Sceptre X37SV-Naga review [Text View] - Page 12

jvargasg

04-14-06, 09:32 AM

After a week using the Sceptre this is what I have to say about this TV.

Version: Not sure, I have a power switch on the back and the software date on the debug screen is 06/1/16 13:58, no QAM (or at least haven't find it yet)

I have treid several connections but I haven't tried DVI/HDMI/HDCP yet, that seems to be the way all of you guys use it and test it.
This are the different connections I have tried and the results, to my eyes and ears at least.

VIDEO
- SD Directv thru Composite = ugly picture, lots of ghosting, pixelation and jittering.
- SD Directv thru S-Video = a little better, only a little bit
- PS2 Thru Component = 480I games really bad, 480P games a little better
- DTV OTA antenna, Terk HDTVa = here I guess it depends on the signal being broadcasted by the stations, because I've seen really good ones and some others that you can't tell the difference between SD Directv and DTV. keeping in mind that almost every show is listed as 720P or 1080I, I have seen some jittering and ghosting too. not too much pixelation. Please note I am sitting 6 to 10 feet away from TV.
- DVDs on my laptop thru VGA using powerstrip and PowerDVD6 = this is way better, the picture is really good but I can still see some pixelation and a little bit of ghosting, haven't seen any jittering yet. watched shrek2 widescreen, and it looked great. but I have to change the aspect ratio on the TV since the Auto option did not pickup the 16:9

AUDIO
well, what can I say. I was expecting this anyway, but at first it did not sound that bad, I was actually impressed that it was a good sound, even loud, but then I don't know if it's because the tweaking but it's just awful, the bass is anoying, even if I turn the bass down to "0" it still sounds like if the speaker cone was broken, now this is using user mode off course. but if I use the audio presets that come with the TV it does not sound so bad, but still it is real bad.
Now I tried hooking up my pc speakers, Boston Acoustic BA3500, really good speakers, 5.1 capable. first there is no digital outrput on this TV, so got to use either the headphone output or the analog RCA output, so there is no way to get the surround sound DD that comes on the OTA shows out of the TV. so using it on the 2.1 option on my speakers when the signal comes from the headphones I can still control the volume from the TV remote control, but there is a noisy boom on the subwoofer everytime I flip the channels or change the source. Using the Analog audio out, no volume control from the TV, but no noisy boom on the sub either when flipping channels or changing source. but the fact of not being able to get the digital audio out of the TV (without voiding the warranty by opening the case to get the hidden digital output) it just sucks.

Now summarizing this, I don't really know if this TV is good or not, I think its got the potential since is a thru HD (1080 resolution) but for the price being so cheap I think the engineering on it, is cheap too, I am not sure if I am going to keep it since for that kind of money I know is the only set I can afford. maybe this TV was ment to be use with an HTPC like almost all of you are using it, so I may start looking into that too instead of returning it to the store.

If you are buying this set, make sure you get professional help for setting it up or maybe on of those DVDs like AVIA or DVE. And don't forget to save some money for an audio system since the built in speakers are just useless.

I would like your input on this review, since I am not an expert , I don't know if my problems are normal problems for this TV and maybe is just a matter of tweaking the settings or if I just got a bad set.

Thanks in advance

donsev

04-14-06, 10:02 AM

Version: Not sure, I have a power switch on the back and the software date on the debug screen is 06/1/16 13:58, no QAM (or at least haven't find it yet)

That description would be consistent with a V1+ (a version 1 set with the firmware upgrade). You will not be able to access digital cable channels (QAM) but you will be able to access the "hidden" SPDIF (by voiding the warranty as you point out).

I have treid several connections but I haven't tried DVI/HDMI/HDCP yet

Obviously that/those connections will allow you to most fully appreciate what the display is capable of. You have already gotten a taste of what it could be like through your PowerDVD testing using your laptop and the VGA port.

VIDEO
- SD Directv thru Composite = ugly picture, lots of ghosting, pixelation and jittering.
- SD Directv thru S-Video = a little better, only a little bit
- PS2 Thru Component = 480I games really bad, 480P games a little better

Composite will not be great but it should still be watchable. On the other connections you will have to be more specific on your complaints in order for us to determine whether your experience is "normal" or not. (e.g. Is the issue macro-blocking - does the perceived PQ improve if you stand further back from the monitor?).

- DTV OTA antenna, Terk HDTVa = here I guess it depends on the signal being broadcasted by the stations, because I've seen really good ones and some others that you can't tell the difference between SD Directv and DTV.

Sounds about right. If, when you are watching a signal that you know is broadcast in HD (Lost, 24, House, etc.) and you go "wow, so this is what HD is all about", then you've reached the stage where you hope the rest of the TV world catches up to you and produces/broadcasts more stuff in HD.

AUDIO
well, what can I say. I was expecting this anyway, but at first it did not sound that bad, I was actually impressed that it was a good sound, even loud, but then I don't know if it's because the tweaking but it's just awful, the bass is anoying, even if I turn the bass down to "0" it still sounds like if the speaker cone was broken, now this is using user mode off course. but if I use the audio presets that come with the TV it does not sound so bad, but still it is real bad.
Now I tried hooking up my pc speakers, Boston Acoustic BA3500, really good speakers, 5.1 capable. first there is no digital outrput on this TV, so got to use either the headphone output or the analog RCA output, so there is no way to get the surround sound DD that comes on the OTA shows out of the TV. so using it on the 2.1 option on my speakers when the signal comes from the headphones I can still control the volume from the TV remote control, but there is a noisy boom on the subwoofer everytime I flip the channels or change the source. Using the Analog audio out, no volume control from the TV, but no noisy boom on the sub either when flipping channels or changing source. but the fact of not being able to get the digital audio out of the TV (without voiding the warranty by opening the case to get the hidden digital output) it just sucks.

Again, sounds about right based on feedback from this thread.

If you are buying this set, make sure you get professional help for setting it up or maybe on of those DVDs like AVIA or DVE.

Did *you* calibrate your inputs using AVIA or DVE or GetGrey? If not, then you likely aren't getting that max PQ out the the display yet.

virus2003

04-14-06, 02:11 PM

re: jvargasg's review.

I agree with everything you say. Thankfully for me, it's perfect. I don't watch tv all that often, and when I do, I'm used to it looking like crap. Consoles, well, they've always been hideous to me, and I'm more of a PC guy anyway. DVDs, look really meh to me. 480P is just not that cool anymore. A nice display like this only allows you to see all the compression. I never realized how ugly DVDs are!
The sound, oh the sound. I have an older Sony DHC MD-555 sound system hooked up through the analog line out. It's one more remote to have to worry about, but it sounds so much better. This is the first I've heard of a hidden SPDIF? Scandalous.
All of the above would be worth a return, most definitely, if it weren't for the DVI to HDMI. WOW. It's just gorgeous. I play PC games quite a bit, and quite frankly, I thought this display would not function very well as a monitor. I stand so corrected it's not even funny. My 21" Dell monitor upstairs is going to be sold as soon as I can tear my face away from this 37" 1:1 pixel perfect beast! If you have a machine that can play games at 1920x1080, you'll be in heaven. Even at non widescreen res, it's huge! I sit about 4' away from the screen btw.
In conclusion: This display is cheaply made as far as features, firmware, menu systems, and sound. There is no reason why I need to press the button four times to watch a DVD, or four times to switch back to DVI. But, the pretty pretty pretty face on this ugly body keeps me coming back.

PS: Also, as far as I know, I have no QAM. Where would I find it? No mention in the manual. (of course, horrible manual) hehehe. . .

jvargasg

04-14-06, 02:54 PM

Composite will not be great but it should still be watchable. On the other connections you will have to be more specific on your complaints in order for us to determine whether your experience is "normal" or not. (e.g. Is the issue macro-blocking - does the perceived PQ improve if you stand further back from the monitor?).

Well I am not sure if macroblocking is the only problem, but you are right, if I step away of the TV it looks better. But what is annoying is that sometimes the image looks like is moving or jumping like shivering, specially when you look at station logos and stuff like that. Sometimes I see some ghosting too, like if you are watching somebody on the screen and they move from their position then you see the track on the screen really really quick.(I am just to picky and can see it, my wife can't)

Did *you* calibrate your inputs using AVIA or DVE or GetGrey? If not, then you likely aren't getting that max PQ out the the display yet.

Not yet, I am looking to get the disc this weekend and see if that would help the PQ a little.
Do you have any recomendations for settings just so I can try them out and see if that would imrpove the PQ?
video menu, advanced menu, and service menu (like memory delay and all that stuff, and how to get there, you know vol+ Vol- and 3 for example)

Thanks very much

Nimo

04-15-06, 10:37 AM

So I was thinking about getting the fw flashed from Sceptre I live about 20 min away, but I want to know what changes were made. Can anybody see any difference from 06/01/16 to 06\03/03 performance wise, channel surfing, epg etc... I'm just wondering if it's worth the trip would you do it?

m1ck3ym0us3

04-15-06, 03:38 PM

it looks like a 37" viewsonic LCD has replaced the sceptre on the costco site

el_triad

04-15-06, 05:13 PM

Dave Kristol

04-15-06, 06:57 PM

Does anyone know if the current versions (whenever they become available again) at Costco are the Version 1 or the Version 2 of the set? This set seems to appear and disappear from the costco website frequently.

If not is there a specific question I might be able to ask the Costo online rep that would tell me which version of set I would be getting?

Thanks

The sets people have been receiving recently seem to be primarily Version 2, with a mix of 06/01/16 and 06/03/03 firmwares. I'd be surprised, though, if there's any contact between Costco and the shipping site to determine versions, and I'm sure the Costco rep. would be unable to say. You can't tell by looking at the box, only by taking the set out of the box and examining it. Heck, I doubt the Costco reps even know there are two hardware versions or three versions of firmware.

Dave Kristol

Dave Kristol

04-15-06, 06:59 PM

it looks like a 37" viewsonic LCD has replaced the sceptre on the costco site

It's less expensive, but its specifications are inferior, too: less resolution, not as bright. No QAM tuner advertised. (Of course there's none advertised for the Sceptre, either, but we know it's there on V2 sets.)

Dave Kristol

ericjut

04-16-06, 04:07 AM

gadi

04-16-06, 10:55 AM

semuther

04-16-06, 02:05 PM

Hi, I am new at this. I just got my 37". When I hooked it up to my PC, the resolution was set 1600x1200 instead of 1920x1080. Does anybody know why that is? I have a Pentium Dual Core 3GHz, 2GB of RAM with nVidia GeForce 6800 card.

gadi

Just change your card's display settings to 1920x1080. Why it came up in some other default resolution is really not all that important.

Steve

gadi

04-16-06, 02:56 PM

semuther

04-16-06, 03:12 PM

Thanks for the reply.

I went to window's control panel and tried to change the display setting to 1920x1080 but there is no such option. Is there a different way of doing this? By the way, I am using DVI output from the PC.

gadi

Move your mouse to an unused area of your screen, right click and select "Properties" then select "Settings" followed by "Advanced". You should come up with the Nvidia config menu where you can play with all the resolutions. I'd read the destruction manual for your card and it's driver settings before I messed with this however. If you didn't know all this from the start, you do have some learning to do and probably some mistakes to make.

Good Luck

Steve

wktaylor

04-16-06, 03:58 PM

go to nvidia's website and get the latest drivers for your card. That will probably help.

ricphu

04-16-06, 05:09 PM

I'm trying to tune to specific HD channel but could enter the "-". Anyone know how to do this?

hakujin

04-16-06, 08:01 PM

Also, is using a Component to VGA adapter on that VGA input fixing the auto-contrast issue too?

-eric

NO the problem exists as that is my connection of choice. Thanks for the info on the AV vs. PC inputs. For me, I dislike the auto contrast but it doesn't drive me bonkers. I tried the $40! vga cord for the 360 and I was really annoyed by how washed out games (CoD in particular) look.

I feel you on the audio portion. Not a bad TV at all.... very good bang for buck, but not sure If I'll end up keeping it 6 mo. from now.

Here's my sceptre wishlist
In order of precedence:
-no black crush (or better greys)
-no dynamic contrast
-2 HDMI
-TOSLink

TO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Dave Kristol

04-16-06, 08:46 PM

I'm trying to tune to specific HD channel but could enter the "-". Anyone know how to do this?

You can't, at least not directly.

Here's what you've got to do to get to anything besides X-1. (If you tune to X, you get X-1.) I'll assume you've done a channel scan and have, let's say, X-1, X-2, and X-3. Enter X on the remote (to get to X-1). Hit Channel-up to get to X-2. Same for X-3. (A pain, isn't it!?)

If you have the 06/03/03 firmware, the TV will remember favorites. You can enter the '-' channels as favorites (and leave out ones that aren't favorite), and use the favorites menu to select. But that also requires using Channel-up or -down.

Dave Kristol

Pecs

04-17-06, 10:55 AM

gadi

04-17-06, 04:53 PM

Move your mouse to an unused area of your screen, right click and select "Properties" then select "Settings" followed by "Advanced". You should come up with the Nvidia config menu where you can play with all the resolutions. I'd read the destruction manual for your card and it's driver settings before I messed with this however. If you didn't know all this from the start, you do have some learning to do and probably some mistakes to make.

Good Luck

Steve

I downloaded the new driver from nvidia and it works. I have the option now to set to correct resolution.

thanks guys,
gadi

tlnmp

04-17-06, 07:23 PM

Koui,

I calibrated with Avia chapter 7 greyscale ramps and spyder using the spreadsheet
you can find here; on the HDMI input. RGB/DVI should be fine since you have RGB
controls, and so I would recommend this panel if your using HT/PC. I'm pretty sure
I did it correctly since I have two panny plasma who's greyscale in spot on.

P.S. I have V1 even though I ordered in March 06.

jpconard

04-17-06, 11:15 PM

Received my third set today. Set up on HDMI just fine (like the V1 set). Would have kept the first set except for dark irregular horizontal lines in upper right corner.

Would have kept 2nd set if HDMI port worked.

Looks like I will be keeping 3rd set, but haven't tested the VGA port yet, just HDMI. Have both connected in clone mode (2nd one VGA and new one HDMI), both look great.

Some tweaking required, but you can get blacks, contrast, and colors looking pretty good on these sets, especially with the PC (on both VGA and HDMI).

Didn't get latest firmware, but did get 06/01/16 14:58.

One bad pixel found so far, stuck blue, where 2nd set had one stuck red. No big deal.

Skenzin

04-17-06, 11:31 PM

My set arrives tommorow (according to ups). Unfortunately the 2.1 speakers I ordered are delayed. I just hope all the inputs work and any dead pixels aren't overly visible. Thats one of the main reason I went with a 1080p set. Smaller pixels in case of a dead one. I'll post some pics of my setup running xbox360/htpc once its in.

jvargasg

04-18-06, 09:56 AM

You can't, at least not directly.

Here's what you've got to do to get to anything besides X-1. (If you tune to X, you get X-1.) I'll assume you've done a channel scan and have, let's say, X-1, X-2, and X-3. Enter X on the remote (to get to X-1). Hit Channel-up to get to X-2. Same for X-3. (A pain, isn't it!?)

If you have the 06/03/03 firmware, the TV will remember favorites. You can enter the '-' channels as favorites (and leave out ones that aren't favorite), and use the favorites menu to select. But that also requires using Channel-up or -down.

Dave Kristol

Well if you know the "real" channel number, I mean the frequency number, you can do it entering the number in, I just did it on my V1+ set.

Dave Kristol

04-18-06, 03:56 PM

Well if you know the "real" channel number, I mean the frequency number, you can do it entering the number in, I just did it on my V1+ set.

True, but slightly misleading. Around here (NYC area), frequency number 28 carries channels 4-1, 4-2, 4-3. If you enter 28, you probably see 28-1 and get 4-1. (I can't check this right now.) If you manually scan 28, you get all of them set up. If you then want to view 4-3, you have to enter 4 for DTV, which gets you 4-1, then press channel-up to get to 4-2, etc. You can't get to 4-2 or 4-3 directly, which is what the original question was.

Dave Kristol

ricphu

04-18-06, 05:10 PM

True, but slightly misleading. Around here (NYC area), frequency number 28 carries channels 4-1, 4-2, 4-3. If you enter 28, you probably see 28-1 and get 4-1. (I can't check this right now.) If you manually scan 28, you get all of them set up. If you then want to view 4-3, you have to enter 4 for DTV, which gets you 4-1, then press channel-up to get to 4-2, etc. You can't get to 4-2 or 4-3 directly, which is what the original question was.

Dave Kristol

Agreed....this is the problem that I have and channel +/- isn't exactly snappy with the sceptre.

Skenzin

04-18-06, 06:47 PM

Just got my x37 and hooked it up.

Debug 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01

Initial Impressions: Out of box settings.

No dead pixels I can see. Im not gonna look for any either.

DVD movies on 480p cheapo player look very acceptable. Better then my old syntax. Veiwing angles are very impressive compared to the syntax. Blacks Crush is not nearly as bad either.

tried one xbox360 game for 5 mins with default settings and I wasnt as impressed as the Syntax. Has a more fuzzy quality and darker. Need to tweak a bit on that.

I don't like the OSD, not enough control over PQ. Can't disable noise reduction on component. Syntax had alot better OSD controls and options.

Waiting on my THX speakers to arrive I hooked up the provided ones, OMG I can't believe how bad they are. I haven't heard bass like that since my old 1986 Rx7 with the disentgrated 4" paper cone. Its funny that every bass sounds like my grandfather farted. Even a non-audiophile would laugh at that sound.

I also think my unit was refurb'd/reconditioned. The cable were new and packaged, but I know how a untouched electric device feels and smells when you open it from the factory. Hard to explain but lots of small indicaters like the plastic bag cover on the tv looked used. Like i sad hard to explain things like new platic creaking, etc. Regardless I dont care as long as everything works and so far so good.

So far Im happy so long as I can tweak the PQ up a bit for xbxo360.

Jason Merrick

04-18-06, 09:25 PM

Just wanted to give an update to you guys regarding the auto-contrast "feature" that I wasn't able to see (20 pages or so ago).

I said that I wasn't able to see the problem on the component input, but now I can confirm it and it looks pretty bad. I've been playing Oblivion on my 360 and just going around the inventory pages changes the background intensity.

So, after playing with this problem for hours, I tried connecting using the VGA input instead and not only the problem dissapeared, but the shadow detail was greatly improved too.

I guess I kept playing games that were very bright and didn't hit this problem until I played Oblivion.

So, after some testing, it looks like the auto-contrast problem is plaguing only the "Source AV" sources (composite, svideo, component 1, NTSC tuner), while the "Source PC" sources (HDMI, VGA, ATSC/QAM tuner) seem to be ok. Can anybody else confirm this?

Also, is using a Component to VGA adapter on that VGA input fixing the auto-contrast issue too?

Sorry if it's common knowledge on this thread, I tried my best to find the information and couldn't find a clear answer.

Finally, am I the only one that's annoyed by the fact that the VGA and HDMI video inputs share the same audio input on the TV? I don't understand how they can advertise the VGA input as a potential second component without its own dedicated audio input.

-eric
Hey Eric,

Glad someone else finally agrees with me in this thread that the 360 over VGA looks good. I recently went back and tried the component out on the 360 with a different game (GRAW) and still found it WAY too dark. Granted I could probably adjust this somewhat with the menus, but at least on PGR3 it was not adjustable enough to make the calibration image in PGR3 look right. VGA looks perfect with no adjustment. The other downside to component, is that even if I adjust it to look right, my Sceptre doesn't remember individual settings for each input, so I'd have to adjust for tv and re-adjust for xbox everytime.

As for the auto-contrast feature, I think you may be right about it affecting the Source-AV inputs only. I have occasionally seen a flicker on HDMI with my cable box, but nothing significant enough for me to say it is definitely an auto-contrast problem. It's more than likely just my cable box, or a flaw in the source material.

I agree that they should have included a separate audio input for the VGA, but since the sound is SO terrible over the Sceptre speakers it doesn't really affect me, as I use an external 5.1 receiver for all audio.

Skenzin

04-18-06, 09:55 PM

amert20

04-19-06, 10:13 AM

I doubt a hdmi switch would degrade quality since its digital, either the 1's and 0's transmit or not. I was researching DVI switches w/HTPC and they seemed really pricey for me (upwards of $200).

The lack of inputs was really the only thing that concerned me about this set. I think another component would have made me more comfortable. or a dedicated DVI and HDMI.

Oh well. Im sure HDMI switches will drop in price soon.

I am using 5+1 swithc from monoprice without any problem Its cable and switch prices are much cheaper than other locations... http://monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2

jvargasg

04-19-06, 11:31 AM

Ordered 3/17/2006
Just received my X37SV today, 3/30/2006. How nice of Costco to wait to the 10th business day to deliver it.

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 13:58
T370HW01
1920 X 1080

Same unit I recieved, Ordered on 3/20/06 and got it on 3/29/06

I also have the internal SPDIF port that bobn4burton confirmed works back in post #336.
I haven't confirmed if my port works yet.

How do you check if you have this and is working without voiding your warranty? where exactly it is located?

I first tested the panel, without any calibration, by playing the 1080p trailer for King Kong.
Today, for the first time, I have seen true high-definition and it was amazing.
The detail shown on Kong gave me chills.
That being said, does anybody really want to see every pore and hair on Jack Black's face?
The WMV-HD version of The Fifth Element was also impressive.

Where do you get this trailers in 1080P? how can I get something like that?
I guess using you are using your HTPC, so if I am using mine but got it hooked up thru VGA (working fine on 1920x1080) can I get the same good PQ as with DVI for 1080P?

Thanks for your time

Sorax

04-19-06, 01:22 PM

Same unit I recieved, Ordered on 3/20/06 and got it on 3/29/06

How do you check if you have this and is working without voiding your warranty? where exactly it is located?

Where do you get this trailers in 1080P? how can I get something like that?
I guess using you are using your HTPC, so if I am using mine but got it hooked up thru VGA (working fine on 1920x1080) can I get the same good PQ as with DVI for 1080P?

Thanks for your time

The optical port is attached to the ATSC tuner. With the screen facing you it is just to the right of center on top inside the TV and visible, particularly in the dark because it glows red, through the vents of the rear casing. I haven't read the Manufacturer's warranty in any detail but I think anything you would do to access the port will technically void it. Of course, if you purchased from Costco there are no worries because of their generous satisfaction guarantee.

I simply placed the TV screen down on a flat surface and removed the screws that hold the back panel in place. I believe there are 4 inset screws along the top and 5 surface screws on either side. I don't remember exactly what was along the bottom. Once I could reach the port I connected an optical cable, widened a vent just enough to pass the cord through and closed the TV back up. Viola, Now connected to a decoder I receive 5.1 OTA right from the tuner.

It is a relatively painless procedure, for yourself and the TV, but I take no responsibility for others trying what worked for me.

I believe you could download the 1080P trailer for King Kong directly from apple but I suggest this website: http://www.davestrailerpage.co.uk . Along with the King Kong trailer it has HD versions of many others. If you have any trouble running the movie reference the thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=654826 , it contains several tips on making this movie run well. It takes all my computer has got to run at 1080P but it really makes the X37SV look it's best.

If you have been able to attain 1920 X 1080 over VGA with no problems the trailer should look great. But since the signal is analog there might be some artifacts introduced like color bleeding and lose in clarity. I suspect you would only be able to notice on an identical still-shot side-by-side with a DVI driven TV. Since you probaly won't be doing that just give it a try and enjoy.

nanjil

04-19-06, 05:24 PM

hello:
I missed this tv at costco. costco seems to have given up on this one.
I am considering getting it from on line retailers. I have a coupel of questions

1. does the latest version still has the juddr problem?
2. does it have spdif output or atleast can I get to it by hacking?
3. how many antenna inputs does it have. can I connect a over the air antenna and standard cable at the same time?

thanx

Skenzin

04-19-06, 05:56 PM

Cloud zer0

04-19-06, 06:02 PM

Ok thanks guys for answering my questions back a few pages on the antenna question
(I must get one).

Ok so I am still unsure after reading almost all the pages (took weeks lol)
About the Upconversions in Resolutions.

Will this TV Deinterlace content or convert 1080i to 1080p? i was reading that people are watching various sources, so please tell me exactly how it works. It was not confirmed as well if the signal gets downverted to 720 then up to 1080p.

Its a big risk for me to buy something that has a one year warranty plan, but then i read about how purchasing extended warranties give you the "stick" and send you to really terrible bottom of the barrel service centers, and that once they fix something on your LCD, your warranty is not appended useless.
There is also no stock at costco and also no telling what Firmware I will be receiving as well.

How good is Sceptres reputation? I have and my family had nothing but Mitsubishi, NEC, Sony and Viewsonic. Yes all all Expensive models this will be my first non Japanese elite model , but the visual quality seems impressive. The lifespan for all these tvs/monitors have well extended over 5, 15, and the oldest mitsubishi is 25 years old.
I wonder why they are only confident to apply the lowest warranty.

Caps18

04-20-06, 09:14 AM

heres some pics I promised.

http://dgl.1st.net/x37/x37.htm

For some reason when I run DVI through my nvidia 6600gt the text and image on my desktop has "sparklies". Anyone can point me in the right direction?

Are they like green and pink dots? You can try changing the memory delay. Press both volume bottons on the TV at the same time, then press 3 on the remote (if I remember correctly). Adjust to 3 or 4.

You have quite a few DVDs.

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

The xbox 360 isn't 1080p, and one of the Microsoft guys actually said it wasn't possible. :rolleyes: The PS3 might have 1080p games a while after the initial launch.

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

There is a difference between VGA and DVI at 1080p. But, it is very small, and you have to be 2 feet away to see it. It's probably the same type of difference between vaccuum tubes and ICs.

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3. how many antenna inputs does it have. can I connect a over the air antenna and standard cable at the same time?

It has one ATSC for over the air digital. It also has one NTSC for cable or an analog antenna. Yes, both ATSC and NTSC can be connected at the same time, just use the remote to switch between the sources.

donsev

04-20-06, 01:55 PM

I said that I wasn't able to see the problem on the component input, but now I can confirm it and it looks pretty bad. I've been playing Oblivion on my 360 and just going around the inventory pages changes the background intensity.

...So, after some testing, it looks like the auto-contrast problem is plaguing only the "Source AV" sources (composite, svideo, component 1, NTSC tuner), while the "Source PC" sources (HDMI, VGA, ATSC/QAM tuner) seem to be ok. Can anybody else confirm this?

Also, is using a Component to VGA adapter on that VGA input fixing the auto-contrast issue too?

Eric, I tried to summarize what I gleaned from this thread a while back and this is what I came up with;

bennynihon, k2_1971, Jason Merrick, ericjut, bluemax50, and anyone else who has offered feedback on the auto-contrast "feature", I want to make sure that I am correctly summarizing that this "feature" ONLY exists on specific ports, namely the Component ports. As I understand, this "feature" does NOT exist on the S-Video, VGA (as PC-VGA), or HDMI (as DVI, HDMI or HDCP).

Input Port Auto-Contrast "feature"
Composite ?
S-Video No
Component Yes
VGA (as YPbPr) Yes
VGA (as PC-VGA) No
HDMI (as DVI) No
HDMI (as HDMI) No
HDMI (as HDCP) No

As you can see, others have reported that using the VGA as VGA-YPbPr does NOT bypass the Auto-Contrast "feature". Do you see the "feature" using composite, S-video and NTSC?

Neomoon

04-20-06, 02:50 PM

Just wanted to drop by an mention that my V3 set has started acting up with my HDMI-DVI connection.

Before I was able to switch inputs and once I would go back to the DVI input my desktop would reapper, however over the weekend it just stopped working. Now once I switch from DVI to any other input then try to come back to the DVI input it simply just sits there saying "No Signal" I'm down to having to use the little program written by someone on here that will get the screen to come back. BUT THIS IS REALLY ANNOYING, I liked the way it was working before now just switching inputs loses the PC input signal. Please help.

jaxzin

04-20-06, 02:59 PM

...I missed this tv at costco. costco seems to have given up on this one...
What gives you this impression? I ask because I'm ready to pull the trigger when it reappears and I'm wondering if you know something I don't. What are other people's opinion? Do we think Costco will get more in stock, or are they done selling them?

Dave Kristol

04-20-06, 04:02 PM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. how many antenna inputs does it have. can I connect a over the air antenna and standard cable at the same time?

It has one ATSC for over the air digital. It also has one NTSC for cable or an analog antenna. Yes, both ATSC and NTSC can be connected at the same time, just use the remote to switch between the sources.

To clarify, there are separate inputs for ATSC and NTSC. The set does not provide a way to connect both OTA ATSC and cable ATSC and choose between them (assuming the set has QAM support), or to connect both OTA NTSC and cable NTSC and choose between them.

Dave Kristol

Koui

04-20-06, 04:05 PM

So, after some testing, it looks like the auto-contrast problem is plaguing only the "Source AV" sources (composite, svideo, component 1, NTSC tuner), while the "Source PC" sources (HDMI, VGA, ATSC/QAM tuner) seem to be ok. Can anybody else confirm this?On my set I've seen auto-contrast kick-in on component, svideo, composite, and both internal tuners only if I increase the Sceptre's default values of brightness and contrast. I leave the backlight (lamp) set at 0 and make adjustments for black and white levels using the DVD player or cable/satellite box video menus.

Skenzin

04-20-06, 06:15 PM

Having some issues that I cant find the answer for in this gigantic thread.

1. i fixed some strange blue-greenish lines by change the timing setting to 3 when I was playing 1080p stuff over VGA. But DVI over a nvidia 6600gt has a weird flicker. The desktop is solid. But my icons and any windows I bring up will flicker or have flicker lines. They almost look like there moving slightly and really quickly. Timing settings dont fix this.

Looking at it again the whole screen is actually flickering. But it only does it at 1920x1080. All other resolutions are solid.

Sorax

04-21-06, 10:29 AM

Looking at it again the whole screen is actually flickering. But it only does it at 1920x1080. All other resolutions are solid.

I believe someone had a similar experience some pages back. The problem was solved by changing the cable.
The analog computer input is susceptible to small degradations in the signal that could impart some strange artifacts when the TV converts the signal for it's use.
Anyways, a new cable might do the trick.

jvargasg

04-21-06, 03:45 PM

The optical port is attached to the ATSC tuner. With the screen facing you it is just to the right of center on top inside the TV and visible, particularly in the dark because it glows red, through the vents of the rear casing. I haven't read the Manufacturer's warranty in any detail but I think anything you would do to access the port will technically void it. Of course, if you purchased from Costco there are no worries because of their generous satisfaction guarantee.

I decided to go ahead and try it, opened up, took of every screw just to not risk any damage trying to take the back cover off, found the optical port, ran a cable from there to the bottom part of the tv just right next to the connections and ran it out thru the corner with no risk of damaging TV cover and/or cable. Now I can state that I have HDTV with digital 5.1 audio, I am looking forward for this monday's 24!!!

I believe you could download the 1080P trailer for King Kong directly from apple but I suggest this website: http://www.davestrailerpage.co.uk . Along with the King Kong trailer it has HD versions of many others. If you have any trouble running the movie reference the thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=654826 , it contains several tips on making this movie run well. It takes all my computer has got to run at 1080P but it really makes the X37SV look it's best.

I went to the link, great BTW, but since my HTPC is still under construction, I don't think I have the minimun specs required to play something in 1080P, so I'll keep researching about this and hopefully in a couple of weeks when I get everything setup on my HTPC I'll give it a try.

Thanks again

ericjut

04-21-06, 06:24 PM

I havent tested my x37 with my xbox360 vga cable yet. Past experience Ive found the colors too faded for my tatste. I will definitily give it a go though. So far I prefer 720p setting over component to be better than 1080i. I was kinda surprised. On 1080i I noticed some strange texture artifacts in GRAW. They were rare though. Must be the deinterlacing. Does the xbox360 support 1920x1080 over vga?

Also in GRAW you change the brightness. When your in the launch screen just go to "Player Options"

You really should give another try calibrating your TV when in VGA mode. In case you didn't know, to be able to control the R, G and B gains, you have to put the Color Temp to "User" mode. Those, in conjunction with the "Contrast" slider, will enable you to calibrate the VGA input pretty well. I'm pretty happy with my VGA source now.

The only problem, just like the other poster pointed out, is that some inputs (like the HDMI input) "share" their settings. In my particular case, since I have a 360 and a HTPC connected to my TV, I decided to calibrate the TV for the 360 and change the video settings on my HTPC at the video card level. That way, I don't have to modify any settings when swapping those 2 sources.

Oh, and as far as the 360 is concerned, 1360X768 is the "highest" resolution possible in VGA. Or in other words, it doesn't support 1920X1080 on the VGA (that would be sweet btw)...

-eric

hakujin

04-22-06, 09:19 AM

You really should give another try calibrating your TV when in VGA mode. In case you didn't know, to be able to control the R, G and B gains, you have to put the Color Temp to "User" mode. Those, in conjunction with the "Contrast" slider, will enable you to calibrate the VGA input pretty well. I'm pretty happy with my VGA source now.

The only problem, just like the other poster pointed out, is that some inputs (like the HDMI input) "share" their settings. In my particular case, since I have a 360 and a HTPC connected to my TV, I decided to calibrate the TV for the 360 and change the video settings on my HTPC at the video card level. That way, I don't have to modify any settings when swapping those 2 sources.

Oh, and as far as the 360 is concerned, 1360X768 is the "highest" resolution possible in VGA. Or in other words, it doesn't support 1920X1080 on the VGA (that would be sweet btw)...

-eric

I didn't calibrate mine either. Perhaps that's why it looks so washed out. You're saying that with a little tweaking, I can get the saturation and shadows out of the vga that is there with the component, replacing compaonent darkness the darkness with clarity?

I might have to give that ago. Though, they seriously need to drop the price on that cord before I entertain actually keeping one. On another note, not that a HD-DVD add-on has been announced, it might be worth holding out to see what's in storet.. HDMI on the 360 AVIP is stated as technically impossible due to the interface being COMPLETELY analog. I find it lame something so new (and powerful) would be intentiionally be limited by analog if only to lower manufacturing costs.

I pulled an old interview with Todd Holmdahl too, which states when the time is right, HDMI will be available. I'm thiking that time will be when PS3 hits (if they hit with Blu-Ray).

It would only seem logical that the game supports the interface too but who knows! But worst case scenario, usb to drive, drive goes directly to tv with hdmi. Boy would that suck. I think I'd pass. But all HDMI to Sceptre would be perfect. Provided it carries 5.1 audio, I could free the 360 from one of my 2 optical ports on my receiver and use the TOSLink on the ATSC tuner thus getting 2 for one 5.1 (OTA and 360)!

Caps18

04-22-06, 12:54 PM

I decided to go ahead and try it, opened up, took of every screw just to not risk any damage trying to take the back cover off, found the optical port, ran a cable from there to the bottom part of the tv just right next to the connections and ran it out thru the corner with no risk of damaging TV cover and/or cable. Now I can state that I have HDTV with digital 5.1 audio, I am looking forward for this monday's 24!!!

Why wouldn't Sceptre put this port on the back of the TV? I'm going to have to open up my TV now to see if it is there. My receiver can't use it, but I'll make sure any one I buy in the future can if this is true.

Is anybody else using this?

semuther

04-22-06, 04:15 PM

Why wouldn't Sceptre put this port on the back of the TV? I'm going to have to open up my TV now to see if it is there. My receiver can't use it, but I'll make sure any one I buy in the future can if this is true.

Is anybody else using this?

Only the early versions of this set have the internal optical port. When they changed to the QAM capable tuner, that port went away.

Steve

sledge1234

04-22-06, 04:30 PM

Only the early versions of this set have the internal optical port. When they changed to the QAM capable tuner, that port went away.

Steve

Ver. 2 has USB port on the ATSC tuner inside. This is not the service port outside, but a true USB port in addition. I am not sure if it is for software upgrades or if it can be used for sound output from the ATSC.

Edward Sanders

04-22-06, 05:13 PM

I posted a couple of messages 10-15 pages back. First, I want to thank people who addressed my vertical lines problems (solved by timing tweaking). I am on my second set (first was really completely and certainly return - refurbished, lacking even some wires and with dead remote). I am still having trouble with my HDMI/DVI post and even with VGA port.

DVI/HDMI: have 3 computers that I checked DVI connection with. 2 Pcs: one with nvidia card and one with Rodeon, and mac mini. DVI connection was dead with all of them, whatever I did with the drivers, etc. Then I got an ATSC tuner with DVI port and a new HDMI/DVI cable, the connection still did not work. Then I checked HDMI connection with an upgrading DVD player with HDMI port, and HDMI to HDMI connection worked! So the port itself is not dead. Could it be that the port is working as HDMI and not working as DVI?

VGA: for the first two days, the set worked with a PC and VGA connection. It was OK, and the screen was filled completely on 1920x1080. After the first week, I connected Sceptre to mac mini through the adapter DVI/VGA. Some strange things started to happen. First 5 days everything was perfect: full screen, 1920x1080. Then one morning display picture shrank and shifted to the right, leaving 3 inch black space on the left and 1 1/2 inch on the right. I could center it by tweaking the Sceptre settings, but it did not fill the full screen. Yet, when I switched to lower resolutions on Mac, the picture on the screen migrated (still did not fill the full screen but, depending of resolution, was be in a different parts of the screen). After 3 weeks of the screen off the center, it switched again and now it is centered almost OK, much less off then it was before, just a bit off to the left. It still does not fill the full screen, leaving around an inch or a bit more on both sides. Again, if I switch to lower resolution, the picture can cover different parts of the screen, so it seems that the computer "knows" that the screen is bigger than what it fills with 1920x1080 . I've tried three different VGA cables, increasingly more expensive. I have not tried Silver Serpent yet, but tried the most expensive VGA cables they had in BestBuy and CompUsa. Nothing changed much, still cannot fill the screen completely.

I have been waiting to see if the DVI problem is resolved and then to try my luck with the third set, only to find out that the set disappeared from C** website. It is not really big problem, as I like the Sceptre overall. If only I could resolve DVI and VGA issues ;-))! Thanks in advance to everyone who might comment on my problems.

jay_cee

04-22-06, 11:12 PM

Couple of comments - Have you tried power cycling your computer while trying DVI? If my TV isn't turned on already when I turn on my PC, the DVI won't come up at all. Its like my video card is checking for a DVI link when it powers up and if it doesn't find one, it disables the port. I'm not sure if its the fault of the TV or my Nvidia 5200. Not a big deal, but its annoying if I happen to forget to turn the TV on first.

The VGA issues you are seeing sound like they could be addressed with custom modeline settings. I'm not sure how that sort of thing is handled in the Mac world, but do some googling for "modeline".

I posted a couple of messages 10-15 pages back. First, I want to thank people who addressed my vertical lines problems (solved by timing tweaking). I am on my second set (first was really completely and certainly return - refurbished, lacking even some wires and with dead remote). I am still having trouble with my HDMI/DVI post and even with VGA port.

DVI/HDMI: have 3 computers that I checked DVI connection with. 2 Pcs: one with nvidia card and one with Rodeon, and mac mini. DVI connection was dead with all of them, whatever I did with the drivers, etc. Then I got an ATSC tuner with DVI port and a new HDMI/DVI cable, the connection still did not work. Then I checked HDMI connection with an upgrading DVD player with HDMI port, and HDMI to HDMI connection worked! So the port itself is not dead. Could it be that the port is working as HDMI and not working as DVI?

VGA: for the first two days, the set worked with a PC and VGA connection. It was OK, and the screen was filled completely on 1920x1080. After the first week, I connected Sceptre to mac mini through the adapter DVI/VGA. Some strange things started to happen. First 5 days everything was perfect: full screen, 1920x1080. Then one morning display picture shrank and shifted to the right, leaving 3 inch black space on the left and 1 1/2 inch on the right. I could center it by tweaking the Sceptre settings, but it did not fill the full screen. Yet, when I switched to lower resolutions on Mac, the picture on the screen migrated (still did not fill the full screen but, depending of resolution, was be in a different parts of the screen). After 3 weeks of the screen off the center, it switched again and now it is centered almost OK, much less off then it was before, just a bit off to the left. It still does not fill the full screen, leaving around an inch or a bit more on both sides. Again, if I switch to lower resolution, the picture can cover different parts of the screen, so it seems that the computer "knows" that the screen is bigger than what it fills with 1920x1080 . I've tried three different VGA cables, increasingly more expensive. I have not tried Silver Serpent yet, but tried the most expensive VGA cables they had in BestBuy and CompUsa. Nothing changed much, still cannot fill the screen completely.

I have been waiting to see if the DVI problem is resolved and then to try my luck with the third set, only to find out that the set disappeared from C** website. It is not really big problem, as I like the Sceptre overall. If only I could resolve DVI and VGA issues ;-))! Thanks in advance to everyone who might comment on my problems.

Punisher007

04-23-06, 01:33 AM

I'm thinking about buying this lcdtv but I'm not aware of any online retailers that sell the v3 with latest firmware. Any advice on where to purchase (other than costco)?

Skenzin

04-23-06, 12:05 PM

I'm thinking about buying this lcdtv but I'm not aware of any online retailers that sell the v3 with latest firmware. Any advice on where to purchase (other than costco)?

Your best bet is probably newegg. I saw a documentary on them and they keep very shallow inventory. However they don't accept returns on large tvs. Once you sign the UPS delivery you have to deal with the manufacturer.

Pecs

04-23-06, 01:34 PM

jpconard

04-23-06, 04:42 PM

I received my third and HDMI worked, checked the Costco site on a Monday and it was on for about an hour and got my order in. I haven't seen it on the site since.

Did Costco drop Sceptre all together?

donsev

04-24-06, 07:33 AM

Did Costco drop Sceptre all together?

No, as of today (04/24) they are still carrying the 32".

Zoglog

04-24-06, 05:42 PM

Nimo

04-24-06, 08:16 PM

Well after I didn't get a response from Sceptre I can only come to a conclusion on the latest fw's I think Dave K was asking about the EA in the menu I also have the same listing on my 06/1/16 fw. The EA stands for Emergency Alarm and my set also saves fav's after a power down, as far as I can tell there really is no difference in fw's unless someone can chime in and say different. I decided not to bother with upgrades because my set is working perfect at the moment, and using VLC via firewire to my DCT 6200 to watch TV on my PC looks just fine. A cheap way to watch TV on your PC without having to buy tuner cards. Earlier ver's of VLC were pretty bad but their latest release is quite adequite for the moment even though it has minor sound issues it looks good on the Sceptre :)

kosstamogen

04-25-06, 12:00 PM

Well I finally found out why the inputs were so weird and didnt work on my harmony remote. Apparently you have to set it to specific inputs rather than cycling inputs and make strwen out commands for each input, which is annoying. And the only way to standardize it was to have it switch to DTV and then back to analog and vice versa. Otherwise there would be no way for the harmony remote to know the # of presses required. It still seems inaccurate though.

However this TV doesnt seem to have any real problems, I was wondering how many V1 users are still out there?

I was struggling with the Harmony 880 to get it to switch to the right inputs when you push "Watch TV" yesterday. How did you do it? When I set it to cycling it never lands on the right input. When I did the specific inputs it asks you which command to switch to DVI and I select SetPCDvi, or which input to switch to TVCable and I select SetVideoCable (something along those lines). When I did that I couldn't seem to get it to work. Is that the same thing you did?

What do you mean by have it switch to DTV first then to analog? The thing is when I say "Watch TV" it should go to TVCable, but it dosen't, pushing the help button solves this. But I have to do Help every time which is not right

Zoglog

04-25-06, 12:05 PM

I was struggling to get it to switch to the right inputs yesterday. How did you do it? When I set it to cycling it never lands on the right input. When I did the specific inputs it asks you which command to switch to DVI and I select SetPCDvi, or which input to switch to TVCable and I select SetVideoCable (something along those lines). When I did that I couldn't seem to get it to work. Is that the same thing you did?

What do you mean by have it switch to DTV first then to analog? The thing is when I say "Watch TV" it should go to TVCable, but it dosen't, pushing the help button solves this. But I have to do Help every time which is not right

Yeah those commands don't seem to work, at least I havent gotten them to work.

Basically the only way I can determine the # of presses to goto a specific input is by making it switch to the other of the 2 input switchers. So say I wanted to goto DVI.
I would first have the tv press the analog TV input button, and then press the dtv input button 4 times. A Big pain in the ass. However it has been hitting off by 1 for some strange reason like 80% of the time, I will need to look into it. But it's the only way I can imagine the remote could know. Stupid cheapass sceptre couldnt even put in codes to switch to a direct input... lame =/

kosstamogen

04-25-06, 12:09 PM

Yeah those commands don't seem to work, at least I havent gotten them to work.

Basically the only way I can determine the # of presses to goto a specific input is by making it switch to the other of the 2 input switchers. So say I wanted to goto DVI.
I would first have the tv press the analog TV input button, and then press the dtv input button 4 times. A Big pain in the ass. However it has been hitting off by 1 for some strange reason like 80% of the time, I will need to look into it. But it's the only way I can imagine the remote could know. Stupid cheapass sceptre couldnt even put in codes to switch to a direct input... lame =/

Could it be the delay? I tried to change it but it just behaves kind of funky. I was hoping to have an Activity like "Use Computer" to have it switch to DVI but dosen't look like that is going to happen.

What I don't understand is when I do the help it takes me to the right input.

Cloud zer0

04-25-06, 04:56 PM

I just got off of Online tech support and I addressed a few concerns:
I hope these help
as it pertains to

Upconverting all TV to 1080i, Recording .TS streams, Cost of box.
( I am Danny, the rep is Jesus)

Danny: HD: Do you have a box that will upconvert all Tv signals to 1080i/p/ ?

You are now speaking with Jesus Solorio of Online Customer Care.
Jesus Solorio: Hello, Danny.
Jesus Solorio: Yes, all of our HD boxes do that
Danny: thats good because i will be getting a sceptre lCd and must run at Native res for best results
Danny: i have another question can i ask?
Jesus Solorio: okay
Danny: ok right now i have basic cable (just the 10.00 package) do i need to pay the 45.00 to be able to have the box? How much is the box
Jesus Solorio: The cable box is $5 per month.
Danny: because i thoguht i saw you need a better package to pay a monthly fee
Jesus Solorio: You can get basic cable and an HD box. but you can only get the basic HD channels.
Jesus Solorio: If you want anything else, you will need to get a Digital Cable package.
Danny: ok that make senses, I dont have to get digital cable to use your hd box
Danny: Is your HD box purchasable, or is it only a monthly fee for a "rental"?
Jesus Solorio: No but you will only get 4 channels more
Jesus Solorio: NO, its a monthly rental
Danny: Does it also record or is that a separate feature to purchase?
Jesus Solorio: Separate feature
Jesus Solorio: That will be $10 more per month
Jesus Solorio: A total of $15 per month
Danny: ok and if its recorded digitally, is it possible to transfer this stream to a media file over the computer as mpeg .ts
Jesus Solorio: no
Danny: ok, i am curious how people are recording hdtv streams
Jesus Solorio: It stays in the cable box
Danny: i suppose i need to buy a DVICO fusion tv
Danny: and the RF cable can be connected to the QAM and can be recorded ? or does it lose its its encryption and become scrambled?
Danny: because i could buy a pc hdtv video in -box
Jesus Solorio: You cannot access the HD feed without the receiver
Jesus Solorio: The picture is scrambled
Jesus Solorio: The only thing that is not scrambled is the basic channels (non HD).
Danny: I see. I suppose it its necessary then for TW CABLE to find a way to encrypt the signal further as I notice people are recording HD HBO onto their computers as .ts streams
Jesus Solorio: right
Jesus Solorio: Is there anything else we can do for you today?
Danny: ok one last question. The tV i am interested in has no function for remembering if a signal is 16:9 or 4:3 and will either stretch all signals to wide or leave everything 4:3 does the box have a memory to these settings PER channel?
Jesus Solorio: yes
Danny: thats good news. Thanks a lot for your time and Help, you answered all my questions efficiently
Danny: have a great day :)
Jesus Solorio: you will not be able to stretch it
Jesus Solorio: If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Jesus Solorio: Thank you, Danny, for using Time Warner Cable's Online Chat System.

Yeah I did pinch him on the issue of encryption, but its not like he can do anything to prevent it anways :P, theres always a way.

Cloud zer0

04-25-06, 05:00 PM

SORRY I divided my posts, as it was too long and wouldn't fit.

See above post for other details that are important.

SOLUTIONS

A lot of you have issues that otherwise preventing your from buying or keeping an otherwise fantastic display.
I don't own the TV, but I have found some variable solutions which I think should work, some are directly from this thread, or a combination of ideas, some are theories and the rest is covered by talking to a TIME WARNER representative. Because this display is noted as so pretty, and it has a few bugs, lets see if we can minimize all of them to rival the $3,500 dollar displays its up against.

I will be buying this display in 5 weeks time :D
Remember, this is not a perfect solution, and I leave it open to discussion as this is what i understand and hav concluded. Some are solutions, some are guesses.
Please chip in if you think I am wrong, and put to why. Lets try to work all these problems out :)

Issue 1. "SD TV looks like crap and other signals as well" OR
TV doesn't have an elaborate up converter like the 37" Mitsubishi 1080p LT-3780.
Issue 2. "The sound sucks on these speakers"
Issue 3. " How can i get to up convert my signals and look fantastic?
Issue 4. " Black borders on 1920x1080 on PC
Issue 5. "The TV does not remember the 16:9 or 4:3 stretch settings on a per station basis.
Issue 6. "Interlacing"(1080i)
Issue 7. " Not enough HDMI ports"
Issue 8" Down converting 1080i to 720p back to 1080p"
Issue 9 “ Color is too blue or too bright”
Issue 10 “ Cannot go up to 1920x1080.

Issue 1: Solution: HD receiver box: For 5.00 a month, The Time warner cable box upconverts all TV signals to 1080i ! Did you remember to get a good antenna? Did you also try your cable signal as well?
Issue 2: Are you kidding me? For this price? If there was no speakers at all, few would complain. Just think of it as a free gift, although I rather not listen to it. At worst case scenario , and not using my 700 watt boston cr67, klipsch sub home theatre system, I could use 2 of my small satellites and connect them to the back. Speakers like this sound good and cost 50.00 for a pair. By removing the speakers one has more room and can actually fit his TV in his smaller room. One Is asking a bit too much at this price.
Issue 3:FFDSHOW from HTPC upscales all DVDS/Files/ and de interlaces. Lancoz looks the best. Games coming from here are of coursed scaled.
Issue 4: Solution: Video card:The Ati control panel has a zoom function in software to size the whole screen up or down to lessen under or overscan. This can be adjusted on a per monitor basis. Should be available in Nvidia drivers as well.
Solution PC: Hothardware noted that 1280x720 resolution in fact still looks terrific coming from games, if one has not a high end pc.

Issue 5: TW CABLE: Once again solved. The boxes they have, Jesus concluded that they will “Remember” the Tv stations and won't stretch the 4:3 images!
Issue 6:Only a theory, but what happens when you put the monitor at 30hz?
Thats close to the interlacing scan of 29.97. Can one try this?
VLC media player does the best job at deinterlacing, especially 1080i doubling frame rate and 3:2 pulldown conversion (LINEAR). Unfortunately FFDSHOW does not have anywhere near (IMHO) a quality deinterlacer as good as VLCs linear: A. Looks fantastic, reduces artifacts and jaggies B. Improves motion to a very fluid progressive 60p state C. Low CPU overhead
Issue 7: For a TV this quality and at this price, we already have a lot, such as a perfect handshake with your PC and a beautiful picture. Down the line cable companies will make their receivers with additional HDMI ports, or one could plop down 125USD for an additional hdmi box (which I can't find that also contains the necessary Component, s video and so forth.
Issue 8: How do we know this for sure? Does the picture in fact look good on a true 1080i image, compared to a 720p image? I will see to contacting Sceptre for this answer.
Issue 9: Go to USER color and turn the blue down to as low as possible, because the TV is defaulted at 11,000 K and is much higher than very high 9300K Monitor Crt. The NTSC standards are 6500K. Get it as close as possible.
PC solution: One can adjust colors COLOR in Avivo for Ati. Reduce the blue in there to compensate if one can't fix the colors in the display itself.
Issue 10: Cables. This was discussed before that VGA cables can “barely” if at all reach the required resolution interfacing with an LCD monitor. A higher quality gauge shielded cable is recommended and was a solution to a few peoples problems. It is already like the only? Monitor that will do this in the first place. For myself, I will be using DVI to HDMI to the Sceptre, and if thats not quality try the VGA cable. The one provided by Mitsubishi is really good, but is only 6 foot.

After writing all of this, I realized hey Sceptre is a bargain and much awaited to have.

hakujin

04-26-06, 12:36 AM

my lord...

chat logs that are both unhelpful and unecessary and a Q&A that involves various conjecture and metaphors about hookers?!
Did you share all that for your own amusement or was it supposed to be helpful to someone?

Cloud zer0

04-26-06, 01:49 AM

Edit: Dammit my cousin is going to get my IP banned..

donsev

04-26-06, 06:51 PM

It's Baaaack!

(at our favorite online warehouse).

DouglasteR

04-27-06, 05:16 AM

It's Baaaack!

(at our favorite online warehouse).

:D GREAAT ! For anyone that bought this monitor, how much is the shipping and handling ( From C****) to Miami ?! Thanks for the help !

Dave Kristol

04-27-06, 12:46 PM

:D GREAAT ! For anyone that bought this monitor, how much is the shipping and handling ( From C****) to Miami ?! Thanks for the help !

S+H to the NY area (from California) was about $80.

Dave Kristol

jvargasg

04-28-06, 10:30 AM

Dave Kristol

04-28-06, 04:25 PM

I've been using this TV for a couple of weeks now, and I am not so satisfied.
The PQ in terms of colors is not so bright, the colors are not vivid at all, and YES believe me I’ve been tweaking it a lot and I got it set to the best picture possible, at least for my eyes.
Besides the color, my main concern is the artifacts and jittering, I cannot get closer than 4 feet because it looks really bad. And yes I set my memory delay to 3 and then 2 until I got the best possible image. The funny part is that when I first got it I was amazed with the HD picture, but now I don’t know if is just that I got used to it and became a little more picky about the PQ or maybe the TV just went bad.

The question here for the experts, those who has got 2 or 3 sets until they got the keeper, is it possible to get a good picture that you can sit 3 feet away from TV and still looks as good as a normal PC monitor, no jittering, macro-blocking, stuttering, etc.

You know am use to SD thru Directv, digital signal too, and I was hoping to get better PQ from a real HDTV with OTA antenna, and at this point I rather watch my shows on my older SD Panasonic TV.

Do you guys have any recommendations? And if so is to return it and try another one, what is the best process to do this, (return and then buy another one with the refund or buy another one, compare them, and then return the bad one, etc) let me know what has had worked out for you the best.

Thanks a lot

Hmm. You didn't say what firmware version you've got. I've got 06/03/03 (3rd set, keeper). I've only seen OTA HD on the Sceptre, not via DirectTV, cable, game console, or PC. I much prefer watching programs in HD to watching SD programs via cable on my old Sony TV, but I sense that I'm a less critical (or technically knowledgable) viewer than many here. To me, the detail is far superior, and I like the 16:9 image. Because of the size of my room, I am probably about 3-4 feet from the TV when I'm watching it.

I can't speak to differences between the Sceptre and a PC monitor, nor am I familiar with the PQ artifacts you describe. I occasionally see pixelation of the HD picture due to signal strength, which depends on the station. I'd say my chief PQ complaint is that the picture tends to be dark, with poor dynamic range, poor ability to distinguish darks.

Dave Kristol

hakujin

04-28-06, 05:19 PM

Hmm. You didn't say what firmware version you've got. I've got 06/03/03 (3rd set, keeper). I've only seen OTA HD on the Sceptre, not via DirectTV, cable, game console, or PC. I much prefer watching programs in HD to watching SD programs via cable on my old Sony TV, but I sense that I'm a less critical (or technically knowledgable) viewer than many here. To me, the detail is far superior, and I like the 16:9 image. Because of the size of my room, I am probably about 3-4 feet from the TV when I'm watching it.

I can't speak to differences between the Sceptre and a PC monitor, nor am I familiar with the PQ artifacts you describe. I occasionally see pixelation of the HD picture due to signal strength, which depends on the station. I'd say my chief PQ complaint is that the picture tends to be dark, with poor dynamic range, poor ability to distinguish darks.

Dave Kristol

I agree 100% with your complaints Dave. jvargasg, the pic OTA is WAY better then anything I've seen through DirectTV on my 43" Sony RPTV so not sure what you're experiencing to say that but Dave is right. Picture tends to be dark, subsequently losing the ability to distinguish darks (black, black, black, not range).

For the price I still love the set. Great with 360, I love WS OTA, great as a computer monitor (best in price range?), not so great with SD, not so great with darks (nightime scenes are yucky), but a good bang for buck nonethelesss. I think I'll be holding on to mine until something better comes along in the price range. Say LCD resolutions matched with plasma range and contrast ratio; at which point off to the C****. Gosh, I"m a cheap SoB.

Leezure King

04-28-06, 06:20 PM

WOW, had to look up HTPC just to make sure I was going to talk about the same thing.Im a newbie in some areas.Forums for sure, I'll try and make this breif. Just read every post 95pgs. Still thinking I want a 37 sceptre, bought a 62 mitsubishi DLP.last year. I love it ! looks better in the dark though.MY thought was kill 2 birds with 1 stone,Home theater HDTV and big gameing, Big is better Right? Not.
Made a special chair and table just to game off it! Ended up gaming on my 21"CRT in my PC Area. still not sure why, Yes I am! You can stick your face right in it! I,m thinking you can do the same with this sceptre.Becouse of it's specs. red one post that sounded that way. But before I make the plunge,"Iv'e been saving for this awhile" I would like to know a couple more things,pip is sizeable? to how big. My mitsubishi has 2 tuners it wont make 2 digital screens at once, 1 digital 1 anolog,or 2 anolog. someones complaint was that the sceptre wouldn't display 2 digital sources , or would'nt accept 2 digital sources.

Leezure King

04-28-06, 06:24 PM

oops i wasnt done what key did I hit , Am I going to have a problem with a Pc as my main screen and a sd tv as pip I can live with that,or was it changing to hdtv and having the pc as a pip.

Koui

04-28-06, 09:43 PM

I would like to know a couple more things,pip is sizeable? to how big.PIP has three sizes, movable to all four corners, and at it's largest setting takes-up approximately 1/4 of the screen. All sources in the PIP window are displayed as 16:9 (SD is stretched). You can PIP one digital source and one analog source. In other words, you can't use it as a PC monitor over DVI and have the internal HD tuner in a PIP window. Westinghouse LCDs have better PIP options...but I'd never buy one of their products again.

mde71

04-29-06, 12:47 AM

I'm trying to decide between the Sceptre and a Dell 24" monitor, which would be half the price of the Sceptre. Using it as a computer monitor and for Xbox 360. Decisions, decisions...

Koui

04-29-06, 02:56 PM

I'm trying to decide between the Sceptre and a Dell 24" monitor, which would be half the price of the Sceptre. Using it as a computer monitor and for Xbox 360. Decisions, decisions...I had a Dell 24" monitor for about a month. To be able to read normal size text on it I had to sit 16-20" away. The overall brightness on the Dell (even after adjusting) made me feel like I was staring into a flashlight, which was giving me headaches and eyestrain. Repsonse time, image streaking, and viewing angle were also sub-par, IMO. An adjustable backlight might have helped but I think it was the fact that I had to sit so close to it that made it impossible to use (for my eyes anyway).

I don't have an Xbox but I do some PC gaming on my Sceptre. I don't notice any streaking and the viewing angle is quite good. PC text quality is excellent if you sit back around 3-4' and eyestrain is not a factor if you keep the backlight at 0. I watch HD, DVD, and SD Directv at 6-10' back and I'm quite satisfied with the PQ.

s2ktaxi

04-29-06, 03:36 PM

I just figured out what the problem is when the DVI input does not work at times from a PC.

Common problem - when a PC is connected via DVI and the Source PC cycled through other inputs, the DVI connection shows NO SIGNAL when you cycle back to it. I've tried:
- updating drivers (ATI X600 in my case made it worse because it would go to no signal immediately after the Windows XP start up screen)
- changing DVI-HDMI cables
- just unplugging the HDMI end of the cable and then back into the TV

The 3rd option works - this leads me to believe there's a problem with either Sceptre's implementation of HDMI/DVI where it does not recognize a cycle through the inputs as a reset of the DVI input where as a disconnect and reconnect of the physical cable does or the video card resending a signal when it's re-connected and stops sending a signal when physically disconnected but not when the TV soft switches.

nikkai

04-29-06, 07:21 PM

I am so divided now...

I was gonna pull the trigger on the Viewsonic 37, and now the sceptre comes back in stock... slightly more expensive... extra cost worth it?

snoods

04-29-06, 11:19 PM

I've had my set for just about a month now, and today a strange problem started occurring. The set freezes in that it won't respond to any buttons on the remote or the ones in the front of the set (except for the volume buttons on the remote.) The only way to get the set off is to do a hard boot by unplugging the power cord. I'll wait a couple of minutes, and then plug it back in, at which point the TV will respond to the first button I press on the remote. After that, it freezes again.

Anyone else have this problem, or have any suggestions?

Thanks!

DouglasteR

04-30-06, 10:21 AM

Greg Peterson

04-30-06, 11:24 AM

s2ktaxi

04-30-06, 11:56 AM

I just spent hours reading this thread....and to think I was trusting the description on C***'s website! Thanks to you guys, all the secrets are out there.

So, as of April 30th, if I order from C***, it looks like I'll get a TV that has:

1. a QAM tuner
2. no S/PDIF jack (inside the TV)
3. difficulty mounting on a wall due to some odd dimensions

Can someone confirm the above 3 points are accurate, and...

1. How bad are the speakers? This TV is for our bedroom. My wife will watch shows like Gilmore Girls in HD. Obviously, great sound is not critical. Are the speakers sufficient for news & sitcom shows?

2. Is the QAM tuner okay? The QAM tuner is important to me since it eliminates the need for me to hook up the flimsy $20 Zenith HDRV antenna that I use for another HDTV in the house. Maybe all QAM tuners are the same, but maybe someone has compared this one to another QAM tuner in a HTPC, standalone receiver, etc.

3. If someone currently has this unit mounted on a wall, then can you tell me (1) what type of bracket you are using (model, make), and where you bought it; and (2) how many inches/cm off the wall the TV sticks out?
I don't think mounting to a wall is an issue. I don't think it's any more odd of a size than any other flat panel display.
Speakers are definitely sufficient in that they produce sound :) but if you want something better, hook up a boom box to it for a simple solution.
QAM tuner works. I've used both the Sanus VMPL and VMPL2 - the VMPL2 being the lower profile - though not adjustable (you have the option of mounting it at 0 or 5 degrees). When installed with the VMPL2, it's about 5" total off the wall. I got mine off ebay for about $100 shipped.

Koui

04-30-06, 12:08 PM

Omfg this looks like a hardware bug ! :eek: :(I believe the problems that snoods and s2ktaxi (and others) are having are either defective sets or firmware issues. A true hardware bug would affect all currently shipping units. Sceptre's quality control is spotty at best and anyone thinking of buying one should be prepared to deal with a return and/or replacement. I should know, after going through 3 bad Westingouse 37w1s and one bad Sceptre. My C* customer service experience was a pleasure compared to BB's.

The replacement X37SV has performed flawlessly (so far) and has exceeded my expectations...especially at this price point. So it 'is' possible to get a decent large-screen 1080p LCD at a much lower price than ever before, but the tech is still in beta stage and we consumers are the testers.

DouglasteR

04-30-06, 12:22 PM

I believe the problems that snoods and s2ktaxi (and others) are having are either defective sets or firmware issues. A true hardware bug would affect all currently shipping units. Sceptre's quality control is spotty at best and anyone thinking of buying one should be prepared to deal with a return and/or replacement. I should know, after going through 3 bad Westingouse 37w1s and one bad Sceptre. My C* customer service experience was a pleasure compared to BB's.

The replacement X37SV has performed flawlessly (so far) and has exceeded my expectations...especially at this price point. So it 'is' possible to get a decent large-screen 1080p LCD at a much lower price than ever before, but the tech is still in beta stage and we consumers are the testers.

Great !! Its so good to hear that, i will buy my unit in the begining of the nex month :D

SlashBatre

05-01-06, 07:00 AM

I am thinking of purchasing the Sceptre in the next couple days through NewEgg, however, I'm weary of the jitter issue associated with v2. Should I assume that by now, I should be okay? Or should I contact newegg prior to the purchase and ensure that I don't receive a v2 set with the bad dvi?

bshor

05-01-06, 02:30 PM

Skenzin

05-01-06, 02:50 PM

Had my sceptre for several weeks. Im really happy with it. I finally found the optimal input usage. I now have my xbox360 going into VGA. When the color is tweaked correctly it looks alot clearer and better than component and has definitly given me an edge in GRAW multiplayer. I moved my HD cable box to component and my HTPC to DVI.

The only thing that concerns me this set puts off some serious heat. I think its because I have my lamp set to 6 out of 7. I prefer a bright picture. Im worried that the heat might lower the life of the set. Any ideas?

semuther

05-01-06, 06:32 PM

The only thing that concerns me this set puts off some serious heat. I think its because I have my lamp set to 6 out of 7. I prefer a bright picture. Im worried that the heat might lower the life of the set. Any ideas?

I found that I can compensate for a low lamp setting by adjusting the brighness and contrast controls. You might give that, as well as dimming the ambient room lighting a try.

Steve

Zoglog

05-01-06, 06:48 PM

Am I the only V1 User that feels like returning this set and buying a LVM-42w2 Westinghouse instead? I never use the HDTV Tuner (and I can't even get reception from my new place) sigh =(.......... Also the input annoyances (Westy has direct button to input) And the bigger size and 2DVI in addition to a HDMI..... I think I really need to swap it. Problem is our fav warehouse retailer doesnt carry it and it is a tad more expensive, but worth it in my opinon......

Dave Kristol

05-01-06, 06:48 PM

Finally decided to go ahead and order the Sceptre. What are people using for their DVR solutions for the QAM tuner? I don't subscribe to cable, but I get expanded basic in my apartment building. I use and love my adored ReplayTV, but it's time for HDTV (my first). But what to use in replacing it? An HTPC seems like a very costly solution.

This article (http://dvr.about.com/od/dvrs/a/hddvr.htm) talks about HD DVR options, including the situation you describe. Sony sells two somewhat pricey DVRs that work with OTA and QAM HD. I do not have any experience with them.

Dave Kristol

Koui

05-02-06, 01:26 AM

I've had my 'keeper' Sceptre for a month now and I thought it might be cool if owners compared optimized menu settings for PC text, graphics, games, and/or HTPC use. I know there are variations between different sets, firmware, graphics cards, operating systems, media player software, and eyes..but it might be fun (and possibly useful) to see if there's a hint of some consistency in what looks good.

Here's mine :

Contrast 128
Black Level 6
Color Temp User
R Gain 125
G Gain 125
B Gain 115
Lamp 0
V3 - Firmware 06/01/16 14:58
ATI x1600pro DVI
XP Pro SP2
TheaterTek 2.3 VMR9

Koui

05-02-06, 04:15 PM

Nobody interested? Aw come on..let's get this thread up to over 3000 replies. We only have a 100 or so posts to go to catch-up with the Westinghouse 37w1 mega-thread!!! :eek:

sledge1234

05-03-06, 10:26 AM

I bought the 42" Sceptre and did not like it compared to the 37".
The media box has the same components as the 37" and as expected the picture is not as sharp due to the larger size. The 37" had a better contrast and even blacks. I don't know if same is true for the 42" Westy, but make sure you can return it if you don't like it.
I am happy for now with my 3rd Sceptre 37".

Am I the only V1 User that feels like returning this set and buying a LVM-42w2 Westinghouse instead? I never use the HDTV Tuner (and I can't even get reception from my new place) sigh =(.......... Also the input annoyances (Westy has direct button to input) And the bigger size and 2DVI in addition to a HDMI..... I think I really need to swap it. Problem is our fav warehouse retailer doesnt carry it and it is a tad more expensive, but worth it in my opinon......

SlashBatre

05-03-06, 10:54 AM

Your 3rd 37" Sceptre? Obsess much?

sledge1234

05-03-06, 11:12 AM

I only own one at a time. 3rd replacement.
Your 3rd 37" Sceptre? Obsess much?

ricphu

05-03-06, 05:11 PM

Zoglog

05-03-06, 05:39 PM

I currently own a V1 Unit. The ones stocked now are V3? If so do you guys think I should switch. There seems to be an autocontast that shifts on my unit when watching HDTV. Anyone else experience this?

Nimo

05-03-06, 08:37 PM

I decided to go with a VGA to Component dongle because you can really dial in the black levels through the DVI and VGA sources, the other night on ch 2 DTV mode I really noticed the DCI kicking in. I noticed this awhile ago but didn't have time to fool with it until now. And I was also sick of the laxed channel surfing and lack of EPG in DTV mode and I wanted to get the DCT back in full action because it's just super quick and has full EPG as you all know. After I went back to RTFM it seems there is an error in the OSD listing in the book, but it does list what is affected by the DCI, it says in the book when in AV1, AV2, Component, VGA-YPbPr2, HDMI, HDCP you should get these listings, but you don't see it in either source until you go to your NTSC source there you will see the DCI switch in the system pallete, after turning that off it seems to affect the sources listed above as the manual states. So if your using component to VGA breakout cable your good to go and you can now dial in your black levels just like in DVI without having the nasty DCI kicking in. So now this free's up the component for other goodies and "Ding Dong" the DCI is DEAD!!:) So tonight I will record House with the DCT 6200 to PC and watch Alias in DTV mode at the same time, then after that I'll watch house on the PC while recording CSI.

Regards Smurfer/Nimo

Koui

05-04-06, 03:58 AM

Tried these setting and they look pretty good. My contrast level is at 140, everything else the same. I'm thinking of uprading from ATI x700pro to x1600xt. Is there noticeable picture improvement by going to x1600?Thanks for your reply, ricphu. The x1600 has clearer text and seems brighter overall than the 9700pro it replaced. The 9700 had a darker base-level black but the x1600 stomps all over it for DVD/HD playback and games. I ordered a Nvidia 7600GT because of its HD features and it should be here today. I'll post my ATI/Nvidia comparison in a few days.

I tried setting contrast to 140. It seems to crush whites slightly and some greys tint yellow if I bump black level up to 7 or 8 to compensate for really dark video. Greys stay grey at contrast 128, up to black level 10. Again, variations in hardware apply and YMMV.

Most of my viewing is at night or I use room-darkening shades during the day. I have a desk lamp with a 40W Philips Natural-Light 6500K bulb that shines behind the Sceptre. I find it helps to increase contrast and deepens black level even more.

SlashBatre

05-04-06, 04:49 AM

I only own one at a time. 3rd replacement.

I'm thinking of acquiring this set, however, if you needed to replace the television twice...that's pretty bad.

Jgigs

05-04-06, 08:50 AM

Hey guys, I just ordered mine from newegg on Monday & Expect the unit tomorrow. Quick question though.

Right now I have Windvd 6 plat. Will I be able to buy and download content in 1080p and play it with windvd or do I need some other 3rd party software?

donsev

05-04-06, 09:16 AM

I'm thinking of acquiring this set, however, if you needed to replace the television twice...that's pretty bad.

Many people have had to go through multiple sets to achieve a level of PQ and QC that they felt was appropriate.

(Although I don't think that anyone has received a set that was missing the entire front bezel as has happened with the 42" :eek: )

donsev

05-04-06, 09:41 AM

I decided to go with a VGA to Component dongle because you can really dial in the black levels through the DVI and VGA sources, the other night on ch 2 DTV mode I really noticed the DCI kicking in... it seems there is an error in the OSD listing in the book, but it does list what is affected by the DCI, it says in the book when in AV1, AV2, Component, VGA-YPbPr2, HDMI, HDCP you should get these listings, but you don't see it in either source until you go to your NTSC source there you will see the DCI switch in the system pallete, after turning that off it seems to affect the sources listed above as the manual states.

So if your using component to VGA breakout cable your good to go and you can now dial in your black levels just like in DVI without having the nasty DCI kicking in. "Ding Dong" the DCI is DEAD!!

Nimo,

Could you clarify this? Since I don't have the 37" (or 42" yet) I am still confused by the maybe-there/maybe-not-there DCI menu option. Previously it looked like the autocontrast affected the ports as I listed below;

I want to make sure that I am correctly summarizing that this (autocontrast) "feature" ONLY exists on specific ports, namely the Component ports. As I understand, this "feature" does NOT exist on the S-Video, VGA (as PC-VGA), or HDMI (as DVI, HDMI or HDCP).

Input Port Auto-Contrast "feature"
Composite ?
S-Video No
Component Yes
VGA (as YPbPr) Yes
VGA (as PC-VGA) No
HDMI (as DVI) No
HDMI (as HDMI) No
HDMI (as HDCP) No

Are you saying that you are able to access the DCI menu option and that it does affect the autocontrast "feature" when using VGA-YPbPr2? And why, if the DCI menu affect the listed ports that you say the manual states, why wouldn't this then turn it off for the Component port as well (since it is listed there along with YPbPr2)?

I guess I should add a column to my matrix to show whether a given ports should be affected by DCI and another column to show whether it can be turned off. If you could correct the columns with what you see that would help.

Perhaps if you could take some screenshots to show the menu options that would help clear things up too.

Thanks

Koui

05-04-06, 03:04 PM

Are you saying that you are able to access the DCI menu option and that it does affect the autocontrast "feature" when using VGA-YPbPr2? And why, if the DCI menu affect the listed ports that you say the manual states, why wouldn't this then turn it off for the Component port as well (since it is listed there along with YPbPr2)?I think what he's trying to say is if you want to use component without the autocontrast 'feature', you have to use the VGA-YPbPr2 input. Unless his firmware is different than mine, autocontrast is permanently active on AVI1, AVI2, YPbPr1, and the NTSC/ATSC tuners. I see its effect regardless of the DCI menu setting.

DCI (Dynamic Contrast Improvement, according to my manual) can only be turned on or off in the AVI1, AVI2, and NTSC tuner SYSTEM menus. With DCI set to on, all I see is a permanent increase in contrast on those particular inputs. DCI and autocontrast are 2 different 'features' and one doesn't affect the other as far as I can tell.

hakujin

05-04-06, 03:10 PM

donsev

05-04-06, 04:06 PM

I think what he's trying to say is if you want to use component without the autocontrast 'feature', you have to use the VGA-YPbPr2 input.

But...

Huh? I've had DCI turned off for NTSC tuner since day of receiving my set because of course, it's accesible from the menu. I still have DCI problem on both my YpbPr and VGA-YpbPr2 inputs. Not sure what you mean.

That's how I understood it, based on the feedback from this thread.

With DCI set to on, all I see is a permanent increase in contrast on those particular inputs. DCI and autocontrast are 2 different 'features' and one doesn't affect the other as far as I can tell.

That is possible of course, and might explain why there is much confusion as to the inputs affected and the menu selections. But, I believe that it was a Sceptre Tech support response from many, many posts ago that implied that the "correction" for the auto-contrast "feature" was to turn off DCI :confused:

Can we confirm on which inputs users have observed the auto-contrast "feature"?

hakujin

05-04-06, 06:51 PM

Koui

05-04-06, 07:21 PM

I always thought DCI and auto-contrast were the same thing. If they're not, then auto contrast is to blame (which doesn't appear to be accesible from any input). Nevertheless, with vga ypbpr2, the problem is still present.If DCI and autocontrast are the same, how come I still see contrast pumping with DCI turned on or off? I don't have a Component to VGA cable so I don't know if it affects VGA-YPbPr2, but I DO see it using Composite and Svideo on AVI1 & 2, YPbPr1, and both internal tuners.

hakujin

05-04-06, 07:26 PM

If DCI and autocontrast are the same, how come I still see contrast pumping with DCI turned on or off? I don't have a Component to VGA cable so I don't know if it affects VGA-YPbPr2, but I DO see it using Composite and Svideo on AVI1 & 2, YPbPr1, and both internal tuners.

"Thought" being the key word in my sentence. I don't have any composite or svideo connected so I woudn't know but I don't notice it on my ntsc tuner. Not to say it's not there but my analog cable is so crappy that I probably can't make out the contrast issue behind the grainy, stretched picture.

Koui

05-04-06, 08:14 PM

"Thought" being the key word in my sentence. I don't have any composite or svideo connected so I woudn't know but I don't notice it on my ntsc tuner. Not to say it's not there but my analog cable is so crappy that I probably can't make out the contrast issue behind the grainy, stretched picture.No offense intended hakujin, sorry if it came across that way :(. I couldn't see autocontrast at work when I first got my Sceptre either and wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm the type that tests all the inputs to make sure they work so I don't find any defects later. When I started tweaking menu settings on the various inputs, boom, there it was. I'm not happy about it being there, but for what I use the Sceptre for (computer monitor, HTPC, and a little OTA HD) it's not a big, hairy deal. Just goes to show, like many things in life, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. :o

Koui

05-04-06, 09:10 PM

Right now I have Windvd 6 plat. Will I be able to buy and download content in 1080p and play it with windvd or do I need some other 3rd party software?There's very little 1080p content available at the moment except for some demos and a few HD DVDs. There's a lot of 1080i and 720p content available for download (don't ask where ;) ) but it's mostly in .ts (transport stream) format. WinDVD will play those files, but only if you change the file extentions to .mpg...which can be a pain to have to do for the multiple .ts files that most content is split into. You can use HDTVtoMPEG2 freeware and combine all the .ts files into one .mpg, but TheaterTek DVD plays .ts natively (without having to rename or combine files) and does so with better picture quality than WinDVD, IMO.

hakujin

05-04-06, 11:28 PM

No offense intended hakujin, sorry if it came across that way :(. I couldn't see autocontrast at work when I first got my Sceptre either and wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm the type that tests all the inputs to make sure they work so I don't find any defects later. When I started tweaking menu settings on the various inputs, boom, there it was. I'm not happy about it being there, but for what I use the Sceptre for (computer monitor, HTPC, and a little OTA HD) it's not a big, hairy deal. Just goes to show, like many things in life, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. :o

Understood and no worries :)

I guess we can all agree that there's no way (as of yet) to get rid of this partial annoyance.

DouglasteR

05-05-06, 07:32 AM

Ok guys, i will orderer mine Saturday ! :D Wish me luck to get a V3-V4 one :D

For those ppl who bought from NewEgg, what versions have been shipped ?

donsev

05-05-06, 07:36 AM

DCI (Dynamic Contrast Improvement, according to my manual) can only be turned on or off in the AVI1, AVI2, and NTSC tuner SYSTEM menus. With DCI set to on, all I see is a permanent increase in contrast on those particular inputs.

Koui,

Do you feel comfortable with your observations that DCI does introduce a noticable enough change to the contrast level on the given ports to rule out the possibility that the DCI menu option simply doesn't work?

If DCI and autocontrast are the same, how come I still see contrast pumping with DCI turned on or off?

This gets back to a much earlier point I was trying to make which is, how do we know this contrast pumping isn't simply a defect and not an intended "feature"?

As the 42"ers are beginning to become aware, it is somewhat pointless to go through the effort to attempt to properly calibrate the set when the unit overrides your carefully crafted contrast/brightness settings as it sees fit.

Cloud zer0

05-05-06, 08:44 AM

There's very little 1080p content available at the moment except for some demos and a few HD DVDs. There's a lot of 1080i and 720p content available for download (don't ask where ;) ) but it's mostly in .ts (transport stream) format. WinDVD will play those files, but only if you change the file extentions to .mpg...which can be a pain to have to do for the multiple .ts files that most content is split into. You can use HDTVtoMPEG2 freeware and combine all the .ts files into one .mpg, but TheaterTek DVD plays .ts natively (without having to rename or combine files) and does so with better picture quality than WinDVD, IMO.

OR he /she can skip all the paid programs and get the FREE Videolan Player
VLC which plays TS/TP and ISO files on the fly with superior Deinterlacing compared to the others ;)
www.videolan.org

rickko

05-05-06, 10:03 AM

... , but only if you change the file extentions to .mpg...which can be a pain to have to do for the multiple .ts files ...
Try this tried-and-true freeware file renaming program (http://www.freewr.com/freeware.php?download=renameit&lid=2778). It works great, is very flexible, fast and small. Its been around for years.

..rickko..

Jgigs

05-05-06, 11:40 AM

Ok guys, i will orderer mine Saturday ! :D Wish me luck to get a V3-V4 one :D

For those ppl who bought from NewEgg, what versions have been shipped ?

Looks like mine is gonna arrive on Tuesday. :( Why can't newegg ship these these via UPS or Fed-ex? I'll let u know what I have when it comes...

kkeldysh

05-05-06, 11:54 AM

I received mine yesterday (ordered week ago from costco). Got a very good set, uniform backlighting, no leakage and no dead/stuck pixels. Will check on version tonight...

Ok guys, i will orderer mine Saturday ! :D Wish me luck to get a V3-V4 one :D

For those ppl who bought from NewEgg, what versions have been shipped ?

Koui

05-05-06, 04:39 PM

Koui,

Do you feel comfortable with your observations that DCI does introduce a noticable enough change to the contrast level on the given ports to rule out the possibility that the DCI menu option simply doesn't work?What I see with DCI on is an increase in overall contrast level similar to what I get from bumping contrast +10 from whatever value I have it set for. Autocontrast is always active on the analog inputs and internal tuners regardless of the DCI setting. That's what makes me think they are really different 'features' (or bugs if you prefer)..no matter what Sceptre says.

This gets back to a much earlier point I was trying to make which is, how do we know this contrast pumping isn't simply a defect and not an intended "feature"?

As the 42"ers are beginning to become aware, it is somewhat pointless to go through the effort to attempt to properly calibrate the set when the unit overrides your carefully crafted contrast/brightness settings as it sees fit.Heh, the trick is to NOT carefully craft your own contrast and brightness settings. If you leave them at their factory default values of 32, you rarely see autocontrast kick-in. With the internal tuners there's not much you can do except adjust lamp level, but with other sources (cable/sat boxes, DVD player, etc.) they usually have their own video adjustment menus. Make your contrast/brightness settings there instead of on the Sceptre and autocontrast pumping stays minimal.

Koui

05-05-06, 05:23 PM

OR he /she can skip all the paid programs and get the FREE Videolan Player
VLC which plays TS/TP and ISO files on the fly with superior Deinterlacing compared to the others ;)
www.videolan.orgEveryone has their favorite media player software and it's probably best to post these discussions in the HTPC (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=26) forum. What I was trying to do was answer the poster's question about WinDVD and provide him/her with a heads-up on its limitations with .ts files. Of course, if they know where to find those files, then the cost of the player is irrelevant and ease of use and performance counts most.

Disclaimer: I am not advocating illegal downloading..please compute responsibly!!!

fuquaforlife

05-05-06, 05:23 PM

Does anyone know what "EA" is in the setup menu, or what it does? It's not in my manual, and i didn't see anything in the thread.

Thanks!

Koui

05-05-06, 06:01 PM

Does anyone know what "EA" is in the setup menu, or what it does? It's not in my manual, and i didn't see anything in the thread.

Thanks!
Here's one answer from this thread :

Well after I didn't get a response from Sceptre I can only come to a conclusion on the latest fw's I think Dave K was asking about the EA in the menu I also have the same listing on my 06/1/16 fw. The EA stands for Emergency Alarm and my set also saves fav's after a power down, as far as I can tell there really is no difference in fw's unless someone can chime in and say different.

fuquaforlife

05-05-06, 08:06 PM

Here's one answer from this thread :

Thanks... I had seen that one, but that's the only answer I saw... to be honest, I have no idea what that means :) I have no idea why a TV would have an emergency alarm, and why there would be a medium on/off setting and low on/off setting.

kkeldysh

05-05-06, 10:59 PM

My new Sceptre's firmware is 06/03/29. Is it v3 or v4?.....
Soft power switch under the panel, mystery port near HDMI input.
Ordered from Costco a week ago, received today.

THANKS!

SlashBatre

05-05-06, 11:07 PM

I will be acquiring the 37" Sceptre Naga set very soon from Costco's website, however, I'm not a member. Is it possible to use a friend's member ID and use my credit card to purchase? I don't want to be hit by the 5% surcharge.

Thanks.

Skenzin

05-06-06, 02:35 AM

My set developed 2 stuck (red) pixels. Debating on returning the set or hoping they correct themselves over time. I think I might return the set. It might be just me but it seems like the image has gotten somewhat "duller/darker/flatter" in the month Ive owned it. Maybe its because I have the lamp at 75%-85%. Then again it could just be in my head.

Dave Kristol

05-06-06, 05:18 AM

My new Sceptre's firmware is 06/03/29. Is it v3 or v4?.....
Soft power switch under the panel, mystery port near HDMI input.
Ordered from Costco a week ago, received today.

THANKS!

I think that's the first reported instance of that firmware. The previous newest was 06/03/03. It sounds like you got the newest firmware with the newer hardware.

Dave Kristol

kkeldysh

05-06-06, 08:57 AM

Rbyers

05-06-06, 09:40 AM

Nimo

05-06-06, 10:24 AM

Nimo

05-06-06, 11:49 AM

Does anyone know what "EA" is in the setup menu, or what it does? It's not in my manual, and i didn't see anything in the thread.

Thanks!

Emergency Alarm it's in the manual pg 25 5th item listed.

BTW: I just placed another order from Costco, hopfully they have addressed the more important issues.

hakujin

05-06-06, 12:21 PM

Why not just join. It isn't expensive and you don't have to impose on your friend.

You know I can kind of relate to him. If you don't shop there alot, the fee is exorbitant. I vowed to never renew after my 1st year of membership. Then again, that was until they had xbox 360 bundles on sale last december and I was able to buy a couple.

Anyway, you can join, buy the tv, and then cancel membership. My wife did it to pick up the 2nd Xbox 360. It's fully tolerated and not a big deal, according to their satisfaction guarantee policy. But I wouldn't do it more then once.

bobgpsr

05-06-06, 04:29 PM

Just wondering if anyone has a new Toshiba HD DVD and is using it with a HDMI connection to their x37sv? I got one (HD-XA1) Thursday and had had no joy with HDMI (get "HDMI Error 0"). A component video connection gives super performance :), but it could be crippled in the future if studios implement the ICT flag on HD DVDs :mad:. I was successful at getting a hold of a knowledgeable/helpful Sceptre tech on the phone. He said he has a first gen (V1) x37sv like me and has no problems with HDMI from an upconverting (to 1080) HDMI Toshiba DVD player (which would need the HDCP handshake). He also said there were not HDMI/HDCP fixes needed in any of the later firmware versions. Toshiba tech support (also hung on to finally get someone knowledgeable) took my problem report and entered it into their database. but did not have any previous reports of Sceptre problems. :(

Any success stories with HDMI connection to a Toshiba HD DVD player out there?

I realize that my HDMI Sceptre connection may be broken (individual failure). But it worked with a PC DVI output and HDMI adapter (no HDCP handshake needed there).

Bob

kdotto

05-07-06, 12:40 AM

Bought My set last Aug and am overall pleased with my C___co purchase. I am however, a bit tweeked that I can now buy the same set, same place for .3K less, considering buying another one at the reduced rate and returning one of the sets for my orig my purchase price. Are the newer sets any better? Anyone here think of a reason why that would not be a good idea?

Skenzin

05-07-06, 01:41 AM

When ordering from costco.com put the $40 membership in your cart and you wont be charged the 5% surcharge (roughly $80) you save $40 and you are member.

hakujin

05-07-06, 11:29 AM

I've tried by hand (for the first time) at a .ts and the picture is breathtaking on this monitor. 1st I tried TheaterTek but opted for Nvidia PureVideo because of the additional home theatre features (UI) and the gpu decoding.

Now if I can just figure a way to make the software sequentially play each stream instead of stopping at the end of each one.

ricphu

05-07-06, 12:10 PM

Okay after foolin with my unit I received my breakout cable yesterday, and broke out my reverse transcoder, hooked everything up to the PC VGA and fired up the tv and STB. The good news is DCI/auto contrast on PC VGA doesn't seem to be affected along with the DVI output. The bad news is even though I'd rather watch tv this way I can't because there is no sound for the PC VGA input only if your running a PC sound card other than that it's pretty much usless. It's to bad because this would have been the way to go for my stb and not having to sacrafice my HDMI for the PC, my conclusion on these Sceptre's is they are incomplete I'm tired of being the Sceptre guinnie pig. There is just to many things that don't work or lack of with this unit. And I can't get Sceptre to return one call, I think this unit goes back because like I said there is just to many things in the unit that were not embedded in the OSD and lack of swithches that don't seem to work right, and a serious delay when using your remote seems there is a lack of memory and creates delayed signals to the tv. I still can't believe they would deny the PC VGA with no sound source other than the PC input sheesh! Yes I could hook my PC to VGA and run the STB to the DVI but once you go DVI on your PC you can't go back to VGA period. I still use VLC to watch TV in PC mode because the picture is night and day with no auto kicking in, but VLC isn't perfect either there's always a trade off one way or the other.

I can understand why you're frustrated. Too many thing missing or not working to make this an acceptable TV. I have this set for about a month and at this point I pretty much resign to the fact that this set is only good if you're running a HTPC set up through the DVI/HDMI/HDCP/VGA input. Anything other input on this set is crap.

For those of us running everything through the PC and watches majority of the time SD I recommend your tuner card should be one that uses ATI Theater 550 Pro chip that provides 12bit video processing. I run everything using MCE 2005 with Nvidia PureVideo Decoder and the result is great.

Of course I want the most bang for the bucks that I can so I'm keeping my eyes on the Olevia Signature LT42HVI that is looking very promising but it won't be release until July/Aug and likely cost $1000+ more so I'm wondering if it's worth it. What does everyone else think?

hakujin

05-07-06, 01:26 PM

I can understand why you're frustrated. Too many thing missing or not working to make this an acceptable TV. I have this set for about a month and at this point I pretty much resign to the fact that this set is only good if you're running a HTPC set up through the DVI/HDMI/HDCP/VGA input. Anything other input on this set is crap.

For those of us running everything through the PC and watches majority of the time SD I recommend your tuner card should be one that uses ATI Theater 550 Pro chip that provides 12bit video processing. I run everything using MCE 2005 with Nvidia PureVideo Decoder and the result is great.

Of course I want the most bang for the bucks that I can so I'm keeping my eyes on the Olevia Signature LT42HVI that is looking very promising but it won't be release until July/Aug and likely cost $1000+ more so I'm wondering if it's worth it. What does everyone else think?

Is SD quality significantly better through a tv tuner card on a htpc? Also, how do you run ATI but purevideo? I don't plan to buy an additional card just for sd but that would be interesting to know. Right now I don't have much of a htpc. Perodically, I'll unattach my mid tower from the office and hook it up in the living room. It's neat but I wouldn't keep it there. For the majority of my theatre viewing, I use my [modded] xbox just because I love the UI of XBMC (much better then MCE, TheatreTek, nStart, etc.) and it's great for upscaling but alas, it kind of chokes on native HD, thus the reason I've brought the pc into the living room but it's far too obtrusive. I'd love to go with some small form factor htpc that really shines with hd. I'd go Mac Mini but it's gpu acceleration (or lack therof) and hard drive size are far too weak for HD. I guess technically you can't call it a htpc for its lack of tuner anyway. What else is there? XPC Shuttles? Maybe I'll go that route or build a full system in on of the gigantic (htpc) receiver boxes that rest on their sides. But then I'd have to succumb to the MCE UI.. :( If the 360 could be modded, I think my ambivalence would be gone.

Back to your post, I don't think this tv is bad at all without a htpc. I love it. Analog SD doesn't look too great but should it? Right now, I just have the Xbox (UI @ 720p) and a vcr hooked up (but never use) to it (with the [as stated] occasional pc in the mix). That and OTA plus NTSC tuner makes me a happy camper (for the price tag). It'll get better once next gen optical format king reigns with 1080p content everywhere.

ricphu

05-07-06, 08:04 PM

Is SD quality significantly better through a tv tuner card on a htpc? Also, how do you run ATI but purevideo? I don't plan to buy an additional card just for sd but that would be interesting to know. Right now I don't have much of a htpc. Perodically, I'll unattach my mid tower from the office and hook it up in the living room. It's neat but I wouldn't keep it there. For the majority of my theatre viewing, I use my [modded] xbox just because I love the UI of XBMC (much better then MCE, TheatreTek, nStart, etc.) and it's great for upscaling but alas, it kind of chokes on native HD, thus the reason I've brought the pc into the living room but it's far too obtrusive. I'd love to go with some small form factor htpc that really shines with hd. I'd go Mac Mini but it's gpu acceleration (or lack therof) and hard drive size are far too weak for HD. I guess technically you can't call it a htpc for its lack of tuner anyway. What else is there? XPC Shuttles? Maybe I'll go that route or build a full system in on of the gigantic (htpc) receiver boxes that rest on their sides. But then I'd have to succumb to the MCE UI.. :( If the 360 could be modded, I think my ambivalence would be gone.

Back to your post, I don't think this tv is bad at all without a htpc. I love it. Analog SD doesn't look too great but should it? Right now, I just have the Xbox (UI @ 720p) and a vcr hooked up (but never use) to it (with the [as stated] occasional pc in the mix). That and OTA plus NTSC tuner makes me a happy camper (for the price tag). It'll get better once next gen optical format king reigns with 1080p content everywhere.

The quality of the pc tuner card using ATI Theater 550 chip provides a smoother picture with better color shading (result of 12bit hardware mpeg2 video encoding), it does not suffer the black crush and autocontrast problem that you see with the tuner that comes with the TV. Keep in mind it is still not hd quality.

Nvidia PureVideo is just an mpeg2 decoder that works with any GPU that has hardware acceleration. My GPU happens to be from ATI as well and I have no problem. Another advantage of using MCE is it provide smart stretch so the TV image does not look flaten, another feature missing from the Sceptre. This TV is only tolerable because of it $1500 price point for a 1080p monitor. The reason I mentioned the Olevia Signature LT42HVi is becasue the specs on this TV is looking very promising. If the street price comes in at around $2500 for the 42in model that supports 1080p with Silicon Optix Realta® video processor HQV scaler, it will be hard to beat.

hakujin

05-07-06, 11:07 PM

The quality of the pc tuner card using ATI Theater 550 chip provides a smoother picture with better color shading (result of 12bit hardware mpeg2 video encoding), it does not suffer the black crush and autocontrast problem that you see with the tuner that comes with the TV. Keep in mind it is still not hd quality.

Nvidia PureVideo is just an mpeg2 decoder that works with any GPU that has hardware acceleration. My GPU happens to be from ATI as well and I have no problem. Another advantage of using MCE is it provide smart stretch so the TV image does not look flaten, another feature missing from the Sceptre. This TV is only tolerable because of it $1500 price point for a 1080p monitor. The reason I mentioned the Olevia Signature LT42HVi is becasue the specs on this TV is looking very promising. If the street price comes in at around $2500 for the 42in model that supports 1080p with Silicon Optix Realta® video processor HQV scaler, it will be hard to beat.

Interesting. I just acquired the PureVideo (as well as coreAVC) for h.264 offloading to gpu. Not sure which is in action though as I guess the coreAVC is supposed to be more efficient and not even require cpu offload. Plus, I have an Apollo 6800 AGP which I've read has the total pkg. for hardware acceleration (unlike the gt & ultra variants) but not sure what works on mine. Apple h.264 trailers renamed to .mp4 run my system at about 35%cpu whereas quicktime is more like 60-76%.

Back to the tv, smart stretch does what exactly that 16:9 mode doesn't do on the ntsc tuner? I do notice stretch but it's not so bad for me. Does "smart" do it in a way that makes it even less noticeable?

I check out that tv you pointed out. Nice contrast ratio, probably less crush eh? Though at $2500 w/native resolution of 1366 x 768 ratio, I dunno if the "upscaled" 1080 will look as good as on the sceptre. I think I'm going to hold on to this one and hopefully wait out the next gen display formats, ala SED (I hope!).

LandOfApricotsxx

05-08-06, 01:46 PM

Closed-Caption Support???

Hm, I see that CC is supported only for S-Video In and Composite-In. NONE for Component-In. WHY? All my TVs were able to show CC on component feed. We have a deaf member in the family, and got a lot of DVDs with CC (but w/o subtitles). How I am supposed to hook up DVD player? To S-VIDEO port? Isn't that kind of crazy? The S-VIDEO quality on HD is much worse than on my 10-year old Sony TV. I though the whole idea of buying HDTV (well, at least part of it) is the ability to hook up DVD player to Component or HDMI inputs. But no CC support then?

Yes, lack of CC support on component input is not good. I believe Sceptre is under the bad assumption that captions will be provided by the device connected to the component or HDMI inputs. This may be the case for STB and HTPC, but certainly not for most existing DVD players.

The other thing that sucks is that the captions are put into the signal BEFORE any zoom is performed, and the special ZOOM-SUBTITLE setting usually ends up chopping off part of the top of the picture.

Still, I consider these minor drawbacks for a low-priced HDTV. I am hearing-impaired and find the enhanced EIA-708-B closed captions (the CS1 caption setting) on HDTV feeds is fantastic after setting the options to have a transparent background, yellow text with black outline. Way better than the old-style black boxed white text.

ricphu

05-08-06, 02:04 PM

Interesting. I just acquired the PureVideo (as well as coreAVC) for h.264 offloading to gpu. Not sure which is in action though as I guess the coreAVC is supposed to be more efficient and not even require cpu offload. Plus, I have an Apollo 6800 AGP which I've read has the total pkg. for hardware acceleration (unlike the gt & ultra variants) but not sure what works on mine. Apple h.264 trailers renamed to .mp4 run my system at about 35%cpu whereas quicktime is more like 60-76%.

Back to the tv, smart stretch does what exactly that 16:9 mode doesn't do on the ntsc tuner? I do notice stretch but it's not so bad for me. Does "smart" do it in a way that makes it even less noticeable?

I check out that tv you pointed out. Nice contrast ratio, probably less crush eh? Though at $2500 w/native resolution of 1366 x 768 ratio, I dunno if the "upscaled" 1080 will look as good as on the sceptre. I think I'm going to hold on to this one and hopefully wait out the next gen display formats, ala SED (I hope!).

"Smart Stretch" is different from the 16:9 mode on the ntsc tuner. Smart stretch very gradually stretches the image left/right from the center. The result is an overall picture that does not look too distorted. The logic is since majority of the time the main viewing area on the screen is the middle. It is also the area where the main characters are and the background occupies the edge. It is images of people that is most noticable when it's being stretch but since it's close to the middle most of the time you won't notice it that much.

On the Olevia, you're looking at the spec for it current model. Their up and comming "signature" line is suppose to have better components but likely cost more. See this thread for it's discussion.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=623573&page=1&pp=30&highlight=olevia+signature+lt42hvi

Jgigs

05-08-06, 05:51 PM

Ok guys, i will orderer mine Saturday ! :D Wish me luck to get a V3-V4 one :D

For those ppl who bought from NewEgg, what versions have been shipped ?

Just got mine today, ordered from newegg. Mine is as following:

DEBUG 0113A D2
06/03/29 11:20
T370HW01
1920 X 1080

I can't believe how sweet this TV is. 0 dead pixels and a fantastic picture.

hakujin

05-08-06, 08:02 PM

"Smart Stretch" is different from the 16:9 mode on the ntsc tuner. Smart stretch very gradually stretches the image left/right from the center. The result is an overall picture that does not look too distorted. The logic is since majority of the time the main viewing area on the screen is the middle. It is also the area where the main characters are and the background occupies the edge. It is images of people that is most noticable when it's being stretch but since it's close to the middle most of the time you won't notice it that much.

On the Olevia, you're looking at the spec for it current model. Their up and comming "signature" line is suppose to have better components but likely cost more. See this thread for it's discussion.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=623573&page=1&pp=30&highlight=olevia+signature+lt42hvi

Interesting stuff. I was checking out the engadget link from there. Somewhat OT but what peeked my interest was what somebody said about HDMI switching receivers which would totally eliminate this tv's lack of connection inputs. Does our 37" Sceptre support HDMI 1.1? I'd like to know how future proof I am. I can just about bet my next receiver will be a HDMI switching receiver (speaking of which, do you know of any with 3-4 inputs, one output?).

condor123

05-08-06, 11:10 PM

Koui

05-09-06, 03:02 AM

nelsongs

05-09-06, 03:18 AM

hakujin

05-09-06, 09:22 AM

DouglasteR

05-09-06, 09:54 AM

Just got mine today, ordered from newegg. Mine is as following:

DEBUG 0113A D2
06/03/29 11:20
T370HW01
1920 X 1080

I can't believe how sweet this TV is. 0 dead pixels and a fantastic picture.

Im sooo glad to hear that ! :D !

ive ordered mine, it will take 2 week to be shipped here to me ( Brazil ) ! I cant wait :(

But will worth the wait :D

bobgpsr

05-09-06, 11:37 AM

...it displayed the dvd player's output...

That is what I was waiting to hear! Another Sceptre x37sv owner can in fact use HDMI feed from a Toshiba HD DVD player. Thanks! Yes I have done many different combinations of things to try to get it to work. The Toshiba front panel shows "HDMI" when it is enabled (by the V. output button). At this point I have a strong suspicion that the HD-XA1 may have a dead HDMI output. I have a HD-A1 on order from another supplier and when it gets in I will know better. I was tempted to go out and get an $80 upconverting DVD player to verify the Naga's HDMI input but now I will wait for the A1 to come in.

Bob

Nimo

05-09-06, 02:28 PM

Jgigs

05-09-06, 02:31 PM

New set just arrived I checked the HDMI on my Amd and all is good FW: 06/03/29 I'm scanning my chanels as I type this. The TV has no power switch it's exactly the same as my other one, I'll post back later and see what was done differen't but it sure is funny they wrote two FW updates in one month.

I have the same FW, but mine has the power switch. I guess mine is a upgraded V1... I wonder if yours does this, but mine will always say 1080i even if im watching SD TV.

Neomoon

05-09-06, 04:02 PM

Help!! Just got my 37" sceptre when I plugged hdmi from my dishnetwork 622 it pushed in the hdmi receptacle into the tv.. I pulled it back out but now I have no hdmi picture.. I don't like the picture quality without hdmi. Does the hdmi input make the picture a lot better???? If it does I would return to Costco and order another. Right now faces are not clear.

I doubt this will help you any but two nights ago I was watching a video off my pc (DVI-input) and the picture on the screen just froze. The audio kept playing but the video stayed the same. I thought maybe my computer had crashed but I could still pause and play the audio using my remote. I tried to do ctr+alt+delete but nothing showed up on my LCD.

I then switched to the vga input and it turns out my pc was still running fine. Since then I have not been able to get ANY input via my HDMI. I don't know if it's the cable or it's my Sceptre.

I tried hooking up my HD-STB to the LCD using the STB's DVI out but I would still get NO SIGNAL when cycling thru the inputs. I emailed Sceptre about this yesterday but still have not gotten a reply. It seems strange that the video signal would just freeze like that and then refuse to accept any input. I'm thinking maybe the HDMI connector must have disconnected internally or something. It sux i'm running my pc via the VGA input now and the colors are all washed down and there is overscan :-(

eldentistfuturo

05-09-06, 05:17 PM

pas123

05-09-06, 11:37 PM

Im sooo glad to hear that ! :D !

ive ordered mine, it will take 2 week to be shipped here to me ( Brazil ) ! I cant wait :(

But will worth the wait :D

How much will cost you for custom in Brasil?

DouglasteR

05-10-06, 08:18 AM

How much will cost you for custom in Brasil?

VERY expensive :confused:

kkrull

05-10-06, 08:23 AM

Nimo

05-10-06, 10:44 AM

The new set now has a blue light when turned on, there is no black level adjustment anymore :( and the colors are less vibrant with a serious green push. This set seems to pixellitate more and I could not balance the colors to match my other set. There is no change in performance as far as channel surfing and auto contrast is still there so I'm taking this one back and keeping my original set because of the black levels and better PQ of course anybody with the latest fw ymmv.

Dave Kristol

05-10-06, 01:14 PM

Koui

05-10-06, 03:33 PM

The new set now has a blue light when turned on, there is no black level adjustment anymore :( and the colors are less vibrant with a serious green push.
Are you saying that black level isn't listed in the DVI picture menu at all, or is it just greyed-out? On my V3 set, color temp has to be set to user first before black level and RGB gains are adjustable.

Nimo

05-10-06, 04:44 PM

Are you saying that black level isn't listed in the DVI picture menu at all, or is it just greyed-out? On my V3 set, color temp has to be set to user first before black level and RGB gains are adjustable.

Black level is no longer listed in the osd and that green push I also mentioned no matter what I did adjustments had no effect, I mean I couldn't get rid of it. This was done using a side by side comparison to my other tv and the tint really stands out when viewing them in this mannor. Especially when looking at a persons face or a white wall or background. Colors are not as vibrant and it may just be me but it seemed to have lost a little clarity/sharpness. I didn't like it one bit, but again ymmv so it just might be this one unit.

@Dave the red light is still present it's just when you power it up it changes to blue instead of green. I like the green better it's a lot more passive than blue either way it's insignificant. FW 06/3/29 no power switch, blue indicator light, no black level adjustment in VGA PC/DVI mode the green tint may just be my unit so your ymmv. So I'm done as far as my curiosity about firmware upgrades, I'll keep what I have and be happy, because I pretty much only use it as a monitor to record and playback my high def stuff. My goal was to get around the the auto kicking in that's why I bought the VGA breakout cable and broke out my rev transcoder for the DCT 6200 this would have been the perfect solution because of the black level adjustment in the tv's osd. Without that little bugger you can't seperate blacks from greys a very important feature for this tv/monitor it would have been the perfect solution except for the fact that there is no sound source in VGA PC mode so it's useless unless it's hooked up to a PC with sound output. :( I wanted to do this without having to go through the my home theater system but the other alternative is optical out from the DCT to the receiver I have no choice but to go this way I was trying to get away with just using the DCT's remote I may be able to program it for my Kenwood I'll check in to that later tonight.

Koui

05-10-06, 05:35 PM

Black level is no longer listed in the osd and that green push I also mentioned no matter what I did adjustments had no effect, I mean I couldn't get rid of it. This was done using a side by side comparison to my other tv and the tint really stands out when viewing them in this mannor.Hmm, I wonder if Sceptre has switched to CMO instead of AUO panels in the X37 for their latest production run. Two of the Westy 37w1s I returned with CMOs had green push and inferior PQ to the 3rd with AUO. I might have kept that one if it wasn't for the improperly designed power supply on the w1s that caused the backlight to buzz. I heard it on every Westy BB had in stock at 5 stores.

All of the inexpensive 1080p LCDs seem to have one set of problems or another, but overall, I'm a happy camper so far with my X37 V3. It does trouble me that if it failed, couldn't be fixed, and had to replaced with a V4, I wouldn't get the same quality of product as before.

RaBoot

05-10-06, 05:44 PM

Hello....

I've had my new Sceptre X37 for about a week now, and I think it's a great HDTV/HTPC set. My PC games look and play amazing! I use the HDMI to DVI to 2 GeForce 7900 GTX boards (SLi). I had Cox install a digital DVR STB recently, and am blown away by the HD content! Wish there were more channels though.

Say, I wonder about playing my DVD movies thru my PC.

What do you think is the best way to watch DVD movies on this set? Thru the PC? Thru a STB DVD player? Getting the audio from my PC to the sets side speakers confuses me a bit. Do I just use the short, thin black cable that comes with the set? Connecting it from my SB X-Fi card to the sets' PC Audio in?

I am also wondering what the Debug info means that lots of folk post here. Does it have to do with the sets' version? I purchased the set from NewEgg.

The info I get is:

Debug 0111
06/01/16 13:58
T370HW01
1920x1080 (I know this is res.)

(There is no switch in back of set to turn it on or off).

Thank you,
....Bobby R.

..... Hakujin..... do I know you from 3D Commune? (MojoWorld.... I'm robbr)

Koui

05-10-06, 06:00 PM

Firmware Version Post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7405938&&#post7405938)

Nimo

05-10-06, 07:15 PM

What do you think is the best way to watch DVD movies on this set? Thru the PC? Thru a STB DVD player? Getting the audio from my PC to the sets side speakers confuses me a bit. Do I just use the short, thin black cable that comes with the set? Connecting it from my SB X-Fi card to the sets' PC Audio in?

Playing DVD's on your PC will get you better results in PQ and yes you just run that supplied cable to the input on the tv to your sound source.

Jeez... I just thought of something Doh!! :eek: All I need to do is just run my mini plug stereo RCA's from the DCT to the pc input on the tv sheesh what was I thinking of, pretty stupid of me to just figure it out:o having a moment here folks but that's the only way to get the onboard sound to the VGA PC source. And I have two of these cables. So my mission is over auto contrast has been defeated and I will now have onboard sound, it's just for convience on my part. Using one remote and using the STB's EPG and superior cha nnel surfing, compared to the built in QAM and lack of EPG in the tv's osd no need to go there unless I'm recording and I want to watch something at the same time.

Regards, smurfer

Nimo

05-10-06, 07:25 PM

Hmm, I wonder if Sceptre has switched to CMO instead of AUO panels in the X37 for their latest production run. Two of the Westy 37w1s I returned with CMOs had green push and inferior PQ to the 3rd with AUO. I might have kept that one if it wasn't for the improperly designed power supply on the w1s that caused the backlight to buzz. I heard it on every Westy BB had in stock at 5 stores.

All of the inexpensive 1080p LCDs seem to have one set of problems or another, but overall, I'm a happy camper so far with my X37 V3. It does trouble me that if it failed, couldn't be fixed, and had to replaced with a V4, I wouldn't get the same quality of product as before.

Koui that's a very good question you may be on to something and with Sceptre you never know. It didn't even occur to me that the panels my have been replaced :o cost cutting shortage of glass?

RaBoot

05-10-06, 08:04 PM

Thanks for the info and advice. I did look thru a lot of posts, but did not see the one about the different versions listed.

I plugged that black cable to my sets' "PC Audio In" from the SB X-Fi card and it works fine. And, playing DVD's from my PC (VLC) looks very nice indeed.

You both have been a big help.
Thank you,
....Bobby R.

pas123

05-10-06, 09:49 PM

Hello DouglasteR

Brazil is pal-M, maybe some NTSC feed via satellite
but no HDTV..
That a hefty price to pay to play games or to use as a monitor?

nanjil

05-11-06, 11:08 AM

does the new sets have optical sound output?

nanjil

05-11-06, 11:11 AM

usually pc tv tuners are no match for a good built in tuner. I have hdtv wonder aiw ati .They are a conveneinence but they never are anywhere close to built in tuners

hakujin

05-11-06, 11:44 AM

Hello....

..... Hakujin..... do I know you from 3D Commune? (MojoWorld.... I'm robbr)

Heheh... maybe someone else as I've never been there (that I remember). To answer a couple of your questions...

Yes you use the thing black audio cable unless you have one of the earlier sets where TOSLink (optical) is hidden inside.

DVDs will likely look better on your pc because of the upscaling but an upscaling dvd player would probably be comparable. I have no particular fav software. I've tried TheaterTek and like it and WMP is even great for HD when you install the coreAVC codec. And of course VLC is great for advanced customizations and that you don't need to install any codecs or the like to play material (nor do you with FFDShow). I'm thinking of giving Cyberlink's new revision a go, but I don't like to keep my PC in the living room; maybe I'll get a nice unobtrusive htpc in the future (say when MacMini has a dedicated video gpu (with mpeg2/4 gpu acceleration) and a larger stock hard drive, but for now, I'm definitely content with my modded Xbox for all my home theater needs.

I have some killer PBS 1080i content on my computer that looks stunning on this set when I do bring my pc into the living room but I'll need a much larger pipe to the internet before that becomes the norm, say 20 or 30Mbps down.

I hope you have as much fun as I do with this awesome tele.

DouglasteR

05-11-06, 01:05 PM

Hello DouglasteR

Brazil is pal-M, maybe some NTSC feed via satellite
but no HDTV..
That a hefty price to pay to play games or to use as a monitor?

Yes Yes, Brazil still implementing HDTV system, no Digital Stuff here yet, and about the price, thats the cost of High Tecnology in a 3º world country :(

Ive always since childhood addicted to Big Screens, and that monitor is not diferent ! I can barely wait to get it, Months and months saving to bought it, now the wait is painfull, since i have ordered, the hours are taking twice to pass !

:D

RaBoot

05-11-06, 01:34 PM

Haa... I figured your name Hakujin would be one in a million! Is that your name? or does it stand for something? Yea, this person is a CG artist (as am I), using the app I mentioned earlier. It's a fractal based terrain generating program (think Vue D'Esprit) only much better, you build entire worlds in incredible detail. Did you see the movie "The Day After Tomorrow?" The scene where the helicopter freezes in mid air, that was done using this app. Anyway, that's where I know "Hakujin" from :cool:

Yes, I'm using the thin, black cable that come with the set for audio right now. DVD movies play great on the Sceptre. I like the VLC player, lots of options and it works well for me, plus it's free :D Ya know.... it seems the right (stock) speaker (as you face the set), is very low in sound compared to the opposite one. Does that sound right to you?

I guess I'll hold off on the DVD player, seeing there is no real advantage to having one. Plus my desk space is at a premium.

I may be looking to purchase a real set of speakers for my set. Any recommendations? I don't really want to spend too much, maybe up to $150 (us).

I've been using my Sceptre primarily as a computer display, and am floored by the size and clarity of it. I wonder if the 2 GeForce 7900 GTX boards help out some there. Can't hurt I guess, right. Had my Mac and OS X hooked up briefly (unhooked it though, because I was using a KVM switch box, and unfortunately the Sceptre does not have it's own DVI port) and OS X looked amazing~!

I've been watching TV on the new set, and I just love it. I'd say, all in all, I'm perfectly happy with my new Sceptre X37 HDTV.

Thanks,
....BR

DouglasteR

05-11-06, 04:06 PM

Looks Like this thread will hit 100 pages afterall, Sceptre must be very satisfied whit this forum :D

Neomoon

05-11-06, 06:47 PM

Looks Like this thread will hit 100 pages afterall, Sceptre must be very satisfied whit this forum :D

Yeah that's cause were doing all the work for them. When will you answer me Email Sceptre? When?

I'm giving you one week then this set is going back and I'm getting the 37" Westinghouse seems thier new v3 is quite good.

Punisher007

05-12-06, 12:12 AM

RaBoot

05-12-06, 01:36 AM

Hi.....
been wondering about the DTV signal when I switch sources, the picture flashes for a second, then a "weak signal" sign floats about the screen.

Am I missing anything here? :confused: Is the content the same as having a STB (I have a DVR box from Cox). Does the antenna come into to play here, allowing me to pull in the DTV signal OTA?

Thank you for any input,
.....BR

Koui

05-12-06, 05:18 AM

Does the antenna come into to play here, allowing me to pull in the DTV signal OTA?Spot on! You need to have a UHF antenna in the ATSC RF input on the Sceptre and do an auto-scan in the DTV menu to pull-in your local DTV/HD channels. The OTA HD PQ I get is tons better than the HD-Lite I saw from a satellite box. Be aware that there's also a NTSC RF input, so don't get them confused.

RaBoot

05-12-06, 05:36 AM

Spot on! You need to have a UHF antenna in the ATSC RF input on the Sceptre and do an auto-scan in the DTV menu to pull-in your local DTV/HD channels. The OTA HD PQ I get is tons better than the HD-Lite I saw from a sattelite box. Be aware that there's also a NTSC RF input, so don't get them confused.

All right then! But, before I spend on an antenna for OTA HD, is there any difference in the content (same amount of channels and same TV shows as the Cox Cable DVR STB)? Does it pull in movie channels like HBO and the like?

So you prefer OTA HD to a digital cable STB. It costs less too, right? No monthly fees?

I'm really new at the HDTV scene, my 1st set..... is why I ask.

Thanks for your help and advice!
....BR

Nimo

05-12-06, 09:20 AM

Nimo:

I got my x37 about 2 weeks ago and have the same problem with green tint. I played around with contrast / color temp settings and made it better, but it was still there.

Overall I'm undecided about whether to keep this...PC via DVI looks great at 1080p, but I want to watch dvds / tv without the green tint!

BTW: How do I check firmware and whether I have QAM?

Thanks.

Debug menu access: Hold down both Ch + - with no signal going to whatever source.

For QAM just plug in your cables coax to the ATSC tuner and start scanning for channels, depending on your cable co like Comcast they are on HRC, Adelphia is on STD/IRC ymmv.

I'm giving you one week then this set is going back and I'm getting the 37" Westinghouse seems thier new v3 is quite good.

I never did get e response from Sceptre your best bet is just to take it back to Costco.

Koui

05-12-06, 02:11 PM

All right then! But, before I spend on an antenna for OTA HD, is there any difference in the content (same amount of channels and same TV shows as the Cox Cable DVR STB)? Does it pull in movie channels like HBO and the like?

Go HERE (http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx), put in your zip code, check 'Show Digital Channels Only' and you'll get a list of what's available using an antenna.

So you prefer OTA HD to a digital cable STB. It costs less too, right? No monthly fees?I don't have cable so I don't know what PQ you get from that (I've heard it varies based on your provider) but I did have a satellite HD box for a month...returned it, downgraded to SD, saving $10/mo. There's enough premium content on the net for my HD fix so I don't feel like I'm missing a thing. ;)

RaBoot

05-12-06, 03:58 PM

[QUOTE=Koui]Go HERE (http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx), put in your zip code, check 'Show Digital Channels Only' and you'll get a list of what's available using an antenna.

Ahh... I see. They are all my local channels. I guess if I want all the extra channels, the digital cable STB is the way. I'm so use to having all the stations from regular cable, and now having digital, it would be difficult to go back to just local. Besides, the PQ isn't bad at all with Cox in my area (Providence, RI).

Thanks for clearing that up for me Koui.
Cheers,
....BR

SlashBatre

05-12-06, 04:43 PM

Nimo

05-12-06, 06:41 PM

Friday, May 12, 2006

I thought this would be a good way to help Kim get the RTC2000 Transcoder off the ground. The “R” stands for reverse what this does is feed component in and transcodes out to RGBHV / VGA out it was basically designed for the older PJ’s. But for us poor Sceptre owners that suffer from the dreaded auto contrast bug this is a Perfect solution for our Sceptre’s using STB’s. Because in VGA PC mode you can dial in the black levels just like in DVI mode without having to sacrifice your PC hook up or whatever you have on the HDMI port. And this will bypass the auto contrast bug along with better channel surfing and getting back the EPG, instead of using the onboard ATSC tuner. And you get a better picture in the end the unit will have a black level adjustment also, this thread started in 03 and the guy making the units is Kim Beun the hardware has already been tested and it was built with AVS member input. He’s selling these puppy’s for a really great price I’m waiting to hear from Kim when he will be taking pre orders I think he’s waiting for more input to see if they are worth the effort, he has the hardware and will be putting out the first unit’s in the first week of next month.

Update: He just PM'd me and he is now taking pre orders.

Features
• High-Bandwidth component to RGBHV transcoder with RGBHV pass-through
• Manual or automatic color conversion selection for SD and HD color space
• Accepts bi- and tri-level sync and is Macrovision compatible
• Completely removes all sync from the output
• Accepts the following component video formats:
• 480i
• 480p
• 576i
• 576p
• 720p
• 1080i23/25/30
• 1080p50/59/60
• Adjustable black level for DC coupled systems
• Automatic or manual setting of H-delay, H-width, V-width, H-polarity and V-polarity

Description

The Crescendo-Systems RTC2000 reverse transcoder is in the final stages of development and was designed with input from members of the AVSForum. It converts a YPrPb component signal into RGBHV and is compatible with all common video formats. An additional RGB passthrough is compatible with standard PC graphics resolutions. The passthrough mode is activated by the presence of a sync signal, if no sync is present on the RGB input than the component input is selected. All sync settings as listed above can be individually set in automatic or in manual mode. The black level of the output signal can be manually set which is ideal for DC coupled systems.
Here’s the thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=310247
They started a poll also please vote and make this worth his effort.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=651255
Here is his website:
http://www.crescendo-systems.com/index.shtml

Dave Kristol

05-12-06, 08:05 PM

Ahh... I see. They are all my local channels. I guess if I want all the extra channels, the digital cable STB is the way. I'm so use to having all the stations from regular cable, and now having digital, it would be difficult to go back to just local. Besides, the PQ isn't bad at all with Cox in my area (Providence, RI).

In case it isn't obvious, not all cable stations broadcast HD content yet. And not all cable providers carry the HD content, even when it is available. For example, here in NJ I get more HD content OTA than I would over Comcast cable. Also, although the local newspaper listings for the TNT cable channel indicate that the content is available in HD, Comcast does not provide the HD content. And to further confuse things, I don't think any PBS station's HD content matches their analog content. The HD feed appears to be national.

You don't have to give up your (analog) cable channels. Connect your cable feed to the NTSC connector on the Sceptre and do a channel scan. You should pick up all your old favorites. They just won't be digital. A digital STB would give you digitally transmitted cable channels, but the content would not necessarily be HD.

Dave Kristol

SlashBatre

05-12-06, 11:53 PM

Emailed Sceptre support regarding jittering issue when in DVI/ Comp resolution in 1080p. This is their reply:

Dear Customer,

Any TV purchased after december have had their firmwares updated. Your
problem lies with your computer.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

I have a new Vidia card with updated drivers. There's an obvious jitter/flickering issue when computer resolution is set at 1900X1080. I don't know what else I could do with my computer to absolve the jittering problem. Any ideas? Could Spectre support be wrong?

Cloud zer0

05-13-06, 12:04 AM

OK I tried my best to read ALL responses

I need quick recap.
I tried making out as much as possible in all 100
pages. You know its effectively 1000 pages in word? For jeeez too me forever.

1. Does this display deinterlace all content/some content? (converting to 1080p)
Do you see any Cadence, stair stepping jaggies in 1080i or 480i? What about double imaging? So should I delinterlace at the source first? VLC deinterlace>Linear.
Or will the TV do a better job?

2. Recap the performance of an HQ VGA cable from htpc vs. an HDMI.
What are the pros and cons of each? Say your video card can display timings well.

3. The newer gamecubes have ditched Component saying that only 1% of all customers used it. How does S VIDEO solution fare then? Am i going to miss much compared to not being able to use RGB?

4. For people in CALIFORNIA, how long does shipping take since Costco is in CALIF?

Thank you much for your time. My boss pulled the trigger today for the 42" LCD.
I am getting mine end of the month. The forum has helped me well in my decision!!

RaBoot

05-13-06, 01:47 AM

Just received my Sceptre. Used the HDMI-DVI cable to hook it up to my computer. All modes look fine except, DVI-mode has extremely obvious jitter to it; it's not even remotely subtle (but only in 1900 by 1080. When the computer is in 1600X1200, the display doesn't jitter at all) I'm using a pretty new graphics card with updated drivers.

What "all modes?" I have my pc hooked up to my Sceptre, HDMI to DVI cable, and the DVI mode (1920x1080i) is the only clear picture I can get. HDMI and HDCP (both 1080p) come in but are blurred, and the picture is off center. Other modes VGA, DTV and others have no signal at all.

I have 2 GeForce 7900 GTX in SLi mode, no problems at all in DVI mode. When you say you are using a "pretty new" graphics board, what is it? I really believe if your graphics board isn't a GeForce 7800 or newer, or ATI Radeon X800 or newer (preferably a Radeon X1900 ), you may have issues. I believe this HDTV requires some serious graphics power to run properly. That's my opinion. Personally I like nVidia, because I do not like the ATI Catalyst Control Panel (the boards are fine though... a bit loud for my taste), I feel the CCP is too bloated. nVidia's drivers are leaner and really mature, IMO.

I'm willing to bet it's not the Sceptre in your case, causing the jitters.

Debug: 0113
06/03/29 11:20

What version is this?

I purchased through CostXX, and others have seemed to have no problem recently.

Look here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7405938&&#post7405938) for versions of your Sceptre.

Best luck,
....BR

SlashBatre

05-13-06, 05:16 AM

What "all modes?"
I have 2 GeForce 7900 GTX in SLi mode, no problems at all in DVI mode. When you say you are using a "pretty new" graphics board, what is it?

Thanks for the reply. NVIDIDA GeForce FX 5500. I've tweaked every customizable setting in the menu, but to no avail.

bshor

05-13-06, 10:30 AM

hakujin

05-13-06, 01:46 PM

Thanks for the reply. NVIDIDA GeForce FX 5500. I've tweaked every customizable setting in the menu, but to no avail.

Nvidia 6800 here and no problems here. Although I wouldnt exactly say a 5500 is pretty new (or even close; heck my 6800 isn't really new; market for vid cards moves fast), it should be more then enough to drive that res. Heck, my wife's Dell Inspiron 1150 notebook can push 1280x1024 (maybe higher, but this is on a external lcd monitor) and do extended desktop with only Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics. Sounds like a Sceptre issue imo.

RaBoot

05-13-06, 02:11 PM

Thanks for the reply. NVIDIDA GeForce FX 5500. I've tweaked every customizable setting in the menu, but to no avail.

You are welcome.... what you have is a "completely low end product" as you can read the review at Guru 3D (http://www.guru3d.com/article/content/124/). I believe that the Sceptre wants/needs more graphical horsepower to drive it properly, especially at a high resolution like 1920x1080. I had one 7900 GTX in my PC for a while, and the set worked beautifully. Even one 256mb 7800 GTX will be fine (considered high end). I have an extra one, if you want to talk, PM me.

Cheers,
...BR

Dave Kristol

05-13-06, 07:27 PM

Just got and set up my Sceptre in Chicago after being a long time reader of this thread. I have coax cable coming in (no set top box) -- Comcast service.

The TV looks great with DVDs -- and the few HDTV channels I found.

When I scanned for DTV channels (QAM), I tried "IRC" but the channels it found make no sense to me at all, nor do they correspond to the channels on AntennaWeb for my area.

It found WB-D on 107-1, ABC-D on 107-3, CBS-D on 115-2, and PBS-D on 115-3. What the??

Sheesh. I wish I could find my earlier responses on this thread, so I could refer you to one of them. Comcast frequency-shifts the stations when it puts them on the cable. It also appears to strip the extra information (sorry, I don't know the technical term) that HD stations carry that tells the set the "real" channel. So I get a similar stupid placement of channels from Comcast-NJ.

I havn't found FOX or NBC digital. Is there a way to manually dial these in? But I have no idea which numbers to choose.

FIrst, check your Comcast channel guide to see whether Comcast claims to offer those channels in digital on your service. Of course, they probably do. Since Comcast seems to cluster their HD stations (mine are from 93-1 to 113-2), I suggest you check your channel line-up. The numbers won't match, but the order should be close to what you're seeing. Look more closely in your range (107-115) for NBC and Fox.

Also, many of the regular NTSC analog channels I used to get no longer tune in. I do have a splitter, so I am sending NTSC signals to my ReplayTV, still...

I had a similar problem with my Sceptre(s). On the last (of three), I found that I had to scan the NTSC cable channels three times before it picked them all up. I suggest you rescan. It appears that on rescan the set only tests channels it hasn't already registered, so it should go quicker.
[...]

Dave Kristol

RaBoot

05-13-06, 08:38 PM

In case it isn't obvious, not all cable stations broadcast HD content yet. And not all cable providers carry the HD content, even when it is available. For example, here in NJ I get more HD content OTA than I would over Comcast cable. Also, although the local newspaper listings for the TNT cable channel indicate that the content is available in HD, Comcast does not provide the HD content. And to further confuse things, I don't think any PBS station's HD content matches their analog content. The HD feed appears to be national.

I realize what you are saying. I can try using an antenna for OTA, maybe I'll see more HD channels. It's like I may be able to pull in channels that my cable co. doesn't provide. It's kinda early in the game, so I think standardized viewing of HD content and channels will all be different.

You don't have to give up your (analog) cable channels. Connect your cable feed to the NTSC connector on the Sceptre and do a channel scan. You should pick up all your old favorites. They just won't be digital. A digital STB
would give you digitally transmitted cable channels, but the content would not necessarily be HD.

Dave Kristol

I started out with analog cable (direct feed into Sceptre) when I first received my set. And yes, I was able to see all my old (standard) channels (just basic cable). A bit later I ordered the digital (Cox) cable STB (the DVR box), the diff is now it's digital, and I receive lots more channels (even though not all HD) . I can not see a reason to connect up to the NTSC connector again (even with the digital feed still connected), as it probably won't give me any extra channels, I still receive all my local analog channels I used to see w/ the NTSC feed. What's the point to having both feeds connected?

Cheers,
...Bobby R.

Skenzin

05-13-06, 11:36 PM

Thanks for the reply. NVIDIDA GeForce FX 5500. I've tweaked every customizable setting in the menu, but to no avail.

I had this same problem ouputting DVI on a nvidia Leadtek 6600gt. 1920x1080 had a wierd flicker type problem... every other resolution looked fine . I was worried the HDMI-DVI port on my tv was broken. I fixed it by putting an older ATI 9500 card in my HTPC and the DVI worked fine at 1920x1080.

So bottom line... try a ATI card.

Edward Sanders

05-14-06, 12:11 AM

Hi,
I've got my third set a week ago. The first set was simply almost broken (V1, non-functioning remote, no power cable, DVI did not work). The second set was better but the screen (with VGA connection) was off-center and DVI connection again did not work.
This, third set seems to be V3, debug 06/03/29. DVI connection worked immediately upon plug in, so all the stories that Sceptre customer service told me about my video card settings, etc. were not true . The new set has QAM and HDTV channels look absolutely wonderful. Did not notice any green tint people were talking about on the last couple of pages. I am not that satisfied with the picture on DVI connection, for some reason it looks greyish and dull. I did not try to calibrate it yet, and the reason for the low PQ quality could be the weakness of Mac Mini (original one, not dual) that the Sceptre is currently connected to. I will connect the set to the other computer through DVI and see if the problem persists. In any case, I did not notice any dead pixels, and this third set does not have (so far :-)) the obvious problems of the first two. So it might be the keeper... Thanks to all on the discussion, reading all hundred pages is grilling but I keep marvelling at the power of collective wisdom! Edward

hakujin

05-14-06, 01:06 AM

You are welcome.... what you have is a "completely low end product" as you can read the review at Guru 3D (http://www.guru3d.com/article/content/124/). I believe that the Sceptre wants/needs more graphical horsepower to drive it properly, especially at a high resolution like 1920x1080. I had one 7900 GTX in my PC for a while, and the set worked beautifully. Even one 256mb 7800 GTX will be fine (considered high end). I have an extra one, if you want to talk, PM me.

Cheers,
...BR

C'mon now friend... that's not entirely accurate. Even some integrated graphics solutions can do 1920x1080. Heck, my Xbox can drive 1080i (insofar as UI and upscaled playback though not native HD playback [attributed mostly to lack of RAM and CPU clock speed]). His particular card is rated for max display of 2048 x 1536. Now, I could be wrong, but imo; unless some 3D modeling or gaming applications are needed, that card should be sufficient. Maybe it's a bug in the drivers or something. Best thing to do is update to latest drivers and see what hapens. Then, perhaps test the card on a CRT monitor. I but you it's something fishy with either the DVI or VGA interface on the Sceptre so I'd also try both.

Skenzin

05-14-06, 10:18 AM

hakujin

05-14-06, 10:32 AM

Thats weird. My sceptre developed 2 stuck pixels (red on white background) after about a month. The strange thing is they seem to be on the same horizontal row but are about 20inches apart. They dont bother me that much. I keep hoping they will unstick but so far they have not.

Try a tool called UDPixel. There's another more manual method (I've read) that involves pressing on the area with a fine point utensil through while it's on, through reboot (if you're running a htpc, though I suppose the same applies to anything else), until it comes back on and then releasing, but I've give UDPixel a go first.

EDIT: Website

http://udpix.free.fr/

Brian_R170

05-14-06, 01:40 PM

Thats weird. My sceptre developed 2 stuck pixels (red on white background) after about a month. The strange thing is they seem to be on the same horizontal row but are about 20inches apart. They dont bother me that much. I keep hoping they will unstick but so far they have not. The only time i notice them is when Im on my xbxo360 dashboard or on a windows desktop. Ive considered returning the set but it seems like major hassles to drive 60miles to c**** and then reorder and be without a tv for a month.

You can always order the new one now, wait until it arrives and then take the old one back. Heck, that might be the best way to go in case the new one is worse than the old (unlikely, but it's happened before).

RaBoot

05-14-06, 02:30 PM

C'mon now friend... that's not entirely accurate. Even some integrated graphics solutions can do 1920x1080. Heck, my Xbox can drive 1080i (insofar as UI and upscaled playback though not native HD playback [attributed mostly to lack of RAM and CPU clock speed]). His particular card is rated for max display of 2048 x 1536. Now, I could be wrong, but imo; unless some 3D modeling or gaming applications are needed, that card should be sufficient. Maybe it's a bug in the drivers or something. Best thing to do is update to latest drivers and see what hapens. Then, perhaps test the card on a CRT monitor. I but you it's something fishy with either the DVI or VGA interface on the Sceptre so I'd also try both.

Perhaps you are right. It could only be a driver problem. Or the DVI cable or the connector is wacky. Still a fact that in the world or graphics, his board is over the hill. If he want's to play any of the latest games at a decent clip, he'll want to upgrade. Or then again, if he only want's it to drive the TV and surf the web and email, again, you are probably right, and his present board will do. depends on his needs.

After recommending an upgraded graphics board, we PM'ed each other, and I said more research into his problem is always highly recommended.

bshor

05-14-06, 09:14 PM

Sheesh. I wish I could find my earlier responses on this thread, so I could refer you to one of them. Comcast frequency-shifts the stations when it puts them on the cable. It also appears to strip the extra information (sorry, I don't know the technical term) that HD stations carry that tells the set the "real" channel. So I get a similar stupid placement of channels from Comcast-NJ.

Figured I wasn't the only one!

FIrst, check your Comcast channel guide to see whether Comcast claims to offer those channels in digital on your service. Of course, they probably do. Since Comcast seems to cluster their HD stations (mine are from 93-1 to 113-2), I suggest you check your channel line-up. The numbers won't match, but the order should be close to what you're seeing. Look more closely in your range (107-115) for NBC and Fox.

According to the Comcast channel line up, WMAQ-DT (NBC) is 188, WFLD-DT (FOX) is 190. From some of the other posts, sounds like I may have to enter channels manually -- but how can I, if I don't know the numbers?

I had a similar problem with my Sceptre(s). On the last (of three), I found that I had to scan the NTSC cable channels three times before it picked them all up. I suggest you rescan. It appears that on rescan the set only tests channels it hasn't already registered, so it should go quicker.

Tried this, but didn't increase the number of HD channels. Still looking at the NTSC channels.

Dave Kristol

05-14-06, 09:36 PM

Figured I wasn't the only one!

According to the Comcast channel line up, WMAQ-DT (NBC) is 188, WFLD-DT (FOX) is 190. From some of the other posts, sounds like I may have to enter channels manually -- but how can I, if I don't know the numbers?

I don't have a good answer. But if you compare 188 and 190 to the channel numbers Comcast lists for the other HD channels you found, that should give you an idea where to look in the channels you've already picked up. I suspect they're already there and you just didn't recognize them.

Tried this [rescanning], but didn't increase the number of HD channels. Still looking at the NTSC channels.

I wasn't clear enough. I meant you should rescan the NTSC channels. As I said earlier, I had to scan three times before I picked up all the regular cable channels I expected.

Dave Kristol

donsev

05-15-06, 10:08 AM

C'mon now friend... that's not entirely accurate. Even some integrated graphics solutions can do 1920x1080. Heck, my Xbox can drive 1080i (insofar as UI and upscaled playback though not native HD playback [attributed mostly to lack of RAM and CPU clock speed]). His particular card is rated for max display of 2048 x 1536. Now, I could be wrong, but imo; unless some 3D modeling or gaming applications are needed, that card should be sufficient.

I don't believe that SlashBatre has qualified under what conditions he is seeing the jitter so the above addresses an important point. IF he were experiencing the problem only when attempting to play games that use 3D modeling (most newer games) at 1920x1080 then it might be the (lack of) horsepower of the 5500. If he sees it when watching 720p or 1080p downloaded videos, then it's probably not the horsepower of the video card. If he sees it when simply using the desktop, then it is definitely not just the horsepower of the video card and there is something else awry.

As hakujin has pointed out, even the Intel EG2 onboard chipset is itself powerful enough to drive 1920x1080p 2D video (with a 3.0GHz or faster CPU) without stuttering. I just tested this myself with several WMHD clips and they played fine on the above specs with no jitter or stutter (much to my surprise!).

jpconard

05-15-06, 01:05 PM

beatboy77

05-15-06, 01:10 PM

I just ordered this tv today. Just to clarify a few things. This tv does accept 1080p signal via the HDMI, correct? Are there any known problems with this tv? Thanks for any information!!

~Josh

bshor

05-15-06, 01:19 PM

Debug menu access: Hold down both Ch + - with no signal going to whatever source.

Hmm. I tried this (I have cable going to ATSC input only) and for some reason the TV switch to NTSC display, and switched channels. What do you mean when you say "no signal"?

donsev

05-15-06, 01:24 PM

I don't think playback of WMV-HD clips take as much horsepower as playback of broadcast HD recorded in Media Center and playing back in Media Center, but I could be wrong.

I had the FX5500 (just a PCI card), and had to upgrade to the X300 (PCIx), then to the X700 (PCIx) with 256Mb ram before I had Media Center playback that was acceptable.

I do not know offhand if WMV-HD and MCE use the same MPEG-4 codec or not. Nevertheless, these would still be 2D only renderings. With sufficient CPU horsepower, the graphics card shouldn't make a difference. With a slower CPU however, what does make a difference is whether the video card contains on-board hardware to accelerate the decoding (offloading some of the task from the CPU and speeding up the rendering).

bigtech

05-15-06, 02:13 PM

I'm also in Chicago, but haven't gotten any QAM stuff to work for me yet. Do you know which debug version you're running?

beatboy77

05-15-06, 03:01 PM

How does one go about updating their firmware on this set?

~Josh

donsev

05-15-06, 04:56 PM

How does one go about updating their firmware on this set?

~Josh

Contact Sceptre and arrange for shipment back to Sceptre's offices in CA. It will take several weeks and you will likely have to pay for shipment at least one way. I believe that 1 person has done this to date.

bshor

05-15-06, 05:13 PM

I'm also in Chicago, but haven't gotten any QAM stuff to work for me yet. Do you know which debug version you're running?

No, not yet, as I can't seem to bring up the debug menu for some reason.

Did you try scanning on HRC or Cable Std?

sledge1234

05-15-06, 09:07 PM

I second you experience. I am on my third one as well. Had V1, V2 and now V3.
The V3 looks grayer and duller than the others. I also have light bleeding through the back vents. I dont, recall seeing the light with the other two.
HDMI works fine now with HTPC, no power strip needed.

The lamp adjustments seem very subtle now and I wonder if this one is missing a filter on the panel.

Hi,

I've got my third set a week ago. The first set was simply almost broken (V1, non-functioning remote, no power cable, DVI did not work). The second set was better but the screen (with VGA connection) was off-center and DVI connection again did not work.
This, third set seems to be V3, debug 06/03/29. DVI connection worked immediately upon plug in, so all the stories that Sceptre customer service told me about my video card settings, etc. were not true . The new set has QAM and HDTV channels look absolutely wonderful. Did not notice any green tint people were talking about on the last couple of pages. I am not that satisfied with the picture on DVI connection, for some reason it looks greyish and dull. I did not try to calibrate it yet, and the reason for the low PQ quality could be the weakness of Mac Mini (original one, not dual) that the Sceptre is currently connected to. I will connect the set to the other computer through DVI and see if the problem persists. In any case, I did not notice any dead pixels, and this third set does not have (so far :-)) the obvious problems of the first two. So it might be the keeper... Thanks to all on the discussion, reading all hundred pages is grilling but I keep marvelling at the power of collective wisdom! Edward

hakujin

05-16-06, 12:06 AM

I don't believe that SlashBatre has qualified under what conditions he is seeing the jitter so the above addresses an important point. IF he were experiencing the problem only when attempting to play games that use 3D modeling (most newer games) at 1920x1080 then it might be the (lack of) horsepower of the 5500. If he sees it when watching 720p or 1080p downloaded videos, then it's probably not the horsepower of the video card. If he sees it when simply using the desktop, then it is definitely not just the horsepower of the video card and there is something else awry.

As hakujin has pointed out, even the Intel EG2 onboard chipset is itself powerful enough to drive 1920x1080p 2D video (with a 3.0GHz or faster CPU) without stuttering. I just tested this myself with several WMHD clips and they played fine on the above specs with no jitter or stutter (much to my surprise!).

Good points donsev... Might I add that you're right, he didn't mention specifically what application(s) he was trying to display on the sceptre (whether just UI or whatever), but you know as welll as I that pretty much ANY game made this year will not be running on that vid card, or should I say.... jitter will be the least of his worries.

Though, after reading further down at jpconard's post, maybe it is a specific issue with this card. I didn't know they made this card in PCI form factor. I figured it had to be at least 4x AGP. Yikes! It's been a few years since my Dell PIII 550, PCI only vid card slot.

Speaking of cards, I'm proud that my 6800 has stood the test of time. Still plays quite well, pushes HL2 (as it should) and FEAR no prob... and now Oblivion, no problems;decent framerate with the bells & whistles at 1280x720 (I'm scared to try 1920x1080. Still, powerful little last gen (or 2 gens?) card especially with pipes and vertex shaders unlocked + overclocked gpu and ram. I don't plan on upgrading until crysis hits shelves and we here a little more about these physics chips coming out. Can't believe newegg gave it to me on a tradein for a HIS 9800 with a defective fan...

I've blabber mouthed too much, must watch Conan in HD on Sceptre!

SlashBatre

05-16-06, 06:41 AM