Toshiba HD CRT TV Owners: Problems, Fixes, Solutions, Services....Discuss Them Here!! [Text View] - Page 5

tmuirheid

10-03-06, 10:25 PM

The Toshiba direct views (26", 30" and 34") of the last two years all seem to suffer from the same set of issues. My 30hf85, IMHO, had totally hosed factory picture/color settings that could only be dealt with from the service menu.

After many weeks of screwing around in SM I have been able to restore a semi-decent picture for DVD (component) and HD Directv (also component). I originally had significant issues with contrast, brightness, color and geometry. I still have some geometry/warpings but you CAN improve the color and brightness with some patience.

If you are brave enough, run a calibration dvd (or THX Optimizer), freeze the frame on each test screen and start tweaking in the service menu codes until your image starts to look good. If you have a DVR and get HDNET, record their Test Pattern program and freeze your way through those screen for the satellite input. Don't be surprised how much you have to adjust from the factory settings.

FWIW - remember the usual caveats about writing down your original settings in case bad things happen.

mezcla

10-06-06, 03:53 PM

tmuirheid

10-10-06, 08:24 PM

I havea Toshiba 30HF85 and accessed the service menu to adjust for overscan but nothing was changing the position of the picture. I tried to adjust both horizontally and vertically. The other controls for brightness and contrast all worked. I am using the Philips 5960 DVD player connected through HDMI and it is usually set to 780P or 1080i on the player. I am losing at least 5% on the left and right according to the test card I used. It looks like about an inch to me. It really bothers me in movies filmed in 2.35 aspect ratio b/c i feel like I'm losing even more of the picture. Any suggestions? Also, I wrote down all of my original settings just to be safe.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

When you enter the service menu ('OSD setting comes up first') cycle through nearly to the end - you should see the commands for V.POS and H.POS. You should be able to adjust these to change vertical and horizontal positioning of the image on the screen. Try this while playing the overscan portion of the THX Optimizer dvd to get the 'oval in the 16x9 double box' image correct.

mezcla

10-11-06, 11:46 AM

I used HPOS and VPOS to adjust but it only works when connected through component video. When I connect through HDMI the image doesn't move at all. I don't know if it's an issue with the player or not but I'm losing quite a bit of image on all content through HDMI. That said, last night I did a firmware upgrade as recommended by philips and now I don't get any image through HDMI at all. I may just have to return the player unless they can tell me what went wrong. I really liked this player (all region and plays pretty much any file you put into it). The image looks much more clear when connected through HDMI but I have a problem with the overscan on all sides.

InYourEyes

10-13-06, 04:08 AM

fburch

10-13-06, 06:26 AM

Anybody owns a Toshiba MW26H82 26" HDTV, the one with a DVD player and VCR built-in, and has a problem with the color settings? I just got it from shipment today, and the preset colors are way way off, worse than the MW26G71 I had before last year. Orion didn't do a good job adjusting the color in my TV. Shame. Looks like I will need to spend long hours playing with the service menu.

Walt(InYourEyes) - Sorry to hear of your unhappiness with you new set. But, I gotta ask this. Why, after authoring hundreds of posts criticizing the quality and workmanship of Orion-made products on this forum and elsewhere, would you ever even consider buying an another Orion-made product? Seems almost masochistic when you stop and think about it. Anyway, good luck in getting your new set squared away.

rs7k

10-13-06, 09:14 AM

Hey guys I am new here someome sent me this link cause I am planning to buy the 26HF85/C but it seems that ppl have problems with it :( is it possible that this will be the same as the Canadian version?

I really want this TV cause since I do not have much $$$ with me and I have been wanting to buy a widescreen TV...

Just save up and get a Sony CRT, or some other quality HDTV. I was in the same boat as you and regret getting the 26HF85C.

MonsieurFreeze

10-13-06, 11:04 AM

Hi ,
I own a 26HF85 since few months and my opinion on this set is mixed.

First I think when the source is not HD this set do his job: my dvd looks beautiful (and far away from a SD tv), sound is nice too. At lot of option to tweak the image. But there is a hudge problem on this set: the HD quality is miserable, too dark, flickering, simply not what HD suppose to be. I dont regret buying this set because the 150$ more than a SD tv worth it, but do not expect to have a HD quality on it.

This toshiba is the weakest version of a HD tv, or a richest version of a SD, depending on your point of view.

InYourEyes

10-13-06, 11:31 AM

Walt(InYourEyes) - Sorry to hear of your unhappiness with you new set. But, I gotta ask this. Why, after authoring hundreds of posts criticizing the quality and workmanship of Orion-made products on this forum and elsewhere, would you ever even consider buying an another Orion-made product? Seems almost masochistic when you stop and think about it. Anyway, good luck in getting your new set squared away.
Well, it's because it's the only 26" CRT HDTV available in the market, the last 26" CRT HDTV ever made, and Orion is the final maker. I would be happy to buy another brand except Toshiba, but there is no alternate available.

Anyway, took some time off adjusting the colors, and now it looks really good. After adjusting, I can say that this is the best Orion HDTV ever made so far. I don't see any lines running on the screen at all, unlike in the last year MW26G71, and there are no glow spots or flickering I see so far.

swd

10-13-06, 05:33 PM

Hi!
I just buy the 34HF85C from someone, i have 4 problems so far, i did'nt get through all 34 pages but i would like your opinion on this and your help if possible. My english is not that good and i'm not sure how to explain, i'll do my best and i hope you'll understand.

1. The image is kind of round. For example, when i'm watching Baseball, there is the line at the top or the bottom of the screen with the score, well, this line is round, and way up on the right side. Is it fixable?

2. Still listening to baseball, when there is movement in the image i have kind of clear red, green, blue flash in some part of the tv, can i fix this? By the way, this is happening on other channel too.

3. When my tv is open and i shut down my digital tv receiver, on the black screen i have 3/4 of the right part of the tv kind of dark blue. What this means?

4. Watching Discovery HD channel for example, the logo is still kind of rounded up and half of it is out of the screen.

I would really appreciate your help guys, i just hope i can fix anything and if all this has been already mentioned, i'm sincerely sorry if i did'nt get through.

Thanks

InYourEyes

10-13-06, 08:41 PM

swd

10-14-06, 08:54 AM

Well he gave me his invoice and warranty, what do i need to return it at the store, do i bring only the tv and the remote?

ADONY

10-14-06, 02:22 PM

I am planning on replacing my Toshiba 34HF85 with an Samsung 42" Plasma Flat panel. Several of my friends are asking to buy my 34HF85 (1 year old) and I have no idea what to ask for it! any opinions or suggestions?

InYourEyes

10-14-06, 03:08 PM

lennsx

10-16-06, 10:28 AM

Agreed. I am selling my 34HF85 to a friend of mine for $600 and that's a great deal. Other than that white glow (which actually seems to be improving or perhaps I'm simply getting used to it) I guess I lucked out; I really like the TV overall. Now, a 37" Plasma or 37" LCD...... ;)

InYourEyes

10-20-06, 05:20 AM

If you own an Orion-made Toshiba HDTV (any model), and had a not-so-straight horizontal line at first, do you know how to fix it? My Toshiba MW26H82 seems to be curving upward on the top a little at the left side of the screen. I tried going into the service menu, but it does not let me adjust the horizontal lines. Or, can this one only be only fixed by a ISF calibrator? Or, is there a small knob inside the TV for it?

Othewise, this TV seems to be pretty good and am loving it every minute (hope it's not another Orion lemon). This TV is connected with my Bose Companion 2 speakers along with my old, refuses to die 1985 Toyomenka (Orion) VCR in my TV stand.

Thanks to anyone who can help me.

DrDetroit

10-21-06, 12:02 PM

My dad just received his Onkyo HTiB to connect to his Toshiba MD30H82 HDTV. He does not have a digital cable STB and doesn't want one.

We connected the TV and HTiB via digital optical. Audio works fantastic while watching a DVD.

However, we have not been able to get television audio through the HTiB. I was able to contact Toshiba customer support (excellent service, btw) last night before they closed for the weekend and they indicated I needed to connect red/wht analog from the TV to the HTiB. I did so connecting the red/wht analog to the Video 1 input on on the HTiB. And we still don't get any audio.

Has anyone else encountered a similar problem or have any insight on this?

Thanks in advance.

tpn21

10-23-06, 11:20 PM

Hi I bought a refurb 30hfx84 on ebay a little over a year ago and I have always had a problem with hooking up dvd players and/or my xbox to this tv. I've gotten I suppose what you guys are calling a flicker problem but it seems worse because it isnt viewable. you can barely make out what is playing on the dvd. I am using good quality component cables. Like I said i have had issues with the XBOX but i fixed that by changing something in the dashboard. Sorry to be vague but it has been a while. This tv is in my office so I quite frankly havent really used it besides watching regular tv in a long time. I watch thru a hd dvr box with a HDMI hookup and have a fantastic picture. I now am trying to hookup this dvd and this problem is still happening. Before anyone posts back I did change my dvd to disable progressive scan and that didnt work. It did the same thing. Does anyone have any ideas or do I have to bite the bullet and get a HDMI DVD. I know that would be better anyway but i would like to be able to use these components later. Thank you in advance for any help. :o :(

georgemoe

10-24-06, 11:08 AM

tpn21

10-24-06, 01:13 PM

I would try running a composite or s-video cable from the dvd to the Toshiba. Seems to me it could be your DVD player.

BTW, I just got an Oppo 970 for my 34HFX84. Awesome!

I did that last night and it works just fine!!! Oh yeah I didnt mention i tried two different DVD players. One older Sony and one cheapo from somewhere and they both did the same thing/ Could it just be bad component hookups??? Is that something a tv repair shop could fix or would it be overtly expensive??? See I dont think i would be covered under any warranty anymore so I am without return options. i am not against just getting a dvd with hdmi on the back because like i said that works fine but i would really like to have the option of using those components if i could. Thanks for the response.

georgemoe

10-24-06, 02:44 PM

I did that last night and it works just fine!!! Oh yeah I didnt mention i tried two different DVD players. One older Sony and one cheapo from somewhere and they both did the same thing/ Could it just be bad component hookups??? Is that something a tv repair shop could fix or would it be overtly expensive??? See I dont think i would be covered under any warranty anymore so I am without return options. i am not against just getting a dvd with hdmi on the back because like i said that works fine but i would really like to have the option of using those components if i could. Thanks for the response.

Between a bench charge and the possible repair cost, it might be better (cheaper)to just go out and get a new HDMI upconverting DVD player and bypass that component input alltogether.

tpn21

10-24-06, 08:59 PM

Between a bench charge and the possible repair cost, it might be better (cheaper)to just go out and get a new HDMI upconverting DVD player and bypass that component input alltogether.

I will call around but you are probably right. Thanks for your help.

xenofloyd

10-28-06, 02:21 PM

True, but honestly this TV doesn't have the best HD output and 1080i really doensn't look all that much better than 480p, or at least from my experience with it and my X360 I don't notice too great a difference(On this set that is, I'm not speaking in general). With all the problems the set has displaying 1080i(the darkness problems and the white glow along the to of the screen) I figure I'd rather save myself SOME of the headaches and stick to 480p. That is untill I can afford to buy a new TV wich unfortunately won't be for a good while. :(

Turn the brightness on the TV way down, turn the in-game brightness setting way up.

Having the brightness too high starts messing with the picture quality of the set, so for games that have adjustable brightness you can get an awesome picture, at the cost of messing with your brightness setting for different games.

xenofloyd

10-28-06, 11:15 PM

Actually, correct that -- I just spent an hour in the service menu. Turn the contrast waaaay down and the brightness waaay up and suddenly everything looks awesome and I can finally read text in games!!! yes!!!

lunaclown

10-29-06, 11:06 AM

Ok..I was wondering if someone can help me out. I messed around with the service menu late and messed some settings up and the picture has come out really distorted. Can someone PLEASE post or PM me the Default settings from the service manual. I'd really appreciate it.

ArDarsh

10-29-06, 01:00 PM

I recently purchased the Toshiba 27" flat screen for around 3 hundo (not bad I guess). However, I have a few problems and wondering if anyone knows how to figure it out.

1.) I use OTA reception in Northwest suburb of Chicago. Channels such as 5.1 and 7.1 always have black frames around the picture. I assume the signal (720p) causes the TV to go into 16:9 and then the image is only 4:3. So when I zoom in, the image gets cut off at the borders :mad: . I am wondering if there is a way to adjust the amount of zoom (ex: 1.2x rather 1.5x) and horizontal/vertical alignment of the picture so it ends up filling the screen just like an analog signal. The regular menu has no such options.

2.) Are the curved edges even in 16:9 mode normal? I saw the multiple posts on how Toshiba CRTs have this issue, but is my set really messed up? Also, is there a good substitute in the less than 400 range? Would a Sony, Magnavox, Sylvania, Philips be any better or equal? TV can't have a physical width (not screen size) of more than 31.5".

Thanks for any help out there.

InYourEyes

10-29-06, 03:58 PM

I2.) Are the curved edges even in 16:9 mode normal? I saw the multiple posts on how Toshiba CRTs have this issue, but is my set really messed up? Also, is there a good substitute in the less than 400 range? Would a Sony, Magnavox, Sylvania, Philips be any better or equal? TV can't have a physical width (not screen size) of more than 31.5".
Do you mean the infamous curved-in geometry at the lower right side corner? If so, then this is normal. All of the Orion-made TVs I tried in the past have this curved-in geometry, including my new MW26H82.

ArDarsh

10-29-06, 06:59 PM

Forgot about this post. Has someone figured out how to undo over-zoom?

stvnham16

10-29-06, 09:11 PM

I have a problem with the geometry of my tv. Whenever there are horizontal bars or lines on the screen they bend downwards near the side of the screen. What setting in the service menu will fix this.

InYourEyes

10-30-06, 10:58 AM

stvnham16

10-30-06, 01:37 PM

So, is there a way to fix this in the service menu. If so what setting should I play with.

InYourEyes

10-30-06, 01:43 PM

So, is there a way to fix this in the service menu. If so what setting should I play with.
No, there is no setting in the service menu that you can fix it. But, if you do find one, please let me know. I have a curve in my MW26H82 combo as well.

eddie-tavares

11-01-06, 12:53 PM

:) Hello.
This is my first post on AVS Forum.
I live in Brazil and I have a CRT TOSHIBA 36HF84 ( 34HF84 american model ).
I need to adjust the vertical position, but my TV, in the service menu, do not have V.POS data, only H.POS .
What setting in the service menu will fix this?

Thank's Eduardo.

xenofloyd

11-08-06, 11:02 PM

I've just spent a few hours messing with the service menu on the 34HFX85, and have found fixes for blurry text, any fish eye problems, and how to drastically reduce the increased brightness on the top of the screen for 1080i component input sources. If this information would be useful to anyone, please send me a PM and I will post my settings in the forum.

wainr

11-09-06, 02:42 PM

lennsx

11-09-06, 02:43 PM

PLEASE POST! Any solution for the crushed blacks, as well? ;)

Porcupine2

11-09-06, 04:15 PM

Do you mean the infamous curved-in geometry at the lower right side corner? If so, then this is normal. All of the Orion-made TVs I tried in the past have this curved-in geometry, including my new MW26H82.I haven't really had that problem on any of my sets. Most of these Orion/Toshiba CRTs have minor to moderate horizontal line curving problems somewhere but it varies from set to set. My current set has significant problems along the entire left 1/6th of the screen, with horizontal lines curving towards the upper-left there. The aspect ratio squishes up there as well, another aspect of geometry. But my previous 2 sets didn't have that problem (but they had other geometry problems instead).

My current set also has problems with horizontal lines being slanted diagonally towards the upper-right of the screen in the entire upper-right 1/4-quadrant of the TV (not in any other areas). This problem I have seen on pretty much all my units but usually not to such a severe extent. Nevertheless, I would say that even on my current set the overall level of horizontal bowing is not nearly as bad as the typical Samsung CRT.

For the most part all of these horizontal geometry problems are unfixable with the user and service menus. The service menu setting V. SYMM is the only one that can have a very very minor effect on horizontal geometry, and it only does so very indirectly I believe (it's probably not the primary thing it affects, although I'm not sure exactly what it is supposed to affect anyway).

Regarding black crushing, I think I said before numerous times that I found increasing the service menu setting SUB CONT helps the most. Max it out to improve black crush (personally I have no problem with the gamma correction levels of the Toshibas and never changed this on my current set. The only non-geometry-related setting I choose to alter is the overall generic Color setting which can be found in the user menu, I generally lower it a few points...the Toshibas come slightly oversaturated I think). After maxing SUB CONT you should probably lower regular Contrast also to keep the overall white level of your TV the same. Also always make sure you have Brightness as high as you can have it that is correct (Brightness should be as high as possible such that on a perfectly black screen it still looks perfectly black). SUB CONT is the most valuable setting though because it is not in the user menu and also has alsolutely no effect on a perfectly black screen, but does make very low intensity grays and blacks much brighter. At least, that's what I found when doing my own experimenting long ago.

xenofloyd

11-09-06, 05:15 PM

Alright

To activate service menue press the volume down button on the TV and HOLD IT, and then press 9 on the remote.

By pressing left an right you will cycle through options, and by pressing up and down you can change settings. You should probobly write things down before you change them (I didn't, but im wreckless with my electronics). If the first thing you do is press RIGHT the screen will go black (at least on my TV), but don't freak out... just press right or left and things will be ok. Here is a list of some things you can change....

00 - OSD H - Osd position on the screen. obvious.
57 - Tilt - obvious
56 - sharp min my setting = 4
55 - sharp max my setting = 85
54 - sharp CENT my setting = 50

IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE MIN / MAX/ CENT!!! So, the Minimum value (Sharp Min, Cont Min, Bri Min) corresponds to the '0' when you go into the normal brightness/contrast/sharpness options in the menu. The 'max' corresponds to a value of 50 in the normal menu. The 'cent' corresponds to '25' in the menu. For example, if you set the BRI MIN to 0, BRI max to 255 and BRI CENT to 25, then when you change brightness in the normal on screen menu, it will work like this ->

User setting 0 1 2 . ... 25 26 27 .... 49 .... 50
actual setting 0 1 2 ..... 25 34 43 .... 246 ...255

So, when you adjust your user menu, you are adjust the fundemental brightness in the service menu based around the Max, min, and cent values... I hope that makes sense. I set my sharpness settings above just so I could hone in on a good sharpness later when I left the service menu.

anyway, on we go....

53 - Tint - obvious... I havn't messed much with color.

52 Sub Cont - My setting is 30. this is some fundemental contrast setting that I don't really understand. The consesus is that a higher value is better for getting rid of black crush.

51 Col Min - (color minimum value) - 0

50 Col Max- (Maximum color value) - 100

49 Col Cent - (Color value of 25 in normal menu) - 50

48 - Cont Min (Minimum contrast, e.g. when contrast is set to 0 in normal menu) - 10

47 - Contrast Max (Maximum contrast value, e.g. the value when contrast is set to 50) -
60

46 - Contrast Cent ( Central contrast value) mine is 40, but could certainly be lower

45 - Bri min - minimum brightness - 200

44 - Bri Max - maximum brightness - 255

43 - Bri Cent- Central Brightness - 243

42 through 23 are all color controls that are pretty obvious. You can set the parameters of the warm/cool/neutral color settings. I have not calibrated at all for these.

23 - V Symm - no idea what this does... 133

22 through 13 are all basic geometry. easy enough to play with to get proper geomtery. If you are having trouble, shrink the size of your window with Vsize and Hsize to.

12 - V Limit - this has a value of zero, and changing it messes up your screen. WTF. dont mess with it I guess.

11- V cent - changing this value moves the image up and down

10 - V blks - don't know what this does...

There is also H cent to move the image horizontally.
I'm going to leave ones out here that I'm not too sure about...

7 - VHT - does some vertical streching, more on this later. (can be 0 through 7)

6 - V Lin - this is basicaly the fish eye setting. Max this out, or you will have fish eye... I guess if you have the opposite of fish eye you can turn it down a little bit.

5 - V size - does vertical streching.

Ok, so both VHT and VSIZE adjust the vertical strech of the screen. Now, I suggest you set VHT to zero and then use VSIZE to fit the image to the size of your screen. This seems to make the brightness bar go away almost entirely. I have crazy theories as to why that might be, but I won't bore you with them.

Then I go over to my user settings, and turn the brighness up to 50, my contrast down to about 15, my sharpess up to about 40 for high def material, and turn off all the processing. On my TV, contrast MUST BE VERY LOW, or the TV oversaturates itself and text becomes unreadable. So, the solution is maximum brightness and then messing with the contrast to get good text detail -- also try using a grayscale pattern to fine tune your contrast.

Hope this is useful for someone!

And I don't see anyway to break your TV using this menu... You could get a super ugly picture, but that wouldn't be any different from when I first turned it on :)

klover

11-09-06, 06:37 PM

I have a problem with the geometry of my tv. Whenever there are horizontal bars or lines on the screen they bend downwards near the side of the screen. What setting in the service menu will fix this.

You can mess around with the H-Position a bit but, in most cases, the bending is caused by the power supply (lack of overload capacity).

I also worked those lines a bit straighter by adjusting TRAPazoid and Para.

Watch your lines while you adjust your contrast and you'll see what I mean (higher contrast - white - taxes the power supply/deflection circuitry more).

In most cases, you can only minimize the impact.

klover

11-09-06, 06:39 PM

Oh, and I posted this elsewhere is case you need some "default" settings for the colour areas that xenofloyd didn't address (good post though!).

I spent hours scouring the net for these - never found any - so I went to a Best Buy today, begged for the remote and a pen and stood in front of the demo set and recorded the defaults. They had to have a manager "watch" me as they were concerned this was an attempt to steal a replacement remote

Of course, each set is individually configured at the factory but these default settings should get you back to a workable (if not satisfactory) image in the event you toggled them without recording your defaults (like the author did).

I've left out the descriptors for each setting as the service menu numbers and corresponding settings are all you need. I've also skipped a small chunk of settings that simply establish the top, centre and bottom end of things like brightness and contrast (i.e., settings that only affect how high/low you can set the basic menu items - nothing important).

Anyway, I hope these help.

1. N/A (this is the setting that makes a red line appear)
2. 82
3. 1
4. 38
5. 46
6. 25
7. 4
8. 3
9. 31
10. 0
11. 33
12. 0
13. 15
14. 40
15. 12
16. 47
17. 18
18. 12
19. 16
20. 15
21. 7
22. 8
23. 128
24. 95
25. 126
26. 64
27. 74
28. 79
29. 112
30. 139
31. 64
32. 70
33. 88
34. 60
35. 113
36. 64
37. 86
38. 70
39. 8
40. 3
41. 5
42. 0
52. 13

Porcupine2

11-09-06, 08:29 PM

Ok, so both VHT and VSIZE adjust the vertical strech of the screen. Now, I suggest you set VHT to zero and then use VSIZE to fit the image to the size of your screen. This seems to make the brightness bar go away almost entirely. I have crazy theories as to why that might be, but I won't bore you with them.

Then I go over to my user settings, and turn the brighness up to 50, my contrast down to about 15, my sharpess up to about 40 for high def material, and turn off all the processing. On my TV, contrast MUST BE VERY LOW, or the TV oversaturates itself and text becomes unreadable. So, the solution is maximum brightness and then messing with the contrast to get good text detail -- also try using a grayscale pattern to fine tune your contrast.Ah, nice trick with manipulating both VHT and VSIZE (which on the surface appear to do the same or similar thing) to maybe reduce the 1080i white glow at the top problem. I myself only use this TV for SD as of now so I've never experienced the white glow problem, but in the future I'll remember this if necessary.

Another thing, V. SYMM that mysterious setting, also increases/decreases the vertical size of the screen if you alter it a lot (don't be afraid that changing it makes the screen bounce for a second, it's harmless I've done it zillions of times). So this is a 3rd parameter that you can fiddle with to possibly alter the white glow. There is also a 4th parameter which could be the most valuable of them all. It's the V. POS parameter that probably no one uses because it makes the screen look weird (cut off) and unusable. However if you alter both V. POS and V. SYMM in the correct direction the screen is once again fixed and watchable and for the most part the same as before (no part of the actual image is cut off...you may also need to recenter with V CENT because changing V. SYMM slightly alters this also...V. SYMM is one of the service menu's most unusual settings).

I'd like to test the effects of these on the 1080i white glow myself but won't be able to until I get an HD source (and assuming I still have this TV at that time, since this one is defective and I'm trying to get rid of it).

Also I totally agree with what you said about the Contrast. I incorrectly said in my previous post that I only adjust the Color settings regarding non-geometry settings. I forgot to mention I also change the Contrast. I have it at the "original" 0 exactly (I made that the default through the service menu...it's Contrast 50 I believe in the SM"). I redo my CONT CENT at 50 (instead of 70 the default), my CONT MAX at 70 (instead of 80 the default) and CONT MIN at 20 (instead of 50 the default). You need to lower the Contrast because the out-of-box contrast is way too high and makes all text and all images very blurry since the electron beam cannot focus, as you said. Fortunately, I think the lowered Contrast is the way it is supposed to be anyway (I dunno for sure, never tested with anything like AVIA, but ohwell. I don't care because it's more important to have a sharp image than a correct intensity one.) I also don't really care about color temperature, something that a lot of other people are deeply concerned about. I just use Cool for everything, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. Besides, the different spots on the screen have different color temp anyway due to "minor" color purity problems that all the HD CRTs have.

xenofloyd

11-10-06, 11:05 AM

update.... VS CORR will also appear to adjust vertical scale, but it does so in such a way that it only streches the top and bottom of the screen, but no the middle.

HDTiVo

11-20-06, 12:58 PM

I managed to get that spreadsheet you're talking about. I also made an updated 30HFX85 version for my own purposes. I've got them hosted on my FTP site (it's only 384kbps upstream, so not zippy, but the files are small):

Toshiba_26HF84.zip (ftp://mordor.dnsalias.net/pub/Toshiba_26HF84.zip)
Toshiba_30HF(X)85.zip (ftp://mordor.dnsalias.net/pub/Toshiba_30HF(X)85.zip)

I think it was unecessary for me to make a column for each individual input. From what I've read you'd probably only need one for each type of input (4 total: one for antenna, one for composite/S-Video, one for component, and one for HDMI). But I was being paranoid when I first recorded everything, after reading many posts about people getting themselves into pickles by not keeping careful records first.

I'd like to adust the overscan on the 30HFX85. Can someone point me to a manual or the right use of the above to do it?

Thank you.

ArDarsh

11-20-06, 02:54 PM

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if the Toshiba 27DF46 has issues with inputs on the back. I read a couple posts talking about screens being slightly messed up, but not really sure on the whole thing. I plan on getting this TV just for Xbox360/PS3 and OTA reception. Also, I notice that a lot of zoom features zoom-in too much or pull images to one side of the screen. Does this TV suffer from this? I was hoping for something like incremental zoom to get a good fit without cropping the image. If this TV stinks, is there a good substitute? Thanks in advance.

kev7645

11-26-06, 01:36 PM

mtb

11-27-06, 11:23 AM

Been slowly having problems on my Toshiba 30HF85C (canadian) with the bright glow at the top of the screen. Since its now about 11 months old, I decided to ask the service depot where I bought it to take a look. Despite the mumbo jumbo about it being an "incompatibility in the way my satellite receiver and TV communicate" from the service technician at my house while my wife was home, I managed to get them to take it away for service last week and they've now called to say Toshiba will be replacing it with a new but different unit. I'm assuming this is the 30HF86C I see on their website now. I'll update as things progress :)

http://mikebabcock.ca/ht for details on my home theatre setup.

mtb

11-27-06, 11:35 AM

I read a couple posts talking about screens being slightly messed up, but not really sure on the whole thing. I plan on getting this TV just for Xbox360/PS3 and OTA reception.

There are several possible problems with this set. Most have minor geometry issues that most users wouldn't notice, but some of us are picky about. Some sets (like mine) have an obvious bright patch in the top inch or so of the screen that is most noticeable with dark scenes. I found for playing video games this TV is perfectly acceptable, and for viewing HD broadcasts on satellite it was more than sufficient, if that helps you any.

Also, I notice that a lot of zoom features zoom-in too much or pull images to one side of the screen. Does this TV suffer from this? I was hoping for something like incremental zoom to get a good fit without cropping the image. If this TV stinks, is there a good substitute? Thanks in advance.

The zoom features on this TV are one of the things I quite liked. There are a few settings, including "take a letterbox show and stretch it to widescreen vertically", "do the same but with less stretch so you dont lose the CC text" and "stretch whatever i'm getting to fill the screen" (perfect for SD widescreen videogames like on the PS2). The vertical cropping ones allow you to adjust the offset for the cropping as well, to center it properly on the screen.

Its actually quite a nice TV feature-wise. Its too bad it doesn't have the image quality of a comparable Sony CRT HDTV.

stvnham16

11-28-06, 02:00 PM

How do you use the zoom feature. Is that theaterwide 1-whatever. Also because I output everything to 720p, is that the reason why stuff doesn't fit completly on the screen. Example would be the NBC hd sybmol get cut off a little bit as well as the fox symbol. This is on hd broadcast. When I output from my cable box 1080i to the tv I don't have the problem. The reason I don't output with 1080i is because of banding problems.

fugiot

11-28-06, 06:49 PM

Hi, I'm about to ask for a big favor here.

Anyone who has a Toshiba 26HF66, or anything close to the (26HFXX) would you please post all the settings you have in the service menu. It would be a life saver for me.

Thank you so much.

Since I know I wanted these when I first got my set, I'm going to share my ISF settings with all you 26HF(84/85/14/15/66) owners. We all know that every CRT is different, but maybe these will work or at least head you in the right direction. Also, these are optimized for HD sources.

First off, set the screen mode to "Full" and then enter the Service Menu. Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Make sure to write down all of your current settings. I don't want to be to blame if my settings don't work for you. Change the settings to the following values and then press 'menu' on the remote to return.

Items #2-#23 are Geometry settings and a different for each set. Only use these for experimentation as I can guarantee you they are not the correct settings for your particular set.

2. H. POSI - 84
3. V. POSI - 1
4. H. SIZE - 20
5. V. SIZE - 40
6. V. LIN - 27
7. V-EHT - 4
8. H-EHT - 2
9. V-BLK P - 31
10. V-BLK S - 0
11. V. CENT - 31
12. V. LIMIT - 0
13. V. CORR - 13
14. V.S. CORR - 40
15. EW PARA - 10
16. TRAPEZIUM - 45
17. COR. TOP - 16
18. COR. BTM - 15
19. S. CORR - 17
20. CORNER - 16
21. C. PARA - 6
22. C. SAW - 6
23. V. SYMM - 128

The following are the picture settings and are roughly equal across all sets. They may need slight adjustments, but it will be pretty darned close to perfect.

24. R. BIAS - 69
25. G. BIAS - 63
26. B. BIAS - 93
27. R/G. DRV - 77
28. B/R. DRV - 60
Items #29 through #38 are for the 'cool' and 'warm' color temp settings. I didn't include them because they are unused.
39. R-Y GAIN - 1
40. R-Y PAHSE - 0
41. G-Y GAIN - 2
42. G-Y PAHSE - 1
43. BRI. CENT - 227
44. BRI. MAX - 232
45. BRI. MIN - 222
46. CONT. CENT - 39
47. CONT. MAX - 43
48. CONT. MIN - 35
49. COL. CENT - 61
50. COL. MAX - 64
51. COL. MIN - 47
52. SUB CONT - 15
53. TINT - 66
54. SHARP CENT - 63
55. SHARP MAX - 95
56. SHARP MIN - 31
57. TILT CENT - 138

Exit the Service Menu by pressing the "menu" button, press the tv/video button and repeat all settings on all 7 inputs.

Then, exit service menu, change to "Theater Wide 3" screen setting, enter service menu again and change V. SIZE to 50. This is ideal for widescreen 4:3 viewing from SD sources. Make sure "TheaterWide 1" is set exactly the same as "Full". "TheaterWide 2" is unused.

Once you have all the service menu set up, set your main menu settings like this.

S-video(or composite) connection:::
Brightness - 0
Contrast - 25(set to '50' for a brighter picture)
Color - 0
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Colorstream Component:::
Brightness - 25 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 for HD(50 for a brighter SD picture, 0 for night HD)
Color - 25
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25 (set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

HDMI:::
Brightness - 50 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 for HD(set to 50 for a brighter SD picture, set to 0 for night HD)
Color - 50
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25(set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Yes, did you notice? All the SM settings are to make the main menu settings easy to remember by leaving most of them at default(25).

For example, Bright. Max in the SM corresponds to 'Brightness@50' in the User menu
Bright.Cent in SM = 'Brightness@25' in UM
Bright.Min in SM = 'Brightness@0' in UM.

Enjoy! Hopefully they work for you like they do for me. Looks as good as a Sony now....a non-ISF'd Sony.

stvnham16

11-28-06, 08:00 PM

The question I have is when there is a completly black screen on my tv there are Red , Green, and Blue Bars running verticly about and inch from the left side of the screen. Does anyone know what this is? The bars don't fill the whole screen they probably have a total horizontal length of 1.5 inches. Also where these bars are locted, blacks aren't as black they kind of have a glow.

FIU Panther

11-28-06, 08:55 PM

Hi, I have a question.

My father owns a Toshiba 30HFX85, we knows nothing about TV's and has never really touched since since he got it. (not that I know much more)

The connections are as follows the cable goes into the Comcast box through a coaxial cable. Then the comcast boxes sends three cables green, red, and white into the television. It's watched on Colorstream HD as the Video Input.

My problem is it looks terrible on SDTV, some channels look better than others but by and far it's really bad. Images are very snowy, almost as if there is a bad connection.

My other problem is HD doesn't really look all that great.

I ask what can be done? Is there a better way to set up connections? Is there something in the menu I need to adjust?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

fugiot

11-28-06, 10:44 PM

Toshibas come from the factory with absolutely HORRIBLE settings. Find a friend or co-worker who knows a bit about tuning and calibrating TVs. The difference is night and day. PM me if you want details as I've done quite a bit of work on my toshiba and it turned out looking fantastic.

kev7645

11-30-06, 07:11 PM

Thanks a lot man, just what I needed. The picture is looking even better now.

rs7k

12-03-06, 01:47 PM

WOW THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE VALUES!!

My set is now looking quite a bit better. It's good enough that I can actually attempt to convince myself I didn't buy an outsourced POS ;)

fugiot

12-03-06, 04:41 PM

Cool, glad to hear it. Seems like these sets pack some decent components, but they skimped on the labor and man-hours for calibration to sell them cheaper.

Did you copy all values exactly? Did your color balance turn out OK?

Monte79

12-05-06, 03:55 PM

Hi first time poster.....I have owned the 30hf85 for almost a year and a half and I have had problems with it from day 1. Purchased from BB and have had it serviced twice. Both times due to the remote sensor not working all of the time and funky audio noise coming from speakers (best described as a crackle or static interference of some sort). First time tech resoldered connection for remote sensor. Worked for 2 weeks. Second time replaced remote sensor and worked for four weeks. Now the third time comes and they would like to replace main board....

SO, Does anyone know if Toshiba still makes or supplies the main board for the 30hf85? Has anyone else had similar issues or have had the main board replaced? In the end I am hopeful that they don't have replacement boards or it wont cure the problem and BB will honor the no lemon policy (no easy task from what I read) so I can go get a higher end LCD (which is what I should have done in the first place had I not been so cheep). I have read all of your posts on this forum and they look like they will help me with most other issues and for that I am grateful.

fugiot

12-05-06, 04:55 PM

What you should do is suck up your good guy image and start giving Best Buy a hard time. They are a business and try to avoid giving things away, but they also don't want to fight with customers. If they see that you're genuinely unhappy with your product, they'll cave immediately and credit you for a new set.

InYourEyes

12-05-06, 08:09 PM

SO, Does anyone know if Toshiba still makes or supplies the main board for the 30hf85? Has anyone else had similar issues or have had the main board replaced? In the end I am hopeful that they don't have replacement boards or it wont cure the problem and BB will honor the no lemon policy (no easy task from what I read) so I can go get a higher end LCD (which is what I should have done in the first place had I not been so cheep). I have read all of your posts on this forum and they look like they will help me with most other issues and for that I am grateful.
Toshiba does not make any parts in the 30HF85 at all, since they did not make the TV. Your TV is made by Orion (Sansui), and Toshiba has to order all parts from Orion, and it is located in Thailand. Parts usually take a few weeks to ship to the United States. You cannot buy the whole, complete power supply main TV board. That part is not available. Only a certain part can be replaced or repaired. I'm sorry to say, but based on the problems you are experiencing, you probably got an Orion lemon. I had the same experience before.

lunaclown

12-08-06, 03:12 AM

fburch

12-08-06, 12:20 PM

I've messed around with the settings and am in need of the original factory settings as I've lost the original values. Can anyone please help? If anyone could please list their values so that I can tweak mine as needed.

These were posted by another AVSForum member a while back. I cannot personally vouch for them, however. Good luck in making adjustments and you might want to get in the habit of writing down values prior to changing them.

TOSHIBA 34HF85 SERVICE MENU DEFAULTS

01 ?
02 HPOS 84
03 VPOS 1
04 HSIZE 41
05 VSIZE 47
06 VLIN 24
07 VEHT 6
08 HEHT 6
09 VBLK (P) 31
10 VBLK (S) 0
11 VCENT 30
12 VLIMIT 0
13 VCORR 2
14 VSCORR 30
15 EW PARA 12
16 TRAP 55
17 CORR TOP 13
18 CORR BOTT 11
19 SCORR 16
20 CORNER 21
21 CPARA 8
22 ? SAW 7
23 VSYMM 128
24 R BIAS 99
25 G BIAS 127
26 B BIAS 158
27 R/G DRV 81
28 B/R DRV 54
29 R BIAS (C) 118
30 G BIAS (C) 127
31 B BIAS (C) 157
32 R/G DRV (C) 68
33 B/R DRV (C) 56
34 R BIAS (W) 81
35 G BIAS (W) 127
36 B BIAS (W) 164
37 R/G DRV (W) 91
38 B/R DRV (W) 50
39 RY GAIN 8
40 RY PHASE 3
41 GY GAIN 5
42 GY PHASE 0
43 BRI CENT 154
44 BR MAX 240
45 BR MIN 50
46 CONT CENT 70
47 CONT MAX 80
48 CONT MIN 50
49 COL CENT 58
50 COL MAX 127
51 COL MIN 0
52 SUB CONT 22
53 TINT 70
54 SHARP CENT 60
55 SHARP MAX 100
56 SHARP MIN 0
57 TILT CENTR 151
58 TEST 0
59 TEST AUDIO 0

lunaclown

12-10-06, 02:16 AM

These were posted by another AVSForum member a while back. I cannot personally vouch for them, however. Good luck in making adjustments and you might want to get in the habit of writing down values prior to changing them.

TOSHIBA 34HF85 SERVICE MENU DEFAULTS

01 ?
02 HPOS 84
03 VPOS 1
04 HSIZE 41
05 VSIZE 47
06 VLIN 24
07 VEHT 6
08 HEHT 6
09 VBLK (P) 31
10 VBLK (S) 0
11 VCENT 30
12 VLIMIT 0
13 VCORR 2
14 VSCORR 30
15 EW PARA 12
16 TRAP 55
17 CORR TOP 13
18 CORR BOTT 11
19 SCORR 16
20 CORNER 21
21 CPARA 8
22 ? SAW 7
23 VSYMM 128
24 R BIAS 99
25 G BIAS 127
26 B BIAS 158
27 R/G DRV 81
28 B/R DRV 54
29 R BIAS (C) 118
30 G BIAS (C) 127
31 B BIAS (C) 157
32 R/G DRV (C) 68
33 B/R DRV (C) 56
34 R BIAS (W) 81
35 G BIAS (W) 127
36 B BIAS (W) 164
37 R/G DRV (W) 91
38 B/R DRV (W) 50
39 RY GAIN 8
40 RY PHASE 3
41 GY GAIN 5
42 GY PHASE 0
43 BRI CENT 154
44 BR MAX 240
45 BR MIN 50
46 CONT CENT 70
47 CONT MAX 80
48 CONT MIN 50
49 COL CENT 58
50 COL MAX 127
51 COL MIN 0
52 SUB CONT 22
53 TINT 70
54 SHARP CENT 60
55 SHARP MAX 100
56 SHARP MIN 0
57 TILT CENTR 151
58 TEST 0
59 TEST AUDIO 0

Thank you so much. Your a life saver.

BRY1080P

12-11-06, 07:57 PM

I know this is an owner's thread, but is there anyone on this thread that might know of where to find a 34HFX84 these days. Any responses would be much appreciated!!

InYourEyes

12-11-06, 09:36 PM

I know this is an owner's thread, but is there anyone on this thread that might know of where to find a 34HFX84 these days. Any responses would be much appreciated!!
What is this? This isn't the Toshiba-made era anymore. You will never find a brand new Toshiba 34HFX84. These days are long gone. I've been looking one for 1.5 year with no luck so far. Your best bet is to search through Craigslist or eBay for a used one. But finding a 34HFX84 is sort of impossible.

lennsx

12-12-06, 01:56 PM

Anyone have any of the HD players hooked to this/these Toshiba HDTVs?
If so, what's the verdict? Any of the classic issues happening, I.E. white glow and/or the rapid shadow banding via HDMI?

fugiot

12-12-06, 06:14 PM

Yes, Blu-ray still gives shadow banding thru HDMI. It doesn't seem to happen as frequently as it does with my OTA box. I believe it's because of camera panning though. Less panning in movies vs. prime time dramas.

stvnham16

12-12-06, 07:04 PM

does anyone get the shadow banding over component? I think it gets worse when the brightness is to low and the contrast is to high.

fugiot

12-12-06, 08:17 PM

I've never seen banding thru component.

lennsx

12-13-06, 10:34 AM

Well, the fact that banding is ALWAYS an issue thru HDMI, regardless of the source is depressing because the only way to upconvert standard DVD's on HD players is thru HDMI.

fugiot

12-13-06, 05:29 PM

Oh, sorry. I meant banding is only there with true HD material.

I have an upconverting 1080i Philips DVD player running thru HDMI and I have no banding or white haze at all. NONE.

It's literally the best looking thing I can feed my set.

But, Blu-ray is true HD content is does have banding.

lennsx

12-13-06, 06:06 PM

I have banding via my Cable Box @ 1080i thru HDMI and am hesitant to get the new Toshiba HD-A2 because of the fear that it will happen thru its HDMI as well. Question; this TV has an option where we can manually (user selectable) set DVDs to either 540p or 1080i (I keep mine at 540p for I have a progressive scan DVD player, and I honestly see no difference in PQ when I toggle between the two) so with all this talk of upconverting DVD players isn't this TV doing that anyway? Fair question, no? ;)

fugiot

12-13-06, 06:30 PM

It is a fair question, but the upscaler in my DVD player blows away the one in the TV. The DVDs look near HD quality. Smoother colors, less artifacts, and smoother lines. A very pleasing picture rivaling that of OTA HD. I'd say it looks like an HD program with sharpness setting turned down a bit. My upscaling DVD player was worth every penny. Plus, you've never seen what your TV can do until you feed it some hi-res jpegs thru HDMI with an HD JPEG dvd player.

Bottom line: Upscaled DVDs are a big difference on these Toshibas.

lennsx

12-13-06, 06:44 PM

JoeAngelicchio

12-13-06, 11:43 PM

Quick question for all of you. Has anyone had any out of focus issues? It seems, not always, but when watching satellite or some DVD's it's almost like the picture has 2 layers not quite synched together. Hard to explain but like it's out of focus. I want to make this set work as it's the perfect size for my armoir. The PS2 (GT4) looks excellent through the component connection set at 1080i for the game, but if I play a DVD throught it looks out of focus. Hope you know what I mean.

fugiot

12-14-06, 12:00 PM

Thank you for the response. Ah, the frustration with this TV; upscaled DVDs look near HD quality but HD-DVDs have banding problems. So, you have both a Blu-Ray player & an upscaling DVD player? Why don't you use the Blu-Ray player to upcale DVDs? Because of the HDMI/upscaling DVD banding, correct? Oh, no! because TRUE, NATIVE HD content has banding thru HDMI, regardless of the source! :)

I have an upscaling DVD player because my Blu-ray player is a PS3 which does not upscale. And like I said, Blu-ray has much less banding than OTA HD broadcasts for some reason. So it's not even that big of a problem for me.

RaySl

12-19-06, 10:12 PM

I turned on my tv tonight to sit down and watch and relax, but something had changed.... I can now only see 2 video sources (ANT and ColourStream HD1) where did they go? is there a way to get them back?

I checked to make sure video lock was disabled, and then I did a reset of the TV (as per instructions in this forum -- vol 0, hold down 1) and my precious video sources are still not showing up.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated... I've had the 30HF84 for exactly 2 years now with no issues until now :(

InYourEyes

12-20-06, 01:18 PM

RaySl

12-20-06, 02:22 PM

The input selector circuit board in the TV is probably failing.

Any idea what thats going to run me or is it time for a new TV?

stvnham16

01-08-07, 11:51 PM

Idk if this has been asked yet. What should I set my tv to when watching tv and video games, film or video mode? Also when whatching dvds is film better then video. I know it has something to do with 3:2 pulldown, but I want to know If watching regular hdtv and video games should be done in video mode.

fugiot

01-09-07, 12:14 AM

yes, 'video' mode is for 30fps or 60fps content like games and TV. 'Film' mode is for 24fps content such as dvds. Most movies are filmed, some are shot with video. If you can't tell the difference, then I doubt 3:2 pulldown will visibly change anything for you.

lennsx

01-10-07, 09:59 AM

"Cinema Mode virtually eliminates the possibility of errors or artifacts that can be caused by the process of transferring film to video. The Cinema Mode circuitry identifies original film-based content from DVDs. The 3:2 pulldown process is a method to map the 24 frames per second that are captured during film production onto the 30 frames per second of a 525 line TV system. If film-based content is sensed by the circuitry, it reassembles the frame sequence to more accurately reproduce the original 24 frame film-based material.
Benefit: The system has Film and Video settings. When Video mode is selected, the circuitry is turned off. When Film mode is selected, it is in automatic mode."

MonsieurFreeze

01-11-07, 01:29 PM

Hi,

Do you know if the HF85 models have 540 or 1080 horizontal lines ? I would like to know if what I'm seeing with my set (26HF85) is a real HD of just a compatible view.
Thanks

lennsx

01-11-07, 05:09 PM

As far as I know our beloved 34HF85s are true HD sets, I.E. - 1080 lines of INTERLACED resolution! (720p, or PROGRESSIVE is considered true HD as well, but this TV only outputs 540p, NOT 720p which a lot of people believe; when a HD broadcast signal comes in that is 720p (like FOX network) the TV converts the signal to 1080i. I believe that the TV automatically upconverts all signals to 1080i. Hope that helped! (and I hope that I'm corrrect! ;-)

fugiot

01-11-07, 06:18 PM

Yes, the 26HF85 has a screen resolution of 853x1080. Just about 1 megapixel and about equal to a 1366x768 LCD screen.

And like Lennsx said, 480p is not upconverted, 720p is upconverted to 1080i(with detail equaling about 720i), and yes, the set does have a full 1080 lines of vertical resolution. But you have to get rid of the overscan to see them all.

MonsieurFreeze

01-12-07, 01:33 PM

Thank you for the response. I was not sure because of the curious 540p option for 480p source (by the way i can't see a difference with 480i/p to 1080i mode)

As many people on this thread my set did not display correctly a 1080i source, I've called the Toshiba technical assistance but there are not 'aware of the problem', for those people as long as our set display a 720p signal there is no issue.
So I'm stuck with a 720p signal (which is dumb, many of the HDTV broadcast are in 1080 so my cable box 'down convert' signals 1080i->720p then my TV do the opposite). The quality of the image seems to be ok for me, except that I lose maybe 1 inch of the image to the left of my screen (the display image is too big to fit on the screen).
Do you know if we can resize or at least move the horizontal position of the screen when the set display HD content?

fugiot

01-12-07, 04:04 PM

JoeAngelicchio

01-13-07, 11:43 AM

fugiot

01-13-07, 04:59 PM

Overscan means the picture is hanging off the edges of your screen. You need to run a 1.78:1 aspect ratio DVD thru your best connection and adjust the size of the image to fit perfectly in the screen. Use the H.SIZE, H.POSI, V.SIZE, and V.CENT to adjust the image size and position. You cannot turn upscaling off. The only way to run SD content in it's native resolution is to set the source to 480p and setting the TV to 540p mode.

MonsieurFreeze

01-15-07, 04:01 PM

Here is how you get into the Service menu:

First off, set the screen mode to "Full". Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Make sure to write down all of your current settings.

Change the settings; H.POSI, H.SIZE, V.SIZE, and V.CENT. Don't change V.POSI, it's not the one you want. Use the up/down and left/right on your remote. Press 'menu' when you are done. Notice that all of the user menu's settings have been defaulted.

Thank You, I really appreciate, I've calibrate the vertical size and position, in fact the original vertical setting were all wrong, the image was cute by at least 2-3 inch (too much zoom in).

As it seems you have a good knowledge of the servive menu do you know what is the first and second setting for ? (yellow squares and a bright line). And if i want to change the original image setting (sport/standard/movie), do you know where i can find these setting ?

Thank you.

alpha_nerd

01-16-07, 04:06 PM

I searched the thread and didn't find an issue exactly like mine so here goes...

I have a 26HF84A, a little over 2 years old now (November 2004 mfg date), and suddenly the HDMI port just quit working. I've switched out HDMI sources and the cable on this set and I've also taken both to another set where they work fine so I'm sure its the Toshiba TV that's having the problem. I have an extended support contract on it but the place that does the servicing isn't really close-by so if there's a way to reset the HDMI port or the board that controls it as a possible fix that would be great.

The problem detail is that the HDMI port just quit working, the screen is black and there's no sound while playing from the HDMI source. The HDMI port still appears on the list of input sources and it is possible to select and switch to it, it just doesn't work when you get there. I've tried unplugging the set from AC for an extended time but, of course, that had no effect (it was worth a try).

All other ports work fine (all of the normal video, and both the composite ports). Only the HDMI port has exhibited problems.

Any help would be appreciated!

fugiot

01-16-07, 04:55 PM

Thank You, I really appreciate, I've calibrate the vertical size and position, in fact the original vertical setting were all wrong, the image was cute by at least 2-3 inch (too much zoom in).

As it seems you have a good knowledge of the servive menu do you know what is the first and second setting for ? (yellow squares and a bright line). And if i want to change the original image setting (sport/standard/movie), do you know where i can find these setting ?

Thank you.

The first service menu setting is just the position of the service menu text. I don't know what the second one is, but I wouldn't look at it for too long. That line is ultra-bright and probably damaging your screen by rapidly burning the pixels.

You can't change the sport/standard/movie settings, but the service menu affects all of the user menu settings. For example, the Bright.Max, Bright.Cent, and Bright.Min settings in the service menu are setting the points for the user menu.

Bright Max in SM = Brightness at '50' in the User Menu
Bright Cent in SM = Brightness at '25' in the UM
Bright Min in SM = Brightness at '0' in the UM.

bmanfull

01-17-07, 04:13 PM

OK. Here is a interesting problem with my 34HF85 for all of you to diagnose. For over a year I have been experiencing a picture that would fade from lighter to darker. More troubling, on some specific HD channels (not all) there was a prounounced blue color shift that would notbe present when the picture was viewed through the VCR or seen in the preview box of the Comcast Guide.

After 2 visits by Comcast here what we found out. The problem was resolved when the comcast box was used with HDMI inputs instead component video inputs. The tech said it could be a compatiblity problem. I then used the Component input for the DVD player and it seems OK in terms of color, but a little softer in sharpness.

So here is my dilema, do I use my BestBuy extended warranty to fix the inputs or live with DVD running Component video inputs and TV on HDMI. Not sure if it is truly a compatibility problem or defective TV inputs. Anyone seen this problem before?

Would using a HDMI switch box be a simple solution or will the box add noise that would degrade the picture?

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Bill

fugiot

01-17-07, 11:45 PM

MonsieurFreeze

01-18-07, 09:10 AM

It's a good news if these sets could display a 1080i input thru the HDMI input. I ve ordered a cheap hdmi cable to test this asumption. I still have one month of warranty on my set, I will be glad if I could fix it by myself.

rs7k

01-18-07, 11:32 PM

fugiot

01-19-07, 06:38 PM

fugiot, has it been confirmed the Toshiba HD CRT's have a full 1080 lines of vertical resolution? I find that unusual since I always assumed Sony was the only manufacturer capable of making a guaranteed claim about their CRT's resolution.

I can't find any particular numbers on the subject, but I read somewhere shadow mask-based CRT's max out at around 800 lines.

However, I compared my friend's Samsung HDTV (it's a Dynaflat, don't know how old it is, but it can't be that recent since it doesn't support 720p at all) to mine, and my 26HF85 looks like it has almost twice the resolution.

For example, if you push the Guide button on the 360 controller, you can see the separate lines in the battery charge indicator very clearly, but on his, it's a blurry mess.

Even at 480p, my set looked sharper in some ways, although 480p looks very washed out. I calibrated my TV to look incredible in HD using some of the settings you posted previously, and tweaked them to fit my TV (if I followed your exact settings, my TV was a blue-tinted mess). I've never managed to get a satisfactory 480i/p picture through component, it's like the black level is non-existent and the colors are extremely dull. 480i looks fine using S-video though. Do you have any tips on what could be wrong? I don't want to change any of the settings because the HD picture is a lot more important to me. Mission Impossible 3 on Blu-Ray looks particularly amazing.

The 800 line limitation you are refering to is the horizontal resolution. I don't know if it's actually a limitation or just a cost-cutting measure, but the Toshiba sets are 853x1080 resolution.

As far as your your SM settings, did you change the settings for each input? You have to change to the input you want to set-up and then enter the service menu. Make sure you exit the SM before going to the next input.

On these TVs, you need to lower the brightness for each lower quality input. HDMI needs the highest brightness setting, Component needs a medium setting, and S-video/Composite need very low settings.

rs7k

01-19-07, 10:56 PM

The 800 line limitation you are refering to is the horizontal resolution. I don't know if it's actually a limitation or just a cost-cutting measure, but the Toshiba sets are 853x1080 resolution.

As far as your your SM settings, did you change the settings for each input? You have to change to the input you want to set-up and then enter the service menu. Make sure you exit the SM before going to the next input.

On these TVs, you need to lower the brightness for each lower quality input. HDMI needs the highest brightness setting, Component needs a medium setting, and S-video/Composite need very low settings.

You seem to know a lot about TV's. Thanks a lot by the way.

I just needed to know how you can be certain the 26HF85 has 1080 lines of resolution, just because I can't find that information anywhere.

Off-topic, the TV my friend was talking about is a 30" Samsung Dynaflat. It looks terribly blurry compared to mine, almost closer to the 27" Sony Trinitron (FS120, pretty recent) than to my 26HF85. Tons of overscan too. Would a TV like that be worth $500 CDN (around $400 US I'm guessing).

Thanks again for the insight

fugiot

01-20-07, 02:41 PM

I just needed to know how you can be certain the 26HF85 has 1080 lines of resolution, just because I can't find that information anywhere.

Off-topic, the TV my friend was talking about is a 30" Samsung Dynaflat. It looks terribly blurry compared to mine, almost closer to the 27" Sony Trinitron (FS120, pretty recent) than to my 26HF85. Tons of overscan too. Would a TV like that be worth $500 CDN (around $400 US I'm guessing).

I know for sure that the Toshiba 26HFs have 1080 lines of vertical resolution because I pretty much hand-counted the pixels. It was driving me nuts not knowing what the resolution of my set was. I never actually counted one by one, but I tried several different methods and regularly came up with numbers around 1100.

Anyway, Samsung makes a decent TV. Sounds like it's just horribly out of tune. Try dropping the contrast WAY down and messing with the sharpness settings and scan velocity. I'd say it's worth around $300-$450 if it works pretty well.

rs7k

01-20-07, 06:21 PM

LOL at counting the pixels. I guess it would be possible with the right ratios to measure, I tried it once, but I gave up because I thought I was being ridiculous :)

About the Samsung, I tried toning down the contrast, and it just did that, lower the contrast and there was no improvement in resolution at all. I'm trying to get the model number, but he's being a lazy stoner lately and I can't get an answer from him at all. He's got some really nasty overscan, like almost 15% or more. If I can get in the service menu, I can maybe work some magic.

Also, I have another question. I might be moving 2-3 times in the next year (relocating - air traffic controller school), and I might have to get rid of my TV. It's pretty heavy. I really like it though, the black levels are terrific in HD. If I got something like a decent Toshiba LCD or LG that's around the same size (obviously 720p), how much would I sacrifice in terms of image quality? Where I might be moving, there will be no HD channels, I can almost guarantee that (think north of the 60th parallel in northern Canada).

soloist3

01-21-07, 01:11 AM

I just recently bought a Toshiba 34" HD CRT (34HF81C) and it has a magenta spot directly left of the center of the screen and a yellow spot on the same area but other side of the center of the screen is this a beam landing issue (something that can be corrected) or is this shadow mask warpage? It seems to me that beam landing and geomagnetic disturbances usually occur at the corners, this is near the center, is this TV a lost cause?

InYourEyes

01-21-07, 12:47 PM

soloist3

01-21-07, 04:36 PM

Actually I already did that, it is about 10ft. from anything electrical or magnetic. This CRT would be amazing if it were not for these spots, however I have a feeling that it might be shadow mask damage. Btw, I did have to transport it for about 2 hours in temperatures ranging from 51-34F, could the freezing temperature have caused a warp in the mask?

rfin16

01-22-07, 09:54 AM

I am looking for advice on how to minimize moire problems on this set (currently using standard cable, DVD and VHS only). It is otherwise working well, especially since it is a floor model purchased for only $400 Canadian. I have tried searching the thread but cannot find advice on this particular display problem. Thank you in advance for your help.

zipxavier

01-22-07, 10:02 AM

fugiot

01-22-07, 02:47 PM

I was wondering if someone who has calibrated their 30HF85 or 26HF85 could post their settings for the tint, color, brightness, etc. I unfortunately don't have access to any disc like this and only have a Wii hooked up to my display and would just like the most accurate color reproduction and brightness, etc.

Thanks

Xavier, if you only want to adjust the image quality and not the size or shape, skip items 2-23 in the service menu. WRITE DOWN YOUR DEFAULT SETTINGS BEFORE CHANGING ANYTHING!

Since I know I wanted these when I first got my set, I'm going to share my ISF settings with all you 26HF(84/85/14/15/66) owners. We all know that every CRT is different, but maybe these will work or at least head you in the right direction. Also, these are optimized for HD sources.

First off, set the screen mode to "Full" and then enter the Service Menu. Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Make sure to write down all of your current settings. I don't want to be to blame if my settings don't work for you. Change the settings to the following values and then press 'menu' on the remote to return.

Items #2-#23 are Geometry settings and a different for each set. Only use these for experimentation as I can guarantee you they are not the correct settings for your particular set.

2. H. POSI - 84
3. V. POSI - 1
4. H. SIZE - 20
5. V. SIZE - 40
6. V. LIN - 27
7. V-EHT - 4
8. H-EHT - 2
9. V-BLK P - 31
10. V-BLK S - 0
11. V. CENT - 31
12. V. LIMIT - 0
13. V. CORR - 13
14. V.S. CORR - 40
15. EW PARA - 10
16. TRAPEZIUM - 45
17. COR. TOP - 16
18. COR. BTM - 15
19. S. CORR - 17
20. CORNER - 16
21. C. PARA - 6
22. C. SAW - 6
23. V. SYMM - 128

The following are the picture settings and are roughly equal across all sets. They may need slight adjustments, but it will be pretty darned close to perfect.

24. R. BIAS - 69
25. G. BIAS - 63
26. B. BIAS - 93
27. R/G. DRV - 77
28. B/R. DRV - 60
Items #29 through #38 are for the 'cool' and 'warm' color temp settings. I didn't include them because they are unused.
39. R-Y GAIN - 1
40. R-Y PAHSE - 0
41. G-Y GAIN - 2
42. G-Y PAHSE - 1
43. BRI. CENT - 223
44. BRI. MAX - 227
45. BRI. MIN - 216
46. CONT. CENT - 63
47. CONT. MAX - 63
48. CONT. MIN - 31
49. COL. CENT - 43
50. COL. MAX - 43
51. COL. MIN - 43
52. SUB CONT - 0
53. TINT - 66
54. SHARP CENT - 63
55. SHARP MAX - 95
56. SHARP MIN - 31
57. TILT CENT - 138

Exit the Service Menu by pressing the "menu" button, press the tv/video button and repeat all settings on all 7 inputs.

Then, exit service menu, change to "Theater Wide 3" screen setting, enter service menu again and change V. SIZE to 50. This is ideal for widescreen 4:3 viewing from SD sources. Make sure "TheaterWide 1" is set exactly the same as "Full". "TheaterWide 2" is unused.

Once you have all the service menu set up, set your main menu settings like this.

S-video(or composite) connection:::
Brightness - 0
Contrast - 25 or higher
Color - centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - centered
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Colorstream Component:::
Brightness - 25 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 or higher for HD(0 for night HD)
Color - Centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - 25 (set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

HDMI:::
Brightness - 25 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 or higher for HD(set to 0 for night HD)
Color - centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - 25(set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Yes, did you notice? All the SM settings are to make the main menu settings easy to remember by leaving most of them at default(25).

For example, Bright. Max in the SM corresponds to 'Brightness@50' in the User menu
Bright.Cent in SM = 'Brightness@25' in UM
Bright.Min in SM = 'Brightness@0' in UM.

Enjoy! Hopefully they work for you like they do for me. Looks as good as a Sony now....a non-ISF'd Sony.

rs7k

01-22-07, 04:22 PM

fugiot,

I roughly measured the vertical dot pitch (for lack of a better term), and realized that two dots fit in a little less than a mm. So the max vertical resolution would be closer to 800 interlaced lines. I came with 1736 "dots" when measuring horizontally.

The vertical length of my screen is 321 mm, and the horizontal length is 573 mm.

321 / 0.42 (estimate) = 764
573 / 0.33 (estimate) = 1736

That would make the resolution roughly 1700x750i, right? I want to know if I measured this the right way.

fugiot

01-22-07, 04:35 PM

Far from it, try again and remember that you have to count all three colors as one dot when measuring horizontally.

I'm not sure how you got such a low number for the vertical resolution, I consistantly came up with numbers around 1100.

mjconnor10

01-22-07, 08:10 PM

fugiot

01-22-07, 08:19 PM

God am I glad I found this thread.

I've adjusted some horizontal centering issues and some minor geometry to very good results.

But I still haven't been able to do anything about the focus on my 30HF85. Everything seems *just* a bit fuzzy. My input devices I'm using as a reference are a Samsung SIR-T150 (OTA receiver) and my XBox 360. Text is where things are really obvious.

What needs to happen to make me as happy as possible?

Turn the SVM off and sharpness all the way up. Yup, crank to the max. You'll actually have to go into the SM and change the Sharpness.Max setting to 127. Then set the sharpness at '50' on the main menu. I don't know why, but HD doesn't look like HD unless the SVM is off and sharpness is as high as you can get it. Also, text is always going to be a bit blurry on the edges of the screen.

MonsieurFreeze

01-26-07, 09:24 AM

Hi,

I've received yesterday my HDMI cable to plug in thru my cable box.

The good news is the strange artefact that I could see for 1080i sources thru component cable are over, so my set do not have probleme to display a real 1080i input, except that it must use the HDMI port.
The bad news (yeah nothing is perfect in this world...) is now I have random black screens, seems like a cable box problem (bad DRM ??) or HDMI cable is dammaged, I don't know, yesterday it was very cold in quebec and my cable have a lot of problem, could be that, but I don't think it is a tv issue.

I'm glad that I don't have to experiment the Toshiba technical repair center. And for all people who experiment the same problem (strange colors, as a blue filter) when the source is 1080i thru component, try the HDMI port and see if it change.

fugiot

01-26-07, 07:26 PM

Man, I feel luckier and luckier every day that, aside from the regular white haze, my Tosh 26HF came out pretty much flawless. Great geometry, no color spots, all inputs work great...

t'sup with that?

wehtiko

01-26-07, 09:28 PM

Hi,

I'm new to HD. I bought a 26HF84 used for 200$ CAD a few months ago when my old TV died. I bought an HD adapter for my Xbox, used also as this adapter is now discontinued, a month ago.

Everything worked fine until a few weeks ago. I wanted to watch some Deadwood episodes on DVD and when I powered my Xbox the image went all weird. It's difficult to explain so here are to links to what it should look like and what it looks like:

This is through the Video2 input (RCA)
pages.infinit.net/innerstr/images/Xbox_video2.jpg

This is through the ColorStream1 input (Component)
pages.infinit.net/innerstr/images/Xbox_ColorStream1.jpg

At first I thought it was the adapter so I pluged in another DVD but I had the same result. Then I pluged the DVD into the 2nd ColorStream input and still had the problem. I've tried with another cable and, yes, there it is again.

No settings were changed, it worked just fine the night before.

Anyone had a similar problem? If so, is there a solution or I have to go to a repair shop?

Thanks in advance,

Denis.

ArDarsh

01-28-07, 04:17 PM

I am looking to buy one of the following TVs, with preference in the listed order:

27DF46
26DF56
26HF66

However, I don't know about their zoom abilities, especially the 27DF46. Whenever I'm watching some digital programming, it goes into windowbox mode (or black on all 4 sides). If I zoom, the image gets cut off and gets pulled to one side of the screen.

Is there a way to fix that in the service menu? I looked at a few previous posts, but am not sure on how to manipulate the TV so when I zoom in, nothing gets cut off.

Thanks for your help.

stvnham16

01-29-07, 10:28 PM

I live in an apartment complex that is near freight train tracks, and sometimes when the big trains go by my floor shakes. The question I have is I have noticed the geometry getting bad. Like the center of the screen curves upwards when there is letter boxed programming on the screen. Do you think it is the train vibration or the fact that my tv is breaking in because I have had it for about a year now. It shouldn't be hard to fix but I just wanted to know if vibrations like that can mess up the ray in the tv.

MonsieurFreeze

01-30-07, 10:39 AM

Hello,

Do someone know if the HF85 models are compliant to HDCP protections ? And in which version (1.1 , 1.2, 1.3 ?).

wehtiko >>
One time I have that kind of issue for a 480i input thru component, do not know why but suddenly the source looks like yours, have try several thing but nothing change. At one time I have shut down the tv when I was trying the Volume down + Press button 6 menu (dont figure what it's for), and the glitches disapeared... Ok it not be usefull but try it, we dont know, I thing these toshiba models are capricious ;)

stvnham16

01-30-07, 09:41 PM

what does h-eht do? I know it brings the screen in, but what exactly does it do? Also my picture looks like this when watching letter boxed material. What settings do I change to fix this

This is an example of what the screen looks like but it isn't as a dramatic.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/1138/screensr0.jpg

Just imagine the lines are straight and concave down.

stvnham16

02-01-07, 11:38 PM

Will anyone help me with the problem above this. Thanks

rs7k

02-02-07, 01:01 PM

I know there is a setting in the service menu that can address this. I don't remember which one it is, but it's definitely in the 2-23 range. I know this because I tinkered with it and my picture looked like this a bit.

Anyways, my TV is starting to fail. I turned on my PS3 this morning (set to 1080i through component), and there was no picture, just some weird color inteference mixed with a lot of static. It reverted back to normal since I had a PS2 game in it and the PS3 went to 480i. I turned it off and it did it again on the dashboard. I tried again 10 minutes later and it was working fine in the dashboard.

Anyone know what the warranty is on the 26HF85C (Canadian model)? I bought it last September online from Best Buy.

MonsieurFreeze

02-02-07, 01:26 PM

stvnham16

02-02-07, 03:12 PM

know there is a setting in the service menu that can address this. I don't remember which one it is, but it's definitely in the 2-23 range. I know this because I tinkered with it and my picture looked like this a bit.

So thats 21 different settings, I know there are probably like 2 or 3 that I need to change. Does anyone actually know which ones it is.

rfin16

02-02-07, 04:29 PM

If anyone could also indicate which service menu items might assist with resolution issues like moire, I would also appreciate it... I have heard a slight defocussing of the image might help. Thank you for your advice.

rs7k

02-02-07, 08:01 PM

One year from Toshiba, unfortunatly you have to move your tv yourself to a service center, they did not take care of this for tv under 32''.

By the way were you abble to have 1080i correct display from component ? No weird colors ? (when you set was ok).

I've never had any problems displaying 1080i apart from the random flickering issue. What do you mean by weird colors?

MonsieurFreeze

02-05-07, 09:40 AM

I've never had any problems displaying 1080i apart from the random flickering issue. What do you mean by weird colors?

When my set display a real 1080i image thru component (xbox360 or cable box) the colors are not stable, for example the black are black and then suddenly turn gray, it looks like a color filter or something, it s hard to explain, is this what people call 'flickering issue' ?

Jasondelaney

02-05-07, 11:23 AM

I have a Toshiba 30hf66, This one was a brand new replacement for a previous one that had a bad CRT which made noise all the time.

This one when watching tv or other stuff in 4:3 mode the black bars on the side are not straight. They are slightly curved at the edges unlike the old one which was ruler straight.

I've heard I can attempt to correct this in the service menu with some success. However I can't find the access code anywhere online. I'll be sure to write down all the settings etc so I don't mess anything up too.

( Edit - it looks like someone posted the method above. I'll try that )

rs7k

02-08-07, 02:02 PM

I can tell you right now fixing the geometry on the Tosh HD sets is extremely hard. Thankfully, mine is mostly fine, and I don't notice geometry problems that much anyway. It also helps that I always watch 4:3 content stretched (my old roommate has a Panasonic HDTV with standard-def satellite and I got used to that).

MonsieurFreeze,

I almost never use 1080i unless I have to (PS3 Bluray playback being an example). You say blacks turn to gray for no reason? That's most likely a defective set. I don't get that at all. By flickering, I mean flickering like a computer monitor set at too high a resolution (liek a CRT at 60Hz instead of 85Hz). The screen appears to shake if you sit close. The only problem I have with the 1080i is that I can't seem to get pure blacks out of it. They're almost there, but the faint white glow gets in the way. I calibrated my TV to look perfect in 720p instead. Pure blacks, and I changed the red and green bias values in the SM to make the color balance perfect as well. There is some sharpness lost in 720p, but there's no white glow and it's still a perfectly fine HD image. Thankfully, there's no white glow with HDMI in 1080i and less frequent screen flicker. There is darker trails when something really bright pops up on the screen; that can be quite annoying, but I know the 26HF85 is an average TV and I can live with it until I can afford a good LCD or DLP tv.

lennsx

02-12-07, 09:03 AM

I ordered HBO HD yesterday and King Kong was on last night & all I can say is WOW.
I have never before seen PQ so perfect (except for the white glow in dark scenes, of course!) ;)

fugiot

02-13-07, 10:11 PM

^Wow! A positive comment in this thread!^

Steveski07

02-14-07, 09:13 PM

I just picked up a used 32HF73, which is my first HD experience and have been searching for some help on color issues. Aside from adjusting the tilt via TV and screen position via the Comcast DVR box, the color and pq were very good. This was due in part to the fact that the default setting on the tv was "Sports" and I happened to be watching ESPN HD. The Standard setting was dark and the darkness of the Movie setting was extreme. Unfortunately, only one setting could be manually adjusted and saved, Preference. I noticed a slight improvement when I swapped in component cables for the box rather than the HD-DVI I had been using. I've read about the service menu adjustments and such and I'm not sure that would even address the issue. Any experience with this model please let me know...Thanks

stvnham16

03-06-07, 09:50 PM

I really need help. I have asked this question before but got no answer. The problem my tv has developed is that the screen has an upward arc. It's like a concave down arc. It isn't extreme but enough to notice. An example of this would be on letter box programing or dvd's. The letterbox has a slight arc in it, meaning the max point is in the middle of the line. What settings in the sm will straighten this arc out.

rfin16

03-09-07, 01:44 PM

There is small chip in the exterior glass on my Toshiba widescreen (possibly from an overactive youngster). Are there any quick solutions like fillers of any kind? It does not seem worth a service call since the costs of glass replacement would be too high.

Thank you for your help

dimrp

03-12-07, 08:55 PM

InYourEyes

03-13-07, 01:50 AM

I apologize to those who may have already posted on this issue. I tried reading through as many of the posts as I could.

I purchased my 26HF85 a little over a year ago. It worked wonderfully until a few days ago. I pushed the manual power button on the front of the TV and I heard a slight pop noise. The TV just turned back off. I tried several more times and every time I attempt to turn the TV on, it just turns right back off. I waited a few days and still the same thing happens.

Anyhow, does anyone know what I could do to fix this so I can avoid spending $200 on a repair?

Thanks!
dimrp
I'm sorry to say, but you will need to take this one in for repair, because the horizontal output transistor in the power supply probably failed, and maybe the flyback and transformer as well. This is not a do-it-yourself repair. This is a complicated repair. Couple of people here had this same situation you are having right now. To me, it's not worth putting $200 to fix an Orion-made TV, but it's up to you. According to many TV technicians I spoke with, it's best to chuck it out when it first breaks.

dimrp

03-13-07, 07:40 AM

I'm sorry to say, but you will need to take this one in for repair, because the horizontal output transistor in the power supply probably failed, and maybe the flyback and transformer as well. This is not a do-it-yourself repair. This is a complicated repair. Couple of people here had this same situation you are having right now. To me, it's not worth putting $200 to fix an Orion-made TV, but it's up to you. According to many TV technicians I spoke with, it's best to chuck it out when it first breaks.

Thank you for your response. I guess I'll just have to get some more quotes on repairs.

dimrp

rs7k

03-25-07, 04:54 PM

I'm retiring my 26HF85. The contrast seemed to darken over time, and while HD games are not unplayable right now, they pale compared to the Syncmaster PC monitor I just bought. Since 360 was the only thing I used the HD for, I used a VGA cable to connect it to the monitor, and the difference for the 26HF to the monitor is larger than my Sony SDTV to the 26HF.

For reference, the monitor in question is a Syncmaster 206BW. PS3 looks great on it too. In fact, I'd say it's pointless to run HD games and movies (360 add-on) on the 26HF85, because it doesn't look like anywhere near HD compared to a decent alternative.

It's a shame this experience left me with a bad impression of CRT HDTV's. I wanted a Sony XBR970, but couldn't find one. Ah well, at least PS2 games look decent on the 26HF85, same with regular cable.

fugiot

03-25-07, 04:59 PM

Wow, really? My 26HF85 puts my friend's Sony LCD to shame in both sharpness and color quality(and obviously black levels). Guess that's what I get for paying for ISFing it.

Twilight Link

04-21-07, 04:51 PM

I have a problem with my Toshiba 34HF85....I want to connect a Wii to it, but I can't find the channel either for the video input 1, 2 or 3...

You guys can help me?

InYourEyes

04-21-07, 05:24 PM

I have a problem with my Toshiba 34HF85....I want to connect a Wii to it, but I can't find the channel either for the video input 1, 2 or 3...

You guys can help me?
Press the input button on the remote control.

ihdihd

05-01-07, 12:26 AM

Bought this set from BB. Never did any calibration on it and it served ok (until I purchased a Sony 60XBR2 SXRD set for my parents and saw what real HD should look like). from reading this thread it seems like some better calibration can make this set look really good (i get all the problems with banding in HDMI, etc).

My real problem now is that I just came back from a business trip and my wife says the TV just crapped out. I see what she means, the picture is red. The best way to describe it is it looks like its color burned, missing blues, little brightness.

The set is between the 1 year P&L and 2 year tube warranty, and so if there's an easy reset I wouldn't mind trying that out before dishing out $3-400 for tube replacement labor (anyone have an idea how much that should cost?)

It almost looks like a good degauss would take care of the picture.

EEF

05-07-07, 01:35 AM

I've tried to get an answer to this from Toshiba, but to no avail. Does anyone here know the difference between the 30HF84, 30HFX84, 30HF85, 30HFX85, and the 30HF66 (other than bezel color)? From what I can tell, they're all the same TV. What's the extra "X" mean? Is the "66" just the most recent of the 5 models even though it's also discontinued?
After more than a decade my JVC 31" SDTV finally gave out, and I'm convinced that my leap into HD should be a CRT set (with much thanks to all the great info I've read in these forums). However, the size constraints of my current entertainment center will only allow for a 30" 16:9 unit with the speakers on the bottom, so there's only a couple models for me to chose from. The Insignia NS-30HTV would fit, but you absolutely can't find anybody to say anything good about it. Samsung makes a couple models that would fit, but really I'm kind of sold on the Toshibas. All the Toshiba models mentioned above can be found at really decent prices on the internet (eBay and refurbished outlets mostly), but before I select one I'd like to know if one of them has some "feature" and/or "flaw" that I should know about.
TIA for any and all input.

fugiot

05-07-07, 03:06 AM

The Toshiba models use the same basic components as the Insignia, but it's worth it to grab the Toshiba. They have more inputs(HDMI), slightly better reliability, and much better video processing.

They are also rather flawed. HDMI flickers with most everything except upscaling DVD players(because the image isn't quite full-sized), and 1080i thru component has a white fog that hangs from the top of the screen. I definitely prefer component over HDMI on these sets. However, the picture is fantastic after some calibration and easily trumps the Sanyo, Philips, and Samsung sets.

I'm not sure what the "x"'s in the model names mean(maybe PiP or SRS sound?), but the 84 is older and more reliable. The HF66 is only different from the HF85 due to the black trim and a built-in ATSC tuner.

Get a warranty, calibrate it, and you're good.

John3333

05-07-07, 05:55 PM

The "X" in the model number refers to a superior built-in sound system.

lennsx

05-10-07, 02:36 PM

Does anyone have a HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray player hooked up via HDMI (HDMI for the standard DVD upconversion, of course) on this TV? If so, verdict? Any issues with the white glow and/or the flickering? Thank you in advance!

fugiot

05-10-07, 04:07 PM

Blu-ray thru HDMI does have the flickering. Upconverted DVD thru HDMI does not.

Best to use component for Blu-ray or HD-DVD.

lennsx

05-11-07, 12:57 PM

That's truly a shame for with the component connection the standard DVD upconversion ability is lost. So how is the PQ? Is is better than cable's better HD broadcasts?

ineffable27

05-11-07, 02:29 PM

Hi gang. I posted this over in the Display Calibration section of the forum, but there's not much activity over there, apparently.

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

I'm mostly a lurker on here, but now I have some newbie calibration questions. I used the service menu on my tv set to eliminate some overscan, but now I'm noticing ANOTHER really annoying and distracting display problem, that maybe someone can help me with....

I have a 26" Toshiba 26HF85 CRT HD-ready TV (Dec. 2005). I bought it in early 2006. Actually it's the Canadian edition, so technically it's 26HF85C. It has served my modest needs very well indeed. When I bought it, I was looking for a low-priced HD-capable set to watch DVDs in "anamorphic" quality. Plus SD over-the-air TV. Eventually I may subscribe to a HD service, or try out HD over-the-air reception, but for now I am satisfied with this set-up.

I've yet to see what a true HD signal looks like on this thing, so I don't know if it suffers from the 1080i "glow" at the top of the screen some folks have mentioned. But DVDs play back great. And the picture quality seems remarkably comparable to, or better than, all but the priciest LCD or plasma sets, to my eyes. My only real complaint (until recently) was the dreaded overscan, which was pretty severe. Also, there was a bit of bowing.

A few weeks ago, I bought the Digital Video Essentials calibration disc, and used it to refine the colour/tint and brightness/contrast settings. Big, big improvement. But I was still unhappy with all the overscan. So (very carefully), I ventured into the service menu.

I noted all of the caveats from folks on here -- I wrote down all the SM settings beforehand, and noted all changes. I tried not to change any setting that I didn't understand. More or less.

While viewing some anamorphic test patterns on the DVE disc, here's what I ended up changing to try and eliminate the overscan:

H. SIZE - changed from 42 to 34

V. SIZE - changed from 44 to 43

V. LIN - changed from 24 to 20

V. CENT - changed from 27 to 15

Also, I noticed that changing the setting EW PARA from 11 to 10 removed the bowing, which had been very noticeable, esp. in "Natural" 4:3 pillarbox mode. Finally, I changed the Image Tilt on my regular TV menu to -1.

The overscan is now just under the 5% mark on the DVE test pattern. When I tried to reduce the overscan further, to around 2.5% as suggested by someone on here, distortion was revealed at the outer edges, so I dialed it back to just under the 5% line. Maybe I could have fixed that distortion by changing some other SM settings, who knows? I wanted to tread lightly in there.

I did not try changing any other settings, like V. CORR or COR. TOP, etc., as recommended by some other posters to this site.

Using a grid test pattern and a ruler, the screen geometry now seems to my untrained eye to be totally OK.

BUT ... (sigh) ...

Ever since I made these SM changes, I can see a new problem: hugging the left edge of the screen, there's a half-inch wide, slightly brighter vertical band, and then immediately to its right, about an inch wide, slightly darker vertical band. There's a fainter "echo" of this dark band about an inch to the right. And I think another, barely visible, echo another inch to the right. Even though it's only a slight change in brightness, it can be very distracting in some scenes, eg. bright daylight scenes.

(When viewing over-the-air SD broadcasts, there's a similar ghosting effect on most of the channels -- again, by about an inch to the right. Is this just a coincidence, an unrelated artifact of poor OTA reception, or does it have something to do with my main problem??)

I assume that the only reason I can see this on the left edge of my screen now, where I didn't notice it before, is because it had been hidden by the overscan. Am I correct to think this? Or is it that my SM changes introduced it as an unintended side effect, which could be avoided if I tweak certain other SM settings?

Will I need to do a service call to fix this? Or is it too much to hope for that there are some SM settings I can play with by myself to correct it? I don't mind if I have to bring a technician into the apartment, but I really don't want to try and somehow move this heavy beast to a store somewhere. It weighs a ton.

Thanks in advance for any help. If I need to post any more info, such as more of my service menu settings, I can do that.

fugiot

05-11-07, 04:50 PM

That's truly a shame for with the component connection the standard DVD upconversion ability is lost. So how is the PQ? Is is better than cable's better HD broadcasts?

You must've misread my post. Upconverted DVD do NOT flicker over HDMI. I watch my DVDs thru hdmi ONLY.

And yes, PQ order goes like this:
1. Blu-ray/HD-DVD
2. OTA HD
3. Cable HD
4. Satellite HD

fugiot

05-11-07, 04:57 PM

ineffable27

05-11-07, 05:15 PM

mj0012

05-11-07, 05:33 PM

Hello all. I purchased a 26HF66 back in January and I've been very happy with it with one exception. Whenever I'm watching an HD show (either over Component or HDMI) and it cuts to a very dark scene, the blacks get all muddy and it looks like the contrast goes way down. Conversely, in very bright scenes the contrast level looks much higher, sometimes too high. I've got SVM turned off, but I can't figure out anything else to try. Can I do anything to fix this, or is this just how this TV behaves? Does anyone have any suggestions?

lennsx

05-12-07, 10:52 AM

You must've misread my post. Upconverted DVD do NOT flicker over HDMI. I watch my DVDs thru hdmi ONLY.

And yes, PQ order goes like this:
1. Blu-ray/HD-DVD
2. OTA HD
3. Cable HD
4. Satellite HD

I understand, but you wrote that Blu-Ray flickers thru HDMI (as does my OTA HD cable broadcast). So I guess you use the component cables for Blu-Ray & use HDMI for standard DVDs to upconvert, yes?

fugiot

05-12-07, 02:17 PM

I understand, but you wrote that Blu-Ray flickers thru HDMI (as does my OTA HD cable broadcast). So I guess you use the component cables for Blu-Ray & use HDMI for standard DVDs to upconvert, yes?

Yes, I use component for HD-DVDs.

HDMI flickers when the image is touching the left edge of the screen(which is usually hidden by overscan). As bright objects enter and exit the left edge, they send a horizontal stripe of shadow across the entire screen.
Upconverted DVDs are usually slightly compressed and do not fill up the entire screen. Therefore, no objects enter or exit the very left edge of the screen.

This also means, if you are capable of adjusting the image position or size(such as in a PS3 or 360 game), you can eliminate the flicker all together by nudging it over just enough so it doesn't touch the left edge.

fugiot

05-12-07, 02:24 PM

fugio --

The affected area is too big for me to hide in that way -- that would mean too much overscan.

I don't think comparing calibration settings from one set to the next makes any sense (?) -- aren't there too many variables? Not just variance in components, but different alignment w/ earth's magnetic field, etc.? Someone in the know correct me about that, if I am wrong. I'm not going to change a setting unless I somewhat understand what it does (eg. what aspect of geometry is affected).

I have read accounts of folks who did not have the "glow" problem with this set. On this and other forums.

Thanks for replying ... but there was probably no need for you to quote my entire big-ass original post! Maybe you could go back and edit that out.fugio --

The affected area is too big for me to hide in that way -- that would mean too much overscan.

I don't think comparing calibration settings from one set to the next makes any sense (?) -- aren't there too many variables? Not just variance in components, but different alignment w/ earth's magnetic field, etc.? Someone in the know correct me about that, if I am wrong. I'm not going to change a setting unless I somewhat understand what it does (eg. what aspect of geometry is affected).

I have read accounts of folks who did not have the "glow" problem with this set. On this and other forums.

Thanks for replying ... but there was probably no need for you to quote my entire big-ass original post! Maybe you could go back and edit that out.fugio --

The affected area is too big for me to hide in that way -- that would mean too much overscan.

I don't think comparing calibration settings from one set to the next makes any sense (?) -- aren't there too many variables? Not just variance in components, but different alignment w/ earth's magnetic field, etc.? Someone in the know correct me about that, if I am wrong. I'm not going to change a setting unless I somewhat understand what it does (eg. what aspect of geometry is affected).

I have read accounts of folks who did not have the "glow" problem with this set. On this and other forums.

Thanks for replying ... but there was probably no need for you to quote my entire big-ass original post! Maybe you could go back and edit that out.

Yeah, my geometry settings would most definitely not work. I was just wondering about the picture settings, because they should be similar.

And I can bet you that every one of these sets has "the glow". Maybe some people just didn't see it, or were using a 720p signal. There's 6 different ways to feed these sets HD, and 16 total picture input combinations. Only 2 of them display the glow.

ineffable27

05-12-07, 05:32 PM

Hey fugiot...

Ah the picture settings ....

BRI 23
CON 15
COLOR 26
TINT -10The 1080 glow issue doesn't sound that bad, considering ... at 26" size, 720p is still great for the price. It's still HD.

Meanwhile... does anyone else have any thoughts about my "darkish bands" problem? TIA.

fugiot

05-12-07, 06:19 PM

actually, 720p on the Toshibas is roughly equal to 600k pixels. Which is only 50% more than the 400k pixels in 480p.

1080i is roughly 1Mpixel. The same as true 720p.

Bob Whitefield

05-15-07, 01:05 AM

I bought a Toshiba 34HDX82 five years ago, thinking it would be relatively future-proof with its HDCP-compliant DVI input.

Well, the future is here. I bought a Sony laptop (VGN-AR290G) with Blu-ray drive. Plugged it into the Tosh's DVI input, worked beautifully for the first two movies we watched.

But often I can't get it to work at all. WinDVD BD says my display isn't HDCP compliant. Except it is. Or was, five years ago?

And there's no rhyme or reason, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It can be working fine, I hit Stop, then Play again, and get the error message. It can be not working, and I hit Play a fifth time, and it works again. Or I can hit Play 30 times in a row, no joy.

By this point, my wife has gone to bed. I've been told never to get any more Blu-ray discs. She HATES Blu-ray. At least DVD works.

I tried rebooting.
I tried another HDMI-DVI cable.
I tried turning on the TV before the laptop.
I tried turning on the laptop before the TV.
I tried switching between the laptop display and TV while the movie is playing.
I tried upgrading the nVidia driver to the latest version (then backed it out).
I tried PowerDVD Ultra--no more audio sync problems, but has same HDCP problem.

I have only one monitor active in Display Properties.
I have no problems viewing Blu-ray on my HDCP-compliant Samsung 244t computer monitor.
I have no problems using my Samsung DTB-H260F set top box on the 34HDX82's DVI input.

So...any suggestions for this HDCP handshake problem? Are old HDCP implementations incompatible? Is Toshiba's implementation flawed? Is Sony deliberately incompatible with arch-rival Toshiba? ;)

Is the only solution to give up on the Tosh and buy a new LCD? I'm going to miss those black blacks.

Thanks for any ideas,
Bob

p.s. lennsx, to answer your earlier question, I've never seen any flicker over HDMI, the picture is beautiful...when it works.

EDIT: The only solution I've been able to find is AnyDVD HD, which lets you use any monitor, HDCP-compliant or not. Works like a charm with PowerDVD Ultra. I shouldn't have to pay $79 to watch use my HDCP-compliant TV, but it's cheaper than a new set.

http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html

InYourEyes

05-15-07, 01:58 AM

p.s. lennsx, to answer your earlier question, I've never seen any flicker over HDMI, the picture is beautiful...when it works.
You don't see any flickering because your TV was made by Toshiba.

ArDarsh

05-21-07, 08:07 PM

Does this TV have a white fog at the top thru 1080 component? Does it flicker cuz that would stink with PS3 or X360?

Can I play with the service settings to get SD programming with windowboxing to zoom in without cutting off parts of the image? Any reason why the image shifts to one side as it zooms in cuz it doesn't look like the zoom is centered?

stressboy

05-26-07, 01:04 AM

I am having a problem with my 32HF72. It is 4 and a half years old, and has worked perfectly until this evening.

What is happening is when powering the tv on, the little power light comes on, then there is a click within the tv, which is normal. Then the little power light flashes, then there is another click. This light will keep flashing until the tv is unplugged. No popping sounds were heard prior to this, and no smell of smoke. We have tried different outlets of course, and nothing has helped.

Is it screwed, and does anyone have any ideas on how much it would cost to get fixed?

nectardan

05-29-07, 05:20 PM

First off, set the screen mode to "Full" and then enter the Service Menu. Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Use the up/down arrows to navigate and left/right arrows to modify. Make sure to write down all of your current settings! I don't want to be to blame if my settings don't work for you. Change the settings to the following values and then press 'menu' on the remote to exit the SM.

Thanks so much for the help on getting into the service menu! I was having certain visual problems with my Toshiba tv that I was able to take care of in the service menu, so now I am extremely pleased with the quality of my CRT tube tv and won't be returning it.

rs7k

06-01-07, 06:50 PM

BUT ... (sigh) ...

Ever since I made these SM changes, I can see a new problem: hugging the left edge of the screen, there's a half-inch wide, slightly brighter vertical band, and then immediately to its right, about an inch wide, slightly darker vertical band. There's a fainter "echo" of this dark band about an inch to the right. And I think another, barely visible, echo another inch to the right. Even though it's only a slight change in brightness, it can be very distracting in some scenes, eg. bright daylight scenes.

This banding effect is the exact same thing I have. It started appearing over time. It's not too bothersome, but I can tell it's the TV and not the settings.

It's not surprising to say the least. Some people are happy with these Toshiba sets, most aren't.

huked0nfonicks

06-11-07, 12:24 AM

stvnham16

06-11-07, 04:48 PM

Im sorry to say but the best solution is to run the 360 at 720p. I had another version of this tv and had the same problem. I found the only solution was 720p.

fugiot

06-11-07, 05:10 PM

Actually, 1080i works much better for CRT hdtvs. Especially on these Toshiba's, the scaler is not so good and 720p signals lead to artifacts and vibration. 1080i is the way to go.

huked0nfonicks

06-11-07, 09:11 PM

well my point is that 1080i IS the best way to run it, especially since the TV isnt 720p native, so it's converting.

fugiot

06-12-07, 03:25 PM

well my point is that 1080i IS the best way to run it, especially since the TV isnt 720p native, so it's converting.

Yes, and the 360 has a much better scaler than our poor little ToshOrions... :(

fugiot

06-12-07, 03:57 PM

hi everyone, i searched through as much of this thread as i could handle, yet didn't exactly find my answer. Im not familiar with much of the vocabulary of HDTVs other than the above-than-basics, (i.e., i know HDMI, component, 1080i, 720p, etc etc). Basically my 26HF15 HDTV flickers with my Xbox 360 using component cables in 1080i. I've set my 360 to 1080i in its settings, and the sharpness in it is much better than when set in 720p (upconverted) or 480p. It looks real nice, and I feel that it runs smoother, but I constantly have a flicker when playing games, such as madden 07. The TV seems to want to autobalance the colors and contrast, so that I get most of the picture turned red when the scene is blueish, and visa versa. I also noticed it flickered when the color was turned down, showing me that it also tried to adjust the darkness and brightness of the picture. PLEASE help, I love this TV and this is it's only flaw, and the difference in picture quality from 1080i from upconverted 720p is IMMENSE, so please help.

Try my ISF settings. Ignore the geometry settings tho. Make sure you WRITE YOUR SETTINGS DOWN! before you change anything.

Since I know I wanted these when I first got my set, I'm going to share my ISF settings with all you 26HF(84/85/14/15/66) owners. We all know that every CRT is different, but maybe these will work or at least head you in the right direction. Also, these are optimized for HD sources.

First off, set the screen mode to "Full" and then enter the Service Menu. Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Make sure to write down all of your current settings. I don't want to be to blame if my settings don't work for you. Change the settings to the following values and then press 'menu' on the remote to return.

Items #2-#23 are Geometry settings and a different for each set. Only use these for experimentation as I can guarantee you they are not the correct settings for your particular set.

2. H. POSI - 84
3. V. POSI - 1
4. H. SIZE - 20
5. V. SIZE - 40
6. V. LIN - 27
7. V-EHT - 4
8. H-EHT - 2
9. V-BLK P - 31
10. V-BLK S - 0
11. V. CENT - 31
12. V. LIMIT - 0
13. V. CORR - 13
14. V.S. CORR - 40
15. EW PARA - 10
16. TRAPEZIUM - 45
17. COR. TOP - 16
18. COR. BTM - 15
19. S. CORR - 17
20. CORNER - 16
21. C. PARA - 6
22. C. SAW - 6
23. V. SYMM - 128

The following are the picture settings and are roughly equal across all sets. They may need slight adjustments, but it will be pretty darned close to perfect.

24. R. BIAS - 69
25. G. BIAS - 63
26. B. BIAS - 93
27. R/G. DRV - 77
28. B/R. DRV - 60
Items #29 through #38 are for the 'cool' and 'warm' color temp settings. I didn't include them because they are unused.
39. R-Y GAIN - 1
40. R-Y PAHSE - 0
41. G-Y GAIN - 2
42. G-Y PAHSE - 1
43. BRI. CENT - 227
44. BRI. MAX - 232
45. BRI. MIN - 222
46. CONT. CENT - 63
47. CONT. MAX - 71
48. CONT. MIN - 55
49. COL. CENT - 42
50. COL. MAX - 43
51. COL. MIN - 37
52. SUB CONT - 0
53. TINT - 66
54. SHARP CENT - 63
55. SHARP MAX - 95
56. SHARP MIN - 31
57. TILT CENT - 138

Exit the Service Menu by pressing the "menu" button, press the tv/video button and repeat all settings on all 7 inputs.

Then, exit service menu, change to "Theater Wide 3" screen setting, enter service menu again and change V. SIZE to 50. This is ideal for widescreen 4:3 viewing from SD sources. Make sure "TheaterWide 1" is set exactly the same as "Full". "TheaterWide 2" is unused.

Once you have all the service menu set up, set your main menu settings like this.

S-video(or composite) connection:::
Brightness - 0
Contrast - 25(set to '50' for a brighter picture)
Color - 0
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Colorstream Component:::
Brightness - 25
Contrast - 25 for HD(50 for a brighter SD picture, 0 for night HD)
Color - 25
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25 (set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

HDMI:::
Brightness - 50
Contrast - 25 for HD(set to 50 for a brighter SD picture, set to 0 for night HD)
Color - 50
Tint - 0
Sharpness - 25(set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Yes, did you notice? All the SM settings are to make the main menu settings easy to remember by leaving most of them at default(25).

For example, Bright. Max in the SM corresponds to 'Brightness@50' in the User menu
Bright.Cent in SM = 'Brightness@25' in UM
Bright.Min in SM = 'Brightness@0' in UM.

Enjoy! Hopefully they work for you like they do for me. Looks as good as a Sony now....a non-ISF'd Sony.

huked0nfonicks

06-12-07, 07:13 PM

InYourEyes

06-12-07, 08:10 PM

damn, they didnt work. our TVs must be different. Im in a real jam here. I bought this TV used, so I don't have the original bill. According to the manual, the warranty is voided without the original bill. Do you guys think I should still spam the hell out of them until I get a replacement?
Did the original owner buy this 26HF15 from Costco? If so, you can return it back for a full refund and not deal with this Orioshiba mess. Ask the seller if he or she still has the receipt.

fugiot

06-13-07, 01:55 AM

damn, they didnt work. our TVs must be different. Im in a real jam here. I bought this TV used, so I don't have the original bill. According to the manual, the warranty is voided without the original bill. Do you guys think I should still spam the hell out of them until I get a replacement?

Also, you don't have anything hooked up to HDMI, do you? If I'm playing 360 over component and the HDMI input is active with my OTA receiver, it makes the component flicker. So I just shut-off my OTA and it stops.

huked0nfonicks

06-13-07, 02:45 PM

Also, you don't have anything hooked up to HDMI, do you? If I'm playing 360 over component and the HDMI input is active with my OTA receiver, it makes the component flicker. So I just shut-off my OTA and it stops.
nope i dont. does the 360 premium support HDMI cables? if so, I might go ahead and buy some and just complain about the white fuzz.

Did the original owner buy this 26HF15 from Costco? If so, you can return it back for a full refund and not deal with this Orioshiba mess. Ask the seller if he or she still has the receipt.
Ill ask. thanks, good idea.

fugiot

06-13-07, 04:39 PM

nope i dont. does the 360 premium support HDMI cables? if so, I might go ahead and buy some and just complain about the white fuzz.

Nope, only the Elite supports HDMI.

huked0nfonicks

06-13-07, 06:45 PM

Nope, only the Elite supports HDMI.

damn. I think I'll jsut have to put up a stink with Toshiba. Or craigslist it...I mena it does work, its just the F'ed up model. haha.

So have we determined that the problem with these models is the component parts on the TV? Thats what I gathered, and if so which parts? I could order them and have someone professionally replace them if I knew the specific parts/part numbers.

bump

huked0nfonicks

06-18-07, 03:33 PM

bump

coach4094

06-19-07, 08:23 PM

I bought a 30HF85 last August. Thank you for all the information I have read on this thread. It has helped me tremendously. I do still have one problem I am trying to solve and of course Toshiba has not been any help. Anything that is red tends to pixelate during fast motion. The cable company has run all new cable to the tv and the new cable does not have a signal split. They also say the signal strength is fine. I have gone from component to HDMI and the problem is still there, though not as bad. Is this something that is the cable company's issue (Time Warner) or do I need to take the TV in for repair before the warranty runs out. I live 60 miles from the nearest service center and I am pretty sure I will have to take the heavy SOB in myself.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks!

lennsx

06-22-07, 10:06 AM

In my opinion, the red pixelation seems to be from the cable. These CRTs are great with motion; I get the same effect as you via cable reception but through DVD & HD-DVD (WOW!) there is no pixelation or macroblocking whatsoever. :)

Foxarwing42

06-27-07, 01:18 AM

Hey folks. I'm planing on getting an HD DVD player soon, and I want to upgrade my TV to an HDTV. I really like CRT's but no one at Best Buy can help me out. So I did some shopping online and stumbled across this:

Toshiba MW26H82 26" Pure Flat CRT HDTV with VCR and DVD Player

Is this a good choice? Thanks in advanced!

fugiot

06-27-07, 01:27 AM

How much is it? Where did you find it?

I'd say if it's $400 or under, get it. Keep in mind that you MUST get it calibrated, at least a simple Avia or DVE calibration. So be prepared to order a calibration DVD and spend some time on it. THEN you'll be real happy.

Foxarwing42

06-27-07, 01:34 AM

It's on Amazon for almost $500. Can't post the link because the fourm won't let me. Just type: "Toshiba MW26H82 26" Pure Flat CRT HDTV with VCR and DVD Player" in Amazon's search and it'll come up.

fugiot

06-27-07, 09:19 AM

Well, I know what TV it is. So just make sure you are prepared to deal with the naunces it may have. Look around these forums at the 26HF84, 26HF85, and the 26HF66. You'll get a good idea of what it's like.

lennsx

06-28-07, 04:58 PM

fburch

07-16-07, 08:26 AM

Sadly, the white glow is there via 1080i component on HD-DVDs as well.
AND, via HDMI the shadow banding issue is apparent as well, although not
as bad as it is via my cable box. But on a happier note, I watched BATMAN BEGINS
& THE DEPARTED and the image was FLAWLESS (minus the white glow, IE) ;)

lennsx - I just purchased the Tosh A2 HD-DVD and hooked it up to my set via the component (Colorstream) input. By selecting 720p on the A2, I get a gorgeous picture on my 34HF85 and no white glow. With 1080i selected, I get the infamous glow. I have not tried the HDMI connection yet, but suspect I too would see the banding problems by connecting to my set using the HDMI input. Am watching the Planet Earth HD-DVD series and the PQ is just terrific. Happy viewing and best regards.

lennsx

07-16-07, 10:31 AM

lennsx

07-16-07, 10:43 AM

Frank, quick question; did you notice any loss of resolution or detail/ any added noise, etc. by selecting 720p as opposed to 1080i via the HD-A2's settings?

fugiot

07-16-07, 01:50 PM

Guys, if you are getting the white glow, you have your brightness too high and you are washing out colors as well! Turn it down.

Also, you are losing 300k pixels by running 720p.

On these sets,
720p = 600k pixel resolution
1080i = 900k pixel resolution.

lennsx

07-16-07, 02:33 PM

But doesn't this TV upconvert a 720p signal to 1080i? (or I think one can set it to 540p if they choose). I do know for a fact that this TV cannot output 720p; only 540p or 1080i. (540 + 540 = 1080)

fugiot

07-16-07, 04:28 PM

Yes, it converts it to 1080i, but that doesn't make it 1080i. You only get as much detail as you put into it. The TV can't magically fill in the missing detail.

It converts 480i to 1080i also, but that doesn't make it HD.

lennsx

07-16-07, 05:48 PM

Ahhh, true dat. So if I set my player to output 720p, it's going to "think" that it has to upconvert (and may even downconvert first to do that?) to 1080i, thus with all of that zany overconversion going on, the final image/resolution will be compromised.

fburch

07-17-07, 07:05 AM

Frank! Good to hear from ya! You know, I never even thought of setting my A2 to 720p but it makes sense now! The TV automatically upconverts to 1080i anyway!
So, in your TVs setting, do you have the resolution set at 540p or 1080i? I'm assuming 1080i, right? This is great news, because the PQ is PERFECT other than that darned white glow!
I'm going to try it tonight! Thanks again! :)

lennsx - I do not discern a marked degradation in picture detail or quality at 720p when playing high definition source material such as the recently issued Planet Earth HD-DVD series. I did not do anything to the settings in the 34HF85 -- the CRT settings remain set at 1080i (not 540p). Prior to changing the setting in the A2 HD-DVD to 720p, I was seeing three problems: 1) white glow at the top of the set; 2) seeing some banding artifiacts that were particularly noticeable on blue backgrounds as a moving curtain of diagonal lines across the screen, AND 3)flickering in bright scenes. After setting the A2 to 720p, the image is stable and stunning on my set and there is no white glow, no flickering, and not a trace of banding problems.

I am not doubting fugiot's point regarding the lower pixel resolution, but this is a no brainer for me because, on my set, by adjusting the HD-DVD player to 720p I elimnate a raft of problems. Increased pixel resolution is one thing, but if it comes along with picture noise and uneven brightness as it does on my set, it yields an unsatisfactory viewing experience. I have tried lowering the brightness, but this does nothing to eliminate the banding/noise problems and I find that the picture is too dark for my liking and detail is lost in dark scenes. Lower pixel resolution or not, the 720p is the best solution for me on this particular set with this HD-DVD player.

All of the above concerns using component (Colorstream) connections. I cannot speak to using an HDMI connection yet as I have not tried it in combination with the A2 and my 34HF85. I will experiment with it and report back in a subsequent post. Naturally, if I find that I can leave the A2 settings on 1080i using the HDMI connection and I get no banding or other problems by doing so, that will be a happy outcome. My experience with the 34HF85 using the HDMI input to connect an Oppo upconverting DVD player was reported previously in this thread but, in short, I saw a shadowy curtain of moving diagonal lines when connecting this DVD player via HDMI and setting the Oppo to 1080i. Perhaps the Tosh A2 HD-DVD player will behave differently. I hope it will so that I can experience 1080i using this HD-DVD player without other annoying problems diminishing the experience.

lennsx

07-17-07, 09:51 AM

Thank you, Frank. I experimented in my Service Menu last night using Fugiot's settings and managed to lessen the white glow via 1080i by half the intensity. VERY cool. I also took your suggestion and set the HD-A2 to 720p and did notice a slight degradation in PQ but as you stated, it did remove the glow COMPLETELY. So basically, it's a toss-up for me. As for the shadow banding via HDMI, it is (sadly) there just as it is via HDMI w/set-top-box cable reception. I put on BATMAN BEGINS and viola! Banding On The Run, haha. And even though it was oh-so slight, it bothered me too much to HDMI it. If I or yourself can somehow get rid of said issue, we'll let each other know! (Now, as for those crushed blacks..... :)

seamus21514

08-08-07, 11:34 PM

InYourEyes

08-09-07, 01:15 AM

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I'm an owner of the 27 inch Toshiba HD CRT ( I forget the product code.) The PQ is great, however I do have some overscan on the bottom and sides of it. How do I fix it, seeing as I'm quite new to this.

Edit, I don't mean like a little overscan, I mean like half and inch of overscan. The bottom isn't that bad, it's pretty normal, it's mostly on the left and right. The "bars" on the left and right are smaller than they should be.
You would need to go into the service menu and adjust the screen. To enter the service menu, turn the volume all the way down to 0. While holding the volume down button at the front of the TV, press 9 on the remote for about three seconds, and then the service menu appears. This procedure works for all Toshiba 27" CRT TVs made after 2001 (2003 if flat-screen). Hope this helps.

lennsx

08-14-07, 09:20 AM

Hey guys, when you go into the service menu is there a way to reset
all of the parameters to their original numbers (settings)? Thanks!

fugiot

08-14-07, 09:22 AM

Hey guys, when you go into the service menu is there a way to reset
all of the parameters to their original numbers (settings)? Thanks!

No, there are no defaut settings. The TVs are set-up at the factory.

lennsx

08-14-07, 10:33 AM

OK, I have your original breakdown printed out at home to use as a guide. Thanks!

huked0nfonicks

08-16-07, 08:54 PM

ok, so an update (my 26HF15). I borrowed a HD tuner from my friend and watched the 2007 MLB allstar game with it set to 1080i. It was beautiful. No flicker, no white glow, nothing. Yet, when i plug my 360 back in, It does a little white glow (doesnt bother me though) and the flicker. In order to try to convey what is actually going on, ill describe the "flicker" a little better. Also, I have played my 360 on a different TV (an LCD, Westinghouse forgot model #) and it works fine on 1080i. The LCD tv is a 480p 720p 1080i tv, so I tend to run it on 720p anyways. That means my 360 and component cables are fine, its the TV.

Example game, Madden 08. I use the 49ers vs. Cardinals. That means one red team and one white + red team. They play at my stadium, where all the fans have a lot of red. This is a lot of different shades of red, I hope you've gathered. The field is green (obviously) and there are bits of white on the uniforms and the in-game text. Now, when ever there is movement, the flicker starts. It's as if the TV readjusts its colors ever couple of frames. When it gets real bad It's like almost every frame> I have played with the service menu, to no avail (though I might try again) and restored the defaults. I have played with the normal menu enough to get the flicker down to every few frams, not ever frame (I don't know what adjustments make the biggest difference, although contrast helps more than others). I even experimented, using a different game, Call of Duty 3, with the service menu and took out all the color, turning my picture greyscale. Here's where it gets really bad. It also flickers in greyscale, telling me that it both tries to adjusts the lighting every few frames AND the colors. Depending on the game and the environment of the game, it can bad or bearable. In Call of Duty it is unbearable, the most embarrassing times are when you are getting hit, so the screen starts turning this red like, and the tv fills in all the non red areas with blueish. Another example is in either Madden 07 or 08, in the startup screen where it loads and then asks you to press start. The majority of the screen is blue, with white text and white parts of the uniform and logos. Here, all of the white turns a red shade. Note, the whites dont turn fully red, but its as if I turned my tint up a lot on the red side (-).

I called basically every repair shop in the San Francisco area (where I live), and got two places that told me they could fix it. One said he knew exactly what it was, unfortunatley I couldnt understand much of what he said, but seeing as though he said it would cost $300 I doubt I'd do it anyways. The other store basically said he knew what to do, but he would have to see it, I believe for free. The problem there is lugging my heavy CRT down to a shop with my xbox 360 and games, showing him, etc. Im only 16 so that really becomes an issue, not being able to drive and all, then combined with what the price may be. Ill continue my research online, and if anyone here has a clue what the problem might be, or if they actually know for sure, please tell me. My dad knows a couple of guys that are extremely electronic savvy and Im sure if we knew what the problem was they could fix it.

As to why its such a big deal, its because of the drastic picture quality difference between 720p upconverted on this TV and 1080i. Aside from the obvious flicker issue, the 1080i looks great, convining me that i dont want to look into a replacement. 720p looks terrible in comparison, and even without anything to compare to it just looks poor, bearable but pretty bad. PLEASE HELP!!!

seamus21514

08-21-07, 02:08 PM

You would need to go into the service menu and adjust the screen. To enter the service menu, turn the volume all the way down to 0. While holding the volume down button at the front of the TV, press 9 on the remote for about three seconds, and then the service menu appears. This procedure works for all Toshiba 27" CRT TVs made after 2001 (2003 if flat-screen). Hope this helps.

WOW. Thanks alot. I don't have any filters or discs, so I used CNN, which always has constant graphics to refer to. I got lots of overscan out. At fist the pillarboxes were curved on the flat screen, but I got them straight. I never knew the "ticker" on CNN was so thick! It always was quite thin! I can't thank you enough!

Rafterman1962

09-10-07, 09:27 PM

How do you get all the inputs after pressing the TV/INPUT button? I cannot see all the inputs only ANT and COLORSTREAM HD 1. I have a PS2 connected to COLORSTREAM HD 2, but it doesn't work. I am using component cables. I've tried resetting, unplugging it for a weekend. Nothing works, someone please help.

fugiot

09-11-07, 03:57 PM

Rafterman1962

09-11-07, 07:27 PM

Still no go. This is frustrating. Nice TV, but can't use any of the other inputs.:(

fugiot

09-12-07, 01:34 PM

Have you tried looking for "video label" or "input label" or something like that?

shimmer11

09-13-07, 12:22 PM

I was wondering if anyone has experienced their HDTV CRT tubes making strange sounds. The picture is fine, but it worries me. The sound is hard to describe, but it almost sounds like a hard drive spinning very loudly. I have check the audio and my DVR, and those are not the culprits.

-Andy

The_Deported

09-19-07, 06:06 PM

Hey,
I was wondering if anybody had the original service menu original values for my Toshiba 30hf86c? That would be a great help...

Thx

fugiot

09-20-07, 04:33 AM

Somebody posted them in this thread already.

The_Deported

09-20-07, 12:18 PM

All i could find was code for 26hf or 34hf, not the 30hf. Is the 30hf85 the same TV as the 30hf86c? Can the same code be used?

huked0nfonicks

09-20-07, 11:49 PM

GAHHH doesnt ANYONE know why the picture "flickers" (for lack of a better word) on 1080i component on my 26hf15? Anyone have a clue? ANyone have a clue what settings int he service menu would might solve the problem!?

asburrows

09-21-07, 04:16 PM

fugiot

09-21-07, 08:40 PM

huked0nfonicks

09-23-07, 05:53 PM

hooked:
Are you referring to those horizontal black bands appearing in scenes with strong contrast (for instance when character standing in front of a white wall)? Try feeding 480p and let Toshiba upscale to 1080i.

I don't think so. I think I know what that problem is but it hasn't been tremendously evident on my set. I'll try to figure out some way of recording or something what I'm talking about. I have a post above describing in-depth. I'm going to call Toshiba again soon and just b**ch a lot...

tmuirheid

10-03-07, 06:53 PM

Hey,
I was wondering if anybody had the original service menu original values for my Toshiba 30hf86c? That would be a great help...

Thx
Those default setting in the zip file a couple of pages back in this thread were extremely useful in correcting my geometry issues. The color setting are still too hot for my tastes but the geometry has improved immensely.

Rafterman1962

10-17-07, 06:53 PM

Nothing works. I would be nice to be able to use the other inputs without having to unplug my DVD player.

Rafterman1962

10-17-07, 06:54 PM

Can't find anything like this.

othelloears

10-19-07, 03:34 PM

ytwokr32

10-19-07, 03:55 PM

I have a 34HF85. The board was just replaced and now my HD picture sucks! It is grainy, almost snowy, particularly in the background. The Tech came in on warranty and told me that there is no adjustment to improve. I have the service manual. Does anyone know which adjustment would deal with improving the image.

I also have a 34HF85. I just applied the Service Menu settings posted by Fugiot in this thread - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10771656&postcount=1175 .

My picture is dramatically improved, with the exception of the colors looking a little "flat". I'll probably do some more tweaking. You might want to try those settings though.

Rooster2007

10-24-07, 11:06 PM

The latch on the front panel of my toshiba 30hf66 just stopped working and won't close anymore. Is there any easy way to remove and replace or fix the latch mechanism without disassembling the entire TV?

kozmo64

11-07-07, 11:58 AM

I had the problem with flicker and/or ghosting with HDMI connected to cable box, or when connected to my upconvert DVD player. It's probably too soon to tell, but I simply changed the input signal from DVD and cable box to 720p and voila, the interference is gone!
I only looked at it for a short while, but to confirm, I changed back signal input from cable box and DVD to 1080i and noticed the "ghosting/interference" once again.
I really can't tell a difference in picture quality from 720p to 1080i, so why bother? If it corrects the annoying image interference, I'm all over it. Try it!
I really do love the Toshiba for color and picture clarity and now that I think my image problem is corrected, I'm a happy boy!

PS I read somewhere in this forum that 1080p and 1080i are basically the same because of bandwith and limitation of a 60 cycle signal. If so, do we need more than 720p? Just asking.

fugiot

11-07-07, 02:21 PM

PS I read somewhere in this forum that 1080p and 1080i are basically the same because of bandwith and limitation of a 60 cycle signal. If so, do we need more than 720p? Just asking.

1080i and 1080p still give you a higher resolution, twice that of 720p. On these Toshiba's(which do not display full horizontal resolution), it's a bit different.

The Toshibas have a screen resolution of 853x1080. So they can't display the full horizontal resolution, but they can display the full 1080 lines of vertical resolution.

Feeding it a 1080i signal(1920x1080) = 853x1080 = 921,240 pixels

Feeding it a 720p signal(1280x720) = 853x720 = 614,160 pixels

That's a 50% resolution increase.

mroneeyedboh

11-07-07, 11:06 PM

i was wondering if you have the service screen settings for a MD30H82 tv. i went in there and i totally messed them up. i didnt write down the factory settings like i should have. Thanks

also, if ya have any information to point me into the right direction that would be good too. i have joined several forums and posted, so maybe ill get some help there too. thanks

asburrows

11-08-07, 01:11 PM

Just like ytwokr32 (couple of posts above) I also applied Fugiot's service codes on my 30HF86. Result is significant improvement in PQ (although colours are indeed a little flat). Then I tried to tinker with geometry, made some things better but then screwed up royally. Any suggestions how to tweak geometry? Order of steps, etc. Thanks.

fugiot

11-08-07, 04:56 PM

Any suggestions how to tweak geometry? Order of steps, etc. Thanks.

Do the positioning and sizing first using a 1.78:1 DVD, then adjust the bowing and angles. Man, I hate doing geometry. :mad:

fugiot

11-08-07, 05:04 PM

Everyone who has been using my SM settings have been doing something very wrong. Sorry, i forgot to update the setting from a long time ago!

HERE ARE THE UPDATED SETTINGS!

SUB CONT should be ZERO! Not 15!
This affects the CONRAST which is now 63 across the board
and COLOR which is now 43 across all inputs

Brightness should also be 223 for HD and around 216 for SD!

Since I know I wanted these when I first got my set, I'm going to share my ISF settings with all you 26HF(84/85/14/15/66) owners. We all know that every CRT is different, but maybe these will work or at least head you in the right direction. Also, these are optimized for HD sources.

First off, set the screen mode to "Full" and then enter the Service Menu. Turn Volume to "0", hold the 'volume down' button on the front of the set and then hold '9' on the remote until the service menu appears. Make sure to write down all of your current settings. I don't want to be to blame if my settings don't work for you. Change the settings to the following values and then press 'menu' on the remote to return.

Items #2-#23 are Geometry settings and a different for each set. Only use these for experimentation as I can guarantee you they are not the correct settings for your particular set.

2. H. POSI - 84
3. V. POSI - 1
4. H. SIZE - 20
5. V. SIZE - 40
6. V. LIN - 27
7. V-EHT - 4
8. H-EHT - 2
9. V-BLK P - 31
10. V-BLK S - 0
11. V. CENT - 31
12. V. LIMIT - 0
13. V. CORR - 13
14. V.S. CORR - 40
15. EW PARA - 10
16. TRAPEZIUM - 45
17. COR. TOP - 16
18. COR. BTM - 15
19. S. CORR - 17
20. CORNER - 16
21. C. PARA - 6
22. C. SAW - 6
23. V. SYMM - 128

The following are the picture settings and are roughly equal across all sets. They may need slight adjustments, but it will be pretty darned close to perfect.

24. R. BIAS - 69
25. G. BIAS - 63
26. B. BIAS - 93
27. R/G. DRV - 77
28. B/R. DRV - 60
Items #29 through #38 are for the 'cool' and 'warm' color temp settings. I didn't include them because they are unused.
39. R-Y GAIN - 1
40. R-Y PAHSE - 0
41. G-Y GAIN - 2
42. G-Y PAHSE - 1
43. BRI. CENT - 223
44. BRI. MAX - 227
45. BRI. MIN - 216
46. CONT. CENT - 63
47. CONT. MAX - 63
48. CONT. MIN - 31
49. COL. CENT - 43
50. COL. MAX - 43
51. COL. MIN - 43
52. SUB CONT - 0
53. TINT - 66
54. SHARP CENT - 63
55. SHARP MAX - 95
56. SHARP MIN - 31
57. TILT CENT - 138

Exit the Service Menu by pressing the "menu" button, press the tv/video button and repeat all settings on all 7 inputs.

Then, exit service menu, change to "Theater Wide 3" screen setting, enter service menu again and change V. SIZE to 50. This is ideal for widescreen 4:3 viewing from SD sources. Make sure "TheaterWide 1" is set exactly the same as "Full". "TheaterWide 2" is unused.

Once you have all the service menu set up, set your main menu settings like this.

S-video(or composite) connection:::
Brightness - 0
Contrast - 25 or higher
Color - centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - centered
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Colorstream Component:::
Brightness - 25 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 or higher for HD(0 for night HD)
Color - Centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - 25 (set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

HDMI:::
Brightness - 25 for HD(set to '0' for SD)
Contrast - 25 or higher for HD(set to 0 for night HD)
Color - centered
Tint - centered
Sharpness - 25(set to 50 for slightly enhanced sharpness)
Cable Clear - Off
Color Temp - Medium
SVM - Off

Yes, did you notice? All the SM settings are to make the main menu settings easy to remember by leaving most of them at default(25).

For example, Bright. Max in the SM corresponds to 'Brightness@50' in the User menu
Bright.Cent in SM = 'Brightness@25' in UM
Bright.Min in SM = 'Brightness@0' in UM.

Enjoy! Hopefully they work for you like they do for me. Looks as good as a Sony now....a non-ISF'd Sony.