**Official** Panasonic X54 series TWEAKS & TROUBLESHOOTING Thread

[nohjy]

Now that many of us have indeed determined that the new Panasonic X54 series of CRT RPTVs presents the most compelling bargain in HDTVdom, let us begin tweaking!!

1.) Please only use this thread for providing information on how to tweak or troubleshoot the X54 series for best performance. General information or questions concerning the new line of Panasonic CRT RPTVs should be posted in this thread:
**Official** Panasonic X54 series RPTV Thread

2.) Please use the Subject line to identify the tweak/resolution being discussed so that we can have an orderly index of related information.

3.) Before performing any service menu related functions, make a list of all the original settings.

Now let's get started.

JK

[nohjy]

This is the convergence procedure for the Panasonic WX53 series as submitted by Ripper64. It is believed to work for the X54 series as well. **PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN PERFORMING ANY TASK IN THE SERVICE MENU**.

1) select the input you will be using, e.g. the component input your DVD player is hooked up to.So we will be using 480P mode. (X54 is 540P)

2) On the remote get roller guide menu up and select "setup".Roll to PROG. CHAN. and arrow over to MODE, make sure it says cable.press down action button.

3) Press down action button till your at the Roller Menu and roll up to "TIMER" .Arrow down to SLEEP and arrow over till HOW LONG? says 30min.

4) Press down action button till your out of the Roller Menu.

5) On the remote key in channel 124.

6) Adjust VOLUME on remote to zero.

7) Press VOL (arrow left decrease) on the Panny and you will be in SERVICE MODE.

8) With "CHECK xxxx" on, enter Roller Guide menu and go to TIMER icon and shut off the timer.Exit Roller Guide.

9) Press POWER button to enter SERVICE MENU.

10) Take down on your paper all settings HPOS, VPOS, HSIZ and VSIZ and other relevant figures you will encounter on the way.

11) In the service menu, arrow down until you get to ST icon.Press down the action button and you will see the ST dialog box in the lower right hand corner.Press VOL (arrow right) and you will be in the static convergence screen.Check the Static Convergence is lined up on on picture frame dimple marks or the center lines on the template.

12)Go to GREEN icon, press ACTION, press VOL (right arrow) and you will see the Convergence Grid.Press "0" on the remote and then Action.In TEST POS ADJ line up the cursors to the template center lines.

13) Press TV/VIDEO and in DATA PHASE ADJ mode make the curve symmetrical by using the volume arrows.

14) Press TV/VIDEO and in OSD POS ADJ mode line up the cursors to the template center lines.

15) Press "0" on the remote to get back to Convergence grid.

16) Press "1" on the remote and cycle to GREEN lines only.

17) Press TV/VIDEO to get to Line mode.Set up all the green lines to the template.

18) Press TV/VIDEO to get to Easy2 mode and use this to straighten out every other line.

19) Press TV/VIDEO to get to Point mode and get the GREEN lines as straight as possible.

20) Press "1" on the remote and cycle to BLUE lines only.Repeat steps 17-19.I've started doing this because the blue lines are hard to see.

21) Press "1" on the remote and cycle to YELLOW lines (red + green) and converge using Point mode.

22) Press "1" on the remote and cycle to WHITE lines (all 3 colours) and use Point mode to get clean white lines.

23) Press "7" on the remote to save settings.

24) Press POWER button on remote twice to exit to service mode, you should only see "CHECK xxxx".

25) On the TV panel press POWER and ACTION and the same time, this will exit you from Service mode.Your TV will power back on in a few seconds with a self check screen.Press the VOL arrow to get rid of the check screen.

26) Use Video Essentials or AVIA to set your picture settings, better yet they should have already been recorded by you.

27)Enjoy your sharper picture.Completetion time (with practice) about 45 minutes.

[nohjy]

As provided by Ripper64.

First do the auto convergence using the button on the front of the TV. After its done it will take you through a series of steps to fine tune the convergence.Just follow the directions on screen (very basic).There are 4 notches on the inside of the TV frame.Their hard to see so look carefully for a small line.You actually only use the top one and the left one when you get 2 green lines to adjust your picture centering.The 0 button switches between red and blue convergence when you adjust the + .

Here is a tip to get your convergence even better.Display something with a lot of writing on your TV up top and even on the bottom and as far right and left as possible.You can see the picture in the background when adjusting the menu covergence which I find is a real plus.My JVC I couldn't do that.You will find that the convergence isn't perfect.Sometimes you will have to set,say a red + or blue + just slightly off to one of the 4 directions.What I mean is you don't want the + perfectly alligned behind the main + that you use to adjust red and blue.Some will be properly alligned perfect right in behind the +,but some + you will have to offset it a little.Thats how I got my convergence looking better especially when you see something with writing displayed.You won't see hardly any bleeding of red or blue.

[Marc Alexander]

Make sure the TV has been powered on at least 30 mins before performing tweaks/convergence.

[ventro]

Why is it so hard to align the blue? When I'm doing the convergence all the white lines have a blue "shadow" to them, I can't get the blueness of the grid to go away. From a distance it looks fine, but in movies things sometimes have a blue outline.

[Marc Alexander]

Focus. It sounds like your blue is defocused. Performing a mechanical and electrical focus can improve your PQ dramatically.

(all the panny.tv tweaks may not apply to the X54 series...but the focus procedures should)
http://www.panny.tv/tweaks.htm
www.panny.tv

DO NOT TOUCH THE SCREEN POTS!!! THESE AFFECT GRAYSCALE AND YOUR GRAYSCALE CAN END UP FUBAR!!!

[ventro]

that looks pretty cool but I don't think I have the guts to open up the TV. Would an ISF calibration cover all this?

[nohjy]

I have performed both manual and electrostatic focus on a Hitach S series TV. It is actually quite simple if you follow the directions provided at Panny.tv. I believe you will have access to the guns and the pots if you remove the plastic back of the TV. For manual focus, once you have access to the guns you merely need to loosen the wing nuts on each gun and tighten the associated beam (by turning the front of the gun like you would focus a camera lens) until it is as tight as possible without producing a residual hew. For example, if you tighten the blue gun too far you will see a purplish glow around the blue line. After completing the manual focus, don't forget to retighten the wingnuts. Do not overtighten the wingnuts. As suggested, it makes sense to use a white piece of paper to reflect the beam back to you so that you can see the effect your adjustments are having in real time. Otherwise you will likely need someone to watch the front of the TV and tell you when the guns are properly focused. As far as the electrostatic focus, there should be pots located at the bottom of the guns that may be marked. If they are not and you are not sure which ones are for focus do not perform this tweak until you have the necessary information. For as mfusick so elequently stated, you do not want to touch the screen pots as they affect greyscale and can leave your TV much the worse. The screen pots and the focus pots look identical.

It does appear from my experience that the blue gun is a little too defocused. I will be performing both focus tweaks as soon as I can get an hour alone with the TV. The wife doesn't like it when I spend too much time "working" on the TV.

Best of luck,

John

[ventro]

nohjy, please keep us updated on this. You seem much more knowledgable about this topic of manual and e-focus, so please tell us how it fares with the X54 before some inexperienced users (such as myself) takes a shot at it.

[ventro]

How do you remove the protective screen?

[nohjy]

Ventro:

Removal of the protective screen may or may not be possible with the X54 series. I do not know anyone who has tried it as of yet. I know that there has been a movement in bargain CRT RPTVs to attach the protective and projection screens together for cost saving purposes. In other words, with some tvs it is practically impossible to remove one without the other.

All this said, I am sure someone will try it and let us know. I have no interest in this tweak as I have 17 month-old and, as such, need the protective screen.

John

[ventro]

John, the manual says that it's removable and washable. The only problem is that they fail to explain how to do it

[Drew224]

The only problem I've really seen is the mad red tint the stock settings have. Have people been able to tune to satisfaction?

I was comparing it to the other models in-store and discovery hd was on. Something black and white came up and the gray was awful compared to neighboring sets. Also, green grass was kinda lime or something.

[nohjy]

Maybe some ISFs can give us some ideas on how to tame the red push. I have noticed this as well even in standard color temp. Has anyone played with the cuts and drives in the service menu?

Also, can some people who own the 53X54 offer some general picture settings after callibration with AVIA/DVE(i.e. Brightness, Color, contrast & tint levels).

Finally, if anyone has had their X54 series ISF callibrated please provide your pre and post callibration service menu values.

Thanks and lets keep adding to this. The more we provide the better our pictures will be.

John

[Marc Alexander]

Please, do not mess with cuts and drives as these affect grayscale and not color decoding.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...29#post2929129

[Drew224]

So how do we fix the red push?

[Marc Alexander]

Originally posted by Drew224
So how do we fix the red push?

Since I haven't touched one of these new sets, I can't say for sure. This is a case where you owner's are going to have to experiment and help yourselves. There should be two parameters in the service menu for adjusting the color decoder. B-Y_G and R-Y_A

You need AVIA or DVE, you want to end up with the Red and Green patterns to line up when viewing through the respective filters just like when you adjust the color/tint for the Blue. If you don't have a test disc or haven't adjusted color/tint with the Blue Bars, you have a lot to study before you start tweaking (stay out of the service menu for now).

[Marc Alexander]

Guy Kuo

=================================================

AVIA Obscura #2 - Blue Bars, Red Bars, Green Bars

Color bars are useful for checking the proper function of color decoders in a display. With NTSC displays one can vary the saturation (amount) and hue (phase relationship) of the display. Ideally, the display is adjusted to recreate the same colors as encoded in the signal.

The traditional SMPTE color bar includes not only bars but small patches of colors which are in reverse blue order just below the color bars. By examining the amount of blue (using a filter or better yet by using the display's blue only mode) one can tell if the saturation and hue are correctly adjusted. This works because the gray portions of the pattern are encoded to be an intensity of gray which has exactly the same amount of blue in the blue portions of the pattern. Since gray contains no color content, turning the saturation control up and down does not affect its blue content. This allows the gray to act as a reference point against which to compare the amount of blue is present. Calibrating saturation can thus be done by adjusting blue intensity to match the fixed amount of blue in gray. Hue is observed by comparing the amount of blue in the magenta and cyan portions of the pattern. When hue is correctly adjusted, the blue intensities of magenta and cyan are identical.

Unfortunately, some people find it difficult to accurately tell when the blue intensities are equal. The bars and patches are of unequal size and color separation artifacts can make the color transition zones blurred or of uneven darkness. For these reasons, AVIA's "Blue Bars" add flashing patches within the color bars to aid in finely discerning when the intensities are equal. Human vision is very sensitive to flashing. AVIA takes advantage of this by having users adjust saturation and hue to minimize visible flashing in blue. This allows higher accuracy than comparison of static bars and patches. For those who still prefer more traditional static comparisons, AVIA also provides traditional split color bar patterns.

Several other features are built into the color bars. You may not have noticed that the transitions between bars and patches is closer to the center of the screen than SMPTE bars. This moves the critical comparison area of the pattern further from on screen displays which often appear at the bottom of the screen when televisions are adjusted. The white reference rectangle at the bottom of the pattern includes animated white bars for detecting white clipping. The lower right black portion of the pattern has animated black bars for checking black level. These are positioned where the PLUGE pattern is on SMPTE bars, but animation avoids the optical illusions of aligned rectangle edges that sometimes make it difficult to tell if a PLUGE rectangle is visible. Animation makes visibility obvious. Also the black bars do not rely on a blacker than black component for proper use. However, the black bars in this pattern are only to be used on displays which need a high APL during black level adjustment.

One can also use SMPTE bars in red or green only, but AVIA makes evaluation of green and red primary handling by providing "Red Bars" and "Green Bars." These are used in the same manner as the blue bars, except one views the red bars in red-only and the green bars are to be viewed in green-only. The patches which need to be compared are also moved to be positioned below the bar against which comparison needs to be made. This makes intensity comparisons easier than the wide separations that arise with a blue optimized color bar pattern. AVIA also adds its innovative flashing patches to the red and green bars to enhance viewer accuracy.

Why red and green bars? If the color decoder is perfect, adjusting to blue only accuracy would make the red and green color bar patterns also appear perfect. Unfortunately, it often isn't perfect. We'll visit that in AVIA Obscura --- Color Decoder Check.

Guy Kuo
=================================================
AVIA Calibration Tips #4 -- Color Decoder Check

Note: The AVIA Obscura title of this series changes now to AVIA Calibration Tips

NTSC video signals must be separated, decoded, and matrixed to form the final red, green, and blue signals which drive the display. Professional grade displays accurately decode the color signals and render colors correctly. However, consumer grade televisions often break the rules and have non-standard color decoding. This is most often seen as exaggerated reds (red push) and wreaks havoc when one attempts to adjust colors on a consumer display using just color bars.

Color bars are encoded such that the amount of red, green, or blue is 75% in each bar which contains the color. For instance the amount of blue is 75% in the gray, blue, cyan, and magenta portions of color bars. Similarly, the amount of red is 75% in the gray, red, yellow, and magenta portions. Because the amounts of each primary are identical in the various patches, one can compare the intensity of each color to learn how a decoder is functioning. AVIA also includes 50% & 100% color bars for testing of color circuitry linearity but we'll ignore those for now and concentrate on the more commonly used 75% variety of color bars.

75% Gray has zero color difference from gray so adjusting color saturation up and down doesn't alter its appearance. Hence, gray serves as the reference point against which the intensity of color saturation may be compared. Turning saturation up and down alters the intensity of the colored portions of color bars. View the blue portions of color bars in blue-only as you increase saturation. You'll notice that blue increases in intensity with increasing saturation. When saturation is correctly set, the intensity exactly matches that of gray. On a professional display with NTSC accurate color decoding, this same saturation setting also makes the red and green portions of the pattern match gray. Hue is adjusted by comparing portions of the pattern that contain two primaries such as cyan vs magenta.

AVIA has a Color Decoder Check pattern which lets you measure and compensate for non-standard color decoding. The pattern has a gray background against which you compare the brightness of red, green, and blue color patches. The patches range from +25 to -25%. If the color decoder is perfect, then the 0% patches of each color match the gray background (when viewed in only that color). If a display has red push, then a higher (darker encoded) red patch matches the gray background. You can read the percentage push by finding the patch which best matches the gray.

You may find other imbalances with the AVIA Color Decoder Check pattern, but red push is the most important to control. This is because red push is more objectionable to most viewers than under push or green push. A professional calibrator can sometimes correct the color decoder axes to achieve NTSC standard decoding, but for most sets that is not possible. You may want to check the accuracy of color decoding of a display prior to purchase since this problem is often not correctable. The only recourse is to hide (not correct) the error by decreasing saturation to make the measured red push 10 to 20%. This desaturates the overall picture but avoids making flesh tones too orange. Leave hue alone when making this compensation.
There are two other things to remember when considering non-standard color decoding. Don't confuse correcting the color decoder axes with resetting gray scale. This problem cannot be corrected by decreasing red drive because that would alter the underlying gray scale of the picture. The problem is with the way color DIFFERENCES from gray are being interpreted by the display's color decoder, not with the amount of red in the gray scale.

The second thing to remember is that this pattern and color bars are most accurate if one turns off the other two color guns of the display when examining each color. Color filters leak through a bit of the other colors and falsely make the gray background brighter than it really is. This tends to make your observations through filters about 5% lower than if color filtering were perfect. The difference is small, but if you want highest accuracy, turning off or capping the other two color guns is best.

[Ripper64]

I gotta tell you guys to be careful.I promised myself I wouldn't touch my 53X54.I had a JVC AV-48WP30.I used to do a service menu convergence on it once in a while.One time something happened and I had blue,red and yellow bleeding on the left and right side of the screen about maybe 4-5 inches on each side.Even the tech couldn't fix it completely.He got it better but not like it was.I don't think he was too experienced in this field.It was a tech from where I bought the TV from,under warranty.I wasn't to happy.

I would consider tweaking my set again but only if I am certain I know what I am doing and the steps required.You might consider buying the grid from Panasonic so you can adjust the main hatch before doing the other colours.Some people use strings and tape them to the frame,but I don't know how far apart the strings need to be exactly.There is a series of steps that you should do before even doing the convergence from what I understand.Just doing a service menu convergence may not get you the results you like without doing prior adjustments.

[mkulikow]

OK, I have a 53wxd63 and yesterday I got up my nerves and decided to do a service menu convergence. There are no threads out there for this tv so I was flying blind until my service manual comes in. I only had the guts to do course convergence and static alignment, it made an huge difference in the pq, I can't wait to get the nerves to do a fine adjustment.

The thing is, once I was done, saved my changes using 7 and holding r-tune which is "OK". and used the power button on the unit to get out of service menu (powered off then back on) I noticed that my user settings were not deleted. Every thread I have read says these setting get deleted when you enter the service menu.

Why weren't mine?

Thanks.

- Mike

[nohjy]

For those who have tried the servce menu convergence. Does the procedure listed above work properly?

[Quivox]

Is there a recommended amount of time (hours) before one is to do a full calibration? Also , using the Avia disk, do I have to get into the service menu to make use of it?

[M_ii_G]

I can find HPOS and HSIZ in the service menu but I can't seem to find VPOS and VSIZ. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Idiotcanuck]

Has anyone successfully acquired a service manual for the X54's yet?
I tried here in Canada, and found out that Panasonic seems to think that this information is Top Secret. Not only is it not available for sale, it's provided only to authorized service centers and is only available to them in a secure format. Apparently, an encoded disc only playable on a specific laptop. I was hoping that someone, somewhere, might have access to one, or have a suggestion for a possible source.
I'm a little too green yet to get in there without a step by step plan.

[Quivox]

Yeah, I'd love to do a little tweaking myself, but I'm a little gun shy about going any farther than using the user menu adjustments.

[ventro]

I did fine 165pt convergence and geometry by eye on my X54. It was a breeze and my picture is great now. Still not 100hrs though, so in a few weeks I'm going to do it again, maybe with a test disc this time.

[nohjy]

Ventro:

Can you provide a detailed step-by-step process for what you did to do the fine convergence? Did you just follow the directions I posted above? If you have any tips on how to go about using the service menu or performing convergence they would be nice to have.

John

[Gary E]

I've done a convergence on my Toshiba 40H80 many times but the convergence procedure for the Panasonic 53X54 seems more difficult. I have been able to get into the service mode and to the convergence grids, however I have been unable to produce any type of cursor to access any given intersection of the grid.

Any adjustment of the lines on the grid, moves the entire grid as opposed to an individual area. The instructions, in a previous post, for the convergence procdure of the 53WX54, are slightly different than the procedure for the 53X54.

Updated 10/24/2004
After some more poking around in the service menu, I've found out the following:
After accessing the FINE convergence grid, the MUTE button activates the cursor. Press MUTE and the cursor flashes allowing it to be moved around the grid. Pressing mute again locks the cursor to the particular section of the grid, allowing adjustment of that area only. The TV/VIDEO button toggles between types of adjustments (point, original point, line or easy). You can experiment by pressing any number buttons except #7 which saves the changes you will be making.

Sorry I can not explain it better but I'm still unfamiliar with the complete operation. As I explore further I will post my results.

Thanks for the information that has already been provided.

[grego9198]

Okay so I tried to tweak my tv a lil, now it says auto offset in progress and it won't go away. What should I do? It's been stuck like this for a few mins now.

Edit: Unplugging the TV made it go away plus it fixed what looked like really off convergence, I think I'm going to stay out of the menu for a little longer after this scare lol.

[Quivox]

Originally posted by ventro
I did fine 165pt convergence and geometry by eye on my X54. It was a breeze and my picture is great now. Still not 100hrs though, so in a few weeks I'm going to do it again, maybe with a test disc this time.

Ventro, when you say your picture is "great" now, what exactly were the improvements, and what difference in picture could I expect to see if I had it calibrated?