Maxent 50" plasma MX-50X3 official thread - DO NOT POST PRICES!!! [Text View] - Page 8

Tigershark

07-21-06, 05:41 AM

I, like most people here believe that the MX-50X3 had Panasonic glass. However, on another forum, someone is saying that it is actually Samsung glass. Here is the discussion:

Poster:

Your info is not correct. The Maxent offered next month at Costco uses a new generation Samsung S50AY-XB03 PDP panel and the older Maxent 50X3 used the earlier generation S50AX-XB01 Samsung PDP so they should be similar in terms of black levels. Regent International has never had any business relationship with Panasonic nor used any of their PDPs in any Regent product AKA Maxent/Sampo/Gateway. This is ongoing mis-information spread by Panasonic affiliates to ignorant members over at the AVS forums which is largely sponsered by Panasonic affiliates. Regent International whose US franchise is named RegentUSA is the ONLY OEM \ manufacturer of the Maxent/Sampo/Gateway brand names and they will flat out tell you they do not use Panasonic PDPs. Call RegentUSA support @ 1-888-373-4368 if you don't believe it.

Edit: Added Regent tech support number

My response:

I find it hard to below that everyone on AVS is wrong about the source of the panel in the 50X3. Several members have seen the "M" logo (for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. - the parent company of Panasonic) on the inside of the panel. I have never heard anyone claim that the Maxent uses Samsung parts. It is true that Maxent tech support will not say they use Panasonic panels in their displays - but that is probably due to Panasonic limiting them.

Their counter response:

LOL it just goes to show how clueless most on the AVS forums really are. The blind leading the blind. First Matsushita is a world leader in PDP panel production but ironically they do NOT supply PDP panels for Panasonic or any of their other divisions. Ironically Panasonic PDP poroduction is outsourced to Toray a PDP panel manufacturer which does have a joint manufacturing agrement with Matsushita but they do not use Matsushita components or glass. Second Maxent has NEVER used any Matsushita PDPs in ANY plasma they have ever produced. The have a six year standing relationship with Samsung and that is not going to change anytime soon. That is just more mis-information from those Panasonic BIAS AVS guys. Third actual Matsushita based PDPs have no "M" logo or other identifying logo identifying them as a Matsushita panel as you suggest. Matsushita PDPs use a product identifier label that simply states Matsushita Electric in normal 10pt text right above the panel model number and mfg date. Matsushita PDP panel part numbers start with a Y for commercial panels and a Z for consumer panels. We order and work with replacement PDP panels for just about ever major brand OEM on a daily basis so save your assumptions for somone else. HeHe maybe try your luck over at the Panasonic AVS forums?

I bought the 50X3 on the belief stated here that it had Panasonic glass. All specs and discussions on other boards seem to support this. So is there any validity to this posters claims. He "sounds" knowledgeable, but this is the first I have ever heard of this.

Any opinions on this?

chiltown

07-21-06, 07:11 AM

What the deal with price posting? I posted a thread asking why prices could not be posted and it was apparantly deleted. What is the issue here with comparing prices. A forum is only as good as ALL the information allowed. Is this a vendor site?

Yea, it is kinda annoying not having the ability to post prices but they don't want to upset the advertisers that pay for this site. Of course, one could argue that the advertisers on this site shouldn't have anything to worry about if they are truly price competitive in the first place...

koach

07-21-06, 08:15 AM

TJ22

07-21-06, 10:55 AM

The M logo is CLEARLY visible to me through the port holes on the back of my Maxent MX50X3. I tried to take a picture of it but it is very difficult. I will try again tonight.

jonnythan

07-21-06, 10:57 AM

Throughout this thread, I've read countless posts from people who were able to prove it was panasonic glass. It sounds like this guy is very anti-AVSForum. He's probably a disgruntled panasonic owner as well. I'd ignore him.
Who "proved" it was Panasonic glass?

Link please.

I might go and take a look at some Panasonic plasma TV's to look for the same logos on the chips as my Maxent... then I'll go look at some Samsungs.

Interesting statements, I'd love to know for sure.

jonnythan

07-21-06, 10:57 AM

The M logo is CLEARLY visible to me through the port holes on the back of my Maxent MX50X3. I tried to take a picture of it but it is very difficult. I will try again tonight.
"First Matsushita is a world leader in PDP panel production but ironically they do NOT supply PDP panels for Panasonic or any of their other divisions. Ironically Panasonic PDP poroduction is outsourced to Toray a PDP panel manufacturer which does have a joint manufacturing agrement with Matsushita but they do not use Matsushita components or glass."

nhbob

07-21-06, 02:01 PM

A couple hundred? The Harmony 628 is only $50 and clearly outshines any typical universal or learning remote that relies on input codes or direct programming using the old remote.

If you can spend $2500 on a TV, a $50 remote that has such impressive functionality is a pittance. He said that his current remote simply didn't work with the Maxent.

Can you tellme where to get this at $50?

jonnythan

07-21-06, 02:57 PM

The stores that had it for $50 or under seem to be backordered at the moment.. but here are some links:

$59.99, in stock
http://www.datavis.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/proddisp.d2w/report?prrfnbr=457176&site=PRGB

eBay, new in box $39.99 buy-it-now with $12.95 shipping:
Item # 250008924707
Seller has 351 feedbacks at 100% positive.

TJ22

07-21-06, 03:32 PM

I wasnt saying it was or was not panasonic I am saying I see the M logo exactly like the Matsushita logo.

Tigershark

07-21-06, 05:55 PM

Seems like there are a couple of possible scenarios here regarding the origin of the panel in the MX-50X3:

1) It is manufactured by Matsushita, as indicated by the "M" logo, which is consistent with Panasonic plasmas.

2) It is manufactured by Matsushita, as indicated by the "M" logo, but it is not the same as the panels in Panasonic plasmas (which actually uses panels made by Toray).

3) It is manufactured by Samsung, using the old S50AX-XB01 panel.

Anyone here also own a Panasonic PDP that can help shed light on this?

Njmurvin

07-21-06, 06:54 PM

Tigershark

07-21-06, 08:04 PM

I realize this might be relevant to someone who hasn't yet purchased this unit.

I'm just curious if this really matters to someone who already owns the Maxent and likes it. Would finding out that it's really Samsung innards change your opinion of the product? For some, it might explain a lot . . . .

In reality, knowing that it is a Pansonic panel, a Samsung panel, or a whatever panel won't change how the PDP actually performs. It will have the same look and feel as it did before.

This is mainly for my curiosity and knowledge, since the notion that the MX-50X3 used "Panasonic parts" was, in my opinion, commonly believed (if not actually stated) in this thread. This was my first HDTV and I have been mostly satisfied with my purchase - its just that the idea that the parts were Panasonic (which seem to be highly regarded around AVS) was a nice comfort blanket around an expensive purchase of a relatively unknown brand like Maxent.

This knowledge is definitely valuable to those still looking to purchase this model.

Tigershark

07-21-06, 09:13 PM

Going back through the Maxent 42X3 thread and this one, here is a recap of previous detective work:

MX-50X3

11-02-05, 03:40 PM #37 (Print)
TJ22:

I am not saying for sure it is a panny but it has the following number tnpa3562 which the only result on google was panasonic.

11-02-05, 03:43 PM #38 (Print)
TJ22:

I think this is the panel number: MC127H27D8

I got no search results.

11-02-05, 04:11 PM #41 (Print)
RickHouTX:

By the way;

Manufacturer Part#: TNPA3562
Manufacturer: PANASONIC (MATSUSHITA)
Description: PC BOARD

Are there any other internal numbers or symbols that you can see?

11-02-05, 04:17 PM #42 (Print)
TJ22:

I has an M like the bottom left image. And it is made in japan june 2005.

11-02-05, 05:37 PM #48 (Print)
Motegi:

The first two letters "MC" of the PDP panel model designation most assuredly means that the 50x3 plasma panel is a Matsushita/Panasonic part just as seen with the Maxent 42x3 plasma. The letters "MC" are also printed on the plasma panels contained in the current generation Panasonic-brand plasma televisions.

TJ22:
Alright the internal label (I tried multiple times to get a pict, couldnt) so here is what it says

Line 1: (That M logo) M Jun 2005
Line 2: MC127H27D8
Line 3: Serial no. XXXXXXXXX
Line 4: Ve. 150V, Vsus 178V
Line 5: Made in Japan TQFC891

The 42X3 thread has a similar discussion, confirming the "M" logo. See this discussion:

Playdrv4me 09-25-05 09:32 PM

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

Im surprised there is not more interest in the origin of the panel, someone gave you guys a huge clue several pages back posting the model number "MCxxx" and origin of manufacture as Japan...

Well, theres only one Manufacturer that I know of that is Japanese, places the date of mfr and version number and uses MC at the beginning of its internal Panel part number designations... and thats Panasonic.

For example the MC94W32P2 is the official designation for a 37 inch Matsushita panel used in some Panasonic branded 37 inch models. This explains the quality of the picture versus the Best Buy version.

Just a tidbit... you all might want to follow up on that. Youll know if its a Panasonic panel because it will have the Matsushita logo (a "M" inside a cube) most likely just ahead of the part number designation.

Id say based on the information given its pretty much 99 percent accurate to say everyone here got a good deal on a repackaged Panasonic glass panel. The further question would be what generation it is.

wfujosh 10-19-05 01:07 PM

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

Quote:
Originally Posted by Motegi
When the tech has the back panel open take a peek and see if you can find any identifying logos or serial numbers on the plasma panel to determine it's manufacturer origin. This might answer the Panasonic panel rumors.

I couldn't get a picture, but I did write down all the info

LOGO: The logo is like a McDonald's "M" (a curved M) with legs like this:
_ _
| \/ |
|_ _|

Next to the logo is the date May 2005

Then the rest of the info:

MC106H30D8
Ser. #: YL532xxxx
Ve: 160V, Vsus 188V
Made in Japan TQFC850

That's what I got. Hope it helps.

Thanks for your info!

Doing some research I have found an image of the logos for Matsushita Electric Corporation (parent company of Panasonic). Here it is:

Having this logo stamped on the Maxent's plasma panel in addition to the plasma panel product number starting with the initials MC (Matsushita Corp) and it's country of origin listed as Japan is proof that the Maxent MX-42X3 indeed contains a Panasonic OEM HD plasma panel as several have speculated. That being the case and with production dates ranging from 5/05 to 7/05 (newer generation panel) makes the Maxent 42X3 one of the best deals on the market at this time!

Motegi 10-21-05 12:16 PM

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Ok. I already added this info onto a different thread but since this is the official Maxent 42x3 thread it really belongs here. Here are the facts about the MX-42x3:

1) Matsushita/Panasonic 42" HD plasma panel -
The panel has the Matsushita logo printed onto it, is labeled as "Made in Japan", mfg dates btw 5/05 and 8/05 make it newer generation?

2) Large green circuit board along the top of the set is marked as TNPA3553 -
According to Union Electronic Distributors (UED.net) electronic parts database this circuit board's origin is: "PC BOARD PANASONIC (MATSUSHITA)"

3) The largest circuit board, a gold colored panel that occupies the central position inside the case, is marked as ETXMM563MDK -
Based on the database at UED.net parts database this circuit board's origin is again: "PC BOARD PANASONIC (MATSUSHITA) "

So 3 of the major internal components inside the MX-42X3's case are manufactured by Matsushita/Panasonic corporation (the perennial favorite plasma mfg on these forums). So the supposed "third tier" HD plasma that is the Maxent 42X3 doesn't seem quite so low-end after all...

Here is the source of the Samsung theory:

FYI For those questioning the Maxent name, the MX-42X3 uses the same OEM Samsung PDP panel used by many other OEMs in their high end plasma products . The PDP in this Maxent is the Samsung S42AX-XB02 which is the successor to the popular S42AX-XB01 found in the Toshiba 42HP83, 42HP84, Panasonic TH 42PHD7UY, and the Philips Ambilight 42PF9966/37 among others.

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

Panasonic makes their own Plasma panels. They use their own OEM PDP panels in their products, and also provide it to Fujitsu.

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

Sorry but you are TOTALLY clueless. Between FW and the bogus "experts" over at AVSforums the amount of mis-information stated on the Internet about Panasonic plasmas is absolutely pathetic. Panasonic has NOT manufactured PDP panels for almost 5 YEARS. The last models that used a Panasonic PD was the TH-42PDW4UY. Panasonic has NEVER produced HDTV PDP panels. ALL their sets including their so called top of the line TH-42XV series use Samsung OEM PDPs

Although we still don't know if Panasonic PDP's actually use a Matsushita-made panel, the evidence doesn't seem to support the theory that the 50X3 uses a Samsung panel. It would thus seem that Scenario #2 is the most likely (It is manufactured by Matsushita, as indicated by the "M" logo, but it is not the same as the panels in Panasonic plasmas (which actually uses panels made by Toray or someone else)).

tingham

07-22-06, 05:33 PM

I love this display except for one MAJOR problem and that's the false contouring I see mostly in shadows. For example, I watched Platoon and the night scenes were almost unwatchable. For those who don't know what this is (I was told previously this was "black crush"), here's the CNET definition:

"An artifact common to fixed-pixel displays that produces splotchy, distinct sections in what should be gradual gradations of color or shadows. Also referred to as solarization and posterization."

This explains it exactly. From what I have read on the subject, this is something a lot of plasmas are subject to - but some are better than others. Apparently, my Maxent is not one of the better examples.

Does anyone know if there are settings that might help this? If not, sadly, I am very likely going to return this to Costco and get another brand.

Sounds like your HD Tivo is not sending such a great signal to the Maxent for some reason. Try Platoon on Dvd and compare it to the tivo-my guess is it will be alot better. I only see false contouring on analog feeds. It is very rare on hd feeds and dvd's on my setup!! FWIW I do not care what parts or panel are in my maxent. I have had problems with all tv manufacturers and don't prefer any manufacturer over another. Either you get lucky/ no problems with the unit- or unlucky/problems. The 50x3 has the best picture/cost ratio of any pdp out there in my opinion. I was hesitant on buying the unit just because it might have Panasonic parts in it. But what can you do. All tv manufacturers use electronics and if a component goes then it goes!

koach

07-23-06, 04:01 PM

Who "proved" it was Panasonic glass?

Link please.

I might go and take a look at some Panasonic plasma TV's to look for the same logos on the chips as my Maxent... then I'll go look at some Samsungs.

Interesting statements, I'd love to know for sure.

i remember reading it awhile in this very thread. i have no idea what page or post number.

AVNoobster

07-23-06, 04:26 PM

AVNoobster

07-23-06, 04:27 PM

i assume you use component connection for the other inputs--how do the component connections fair? better with DVD player? or with HD cable box?

koach

07-23-06, 10:01 PM

i was curious as to how people are/intend to utilize only 1 HDMI input? for example, i anticipate getting a PS3 as well, tack that on top of the HDMI needed for my DVD player and another for my cable box...?

I use component for eveything now, because I've never seen anye vidence or read any review of a product where the PQ was noticeable\y better with HDMI versus component. However, once HDMI becomees the norm, I'll buy a receiver that does HDMI switching. I currently have a receiver that does component switching, and i run all of my devices (xbox, dvd, HD DVR) through it over component cables, then out from there to the TV via component cables

clintyarborough

07-24-06, 05:20 PM

I use component for eveything now, because I've never seen anye vidence or read any review of a product where the PQ was noticeable\y better with HDMI versus component. However, once HDMI becomees the norm, I'll buy a receiver that does HDMI switching. I currently have a receiver that does component switching, and i run all of my devices (xbox, dvd, HD DVR) through it over component cables, then out from there to the TV via component cables

+1, although I don't look forward to switching to HDMI. I ran mine in HDMI and Component and couldn't tell a difference. The only difference I had was that the Cable box would drop the HDMI and display the your set doesn't support HDMI if you turned off the tv and left the cablebox on. So, I would have to turn off the cable box and turn it back on to get it to sync up again. Annoying enough for me to switch back to component. I have a friend that also experienced the same thing with his projector, except his wouldn't resync very well, and he would have to cycle both the projector and the box until they magically synced up. He also switched back to component.

ihatems

07-25-06, 11:23 PM

In reference to this whole Toray/Samsung/Panny issue.....

First off, I think its for sure that the Maxent 50x3 is NOT a Samsung Panel.

Second, Toray is funded by Matsushita ... I saw an article on skyretailer_dot_com from Jan 2006 about some 1.5$ billion dollar plant that is "joint venture", which means Matsushita basically runs this Toray plant, which means they probably badge the panels coming out of Toray plant with the "M" logo.... That anti-AVS dude probably doesn't realize how interconnected all these companies are....here's a snippet of what I read...

Panasonic and chemical group Toray Industries announced plans to build a new plasma display panel (PDP) manufacturing facility in Japan. The facility will be the fourth plant of their PDP joint venture, Matsushita PDP Company, giving Panasonic the largest PDP production capacity in the world.

With an investment of 180 billion yen, (approximately $1.5B), the world's largest PDP plant will be situated next to Matsushita's third PDP plant in Amagasaki, Japan. The new plant will have a production capacity of 6 million panels per year (based on 42-inch screen-size panels).

Matsushita will start construction of the new plant in May with production scheduled to commence in July 2007. When it reaches its full capacity by March 2009, Panasonic's total PDP output will be lifted to 11.1 million panels per year. The new plant is Panasonic's fifth PDP manufacturing facility.

"The new plant will employ state-of-the-art process technologies and production systems that are more advanced than those of the third plant in Amagasaki, which began production in September 2005," said Ken Morita, President of Matsushita. "The new systems and technologies will bring greater mass production efficiencies to the whole process while ensuring higher quality."

I'd still like to find out the 7th or 8th generation question though.....

Tigershark

07-26-06, 03:42 PM

Thanks for the article. I knew the Samsung theory was pretty far-fetched. It is amazing how inter-connected all these companies really are.

index

07-26-06, 06:21 PM

how does the pic quality of this compare to the 42x3?

mproper

07-27-06, 12:59 PM

Silly question, but how are you supposed to clean the screen on plasmas? Can I just use regular Windex, or is there something special I should buy?

mattsoft

07-27-06, 01:27 PM

Silly question, but how are you supposed to clean the screen on plasmas? Can I just use regular Windex, or is there something special I should buy?

I use a soft cloth (like an old t-shirt) that has been slightly dampened with water.

Search the forum and you'll find all sorts of recommendations.

TJ22

07-27-06, 02:06 PM

Silly question, but how are you supposed to clean the screen on plasmas? Can I just use regular Windex, or is there something special I should buy?

I used windex once and it didnt appear to damage it but I read later that it can be really bad for the anti glare coating.

A damp soft cloth is suggested and I believe you can use the screen cleaner for LCDs.

index

07-27-06, 04:07 PM

how does the pic quality of this compare to the 42x3?

Is it worth upgrading from a 42X3?

tingham

07-27-06, 09:48 PM

Silly question, but how are you supposed to clean the screen on plasmas? Can I just use regular Windex, or is there something special I should buy?

You should never use a ammonia based cleaner (windex) on a plasma panel- It could definitely damage the coating on the panel. No wood based products such as paper towels or tissues since they can put surface scratches on the panel. You should use a microfiber cloth to clean the panel. I have the Monster lcd cleaning kit that I use. It has a nice microfiber cloth and cleaning fluid with the kit. I have not used the fluid since the maxent owners manuel says to only use water on a damp cloth if necessary-and so do the instructions on the monster kit. The kit is relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at most b&m stores-CC or BB.

tingham

07-27-06, 09:49 PM

Is it worth upgrading from a 42X3?

Same picture quality!! If you want a bigger panel-then yes it is!

chearn

07-28-06, 09:45 PM

I went to Costco today and told me they have stopped selling the Vizio 50" so I thought about waiting on the new Maxent coming in August.

Question is, is that model from Vizio being discontinued...are they releasing a newer Vizio 50" soon? Should I go to Sams and try and find one?

Or...wait on the new Maxent 50" coming next month? Anyone have opinions are what is happening with these guys?

BTW, i saw a commercial on ESPN today for the Vizio 50" at Sams...thought that was indicative of how fast Vizio is going after the market and how much demand there is for HDTVs at wholesale clubs...BB and CC seem like such ripoffs.

slksc

07-28-06, 10:25 PM

I went to Costco today and told me they have stopped selling the Vizio 50" so I thought about waiting on the new Maxent coming in August.

Not to worry. The 50-inch Vizio monitor is being replaced by a new Vizio 50" HDTV with a tuner. All reports suggest that the new model is otherwise identical to the previous version, but we haven't heard enough reports from actual users to confirm this. If your warehouse doesn't have it yet, it will soon.

Whether the new Vizio will better than the Maxent, I have no idea.

tech0215

07-30-06, 12:58 PM

Hi,
I also have a Maxent 50 inch plasma and I was able to get the Time Warner remote to work (using a long trial and error test) with the plasma by using TV code 228.

Cheers,
tech0215

I have the same problem with Time Warner and my Scientific Atlanta box. Koach said he was able to get around this with a learning universal remote. I tried to pick one up at Radio Shack, but it didnt work.

Koach, which remote did you get?

Thanks

Tigershark

07-30-06, 10:34 PM

I know this has been asked before, but I don't recall seeing an answer. Does any one know the remote code to input into an Atlas 4 or 5 cable remote control to control the MX-50X3? My Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box uses this remote. I have tried the Sampo codes mentioned earlier, and the automated code scan, but no success.

Update: Found some posts back in Jan 2006 regarding this. Doesn't seem to be any solution. One poster used code 1191, others report that this didn't work for them. Other remotes use Sampo codes, and the newer/better ones have Maxent specific codes. Otherwise, it seems I'm out of luck with using the cable box remote. Time to get a universal remote with learning capability.

Update: Picked up the entry-level Harmony 628 from Amazon.com for $45. Worked like a charm. Just had to adjust the delay when switching input settings. The default 3 seconds is too short - I used 8 seconds.

Also, aren't Time Warner / Scientific America codes 4 digits? 228 and 0228 don't work for my SA 8300HD.

Hskr8

08-01-06, 01:04 PM

I am also considering this display... the other being a JVC Lcos HDG787 rear projection, but am worried about dust (and dog hair) with rear projection televisions.

Am I wrong in thinking that dust, dog hair, dander etc wont be an issue for Plasma sets like this one?

tingham

08-01-06, 07:19 PM

Am I wrong in thinking that dust, dog hair, dander etc wont be an issue for Plasma sets like this one?

It seems dust does not accumulate on my Maxent nearly as much as my xbr sony crt.
I might clean the Maxent once every 2 months and the crt almost every week-so your thinking on this subject is right according to my experience.

mproper

08-06-06, 09:30 PM

My TV has started having a problem....or maybe it's the Tivo. Anyways, while watching TV through the Tivo (recorded or Live), the TV switches back and forth between input "AV1[S]" (which shows the picture) and then to plain old AV1 (with no picture). It is very unpredictable, but happens in spurts, where it will do it for 5 minutes, and then go back like nothing is wrong.

Here are the things I've tested:
1) The Tivo recording. I have rewound to one of the "blank" parts and it has shown up fine.

2) I unplugged the S-Video cable from the Tivo to cause loss-of-signal to the TV. The TV switched to the blue-screen and not AV1.

Anybody else see this? It's a bit worrisome, and I'm not sure what it could be other than the TV switching inputs on it's own. Any ideas?

I posted the above back in April. At the time I just switched the stuff over to AV2, which worked fine up until a few days ago, when it began behaving the same way. Basically it should be on AV2[s], which is the S-Video, but then it will just randomly switch to AV2 (which must be the RCA jack which is not being used) and back and forth and back and forth....sometime it will stay on one for 5 seconds, sometimes 20, sometimes 1..etc, then it will switch to the other one again.

I guess I need to have Maxent make a support call. I filled out the form on the site, but will probably call them tomorrow. Anybody else seeing this problem? Anybody use their support and how responsive are they?

TJ22

08-11-06, 12:14 AM

I thought we settled on this long ago.
Panasonic debate
http://panasonic.net/index.html : says Matsushita at the bottom.

I figured I would take picts of the label, although they didnt come out very good, you can see the M logo and it says made in japan.
http://users.adelphia.net/~tejj/images/P1010006_2.JPG
http://users.adelphia.net/~tejj/images/P1010008_2.JPG

gabriele25

08-20-06, 07:16 PM

if anyone is interested in a used 50x3 pm me, please. mods delete my post if this is against the rules

gabriele25

08-21-06, 05:47 PM

Here's a tip for anyone with an xbox 360. If you use a vga cable and select 1024x768 as the resolution you get perfect geometry. It is pretty much 1:1 and the picture is greatly improved.

huntah

08-21-06, 05:48 PM

I am also looking for four digit OTW code for maxent monitor. any other suggestions other than buying learning remote? Maybe a newer box? or remoter from OTW?

Tigershark

08-22-06, 05:13 AM

I am also looking for four digit OTW code for maxent monitor. any other suggestions other than buying learning remote? Maybe a newer box? or remoter from OTW?

I had no luck in my search for a working code. Finally just bought a Harmony 628 (~$45) which had the 50X3 right in its list of codes.

gotchaforce

08-31-06, 05:10 AM

jawatkin

08-31-06, 07:22 AM

hey fellow maxent owners.. havent visited this thread in a while

i dunno if this has been discussed before but do you guys notice a green push??

million dollar baby, snatch, and collateral are some recent movies that make peoples faces look like a fishes greenish "oily" skin (if that makes any sense).

that with false contouring is getting a bit on my nerves i must say, returning it would be a hassle but it would work

Hmmm... Couldn't you fix the green fishy skin with a tint adjustment and a good calibration? This might also help with the false contouring, once you get the sharpness setting correct, as well. Might be easier than returning it.

maxent50

08-31-06, 12:25 PM

Sorry if this has already been asked. I just purchased the Maxent 50" and am aware that you can get to the service menu and adjust bias and what not by using the remote. My question is there a detailed description somewhere of the optimal settings for this tv including bias, contrast and what not? I also noticed on my playstation 2 that using the component input it doesnt go to both sides of the screen. My PS2 is setup for 16:9 and when changing setting on the tv remote nothing stretches it all the way to the edges..thanks for any help. I like this tv so far just want to tweak it a bit. :cool:

index

08-31-06, 12:31 PM

Sorry if this has already been asked. I just purchased the Maxent 50" and am aware that you can get to the service menu and adjust bias and what not by using the remote.

how do you get into the service menu with the remote?

maxent50

08-31-06, 01:02 PM

press up 5 times then down 5 times and hit the position button and it will popup in the left hand corner of the screen with bias info and setting in hex..Just not sure what they should be set to :) Be careful in there.

NOTE: This is on the new 50" from Maxent selling at costco

Armus

08-31-06, 01:26 PM

hey fellow maxent owners.. havent visited this thread in a while

i dunno if this has been discussed before but do you guys notice a green push??

million dollar baby, snatch, and collateral are some recent movies that make peoples faces look like a fishes greenish "oily" skin (if that makes any sense).

that with false contouring is getting a bit on my nerves i must say, returning it would be a hassle but it would work

i fixed mine by hooking up a laptop to it and adjusting the colors. the instructions are somewhere in this thread.

-armus

jonnythan

08-31-06, 02:06 PM

gotchaforce

09-02-06, 08:55 AM

Hmmm... Couldn't you fix the green fishy skin with a tint adjustment and a good calibration? This might also help with the false contouring, once you get the sharpness setting correct, as well. Might be easier than returning it.

my sharpness is on 0.. i consider anything higher to leave little color halos around every piece of text on the screen

and by false contouring i mean every possible shadow on this thing has a bunch of blocky looking sh!# at the edges of it, its not just like a couple of films either.. its my xbox360, comcast HD channels, DVDs, computer.. whatever

jawatkin

09-02-06, 11:18 AM

i fixed mine by hooking up a laptop to it and adjusting the colors. the instructions are somewhere in this thread.

-armus

Did you just guess on what to set them to? Or do you have equipment to measure the output? Any pointers?

newmax

09-03-06, 01:21 PM

jawatkin

09-04-06, 09:17 AM

Just purchased MX-50X3 from BB. Got everything hooked up to it OK and the picture is great. But I have a problem already. The TV quit working. The green power light blinks green. I tried unplugging for about an hour. When I plugged it back in, the orange light came on (as it should). But when I tried to turn it on, the green light came on for a few seconds, then started to blink again.

Can anybody help?

Hmmm... I have the 5020HPM from Costco (new Maxent 50"). Sounds like your unit may be defective. Was this a floor model? You may want to take it back to BB. I'm curious why you purchased it there and not the new model from Costco with the "Warranty" that Costco can offer you?

newmax

09-04-06, 12:07 PM

Hmmm... I have the 5020HPM from Costco (new Maxent 50"). Sounds like your unit may be defective. Was this a floor model? You may want to take it back to BB. I'm curious why you purchased it there and not the new model from Costco with the "Warranty" that Costco can offer you?

It was not a floor model. It was the last one in the box. As far as I can tell, the box had not been opened. I purchased it from BB because I couldn't pass up the 30% discount off the sale price, which ended up being an incredibly low price. They had 2 new and 2 floor models left. There are no Costco's in the Milwaukee area. Anyway, I called BB and they are going to send a tech out, but not for another two days. Thought maybe I could get it working before then.

sharkyziff

09-06-06, 03:31 PM

premio

09-11-06, 04:56 PM

Has anyone actually compared the MX-50X3 versus the MX-5020HPM side by side?

I have the 50X3 and am very pleased with it and my brother is considering getting a new plasma based on my 50X3 ( I have had it since Nov. 2005 and love it.) Just curious if the new 5020 display is any better or if he should jump on any remaining 50X3 units from BB.

Thanks! :D

Best Buy has the 50X5 in their system for as much as the X3. Expected arrival is only a few weeks and shoul dbe similar to the 5020 except for only 1 HDMI. A few calls to Maxent revealed the info, but they aren't releasing the spec sheet.

jeremyhelling

09-11-06, 08:45 PM

Best Buy has the 50X5 in their system for as much as the X3. Expected arrival is only a few weeks and shoul dbe similar to the 5020 except for only 1 HDMI. A few calls to Maxent revealed the info, but they aren't releasing the spec sheet.

Until I see it side by side with the 50x3 I wouldn't refer to it as an 'upgrade/update' or even on par as some of their other 50" PDPs are caca.

Njmurvin

09-13-06, 05:11 PM

my sharpness is on 0.. i consider anything higher to leave little color halos around every piece of text on the screen

and by false contouring i mean every possible shadow on this thing has a bunch of blocky looking sh!# at the edges of it, its not just like a couple of films either.. its my xbox360, comcast HD channels, DVDs, computer.. whatever
I'm with you!!! The false contouring on my panel is making it borderline unwatchable during dark scenes. At first I thought it was D* compression on my HDTIVO. However, I see it on DVDs and in SD. If there's a dark scene, there are swirling blotches in the shadows. One really horrible movie was Platoon, broadcast in HD on HBO - many dark scenes that were nearly unintelligible. Does anyone else see motion artifacts? I noticed it first during the basketball playoffs. I again noticed it during football. I thought a plasma would outperform LCD in motion detail. However, my Panny AE700 LCD front projector shows no signs of false contouring or motion artifacts.

The problem now is finding a make/model that doesn't demonstrate false contouring. I understand it's fairly common to plasmas. Any suggestions? I bought from Costco, so a model they offer would be best.

tingham

09-16-06, 05:56 PM

I'm with you!!! The false contouring on my panel is making it borderline unwatchable during dark scenes. At first I thought it was D* compression on my HDTIVO. However, I see it on DVDs and in SD. If there's a dark scene, there are swirling blotches in the shadows. One really horrible movie was Platoon, broadcast in HD on HBO - many dark scenes that were nearly unintelligible. Does anyone else see motion artifacts? I noticed it first during the basketball playoffs. I again noticed it during football. I thought a plasma would outperform LCD in motion detail. However, my Panny AE700 LCD front projector shows no signs of false contouring or motion artifacts.

The problem now is finding a make/model that doesn't demonstrate false contouring. I understand it's fairly common to plasmas. Any suggestions? I bought from Costco, so a model they offer would be best.

Of course you will see fc on sd material. If you feed the maxent a crap signal it will not perform well. Comcrap is having a free weekend of starz so i decided to watch "Flightplan" with jodie foster.It had alot of dark scenes. I watched it on the Starz-hd channel. I saw alot of false cont. If I watch the same movie on dvd I see little or no false cont. That tells me it is the signal coming from starz or comcast causing the problem not the maxent. I see fc on all the HBO-Hd, Starz-HD, Etc. But I do not see it on the main network feeds of HD movies-like abc-nbc-cbs they all look outstanding with very little or no fc at all. the hbo's ,starz signals are crap in my opinion unless you are watching them on a 36" crt tv or smaller. The maxent will excel if you feed it a good signal. I have Plattoon on dvd and it looks fine on my setup. I think all plasma's will show this issue if you feed them a crap signal and blow it up to 50". Alot of people have problems with tivo and picture quality. I think tivo is coming out with a new hd box in a couple of months and hopefully it will solve some tivo picture quality problems. As far as motion artifacts -I have never seen them on my Maxent.

SoopahMan

09-25-06, 04:02 AM

Just a follow-up from an owner - I bought this TV around February, and... it's a great TV.

I didn't care very much who made the glass beforehand as long as people here said it was good, whatever it was. Now that I have it and see that it's a great TV I don't care if it was made on Mars - it looks great.

I haven't had any of the color push issues that people seem to freak out about. I have seen the older Maxent 42" and its green-push issue and wonder if all the green tint concerns are people mixing up the 2 TVs, or worrying too much because of rumors that have drifted from that TV to this. To be honest, this Maxent has the best color representation of any display I've used - computer monitor or TV.

I've also found that all the rumors about bad picture quality, like bad shadows, to be untrue. If you've got that going on with your 50X3 (and it REALLY is a 50X3), it's your input. This thing's got a clean picture for any clean input.

I've also done one thing to this TV I imagine most have not: Shipped it across country in a wooden crate. Granted, I surrounded it with a box spring and a mattress to protect it, but nonetheless it survived the shipping from Boston to Los Angeles. The one thing I'd recommend for moving this TV is, take the side speakers off if you normally leave them on. The metal that attaches them can withstand force relative to the speakers but not the force of the TV shifting. One of my speakers was bent back 30 degrees when it arrived. I bent it back pretty cleanly with a wrench, though.

The 3 negatives I'd have to say, if I had anything bad to say:

The Zoom mode, to zoom up HD-shaped shows that are being shown with black bars on the top and bottom, only works in S-Video and Composite mode. This is the one thing I strongly dislike about this TV, because now and then a Component- or HDMI-fed channel has this faux-HD sort of broadcast, and it just looks silly. My current workaround is to feed my Digital Cable Box in through both S-Video and Component; that way I can kick down to S-Video and Zoom if need-be. If you're buying this TV, plan a workaround like this ahead of time so you aren't frustrated; you'll need your outputs to be flexible because of this TV's inflexibility.

The TV has a noticeable buzz sound, especially when you first turn it on, when it's warming up. I'm told this is just how plasmas work. It's extremely quiet - fine with me. It is occasionally audible to me in really quiet movies, which annoys me personally, but it seems I have better hearing than those I watch movies with.

The TV has a serious impact on heat and electricity usage. Showing an all-white image like a GAP commercial uses 550Watts of electricity (less for darker images) and generates a lot of heat. On a hot day that's heat you may not want in the room, though it was pleasant in Boston's cold winters. Turned off but still plugged into the wall it's a bit of a "vampire device," using 10Watts when off. Consider unplugging it at night; it will avoid the vampirism, and protect your expensive TV from lightning and power surges, for free.

gotchaforce

09-25-06, 09:01 AM

aaplzen

09-25-06, 01:20 PM

i'm thinking about hooking up my IBOOK or POWERMAC to this monitor. has anyone tried this? what were your experiences...challenges...?

jonnythan

09-25-06, 01:31 PM

hell even in tame DVDs like wedding singer, near the end of the movie when hes outside in the dark for a couple of minutes its false contouring city..
I think it's your DVD player. On my cheap DVD player, there is a ton of false contouring... but there was on my CRT set as well.

When I use my PC to watch movies, there is no false contouring.

jawatkin

09-25-06, 02:35 PM

i'm thinking about hooking up my IBOOK or POWERMAC to this monitor. has anyone tried this? what were your experiences...challenges...?

I hooked up my G5 via DVI->HDMI to the 5020HPM and there were no issues. Looked great and detected 1366x768 straight away!

Justin

jonnythan

09-25-06, 03:18 PM

You plugged your PC into the HDMI port and got 1366x768?

My PC would only allow 1280x720. The Maxent manual confirms that 1366x768 via HDMI is not possible.

jawatkin

09-25-06, 03:27 PM

You plugged your PC into the HDMI port and got 1366x768?

My PC would only allow 1280x720. The Maxent manual confirms that 1366x768 via HDMI is not possible.

Hmmm... I have a 5020HPM and it came right up. Running from a G5, though, as I said.

Justin

aaplzen

09-25-06, 07:53 PM

hi, my manual (version before yours) states that mac resolutions are not supported by my model (50X3). is there any mention of this in your manual? i'd look it up myself, but maxent hasn't made this available on their site yet. i'm gonna try to hook my MAC up as soon as i get my vga cable.

what kinda stuff do you do with the g5 and tv? have you noticed any early burn-in stuff? i figure your screen would have static images from OSX computing.

do you play video games on it? i plugged in my PS2 and discovered that it does not utilize the entire screen, so i no longer play on it.

thanks for sharing.

wes

jawatkin

09-25-06, 08:18 PM

aaplzen

09-26-06, 11:27 AM

SoopahMan

09-27-06, 03:58 AM

That's talked about a lot elsewhere and even in this thread but... basically on one hand plasmas aren't supposed to have the problems of CRTs, the burn-in problem, but at the same time they have a problem that works exactly the same way - people who get technical about it call it unevenly aged pixels, but it's the same result.

So, playing games with a lot of fixed items on the screen (or using PC apps, with the X in the top-right and the Start menu/taskbar at bottom) at length may cause you to notice a shadow of those in later images, but it takes more abuse on a plasma than on an older CRT.

So... yes. My thought on it is, if it would cost too much to replace, avoid playing any game or using the PC standard interface longer than an hour. If you have the money to replace the plasma eventually, then use it however you want - it's your TV, that's the idea.

Tigershark

09-27-06, 04:02 PM

Is it not recommended to hook up my PC to the 50X3 (or ANY plasma for that matter)? Tech support says I should limit my usage, but wouldn't give me anything definitive. Then why do they give very detailed instructions (in their manual) on how to do it via RGB port?

Anyone...anyone?

Cheers,

Wes

I used mine for PC use through the RGB port. The 50X3 can do 1366x768 (depending on your video card which would be perfect 1:1 pixel matching) through the RGB port, but is limited to only 1280x720 through the DVI -> HDMI port. I've used my 50X3 for PC use, and it works great. I just limit my use to 1 hour or less, and make sure to avoid static images and have my screen saver active. Other than that, enjoy the TV - there's nothing like surfing the net on a 50" screen.

aaplzen

09-27-06, 05:47 PM

I used mine for PC use through the RGB port. The 50X3 can do 1366x768 (depending on your video card which would be perfect 1:1 pixel matching) through the RGB port, but is limited to only 1280x720 through the DVI -> HDMI port. I've used my 50X3 for PC use, and it works great. I just limit my use to 1 hour or less, and make sure to avoid static images and have my screen saver active. Other than that, enjoy the TV - there's nothing like surfing the net on a 50" screen.
thanks for the reply. i agree with ya about surfing the net on a 50"er. are you a windoze or a mac guy? only reason i'm asking is i'd like to achieve 1:1 match, and need recommendations on video cards. i've no problem doing the research, but you seem to be up and running...

Njmurvin

09-27-06, 06:47 PM

Of course you will see fc on sd material. If you feed the maxent a crap signal it will not perform well. Comcrap is having a free weekend of starz so i decided to watch "Flightplan" with jodie foster.It had alot of dark scenes. I watched it on the Starz-hd channel. I saw alot of false cont. If I watch the same movie on dvd I see little or no false cont. That tells me it is the signal coming from starz or comcast causing the problem not the maxent. I see fc on all the HBO-Hd, Starz-HD, Etc. But I do not see it on the main network feeds of HD movies-like abc-nbc-cbs they all look outstanding with very little or no fc at all. the hbo's ,starz signals are crap in my opinion unless you are watching them on a 36" crt tv or smaller. The maxent will excel if you feed it a good signal. I have Plattoon on dvd and it looks fine on my setup. I think all plasma's will show this issue if you feed them a crap signal and blow it up to 50". Alot of people have problems with tivo and picture quality. I think tivo is coming out with a new hd box in a couple of months and hopefully it will solve some tivo picture quality problems. As far as motion artifacts -I have never seen them on my Maxent.
I'm not talking about SD material. I expect to see a crappy pic on SD. This complaint regards exclusively HD material. I have seen it both on DVDs (admittedly far from HD) and on D* HD. BTW, the HR10-250 HD Tivo (with D* tuners built-in) is the only HD Tivo made. It is being replaced by another HD DVR from D* which uses MPEG4 compression. We'll see if that makes any difference.

The other thing I haven't tried is to use the HDMI connection instead of component. I don't expect to see much difference.

premio

09-27-06, 07:04 PM

I'm not talking about SD material. I expect to see a crappy pic on SD. This complaint regards exclusively HD material. I have seen it both on DVDs (admittedly far from HD) and on D* HD. BTW, the HR10-250 HD Tivo (with D* tuners built-in) is the only HD Tivo made. It is being replaced by another HD DVR from D* which uses MPEG4 compression. We'll see if that makes any difference.

The other thing I haven't tried is to use the HDMI connection instead of component. I don't expect to see much difference.

SD material on my new Samsung 5053 looks so much better than the former Maxent. not nearly as much False Contouring. The Maxent did look great with HD, except for the floating black level.

TiVo released their Series 3 HD DVR with 2 cablecard inputs last week.

I have a HR-20 D* DVR and the MPEG4 looks the same as the MPEG2, but again you're comparing local channels to national HD feeds here.

jawatkin

09-27-06, 08:04 PM

SD material on my new Samsung 5053 looks so much better than the former Maxent. not nearly as much False Contouring. The Maxent did look great with HD, except for the floating black level.

TiVo released their Series 3 HD DVR with 2 cablecard inputs last week.

I have a HR-20 D* DVR and the MPEG4 looks the same as the MPEG2, but again you're comparing local channels to national HD feeds here.

What do you think about the HD on this set compared with the Maxent?

Justin

SStasinos

09-27-06, 08:40 PM

premio

09-28-06, 01:13 AM

What do you think about the HD on this set compared with the Maxent?

Justin

Hands down the Sammy wins on all accounts.

tingham

09-28-06, 09:15 PM

Hi All,

I have a problem where the picture settings on my Maxent keep getting reset to the factory defaults. It's not all the time, but it's every few days. Anyone heard of this problem?

It maybe all the settings that get reset, but the picture settings are the most noticable.

Thanks,
Steve

The only way that I know of -that the picture settings would reset- is if you push the recall button on the remote. If you or anyone else in your household is not pushing the recall button I would say you have a problem with the unit and should call maxent. P.S. Try to make sure no one is pushing the recall button on the remote by mistake.

sorahl

09-28-06, 10:51 PM

what would you pick?

the Maxent or the Panny 50PX6U? Is it really worth the extra?

jawatkin

09-28-06, 10:56 PM

what would you pick?

the Maxent or the Panny 50PX6U? Is it really worth the extra?

Well, I think you are talking about Costco, so this 50X3 is no longer available and you will be choosing between the 5020HPM and the 50PX6u. Only you can determine if it is worth the extra money, but the 6U is clearly a better set.

I am returning my 5020 to Costco this week and picking up either a 50PX60U, Samsung 5053, or a 50PH9UK... I hate my Maxent :(

Justin

SoopahMan

09-29-06, 03:08 AM

Well, it's not like it's not sold anymore - I got 50X3 at Best Buy at a great price, you don't have to shop at Costco... .

jawatkin

09-29-06, 07:44 AM

Well, it's not like it's not sold anymore - I got 50X3 at Best Buy at a great price, you don't have to shop at Costco... .

Hmm... That's weird. My BB only stocks the MX-50X5 now.

I wasn't telling him to only shop at Costco, I was just inferring from his Panasonic model number "6u" that it was either Costco or Sam's, as the same set at Best Buy (with the added SD slot) is "60u".

Justin

SoopahMan

09-30-06, 02:54 AM

Ah - is the X5 worse than the X3 somehow?

jawatkin

09-30-06, 08:46 AM

Ah - is the X5 worse than the X3 somehow?

I'm not really sure, but since it's a "new" model, they aren't on clearance. My 5020 is worse than the X3, it's going back today. And I'll be welcoming my new Panasonic on Tuesday. Hooray! :D

Justin

koach

09-30-06, 11:55 AM

SoopahMan

09-30-06, 06:01 PM

You know now that you mention it I have a similar problem... and maybe it is every setting not just the one I notice most. I have my Speakers set to Off usually because I'm running them through my 5.1 system instead, but periodically they'll switch on when I turn the TV on. Maybe everything gets reset at once... I'll look at picture settings and see if they've done the same.

For the speaker thing I've dealt with it since it's just one setting, and it's obvious when it's happened... .

amb1s1

10-30-06, 10:23 PM

I don't see the VGA input on this TV. When people stated that they a re using VGA cable are they mean that they are using VGA to RGB cables?

jonnythan

10-31-06, 12:09 AM

http://support.axiolearning.org/images/kyc/desktop/vga.jpg

That's a VGA connector. 15-pin D-Sub. Same connector found on PCs.

TC Rider

10-31-06, 09:37 AM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.

jonnythan

10-31-06, 09:59 AM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.
I knew I wasn't the only one :D

jeremyhelling

10-31-06, 11:50 AM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.

+1

RickHouTX

11-01-06, 09:14 AM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.

I've had mine one year now and am still very pleased with it. It has an awesome picture and zero problems. Once, I thought I had a problem but it turned out that my component cables were not plugged in tightly at the cable box. Having viewed HD material on my MX-3 for a year has given me a much better "eye" for comparing PQ of HD sets. If you are looking for great value in a HD set and you can still find an MX-3, grab it!

Neilster

11-01-06, 03:48 PM

I will chime in as well. For the money spent, When displaying HD sources, it is a damn fine monitor!

Greaseman

11-01-06, 06:27 PM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.
I give an amen to that!

10 months plus and still loving it, just waiting to see what standard wins out before I buy a DVD player. Otherwise it's DA BOMB for the price.

Tigershark

11-01-06, 06:43 PM

After seven months of ownership, I have really enjoyed my 50X3. True, the false contouring bothers me (evidently, a problem with most plasmas), SD isn't the greatest and I wish there were one more HDMI input. But otherwise, I love it.

amb1s1

11-06-06, 05:56 PM

Seeing how this thread has ressurected again, I just thought I'd mention that I've had my Maxent around 11 months now and I still have no regrets.
Another one here. I love my Maxent.

gabriele25

11-06-06, 07:08 PM

no problems with my set either except for false contouring. For the price point it was a great deal. I play on the 360 almost everynight

Njmurvin

11-09-06, 08:37 PM

Another vote for "overall satisfaction" AND another vote for "disappointed with the false contouring." I've come to live with it and still haven't heard anyone specify another brand/model that doesn't do it. The other thing I don't like about it is my Tivo remote doesn't have any codes that work with it (although I admit power on/off would be all I would use).

SoopahMan

11-10-06, 04:36 AM

If power on/off is truly all you want, there are small, cheap gadgets you can plug the TV into that themselves switch the power on/off in response to a remote click.

Tigershark

11-10-06, 04:47 AM

amb1s1

11-11-06, 04:43 PM

Anybody can post the best VGA setting. I just bought the Xbox 360 HD-Drive ADD-on.
Right now my settings are:
Contrast= 80
Brightness = 45
- These are the only setting that I can see that I can change.

gabriele25

11-12-06, 03:25 PM

I just got the 360 hd drive add on too. Since no one has mentioned the resolution thing again, does anyone else find it strange that you get 1:1 overscan wise and best image quality with 1024x 768? I guess that is because it is a 16:10 ratio, but I'm just curious. Hopefully, microsoft releases a 1366x768 option. I did my settings for hd dvd thru dve at 1024x768 on vga because there is no scaling pretty much 1:1 which is awesome. My settings are contrast-88 and brightness-37. I did this by first using the reverse grayramp scale to check my whites checking for discoloration, and then adjusting my blacks with the screen with the BTB 20% ambient light test. On a side note the false contouring in games like oblivion and splinter cell double agent is near unbearable. I would really have to compare this set though to a panny or pio plasma or even a sammy dlp or sxrd to see if it is the source aka the 360 or really god forbid the maxent. Microsoft was very smart by releasing King Kong, which is definitely video reference quality except for some of the skin tones being unnatural, and very slight blooming in outside skull island scenes. Anyone hooked up their sound system yet? That is my next project with the maxent, but does anyone know what happens to dolby digital 5.1? Bearing in mind that there is only analog sound outputs(I know another small annoyance, lol) how does dolby digital 5.1 sound? Hopefully, once I get the money for an ISF calibration vga input will look impeccable because right now my grayscale kind of sucks. I just started a collection of hd dvd's which is awesome and I use hidef digest to look at reviews. My first movie I have bought in the hd format is batman begins which kicks major ass. In dve I noticed a huge improvement when comparing the hd player versus 360 upscaling wise. In the resolution test if you check the black and white squares I could never clearly see the black square inside the black square. Now with the hd addon I can easily distinguish which means black are less crushed in sd format. I originally watched again several standard dvd's and I noticed a huge improvement versus upscaling with the 360 drive. I am an hd dvd guy for life now and can't wait until lotr and matrix comes out. The title list keeps growing which is awesome. I still can't believe for 200$ you get comparable quality to the toshiba A-1. For once I was glad that I am reasonably poor, lol and waited. Seriously, if you have a 360 get the addon. Anybody playing gears of war, yet? Damn this game is the bomb. I can only imagine how good future games will look once the compression techniques and development tools are better utilized. I still wish that mirosoft would have gave 2 gigs of memory and a sli setup but I guess cost-wise that would have been foolish. I think microsoft learned from their mistake and the next gaming system will be revolutionary. I can't believe quad-core processors are around the corner already. Sorry about the randomness, what can I say I am a random guy, lol

amb1s1

11-13-06, 07:27 AM

What is a clock Phase on the setting menu

amb1s1

11-15-06, 06:58 PM

Bump

SoopahMan

11-16-06, 03:36 PM

Read the thread.

serpentara

11-16-06, 07:06 PM

Bump for component and/or vga settings that minimize color banding/macroblocking for an XBox 360 and its HD-DVD drive. The fog scene in King Kong when they were on the boat, and the game Splinter Cell Double Agent were just killing me.

Its driving me crazy.

I currently have it set to 50 contrast 50 brightness 1 sharpness and the banding is painfully obvious.

serpentara

11-17-06, 12:31 PM

Ok best result was over VGA with a brightness of 50 contrast of 80.

I used the advanced THX optimizer on the incredibles DVD. The banding on King Kong all but dissapeard.

SoopahMan

11-18-06, 04:08 PM

Thanks for posting your findings. It seems these settings can vary widely between inputs and maybe even TVs, unfortunately.

Tigershark

11-20-06, 03:29 AM

Ok best result was over VGA with a brightness of 50 contrast of 80.

I used the advanced THX optimizer on the incredibles DVD. The banding on King Kong all but dissapeard.

I used to have the contrast set pretty high too - the fog scene in King Kong also drove me crazy. Never could get ride of the false contouring - don't know if banding is the same thing. I scaled back the contrast to 50 and am just learning to live with it.

serpentara

11-20-06, 03:02 PM

I used to have the contrast set pretty high too - the fog scene in King Kong also drove me crazy. Never could get ride of the false contouring - don't know if banding is the same thing. I scaled back the contrast to 50 and am just learning to live with it.

What is strange is that the same contrast and brightness settings over component do not fix the false contouring/banding/macroblocking (The clouds look they they are rendered in 16 colors) in the fog scene, but they do get fixed over VGA.

Same settings, same xbox 360, 2 different imputs, very different results.

gabriele25

11-23-06, 11:31 AM

that actually works in vga? It helps reduce the false contouring? I'll have to try that, thanx. I am enjoying my 360 a great deal nowadays. Hd-dvds + hi def gaming = bliss. The component input sucks ass, for some reason it has problems with black level fluctuation. Vga 1024x768 is where it is at.

gabriele25

11-23-06, 11:33 AM

yeah, the dark scenes in double agent and gears of war make me want to kick a hole in the wall sometimes.

Porch Song

11-26-06, 01:17 PM

Porch Song

11-27-06, 12:13 PM

Ok,

The VGA cables go right into the RGB input. Cool.

Now the bad--from what I have read, VGA/RGB causes the colors to "wash out." I have seen pics where the details seem less and the color not very deep. Did the update on XBOX360 help this issue? Etc.

Is this true?

Furthermore, you guys are mentioning running at 1368x768 -- doesn't this defeat the whole 1080i mode? Are we not trying to get 1080i? I see in the manual that the TV will do 1080i in RGB mode. So, what gives?

Can one of you guys running VGA give a review on its merits verses component?

Thanks

jonnythan

11-27-06, 12:57 PM

Gabriele25

I am quite confused.

1. Is the RGB port on the back of the MX3 the same as a VGA? Do you need a converter?

2. Or do you have a MX3 with a VGA?

3. Or do you not have a MX3?

I have the XBOX360 HD-DVD and would love to get it to VGA just to upscale my regular DVD's. But, there is NO VGA port on the MX3--at least the one I bought a year ago. Thus, is RGB just a different name for VGA or different hookup (meaning, is RGB the "male" hookup, and VGA is a "female" hookup?)

You guys are referencing hooking your system up to VGA and making adjustments, but how?
The Maxent MX-50X3 absolutely has a VGA port. It has a VGA in as well as a VGA out port.

I think the Maxent literature calls it RGB. They're the same thing. 15-pin D-Sub connection.

RE 1080i, the Maxent is not capable of displaying 1080 lines of resolution. The TVs resolution is much closer to 720 lines of resolution. Furthermore, plasma displays are progressive scan *only*. Both 1080i and 720p inputs are converted to 720p then to, essentially, 768p for display. For games, a 720p input will probably be indistinguishable from 1080i and in some cases may be better.

koach

11-27-06, 01:01 PM

Has anyone compared this TV to the Maxent MX-50X5? I currently have the MX-50X3, but it's been having some quirks lately. I have the extended warranty from Best buy, so I was going to have them come look at it. My concern is that if they are not able to fix it, they will replace it with the 50X5. I looked at the 50X5 at a Best Buy, and the PW was absolutely horrible. HD looked like analog cable. I'm sure it was just setup wrong, but all the other plasmas looked decent.

Thanks.

Tigershark

11-27-06, 04:49 PM

Also, the MX3 is capable of displaying a 1366x768 signal (if the source can produce it) from VGA/RGB, resulting in a perfect 1:1 pixel match. It can only receive 1280x720 through HDMI (such as DVI -> HDMI), which then has to be scaled up to 768p. That's one reason I stuck with VGA/RGB. In my opinion, the colors don't seem "washed out", but then I haven't hooked up my PC through the HDMI input yet. Anyone try comparing both ways with a PC?

Porch Song

11-27-06, 04:53 PM

The Maxent MX-50X3 absolutely has a VGA port. It has a VGA in as well as a VGA out port.

I think the Maxent literature calls it RGB. They're the same thing. 15-pin D-Sub connection.

RE 1080i, the Maxent is not capable of displaying 1080 lines of resolution. The TVs resolution is much closer to 720 lines of resolution. Furthermore, plasma displays are progressive scan *only*. Both 1080i and 720p inputs are converted to 720p then to, essentially, 768p for display. For games, a 720p input will probably be indistinguishable from 1080i and in some cases may be better.

Thanks for the information.

So, reading the manual I do see that it is a 1366x768 monitor....thus, what are we losing by the downscaling? Should we force everything 720p and not bother with 1080i?

jonnythan

11-27-06, 09:52 PM

SoopahMan

11-28-06, 05:49 AM

Thanks for the information.

So, reading the manual I do see that it is a 1366x768 monitor....thus, what are we losing by the downscaling? Should we force everything 720p and not bother with 1080i?No. If you force it to 720p you ask the TV to then upscale back upwards to 768. If you trust its scaling ability there then you ought to trust it scaling down from 1080i. The extra definition isn't tremendous but it is noticeable - and doing 2 conversions is just plain lossy and inefficient.

Convert as little as possible. Let the 1080i flow unhindered and let the TV get you optimal display on its own.

jonnythan

11-28-06, 08:23 AM

No. If you force it to 720p you ask the TV to then upscale back upwards to 768. If you trust its scaling ability there then you ought to trust it scaling down from 1080i. The extra definition isn't tremendous but it is noticeable - and doing 2 conversions is just plain lossy and inefficient.

Convert as little as possible. Let the 1080i flow unhindered and let the TV get you optimal display on its own.
From what I understand, this TV downscales 1080i into 540p before upscaling it back to fit the display. I could be wrong, but the more I use it the more I can notice 720p being noticeably better than 1080i.

mercury

11-28-06, 09:22 AM

From what I understand, this TV downscales 1080i into 540p before upscaling it back to fit the display. I could be wrong, but the more I use it the more I can notice 720p being noticeably better than 1080i.

wow ill have to try 720p....as of now i love the HD picture in 1080i.i had the Vizio and the Maxent blows the Vizio away for HiDef.

well not blows it away;)but it's noticeably better...

da_zek

11-28-06, 08:07 PM

MX-50X3 uses a panasonic glass. So does, MX-42X3, MX-42EPM20 and some up coming 58" model How do I know? I use to work for Maxent/Regent. Regent's employees (which I no longer am) are not allowed to disclose that Maxent uses Pana glass or else the company will risk Pana cutting off its supply. Maxent is the ONLY brand that Panasonic/Matsushita sells their panels to. For the idiot that said MX-50X3 uses Samsung, he needs to open up the unit and see the panel for himself.

And, I've never ever heard of Regent/Maxent having 6 years agreement with Samsung. Whoever is giving the counter response to Tiger must have a wacked source of info. FYI, Matsushita does make panels. I think it's funny how he calls ppl "blind" for saying this unit has a pana panel, I guess he's the blind one.

I, like most people here believe that the MX-50X3 had Panasonic glass. However, on another forum, someone is saying that it is actually Samsung glass. Here is the discussion:

Poster:

Your info is not correct. The Maxent offered next month at Costco uses a new generation Samsung S50AY-XB03 PDP panel and the older Maxent 50X3 used the earlier generation S50AX-XB01 Samsung PDP so they should be similar in terms of black levels. Regent International has never had any business relationship with Panasonic nor used any of their PDPs in any Regent product AKA Maxent/Sampo/Gateway. This is ongoing mis-information spread by Panasonic affiliates to ignorant members over at the AVS forums which is largely sponsered by Panasonic affiliates. Regent International whose US franchise is named RegentUSA is the ONLY OEM \ manufacturer of the Maxent/Sampo/Gateway brand names and they will flat out tell you they do not use Panasonic PDPs. Call RegentUSA support @ 1-888-373-4368 if you don't believe it.

Edit: Added Regent tech support number

My response:

I find it hard to below that everyone on AVS is wrong about the source of the panel in the 50X3. Several members have seen the "M" logo (for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. - the parent company of Panasonic) on the inside of the panel. I have never heard anyone claim that the Maxent uses Samsung parts. It is true that Maxent tech support will not say they use Panasonic panels in their displays - but that is probably due to Panasonic limiting them.

Their counter response:

LOL it just goes to show how clueless most on the AVS forums really are. The blind leading the blind. First Matsushita is a world leader in PDP panel production but ironically they do NOT supply PDP panels for Panasonic or any of their other divisions. Ironically Panasonic PDP poroduction is outsourced to Toray a PDP panel manufacturer which does have a joint manufacturing agrement with Matsushita but they do not use Matsushita components or glass. Second Maxent has NEVER used any Matsushita PDPs in ANY plasma they have ever produced. The have a six year standing relationship with Samsung and that is not going to change anytime soon. That is just more mis-information from those Panasonic BIAS AVS guys. Third actual Matsushita based PDPs have no "M" logo or other identifying logo identifying them as a Matsushita panel as you suggest. Matsushita PDPs use a product identifier label that simply states Matsushita Electric in normal 10pt text right above the panel model number and mfg date. Matsushita PDP panel part numbers start with a Y for commercial panels and a Z for consumer panels. We order and work with replacement PDP panels for just about ever major brand OEM on a daily basis so save your assumptions for somone else. HeHe maybe try your luck over at the Panasonic AVS forums?

I bought the 50X3 on the belief stated here that it had Panasonic glass. All specs and discussions on other boards seem to support this. So is there any validity to this posters claims. He "sounds" knowledgeable, but this is the first I have ever heard of this.

Any opinions on this?

Tigershark

11-28-06, 08:16 PM

MX-50X3 uses a panasonic glass. So does, MX-42X3, MX-42EPM20 and some up coming 58" models How do I know? I use to work for Maxent/Regent. Regent's employees (which I no longer am) are not allowed to disclose that Maxent uses Pana glass or else the company will risk Pana cutting off their supply. Maxent is the ONLY brand that Panasonic/Matsushita sells their panels to. For the idiot that said MX-50X3 uses Samsung, he needs to open up the unit and see the panel for himself.

I hope this finalizes once and for all that the MX-50X3 does use Panasonic/Matushita glass.

As a side question, do you know what glass the current Maxent 50" Plasma's use (the MX-50X5 @ Best Buy and the MX-5020HPM @ Costco)? Rumors have been that the MX-5020HPM uses Panasonic/Matushita glass as well, but it isn't listed above.

SoopahMan

11-29-06, 07:28 AM

The debate about Panasonic glass got old fast... I mean for crying out loud aren't the mountains of testimonials saying this TV rocks enough to not care if there's a P, M, or Prince symbol on the glass? Who cares? The TV is awesome, regardless of who put it together. Simple as that. I own one. I love it.

jonnythan

11-29-06, 08:16 AM

a Prince symbol on the glass?
That would be f'in cool.

LOL

Tigershark

11-29-06, 04:12 PM

gabriele25

12-06-06, 07:47 PM

Anyone else addicted to hd dvd's like me? All I do is play 360 and watch hd dvd's lately, lol. Viva pinata is the ish

ivionday

12-07-06, 07:26 PM

Another satisfied maxent 50x3 owner of about 8 months here. Actually my parents and a close friend now own one after I recommended it to them..

The reason i enjoy the screen is because it was the cheapest 1366x768 screen and I exploit that 1:1 pixel ratio to the fullest extent. (cheaper screens are all 1024x768 or worse. what a stupid resolution for a 16:9 display.)

I run my comptuer to my maxent thru vga (1366x768) and use ATI HDTV wonder, which has come a long way because of driver updates. I only watch OTA hd channels, and I guarantee I get a better picture than anyone with a solid state terrestrial HD tuner or cable/satellite box HD. But i put up with a little more hassle , naturally, since my tv is a software program. I woudl strongly recommend it to anyone who knows how to bitch slap computers and solve problems.

That statement about quality picture goes for DVDs, too. The software scaling of WinDVD for example will probably destroy any set-top DVD player in terms of quality. Plus you get awesome processing options to mess with, like TrimensionDNM (digital motion interpolation!!!). You will have to buy a 300$ dvd player with vga/dvi output to even approach the quality of hooking up to a computer with a dvd player. Dunno why more people don't do this! Probably because it's nerdy.

ALso i would like to note what a glorious thing it is to run nintendo 64 emulators and get a native 1366x768 pixel output of Mario Kart. (who needs xbox360?) Another awesome thing is running vector arcade games with MAME. yes, 1366 x 768, razor sharp vector lines, the 1978 version of star wars, truely awesome. Its just so nice to run absolutely everyting in native rez. The computer makes it all possible. 1366x768, know it, love it, exploit it to its full potential.

I also play some unreal tounament (again at 1366 x 768) on the thing. This game will push any setup to its limits and expose every weak point. The fluorescent flickr and screen tearing inherent in plasma technology becomes obvious when i play this game. It's debatable whether it's better than LCD for gaming, in this respect. (I still recommend CRT for hardcore FPS gamers.)

I do notice dynamic screen brightness adjustment when checking email and stuff -- When dragging a browser window on and off a fully black screen - you can see it turning down overall brightness as the full white window moves on screen, and conversely, boosting the brightness way up when the screen approaches full black. This feature is nice for movies, but i am sure it lends to the false or exaggerated contours in shadows that people have complained about. I certainly wish I could disable it!!!

Thats all i got for now.
peace

Tigershark

12-08-06, 02:48 PM

Hi All,

I have a problem where the picture settings on my Maxent keep getting reset to the factory defaults. It's not all the time, but it's every few days. Anyone heard of this problem?

It maybe all the settings that get reset, but the picture settings are the most noticable.

Thanks,
Steve

Mine just starting doing this too in the last few months. Looking back over the thread, I see a few people have this problem too so it just isn't my unit. I don't believe anyone is pushing the "recall" button, which "tingham" suggested might be a cause - although I don't know why. Time to check the manual.

Update: Checked the manual - the recall button "recalls" the original settings, thereby erasing all your custom settings with the factory one. Why do we need this button? And if so, they should have put it under the slider! It would certainly be easy to accidently press this button.

tingham

12-10-06, 06:08 PM

Mine just starting doing this too in the last few months. Looking back over the thread, I see a few people have this problem too so it just isn't my unit. I don't believe anyone is pushing the "recall" button, which "tingham" suggested might be a cause - although I don't know why. Time to check the manual.

My maxent has done this 2 times since I have owned it-Feb.06. I don't know if someone in my household hit the recall button or not on those 2 occassions.
The remote is put away since I have a all-in-one remote now. I will keep an eye on
it in the future and post if I see this problem again-since the remote is out of site.

koach

12-11-06, 12:25 PM

It's not the recall button in my case, because my Maxent remote is stored away without batteries in it. I use a universal remote with only a few buttons programmed to work with the maxent, and none of them are recall.

serpentara

12-11-06, 08:52 PM

Does anyone notice that using the VGA for the Xbox 360, while strongly helping the false contouring issues on many movies and games, make the tv look blurry vs component?

After playing games/watching movies for 20 the blurryness starts to give me a bit of eye strain.

Is it just in my head?

Tigershark

12-13-06, 03:29 AM

After ten months of good performance, I noticed a severe green tint on my component 1 (cable box). I swapped out the inputs to my DVD player, same result. Tried them both with Component 2 - same result. How could both component inputs go bad at the same time? I checked all the picture settings and the connections - everything is fine. Looks like this one has to go back to the big C. Too bad - I really liked this TV and the new Maxent 50" is getting some pretty bad reviews.

mhoffmeier

12-13-06, 01:20 PM

jonnythan

12-13-06, 01:56 PM

Have you tried the other component input? Different cables?

Could just be a loose connection/bad cable.

Tigershark

12-13-06, 02:57 PM

Have you tried the other component input? Different cables?

Could just be a loose connection/bad cable.

I doubled checked all the connections (including pulling them out and plugging them back in, carefully matching color). I also tried a different source (DVD player) and a different cable. Both sources (cable and DVD) work fine over HDMI. This is very frustrating as it is broken on both Component inputs. Now, granted I never use Component 2 so who knows how long it was broken. But I used Component 1 at least 5 times a week and this just happened on Monday.

Edit: Oops, I thought jonnythan was asking me. It is always a good idea to double check all cables and connections when these kinds of problems arise.

mhoffmeier

12-13-06, 03:21 PM

Have you tried the other component input? Different cables?

Could just be a loose connection/bad cable.

I checked the connection, but it never happens with the same cable & connection with a 720p source. That makes me doubt it is either the cable or connection.

I am switching through an integra dtr-7.6 to one component cable. I suppose it could be the integra. I'll try hooking up the dvd directly to the monitor.

tingham

12-19-06, 07:05 PM

Anyone have a ps3 hooked up to the maxent? I just purchased one but I can't open till christmas. Any comments would be appreciated.

Tigershark

12-20-06, 03:38 AM

I doubled checked all the connections (including pulling them out and plugging them back in, carefully matching color). I also tried a different source (DVD player) and a different cable. Both sources (cable and DVD) work fine over HDMI. This is very frustrating as it is broken on both Component inputs. Now, granted I never use Component 2 so who knows how long it was broken. But I used Component 1 at least 5 times a week and this just happened on Monday.

Edit: Oops, I thought jonnythan was asking me. It is always a good idea to double check all cables and connections when these kinds of problems arise.

Update: Unable to fix the unwatchable green tint on both Component inputs, my MX-50X3 went back in the box and back to C*. Absolutely no hassle with the return. After reading the bad reviews of the current Maxent MX-50HPM20 model there, I went with a Panasonic TH-50PX6U. I will miss my 50X3 - it served me well. Good luck to you all with yours!

mercury

12-20-06, 05:55 AM

Update: Unable to fix the unwatchable green tint on both Component inputs, my MX-50X3 went back in the box and back to C*. Absolutely no hassle with the return. After reading the bad reviews of the current Maxent MX-50HPM20 model there, I went with a Panasonic TH-50PX6U. I will miss my 50X3 - it served me well. Good luck to you all with yours!

tigershark you have a pm...

also can you give your thoughts on the panny vs maxent.

thanks-

Tigershark

12-20-06, 03:01 PM

tigershark you have a pm...

also can you give your thoughts on the panny vs maxent.

thanks-

My TH-50PX6U is still in the break-in phase (21 hours so far), so I can't do a complete comparison, but here are my impressions right out of the box and with some testing.

Inputs
- Panasonic has 2 HDMI inputs w/ dedicated red/audio inputs (for DVI -> HDMI sources), Maxent MX-50X3 only 1
- Maxent has a RGB input and can achieve 1:1 pixel mapping (I achieved 1366x768 through my HTPC)

Picture Quality
- Panasonic appears to have much better color reproduction
- Blacks - to be tested

Sound Quality
- Both have pretty basic sound quality
- Maxent speakers are detachable, although I always left mine on

Appearance
- Panasonic is better looking, in my opinion
- Maxent stand was not as nice looking, but slimmer - the Panasonic stand is much wider and therefore I can't get it as close to the back of my TV stand

Tuner
- Panasonic has a tuner input, for catching HD channels via a OTA antenna, Maxent has none. I have a HD cable box so this is meaningless to me.

Summary
There really is no contest, the Panasonic is the newer and better display. The biggest advantage of the MX-50X3 is for a HTPC - I loved using my PC with this plasma through RGB and getting perfect 1:1 1366x768 without playing with Powerstrip or anything (and this was with a pretty basic 128MB ATI video card). The Panasonic has no RGB input, and forum members have said if you run DVI -> HDMI, you only get 1280x720 w/ overscan problems. Not good enough for me so I won't use my PC with this new plasma.

The one thing I really want to test (but I should wait till after the 100 hours), is the false contouring in shadows and foggy scenes. My 50X3 was horrible at this and I am curious if the Panasonic is any better.

Armus

12-21-06, 07:56 PM

Anyone have a ps3 hooked up to the maxent? I just purchased one but I can't open till christmas. Any comments would be appreciated.

My friend just got a Ps3. Hooked it up to his MX-50X3 and it looks amazing. The PS3 is a FAST machine. The blue ray movie looks like an HD channel to us. Real clean. You won't be disappointed...

-armus

Armus

12-21-06, 08:03 PM

Hey TigerShark,

How come you didn't go with the TH-50PH9UK panny? That one has a VGA port for ya...

-armus

Scmedic

12-21-06, 08:05 PM

Tigershark

12-22-06, 03:45 AM

Hey TigerShark,

How come you didn't go with the TH-50PH9UK panny? That one has a VGA port for ya...

-armus

They only had the TH-50PX6U at my local C* when I returned the 50X3. Although the professional Panasonics are nicely priced, by the time I picked up a stand, speakers, 2 HDMI slots, etc., I was better off with the consumer model. Anyway, my computer use is perhaps 5% max - no big loss.

Besides, I really want a 1080p set for HTPC use. My 4:3 19" LCD actually has more useable desktop space (1280x1024) than a 50" plasma (1366x768). It is hard to give up # of pixels for size. Until 1080P LCD's drop in price enough, I will look into a new 20" widescreen monitor (1680x1050) for my computer.

mvandell

12-22-06, 10:32 AM

Until 1080P LCD's drop in price enough, I will look into a new 20" widescreen monitor (1680x1050) for my computer.

This was my thinking as well. I got a Samsung 205BW that is 20" and 1680x1050 and is very nice. If I had to do it over again I would get the 225BW which is 22" with the same resolution and does not cost much more. This is particularly bothering me because now I want to have dual monitors and having 2 of the 22" models would have been nice :) Guess I have to find another place to use the 20" :)

Also, note that these models have HDCP on their DVI input, so you can connect them for example like I do, to a cable box via an HDMI to DVI cable in addition to a PC via the RGB input and switch between inputs via one of the buttons on the monitor. This works very nicely for HD! My Logitech Z-5500 speakers have multiple inputs, so I switch to the optical audio out from the cable box when I use the monitor as a TV, and then back to another speaker input when I use it as a PC monitor. Because of the HDCP capability these monitors will also be good for the OCUR cable tuner Vista Media Center machines, when they come out...

tingham

12-23-06, 12:33 AM

My friend just got a Ps3. Hooked it up to his MX-50X3 and it looks amazing. The PS3 is a FAST machine. The blue ray movie looks like an HD channel to us. Real clean. You won't be disappointed...

-armus
That is great to hear! I just hooked it up tonight and the gameplay looks fantastic on the Maxent. I wanted to get it ready to go for christmas day for all the kids and myself and wife. I was worried because the Maxent is a monitor. But this ps3 feeds it a tremendous signal thru hdmi and it looks spectacular on gameplay so far. I will take hd quality dvd over regular dvd's also. If a dvd looks like hd I will be happy! I will have to pick up some blue-ray movies in my travels this weekend to see for myself how good the maxent is with the ps3. Can't wait for 25 to 50 gb games coming out in the next year-They are gonna look incredible on the Maxent!!

SoopahMan

12-24-06, 07:53 AM

Silly question - when you hook the Maxent MX-50X3 up via VGA from your PC, how do you get sound to it? What do you plug into?

...Ah nevermind, the 2 RCA connectors for VGA in - got it. Gotta split a Mini Stereo jack it looks like.

Dr JonboyG

12-24-06, 09:02 AM

Did anyone ever find a fix for the redshift that you get when you switch aspect ratios on the HDMI input?

mvandell

01-01-07, 09:18 PM

Did anyone ever find a fix for the redshift that you get when you switch aspect ratios on the HDMI input?

I called Maxent Tech Support and they want me to take my HDMI switching Yamaha receiver out of the "loop" and see if it repros without it. Haven't gotten around to trying this, do you see this going direct from a device to the HDMI input on the Maxent?

winterstick

01-02-07, 12:35 AM

When the component one input on my Maxent is hooked up to a 480p source, the picture drops out occasionally, three or so times during a movie. This lasts for a second or two, then the 480p signal detection text appears in the upper right hand corner, and the picture reappears. When I have my Dishnetwork 622 or xbox 360 sending it 720p to the same input, I've no problem at all. I've tried this with two different dvd players, so I'm convinced it is a problem with the monitor. Maxent tech support wants me to try and hook up the dvd to the composite, and see if the problem goes away. I hate to go back to composite.

Has anyone encountered this problem, and perhaps solved it?

I'm experiencing this exact issue. I have gone through 3 different DVD players and they all have the same results. I tried different cables and the different components with no luck. Maxent tech support also wanted me to go back to composite, and see if the issues goes away. This is my 3rd TV from them, I'm wishing now that I went with a panasonic.

Dr JonboyG

01-02-07, 09:24 AM

tingham

01-02-07, 10:39 PM

I called Maxent Tech Support and they want me to take my HDMI switching Yamaha receiver out of the "loop" and see if it repros without it. Haven't gotten around to trying this, do you see this going direct from a device to the HDMI input on the Maxent?

Why do you have to switch aspect ratio on hdmi? Do certain stations look better in 4:3 asr? My Maxent did the redshift when I tried it once- but I never change aspect ratio on hdmi there is no need on my setup! Another apparently" no solution"problem with the maxent like the brightness changes thru component on white backgrounds.

Dr JonboyG

01-02-07, 11:16 PM

jeremyhelling

01-03-07, 12:20 AM

An upconverting DVD player will only do so over HDMI. Some dvds are not 16:9, mainly tv shows, but some non-anamorphic discs too. So you do sometimes need to be able to switch from 16:9 to 4:3.

Not entirely true. Some DVD players can be hacked (some fairly easily too) to upconvert over component. The Samsung 850 is one of these where a few strokes of the remote will unlock the upconvert over component. It's a fairly inexpensive DVD player as well.

mproper

01-03-07, 10:10 AM

I just hooked up my XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on to it (using VGA) last night, but only had time to check out one scene from the King Kong HD-DVD that came with it. Looked great.

Anyways, I wanted to do some screenshots of the differences between my old progressive scan DVD player playing the SD-DVD, the XBOX upconverting the SD-DVD and the HD-DVD.

Do I just need to hook up a VGA cable to the Maxent's "out" and then to my laptop's "in", then just do screen prints?

Or am I completely wrong? I've never really tried to capture images from the TV before, so I have no idea what's involved.

jonnythan

01-03-07, 11:00 AM

mproper

01-03-07, 11:39 AM

Your laptop does not have a VGA in.

You'd need to take actual pictures to show the difference between DVD and HD DVD.

BTW, there is no such thing as "SD-DVD." It's just DVD. And HD DVD isn't hyphenated.

Thanks for the clarification. Guess I misread the thing on the back of my laptop.

I see HD DVD referred to both ways (with and without the hyphen) in the forums, even though I do know there is none. I just like concatenating it. I was also using SD just to differentiate it from the HD DVD.

Guess I will be setting my camera up on a tripod then to take pictures.

mvandell

01-03-07, 07:29 PM

Why do you have to switch aspect ratio on hdmi? Do certain stations look better in 4:3 asr? My Maxent did the redshift when I tried it once- but I never change aspect ratio on hdmi there is no need on my setup! Another apparently" no solution"problem with the maxent like the brightness changes thru component on white backgrounds.

If I recall correctly (not at home at the moment to verify). In my setup, one reason to switch is that I have my digital cable box set to automatically stretch SD. This is OK much of the time, but if I want to see the SD content not stretched, the only quick way to do this that I am aware of is to use the aspect switch on the Maxent. As soon as I do this the colors get wierd and won't go back unless I go into the Maxent color controls and move one of the sliders up or down a notch , or I think if I power toggle the Maxent.

jonnythan

01-03-07, 08:28 PM

Thanks for the clarification. Guess I misread the thing on the back of my laptop.

I see HD DVD referred to both ways (with and without the hyphen) in the forums, even though I do know there is none. I just like concatenating it. I was also using SD just to differentiate it from the HD DVD.

Guess I will be setting my camera up on a tripod then to take pictures.
Tip for pictures: use a tripod or some other stand and no flash. When comparing or posting, use zoomed-in crops to compare details.

tingham

01-03-07, 08:45 PM

An upconverting DVD player will only do so over HDMI. Some dvds are not 16:9, mainly tv shows, but some non-anamorphic discs too. So you do sometimes need to be able to switch from 16:9 to 4:3.

Ha Ha- I See!! I guess I have not watched that type of programming yet on the Maxent. I rarely watch sd or 4:3 programs anymore since hi-def came along!!

sorahl

01-12-07, 05:15 PM

is there any firmware to update on the Maxent 50 inch?

ng5783

01-22-07, 06:41 PM

It's been just about a year since getting my 50X3 and I'm amazed by the picture quality (Oppo DV-970HD DVD over a cheap HDMI cable, Cox cable SA8300HD over homemade Belden 1694a component cables, and XBOX360 over stock component cables). Even standard-def broadcasts are very sharp - much better than I could've hoped for. Has anyone ever figured out what Costco does with returns? I wouldn't mind getting another one of these for other rooms.

Ten Midgets

01-23-07, 02:43 PM

elee532

01-23-07, 02:59 PM

I recently began to notice a sort of "shimmering" in certain parts of the image on my 50X3. For example, I was watching a show the other day and someone was wearing a shirt with silver stripes in it. The stripes were kind of "shimmering." I'm not sure how else to describe it.

I can't confirm for sure, but I think this may have started when I switched from the component outputs to HDMI output.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

jonnythan

01-23-07, 03:05 PM

What is your sharpness set to?

elee532

01-23-07, 03:07 PM

Wow, thanks for the speedy response! Sharpness is set to 50.

jonnythan

01-23-07, 03:49 PM

A high sharpness enhances edges, but also introduces artifacts such as shimmering.

Turn your sharpness down to 10 for a better overall picture. That should eliminate the shimmering as well.

On another note, I keep my brightness and contrast both at about 60, and my color at about 35. This seems to give me the most natural image with the least amount of contouring, shimmering, clayface, etc.

elee532

01-25-07, 10:58 PM

Thanks jonnythan. Fixing the sharpness setting made all the difference in the world.

tingham

01-27-07, 09:37 AM

While I don't have the 50", I own the 42X3 and am also routinely amazed by the picture quality! All I run is an HDMI from my DirecTV HR10-250 HD DVR and another HDMI (via monoprice switcher) for my PS3. I actually had to switch back to component for my set top box's connection while I waited for the switcher to come, and I noticed a HUGE dropoff in picture quality when running component. HDMI truly puts it to shame...

I suspect your directtv dvr is putting out a lesser signal via component as I see very little difference between comp and hdmi on mine. Or maybe the 42x3 does not perform as well thru comp? Just a fyi I have had the ps3 hooked up to the maxent for a few weeks now and the maxent is performing perfectly with it. All images-gaming, BD, sd-dvd's look great on the maxent. The maxent is a monitor and what ever signal you send it depends on the quality of that signal. The ps3 does a good job at this. I have it hooked up to the maxent via hdmi thru the monoprice 2x1 switcher. Sure glad that the maxent supports 720p signals! Alot of people who have older plasma's or rptv's that do not support 720p signals have to game at 480p as of right now-until sony resolves this issue with a firmware upgrade.

SoopahMan

01-29-07, 01:07 AM

Same here - I used to have a broadcast HDTV tuner hooked up via both HDMI and Component to see if there was a difference in picture - there wasn't. The trouble is your output device.

Although removing the DACs from the various devices out there isn't a bad idea from an environmental perspective or corporate profit perspective, to suggest that using digital signals like HDMI and DVI offer better picture than long-proven analog signals like VGA or Component is dead wrong. It makes sense on paper, but DACs are such high quality and analog signals are so versatile, the digital ones don't offer any real consumer benefit - just copy protection messes. For example, you can run at resolutions higher than 1600x1200 on VGA or Component - but DVI and HDMI need 2 cables and 2 ports on both ends to pull it off. Add in the tangle of copy protection and it feels like a real step back to me.

Ten Midgets

01-29-07, 09:55 AM

Wow...I am surprised to hear that you guys do not see a difference in PQ when comparing HDMI & Component. I guess it is my DVR itself then, but all that means is that I won't be able to go back to component as long as I have this DVR.

SoopahMan

02-14-07, 06:10 AM

Hooking a PC up to the Maxent
Some pointers based on the adventure I just had - in this case using a Mac laptop with Windows XP installed via Boot Camp.

Resolutions known to work:
1280x720, 1366x768 <-- native

If you decide to use the Maxent as your monitor, make sure you learn the keyboard shortcut to switch back to your normal monitor first. I switched and my laptop monitor turned off - as intended - but then my Maxent freaked out. It said "640x480" and showed my desktop stretched vertically and squished horizontally, then went to all blue. Unplugging the VGA cable got my laptop monitor on again but plugging in the Maxent kicked the problem right back in. Only a keyboard shortcut could save me now. For my integrated Intel chip on my MacBook, it's Ctrl+Alt+F3, but it varies from graphics chip to graphics chip.

If you go to 1366x768 and have the default "rolling hills" background in Windows XP, 2 vertical blue bars will show up on either side of the screen on the Maxent. This is Windows XP not scaling the "rolling hills" background the whole way - that part of the screen is used by windows you drag in and videos you play back, however, so it's not a resolution issue, it's a silly background issue.

1366x768 isn't trivial to setup. On nVidia graphics cards you can enter Custom Resolutions in the Advanced Properties for your Display. On integrated Intel chips like the one on my laptop, you're in for an adventure. Download PowerStrip (google PowerStrip resolution) and install it. With the Maxent hooked up, run it to Create a Monitor Profile. On the lower-left choose to Read from Monitor, then Write custom profile. Enter the proper resolution of 1366x768 and click Save. Then go to Device Manager and sort through the many "Plug and Play Monitors" (mine showed 5...) looking for one that has "MAX" in the name and hit Update Driver, choosing the .inf file generated. You can now set your resolution to 1366x768.

PhilipsPhanatic

02-19-07, 04:20 PM

The one thing I really want to test (but I should wait till after the 100 hours), is the false contouring in shadows and foggy scenes. My 50X3 was horrible at this and I am curious if the Panasonic is any better.

Can you tell me what you -- or the trade -- means by 'false contouring' ?? That and 'crushed blacks' always threw me.

Exactly WHERE or HOW was the 'false contouring in shadows and foggy scenes' horrible -- what DVD or Hi-Def picture were you watching? What was your reference point in saying it was bad? I'm trying to understand what everyone means when they use this 'false contouring' description.

Don18074

02-19-07, 04:43 PM

I flipped thru almost this entire thread and was unable to find an answer, so here goes.

What is the difference between the MX-50X3 and the one I see advertised as MX-50X5 in BB this week...besides rev numbers? Anything major ?

Do any of you have the new version? Is it as good as the reviews I have read here for the X3? I'm jumping in the game a bit late, I know..

I'm in the market, and gaining 8 inches (lol) for less price than the 42 in Sammy I was looking at is intruiguing.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance, and look fwd to your responses.

Spectrum003

02-19-07, 06:30 PM

We compared the MX-50X3 against the MX-50X5. MX5 is the newer model however, the picture quality of the MX3 looked better for us. MX5 picture appeared grainy and not as natural of a viewing. Purchased MX3 at BB 2 months ago, before being phased out by the MX5 and have no regrets it to date. Very happy owner of the MX3 :) and suspect the MX5 does have the same kind of picture quality.

Good Luck,
Spectrum003

jeremyhelling

02-19-07, 07:09 PM

jeremyhelling

02-19-07, 07:10 PM

Very happy owner of the MX3 :) and suspect the MX5 does have the same kind of picture quality.

Good Luck,
Spectrum003

Most people, myself included, will state that the new 50x5 doesn't have anywhere near the picture quality that the older 50x3 had.

Don18074

02-19-07, 08:18 PM

I'll keep searching. I was hoping the PQ would be similar. I would love 50" for the price of a major brand 42.

TJ22

02-20-07, 10:28 PM

Trying to find it but I couldnt.

My VGA port looks screwing, seems like to much saturiation but there are no color settings when in VGA/RGB mode.

Anyone else experiencing this? How did you correct it?

Thanks.

jonnythan

02-20-07, 10:45 PM

Adjust the settings on the PC.

TJ22

02-21-07, 02:13 PM

It is not a PC it is my xbox 360. Any help?

I mean this is completely unwatchable. It is very saturated.

Has anyone else encountered this and able to correct it?

TJ22

02-24-07, 12:37 PM

Ok so I was able to adjust the vga input, but I am not getting good results.

Can someone suggest a good way to calibrate the RGN, GGN, BGN, RBS, GBS, BBS?

Whatever method is fine by me, I could even pick up a calibration disc if necessary.

Maybe someone could give me your settings for the VGA(RGB) input?

Thanks.

SoopahMan

02-25-07, 04:34 AM

TJ22, read the thread. It's long but the answer is in it. Promise.

SharkHalves

02-28-07, 12:36 AM

Seeing that there is 66 pages in this thread (and I can't keep track of the topics in this), has anyone been following this thread enough to summarize the good/bad/fixes/recommended settings, in one reply? This unit is considerably less than most 50" plasma's, and is available at Costco. Thanks in advance for the help!

tingham

03-01-07, 09:27 PM

Idz21

03-01-07, 09:55 PM

The 50x3 is available at costco now?
how much?

autspec_HD

03-01-07, 10:15 PM

check out costco.ca

jonnythan

03-02-07, 12:43 AM

Good price, eh.

SoopahMan

03-02-07, 10:33 AM

how much?Uh, read the title of this thread.

bosorio

03-03-07, 01:06 AM

Finally finished building my new setup...
Which included a Maxent 50" Plasma.

http://webpages.charter.net/bosorio/HT/ht_3.JPG

I couldnt be happier with this TV. At this price, I really dont think it can be beat!!
:cool:

Greaseman

03-03-07, 11:56 AM

Finally finished building my new setup...
Which included a Maxent 50" Plasma.

I couldnt be happier with this TV. At this price, I really dont think it can be beat!!
:cool:

I have had mine now for about 16 months now. no noticeable problems and I have really enjoyed it ...although I think they could of done better with heat dissipation.

Make sure that you unplug the monitor from it's power source and blow it out with either canned air or compressed air on a regular basis to make sure it doesn't overheat.

The reason for unplugging it is that sometimes air sources can contain moisture, and we all know moisture and electricity don't mix well.

I have pets and after my first 6 weeks the plastic body on the monitor would pop as the TV heated up and cooled down after use. When I looked the tiny little vents on this were full of dust and blocking airflow.

Other than that this is a well built monitor with a beautiful picture, and If you look at the few failures that people have had with this monitor it is most likely heat related so if you take those precuations you should enjoy it as much as I have :)

mercury

03-03-07, 04:21 PM

SoopahMan

03-03-07, 04:33 PM

I just checked my 50x3 for clogged vents and it's fine - I've had it for a little over a year. However, I have just one small cat and the TV sits next to a sliding glass door that's usually open for a breeze, so perhaps the dust just isn't able to get to it in the first place.

When using the TV I also can hear the set expand, but just barely - hearing it contract on a cool night when I turn it off is more audible. This thing is capable of 550W of heat afterall...

Brightness tip
I've noticed most discussions of Brightness and Contrast here don't consider time of day. I've found that a day Brightness level 20 notches above what I use at night works well. The day Brightness gives me false contours in shadows at night, and the night Brightness gives me no definition in shadows during the day.

So, try adjusting Brightness depending on the light level in the room, you'll get a much nicer picture. As for Contrast and other settings I've found those make no difference, day or night - pick one good setting and it should be good in any situation.

mabittin

03-05-07, 08:35 PM

bosorio

03-05-07, 11:03 PM

I had a Comcast DVR hooked up to this set for over a year with a DVI to HDMI cable and everything worked fine.....

I just had to get a new DVR and this model no longer has a DVI output, but has an HDMI output instead. When I hook up the HDMI output to this set I am able to get a picture when I power up the DVR with the TV on. However if I then turn off the TV without powering off the DVR and turn the TV back on, all I get is static....

Does anyone have any explaination for this loss of HDMI signal when the TV is powered off? Does this mean that my HDMI input is screwed up? I've got an extended warrantee, so if this is not typical (which it doesn't seem to be), then I might think about getting it replaced...thanks in advance folks

-M
Ive heard of this problem from a few people on different TVs. I dont believe its a problem with your TV.

From what I understand its a problem with the data synchronization between the cable box and TV.

I too use a DVI-to-HDMI for my cable signal, and it works flawlessly. Good luck figuring it out.

breadmanusa

03-06-07, 06:40 PM

When hooked up thru composite, picture is perfect, yet thru HDMI, no color. Called Maxent he said it could be monitor or the cable. Haven't tried another cable yet, as I only have one. Also does the same on DVD, tried 2 different sets. Anybody ever experienced this problem?

tingham

03-06-07, 10:42 PM

I had a Comcast DVR hooked up to this set for over a year with a DVI to HDMI cable and everything worked fine.....

I just had to get a new DVR and this model no longer has a DVI output, but has an HDMI output instead. When I hook up the HDMI output to this set I am able to get a picture when I power up the DVR with the TV on. However if I then turn off the TV without powering off the DVR and turn the TV back on, all I get is static....

Does anyone have any explaination for this loss of HDMI signal when the TV is powered off? Does this mean that my HDMI input is screwed up? I've got an extended warrantee, so if this is not typical (which it doesn't seem to be), then I might think about getting it replaced...thanks in advance folks

-M

Apparently the handshake between the Maxent and the Comcrap DVR does not work if the tv goes off and comes back on- Strange! Alot of hdmi connections have this handshaking issue. You must have the component receiving the signal "on" before you turn on the component outputting the signal. So you would have to turn the dvr off also. It stinks but that's the way it is. It's probably the dvr. It never did that with your old box?

Also I tried using the power button on my 50x3 the other day and it would not work. None of the buttons on the display would work-But the remote buttons worked fine. So I did a hard reset and now the buttons work again on the display.
Anyone else experience this?

tingham

03-06-07, 10:48 PM

tingham

03-06-07, 10:53 PM

Finally finished building my new setup...
Which included a Maxent 50" Plasma.

I couldnt be happier with this TV. At this price, I really dont think it can be beat!!
:cool:

Very Nice!! Is that the 50x5? I see that you have the playstation3 hooked up to it also. I really like my PS3 and the maxent performs very well with it. Good luck with your new setup.

breadmanusa

03-07-07, 07:10 AM

I have Explorer 8000HD. DVD is hooked up component. When I change to HDMI on either unit I get black and white.

gnnr

04-02-07, 09:42 PM

Given the price I found at a certain site today I am keenly interested in this set as opposed to the 42" panny I was looking at for nearly the same price.

I run a 8300HD Explorer DVR cable box, HD10 Sattelite box, a toshiba upscaling DVD, and a Xbox360. It will all be switched through a Denon 887AVR reciever and connected via a single HDMI cable. The reciever upconverts all inputs to 1080i or 720p (I assume 720p would be the best for this resolution set). I assume this should work well with the best IQ I can get?

Any complaints or concerns with this setup?

My view distance is either 12' or 14' depending on how I arrange the living room in our soon to be new house. It will be wall mounted.

We currently have a Sammy HLP4663W/XA DLP set. A good set but too big for our 14x16 living room. I would consider IQ on it pretty good, but not as bright or as deep, nor with great blacks and some line gradients on most HD signals unless they are completely uncompressed.

SoopahMan

04-03-07, 03:26 PM

Upconverting or downconverting more than once can lead to blurrier results than you'd prefer. Although this set is very close to 720p, because it is actually more - 768 in height - ideally you would feed it the original resolution and let it scale it. For example if the source is 1080i, you scale it to 720p and then the TV scales it to 768, you'll lose just a little bit of detail in the double-conversion (48 blurry lines' worth). Likewise taking 720p and upping to 1080i and the TV turning that into 768 will lose even more data, because of the losses of interlacing.

This thing can have an amazing picture but running the signal through a rat race will lose detail and on a 50" set you will NOTICE it. A lot of posts here complaining about this set's picture quality just come down to the rat race the signal had to go through.

tingham

05-01-07, 07:45 PM

Has anyone had burn-in on their Maxent? I have been gaming alot recently and noticed a few letters and numbers on my panel that do not seem to go away...I do not notice them in normal tv/dvd viewing. Usually I only see it when the maxent is changing inputs and the panel is black because there is nothing connected to the input I have selected. I can see them very faint when the maxent is off...right now I am using the all white mode to see if it clears up..Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks

SoopahMan

05-03-07, 02:54 AM

No burn-in for me but any plasma can experience that if left on pause or things like that for extreme periods of time... .

I have experienced a different problem lately - AV1 and 2 seem to drop out periodically. I'll be watching something on either input and then suddenly the TV acts like there's no input, then comes back. I worried it was the input source itself but it happens on both AV1 and 2 AND #2 is my cable box which when fed over Component2 has no problems... . Seems to be the TV. Annoying. And crushing when playing Guitar Hero.

tingham

05-14-07, 09:17 PM

I cannot help you with the av1/av2 issue..I rarely use those inputs. It is strange though. How often does it do it? Did you call Maxent.. and is it still under warranty?

SoopahMan

05-15-07, 04:42 PM

I haven't called them; I'm going to verify it isn't possibly the connections being loose somehow first. I've had the TV for more than a year so it's probably out of warranty though I don't recall the exact warranty duration.

bosorio

05-27-07, 09:33 PM

Apparently the handshake between the Maxent and the Comcrap DVR does not work if the tv goes off and comes back on- Strange! Alot of hdmi connections have this handshaking issue. You must have the component receiving the signal "on" before you turn on the component outputting the signal. So you would have to turn the dvr off also. It stinks but that's the way it is. It's probably the dvr. It never did that with your old box?

Also I tried using the power button on my 50x3 the other day and it would not work. None of the buttons on the display would work-But the remote buttons worked fine. So I did a hard reset and now the buttons work again on the display.
Anyone else experience this?
Its not only on this tv.
My sister had the same problem with her LCD and cable box.
I have a Moxi HD-DVR through Charter connected with a DVI to HDMI cable. Its much like a media center PC. It doesnt shut off, instead just goes into standby mode after awhile of inactivity. Im guessing this could be why ive never experienced any issues with the signal handshaking.

However, I do occasionally get a wierd splat of static while using hte PS3. The screen just goes to white static for a split second then back to the game/movie. Kinda gay, but nothing major IMO. I bought my HDMI cable as open box item, so it could even be the cable causing it.

Ive had the buttons stop responding once or twice as well. I think it had more to do with heat. I just left it off for about 30mins and came back and tried it and it worked fine.

I think thyings like this are the trade off for paying $1000 less than the popular name brands.

Very Nice!! Is that the 50x5? I see that you have the playstation3 hooked up to it also. I really like my PS3 and the maxent performs very well with it. Good luck with your new setup.
Yea its the 50x5.
I couldnt be happier with the TV, and the PS3. The PS3 games are cool, but I mainly got it for Bluray which it totally kicks ass with.
Also, the new feature they added with firmware 1.8 wher eyou can access network media files from your home network/PCs kicks major ass!

tingham

05-27-07, 09:50 PM

I love the network streaming with the ps3 now..it was one the few things that I wanted the ps3 to be able to do..and now it does. Also the dvd upconvert is a welcome addition. The ps3 is coming into it's own now and will only get better. Did you try the new rgb mode for movies?..it looks great on b/d movies

bosorio

05-27-07, 10:03 PM

tingham

05-28-07, 10:55 AM

Cool I didnt know that there was a new mode for bluray movies.
How do I try this out? :)

This thread should explain everything on the new function and how to use it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=853404

And another thread on the subject.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=853167

tingham

06-05-07, 10:34 PM

My MX42X3 has been sent to the glue factory. About a month ago, it started dropping the signal from the AV1 input (coming via S-video from a DirecTV R10 Tivo box). A restart of the TV would fix the problem. At first it was very rare and intermittent, then late last week it started happening every hour or so. The set was purchased in Nov '05, so it was out of Maxent's warranty. Thank God for CostCo's now-changed policy. I lugged it back to the warehouse where I purchased it, and they accepted it, no questions asked.

I'll continue be very careful about getting extra buyer protection when getting a plasma panel.

hey soopahman,

I was looking in the forums and found this post..and thought about your issue.Hope your issue has not gotton worse.

Barcodude

06-06-07, 05:17 PM

I believe that Costco's new policy will not take returns after 90 days. But they will extend your warranty from the Maxent standard 1 year to 2 years. You just need your receipt and call costco's conceirege program. I believe that number is on their web page

SoopahMan

06-09-07, 08:32 PM

My MX42X3 has been sent to the glue factory. About a month ago, it started dropping the signal from the AV1 input (coming via S-video from a DirecTV R10 Tivo box). A restart of the TV would fix the problem. At first it was very rare and intermittent, then late last week it started happening every hour or so.

Hope your issue has not gotton worse.
Thanks for the search tingham! I didn't realize this had been previously reported. Although my TV is an MX50 rather than 42, obviously the symptoms are identical. In fact my TV sometimes blips out more than once per hour, a couple times in 15 minutes. Very annoying.

However, I haven't experienced the problem since reporting it on this board. The main difference is that I haven't been watching the TV nearly as much, which leads me to believe it's a heat-related issue. I suppose I'll have to consider "active cooling" by pointing a fan at the back grill.

Thanks again for noticing the common issue, that makes this much easier to diagnose (I kept wondering if it was my Playstation 2).

MrCl3an

06-18-07, 04:30 PM

tingham

06-20-07, 10:41 PM

Bosorio/Tingham -

So are you guys saying that it's either a problem with the TV itself or the DVR?

I have the Maxent 50" and a Motorola DVR from Comcast. And if the TV changes inputs (away from HDMI) or turns off, then I have to power on and off my DVR (or disconnect the HDMI cable) to get the picture back. It's odd and only started happening a few weeks after I got the TV. Other inputs like AV1 and AV2 do not have the problem at all.

Is there a good way to troubleshoot this with limited funding? :-)

It most likely is a problem with the DVR..but could also be the Maxent. Does your maxent have a built-in tuner? Alot of Hdmi devices have handshaking issues and to figure out which one is causing the problem in your case could be cumbersome. Maybe you could hook your dvr up to someone else's tv? I have a Comcrap motorola..non dvr..and have no issues with hdmi handshaking. You also could go to comcast and get a differant moto box and see what that does. It should not cost you anything to do that. Just tell them it will not record and they will give you a new one. Or borrow a friends non dvr motobox and see if that has hdmi handshaking issues. Last I heard... only dvr boxes from comcast have hdmi...so if you get a non dvr box from comcast make sure it has dvi..and buy a "dvi to hdmi" adapter. They are cheap..you can get them here.

www.monoprice.com