Hitachi tweaks Q&A thread

[Marc Alexander]

Mike Fusick has done us all a favor and compiled a wealth of Hitachi tweaks here (51F500 Tweaks) (these tweaks apply to all models with ISF menu, 2002 and beyond)

Lets move all the Q&A concerning these tweaks here in this thread.

[Marc Alexander]

Service menu suffixes

FWX20b/UWX20b/SWX20b/TWX20b/XWX20b/F500
4 - 480i Composite, S-Video
F - 480i/480p Component
G - 720p/1080i Component HDTV

S500/S700 (from BillG)
First Letter:
3-NTSC [480i Composite, S-Video]
D-SDTV [480i/480p Component]
E-HDTV [720p/1080i Component HDTV, DVI 480p]

Second Letter:
H-High Temp
M-Medium Temp
S-Standard Temp
B-Black and White Temp

[Marc Alexander]

Ghosting on the ISF series Hitachis is a somewhat peculiar problem.

Most RPTVs have an inherent ghosting/haloing I refer to as ringing. This can be tweaked out of most Mits sets but not most other brands. Hitachis historically have not been plagued by this form of edge enhancement.

In addition to slight ringing, the ISF Hitachis actually display 3-4 ghost images to the left and right of objects. This can be quite distracting and can muddy fine detail. Luckily, the effects of this can be minimized through the ISF menu tweaks and the problem becomes virtually invisible with actual content.

Ghosting tweaks summary:

SHARP-4 20 10
SHARP-A 20 10
SHARP-B 1F 10
SHARP-9 1F 10
SHARP-E 20 10

APRTR-4 01 00 To minimize ghosting set to 00
APRTR-A 01 00 To minimize ghosting set to 00
APRTR-C 00
APRTR-E 01 00 To minimize ghosting set to 00

SRTGA-0 10 0 To minimize ghosting set to 00

Y-DTL-0 07
Y-DTL-0 will transition the ghosting from black to white. Find the optimal point for your TV.

[Marc Alexander]

For those who find the PQ too soft after performing all the ghosting tweaks, here are my tweaks to find a happy medium.

MUST DO TWEAKS FOR GHOSTING:

SHARP-4 20 10
SHARP-A 20 10
SHARP-B 1F 10
SHARP-9 1F 10
SHARP-E 20 10

Y-DTL-0 - 05 has been the best on the sets I have done so far (but it was a tossup between 05 and 06 on my FWX and between 04 and 05 on the S500). Use AVIA sharpness test pattern for your set (some like using resolution pattern).


The other parameters seem to affect more of the classical ringing/EE.

I recently restored Tbass2k's S500 to defaults and we agreed the picture was much sharper without noticeable ringing (although ringing was apparent on test patterns)

APRTR-4 01 or 00
APRTR-A 01 or 00
APRTR-C 01 or 00
APRTR-E 01 or 00

SRTGA-0 0-10 according to preference
I am most happy with SRTGA-0 0A as the best compromise between a soft and sharp image with minimal ringing. Troy was willing to deal with any extra ringing to get the sharpest possible picture (SRTGA-0 10).

Experiment with these looking both at test pattern and actual content to determine the best medium for your preferences.

[Marc Alexander]

Also, Edge Enhancement on the S series can be beneficial.

I generally disliked it for DVD (low was ok on some stuff but med was always overkill)

For HDTV, only on the US Open did I find low to cause some distracting artifacts that I liked it off. Medium was fine in some cases.

Generally, I would keep EE low for most material. Medium might be ok for some programs. If you notice artifacts, just turn it off.

For the non S sets, things get a bit more complicated. Perhaps Bill G can post some info about tweaking SVM. What I did on my FWX is leave everything at defaults except the GAM (gain?), which I reduced to 01.

VSM-PH4 06
VSM-PHA 06
VSM-PHC 05
VSM-PHE 06
VSMGA4 07
VSMGAA 07
VSMGAC 07
VSMGAE 07
VSMGAM4 01
VSMGAMA 01
VSMGAMC 01
VSMGAME 01

[asap2006]

Marc,

How about an ultimate Mitsubishi tweaks thread? I can't seem to find any info on tweaking a Mits... Can somebody give me some search suggestions?

I've gone through 3 s500's and the Hitachi tweaks thread proved to be an invaluable source of information.

I'm about to get a 55413 and would love to have a thread just like the Hitachi's for my new Mits.

[Marc Alexander]

Hopefully, someone in my area will get one of the new Mits so I can get some experience other than sneaking into the SM at Sears and Best buy (I don't know the codes for the new ones yet).

Who knows...I may have the new Diamond come Xmas!

[gambrelw]

For the non S sets, things get a bit more complicated. Perhaps Bill G can post some info about tweaking SVM.

The S models do not have gain values that I have found yet in the Service menu. They only have phase (combo of ringing and scan speed). However, there are varying levels of gain in the user menu. So, you can adjust the phase parameters in the ISF menu so you can balance the amount of distortion vs ringing.

Parameters:

VSM-PHP ANT/NTSC/480i/480p
VSM-PHJ HDTV


Also, I would like to edit one item from above. After playing with a Bravo D1 player a few times during calibration, I am convinced DVI-480p is the best solution for the HItachi. The internal scaler on the Bravo is garbage. DVI-480p is treated as HD on the S model.

So, E-HDTV [720p/1080i Component HDTV, DVI 480p]

Bill

[jdoe7890]

I see skewed lines on DVD black bars and 4x3 gray bars on my 57S500. Should I replace my set? Is it a geomtry problem or a convergence problem?

[gambrelw]

Geometry is your problem. You should order a template and rebuild it yourself using the tweaks.

Bill

[Mfusick]

Marc-

You've done and excellent JOB here!!!

Thanks

[pillguy]

HIT 57TWX20B

I have done the above to remove the red push and the colors look much better overall. I am still having some issues with darker scenes in DVD movies....they look more green than black and grey. The only things I have really done in the SM are the above, and a few tweaks to RY and R/G on 480p to help with the red push as indicated by Bill. I have not focused, converged, and do not have AVIA yet. Is there anything I can do at this point, or do I need to get avia to set the TV up? I would still like to get a much crisper and clearer picture from by TV on DVD playback. Any suggestions?

[Marc Alexander]

Template ordering information here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...tachi+template

[gambrelw]

If you see green in black, that is graycale. You can try to reduce G-Cut to remove it. Right down your current settings before you start. AVIA won't help in the process. You really need video essentials to monitors to lower end of the grayscale.



Bill

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by pillguy
HIT 57TWX20B

I have done the above to remove the red push and the colors look much better overall. I am still having some issues with darker scenes in DVD movies....they look more green than black and grey. The only things I have really done in the SM are the above, and a few tweaks to RY and R/G on 480p to help with the red push as indicated by Bill. I have not focused, converged, and do not have AVIA yet. Is there anything I can do at this point, or do I need to get avia to set the TV up? I would still like to get a much crisper and clearer picture from by TV on DVD playback. Any suggestions?

I advise you get a copy of AVIA or Digital Video Essentials (haven't seen any reviews on this yet). The test patterns will help you get the green out (I like to look at 10 and 20 IRE windows, gray steps and ramps).

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by gambrelw
If you see green in black, that is graycale. You can try to reduce G-Cut to remove it. Right down your current settings before you start. AVIA won't help in the process. You really need video essentials to monitors to lower end of the grayscale.



Bill

I was told [by Gary Kuo I believe] that AVIA can be used if color is set to 0% and that it really didn't matter if you are doing grayscale by eye (they accidentally encoded some color into the patterns).

[gambrelw]

That is not the case. There is color contamination on most sets. On the HItachi, going from 0 to 50 on color will increase blue and red by 20% at 20IRE. In a perfect world, Guy Kuo is right. But, that is not the case on most sets. Keep that in mind when you start calibrating professionally.

Bill

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by gambrelw
That is not the case. There is color contamination on most sets. On the HItachi, going from 0 to 50 on color will increase blue and red by 20% at 20IRE. In a perfect world, Guy Kuo is right. But, that is not the case on most sets. Keep that in mind when you start calibrating professionally.

Bill

Reallly? I'm glad this came up.

Do you agree that AVIA can be used for "by eye" calibration for pillguy's greenies?

I will be getting a HD test pattern generator so that I won't have to rely on AVIA (and be able to calibrate HD inputs)

[dogongt]

marc - thanks for the information. when going through the tweaks listed above in the ISF menu, what would you suggest the user menu color settings, etc. be in order to accurately see changes made in the ISF settings?

[pillguy]

I will write down all of my SM settings under ISF and post them here for you guys to take a look at (if you do not mind). I have used the other HIT tweak threads to adjust for red push (seems to be working quite well). Give me a few minutes to write them down....

[pillguy]

Another good question....
When you use the FAC RESET in the SM, does this reset all of the ISF Mode settings? I seem to have noticed that it does not, but I may be incorrect.

[jdoe7890]

If I have a geometry problem and I am withing my 30 day period , is it advisable to replace the set. The gray bars on 4:3 looks very skewed.
I am not very comfortable opeing the tv.

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by dogongt
marc - thanks for the information. when going through the tweaks listed above in the ISF menu, what would you suggest the user menu color settings, etc. be in order to accurately see changes made in the ISF settings?

I like to center the sliders at 50%. Except for contrast, which I set to 75%. Once you set SUBCNT and SUBBRT in SM, you really don't have to worry about the set being in torch mode and burning-in (or the wife and kids turning contrast up to 100% before you can intervene).

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by pillguy
Another good question....
When you use the FAC RESET in the SM, does this reset all of the ISF Mode settings? I seem to have noticed that it does not, but I may be incorrect.

I don't think so, I'm not sure what it does but I think is definitely should be avoided.

Bill G?

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by jdoe7890
If I have a geometry problem and I am withing my 30 day period , is it advisable to replace the set. The gray bars on 4:3 looks very skewed.
I am not very comfortable opeing the tv.

I would say yes. Hitachis generally have great geometry OOTB (although overscan is generally not even).

[gambrelw]

Do you agree that AVIA can be used for "by eye" calibration for pillguy's greenies

You can use it for 100IRE, but not 20IRE.

Bill

[pillguy]

Here is is my calib in .txt. Anyone is welcome to use it as a template for their settings. Please do NOT use My settings, as they are currently FUBAR. The default settings are correct to the best of my knowledge.
Again, my questions are how to reduce the green color in dark environments that should be black and grey.

Marc and Bill, thanks in advance.

[pillguy]

Current video settings:

Movie mode

CON 60%
BRT 50%
Color 50%
Tint middle
Sharp 40

(should be system defaults)

[pillguy]

Some advice please.

I worked on convergence on my 57TWX20B last night for awhile, but need to clarify that I am doing things correctly.

Should I calibrate the green first?

If so, how do I compare the red (and blue for that matter) and align it with green? Do I use the color swaping buttons to go back and forth?

Also, the blue seems to have really blurry edges on it, and I can always see it on either side of the white convergence gridlines.

Thanks to you guys for the7x5 switch....it helped me get things going much faster. Anyway, I want to go back and work on it some more, but I need to make sure I am doing things correctly.

[jdoe7890]

I have attached some photographs of the screen with skewed lines. Please advise. This is a 57S500.