.

Ok first waltchan can you edit your first post and write down the method to get into the service menu,designer mode, and the reset mode. I have ultralink component cables for the 26hf85 and the other toshiba dlp. They are very good (thick cables no spaghetti) and I paid 50$ canadian. If you're considering Monster cables you can't go wrong but they are very $$$$.

Here's the link for the Ultralink cables: http://www.ultralinkcables.com/

Just wondering, if I am going to purchase the Toshiba 26HF15 at Costco for $500, I wonder which component video cable is best for the TV? Is Monster Cable a good choice? Also, what is a good cheap calibration disc out there?

why? you claim they are junk everyday now you are buying one
~seems ironic

but monster cable is nothing more than overpriced, the company is scum of the earth
and their business practices of "We will sue you out of business" should not be supported

walter you have been around here long enough to know what and where to get cables (and if you do not)
Ramelectronics and bluejeancables
both are sponsors I believe and there is a powerbuy for Ramelectronics cables

for DVD calibration discs
DVE is cheap on Amazon at 18 dollars
add another 7 dollar item and shipping is free

here's the powerbuy
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=532289

their main site
http://www.ramelectronics.net/index.html

and blue jean cables
www.bluejeancables.com/

site appears to be down now though

also I like the Belkin Pure AV cables which can be purchased cheap at Amazon but they are not part of the free shipping promotion

So does the HDMI help eliminate the white glow and what does the design sevice menu actually do?

I have been fortunate to not have the problem as I extreme as I have seen in this forum. Mine has it, but not bad. I just want to get it under control and was wondering whether the HDMI cable actually eliminates it -- as I already have ordered one.

Thanks to all. I have been keeping up with this problem for a while and have been keeping up with this forum for some time. Have a good one all.

Another thing I was wondering about, is there a way to adjust the border gap between the outer plastic trim and the viewable screen (the black 1cm gap that goes along the entire edge of the screen).

Is this physically fixed in place? or is there a way to adjust it? The overscan adjustment in the service menu only controls the underlying picture image. But, on my computer monitor for instance, you can move the image all the way to the edge of the screen, so that there are no gaps.

If this can be done, it might also help with the white glow issue.

To go into the service menu (this only applies to Orion-made Toshiba TVs as well as all the other Orion's off-brand TVs):

Turn the volume all the way down to 0. Press and hold the TV's front panel volume down button, and then press and hold the remote's "9" button for about a second. The service mode will appear. Change item with the chanel button up and down. Change value for an item with the volume button up and down. Press "6" instead of "9" for the designer mode. Press "1" instead of "9" to reset the TV settings, but not the service settings. Make sure you copy down all the original service settings in a separate paper before you change the values.


I wouldn't recommend playing around with "designer mode" This key combination is used to give a confirmation of hours used. It also puts you into Data Set mode and allows you to modify the address settings for the Memory IC. (EEprom) . Service manual has an extensive table listing the correct values, I don't think any of these should be changed.

Playing with this can result in a dead tv real fast.

Tomorrow I am going to exchange my "old" Toshiba 30hf85 for a new one at Sears -- thank goodness for Sears' easy return policy. I had it for a month and had the white bar at the top -- though not as bad as some I have seen. However, it was not until after I discovered a greenish spot on my set that would not go away that I decided it was time for a new one. So maybe by exchanging the thing, this time it will be the tv I hoped it would be and save me another crazy trip with that heavy tv. So pray for me. Anyway, will post my results!

Walter, why not consider Samsungs 26" sets, to me they looked to have better PQ and a better value if you get the one with a built in HD tuner.

I guess I'll chime in here, haven't posted for a while though. I own a 30HF85 which I purchased back in May. Overall I like the Tv and it is the only one I could fit in the space I have. Unfortunately, as of today though, my Tv is in the shop.:(

The Tv worked fine when I first got it and I was pleased to finally be able to watch DVD in widescreen and progressive scan, in fact, aside from a slight geometry problem which I noticed on the very top left and right all seemed to be good.

Flash forward to this past couple of weeks and my geometry has gotten all screwed up, the right side is wavy and the top left and right are still whacked out. Convergence also appears to have gone south and becomes a real problem for DVD. On top of that, the Tv just looks really blurry and it appears really grainy (though some of this could be attributed to a bad DVD it looked like it was everywhere on all sources), friends are even commenting on the bluriness. I calibrated with Avia but just couldn't get rid of this graininess and actually ended back with my original settings.

The HDMI port on my Tv was also weird, and had problems with 1080i. I can't confirm if this was the Tv or the upconverting DVD player I had but I switched to a standard progressive scan player hooked up through component and haven't had a problem since.

I called Toshiba tech support (who were kind of rude and flakey) and they directed me to the service center which, lucky for me, is located right where I live. The service guys came today to pick up my Tv and they will have it for at least two weeks, lucky there are a couple Tv's in the house ;) . The work will be covered under the warranty which is good but it is kind of frusturating. I going to have them address the problems I've mentioned above and even gave them a nice little note covering my problems and concerns, mainly with the geometry and convergence.

Anyone else have a similar story? I'm not really angry but I'm a little frusturated. Hopefully the Tv will come back in a couple weeks good as new and ready to go.

Someone in another thread asked for specific examples of the Orion-built Toshibas having problems. I'm copying my response here, as it's relevant to this thread:

<begin original post...>

The only "evidence" I have is my own, which is hardly a statistical sample

However, I had problems with my Toshiba/Orion 34HF85. The tube was so far out of alignment when I first got it, even with the tilt adjustment all the way to the right, it was still a full inch higher on one side. A tech came out, openend the back, and adjusted it from there. Problem solved.

Then I tried to calibrate the set using Digital Video Essentials (after close to 50 hours of use.) I couldn't get the colors calibrated. I could get the blues pretty close, but the reds and greens would be way to hot. If I turned down the color so the reds and greens were close, the blues would be way undersaturated. I settled for a middle of the road setting, with all three colors off a bit. Also, the whites were way too bright at the proper brightness setting (using the pluge pattern.) Whether I was viewing a DVD or SD or HD satellite, the whites were overly bright and glowing around the edges. If I turned down the brightness, the blacks became too black, and I'd lose detail in dark scenes.

Finally, I had the well documented "white glow" at the top of the screen when viewing HD content at 1080i.

All of this was enough for me to upgrade the set (after 3 weeks of giving it my best effort) to a Sony 34XBR960. I must say, the difference in picture quality is very real and very noticeable.

So, there's one person's experience with Orion-built Toshiba CRTs. I'm not in any way saying I had problems *because* the set was built by Orion, just saying that I did have problems, though.

One thing that put me over the top when deciding to bite the bullet and spend the money on the Sony: I spend a couple days reading through both the official Toshiba 34HF85 and the Sony XBR960 threads. The number of people reporting problems or otherwise bitching about the Toshiba was quite large. Conversely, the number of people complaining about the Sony was relatively few. Also, there were *many* post where people said the Sony was the best CRT they've every seen/owned. No such posts for Toshiba. The positive posts in the Toshiba thread are mostly that "it works fine", or "I found a workaround for the glow issue." Well, I'm not going to drop $1000 bucks for something that requires a workaround in order to compensate for a design defect.

Edit: note that I wasn't refering to THIS thread in the paragraph above, I was refering to the older Toshiba CRT thread (can't recall the exact thread title, but it has the word "Official" in it...)

I just got it and i'm having some issues. I have had a toshiba 57hx93 in the basemant and have loved it since the day I bought it about 2-3 years ago but the newer and smaller Toshiba just doesn't seem to have the same PQ that i'm used to seeing...the HD channels are soooo dark and it just doesn't seem to be as clear...the 57" is a cinema series and that could be the difference, can I get a 30" that has the cinema series? anybody else have this experience?

One thing I can't figure out is how to move the picture. I'm talking about the black bars for example...there is a thicker black bar on the right then the left, and some of my guide is cut off too. Looking through the manual it says to hit the pic size button....but everytime I do it tells me "info not available" what gives!?

Edit...now I just noticed that I've got a yellow spot in the bottom right corner of the screen!!! It's not beside a speaker or anything really, except my sat. receiver. What the heck is that from?

THANX!!!

Well I took back my Toshiba 30HF85 to Sears and got another one. After one day, I was fed up with the new piece of junk I received. It also had the whitening at the top, but it was actually worse than the one I returned. I tried using an HDMI/DVI cable to solve this problem (as I heard others had done). Despite losing the infamous whitening, on 1080i channels there was noticible color bandings that made my stomach churn. It was ugly! One of the main reasons I bought the tv was because it had an HDMI input. But if I cannot use it, what's the use?!

So today, after one evening with the replacement set, I lugged it back to Sears and exchanged it for the Sony 30HS420. I am very happy with the new set -- as it has a sharper picture, no more overly black blacks, and none of the problems that plagued my Toshiba. Please note: I am definitely not a Sony fanboy (I actually loathe Sony fanboys) nor do I hate Toshiba and the whole fiasco concerning the outsource of the televisions to Orion -- if Orion made a great, reliable product, I would not care who made the Toshibas. I just must say that the Sony is a much superior piece of machinery compared to the Toshiba, and if Toshiba does not correct the problems infecting its tvs anytime soon, Toshiba will lose the one thing that has made it such a popular name -- its product reliability at an affordable price!

Oh well. I hope you all make due with your set. I hope all goes well and that you all are able to overcome the television's shortcomings and find a balance that makes you happy. I admire all of your attempts to make the thing work. But after readig all of the problems with this model and my own experiences, I had to go elsewhere. Take care all.

Thanx for the reply...In the menu, there is a "set up" menu and when I go down to picture size and picture scroll it skips over it...this is the only thing I can find that might have something close to moving the picture around, but I can't access it! I changedthe aspect on/off, 540p to 1080i.....none of it helped me access the option...i'm lost.

I've definitely got very black blacks also, i've got the contrast and brightness up to 41, what exactly is color banding?

Toshiba can't correct the problems nor can't they solve the bad picture quality. Orion design all the technical specs in the TVs. Orion design and produce the circuit boards. Orion set the picture quality in the TVs for Toshiba. Toshiba only ask the specs they want in their TVs, then Orion produce them, and then Toshiba buy them from Orion and ship them to stores.

Yeah they could. In the contract between Toshiba and Orion, I am pretty sure there are standards that must be met. If these standsards are not met, I am pretty sure Toshiba could say something or even break the contract.

Furthermore, if the Toshiba name is on it, it is still a Toshiba! Hey, Corona beers are made in Chicago and Honda cars are made in the U.S. So does that mean it is still not a Corona beer or a Honda? You put your name on something it becomes your product. So I do not care if Orion is producing them or if they are made in Willy Wonka's factory. It is up to Toshiba to ensure that the quality they have provided for years continues in the outsourced sets. Similar to how Honda tries to ensure that the cars produced in the U.S. still retain the same quality as the ones produced in Japan. Please do not shift blame soley to Orion. It is a mutual contract and Toshiba has to live up to its end.

Anyone have a url for the pdf of the owner's manual for the HFX85.

Tosh appears to have stopped updating owners manuals available online in 2004.

Is that when Tosh started outsourcing to Orion?

I wrote Toshiba and asked they send me the pdf and they replied:

"If your model is not listed, hard copies of our manuals are available through a parts distributor. "

Not very supportive support.

Originally Posted by oilfan
Thanx for the reply...In the menu, there is a "set up" menu and when I go down to picture size and picture scroll it skips over it...this is the only thing I can find that might have something close to moving the picture around, but I can't access it! I changedthe aspect on/off, 540p to 1080i.....none of it helped me access the option...i'm lost.

The adjustment in the menu you are referring to will only scroll the picture when the picture size is in Theaterwide 2 and Theaterwide 3 mode. It is will allow you to nudge the picture vertically.

I think you were complaining about the width of the pillarbox in 4:3 mode not being equal. My settop box (Samsung SIR-TS160) has a raster control that allows centering of the screen when using the DVI output. See if your box has something similar.

If it bothers you that much you will probably have to set the overscan in the service menu. If you are comfortable doing this yourself, you can pick up a copy of the 30HF85 service manual on Ebay for about $10. It details how to correctly set the horizontal and vertical positioning, it takes about 10 minutes. I have to tell you though, I can't get my pillarboxes perfectly even on my 30HF84 without throwing my oversan off. The tech that adjusted my set on the assmbly line fudged mine to get it to look good. I improved it a bit, but each set behaves differently. Besides, I watch everything in 16:9 anyway.

You can always take the set back (you just got it) and try another one.

I've spent all day in the service menu of my 26HF15 tweaking all the geometry settings to come up pretty happy. In 4:3 mode there are still slight bends, but overall it's something I think I can deal with. It's a much welcome tradeoff with the progressive scan I get with my Playstation 2 games (especially this new one, Tekken 5, looks absolutely gorgeous on it). I really think there should be some plastic mechanism that folds down like a transformer to cover the silver bars on the sides though. The tube doesn't exactly cut it perfectly when drawing straight lines down the side.

I am experiancing a bit of this glow from the white bars when viewing a black 4:3 screen though. It's a little annoying, but how often are you going to be watching a solid black screen? Still it would be nice to know how to fix it.

Also, how would one go about calibrating the Red, Green and Blue colors perfectly? I know you can do this via the service menu, but having a color wheel or something handy would be nice. Is there an "official" color calibration device type thing?

When viewing regular TV, is it normal for it to look a little blocky when stretching the image? I don't really understand why that happens...are these the artifacts everyone talks about?

Thanks

I just recently purchased a 34HF85 and I am very disappointed with the quality of the HD picture. My provider is Cablevision and I have a HD cable box. The signal is routed via a HDMI / DVI cable. When watching sports (football or tennis), I get very noticeable flickering and shadow lines. It is almost better to watch it in SD. This can’t be normal. Am I missing something? Thanks

Yes. As I stated before, the HDMI picture is HORRIBLE. There's flickering EVERYWHERE where there is movement. It's far worse than the glow thru 1080i component. As I stated before, I'm saving my HDMI for the PS3 when it comes out. Hope that helped!

Will your box allow a component connection?

Yes, both component & HDMI. And just to give a heads up, I'm using a THX certified Monster 6' component cable (IE - not some dollar store cable) and it did nothing to deter the white glow, so it's not the connection that's causing it. Good luck!

I really hope that doesn't happen with my 26HF15. Right now the only thing wrong with it is the rainbow strip that *sometimes* appears on the upper left corner (but that is very very rare). I won't have an HD Tuner for a while to test the white glow you're talking about either. I do however experiance some white glow moreso on a 4:3 aspect screen while it is black with the grey bars "leaking" over. I also noticed while watching DVDs that a very very very faint white strip appears at the top of the tube where the black bar is...is there any way to get rid of that? I can hardly ever notice it but I definately don't want it to get worse.

Has anyone in here tuned their 26HF15 or similar Toshiba with an Avia (or equivalent) calibration disc? I ordered one on ebay to help me tune my TV as the colors are sometimes too vivid (and I'm hesitant to mess with the colors via the service menu...there are just too many options I don't want to change without the proper color strip). If anyone could give me their impressions using such a disc that would be great...it's like, even though I view progressive scan pictures with great resolution, the color is way off and makes the image (in that sense) a little worse than my old TV.

Lennsx thanks for the advice.

I made the switch to component last night and it as a solid improvement in HD sports picture quality. I watched the Yankees game last night and the picture was great. I did come across another issue. I get an intermittent “flicker” or “static” when watching a DVD. It also happened when I connected my Xbox. It appears to be focused on the top part of the screen. Maybe I am going crazy or over critically regarding this TV. Does anyone else seem to have this issue and a possible work around?

Here is a list of my possible problems and solutions with this set.
1- Flicker - possible fix, use component cables, not hdmi.
2- White glow- possible fix, turn off 1080i on stb and let the set upconvert the signal to
1080i. It worked for me.
3- Black level - I am still trying to find a fix for this. If I had any idea what all those settings are in the service menu, I am sure we can find an answer. I cant find a 34hf85 service manual on the net. I can get a 30hf85 service manual, but will it help me figure out what the settings are with the 34hf85?
Also, someone posted something about a "Black Level Expander" in another thread, it could be in the service menu.

With all the problems with crt sets lately, for example: Geometry, convergance,bulk, weight,etc.

I would rather recommend you get a flat panel display which has perfect geometry,sharpness,convergance,and are very light.Prices have come down a lot lately and i myself am looking to upgrade to a flat panel display due to weight and space issue with my sony 34" HDTV, i want to free up more room in my bedroom and am looking for a flat panel display.

Only question now is LCD or Plasma?

Damn, sorry to hear that. Every DVD I throw at this TV plays perfectly. I watch them via my newer PS2 (the slim one), using the basic Sony brand PS2 component cables, with Progressive Scan on and the display at 540p (NOT 1080i, although when I do switch back and forth I honestly see no difference, so why not just keep it at 540p, no?) Sin City looked fantastic - going to rent Episode II to REALLY see this TV crank!

I'm unfortunate enough to have an older model PS2, so I'm going to have to buy another DVD player to get progressive scan going. At least Costco has reliable ones for $60.

If anyone has info on where a service menu manual can be found, please post it. I'd be very grateful.

I don't know about your XBox game flicker issue, but with playing PS2 games w/ component cables and in progressive mode, there is no flicker. Who knows what it could be for you. The only problem I have with PS2 games and my set is the glow some colors have...they end up overlapping onto other parts because they are so bright...it's probably something that can be fixed via the service menu.

Is it normal for cable TV (not digital) to look kind of...weird? Like it's being processed by a TV card or something. Sure, when I'm 9 feet away it looks fine, but up close it looks almost blocky. And does switching to digital fix this?

Just thought I'd chime in.

I've connected both my Denon2900 DVD player and OTA tuner via signalcable component cables. I've set the tuner to 720p and let the TV either upconvert to 1080i or down to 540(?).

No glow, no other issues. I'm very pleased with this TV and the picture looks great.

Just wanted to post a positive response. Perhaps Orion is having trouble maintaining consistant quality control.

Get the Costco's $50 Toshiba SD-K750 DVD player for your 26HF15. It's made by Orion also and will look great with your TV.

Yah my mom's had one for a year now and it works great.

Originally Posted by 0brf4n0
If anyone has info on where a service menu manual can be found, please post it. I'd be very grateful.

I think I have mentioned this about 5 times already. Service manuals for the 26hf85 and 30hf85 are on Ebay for $10. Just do a search on the model numbers.I believe the 26hf15 is the same as the 26hf85.

It will give you all the correct procedures for adjusting overscan, geometry, bias, etc. It will also let you know what settings should not be touched and what the default values are. It's been an invaluable aid to me for my 30hf84. I have made quite a few adjustments via the service menu, and also had the back off the set to correct a shorted a/v board. I will probably do a slight converegnce adjustment in the future.

Definitely a good investment.

lennsx, did you get rid of your glow problem by turning off 1080i on your stb? Are you getting the glow when playing dvd's? I'm not. I really do love this set for playing dvd's and Sin City does look amazing on it. I just want to tone down the black level a bit when i am watching tv and playing my xbox. I just do not feel comfortable keeping the brightness level up to high.
Thanks Walter, I think I will get the service manual for the 30hf85 on ebay. If I make any changes, I will make sure I write my original settings down 1st.

Has anyone achieved perfect geometry? I have a couple of problems:

1) I acheive perfect geometry in natural pic size, but that distorts the geometry in full pic size.

2) I don't know which settings to tweak first.

I'm not sure how to retain straight up and down lines in natural mode while keeping full mode stable. And should I tweak certain settings before others? It seems like there are settings (such as the corner ones) which are extremely sensitive. And what do you have on your screen when you adjust your geometry? Should I wait on the geometry until I get the color down first?

I don't have the money to have a professional calibrate my set so the best I'm gonna get is from my own two hands with the help of the service manual and the Avia calibration system. I should be getting both tomorrow.

Has anyone achieved perfect geometry? I have a couple of problems:

1) I acheive perfect geometry in natural pic size, but that distorts the geometry in full pic size.

2) I don't know which settings to tweak first.

I'm not sure how to retain straight up and down lines in natural mode while keeping full mode stable. And should I tweak certain settings before others? It seems like there are settings (such as the corner ones) which are extremely sensitive. And what do you have on your screen when you adjust your geometry? Should I wait on the geometry until I get the color down first?

I don't have the money to have a professional calibrate my set so the best I'm gonna get is from my own two hands with the help of the service manual and the Avia calibration system. I should be getting both tomorrow.

Forget about what the "natural" setting looks like. You have to calibrate it for fullsize and work backwards. It takes a while but eventually you will achieve good settings. Try every SM setting and see which ones affect geometry so you are not missing out on any controls. You will get the feel for it in no time.

I hooked up my DCT6412 with a DVI-HDMI cable and the glow has disappeared. The picture looks MUCH better. Now if I can get a handle on the black level issue, I'll be set. Right now with the glow gone, the picture is definitely tolerable with brightness at 35 and contrast at 31, but no matter how high you increase the settings, you cant get rid of that "dark" quality to the picture.

If you read the original thread there is someone on it that's having an ISF calibration done tmrw. on his set. If it tone downs the blacks, etc. then I'm going to have my cranky baby calibrated as well. Looking forward to NFL Kickoff tonight!!!!

Has anyone achieved perfect geometry? I have a couple of problems:

1) I acheive perfect geometry in natural pic size, but that distorts the geometry in full pic size.

2) I don't know which settings to tweak first.

I'm not sure how to retain straight up and down lines in natural mode while keeping full mode stable. And should I tweak certain settings before others? It seems like there are settings (such as the corner ones) which are extremely sensitive. And what do you have on your screen when you adjust your geometry? Should I wait on the geometry until I get the color down first?

I don't have the money to have a professional calibrate my set so the best I'm gonna get is from my own two hands with the help of the service manual and the Avia calibration system. I should be getting both tomorrow.

What settings in the Service Menu are you modifying? I have some Geometry issues I would like to adjust but do not know what settings to change. Here are my geometry issues:

In a 4:3 image with Grey bars on the side the top 2-3 Inches are curved in. This happens more with certain darker colours like Blue.

In 4:3 image with Grey bars the Virtical line between the Grey bar and the picture will curve when bright or white images are close to the edge. This is most likely caused by blooming or something since the Brightness is at 35.

I do not notice geometry issues when in full screen as much. This is most likely caused by the image filling up the screen and my eyes not noticing the distortion. However when viewing High Def signals that broadcast commercials in 4:3 format (Edges are black) There is geometry issues that can be seen but not as noticible when the sides are grey.

What settings in the Service Menu are you modifying? I have some Geometry issues I would like to adjust but do not know what settings to change. Here are my geometry issues:

In a 4:3 image with Grey bars on the side the top 2-3 Inches are curved in. This happens more with certain darker colours like Blue.

In 4:3 image with Grey bars the Virtical line between the Grey bar and the picture will curve when bright or white images are close to the edge. This is most likely caused by blooming or something since the Brightness is at 35.

I do not notice geometry issues when in full screen as much. This is most likely caused by the image filling up the screen and my eyes not noticing the distortion. However when viewing High Def signals that broadcast commercials in 4:3 format (Edges are black) There is geometry issues that can be seen but not as noticible when the sides are grey.

Turn SVM off first. That will blur the edges and reduce a lot of tiny geometry inconsistency. Plus it's what everyone on the web recommends for other reason, like keeping your tube from dying early. Then you have to spend a lot of time playing around with the settings yourself...even though I haven't recieved mine yet, I recommend getting a calibration disc like Avia which will display geometry lines so you can figure out exactly what you need to tune. Unless there is a way to display those lines without a disc....I heard some other Toshiba's can access them just by pressing TV/Video while in Service Mode.

Possible problem with my 30HF85

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

Within the past 3 1/2 weeks my 30HF85 displayed the following problem twice while turning on this TV set. When powering up the TV, the picture screen displayed two double pictures and then the picture will roll at the same time.

If I turn off my set and power it up again, the picture is normal and the problem goes away. So far, this has only happened on my HDMI feed through my Dish Network 811 tuner.

I'am not sure if this is a TV problem or my satellite receiver.

Since my 30 day return policy expired on 8/23/2005, should I ask for a new placement 30HF85 or have a technician look at my TV.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,
Randy
Millbrae, Ca
Report Post

These are the same symptoms I was experiencing with my set on component with 480i and 480p input. My a/v board was beginning to short to the chassis, I finally inserted strips of rubber tape under the mounting points and it seems to have done the trick.


The a/v board with the hdmi board mounts to the back of the set for support. Try tapping on the plastic around the inputs or pressing on it. You might also rock the group of cables a bit. Watch to see if the picture begins to flicker or jump.

You may also have a loose HDMI comnnector. Wiggle the cable to see if you can duplicate what you are describing.

waltchan and Nonnie,

I'll try your suggestions tomorrow. Nonnie, is it possible to take a picture of your tapping procedure around the a/v board?

Thanks for suggestions,
Randy
Millbrae, Ca

These are the same symptoms I was experiencing with my set on component with 480i and 480p input. My a/v board was beginning to short to the chassis, I finally inserted strips of rubber tape under the mounting points and it seems to have done the trick.


The a/v board with the hdmi board mounts to the back of the set for support. Try tapping on the plastic around the inputs or pressing on it. You might also rock the group of cables a bit. Watch to see if the picture begins to flicker or jump.

You may also have a loose HDMI comnnector. Wiggle the cable to see if you can duplicate what you are describing.


if you have to tap your set to get it working correctly, just return it.

Has anyone been able to correct the whites brightening the black around it? I just calibrated my set using the Avia disc so I don't really want to mess with anything, but if I could just get rid of that problem I'd be set.

Also, Buyer Beware, I would stay clear of getting the service manual off ebay. It doesn't tell you anything a caveman couldn't figure out; plus it leaves out a lot of explanation for certain settings. It only talked about 10-15 settings overall (out of 60) and 75% of the manual was dedicated to schematics of the TV (I'm assuming you're not gonna be taking it apart). Actually, when I think about it, only 3 pages out of the 68 were somewhat useful. The manual is so useless it makes me think the person who recommended it is the person selling it. All you ever need to know to adjust your TV is what's already been said: turn volume down to 0, hold down volume button on the set, and hold down the 9 button on the remote.

I really recommend the Avia calibrating system though. My DVDs look SO much better. I have yet to acheive perfect geometry but that will come with time.

Damn, sorry to hear that. Every DVD I throw at this TV plays perfectly. I watch them via my newer PS2 (the slim one), using the basic Sony brand PS2 component cables, with Progressive Scan on and the display at 540p (NOT 1080i, although when I do switch back and forth I honestly see no difference, so why not just keep it at 540p, no?) Sin City looked fantastic - going to rent Episode II to REALLY see this TV crank!

I'd invest in the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs to see what your set it made of. Even though they're 30 years old it still beats some of the special effects of late. Plus with DVD quality you can't lose :)

Episode III comes out in November; *that* should be impressive.

Has anyone been able to correct the whites brightening the black around it? I just calibrated my set using the Avia disc so I don't really want to mess with anything, but if I could just get rid of that problem I'd be set.
<snip>


Aside from the glow issue, this was my biggest problem and contributed materially to my decision to return the set. It was most obvious when viewing the guide/menus from my cable box - my provider/box (Comcast using Motorola HD boxes) uses a white font with a black shadow around the letters, and if the brightness was set to anything above 10 or 15, the white from the letters would start to bleed into the black shadow, at high settings making the letters totally blurred rather than appearing sharper as intended.

Where is the easiest place to find these manuals if they are not on eBay? Can't seem to find one for my 32AF45 (and/or 27AF45)?

Hey guys, I'm having a slight problem with my new 26HF85. I have a Rogers Digital Cable box in one component input and my PS2 in the other. I do notice the white glow that others have mentioned, but only when the cable box is turned off (no picture on screen). When the box is turned on, I can't see the glow, even during the occasional black screens between commercials and whatnot. Anyways, that's not my problem.

My problem is with 480i signals going in the component inputs, because the screen occasionally (anywhere between 2 to 20 times a minute, seems totally random) jumps about a cm upwards and then back into the proper position about 3 times really fast. To put it simply, the screen occasionally shakes. It's really a non-issue for my cable box, as all my SD channels are upscaled to 480p and the HD channels are of course at 1080i. The screen shake never, ever happens at 480p, 540p, 720p or 1080i. It only happens when the signal is 480i.

As you can probably guess, this is a problem for my PS2, as many games (included the OS menu) are run at 480i. I've got a seperate S-Video hooked up, and I switch between it and the component cables as each game requires, so it isn't a big enough deal to have to go through the hassle of calling Toshiba, and I know if I can just hold out for a bit more, the PS3 should have an option to output at 1080i at all times anyways (at least I hope, it's relatively simple to build an upscaler for old games into a new console, isn't it?). Other than this small annoyance, the TV is fantastic.

Now I know the PS2 doesn't have an option like the Xbox where you can select an output resolution, but is there any other way this can be remedied? Is this a problem anyone else experiences with their set?

Thanks for any help or info guys. I'm loving this wonderfully priced set!

Hey guys, I'm having a slight problem with my new 26HF85. I have a Rogers Digital Cable box in one component input and my PS2 in the other. I do notice the white glow that others have mentioned, but only when the cable box is turned off (no picture on screen). When the box is turned on, I can't see the glow, even during the occasional black screens between commercials and whatnot. Anyways, that's not my problem.

My problem is with 480i signals going in the component inputs, because the screen occasionally (anywhere between 2 to 20 times a minute, seems totally random) jumps about a cm upwards and then back into the proper position about 3 times really fast. To put it simply, the screen occasionally shakes. It's really a non-issue for my cable box, as all my SD channels are upscaled to 480p and the HD channels are of course at 1080i. The screen shake never, ever happens at 480p, 540p, 720p or 1080i. It only happens when the signal is 480i.

As you can probably guess, this is a problem for my PS2, as many games (included the OS menu) are run at 480i. I've got a seperate S-Video hooked up, and I switch between it and the component cables as each game requires, so it isn't a big enough deal to have to go through the hassle of calling Toshiba, and I know if I can just hold out for a bit more, the PS3 should have an option to output at 1080i at all times anyways (at least I hope, it's relatively simple to build an upscaler for old games into a new console, isn't it?). Other than this small annoyance, the TV is fantastic.

Now I know the PS2 doesn't have an option like the Xbox where you can select an output resolution, but is there any other way this can be remedied? Is this a problem anyone else experiences with their set?

Thanks for any help or info guys. I'm loving this wonderfully priced set!


Which games run at 480i? You're talking about all the games that aren't progressive compatible?

If you mean this, then I don't know what the fix would be...my set is fine when I run games that aren't programmed for 480p or 1080i. I do know that certain games have different center screen values, but I don't think that would help you...

Hmmm...I was watching The Incredibles tonight and noticed that Mr. Incredible's hair glows a lot. Actually so does most of the movie. It's noticable if you're looking for it but if you're just casually watching you could miss it.

Has anyone who's watched this movie on their TV noticed this? There is no glow when watching non-animated movies though. Only for the super bright colors. Hopefully it's just my set since I have a lifetime return policy from Costco.

Yellowish and bluish color's seen on screen what does mean????? 30HF85

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Yellowish and bluish color's seen on screen what does mean?????

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I bought this tv a few month ago. toshiba 30HF85



Because the tv is in widescreen I can see the slight yellowish and bluish color's on the side's where 4:3 pic is not. I seem to see this color's only after a while when the tv been on may a couple hours when playing my ps2 on. It seems only to do it when playing games. The thing is I don't know if it does it during reg tv programming cause I only use it for games.

Also the those color's come and seem to fill the entire side bars where the game does not fill the full screen.

Is it doing this because I play my game at 4:3? should I sretch image to 16:9? To save my tv or what? My tv can put the image at 4: or 16:9 if I want. While in game I don't see this problem at all or on reg tv I'm pretty sure. It's only when the image is set to 4:3 I see this. Who know's it might do this during gamming too but because there's so many other color's on screen I might not notice it. But he thing is it don't do this all the time.

You know if they would of the those side bar black instead of a light gray I would of never of notied it.

What should I do can't return it so don't suggest it. Why is it doing this?

Some owners have reported color glow spots before, not just you alone. So far, nobody has any way to fix it. Many guess that there may be some electrical problem in the TV. Contact Toshiba and have a tech to inspect your TV as soon as possible. Your TV has a 1 year labor and parts warranty. Good luck.


Will they come to my home? I don't really feel like bring this heavy thing to them or where ever. Or might they charge me a little fee to come to the house.

The way you worded it seems like your saying do this ASAP I'm wondering why, will it just get worse and I'll see the yellowish and bluish more more with time? Cause if they stay as they are now it's not that bad.

But if your saying there just going to get worse then I might just call them. Could they get worse what are the odd's?

Well okay I think will call. Is this problem fixable though? I want my tv working 100% like in the begining. Is this a totally fixable problem? What do you think they will do fix/replace or just adjust?

What I'm worried about is that they say we can't really do anything about it.
Thay would really piss me off, I want the TV I paid for working 100% like it suppose too. Or give me a new one but that won't happen.

Which games run at 480i? You're talking about all the games that aren't progressive compatible?
Yup, all the games that don't have a progressive scan mode. Also the PS2 OS menu where you can look at your memory card contents and whatnot. All that inputs at normal 480i (Sony underestimated HD tech when the PS2 launched), and all that stuff shakes the screen intermitently. Even for games that are part 480i, part HD, like GT4, where only the races are HD and the menu screens are all 480i, the screen shakes at the menus but is perfectly fine during races.

If you mean this, then I don't know what the fix would be...my set is fine when I run games that aren't programmed for 480p or 1080i. I do know that certain games have different center screen values, but I don't think that would help you...
So everything from your PS2 works fine on your set, be it progressive scan modes or just the normal stuff like the OS menu? Damn... I thought this was a common problem with component inputs and 480i... I still have a couple weeks to exchange my set for a new one at Future Shop (where I purchased it), do you think I should?

Can anyone else with a PS2 hooked up to their 26, 30 or 34HF85 confirm or deny whether or not their screen shakes as well?

It's actually a hard fix, but it's definitely repairable. There's no 100% guarantee that it will work like new in the beginning. Sometimes a tech messes up with people's TVs. I definitely recommend finding a tech who works both on Orion-made and Toshiba-made TVs at the same time, not just work strictly on Toshiba-made TVs only. Before you do that, contact Toshiba first. Let me know how it goes.

Explain, why is it a hard fix? what would they have to do?

By the way I'm trying to myself in the repairmen shoes he comes over and looks at my tv I have to show him those problems right. So I'm looking at tv in 4:3 with the gray bars on the on sides and I don't see it. It's seems to show only when I play my ps2 in 4:3 format then in the gray bars I will see a slight bluish/yellowish in the gray bars. If I put my game in 16:9 then I still see it in full screen but you really have to look hard. Even in the gray bars it's not always present either so it's very mild. I think I better just I wait to see if it gets worse cause now the tv has been on for a while and it has not come back yet. If I bring my tv somewhere I bet it won't it when they look at it so I'D better wait till it does it more times than not.

I will say other than that problem I am very satsfied with tv. I had thought about buying to HD 30'' sony instead back then but it was like 200 more and that would have put me over the 1000$ Almost bought a samsung too but went with the tosiba instead cause I always thought samsung was cheap crap I still think it is too.

In the componet imput.

Are the /2630/34HF85 seires less buggy than the HF84 series you think? It would seem like cause more people seem to talk about the HF84 series.

So, when you watch TV over the air, you don't see any glow spots, right? If so, then the component input board is maybe at fault.

I think they both are about the same quality, comparing the 26HF84/30HF84 and 26HF85/30HF85 together. The 34HF84 is a different story here. It was made by Toshiba, and it's a far cry to the 34HF85 in terms of quality and workmanship.

So 85 series is better than 84 series your saying?

What does glow spots come from anyway? Why do they suddenly appear like that? What leads to glow spots?

I have the same problem as you Heian-kyo with my ps2 and when the game is in in 480p there's absolutly no problem at all. I've even tried with my progressive scan dvd player and it's the same thing: when i turn progressive scan off it goes shaky and when prog is on it's all good. I'll call the tech.

I'm thinking of buying the 34HF85 and have been seeing all of these negative things about it. Is the bad picture quality noticable to a casual watcher? I really like the price ($789) and size, and in the store, the picture looked great. OT but, if I was to get this TV, would I be able to connect an Xbox 360 w/Component cables to this TV and the games be in HD? Or do I need something else as well? Thanks for any help.

I wouldn't recommend buying the Toshiba 34hf85. I purchased one on 9/1 and returned it on 9/10. I had a lot of picture quality issues right out of the box. There was yellow discoloration in both of the top corners. When watching Hi-Def programs there was a bright glow across the top of the screen.The picture had a severe tilt to it and even after I maxed out the adjustments it was still off. I swapped it out for a Sony and what a difference.

I gave up on the 34HF85. After two TVs, I did not want to risk a hernia returning it again. I am causal watcher but the picture quality was just lousy. It did not matter whether it was HD, DVD or XBox. It just plain stunk - lines, flashes, picture roll. The store was fairly suprised to see me come back twice. They feel that Toshiba's has (or had) excellent quality. I spent roughly double and got a 37" Panasonic plasma. I have to say it is an excellent picture with no problems.

I regret what I said about my tv the 30HF85. I played other games and did not see the yellish at all. I had my wife look at the game that I thought it had glow spots and she does not see it she says I'm trying to hard to look for something that's not there, I admit I do that sometimes. Theres seems just ever so slightly to me but when I but in other games I can't locate the spot at all I think it's just that game.

I really like this tv alot and the price was right. Also what I like about is they put the speakers under the screen and not on the sides like the latest trend is. I don't like tv's that do that. It just don't look as good. I like the least plastic molding as possilbe the less molding the more my tv screen looks big. My tv on the back says made in march of 2005. So it's pretty recent. Plus I've had it for like 3 months at least. The unit is compact well it looks like it compared to the sony 30'' widescreen and good 200$ cheaper. I'm very happy with this purchase after all.

Also the picture looks great when I was at bestbuy they had alot of them lined with HD programming up side by side mine had the best crt picture sony's was a little better but by a very small margin in my opinion. But mine looked better than 3 or 4 other brands.

WHAT, the Toshiba 34HF85 can be bought for only $789. :eek: Does it include shipping and tax? The last year 34HF84 retailed for $1,399.99. Talk about a huge deflation here.

Yeah off of Amazon. Thats without shipping, but like I said, thats a really good price.

Yes, the TV itself is $788.00 + $100.00 for shipping = $888.00 Considering I paid $1200.00 plus tax on mine at Sears (without delivery) that kinda pisses me off. Ah, I guess good things come to those who wait.....

34HF85 => $889 delivered from Amazon
34HF84 => $899 refurbished from Overstock

I'm still seriously considering spending more for a refurbished last years 34HF84 over a brand new one. That should tell you something.

No returns to either vendor (unlike BestBuy, etc)
90 day warranty on refurbished

I noticed the 34HF85 is now coming from Amazon rather than their 3rd party affiliate Office Depot. Office Depot is $1 more and IIRC, more shipping.

Amazon also has some mistakes in their descriptions, claiming 2 HDMI ports on the 34HF85. Even Crutchfield has mistakes in their latest catalog, claiming 2 HDMI ports on the 34HFX85 which is incorrect.

Note: Overstock has only 1 34HFX84 left for $1222.

I've for 7 days lfet to decide if i'm gonna take my 30HF85 back and right now it looks like it will be going back.

SD picture is fine, I have no problem at all with it. HD is sooooo dark, I have the brightness cranked up to 42/50 and it helps the darkness but the whites are so bright now that they glow, there is no happy medium there. The color isn't to bad but I just don't see the crisp clear picture that I'm used to watching HD on my other tube.

I'm thinking of the 34HFX85 because it is the cinema series and does have a better picture on it but it's still a toshiba...decisions decisions.

I've for 7 days lfet to decide if i'm gonna take my 30HF85 back and right now it looks like it will be going back.

SD picture is fine, I have no problem at all with it. HD is sooooo dark, I have the brightness cranked up to 42/50 and it helps the darkness but the whites are so bright now that they glow, there is no happy medium there. The color isn't to bad but I just don't see the crisp clear picture that I'm used to watching HD on my other tube.

I'm thinking of the 34HFX85 because it is the cinema series and does have a better picture on it but it's still a toshiba...decisions decisions.


I bought a 34HF85 for my upstairs family room at Sears and it was delivered on Friday. I spent most of the weekend and part of Monday playing with the settings trying to get a decent HD picture. I never could. Like yours, the SD was fine, even looked decent using 480p component output from my sat receiver and Theater Wide to fill the screen but the HD was hopeless. It is the worst picture I have ever seen on an HD TV. Shame on Toshiba for having Orion build and selling a POS like this with their name on it. I had one of the first 35 inch SD Toshibas and watched it for 9 years with no problems.

I called Sears for a return and they are coming by to pick it up this Friday as I am too old and my back is too shot to be moving this big hunk of junk around. In the meantime I bought a 42 inch Samsung DLP on sale at Best Buy which will be delivered next Tuesday. It was half again as expensive but with a four year extended warranty which I plan on purchasing through WarrantybyNet, I should have nothing to worry about for a while except the occasional warranty call :o . I have had a Sammy HLN DLP downstairs for two years and have had three warranty calls on it already, a color wheel, a light engine, and the analog 480i/480p video inputs going capute. But the HD and DVD picture via HDMI/DVI is great when the TV is working which is most of the time! :D

I've for 7 days lfet to decide if i'm gonna take my 30HF85 back and right now it looks like it will be going back.

SD picture is fine, I have no problem at all with it. HD is sooooo dark, I have the brightness cranked up to 42/50 and it helps the darkness but the whites are so bright now that they glow, there is no happy medium there. The color isn't to bad but I just don't see the crisp clear picture that I'm used to watching HD on my other tube.

I'm thinking of the 34HFX85 because it is the cinema series and does have a better picture on it but it's still a toshiba...decisions decisions.

you do know if you go in the service menu you can crank up the max for brightness/contrast even higher...

How?

To rid my set of the 'white glow' I set my OTA tuner to 720p instead of 1080i. Does anybody know yet if the TV is upconverting to 1080i or downcoverting to 540p? I asked the guy at sears when I went in to get my price guarentee rebate and of course he was clueless.

I have been working with the local cable TV providers for 3 days now trying to trouble shoot the problem I am having with the 34HF85

When the signal is auto detected by the HD cable box as 1080i resolution I get horizontal shadow type lines that kind of follow the objects on the screen. It looks like others are having the same problem. I have taken 1 tv back to BB because we felt it was a problem with the specific TV. Well the new one does the same thing. I am taking it back and shopping for a new TV. Bummer. The Toshiba was perfect because I was able to get a 34" in my entertainment center cabinet. Now I will have to buy a smaller screen Sony I guess.

Weekendtoy, In my strong opinion the TV is STILL giving a 1080i signal, even if you set the TV to 720p and/or have 1080i OFF. The reason for this is because the TV already changes all the signals to 1080i EVEN if you don't have a STB! Some others disagree with me, though, but oh well. And besides, I see no difference in PQ (picture quality) with 1080i on or off. So to me, that completely solves the white glow issue. And about the weird white banding issue that others are having, I too had the same issue but it was only through the HDMI connection. My TV plays perfectly through Component. Good luck!

Ok I saw it was mentioned earlier in the thread but no one really posted an answer to it. I recently purchased a 30HF85 and noticed the next day that anything displaying a 480i picture (except cable) caused the picture to shake or hop every few seconds. Anything displayed in any kind of progressive scan (and 1080i, as far as I can tell) displays perfectly fine and looks great. But seeing as how most PS2 games and a good chunk of Xbox games are 480i only, the shaking is extremely annoying. Thinking it was just my TV, I took it tonight to swap it for another one. I just got home with the new one, plugged it up to test it out and it's doing the same exact thing. At this point, I'm not even sure what it could possibly be, the TV or maybe my PS2/Xbox. I doubt it could be the PS2/Xbox because progscan stuff runs fine, but that leads me to think it's a setting somewhere on the TV (or in the service menu). I'm at my wit's end with this and would really not like to have to make a third trip to get a different TV, so any tips or anything is appreciated.

Talpacc, did you try turning off some of the settings , 1080i, 720p in the xbox menu and just enabling 480 on it? My friend had this problem with a Samsung, and thats how he got around it. I am not having any problems playing my xbox, but i use better component cables than the ones that came with the high def pack.

Obr4fn0, can you explain how, step by step, that you turned the bright/contrast level up?
It will be greatly appreciated on this forum.

My screen shakes as well when playing Xbox games, even the ones that support progressive mode. At first I thought maybe it's those high-def Xbox cables but I tried them on my progressive scan DVD player and the PQ is nice, no shaking or anything like that. Cable also is working fine.

Ok I saw it was mentioned earlier in the thread but no one really posted an answer to it. I recently purchased a 30HF85 and noticed the next day that anything displaying a 480i picture (except cable) caused the picture to shake or hop every few seconds. Anything displayed in any kind of progressive scan (and 1080i, as far as I can tell) displays perfectly fine and looks great. But seeing as how most PS2 games and a good chunk of Xbox games are 480i only, the shaking is extremely annoying. Thinking it was just my TV, I took it tonight to swap it for another one. I just got home with the new one, plugged it up to test it out and it's doing the same exact thing. At this point, I'm not even sure what it could possibly be, the TV or maybe my PS2/Xbox. I doubt it could be the PS2/Xbox because progscan stuff runs fine, but that leads me to think it's a setting somewhere on the TV (or in the service menu). I'm at my wit's end with this and would really not like to have to make a third trip to get a different TV, so any tips or anything is appreciated.
I have the same problem, and I was planning on taking my 26HF85 back to get a new one this weekend, but this is exactly what I was afraid of; lugging the thing all the way there and bringing home a new one just to get the same exact problem. I'm really wondering if I should bother taking it back? Do you guys here think it's worth it getting a replacement at least once? Could it be that a very high percentage of these Toshiba's have this glitch in their component boards?

As for your Xbox games Talpacc, I believe in the OS menu (boot it up with no game inside) there is an option to change your output resolution. I've heard that when you do that (say change it to 480p, 720p or 1080i) the shaking should go away, even for your 480i Xbox games. Unfortunately, the PS2 doesn't have this feature, and my only hope (if I'm stuck with this problem for good) is that the PS3 does.

I'd really appreciate some advice on what to do.

I would say only about 40% of the Toshiba 26HF85s and 30HF85s out there will ever have the 480i component input problem. It's actually kind of a large percentage. I would say take it back and get a replacement. If it still does the same thing, then keep it, and then call Toshiba service instead for a board replacement. It's really a 50-50 chance that you may or may not get a TV with input problems.
Thanks for the info and advice man, I'll try taking it back within the next couple of days and then I'll post whether or not I got a proper set.

I would say only about 40% of the Toshiba 26HF85s and 30HF85s out there will ever have the 480i component input problem. It's actually kind of a large percentage. I would say take it back and get a replacement. If it still does the same thing, then keep it, and then call Toshiba service instead for a board replacement. It's really a 50-50 chance that you may or may not get a TV with input problems.

That's a huge assumption you're making. Have you forgotten about the people who *are* happy with their sets, and who don't come online to rave about it? Remember, the only people who post are the ones with problems with their Toshibas. It's not the other way around.

To go into the service menu (this only works on Orion-made Toshiba TVs as well as all the other Orion's off-brand TVs):

Turn the volume all the way down to 0. Press and hold the TV's front panel volume down button, and then press and hold the remote's "9" button for about three seconds. Then, the service mode will appear. Change the items by pressing the channel button up or down. Change the values for each item by pressing the volume button up or down. Press "6" instead of "9" for the designer mode. Press "1" instead of "9" to reset the TV settings, but not the service settings. Make sure you copy down all the original service settings on a separate piece of paper before you change the values.

I just wondering about these settings your talking about should I adjust them or something? or leave these adjustments alone?

I take it if they did not mention anything in the manual about this secret menu that the maker probably did not want the public to mess with them?

Is there any settings in there you that could remove glowspots? if so which settings would do that?

You can tweak or adjust the settings at anytime as long as you copy down the original values on a separate piece of paper before you change the values. You have to search very hard to find the setting that is possible to reduce the glowspots. This is not an easy job, actually. On my new Orion FTDV2004 20" TV/DVD/VCR (yes, I did buy one two weeks ago at Wal-Mart because this is the last Orion brand product Orion will ever produce), there are red, blue, green, and yellow settings that you can adjust at different locations on the screen. My Orion 20" TV/DVD/VCR may not have as many service menu settings as your Toshiba 30HF85, but the service menu in my Orion is pretty much similar in the Orion-built Toshiba HDTVs.


Well what I'm afraid of is screwing something up and making worse.
How do I know it won't make it worse. Or any adjustmensts won't make any diff.

I got the service manual for the 30hf85 even though I have a 34hf85. I hope there is not much of a difference. This manual is not easy to use. I can use some help here. All I want to do is make the black level a bit lighter. Should I just play with the white balance and contrast controls to do it? There is also a Bright Cent level I can change. All the other settings look to scary to play with.
I might just wait till Xmas and have my girlfriend get me a video tech guy for a present. LOL

I have a Toshiba 30HF84 that has given me no problems until I recently switched from a regular digital cable set top box to a HD set top box. The HD channels look awesome, but now the standard definition channels look terrible. They never looked this bad with the old digital cable box.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Thanks,

Joe

I'm trying to play this game, Gran Turismo 4, which supports 1080i mode (although it's a non standard 1080i signal).

Usually when I play a DVD or PS2 game in progressive scan (480p), when I go to the TV menu, I can switch between a 540p upscale conversion or a 1080i upscale conversion and it's obvious (the TV switches modes like a computer monitor). However, when I play GT4 using 1080i mode, and try switching from 540p to 1080i and backwards via the TV menu, nothing happens. Does my Toshiba not read the 1080i signal from GT4, or is it moreso the problem of it not being able to downconvert 1080i to 540p (so it just stays at 1080i and doesn't change resolutions despite the menu changes)?

Any help?

Here's a weird issue which I'd like to throw out to you guys for your suggestions...

I have a new setup Motorola DCT6412, Comcast, Toshiba 26HL84 connected via component input. I'm having an issue on only 1 digital channel: during SD show it looks normal, but during HD show it looks completely blue...totally saturated with blue!

My other HD channels look great, so it's a mystery: I've swapped out cables, the DCT box, and my friends in the same area don't seem to have the issue.

It's almost like on this 1 channel, the 1080i sync messes up the blue.

Got the set at Costco, so I could return for another if you guys think it might help! I'm going to try a DVI-HDMI cable into my set to see if that helps.

Any help/suggestions/ideas would be appreciated!

Nicholas

Whoops! Thanks for the catch, waltchan...my set is a Toshiba 26HF15.

I was having the same issue tonight, as before: the problem is only on one particular cable channel and only when that channel is in HD...then the colors are 90% blue, 10% other colors.

I swapped the component cables to the other CVI input: same issue.

Then I switched to the HDMI input and the problem went away! Martha Stewart no longer looks like Mrs. Papa Smurf. ;)

Also gone is another more subtle but annoying issue: a flickering of the blacks on the screen when the image on screen was moving (e.g. people walking down the street). It was kind of like watching someone messing around with the contrast control, cranking it way up and down quickly. So 2 issues gone by going to the HDMI input.

I'm hoping that this is just a defect in this partucular unit, so I'm going to return for a new one (it's only a week old).

Next stop Costco!

I'm trying to play this game, Gran Turismo 4, which supports 1080i mode (although it's a non standard 1080i signal).

Usually when I play a DVD or PS2 game in progressive scan (480p), when I go to the TV menu, I can switch between a 540p upscale conversion or a 1080i upscale conversion and it's obvious (the TV switches modes like a computer monitor). However, when I play GT4 using 1080i mode, and try switching from 540p to 1080i and backwards via the TV menu, nothing happens. Does my Toshiba not read the 1080i signal from GT4, or is it moreso the problem of it not being able to downconvert 1080i to 540p (so it just stays at 1080i and doesn't change resolutions despite the menu changes)?

Any help?



I also have GT4 and I have experienced the same thing. Don't worry, this is not a problem. Let me explain:

When you have your PS2 (or Xbox or DVD player, or anything else) broadcast a signal at 480p, the TV then gives you the choice of receiving it progressive at 540p, or upconverted to 1080i....hence the *switch* when changing the option. When you have the signal broadcast at 1080i (GT4, Xbox, or upscaling DVD player), you're pretty much stuck with the picture as presented, since the TV is not gonna (or can't) downscale a 1080i signal to 540p....hence, no effect when changing the option. You should also notice that when receiving a 1080i signal, you'll receive an "Option not available" message (or something similar) if you try to switch the picture size (TW1, TW2, TW3, etc.). 1080i broadcasts (whether game, movie, or HDTV) are only displayed in the "Full" picture size, whether they are indeed full 16:9 or letterboxed/pillarboxed.


In other news, I'm happy to announce that I've just recently got an HD STB from Comcast, and literally had to pick-up my jaw from the floor soon after!! :D I've connected the box with component cables instead of DVI->HDMI in order to dodge the possible "White-Glow" that I've read about here. All that's left for me now, is to await my future PWNAGE at the hands of the Xbox 360 and PS3. ;)



BTW: I own a 30HF84 (refurbished) & (self-calibrated using Avia and service menu).....no significant problems to report at this time, other than slight damage to my jaw ;)

Waltchan,
I bought the 34 inch hf85 from BB a week ago. Have the Motorola Dig HD from Comcast (Denver), running HDMI-DVI for High Def. No white glow, and (depending on the channel), the HD is fairly stunning. My only complaints would be some tweakage needed to settings, and the "regular" cable channels. From a prior post, I'll try to change settings (if anyone can give me particulars on what to re-set, I'd greatly appreciate it), and I'll change my other connection(s) for regular cable channels. Question to you and others, can regular cable channels look good on a HD set once the settings are adjusted? Or is it like listening to an 8-Track through a nice stereo system.

Exchanged my 26HF15 for a new one and the dreaded blue problem is gone.

Convergence on this new set is off however...I can tell this is a high quality product *sigh*.

Can anyone share the service menu settings that affect convergence? I really don't want to buy the service manual just to discover those few settings I need to play around with. :rolleyes:

(I promise to be good and write down the original values before messing them up.)

I also have GT4 and I have experienced the same thing. Don't worry, this is not a problem. Let me explain:

When you have your PS2 (or Xbox or DVD player, or anything else) broadcast a signal at 480p, the TV then gives you the choice of receiving it progressive at 540p, or upconverted to 1080i....hence the *switch* when changing the option. When you have the signal broadcast at 1080i (GT4, Xbox, or upscaling DVD player), you're pretty much stuck with the picture as presented, since the TV is not gonna (or can't) downscale a 1080i signal to 540p....hence, no effect when changing the option. You should also notice that when receiving a 1080i signal, you'll receive an "Option not available" message (or something similar) if you try to switch the picture size (TW1, TW2, TW3, etc.). 1080i broadcasts (whether game, movie, or HDTV) are only displayed in the "Full" picture size, whether they are indeed full 16:9 or letterboxed/pillarboxed.


In other news, I'm happy to announce that I've just recently got an HD STB from Comcast, and literally had to pick-up my jaw from the floor soon after!! :D I've connected the box with component cables instead of DVI->HDMI in order to dodge the possible "White-Glow" that I've read about here. All that's left for me now, is to await my future PWNAGE at the hands of the Xbox 360 and PS3. ;)



BTW: I own a 30HF84 (refurbished) & (self-calibrated using Avia and service menu).....no significant problems to report at this time, other than slight damage to my jaw ;)


yes, i love these widescreen toshiba's too...just watching the lord of the rings is a totally different experiance.

although, i've noticed a tiny problem. the top left corner strip is a *little* rainbowish at times, and the right side (one pixel wide though) fares towards blue at times as well (so does the top strip, although both are just 1 pixel wide). not noticable at all, but if they get worse i might have to return it.

Walt,
I am referring to the Toshiba settings, and not the regular menu that is easily pulled up on the screen while viewing. I have read posts regarding the "service menu"( making sure to write down the original settings) and tweaking the settings. Wanting to know if someone has a cheat sheet on what changes may make a difference.
thanks

Sorry for being so clueless, but I've got my Cable on the HDMI input and want it to be 1080i & DVD coming in through Component which I want to 540p?

Should I change my TV settings from 1080i to 540p? I don't want to lose 1080i on the HDMI. But I'd like to pick up the advantage of having the DVD be progressive.

Thanks for your guidance!

Sorry for being so clueless, but I've got my Cable on the HDMI input and want it to be 1080i & DVD coming in through Component which I want to 540p?

Should I change my TV settings from 1080i to 540p? I don't want to lose 1080i on the HDMI. But I'd like to pick up the advantage of having the DVD be progressive.

Thanks for your guidance!

The DVD will be progressive if it supports progressive (which means every DVD player other than the old model PS2). Just set the video to be 540p on the DVD input and you'll be fine. Each of the 6 video inputs save individual settings.

Waltchan,
I bought the 34 inch hf85 from BB a week ago. Have the Motorola Dig HD from Comcast (Denver), running HDMI-DVI for High Def. No white glow, and (depending on the channel), the HD is fairly stunning. My only complaints would be some tweakage needed to settings, and the "regular" cable channels. From a prior post, I'll try to change settings (if anyone can give me particulars on what to re-set, I'd greatly appreciate it), and I'll change my other connection(s) for regular cable channels. Question to you and others, can regular cable channels look good on a HD set once the settings are adjusted? Or is it like listening to an 8-Track through a nice stereo system.

After tweaking they can look good and crisp. Although, I admit, they don't look as good as a fine tuned non-HD set. But it still looks great. And if your viewing distance is more than 8 feet, you won't notice a thing.

Exchanged my 26HF15 for a new one and the dreaded blue problem is gone.

Convergence on this new set is off however...I can tell this is a high quality product *sigh*.

Can anyone share the service menu settings that affect convergence? I really don't want to buy the service manual just to discover those few settings I need to play around with. :rolleyes:

(I promise to be good and write down the original values before messing them up.)

Convergence is set by manually adjusting pairs of magnetic rings that are located on the neck of the picture tube. Not something you want to get involved with.

How bad is it? Mine was perfect out of the box on my 30HF84 when I got it, and since then it has drifted slightly. I had a tech check it out and he refused to touch it. I may adjust it myself one of these days. It's not hard, just very time consuming. And you need to know your way around the inside of the set.

I'd take it back again and get another.. This is not the way to start enjoying your new set.

I have had this set for a few months now and loved it so far. But I had to get a new HD box with DVR w/ the DVI output. thats where my problems began. I also posted in the HD hardware thread but have not been getting feed back Maybe yall can help.. but this is what i did and what is happening.


The other day I got a new HD/DVR box from comcast. I got the one with a DVI output. I would like to use the DVI to free up a componet for my DVD, the other componet is my XBOX..lol. I have a Toshiba 34HFX84. well I hooked up the DVI to HDMI cable and things seem to work fine. I just had to figure out which audio jacks to use. after looking away from my tv for a couple of minutes I look back and notice for about 2 sec a big blue bar in the middle of my screen that says something to the effect " your HD signal has been comprimised, switch back to componet connection." that may not be exact but I think it was something like this. But any way I had to get ready for work so I went back to componet and turned it all off. now the DVI-HDMI does not show a picture at all. also most of my local HD channels are now 4:3 instead of 16:9. I now have black bars on the sides of the picture. some channels still look ok but other HD channels look squeased in to 4:3. some don't look HD at all now, kinda fuzzy like RD. ESPN HD is one that looks RD now.

So I am wondering if it is my new box, the fact I hooked up DVI to HDMI and messed up something, or what? Do I need to call a TV repair man? or is there a setting some where TV or Cable box I can swich back. I have checked every where I can think of in both he TV and the box. Please someone give me something.


and is the sevice menu different from what you put in your first post in this thread walt? if so how do you get in? thanks in advance for any help. I am starting to get worried now.

I dont have the old box, the tech took it with him when he left. so cant check that. but the old box did not have DVI out either.....

well it did not look like any of the tv menu screens so i think it could have been from the cable box. an as I said before the DVI to HDMI no longer shows a picture now. so maybe the box is messed up, a lot easier to fix than my tv...

My Tosh 34HF85 was ISF calibrated yesterday by Chad Billheimer. I am very, very pleased with the results. All aspects of performance of this set were improved by the calibration. Geometry issues were corrected, overscan was reduced from about 8% to 6%. Grey scale adjustments led to vast improvements in picture quality. White text and icons no longer bloom into surrounding black as they did when I first hooked up the set. Color balance adjustments have improved the picture quality also and HD content especially now really shines. Chad was very meticulous and patient in his work and I am the beneficiary of huge improvements in the picture quality from my set. You will find Chad's work reviewed by other folks on this forum, as well, if you run a search on 'Chad Billheimer' and I will also say that he does outstanding work. If you live in the Eastern U.S. and are in need of an ISF calibration, I would give him the highest recommendation. While I was generally pleased with the set prior to having the calibration done, I am extremely pleased with this set now and enjoy watching it every bit as much as my Tosh 30HF83. Chad has a website at www.HDTVbyChad.com and his services, fees, and a request form can be found there.

try unplugging the TV, wait five minutes to reset the settings, then plug it in back again.

I'm trying this now. I wonder what happened? If this does not work I may just have to call a service tech.....lol all because I wanted to use DVI-HDMI.....

I've had my 26HF15(85) for half a month now and I'm trying to decide: should I keep it with it's small problems or return it for a better but slightly more expensive TV? Right now the strips of rainbow along the top and left sides bother me, as does the geometry. I'd rather get a new TV than spend $250 getting this one professionally calibrated. If I spend a good chunk of money on a TV, it should be 100% working properly too, and that's not what I call working properly.

So if I return my 26HF15(85), which model should I get in it's place? There's a Sony one that people talk about, but I'm not quite sure the exact model number. And I'd be wanting something that I can find for $500-$700 on the internet (I can always pricematch). Also it would have to be around 26-27" widescreen and HD capable (my swivel does not accept anything larger than my current 26" widescreen).

Thanks

Oh yah, do all flatscreen widescreen HD TV's have a little geometry distortion out of the box? I mean, shouldn't it be perfect right when you get it?

Ok, I just thought of this for the reason of weird geometry on flatscreen TVs. Material on DVDs that are produced today are made for curved tube TVs, so they make up for this by making the picture a little curved at the edges to appear straight on these curved tube TVs. Make sense? I thought of this while having the crosshatch on the DVD player input (Avia calibration), and having my PS2 on the another input. When adjusting geometry on the PS2 input (playing a normal 4:3 game), I made it so all the lines in the game I was playing were straight up and down, left and right...then I switched over to the DVD input and the crosshatch geometry was in a curved tube shape. Too much to be a coincidence I thought... Anyone else agree?

Sorry to hear that your Toshiba 26HF15 is not working well out for you. Are you considering to do an exchange or do you want to switch to a different TV? There is also a Panasonic CT-26WX15 or Samsung TX-R2678WH available that fits well within your price range. There is no 27" CRT widescreen TV available.

Do you know anything how the Panasonic or Samsung fare? I can' find any reviews on the Panasonic cept one which says it's a horrible TV, but that's only 1 review...

And for the Samsung, there are 2 good reviews out there, and it says it supports 480p, 720p and 1080i, but does that mean you can switch between the 3 like you can with the Toshiba, switching between 540p and 1080i? Or does it just upconvert everything to 1080i...

Same goes for the Panasonic. Can you switch between 480p and 1080i manually? And I can't seem to find a code to access the service menu...I'll probably be needing to know that to adjust screen size and geometry...

Also, how good is the KV-30HS420?


Thanks

Just because something is outsourced means nothing to me, lots of things are outsourced. My Toshiba 34HFX85 from Crutchfield will be arriving tomorrow, if there are problems I'll post them, but if it's perfectly fine I'll post that too since these threads lack that kind of information. All tv brands have problems, but not 100% of them are going to be bad. I will be having the tv ISF calibrated by Chad B. as well since ironically he lives where I live.

Just do a search in this forum about Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony. Then go to the store and pick what you like best. The Samsung can switch all three resolutions with no problem at all, like the Toshiba. The Panasonic can be switched from 480p to 1080i manually, but no 720p.

Are you sure you don't want to do an exchange? The Toshiba 26HF15 is such a nice-looking TV.

I predict if I return this Toshiba to Costco I will end up with another Toshiba with slight geometry issues and convergence problems as well. At least according to all the problems I'm reading here. I honestly just want a 100% working product which I don't always have to mess with and I don't feel like returning TV after TV before I find a good working one.

I think I'm just going to go with the Sony WEGA KV-30HS420. The one I saw at Circuit City was amazing, even with the crappy store settings. Side note, Circuit City has no customer service. I've always liked Sony anyway. Plus with all the positive reviews it's gotten I don't think I can lose.

I received my Toshiba 34HFX85 and hooked up my sa 8300 box up via component and hdmi, hdmi was much clearer i thought on hd, the only problem with using the hdmi was a very very tiny white bar at the top of the screen which is barely noticeable, on the component there were some issues which trying the fix of making my cable box output 720p instead of 1080i and letting my tv upconvert it to 1080i has fixed this issue, the tv has fantasic picture quality, the only convergence issue is the screen is off to the left a tiny bit which will be adjusted when the tv has been ISF calibrated, i like my "orion" tv :D

edit: also the pictures on crutchfield are incorrect, the front looks different, still has the black bezel, but the speakers at the bottom look different

the only problem with using the hdmi was a very very tiny white bar at the top of the screen which is barely noticeable

Is this the same white glow reported by other Orion/Toshiba owners? How big is it? Barely noticeable to one person could be unacceptable to another.



also the pictures on crutchfield are incorrect, the front looks different, still has the black bezel, but the speakers at the bottom look different

The most recent Crutchfield catalog (Oct? Fall? 2005) also listed the 34HFX85 as incorrectly having 2 HDMI inputs. My guess is they didn't change anything between the 34HFX84 and the newer 85 model, using the old pictures and specs.

Do the speakers look better or worse?

Yes, it looks exactly like the 34HF85 picture on Crutchfield's website, and yes I got the right tv it says Cinema Series right at the top left corner. As far as the white glow it was coming from the top of the screen going downward 1/4" roughly, doing the trick switching the cable box to 720p fixed this. Not having another cable box around I can't say for sure it was the tv..using my dvd player via hdmi produced NO white glow at all, it was only on the cable box via hdmi that i received it.

Buy or not.

I just bought a Sanyo HT27744 27" TV, I having problem with picture quality, I'd like to return it and going to buy a Toshiba 26HF85C. Any one here can help me to make decision?

Thanks.

Several refurbished models of the "USA-made" 34" Toshiba HDTV monitors (34HF84, 34HFX83, 34HFX84) are available from refurbelectronics and overstock. Has anyone bought one of these refurbished units or heard about how well they perform? Reliability? Also, if I wanted to get a OTA HD tuner to go with it, any suggestions?

...after looking away from my tv for a couple of minutes I look back and notice for about 2 sec a big blue bar in the middle of my screen that says something to the effect " your HD signal has been comprimised, switch back to componet connection."

Tbagz,

I had the same issue with my Motorola 6412 DVI-to-HDMI on my Toshiba set.

The issue is a security protocol HDCP that needs to do some handshaking between the 2 devices...if you fail the handshake, it won't let you see the content.

Here's what I did, hopefully it will help:

- Unplug your Motorola box for at least 5 minutes
- Power off your TV
- Unplug any component cables between your TV and the DVR so that the DVI-HDMI cable is the only video connection (IMPORTANT)
- Plug in your cable box but do not turn it on.
- Power on your TV
- Press the menu button on the front of your cable box (with the cable box power still off)
- Make sure that you are set up for TV TYPE = 16:9 and PICTURE RESOLUTION = 1080i, if not use your left/right buttons to change
- Now, turn on your cable box

That got rid of the issue for me. Let me know how it works for you.

- Nicholas

Several refurbished models of the "USA-made" 34" Toshiba HDTV monitors (34HF84, 34HFX83, 34HFX84) are available from refurbelectronics and overstock. Has anyone bought one of these refurbished units or heard about how well they perform? Reliability?

I attempted to purchase a refurbished 34HFX84 yesterday to no avail. Overstock sold out last week, refurbelectronics is also sold out (notice the availability says 1-2 weeks). My last source, which had them as of Friday (supposedly), sold out when I called Monday (as reflected on their web page as well).

The refurbished 34HF84 is still available everywhere however. I'm not interested int he 34HFX83 because of the different case.

I've been holding out for a 34HFX84 for the 2 HDMI inputs, but I may not wait any longer. Maybe just go for a refurb-34HF84 ($900) or new Orion 34HF85 ($950, but with a return policy).

I dont know who started the BS about Orion making Toshibas now, mine sez made in the USA right on the sticker - it came from their Toshiba plant in Tennesee, I can take a picture if need be, why would anyone want something USED/refurbished they only fix what was wrong with the TV not replace USED bulbs inside and all LMAO. I bought my TV at Sears for 999.99 plus a extra 10% off using a Sears card, so the total was only 953.99. My TV fills like its built tough and the picture and sound are very clear, wish every ch. was HD. Goodluck all

I dont know who started the BS about Orion making Toshibas now, mine sez made in the USA right on the sticker - it came from their Toshiba plant in Tennesee, I can take a picture if need be, why would anyone want something USED/refurbished they only fix what was wrong with the TV not replace USED bulbs inside and all LMAO. I bought my TV at Sears for 999.99 plus a extra 10% off using a Sears card, so the total was only 953.99. My TV fills like its built tough and the picture and sound are very clear, wish every ch. was HD. Goodluck all


I didn't realize that CRT's had bulbs that need to be replaced.

I didn't realize that CRT's had bulbs that need to be replaced.
Lightbulbs of some sort have to be inside, whether they are LED or Filiment type, what Iam getting at is USED is Used remanufactored or not refurbished isnt new.

I still have not seen a post in the new "Calibration" forum regarding the best way to tweak my 34hf85, but I'll lurk and be patient. Once I'd had a little while to actually watch different channels, I've noticed a tremendous difference from channel to channel in PQ. BBC (ch 162 comcast denver) looks great, better than my old Sanyo PQ, Sci-Fi (ch 48 ) looks god-awful, so its probably just a comcast issue. HD is awesome, so overall I'm still satisfied with my purchase. Probably will return the HDMI-DVI cable (best buy monster cable) and use comp cables, seems to be virtually no diff in PQ. I'll replace the HDMI-DVI from best buy with non-monster, save the $100.

Just for future people considering the 26", I just bought and returned it within 24 hours for many of the reasons previously stated in this thread. Don't buy these things.

Here's a weird issue which I'd like to throw out to you guys for your suggestions...

I have a new setup Motorola DCT6412, Comcast, Toshiba 26HL84 connected via component input. I'm having an issue on only 1 digital channel: during SD show it looks normal, but during HD show it looks completely blue...totally saturated with blue!

My other HD channels look great, so it's a mystery: I've swapped out cables, the DCT box, and my friends in the same area don't seem to have the issue.

It's almost like on this 1 channel, the 1080i sync messes up the blue.

Got the set at Costco, so I could return for another if you guys think it might help! I'm going to try a DVI-HDMI cable into my set to see if that helps.

Any help/suggestions/ideas would be appreciated!

Nicholas


I am having this exact same problem with my new 34hfx85. One, and only one, HD channel is totally tinted blue. One other channel has what I describe as horizontal shadow bars that flicker on and off. Is my only option returning the TV? I purchased it from Crutchfield and have no idea how much of a hassle it would be to return it. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Ben

If only one channel has the "blue" problem, I would not recommend messing around in the service menus. It may not be a "TV" issue.

If you have cable, you should contact your provider to take a look and try to resolve.

I am having this exact same problem with my new 34hfx85. One, and only one, HD channel is totally tinted blue. One other channel has what I describe as horizontal shadow bars that flicker on and off. Is my only option returning the TV? I purchased it from Crutchfield and have no idea how much of a hassle it would be to return it. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I did more testing. I also have a 42H81 that is HD ready and a cable HD converter box for each TV. Both converter boxes have no problem on the 42H81. All HD channels come in fine. I have the problem above with both boxes connected to the 34HFX85.

I also took one box and hooked it up to the 42H81 and all the HD channels were working perfectly. Then all I did was disconnect the component cables from the back of the 42 and connected them to the back of the 34. I made no other changes. The problems were still there on the 34.

Is this really a problem with the TV or is it the cable signal? It seems so strange that I am only having problems with 2 of the 7 HD channels and only on the 34 TV. Why would it be a problem with the TV if the other 5 HD channels come in perfectly? A DVD signal through the composite video inputs look fine also.

I called Crutchfield and they thought it was the cable companies problem. Any additional thoughts? TV or cable company? Thanks again for any help you can give me!

Ben

Sounds like the TV to me, only problem with mine is the picture isnt straight, I called Sears Service and their sending someone here Friday to fix it, hopefully the guy will Calibrate it for me, Ive notice alot bent looking pictures lately all of them different than my Toshiba 34HF85, besides that I really like my TV, the HD channels look awesome Iam using a HDMI cable with NO problems with it, component video also looked good before switching to the HDMI cable, I ran a optical line from my DTV HD reciever to my Onkyo TIB 6-ch system and the sound is amazing.

I really like the TV. I did try 2 different cables and it didn't make a difference. I used the exact, and I mean EXACT, same setup to connect both the 34 and 42 inch TVs. The 34 has the problems and the 42 does not. The 42 is about 3 or 4 years old now. I can't figure out why it would have these problems with just 2 of the 7 HD broadcasts through our local cable company. That would make it seem like a cable HD signal problem to me, buth the 42 TV works just fine with the exact same signal. The "cable guy" is coming out on Tuesday, so I'll see what he has to say.

I called Crutchfield tech support and they said it must be a cable signal issue. I'm going to call Toshiba tech support on Monday and see what they have to say. Thanks for all the responses so far!

Ben

OK, despite all the warnings, I jumped in and purchased the 34HF85 from Best Buy. After install, the text was so blurry that I was not able to read the Comcast cable guide. Fortunately, I purchased the Best Buy extended warranty and had a tech come out. He said when he tried to change focus settings it was not holding them. He wrote it off as a bad picture tube. DVD performance (DVI) is better but still blurred on text.

Part two: I asked for an 30 day exchange and the wait period to have one delivered is over 4 weeks. I am curious why Best Buy is not stocking very many of the 34hf85 in stores and why is supply so limited nationwide? Is there something they know that we don't?

My fear is that the next one will have the same issue. Have other had this problem and resolve it in some manner through calibration?

Thanks for the input. If I do have a problem with the 2nd set, I will know what to ask the tech look for.

Anyone else have this problem?

Bill

Part two: I asked for an 30 day exchange and the wait period to have one delivered is over 4 weeks. I am curious why Best Buy is not stocking very many of the 34hf85 in stores and why is supply so limited nationwide? Is there something they know that we don't?

When I checked the 4 BestBuy stores near me, 2 had the 34HF85 and 2 did not (2 stores in MA did, but the 2 stores in NH did not and I wanted to save $50 in tax by buying and picking up in NH). At one of the Best Buys I spoke with, the guy told me they would be getting more next week. I also asked him if he was aware of many returns, but he said nothing out of the ordinary, the usual 1 or 2 that occurs with all brands/units.

When I ordered from Crutchfield, I noticed you can increase the quantity to get a sense of their stock and upcoming shipments. They could fulfill 11 34HF85s, but when I upped it to 12, it said Out of stock, not able to ship until October 7th. So I kept increasing the quantity until it around 25 or 50 (I forget) it said not able to ship until October 24th.

So it looked like they only had a dozen or so units, were expecting another couple dozen this week and another shipment at the end of the month. Once the quantity went over 50 or 100, it said it couldn't be fulfilled online, please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx.

Just an update. Crutchfield is replacing my 34HFX85 free of charge without any hassles. Their service and support is excellent!

The cable company was out to my house today and couldn't find any problems at all with the signal or setup. In fact, the technician unhooked the cable line to the HD box and then went into the box's diagnostic screens. You could see the shadow lines/bars and flickering in the diagnostic screens on the 34HFX85. When he did the same on the 42HF81, the picture was fine. It has to be a problem with the television. It is just odd that it is only a problem on 2 of the 7 HD channels.

I should state once more how easy it has been working with Crutchfield sales, service, and support. They are replacing the television with very few questions asked after I explained the problem to them. It's so refreshing to find a company with such good customer service these days.

Thanks to everyone here for your help!

Ben

Have you received your 34HF85 yet? If so, did you have any major adjustments to make? I am in NH so my guess is that you are on Comcast. Just wanted to make sure that the blooming text problem was not something other than the TV.

Have you received your 34HF85 yet? If so, did you have any major adjustments to make? I am in NH so my guess is that you are on Comcast. Just wanted to make sure that the blooming text problem was not something other than the TV.

Just shipped today. Yes, I am in MA on Comcast.

Reading what Ben74 has experienced, I'm very glad I ordered from Crutchfield.

Recieved my 34HFX85 from Crutchfield today. This is my first HDTV, so maybe I'm expecting too much, but after 30 minutes of jumping around some cable channels, a few DVDs and an XBox game, I decided I like my old non-HD TV better.

My wife and I use to exclaim what a beautiful movie Finding Nemo is on our non-HD TV, so we couldn't wait to check that one out in high definition with progressive scan.

It looks like total crap! I try adjusting the standard video settings and it's always too red or too green or too bright or too dim or any combination.

I admit I could be missing something, but I'd think Toshiba would want their HD TVs to have PQ comparable to a non-HD TVs out of box leaving tweaks to make it even better.

I'm going to spend a couple of days tweaking what I can then I may just return it and go HD some other year.

Recieved my 34HFX85 from Crutchfield today. This is my first HDTV, so maybe I'm expecting too much, but after 30 minutes of jumping around some cable channels, a few DVDs and an XBox game, I decided I like my old non-HD TV better.

My wife and I use to exclaim what a beautiful movie Finding Nemo is on our non-HD TV, so we couldn't wait to check that one out in high definition with progressive scan.

It looks like total crap! I try adjusting the standard video settings and it's always too red or too green or too bright or too dim or any combination.

I admit I could be missing something, but I'd think Toshiba would want their HD TVs to have PQ comparable to a non-HD TVs out of box leaving tweaks to make it even better.

I'm going to spend a couple of days tweaking what I can then I may just return it and go HD some other year.
Buyer's remorse is an awful thing. I had a similar let down when I fired up my 34hf85 for the first time. I am hoping that the replacement TV will undo my disappointment. If not, it is a good rationalization to go to an LCD or Plasma.

My wife and I use to exclaim what a beautiful movie Finding Nemo is on our non-HD TV, so we couldn't wait to check that one out in high definition with progressive scan.

It looks like total crap! I try adjusting the standard video settings and it's always too red or too green or too bright or too dim or any combination.


Component or S-video connection?

When I get my 34HF85 I am going to try an upconverting DVD player, using both component and HDMI to see if there is any difference (compared to old progressive DVD player). Perhaps it's the Toshiba CrystalScan HDSC™doing a poor job. Not many people complain about the HD stations, so perhaps feeding it a digital 1080i signal may help.

I'm also going to consider ISF calibration, but I hate the idea of spending more money (25%+ of the cost) on a relatively inexpensive set.

Matt,
I have the 34hf85,
hooked up to a 4 year old, lower range dvd player, hooked up to tv with component.
My 2 year old son's favorite movie is Nemo, and it looks fantastic on the tv. Having seen the movie 100s of times prior to the new 34hf85, I feel I can make a good comparative judgement. Try a better connection to player, maybe that will help. My ONLY complaint on the Tosh from my old Sanyo (non-hd) is the standard cable sometimes is crappy, most notably on the Sci-fi channel. Because other SD channels look much better, I think its a signal problem on certain channels. Hope your problem is easily solved, if not, take the 140+ pound thing back. I originally went with a Philips tv, didn't like it, and Best Buy picked the Philips up when they delivered the new Tosh, so maybe that's an easier (for your back) solution.

If you do want your 34HF85 calibrated, make sure you inform the ISF calibrator first that the TV is made by Orion/Sansui.

... and tell him, "Walter Chan sent you!" :p

LMAO :D

Seroiusly Walter you better stop while your ahead or the boys in black will be knocking at your door soon;)

And i don't mean the MIB either :D

True but i don't think Toshibe want's you to give up it's secret conspiracy;)

I just purchased the Toshiba 30HF85 on Monday and it has problems. There are faint wide moving arcs of light and dark moving over and distorting the picture. The lines are like ripples being drawn from the top to the bottom over the picture. The problem occurs with both cable TV and DVD viewing. I wold say they were scan lines, but there is a slight tilt of the lines as they move from upper left to lower right . We adjusted everything including tilt to no avail. Is this a common tube problem? The colors are great with movie DVDs but can be too intense (even after tweeking the setting) with a regular SD TV show such as CSI.

Sears repair man showed up around 9AM this morning and first thing he did is took off the rear of the TV (to fix the bent look LOL) he starts twisting the tube, then I informed him of the Image tilt which basically does the same thing, at this point I decided to return it because he made things worse, Blurred text was now a problem. So I went to CC and took advantage of the 0% fin. and bought a Sony 42A10 LCD projection - Iam now watching it and LOVE IT, didnt even adjust anything- so far Id say perfect, but Iam sure to pick at something LOL, I unloaded this TV Myself and hooked everything up, it was very easy considering the TV only weighs 65pounds. No more tube TV's for me, this TV is the ****, ended up paying $1899 -18months NO int. I still believe the Toshiba could have been Calibrated and would have been OK but Iam glad the boat anchor is gone. Buying a bulb every couple of years is no problem to me, found bulbs for $150 seaching the Web, and the owners manual shows step by step procedures in replacing it yourself. Goodluck all

Toshiba never wants this to be revealed out to the public. I was surprised to see Toshiba lying to its customers claiming that all of its CRT televisions are not being outsourced. That's bad business practice.

They made these partnerships back in 1995... even before HDTV.
http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/1995_03/pr1001.htm

Find a new obsession. :rolleyes:

Did you read the last paragraph?

And Orion is Orion... no matter where in the world it's assembled/manufactured. Are you predudice against Thai's? Are they not capable of the same tasks as Koreans, Japanese, or others?

This article is from 1995... you were only 10 years old.

http://www.orion-electric.co.jp/en/businesses/businesses.html

I just want to add my experiences so far with my 30HF85..

I did have the problem with the white glow at the top of the screen and was able to eliminate it by changing the output on my STB to 720p.

Light text on dark backgrounds still has a glowing effect. I can sometimes see scan lines, especially on standard broadcasts. The red accentuation problem is present on my tv as well.

The HD picture quality is not as sharp as I expected, sometimes I wonder if i am even watching an HD program. Things seem almost out of focus, text, expecially white text is slightly blurry. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I must admit that I am a bit dissapointed overall. I expected to be blown away by the PQ of HD but it just looks like a really good standard picture to me. Some of the finer details are present, but not in the scope that I had expected. I am hoping that maybe a calibration DVD will help make things better but I am not too optomistic. If you buy a TV online, please make sure that there is a very liberal return policy. If I could go back and do it again, I would probably opt to spend $200 more for a different brand.

I just want to share what my local TV repairman told me over by phone:

"Orion/Sansui: Your basic, cheap junk 3 years max TV set. We see them come in all the time with worn out picture tubes after 2 years. Plus, multiple other failures."

I think waltchan has been right about these Orion assumptions most of the time. These Toshibas are indeed made by Orion. I looked through the ventilation holes and saw the word "ORION" printed at the picture tube. These Orion Toshibas are not designed to last very long. So many people here are having problems right now. Heck, I own a Toshiba 30HF85, and I am now getting red glow spots at the bottom right side of the screen. Hey, I still feel ripped off from Toshiba. :mad:

Do you mean to say that you are seeing glow spots on the screen?

No glow spots. I think CSI was wacked on the channel that TIVO recorded off of. DVD has good color, but still distortion bands about an inch apart traveling down the tube. Like ripples on a pond only straight and not going exactly up to down. I removed all magnetic sources such as surround sound speakers and it is still the same. A tech is coming out on the 19th. It may return it, which is a shame considering I got it new for only six-hundred and twenty USD. An recommendations on a 32" flat panel LCD under $1800?

Here's my latest update. I was having the problem where one HD channel was totally blue tinted and another had shadow bars whenever the camera was moving/panning. I also noticed last night that I had the white glow at the top of the screen on all HD channels.

I was able to make all these problems disappear by removing the 1080i signal option on my cable set top box. Everything was fine when I removed that 1080i signal option. That has to indicate a problem with the TV, right? Does anyone know if this is a problem with all of these Toshiba TVs or just some of them? If I get a replacement, should I expect the problem to be resolved? Is there any reason that I should just keep the TV I have and not use the 1080i signal from my cable set top box? It seems ridiculous to keep what appears to be a defective TV. Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Ben

Just purchased the 34HF85. Fortunately I have not experienced any of the serious issues folks have been talking about like the white glow and basic geometry issues. However, I am concerned about the ghosting effect of the lettering in the basic menu. This is probably casued by poor electron beam focus which may require a harware adjustment rather than just accesing the service menu. There was no obvious parameter control here for e-beam focus but I don't have the service manual and the options are a bit archaic so I am not going to guess. E beam focus adjustment of the magnetic focus coil is rather tricky business. To do it right you have to turn off deflection and run an ac current in the coil and physcially adjust the postion of the coil on the neck of the tube. I would think this process is outside even ISF trained technicians. I did notice that paramenter 2 on the service menu displays a few pixels on the left side of the screen and I suspect it may be for this purpose. But turning off defelction runs the risk of burning the phosphur and may not even be neccesary if "2" is whay I think it is.

Alll things considered I am not quite ready to return my 34HF85 but it remains an option if I cannot find an easy fix. Does anyone know what parms on the service menu may control the ebeam focus?

One thing I do notice is that the reds are way too hot and lowering the brightness settings really helps with PQ. Perhaps the red bias is set too high since this will drive the beam harder making is brighter, but that could throw the color balance way off without knowing the proper GB values

The service menu cannot let you adjust the e-beam focus at all. It only lets you adjust the color and screen position. My Orion 20" FTDV2004 TV/DVD/VCR combo cannot, so your Toshiba 34HF85 cannot. You can try adjusting the rings at the neck of the tube by removing the rear cover, but it is not an easy job and is not recommended.


Yes, this one can be adjusted in the service menu, but there is no guarantee that it will go away. There should be about 3-4 different red color settings in the service menu.

The rings on the CRT neck are probably for centering the ebeam not for focusing. The focus depends on the pitch/yaw of the focus coil relative to the beam. It focuses much like optical lenses, one is trying to find the focal point. I am not sure you can say that just because your Orion TV does not have software focus control that the 34HF85 therefore does not. You may be right, but I'll check when I get the service manual.

Got the service manual for the 30HF85 and the service menu items are identical to the my 34HF85. Seems that the electron beam focus, which I think is responsible for blurry text, is electrostatic and not electromagnetic as I thought in earlier post. The schematics clearly show focus pins on the CRT and there is some adjustment called "Double Focus" in the manual which shows three pots in the illustration. Will tweak them tommorow to see what happens.

If anyone here has had success using an HTPC (home theatre PC) with the 34HF85 (or similar HDTV model), can you provide the particulars of your setup including the exact resolution and timing settings that work with this TV? Thanks.

Greg

Opened the back of my 34HF85. Did not see anything on the circut boards or CRT saying "Made by Orion". However, there is a logo I did not recognize which is a clue, see attached photo. Other than that, the back of the set says made by Toshiba in the USA - good enuf for me!

Found the focus adjustment after taking off the back cover. Really dumb that this is not accesible via the service menu. Some minor adjustment of the trim pots and voila, no ghosting of the text or in the image. If you look at the photo attached there are three pots one for horizontal, vertical and both. It was easy enough to adjust the pots while I was looking at the front of the screen. They are VERY sensitive and if you turn the pot for both HV too much the image will blank out. Just be very careful and be sure to use a non-conductive pot tweaker.

Next step Spyder2 Pro!

Can you also provide a picture of the specification sticker at the picture tube? The two pictures you provided look like Orion assembled to me. The 34HF85 is not made by Toshiba.

By the way, the neck circuit board comes with the letter "K" printed on it. It tells me that this board was made in the Orion Korat Denki factory in Thailand. In the focus adjust picture, I saw a yellow bar code sticker at the corner of the board that tells me already enough that the main board was assembled by Orion. I think most of the parts are Made in Thailand.

Sorry but the photo I took of the CRT sticker is really blurry, maybe you can make something out.

Frankly, I don't think it matters where the boards were stuffed. I am sure the schematics were desgined by Toshiba and that is the only thing that really counts. Bottom line is that I am pleased with the PQ and the craftsmanship on the inside is clean and well done.

So the only thing "Toshiba" about the 34HF85 is the branding, circuit boards, tubes, etc. are fabricated in far flung places in this era of globalization. The point is does it really matter? One cannot underestimate the significance of the Toshiba brand name, they are not going to jeporadize that for what is a small market just to save a few bucks. What I am interested in is how does Toshiba manage their quality control for their outsourced CRT displays. It will be telling a year or two from now when the set has some actual hours on it. It is that uncertainty that makes me consider exchanging for a Sony. I hope you bought the extended warranty.

Focus adjustment went well, see prior post.

If you do take off the back cover to your set it was a bear to get back on until I figured out how to do it. The bottom must align with the input/output jacks and slip into two circuit boards. The easy way to do this is to tilt your set forward when you put the cover back on and then tighten down the screws. I had to do this myself and it was tricky to both hold the set on an angle and tighten the screws. Best to have someone to help.

Got my Motorola DCT6412 (DVR and HD) today in anticipation of delivery of my 34HF85. (Dissapointed it came with DVI, I thought there were HDMI boxes).

The installers asked what brand of TV and I told them Toshiba, so they programmed the remote for a Toshiba TV. Of course looking at the remote guide, there is a separate setup code for Orion. I wonder what one will work...

Toshiba has already placed a trust in Orion for its ability to provide high quality electronics at a higher output but at a lower production cost. I don't think I need an extended warranty because my 34HF84 is made by Toshiba and has already been proven to be a reliable set. Removing the back cover of my 34HF84 will be different from the 34HF85 because the cover is in a different shape. Oh wait, I've just realized something here. I don't think I can open up my 34HF84 because I will need a hexagon-shaped screwdriver. Damn. All of the Toshiba-made CRT TVs use hexagon-shaped screws. How can I forget.

I too thought I needed a hex screw driver to take off the back cover. After a closer look and verified after the cover came off, they were only the ports for the injection molding. Just need a phillips to do the job. Perhaps this is one of the differences bewtween an Orion made set and those made by Toshiba. If it is then it's a lame trick to appear more "Toshiba-like". It will be interesting to see what you find.

Got my Motorola DCT6412 (DVR and HD) today in anticipation of delivery of my 34HF85. (Dissapointed it came with DVI, I thought there were HDMI boxes).

The installers asked what brand of TV and I told them Toshiba, so they programmed the remote for a Toshiba TV. Of course looking at the remote guide, there is a separate setup code for Orion. I wonder what one will work...

There is an adapter for HDMI to DVI so don't despair. You can also buy HDMI to DVI cables. I think but may be wrong that the audio will not come over DVI only HDMI so you would need audio cables.

Got my Motorola DCT6412 (DVR and HD) today in anticipation of delivery of my 34HF85. (Dissapointed it came with DVI, I thought there were HDMI boxes).

The installers asked what brand of TV and I told them Toshiba, so they programmed the remote for a Toshiba TV. Of course looking at the remote guide, there is a separate setup code for Orion. I wonder what one will work...


mkreef-
I have the 34hf85, it responded to the Toshiba code, I believe the 2nd entry.
HDMI-DVI, I had to do audio separately.

There is an adapter for HDMI to DVI so don't despair. You can also buy HDMI to DVI cables. I think but may be wrong that the audio will not come over DVI only HDMI so you would need audio cables.

Sorry, yes I realize that. In fact, I went down to Radio Shack right after the Comcast installer left and picked up a Monster DVI to HDMI converter (Monster was the only brand).

I was just under the impression there was a Motorola DCT6412 (Phase III?) with a direct HDMI output. The installer gave me a DVI cable, but no adapter (even though I told him my new TV arriving tomorrow has HDMI input, not DVI).

Since the audio will go directly to the A/V receiver anyway (via toslink), no big deal using DVI I suppose.

Interesting, my new Toshiba 34HF84 will be arriving tomorrow as well. Can't wait. Let's compete on who has a better TV. :D

Just went through calibration with the Spyder TV, results attached. It definately improved the PQ. On the DVD there are additional test patterns for brightness and contrast with 32 gradiations each. The contrast looked good but the blacks appear crushed. Still trying to decipher these test patterns.

I think that the cut-off voltage may be set too high so it takes a lot of amplifer bandwidth to turn on the RGB guns. I would adjust the cut-off voltage but I would have to put a scope on it to to figure out what I'm doing. UInfortuanatley if I improve the black levels it might crush the whites. I have to do this kinda thing at work and don't really want to do it at home.

Get a Spyder TV so we can compare notes.

Ehhh, $250 for a Spyder TV. No thanks. I would rather have my new 34HF84 professionally ISF calibrated for the same cost than a software.

Youre' right on that. After my initial enthusiasm for the Spyder TV when I changed channels to broadcast HD the picture was way oversaturatred and no black level detail. I am surprised that broadcast HD would vary soo much since the HD format is supposed to conform to SMPTE standards. Also if you look at the Spyder report I posted the contrast is non-linear; troubling indeed.

mkreef, my new Toshiba 34HF84 arrived today and I have no complain to make at all. How is your new 34HF85 doing?

It is OK. The HD channels look great (all of them, no funny colors). The SD channels aren't so great, but I'm not sure if it's just the bigger screen size that is allowing me to see more (combined with stretching from the TheaterWide mode). It replaced a 9-year old Sony KV-27V20 Trinitron that was perfect (except for size).

When we got the new Motorola DCT6412 yesterday, there was a definite improvement in PQ on the Sony, but I assumed that was mostly from switching from RF to S-video into the TV. It also proved to me that the SD channels are good from the new HD STB.

The delivery guys hooked up the 34HF85 using the existing S-video cable, and the cable menus/onscreen text looked horrible with tons of artifacts, making the text blurry. When they left and I plugged in the DVI -> HDMI, the artifacts dissapeared and the text turned crystal clear.

The colors on the TV look horrible, but I've yet to make any adjustments. I may start with the Avia/DVE to adjust the colors, or get an ISF calibration, since I don't really know what I'm doing.

I've yet to hook up my DVD player, but it's a 7-year old Sony (no progressive, no component output, etc). so I'm going to reserve judgement until I get a new DVD player (upscaling HDMI).

I'm also not sure if I should put the cable in the component inputs and the DVD in the HDMI, or vice versa. I'll probably try both ways.

On the plus side, it's a perfect fit for my entertainment center. Until it was delivered today I was having second thoughts. Thought about refusing delivery and ordering a refurb 34HF84 or picking up one of those 30SX955s from BestBuy for $850. And of course after reading about your find at BestBuy, I thought about calling every BestBuy in a 200 mile radius looking for another one. :)

I'll have to re-read the whole thread to see what other problems have been reported, but I definitely don't see any bright lines, glow spots or input problems. I flipped the cable box from 1080i to 720p and back with no noticable change.

The fact is, regardless of any problems I encounter, I'll be keeping the set and will work through Toshiba and Crutchfield for any show stoppers I encounter.

I do have some very few, not so important annoyances in my 34HF84. I can see blue color spill out over the texts. Both at the top corner of the sides have blue color spillouts as well. These can be corrected with a calibration disc very easily. But, otherwise, I don't find anything wrong with it at all. On-screen texts are very sharp looking. Color is excellent. SD channels look great. I am very happy with it. I am sorry to hear that you judge your 34HF85 only okay. It's just a typical Orion quality people should expect. I already looked carefully inside my 34HF84 through the ventilation holes, both left and right, and I don't find any Orion assembled parts at all. I also saw some Made in Japan Toshiba parts too. :)

I doubt you will find anymore leftover, brand new in the box Toshiba 34HF84. The Best Buy I bought my 34HF84 at told me that this one was almost forgotten in the back-storage area. It was actually an accident. They were surprised to see that they actually had one, brand new 34HF84 left. Luckily, good thing it's reserved for me. :D

One cannot really see anything of significance by just looking through the ventilation holes. If you really want to know what's in your 34HF84 your going to have to take the back cover off. Post some photos.

My Tosh 34HF85 was ISF calibrated yesterday by Chad Billheimer. I am very, very pleased with the results. All aspects of performance of this set were improved by the calibration. Geometry issues were corrected, overscan was reduced from about 8% to 6%. Grey scale adjustments led to vast improvements in picture quality. White text and icons no longer bloom into surrounding black as they did when I first hooked up the set. Color balance adjustments have improved the picture quality also and HD content especially now really shines.


Do you mind me asking what you paid for the ISF calibration? I am getting quotes from ISF techs in the Boston area for my 34HF85.

Yes, fburch got me fired up to ISF calibrate my 34HF85 as well! I could get someone local here in FL, but I already spoke with Chad (he calibrated fburch's TVs) in Ohio and he's coming down to FL in a month. I guess good things comes to those who wait!

Are you kidding? That's going to be a lot of work. I don't have a hexagon-shaped screwdriver with me, and this thing is so heavy. But one thing I know for sure is that my 34HF84 inside looks way different from the 34HF85.

As I said in an earlier post the hex screws may not be screws at all but just insertion pionts for the injection molding, examine it closely. Frankly you don't know anything for sure by just looking though the vent holes. Removing the back cover is a breeze, you just have to be patient when puttng it back on and angle the set slightly to align the bottom screws.

mkreef - Go to http://www.hdtvbychadb.com/ for a description of Chad B's fees and services. I remain very pleased with my set following ISF calibration. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Day 2 with my 34HF85.

Hooked the DCT6412 to component, paused HD content, flipped back and forth between HDMI and component. Couldn't tell a difference to my naked eye. Good enough for me, I'll keep cable on the component input.

Bought a Sony DVP-NS70H upscaling DVD player tonight to replace a 6-year old 480i player (via s-video). 1080i signal straight to the HDMI input.

Wow! I don't know where the biggest improvement came from, but it's like night and day. My wife and I were blown away. Put in Finding Nemo, Harry Potter, Sin City. All of them looked as good as the best HD content to us. It exceeded our expectations.

Watching the DVDs tonight has put the biggest smile on my face. I'm getting happier with this set. Still no sign of the common 34HF85 known problems.

I'm still debating the ISF calibration. Maybe I should try the Avia myself and see how much better it gets. $300 (ISF) for a $950 TV is a lot of money. Can't hurt to try a $40 DVD and I'll probably learn something along the way.

I assume greyscale adjustment is done through the service menu?

They are hex screws. They turn like real screws. They are not injection molding or plonts. My 34HF84 is working very well, and there is no point for me to open up the rear cover and fear that I may break something accidentally. Maybe I'll do it someday, but not now. You opened up your 34HF85 because it was not working right. If my 34HF84, at anytime, is not working right all of a sudden, of course I'll open it up and take pictures.

Well there indeed is one of the physical differences (cost as well) between the 34HF84 and 34HF85. "Not working right" is an overstatment to say the least, I am an engineer so I am a bit fussy about things compared to the average joe.

It is clear that you are not fond of Orion and dare I say I think it compromises your objectivity. From the ancedotal evidence it is impossible to conclude that "Orion-built" Toshibas are inferior in PQ to "Toshiba-built" sets or any other for that matter. In this forum even the highly praised Sony XBR is not without its problems. Only time will tell.

To date, after DVE and Spyder TV, I am happy with the PQ. Even NTSC looks good now and the sample footage on the DVE disk blew me away

Ok, I'm sure this has been answered before, I just forget where!!!

....here's the thing, I have a 30HF84 with a great picture from my service menu tweaks, but I have a minor DC restoration annoyance (common, I've read) with it. I was wondering if there were any special surge protectors or other electronic component I could buy that would take this annoyance away??

If anyone lives on the west coast of Florida (near Tampa) and wants their TV calibrated by Chad B (mentioned below in these posts) let either him or me know. From fburch's glorious review of Chad's calibration skills, I want to get him down to FL asap! Plus, he gives a discount for more than one calibration per area. So let's DO this (insert bass-filled hip-hop beat here)

Ok, I'm sure this has been answered before, I just forget where!!!

....here's the thing, I have a 30HF84 with a great picture from my service menu tweaks, but I have a minor DC restoration annoyance (common, I've read) with it. I was wondering if there were any special surge protectors or other electronic component I could buy that would take this annoyance away??

Take a look at the products from Video Storm. http://www.video-storm.com/products.asp I tried the CB003a with my 30hf84 and ran into the dc restoration problem (screen blacking out during intense scenes) Their technical staff identified the problem immediately and suggested a new switch they just released. It's the CSW62 and it has active dc restoration built in. I think it starts shipping on the 18th.

Good company to work with, great return policy and good technical support. Let us know how you make out.

has anyone experienced any trouble hooking a DVD player to the 34hf85? I have a toshiba DVD that worked fine on my old tv...the player is only 6 months old. I tried hooking it up with the component cables. Normally I would think the trouble was due to my own idiocy but the best buy delivery guys couldn't get it to work either. The picture works okay with normal A/V inputs, but there is no picture whatsoever when using the component inputs.

I get not picture with either component input. I tried exchanging the wires, but that didn't help. The cable guy is supposed to come on Wed. Is it worth it to wait until he comes and see if the HD hookup works.

I get not picture with either component input. I tried exchanging the wires, but that didn't help. The cable guy is supposed to come on Wed. Is it worth it to wait until he comes and see if the HD hookup works.

Make sure you have connected the cables correctly, that is the RGB cables are in the correct jacks. Are you certain that you have selected the right source input? Do you get audio?

Try using the S-Video input from your player to the TV just to make sure your getting a signal out.

My buddy who is an electrical engineer came over with his DVD and component cables. We had the same problem using his DVD and cables. I get audio, just no picture whatsoever. It's as if the TV is not reading the video input at all...I just get a black screen. Tried the DVD player on my old tv, worked well. My buddy tried fiddling aroung with all the progressive scan commands, etc. Nothing's worked. My DVD player is a toshiba SD-3980SU2, his was a sony.

Is your dvd player video output set to component?

Do you think the Best Buy delivery guys would connect the cables incorrectly to the TV? I don't think so. Problem may be coming from the DVD player itself where the component out does not work, cable wire, or the TV itself. What kind of Toshiba DVD player is it, and what's the model number?


Your obviously not an engineer Walt, never assume anything until you have checked it out your self.


"Trust but Verify"
- Ronald Reagan

Yes, I'm not an engineer, but I have connected a DVD player to a TV many times before with component input, either in progressive-scan mode on or off. I'm familiar with the SD-3980 DVD player and 34HF85 TV settings already. If you don't think it's the TV fault, what do you think the problem is?


It's always hard to say given that we're not there. Superstation did bring in his engineer friend so it is resonable to conclude it is the component inputs on TV. But then again...

We tried putting the progressive scan on already. The menu comes up when using A/V cords in any of the video inputs, however nothing comes up when using the component inputs, so you can't even see a menu of what you are doing. We tried doing it "blindly" several times but had no luck. His DVD player he brought over was already set to progressive since my buddy has had HDTV for a year. Again, same exact problem. I'm hoping it's just a configuration thing that I'm missing. I figured I'd wait to see if the cable guy has any luck with the cable hook-up.

I don't know if I'll exchange it or get a different tv or just get my money back. I bought it from best buy in Watertown, MA. I don't like the mixed reviews that I'm seeing for this model. Is it worth it to spend the extra money for a Sony? I also didn't order the $200 best buy protection, but that shouldn't affect anything because I've only had the tv for 2 days.

Setup:

Toshiba 34HF85
Direct TV HR10-250

Problem:

Intermittent moving black splotches and/or lines, color shifting. Seen in recorded broadcast HD and live mostly on CBS, not during commercials. SD is fine.

The problem either originates in the TV, the TIVO or in the broadcast. I grabbed my oscilliscope (300MHz) from work and looked at the green component channel coming off the Tivo to the TV. I decided to use green becasue I could trigger off the sync pulse. One caveat, however, my scope is digtal and I am looking at an analog signal. Some would say it doesn't matter others say it would. After spending about an hour looking at the waveforms I could not detect the artifacts. Not to say they weren't there but it certainly wasn't obvious. I probably will look at it again using an analog scope just to be sure.

Anyone experience similar issues? Perhaps Walt has made me paranoid about my Toshiba (or is it Orion) ;-)

Intermittent moving black splotches and/or lines, color shifting. Seen in recorded broadcast HD and live mostly on CBS, not during commercials. SD is fine.

Anyone experience similar issues? Perhaps Walt has made me paranoid about my Toshiba (or is it Orion) ;-)

No problems like this whatsoever (comcast). I was concerned about many of the common problems in this thread, but I've yet to encounter one. The worst I can say about my 34HF85 seems to be the poor factory calibration.

I'm still trying to decide to drop $300 for an ISF calibration. For me, cost of the set was not an issue, size of the set was the limitation and the Toshiba (with the bottom speakers -- why doesn't anyone else do this) was the only 34" that fit. Otherwise I would have gone with a Sony, but I couldn't bear the thought of only getting a 30" (Truth be told, I originally was looking at 30" Sonys and was excited to find the Toshiba 34").

I have the same issue, but only on 1080i. Under 720p It is not an issue. So anything on a FOX or Disney Station I use 720p as the output and the rest, I just deal. I figure, when they find the fix, ill have them come and fix it, or replace it.

For the Toshiba DVD issue. I had the same problem, then realized the Toshiba DVD has a physical switch that I needed to toggle to use the component output. Felt pretty dumb after.

I also have a yellow glow in the bottom right corner. Has anyone had that successfully fixed?

Does anyone have the service manual for the 34HF85?

TIA

Setup:

Toshiba 34HF85
Direct TV HR10-250

Problem:

Intermittent moving black splotches and/or lines, color shifting. Seen in recorded broadcast HD and live mostly on CBS, not during commercials. SD is fine.

The problem either originates in the TV, the TIVO or in the broadcast. I grabbed my oscilliscope (300MHz) from work and looked at the green component channel coming off the Tivo to the TV. I decided to use green becasue I could trigger off the sync pulse. One caveat, however, my scope is digtal and I am looking at an analog signal. Some would say it doesn't matter others say it would. After spending about an hour looking at the waveforms I could not detect the artifacts. Not to say they weren't there but it certainly wasn't obvious. I probably will look at it again using an analog scope just to be sure.

Anyone experience similar issues? Perhaps Walt has made me paranoid about my Toshiba (or is it Orion) ;-)

I have the same issue, but only on 1080i. Under 720p It is not an issue. So anything on a FOX or Disney Station I use 720p as the output and the rest, I just deal. I figure, when they find the fix, ill have them come and fix it, or replace it.

For the Toshiba DVD issue. I had the same problem, then realized the Toshiba DVD has a physical switch that I needed to toggle to use the component output. Felt pretty dumb after.

I also have a yellow glow in the bottom right corner. Has anyone had that successfully fixed?

Does anyone have the service manual for the 34HF85?

TIA


I had a green-yellow glow, lower right corner. Corrected by turning the tv on 1st, then turning on the cable box. Don't know if this "fixed" the problem, but as long as the tv is powered on first, it has not occurred again.

Setup:

Toshiba 34HF85
Direct TV HR10-250

Problem:

Intermittent moving black splotches and/or lines, color shifting. Seen in recorded broadcast HD and live mostly on CBS, not during commercials. SD is fine.

The problem either originates in the TV, the TIVO or in the broadcast. I grabbed my oscilliscope (300MHz) from work and looked at the green component channel coming off the Tivo to the TV. I decided to use green becasue I could trigger off the sync pulse. One caveat, however, my scope is digtal and I am looking at an analog signal. Some would say it doesn't matter others say it would. After spending about an hour looking at the waveforms I could not detect the artifacts. Not to say they weren't there but it certainly wasn't obvious. I probably will look at it again using an analog scope just to be sure.

Anyone experience similar issues? Perhaps Walt has made me paranoid about my Toshiba (or is it Orion) ;-)


I have Comcast Moto HD DVR box, so my experience may be different. I've noticed this problem ONLY on HBO HD, once while viewing a movie, and again on a DVR playback of "Rome". The DVR playback is HD, and I had tremendous pixalation, blurring, black splotches...mainly during action or movement scenes. Don't know why it worked, but I stopped the playback, backed out of DVR, then resumed playback, and voila, perfect picture again. My wife thinks I'm an engineer now.
And yes, me thinks Walt doth protest too much. A little bit too much crusade, not enough unbiased help. All I know is that every new piece of technology I buy doesn't quite work like it should out of the box. Heck, I've already had 3 STBs from Comcast in a month! My 34HF85 is delivering a (to my untrained eyes) fantastic picture for the price., and its probably the ONLY model that fits in the brand new entertainment hutch!

I have Comcast Moto HD DVR box, so my experience may be different. I've noticed this problem ONLY on HBO HD, once while viewing a movie, and again on a DVR playback of "Rome". The DVR playback is HD, and I had tremendous pixalation, blurring, black splotches...mainly during action or movement scenes.

I've yet to encounter this, and I've been watching and recording (with DVR) the HBO HD channel. Same STB.


My 34HF85 is delivering a (to my untrained eyes) fantastic picture for the price., and its probably the ONLY model that fits in the brand new entertainment hutch!

I would say Ditto (even on the entertaiment hutch size!), except the colors on my set need adjustment. Do you mind telling me your settings? Did you just eyeball it, use Avia/DVE, or have it ISF calibrated?

I've yet to encounter this, and I've been watching and recording (with DVR) the HBO HD channel. Same STB.




I would say Ditto (even on the entertaiment hutch size!), except the colors on my set need adjustment. Do you mind telling me your settings? Did you just eyeball it, use Avia/DVE, or have it ISF calibrated?

Eyeballed, although I would like to get a Avia disc just to make sure.
Color around 19,
Tint in the negative (-3 to -5)
Contrast around 19
I've had to learn to allow for a somewhat darker picture (brightness 25 to 28) on some sports in day games. And, my wife has a much better sense of color, so I just ask her if skin tones looks good. Unfortunately, with me its strictly amateur hour, but if it looks good to my wife and me, its good enough.

Again, a few people have already been absolutely blown away by the PQ difference on the 34HF85 after ISF calibration. Saying money very well spent. I, for one am getting it done as soon as Chad B visits Florida & again, if anyone lives in Florida as well we can probably get Chad down here a lot quicker!

I picked up a hand held pattern generator from BK Precision Instruments http://bkprecision.com/www/np_searchmodel7.asp?lf=HDTV+Pattern+Generator and plugged it into the component input of my 34HF85. Very nice instrument, many display formats and patterns. Really simple to use but its pricey.

The most telling was the cross hatch. The RGB convergence was off but not terribly. The worse thing though was a distortion in the vertical lines at the bottom of the screen. Looked like a dozen or so lines are pullled to the left and form notches. This is not a simple fix and is only present in the 1080i signal along with the black weirdness described in an earlier post. It is aslo not very good on the high frequency signal side.

Not sure I am going to keep the set but I am still in my 30 return period. I need to noodle on an ISF calibration but I will bet these guys can't really open up my set and adjust the magnetics. If the problem is how the 34HF85 deals with the HD signal (or how it doesn't) then I'll exhange it for a Sony. Too bad becasue I like many things about the set especially the form factor but in the end it's the picture that counts.

Someone is having a problem with a Toshiba 26HF85 and needs help desperately:

http://forums.animeondvd.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1171628&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=all&vc=1

I really feel sorry for him.


(Walt, so even though you got your 34HF84, you're going to continue on this Orion/Toshiba crusade)?

Well yes, that sucks. But where did I read that the failure rate for the industry is close to 12% for all brands?

Besides, there was a big price cut from the 34HF84 and 34HF85 and the case changed, he should have done research before buying the TV, or bought from a different vendor that would allow him to return it.

That said, his problems are similar to what has been reported in this thread and what I was most concerned about: lines, flickering, and glow spots. Thankfully, I've got none of these issues out of the box. I'm using HDMI, both component inputs, and S-video.

The only complaint I can find with my 34HF85 is it needs to be calibrated and out of the box the colors look garish, which is true for most TVs some more/some less.

I will let you know what I think after a proper ISF calibration. I can't wait. If the ISF tech can not make my 34HF85 look any better, I'll join you with your "Orion sucks" comments.

In my earlier post I mentioned two problems which turns out are related. The "kinks" seen in the crosshatch pattern are likely due to an error in one of the video chip sets responsible for video format translation. Whenever the format is changed the circutiry remaps the pixels. This problem on my particular set only occur at 1080i and all other formats are fine. The kinks are then errors in row/column placement in pixel mapping.

In normal HD broadcast this error is probably seen as a minor annoyance and most live with it thinking it's in the broadcast signal. Only a good pattern generator will reveal this.

I have gone through some fairly extensive analysis (more than I wanted to for a new TV) and did not reach my conclusion merely because the set is made in Thailand. The set is going back to Best Buy! It is indeed defective.

On another note, it is interesting in that the 34HF84 (last set made by Toshiba) and the 34HF85 (made by Orion) is eight pounds heavier. It's not the glass since the tubes are indentical (see me and Walts photos). Perhaps they tossed out a little too much for a leaner television; the baby may have went with the bath water.

The cable guy came, he couldn't get the HD box to work. So we now know that the component inputs are completely defective. Toshiba customer service told me that I would have to call a service guy to come over. I figured I'd go down to best buy and just exchange it for a sony instead. It's more money, but when you're spending over $1000 you want to make sure you're not buying a $1000 pile of crap. All of the information on this site was very helpful in shedding some light on this television. Lesson learned...research BEFORE buying, don't just go on a company name.

Toshiba 34HF85 is assembled in USA by Orion America at Indiana with parts manufactured in Thailand and elsewhere.

How about that you take some last minute photos inside your 34HF85 before returning it back to Best buy for a Sony. :)


I'll try to take some photos before it is returned.

I was watching broadcast HD last night and changed the output of my TIVO to 720P and it looked really great. None of the wierdness mentioned in earlier posts. It seems that my 34HF85 only has problems with 1080i. How is 1080i on the 34HF84?

The Sears repair man just left. At first he looked at the distortion waves on my 30HF85 and said “It’s raster”. After trying some adjustments and finding the same problem from all input sources, he called Texas for tech support. They diagnosed the problem as being a bad scaler PCB and ordered a replacement which will get here next week. The tell tale sign was a one inch black band across the top of the picture when the TV was tuned to a static channel. It is under warrant but fyi the part cost is $236.67 and labor is $177.00. If I decide to keep it I am getting an extended warranty! I took two pics when he had the cover off. The tube has an Orion sticker.

Of course the Toshiba 30HF85 is made by Orion in Thailand. How can I be wrong here, although a few people here don't believe me still. Let's see the two photos you took, including the Orion tube sticker. :)

The problem I have is with your analysis not your opinion. To simply say a product is bad becasue of where it's made is not sound reasoning. One needs to supply proof rather than mere supposition. I came to the conclusion that my 34HF85 was faulty from an engineering perspective and I think that others need to go through a process to reach a conclusion that may be in agreement with your own. It is also fair to say that satisfied customers don't bother with posting on forums such a this so the sampling is not representative of the whole to say the least.

I would have kept my Toshiba if the 1080i video scalar was working correctly but since I am going to have this set for a long time I am going with a Sony. Your opinion was very helpful in making my decision and thanks for the informative posts you have made to this forum.

ORION !!! ORION!!!

Walter... you're friggen killing me with the ORION crap!

You've got a nasty obsession.

Picked up my new Toshiba SD-K850 HDMI DVD player today. Only $80 at Costco. 1080i looks great in my 34HF84. I have no problems with the HDMI input at all. However, I'm getting occasional freezes on DVD. Kind of strange.

Good to hear. I exchanged my 34HF85 for a Sony 34HS420, will get it delivered on Saturday and BB is picking up the 34HF85 for me as well. Did notice that there were three discounted 34HF85's for sale at BB. Seems they are getting a few more returns other than mine.

No problems with 1080i input on my 34HF85 via my Comcast DCT6412 or Sony DVP-NS70H.

Purely anecdotal, but I spoke to someone at my local BestBuy and he told me he hasn't seen any more returns for the new Toshibas than any other brand.

Scheduled ISF calibration for my 34HF85... can't wait!

Walt, just checked the box of my 34HF85. It is version "A", what's the differecne you think?

mkreef are you using HDMI or component for 1080i?

It's the letter Orion uses to tell you what version the product is. Whenever there is a change in the technical design of the product, the letter moves up. Your 34HF85 is the first version. We'll wait and see what mkreef has. Maybe he has version B, which already eliminates the problems.

Makes me wish I had the "B" version.

mkreef, if you still have the original box, somewhere at the bar code sticker area, do you see the letter "A" or letter "B," which means version A or version B? You can also find this info somewhere at the back of your 34HF85 at the specification sticker, next to the bar code area.

I just looked, I have the A version.

mkreef are you using HDMI or component for 1080i?

Both, I had the Comcast DCT6412 set to 1081i into the HDMI input for a few days. I switched to 720p and didn't notice any difference, so I switched back to 1080i.

When I got my Sony DVP-NS70H, I first hooked the DCT6412 up to component and paused an HDTV image and flipped back and forth between HDMI and component inputs. I didn't notice anything obvious, so I left it hooked up to component.

I then hooked up the Sony upconverting DVD player (set to 1080i) to the HDMI input, where I have left it. Have watched a number of DVDs and love it. Whether it is the upconverting or just the fact that I upgraded to a progressive player is not terribly important to me.

Hmmm, I guess the version B is not there yet.

Sounds like you guessed. Not suprising since most of your posts are baseless at least from a technical/engineering point of view. But heh, I bet you do a mean Pas de bourrée!

What is the difference between version A and B?

So far, I think all of the 34HF85s are still in version A. If there is any change in the technical design, the letters moves up, like A to B, then C from B, then D from C, then E from D, and so on...

Oh, I thought there was a B version available now.

Hey guys i'm new here and would like to say whats up ?

i have a big problem i just brought the toshiba 26hf85 and the picture quality was bad (looks fuzzy and a glow to it). that same day i had just thrown out the box not realizing i would need it .. :confused: :confused: i started to mess with the service menu to try to get better picture quality but i totally messed it up. i wrote down the numbers before i changed them but :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: then i forgot where i put it.

could someone please give me the setting that were orignallly there beofre i messed it up.

Please i really need help.... i put alot into this t.v and made a truly honest mistake of throwing away the box so i can't return it. i just need the orignal settings that were there before i meesed it up. this is the only t.v i have now until i can get $$ for another one

thank you very much an advanced thank you thank you

I just got the 34hf85 and so far I like it. One problem I have is when I connect the component cables into my TV and select Colorstream HD1 video source I can't access the Picture Size menu. Otherwise the picture works fine but it is annoying with the bars on the sides. The picture Size menu works if I use either a cable from my cable box or connect to the TV with an S Video cable. Then I can select theaterwide 1 which works very well. If I connect my DVD player with component cables then the picture size menu is accessible. Any thoughts. Thanks.

Thanks Watchman. But it didn't work. Changed the aspect section from On to Off. Hmm, Any other ideas.

I have a Toshiba 30HF85. I have it connected to my HTPC through the HDMI connector. The HTPC is running windows XP. It all works fine exept that when I'm not using the HDMI input for some period of time, but the TV is on, it "forgets" that the HDMI signal is there. The screen stays blank when set to HDMI unless I reboot the PC or disconnect and reconnect the HDMI cable.

anyone one else seen this???

I purchased a 30HF84 and all I can say is that I will never buy anything Toshiba makes ever again. And I mean that.

I have just recently developed the 480i input problem. The X-Box and the PS2 both do it, unless the game supports progressive scan. Thank the Lord that newest game I got for the Ps2 was actually progressive, or I would ten times as pissed as I am now.

Also, the worst thing about this set is the geometry. It is absolutely horrendous. I have tried tweaking in the service menu for hours and hours and it just cannot be fixed.

The HDMI input looks horrible. I spent a buttload of money on a Monster HDMI cable and actually switched back to the component input!

Overall, I highly caution everyone against buying this garbage. I am very very disappointed and can't wait until I can replace this crapper with a projector!

1) You have a warranty for to address geometry problems. Use it...
2) You don't need to spend $$ for Mon$ter cables.

If he gets it fixed to his satisfaction after warranty service, why would should he sell it?
That makes no sense whatsoever.

Yeah... I did!

So why not get the set repaired under warranty? He can still get a 'projector' at any time.
Also... do you not think that if he was to sell the TV that he could get more money for one that works properly as opposed to one that looks 'absolutely horrendous'?

I have just recently developed the 480i input problem.

Also, the worst thing about this set is the geometry.

The HDMI input looks horrible.



Are you referring to the picture out of sync in 480i mode? I had that problem with my 30hf84, they replaced the a/v board and it's been fine. Easy fix under warranty.

Some geometry problems on the 30hf84 were due to bad components and Toshiba came out with a service bulletin and fix.

Might be the device your using through HDMI. My Samsung TS160 HD receiver looks horrible with DVI-HDMI cable, but my Toshiba SD-V592 upconverting DVD player looks great through HDMI. (Especially with the new firmware) I also had to tweak the bias settings on HDMI to get it to look as good as component.

You should really find a good authorized Toshiba repair center before your warranty is up and let them have a shot at making it right.

I just got the 34hf85 and so far I like it. One problem I have is when I connect the component cables into my TV and select Colorstream HD1 video source I can't access the Picture Size menu. Otherwise the picture works fine but it is annoying with the bars on the sides. The picture Size menu works if I use either a cable from my cable box or connect to the TV with an S Video cable. Then I can select theaterwide 1 which works very well. If I connect my DVD player with component cables then the picture size menu is accessible. Any thoughts. Thanks.

Anyone have suggestions. I tried to turn off the Auto Aspect setting but it didn't help the problem.

Your TV comes with a 1 year labor and parts warranty. Why don't you use it, and then sell the TV.

Walter, I thought it was a 1 year parts and 90 day labor warranty.

Anyway, the Sears repair man came back yesterday to replace the scaler PCB and fix the distortion lines problem. The PCB was held in there by quite a lot of sodder so the whole procedure took over an hour. We got the cover back on and the TV back up (a two man job), plugged everything back in and voila, no picture. We got the menu to show up but no input from any source. The repair man checks with the local store and says I should just exchange it for a new one in (in the box). I called and confirmed that we had another 30 days to decide if we wanted to keep the second one and the repair man helped me box and load the TV in my truck.

Well the new one works fine. On SDTV if you stare at solid colors you can see some lines, but they are perfectly horizontal and most likely scan lines.

As with the old tv when 4:3 is stretched to fit the 16:9 screen you can see some artifact looking blocks of color in the center like [] size. Only a few every minute for a second or two each. Is this normal???

The Sony KD-30XS955 won't fit in our 32 inch wide entertainment center. If I could get a 30" or 32" name brand LCD for under $1,000US I might take the 30HF85 back at the end of my 30 days. That just happens to be the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If I can find a good LCD at a door-buster sale on Friday the 25th, that might be the case. I just can't see spending more than that on a TV right now. Also, the Sears guys have been great and I didn't want to stiff them with a return just to go 100 miles out of town to the nearest Worst Buy. They price match, which is how I got it for only $620. Anyone else have minor color blocking, about the size of a text prompt, on stretched pictures??? On DVD's too, when 4:3 input is formated as Pic Size 4: Full Screen???

Anyone. When 4:3 input is stretched to fit the 16:9 screen you can see some artifact looking blocks of color in the center like [] size. Only a few every minute for a second or two each. Is this normal??? Does anyone else have this problem???

I have a hf83, and have a lot of the problems people have mentioned in this topic. One I was surprised to see was the grainy, blurryness someone mentioned before that my tv has, which no one ever seemed to know what I was talking about, especially with a component dvd source.

I've heard people complain about the "dirty" like smudged look you can see with light colored backgrounds and camera movement. It has that too. It looks like the inside of the glass actually needs to be wiped down.

The worst is on all sources from sd tv to dvd to all video game consoles, is for the color spectrum from yellow to red on 70% of the screen looks completely washed out. It's especially noticeable on a full screen of red, orange or yellow, and it makes me want to murder. The thing that's so bad about it is that Sears never helped me at all after having 4 separate service visits, the first two didn't know what I was even talking about, 1 didn't really even speak english very well, and the fourth was their supposed top tech and their supervisor, telling me the tv is fine. All they accomplished was sort of fixing the geometry which wasn't much better than how it was.

Of course it also overscans, every source, if something is supposed to be in the middle, like credits or something, they're off to the right.

Light objects glow against dark backgrounds, and if they move, you bet they trail, too.

Camera pans are really choppy or blurry on all sources, you can actually see a double image during most fast movement of any sort.

The contrast jumps according to whats on the screen, say if you're watching something with subtitles, the screen will lighten when they're on, then darken when they're off. Of course there's plenty of other ways for this to happen.

I'm stuck with a tv I completely hate, because when I got it, I already returned two tvs before, and I was just trying to be satisfied with what I had, and it's just such a pain dealing with the whole thing because I work at night. As time went on I noticed these problems pile up and put it off because the whole ordeal of dealing with techs who aren't helping during the day when I'm supposed to be sleeping was horrible. When I finally got the tech and supervisor to come out to tell me they think the frickin tv is normal, my 1 year on returns was up, and they wouldn't even accept an exchange.

If you try dealing with Toshiba at all, I mean, they don't even know what you're talking about. So, I'm at loss. If anyone even read all of this, then thanks. If you have any idea what to do about any of it, then you'll have my eternal gratitude.

I just bought this tv and I figured I got a good deal on it because it was one of the best two pictures at the store. However, when I got it home, the damn thing was grainy as all get out! My old Sony 24inch has a better picture and only had cost me $100 and my old tv. I'll be taking this back tomorrow and exchanging it most likely for the Sony Wega which I'm fairly sure after reading this, puts this tv to shame.

Is it a 30HF83 or 30HF84?

30hf83.

I've had a, 26hf84 for a year no problems.It seems, i'm one of very few.

I am considering buying an HDMI cable. Please excuse my ignorance but, does the HDMI allow for video and audio? Is it a step up from Component? I have been searching all over and can't find a good explanation of what HDMI does. I have the Toshiba 34hf85. Also, are cheap HDMI cables OK? I found several places on the internet where I can get 6ft ones for less than $10.00. thanks for the reply.

Could having a stereo speaker about 14'' high 6'' wide and 8'' deep and about 3 feet away from 30HF85 cause a yellow glow spot in the top right hand of the tv? It's a yellowish spoy and seen the most when there's a white image being displayed on the TV.

Does my tv need to be demagnetized or what? I see this spot during dvd movies and tv and through my ps2 games too?

Someone also told me just to move the tv around?

What are options can this be fixed and how? Is it fixable? What it entail?

I've had my 30hf84 for over a month now and over all I'm pretty happy with it, however, I've just recently noticed something that might be a problem, and I was wondering if anyone out there has encountered the same thing. I have an older (5 years) Tosh DVD player (not a high end one - no progressive scan) hooked up with component cables and while watching the special features on the new Star Wars Ep. 3 disc, whenever there is a bright white flash, the screen goes black for roughly 2 seconds after. I tried different cables, and the same thing happened. When I switched the DVD player with my higher-end Panasonic RP96 the problem went away. I tried the same scenes with progressive scan on and off. This could just be an issue with the DVD player and the TV. (I hooked up the Tosh DVD player to my Pioneer HDTV and it did not go black after the same flashes), however I was wondering if anyone has any ideas before I call a tech. This doesn't really sound like the 480i problem people are reporting (the screen doesn't shake or shift), but I want to be sure.

I am considering buying an HDMI cable. Please excuse my ignorance but, does the HDMI allow for video and audio? Is it a step up from Component? I have been searching all over and can't find a good explanation of what HDMI does. I have the Toshiba 34hf85. Also, are cheap HDMI cables OK? I found several places on the internet where I can get 6ft ones for less than $10.00. thanks for the reply.

Yeah, the cheap cables work great. Mine was like 2 bucks off ebay and the quality is even better than component (mostly due to the lack of white glow in 1080i). However, I think you will have more of a problem with the HDMI flicker, which is a common issue with Orion. You dont notice it at first but most scenes with a slow pan will be plagued with extremely annoying horizontal "flickering"

Off topic, but I really regret buying this off-shore-sweatshop-bucket-of-$hit. I cant even sell it to recoop my money, the 26HF85 is now on sale for $399 CAD. I STRONGLY urge anyone contemplating a Tosh CRT to consider other options. There is a few nice Sanyo/Samsung models I saw at Walmart for under $800. ANYTHING but Tosh.

Could having a stereo speaker about 14'' high 6'' wide and 8'' deep and about 3 feet away from 30HF85 cause a yellow glow spot in the top right hand of the tv? It's a yellowish spoy and seen the most when there's a white image being displayed on the TV.

Does my tv need to be demagnetized or what? I see this spot during dvd movies and tv and through my ps2 games too?

Someone also told me just to move the tv around?

What are options can this be fixed and how? Is it fixable? What it entail?

Your speaker seems to be far enough away. Your TV might just need to be degaussed. I ran into a similar prob. when I received my refurb'd 34HFX84. A tech came over, did his thing for a few seconds and the discoloration was gone. The best part is that it was covered under the warranty, so nothing out-of-pocket.

So I did some poking around on this forum and others, and found out the problem of losing video during intense scenes over component video is related to a DC restoration failure. Now what I want to know is, is this a design flaw in the T.V. itself, or can this be fixed with a service call? Like I said in my prior post, two different DVD players yielded two different results, so if I have to get a new player (i need to upgrade anyway) that's fine, but if this happens with most players, what's the solution?

I'd say it's the DVD player with the problem, not your set. I had a cheapo Toshiba SD300 player hooked up and experienced the same problem as you (usually during camera flashes, etc..) the screen would go black for two seconds.

I had to send the player out for warranty repair and instead of getting the same unit back they sent me a just-as-crappy SD3800. At least the problem's gone now.

I have a 26HF84 and I too have the problem with the unstable picture when using 480i on the component inputs. After reading this thread I understand why this is happening now (as I could have sworn that I was using 480i on my components when I first got the set back in July of 2004).

Unfortunately my warranty has now expired so I cannot approach Toshiba about the problem. Since they warranty is up I've been considering popping the back panel off and looking to see if I can spot anything wrong. Any tips on doing this?

Thanks in advance!

The DC restoration problem seems to be hit and miss. With my 30HF84 it is only apparent when I route anything through an external switch or splitter. Direct component connections from devices to the tv work fine for HD and DVD. I've tried about 10 different models of DVD players/recorders and never had a problem directly connecting to the component inputs of the set.

Video Storm has a switch with built in DC restoration. In fact they pinpointed the problem immediately when I was testing their CB003a splitter. You can check them out at http://www.video-storm.com

Mark75, the 480i "out of sync" problem developed on my 30hf84 after about 4 months. I had it serviced, and I never found out what they did. It happened again shortly after I got it back and I popped the cover off the set. I found that the a/v board was either intermittently shorting out against the metal tray it was mounted in or the rear connector for the board was not fully engaged. I used three strips of rubber tape to unsulate the mounting points for the board and repositioned the board in the tray making sure I had good tight connections. Worked perfectly and eliminated another servce call.

You might want to pick up the service manual on ebay if you don't already have it , it's only about $10.

Thanks for the replys Mark and Nonnie, I went out and bought the new Samsung HD850 hi-def upconverting player with HDMI output, and, boy what a difference! No DC restoration problems, and the picture looks simply jaw dropping (I set the player to 1080i output). I watched Star Wars Ep. III and i simply could not believe the level of detail the T.V. was producing. I have heard people complain about the poor quality of HDMI on these sets, but I don't really know how much better true hi-def could look on a 30" set. I looked for the HDMI "flicker" problem and did not see it at all. My 3 year old Pioneer HD52 set coupled with the Panny RP96 is still my benchmark for quality DVD presentation, however, for the deal I got on this set (Tosh 30HF84 for $700 cdn), I really can't complain. However, having said that something will probably go wrong with the set (like I'll come home and find it on fire or something :)), but for now, it's working fine.

I have had a 30HFX84 Theaterwide HD CRT for about 9 months now, and has seemed to work great. I had it setup to accept HD cable box input via composite as well as the Component input from my Onkyo receiver. I switch it to composite (Video 1) and analog sound for the cleaning lady so she doesn't have to figure how to run the audio/receiver. I forgot to switch it Friday, and today when I switched it back to HDMI1 there's terrible picture. Actually 6 terrible pictures in the upper 2/3s of the screen... like the sync is off. To troubleshoot, I bypassed the receiver and hooked the DVD played straight in; I switched the cables between HDMI 1 and 2 and had the same issue on both; I messed with the standard menu to test between 540p and 1080i. The issue is consistent regardless of the source using those inputs (receiver, cable box & dvd player). The SVideo and Composite input seem to work just fine.

I think it's just a coincidence that this happened after the cleaning lady... but I didn't know if there was anything she could have inadvertently done or what else this could be other than a failure in the input electronics.

Any idea what this might be? Any thoughts or things to try will be greatly apprecidated before I have to haul it in somewhere. Thanks!

Wish I had read your comments about the Toshiba 26HF85. I've just bought a new one, fresh out of the box and been running it for one week. I don't get a flicker or wobble, but I do have color flares or something at two of the corners. I always thought that indicated a problem with the 'picture tube'. Like it was going bad. It was something that I thought only happened when a TV was really old. Now that I've read your thread, I think I should take it back and forget Toshiba and find another brand. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm running on Time Warner Cable and not using the HD feature. My picture is great, clear, and not overly contrasty. Just those darn glows of color, red, green, purple, (it changes when the background changes), and in one lower and the opposite upper, corners.

Wish I had read your comments about the Toshiba 26HF85. I've just bought a new one, fresh out of the box and been running it for one week. I don't get a flicker or wobble, but I do have color flares or something at two of the corners. I always thought that indicated a problem with the 'picture tube'. Like it was going bad. It was something that I thought only happened when a TV was really old. Now that I've read your thread, I think I should take it back and forget Toshiba and find another brand. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm running on Time Warner Cable and not using the HD feature. My picture is great, clear, and not overly contrasty. Just those darn glows of color, red, green, purple, (it changes when the background changes), and in one lower and the opposite upper, corners.

welcome,
I am no tech, but my 34hf85 had the color in the corner problem too. Don't know why, but if I turn the tv on 1st, then the cable box, it seems to not happen. You may also want to upgrade your connection cables

I own the tosh 34hf85, as have not experienced the problems that seem to be common on this set. My question; using only the tv menus (NOT the service menu), can the picture be adjusted or tweaked using Avia or DVE discs? Or, due to the limits of the tv menu, would it be somewhat fruitless.
Since joining this forum, I have become more obsessed with the PQ being as good as possible, which is either a good or bad side-effect, not sure which. While I know its not a Sony, I still believe some minor adjustments would serve the set well.

I own the tosh 34hf85, as have not experienced the problems that seem to be common on this set. My question; using only the tv menus (NOT the service menu), can the picture be adjusted or tweaked using Avia or DVE discs? Or, due to the limits of the tv menu, would it be somewhat fruitless.
Since joining this forum, I have become more obsessed with the PQ being as good as possible, which is either a good or bad side-effect, not sure which. While I know its not a Sony, I still believe some minor adjustments would serve the set well.

badtyper - I have DVE and used it in conjunction with the user menu to make adjustments on my 34HF85. It did improve picture quality and was worth doing. The two issues I could not fully correct without entering the service menu were blooming of white text in dark regions and correcting color balance.

By lowering contrast and adjusting brightness I was able to improve the blooming issue in the user menu, but factory default contrast levels were set very high on my 34HF85 and the ISF calibration allowed the contrast range to be lowered further to tame the blooming I was experiencing on my set.

As to color balance, I was able to make tint adjustments in the user menu to improve color balance, but using DVE I found that adjustments to correct green levels threw blue and red levels out of whack. Again, service menu adjustments made during ISF calibration corrected this issue.

The bottom line for me was that using DVE improved my picture quality to a limited extent and it was certainly worth the time and expense of the DVE disc, but it took an ISF calibration to fully resolve the picture quality issues affecting my set.

badtyper - I have DVE and used it in conjunction with the user menu to make adjustments on my 34HF85. It did improve picture quality and was worth doing. The two issues I could not fully correct without entering the service menu were blooming of white text in dark regions and correcting color balance.

By lowering contrast and adjusting brightness I was able to improve the blooming issue in the user menu, but factory default contrast levels were set very high on my 34HF85 and the ISF calibration allowed the contrast range to be lowered further to tame the blooming I was experiencing on my set.

As to color balance, I was able to make tint adjustments in the user menu to improve color balance, but using DVE I found that adjustments to correct green levels threw blue and red levels out of whack. Again, service menu adjustments made during ISF calibration corrected this issue.

The bottom line for me was that using DVE improved my picture quality to a limited extent and it was certainly worth the time and expense of the DVE disc, but it took an ISF calibration to fully resolve the picture quality issues affecting my set.
Thanks Frank,
I would like to get a calibration done, but with a new baby my tv time is down to nil. Plus the wife is happy with the picture, so it will maybe wait.
Most of the time on HD channels, picture is fantastic. Color seems to be an issue when watching sports, and mainly in the orange range. God forbid Tennessee and Texas ever play. Other than that, I do need to adjust brightness, but usually when watching Rome on HBO HD. Maybe its just a "darker" lit show. Are you using HDMI to DVI cable, component?

Thanks Frank,
I would like to get a calibration done, but with a new baby my tv time is down to nil. Plus the wife is happy with the picture, so it will maybe wait.
Most of the time on HD channels, picture is fantastic. Color seems to be an issue when watching sports, and mainly in the orange range. God forbid Tennessee and Texas ever play. Other than that, I do need to adjust brightness, but usually when watching Rome on HBO HD. Maybe its just a "darker" lit show. Are you using HDMI to DVI cable, component?

Both. My STB and DVD player are connected to the HDMI input via a Gefen switcher and both these devices have DVI outputs, my DVHS and media computer are connected to the set via component cables.

Rome is definitely a dark textured broadcast with deep blacks predominating particulary on interior shot scenes. I find myself just accepting this fact when watching this program and resisting the temptation to adjust brightness on my set.

Good luck with your tweaks, though it sounds to me like you have your set adjusted pretty well. The guy who calibrated my set mentioned that the red push on my 34HF85 was pretty acute and hard for him to tame down in the service menu. I think the orange color range issues you are experiencing may be related to this characteristic of these sets.

Just thought I'd chime in here. I recently picked up a used 26HF15 for super-cheap, and definitely had issues with the picture quality for a while. Mostly the same problems that people here have experienced. I don't watch ANY TV, but I do use the set for Prog-scan DVD's and XBOX games (most are in 480P, some in 720P). The problems I was having were:

No detail in dark sections

White text on dark background practically unreadable

Weird subtle horizontal artifacts in some scenes of DVDs only when in 540P mode
Rough-looking textures on flat surfaces during some scenes of DVDS... kinda hard to describe but almost like a grainy quality to some flat surfaces, such as walls and stuff.

Anyway, after a LOT of fiddling around with user settings (I never touched the service menu), I finally solved just about everything and it looks MUCH better now. FYI, here are my settings:

Brightness = 32 (solved No detail in dark sections)
Contrast = 20 (solved White text on dark background practically unreadable)
Tint = adjust to taste
Sharpness = 10 (solved Rough-looking textures on flat surfaces)
Color = adjust to taste
SVN = Low (solved White text on dark background practically unreadable)
480P upconversion mode = 1080i (solved Weird subtle horizontal artifacts in some scenes of DVDs only when in 540P mode)

Both. My STB and DVD player are connected to the HDMI input via a Gefen switcher and both these devices have DVI outputs, my DVHS and media computer are connected to the set via component cables.

Rome is definitely a dark textured broadcast with deep blacks predominating particulary on interior shot scenes. I find myself just accepting this fact when watching this program and resisting the temptation to adjust brightness on my set.

Good luck with your tweaks, though it sounds to me like you have your set adjusted pretty well. The guy who calibrated my set mentioned that the red push on my 34HF85 was pretty acute and hard for him to tame down in the service menu. I think the orange color range issues you are experiencing may be related to this characteristic of these sets.

Thanks Frank and Adminroot,
I had HDMI-DVI cable from Best Buy, decided I couldn't tell a difference, so returned the $160 cable. Yes Rome is dark, and we now watch it in a pitch black room which helps.
Admin, I keep my sharpness around 25, bright 28 to 32, color 20 to 18, tint in -9 to -6 range.
I have learned to live with certain analog channels being poor (Sci-Fi for instance),
wondering if you or Frank have a way around poor analog?

OMG... I can't believe you paid $160 for that cable. Newegg has them for around $20-30 depending on length. Good job returning it...

Anyway, I found that with sharpness at 25, it was TOO sharp. Gradients looked banded or dithered, depending on the scene. With sharpness turned down to 10, it's admittedly a bit "blurrier" but it gives a sort of anti-aliasing effect that eliminates the dithered look. Also, switching my upconversion from 540p to 1080i actually made a big difference in the horizontal scan lines I was seeing in some scenes. And turn down the contrast! The default contrast on these tubes is out of control.

I honestly don't watch anything in analog... sorry I can't be of much help there. I don't watch TV at all and don't even subscribe to any TV source... not very American, heh. I just couldn't stand TV any more. I get my fix in DVD movies and DVD releases of TV shows, plus XBOX games.

One last thing... what's this about SVN killing Toshiba tubes early? I read about this in another part of the forum. I like the effect that SVN gives. Is there a good reason to keep it off? Thanks!

OMG... I can't believe you paid $160 for that cable. Newegg has them for around $20-30 depending on length. Good job returning it...

Anyway, I found that with sharpness at 25, it was TOO sharp. Gradients looked banded or dithered, depending on the scene. With sharpness turned down to 10, it's admittedly a bit "blurrier" but it gives a sort of anti-aliasing effect that eliminates the dithered look. Also, switching my upconversion from 540p to 1080i actually made a big difference in the horizontal scan lines I was seeing in some scenes. And turn down the contrast! The default contrast on these tubes is out of control.

I honestly don't watch anything in analog... sorry I can't be of much help there. I don't watch TV at all and don't even subscribe to any TV source... not very American, heh. I just couldn't stand TV any more. I get my fix in DVD movies and DVD releases of TV shows, plus XBOX games.

One last thing... what's this about SVN killing Toshiba tubes early? I read about this in another part of the forum. I like the effect that SVN gives. Is there a good reason to keep it off? Thanks!
Admin,
I'll lower the contrast and try it out.
And, if I am understanding, you put the display at the 540 in the tv menu, and then let it up-convert to 1080, right? We use to watch a lot of dvds, now we pretty much watch regular programming, mainly HD stuff.
I am a PC gamer, so I get to deal with graphic card problems as well!
And, no clue on the SVN, other than reading to have it turned off, and the way I read it was more for the better picture quality that someone implied this gave.

Thanks Frank and Adminroot,
I had HDMI-DVI cable from Best Buy, decided I couldn't tell a difference, so returned the $160 cable. Yes Rome is dark, and we now watch it in a pitch black room which helps.
Admin, I keep my sharpness around 25, bright 28 to 32, color 20 to 18, tint in -9 to -6 range.
I have learned to live with certain analog channels being poor (Sci-Fi for instance),
wondering if you or Frank have a way around poor analog?
No suggestions I can think of to help you out on this one, badtyper, other than to experiment with the SVM settings to see if that helps. I don't watch a lot of analog stuff, so I am no expert on this one.

Thought I was the only one! I have been trouble shooting with Comcast for the last 3 months since I bought this set at Costco. The trouble is an unwatchable blue screen with great black in it as well..... NBC HD channel that almost exclusively occurs at night,e.g. it does not happen during HD sporting events on weekend days. And, yes I have the flickering problem...this channel seems to be the worst, but it occurs on CBS and some sports programs also. Other HD channels seem fine.

Am trying to decide if a return to Costco would be wise or only give me a new set of problems to deal with.

As a novice to HD technology and to this forum any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Thought I was the only one! I have been trouble shooting with Comcast for the last 3 months since I bought this set at Costco. The trouble is an unwatchable blue screen with great black in it as well..... NBC HD channel that almost exclusively occurs at night,e.g. it does not happen during HD sporting events on weekend days. And, yes I have the flickering problem...this channel seems to be the worst, but it occurs on CBS and some sports programs also. Other HD channels seem fine.

Am trying to decide if a return to Costco would be wise or only give me a new set of problems to deal with.

As a novice to HD technology and to this forum any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
Deb14,
I went through 3 Comcast boxes, so I know of what you speak.
I'm a novice too, but if the problems occur on specific channels, it would seem to be the cable and not the tv creating the problem. I have a tremendous difference in picture quality (PQ) from one channel to the next, but all of the HD channels are excellent, with very little variation between them. Try to get the Comcast tech to diagnose when they come back out, maybe they can confirm if its your line, the box or the set.
As far as returning the set, if price and size are not a problem, people are completely in love with the Sony's. The Toshiba is the only 34 inch that fits in our tv hutch, so I don't have much in options.

Deb14,
I went through 3 Comcast boxes, so I know of what you speak.
I'm a novice too, but if the problems occur on specific channels, it would seem to be the cable and not the tv creating the problem. I have a tremendous difference in picture quality (PQ) from one channel to the next, but all of the HD channels are excellent, with very little variation between them. Try to get the Comcast tech to diagnose when they come back out, maybe they can confirm if its your line, the box or the set.
As far as returning the set, if price and size are not a problem, people are completely in love with the Sony's. The Toshiba is the only 34 inch that fits in our tv hutch, so I don't have much in options.

After all the troubleshooting I have done, I think it is a problem with the TV and not the cable boxes or signal. I have the exact same problem that Deb describes. The NBC HD signal is completely blue tinted when I have the box send a 1080 signal. When I turn off the 1080 signal from the box, the picture is fine. I have two HD boxes in my house and subscribe to Charter cable. The problem occurs from both boxes when the signal is sent to my 34HFX85. Both boxes work fine when the signal is sent to my 42HF81. I have none of the display problems on the older HD television. The problem has to be the 34HFX85 television. I'm getting a replacement on Friday and will let everyone know if the new TV has the same problem or not.

Ben

I have been working with the local cable TV providers for 3 days now trying to trouble shoot the problem I am having with the 34HF85

When the signal is auto detected by the HD cable box as 1080i resolution I get horizontal shadow type lines that kind of follow the objects on the screen. It looks like others are having the same problem. I have taken 1 tv back to BB because we felt it was a problem with the specific TV. Well the new one does the same thing. I am taking it back and shopping for a new TV. Bummer. The Toshiba was perfect because I was able to get a 34" in my entertainment center cabinet. Now I will have to buy a smaller screen Sony I guess.

Sounds like you are in the exact same situation I'm in. I'm getting discouraged with this 34HF85....contemplating a 34HS420, but worried about the width limitations.

I had that same problem that you speak of on my 34HF85, but it's only through the HDMI input (although I do admit I used a returned, "opened box" HDMI cable fom Best Buy). For my pain in the a$$ TV the problem lies with the white glow on the top of the image when the signal is at 1080i. I just shut 1080i off on my cable box and viola! The glow is gone. But am I losing PQ.....hmmmm......whatever. I'm over it.

And please, can anyone recommend an ISF technician/company in the Tampa Bay, FL area? I'd rather have Chad B in Ohio do it, but it's quite a hike for him! So far I am hearing that when these 34HF85s are properly calibrated the difference is (quote) ASTONISHING, and so on and so forth. (PS - King Kong looks amazing......) thank you in advance!

Sounds like you are in the exact same situation I'm in. I'm getting discouraged with this 34HF85....contemplating a 34HS420, but worried about the width limitations.

I have this problem on the HDMI input if I attempt to recenter the STB image on my Toshiba using the monitor setup feature on the STB setup menu. My STB is a Samsung T-160 and it is connected to my Tosh 34HF85 through the HDMI input. If I reboot my STB by cycling the power to the unit, the noise goes away. You may not have the ability to cycle the power with a cable box or doing so may not resolve the issue on a different device.

The Tosh HF85 sets seem to be very picky about how 1080i source material is received through the HDMI input. My Samsung 931 DVD player works fine with a DVI to HDMI cable, but my newer Oppo DVD player with a HDMI output is not compatible with the Toshiba 34HF85 set and exhibits the noise you are describing when I play DVD's and select 1080i resolution on the Oppo.

The guy who did the ISF calibration on my set suspected the problem was in how the Toshiba set decodes the copy-protection information though the HDMI input, but this is just speculation on his part. For now, I am ok so long as I play my DVD's on the Samsung 931 and don't attempt to recenter my STB in the setup menu. I worry that with future upgrades (new STB, new DVD player) this noise problem will again crop up through the HDMI input until Toshiba addresses this issue.

I hope all Toshiba owners who are experiencing this problem and the "white glow" issue on the component inputs on these HF85 series sets are reporting this information to Toshiba to exert some pressure on the company to investigate and resolve these issues.

No shadow lines or white glow on my 34HF85.

I've had both my STB and Sony upconverting DVD player outputing 1080i over HDMI into the TV, no problems in either configuration.

NBC HD channels (and all HD channels) look great, no tint.

No shadow lines or white glow on my 34HF85.

I've had both my STB and Sony upconverting DVD player outputing 1080i over HDMI into the TV, no problems in either configuration.

NBC HD channels (and all HD channels) look great, no tint.

mkreef - What is the build date on your 34HF85? It's great that you have a set that does not exhibit these problems -- good for you. Also, what model STB and DVD player do you have and do they have DVI or HDMI outputs?

My Setup -
I just setup my Toshiba 34HF85. I have an Acoustic Research HDMI Pro II cable connecting the TV to the STB (set-top-box). The STB is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR.

Problem -
As i have read on this forum and others I to noticed a shadowing effect or black bars running horizontally across the screen. However this effect only occurs while on a HD program. As a side note I have a Toshiba DVD player connected via component cables and have no problems. This flickering/shadow effect is extremely noticeable while watching a HD football game. The green field contrasting with the player movement makes the shadowing effect.

Information -
When setting up the STB I thought that since I have a 1080i TV the STB should also be set to 1080i. However this is incorrect. Not all HD programs are broadcast in 1080i. CNET has a list of which channels are 1080i or 720p. I noticed while watching Monday Night Football which is on ABC was having a problem with the shadowing. After looking on CNET - ABC broadcasts in 720p.

Solution -
The Scientific Atlanta 8300HD can be configured for a wide variety of different modes. With the STB off (but still with the clock lit) hold down Guide and Info (to the left of the clock & the 2 buttons are next to each other). Hold them down for about 3 seconds and a guide appears on the TV. I did not realize that multiple modes could be selected until i tried it. I selected both 1080i and 720p. Power on the STB and configure the settings (use the remote and push the settings button twice). In there is a option to configure what the STB will do when tuned to various channels. I think it is listed under Video Settings. There is some options including Auto, Upconvert-1, Upconvert-2, and Fixed. I selected Auto. Now when tuning to a 1080i channel or a Non HD channel the signal to the TV from the STB is 1080i. But now the 720p shows (like Monday Night Football) are sent to the TV in 720p. Along with that the picture is perfect. NO, shadowing, flickering. Just a very clean picture. Perfect like it should be!

I hope this helps anyone with this problem, as it drove me nuts for a few days! :cool: :D

Setup:

Toshiba 34HF85
Direct TV HR10-250

Problem:

Intermittent moving black splotches and/or lines, color shifting. Seen in recorded broadcast HD and live mostly on CBS, not during commercials. SD is fine.

The problem either originates in the TV, the TIVO or in the broadcast.

Same observation when viewing an "upconverting" DVD recorder via HDMI.

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