Well, I've gotten pretty good at hauling the TX-47 around in my Civic - it's already back at Best Buy. The good news is that they refunded my money and let me rebuy the set, this time at MSRP minus 12% with the Father's Day coupon!! So at least going through the trouble of returning it will end up saving me some cash.

The bad news of course is that this was a real bummer and once again I am without a TV - they had to order me one and it won't be in until the 12th. At least the wait isn't too bad.

I have to admit after she went belly up I briefly looked at some of the other forums thinking about switching to a Sammy or a Mits. But the Sammy LNT forum seems to be plagued with problem reports (including a PS3 handshake issue that Samsung itself acknowledges) and the comparable Mits just costs too much more...

So I decided to give Westy 1 more try - there simply isn't anything else out there that comes close to giving the same bang for your buck! The 12% off MSRP is the sweetest deal out there!

I pray I just got a lemon as it certainly wasn't anything on my end -

It couldn't have been a power surge - I had it hooked up to a good power strip with a surge protector which itself is plugged into a UPS with surge protector. Also, I haven't experienced any in this house before.

It couldn't have been my experiment with the USB stick because it worked fine after that (after numerous power cycles).

I was using it just fine this morning... I powered it off with the remote control and a few hours later when I turned it on, it went through the boot up screen but never came out of standby (no blue light, just amber).

After trying a couple of times, I noticed that after the logo display the set would make a noise when the screen went to black, a pfft noise like the power is being cut or something....then if you pull out the power cord, the screen would show all blue before turning off.

I dunno - I pray nobody else reports this because then Westy's quality control would come into question. When I pick up my new one, I will be torture testing the hell out of it for 30 days so I can bring it back to BB if something goes wrong again... it would be an absolute nightmare mailing this thing in to Westy and then waiting for it to be mailed back!

I'm glad your sticking with the Westy as well. I too had been giving Mits a good look in case my one power on lockup happened again or ended up like your unit. But, I really do like the picture of this set and like everyone else has said, I think it's a good bang for the buck. The 12th is right around the corner. :)

Yes, I did purchase the service plan. On TV's like this BB offers the PSP (Performance Service Plan), which means that they have to service the TV up to 4 times for the same issue before replacing it. In my case, they told me that there is not an authorized service center in my area so they offered to replace it site-unseen.

I'm hoping that said plan also transfers to my replacement product. In my opinion it was worth the $ just for the peace of mind that it offered once people started mentioning problems with the 42w2 and the PS3, especially since I wasn't able to get my PS3 until May of this year.

Unfortunately, I had to purchase a new Performance Service Plan when I returned my 11 month old LVM-42w2 for a TX-47F430S. I was told that since it was a different model, the PSP would not transfer. I believe the price difference was well worth the upgrade though. Good luck!

I did try the LVM service menu code btw (hold down volume and input while pressing the power button)... no go (logo didn't blink)... can't say if it was because the code has changed, or because my set was pooched.

I've tried the LVM service menu code on my TX-47F430S and it didn't seem to do anything. The new TX remote does not have the "return" button that the LVM had to enter the service menu after powering up the TV. I think I tried pressing just about every remote button though after powering it on with the LVM code.

huggybear, now that you are an expert in transporting would you mind sharing how you are positioning the unit in your Civic for transport? I would have thought the box too big to easily fit. I have a track on tap for tomorrow to pick mine up. If I could get away with just using my car that would make life easier. Thank you.

The box is really not much bigger than the TV itself - no styrofoam enclosure which would bulk it up. The TV simply goes into the box with 4 protective plastic corners which keep it from moving around. With the backseat down in my 93 civic, the box almost goes completely in the trunk (about 2" of plastic molding on each side holds it back). So I just left the trunk open and held it down with bungees.

That being said, when I returned it to BB the blue shirt who helped me unload it asked if that was how I brought it home and then sharply replied "well that's why it stopped working". Ok pal, bringing it home this way is why it worked fine for 2 weeks and then all of a sudden froze up.

It is my understanding that only plasmas need to be transported upright, due to the plasma inside. Does this hold true for LCDs as well?

I've tried the LVM service menu code on my TX-47F430S and it didn't seem to do anything. The new TX remote does not have the "return" button that the LVM had to enter the service menu after powering up the TV. I think I tried pressing just about every remote button though after powering it on with the LVM code.

Thanks for the feedback. So the code has either been changed or maybe we won't have access to a service menu anymore (since they have included more advanced calibration controls in the regular user menu). Or, possibly, the USB stick with some sort of bootloader on it needs to be used to get into a service menu (for flashing new firmware, etc)

I'm glad your sticking with the Westy as well. I too had been giving Mits a good look in case my one power on lockup happened again or ended up like your unit. But, I really do like the picture of this set and like everyone else has said, I think it's a good bang for the buck. The 12th is right around the corner. :)

Yes, it is a beautiful set that certainly deserves another chance. I just pray that it doesn't end up being like an old Jaguar where you need 2 - one to use and one for the shop :)

The box is really not much bigger than the TV itself - no styrofoam enclosure which would bulk it up. The TV simply goes into the box with 4 protective plastic corners which keep it from moving around. With the backseat down in my 93 civic, the box almost goes completely in the trunk (about 2" of plastic molding on each side holds it back). So I just left the trunk open and held it down with bungees.

That being said, when I returned it to BB the blue shirt who helped me unload it asked if that was how I brought it home and then sharply replied "well that's why it stopped working". Ok pal, bringing it home this way is why it worked fine for 2 weeks and then all of a sudden froze up.

It is my understanding that only plasmas need to be transported upright, due to the plasma inside. Does this hold true for LCDs as well?

For what it's worth, an A/V buddy of mine helped me unload it and open it up. He saw the instructions on the box for laying it flat then upside down to lift off the box. He said he never transports or would lay a flat panel, LCD or plasma, of that size on its side. So, we reached in the box and pulled it out upright. However, in your case, you didn't have a panel failure, from what it sounds like.

It is my understanding that only plasmas need to be transported upright, due to the plasma inside. Does this hold true for LCDs as well?

It is also my understanding that LCDs can be transported any which way. I just did a cross country trip (2319 miles) with a Vizio LCD (in it's box) flat down in my Subaru. No problems at all with it.

For what it's worth, an A/V buddy of mine helped me unload it and open it up. He saw the instructions on the box for laying it flat then upside down to lift off the box. He said he never transports or would lay a flat panel, LCD or plasma, of that size on its side. So, we reached in the box and pulled it out upright. However, in your case, you didn't have a panel failure, from what it sounds like.


Hmm, well I will recruit someone when I pick up my new one but yeah, I doubt that had anything to do with it seeing how it worked fine for 2 weeks.

What concerns me is the other reports of lockups during the logo screen - sounds like what happened to mine might be related (seeing as how the set simply froze up after displaying the logo).

Hmm, well I will recruit someone when I pick up my new one but yeah, I doubt that had anything to do with it seeing how it worked fine for 2 weeks.

What concerns me is the other reports of lockups during the logo screen - sounds like what happened to mine might be related (seeing as how the set simply froze up after displaying the logo).

Mine froze up on the logo that one time, and so far, not again. Crossing my fingers.

Thanks for the feedback on the transport. I too was under the impression that large LCDs were not be laid flat. Guess that is a holdover from the plasmas. I will pad the dimensions of the unit and see if I can fit it in the back of my Xterra for pickup.

It is my understanding that only plasmas need to be transported upright, due to the plasma inside. Does this hold true for LCDs as well?
Plasmas must be transported upright because the glass is fragile and can shatter when laid flat. LCD is usually fine though take care not to exert bending forces upon it. Basically if a large portion of the box is hanging out of the trunk everytime you hit a bump or such gravity is doing it's thing on that side of the tv forcing the panel to bend in the middle. This can crush liquid crystal cells. Under severe stress the IC drivers will fail and you'll see entire lines of the panel dead, but usually what happens is you end up "creating" your own mura defect. In other words bending enough to crush cells is one method of producing your own clouding defects. :)

It's quite rare though. LCD panels are both tough and kind of fragile at the same time really.

Plasmas must be transported upright because the glass is fragile and can shatter when laid flat. LCD is usually fine though take care not to exert bending forces upon it. Basically if a large portion of the box is hanging out of the trunk everytime you hit a bump or such gravity is doing it's thing on that side of the tv forcing the panel to bend in the middle.

Yes, this is exactly my understanding and is why lcd's should largely be perfectly fine when laid flat.

Plasmas use glass (think HEAVY) on the front of the screen. The piece of glass is only supported around the edges of the glass, so common sense would tell you that laying it flat would leave a large piece of glass, with support only around the perimeter (not a smart idea). LCD's (most of them) don't use glass so this isn't really a big concern.

I have a '00 civic 4dr and transported the tx47 sticking out of the back as well. I measured everything carefully before going there, and the tv only protrudes out of the trunk (w/o support) for only ~1 foot. So, the tv was largely support and only protruded out of the trunk slightly. I do agree w/ Xcalibur that you have to be careful and flying over speed bumps probably isn't a good idea. :D I only had to drive <5 miles home from Best buy, but certainly wouldn't have driven cross country w/ it sticking out the trunk. lol

Awesome. It should fit in the back of my truck fine then. I only live about a mile from my BB. Tomorrow cannot come fast enough.

My old rp hitachi hdtv died last night, and I'm seriously considering getting the tx 47". I only wish the 52" was available now as well, since that was the one I was looking to eventually get. I cant go 3 months without a tv. If i get a service plan from Best Buy, do you think they'll let me swap to the 52" when it comes out and pay the difference?

No, they will not do a swap with the service plan unless they have done the 3 service calls on the original.

The 47" TX is advertised in this weeks Best Buy flyer, except its NOT AVAILABLE IN ANY ONTARIO STORES. (not sure about other provs.)

I called them, and they claim that its probably available in other provinces, so its not a 'web exclusive', but for those in Ontario, it might as well be. Can't pickup in store either, seems like only the web store has them in their own warehouse, and the stores can't get them (for now?).

BEST BUY: Not making room on store shelves = Bait and Switch

('oh here's another set that's $500 more, but we have it in the back...')

bleh.

Interesting. As soon as I gave my local Best Buy rep the SKU number for the 47" they determined they would not normally stock it yet they could order it regardless. Did you speak to a manager about doing a direct order?

Interesting. As soon as I gave my local Best Buy rep the SKU number for the 47" they determined they would not normally stock it yet they could order it regardless. Did you speak to a manager about doing a direct order?

Yeah, he claimed that there were 230 in the warehouse, but they were for the web store. wtf?

Not sure if its because all the stores here in Toronto would rather upsell you to something else, like Sony/Samsung where the markup is higher. I could order online, but then I'm forced into 'special delivery' since the pickup from store option is disabled for this item.

The flipside I guess is that 2 store managers claimed they would have them in store 'soon'. I'll believe it when I see it, and if its much longer, I'm going for a Sammy 4661f at anywhere but best buy.

Yeah, he claimed that there were 230 in the warehouse, but they were for the web store. wtf?

Not sure if its because all the stores here in Toronto would rather upsell you to something else, like Sony/Samsung where the markup is higher. I could order online, but then I'm forced into 'special delivery' since the pickup from store option is disabled for this item.

The flipside I guess is that 2 store managers claimed they would have them in store 'soon'. I'll believe it when I see it, and if its much longer, I'm going for a Sammy 4661f at anywhere but best buy.

As stated in my previous post, my local store told me there are no plans to actually stock or display the 47" in store, but they will be able to order it for me in store rather than online with shipping costs.

Regarding the pickup option, this has always been a mystery that no one in store or at national customer service has ever been able to explain the many times I've asked.

With the old LVM series, whether they were in stock online and in the store or not, they would never allow you to order online and pickup. It annoyed me because at times I was going to buy but I could not use an online coupon code and pickup in store, and often the shipping nearly negated the coupon. I asked many times about this, and they could never explain it. The same is now the case for the 42" TX.

Perhaps it is related to controlling the price, if these are in fact lower margin items as people say.

Perhaps. It sounds like the rep is trying to bait and switch you, protovision.

Yeah, he claimed that there were 230 in the warehouse, but they were for the web store. wtf?

Not sure if its because all the stores here in Toronto would rather upsell you to something else, like Sony/Samsung where the markup is higher. I could order online, but then I'm forced into 'special delivery' since the pickup from store option is disabled for this item.

The flipside I guess is that 2 store managers claimed they would have them in store 'soon'. I'll believe it when I see it, and if its much longer, I'm going for a Sammy 4661f at anywhere but best buy.

Okay... seriously... wth? If you have cash in hand and are going to buy a TV from a store that has 230 in a warehouse sitting there for a "possible" sell, what kind of idiot wouldn't sell it to the guy right in front of him with the cash?

If you explain it to the manager and tell him that you want to buy the TV today and you don't care if it takes a few weeks to ship it from the warehouse to their store they would be stupid to not sell it to you. In which case if you really REALLY want the TV then ask the manager to talk to his regional manager (or that you'd like to talk to him for you). If you really want the TV at this great price I assure you can really get it. You might have to drive across the border to get it though. :)

As stated in my previous post, my local store told me there are no plans to actually stock or display the 47" in store, but they will be able to order it for me in store rather than online with shipping costs.

I mentioned it to the mgr I spoke to, about other store not making shelve space, he just gave me a blank look. He also said he can't order it for me unless the computer says ok, which it didn't yesterday.


this, and they could never explain it. The same is now the case for the 42" TX.

I did see that one on display, and for sale (I think) at the Sherway Gardens Best Buy.

As stated in my previous post, my local store told me there are no plans to actually stock or display the 47" in store, but they will be able to order it for me in store rather than online with shipping costs.

Regarding the pickup option, this has always been a mystery that no one in store or at national customer service has ever been able to explain the many times I've asked.

With the old LVM series, whether they were in stock online and in the store or not, they would never allow you to order online and pickup. It annoyed me because at times I was going to buy but I could not use an online coupon code and pickup in store, and often the shipping nearly negated the coupon. I asked many times about this, and they could never explain it. The same is now the case for the 42" TX.

Perhaps it is related to controlling the price, if these are in fact lower margin items as people say.

I can't speak for the stores as I don't work there, but at MSRP, the margin isn't THAT low... somewhere at around $400 if I recall for the 42, haven't checked the 47.

But special delivery generally means getting it delivered directly from the distribution centre in Brampton (or whereever it is), similar to household appliances would be from Future Shop.

I'm in the STL area also... where'd you wind up finding one?

I was able to order it at the Brentwood BB, right next to 64/40, but I think that was mainly due to a very helpful customer service rep.


Here's hoping they get the set in sooner than July 4th.

I was able to order a TX-47 tonight at a Cambridge, MA Best Buy after canceling an order for an LVM-37W3 via Costco (great deal but they are now backordered).
The Magnolia rep indicated that only certain BBs in the Boston area are stocking them in store. As this particular location was one of those not displaying it, they are sending it from the warehouse which has 75 in stock according to the computer.

They also let me use the 12 percent coupon without a problem, and delivery was available for early next week.

Unfortunately, I had to purchase a new Performance Service Plan when I returned my 11 month old LVM-42w2 for a TX-47F430S. I was told that since it was a different model, the PSP would not transfer. I believe the price difference was well worth the upgrade though. Good luck!

After speaking with BB customer service, they stated that since the TV is being replaced within the manufacturer's warranty (1 year period), the PSP should transfer to the new set as that policy has not had to kick in yet. I will be armed with this information when I go to the store tomorrow morning, because I'm not paying for a new PSP - and since your TV was only 11 months old you shouldn't have had to pay for one either.

If the TV were not still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, the PSP would have been considered fulfilled, but since my 42w2 is 9 months old, the PSP should follow it, and the new TX series should also be covered by a 1 year manufacturer's warranty as well.

I dunno - I pray nobody else reports this because then Westy's quality control would come into question.

Well, I'd say it's time to call it into question, and in a big way at that. I unplugged my set tonight as I was putting my stereo back together. Plugged it back in, turned it on, and I have an eerily similar situation to yours, except I don't even get the Westy logo. It comes on, no display, then the light goes amber and the screen goes dark, then comes back to blue with backlight, but no video. Other controls seem to respond, I can switch inputs and get appropriate sound, but no display of any kind - not video, not menus, nothing!

To make matters worse, staring at that blank screen was not a good experience. I had noticed about 3 dead/stuck pixels before...well, tonight, I stopped counting at 13!!! :mad:

Even worse, I sat down across the room, and holy crap...this set has a BAD case of mura...I wasn't even sure I knew what mura was before, believe me, you'll know it when you see it! I think I heard Joni Mitchell singing in the distance...

And the timing sucks...it's our anniversary and one of our kids' birthdays, got plans all weekend, and I'll be away some of next week on business (although within driving range if I needed to come home for a couple hours). I am freaking *irate* right now. I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow, I will try an even-up exchange this time, but if the new unit has half the problems of this one I will be waiting for Samsung to get their **** together, or something, I don't even know what at this point...maybe get a cheap 37" 720p model and save the big bucks until *someone* releases a panel without widespread reports of defects.

Ed

Don't always assume that the sales reps will tell you the same thing. Every one of them will make up slightly (or very) different stories.

If you get turned down at one location, maybe come back and deal with somebody else, and you could get very different results. The same applies to PSP as well as the actual purchase.

Okay it looks like we have a big problem with this set. I just experienced the same issue HuggyBear and Hurst had with their TV's. I unplugged it tonight as I just bought an audio tower. Plugged it back in and ready to enjoy and it crapped the bed. I get the Westy logo on bootup but nothing more. Cannot change inputs or anything. It's a $2000 black picture on the wall at this point. To say I am pissed off would be a major understatement. I REALLY do not feel like hauling this thing back to BB this weekend!!!! Hate to say it but get ready for a swapout everyone. Three so far and counting. This sucks big time.

wow - sorry to hear all this you guys.. three down is pretty scary considering how few of teh sets are actually out there. someone wanted to do a poll of owners... how many people in this thread own a TX-47? 10 at best? now 30% of them are dead....

i can not imagine how frustrated you guys must be.... good luck to you all

Thanks for the feedback on the transport. I too was under the impression that large LCDs were not be laid flat. Guess that is a holdover from the plasmas. I will pad the dimensions of the unit and see if I can fit it in the back of my Xterra for pickup.

Hello PanzerBoxb,

Xterra 2001, with fold down(forward) rear passenger seats.

I can confirm that this TX-47F430s will fit through the back, with the back seats folded forward. In my case, the back seats will not fold completely forward and the top of the seats are raised a few inches above the trunk space. With this in mind, the front side of the box will sit 8-10" above the back of the box for the ride home.

With the unit on its side and not supported in the middle, I was a bit nervous getting it home. I did not have it padded or supported under the middle of the box, but I did take it easy for the 25 miles of highway on my way home.

It is a tight fit, but it will fit in the Xterra.

Also, I was certain to insert the box, panel side up...to ensure the panel did not crack during transport.


~b3nz0n8

Wow....i was pretty psyched for these, but after hearing about 3 people with dead TV's already, I'm having second thoughts. I guess I'll start looking at some other models, and saving some extra cash. If people don't report this problem A) going away or B) not showing up on any other panels, I won't be buying this one :(

For those experiencing trouble with the TX series.

Have you attempted to unplug all inputs (especially HDMI), unplug & cycle power(without any inputs plugged into the panel)?

FWIW: While using a DVI-HDMI cable from my laptop to the TX47, I would experience a scrambled "W" with green pixel problems all over the panel while powering up the TX47.

It was very strange.

To correct the issue, I had to unplug the HDMI cable and cycle power(but did not have to unplug the TX).

I did not experience the power lockup issue either, but the "W" power on problem was similar, until I unplugged the HDMI and replugged the HDMI after the boot sequence.

Also, was all of your user power settings, set to "Power Saver" mode?

Just a thought.

~b3nz0n8

Just a question as TX series is new it is still not discounted at most of retailers. Do you think buying Westy at 1800USD makes sense when you can get Sony or Samsung of 40" for roughly same price range ?

Just thought I'd check in and now I read about 2 more units going dead! This doesn't bode well at all. Sounds to me like in rushing these things to market they skipped minor details, such as quality control :(

BENZONATE - Yes, I tried everything you mentioned, but you did raise an interesting point - I had mine set to energy saving mode. If it is set to normal, the TV powers on instantly - no boot up screen... this could have made a difference.

x84HurstOlds & heelfan74 - what mode did you have yours set to?

Actually, I guess it doesn't matter as you both stated you had unplugged the units - so the problem seems to always occur during the boot up sequence.

I am really concerned... my replacement is on the way but I am worried the set might make it through 30 days this time and then die right after the return policy is up.

BB extended warranty is a necessity!!

Just thought I'd check in and now I read about 2 more units going dead! This doesn't bode well at all. Sounds to me like in rushing these things to market they skipped minor details, such as quality control :(

BENZONATE - Yes, I tried everything you mentioned, but you did raise an interesting point - I had mine set to energy saving mode. If it is set to normal, the TV powers on instantly - no boot up screen... this could have made a difference.

x84HurstOlds & heelfan74 - what mode did you have yours set to?

Actually, I guess it doesn't matter as you both stated you had unplugged the units - so the problem seems to always occur during the boot up sequence.

I am really concerned... my replacement is on the way but I am worried the set might make it through 30 days this time and then die right after the return policy is up.

BB extended warranty is a necessity!!

Since I also have mine in the Energy Save mode, I decided to unplug my unit and try it like you guys have done. I figured what the hell. Mine worked ok. However, I also set my Power on Plug to OFF so the TV wouldn't try to turn on after a power restore. I found it odd that when power was restored, the light on the front turned to amber as if it was in standby mode. Maybe there's a combination of events that happens that causes this, I'm not sure. Hopefully it is just a firmware problem that Westinghouse quickly resolves with an upgrade.

Now I'm trying to decide if i want to play with these power settings and try to get the problem to occur for myself. :-)

Well I have a an update with some good news. Woke up all p'ed off this morning. Started screwing around with the TV. Disconnected all inputs tried turning back on, nothing. I realized that when I turned it off last night to move stuff around I only had the cable input to the tuner on the TV but when I hooked everything back up I put my digital cable box back in place so that cable was no longer in the TV. After disconnecting all inputs I put just the cable feed back in to the TV and powercycled it. Low and behold the sucker booted up and had video. It seemed like it was stuck looking for the cable input or something. I then could switch inputs and turned on the 360 and that worked. I then put the cable feed back in to the cable box and it worked. I have been shutting it off and on removing inputs and so far so good. I will keep you all posted.

Well I have a an update with some good news. Woke up all p'ed off this morning. Started screwing around with the TV. Disconnected all inputs tried turning back on, nothing. I realized that when I turned it off last night to move stuff around I only had the cable input to the tuner on the TV but when I hooked everything back up I put my digital cable box back in place so that cable was no longer in the TV. After disconnecting all inputs I put just the cable feed back in to the TV and powercycled it. Low and behold the sucker booted up and had video. It seemed like it was stuck looking for the cable input or something. I then could switch inputs and turned on the 360 and that worked. I then put the cable feed back in to the cable box and it worked. I have been shutting it off and on removing inputs and so far so good. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks for the update. I'm sure that eases some of our worries. I know it eases some of mine. Although issues with the built in tuner are not promising, at least there might be a temporary work around until Westinghouse decides to have a firmware update.

I think I have to return my set. Now it will not show an image when connected via HDMI input. My computer has been hooked up to it for a week with no problems. Fired it up last night, black screen. Changed all of my settings on the comp, no image. Then I hooked up my mac-mini. No image. Bought a new DVI to HDMI cable. Nothing. Reset the panel, unplugged it. etc. etc. Anyone have any ideas. I do not want to box it back up and drag it back to BB.

For those experiencing trouble with the TX series.

Have you attempted to unplug all inputs (especially HDMI), unplug & cycle power(without any inputs plugged into the panel)?

I have not attempted that yet, just numerous unplug, replug, and power cycles.

I did not experience the power lockup issue either, but the "W" power on problem was similar, until I unplugged the HDMI and replugged the HDMI after the boot sequence.

Mine seems a bit different - I've had the scrambled 'W' once before, but now I am getting no 'W' logo at all on start, which seems different from huggybear and heelfan.

Also, was all of your user power settings, set to "Power Saver" mode?

Yes.

Ed

Well I have a an update with some good news. Woke up all p'ed off this morning. Started screwing around with the TV. Disconnected all inputs tried turning back on, nothing. I realized that when I turned it off last night to move stuff around I only had the cable input to the tuner on the TV but when I hooked everything back up I put my digital cable box back in place so that cable was no longer in the TV. After disconnecting all inputs I put just the cable feed back in to the TV and powercycled it. Low and behold the sucker booted up and had video. It seemed like it was stuck looking for the cable input or something. I then could switch inputs and turned on the 360 and that worked. I then put the cable feed back in to the cable box and it worked. I have been shutting it off and on removing inputs and so far so good. I will keep you all posted.

This is very interesting. When mine went down, I had left it on the TV input. After getting the black screen, I disconnected everything. I never did try putting the coax cable back into the TV input....

I wonder if this has something to do with the TV booting up after being left on the TV input and not receiving a signal... it freezes up and you are unable to select any other inputs... the only way it comes back is when once again it receives a signal from the RF input (i.e. the input you last left it on).

I wish I still had mine here so I could try this. The thing is I don't understand why it happened in my case as I never disconnected the TV input like heelfan74 did. The only thing I can think of is the signal was interrupted somehow.

Now I am wondering if I should try thoroughly test my new one when I get it to see if it has the same problem or just play it safe - do not use energy saving mode and do not leave the set on TV input when turning it off.

mgalvez & x84HurstOlds - Since you still have your sets, try as many tests as you can before returning them so we can rule thiings out...

Try booting it up after restoring the connection on the input you last had the set on... if you had a cable going into the RF in with QAM cable put it back. Also, I'd suggest hooking upa cheap antenna to the RF in as another test.

Hook up devices to as many input as you can, one by one.... make sure the device is powered on and sending a signal.

The problem is, I think when they are in this frozen state they are only looking for a signal from the input they were last on... if they don't receive a signal for whatever reason, they lock up and won't recognize the other inputs.

By the way - were you guys using the autosource feature? I had mine turned off.

This is very interesting. When mine went down, I had left it on the TV input. After getting the black screen, I disconnected everything. I never did try putting the coax cable back into the TV input....

I wonder if this has something to do with the TV booting up after being left on the TV input and not receiving a signal... it freezes up and you are unable to select any other inputs... the only way it comes back is when once again it receives a signal from the RF input (i.e. the input you last left it on).

I wish I still had mine here so I could try this. The thing is I don't understand why it happened in my case as I never disconnected the TV input like heelfan74 did. The only thing I can think of is the signal was interrupted somehow.

Now I am wondering if I should try thoroughly test my new one when I get it to see if it has the same problem or just play it safe - do not use energy saving mode and do not leave the set on TV input when turning it off.

Well, I don't believe that mine was on TV input...I'm pretty sure I was on HDMI2, which is fed by my S3 Tivo...which I had just added an external drive to, making me all the more psyched prior to discovering the Westy was down :(

I'm going to try unplugging all inputs. I had removed the analog audio in for HDMI 1 (HTPC), and I had also had a cable in component 1 that led to nowhere before...last night I plugged it into my preamp's component out. Those were the only two things I changed at the TV itself before this happened, well, that and I unplugged it.

HEELFAN - glad to hear you are back up. While you had the blank screen, did you happen to notice any mura or dead/stuck pixels? I'm wondering if my unit was abused...

Ed

Just got it working this morning again. This time I turned the set off, unplugged EVERY input, VGA from my xbox, cable, and HDMI. Turned it back on, plugged in HDMI and it worked. I tried everything except this yesterday. I hope this does not happen often.

mgalvez & x84HurstOlds - Since you still have your sets, try as many tests as you can before returning them so we can rule thiings out...

Try booting it up after restoring the connection on the input you last had the set on... if you had a cable going into the RF in with QAM cable put it back. Also, I'd suggest hooking upa cheap antenna to the RF in as another test.

Hook up devices to as many input as you can, one by one.... make sure the device is powered on and sending a signal.

The problem is, I think when they are in this frozen state they are only looking for a signal from the input they were last on... if they don't receive a signal for whatever reason, they lock up and won't recognize the other inputs.

By the way - were you guys using the autosource feature? I had mine turned off.

No dice. But again, mine seems like a different case - it is not locked up, I can switch inputs still, change channels, control volume, etc. - but I only get audio, no video and no OSD whatsoever.

Ed

for those asking about transport I got mine home in the backseat of a 2001 eclipse spyder last night (the TX 47) had the top down and made the 5 mile trip home no sweat....

Went to Best Buy yesterday and they were quite willing to Price Match with the current 12% coupon making the 47 cost $1571. So everyone who bought from BB the first week the set came out, go get your credit!!

Also asked the manager why they are not displaying the set. He said BB is probably still deciding whether to get behind this set big time, depending on customer experience and Westy supply.

I am still thrilled with my unit and no problems.

Went to Best Buy yesterday and they were quite willing to Price Match with the current 12% coupon making the 47 cost $xxxx. So everyone who bought from BB the first week the set came out, go get your credit!!

Also asked the manager why they are not displaying the set. He said BB is probably still deciding whether to get behind this set big time, depending on customer experience and Westy supply.

I am still thrilled with my unit and no problems.

Techleaper,

You'll probably get admonished by the moderators for posting actual price, better to say "12% off MSRP".

Anyway, I returned my original today, there wasn't a whole lot more I could do with it. I did bring in the new coupon and got the difference taken off, my new set will arrive on the 13th, though I probably won't be able to pick up until the 14th. Now I have the 27" CRT back in place, but no Tivo and no HTPC - neither are giving me a picture off S-video, probably because both were set to output hi-def. (The CRT has no component input, and my pre-amp doesn't downconvert the component, so...) So it's analog cable and SD DVD's until then. Could be worse - I would not have wanted to be lugging my old 32" Sony CRT back and forth to storage, so even though it was a much better set than the 27, I guess its death was a mixed blessing.

Techleaper, I highly recommend, both for your own sake and because I am curious as to whether my first set was just a bad apple, switch to an unused input, turn the lights off at night, and check two things: first, get very close and look for dead pixels. Second, look at the set dead on from 10 or 15 feet back, and see if there is any cloudiness, mura, bright spots, or unevenness to the backlight. Hopefully you will find none and have many happy years with your set, but mine had at least 13 dead pixels and a bad case of mura.

Ed

Man, it's kind of upsetting to see a bunch of people with these issues.. I am now seriously debating/rethinking of getting the extended warranty through BB. I tried unplugging my set and plugging it back in and I didn't notice any problems. I'm very against extended warranties because I dont think something should ever need fixing/repairs in the first 3-4 yrs, but manufacturers these days definetly seem to rush out products, and the consumers get the short end of the stick..

I was watching a movie last night on the ps3, and the set seemed to lose sync w/ the ps3 at one time during the movie. Basically the screen just lost the signal, and I had to switch inputs and switch back to the hdmi input for it to resync. I noticed one other quick drop out during the movie but it didn't lose sync. The question is whether this is a ps3 issue, westy issue, hdmi issue, or a combination of several. I will probably watch another movie tomorrow and I'll report back how things turn out. So far things have been overall positive for me, but the westy has lost sync now a few times w/ the ps3.

Hey guys, sorry to hear about the troubles everyone is having, it makes me antsy as BB is set to deliver mine in a few days. One thing I noticed while flipping though the manual is that in addition to the power saver setting there is also this one:

"DPMS: Lets you turn the DPMS (Display Power Management
Signaling) On/Off; when “On,” the display goes into Standby
mode if there’s no incoming signal from the selected input for
1-, 5- or 10-Minute intervals."

Is it possible that there is a firmware bug involving the DPMS setting (or Power on Plug), such that the display will go into standby automatically based on a lack of input signal if DPMS is enabled/disabled?

Just a thought; I hope this problem is resolved soon, I don't feel like making a return.

Went to Best Buy yesterday and they were quite willing to Price Match with the current 12% coupon making the 47 cost " :p ". So everyone who bought from BB the first week the set came out, go get your credit!!

Also asked the manager why they are not displaying the set. He said BB is probably still deciding whether to get behind this set big time, depending on customer experience and Westy supply.

I am still thrilled with my unit and no problems.

Any one in the South Carolina Area finding a store with this unit? Plus Techleaper, who did they match the price against? I'm not finding this on BB website. The product page Huggybear posted to Westinghouse has a locator but it must to to new to find actual dealer/stores. My original interest in this came via an email from Solid Signal, yet by the looks of things, it seem to be prudent to have a local store purchase that can be there just in case. Any help in locating one of these would be nice.

Techleaper,

You'll probably get admonished by the moderators for posting actual price, better to say "12% off MSRP".

Anyway, I returned my original today, there wasn't a whole lot more I could do with it. I did bring in the new coupon and got the difference taken off, my new set will arrive on the 13th, though I probably won't be able to pick up until the 14th. Now I have the 27" CRT back in place, but no Tivo and no HTPC - neither are giving me a picture off S-video, probably because both were set to output hi-def. (The CRT has no component input, and my pre-amp doesn't downconvert the component, so...) So it's analog cable and SD DVD's until then. Could be worse - I would not have wanted to be lugging my old 32" Sony CRT back and forth to storage, so even though it was a much better set than the 27, I guess its death was a mixed blessing.

Techleaper, I highly recommend, both for your own sake and because I am curious as to whether my first set was just a bad apple, switch to an unused input, turn the lights off at night, and check two things: first, get very close and look for dead pixels. Second, look at the set dead on from 10 or 15 feet back, and see if there is any cloudiness, mura, bright spots, or unevenness to the backlight. Hopefully you will find none and have many happy years with your set, but mine had at least 13 dead pixels and a bad case of mura.

Ed

Ed,
The first night I got home with the TX-42, I ran some tests on the unit. Amongst over things, this included an up close inspection for dead pixels (not a one to be found), and viewing of mixed solid colors fed from a laptop, for clouding and mura. I used white, powder blue and black and did not see any patterns or movement.

Hopefully you just got a bad apple, and your replacement unit is up to spec and performs like mine.

good luck,

Techleaper

Any one in the South Carolina Area finding a store with this unit? Plus Techleaper, who did they match the price against? I'm not finding this on BB website. The product page Huggybear posted to Westinghouse has a locator but it must to to new to find actual dealer/stores. My original interest in this came via an email from Solid Signal, yet by the looks of things, it seem to be prudent to have a local store purchase that can be there just in case. Any help in locating one of these would be nice.

Woobieizer,

BB is not acknowledging the TX online. I can't speak for South Carolina, but in Michigan and other states, you need to walk into the store and have them look up the model number ** TX-47F430S ** in the computer. They will either show x units in back (none on display), or Y units in the warehouse, and they can order one for you. You may be able to verify the above by phoning your local store, before heading over. 12% off coupon good through June 17.

good luck,

Techleaper

As stated in my previous post, my local store told me there are no plans to actually stock or display the 47" in store, but they will be able to order it for me in store rather than online with shipping costs.

Regarding the pickup option, this has always been a mystery that no one in store or at national customer service has ever been able to explain the many times I've asked.

With the old LVM series, whether they were in stock online and in the store or not, they would never allow you to order online and pickup. It annoyed me because at times I was going to buy but I could not use an online coupon code and pickup in store, and often the shipping nearly negated the coupon. I asked many times about this, and they could never explain it. The same is now the case for the 42" TX.

Perhaps it is related to controlling the price, if these are in fact lower margin items as people say.

Hello Javier911,

The BB online store operates on a completely different business model than the brick and morter(B&M) stores. This is why you have not received an answer. They do not wish to tell you or some do not understand.

The issue with the online purchase combined with BB store pickup is that the two are seperate. The online store is associated with the B&M BB stores in name, but they operate differently. They are not one, other than the "Store Front" they both offer in the product line.

The issue with shipping from one store to another, including the online store to the B&M stores is called "Cross Docking".

Each B&M store has a region. Within that region there are multiple states.

A warehouse is designated to a specific region and serves those B&M locations.

Within each region, there is a shipping pattern for the supply chain. That shipping pattern is called "Docking".

When you place a special order, it is placed in the "docking" line within supply chain of that region from the warehouse. That is your "estimated arrival/delivery date".

The trucks are loaded accordingly with the last "dock" at the front of the truck. This creates efficiency in the "docking" process and eliminates much of the loss/damage.

You should be able to "Cross Dock" within your state. This is allowed, due to the lower shipping cost in reference to the cost of shipping from the warehouse.

This also allows the B&M stores added value to the consumer and leverage to the administration of the B&M stores to secure consumer loyalty.

It is an efficient business plan to extend the reach of the B&M to the consumer.

The online business model is not in this business plan...yet. Logistics and a rework of the business model need further attention.

For example, Dell's Direct business model is expanding to include low cost desktop/laptop solutions to Walmart & Sams Club.

Direct competition to Best Buy Brick & Morter and the BB online business model.

This is response to HP taking the lead, leaving Dell in 2nd. HP is saturating multiple markets, which in turn, is tightening the thumbscrews on Dell's Direct business model.

This situation may, in the future, force BB to encompass the online business model in logistics, sales & consumer loyalty to both the B&M and Online services together...but not at this moment. Both of these business models are scrambling to devour the marketshare of its competion as they fall to the wayside.

The B&M competition is currently struggling....failing. Circuit City is handing out pink slips as quickly as it can print them. CompUSA has closed 119 B&M stores. Online options have wreaked havoc on the B&M stores. You can see the result in your local town.

BB has currently embraced expanded options and will continue to do so in the future. Competition will force this issue...but not currently.

~b3nz0n8

Woobieizer,

BB is not acknowledging the TX online. I can't speak for South Carolina, but in Michigan and other states, you need to walk into the store and have them look up the model number ** TX-47F430S ** in the computer.

The BB that I've been going to still can't bring up the item in the computer using the model # - bring the BB sku # with you to be safe - 8346685.

Ed,
The first night I got home with the TX-42, I ran some tests on the unit. Amongst over things, this included an up close inspection for dead pixels (not a one to be found), and viewing of mixed solid colors fed from a laptop, for clouding and mura. I used white, powder blue and black and did not see any patterns or movement.

Hopefully you just got a bad apple, and your replacement unit is up to spec and performs like mine.

I had the same experience - my unit was flawless - not a single dead pixel, no mura. I can only pray that my replacement is the same!

Hey guys, sorry to hear about the troubles everyone is having, it makes me antsy as BB is set to deliver mine in a few days. One thing I noticed while flipping though the manual is that in addition to the power saver setting there is also this one:

"DPMS: Lets you turn the DPMS (Display Power Management
Signaling) On/Off; when “On,” the display goes into Standby
mode if there’s no incoming signal from the selected input for
1-, 5- or 10-Minute intervals."

Is it possible that there is a firmware bug involving the DPMS setting (or Power on Plug), such that the display will go into standby automatically based on a lack of input signal if DPMS is enabled/disabled?

Just a thought; I hope this problem is resolved soon, I don't feel like making a return.

There are a number of settings that could be playing a part with the reported problems - the DPMS, the autosource, the energy saver mode, and the setting that automatically turns the TV on when it is plugged in. In my case, I had all these settings turned off, and the TV set to energy saver. The only thing that I could think of that would have prevented mine going down would have been to NOT use the energy saver setting (the default setting uses more power but the TV does not go through the boot up with logo screen when you turn it on - it instantly returns to where you last left it).

To be safe, when I get my new set I will not use energy saver - I am hoping it is some sort of bug that they will eventually fix with a firmware update.

Ed,
The first night I got home with the TX-42, I ran some tests on the unit. Amongst over things, this included an up close inspection for dead pixels (not a one to be found), and viewing of mixed solid colors fed from a laptop, for clouding and mura. I used white, powder blue and black and did not see any patterns or movement.

Hopefully you just got a bad apple, and your replacement unit is up to spec and performs like mine.

good luck,

Techleaper

Techleaper,

I am *very* glad to hear that, and I believe that the 42 and 47" panels are similar enough that findings on either one are relevant to the other. Just knowing that there *are* perfect panels in existence gives me hope that I will be able to get one. Thanks!

Ed

I had the same experience - my unit was flawless - not a single dead pixel, no mura. I can only pray that my replacement is the same!

Again, this is very good news. My old unit having all the problems that it did, I thought that Westinghouse had perhaps taken a step backwards, but that seems not to be the case. Hopefully these lockups/premature deaths are rare.

Ed

Hey Everyone;

New member who bought a TX-47 from BB the weekend they came out. So far I've been very happy with it. No dead pixels and no artifacts that I've been able to see.

Today I ran into the first problem, and it has to do with the unit freezing up. For me, this only happens when I have my laptop plugged into the VGA port. I'm running it at 1080, but the resolution doesn't seem to matter. I can switch into the PC input and use it fine, but what I can't do is switch away then come back. Whatever menu was on the screen freezes, and it doesn't respond to any input from the remote or the side buttons, except the power off switch. If I hold that down, it will reset itself (go through the W logo) and come up and sync on the PC signal (with a little initial difficulty). It then works fine until I try to go out and come back. At present I have an OTA antenna, DISH PVR into the s-video and a PS3 into HDMI-1. Switching randomly between any other vid source isn't a problem. I have also connected a second PC to HDMI-2 through a DVI converter with no problems.

I think the hint might be that it has initial problems syncing on the PC inut and it can't progress past there. When switching to PC, it doesn't get to the screen graphics to say which input was chosen. I've tried refereshing the computer screen, unplugging the VGA and plugging it back in, unplugging other vid sources and nothing is able to get it's attention again without a reboot. II've also re-ran the PC AUTO ADJUST a few times (clock stays at 50; phase does vary alot 16-60, but that may depend on the content). The TX display is still alive, because if I change to another approved video resolution, it will flash the screen (and the menu graphics left on, if any), but still won't do anything else. If this is a common bug, it may be the same for any vid signal it find's tough to sync on, and so could change for every setup. In my case, maybe a different analog VGA source wouldn't have a problem, but I haven't been able to try yet.

Right now, I think the only problem is that it can't gracefully recover from this glitch. I'll post more if I learn anything else.

Again, this is very good news. My old unit having all the problems that it did, I thought that Westinghouse had perhaps taken a step backwards, but that seems not to be the case. Hopefully these lockups/premature deaths are rare.

Ed

Interesting info:

Reader Comments

45. RE: PS3 Blinking Mystery Deepens—Westinghouse:
As a TV repair tech, I deal with this problem every day and it is not easy to fix. This HDCP issue happens in DVD players, AV receivers and cable set top boxes. The problem is the digital handshake HDCP from the source device. It may work fine for weeks or months then all the sudden it stops working. Rebooting TV and source device sometimes solves this in the short term, butt dose not correct the fault. Also, unpluging the HDMI cable works for some tv's but is not recommended. Some TV's will crash if you unplug the HDMI when it is on and ruin the board. Some name brand tv's take the HDMI signal and convert it back to analog componet video,look at the schematics if you dont beleve me. Everybody blames eachother. HDMI would be better served if CE manufacturers would drop HDCP.

WESTINGHOUSE & PS3 BLINKING ISSUE...MAY HAVE DEEPER ISSUES THAN JUST THE PS3 HANDSHAKE PROBLEM (http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4212233.html)

A FULL SET OF 1080 TEST IMAGES:


LINK TO TEST IMAGES (http://www.pbase.com/jackcnd/1080p_tests)



http://i.pbase.com/t6/78/287278/4/75285374.JsiPkO1u.jpg




~b3nz0n8

A FULL SET OF 1080 TEST IMAGES:


LINK TO TEST IMAGES (http://www.pbase.com/jackcnd/1080p_tests)



http://i.pbase.com/t6/78/287278/4/75285374.JsiPkO1u.jpg




~b3nz0n8


Thanks for the link. I'm looking forward to giving my set a workout.

I just bought myself the tx 47 from Best Buy in NY with the 12% coupon as well. I will be picking it up this friday. It seems that the TV is so new that there are plenty in the warehouse, but none in stores yet.

I think as long as the tv works correctly, or if firmware fixes are issued promptly, that this tv is an unbeatable value. I was leaning toward the new panasonic 50" plasma, but even that tv cant do 1080p via component or vga like this one can for my xbox 360. It was also twice the price. Im sure the plasma will look better, but not a few grand better.

Ya, I figured the retarded HDMI specs are screwing up the Westy.. I'll have to try the ps3 one of these days on our other lcd and watch a movie and see if there are any dropouts. Just like everything else, blu-ray and hd-dvd have long been cracked. I wouldn't be hugely against hdmi, but it's a half-ass solution/design that's caused many issues for many consumers.

Sorry for the rant.. anyway.. what is the general consensus for people on here? Is everyone buying the extended warranty for the Westy? It's $250 for an additional 3 yrs? Does this include in-home service if anything goes wrong or do you have to bring it back to the store?

Hopefully I can run through some test images and using the hdmi->dvi cable to test the westy and see how it goes. I have it hooked up to a vga cable and luckily I've had no issues w/ it locking up, or my pc recognizing the tv. I don't use it much for my computer so I can't say much about it, but no issues so far. I have an nvidia 7950gt just fyi.

I would highly suggest the extended plan. It seems like a fair deal for what it costs. I believe you have a choice of in-home or bringing it to the store.

I picked up my TX47 last night. Only had a chance to run cable TV (without the cable box) so far.

First impressions are very positive. SD looks Much better than I was anticipating - in fact, I can't imagine it looking any better. HD (PBS) is very very good as well. I'd have to say that both SD and HD feeds vary significantly from chanel to chanel - I am sure this is not news to anyone. DVD looks better than I expected (I am using RCA cables to connect to a component input while I wait for cables from Monoprice - these guys are top notch so far).

I did bring it home laying flat in the back of a cab (minivan kind), with part of the box hanging off an edge - I was slightly uneasy about it, but no problems that I can now see. I will be connecting my PC with a DVI>HDMI cable, will let you know how that goes when the cables arive, as well as whether using component cables over RCA cables with a DVD player makes any visible difference.

I did not get the BB PSP, but obviously I will be going back to get one, now that I've caught up on all the issues some are having. To be honest, for that price vs what we get, I am willing to accept the potentially higher risk of having issues.

So far I am 100% satisfied. I will let you know if that changes.

Best of luck to those having problems as well as those looking to buy one.

Sorry for the rant.. anyway.. what is the general consensus for people on here? Is everyone buying the extended warranty for the Westy? It's $250 for an additional 3 yrs? Does this include in-home service if anything goes wrong or do you have to bring it back to the store?

Well that is one heck of a price for extended warranty, I got my 47w1 yesterday from BB and they charged me 180usd for 4year extended service plan.

Ed,
The first night I got home with the TX-42, I ran some tests on the unit. Amongst over things, this included an up close inspection for dead pixels (not a one to be found), and viewing of mixed solid colors fed from a laptop, for clouding and mura. I used white, powder blue and black and did not see any patterns or movement.

Hopefully you just got a bad apple, and your replacement unit is up to spec and performs like mine.

good luck,

Techleaper

Went to Best Buy yesterday and they were quite willing to Price Match with the current 12% coupon making the 47 cost $ :D . So everyone who bought from BB the first week the set came out, go get your credit!!

Also asked the manager why they are not displaying the set. He said BB is probably still deciding whether to get behind this set big time, depending on customer experience and Westy supply.

I am still thrilled with my unit and no problems.

Techleaper Thanks for the response. I'll be sure to call tomorrow, and use Huggybears suggestion to have the item number handy. Noticed that you referenced the 47 at 12% off MSRP w/price match, then noticed you've been giving a TX-42 a bacth of tests. I'm thinking you have one to many Westies. If so which did you actually get, if you have more than one.. ..... Well you deserve two.. wtheck!

I just wanted to report that I just picked up a tx 47 inch from BB today in Brooklyn NY with my 12% coupon. ( I Live in Manhattan but they only had one in BK so I took the trip and brought it over on my Honda civic (had to tie it on top of the car cause it wouldn't fit in the trunk). So far so good. I have my PC connected through VGA with no problems and am using my regular cable box (SD) with composite. This thing looks better than I thought with sd and with the PC its great (through vga at 1080p using ati 1900xt video card). I'm planning on upgrading to a dvi to hdmi cable as it might look even better. QAM is great with Time Warner Cable and the speakers on this baby sound awesome (I have a home theater system that I will use soon) No signs of banding, mura, clouding, dead pixels etc. I guess I got lucky with this set. BTW it claims it was built in april so I guess thats recent enough. I went ahead and purchased the PSP for $250 which I think is well worth it for 4 years. I was told its home service so I dont even have to carry it back out to the store. Who could ask for anything more.

I have to do some more testing and playing around after I get over my exstatic mood. lol

P.S. Anyone have any good calibration settings?

Just a quick update for anybody in Seattle. The BB here DOES in fact have the 47" in stock, they are just having the problem others are mentioning where the system doesn't show them as in stock - they had to look in back.

Has anybody had any luck getting BB to bring one out to take a look at it before they bought?

I had the same experience - my unit was flawless - not a single dead pixel, no mura. I can only pray that my replacement is the same!


same here - no dead pixels or mura. i thought there were no stuck pixels either until i got about 3 inches away and I could then see 2-3 stuck green pixels, but they are -impossible- to see any further away than 1-2 feet, even if you know where they are (and my couch is ~10ft away...).

Does anyone know the BB item # for the 42"

I might go over tommorrow and see if they can order me one.

Also, anyone have a link to the current 12% coupon?

Thanks!

If you're having trouble finding these, have them look it up thru rss with the item#....they don't come up on their regular web page...

I have a 42" Panasonic EDTV plasma right now and am thinking about a new LCD. My mother-in-law just got a Vizio and it has a great anti-glare screen. The specs of the Westinghouse are vague enough that I can't tell if it has an anti-glare screen. Anyone with the unit have any thoughts they'd like to share about the anti-glare aspects of the display?

I also purchased the extended warranty from BB. I thought it was a fair price for a new product from a company like Westinghouse. Knock on wood, so far so good with my set. I've done a few complete power downs and it came back up ok. I'll continue to use the Energy Save mode and hope all goes well. I only use HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 so I don't do a lot of switching between inputs.

I have a 42" Panasonic EDTV plasma right now and am thinking about a new LCD. My mother-in-law just got a Vizio and it has a great anti-glare screen. The specs of the Westinghouse are vague enough that I can't tell if it has an anti-glare screen. Anyone with the unit have any thoughts they'd like to share about the anti-glare aspects of the display?

I can't compare this set to other LCD sets side by side, but I find its anti-glare aspects to be good... both the panel itself and the bezel. I dislike Sharp's glossy black bezel and I don't like a medium or light silver bezel. The panel itself is anti-glare and obviously a night and day difference between that and my 35" CRT. I'm very happy with it, both anti-glare and the way the TV looks overall.

When I get my 47" on friday, I will try to take screenshots of Blu-ray and HD-DVD using a PS3/XBOX360/xbox HD-DVD drive on the pc. I'll also take a ss or two of a pc game, and whatever else I can think of.

Since the PS3 can now upscale dvds, i may try that as well. If someone has calibrated the monitor, please share your settings.

What would be the alternatives to the BB Extended Warrenty for $250?
Is it possible to use a 10/12% coupon for the BB Warrenty?

Thanks

What would be the alternatives to the BB Extended Warrenty for $250?
Is it possible to use a 10/12% coupon for the BB Warrenty?

Thanks

Very good question.

I was thinking about picking up 2 PSP warranties for my 2 panels (LVM-47w1).

This would be a great option to enlist for warranty purposes.

Good idea...I'll see if I can make it work...and will post if it is possible.

~b3nz0n8

The coupon only works toward the unit itself and not the warranty. If you think about it, the coupon basically is equal to a free warranty.

The coupon only works toward the unit itself and not the warranty. If you think about it, the coupon basically is equal to a free warranty.


True...but stranger things have happened at the BB customer service desk.

Customer loyalty is the new direction in the Best Buy Brick & Morter strategy...maybe the rules will bend/morph a bit to empower the consumer.

Worth a go.

~b3nz0n8

Alright people, I'm chomping at the bit to get my TX-47f430s, which was supposed to be here on Saturday, but has been inexplicably delayed until Wednesday. More of you should post pictures, etc...of the unit in action. Maybe a video of the power-on sequence? I need something to hold me over until Wednesday afternoon!

True...but stranger things have happened at the BB customer service desk.

Customer loyalty is the new direction in the Best Buy Brick & Morter strategy...maybe the rules will bend/morph a bit to empower the consumer.

Worth a go.

~b3nz0n8
I was just in Best Buy this weekend and managed to use two 12% coupons at the same time on sale items and on their web prices.... also got a $100 gift card due to the promo (was with Maytag Washing machine and Dryer... but i digress).
managed to save nearer %25 on in store prices once all is said and done.
This was done without cajoling the salesman. I simply told him the prices were different online-that i had a bunch of coupons-and what was the best price they could do for me once all was considerd. If anything they were very helpful to help save me money.
As a passing note, the salesman did say that that store was particularly good at working out best prices for customers and keeping up customer satisfaction.

Whilst I was there I also managed to get my price adjustment on the TX- so $96~ back in my pocket.
If I can save anythinge on the $250 warrenty (which, if nothing goes wrong is pure profit for them) then I will do...

I'm curious. Are folks going to spend any time discussing the actual LCDs, or are we just going to prattle on endlessly about BestBuy coupons, even coupons that have nothing to do with the TV???

Maybe we need to start a thread to talk again about the actual display and leave this one for Best Buy coupon discussions...

I'll get the ball rolling again on technical discussions. I didn't see anyone answer my question about universal remotes. Any luck getting Logitech Harmonys or other Universal remotes to work with the TV?

One final update on BB in the Northwest (specifically Seattle, but I was told by the rep that this applied to all stores in the area.) The TX-42s are NOT in store, and they are not in the system either. The warehouse apparently doesn't have any, and they have no info on when/if they will be carried. However, the 47" IS in the warehouse, and at least at the Seattle store, it is on display!!! I spent a good 20 minutes looking at it and comparing it to the other sets they had on display. I know BB doesn't generally have the best environment for viewing, but I will say that I was fairly impressed by the display unit. The picture quality looked great next to all of the other sets. My only complaint were slightly lighter blacks, but again, could have been the viewing environment. Since they don't have the 42, I'm back to contemplating the 47. If all goes well and my car gets sold this week, I'll probably pick one up by the weekend :)

This sudden talk of lockup issues is going to be on the minds of potential buyers. Can everybody who has experienced one so far provide a quick summary of: A) what input/device was active if the unit locked up while in operation, B) what input/device was last used before the unit was shutoff if the unit locked up upon being turned on, C) a list of their settings for the power management menu [DPMS, Sleep, Power Mode, ect.], D) the nature of the lockup (permanent or temporary) and what finally remedied it.

It appears this is occurring primarily with the use of HDMI, so handshaking issues might be causing problems. Possibly a combination of that and a firmware bug that's producing this trouble. Speaking from experience if this turns out to be fairly widespread Westinghouse is going to do nothing, I repeat, NOTHING about it until an army of owners are screaming at them in unison. It took research on the part of the installed user base of the LVM-42w2 to figure it's lockup bug out for Westinghouse because they couldn't track it down themselves. In other words, if it's broken it's up to us to do the homework on why and how to fix it before Westinghouse will give a hoot to help us.

User updatable firmware will be essential to this formula. They hopefully did not put that USB port on the unit for show. Once tech support is up to speed (an idiotic situation in and of itself considering the models are already for sale, quite amateurish and unprofessional for a company that sells the large volume Westinghouse Digital does) hopefully they'll have a process in place for this.

Feedback here is appreciated everybody. We might as well have the thread serve a purpose other than discussion about Best Buy coupons. ;)

I'll get the ball rolling again on technical discussions. I didn't see anyone answer my question about universal remotes. Any luck getting Logitech Harmonys or other Universal remotes to work with the TV?


I was thinking of buying a Harmony soon - anyone tried yet?

This sudden talk of lockup issues is going to be on the minds of potential buyers. Can everybody who has experienced one so far provide a quick summary of: A) what input/device was active if the unit locked up while in operation, B) what input/device was last used before the unit was shutoff if the unit locked up upon being turned on, C) a list of their settings for the power management menu [DPMS, Sleep, Power Mode, ect.], D) the nature of the lockup (permanent or temporary) and what finally remedied it.

It appears this is occurring primarily with the use of HDMI, so handshaking issues might be causing problems. Possibly a combination of that and a firmware bug that's producing this trouble. Speaking from experience if this turns out to be fairly widespread Westinghouse is going to do nothing, I repeat, NOTHING about it until an army of owners are screaming at them in unison. It took research on the part of the installed user base of the LVM-42w2 to figure it's lockup bug out for Westinghouse because they couldn't track it down themselves. In other words, if it's broken it's up to us to do the homework on why and how to fix it before Westinghouse will give a hoot to help us.

User updatable firmware will be essential to this formula. They hopefully did not put that USB port on the unit for show. Once tech support is up to speed (an idiotic situation in and of itself considering the models are already for sale, quite amateurish and unprofessional for a company that sells the large volume Westinghouse Digital does) hopefully they'll have a process in place for this.

Feedback here is appreciated everybody. We might as well have the thread serve a purpose other than discussion about Best Buy coupons. ;)

HDMI 1 was active when my lockup occured, no other input was active. Power settings were:
DPMS mode: 1 min
Sleep: off
Power on Plug: on (I now have this set at off, but I had done a few power cycles without a problem when it was set to on after I experienced my lockup)
Power Mode: E. Saver
LED: on

So far I have not had the lockup happen again. I've since then even disconnected the power a few times and no lockup. I'm not sure why mine occured, but all I did was unplug it and reconnect power and I got it to come back up after the lockup that one time.

BB authorized me to replace the the 42w2 with another one. The cust rep told me over the phone that I can do it at ANYTIME within my extended warranty period which I have 3 years left on a 4 years plan. Does anyone know for the fact that this is true?? I don't have any 1080p sources right now so the current lcd is fine as is but I'll be getting one once the price drops or once HD war is over. It could be 1-3 years from now. I also want to wait until more issues got fixed on this TX47.

NOTE: TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WILL HAPPEN (but I will try it on mine if I can actually find a 47TX)

While waiting to see if the TX47 ever appears in Toronto BestBuys, can someone check to see if it can display 24hz/fps via VGA/Windows Powerstrip or PS3?

There's been reports of some other LCD's doing it although not official supported. This may sound strange, buts its perfect for movies, and is part of the reason for the whole 120hz dev. LCD's can go down to 1fps or technically 0hz for a static image and not flicker.

In the cases where it wasn't fully supported by the LCD, the EDID info was edited to include a profile for 24hz, and then saved(?) back to the TV. I really don't follow much of it, but the most straightforward test case was using powerstrip + 24hz settings + VGA.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533777

Video footage of JudderTest running onscreen @ 24hz (50MB):
http://www.megaupload.com/it/?d=WY7A0QT7

Any brave souls that can try this? anyone about to do a return who could try this first if still capable?

protovision

Just what are you trying to prove with that 50 MB movie footage?

Can everybody who has experienced one so far provide a quick summary of: A) what input/device was active if the unit locked up while in operation, B) what input/device was last used before the unit was shutoff if the unit locked up upon being turned on, C) a list of their settings for the power management menu [DPMS, Sleep, Power Mode, ect.], D) the nature of the lockup (permanent or temporary) and what finally remedied it.

Original post #561 (No links until post number 5!)

I'm going to ammend my first guess on my VGA input lockups. Since yesterday I've discovered that it ALWAYS happens switching into PC mode whether a VGA cable is plugged in or not, and I haven't found another way to get it to recover but a reboot, so there goes the sloppy video sync theory. :rolleyes: I can even lock it up by selecting VGA when I'm already in VGA. Since no one else has seen the same thing, I think this one is just bad hardware. I sent an e-mail yesterday to WH customer service to see what they say.

Nevertheless; my settings are:

DPMS Mode: Off or On- 1 or 5 min (in 1 min, timeout doesn't wake it up)
Sleep: Off
Power on Plug: On or Off
Power Mode: ESaver or Normal (a few times in Normal, power switch wouldn't reset; had to unplug)
Power LED: On or Off

I've also tried it with any combination of s-video, HDMI-1, HDMI-2 and VGA in or out with no change. Poop.

TF50

This problem was fixed. See HERE. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10830736#post10830736)

This sudden talk of lockup issues is going to be on the minds of potential buyers. Can everybody who has experienced one so far provide a quick summary of: A) what input/device was active if the unit locked up while in operation, B) what input/device was last used before the unit was shutoff if the unit locked up upon being turned on, C) a list of their settings for the power management menu [DPMS, Sleep, Power Mode, ect.], D) the nature of the lockup (permanent or temporary) and what finally remedied it.

Input:

My unit was left on TV input - was viewing QAM cable just fine earlier in the day.

Settings:

DPMS mode: Off
Autosource: Off
Sleep: Off
Power on Plug: Off
Power Mode: Energy Saver
LED: On

Lockup:

Turned the TV on, it went through the boot screen displaying the logo and then a black screen. Remote non-responsive. Only button that worked was the power button on the TV - pressing it repeated the process.

No remedy - mine was a fatal lockup. Returned to BB, hopefully my replacement is in tomorrow.

Issues Prior to Lockup:

1)Occasionally PS3 signal would not be detected via HDM1 - switching back and forth between inputs always fixed it.

2) Occasionally audio would lose synch - only during HD viewing via QAM... channeling up and down would fix it.

0 dead pixels!

Verdict - I loved the set - the picture was stunning and the set looked great. I just hope my replacement is OK and these glitches are eventually worked out via a firmware update.

Just what are you trying to prove with that 50 MB movie footage?

Not my footage, I found the link in one of the articles.

From what I could figure out, when running that test using a typical 60hz screen, the display would be somehow less smooth while the green bars progressed across the screen. I think you would see tearing as the 24fps footage was dropframed up to 30hz and then doubled to 60hz.

p.

Well, I'm happy to report that the Westy tx47 works flawlessly w/ my PC via DVI->HDMI cable. I have an Nvidia 7950GT video card. I hooked it up and selected 1920x1080 and it displayed w/ zero issues.

I took a whole bunch of shots of the test images and I have a site that I will post them and try and host them with. I am happy to report that I saw ZERO banding! :D I also did not see any clouding/mura, etc. I took the pictures in a pitch black room just now w/ all lights off. There is no blacklight bleeding either in the corners which is very good, and I'm frankly surprised. It looks like I was lucky and also got a set w/ zero stuck pixels (maybe there are a few dead but they'd be impossible to see. :) Once I finish uploading these images I'll make another post w/ the pictures. So far I'm very impressed with the uniformity for an lcd. :)

So I went to my local Best Buy in Canada to purchase (or at least look at) a new TX-42. I had previously owned a LVM-42w2, which I returned due to dead pixels (I was happy with it otherwise). Best Buy online said they were in stock there... they weren't, but instead they had an "out-of-box" LVM-42w2 significantly marked down (2/3rds what I had paid there 3 months ago). So I quickly looked at it to see if there were any noticeable flaws. I didn't see any, I assume it was the floor model. It certainly wasn't the one I had returned there a couple months ago, which had sat on the shelf for quite a few weeks.

So I picked it up and brought it home. I am pretty happy with it. No dead pixels or banding yet. I would like to have seen the TX, but for this price I am sure I would still go with this LVM. I also like having the DVI inputs.

I have been reading this thread the last week, but any reason I would want the TX over this?

One thing I have noticed: using it with my computer there are these white pixels flickering. Never the same ones, it's random, and all over. Not so much that it hinders what I'm doing, but enough that it is annoying. I think it is my video card, or the drivers. Any other ideas? Would it be the actual monitor or the DVI cable I am using?

One thing I have noticed: using it with my computer there are these white pixels flickering. Never the same ones, it's random, and all over. Not so much that it hinders what I'm doing, but enough that it is annoying. I think it is my video card, or the drivers. Any other ideas? Would it be the actual monitor or the DVI cable I am using?

It sounds like the spakles that many of us with 42w2 have over HDMI and DVI2. Try it with DVI1 and see.

I picked my unit up no Saturday. The only major problem I have had is a loss of signal when connected directly to my Toshiba HD-A20 player via HDMI. My Yamaha HTR-6090BL and my XBox 360 Elite both have no problems maintaining video for extended periods of time via HDMI.

Visual quality is wonderful right out of the box. My calibration disc is still in transit so I will post a follow-up after that comes in. I could not detect any stuck pixels during my initial inspection. There were two apparent mura spots along the top but I need to evaluate that again when the room is completely dark. I will also set up my camera on a tripod so to get some good shots if anyone would care to see.

This is the first time I've seen the TX on Best Buy's American site: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8346685&st=westinghouse&lp=9&type=product&cp=1&id=1175902657231

Huggybear, Technofan, jbradg, thanks for summarizing. It's a shame you guys had to have problems, but seeing them back to back it's clear each of you had a unique different problem. So I see no cause for alarm that the unit has a design flaw at this point. Just a quality control issue unfortunately, but it happens.

Has anyone been able to get the internal tuner to output 5.1 audio? If not, that is a serious, unacceptable flaw in the design.

Sorry I wasn't able to post the pictures up last night. My internet connection crapped out shortly after posting on AVS. I'll post them up when I get home tonight. Btw, I was using HDMI input 4 and experienced no flicker issues w/ the tx47 used as a secondary display. My guess is the flicker that somene was experiencing was likely a cable/video card issue.

Has anyone been able to get the internal tuner to output 5.1 audio? If not, that is a serious, unacceptable flaw in the design.

I'll test it friday, but I believe this can be fixed with a firmware update. I also think that a firmware update will enable the greyed out PIP box. It seems like they left it disabled because the feature wasnt ready when the TVs were about to ship.

I just hope that updates come when needed, not every 9 months or so.

This is the first time I've seen the TX on Best Buy's American site: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8346685&st=westinghouse&lp=9&type=product&cp=1&id=1175902657231

awesome news. mine should be here tomorrow - as my store doesn't have them in stock, but hopefully this time (this is the second time they've tried to order me one), it comes in and I get to pick it up before my wedding & honeymoon this weekend.

Dude... do not screw around with your TV on your Honeymoon... You will pay for it one way or another... screw around with the wife!

Dude... do not screw around with your TV on your Honeymoon... You will pay for it one way or another... screw around with the wife!

you've got it all wrong. i want to get the exchange of my 42w2 for the tx-47f430s taken care of before we get married this weekend. no way i'll be carting that thing with me to the bahamas, but at least i'll know that everything is taken care of before i leave for a week in paradise.

I picked my unit up no Saturday. The only major problem I have had is a loss of signal when connected directly to my Toshiba HD-A20 player via HDMI. My Yamaha HTR-6090BL and my XBox 360 Elite both have no problems maintaining video for extended periods of time via HDMI.

Visual quality is wonderful right out of the box. My calibration disc is still in transit so I will post a follow-up after that comes in. I could not detect any stuck pixels during my initial inspection. There were two apparent mura spots along the top but I need to evaluate that again when the room is completely dark. I will also set up my camera on a tripod so to get some good shots if anyone would care to see.

Is that a consistant issue with the signal loss from the HD-A20 via HDMI? Do you have the latest firmware on the HD-A20? I plan to get a HD-A20 later in the year and planned to connect it via HDMI to my TX 47.

Is that a consistant issue with the signal loss from the HD-A20 via HDMI? Do you have the latest firmware on the HD-A20? I plan to get a HD-A20 later in the year and planned to connect it via HDMI to my TX 47.

I updated the firmware to version 1.6 prior to hooking it up. You can check out the HD-A20 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=829962) for details. Tomorrow my cables from monoprice should be delivered so I can have HDMI through the receiver.

Not my footage, I found the link in one of the articles.

From what I could figure out, when running that test using a typical 60hz screen, the display would be somehow less smooth while the green bars progressed across the screen. I think you would see tearing as the 24fps footage was dropframed up to 30hz and then doubled to 60hz.

p.

There is no way one could see the drop frame effect on a re-recorded footage, unless it comes from a test disc. This is not even close.

Has anyone found out the HDMI version of the TV yet? It would be icing on the cake if it was 1.3.

1.1 The icing is already on the cake. 1.3 is the food coloring.

1.1 The icing is already on the cake. 1.3 is the food coloring.

LOL... awesome.

This sudden talk of lockup issues is going to be on the minds of potential buyers. Can everybody who has experienced one so far provide a quick summary of: A) what input/device was active if the unit locked up while in operation, B) what input/device was last used before the unit was shutoff if the unit locked up upon being turned on, C) a list of their settings for the power management menu [DPMS, Sleep, Power Mode, ect.], D) the nature of the lockup (permanent or temporary) and what finally remedied it.


I think I was on HDMI2 for the final lockup, but it could've been TV - previous lockups I don't recall, may have been both. I had autosource on, power on plug off, and Power Save on (may have been off for a previous lockup). I don't believe I ever had DPMS or sleep on. A couple lockups were solved by unplugging the unit briefly. The final one was not really a lockup - just no video displayed, I could still switch inputs and hear appropriate sound, but no display, not even W logo. Also had numerous stuck/dead pixels and bad mura, so maybe just all around issues with that unit. Hope the next one is better, should be in tomorrow.

Ed

I'll get the ball rolling again on technical discussions. I didn't see anyone answer my question about universal remotes. Any luck getting Logitech Harmonys or other Universal remotes to work with the TV?

Comcast DVR 3 Device remote works - I've had to use their "Search for Code" function to get it. Using their "Check for Codes" function it appears that the code for that remote is 0000 - I am 99% sure about that. With preprogrammed limitations Comcast remote opperates Power, Volume (mute too), Input of the TV. I am pretty sure I could get it to change TV's channels (not needed with a cable box) and maybe something else as well.

I do not have a Harmony RC (maybe sometime in the future when I have more devices), but I am sure you can program commands into it using its "read/learn" function, if there is no preprogrammed code.



Going back to my TV impressions. I did find 1 dead pixel - one has to be REALLY close to the TV and inspect it to find those. I have no problem with that - 1 out of 2+ million - and you can't see it more than 1-2 feet away, and even then you have to "peer" onto the spot that has the dead pixel.

I've been watching my TV for 10+ hours now and I'd have to say the picture reproduction is top notch (without any special calibration). If you are considering buying this TV, unless you really want to avoid any potential problems (although I am sure you are hardly guaranteed with any other TV) and would have problems dealing with potential returns and/or USB upgrades, do get this TV, give it a try. My feeling is that most likely you'll be satisfied with it.

PS I just really want to thank all the major contributors X, Benz, etc (please don't mind me not remembering your tag from the top of my head) - I've been reading the LVM 42/47 forums and of course all the TX threads for months now and have finally pulled the trigger and got a good deal from BB - I am very satisfied so far.

Does anyone know how the TX-47 compares to the Vizio GV47L 47" 1080P LCD?
Is there anyone who was looking at the Vizio, but got the TX instead?

I've been trying to read up on both of them as much I can, but I'd appreciate it if someone has already done some comparisons in their research that they could share.

With the 12% coupon at BB, these TV's are essentially the same price..

I went and finally did it. It was just too hard to resist anymore with that 12% off coupon. They didn't have any in stock, so it's getting delivered on thursday. Heres hoping that all goes well and I don't get one of the trouble sets :)

Oh, just thought - has anybody run a calibration disk on the TX yet? What have you used and how big of a difference did it make?

Does anyone know how the TX-47 compares to the Vizio GV47L 47" 1080P LCD?
Is there anyone who was looking at the Vizio, but got the TX instead?

I've been trying to read up on both of them as much I can, but I'd appreciate it if someone has already done some comparisons in their research that they could share.

With the 12% coupon at BB, these TV's are essentially the same price..

I looked at the Vizio but the biggest turn off for me was the lack of adequate 1080p PC Support. I have heard that people can manually adjust settings on their video card to force the TV to display 1920x1080 but Vizio officially supports up to 1360 x 768 resolution. I have computer monitors that are 10 years old that support a higher resolution. I saw the TX as a step forward and the Vizio as a step back.

Oh, just thought - has anybody run a calibration disk on the TX yet? What have you used and how big of a difference did it make?

I started to do it with the standard-def side of one of the major calibration programs...I didn't really get too far into it, though. Earlier on in this thread a couple folks posted some settings which I think are a real good starting point. I found myself turning the backlight *way* down, although 0 usually seemed a bit _too_ dark - I ended up most times at 10 or 20.

Ed

Oh, just thought - has anybody run a calibration disk on the TX yet? What have you used and how big of a difference did it make?

My disc should arrive today so I will run it tonight and give feedback.

I looked at the Vizio but the biggest turn off for me was the lack of adequate 1080p PC Support. I have heard that people can manually adjust settings on their video card to force the TV to display 1920x1080 but Vizio officially supports up to 1360 x 768 resolution. I have computer monitors that are 10 years old that support a higher resolution. I saw the TX as a step forward and the Vizio as a step back.

I think Vizio is referring to their VGA input having a max resolution of 1360x768. I think using a DVI-to-HDMI cable would get you 1080p.

Thanks,
jawgee

EDIT: Here's a link on the topic --> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10722832&&#post10722832

Has anyone found the 42" model in the NYC area. All of my local best buys do not have stock yet, nor does J and R have stock.

Thanks

I've only been able to find a few mentions of refresh rate in this thread. Is this set confirmed to have a 60Hz rather than a 120Hz refresh rate? Any word on the refresh rate for the 52" model?

Thanks,
jawgee

Does anyone know how the TX-47 compares to the Vizio GV47L 47" 1080P LCD?
Is there anyone who was looking at the Vizio, but got the TX instead?

I've been trying to read up on both of them as much I can, but I'd appreciate it if someone has already done some comparisons in their research that they could share.

With the 12% coupon at BB, these TV's are essentially the same price..
Speaking purely in terms of panel performance the TX is superior hands down. Vizio uses IPS matrix panels which, while capable in some areas, produce the worst black levels in the market. The dark room contrast of their displays is pretty poor.

I just wish the westy's didn't have that dull grey paneling. It looks so generic :( I'm lookin for a 47"-52" 1080p lcd

I found myself turning the backlight *way* down, although 0 usually seemed a bit _too_ dark - I ended up most times at 10 or 20.

Wow, you must have -NO- windows in your room. I have a ton of windows in my room, and I've slowly worked my way down to 50 during the day, but I don't think there's any way I can go any lower. (At night 30 seems good)

Wow, you must have -NO- windows in your room. I have a ton of windows in my room, and I've slowly worked my way down to 50 during the day, but I don't think there's any way I can go any lower. (At night 30 seems good)

I turn the backlight down to 0 at night w/ all lights off when it's pitch black, and it's just right (when watching a movie). During the day it's at 20-30, but I guess there's not a whole lot of ambient light.

I've only been able to find a few mentions of refresh rate in this thread. Is this set confirmed to have a 60Hz rather than a 120Hz refresh rate? Any word on the refresh rate for the 52" model?

Thanks,
jawgee

all models are 60Hz.

there's no 'real' 120Hz sets yet anyways because any current ones can't do 5:5 pull down.

I think Vizio is referring to their VGA input having a max resolution of 1360x768. I think using a DVI-to-HDMI cable would get you 1080p.

EDIT: Here's a link on the topic --> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10722832&&#post10722832

Then 47" is the first Vizio that does that then. I know on my 37" I get 640 x 480 on the HDMI input, and I know others reported the same on the 42. The 47" is a newer unit, so I guess they finally changed that.

I didn't even know what "mura" was before I saw someone mentioned it in this thread. I picked up my unit 6/11/2007 and I noticed that my screen is very cloudy looking when displaying a pure black image. I'm wondering if most/all of the sets have this problem...can someone else check their sets for this? It's apparently more visible when the backlight is on a higher setting. I think mine was on 50 when I noticed the problem...I'll play with the settings and do some experimenting later today when I'm home, but I'm curious if other people have this problem.


There's a thread here that apparently discusses this problem and has a good picture of what it looks like. My TX-47 looks similiar to the top monitor in this picture:
...
hmm...won't let me post a URL until I have 5 posts. Anyways, it's thread number 8866702 and post 8866702

It's FINALLY here! I went in and exchanged my 42w2 this morning and I brought back my new TX-47f430s. The best thing about it, is after the 12% coupon, they actually paid me $29 to take the 47" off their hands.

I'm typing this on my laptop while connected to VGA on the TX-47, and this sucker looks BEAUTIFUL. There may be some SLIGHT mura (not as annoying as the banding on my 42w2, and there are 3 VERY SMALL stuck green pixels when viewing the screen on a black background. Any other color on the screen this thing is nearly perfect.

Now I'm off to play some PS3. YAY!

I didn't even know what "mura" was before I saw someone mentioned it in this thread. I picked up my unit 6/11/2007 and I noticed that my screen is very cloudy looking when displaying a pure black image. I'm wondering if most/all of the sets have this problem...can someone else check their sets for this? It's apparently more visible when the backlight is on a higher setting. I think mine was on 50 when I noticed the problem...I'll play with the settings and do some experimenting later today when I'm home, but I'm curious if other people have this problem.


There's a thread here that apparently discusses this problem and has a good picture of what it looks like. My TX-47 looks similiar to the top monitor in this picture:
...
hmm...won't let me post a URL until I have 5 posts. Anyways, it's thread number 8866702 and post 8866702
Is the screen uniformly "hazy" looking or are there actual variations where areas appear lighter than others? Beware getting into this because the more you know the less you'll ever be satisfied with any LCD based tv. It's hugely blown out of proportion all over the internet. I'd like to hope you're just describing a light black level here, in which case that takes getting used to if you're coming from a good plasma or a CRT set.

It's FINALLY here! I went in and exchanged my 42w2 this morning and I brought back my new TX-47f430s. The best thing about it, is after the 12% coupon, they actually paid me $29 to take the 47" off their hands.

I'm typing this on my laptop while connected to VGA on the TX-47, and this sucker looks BEAUTIFUL. There may be some SLIGHT mura (not as annoying as the banding on my 42w2, and there are 3 VERY SMALL stuck green pixels when viewing the screen on a black background. Any other color on the screen this thing is nearly perfect.

Now I'm off to play some PS3. YAY!

Tonight, I went through the final step of replacing my 42w2 for the TX-47f430s. After all was said and done, I ended up paying them about $160 and several hours of my life wasted by Best Buy customer service that I'll never get back.

I'm glad to hear that the few issues you have with the TX-47f430s don't outweigh the old problems with the 42w2. The banding and the lack of a working HDMI port were what put me over the edge. I'm greatly looking forward to my 4 (!) HDMI ports, and the extra 5 inches is awesome too, :D

My set should be here Friday. I work that night, but I'll be sure to post the condition of it at some point.

Has anyone found the 42" model in the NYC area. All of my local best buys do not have stock yet, nor does J and R have stock.

Thanks

I'm in the same boat. In NYC and unable find the 42". Let me know if you have any luck.

It's FINALLY here! I went in and exchanged my 42w2 this morning and I brought back my new TX-47f430s. The best thing about it, is after the 12% coupon, they actually paid me $29 to take the 47" off their hands.



Tonight, I went through the final step of replacing my 42w2 for the TX-47f430s. After all was said and done, I ended up paying them about $160 and several hours of my life wasted by Best Buy customer service that I'll never get back.


Guys, did any of you were able to transfer the extended warranty from the 42w2 over to the new TX47?

Guys, did any of you were able to transfer the extended warranty from the 42w2 over to the new TX47?

Since my 42w2 was less than 12 months old, my PSP transfers from my old TV to the new TV. BB replaced the TV under the manufacturer's warranty. If the TV were replaced after the manufacturer's warranty, then the PSP would take effect, and then be considered fulfilled, so then you'd have to purchase a new PSP. That's how it should work.

It's FINALLY here! I went in and exchanged my 42w2 this morning and I brought back my new TX-47f430s. The best thing about it, is after the 12% coupon, they actually paid me $29 to take the 47" off their hands.

I'm typing this on my laptop while connected to VGA on the TX-47, and this sucker looks BEAUTIFUL. There may be some SLIGHT mura (not as annoying as the banding on my 42w2, and there are 3 VERY SMALL stuck green pixels when viewing the screen on a black background. Any other color on the screen this thing is nearly perfect.

Now I'm off to play some PS3. YAY!

Well the mura is a bit worse than I thought, but i guess that mura is no worse than banding, so I'm happy with the exchange. Has anyone run across some good settings for this?

Tonight, I went through the final step of replacing my 42w2 for the TX-47f430s. After all was said and done, I ended up paying them about $160 and several hours of my life wasted by Best Buy customer service that I'll never get back.

I'm glad to hear that the few issues you have with the TX-47f430s don't outweigh the old problems with the 42w2. The banding and the lack of a working HDMI port were what put me over the edge. I'm greatly looking forward to my 4 (!) HDMI ports, and the extra 5 inches is awesome too, :D

My set should be here Friday. I work that night, but I'll be sure to post the condition of it at some point.

The extra 5 inches is more than I had anticipated. I was a bit surprised and am very happy with the larger TV. My (soon to be) wife even commented on how much bigger it is. The bezel appearance - black with dark titanium finish underneath is very cool. She actually misses the white Westy logo power indicator from the 42w2 though.

The extra 5 inches is more than I had anticipated. I was a bit surprised and am very happy with the larger TV. My (soon to be) wife even commented on how much bigger it is. The bezel appearance - black with dark titanium finish underneath is very cool. She actually misses the white Westy logo power indicator from the 42w2 though.

You ARE talking about a TV here, right? Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)

Drumroll... :rolleyes:

I managed to get my tripod out and shot some images in sequence, starting with a backlight of 0 and working up to 100. Almost everything else was set to 50, with sharpness at the default 25. All the images were compiled and put into an animated GIF file. You will definitely be able to discern the mura pattern once the backlight hit 40. I scaled the size down from the native resolution to make it less unweidly.

[*WARNING: This image is almost 800K. *]

Westinghouse TX-47F430S Mura Animation (http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1188/548334967_db7eb31f10_o_d.gif)

I also have all the individual images in Canon RAW format should anyone wish to see an uncompressed version of a specific level.

Guys, did any of you were able to transfer the extended warranty from the 42w2 over to the new TX47?

When I picked up my TX47, Best Buy would not transfer the warranty from my old 42w2. irshliquor posted that if your old set is still under manufacturer warranty, the PSP should transfer to the new set. I went back to Best Buy with this information and they would not do a direct transfer because I paid less for my 42w2 warranty than the going rate for the TXX47 warranty. They did refund the 42w2 warranty after prorating it so I ended up getting 75% of the old one back. They also gave me money back on the set (after more complaining) since the base price has dropped to the MSRP since I bought it. Still, I went in expecting to get all the new warranty money back and only ended up with 75% of my original warranty back. The store I went to seems to error in their favor at every opportunity but it was the closest store that actually had a TX47 in stock so I could return the 42w2 and not have to wait for a TX47 order... I feel like I should write a letter. Has anyone complained to Best Buy coorporate about poor customer service?

In summary, it sounds like they will transfer your old performance service plan if you paid as much the new PSP price and your old set is still under manufacturer warranty. I ended up buying a new PSP since they wouldn't do the transfer. At least I'll get another year out of the warranty since it's new...

Well I picked up my replacement TX-47 on Tues and am happy to say the void in the entertainment center is once again filled with beautiful images from the Westy! I am blown away with how smooth the replacement process went - I had the set back to BB within hours of it going down and they had my replacement in the store in 4 days.

I gotta say even though I have always loathed BB, I am very glad I purchased this set from them... I'd be crying if I had to mail this thing in to an online store.

A couple of notes about my new unit:

1) Exact same build date - Apr 13. Does anyone have a different date?

2) 6 dead pixels! My last unit had none :( However, you need to stick your face right up to the screen to notice, so I really don't care.

3) Banding is LESS noticeable! I mentioned before that I can see banding during one particular screen while playing Ridge Racer on the PS3. Well, it is still there but it is much less noticeable. I have never seen it during normal TV viewing, and even on the one screen where I can see it you have to look really close so I am not concerned about it.

Given my experiences with 2 different TX-47s, and looking at the animation that PanzerBoxb just posted, it is obvious that not all of these sets are created equal.

PanzerBoxb - Thanks for that excellent animation - now I truly understand what mura/clouding is. WOW - your set has it bad! Neither of the 2 that I have played with have anything close to that! I can see it a little on the bottom left of the screen but only if the backlight is turned way up.

I am posting some pictures including a shot where you can see the banding that I am talking about.

huggybear

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1412/548073614_5b06759ff0.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1390/548073618_b94300d37d.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1352/548073620_c279d4841e.jpg

Here is the results screen on Ridge Racer where banding can clearly be seen. The first picture is from a normal viewing distance - you can see the banding right in the center of the screen. The second shot is a close up.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1051/548073648_28184e2c14.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/548073662_721b8078a9.jpg

Wow, huggybear, that looks fabulous. I wish my local providers would do a better job with HD content.

Regarding the mura/clouding on my set. It came out of the box set at 100 for the backlight. After reading here and doing some personal tweaking/testing, I have it normally set to 30. Last night I watched Letters from Iwo Jima on the TV output from my HD-A20 and it was stunning. At the current backlight level I have to pointedly look for any sign of the mura while there is any type of picture being displayed. Only if I terminate all input and bump the backlight back to higher levels does is being to bother me. Right now I am torn between taking the unit back and hoping for a better replacement or just living with the fact. Tonight I will go over the display in paintstaking detail looking for pixel issues. If I find quite a few then it will go back.

So far I have not noticed any banding on my unit from any input source.

Wow, huggybear, that looks fabulous. I wish my local providers would do a better job with HD content.

Regarding the mura/clouding on my set. It came out of the box set at 100 for the backlight. After reading here and doing some personal tweaking/testing, I have it normally set to 30.

Yes, the backlight is evil! At 100 I see some mura on the bottom left myself... as soon as I turn it down to around 30, the mura is gone and the dead pixels on my set are barely noticeable even with your face up against the tv.

Has anyone made any headway with Westinghouse support on their issues and firmware updates? Since I still do not have my TV (one more week to go!) my eyes have started to wander. I came across a 42" philips that is a few bucks more than I paid for my 42" TX but the thread on AVS was an interesting read because they are actively releasing firmware updates to customers through their website and flashing it much the same way that users SHOULD be able to do on the TX series. But, if Westinghouse isn't going to release these firmwares to end users than I am seriously considering going elsewhere.

As far as I am concerned the lack of 5.1 output on the QAM tuner needs to be fixed with a firmware update. If a firmware update cannot fix this issue then I'm inclined to get the Philips instead because I know it works the way it should.

I managed to get my tripod out and shot some images in sequence, starting with a backlight of 0 and working up to 100. Almost everything else was set to 50, with sharpness at the default 25. All the images were compiled and put into an animated GIF file. You will definitely be able to discern the mura pattern once the backlight hit 40. I scaled the size down from the native resolution to make it less unweidly.

[*WARNING: This image is almost 800K. *]

Westinghouse TX-47F430S Mura Animation (http://www.onionwars.net/Images/Panzer/AVS/Westinghouse-TX47-Mura.gif)

I also have all the individual images in Canon RAW format should anyone wish to see an uncompressed version of a specific level.
That's brilliant. :) Pictures explain so much better than words do. Yours is quite severe unfortunately. If you're a fan of minimum backlight like I am you'll be fine apparently.

Here is the results screen on Ridge Racer where banding can clearly be seen. The first picture is from a normal viewing distance - you can see the banding right in the center of the screen. The second shot is a close up.

You actually have banding the way the term was originally used: color banding. It's when the number of greyscale steps is limited and the result is there aren't enough colors available to render a gradually shifting gradient like the blue you have shown. Color banding is caused mosting by a lack of available colors. It is masked on cheap LCDs by dithering to some extent, but any good 8-bit panel will show very little of it. Not pronounced like that. I don't think it's the tv at fault in your case, or you'd see things like like that in other viewing too. Like images on tv which show a blue sky. If those appear smooth (and they should) then it's either the PS3 or that specific game.

Does anyone have any issues with the remote not working unless it is *below* the Westy logo? Sometimes it works, but for the most part, it's most reliable when it's pointed up at the TV. I can't seem to find the actual IR receiver. If you can find it, can you explain to me where it is - or maybe take a picture and circle it?

It seems like the consensus was that the remote/IR response is better than the 42w2, but mine's almost worse at times. especially if i'm not perfectly centered on the tv - even if i'm slightly off center it stops working completely unless the remote is like 1' off the floor. :eek:

I have noticed that you have to be pretty close to center on my TV for the remote to work. Later today I will try to do some experiements.

Very much anticipating picking up the TV tomorrow night. I will test out and try to take pics of...

PC via dvi/hdmi adapter and VGA
Xbox360 via component and vga
HD-DVD drive through xbox360 (VGA) and PC (DVI/HDMI)
Blu-ray via PS3 HDMI
Wii via component
PS3 via HDMI
SDTV and HDTV via motorola cable box HDMI
HDTV via tuner and antenna

Anything else that anyone can think of to be tested? I'm curious to see how the Wii performs, considering many of you have said that sdtv looks unusually good on this tv.

Wow, you must have -NO- windows in your room. I have a ton of windows in my room, and I've slowly worked my way down to 50 during the day, but I don't think there's any way I can go any lower. (At night 30 seems good)

Well, most of my viewing *is* at night. There is a small window (where many years ago there was a wall-unit AC) behind, above, and to the right of the set, but I have a stained-glass insert in there. There are two larger ones in the room, one a couple feet to the left and another at a 90-degree angle to that - but the second is at the front of the house, under a porch roof. The afternoon sun is all in the back of the house, the morning sun would be more behind the TV than anything. Windows have cellular shades on them. So in short, it's not the brightest room in the world, but it's not bad with the shades open. At night I do like the lights off if I really sit down to watch something.

Ed

That's brilliant. :) Pictures explain so much better than words do. Yours is quite severe unfortunately. If you're a fan of minimum backlight like I am you'll be fine apparently.

I think that's about what my first set looked like. My second set (picked up last night) seems better, but haven't cranked up the backlight to look for it. I would say at this point that it's less than uniform, but I haven't noticed it during normal viewing - but then, I don't keep the backlight higher than 30 so far.

It really shouldn't be there, but I don't know if it's worth another exchange. New set has a bunch of stuck sub-pixels like the old one, but really small and not noticable unless you're dead center on them at less than a foot away.

Other than that, the set is stunning. I noticed that colors on component/composite seemed way off out of the box, whereas HDMI seems close. I'm generally using some settings posted earlier in this thread, something like 40-62-40-45? 0 sharpness (seems to have no effect, really), OP specified 30 backlight. Those are pretty good until I can calibrate.

Ed

The 47 is finally up on BestBuy.com

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link, so go there and search for TX-47F430S.

The 47 is finally up on BestBuy.com

I don't know if I'm allowed to post a link, so go there and search for TX-47F430S.

Hehe...already posted (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10769357&&#post10769357).

You actually have banding the way the term was originally used: color banding. It's when the number of greyscale steps is limited and the result is there aren't enough colors available to render a gradually shifting gradient like the blue you have shown. Color banding is caused mosting by a lack of available colors. It is masked on cheap LCDs by dithering to some extent, but any good 8-bit panel will show very little of it. Not pronounced like that. I don't think it's the tv at fault in your case, or you'd see things like like that in other viewing too. Like images on tv which show a blue sky. If those appear smooth (and they should) then it's either the PS3 or that specific game.


I think it's specific to the game... even more specific, it is just that one screen with that particular shade of blue.

However, I've noticed a lot of banding discussions talk about soccer games - the green field supposedly helps reveal banding if it is present. I haven't seen it on hockey or baseball games, but haven't been able to test with a soccer match yet... when's Beckam due in LA?

I think it's specific to the game... even more specific, it is just that one screen with that particular shade of blue.

However, I've noticed a lot of banding discussions talk about soccer games - the green field supposedly helps reveal banding if it is present. I haven't seen it on hockey or baseball games, but haven't been able to test with a soccer match yet... when's Beckam due in LA?
The trouble with all this kind of talk is that everybody is always so confused about what the terms mean. :) Green is not a particularly revealing color, but if they're talking about "banding" as it's been described since the new Sharp tvs have had trouble with their screen uniformity then any relatively solid color combined with a very fast horizontal camera pan will reveal them. Even though they're actually static it appears as though there are scrolling bars which are lighter than the surrounding color. Banding used to describe a picture quality defect, not a screen/panel defect as it does now.

I suppose if one had a very good eye a grassy field would be a good test for moire and possibly even false contouring. Stadium bleachers are still the best test for that one though. ;)

Thanks PanzerBoxb,

The embedded image of mura...thanks PzB

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1173/548279857_a82b1c0953_o.gif

I just called Westinghouse to register my new set... I got a pretty good CSR so I asked about the 5.1 audio output from the internal tuner.

He didn't know so he put me on hold for a while so he could ask... when he came back said that he was able to verify that the set IS supposed to output 5.1 when using both HDMI and ATSC (over the air antenna) via the internal tuner. They were not able to verify QAM. He wrote up some notes and asked me to try later tonight when a show is on that is confirmed to broadcast in 5.1.

So tonight I will hook up an antenna when CSI is on and hope for the best - I did try an antenna once before but I didnn't verify that the show was broadcast in 5.1. I have verified that QAM being broadcast in 5.1 is only being output as 2 channel PCM via the SPDIF out.

He said if it doesn't work, I should call back and they will forward my ticket on to engineering to get a defnitive answer.

I just called Westinghouse to register my new set... I got a pretty good CSR so I asked about the 5.1 audio output from the internal tuner.

He didn't know so he put me on hold for a while so he could ask... when he came back said that he was able to verify that the set IS supposed to output 5.1 when using both HDMI and ATSC (over the air antenna) via the internal tuner. They were not able to verify QAM. He wrote up some notes and asked me to try later tonight when a show is on that is confirmed to broadcast in 5.1.

So tonight I will hook up an antenna when CSI is on and hope for the best - I did try an antenna once before but I didnn't verify that the show was broadcast in 5.1. I have verified that QAM being broadcast in 5.1 is only being output as 2 channel PCM via the SPDIF out.

He said if it doesn't work, I should call back and they will forward my ticket on to engineering to get a defnitive answer.

Cool, man. Thanks for the update!

I just called Westinghouse to register my new set... I got a pretty good CSR so I asked about the 5.1 audio output from the internal tuner.

He didn't know so he put me on hold for a while so he could ask... when he came back said that he was able to verify that the set IS supposed to output 5.1 when using both HDMI and ATSC (over the air antenna) via the internal tuner. They were not able to verify QAM. He wrote up some notes and asked me to try later tonight when a show is on that is confirmed to broadcast in 5.1.

So tonight I will hook up an antenna when CSI is on and hope for the best - I did try an antenna once before but I didnn't verify that the show was broadcast in 5.1. I have verified that QAM being broadcast in 5.1 is only being output as 2 channel PCM via the SPDIF out.

He said if it doesn't work, I should call back and they will forward my ticket on to engineering to get a defnitive answer.

That's good news... even though it doesn't work via HDMI now, maybe they'll get it working with an update soon.

That's good news... even though it doesn't work via HDMI now, maybe they'll get it working with an update soon.

I was able to get it working via HDMI - I've passed through both DD and DTS 5.1 via the spdif out. It really depends on the source equipment - on my PS3 I was able to manually select the audio formats I want to use.

There is no way to select the audio format for the internal tuner though... my interpretation of what the CSR told me is that if there is 5.1 present with an atsc source, the TX will automatically pass it through.

Now that I think of it, I am very skeptical - how can they have it automatically pass through 5.1 when not every receiver can accept it? 5.1 is always an option that has to be selected... 2 channel stereo is the default (which makes sense as it is a failsafe setting).

I'll find out tonight...

Have you tried QAM 5.1 with the internal speakers "off" and not "mixed"? Maybe it cant pass the signal with the internal speakers on for some reason.

Have you tried QAM 5.1 with the internal speakers "off" and not "mixed"? Maybe it cant pass the signal with the internal speakers on for some reason.

I always keep that setting at off when using external speakers - no difference either way. At first the CSR told me that the spdif ouput was only for hdmi.. it wouldn't surprise me if they built it thinking that people using the internal tuner would mainly be using the built-in speakers.

Is the screen uniformly "hazy" looking or are there actual variations where areas appear lighter than others? Beware getting into this because the more you know the less you'll ever be satisfied with any LCD based tv. It's hugely blown out of proportion all over the internet. I'd like to hope you're just describing a light black level here, in which case that takes getting used to if you're coming from a good plasma or a CRT set.

I haven't had time to do a thorough examination, so I'm not sure if the "haziness" is uniform or not. I'll take some pictures when I get a chance. I'm not too anal about these things...as long as it doesn't affect the viewing experience then I'm fine with it. I have a 32W1 that has like 8 bad pixels and has some backlight bleeding in the corners, but I am happy with it since I don't notice it during use.

But when I saw the mura on my TX-47...it was kinda giving me vertigo from staring at it. I'll have to try some actual content with a dark scene to see if it affects the viewing experience.

I managed to get my tripod out and shot some images in sequence, starting with a backlight of 0 and working up to 100. Almost everything else was set to 50, with sharpness at the default 25. All the images were compiled and put into an animated GIF file. You will definitely be able to discern the mura pattern once the backlight hit 40. I scaled the size down from the native resolution to make it less unweidly.

[*WARNING: This image is almost 800K. *]

(link removed)

I also have all the individual images in Canon RAW format should anyone wish to see an uncompressed version of a specific level.


PB...hmm...your screenshots look eerily familiar. I think my set has a very similiar mura effect as yours. I'll have to go home and look again to compare...your screenshots almost look like they have too much "white". I'm thinking it must be your camera and/or the LCD I'm seeing this on as I can't imagine it's that bad in real life.

I've read nearly all of the LVM 42" and 47" thread. In that thread, people connected their PC up to the Westie (DVI or VGA) and ran gray backgrounds to see how bad the "banding" was. My buddy got a LVM 47" and the banding isn't too bad. I'm really curious about the 5.1 passthrough. Is it possible that you have to turn the speakers to "OFF" in order to pass the 5.1 through? I mean, why would you need the TV speakers on if you were gonna listen to 5.1 anyway? Plus, the internal DD5.1 decoder might not be able to pass 5.1 and decode to just 2 channels at the same time. Plus, has anyone tried plugging in a USB cable with two A plugs into a computer? Maybe it would load a drive up. Who knows? I'm really looking at getting a Westie, but I'd like to wait for the 52". Any word on when this is coming out? Thanks!

Jim

I always keep that setting at off when using external speakers - no difference either way. At first the CSR told me that the spdif ouput was only for hdmi.. it wouldn't surprise me if they built it thinking that people using the internal tuner would mainly be using the built-in speakers.

I think they just screwed it up. Why would they think that automatically converting 5.1 to 2 channel is a good idea when the SPDIF is capable of 5.1? That is like taking a 1080p signal from a BlueRay Disc and forcing it to play at 720p even though the TV supports 1080p.

Does anyone know when the 52" will be out?

[Edit] Nevermind....it'll be out late August or early September for $2500. That's $700 more than the current 47" for 5" more only. I guess I'll have to go with the 47" now.

Hey all, just picked up the 47". For other Canadians out there, if you want this TV and don't want to order online for some reason (like me, can't wait and must have it the same day), you can just go to a Best Buy, tell them you want to buy this TV and pick it up at the Brampton warehouse. Then you just pay and head off to the warehouse, which is open till 9:30pm, and pick the TV up!

Sadness... I didn't get time yesterday to set it up. Tonight though! I'll be connecting Rogers 8300HD terminal, PS3 and an HTPC. Will post impressions.

PB...hmm...your screenshots look eerily familiar. I think my set has a very similiar mura effect as yours. I'll have to go home and look again to compare...your screenshots almost look like they have too much "white". I'm thinking it must be your camera and/or the LCD I'm seeing this on as I can't imagine it's that bad in real life.

Nope, that is what you see. I set my DSLR up with my 50mm 1.8 lense and about a 3 second exposure to capture enough light. The caveat is, for the really bad view you have to keep the backlight setting at 100. That is why I made the animation, to show how the mura becomes more noticeable at the higher backlight settings.

I am watching all my content (SDTV, HD-DVD, XBox 360, PC) with it set at 30. The mura is only barely visible if there is any large patch of black. Otherwise I cannot see it at all and the picture is still beautiful. If I set the backlight higher now, everything seems overbright.

Does anyone know when the 52" will be out?

[Edit] Nevermind....it'll be out late August or early September for $2500. That's $700 more than the current 47" for 5" more only. I guess I'll have to go with the 47" now.

rockytong, I believe that is MSRP for the 52" which is not all that much more than the current MSRP for the 47". If I see a great deal on the 52 I will most likely sell my 47 off and get that.

Does anyone have any issues with the remote not working unless it is *below* the Westy logo? Sometimes it works, but for the most part, it's most reliable when it's pointed up at the TV. I can't seem to find the actual IR receiver. If you can find it, can you explain to me where it is - or maybe take a picture and circle it?

It seems like the consensus was that the remote/IR response is better than the 42w2, but mine's almost worse at times. especially if i'm not perfectly centered on the tv - even if i'm slightly off center it stops working completely unless the remote is like 1' off the floor. :eek:

I did some informal tests with mine last night. I was consisently able to control the TV with the remote angled up to approximately 20° off of center in all directions. Perhaps your remote's emitter is misaligned.

I'll find out tonight...

What did you find out?

What did you find out?

As I thought, the CSR was misinformed... I hooked up an antenna and tuned in to CSI - sure enough, 2 channel PCM being output.

I hooked up the antenna to my hdhomrun device and fired up the VLC media player - confirmed 6 channels present in the audio stream.

Just got off the phone with Westinghouse - they couldn't make it work either (surprise surprise)... they said they are forwarding it on to engineering.

I mentioned the forum and told them there are a lot of people interested in the response so hopefully they get back to me soon.

Will keep everyone updated.

huggybear

As I thought, the CSR was misinformed... I hooked up an antenna and tuned in to CSI - sure enough, 2 channel PCM being output.

I hooked up the antenna to my hdhomrun device and fired up the VLC media player - confirmed 6 channels present in the audio stream.

Just got off the phone with Westinghouse - they couldn't make it work either (surprise surprise)... they said they are forwarding it on to engineering.

I mentioned the forum and told them there are a lot of people interested in the response so hopefully they get back to me soon.

Will keep everyone updated.

huggybear
I'm not surprised either, but am grateful that you went through the effort. My sincere biggest hope with this issue is that the engineers look at it say, "Ooops, we forgot to do this!" and they will release a firmware update on their website so that end users will be able to update it themselves. If they do this then I am positive I made the right decision on getting this TV. If they require the TV to be taken in to Best Buy to make the firmware update then I will be 100% ticked off.

Hi!
Q: What are the powerstrip timings I should use to get my laptop to output 1080p to this Westinghouse TX-42F430s LCD panel via VGA?

I just received my Westinghouse TX-42F430s from Abt Electronics yesterday and I love it. Considering that my last TV was my last roommates's VIZIO 42" PLASMA EDTV that you couldn't watch between 8AM-11AM due to glare, it wasn't hard to impress me :)

Here's my problem: until I get my HTPC up and running (still waiting for parts), I'd like to use one of my laptops to output to the TV @ 1080p. It's not that I have HD content or that either laptop is powerful enough to playback high def video, BUT since I did just pay $1400 for this display, I kind of wanted to see it work at 1080p even if its just for surfing the web.

My Laptops:
Compaq N800 Evo Laptop w/ ATI Mobility 7500
Toshiba M55 Laptop w/ ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M

What I tried:
* The Compaq's Mobility 7500 is capable of outputting 1024x768 w/o any problems

* The Toshiba 200M is capable of outputting 1024x768 but the screen twitches every so often.

Q: What could cause this twitching? Can I adjust it out with Powerstrip? This is a newer laptop so I would prefer to playback video with it.

* When you select 1920x1200 (the closest resolution to 1920x1080), the Westy just ignores the VGA input.

* I installed Powerstrip on the and started messing with settings and custom resolutions on the Compaq (the one that was "most" working). I messed with all the preset custom resolutions. The video card seems happy accepting these resolutions but the Westy doesn't show: 1920x1080@60, 1920x1080@30, 1280x800@60

Help! What do you recommend I should do?

---
The worst case scenario is that I must live with the current situation (1024x768 from older laptop) until I finish with my HTPC.

Since I'm throwing a dual core Opteron, a ATI X1950Pro video card, 2G of ram, and lots of sound reduction widgets into a HTPC case (HDD suspension, rubber fan mounts, fan undervolting, etc) I'm hoping I shouldn't have any problems even with H.264 @ 1080P playback. The one thing that's scaring me though is that some folks report problems with ATI video cards at 1080p. not sure what's going on there but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Thanks in advance for your help!
-g

I find it very odd that the 1920x1080@60 doesn't display since that is the native resolution of the TV. Because they are laptops I would first place the blame on the laptop video card or the drivers for the card. Honestly, laptop video cards are not primarily designed to display to a TV like this, they are designed to display on their native screens. Sure, they have the external VGA port, but I have had all kinds of trouble displaying widescreen resolutions from various laptops.

As far as the H.264 playback and ATI video cards. With a powerful enough processor this shouldn't really be a concern. I have used CoreAVC on pretty under powered processors and it just glides through the H.264 playback without using a video card to offload. So, worst case scenario your new HTPC will be in fine shape regardless.

Can you describe the video card "twitching" a little more?

I find it very odd that the 1920x1080@60 doesn't display since that is the native resolution of the TV. Because they are laptops I would first place the blame on the laptop video card or the drivers for the card. Honestly, laptop video cards are not primarily designed to display to a TV like this, they are designed to display on their native screens. Sure, they have the external VGA port, but I have had all kinds of trouble displaying widescreen resolutions from various laptops.

As far as the H.264 playback and ATI video cards. With a powerful enough processor this shouldn't really be a concern. I have used CoreAVC on pretty under powered processors and it just glides through the H.264 playback without using a video card to offload. So, worst case scenario your new HTPC will be in fine shape regardless.

Can you describe the video card "twitching" a little more?
Since my desktop LCD doesn't go that high (1920x1080), I cannot prove that the laptops are outputting that resolution in the first place. All I have to go on is the Westy.

Yeah, I'm not terribly worried about the performance of the HTPC. My primary concern right now is how to get Windows XP x64 or Vista Home Premium/Ultimate 64-bit affordably. I figure the 180-day Windows XP trial that's available from microsoft should tide me over until I find a good deal.

As for the twitchyness, I'll do my best to describe it. When you don't move the mouse and nothing changes on the screen, the screen looks perfect @ 1024x768. However, if anything moves on the screen, you'll occasionally see a twitch (almost like it just went out of sync and then the screen looks good again). It's very odd and offputting enough to not make me want to use this laptop.

I haven't bothered to install Powerstrip on the Toshiba lappie yet but I guess that's something else to try.

Any additional advice on target settings would be appreciated.
-g

Looking at the specs on the 200m the max external resolution is 2,048 x 1,536 so I doubt that is the problem. I would however make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. I don't have a lot of experience with Power Strip so I'm not going to be much help there.

I have owned this set for about 3 hours. It appears to be dead now. It won't power back on. I unplugged it for about 30 seconds, plug it back in, get the W logo boot up, and then the blue light goes amber. Have tried this 5 times and nothing.

There is additional weirdness as well...

I am just running a regular coax cable line into the tv. I don't have digitial cable, no set top box, but have Cox and they do broadcast the free QAM tuner stuff.

When I initially did the auto scan, I put the cable type on auto, and then ran the scan.

During the scan, I could see all of my 1-72 or whatever channels come up. Surprisingly, the standard def looked viewable, one of few good points.

Once the scan was done, I didn't get channel 1 (the default I think) nor 2 or 3, but I did get channel 4, 5, & 6 to show up, everything past that didn't come on.

I made no settings changes, but did change the input type setting to hdmi, then back again, no go... (I only have the coax hooked up, nothing else)

As I kept increasing the channel number, 20, 21, 22, etc, I finally got a picture when I hit 41, then 42, and also 43, so I went back down, then I got 39, 38, etc and it all worked on all the channels.

Ok, so I think I'm in business now... so I check out the 2 digital channels that I got, (we have more than that here in Omaha so it didn't pick up everything it should have) and the picture is pretty good.

I won't use words like stunning or anything, cause we all know what a good HD digital picture looks like these days... I was impressed, just not over zealous cause I knew what to expect is all.

I get into the digital music channels, which have no picture, and notice terrible mura on the set. I lower the back light, and it helps, but it's still there. It's not noticeable when there is a picture on the screen.

At this point I'm furious with the remote control not responding to my inputs, and already know to hold the remote upwards at an angle, but it's again just a sloppy implementation and erratic if it's going to work or not.

I sequester my German Shepherd to laying down (the set is up high enough) and rip the plastic coverings off the lower bezel to try to improve the remote control response.

Not any better, But I move into audio mode, creating my own eq template, and had to switch to stereo mode because on TNT, I got a TNT message saying "you are listening to the second audio channel, adjust the audio on your tv blah blah.." this just repeats and repeats and I had it on SAP mode, but switching to stereo fixed it.

So I'm working on the audio user eq setting, to get it set to where I like it, and have the set at full volume... it's not distorted, but I back it down to 90% and leave it there.. it's not overbearing. If you think 30 is enough, believe me, 90 is not 3 times as loud.

Then the set powers off, amber light and all... I'm thinking, oh sh!t, it got too hot, so let it cool down, so far no dice... this is where it died.

I don't post much here, but have been reading these threads for about 3 years... that's how long I have been putting off this purchase...

I don't even want to go into the best buy screw up of forgetting to scan the 12% off coupon, then doing a price match to refund the difference to my BB credit card. They also initially brought out the LWM-47, last years model which I kept up with religiously on these forums last summer. Someone whom didn't know better would have paid over 400 more and got last years set in return. I can only imagine the hassle had they wanted to do warranty work on it.

In summary, this set needs serious firmware attention as well as serious quality control. The 5.1 and other stuff that has been alluded to on here make me think the "engineers" at this company don't know jack...

I've read about the CEO and his angle, and think he's doing the right thing, but doesn't have the horsepower behind him to back it up.

Bottom line is really this, for the hour that this set worked (1 hour from BB to channels that actually worked, 1 hour of viewing, and 1 hour of trying to get this going again) I have come to remember an old adage that I really believe in...

"Don't be afraid to buy the best... you will always be happy with it."

I'm going Panasonic, Samsung, or Sony, and this quirky POS is going back tomorrow morning.

For those that have good sets, I think that's great, and encourage you to enjoy them, but this is just the worst implementation I have ever seen from a near 2K investment... (I bought the 4 year in home service plan) When it worked, I was happy with the picture, not the mura, but it did look nice.

I guess I just feel like it's like anything else these days... it's like buying computer sh!t that doesn't work... linksys routers, Vista, web cams, you name it... over promise, under deliver... that is capitalism for you in 2007.

I'm just going to get drunk and play counter strike source tonight and get the anger out of my system... return the set, and start researching some more.

I have an old 32 inch Zeinth CRT that changes channels properly, and still has a good picture for being 14 years old... they don't make em like that anymore.

fyi, I am a senior level computer programmer, so this is not a technical user issue on my part.

i can do

1920x1080 @ 29,30,59, and 60 hertz
1768x992 @ 29,30,59,60
1280x1024 @ 59,60,75
1280x960 @ 59,60,75
1280x800 @ 59,60
1280x768 @ 59,60
1280x720 @ 59,60
1176x664 @ 59,60
1152x864 @ 59,60,75
1024x768 @ 59,60,70,75

and several others down to 640x480

the laptop should be able to do some of those...

At this point I'm furious with the remote control not responding to my inputs, and already know to hold the remote upwards at an angle, but it's again just a sloppy implementation and erratic if it's going to work or not.

I sequester my German Shepherd to laying down (the set is up high enough) and rip the plastic coverings off the lower bezel to try to improve the remote control response.


I understand your frustration with the remote(and all the other issues).

FWIW..the TX remote has the exact same angle issue(20% or so tilt to communicate, and even that rarely happens), necessary to achieve communication with the LVM-47w1 panel, as well. It is very patchy and the ends of my fingers get raw while trying to get it to work.

The work around, use the unintuitive menu controls on the side of the panel...which renders the remote almost completely useless.

I have two LVM-47w1 panels and absolutely love them.
I was not as impressed with the TX line, during the 10 day TX test, as I am with the LVM line. Almost zero panel defects(except some very very mild flashlighting in each corner on a black screen(not visable otherwise) and the minor red washout from extreme viewing angles. Everything else, including deeper reds/blues/blacks, perfect pixels(none stuck/dead), etc, are amazing).

Frustration is certain. I feel your pain(to some degree).

~b3nz0n8

i can do

1920x1080 @ 29,30,59, and 60 hertz
1768x992 @ 29,30,59,60
1280x1024 @ 59,60,75
1280x960 @ 59,60,75
1280x800 @ 59,60
1280x768 @ 59,60
1280x720 @ 59,60
1176x664 @ 59,60
1152x864 @ 59,60,75
1024x768 @ 59,60,70,75

and several others down to 640x480

the laptop should be able to do some of those...

How does the image look at this different resolutions? Does it scale pretty well or does it start to get hazy and blurry?

How does the image look at this different resolutions? Does it scale pretty well or does it start to get hazy and blurry?

pretty much like most computer monitors... the TX definitely has a default resolution.

(edit I should say like most newer LCD monitors, it's fuzzy compared to native resolution, but it's not horrendous. You could use it for a while if you needed to. Not really sure why you would want to, except for older games)

as for myself I don't have a need to use the lesser resolutions... in testing I did notice that sometimes it wouldn't scale and sometimes it would depending on the res... it can of course be forced to scale by the video drivers... frankly I don't play any older games so this isn't a problem...

I use the larger DPI settings in vista for bigger fonts @ 1920x1080

I'm using a geforce 8800gtx so that res is fine in games....

I have owned this set for about 3 hours. It appears to be dead now. It won't power back on. I unplugged it for about 30 seconds, plug it back in, get the W logo boot up, and then the blue light goes amber. Have tried this 5 times and nothing.

I'm going Panasonic, Samsung, or Sony, and this quirky POS is going back tomorrow morning.

fyi, I am a senior level computer programmer, so this is not a technical user issue on my part.

Thanks for the heads up.
I, like you, have not posted here much.
Was hoping for a real good alternative to my 2.5 year old Sammy 42 DLP.
Relative to the trouble reported, it appears there is too much erratic QC for the TX series IMO.
Will have to wait for the "name brand" 1080P units to come down or have these units operating properly, what ever the problem(s) is/are.

BC

I'm sorry to take the subject slightly off topic, but does the PSP service plan offered by best buy cover manufacturer defects, such as HDMI issues, etc? I've had some time and watched some tv/movies the last couple nights and the Westy loses sync on occasion with the Verizon hd-dvr STB, and the ps3. This isn't a big deal, but it's very annoying and I'm hoping that maybe a firmware update will fix some of these issues.. :rolleyes:

Now, if a firmware update doesn't come, does the psp cover these hdmi issues? I haven't picked up an extended warranty for the Westy, and I'm debating if I should. If the psp covers any mfr defects then it seems like a great deal in case the issues are never resolved..

Is anyone else noticing alot of drops and flickering w/ the tx47? It happens alot whenever skipping ahead when watching ps3 movies. When I skip forward during the previews and short clips (before the movie) it flickers and sometimes loses signal. This is just via hdmi of course where I see these issues. When the signal drops I switch inputs and come back and that resolves it. Just curious if alot of people are seeing this issue. Thanks.

I finally got my TV hooked up .......... and it looks awesome, clearer than my old rp hdtv. I did find about 4 dead pixels when I was a few inches away from the screen, but they cant be seen any further away. Haven't noticed any mura, and no HDMI handshake issues with a motorola DCT6412III and PS3. The remote is responsive unless something is blocking the receiver, and I will try to program my harmony tonight.

PS3 looks outstanding via HDMI, but the real surprise is xbox360 over VGA. 360 over VGA rivals the PS3's HDMI, and my King Kong HD-DVD has never looked better. 360 over component didnt seem as clear as vga, but i'll try a diff cable to see if it is just a cable issue.

SDTV seemed ok, but nothing special. HDTV also looked good via the cable box, but it looks like it either needs tweaking, or I can see the artifacts of compressed signals much more now with the lcd and hdmi.

I will try a PC connection and the SPDIF out in a few days, but so far I feel the tv was a great buy.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/bhazard/0113.jpg

I'm sorry to take the subject slightly off topic, but does the PSP service plan offered by best buy cover manufacturer defects, such as HDMI issues, etc?

It does cover that issue on my 42w2. They're willing to replace my TV with another one. Seems like this new TX47 have quite a few issues so I'm not which one to get now. I also don't know if there's any timeline that I must replace or I can wait another year or two and BB will still let me. If anyone know if there's any timeline in replacement from the date they say yes then let me know.

got my harmony 360 set up just now....

it doesn't have the specific settings for this tv yet... I think it's using the old lvm47 codes, however those all seem to work correctly, so with some finagling you can get everything to work. I only have pvr (comp), xbox360 (comp but 1080p), and pc (hdmi) hooked up so I'm only doing 1 hdmi . If you are using more than one hdmi and trying to control it with the harmony is where you will have to do some manual programing. I did confirm that the hdmi button on the harmony will cycle through the 4 hdmi inputs just like the westy remote.

I have owned this set for about 3 hours. It appears to be dead now. It won't power back on. I unplugged it for about 30 seconds, plug it back in, get the W logo boot up, and then the blue light goes amber. Have tried this 5 times and nothing.

That's exactly what happened to my first unit. I'm on my second one now and I don't uplug the set nor do I use the energy save mode anymore - I simply get too anxious waiting for the set to boot up - it takes a while and I end up feeling like I'm booting windoze 98 and praying something doesn't go wrong!

It sounds like Westinghouse clearly has QC issues. Not surprising given the price of these sets. If my second unit goes down I won't be getting another Westinghouse. But I really hope this one is a keeper - the set really produces an awesome picture - from analog SD right up to 1080p!

I'm sorry to take the subject slightly off topic, but does the PSP service plan offered by best buy cover manufacturer defects, such as HDMI issues, etc? I've had some time and watched some tv/movies the last couple nights and the Westy loses sync on occasion with the Verizon hd-dvr STB, and the ps3. This isn't a big deal, but it's very annoying and I'm hoping that maybe a firmware update will fix some of these issues.. :rolleyes:

I experienced some audio sync issues with my first set (haven't yet with my new one). For me it only happened watching HD via QAM (never with the PS3). I've noticed this seems to be a common complaint with lcd tvs - I wonder why?

Vizios had this problem pretty bad but I believe it got better with later builds... so I suppose there is hope that they find a bug and fix it with a firmware update.

I strongly doubt this would be covered under the BB warranty. They would send a blue shirt to your house and you would have to replicate the problem which would be difficult. Of course if it is happening a lot and you can demonstrate it then hey, you never know.

PS3 looks outstanding via HDMI, but the real surprise is xbox360 over VGA. 360 over VGA rivals the PS3's HDMI, and my King Kong HD-DVD has never looked better. 360 over component didnt seem as clear as vga, but i'll try a diff cable to see if it is just a cable issue.

WOW! That looks great bhazard! I might have to pick up an XBox360 just to play HD-DVDs. I was hoping to just buy the HD-DVD drive and hook it up to my PS3 running Linux which can be done, but apparently the playback wouldn't be good (due to the restricted access to the GPU or something).

WOW! That looks great bhazard! I might have to pick up an XBox360 just to play HD-DVDs. I was hoping to just buy the HD-DVD drive and hook it up to my PS3 running Linux which can be done, but apparently the playback wouldn't be good (due to the restricted access to the GPU or something).

If you have a PC that can handle it, you can just buy the HD-DVD drive alone. It works on a PC as well. If your video card isn't hdcp-compatible, get the program anyDVDHD and powerdvd and it will bypass hdcp and send the signal to your tv. It's the cheapest way to get 1080p dvi/hdmi from HD-DVD at the moment.

Theres a sale right now on the drive where you get 2 HD-DVD movies when you buy it at BB.

Is anyone else noticing alot of drops and flickering w/ the tx47? It happens alot whenever skipping ahead when watching ps3 movies. When I skip forward during the previews and short clips (before the movie) it flickers and sometimes loses signal. This is just via hdmi of course where I see these issues. When the signal drops I switch inputs and come back and that resolves it. Just curious if alot of people are seeing this issue. Thanks.

I haven't used my PS3 enough to know whether it has this same problem, but my Tivo S3 has been flickering and losing the signal randomly. I've been working the past few days and I haven't had time to do much extensive testing. I think I'm going to try one of the other HDMI inputs and see if that helps with the flickering on the Tivo.

My screen has about 6 stuck pixels, but I don't notice them from a couple feet away. Also, the PQ is huge improvement over my old LVM 42w2. Just the lack of really terrible banding makes the TX an improvement.

However, I am having a problem with my room setup now. The TX is on a stand about 4 feet above the ground, and I have a chair setup about 5 feet away to the right. Apparently this angle is terrible for the TX because it makes the look bright and washed out. I really don't want to have to go and buy a shorter TV stand, but it looks like I might have to...

An update... I really just let loose of my frustration yesterday, which is completely founded, but with a cooler head this morning, I called Westinghouse support.

I had to wait for about 10 minutes until I got someone on the phone. This was about 9:15 am CDT.

I used the customer support number listed in the manual, and the guy who answered the call I think was an American, maybe Canadian due to a slight accent, but the point is, it wasn't a call center in India.

He asked me what model number of set I was calling about and then prompted me to register, which I did. This basically means giving them your name, address, & phone number... nothing else.

He asked what the problem was, and I explained the channel scan irregularity and then the set dieing.

He responded that he hadn't heard of this before, but immediately knew the set was dead from what I told him. I reiterated the channel scan irregularity cause I will discuss it again below.

I also mentioned this forum, and how others also had this issue, (the lockup, and failure to load the OSD or any channel)

He asked where I bought the set from, I said Best Buy, ok np and then said, and I'm paraphrasing here "We haven't heard of this happening before... we just had this set in the office yesterday and it didn't react like that at all. He knew though that the set was dead since it went straight to black after the W logo etc.

I kind of made another point that quite a few guys had run into the lock up issues on the forum, (he seemed to know what forum I was talking about when I mentioned it by name, but didn't seem to be actively monitoring it).

Again, he recommended an exchange at BB, and that's what I decided to do.

That was fairly painless, but BB did test the set, and agreed within about 3 minutes that is was dead.

I'm getting long winded here, but the bottom line is this:

The replacement set that I got has very little mura, but 2 stuck pixels, which you really can't tell unless your "nose is against the screen" as others have said.

Now, the set has been running for about 3 hours, no issues so far...

There are 3 things that I think that will be of interest for people here...

1. SD looks surprisingly good on this TV... I alluded to it before, and it really does a good job with it... I suspect it's the internal chip that's having that impact?? Wasn't it a trident or something?? That's not my forte, but SD is pretty A Ok on this puppy...

2. I can pick up On-Demand channels from Cox cable through the QAM tuner... I easily found about 9-11 movies going on in the upper channels. I think this is users in the neighborhood, as I could literally "SEE" them fast forwarding, picking menu options etc. Pirates was on, Batman was on, Flinstones was on, some Kid's cartoon, some Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie movie, the list went on and on... oh yeah, Star Wars episode 3, it was crazy... also music video on demand channels I could see users switching back, forward, looking up by artist name, etc.

Now I have never had Digital Cable, but this was clearly another user, and I suspect the house next door. Nothing funky with my cable setup, just runs down the neighborhood like everyone else, but the addition of all this stuff was pretty amazing... and not sure if this is a known thing or not, but I did not get this on the last set.

If there is anything that I could target as being problematic, it might be the RF input/QAM tuner on these sets, since I had the exact same issue as huggybear had.

Now when I scanned, I used auto scan, (which was the default this time, the last set was set to "cable" by default) I let it scan, and then once it is done, you hit ok and it's at channel 1.

Again, no picture, fuzz, nothing would come in. I got 5 & 6, which I think is what I got on the other set as well, so then I went up to channel 60 incrementally, nothing... I tried going down at channel 43 as well, just to reproduce the last action on the set that died...

I decided to change the cable input type to "HRC" since I know that is what Cox uses, and viola, I got all this stuff. Now I didn't do that on the last set, so this isn't gospel, but if I were to guess, properly operating sets on at least the Cox Omaha network will get similar results from the QAM tuner and if their network is setup the same.??

We do have up to 12MB "Premium" internet access here.. I'm on the standard 7MB Preferred account and have been here since it was called @home.


3) Since I got the impression I was talking to someone that was actually somewhat knowledgeable I asked him a question about the usb port and that the guys on the forum would be interested in knowing if this would be user updatable... He definitely knew more about this and told me that "We are trying to do that, but we are weighing the pros and cons right now".

He also said he couldn't give me a decisive answer, and I agreed and understood what he meant by that, but they are really looking into that, but want to make it "idiot proof" if you will...

So the bottom line is, they want to do this, but they also don't want to cause more problems cause if someone can screw something like this up, they surely will, which I can agree with.

So, there you have it, the intent is there to do this, but no guarantees...

I'm heading out and see a cox cable truck at the neighbors, so I hope I haven't interfered with point number 2 above...

I'll be back to answer any questions later tonight if I've peaked an interest in something in this follow up.

Thanks,
Hskr8

There are 3 things that I think that will be of interest for people here...

1. SD looks surprisingly good on this TV...

2. I can pick up On-Demand channels from Cox cable through the QAM tuner...

3) "We are trying to do that, but we are weighing the pros and cons right now".



1. I think this has been consistently stated by everyone. Generally people seem to be pretty satisfied with with SD content on this TV, which from reading all kinds of other threads on these forums is a rare treat.

2. This actually kind of scares me with a 3 year old in the house. Who knows what kind of On-Demand crap he might come across. Looks like I might have to lock out some channels. But when he is in bed bring on the free movies! :) This isn't the first incident I've heard of this happening before. I'm pretty sure it is fairly common.

3. This has me very excited. From reading the Philips thread they have pretty much made the firmware update through USB idiot proof. There are some employees on the thread that explained that the TV is designed so that only validated files on a USB stick can be used to update the firmware and they have VERY detailed documentation and instructions on how to run through the update process. Then again, the set runs on Linux, so it might have a few more tricks that the Westinghouse TVs are not able to do. But seriously, if Westinghouse wasn't planning on letting users update their own firmwares then why would they even use a USB interface? Westinghouse REALLY needs to utilize this feature of the TV if they want me to keep it (6 more days....)

agreed, i did come across 1 adult channel, but like all the other channels, I could not interface with the on-demand stuff... if someone bought this in the neighborhood at the same time I cruised by the channel, then I would have gotten it, so I can see your point... for what it's worth, It sounded pretty softcore and there are worse things to expose at least my son to, but that's just my opinion... and I wouldn't want anything hardcore available, but it is a risk as has been pointed out. I also do not know if parental control settings would mitigate that risk...

Also, in regard to the USB port, all I can tell you is what he said and the way he responded to me was "We are looking at how to do this, we want to do this, but I can't guarantee anything of course" and the fact that he was so quick with this, I could just tell that this is an issue that is on the plate right now over there.

I would offer up two insights... You get more answers by registering the set... it seems like you actually can get some straight answers by doing that, and then secondly, it's easier to communicate your desires and frustrations to them directly in this fashion, so at least you know someone heard you.

Looks like with this initial run of the TX 47, being able to return it easily has been important, albeit frustrating. Also, does everybody have an April 13, 2007 build date and 5110_1.1.0 software version? It will be interesting to see if/when this changes. Has anybody seen this TV on display at BB yet? This will obviously increase sales and we'll see if the firmware changes on new sets before they release a firmware update, if they do.

Also, does everybody have an April 13, 2007 build date and 5110_1.1.0 software version?

That's what mine is.... also they had a unit on display @ BB last Friday when I got this one.

Also, does everybody have an April 13, 2007 build date and 5110_1.1.0 software version?

That's what I have too.

Same Here. Still completely happy with my purchase. 1 Stuck Pixel So far Highly unnoticeable.

I'm curious what people think about standard def DVD upscaling on the TX. I'm trying to decide whether to get an upscaling DVD player or if the built in scaler is good enough. Any thoughts?

Also, does everybody have an April 13, 2007 build date and 5110_1.1.0 software version? It will be interesting to see if/when this changes. Has anybody seen this TV on display at BB yet? This will obviously increase sales and we'll see if the firmware changes on new sets before they release a firmware update, if they do.

Mine is the same. I just got it on Thursday. It is also on display at my local BB.

Personally I haven't found a reason for an upscaling dvd player. I use my pc with Videolan and it does the upscaling pretty well. DVDs look outstanding.

I don't currently have a DVD player - I'd just be using my old school xbox, which is a pretty poor player. Using my computer isn't really an option right now, and my laptop doesn't come close to putting out the resolution needed.

I don't currently have a DVD player - I'd just be using my old school xbox, which is a pretty poor player. Using my computer isn't really an option right now, and my laptop doesn't come close to putting out the resolution needed.

If you stick a modchip in that xbox and download XBMC (xbox media center), it makes the xbox an excellent upscaling divx/dvd player to 1080i.

Is there any word on the 42" of this set hitting the Brick and Mortar stores soon? I see Amazon has 2 stores listing it as in stock...I can't fit a 47", but 42" is great.

Is there any word on the 42" of this set hitting the Brick and Mortar stores soon? I see Amazon has 2 stores listing it as in stock...I can't fit a 47", but 42" is great.

You can get the 42" at Best Buy. If they don't have it at your local Best Buy they can special order it. You just might have to wait a freakin' long time (like 3 weeks in my case).

TX-42 at Vancouver (the Canadian one) Best Buy. No sign of the TX-47 anywhere, closest was a store-only 47W1

You can get the 42" at Best Buy. If they don't have it at your local Best Buy they can special order it. You just might have to wait a freakin' long time (like 3 weeks in my case).

It isn't up on the website, is it something I have to go into the store and physically ask for? I live about an hour away from a Best Buy...the trip needs to have a reward if you get what I'm saying.

It isn't up on the website, is it something I have to go into the store and physically ask for? I live about an hour away from a Best Buy...the trip needs to have a reward if you get what I'm saying.

Yeah, I had to specifically ask for the TV and tell them to order it for me. You could always call them and tell them to order it though.

Yeah, I had to specifically ask for the TV and tell them to order it for me. You could always call them and tell them to order it though.

Excellent, thanks alot, do you by chance have a SKU I can use?

Also, I see you're in Lafayette, IN...I'm in Terre Haute atm. Which Best Buy did you use? The closest one to me is in Avon...

Yeah, SKU is 8386285. I used the BB in Lafayette. Good luck!

The more I play around with this TV, the more I'm loving it. For an SD picture, the Wii even looks great.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/bhazard/DSC00983.jpg

Just ordered the 47 today from BB, got the 12% too. Just in case anyone in the Atlanta area was wondering, I went to the Perimeter Mall BB and their system was down. Undaunted but annoyed, I drove up to the BB on Pleasant Hill. Their system was up, but they didn't have it. They guy told me that the only BBs that carried them were in Athens and Macon, GA. It's really weird that they didn't stock them in the Atlanta area. Hmm.. Anyways, I ordered it and it'll be here on Friday, I can't wait!!

BTW, did anyone get the 4 year warranty? I picked one up just to feel safe. Was this a waste of money? :confused:

I picked up a 4 year warranty as well. I think its well worth it just in case something happens with your tv. I paid $250 for 4 years.

I just jumped on one of these too yesterday, 12% off :-) Delivery is Friday so I'll have all weekend to give a good long test run. I didn't opt for the 4 year service plan yet but I'm seriously thinking about it. 250 seems reasonable. Now the wait, :-(

I was able to get it working via HDMI - I've passed through both DD and DTS 5.1 via the spdif out. It really depends on the source equipment - on my PS3 I was able to manually select the audio formats I want to use.

There is no way to select the audio format for the internal tuner though... my interpretation of what the CSR told me is that if there is 5.1 present with an atsc source, the TX will automatically pass it through.

Now that I think of it, I am very skeptical - how can they have it automatically pass through 5.1 when not every receiver can accept it? 5.1 is always an option that has to be selected... 2 channel stereo is the default (which makes sense as it is a failsafe setting).

I'll find out tonight...

Can't seem to get mine to work via HDMI. Problem is, I need to confirm that I have a 5.1 source...all the programs on local cable (and therefore on my S3 Tivo) just list "stereo" if anything. I know some of them are 5.1 because I've gotten DD from the Tivo before, it's just hard to be sure if any particular show is 5.1 because of the listings (without changing wires around, anyway). Anyway, I tried some that should be and haven't had any luck so far. Not a huge deal for me as I would normally only use the output for the internal tuner, and for all I'll use that I can live with one of the surround modes that my pre-amp can generate (like PLII-C or NEO-6-whatever).

Ed

Can't seem to get mine to work via HDMI. Problem is, I need to confirm that I have a 5.1 source...all the programs on local cable (and therefore on my S3 Tivo) just list "stereo" if anything. I know some of them are 5.1 because I've gotten DD from the Tivo before, it's just hard to be sure if any particular show is 5.1 because of the listings (without changing wires around, anyway). Anyway, I tried some that should be and haven't had any luck so far. Not a huge deal for me as I would normally only use the output for the internal tuner, and for all I'll use that I can live with one of the surround modes that my pre-amp can generate (like PLII-C or NEO-6-whatever).

Ed

How hard would it be in your setup to send coax or optical audio from the source (the TiVo) to the receiver, at least as a test?

Can anyone with the 42" let me know what the box dimensions are? I want to see if I'm going to have to borrow a friends truck or if I'll be able to fit it in the back seat of my Camry.

How hard would it be in your setup to send coax or optical audio from the source (the TiVo) to the receiver, at least as a test?

This would be a good test - first confirm that you can send 5.1 directly to your audio receiver via coax or optical.

When trying with the hdmi, unplug the optical/coax audio cable from the source. Next, hunt through the menus on the device for any hdmi audio settings. There are usually separate audio settings for hdmi and optical/coax. Look for something that would allow you to disable the optical/coax audio out (if it is enabled it might prevent the 5.1 from being passed through hdmi). Also look for a setting to enable digital audio from hdmi. On my PS3, I was actually manually able to select DD and DTS 5.1 from a list of available audio ouputs.

Of course, there is a chance that the equipment will only send full 5.1 via the optical/coax audio out and hdmi will only pass through 2 channels. I have heard of this before.

I'm still deciding between the 42" and the 47"... does anyone know if another coupon is coming out soon?

Their coupons come out fairly regularly. I would expect a new version sometime on or before the 4th of July.

Just got mine from PC Mall. I got it at almost cost with Free shiping. I will post when I get it up and running.

How hard would it be in your setup to send coax or optical audio from the source (the TiVo) to the receiver, at least as a test?

The only difficulty right now is I was forced to ditch my old entertainment center and use some temporary furniture when I got the TX. The temporary stuff doesn't make changing cables around as easy as it could be. Plus my pre-amp is probably farther from the tivo then my optical cables will reach.

Also have to see how many would need changing, not sure if the tivo will output audio on HDMI and optical at the same time, or if it's selectable - if not I need to hook a component cable to it at the same time.

So, the short answer is not impossible, just a pain, but I will be trying that at some point.

Ed

This would be a good test - first confirm that you can send 5.1 directly to your audio receiver via coax or optical.

Well, the device can, just need to confirm that 5.1 is present on one of the shows I have recorded.

When trying with the hdmi, unplug the optical/coax audio cable from the source. Next, hunt through the menus on the device for any hdmi audio settings. There are usually separate audio settings for hdmi and optical/coax. Look for something that would allow you to disable the optical/coax audio out (if it is enabled it might prevent the 5.1 from being passed through hdmi). Also look for a setting to enable digital audio from hdmi. On my PS3, I was actually manually able to select DD and DTS 5.1 from a list of available audio ouputs.

I did flip through the menus, but actually it would probably behoove me to do so again, more thoroughly. I may have missed something...

Of course, there is a chance that the equipment will only send full 5.1 via the optical/coax audio out and hdmi will only pass through 2 channels. I have heard of this before.

Interesting. Anyone here with an S3 have any info on that? I'll have to look into that. Why would anyone do that? I mean, that's just poor design. "Here is this great system that allows you to carry digital video *and* audio on a single cable! But if you want to use anything like the full potential of digital audio, you'll need a second cable, of course." :rolleyes:

Ed

Why would anyone do that? I mean, that's just poor design. "Here is this great system that allows you to carry digital video *and* audio on a single cable! But if you want to use anything like the full potential of digital audio, you'll need a second cable, of course." :rolleyes:

Ed

I don't know, it kind of sounds like Westinghouse's decision to not use 5.1 output on their optical out while using the internal tuner. It defies logic.

Interesting. Anyone here with an S3 have any info on that? I'll have to look into that. Why would anyone do that? I mean, that's just poor design. "Here is this great system that allows you to carry digital video *and* audio on a single cable! But if you want to use anything like the full potential of digital audio, you'll need a second cable, of course." :rolleyes:
Ed

It is my understanding that HDMI is a two-way thing where the receiving device tells the transmitting device what audio it's capable of receiving. I believe this is why I can't get DD5.1 to pass through to my receiver from the TV. In cases where people, even myself with a different DVD player, have gotten it to work is where the DD mode is changed to one the TV doesn't understand, so it doesn't try to handle it and that mode passes through the TV.

This article helps explain it...
http://hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2006/08/hdmi_part_5_-_a.php

i can do

1920x1080 @ 29,30,59, and 60 hertz
1768x992 @ 29,30,59,60
1280x1024 @ 59,60,75
1280x960 @ 59,60,75
1280x800 @ 59,60
1280x768 @ 59,60
1280x720 @ 59,60
1176x664 @ 59,60
1152x864 @ 59,60,75
1024x768 @ 59,60,70,75

and several others down to 640x480

the laptop should be able to do some of those...
Thanks for the list of timings that work with your TV. I'm 99% sure the problem originates from the Laptops but after screwing with both machines for a while (updating to latest drivers, etc), i was able to get both to reliably connect to the TV at 1024x768. This will be good enough until I get the HTPC up and running.

-g

I was reading another thread today and came across some interesting information that might explain some of the set failures we have seen on the TX series. For those that had a set failure were you using the internal QAM tuner or were you using an external box?

Anyhow, an engineer went out to a site that was causing failures on TVs and this is what was determined:

"the problem was related to the Cable Company signal. Were you connected to Time Warner cable? It seems they are doing something we hadn't seen before, by dynamically changing the channel map with over 700 channels. The volume and constant reassignment of channels was causing some kind of memory buffer overrun in the set."

I'm wondering if something similar happened with the sets that failed on the TX as well.

The full post can be seen toward the bottom of this page: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=842732&page=42&pp=30

I was reading another thread today and came across some interesting information that might explain some of the set failures we have seen on the TX series. For those that had a set failure were you using the internal QAM tuner or were you using an external box?

Anyhow, an engineer went out to a site that was causing failures on TVs and this is what was determined:

"the problem was related to the Cable Company signal. Were you connected to Time Warner cable? It seems they are doing something we hadn't seen before, by dynamically changing the channel map with over 700 channels. The volume and constant reassignment of channels was causing some kind of memory buffer overrun in the set."

This is an interesting find flabioh - I'd certainly buy into this theory as I was indeed using QAM from TWC when mine went down and TWC is known to be constantly screwing around with their channel mappings. Some sort of buffer overload certainly sounds feasible.

Of course, I know some others who had problems weren't using QAM but HDMI so it sounds like there is more than one issue going on.

That Phillips thread describes how they are working on a firmware update to fix the issue. I certainly hope Westinghouse follows suit and provides us with that kind of support.

How many other people are having flickering and occasional loss of signal problems with the TX-47F430S and their PS3 or S3 Tivo over HDMI?

I'm to the point where I either want to exchange my set or return it for a refund because this flickering is just driving me nuts. If some people don't experience this problem then I'll exchange mine and hope to get a good one, but if most people are suffering from this then I'll have to start searching for another TV.

How many other people are having flickering and occasional loss of signal problems with the TX-47F430S and their PS3 or S3 Tivo over HDMI?

I'm to the point where I either want to exchange my set or return it for a refund because this flickering is just driving me nuts. If some people don't experience this problem then I'll exchange mine and hope to get a good one, but if most people are suffering from this then I'll have to start searching for another TV.

Post your settings. I've been using my cable box and PS3 for a few days now and there has been no flickering issues. Is your PS3 updated to version 1.81?

For anyone planning on using the TX with an ATI GFX Card PC with a DVI to HDMI cable, Use ATI CATALYST drivers 7.1 and set refresh rate at 75 hz (Its a bug, doesn't really output at 75hz since TX doesn't support it at 1080P).

Works Perfect (fixes underscan / overscan issue)

For more info check out

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=729041

How many other people are having flickering and occasional loss of signal problems with the TX-47F430S and their PS3 or S3 Tivo over HDMI?

I'm to the point where I either want to exchange my set or return it for a refund because this flickering is just driving me nuts. If some people don't experience this problem then I'll exchange mine and hope to get a good one, but if most people are suffering from this then I'll have to start searching for another TV.

I have the same issues. I watched Casino Royale tonight on Bluray and it flickered twice during the movie. Fortunately it immediately resynced. It seems to happen alot whenever the move is starting. For example.. when the FBI warning shows and switches to the next track, there's a brief break where the sync seems to be lost between the TV and the PS3. The screen flashes some blurred green lines and usually resynces. Sometimes the tv will lose sync during this process. Maybe the Ps3 has no output during brief breaks so the handshake is dropped?

It seems like this is a pretty widespread issue it seems..? I am outputting RGB I believe via HDMI to the Westy. The PS3 does have version 1.81, and this HDMI dropout seems to occur rarely w/ my Verizon HD-dvr STB.

I've been pretty annoyed with it as well but have largely just dealt w/ it. Are people using different settings on the PS3 or the Westy to prevent the flickering? One last note, whenever the Westy is turned on and boots up, it first displays the Westy logo, then usually displays some jumbled green lines till it syncs. Is everyone else seeing that as well?

UPDATE: I looked at the resolution output of the PS3 during the FBI warning, etc. and it looks like it goes back and forth between 1080i and 1080p till the movie starts. So, the flickering is likely due to the change of resolution.. I'm not sure what causes the occasional flickering during the movie. I guess that's an issue w/ the hdmi handshaking. :confused:

I just picked up a TX-47F430S today. So far I'm happy with everything I've tried, except for the purple line (that others have mentioned) at the bottom when using 1080i component input from my Comcast box. As reported, the line goes away when deinterlace is turned off in the user calibration settings.

I was wondering if anyone knew exactly what the effect of having this setting on or off really does when displaying 1080i input? I haven't been able to determine any difference in PQ either way. The only change seems to be that the image shifts down, hiding the purple line. Any ideas?

Post your settings. I've been using my cable box and PS3 for a few days now and there has been no flickering issues. Is your PS3 updated to version 1.81?

What do you mean by "post your settings?" I haven't really changed much in the TX's menus. I did turn off autosource to see if maybe that would alleviate the problem.

My PS3 is updated to 1.81.

I thought maybe the S3 Tivo was the cause of the issue, so I unplugged its HDMI cable from the TX while watching Casino Royale tonight on the PS3, but that did not prevent the occasional flickering during the film.

Any suggestions?

I've been pretty annoyed with it as well but have largely just dealt w/ it. Are people using different settings on the PS3 or the Westy to prevent the flickering? One last note, whenever the Westy is turned on and boots up, it first displays the Westy logo, then usually displays some jumbled green lines till it syncs. Is everyone else seeing that as well?

Yeah, I get the same jumbled green lines until it syncs too. That doesn't bother me as much as the flickering in the middle of shows/movies. I mean, sometimes it even loses the signal completely and goes to that "no input" screen until I switch inputs with the TX remote.

I have the same issues. I watched Casino Royale tonight on Bluray and it flickered twice during the movie. Fortunately it immediately resynced. It seems to happen alot whenever the move is starting. For example.. when the FBI warning shows and switches to the next track, there's a brief break where the sync seems to be lost between the TV and the PS3. The screen flashes some blurred green lines and usually resynces. Sometimes the tv will lose sync during this process. Maybe the Ps3 has no output during brief breaks so the handshake is dropped?

It seems like this is a pretty widespread issue it seems..? I am outputting RGB I believe via HDMI to the Westy. The PS3 does have version 1.81, and this HDMI dropout seems to occur rarely w/ my Verizon HD-dvr STB.

I've been pretty annoyed with it as well but have largely just dealt w/ it. Are people using different settings on the PS3 or the Westy to prevent the flickering? One last note, whenever the Westy is turned on and boots up, it first displays the Westy logo, then usually displays some jumbled green lines till it syncs. Is everyone else seeing that as well?

UPDATE: I looked at the resolution output of the PS3 during the FBI warning, etc. and it looks like it goes back and forth between 1080i and 1080p till the movie starts. So, the flickering is likely due to the change of resolution.. I'm not sure what causes the occasional flickering during the movie. I guess that's an issue w/ the hdmi handshaking. :confused:

Your set is most likely re-syncing due to that fact that the rating screen and the FBI screen (not too sure about the FBI screen) are in 1080i. The set has to sync to 1080p then 1080i and finally back to 1080p during this phase of events. My LVM 47W1 with PS3 does it too, but it's hardly noticeable.

Nevermind my post. You already updated the original response.

Yeah, I get the same jumbled green lines until it syncs too. That doesn't bother me as much as the flickering in the middle of shows/movies. I mean, sometimes it even loses the signal completely and goes to that "no input" screen until I switch inputs with the TX remote.

Yup, that's the same garbage that happens to me. Fortunately it doesn't lose the signal completely very often, but the flickering is def very annoying. I usually get at least 2-3 per movie I watch. Sure makes me wonder if it's an issue w/ the hdmi chips the ps3 and westy have, when used in conjunction, just don't want to play nice...? :(

[QUOTE=a7las]How many other people are having flickering and occasional loss of signal problems with the TX-47F430S and their PS3 or S3 Tivo over HDMI?
QUOTE]

I've noticed a couple Bluray movies go to a black screen for less than a second during the movie. I haven't watched anything since updating the PS3 to 1.81 so I can't confirm that it still happens. I am also annoyed but I figured the PS3 was at fault since I had not noticed it with my SA 8300 HD cable box or Sony upscaling DVD player; both hooked up on HDMI. The PS3 is the only 1080p source I have over HDMI though, cable box and dvd player are 1080i. I've tried two different HDMI ports on the TV and had video drop out on each. I guess if your Tivo is doing it, it's not just a PS3 problem...

Booourns, the HDMIs ar eon a hub, so no new firmware will give independent settings.

"Thank you for your inquiry.

Unfortunately the HDMI inputs are on a hub, and the only settings they
have differerent is that HDMI1 has the option for analog audio instead
of digital.

If you have any further questions, you may contact us through email, or
by calling us toll-free at 1-866-287-5555, between 9am and 9pm Eastern
Standard Time, Monday through Saturday. One of our technicians will
assist you.

Westinghouse Digital Support Staff"

Best buy has a new price listed on their site now.

I just picked up a TX-47F430S today. So far I'm happy with everything I've tried, except for the purple line (that others have mentioned) at the bottom when using 1080i component input from my Comcast box. As reported, the line goes away when deinterlace is turned off in the user calibration settings.

I was wondering if anyone knew exactly what the effect of having this setting on or off really does when displaying 1080i input? I haven't been able to determine any difference in PQ either way. The only change seems to be that the image shifts down, hiding the purple line. Any ideas?

I believe this is due to the cable box itself and the signal being sent. I am using HDMI on my Motorola box and on my sd channels there is a garbled white line on top, and on NBCHD there is a white line down the side. This is not limited to just Westinghouse tvs, this happens on many 1080p 1:1 pixel mapping tvs I've seen. I believe the signal being sent isnt being made to fill the entire screen. I saw something about this once in these forums, i'll have to search again.

I never saw this previously because my old tv overscanned everything. Switching deinterlace off or using fill/overscan mode usually fixes it.

so if i have a ps3 and a xa2, do people feel like the 42, or 47 is a good product solution? i really like the westy, but i don't want to have hdmi issues. i'm loathe to look at more expensive sets, like sony or toshiba, but i will if there are issues like this that don't seem to be resolvable, like with the last gen.

I believe this is due to the cable box itself and the signal being sent. I am using HDMI on my Motorola box and on my sd channels there is a garbled white line on top, and on NBCHD there is a white line down the side. This is not limited to just Westinghouse tvs, this happens on many 1080p 1:1 pixel mapping tvs I've seen. I believe the signal being sent isnt being made to fill the entire screen. I saw something about this once in these forums, i'll have to search again.

I never saw this previously because my old tv overscanned everything. Switching deinterlace off or using fill/overscan mode usually fixes it.

The flashing purple line is not the same as the garbled white line stuff on cable feeds. I believe it shows up on any 1080i source. I've seen it from with xbox 1 and other devices. If the device is using component, disabling deinterlacing appears to fix it. If the devices is using hdmi, enabling deinterlacing appears to fix it. Also, the line appears at the bottom of the screen for component and the top of the screen on hdmi... Not a big deal since the picture quality appears about the same regardless of the deinterlacing setting but how the heck does stuff like this not get fixed before releasing a new TV?