Sceptre X37SV-Naga review [Text View] - Page 9

ericjut

02-28-06, 01:42 PM

eric,
Thanks for posting those pics. The menu's do not match mine. I've attached some screen shots from my TV. Guess I'll need to figure out which version they sent me.

It sure looks like the v1 menus to me (maybe somebody that has a v2 can confirm that your pictures don't look like theirs).

Here's my opinion:

1. The v1 didn't have QAM capability and never will (the tuner itself doesn't support it. Note that Sceptre confirmed that when I asked them about it last year).

2. The v2 has a different tuner, and that one supports QAM (we have confirmation from v2 users that they can see the 4 choices of tuning on the DTV tuner).

3. You probably got a v1 that got its firmware updated, which fixes a bunch of problem that the v1 had, but it still has the old tuner. I hope they didn't send you a refurbished unit (an old v1 that got returned, cleaned up, updated and repackaged), but it could be the reason too. Could you please post a photo of your TV stand? Looks like they were different between v1, v2 and v3 and might tell us more about your TV.

Personally, I would also return it if I were you and order another one if QAM is a deal-breaker for you.

There is one thing that everybody should be aware of though... QAM is not a documented feature on any of their specs on their website or the C***** website. If a cheaper tuner comes around in the future, they could replace it as they please to cut cost. Be forwarned... :)

-eric

donsev

02-28-06, 04:26 PM

It sure looks like the v1 menus to me (maybe somebody that has a v2 can confirm that your pictures don't look like theirs).

3. You probably got a v1 that got its firmware updated, which fixes a bunch of problem that the v1 had, but it still has the old tuner. I hope they didn't send you a refurbished unit (an old v1 that got returned, cleaned up, updated and repackaged), but it could be the reason too. Could you please post a photo of your TV stand? Looks like they were different between v1, v2 and v3 and might tell us more about your TV.

There is one thing that everybody should be aware of though... QAM is not a documented feature on any of their specs on their website or the C***** website. If a cheaper tuner comes around in the future, they could replace it as they please to cut cost. Be forwarned... :)

-eric

Chuck

I believe that Eric is likely correct that it is a Ver. 1 set that has been re-flashed with newer firmware. Looking at your About screen, it is very different from the one posted by RedFive99. And perhaps telling, his Firmware (we assume that we are looking at firmware date when looking at the Debug screen) shows a stamp of "06/01/16 14:58", which is consistent with the other Ver. 2(3?) users who have posted that they have the updated firmware, while yours shows "06/01/16 13:58"

Below is a summary of the most recent purchases that I can gather by scanning the previous posts (And I beg the Moderators indulgence while we attempt to resolve whether one vendor is shipping an older version than other vendors)

Member Vendor Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? ? ?
Polypro Newegg Ver. 2 No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco 06/01/16 13:58
ericjut ? 06/01/16 YES

[Edit, added mrayborn firmware time]

donsev

02-28-06, 04:33 PM

There is one thing that everybody should be aware of though... QAM is not a documented feature on any of their specs on their website or the C***** website. If a cheaper tuner comes around in the future, they could replace it as they please to cut cost. Be forwarned... :)

-eric

I agree that the specs can change as any time (as they already have), but we at least have the reply from a Sceptre Tech who affirmed on 02-01-06 that the X37SV-Naga ATSC tuner was QAM capable.

Below is a summary of all of the text from this thread referencing QAM that I could find (sorry for the lack of formatting, it was easiest to do in Print mode)

Cee9 02-01-06 09:15 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hmm, I just e-mailed Spectre regarding ASTC/QAM capability and their response was "yes":

My e-mail:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello:

Is the X37SV-Naga ATSC tuner QAM capable (able to receive clear unencrypted
digital channels from cable TV service)?

-Thanks

Spectre response:
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Customer,

Yes.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

--------------------------------------------------------------------
From reading all the previous threads, the tuner isn't QAM capable. So, either their tech support is clueless or they've changed to a new tuner with QAM support. Can anyone verify QAM support in X37SV-Naga latest revision?

ben1000 02-12-06 11:50 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Firmware?

Howdy...

I recently bought the 37" from Costco...

No Judder as far as I can see, so perhaps the firmware is upgraded... I have run Juddertest at 60hz and can't see any judder. Videos with pans seem smooth to me.

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920X1080

Nocman418 02-13-06 05:02 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My monitor arrived on 2/7/06 and I can confirm that the debug screen says:

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920X1080

mrayborn 02-17-06 08:00 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Got Mine

Hello All.

I just got my Scepter 37" from our favorite online merchant. Looks like it has the new firmware. Debug screen shows 0111, 06/01/16 14:58, T370HW01 so I think it has the firmware with the fixes in it.

So far so good. I've had it one day. Watched some high-def last night via MYHD-120 card VGA to the monitor. I don't have the DVI daughter card so it's VGA until I decide what to do next.

I'll be playing with the ATSC tuner in the Scepter tonight to see if it's any better than the MYHD at reproducing HDTV.

RedFive99 02-19-06 08:17 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From what I can tell, my Sceptre seems to support QAM.

I connected the cable from the wall to the ATSC tuner input on the Sceptre and went into the DTV sub-menu. Once in the sub-menu, I was presented with four choices of channels to scan for: Air, Cable STD, Cable HRC and Cable IRC. Neither Air nor Cable HRC produced any results. However, when I chose Cable IRC, the tuner picked up almost 100 channels! I skimmed through the results and found a whole bunch of channels, including my digital cable channels and some HD channels! I haven't had a chance to thoroughly go through the results, but as far as I can tell, QAM works. Now if only I had that v1 optical audio output...
Mine reads:

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920 X 1080

bigjuice 02-23-06 02:51 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basically, the QAM tuner is embedded in the ATSC tuner that your Sceptre has at the back...Its the one on left hand side if you are looking at the back of the TV.

...the instructions below is if you have cable with at least the very basic subscription.

Take the cable coming from your wall and plug it into that ATSC(QAM) tuner and then select DTV using one of the soure buttons (your owners manual can help you get here since I can't remember which one off the top of my head, the manual has all of the next steps actually).

Select the menu and then the enter button (carraige return signed button in the middle of the circle)

Toggle all the way over to the right Icon on the On Screen Display and select the sub menu.

Then go to Cable STD and choose to do the automatic scan...it will take about 10 or 15 minutes

About halfway through the scan your channels found will start to show up on the little table on the dispalay...

And those will be the channels you are able to get...

Good Luck...remember your owners manuals has all the above info also.

Dwaine.

kelliot 02-23-06 03:51 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stupid me, I've had the TV since Thanksgiving and only checked the regular feed for operation, not the ATSC feed. I did, and now I get QAM and am much happier. I just wish I could remap channels.

MIne has essentially the same info as previously posted, R.02 HW, M4.10C S/W. Mw v 1.21. That's what tipped me off that I was doing something wrong. Mine was shipped on 11/16/2005.

mystic818 02-26-06 04:05 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just received my tv and I tried to plug in the coax cable from the wall into the ATSC tuner on the tv, but it didn't work. The screen showed "no or bad signal". I have regular (analog) cable service.

When plugging in the coax cable into the NTSC tuner, I noticed some of the channels are grainy and don't look that good (probably because it's analog and I believe the cable in my house are split between many rooms). Is there a way that I can improve the quality?

Thanks in advance!

Polypro 02-28-06 06:39 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
donsev:

Just scanned with my original v2 set, no QAM channels showed up...but...none showed up on my Fusion5 HDTV PCI tuner either. So I don't think my Comcast Branford, CT basic package is sending QAM.

P

chuck5395 02-28-06 04:54 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I did order it from C*****. Attached are the debug and about screens

chuck5395 02-28-06 05:05 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just got off the phone with Sceptere (tech support and then sales).
Tech Support says that the one I received does not have QAM. He said my best bet was to return it and order another one.

Sales says that the one offered via the "vendor that shall not be named" does not come with QAM. When pressed for more info he dumped me over to Tech Support where I ended up on voice mail again

Polypro 02-28-06 05:43 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
v2 Original Firmware

Online at newegg

It allows me to scan for STD, HRC, and IRC Cable.

Still trying to determine if my provider is sending unencrypted QAM over the line.

P

ericjut 02-28-06 03:53 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air, Cable STD, Cable HRD, Cable IRC.

ranbirsahni

02-28-06, 04:48 PM

Do you have sound when using the internal tuners (NTSC or ATSC)?

If not, double check the connections from the unit to the speakers.

You could also try connecting headphones directly to the headset (3.5mm) jack. If there is no sound there, it may be a defective unit.

yes the headfones work thanks speakersare connected but no sound TV has not been set up I need an aerial
The upconverting DVD converts on the projector to 720 P but is on 480I 0n the scptre can you guide me what to do

teddyc

02-28-06, 06:39 PM

This is my first post... I've been following this thread for quite a while.

I've had some frustrations in getting a good *new* working set.

I recevied my first set two weeks ago. I ordered it from C***. The unit was new and very nice picture quality. I was discovering as with everyone else on this forum that this unit was one of the new QAM enabled units. I was pretty impressed with the unit. Only it had a serious problem. Whenever I used the ATSC tuner, the audio was always crackling and popping (on speakers or headphones) and no broadcast audio could be heard from the unit. No problems with external audio inputs, only when using the digital tuner. So, I e-mailed Sceptre Tech support, and they said the unit was bad, nothing they could do, and I should return it for another one.

So, I did that. Last week my re-ordered unit shows up from the same merchant. Only this time the set seems quite a bit different. It has a power switch on the back of the unit, and has some clear scratches on the frame. The menus are slower, different, and missing the ability to scan digital cable channels unlike the first unit I received. The worst part, the channel scan clearly has some channels that were previously programmed. This made it pretty obvious they had re-packaged an older unit. They hadn't even bothered to reset the box to factory defaults.

I called the merchant and complained to a customer support rep about it. He seemed to feel that it was a fluke and I should return it and try again. He said that either the manufacturer or merchant may have done it, perhaps accidentally.

Now, after reading these latest posts, I'm not so sure it's a "fluke". I returned the set and put in an order for a new one. Only I'm afraid I'm going to get sent another old version set. I'm debating whether I should just cancel and forget about this model altogether.

Bottom line, I'm not sure if it's the merchant or Sceptre that is re-packaging the old sets, but I think whoever's doing it, it's a really shady practice. I paid full price for a new set, and if the manufacturer is re-packaging used sets they shouldn't be selling them as "new".

ericjut

02-28-06, 07:17 PM

Teddyc,

Sorry to hear that you're having so much pains getting a working unit.

I'm pretty sure the merchant (aka C*****) would never do that. They have strict policies with manufacturers and send back any defective units to them. So, it's unfortunately probably Sceptre that's the culprit. :/

-eric

amert20

02-28-06, 07:29 PM

Hi All

I sent e-mail to Sceptre regarding to QAM support in 37" and 42" units.. here is the response I got:

The question:

> I am following some discussion groups regarding your 37” LCD TV. Some
> people confirmed that it supports QAM , some people say it does not. I
> would appreciate if you could let me know whether 42” LCD will be
> supporting QAM.
>
>
>
> Thanks…

The answer is:
Dear Customer,

The 37" initially did not have any QAM support with the early version
tuners. However later versions were upgraded with QAM support. That is
why people were having different answers from our technical support
group and were getting confused.

The 42" however will have QAM support on the ATSC tuner with our initial
launch.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

teddyc

02-28-06, 07:58 PM

eric-

From the new packaging, new shrink wrapped remote batteries, etc. I tend to agree it's likely something Sceptre is doing.

- teddy

bigsid05

02-28-06, 08:45 PM

Good to know the 42" will have QAM support for sure.

ericjut

02-28-06, 08:52 PM

I guess if any of you absolutely want the QAM tuner, you can choke the extra money and get the 42". :) It's going to be available soon enough...

-eric

DouglasteR

02-28-06, 09:25 PM

I would recommend to make a VAST database sheet whit models, buy from, Firmware Revision whit pics and more to resolve things !

DouglasteR

02-28-06, 09:26 PM

Chuck

I believe that Eric is likely correct that it is a Ver. 1 set that has been re-flashed with newer firmware. Looking at your About screen, it is very different from the one posted by RedFive99. And perhaps telling, his Firmware (we assume that we are looking at firmware date when looking at the Debug screen) shows a stamp of "06/01/16 14:58", which is consistent with the other Ver. 2(3?) users who have posted that they have the updated firmware, while yours shows "06/01/16 13:58"

Below is a summary of the most recent purchases that I can gather by scanning the previous posts (And I beg the Moderators indulgence while we attempt to resolve whether one vendor is shipping an older version than other vendors)

Member Vendor Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? ? ?
Polypro Newegg Ver. 2 No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco 06/01/16 13:58
ericjut ? 06/01/16 YES

[Edit, added mrayborn firmware time]

EXACTLY !!! OMFG i love you !! Please guys, share your results !!! Lets make this thread worth the lenght :D

chuck5395

02-28-06, 10:57 PM

Nimo

02-28-06, 11:49 PM

Just took delivery of the 37" Sceptre from cc ordered on Sunday and was delivered today on Tues. It does have the latest fw revision and I can confirm that it picked up 103 channels in IRC. I get all my locals & HDNet KCET etc... on Adelphia W. Los Angeles. I still need to keep the box to record to pc but this things a keeper 4 sure.

deadedkid

03-01-06, 12:51 AM

ericjut

03-01-06, 01:23 AM

Well I took mine back to C**** today and purchased a Phillips instead. QAM support is documented and once I brought it home and hooked it up, it worked. I didn't feel good about using the vendor to play a lottery game to find a unit with the proper firmware/features.

Those of you that got the right one, I am truly happy for you. This is definetly a "buyer beware" unit.

Eric,
Thanks for you help in figuring out what was going on. Sorry but I didn't take any pictures of the unit before I returned it.

-Chuck

A little off-topic, but be warned that the Philips 37" is definitely not PC-friendly. After my initial debacle with the Scepter 37" v1, I did exactly what you did, to find out that I simply couldn't run that Philips at 1366X768 with any of my computers. I worked on it for a full day, using powerstrip and other hacks. Since this was a major deal breaker for me, I finally gave up and returned it. Also, probably not as annoying, but the inputs can't get calibrated indepently (all the settings are global).

Anyways... hopefully, you don't care about those issues and can enjoy that new TV you bought. I'm sure it'll be more stable than the Sceptre. :)

-eric

Nimo

03-01-06, 01:35 AM

Well after testing this thing on my AMD rig I can confirm it does hit the right pixel clock 148.05 @ 60 MHz through HDMI to DVI-I using a full duplex cable. As far as I'm concerned it blows Olevia out of the water better everything QC wise. Way way happy with my v3 37".

donsev

03-01-06, 07:56 AM

sorry to ask this question but how should I debug my TV? Do I even need to?

I just got a sceptre and em returning it in the next two days for another because I believe it to be faulty. It has very odd black lines on it when showing programs, and almost like twinkling red, green, and blue spots when playing my 360, but only in HD.

Can this be fixed by debugging?

One possible solution to "flashing/streaking" pixels is to adjust the timing parameter through the Debug menu.

Try the memory delay setting in the debug menu. 3rd and 4th buttons, on the TV, from the left...press simultaniously, hit 1 on the remote, left or right arrow try 3 or 4.

P

YMMV, and it never hurts to contact Sceptre Tech support to try to resolve any problems you may have.

Does anyone have any helpful or interesting info on these things.

There is a substantial amount of semi-helpful and quasi-interesting info on these things - almost 70 pages worth to be exact. I suggest using "search this thread", and/or "Thread Tools", "Show Printable Version", 60 posts per page, 4-up, double sided, add lots of paper to the tray before proceeding.

bluemax50

03-01-06, 07:57 AM

donsev

03-01-06, 08:11 AM

donsev

03-01-06, 08:25 AM

Just scanned with my original v2 set, no QAM channels showed up...but...none showed up on my Fusion5 HDTV PCI tuner either. So I don't think my Comcast Branford, CT basic package is sending QAM.

...

Here's their blurb at the bottom:

* Standard Cable (Basic Cable plus Expanded Basic Cable) must be purchased in order to receive Channels 2 through 98 with any Digital Cable Package. Customers who subscribe to Basic Cable only will receive up to 26 channels in addition to those included with the Digital package of their choosing.
High-Definition (HD) channels, including local signals, are subject to availability. A High-Definition (HD) television set (not provided), cable box and remote control are required. A High-Definition or Digital Cable box is required to receive Digital Cable channels. ** HD local broadcast signals are included with Basic Service subscription and HD cable box (see equipment pricing). *** Minimum service level required to receive this channel. ++WGBY Digital Broadcast channels are available as part of a Basic cable subscription. A digital cable box and remote are required. A Digital access charge applies to customers who do not subscribe to a minimum level of digital service. Some restrictions apply.

P

Yep, that looks like the standard verbage across the Comcast world. The question I have is, when Comcast "lights up" a community with Digital, and a subscriber moves to a digital box, does Comcast have to do something local to each premise to make it happen?

I went straight to HD, with a Moto STB, and I don't recall whether the tech had to do anything at the pole or not to "activate" my digital/HD signal.

Others imply that if a community is lit for digital/HD, that it is pervasive on all lines that currently carry analog. And that may very well be true. In which case, I would assume you should be receiving a QAM signal - but your Fusion5 is telling you otherwise as well.

Have you checked into your local Comcast AVSforum thread?

donsev

03-01-06, 08:37 AM

yes the headfones work thanks speakersare connected but no sound TV has not been set up I need an aerial
The upconverting DVD converts on the projector to 720 P but is on 480I 0n the scptre can you guide me what to do

I am having some difficulty following your response, so bear with me and clarify;

When you connect a set of headphones to the Earphone jack on the back of the Sceptre you *do* hear audio?

If you do not have an antenna connected to either coax jack (ATSC or NTSC), *what* audio are you listening to? The DVD player audio?

How are you connecting the DVD player to the Sceptre? Describe both the audio and the video connection ports you are using.

Could someone who has the set verify if connecting any of the audio-out jacks (Earphone, Line Out) disables the onboard speakers.

Have you contacted Sceptre Tech support?

bluemax50

03-01-06, 09:22 AM

Yep, that looks like the standard verbage across the Comcast world. The question I have is, when Comcast "lights up" a community with Digital, and a subscriber moves to a digital box, does Comcast have to do something local to each premise to make it happen?

I went straight to HD, with a Moto STB, and I don't recall whether the tech had to do anything at the pole or not to "activate" my digital/HD signal.

Others imply that if a community is lit for digital/HD, that it is pervasive on all lines that currently carry analog. And that may very well be true. In which case, I would assume you should be receiving a QAM signal - but your Fusion5 is telling you otherwise as well.

Have you checked into your local Comcast AVSforum thread?

I Live in western Massachsetts and I'm a Comcast customer, I currently recieve both digital and HD programming via a Comcast/Motorola 6200 series cable box. I'm not sure but isn't comcast encouraging box rentals for more revenue?? If the signals are present on the cable can your cable provider stop reception by refusing service to the tuner in some way or will the signal be present but scrambled? I know they can address my cable box remotely to turn premium services on and off and I wasn't sure if they can do the same with a QAM capable tuner?

teddyc

03-01-06, 09:42 AM

chuck5395

03-01-06, 10:14 AM

A little off-topic, but be warned that the Philips 37" is definitely not PC-friendly. After my initial debacle with the Scepter 37" v1, I did exactly what you did, to find out that I simply couldn't run that Philips at 1366X768 with any of my computers. I worked on it for a full day, using powerstrip and other hacks. Since this was a major deal breaker for me, I finally gave up and returned it. Also, probably not as annoying, but the inputs can't get calibrated indepently (all the settings are global).

Anyways... hopefully, you don't care about those issues and can enjoy that new TV you bought. I'm sure it'll be more stable than the Sceptre. :)

-eric

Thanks for the feedback. I bought the Scepter and it's replacement for use as a TV in our family room. So this shouldn't be an issue (but who knows what the future holds). It seems that we both made the right decisions.
-Chuck

chuck5395

03-01-06, 10:15 AM

chuck5395

03-01-06, 10:20 AM

I guess I'm willing to give the manufacturer the benefit of the doubt about that the refurbished set I (and I guess Chuck) got being sent by mistake until I see what I get this third try.

I'm just frustrated and doubtful until I get what I paid for. I know my experience has probaly turned some people off to this unit. I'm going to reserve my final judgement on this final set I receive.

To be fair, I saw no signs of this set being refurbished. The packing all looked new and there were no marks on the set. The manual was new and had a one page insert in it with corrected connection diagrams.

I don't feel that they tried to unload a used TV on me but I do feel that they did send me an old firmware TV. And each time I see a new post about someone getting their new Sceptre with the latest code, I feel like I got taken.

Good luck on your next unit.
-Chuck

ericjut

03-01-06, 11:23 AM

It now appears that Sceptre may be recycling product and selling refurbished units as new if what I've been reading in this thread in the last few days is true!!! Old version 1 sets with scratched bezels and tuners with channnels already programmed!! Owners manuals where text has been underlined or marked in some way. My new Spectre is due Monday and I'm now thinking that I really can't trust this company so I'm most likely just going to return the TV and buy from a reputable manufacturer. I simply don't want to let a company make a profit from me if they have such shoddy business practices. I also don't believe it's legal to sell refurbished product as new no matter what they do to restore it, you pay for new you should get new. I also suggest any consumer who believes they received a refurbished unit should report the issue to their states attorney generals office to make them aware of the practice and also let your retailer know!

bluemax50,

Now, while I'm also very dissappointed that this ordeal could be intentional, let's not jump to conclusions that "reputable" manufacturers wouldn't do this. I have first hand experience from both Dell and Sharp (over 3 times!) sending me refurbished units as supposedly "new" replacements for out-of-the-box defective units. Because it happened to one person (Chuck's last email points out that that the unit he got may just have been old inventory and it may have been new), you're not trusting the company? I wouldn't do any business with anybody if I had zero tolerance like what you're suggesting. :) I would suggest that people should be warned that this happened and that it may have been a mistake (they do seem a little disorganized) and see if it's a trend or not...

If we consistently hear of cases like these, then I completely agree with you, it probably should escalate to the BBB or something like that.

-eric

Pecs

03-01-06, 11:32 AM

Got my set yesterday, and would have been surprised had I not been reading the posts over the past few days. Opened the box to find no manual, no remote, no power cord, no cables and the top corner broken off. It looks like the broken corner was due to the fact that there was no packing material on the top of the monitor, so that corner punched its way out of the box. Not sure what version it was, but it did have the two-toned gray-black stand. Almost certainly this was a factory refurbished unit. Of course C***** refunded my money in a hurry, but what a disaster. I'm trying once more (perhaps to my peril) so we'll see what happens.

Nimo

03-01-06, 11:41 AM

I agree that is does look that way but let's not jump the gun just yet (until we have more definitive info). I suppose there may be a reasonable explanation for why suddenly two Version 1s show up in the mix of recently shipped units. (Remember, we represent a very small sample set, it is possible that the inventory has overlapped for a while... yeah, even as I'm typing this I'm not even buying that explanation :confused: )

Updated the table with known current info;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1? 06/01/16 13:58 Apparently No
ericjut ? V2+ 06/01/16 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES

If others would reply with information to fill in the gaps, I will try to keep the table updated.

I filled in the gaps on your list, I'd also like to mention the set that came yesterday was brand new fresh packaging with the new TV smell. No white out in the manual. The IRC scan also picked up all my radio on the cable feed so the channel line up is 80-1 to like 110-5 so it's about 110 or so channels but I'm still looking for Discovery HD. This is on Adelphia WLA and since the merge I noticed they added some channels HDNet looks almost better than Discovery.
I placed another order yesterday for the same unit should be here Thurs.

Tarooka

03-01-06, 11:58 AM

bluemax50,

If we consistently hear of cases like these, then I completely agree with you, it probably should escalate to the BBB or something like that.

-eric

Gentlemen:

I think the retailer you are doing business should hear about your complaint and I also think they will take corrective action.

I do believe there a number of people who are happy as punch with their Sceptre and are not part of this board.

Keep up the good work with your posts. We "lurkers" really appreciate your work.

Lastly, the BBB is not the omnipotent agency to protect the consumer. Your best bet is to deal with the Big C, and thank goodness for their satisfaction policy.

The Sceptre, is off my list now due mainly to the speakers and my limited space in my bedroom. The QAM availability is seductive, but not with the roll of the dice approach to inventory.

What is a good comkpromise in a 32" and I don't care about PC affinity?

bluemax50

03-01-06, 12:04 PM

bluemax50,

Now, while I'm also very dissappointed that this ordeal could be intentional, let's not jump to conclusions that "reputable" manufacturers wouldn't do this. I have first hand experience from both Dell and Sharp (over 3 times!) sending me refurbished units as supposedly "new" replacements for out-of-the-box defective units. Because it happened to one person (Chuck's last email points out that that the unit he got may just have been old inventory and it may have been new), you're not trusting the company? I wouldn't do any business with anybody if I had zero tolerance like what you're suggesting. :) I would suggest that people should be warned that this happened and that it may have been a mistake (they do seem a little disorganized) and see if it's a trend or not...

If we consistently hear of cases like these, then I completely agree with you, it probably should escalate to the BBB or something like that.

-eric

Well let me just say while I have no experience with TV manufacturing but I have worked for a large computer manufacturer for over 25 years and it was widely known that if a product was recieved by the customer and the packaging was opened in any way we could not legally sell the product again as new merchandise. We would take it back and refurbish it which sometimes only required a brief system test to ensure it met new manufacturing specs but it would only then be sold as refurbished or "B"class product at a substantal discount. Kind of like buying a car keeping it for a month then changing your mind and the new car dealer puts in a new speedometer and sells it again as new, it may happen but it isn't morally right and says alot about the company involved.

jay_cee

03-01-06, 12:17 PM

Well let me just say while I have no experience with TV manufacturing but I have worked for a large computer manufacturer for over 25 years and it was widely known that if a product was recieved by the customer and the packaging was opened in any way we could not legally sell the product again as new merchandise. We would take it back and refurbish it which sometimes only required a brief system test to ensure it met new manufacturing specs but it would only then be sold as refurbished or "B"class product at a substantal discount. Kind of like buying a car keeping it for a month then changing your mind and the new car dealer puts in a new speedometer and sells it again as new, it may happen but it isn't morally right and says alot about the company involved.

I suspect this was a fluke incident. Sceptre does too much of their business through Costco w/ its liberal return policy. I know if I got a used Sceptre on my doorstep from costo.com, it would be back at Costco within the hour, which I think then get shipped straight back to Sceptre on their dime. It just doesn't make business sense for Sceptre to do that as a matter of policy...

willr666

03-01-06, 12:43 PM

chuck5395

03-01-06, 01:15 PM

Gentlemen:

I think the retailer you are doing business should hear about your complaint and I also think they will take corrective action.

I do believe there a number of people who are happy as punch with their Sceptre and are not part of this board.

Keep up the good work with your posts. We "lurkers" really appreciate your work.

Lastly, the BBB is not the omnipotent agency to protect the consumer. Your best bet is to deal with the Big C, and thank goodness for their satisfaction policy.

The Sceptre, is off my list now due mainly to the speakers and my limited space in my bedroom. The QAM availability is seductive, but not with the roll of the dice approach to inventory.

What is a good comkpromise in a 32" and I don't care about PC affinity?

During my conversation with the Customer Service folk at the store, I had mentioned to them my phone calls to Sceptre and their reply about taking it back and odering another one. The lady got excited about this and gave me a phone number for a regional big-wig and asked me to call him and tell him my story. I've not done that yet, but after reading what some others are experiancing, I might just do that today.

By the way, my new name for these older units be shipped as new is "de-Sceptre."

-Chuck

wondermike

03-01-06, 01:21 PM

I got mine 3 days ago from the big C. It seems that I have the same menus as chuck. I know I have QAM channels, but I'm unable to pick them up on this set. Seems I might I have a v1 set with updated firmware also. Will double check when I get home, but it looks like this one will probably go back.

mrayborn

03-01-06, 01:24 PM

I agree that is does look that way but let's not jump the gun just yet (until we have more definitive info). I suppose there may be a reasonable explanation for why suddenly two Version 1s show up in the mix of recently shipped units. (Remember, we represent a very small sample set, it is possible that the inventory has overlapped for a while... yeah, even as I'm typing this I'm not even buying that explanation :confused: )

Updated the table with known current info;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1? 06/01/16 13:58 Apparently No
ericjut ? V2+ 06/01/16 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo CC ? "latest" YES

If others would reply with information to fill in the gaps, I will try to keep the table updated.

I've tested with QAM on Comcast and that works fine. That said, I've switched back to OTA for DTV so I can avoid all of those channels I never watch.

So you can update your list with:

mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES - Comcast

-- Mike

ranbirsahni

03-01-06, 01:31 PM

I am having some difficulty following your response, so bear with me and clarify; THANKS FOR HELP

When you connect a set of headphones to the Earphone jack on the back of the Sceptre you *do* hear audio?YES

If you do not have an antenna connected to either coax jack (ATSC or NTSC), *what* audio are you listening to? The DVD player audio? YES

How are you connecting the DVD player to the Sceptre? Describe both the audio and the video connection ports you are using.HDMI from dvd to SCEPTRE HDMI
COMPONENT AS WELL AUDIO FROM DVD OUT TO AUDIO DVD IN ON SCEPTER

Could someone who has the set verify if connecting any of the audio-out jacks (Earphone, Line Out) disables the onboard speakers. THE ONLY THING WHICH WORKS IS THE HEADFONE

Have you contacted Sceptre Tech support? SENT EMAIL
the started working on its own without doing anything
the dotted line wnet after following instuctions from customer service
here we go for everyone's benefit if they have same trouble
Dear Customer,

Due to the sensitive nature of high resolution extra large LCD panels, sometimes visual blemishes/artifacts are displayed on screen when the LCD has a problem with the video playing device people are using.

********WARNING : DO NOT ADJUST ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES WHAT WAS INSTRUCTED. IF YOU ADJUST OTHER SETTINGS, THERE IS NO WAY TO RESET THE TV BACK TO IT’S DEFAULT SETTINGS.*******************

Turn on the TV, and press both volume buttons physically located on the TV simultaneously. A debug message should display. Press the button "1"
on your Sceptre TV remote control. A flat rectangular gray window should open at the bottom labeled Memory Delay. Adjust that with your volume + or – buttons located on the TV remote until the visual anomalies are gone (USUALLY PEOPLE USE THE VALUE 2 OR BELOW). Press exit multiple times. Turn off the TV, and unplug the power cord. Wait 5-10 minutes, and then plug the power cord back to the power source. This should solve your visual problems.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

Ranbir S. Sahni wrote:
> Sound is Ok now
>
> The flickering vertical dotted lines are difficult to photograph they
> are accentuated on blue back ground and are 4 in no from top to bottom
> on the extreme left side 1 inch from left the left 3 are sharper than
> the 4th one on the right They are more visible on the top half
> becoming fainter towards the bottom of the screen

chuck5395

03-01-06, 01:32 PM

DouglasteR

03-01-06, 01:35 PM

OMFG ! I cant believe i had the chance to get a "like new refurbished unit" for the price of a new. I dont have the chance to ship it back to C.....

Imagibe the scenario :

I buy it from Cos... and they send me a Like new refurbished, it takes 3 weeks to come to me here in Brazil, and when i happily opens the box, i began to cry and destroy everything around me :(.

The QAM feature dont bother me, but the chance to get an refurbished for a new product is terrible, i tought in the EUA that dont happen, but looks like i was wrong. I must get the right choice from the right vendor.

OMFG God wish that is only a misunderstood and Costco dont do that, either Sceptre :(

Pecs

03-01-06, 01:44 PM

DouglasteR

03-01-06, 01:49 PM

samjc

03-01-06, 01:51 PM

Hi,

I just received the x37SV yesterday. Have the same debug information as you. And like you don't see the QAM scanning options. I do have Comcast HD STB's on my other TV's so I guess I can add another. My question for you and/or others, aside from QAM, are the same fixes applied from the two differing timestamps 13:58(mine) vs. 14:58 (QAM support).

And for those that use a cable HD STB, do you need to hook up the "cable out to TV" connection from STB to one of the LCD's tuners?

Sceptre say's no, just component and or DVI cable to LCD, as well as audio cable.

ericjut

03-01-06, 01:54 PM

Just FYI, when I returned my unit to my local C*****, they said that they would likely eat the loss. I don't think they send anything back to the manufacture. He told me they sell it at 25% (loss?) to "salvage". So I'm not sure that Sceptre has anything to lose by participating in this practice. So Chuck, I would encourage you to call your regional big-wig about this, as I'm sure he would like to know.

This probably should be part of another discussion (the C***** thread), but it was said on many counts that Costco returns any unit deemed defective directly back the manufacturer at the manufacturer's cost. It's part of dealing with C*****. I actually ask everytime I return anything to make sure I get the same story and I do (even from managers).

Now, I don't know what they do with perfectly working units that are returned because the client isn't "satisfied", so you may be right. But if you return a unit because there's something broken, make sure to tell them so it gets returned to the manufacturer.

-eric

donsev

03-01-06, 02:08 PM

RE: Sending replacement 'refurbished' replacement product.

All, it is very, very common in the computer industry to replace defective product with refurbished units (just recently had this with Dell and Maxtor). I believe in most warranty language states something to the effect 'replacement of defective' but replacement and replacement with a NEW unit are two different things. Call BBB if you want, but I am guessing they are within their rights to replace with refrubished units.

tc
Will

Will,

In the context of what you describe, yes, it is not uncommon for it to be within the explicit agreement of the warranty to allow the manufacturer to replace defective equipment with new or refurbished equipment.

But, that is quite different from what seems to be occuring here. These are new purchases, ordered directly from a retailer. And as such, I believe other posters are correct in that this is not an acceptable practice (either to the consumer, or to the retailer).

Hope that helps clarify.

(As a note to the moderators, this thread seems to be taking a strange and unexpected twist. But, since it directly affects the technology contained within the Sceptre X37SV-Naga set, we ask that you allow us to continue to attempt to determine more clearly what exactly is going on with the currently shipping sets.)

Pecs

03-01-06, 02:29 PM

In reading through earlier posts about the version 1 unit, one problem that several mentioned was "fixed" in the version two was the ATSC tuner properly "upconverting" or whatever to the screen's native resolution. As I recall, 720p broadcasts didn't look as good as they should. I imagine that the new QAM capable tuner is what solved this problem, but since I am interested only in OTA broadcasts, I'm wondering if the updated version one would be inferior in this respect as well.

RedFive99

03-01-06, 04:08 PM

I agree that is does look that way but let's not jump the gun just yet (until we have more definitive info). I suppose there may be a reasonable explanation for why suddenly two Version 1s show up in the mix of recently shipped units. (Remember, we represent a very small sample set, it is possible that the inventory has overlapped for a while... yeah, even as I'm typing this I'm not even buying that explanation :confused: )

Updated the table with known current info;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1? 06/01/16 13:58 Apparently No
ericjut ? V2+ 06/01/16 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo CC ? "latest" YES

If others would reply with information to fill in the gaps, I will try to keep the table updated.

You can update your table to reflect that I bought my Sceptre 37" from Costco.com.

bluemax50

03-01-06, 04:27 PM

RE: Sending replacement 'refurbished' replacement product.

All, it is very, very common in the computer industry to replace defective product with refurbished units (just recently had this with Dell and Maxtor). I believe in most warranty language states something to the effect 'replacement of defective' but replacement and replacement with a NEW unit are two different things. Call BBB if you want, but I am guessing they are within their rights to replace with refrubished units.

tc
Will
Your absotutely right in most warranty agreements it's clearly stated that the supplier can fix or replace a defective unit with a refurbished one. That if far different than what we are talking about here. What is being claimed is a company is selling refurbished product as new and this is a completely different story. If you pay for new you should get new and no company has a right to sell a used product as new no matter what they do to "refurbish" it. That should be explained up front before the transaction and is the reason why there are plenty of companies in business today who specialize is selling refurbished products at discount prices.

p@55w0rd

03-01-06, 05:05 PM

Guys,

I just received my set yesterday and I have not had a chance to plug it in yet. But I unpacked it and I did not see any power switch on the back. Is this something that was an indication of a refurb? My unit does not look repacked at all. I actually have experience with repacks (used to work for a high end audio store some time back that sold a lot of repacks as "new") and the unit is perfect except that the remote did not come in a plastic bag. Everything else looks perfect and new (including the remote it was just not in a bag).

chuck5395

03-01-06, 05:25 PM

Chuck,
The fact that you do NOT have a power switch along the back bottom edge of the unit tells me that it is not the same type as the one I received.

-Chuck

Pecs

03-01-06, 05:46 PM

I also had a power switch in back, so it would seem that my unit was the same as Chuck's. Can anyone confirm that the power switch was changed in later models?

jay_cee

03-01-06, 06:07 PM

The V1 hardware apparently has a rocker-style power switch on the back. The V2 (what I have) does not.

bluemax50

03-01-06, 09:31 PM

I ordered my Sceptre from the usual online web page that belongs to everyones favorite warehouse store and out of curiosty I went to mapquest and checked how close the ups shipping depot was from Sceptre's address. Less than 2 miles. Makes me think these units are dropped shipped from Sceptre's warehouse. If that's true how come the oldest units seem to originate there? Something to think about?

DyeLooper

03-01-06, 11:57 PM

Check it out:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Productgroup.aspx?Prodid=11112191

k2_1971

03-02-06, 12:23 AM

Hi all. I ordered my Spectre 37" on the 27th of Feb from CC, and it shipped today, should arrive on the 3rd. I read up about this LCD TV from every source I could find, including the multiple ones found here. I decided to make a leap of faith of sorts and go thru with the purchase; the specs vs. price ratio are worth it in my opinion, plus it'll *just* fit into my new entertainment center. Here's hoping I get a truly new, v3 set, and that everything works out fine.

Thanks to everyone here for their feedback, it helped out greatly. I'll post my experiences here (good or bad) once the set arrives and I run it thru the paces.

donsev

03-02-06, 10:05 AM

Updated table;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES - Comcast
RedFive99 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1 06/01/16 13:58 Big fat;) No
ericjut Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? Refurbished? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
Nimo #2 Costco TBD
deadedkid ? ? "my pamphlet has writting in it and white out"
Pecs Costco V1 "no manual, no remote, no power cord, no cables and the top corner broken off"
wondermike Costco V1? Needs to double check No
samjc V1? 06/01/16 13:58 No
Chuck Coughlin V2+
bluemax50 Costco TBD
k2_1971 Costco TBD

(V1 Confirmed by having power switch in back)

Again, for those involved, if you could reply with any info to fill in the gaps, it would be appreciated.

Clearly there are several cases of sets being repackaged and sold as new. With perhaps one case of an older V1 being "new" and sold as new.

As far as who seems to be responsible for the repackaging it is not clear. I would have to believe that the manufacturer, out of all of those involved, would make sure that the re-packaging was done to original spec with all necessary components. Perhaps there is a third party involved who purchased the "salvage" units from the retailers, and then in turn resold them back to the retailer as "new" stock - but of course these older units seem to have the newer firmware so the manufacturer must have been involved... don't know, this just doesn't make sense.

Chuck, have you had a chance to call the mid-level executive?

chuck5395

03-02-06, 11:10 AM

donsev,
I have not made that call yet. Hope to do it today though.

I did get an email today in response to the one I sent to Sceptre on Monday:
-----------------------
Dear Customer,

You most likely have one of the earlier models without the QAM tuner.
For your TV it does not have a QAM tuner therefore you cannot scan for
cable channels on the ATSC tuner.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

danwheeler

03-02-06, 12:00 PM

for those of you who have sent in your 37 for firmware updates how long did it take to get back to you? I sent mine in on 2/17 and haven't even heard anything yet. I've called and written emails and haven't received much of anything helpful.

thanks,
dan

wondermike

03-02-06, 12:47 PM

06/01/16 13:58 :(
Second one on order, will return first one when it arrives.

teddyc

03-02-06, 12:58 PM

Donsev,

That's a real helpful chart; I think it'd be also helpful to include a column for date shipped. I think it would help to know if "V1" and/or "re-packaged/refurbised" units shipped around the same time or are still coming. I wish I collected the firmware numbers on those 2 sets, but I didn't. I do believe the first set was the latest though. Not sure about the V1 set, I suppose it's possible they updated the firmware w/o resetting user settings? But I am sure there were previously programmed channels in my lineup... I kinda wished I recorded the station names, I coulda told you where that set was last setup.

So I have ship dates on my units:
V2+ w/ defective audio 2/9/06
V1 "refurbished" 2/21/06
TBD 3/1/06

Updated table;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES - Comcast
RedFive99 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1 06/01/16 13:58 Big fat;) No
ericjut Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? Refurbished? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
Nimo #2 Costco TBD
deadedkid ? ? "my pamphlet has writting in it and white out"
Pecs Costco V1 "no manual, no remote, no power cord, no cables and the top corner broken off"
wondermike Costco V1? Needs to double check No
samjc V1? 06/01/16 13:58 No
Chuck Coughlin V2+
bluemax50 Costco TBD
k2_1971 Costco TBD

(V1 Confirmed by having power switch in back)

Again, for those involved, if you could reply with any info to fill in the gaps, it would be appreciated.

Clearly there are several cases of sets being repackaged and sold as new. With perhaps one case of an older V1 being "new" and sold as new.

As far as who seems to be responsible for the repackaging it is not clear. I would have to believe that the manufacturer, out of all of those involved, would make sure that the re-packaging was done to original spec with all necessary components. Perhaps there is a third party involved who purchased the "salvage" units from the retailers, and then in turn resold them back to the retailer as "new" stock - but of course these older units seem to have the newer firmware so the manufacturer must have been involved... don't know, this just doesn't make sense.

Chuck, have you had a chance to call the mid-level executive?

Polypro

03-02-06, 01:17 PM

jpconard

03-02-06, 01:25 PM

Need some advise....

I have v1 set since last August. If I didn't have this problem I would keep it. However the problem appears to be getting worse.

It has darker horizontal lines in upper right corner. These are not straight lines, but wide jagged lines. It does not appear to be backlighting issues either. It also has 3 bad pixels. I could live with the bad pixels but these lines are visible from several feet back and even when watching some TV.

So I am going to take it back before the warrantee is up, probably this month.

Should I order a new one to replace it, or go with another brand?

Basically I don't want to deal with more Sceptre issues, like the backlight setting not being saved when shutting off, or the judder issue, etc. But I guess I would try them again as it sounds like they have corrected most of these issues.

Pecs

03-02-06, 04:51 PM

I noticed that Tigerdirect is no longer carrying this TV. So I wonder if Sceptre is no longer manufacturing these screens, and maybe they are meeting the high demand by selling these refurbished TVs?

samjc

03-02-06, 07:55 PM

Filling in the gap, I got mine from the same warehouse store as most, and it did have rocker (power) switch on the back. Like Chuck's it looked brand new. Hooked it up to Comcast HD STB, via DVI, excellent picture. Noticed a series of bad pixels towards top of LCD, very noticeable. I ordered a new one, will return current one when that one arrives.

scireja

03-02-06, 09:49 PM

Thanks for all the helpful information above - does anyone know how this unit performs as an HDTV? I will primarily be using it for TV viewing. I also notice from the inputs/outputs that there isn't a component video input on the thing?? Isn't the standard for video card outputs now composite video?

Also, has anyone compared this to the 32" Dell LCD HDTV?

Someone please help! Thanks!

Polypro

03-02-06, 10:19 PM

HDTV via an HTPC is awesome. There is a Component input.

P

scireja

03-02-06, 10:44 PM

I'm talking how good does this TV look with, say, Comcast HDTV as an input? Thanks!

scireja

03-02-06, 10:45 PM

I'm talking how good does this TV look with, say, Comcast HDTV as an input? Thanks for all the input everyone!

k2_1971

03-03-06, 03:40 AM

Nimo

03-03-06, 10:11 AM

Hmm.. I still have'nt got an email confirmation from CC I wonder if they ran out of stock. I think my purchase last Sunday was just luck of the draw, how it got here in two days from Washington is beyond me. Unless there was a cancellation, the second set was ordered on Tues night. Anybody know how long they waited for their shipping confirmation, on their site it says 7 to 10 days does it really take that long??

EDIT: Never mind I just got confirmation and it will be here today WoooHoo!! :D Hope it's a good one...

DouglasteR

03-03-06, 10:18 AM

Polypro

03-03-06, 12:05 PM

I'm sure this has been addressed before, but I want to be sure after reading another thread about how you may have a screen that can display 1080p, but the set itself is unable to accept a native 1080p signal. And I only have so much time to dig in posts that are 70 pages long ;)

Can the Sceptre X37SV-NAGA accept a native, unprocessed 1080p signal and display it correctly?

My 6600GT is outputting 1920x1080@60(well...53.307)Hz. The PC is progressive. This in obviously on the HDMI/DVI port. WMV-HD 1080p through SageTV looks awesome.

P

danwheeler

03-03-06, 01:07 PM

LOL... i just got my TV back from the firmware update. I didn't send it down with speakers and the accessories box but it came back with them. Now i've got extra speakers, remotes, cables, etc. good deal!

Polypro

03-03-06, 01:41 PM

What was the process like? I have the forms, but havn't FAX'd them back yet. How's it perform?

P

danwheeler

03-03-06, 01:49 PM

the process was OK I guess. Honestly i'm surprised they would go to the trouble to do it all for free including shipping so I can't complain.

it's a little bit confusing about who you should talk to for your RMA. There's customer service and technical support. I found that I got better response from calling customer service but there appears to be some overlap.

just send the fax in with the serial number and model number. Tell them to issue a call tag so UPS will come pick it up. I sent it in on the 17th of January and just got it back now. Not terrible I guess.

as for performance - well... the tearing issue seems to be gone running at a regular 60hz. I still see some "judder" but it's more frequent and less obvious. rather than a very noticeable jerk - it's more like a constant small studder. oh well - it's better than it was I think. glad the tearing seems to be gone.

Pecs

03-03-06, 03:35 PM

jay_cee

03-03-06, 03:52 PM

bluemax50

03-03-06, 04:41 PM

Well my new TV is due to arrive Monday, When I open it if they shipped me a Version 1 or refurb display I won't even take it completely out of the box. It appears to me Sceptre is drop shipping these units direct and using the Coxxxx.com connection to dump their old stock. If this set works out I'll keep it, if not, there is just no way I'll re-order, I'll either buy a 37" Westinghouse or Vizio 42" Plasma locally. I for one simply can't believe that refurb stock is being shipped multiple times by accident and that neither Sceptre or Coxxxx.com rotates stock. In my opinion Sceptre cleared out new version ones, before shipping version two and Costco if they indeed do the shipping are practicing FIFO, first in first out so whatever mixed return stock is being shipped in my opinion origininated at Sceptre.

k2_1971

03-03-06, 05:40 PM

My 6600GT is outputting 1920x1080@60(well...53.307)Hz. The PC is progressive. This in obviously on the HDMI/DVI port. WMV-HD 1080p through SageTV looks awesome.

P

Thx P, that's what I was hoping to see. UPS just dropped off my Sceptre about 20 min ago... time to play ;)

Nimo

03-03-06, 06:22 PM

UPS just dropped off my unit and I can confirm it is a v2+ the box was beat to sh!t but the unit came out unharmed. All packaging was single tapped and everything was in a plastic wrapper no dead pixels either right now I'm scanning for channels in IRC. :D

k2_1971

03-03-06, 07:14 PM

Alright, got her unpackaged and set-up. Packaging was professional, everything was included (cables, manual, remote, etc) and it appears to be brand-spankin-new. This unit was originaly shipped from Ontario, CA... dunno if that is where these sets are usually shipped from thru CC or not.

Setup was a snap. Checked the version via debug, this is what I got:

Debug 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01

So it appears I got the latest firmware version. Plugged in the TV cable (just normal NTSC for now) - you can notice some moving horizontal lines moving up the screen, but it aint too bad, plus it's what you'd expect from such a signal. DVD playback over component at 480p looks pretty damn good, even with it zoomed to fill the entire screen (I'm sitting about 6-8 ft back), no judder, no dead pixels, nuthin. My HDTV/DVR box (sci. atlantic 8300) should be here tomorrow, so I can see how 720p/1080i output looks. I've never had a display that could do better than 480p before, so I imagine I am in for a treat this weekend.

Once HD-DVD comes out later this month and someone makes a player that will output a true 1080p signal, and can upconvert my existing DVD's, I'll be set.

Overall - great experience with this set so far.

danwheeler

03-03-06, 07:17 PM

January 17? That's like 5 weeks. Did you mean February?

You still see some judder?!? Have you run juddertest since you got it back?

whoops, yeah mean to say February 17th.

I did run Judder test... and it looks good. I dont see half green bars anymore on the buffer test where they move quickly across the screen. When I do the other test with the thin green lines moving slowly i can notice them "pulsing" across the screen. they seem to speed up and slow down every half second or so. it's not very noticeable but I can pick up on it. DVDs and HD WMVs are still not perfectly smooth. they're really good though - i can live with it.

Polypro

03-03-06, 07:17 PM

January 17? That's like 5 weeks. Did you mean February?

You still see some judder?!? Have you run juddertest since you got it back?

+1 (assuming you're hooking it to a computer), if not I don't recall any non computer/Sceptre user seeing judder from a DVD player, etc... What's the firmware revision? Does the serial number you got back, match the one you sent?:) Etc....

Thanks for the reply.

P

bobgpsr

03-03-06, 10:45 PM

Just as an FYI or to add to the table of version number info, I have a V1 X37SV Naga purchased on 21 Aug 2005 from our friendly C**** store with the following debug menu readout:

Debug 0104
05/08/18 23:00
T370HW01
1920 x 1080

I'm happy enough with it as I use it with a PC that has a MyHD-130 for QAM and send the SPDIF audio from the MyHD to a receiver. Great 1080p from my 6600GT's DVI out to the Naga's HDMI in. The MyHD feeds the Naga with 1080i via component with no problems other than an occasional auto contrast adjust.

I think I have one bad pixel that I only on occasion notice. One of these days I'm going to open up the case and bring out the Naga's digital audio.

Bob

nygiants

03-04-06, 12:14 AM

Forgive me for asking this but what is QAM. Is this for people who want to get cable without using a STB? I have an HD DVR STB hooked to my Sceptre 37 so I assume QAM is not necessary for me. I just want to make sure I'm not missing out on anything.

Secondly, for HTPC users, would 1080p through the DVI/HDMI input give you a better picture than 1080p through VGA or are they similar. I have the latter hooked up and the picture appears dam good...can't see it being much better. However, I find myself mostly using 1280x720 because at 1080p the desktop is just too dam small when viewing from my couch 8 feet away. I did try the hooking up the DVI/HdmI connection but for some reason I couldn't get 1080p res that way, only through VGA. I assume it's because my HTPC is actually a Dell laptop hooked into a dock station. The dock station has the DVI out but the video card is only an ATI 9000 64mb. I'm just rambling now in the hopes that someone will have some tips or advice for me on how to improve my setup.

Thanks to all for this long a$$ thread.

jay_cee

03-04-06, 01:13 AM

ranbirsahni

03-04-06, 01:50 AM

SENT EMAIL
the started working on its own without doing anything
the dotted line wnet after following instuctions from customer service
here we go for everyone's benefit if they have same trouble
Dear Customer,

Due to the sensitive nature of high resolution extra large LCD panels, sometimes visual blemishes/artifacts are displayed on screen when the LCD has a problem with the video playing device people are using.

********WARNING : DO NOT ADJUST ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES WHAT WAS INSTRUCTED. IF YOU ADJUST OTHER SETTINGS, THERE IS NO WAY TO RESET THE TV BACK TO IT’S DEFAULT SETTINGS.*******************

Turn on the TV, and press both volume buttons physically located on the TV simultaneously. A debug message should display. Press the button "1"
on your Sceptre TV remote control. A flat rectangular gray window should open at the bottom labeled Memory Delay. Adjust that with your volume + or – buttons located on the TV remote until the visual anomalies are gone (USUALLY PEOPLE USE THE VALUE 2 OR BELOW). Press exit multiple times. Turn off the TV, and unplug the power cord. Wait 5-10 minutes, and then plug the power cord back to the power source. This should solve your visual problems.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

Ranbir S. Sahni wrote:
> Sound is Ok now
>
> The flickering vertical dotted lines are difficult to photograph they
> are accentuated on blue back ground and are 4 in no from top to bottom
> on the extreme left side 1 inch from left the left 3 are sharper than
> the 4th one on the right They are more visible on the top half
> becoming fainter towards the bottom of the screen
thanks

bigjuice

03-04-06, 03:47 AM

I agree that is does look that way but let's not jump the gun just yet (until we have more definitive info). I suppose there may be a reasonable explanation for why suddenly two Version 1s show up in the mix of recently shipped units. (Remember, we represent a very small sample set, it is possible that the inventory has overlapped for a while... yeah, even as I'm typing this I'm not even buying that explanation :confused: )

Updated the table with known current info;

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
RedFive99 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
bigjuice ? V2+ ? Seems to imply Yes
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No - but not definitive
chuck5395 Costco V1? 06/01/16 13:58 Apparently No
ericjut ? V2+ 06/01/16 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES
teddyc #2 Costco V1? No
teddyc #3 Costco TBD
Nimo CC ? "latest" YES

If others would reply with information to fill in the gaps, I will try to keep the table updated.

I did get mine from costco also with the 06/01/16 14:58 and it does have QAM support.

Nimo

03-04-06, 03:59 AM

bigjuice

03-04-06, 04:26 AM

Both of my sets were shipped from Lynwood, WA. But I'll have to return this one due to a bad video processor. I'm getting vertical lines and splotches of artifacts no matter what source I'm in it looks pretty bad, I kinda knew something was a miss when scanning for channels. I noticed on the right side of the screen in the black area green artifacts and splotching. But the good news is I was able to test the DVI input on my AMD rig and with the latest nVidia betas I was able to hit 148.35 on the pixel clock @ 60.01 mHz. So it truely accepts the 1080p 60 signal properly, with that said I'm totally sold on these units using it for HTPC. The other set is in the living room and girlfriend owns it now I mean I can't even walk in there when she is in full movie mode sheesh!! I don't dare ask her if I can take it back in my office even though I paid for it.. oh well gotta keep baby happy... :rolleyes:

So I'm off to CC tomorrow to return this unit, but I do have a question can they do an exchange or do they just give back your money. In other words can they call and tell them to send me another one or will I have to go back online and reorder I know they cover the shipping and handling charges as stated in their policy which is pretty kool. I don't think any etailer will do this and you gotta luv'em for this.

Pretty Intereseting... I live in Everett, WA which is 15 minutes north of Lynwood, WA yet both of my units were drop shipped from Ontario, CA.

Anyway, Costco will just give you back your money and you will have to go online and buy another one. Costco happens to be based up here in WA by the way...I have like 8 of them around me and I think that Lynwood one is their main "Corporate Warehouse"

So far I am enjoying my second unit...it has QAM but I am still using the motorola 6200 STB from Comcast...Now that I have a large LCD HDTV I have come to hate Analog SD TV...wish more channels were in HD but I am too cheap to pay for more than the Regular cable...OH WELL.

donsev

03-04-06, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by danwheeler
LOL... i just got my TV back from the firmware update. I didn't send it down with speakers and the accessories box but it came back with them. Now i've got extra speakers, remotes, cables, etc. good deal!

So that's where they put the accessories that were left out of my box :)

Actually Pecs, I was thinking the same thing. Given how disorganized Sceptre appears at times, I would not discount the possibility that somehow the units sent by customers for reflash are getting mixed into the current inventory. This, at least, would be slightly less egregious than knowing they reboxed returned merchandise for resale.

I will try to update the table later this weekend, but it appears from latest reports that we are back to receiving mostly "new" Ver 2+ stock. (I don't know whether I will have the time or enough info to add shipping dates etc., but the list is already mostly in chronological order based on user posting)

donsev

03-04-06, 08:57 AM

canoncritic

03-04-06, 11:21 AM

I am new to this forum and have just purchased a Sceptre 37". To avoid the chatter, can someone brief me on how to tell whether the display I get is actually the newer version and not one dropped or refurbished by Sceptre? Thanks.

bluemax50

03-04-06, 11:49 AM

For one if you have a power switch in the back you can assume that you have an old version 1 display, doesn't mean it's refurbished but I'd still send it back for the current model. Basicly the best indication would be incomplete accessories, missing packing material, physical signs of use and if the tuners have channels stored you may have a refurbished unit. In one case the owners manual even had sections underlined and written in according to previous replies! Good Luck!!

Nimo

03-04-06, 02:08 PM

Pretty Intereseting... I live in Everett, WA which is 15 minutes north of Lynwood, WA yet both of my units were drop shipped from Ontario, CA.

Anyway, Costco will just give you back your money and you will have to go online and buy another one. Costco happens to be based up here in WA by the way...I have like 8 of them around me and I think that Lynwood one is their main "Corporate Warehouse"

So far I am enjoying my second unit...it has QAM but I am still using the motorola 6200 STB from Comcast...Now that I have a large LCD HDTV I have come to hate Analog SD TV...wish more channels were in HD but I am too cheap to pay for more than the Regular cable...OH WELL.

That's funny I live about 1:45 from Ontario, CA I wonder why they ship out of state? Thanks for the reply. :)

Out of curiosity, did you try adjusting the timing parameter;

Yes I set the delay to #2 but it did nothing the GPU is faulty. Anyway I just got back from you know where and got the refund and just placed another order.

canoncritic

03-04-06, 02:11 PM

For my sanity, what exactly does version 2 of the Sceptre 37 have that v1 doesn't? Is the switch the only physical difference?

jpconard

03-04-06, 02:36 PM

My version 1 (had since August) had darker areas in top right (not backlighting issue).

Sent e-mail to Costco and Sceptre and called Sceptre. They said to order a new one and then take the old one back.

I threw away the original box so I'll wait for the new one and then take it back.

Mine had a day when the kid was changing channels and the screen went to garbage, ghosting, image rentention, everything. Had to cycle power several times then it came back.

I think that is when this area of the screen went sort of bad. It is darker when the image is lighter, but lighter when the image is darker.

I just ordered the replacement. When I called they said all versions shipping are version 2 with the latest firmware.

Hope I get a good one.

I could have lived with the v1 set, except for this screen problem. Still think these are the best sets out there for the money.

If this one has issues, I'll have to go with something else.

donsev

03-04-06, 06:22 PM

When I called they said all versions shipping are version 2 with the latest firmware.

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on this comment. Did you receive this assurance from the retailer or from Sceptre? And how exactly did you refer to the different units? AFAIK, the "version level" description is our (this AVSforum thread) convention for keeping track of the different units, Sceptre only ever referred to them as "earlier" units or "initial" units, and I would be surprised if the retailer was even aware that there were different "versions" made.

And how could they make the assurance that only newer units were being shipped unless they were the party responsible for shipping the older units in the first place. (Unless someone in the retailer's chain-of-command had gotten wind of this thread and slapped some wrists to make sure that only "newer" units are shipped from now on)

I guess I am just looking for some reassurance that any new orders will be filled with "new" stock.

Mike99

03-05-06, 01:11 AM

Savdiscuss

03-05-06, 01:57 AM

I've been lurking on this AVSForum for > 1 year and was debating between the Westy and Sceptre 37 LCDTVs. Read all these 70+ pages of this Sceptre thread. Once I read that posters were reporting that their new Sceptre 37 was shipping with the fixed judder firmware AND that C****'s website finally priced the upcoming Sceptre 42", I ordered the Sceptre X37SV from C*****.

Mine came from Ontario, CA and UPS Ground took 8 days to deliver to NH.

Very relieved and very happy with this Sceptre LCDTV.
1) Got an absolutely new LCDTV (no evidence of refurbished/repackaged). I was a bit confused by the manual diagrams showing a power rocker switch which my Sceptre did not have, but the other posters think that was only on older X37SV versions.

2) Got the latest firmware 06/01/16 14:58 and no signs of judder.

3) Use this Sceptre as my PC display using the INCLUDED DVI->HDMI cable (1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz driven by 3+ year old ATI All-In-Wonder 8500DV video card's DVI port). For those who don't understand why anyone would use an LCDTV as a PC display (Lo-res compared to PC LCD monitor) --> As people get older, their eyes can't focus as well and complain that the standard computer display text is too small! The same text seen on the Sceptre 37" LCDTV (1080p) is MAGNIFIED about 2/3rds bigger than seen on a Dell 2405 LCD monitor (1200p). I can comfortably read text on this Sceptre LCDTV much longer -- my eyes do not tire quickly now. While the PC is booting up, the Sceptre reports the BIOS screens as 1280 x 1024 - readable but slightly fuzzy - probably since that is not the LCD's native resolution. As soon as Windows XP loads, it uses 1920 x 1080 --> very clear and sharp.

3a) Warning -- If Windows XP's Power Savings Settings is not enabled, I can NOT switch to another X37SV "PC Source" NOR turn off the Sceptre (to save on the backlight's life or electricity use) because the computer display output is gone and I have to reboot my PC. Other posters think that this problem may be due to old videocard and/or drivers. A WORKAROUND SOLUTION is ENABLING Windows XP Power Settings (Turn Off Monitor after xx min) -- using the keyboard/mouse will restore the PC display output even after powering off the Sceptre and then on again [you must wait at least the xx minutes so that Windows has already "blanked" the PC display signal].
If users try to use Windows Monitor Power Off feature to auto-shut off the monitor overnight, this X37SV's backlight is still ON so you are wasting the backlight's life. Until Sceptre provides the option for X37SV to auto-shut off upon sensing a lack of PC display signal, you still have to shut off the X37SV to avoid leaving the backlight on and wasting the life of the backlight. If you intend to replace the X37SV within 3-5 years, the backlight life may not concern you.

4) I don't have an antenna and only have regular non-HD Comcast Digital Cable service with non-HD Motorola STB. My Sceptre has the QAM tuner and was able to find the non-encrypted HD channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, WB, etc). So I am able to watch HD broadcast channels WITHOUT having Comcast HD cable service NOR having a Comcast HD STB. It is obvious to tell the difference between HD programming vs SD programming now (even if SD programming is shown on the HD channel)!

You can add my info to the Sceptre 37 owner database

Evenstar

03-05-06, 04:05 AM

2) Got the latest firmware 06/01/16 14:58 and no signs of judder.
How/what are you reading or looking at or accessing to see this firmware update from? I am not aware of anything on my X37 that describes what firmware update or version I have.

Savdiscuss

03-05-06, 04:40 AM

How/what are you reading or looking at or accessing to see this firmware update from? I am not aware of anything on my X37 that describes what firmware update or version I have.

The firmware info is shown on the X37SV's Debug screen (Post #1820):

To access the debug screen, locate the buttons on the TV (not the remote), and press the 3rd and 4th from the left at the same time.

To leave the Debug screen, press "Exit" button on the remote.

Nimo

03-05-06, 10:19 AM

While the PC is booting up, the Sceptre reports the BIOS screens as 1280 x 1024 - readable but slightly fuzzy - probably since that is not the LCD's native resolution. As soon as Windows XP loads, it uses 1920 x 1080 --> very clear and sharp.

My pc boots @ 1920x1080 in all bios screens, so it must be your card doing that. But for an 8500 to push that res that's not shabby at all, how does it play HD content .ts files and such.

Rbyers

03-05-06, 12:27 PM

Evenstar

03-05-06, 12:39 PM

I tried playing a PS2 game (Shadow of the Colossus) on my Sceptre X37SV-Naga using a PS2 to Component input and get a very poor "pixelated" picture. Unfortunately I may not be describing this picture correctly so I will elaborate.

When the picture is static this pixelation settles down some. The colors displayed seems very few and dull. When the character or scene moves it looks like the bright parts break up into pixels that "shimmer" or "dance" and it also looks like as the scene moves further it refreshes very slowly with pixels not clearing fast enough..."smearing". The game is still playable--it just has terrible picture quality which I won't play for that reason.

The only other input I can try from the PS2 to the Sceptre X37 is Composite. I did this and it made no difference. If anything, and perhaps understandably, it was a little worse then Component overall.

I tried 4:3 and 16:9 and 480i and 480p from both the TV and PS2 and game options where I could find them and nothing improved the game picture except 480p of course and it was slight and subtle.

BTW, the PS2 console screen looked fine so this seems to be a problem that the game itself introduces maybe (?).

I strongly suspect the entire problem is in how the Sceptre handles the PS2's Component signal. What is interesting is that the Xbox Component signal looks fine. I have played a couple games from the Xbox on this same TV and do not see this problem.

I use this TV for PC games using the VGA input and get a very sharp nice 1920 x 1080 display and I can play DVD movies through the PC and its VGA input or through my TV channel box using Component or the HDMI--DVI input that all give satisfactory picture quality.

I then hooked up the PS2 to my old CRT HDTV using Component, 16:9, and Progressive (480p) and get a satisfactory picture that is probably normal for 480p Component. I can't say that this "pixelation" is entirely gone but it is not noticeable at all like it is on the Sceptre X37.

Is there some signal differences between the PS2 and Xbox Component/Composite signals?

I'll call Sceptre technical support Monday to see what if anything they can make of this but in the mean time I would appreciate any comments you might have please? Also, this is my 3rd Sceptre X37 but it works so well in all other ways that I am aware of that I doubt I will exchange it for another X37 which could easily reintroduce problems that the earlier X37s I owned had.

Is anyone using their PS2 or Xbox console successfully with the X37 display?

Thank you.

k2_1971

03-05-06, 04:11 PM

I asked in a recent post about the 37" Sceptre viewability when moving off axis and got NO replies. Is there a change in color/brightness/sharpness as you move .... say 30 degrees off axis?

I have the 30" Sceptre in the bedroom. There is a noticeable change as you move more than a few degrees off axis. Not a problem in the BR but would be unacceptable in the FR. Am considering the 37/42 sets but want to find out if I have a shot at a usable set for my Family Room environment. I know I can return the thing, but why bother if I know ahead of time that a key feature is lacking.

The viewing angle on the 37" is quite good - Spectre claims 170 degrees vertical and horizontal and they werent lying. Viewing in my living room from just about everywhere you can think of presents the same picture. The pic will get just a tad fuzzy/brighter when ya get to aroun 150 degrees off or so but it's hardly noticable. I dont think ya have anything to worry about in this regard.

Savdiscuss

03-05-06, 05:16 PM

My pc boots @ 1920x1080 in all bios screens, so it must be your card doing that. But for an 8500 to push that res that's not shabby at all, how does it play HD content .ts files and such.

Are there some websites/webpages that have free sample HD clips that I can try viewing using my AIW 8500DV? My PC (P4 3.4Ghz) has no problems playing those WMVHD 1080p clips without noticing skipped frames as long as my PC is not multitasking another application that significantly uses the CPU.

I've held off upgrading my videocard because the 8500DV is still fine for my computing needs (minimal 3D graphics processing needs).

kuladog

03-05-06, 05:29 PM

Hello All:

I've been watching this thread for a while, and recently purchased an X37SV. I've been interested in the firmware discussions, as I purchased mine on 1/27/06 from everyone's favorite online retailer.

Now, I'm wondering just what version I've received. As I understand it, the V1 models have a power switch on the back, whereas the V2 ones don't. There's also something about the base stand being different but I couldn't sift through the entries to discern exactly what it is.

My model has the two-tone black/gray base, no power switch, and the DEBUG screen shows the firmware as:

DEBUG 0107
05/09/23 19:43

Everyone else who's been posting here has been referring to a firmware of 06/01/16 at either 13:58 or 14:58.

Any idea what I've got? Is this a refurb unit, given when I purchased it?

Thanks for your help. I LOVE this forum!

kkrull

03-05-06, 06:30 PM

If Windows XP's Power Savings Settings is not enabled, I can NOT switch to another X37SV "PC Source" NOR turn off the Sceptre (to save on the backlight's life or electricity use) because the computer display output is gone and I have to reboot my PC. Other posters think that this problem may be due to old videocard and/or drivers. A WORKAROUND SOLUTION is ENABLING Windows XP Power Settings (Turn Off Monitor after xx min) -- using the keyboard/mouse will restore the PC display output even after powering off the Sceptre and then on again [you must wait at least the xx minutes so that Windows has already "blanked" the PC display signal].
Has anyone figured out how to switch back to an already booted PC over DVI without rebooting? The 'workaround' of suspending monitor does not do it because if you switch to another input and switch back and 'awaken' the display you get 'no input'. Does hibernate work? Does suspend? What if you changed display resolutions? What if you disabled and enabled the monitor in the control panel, like a dual display setup?

It seems like there could be a workaround on the PC side since the PC could always send some sequence of signals like it was rebooting.

Still Sceptre should fix this.

kkrull

03-05-06, 06:33 PM

My model has the two-tone black/gray base, no power switch, and the DEBUG screen shows the firmware as:

DEBUG 0107
05/09/23 19:43

I think you have a v2 regular (non plus) and you need the firmware update in order to never have the tearing problem. You missed the cutoff by a week or so.

kkrull

03-05-06, 06:36 PM

I understand that Sceptre decided to use Sony codes for on/off and mute.

Do we know if the volume up and volume down commands match any other known TV?

Evenstar

03-05-06, 07:24 PM

The firmware info is shown on the X37SV's Debug screen (Post #1820):

To access the debug screen, locate the buttons on the TV (not the remote), and press the 3rd and 4th from the left at the same time. To leave the Debug screen, press "Exit" button on the remote.
Wow! Closure on this at last. Thank you. I have January 16, 2006, and if that is recent enough it would explain why judder disappeared as I felt it had.

To bad the Sceptre phone tech didn't know about this hidden "debug" feature. Sigh...

Now if I only knew why I get crappy PS2 graphics. See other recent post if interested...#2106.

Thank you for the "how to".

Mike99

03-05-06, 09:05 PM

bigjuice

03-05-06, 10:06 PM

Has anyone every emailed/called Sceptre and inquired about the popping noises on the speakers that are included with the set.

Someone mentioned a while back that it wasn't the speakers but the problem lies with the Amp and while I gather that most people here don't use the factory speaker...it can sometimes be anoying having to turn on the reciever/stereo everytime you watch the news, etc.

If I put this set in my bedroom then that could be a problem...

Has anyone contacted Sceptre about this? If so, what was their answer/solution?

Thanks

Savdiscuss

03-06-06, 02:19 AM

[QUOTE=kkrull]Has anyone figured out how to switch back to an already booted PC over DVI without rebooting? The 'workaround' of suspending monitor does not do it because if you switch to another input and switch back and 'awaken' the display you get 'no input'.[QUOTE]

Well, the workaround solution of enabling Windows XP's Power Management "Turn Monitor Off after xxxx minutes" certainly works for me. Maybe this workaround works for my particular videocard/videodriver and just does not work for your PC setup.

The workaround gives me the FREEDOM to do the following WITHOUT LOSING my Windows desktop view and HAVING TO REBOOT my computer:
1) I can shut off and turn back on the X37SV via the power button on the LCDTV or Remote.
2) I can view another X37SV input source via "PC Source" or "AV Source"

*** But I must at least make sure that xxxx minutes of keyboard/mouse inactivity has elapsed (Windows Power Management has already shut off the video signal) before tapping a keyboard key/moving the mouse (Windows Power Management turns back on the video signal). ***
Note: I know that xxxx minutes has NOT elapsed, when keyboard/mouse activity does NOT restore my Windows desktop view (Then by waiting again the FULL xxxx minutes before keyboard/mouse activity, my Windows desktop view is RESTORED).

Example#1
I set Windows XP's Power Options to "Turn off monitor in 1 minute"
I can switch "PC Source" from DVI (PC view) to DTV (ASTC tuner) to watch HD channels. At any time, I switch back to "PC Source" - DVI, the X37SV will report "NO SIGNAL" for DVI mode.
a) If it has been more than 1 minute since the last keyboard/mouse activity --> As soon as I hit a keyboard key/move the mouse, my Windows desktop view is RESTORED.
b) If it has been less than 1 minute since the last keyboard/mouse activity --> Tap a keyboard key/move the mouse, the X37SV will keep reporting "NO SIGNAL" for DVI mode. Now I have to BEGIN WAITING AGAIN 1 minute from the last time of keyboard/mouse activity for Windows to shut off the video signal before I can restore the Windows desktop view with keyboard/mouse activity.

Example#2
I set Windows XP's Power Options to "Turn off monitor in 4 minutes"
I can turn off the X37SV with the power button on the TV set. At any time, I turn on the X37SV, the X37SV will report "NO SIGNAL" for DVI mode.
a) If it has been more than 4 minutes since the last keyboard/mouse activity --> As soon as I hit a keyboard key/move the mouse, my Windows desktop view is RESTORED.
b) If it has been less than 4 minutes since the last keyboard/mouse activity --> Tap a keyboard key/move the mouse, the X37SV will keep reporting "NO SIGNAL". Now I have to BEGIN WAITING AGAIN 4 minutes from the last time of keyboard/mouse activity for Windows to shut off the video signal before I can restore the Windows desktop view with keyboard/mouse activity.

Another solution would be a simple Windows screensaver-type application which would turn off the video signal with one keystroke and turn on the video signal with another keystroke.

Jason Merrick

03-06-06, 03:55 AM

Alright, so after dealing with all the audio problems and finding a remote that works with the Sceptre, I thought I was finally happy.

I was wrong.

This AUTO-CONTRAST bug is driving me nuts now. My wife has even started noticing it. We've been watching a lot of HD movies recorded on our SA8300 HD cable box off HBO & Showtime HD channels. The contrast seems to be changing on almost every indoor or slightly shaded/dark scene.

Is there any fix or work-around for this problem?

Is the AUTO-CONTRAST bug known to exist on EVERY input? The cable box is currently connected through Component, but I could switch back to HDMI and probably live with the quirky interaction that brings.

donsev

03-06-06, 08:55 AM

I have seen a couple postings mentioning ver 3, & also referring this to mean a late ver 2. Since the ongoing table lists 2+ as the latest, I presume this is so. However I see no mention of ver 2 in the table. Was there actually a ver 2? If so, how can you tell 2+ from 2?

I e-mailed Sceptre & they replied no way to tell version number from the serial number or from the date.

If I did order one of these from what has been referred to as most everyone's favorite mail order company and somehow got ver 1 or no QAM tuner, how are these sets returned? Do they get returned directly to Sceptre?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Mike,

I will attempt to explain how we arrived at the version nomenclature.

The "original" Version 1 units had a power switch on the back, NO service port, had a "hidden" SPDIF port inside the case, and had some annoying bugs.

At some point it was noticed that later units that were being received did not have the power switch in the back, did have a a new "mystery" port (believed to be a service port), had lost the SPDIF port, and fixed a few of the annoying bugs (and also introduced the judder bug which was not apparent on the Version 1). This type of set we began to refer to as Version 2 (and thus the earlier model became Version 1). I believe the firmware for this version is "05/09/23 19:43". (And yes, I believe that there was a change to a slightly darker grey in the color of the bezel and stand from Version 1 to Version 2)

(Just a note here - this version naming convention is entirely an artificial one that we AVSforum members have contrived to keep track of who has what, and what works and what doesn't. We have no idea how Sceptre keeps track of their running changes nor whether a retailer would know (or care) what's inside the shipping box when they fill your order.)

Approximately 3 weeks ago, it was confirmed that some recently shipped new orders were being delivered with a newer firmware version "06/01/16 14:58" ostensibly as a fix for the judder problem, but it was also discovered that the ATSC tuner (which we were informed by Sceptre Tech support was not QAM capable) WAS now QAM capable. At this point, to continue to keep track of the running changes, we began to refer to this unit as a Version 3 (new firmware, new tuner - or so we thought).

But, it was later discovered that some of the later shipped Version 2s, with the older firmware, ALSO had an updated QAM capable tuner. (Obviously, Sceptre had slipped in a running change that we hadn't caught). Since this means that the demarcation between version 2 and the newly named version 3 gets very gray (a. we don't know when Sceptre began shipping the QAM capable version 2s, and, b. a QAM capable Version 2 could theoretically be made into a Version 3 with just a firmware upgrade). So I decided to refer to the units with the QAM tuner AND the firmware upgrade as Version 2+ when preparing the table (who's sole purpose was to help to document/discover why some users were suddenly receiving the older Version 1, but with a newer firmware dated 06/01/16 13:58 - I believe the 13:58 is specific to updated Version 1s, the 14:58 is specific to updated Version 2s).

I hope this helps to explain what we mean when we refer to a Version 1 or Version 2, or 2+ (or 3...). But remember, there is no guarantees as to the accuracy of this assesment, nor that there won't be other running changes slipped into the manufacturing run as Sceptre sees fit.

As to returns, you return them to wherever you purchased from. What happens next, nobody really knows and that is part of the mystery as to the sudden appearance of the apparently refurbished/repackaged units, and the reappearance of the older Version 1 units (which again was the only reason for the table).

donsev

03-06-06, 09:04 AM

I saw in another thread that the 42" Sceptre does not have 5.1 digital outputs. So I did a forum search for the 37" & nothing came up. Sceptre's website does not mention any digital outputs. Can anyone confirm this? Or is 5.1 a new undocumented feature like the QAM tuner?

AFAIK, no one has yet pried off the back cover of the Version 2+ to check to see if there is a "hidden" SPDIF optical out port that could be accessed (such as existed on the Version 1s). And remember, Sceptre's web site doesn't mention QAM either (although, if you are familiar with Sceptre's frequent web site updates and inaccuracies, you wouldn't be surprised)

DouglasteR

03-06-06, 09:10 AM

Mike,

I will attempt to explain how we arrived at the version nomenclature.

The "original" Version 1 units had a power switch on the back, NO service port, had a "hidden" SPDIF port inside the case, and had some annoying bugs.

At some point it was noticed that later units that were being received did not have the power switch in the back, did have a a new "mystery" port (believed to be a service port), had lost the SPDIF port, and fixed a few of the annoying bugs (and also introduced the judder bug which was not apparent on the Version 1). This type of set we began to refer to as Version 2 (and thus the earlier model became Version 1). I believe the firmware for this version is "05/09/23 19:43". (And yes, I believe that there was a change to a slightly darker grey in the color of the bezel and stand from Version 1 to Version 2)

(Just a note here - this version naming convention is entirely an artificial one that we AVSforum members have contrived to keep track of who has what, and what works and what doesn't. We have no idea how Sceptre keeps track of their running changes nor whether a retailer would know (or care) what's inside the shipping box when they fill your order.)

Approximately 3 weeks ago, it was confirmed that some recently shipped new orders were being delivered with a newer firmware version "06/01/16 14:58" ostensibly as a fix for the judder problem, but it was also discovered that the ATSC tuner (which we were informed by Sceptre Tech support was not QAM capable) WAS now QAM capable. At this point, to continue to keep track of the running changes, we began to refer to this unit as a Version 3 (new firmware, new tuner - or so we thought).

But, it was later discovered that some of the later shipped Version 2s, with the older firmware, ALSO had an updated QAM capable tuner. (Obviously, Sceptre had slipped in a running change that we hadn't caught). Since this means that the demarcation between version 2 and the newly named version 3 gets very gray (a. we don't know when Sceptre began shipping the QAM capable version 2s, and, b. a QAM capable Version 2 could theoretically be made into a Version 3 with just a firmware upgrade). So I decided to refer to the units with the QAM tuner AND the firmware upgrade as Version 2+ when preparing the table (who's sole purpose was to help to document/discover why some users were suddenly receiving the older Version 1, but with a newer firmware dated 06/01/16 13:58 - I believe the 13:58 is specific to updated Version 1s, the 14:58 is specific to updated Version 2s).

I hope this helps to explain what we mean when we refer to a Version 1 or Version 2, or 2+ (or 3...). But remember, there is no guarantees as to the accuracy of this assesment, nor that there won't be other running changes slipped into the manufacturing run as Sceptre sees fit.

As to returns, you return them to wherever you purchased from. What happens next, nobody really knows and that is part of the mystery as to the sudden appearance of the apparently refurbished/repackaged units, and the reappearance of the older Version 1 units (which again was the only reason for the table).

Very good post ! Ty =* !

To me the problem now, is the guarantee that i will receive a brand new 2+ ( or 3 ) version :(

donsev

03-06-06, 09:10 AM

This AUTO-CONTRAST bug is driving me nuts now. My wife has even started noticing it. We've been watching a lot of HD movies recorded on our SA8300 HD cable box off HBO & Showtime HD channels. The contrast seems to be changing on almost every indoor or slightly shaded/dark scene.

Is there any fix or work-around for this problem?

Is the AUTO-CONTRAST bug known to exist on EVERY input? The cable box is currently connected through Component, but I could switch back to HDMI and probably live with the quirky interaction that brings.

Jason,

This is what I fear most (I haven't ordered either the 37" or 42" yet, partly because of my concerns about this "feature").

As others have posted here, the auto contrast "feature" is enabled only on component inputs, but on every component input. I had hopes that I could have used the VGA port set to YPbPr to bypass this "feature" but another user replied that did not work - the auto contrast still existed.

Jason, what version do you have?

Ericjut, (or anyone with a Version 2+) have you had a chance to test the component inputs to see if the auto contrast "feature" described above still exists?

(Just realized I forgot to mention that the ability to switch the VGA port to accept a YPbPr signal was also an improvement introduced with the Version 2s).

DouglasteR

03-06-06, 09:21 AM

And for those who have the earlyer version that come from Canada, please pm me whit the warehouse that you buy from !

daquint

03-06-06, 12:48 PM

k2_1971

03-06-06, 12:53 PM

Ericjut, (or anyone with a Version 2+) have you had a chance to test the component inputs to see if the auto contrast "feature" described above still exists?

I'm afraid it does. I also have a Sci Atlantic 8300HD, going component out to my Sceptre 37" with it. Was watching the Oscars last night in HD, and I really noticed the contrast shifting back and forth whenever they would focus on someone speaking up on stage.

However, over S-Video via my DVD player (woulda been nice if this set has two component inputs dammit) I dont notice any auto-contrast goin on at all.

This tells me a couple things are possible: 1) that this auto bug only happens over a HD feed, or maybe 2) that it's not the set at all but maybe how the content is broadcast and processed by the 8300HD. I'm guessing #1 is more likely the truth.

k2_1971

03-06-06, 12:59 PM

As a lurker who is pulling the trigger on the Naga in the next couple of weeks, I want to thank all the posters here (on this forum, and specifically this thread) for all the informative posts. I dont think i'd ever blind buy a tv thats close to 2K. but you guys are even better than a demo!

i hope to add to the the info on this thread when my set arrives.

until then, back the lurk.

thanks again!

Likewise, this forum was a huge factor in my decision-making process. I hope that I can help to contribute.

Tell ya what tho, I dont even trust demo's so much anymore. Me and the g/f went to the local Best Buy here, I was looking for some flat speaker cable, and decided to take a look at all the high-end displays they had on demo. The ONLY native 1920x1080 display they had was the Westinghouse 37", and the HDTV channel they had fed to it looked like ass. Makes me wary of seeing demo sets, it seems it's hit or miss on the employees at these places knowing how to properly set up and config everything.

bluemax50

03-06-06, 03:53 PM

Well the new Sceptre arrived via UPS a couple of hours ago and I immediately put it thru it's paces. Her's my observation for anyone who cares to read it.

It arrived double boxed and in great shape. Opening the packing material everything looked brand new and was as carefully packed as any of the other 37" displays I've demo'd in the last month. The unit shipped to me was CLEARLY brand new and did not have a power switch in the back so I assumed it was not a version 1 set. The stand base was two tone gray and black. I hooked up a Comcast/Motorola 6200 cable box to the component inputs and a Oppo DV671H DVD player to the HDMI port. I did not hook up the speakers. I used a splitter and hooked one port to the cable box input and the other to the digital cable input on the TV when I first selected the DTV option using the PC source button on the remote then the menu button. When entering the menu I went to the cable option. I had 4 options AIR, CABLE, IRC CABLE and HRC CABLE. I selected the HRC option then hit auto scan, It took over 5 minutes to scan but it found about 30 channels mostly music and only a couple local channels but this confirmed I had a QAM capable tuner!! Using the default settings on the TV I put in Spiderman into the DVD player and played it. I was amazed at the picture quality, I'm really happy so far!!!. Switching over to the component side I started watching the cable channels thru the STB. SD cable was OK and watchable, HD channels were awesome. I plan to run some display tests later in the week but so far I'm really happy with the TV. The problem I had with the Vizio L37 I returned was terrible contrast, low light scenes were black and unwatchable, the Sceptre DOES NOT have this problem which is a great relief. Once I calibrate it with Avia things should be even better than they are now. It appears so far I have a keeper here , time will tell!!

grubavs

03-06-06, 04:25 PM

Likewise, this forum was a huge factor in my decision-making process. I hope that I can help to contribute.

Tell ya what tho, I dont even trust demo's so much anymore. Me and the g/f went to the local Best Buy here, I was looking for some flat speaker cable, and decided to take a look at all the high-end displays they had on demo. The ONLY native 1920x1080 display they had was the Westinghouse 37", and the HDTV channel they had fed to it looked like ass. Makes me wary of seeing demo sets, it seems it's hit or miss on the employees at these places knowing how to properly set up and config everything.

Me also, THANKS to all of you. I read all of the post from the start (zzzzzz). I am going to buy the 42", and these posts are very helpful for that decision. And will probably help me "adapt" the set to my needs.
As for demos, neither Costco or BestBuy around here (N.Ca) have HD hooked up to all (or any...) sets. Very trying. CircuitCity did, however. They really show the abilities of the various sets they sell. Not applicable to this thread, but the 50" Sony SRXD has a marvelous picture when fed with 1080p Sony show-off media.

wickedsuperbikes

03-06-06, 06:40 PM

DVD's using 480P are off center one inch to the right and down slightly. If I turn off progressive from the DVD player and use interlaced, the picture is perfectly centered. Can someone else test this out and let me know?

bennynihon

03-06-06, 07:11 PM

Mike99

03-06-06, 07:39 PM

hakujin

03-06-06, 07:45 PM

Thank you donsev for the most informative replies.

The 5.1 output, or lack of it, is a concern for me. I use cable RF straight from the wall. No STB. So the only way I'll get digital surround sound is from the TV. I just presumed all along that if any set had an ATSC or QAM tuner that it would also have 5.1 audio. Mistake on my part.

Where was this "hidden" SPDIF port located inside the case on the early sets? Did you have to take the set apart? Makes me wonder if it could be hidden somewhere else on the newer versions.

Thanks again,

Mike

I just ordered mine so I have my fingers crossed for the auto contrast bug. But it seems silly that Sceptre would include spdif but hide it. What sense does that make... other than maybe they don't want to support it, but than, why even put it on there? Anyway, I hope there is one somewhere to be found too, as I only plan to view HD OTA.

bluemax50

03-06-06, 08:36 PM

Jason Merrick

03-06-06, 08:57 PM

Jason,

This is what I fear most (I haven't ordered either the 37" or 42" yet, partly because of my concerns about this "feature").

As others have posted here, the auto contrast "feature" is enabled only on component inputs, but on every component input. I had hopes that I could have used the VGA port set to YPbPr to bypass this "feature" but another user replied that did not work - the auto contrast still existed.

Jason, what version do you have?

Ericjut, (or anyone with a Version 2+) have you had a chance to test the component inputs to see if the auto contrast "feature" described above still exists?

(Just realized I forgot to mention that the ability to switch the VGA port to accept a YPbPr signal was also an improvement introduced with the Version 2s).
Don,

I believe I have the latest version 2 or what is now being referred to as v3. I can't tell for sure, since I haven't connected anything to the ATSC tuner to check for QAM support. But I have no rocker switch on the back, and the debug data is in line with all of the v3 sets I've seen posted.

I just tried connecting my SA 8300 HD through HDMI again, I'm about to watch The Manchurian Candidate in HD from the DVR through the HDMI port to see if I notice the auto-contrast problem. If not, I may live with the quirky HDMI handshake issues in order to get a satisfactory -- and stable -- picture. I am sacrificing my up-converting DVD player by using up the HDMI port in this way, but if this works, I won't be watching many DVDs anyway since I have so much HD material available through Showtime & HBO HD.

I'll post the results tonight.

I sure wish some genius on this board would discover the method for entering the service menu, as I'm sure the auto contrast "feature" could be disabled there.

ericjut

03-06-06, 09:16 PM

Jason,
Ericjut, (or anyone with a Version 2+) have you had a chance to test the component inputs to see if the auto contrast "feature" described above still exists?

Don,

I'm currently using the QAM tuner, the HDMI/DVI with my HTPC @ 1920X1080x60p and the Component is connected @ 1080i to my XBox360 and after weeks of usage, I didn't experience the "auto contrast" issue that what you guys are talking about. I'm not a professional, but I consider myself picky about those kinds of things and I'm sure I would have been annoyed by it as much as the next guy if it was on all inputs.

I'm at a loss of why some people are experiencing it and some don't.

All I know is that I'm having a blast with my Sceptre and I don't miss the Sharp 37" I returned one bit.

-eric

DouglasteR

03-06-06, 09:55 PM

Please Guys ! Share some photos of yours units !! The back, the front, it on windows, in games, in movies ! Please !! Lets start some media share to those who dont purchase it yet ! :D

Jason Merrick

03-06-06, 10:13 PM

...the Component is connected @ 1080i to my XBox360 and after weeks of usage, I didn't experience the "auto contrast" issue that what you guys are talking about...
Eric,

I have my Xbox360 connected through the VGA port as VGA-PC and I have not noticed the auto-contrast problem with it at all.

I started watching The Manchurian Candidate with my wife, but she was too sleepy to continue after about 30 minutes, but in that time I never saw the auto-contrast problem at all.

I went ahead and disconnected my new Toshiba upconverting DVD player and will be returning it to Best Buy tomorrow. I am re-programming my Harmony remote to try to deal with the HDMI handshake problems between the Sceptre and the SA8300 cable box.

I guess for the odd DVD I want to play, I can use the Xbox 360. Not sure how the quality is, since I haven't tried it with DVDs yet. I hear they are going to have an external HD-DVD device for the 360 later, so I may run into all new problems then, since I assume it will use HDMI.

Anyone know of a cheap HDMI switcher or lower-end (under $400) receiver with HDMI switching?

teddyc

03-06-06, 10:25 PM

My third unit arrived today and I am happy to report that it is neither defective nor refurbished straight out of the box!!! No cracking, popping audio from the tuner; No scratches on the Bezel, no previously programmed channels. Firmware looks like the latest one:

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58

QAM tuner is working and picking up channels.

Thanks for everyone's help on this forum. I'm glad we're all keeping an eye out and hopefully keeping the manufacturer honest.

This is my first post... I've been following this thread for quite a while.

I've had some frustrations in getting a good *new* working set.

I recevied my first set two weeks ago. I ordered it from C***. The unit was new and very nice picture quality. I was discovering as with everyone else on this forum that this unit was one of the new QAM enabled units. I was pretty impressed with the unit. Only it had a serious problem. Whenever I used the ATSC tuner, the audio was always crackling and popping (on speakers or headphones) and no broadcast audio could be heard from the unit. No problems with external audio inputs, only when using the digital tuner. So, I e-mailed Sceptre Tech support, and they said the unit was bad, nothing they could do, and I should return it for another one.

So, I did that. Last week my re-ordered unit shows up from the same merchant. Only this time the set seems quite a bit different. It has a power switch on the back of the unit, and has some clear scratches on the frame. The menus are slower, different, and missing the ability to scan digital cable channels unlike the first unit I received. The worst part, the channel scan clearly has some channels that were previously programmed. This made it pretty obvious they had re-packaged an older unit. They hadn't even bothered to reset the box to factory defaults.

I called the merchant and complained to a customer support rep about it. He seemed to feel that it was a fluke and I should return it and try again. He said that either the manufacturer or merchant may have done it, perhaps accidentally.

Now, after reading these latest posts, I'm not so sure it's a "fluke". I returned the set and put in an order for a new one. Only I'm afraid I'm going to get sent another old version set. I'm debating whether I should just cancel and forget about this model altogether.

Bottom line, I'm not sure if it's the merchant or Sceptre that is re-packaging the old sets, but I think whoever's doing it, it's a really shady practice. I paid full price for a new set, and if the manufacturer is re-packaging used sets they shouldn't be selling them as "new".

m1ck3ym0us3

03-06-06, 10:42 PM

Eric,

I have my Xbox360 connected through the VGA port as VGA-PC and I have not noticed the auto-contrast problem with it at all.

I started watching The Manchurian Candidate with my wife, but she was too sleepy to continue after about 30 minutes, but in that time I never saw the auto-contrast problem at all.

I went ahead and disconnected my new Toshiba upconverting DVD player and will be returning it to Best Buy tomorrow. I am re-programming my Harmony remote to try to deal with the HDMI handshake problems between the Sceptre and the SA8300 cable box.

I guess for the odd DVD I want to play, I can use the Xbox 360. Not sure how the quality is, since I haven't tried it with DVDs yet. I hear they are going to have an external HD-DVD device for the 360 later, so I may run into all new problems then, since I assume it will use HDMI.

Anyone know of a cheap HDMI switcher or lower-end (under $400) receiver with HDMI switching?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2777&seq=1&format=2

There is a cheap HDMI switcher

sellis16

03-06-06, 11:01 PM

The 5.1 output, or lack of it, is a concern for me. I use cable RF straight from the wall. No STB. So the only way I'll get digital surround sound is from the TV. I just presumed all along that if any set had an ATSC or QAM tuner that it would also have 5.1 audio. Mistake on my part.

I agree. How can you go w/out 5.1 on HD? To watch something like "Lost" -- where they pride themselves on great 5.1 -- in HD but get two-channel sound...would be disappointing.

Of course you could set up a receiver/DVD player/speakers to at least get DVDs in 5.1.

Here's a post from the LOST thread:
___

Received the following in an email newsletter from Dolby Labs.

Creating the Sound of an Enchanted Desert Island
...
Feature Sound on TV
...
Weber feels strongly about the use of multichannel audio in his work, and its importance to Lost. “It’s a whole new dimension in sound that goes along with high-definition TV,” he says. “Now you not only have pristine picture but you have the soundtrack to go along with it. The option of using surrounds and a subwoofer in 5.1 opens up the space from what you’d get with a two-channel experience. It helps us to create a bigger environment.”

GREAT example tonight -- when Gale's muffled cry from the armory, "you could let me go?" or to that effect is heard. It was highly focused in my left rear surround speaker, very nicely muffled. Locke looks directly into that corner, hearing his request. It is exactly what a hi-def home theater buff loves!
___

EDIT: I realize it is a 37" (not 42" or 50") and so a lot of purchasers of this use it also for games a lot. I'm mostly just frustrated that the new 42-incher doesn't have 5.1.

danwheeler

03-07-06, 12:45 AM

The firmware info is shown on the X37SV's Debug screen (Post #1820):

To access the debug screen, locate the buttons on the TV (not the remote), and press the 3rd and 4th from the left at the same time.

To leave the Debug screen, press "Exit" button on the remote.

The 3rd and 4th buttons from the left are the volume up/down buttons, no?

am i missing something? when i hit those buttons i get nothing. Just a volume change.

EDIT: nevermind - it doesn't work in DTV mode

danwheeler

03-07-06, 12:54 AM

bluemax50

03-07-06, 08:45 AM

I'm running my new Spectre I recieved today using a Motorola Cable box thru the component inputs and have tried all sorts of low light scenes and don't see any issue as of yet with the auto contrast problem. Either they fixed it or I haven't found the right material to notice anything yet. Still love the picture quality!!! As good or better than the Westinghouse 37" I returned because of vertical banding!

Just an Update::

Well after watching the 2 hour episode of 24 last night I did notice the auto-contrast issue as reported by others. In dark scenes it would pulse once in a while back and forth. What a STUPID option to put in a TV that can't be defeated by the user!! Overall I'm still happy with the TV as everything else works terrific and it is a really suttle issue so far that if I had'nt been aware it existed I might have blamed the broadcast signal. Sceptre should immediately fire the idiot that programmed in this bug/feature. GOD!! why does Spectre continously shoot themselves in the foot!!!

donsev

03-07-06, 10:11 AM

Thank you donsev for the most informative replies.

The 5.1 output, or lack of it, is a concern for me. I use cable RF straight from the wall. No STB. So the only way I'll get digital surround sound is from the TV. I just presumed all along that if any set had an ATSC or QAM tuner that it would also have 5.1 audio. Mistake on my part.

Where was this "hidden" SPDIF port located inside the case on the early sets? Did you have to take the set apart? Makes me wonder if it could be hidden somewhere else on the newer versions.

Thanks again,

Mike

Mike,

Check back to post #331 and later where they discuss discovering the SPDIF port.

hakujin

03-07-06, 10:21 AM

Don,

I sure wish some genius on this board would discover the method for entering the service menu, as I'm sure the auto contrast "feature" could be disabled there.

Isn't that something that could be addressed to Sceptre. I mean, it's totally a problem. And it would seem not so bright if they're unwilling to fix the problem when you can just as easily take the set back you know where.

You also mentioned making a choice as to how you should use your HDMI. I'm in the same situation but with component video. If only they could've put one more on there, I would be golden. For those of you needing 2 HD component video inputs, what types of swtichers have you been using?

hakujin

03-07-06, 10:29 AM

Eric,

I have my Xbox360 connected through the VGA port as VGA-PC and I have not noticed the auto-contrast problem with it at all.

Jason! You have the answer to my most anticipated question. I've been scouring the Xbox Scene forums and from what I understand, the VGA connection on the 360 creates a washed out, over gammified look; a problem that MS has yet to fix, unless it came on the most recent March 3rd update. If I can connect my Xbox 360 via VGA, than I can reserve the component video for my Xbox 1 and use it as my upsampling DVD player/media player. I'm very excited to know whether you've used component video (HD) with your 360 and if VGA looks just as good now????

Thanks in advance.

donsev

03-07-06, 10:37 AM

Just an Update::

Well after watching the 2 hour episode of 24 last night I did notice the auto-contrast issue as reported by others. In dark scenes it would pulse once in a while back and forth. What a STUPID option to put in a TV that can't be defeated by the user!! Overall I'm still happy with the TV as everything else works terrific and it is a really suttle issue so far that if I had'nt been aware it existed I might have blamed the broadcast signal. Sceptre should immediately fire the idiot that programmed in this bug/feature. GOD!! why does Spectre continously shoot themselves in the foot!!!

Blue, I suppose this is one of those situations (like discovering dead pixels) that you wish you hadn't ever had known about (or looked for), but now that you do know, it will drive you crazy!

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

Please correct me if this is wrong.

Eric, I believe, since many are using the HDMI port or VGA port (as PC-VGA) exclusively, this may explain why some do not see the "feature" - or they just don't notice it (and wish we had never brought it up ;)), or they conclude it is an issue with the cable box, or the broadcast signal. [Edit, sorry Eric, I didn't see that you said that you ARE using component for your Xbox360 and are not seeing the auto contrast issue - perhaps it IS a bug that only affects broadcast signals?)]

Come to think of it, why do we think this is a poorly designed "feature" and not a true bug in the way the Sceptre handles component signals. I don't recall why some believed it was a contrast "enhancing" design choice. Perhaps it has been a bug all along, and we just need to, once again, turn the heat up on Sceptre to remediate this problem.

donsev

03-07-06, 10:42 AM

... I'm in the same situation but with component video. If only they could've put one more on there, I would be golden. For those of you needing 2 HD component video inputs, what types of swtichers have you been using?

(woulda been nice if this set has two component inputs dammit)

hakujin, [Edit, And k2_1971]

If you have a Version 2 or later, you DO have 2 component ports. The VGA port can be switched to YPbPr (component). Some of the shipments did not contain the VGA to component breakout cable, but they can be easily ordered from places like monoprice.

hakujin

03-07-06, 10:47 AM

hakujin,

If you have a Version 2 or later, you DO have 2 component ports. The VGA port can be switched to YPbPr (component). Some of the shipments did not contain the VGA to component breakout cable, but they can be easily ordered from places like monoprice.

That's super! So that I understand this, the actual signal would be YPbPr, so I wouldn't be susceptible to anomalies that exist with VGA connection on a certain device right?

Also, that site monoprice is really cheap. I'd go ahead and order the cord now, but you implied that "some" shipments have the cable?

Lastly, my hdcp hdmi would still available to no?

Thank you so much.

kkrull

03-07-06, 10:54 AM

v2+ internal USB port. No I didn't see any SPDIF ports. Wouldn't it be cool if it did 5.1 out? No, my guess is that it is to reflash the firmware...

http://www.ezarchive.com/krash/AlbumSpace/74G8IUHDM2/USB+Port.jpg

Black Sceptre logo mod. No I couldn't get the plate off as they have stuck the aluminum logo into the plastic. Only do this if you are really sure you want to keep the unit.

http://www.ezarchive.com/krash/AlbumSpace/74G8IUHDM2/Black+Plate.jpg

DIY Aluminum mount. $50 parts and two hours labor. You don't save much money this way but you have a 3/8" thin mount. Besides the 1.5"x1/8" and 2"x1/8" aluminum, the key parts are 5mm x 10mm Steel Cap Screw Sockets that screw into the Sceptre, pop into the 3/8 inch holes and slide down into the 9/64" holes. Use two thicknesses (0.5" thick) on the vertical bars so that the cap screws have room to slide. Spray the whole thing with clear enamel so you don't leave aluminum marks on the wall. I needed a dremel bit to smooth out the aluminum slots. I don't think that this works without the speakers as two wall studs are 33.5" apart, and you would see the bracket from side angles if the speakers weren't on.

http://www.ezarchive.com/krash/AlbumSpace/74G8IUHDM2/Aluminum+DIY+Mount.jpg

donsev

03-07-06, 11:08 AM

That's super! So that I understand this, the actual signal would be YPbPr, so I wouldn't be susceptible to anomalies that exist with VGA connection on a certain device right?

Also, that site monoprice is really cheap. I'd go ahead and order the cord now, but you said that "some" shipments have the cable?

Lastly, my hdcp hdmi would still available to no?

Yes, switching the port from VGA-PC to YPbPr (which is a fairly common feature on display devices), completely switches the operation of the circuitry from VGA to component.

And yes, it is my recollection is that it was rather hit or miss as to whether users (again, for the Version 2 or later sets) had received their cables with the package. Also, it seemed that when those who hadn't received their cables called Sceptre, they received differing answers as to whether they were even supposed to be in the shipment or not. So YMMV.

And I don't see any reason why this would affect your HDMI port. But you may want to ask others to confirm, I don't even have the set yet :o

donsev

03-07-06, 11:19 AM

Come to think of it, why do we think this is a poorly designed "feature" and not a true bug in the way the Sceptre handles component signals. I don't recall why some believed it was a contrast "enhancing" design choice. Perhaps it has been a bug all along, and we just need to, once again, turn the heat up on Sceptre to remediate this problem.

Answering my own question.

Bennynihon, I had forgotten that you were forefront in looking into the auto-contrast "feature" early on. Has anyone with the 2+/3 firmware checked to see if the Dynamic Contrast/DCI control can now be turned off on the component inputs?

Page #9 (18)
phussary 09-01-05 08:16 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BTW - one of the menu items under SYSTEM is Dynamic Contrast.

dkelly 09-02-05 07:55 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some devices can adjust the backlights so that when most of the scene is dark, the backlight gets turned down. This allows for super blacks on mostly dark screens. I'm not sure if that's what they are referring to as dynamic contrast ratio.

Dan K

lowspeed 09-05-05 07:32 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another thing that bothers me is the dynamic contrast....

The brightness keeps changing in according to the most black level on the screen.

Anyone else notice this ?

mantamet 10-20-05 03:57 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Has anyone seen the autocontrast problem. I emailed SCEPTRE...they said to turn off the DCI control and that should get rid of this problem. I then called them and spoke to Roy in customer service and explained to him that the only menu that has DCI is the dtv menu( I have the problem on the componet input) He said that input is default on and there is no way to turn it off... he said he would refer it to an engineer and they would get back to me...this was last week, no call from SCEPTRE as of yet. This problem is extremely annoying has anyone experienced this?

leobag 10-20-05 08:33 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mantamet,

I have also noticed the auto contrast "feature" - it is very annoying and would love to know if you find a solution.
+

mantamet 10-21-05 09:34 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leobag,

What inputs have you experienced this autocontrast problem?

sledge1234 10-21-05 02:55 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Same here, on component as well

I got used to it, but still annoying ...

bennynihon 10-21-05 10:10 PM
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, I have this same problem. It's beyond me why Sceptre choose to disable the ability to change some features on certain inputs, but allow them to be changed on others. I wish I could disable this auto-constrast (auto-level) feature on the component input. I also wish I could try out their denoise feature, that is also only available on the DTV input.

I just sent them an email about changing the auto-contrast on the component input, and implored them for any information on getting into the service menu (which I can only imagine would allow one to change this feature). I also inquired them about the possibility of firmware updates. I encourage you guys to do the same.

monitor-ts@sceptre.com

BTW, has anyone actually had any success getting into a service menu? I did read that someone here had mistakenly ended up in a debug menu. I wonder what he found in that menu.

leobag 10-24-05 12:29 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry for the delay - I am pretty sure it is only on the component input.
+

mantamet 10-24-05 09:22 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think a service menu is the way to go on this.I'm going to call Costco corporate to see if they might put some pressure on Sceptre.

shadyInCA 10-24-05 09:59 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that was me. Unfortunately, it wasn't actually a menu, more of a core dump, and none of the remote keys responded

This auto contrast thing, I may have experienced that on Component, is that where a dark background sometime suddenly gets brighter and darker when people in the foreground move around? If so, that happened quite a lot while watching the Sorpranos DVD

bennynihon 10-25-05 01:25 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's the one.

I wrote them an email regarding this, and this is their response.

Quote:
Dear Customer,

We will look into the auto contrast problem. But the service menu has no
option that turn off the feature.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

> One issue that I find bothersome is the auto-contrast of the display.
> This occurs even when watching cable TV on the component inputs. The
> picture will constantly switch from dark to bright and back, and this
> severly affects the picture and viewing experience. From what I
> understand, there's a way to disable this feature with the DTV input,
> but not the component input. This is a limitation of the TV that should
> not have found its way to the consumer. I can only imagine that this
> auto-contrast feature can be disabled through a service menu. How can I
> enter the service menu? The manufacturer of my previous HDTV provided
> the service remote control for a fee. Is this available from Sceptre?
>
>
> Also, if this feature can not be changed via the service menu, then
> Sceptre owes its customers frequent firmware updates to enable more
> features via the regular menu. The set could be updated via the HDMI
> input, or another digital input.
>
>
> I appreciate your response.

I have 5 main gripes about the display that could all be fixed through software.

1.) Auto-contrast feature cannot be disabled on all inputs
2.) Lamp setting is not always retained after turning back on the display (the LAMP level is incorrect although the value that was set before is retained).
3.) Denoise feature cannot be enabled on all inputs (would be nice to denoise the component inputs to minimize dot crawl; temporal filtering would be nice)
4.) Not all combinations of PIP possible (e.g. I cannot use my PC on the DVI input while watching TV on the component inputs with PIP).
5.) Discrete input selection (this is more of a remote control issue. They either need to release the remote IR codes so that we can program a Universal Remote to do this, or sell an upgraded remote that has the discrete input selection)

Otherwise I think this set is pretty close to perfect.

kkrull

03-07-06, 11:19 AM

If you are frustrated in trying to get another remote to control the Sceptre, you may want to check all the keys on your main remote while emulating a particular model.

I have a Dish942 and was thinking that I couldn't have volume control while mapping the Sceptre as a Sony. My wife figured out that the 'browse' and 'theme' buttons actually control the Sceptre volume when the 942 remote is emulating a Sony TV, not the volume up and volume down buttons.

donsev

03-07-06, 11:32 AM

I have the new firmware (recently updated) with timestamp 13:58

can someone please confirm that this firmware does NOT have QAM support?

I just got it back a few days ago... very surprised it doesn't have the latest and greatest.

if not, back to the store it goes.

Dan,

I don't believe that it has as much to do with the firmware per se but as to which Version your set is. If it is a Version 1, you will NOT have a QAM tuner, if it is a Version 2, you MAY have a QAM tuner (we don't know when Sceptre changed to the QAM capable tuner in the Version 2s)

My hunch is that if you have a Version 1, then this might confirm that the 13:58 is specific to updated Version 1s, and the 14:58 is specific to updated Version 2s.

But if you have a Version 2, then perhaps the 13:58 represents the firmware for those sets with the original tuners, and 14:58 is specific to those (Version 2+) with the QAM capable tuner.

donsev

03-07-06, 11:42 AM

kkrull,

Thanks for "crackin' the case" and solving SPDIF port mystery. (Sorry for the pun).

kkrull

03-07-06, 11:43 AM

Well, the workaround solution of enabling Windows XP's Power Management "Turn Monitor Off after xxxx minutes" certainly works for me. Maybe this workaround works for my particular videocard/videodriver and just does not work for your PC setup.
No, I didn't have it setup correctly. It seems to work fine now, although I agree it would be really useful to assign a key sequence or a remote control function to turn DVI off and on again, so that we can watch other inputs and come back to DVI anytime, not just after a fixed time has elapsed. Are any windows programmers here?

danwheeler

03-07-06, 12:15 PM

Dan,

I don't believe that it has as much to do with the firmware per se but as to which Version your set is. If it is a Version 1, you will NOT have a QAM tuner, if it is a Version 2, you MAY have a QAM tuner (we don't know when Sceptre changed to the QAM capable tuner in the Version 2s)

My hunch is that if you have a Version 1, then this might confirm that the 13:58 is specific to updated Version 1s, and the 14:58 is specific to updated Version 2s.

But if you have a Version 2, then perhaps the 13:58 represents the firmware for those sets with the original tuners, and 14:58 is specific to those (Version 2+) with the QAM capable tuner.

Thanks for your reply, Don.

I believe I do have a V2 set since I do not have a power switch (that I can see)

I guess there's only one way to find out if nobody knows for sure... I was just looking at the charts someone had put together and noticed the ones with 13:58 didn't have QAM. :(

thanks again,
dan

danwheeler

03-07-06, 12:40 PM

Dear Customer,

Look at your DTV source. In there use Auto Scan, if you see cable options, then you have QAM support.

Those 2 timestamps have no difference.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

Daniel Wheeler wrote:
> Hello,
>
>
>
> There is much discussion on one of the forums about firmware on the 37”
> LCD. I recently had my firmware flashed to eliminate the judder
> problem. I have firmware dated 06/01/16 13:58. Some people have the
> same date but a different timestamp of 14:58. Can you tell me what
> the difference between the 13:58 and 14:58 firmware is? Can you tell
> me if my set has QAM support? It is very important for me to know so
> I appreciate it if you can tell me.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Dan Wheeler

ofdm

03-07-06, 01:50 PM

Please ! post pics ! :D
After the post below I don't know why you still keep bugging everyone for screen shots!!

OMFG ! I cant believe i had the chance to get a "like new refurbished unit" for the price of a new. I dont have the chance to ship it back to C.....

Imagibe the scenario :

I buy it from Cos... and they send me a Like new refurbished, it takes 3 weeks to come to me here in Brazil, and when i happily opens the box, i began to cry and destroy everything around me :(.

The QAM feature dont bother me, but the chance to get an refurbished for a new product is terrible, i tought in the EUA that dont happen, but looks like i was wrong. I must get the right choice from the right vendor.

OMFG God wish that is only a misunderstood and Costco dont do that, either Sceptre :(

jpconard

03-07-06, 01:56 PM

Received shipping confirmation last night. Will be here Friday afternoon. Not too bad for ordering Sat. afternoon.

Hope I get v2 with latest firmware and no screen defects!!

donsev

03-07-06, 02:34 PM

I believe I do have a V2 set since I do not have a power switch (that I can see)

I was just looking at the charts someone had put together and noticed the ones with 13:58 didn't have QAM. :(

That someone would be me ;)

Updated table below.

I would also take the reply you received with a large grain of salt;

Dear Customer,

Look at your DTV source. In there use Auto Scan, if you see cable options, then you have QAM support.

Those 2 timestamps have no difference.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

Just as I would with the reply Mike received;

I e-mailed Sceptre & they replied no way to tell version number from the serial number or from the date.

There is clearly a correlation between no QAM and 13:58, and QAM support and 14:58. We may not be looking at the correct info, and we may not fully understand the correlation, but it is there nonetheless. I believe that Sceptre (wrongly) believes that it is in their best interest to give cryptic answers that may be technically true, but leave muddied the actual answer.

Just as it is inconceivable that they do not track what component parts and firmware go into each set (recorded by serial number) as it comes off the assembly line. I couldn't imagine any business staying afloat for long with that lax of record keeping (if not for Quality Control, or for production cost analysis, or for warranty purposes, then for UL and FCC regulation requirements).

Member Vendor Version Firmware QAM

Reference
jpconard V1
bobgpsr V1 05/08/18 23:00 (Purchased 21 Aug 2005)
danwheeler ? 06/01/16 13:58 ? (Sent in for firmware upgrade...the tearing issue seems to be gone running at a regular 60hz)
kuladog Costco V2? 05/09/23 19:43 ? (purchased 1/27/06, DEBUG 0107)

Current (Purchased after approximately 2/1/06)
ben1000 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Nocman418 ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
mrayborn Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES (Comcast)
RedFive99 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES (DEBUG 0111)
bigjuice Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
mystic818 ? V2+ ? ?
Polypro Newegg V2+ No (but not definitive)
chuck5395 Costco V1 06/01/16 13:58 No
ericjut Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
teddyc #1 Costco V2+ YES (w/ defective audio shipped 2/9/06)
teddyc #2 Costco V1 No (V1 "refurbished" Shipped 2/21/06)
teddyc #3 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES (shipped 03/01/06)
Nimo #1 Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES (was able to test the DVI input on my AMD rig and with the latest nVidia betas I was able to hit 148.35 on the pixel clock @ 60.01 mHz.)
Nimo #2 Costco v2+ ? YES (bad video processor)
Nimo #3 Costco
deadedkid ? ? ? (my pamphlet has writting in it and white out)
Pecs Costco V1 No (no manual, no remote, no power cord, no cables and the top corner broken off)
wondermike#1 Costco V1? 06/01/16 13:58 No
wondermike#2 Costco TBD
samjc Costco V1 06/01/16 13:58 No (looked brand new. Noticed a series of bad pixels towards top of LCD)
Chuck Coughlin V2+
bluemax50 Costco V2+ ? YES
k2_1971 Costco ? 06/01/16 14:58 ?
Savdiscuss Costco V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 YES
Jason Merrick ? V2+ 06/01/16 14:58 ?
canoncritic ? TBD

(V1 Confirmed by having power switch in back)

Jason Merrick

03-07-06, 02:40 PM

Jason! You have the answer to my most anticipated question. I've been scouring the Xbox Scene forums and from what I understand, the VGA connection on the 360 creates a washed out, over gammified look; a problem that MS has yet to fix, unless it came on the most recent March 3rd update. If I can connect my Xbox 360 via VGA, than I can reserve the component video for my Xbox 1 and use it as my upsampling DVD player/media player. I'm very excited to know whether you've used component video (HD) with your 360 and if VGA looks just as good now????

Thanks in advance.
I had read all of those same reviews of poor VGA performance by the 360, but after playing PGR3 on my 360 through the component inputs, I was desperate to try something else. There were parts of PGR that were way too dark to play without having to adjust the video settings every time I played, then put them back for watching TV. In my opinion, the 360 looks much better through the VGA cable and I haven't noticed any kind of washed out appearance. The contrast is HUGELY improved with VGA.

FYI, my Sceptre did not come with a VGA --> Component cable in the box, but I ordered one from Monoprice and was using it happily before I decided to use the VGA for my 360. So there are 2 component inputs on the Sceptre for all intents and purposes. Also, the use of the VGA port does not interfere with the HDMI port in any way.

Jason Merrick

03-07-06, 02:42 PM

I noticed this morning when I was attempting to calibrate the video settings on the HDMI port, there is quite a bit of overscan on the HDMI & HDCP "inputs" but little to none on the DVI... anyone know why there would be a difference, when it's all coming in through the same cable and physical port?

Can anyone share their video settings from the DVI interface?

hakujin

03-07-06, 03:11 PM

Great! I'll try the VGA route first than, since I can always take that 360 dongle back.

ericjut

03-07-06, 03:30 PM

Nocman418

03-07-06, 04:03 PM

Hey Donsev, I noticed my name was on the list you contrived and I saw that you need some of the blanks filled in.

I purchased the set from "C" and it does have QAM. I placed the order on 2/6.

hakujin

03-07-06, 04:31 PM

My personal experience with the XBox360 is that I get a much sharper image from the Sceptre component input at 1080i than from the VGA at 1360X768 (maximum resolution over VGA). I didn't really notice a serious contrast difference between the two, but maybe it's because I wasn't looking for it.

-eric

Oh? I didn't know that VGA was limited to that res... Why can't it utilize the full 1080i?

I guess I'll have to try both and see for myself.

@ Everyone else

In my limited knowlege on the subject, QAM allows you to view the channels not traditionally offered on UHF/VHF without a set top box. However, if the channels are encrypted by the provider, it's pretty much worthless. Is that about right?

I'm wondering... for those of you that have QAM, are you able to watch unencrypted channels on your Sceptre? I'm trying to understand the value of QAM on my Sceptre; it should be arriving this time next week.

bluemax50

03-07-06, 04:54 PM

Oh? I didn't know that VGA was limited to that res... Why can't it utilize the full 1080i?

I guess I'll have to try both and see for myself.

@ Everyone else

In my limited knowlege on the subject, QAM allows you to view the channels not traditionally offered on UHF/VHF without a set top box. However, if the channels are encrypted by the provider, it's pretty much worthless. Is that about right?

I'm wondering... for those of you that have QAM, are you able to watch unencrypted channels on your Sceptre? I'm trying to understand the value of QAM on my Sceptre; it should be arriving this time next week.

I can believe your assessment is correct. I just recieved my Sceptre yesterday and it came with the QAM capable tuner. I live in Western Massachusetts and my cable provider is Comcast. After hooking up the cable to the tuner and choosing Auto scan it found about 50 channels, all totally useless!! all the music channels , all the shopping channels and one regional news broadcast. Out of all the channels it only receives 2 small sort of local stations , channel 30 out of CT and channel 25 from the eastern part of the state. I disconnected the cable and will use the Comcast provided (for a fee) cable box.

Nimo

03-07-06, 04:59 PM

Yup it's a weinner! very very:) happy :) scanning IRC as I type this. No more annomolies no dead pix and I won't posting anymore case closed.

jpconard

03-07-06, 05:32 PM

VGA is not limited to 1360x768, unless that is a limitation of the Xbox he is referring to. You can run 1920x1080, maybe 1920x1200 (I think) on both the VGA and HDMI (in DVI mode).

1920x1200 does cause vertical panning of the screen when on the Windows desktop.

Why the overscan in the HDCP & HDMI modes (on HDMI connector), question above? I do not know for sure, other than maybe the output of the PC is not HDCP/HDMI compatible? Thankfully Sceptre provided the DVI mode. Most other LCD TVs do not provide this mode and therefore it is a pain in the butt to get most of the current LCD TVs to work with a PC on the digital connector.

I thought I read that Vista will be HDCP/HDMI compatible.

On my V1 set, I run User mode with pretty much defaults of 128 for the colors, and contrast, and vary the backlighting. I tried 2 on backlighting but tend to now favor the brighter 4 setting. Backlighting kind of depends on the ambient light and what you are watching.

semuther

03-07-06, 06:15 PM

I've seen posts that the latest version sets (I'm expecting to take delivery on one tomorrow) do not have the 5.1 audio out. I'm curious how closely those exploring the issue looked? It sounds like these sets have a new tuner board board in them is that correct? Has anyone removed the shield cover over the tuner board to see if a connector (or at minimum a unstuffed PC board location for one) is on the board? Just because it's not poking out a hole someplace, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or doesn't have the potential for having the port added as a modification.

I'll also be paying close attention to the auto contrast issue since most of my HD sources are component at this point. It may be a show stopper for me.

Steve

Mike99

03-07-06, 07:19 PM

I e-mailed Sceptre last night regarding 5.1 digital output. They replied:

Dear Customer,

No, we've excluded that option. 5.1 DD is not available.

Best Regards,
Sceptre Technical Support Group

What a bummer. I was hoping for info leading to where a connector might be hidden.
When I heard the newer sets had a QAM tuner, this made me seriously consider this unit. But now I have to re-think the situation.
Thank's everyone for sharing all your information.

Mike

bluemax50

03-07-06, 07:25 PM

Well I've had this set for 2 days now so I won't report on long term reliability but I will say I think Sceptre has mostly got it right finally with this TV. I am really fussy when it comes to laying out cash and I have returned a few displays in this journey to find the perfect (?) display for the amount of money I could afford. My primary purpose was to find new TV for HDTV viewing and watching DVD's and I believe I've found it in this set. Picture quality simply blows away everything in this price range in my opinion including the awesome Westinghouse (which I returned) This set displays no stray backlighting , excellent low light viewing and I see no ghosting during sports that I watch such as basketball and boxing. I know that others will have differing opinions and that's fine but for the money there is really nothing out there today that can touch it. Is it perfect? NO, but there is not one large screen display on the market that IS perfect except in the minds of those who just dished out the cash. If your looking for a good HDTV with excellent color and decent contrast with a bright display even in a well lit room concider the Sceptre you won't be disappointed

hakujin

03-07-06, 07:47 PM

VGA is not limited to 1360x768, unless that is a limitation of the Xbox he is referring to. You can run 1920x1080, maybe 1920x1200 (I think) on both the VGA and HDMI (in DVI mode).

Hmmm... I was doing a little poking around after reading what he said, and it appears that VGA is kinda of flaky in higher resolutions, which dvi handles fine. So the limitation might be VGA no? If it were the 360, than it would choke at 1080i via component too, where in fact, it doesn't. Maybe just an issue just with the "xbox vga"...

rogers-hsv

03-07-06, 08:55 PM

Longtime lurker here (since about page 30 of this thread).

Does anyone know if the stereo L/R outputs contain a Pro Logic surround sound stream?

jpconard

03-07-06, 09:41 PM

Donsev,

I also noticed you have my name on your list without all the info. Mine is V1 purchased in August 05 (initial purchase time).

The debug info is -

Debug 0104
05/08/18 23:00
T370HW01
1920x1080

With the exception of those roughly 6" long lines in upper right with slightly off color (sometimes darker, sometimes lighter), I have no complaints. That is why I ordered a replacement.

I'll post the settings of the unit I receive on Friday.

ericjut

03-07-06, 11:38 PM

Hmmm... I was doing a little poking around after reading what he said, and it appears that VGA is kinda of flaky in higher resolutions, which dvi handles fine. So the limitation might be VGA no? If it were the 360, than it would choke at 1080i via component too, where in fact, it doesn't. Maybe just an issue just with the "xbox vga"...

I was obviously talking about an XBox360 VGA adapter limitation... The highest resolution that the 360 supports is 1360X768, but it supports a whole bunch of other resolutions. On the component adapter of the 360, you can do 720p and 1080i, and on the Sceptre, because of its native resolution of 1920X1080, 1080i looks the sharpest IMHO.

-eric

hakujin

03-08-06, 12:39 AM

I was obviously talking about an XBox360 VGA adapter limitation... The highest resolution that the 360 supports is 1360X768, but it supports a whole bunch of other resolutions. On the component adapter of the 360, you can do 720p and 1080i, and on the Sceptre, because of its native resolution of 1920X1080, 1080i looks the sharpest IMHO.

-eric

Obviously... pffffftttt... sheesh... ;p ... no really, I "obviously" didn't glean that from your post and that is why I inquired further. Truthfully, that seems to be a bad move by MS to exclude the idea that folks with 1080i sets would like to use the VGA at full res. Based on that, I have a feeling there will be some native 1080i games coming out in the future so I think I'll save the $40 and just pay $9 for the vga to component cable.

Pecs

03-08-06, 02:02 AM

Received my replacement set today, and thought I would post a few things worth mentioning. Definitely different than the previous one, no power switch on back, different stand. No dead pixels. Debug showed the 14:58 time stamp. However, after viewing some OTA channels, I immediately noticed green artifacts on the right half of the screen that at least one other user reported (and returned his set as a result). Happened over component input as well, but not VGA. Made me think that it wasn't the video processor after all, as another user thought. So I bumped up the memory timing to 3, to see if that would do anything, and it actually seemed to fix the problem. Hope it works for someone else.

Few observations:
Auto contract feature still present over component, and I don't see anything in my menu (contrary to what the manual says) to turn it off. I think it may also be present with the ATSC tuner for OTA broadcasts, but haven't watched it enough to be sure. Pretty sure. And pretty sure it would bother me. I don't think it happens over VGA.

Black levels could be better (coming from a CRT)

Long delay in changing channels

Questions:
1. Any way to turn off the info that always pops up whenever you change a channel with the ATSC tuner? Takes forever to disappear. Would rather it never come up.
2. What are "EA" and "I-plate" in the DTV set-up menu?
3. For DTV, what brightness/contrast/color etc. settings are some you using? Find anything better than the defaults?

donsev

03-08-06, 08:18 AM

However, after viewing some OTA channels, I immediately noticed green artifacts on the right half of the screen that at least one other user reported (and returned his set as a result). Happened over component input as well, but not VGA. Made me think that it wasn't the video processor after all, as another user thought. So I bumped up the memory timing to 3, to see if that would do anything, and it actually seemed to fix the problem. Hope it works for someone else.

I believe that was Nimo with set #2, and I believe that he did try to reset the memory timing, but, I don't know whether he tried all settings to see if, as in your case, 3 worked better than Sceptre's recommended 2.

Few observations:
Auto contract feature still present over component, and I don't see anything in my menu (contrary to what the manual says) to turn it off. I think it may also be present with the ATSC tuner for OTA broadcasts, but haven't watched it enough to be sure. Pretty sure. And pretty sure it would bother me. I don't think it happens over VGA.

Pecs, if I understand correctly, some menu options, specifically the Dynamic Contrast/DCI control, are only available when on certain inputs. So I believe, based on earlier reports, that DCI can be accessed (to be turned off) when in the ATSC menus - so you might want to double check to see if it is there when you're using that input.

But it sounds like there has been no change to the firmware to allow access to the DCI control when in the *component* input menus. If that is the case I will be very disappointed (and more so if the same limitation exists on the 42").

Would you mind relaying what the manual says about this - I didn't realize that it even mentioned the Dynamic contrast?

av_boy

03-08-06, 11:13 AM

I just received my 37" sceptre from C* on Monday. Before hanging it on the wall I wanted to verify that it worked. Since I dont have any HDMI devices, I tried using 3 different PCs (acer laptop, powermac G5, PC with ATI 8500) via the DVI->HDMI cable and the TV always said "No Signal" (yes I "tried" enable the DVI port on the PC, but it apparently thinks there is no display device attached to the DVI port.

Has anyone else had this problem? I was thinking about picking up another DVI->HDMI cable locally to see if Sceptre sent me a bad cable.

I was able to get the VGA input to work from all PCs at the native resolution (what a picture!) as well as an OTA HD channel (yeah, just one, I live in the Denver area and will need a more elaborate antenna to get any more channels).
I was also able to get the component inputs to work using a DVD player, however I didnt watch enough of a movie to know if I have the "auto-contrast" problem.

If I was to return the TV to C* does anyone know if they refund the shipping charges?

sledge1234

03-08-06, 11:34 AM

Pecs

03-08-06, 11:36 AM

Would you mind relaying what the manual says about this - I didn't realize that it even mentioned the Dynamic contrast?

In the back of the manual, it just lists all features that are acessible through the menu with all the different inputs. As I recall, for the digital inputs it listed this "dynamic contrast" feature(bug) in the same submenu as the Lamp settings. However, I could not find it with my set in the submenu it was supposed to be in. The manual does not describe the feature at all. Nor does it describe the I-plate or EA options in the DTV menu, and I'm curious about these. Just lists them as options.

OK, just googled I-plate, and it is "Information Plate" which I think is the panel that comes up every time you change a channel. So hopefully I can turn this off now.

wondermike

03-08-06, 11:46 AM

Got my second set on Monday from the big C. I get 30+ QAM Channels from TWC in Orange, Ca, all OTA HD included. No dead pixels, set is a keeper for me. Thanks everyone for all the info.

summerjack

03-08-06, 12:16 PM

Nimo

03-08-06, 12:33 PM

I immediately noticed green artifacts on the right half of the screen that at least one other user reported (and returned his set as a result). Happened over component input as well, but not VGA. Made me think that it wasn't the video processor after all, as another user thought. So I bumped up the memory timing to 3, to see if that would do anything, and it actually seemed to fix the problem. Hope it works for someone else.

Settings in memeory delay were set at 345&6 with no better results. This was on the DVI port connected to my pc.

I believe that was Nimo with set #2, and I believe that he did try to reset the memory timing, but, I don't know whether he tried all settings to see if, as in your case, 3 worked better than Sceptre's recommended 2.

Yes I did try all the settings with no positive results, on my 2nd unit the delay was set to 4 the other unit the delay was set to 3 when I switched to 4 on the unit I sent back it did clear up the splocthing but the vertical lines and artifacts on the desktop were still there even in dvd playback. This also did it in DTV HDCP & DVI mode I'm glad I returned it to Costco because that unit came scratched and pretty beat I think it may have been damaged during shipping, remember UPS beats the sh!t out of those boxes and the one I sent back had holes all the way through both boxes and I thought for sure they damaged the lcd screen that's how bad it was when it got delivered.

This second unit was in way better shape meaning the box and all it's contents no holes or bashed in corners etc.. I recorded House last night and am now watching it on my pc using using pdvd my nView displays are set to custom res @1920x1080P pixel clock is @ 148.35 @ 59.939 Hertz.
donsev my unit is v2+ with fw 16/01/06 14.58 with QAM.

zderry

03-08-06, 01:21 PM

First I like to thank all the people who posted information here, it help me a lot for making a decision on which HDTV I should purschase (my first one), I started looking at the Westy 37 to the Westy 42 to the sceptre 42 and finally made the pluge on this Sceptre 37, here is my information to add to the tracking table

purchased on 02/24/2006 from C***** arrived on 03/06/2006

Brand new unit, shipped from Ontario, CA, no dead pixel that I can tell, QAM capable, no power switch on the back

Debug information:

Debug 0111
06101116 14:58
T370HW01
1920X1080

local channels in HD looks great, movies with OPPO OPDV971H also looks great

still on factory default settings and on the TV's speaker, looking to get SpyderTV for calibration and get YSP-800 with a subwoofer for a 1.1 surround solution

again thank you for all the posts, it really helped.

ericjut

03-08-06, 01:23 PM

In the back of the manual, it just lists all features that are acessible through the menu with all the different inputs. As I recall, for the digital inputs it listed this "dynamic contrast" feature(bug) in the same submenu as the Lamp settings. However, I could not find it with my set in the submenu it was supposed to be in. The manual does not describe the feature at all. Nor does it describe the I-plate or EA options in the DTV menu, and I'm curious about these. Just lists them as options.

OK, just googled I-plate, and it is "Information Plate" which I think is the panel that comes up every time you change a channel. So hopefully I can turn this off now.

You can control how long the I-plate shows, if it shows at all and how transparent it is (all in the DTV menu). But unfortunately, as I listed in my review of the v2+ (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7171763#post7171763), the modifications to the defaults you're doing will not be persisted. So next time you turn on the TV, you'll have to go and redo those changes.

My personal workaround to this is to put my channels in the favorites list and use the favorite menu to channel surf... that way, I just get that box on the lower left, which is better than the I-plate.

-eric

ericjut

03-08-06, 01:35 PM

I noticed a problem with my Sceptre 37":

When playing a NTSC signal (DVD, TV Channel...etc) through HDMI, Component, AV1 or AV2 inputs the television centers the image on the screen and STRETCHES the image vertically nearly 1.75 inches which means not only is my image slightly deformed but I am also not seeing a fairly good portion of the image.

It gets worse when I play my DVD player in Progressive scan mode (480p) because the television no longer centers the image. Instead it holds the top of the signal to the top of the screen and stretches downward so I lose all 1.75 inches off of the bottom of the screen.

Here is how I noticed this:

When watching a 2.35:1 ratio DVD in 480p mode the image is not centered vertically, the black bar on top is much thicker than the black bar on the bottom.

When watch a 1.85:1 ratio DVD or letterboxed movie on Cable television it is quite clear that the ratio is significantly smaller than that. When I zoom into the cable channel or display the DVD in 480p the signal doesn't fit on the TV (i.e. No Black Bars at all although there should be some very, very small ones).

Also, this problem does not exist on the VGA input from my computer (1920x1080) signal. It shows the DVDs perfectly, exact ratios, no overscan problems or anything.

Does anyone else have this problem?

If I return it will a new TV have this problem?

I have had this TV for a month or so and I swear it didn't use to be like this so it may have slowly happened over time.

You should play with the "Aspect" button (at the top right of the remote). Playing with it, I can also confirm that "Zoom" and "Zoom subtitles" don't seem to behave correctly (they seem to always show the top part of the picture instead of centering or showing the bottom part respectively). You should be able to put your DVD player in 16:9/Widescreen mode and playback your DVDs using the 16:9 aspect ratio on the Sceptre without too much cropping.

But know that most TVs have a "action safe" overscan area of the picture that they actually crop (and/or zoom). That area is part of the NTSC standard and actually shouldn't be shown. Some broadcasters still use the top part to send closed caption information in that area and trust me, you don't want to see that on your picture. It's about 5% on each side of screen. And you will see that being applied to all A/V inputs on the Sceptre (except for VGA and DVI, since those are typically used by PCs).

Hope this helps a little.

-eric

Pecs

03-08-06, 02:08 PM

eric,

How were you able to save your favorites list? For me, the prompt to save changes disappears before I can do anything, and nothing is saved. Maybe you addressed that earlier; I'll have a look.

bennynihon

03-08-06, 03:00 PM

But it sounds like there has been no change to the firmware to allow access to the DCI control when in the *component* input menus. If that is the case I will be very disappointed (and more so if the same limitation exists on the 42").

Would you mind relaying what the manual says about this - I didn't realize that it even mentioned the Dynamic contrast?

We need to get on Sceptre's back about this. The more people that email them and make a fuss about it, the more likely they'll update the firmware to disable this feature on the component inputs. As a video purist, no one would not want the ability to turn this auto-contrast off. Why they allow it to be disabled for the built-in ATSC tuner, and not the component inputs, is beyond me. Don't they realize that many people already have cable boxes and STBs that output component?

ericjut

03-08-06, 03:33 PM

eric,

How were you able to save your favorites list? For me, the prompt to save changes disappears before I can do anything, and nothing is saved. Maybe you addressed that earlier; I'll have a look.

Already answered that question (Post #1971: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7203049#post7203049).

-eric

Jason Merrick

03-08-06, 06:58 PM

My personal experience with the XBox360 is that I get a much sharper image from the Sceptre component input at 1080i than from the VGA at 1360X768 (maximum resolution when using the 360 VGA adapter). I didn't really notice a serious contrast difference between the two, but maybe it's because I wasn't looking for it.

-eric
I was under the impression that 1280x720 was the preferred resolution choice on the 360, that's what I use and the picture looks phenomenal.

Jason Merrick

03-08-06, 07:15 PM

Obviously... pffffftttt... sheesh... ;p ... no really, I "obviously" didn't glean that from your post and that is why I inquired further. Truthfully, that seems to be a bad move by MS to exclude the idea that folks with 1080i sets would like to use the VGA at full res. Based on that, I have a feeling there will be some native 1080i games coming out in the future so I think I'll save the $40 and just pay $9 for the vga to component cable.
You may change your mind depending on what games you play. For me, as I stated before, PGR3 was unplayable without adjusting the video settings everytime I played when my 360 was connected through component. The VGA cable fixed that problem for me completely. You'll have to decide for yourself if there is a difference in sharpness with the 1280x720 VGA vs the component output of the 360.

Haku, you may also want to visit this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=647755) for more Xbox 360 vga info and opinions.

ericjut

03-08-06, 07:16 PM

I was under the impression that 1280x720 was the preferred resolution choice on the 360, that's what I use and the picture looks phenomenal.

I personally think that the preferred resolution should be a match between the resolution of your source and your display unit. So, for example, if you have a 1280X720 LCD panel, it would make a lot of sense to use 720p in this case. Since we're talking about a 1920X1080 panel with the Sceptre, I believe you'll get the best picture at that resolution. Unfortunately, the 360 doesn't support 1080p. It does support 1080i on Component, but not on the VGA adapter. 1280X720 is about 0.922 MPixels and 1360X768 is 1.04 MPixels which is about 12% more data. Since both of them will require a rescaling to 1920X1080, why not use the one with more detail?

Anyways... All I can say is that I've used my 360 on a 1366X768 native LCD display (a Sharp 37") using the VGA adapter at 1360X768 since I got my 360, because it looked a lot sharper than 720p on VGA or component. When I switched to the Sceptre, I tried 1080i with the Component cable and felt it was even sharper. I was afraid of deinterlacing artifacts, but the image is really solid and sharp. Doesn't look like the Sceptre is bobbing or weaving.

-eric

Since

summerjack

03-08-06, 07:17 PM

Jason Merrick

03-08-06, 07:20 PM

I personally think that the preferred resolution should be a match between the resolution of your source and your display unit. So, for example, if you have a 1280X720 LCD panel, it would make a lot of sense to use 720p in this case. Since we're talking about a 1920X1080 panel with the Sceptre, I believe you'll get the best picture at that resolution. Unfortunately, the 360 doesn't support 1080p. It does support 1080i on Component, but not on the VGA adapter. 1280X720 is about 0.922 MPixels and 1360X768 is 1.04 MPixels which is about 12% more data. Since both of them will require a rescaling to 1920X1080, why not use the one with more detail?

Anyways... All I can say is that I've used my 360 on a 1366X768 native LCD display (a Sharp 37") using the VGA adapter at 1360X768 since I got my 360, because it looked a lot sharper than 720p on VGA or component. When I switched to the Sceptre, I tried 1080i with the Component cable and felt it was even sharper. I was afraid of deinterlacing artifacts, but the image is really solid and sharp. Doesn't look like the Sceptre is bobbing or weaving.

-eric

Since
Cool, thanks for the info Eric, I will try 1360x768 next time I play. I may try the component connection for my 360 again some time in the future, but it will have to be with a different game. PGR3 is only playable for me over the VGA.

ericjut

03-08-06, 07:21 PM

You may change your mind depending on what games you play. For me, as I stated before, PGR3 was unplayable without adjusting the video settings everytime I played when my 360 was connected through component. The VGA cable fixed that problem for me completely. You'll have to decide for yourself if there is a difference in sharpness with the 1280x720 VGA vs the component output of the 360.

Well... I was talking solely about resolution. If you're talking about fixing the contrast issue, then using the VGA cable might very well be a viable workaround. I don't have PGR3, so I can't directly compare, but I've yet to experience this auto-contrast blunder on the 360... :/

-eric

ericjut

03-08-06, 07:28 PM

Eric,

Thanks for the response. I have have all the features figured out on this tv. I know all about the aspect modes. I have my HDTV Cable box set up right and my DVD player setup right too.

I don't have a problem with the loss of picture nearly as much as I have with the fact the the image is being slightly STRETCHED vertically. This occurs in Auto and 16:9 modes and it occurs with NTSC cable signals from my cable box and DVD signals.

Stretching does NOT occur on the HDTV signals from my cable box and the VGA Computer (1920x1080) signals.

The cable box is the key: It is connected via HDMI. I watch the HBO-HD channel, no problems. I leave the aspect mode as Auto. I change channels to the non-HD version of HBO showing the exact same program in a different resolution but now the stretching is there and if I measure the physical aspect ratios as displayed on the television and compare, they are different!!!

Not to confuse you even more... but I doubt you can rely on the "Auto" mode to do the right thing. Using the QAM DTV tuner, I have to switch between 4:3 and 16:9 to watch my SD-digital and HD channels respectively, to a point where I got tired and set only my HD channels on the DTV tuner and set the remaining SD channels on the NTSC analog tuner. That way I can keep the DTV in 16:9 and put the analog tuner in 4:3 mode and not have to play with aspect ratios anymore. (Of course, all my other inputs are native 1080i/p, so I don't have to deal with SD inputs, which doesn't look to be your case unfortunately).

-eric

semuther

03-08-06, 08:25 PM

I received my new unit today from C***

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920X1080

Based on all the other posts on these late model sets, not much new to report.

The speakers are not that terrible for casual viewing if you spend a bit of time playing with the EQ settings. A subwoofer would certainly help.

If one has both analog and digital channels from both cable and OTA you really have a mess on your hands with this set if you want to take advantage of all. Something like two splitters and two A/B switches are needed such that either tuner can see either source.

I've seen the auto contrast on component input using a Roku box as the source on some episodes of CSI and a few HD movies. Not sure if it really bothers me that much but I'll give myself some time on that one. If a firmware update fixes the problem in the future I might go for it.

The manual? Oh, is that what that is.... :)

Steve

tf8252

03-08-06, 09:44 PM

Just got my Sceptre today and I'm dissappointed in the picture...

Fuzziness, blurriness, color is off, green noise artifacts, large black noise artifacts with DVDs.

I'm hoping I just have this setup wrong.

Right now I'm running HDTV and Cable Video through Component cables because I couldn't get any picture or audio with the HDMI/DVI cable that came with the unit.

Here are some screen captures...

See the green noise artifacts in this HDTV program:
http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/capture1.jpg

See the color is off in this one:
http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/HDTVCapturecoloroff.jpg

See the large black specs of noise in Nicole Kidmans blouse on a DVD of Cold Mountain here:
http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/DVDcaptureblackspecsofnoise.jpg

I'd appreciate any tips you can give me...I'm really new to this stuff.

Thanks.

Nimo

03-08-06, 10:46 PM

danwheeler

03-08-06, 11:32 PM

I'm having some trouble with my Sceptre not seeing my DVI signal after letting things sit overnight. I gather this is a known problem but I haven't been able to find much discussion about it when searching the forum. I dont have any power management enabled on my PC. When I turn the TV off at the end of the night, i turn it on the next day and get "no signal". The only way to get things working again is to reboot the PC. Sounds like I'm not the only one with this problem but I dont know how to fix it. Like I said, i have no power management, screen saver or any other weird stuff set up to change after a certain period of time.

can anyone tell me whats going on and how to fix it?

thanks!
dan

Nimo

03-08-06, 11:40 PM

Dan what video card are you running? My rig is an AMD 3500 Winnie using an XFX 7800 GT using nVidia betas 84.12 I have xp screen saver activated and when I shut off the TV for like an hour I can still get my DT I havn't tried overnight will post back tomorrow and let you know.

danwheeler

03-08-06, 11:45 PM

Thanks Nimo. I have an AMD 3500 w/ ATI X800GT.

I dont have any screen saver or power management which makes this very confusing.

Nimo

03-08-06, 11:50 PM

You gotta have it if you are running xp go to control panel appearance & themes/ screen saver and also check settings in monitor power. I suspect it's a driver issue but I'll let you know tomorrow for sure, can you get back to DT after an hour or so?

daquint

03-09-06, 12:44 AM

Hi there.

With my set coming in the next few weeks to a month, and some people claiming that some Sceptre sets are not coming with PC-DVI to HDMI cables, can someone point me to the right direction or provide a link to the exact item on monoprice.? I would like to take pre-emptive measures so im not looking at a blank screen....well not a blank screen on that Input anyway :)

thanks!

Brian_R170

03-09-06, 01:42 AM

daquint,

For HDMI to DVD, check out item #: 2661 (3ft), 2404 (6ft), 2405 (10ft), or 2505 (15ft).

My personal recommendation would be to buy an HDMI-male to male cable (item # 2526, 2412, 2504, or 2529) and get the little HDMI to DVI adapter (item # 2029). This will give you more compatibility in the long run, such as plugging into an HDMI switch.

I am currently using my HTPC to drive 1080p into the X37SV-Naga using the 2504/2029 combo.

Sherbona

03-09-06, 04:58 AM

danwheeler,

Have you updated your video card to the latest cat driver? I recall there being some driver bugs in that area that ATI recently fixed.

donsev

03-09-06, 08:46 AM

I tried 1080i with the Component cable and felt it was even sharper. I was afraid of deinterlacing artifacts, but the image is really solid and sharp. Doesn't look like the Sceptre is bobbing or weaving.

-eric

Since

Eric,

That gives me an idea. I was wondering how one would go about testing how the Sceptre does in de-interlacing the 1080i material. And your comment made me realize that you could possibly use the XBox 360 to play back the test files that are posted in the "throwing away half the resolution" thread. I suppose you could copy the files to the 360 from a WinXP machine on the same network...

(If I understand it correcly, "weaving" is actually the preferred de-interlacing method whereby the two 540 fields are actually stitched back together to form one 1080 frame.)

tf8252

03-09-06, 11:08 AM

Donsev,

I also noticed you have my name on your list without all the info. Mine is V1 purchased in August 05 (initial purchase time).

The debug info is -...

How do I get into the DEBUG mode? I've been told I need to change some setting to 4 in there.

sfhub

03-09-06, 11:10 AM

(If I understand it correcly, "weaving" is actually the preferred de-interlacing method whereby the two 540 fields are actually stitched back together to form one 1080 frame.)
Weaving is preferred for static scenes or you will lose half the resolution. Bob'ing is preferred for motion scenes or you will see feathering/combing artifacts.

If you have more advanced deinterlacing, within the same picture parts can be weaved and parts can be bob'd. Even more advanced deinterlacing, can try to interpolate the missing field using information from the previous and next fields.

If you have film source (24p) that is telecined onto 1080i, then there is a deinterlace process called reverse 3:2 pulldown (or alternatively inverse telecine) which will recover the original 24 progressive frames with no loss and no interpolation.

Pecs

03-09-06, 01:11 PM

How do I get into the DEBUG mode? I've been told I need to change some setting to 4 in there.

You push the 3rd and 4th buttons (I think) simultaneously under the panel. I forget which ones, and usually just end up pushing two buttons until it comes up. Then you need to hit "1" on your remote. This should bring up the timing option.

donsev

03-09-06, 01:12 PM

Weaving is preferred for static scenes or you will lose half the resolution. Bob'ing is preferred for motion scenes or you will see feathering/combing artifacts.

If you have more advanced deinterlacing, within the same picture parts can be weaved and parts can be bob'd. Even more advanced deinterlacing, can try to interpolate the missing field using information from the previous and next fields.

If you have film source (24p) that is telecined onto 1080i, then there is a deinterlace process called reverse 3:2 pulldown (or alternatively inverse telecine) which will recover the original 24 progressive frames with no loss and no interpolation.

sfhub,

Thanks for the mini-lesson. I appreciate your feedback.
If you don't mind my asking, what would you suggest as the best way to run the test to confirm how a set (this Naga 37" in particular) does deinterlacing (short of a video card that ouputs 1080i)?

Thanks

Ztimman

03-09-06, 02:54 PM

Nimo

03-09-06, 03:40 PM

I've got a Sceptre X37SV. I've got it connected to satellite reciever through hdmi.

I came in the other day to see a blue screen with a number of vertical lines running through the center of the screen.

Now a lot of the time when I turn on the set I'll get Blue screen. No picture. Other times I turn it on and I'll get only the high def channels but any other satellite channels are blue screen.

All channels work using S Vidio Connection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(I hope I posted this in the right place)

Thanks
Ztimman

I think your better off using component for your STB I have my other set on Dish through component no issues.

UPDATE: I turned on my TV this morning and it went straight to DT with xp screen saver. I'll try no screen savers tonight with no power down and see if it can get back to the DT. :)

samjc

03-09-06, 04:31 PM

Hi,

Had originally rec'd a version 1 from Ontario, CA. Received replacement yesterday. Using TV for HDTV only. Looked brand new, no switch on back and debug is:

Debug 0111
06101116 14:58 (was 13:58 on my first unit)
T370HW01
1920X1080

I have Comcast Cable and the Scientific Atlanta 3250HD STB hooked up via DVI to the Sceptre HDMI/DVI port. The HD is pretty awesome via this connection.

I also ran cable from wall straight to Sceptre ASTC tuner to test QAM..no problem. But I will stick to using the Comcast STB as it allows me to navigate both HD and analog channels without messing around with splitters.

One key difference is when I am viewing via STB/DVI, there are what I thought were dead pixels about an inch long on the top left and right side of the LCD, same as the unit I am replacing. But when I view via QAM that anomaly is not present...must be either the STB or DVI connection. Anybody else have that experience.

Interesting thing with the new unit, there is a piece of silver tape over a hole where the NTSC tuner is suppose to be. Doesn't matter much to me given I am using the STB, but thought I mention it.

semuther

03-09-06, 05:14 PM

Interesting thing with the new unit, there is a piece of silver tape over a hole where the NTSC tuner is suppose to be. Doesn't matter much to me given I am using the STB, but thought I mention it.

On a V3 set you should have two F connectors (one for analog NTSC and one for digital). Is yours missing the NTSC connector? My V3 arrived yesterday and I notice that there was silvever tape remnants and adhesive residue around the locations of both connectors.

In any case, if memory serves, the analog NTSC connector should have an adapter with an F connector on one end and the funky connector on the other which plugs into the recessed tuner inside the TV. Make sure that didn't fall out or is missing on yours.

Steve

tf8252

03-09-06, 07:03 PM

Sent this email to Sceptre TS today...

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

1) I have horizonatal green artifacts on the screen, mostly on the right hand side during certain programing...seems to be more prevalant with SD.
Here's a screen shot: http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/capture1.jpg

2) The color is hard to adjust and seems change drastically from one channel to the next...usually I get a channel that has way too much green in it, but some channels have too much red, like this one: http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/HDTVCapturecoloroff.jpg

3) This DVD had black specs of noise in it: http://www.ehomeparade.com/images2/temp/DVDcaptureblackspecsofnoise.jpg

4) I've been told I need to set something to "4" in DEBUG mode...how do I get to DEBUG mode?

5) Another issue is that the HDMI-DVI cable works only intermittently. Most of the time the cable outputs an image which has 1/3 of the picture from the left-hand side displaying on the RIGHT-HAND side with a vertical bar between the images!

I'm using a Motorola set top box from Comcast (the silver one that has only a DVI port)

Serial#: 550R3702AA0555
Right now I'm using basic RCA cables from the DVD to the monitor.
I'm using RGB component cables for the Cable signal.

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

I'll let you know what I hear back.

bluemax50

03-09-06, 07:43 PM

Well 4 solid days and I've been looking for even the most minor issue I can happily report , SO FAR SO GOOD!! Today I finally connected the display to my computer, I'm driving the display with a ATI Radeon 9500pro in a system I built containing an AMD64 2800 with 512 megs of memory. I set the display to 1900 x 1024 and ran the Judder test and checked the display for any dead or stuck pixels. Everything checked out perfectly, no judder and no dead pixels. I then downloaded some 1080P clips from microsoft and those looked amazing, DVD looked good also. I think I'm finally out of the LCD return business, This is my first Sceptre and it's a keeper (so far!!) With all the interest in this thread surrounding this display I thought I'd enter some positive comments . I for one find this display an absolute steal at the price

rogers-hsv

03-09-06, 08:05 PM

How about phrasing it another way... Does the Sceptre pass through intact any Pro Logic streams on the L/R stereo outputs?

semuther

03-09-06, 08:35 PM

How about phrasing it another way... Does the Sceptre pass through intact any Pro Logic streams on the L/R stereo outputs?

The only thing that comes out of the L/R stereo outputs is a stereo direct downmix. Pro Logic would require that the TV re-encode the 5.1 source material to Pro Logic standards before outputting it as stereo. I'm reasonably certain the set does not do this. It would be easier and cheaper for Sceptre to simply give us the 5.1 output. Doing the former would, I think, also require licensing from Dolby Labs. For a bare minimum cost set like this, I think it would be unlikely. Now if there were Pro Logic encoding on the original two front channels from the program source, those may in fact pass through unmolested. I am unaware of program providers doing this for shows that are distributed using 5.1 to begin with.

Steve

Nimo

03-09-06, 08:59 PM

4) I've been told I need to set something to "4" in DEBUG mode...how do I get to DEBUG mode?

You push the 3rd and 4th buttons (I think) simultaneously under the panel. I forget which ones, and usually just end up pushing two buttons until it comes up. Then you need to hit "1" on your remote. This should bring up the timing option.

YMMV on your set my other TV is set at 2 while my other one is best at 4.

Edit: someone was asking for pics I did a shot with the fish swimming and notice zero pixelatation in the coral back ground tv does a good job I posted these over at Hidef forums also.

http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/eq.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/vs.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/vss.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/lst.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/fc.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/fc1.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/dt.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/cm.jpg
Here's the up conversion DVD playback on my AMD rig all images are in raw form except the DVD shot I used PS to enhance the contrast, this is what it looks like when viewing. Far Cry is now updated to the HDR effect v1.33 & SM 3.0 looks much better.

Everything shown is powered by my PC through HDMI/DVI the resolutions are custom set to 1920x1080P pixel clock @ 148.35 MHz @ 59.939 MHz memory delay set to 4 in debug menu. screen shots shown are recorded on my DCT 6200 via firewire saved as .ts files, and played back using power dvd.

rogers-hsv

03-09-06, 09:13 PM

semuther/Steve,

Thanks. I also got a quick turn-around from Sceptre confirming "no" on the Pro Logic idea...

-Martin <><

-----Original Message-----
From: Sceptre @ Costco Support
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:20 PM
To:
Subject: Re: Question about Pro Logic on X37SV-NAGA

Dear Customer,

No, there is no dolby prologic encoding. It is standard stereo.

It is a psuedo surround field such as SRS 3D sound.

Best Regards,
Sceptre at Costco Support Team

Martin Rogers wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Does the tuner on the X37SV-NAGA pass through intact any Pro Logic
> encoding via the L/R stereo outputs?
>
> Your web page (under "Audio functions") indicates surround sound is
> part of this TV, but other than a Pro Logic stream via L/R outputs, I
> don't see how surround sound is possible on this system...
>
> Can you help clear up how this TV provides surround sound?
>
> Thanks, and best regards,
>
> -Martin Rogers <><

DouglasteR

03-09-06, 10:56 PM

YMMV on your set my other TV is set at 2 while my other one is best at 4.

Edit: someone was asking for pics I did a shot with the fish swimming and notice zero pixelatation in the coral back ground tv does a good job I posted these over at Hidef forums also.

http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/eq.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/vs.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/vss.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/lst.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/fc.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/fc1.jpg

Everything shown is powered by my PC through HDMI/DVI the resolutions are custom set to 1920x1080P pixel clock @ 148.35 MHz @ 59.939 MHz memory delay set to 4 in debug menu. screen shots shown are recorded on my DCT 6200 via firewire saved as .ts files, and played back using power dvd.

Omfg Ty soo much for the pics :D

daquint

03-10-06, 12:57 AM

Pecs

03-10-06, 12:36 PM

Nimo

03-10-06, 01:17 PM

kosstamogen

03-10-06, 01:50 PM

I just finished reading the entire thread. It took me the whole week...
I received my TV Mar.02.2006 and so far it seems like I have the version 3. For some reason I my remote was DOA, I immediately called Sceptre and they sent one out right away, said would include a shipping to send me DOA remote back. I couldn't wait, went out and got a Harmony remote and it works great, except the response to button presses is not immediate. I had to program it using the x37sv-naga II setting (seems like there are I, II, III settings on logitech's site). Does this indicate that this could be a v2 tv even though I think it's a v3?

-Did judder test not really any dropped frames
-QAM works (can pick up HDTV/DTV through cable) Paying for standard/internet

I'll check debug info tonight.

Pro's (For me)
----------------------------
-I think it's a great HTPC tv,
-1080p!! I can display two pages in word side by side, have a ton of desktop space at 1920x1024. Main reason I got this TV which I will be keeping!
-pretty good service from my DOA remote experience
-only see one dead pixel (I'm not going to look for them)

Cons
------------------------------
-crappy remote
-I think the aspect ratio settings are BAD. Widescreen shows (16:9 shrunk to fit in 4:3 w/ black frame all around) don't zoom properly. On my toshiba 51h84, it zooms correctly
-DVI seems to die and can't bring back without reboot (trying to fix)
-ATSC tuner really slow (seems like about 5 sec to change channel)
-No digital out (on v2,v3)

Conclusion: Bought because wanted super monitor w/ tv features. Has cheapo everything except where it counts. PIP w/sound surfing the web is the greatest. Purchased is covered by legendary return policy from C*****.com

samjc

03-10-06, 01:52 PM

On a V3 set you should have two F connectors (one for analog NTSC and one for digital). Is yours missing the NTSC connector? My V3 arrived yesterday and I notice that there was silvever tape remnants and adhesive residue around the locations of both connectors.

In any case, if memory serves, the analog NTSC connector should have an adapter with an F connector on one end and the funky connector on the other which plugs into the recessed tuner inside the TV. Make sure that didn't fall out or is missing on yours.

Steve

Yep, understand there are supposed to be two of those puppies. I'll take a closer look..you are probably right about the connector missing or fell off.

Pecs

03-10-06, 02:40 PM

Hmm, your PC might be stuck at some odd resolution try removing the drivers and see if windows can detect the tv, after that go to nZone to get the beta's 84.12's also make sure your DVI is connected to the second header, so in other words if your facing your pc it's the header on the farthest right that is DVI port #1.
http://home.earthlink.net/~smurfer/nv.jpg

Thanks Nimo. I'm not sure what you mean about the two headers. My card has one VGA port and one DVI (and one s-video). Do some of these cards have 2 DVI ports? Installing the betas will be a good reason to uninstall my current drivers, and see what happens with everything wiped. Good suggestion.

Polypro

03-10-06, 04:16 PM

6600GT w/84.12's as well...DVI picture shows up fine. Card seated properly? Power connector attached? (not a dig...I forget myself at times) :)

P

donricouga

03-11-06, 01:14 AM

daquint

03-11-06, 02:30 AM

New owner of this tv as well. Its quite good for the money. I downloaded a bunch of WMVHD clips and it looks so good. I also don't understand why DVI seems to die when you switch inputs and can't bring back without rebooting the computer.
Does anyone know more about this ???

You may want to check a couple of pages back for a workaround to this.

pages 71+ i think. the workaround has something to do with windows xp power management/screensaver settings, if i am not mistaken.

tf8252

03-11-06, 07:23 AM

I can't believe it but I got home last night and made 2 simple changes that fixed all my issues.

1) Found out that my Motorola Comcast cable box has a setting that has to be http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/customer_docs/user_guides/512659-001-a.pdf. This changed my resolution to 1080i

A. Ensure that your DCT* is plugged into a power
outlet and is turned OFF.
B. Press the MENU key on the front panel. Your
settings are displayed on the DCT* front panel
display.
C. Press the ▲ and ▼ keys to display the
DVI/YPbPr OUTPUT setting.
D. Press the ► key to cycle through the available
output formats until a picture displays on the TV.

2) The DEBUG mode resolved all issues I had with Green Noise, Ghosting, blurriness, etc. Watched Jay Leno in High Def last night and it was the best picture I've ever seen on a TV!!!!!

If you haven't tried Debug, TRY IT!

A. Press two of the middle buttons behind the power light on the TV - press them at the same time until you see the DEBUG data.
B. Press 1 on the Remote to access the Timing settings
C. Scroll through the different timing options using the remote...You'll see the text degrade on the screen as you scroll from 0 to 7 (or maybe it's 5). I changed mine to '1' and it fixed all my issues!!

:D

videobruce

03-11-06, 08:45 AM

With over 2200 posts, it's a little long to read for two questiuons;

The web site only mentions a ATSC (8VSB) tuner. Does this have QAM capability also?
Black level; one review I read reported it below average. How do you guys feel?

donsev

03-11-06, 09:15 AM

With over 2200 posts, it's a little long to read for two questiuons;

The web site only mentions a ATSC (8VSB) tuner. Does this have QAM capability also?

At some point in the production cycle of the Version 2 units, Sceptre replaced the ATSC tuner with a QAM capable ATSC tuner. We don't know exactly when but I would guess around Jan. 01, 06. All sets after that appear to be QAM capable (although, as you point out, it is not an official feature)

Black level; one review I read reported it below average. How do you guys feel?

Speaking only in an attempt to summarize the opinions of those who have the set (I don't yet), the consensus seems to be that, with some adjustments (in particular turning down the backlight) the black level is pretty darn good for an LCD - comparable to the Westinghouse 37, but not quite as good as the Sharps.

videobruce

03-11-06, 09:29 AM

When were the 'version 2' sets introduced and does this outfit manufacture/supply the Westinghouse sets as W surely doesn't make them?

Polypro

03-11-06, 11:28 AM

New owner of this tv as well. Its quite good for the money. I downloaded a bunch of WMVHD clips and it looks so good. I also don't understand why DVI seems to die when you switch inputs and can't bring back without rebooting the computer.
Does anyone know more about this ???

ATI Card? It is/was the Catylist drivers. Check the HTPC forum for ATI+DVI+Problem.

P

donricouga

03-11-06, 02:38 PM

ATI Card? It is/was the Catylist drivers. Check the HTPC forum for ATI+DVI+Problem.

P

Thanks for the tip. Kinda sucks that you have to wait xx minutes before you can see your PC Signal again. I set mine for 1 minute. I believe i have the latest drivers for my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card. I wish there was some way it would be instant. Oh well !

Also, When i connect my computer or even a Charter Receiver for HDTV via the DVI/HDMI cable i get some vertical lines occasionally. Its really bad at 0 timing. I set it to 3 and they disappear and the pictures looks great.
Does setting the memory delay to a higher setting have adverse effects ?
Would a more high quality HDMI/DVI cable help ??

Thanks for your help guys. I tried to read as much of this thread as possible but there are just too many posts. :(

Pecs

03-11-06, 07:32 PM

Still trying to get my DVI/hdmi input to work with DVI out from the computer... My geforce 6600gt pciexpress works fine in VGA mode, but once I try DVI then no signal. If I use a dvi->vga adapter, then it works so i'm pretty sure my computer is outputting a signal or at least an analogue one through the dvi port. I have the latest (beta) drivers, and uninstalled everything with only the vga adapter loaded, but still nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if the port on the sceptre is bad. Do you have to do something to "enable" the dvi port? When you go through the TV setup wizard, the only choices are for output are svideo, component, and composite. No dvi. Or is the card supposed to recognize when a DVI device is attached?

thanks again

Dave Kristol

03-11-06, 10:44 PM

I'll try to keep this short, though it covers a two-month odyssey with two X37SVs. I'm trying to find out whether my experience is typical or unusual.

TV1, received Jan. 2006:
H/W: R0.2
S/W: M4.10C
Loader: PMON 1.3.8.0
Lib: HAL 7.2.0.0 MW V1.21

DEBUG 0107
05/09/23 19:43
T370HW01
1920 x 1080

TV2, received Mar. 2006:
H/W: R0.2
S/W: M4.70C
Loader: PMON 1.3.8.0
Lib: HAL 7.2.3.0 MW V1.21

DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920 x 1080

(How do I distinguish v2 and v3 sets?)

My ATSC input is over-the-air. My NTSC input is analog cable.

TV1 is unable to lock onto about 20 of my 90-or-so analog cable channels (NTSC). TV2 is unable to lock onto about 12 different channels. My old analog set is able to tune them all, as are two VCRs and a DVR. When I contacted Sceptre about this problem (with TV1), they tried to tell me the problem was with my cable provider. After a month's work with them, including running a new cable drop, I still couldn't receive those 20 channels. The failures with the 2nd TV suggest that Sceptre has a problem with their analog cable tuners.

A colleague told me that my cable provider has lots of digital channels (only a few of which are HD), and that they are on Cable STD. When I tried connecting my cable to TV1's ATSC input and doing a scan on Cable STD, it came up empty. When I did the same with TV2 (once I got it), the TV found 158 channels (most of them not of interest, alas), but they had no HD labeling, so I would have to tune to, for example, 110-2, to get ABC. With that information, I tried my cable connection with TV1 and was able to manually scan the channels I found on TV2. (I will continue to use OTA HD, because the channels get labeled properly, and because I actually get *more* HD stations that way!)

FWIW, I've been generally pleased with both the (HD) picture and sound from TV1. (I've been using TV2 primarily to verify problems with TV1 and will now return it to C*. Had it worked completely, or if the missing channels hadn't been prime ones for me, like NBC, PBS, and Comedy Central, I would have kept it and returned TV1.) My wife thinks I'm nuts to stick with the Sceptre, given the problems, but I haven't seen anything else on the market with comparable specs, and certainly nothing in its price range.Questions:

1) Has anyone had success receiving *all* their analog cable channels? Or does Sceptre use a crappy analog (cable) tuner?
2) Should I assume the TV1 ATSC Cable tuner is busted, or that there's some kind of software problem with the scanning?
3) Should I try yet another x37SV?
4) Do the x37SV's have a high failure and return rate?

Thanks for your help.
Dave Kristol

sfhub

03-11-06, 11:33 PM

Thanks for the tip. Kinda sucks that you have to wait xx minutes before you can see your PC Signal again. I set mine for 1 minute. I believe i have the latest drivers for my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro card. I wish there was some way it would be instant. Oh well !
They fixed the DVI dropout problem in Catalyst 6.2 and higher.

Nimo

03-12-06, 01:22 AM

donsev

03-12-06, 10:16 AM

I'll try to keep this short, though it covers a two-month odyssey with two X37SVs. I'm trying to find out whether my experience is typical or unusual.

TV1, received Jan. 2006:
DEBUG 0107
05/09/23 19:43
T370HW01
1920 x 1080

TV2, received Mar. 2006:
DEBUG 0111
06/01/16 14:58
T370HW01
1920 x 1080

(How do I distinguish v2 and v3 sets?)

Unfortunately, it is not clear cut. A version 2 set may or may not have a QAM tuner, and it may or may not have the latest firmware 06/01/16 (obtained by shipping the unit back to Sceptre for reflash). IF it has BOTH the latest firmware AND a QAM tuner, as shipped from the factory, I suppose we should label that as a version 3 (to distinguish from a version 2 with QAM that has been re-flashed by sending back to the factory - which would make it functionally identical to a version 3.... clear as mud, I know.)

Based on your Debug info, it looks like your TV1 is a version 2. Your TV2 is a version 3 if we follow the naming rule above.

My ATSC input is over-the-air. My NTSC input is analog cable.

TV1 is unable to lock onto about 20 of my 90-or-so analog cable channels (NTSC). TV2 is unable to lock onto about 12 different channels. My old analog set is able to tune them all, as are two VCRs and a DVR. When I contacted Sceptre about this problem (with TV1), they tried to tell me the problem was with my cable provider. After a month's work with them, including running a new cable drop, I still couldn't receive those 20 channels. The failures with the 2nd TV suggest that Sceptre has a problem with their analog cable tuners.

I cannot recall any previous reports in this thread of the Sceptre's NTSC tuner not picking up all expected channels.

A colleague told me that my cable provider has lots of digital channels (only a few of which are HD), and that they are on Cable STD. When I tried connecting my cable to TV1's ATSC input and doing a scan on Cable STD, it came up empty. When I did the same with TV2 (once I got it), the TV found 158 channels (most of them not of interest, alas), but they had no HD labeling, so I would have to tune to, for example, 110-2, to get ABC. With that information, I tried my cable connection with TV1 and was able to manually scan the channels I found on TV2. (I will continue to use OTA HD, because the channels get labeled properly, and because I actually get *more* HD stations that way!)

IF you have the option to scan for Cable within the ATSC menu, then your set has a QAM capable tuner and would be a later version 2. If you only have the ATSC option, then it is an earlier version 2 (or a version 1).

I believe I recall an ealier post that referenced a screen on the Sceptre that shows signal strength (in dB). This might be helpful in diagnosing whether you got unlucky in receiving 2 sets with bad tuners, or whether you do have a signal problem in your house.

Dave Kristol

03-12-06, 12:17 PM

IF you have the option to scan for Cable within the ATSC menu, then your set has a QAM capable tuner and would be a later version 2. If you only have the ATSC option, then it is an earlier version 2 (or a version 1).

I believe I recall an ealier post that referenced a screen on the Sceptre that shows signal strength (in dB). This might be helpful in diagnosing whether you got unlucky in receiving 2 sets with bad tuners, or whether you do have a signal problem in your house.

I'm satisfied with the ATSC reception. I used the signal strength meter (in the Manual Scan menu) to aim my antenna.

The problem I had was with NTSC analog cable. And, using the identical cable feed, minutes apart, I was (un)able to receive different sets of channels on TV1 and TV2. That does not sound to me like a signal strength problem (and, indeed, the cable company has done everything reasonable to improve my signal strength). I can't decide whether I'm glad or not that I'm the only person who has reported NTSC tuner problems. :(

Dave Kristol

primetime2123

03-12-06, 01:17 PM

bluemax50

03-12-06, 01:29 PM

Hi. I am new and thinking about getting the Sceptre 37 LCD/Tv. Does anyone know if the Sceptres that are sold now have the firmware update and QAM tuner ?? I was thinking of getting one from newegg....any info is appreciated

Don't know about Newegg but it cetainly appears the units being shipped from Costco's are the latest. I recieved mine last Monday and it was the latest and greatest ( Including QAM tuner) and has been perfect in every way so far!! Not even a dead pixel and it passed the Judder test with flying colors!!!

primetime2123

03-12-06, 01:42 PM

Don't know about Newegg but it cetainly appears the units being shipped from Costco's are the latest. I recieved mine last Monday and it was the latest and greatest ( Including QAM tuner) and has been perfect in every way so far!! Not even a dead pixel and it passed the Judder test with flying colors!!!
could you please answer a couple of more questions....can you hook up an XBox 360 without any external hardware or cable ?? and how you check for the latest firmware and if it has a QAM tuner ?? thanks

Edward Sanders

03-12-06, 02:11 PM

Hello,
I am a complete newbie in the forum although I've been studied it diligently for more than a month. On the basis of my reading I ventured to buy Sceptre 37" and here is the results so far:

the first unit came 2 weeks ago. It was obviously either returned or refurbished unit. It did not have power cord, the manual was dirty and had finger marks on it, the remote did not work. I called Sceptre and they mailed me another remote that did not work either. Thus I concluded that the unit has a problem with the part resposible for the connection with the remote. DVI connection with PC did not work either, although VGA connection was OK and the HD clips were almost perfect. I did not find any dead pixels. The unit did have a power switch on the back, so it seemed to be an old version. I could not check how ATSC channels as they require remote. The unit worked with QAM channels from Comcast cable.

If I bought it only as a 37" monitor for my PC, it could not have been better with VGA connection. But as I had so many problems, I decided that I have to try my luck again and ordered another unit from Costco. Well, it arrived two days ago.

This time it did have power cord and the manual felt to be new and even the remote worked with new batteries (did not work with the batteries included by Sceptre). No power switch on the back. Yet, when I connected the unit to my PC via VGA connection, the usual blue background of MSWindows has dark grayish vertical lines going all over the screen. The connection cable that I used is the same as I used with the previous (first Sceptre) unit where the same picture looked perfect. On ATSC channels and cable channels the same lines look as greenish noise. The lines are not stable, they seem to run down the screen and intensify around the moving images. In addition, I still could not make DVI connection with the computer work.

I am going to call Sceptre tomorrow (Monday) but for now I would greatly appreciate any comments. Could the lines be the result of some wrong setting that I can change myself? As much as I liked the PC picture on the first unit, I am now reluctant to order the 3rd monitor from Sceptre. Returning them is a hassle as I live quite far from Costco. Shall I go for Westinghouse 37" instead? I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Edward