect of another $200 to $400 per year for the privlidge of owning this TV. If I was the only person on this forum with this issue, I would be filled with self doubt at my own bad luck. But that is just not the case, is it? Toshiba knows full well that the lamps are crap, and they should just admit it and add to the purchase price to include unlimited replacement lamps that are easily available.

Is it too late to get an extended warrenty 4 months after purchase?

I called Toshiba on the 21st and the new lamp was sitting on the porch tonight - the 23rd. It beat the one I ordered from Express Repair Center - only because it came Fed Ex and ERC used UPS. I'm very happy that Toshiba got them in stock so quickly. Hope somebody got some good overtime money for Christmas. :)

Spitfire1980
I understand how you feel about having purchased the extended warrenty. With all of this information on bulb failure I'm relieved I also purchased a 5 year warrenty from VISA that covers bulbs. I hope that when our bulbs go, and they will, we don't have to wait too long to get the replacement.

That's one of the higher number of hours I've read.

Just out of curiosity has ANYONE ever had their lamp or heard of a lamp that has lasted anywhere near 8000 hours or even 4 or 5000 hours. Don't get me wrong, I love my new set, but it sounds to me like Toshiba and other companies are just outright lying about the life of bulbs. Is this even legal?
[B]Perhaps .00000001 per cent of DLP owners post here. It would indeed be unlawful for Toshiba,or any other mfg., to claim "X" number of hrs. if they did'nt have suffcient data to uphold their claim. Under their optimum conditions of said test,it would be reasonable to except said claim. Thats where the problem comes in. The vast majority of members who post here have indeed had a bad experience. Were their sets bought from e-tailers and shipped all over? Were they bought from big retailers,returns resold,floor models repeatedly onset by anybody who wanted to?? Were they bought under ideal conditions? Maybe,maybe not Who knows. It is simply ridiculous to state that theirs this big "lie" going on when their has not been any media reports of this incredible "scamming" of the unsuspecting public.Millions of these lamp based sets have been sold worldwide.MILLIONS.The grassy knoll.Try to enjoy.

The only place I have seen 8000 hours is here on the forum, I cant seem to find anything that points to hours in the manual and my research has shown actual claimed hours of 4000 to 5000 hours. I would be surprised if in low bright mode and on a filtered power supply it didnt last at least the 4000 hours. And enmoco is correct very few of the overall owners actually post here. anything less the 2000 hours and you should definitly have your tv looked at under the warranty, Lamp life is very reliant on power filtering of the ballast along with quality of overall power. Alot of surging or browning will cause a lamp to die extremly quick.

Out of the millions of tv's produced I would be willing to bet that had a expected failure rate of about 10 to 15 percent failure rate, And that is WELL within reason, From your complaints I would be willing to bet yours is amongst that 10 to 15 percent. Please refer to my above post as to what you should do about that.

Now little calculation here, Say bad tv with lots of use avrages 2000 hours, At 10 hours a day or around 300 ~ 310 hours a month thats around 6 months. Bulb can be had for roughly $370 (Less if you look), You are looking at $62 a month or $744 a year. My truck which I use on daily basis runs me roughly $400 a month in gas, My insurance runs me $80 a month, My DSL and Phone is $110, My cable runs me $90 a month. You see even if I did have to pay for the bulb (Which I dont and wont have to.) $62 a month is really nothing to alot of people. And all of that is on the conservative side with lots of tv watching.

This goes to everyone now --- If you cannot afford such, Please, Please, Please save yourselves hassle and take a little less risk and by a CRT that is really your only answer.

Is it too late to get an extended warrenty 4 months after purchase?

I called Toshiba on the 21st and the new lamp was sitting on the porch tonight - the 23rd. It beat the one I ordered from Express Repair Center - only because it came Fed Ex and ERC used UPS. I'm very happy that Toshiba got them in stock so quickly. Hope somebody got some good overtime money for Christmas. :)


Lol..."Carol's" lamp lasted 4 months. Carol is justifiably thrilled just to have a replacement lamp, I don't blame her. If my TV was not sitting DOA (deceased on it's assetts) in the family room, I would probably be watching HBO or a nice Netflix movie instead of posting here.

BTW, my TV was/is plugged into a surge protector. But I freely admit I screwed up in not buying the extended warranty. EW's have a bad rap and this time last year it was not as clear as it is now that the lamps are bogus.

The thing I like about replacement lamps is for a short time its like watching a brand new tv again:) lol. But a very happy carol knows that.

Say you have to pay present $400 for new 150 lamp. $1.10 a day. Thats the cost if you do have to buy a new lamp every year.$2.10 a day if every six months. I think thats all traker1001 was trying to convey. To enjoy the pq of these sets,thats cheap. I don't know how you watch HDTV (cable,Dish),but I pay $110 a month for digital comcast HD pack and two premium movie channels. Thats just the worst case,two a year. NOBODY should have to do this,but,if you do.Lamps will go down. Hectic X-mas season will go away.Production of lamps is still primarily going to new set marketing(still so popular,selling like hotcakes)Peace

[B]Perhaps .00000001 per cent of DLP owners post here. It would indeed be unlawful for Toshiba,or any other mfg., to claim "X" number of hrs. if they did'nt have suffcient data to uphold their claim. Under their optimum conditions of said test,it would be reasonable to except said claim. Thats where the problem comes in. The vast majority of members who post here have indeed had a bad experience. Were their sets bought from e-tailers and shipped all over? Were they bought from big retailers,returns resold,floor models repeatedly onset by anybody who wanted to?? Were they bought under ideal conditions? Maybe,maybe not Who knows. It is simply ridiculous to state that theirs this big "lie" going on when their has not been any media reports of this incredible "scamming" of the unsuspecting public.Millions of these lamp based sets have been sold worldwide.MILLIONS.The grassy knoll.Try to enjoy.

The Avs forum has over 130000 members according to their member list. Say only one out of a 100 are rear projection owners which is probably a low number considering the rear projection forum has more posts than any other display forum. It is probably very conservative to say ther are at LEAST 1300 rear projection owners here probably more. Do you know of anywhere else to get a better feel of how long the lamps are lasting? The figures here also seem to coincide with other forums and newsgroups around the net.

I never mentioned any "incredible scamming" as you put it. I stated that it SOUNDS (not that it is a fact) to me as it would any reasonable person that these lamps are not lasting nearly as long as the manufacturers claim and if this is true they are being very less than truthful about their average lifespan.

I don't know if it is true or not, but I have not seen evidence anywhere that these lamps last an average of 8000 hours.