Zenith DTT901 - Page 69

This won't work as a standalone OTA receiver without DIRECTV service. It might for a very short while but it won't do it forever.

I'm really not all that concerned about Dolby 5.1, 6.1 or such, though I might like stereo sound, & likely what I see, I'm not getting off the TV then via the RF. You kind of have a reverse situation, the VCR was shot for analog OTA, I hung on to it as a player, now the analog tuner really is a moot point... the STB makes an ideal companion for it!

Channel 3 that uncommon?? there was also a Channel 3 (WSAZ- Huntington/Parkersburg WV) I could pick up in the analog days after WKYC would occasionally sign off, also 3 was very succeptable to co-channel in the summer months, I'm pretty sure WSAZ was the source... or perhaps it was coming up from the carribean? Come to think of it in my travels, I don't recall a 3 being in many other cities I traveled through... 2 & 4 were way more common.


I have a TDK/NXT Subwoofer hooked to the audio outs on the DVD player, while the S out feeds the video (to my ailing Sony). The Subwoofer & satelites strictly are for the DVD player, though could be used elsewhere.

So would it really matter if the 901 is st to stereo? Not seeing any ill effects from it , though I hadn't recorded anything on the VCR(s) since the switch.

I think the Sony has about had it, it goes on & off all night going black for 10 minutes at a time now. As for the cold weather problem with my 901's, if I suspect it'll be cold, I just have been leaving the boxes turned on.

I mentioned it because of the MTS discussion and in the event you hook up a surround receiver. You should have stereo on composite if the devices are set to stereo.

That was my perception (CH 3) but I don't know for sure. Could have been a geographical/terrain decision for those very low VHF stations.

"zenith ditital tv tuner converter box - $120

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2012-02-01, 8:07AM CST
Reply to: c7nwa-2828971502@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


new in box perfect condition never used DTT901 with remote."

They're good but not that good. I can buy a brand new fully warrantied CM-7001 HD tuner for that price. Some of these people act like the warranty is still valid since it's new in the box. I still have some new units but I ran them in rotation through their warranty periods to weed out any infant defects.

Wasn't full retail on the DTT-901 around $50 - $60? More than double original retail?! I believe I paid $10 apiece for mine with the coupons.

Very amusing, and I usually find that the outrageous prices are typically accompanied with equally ridiculous fanfare, usually something along the lines of "AWESOME DEAL!!!!!!!!" or "GREAT DEAL!!!!!!!" or "PRICE REDUCED!!!!!!!" This has taught me that any deal where the seller has to tell me what a great deal is on offer - ISN'T!

Just saw a good one a few minutes ago: a 32" 4:3 SD JVC I'Art TV for the low, low price of just $250. Good luck to that guy, I've seen multiple sets just like it every weekend in the free section.

I was tinkering around last night and on my Panasonic 34" I can't tell the difference between HD OTA downconverted to 480i composite through the DTT-901 and DVD progressive scan 480p via component. I suspected as much but just now got around to doing some serious comparison.

I believe so, ~$60. I wouldn't even think about going anywhere near that price now with used HD tuners around the same price. Of course back then I didn't pay much for CECBs anyway due to the coupons.

The only fanfare he had was "new in box perfect condition never used..." plus a nice pic of the new in box perfect condition packaging. Indeed your comments with the added 'how lofty a price they paid for it new.' Then there's the folks peddling free junk telling us what we can use it for (e.g. old fence pieces for artwork); I guess it's better than 'please haul my junk off for me.' Hey I've got some free firewood, just come cut down my dead tree before it falls on my house. and knock on wood.

Yeah I've been seeing some outrageous prices lately too. Maybe the NY and Superbowl new TV crowd trying to recoup their costs. Rookies at pricing old TVs. Quite a few armoire/entertainment centers too, very expensive and throw in the TV for free! Nice pieces of furniture though, I feel sorry for them having spent that much money for something TV-dependent. TV screens going wide really screwed them up. My mom got one used free or cheap, it's so nice that she refused to move it out of the living room so settled for a small widescreen to replace the deceased 32" 4:3 TV that barely fit in it; it's something like a 26", where's my glasses?!

If your Panny's system is like mine then that's probably because it's upscaling 480i to 480p. Sometimes I wish I could turn it off because it smooths out details (my old 27" GE showed better detail). Now you should see less dot crawl via component. Turning on the Panny 3D Y/C filter will help composite though. I've also learned to back off the Panny's sharpness to neutral as sharpness helps noise stand out.

I did some reseach today and discovered that copy-guarded disks won't allow more than 480i or 480p via component; was a HD copyright requirement of player manufacturers. Bummer . HDMI has copy protection built-in so no such nonsense downconversions required of the players.

Hey what aspect combo do you like the most between your Zenith and Panny? (ex: Zenith set to x and Panny set to y).

My DTT-901 is set to 16:9 which blocks any aspect ratio changes from the Zenith on the 16:9 HD channels. Set this way the SD sub-channels USUALLY display properly, for example THIS displays pillarbox as it should for the 4:3 broadcast. This is with the Panny set to FULL, which I rarely change. Once in awhile I will get the "postage stamp" effect on an SD sub-channel and I'll hit the ZOOM on the Panny to use some more of the screen. The Panny 4:3 and JUST settings I have never used other than briefly checking them out. What are your preferred settings?

Interestingly my CM-7000 displays THIS in stretched fashion to fit the 16:9 ratio, and my plasma does the same thing with the cable signal. (I must say I've never watched much on THIS, but it is a good example of aspect ratio weirdness.) I don't know if there is a trigger in the feed that the DTT-901 is ignoring, or if something else is going on. Anyway I much prefer the proper 4:3 display put out by the DTT-901; I don't mind the pillarbox view.

Good point about the sharpness; I found that out myself a few weeks ago when I finally set about to adjusting for best PQ. I found that the previous owner had settings on something close to "torch mode", and I believe I cut all the picture settings to a lower level for a much improved picture. I've never seen any LCD or plasma display true black like my Panny.

I think I am craigslist addicted. Last night I picked-up a nice Samsung DVD-V6700 DVD/VCR combo unit with original remote. I don't actually know if it works yet but hopefully can test it out this weekend. According to the very nice owner everything works fine. I have been wanting another VCR to play all the Disney tapes I have in case my Sony VCR finally kicks the bucket.

After work this evening I am buying a Sony BDP-N460 Blu-ray player for $35. Will hook it to my Panny because it's close enough to the router I can run ethernet under the chair mat and rug for Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, etc. streaming. I remember wanting this unit a few years ago when I purchased my BDP-S350 (I think I may have mistakenly stated BDP-S360 in an earlier post ), but at the time if I remember right it was running ~ $300!

Yes, LOL, the subtext of a lot of craigslist ads is "Please come pick up my junk and haul it away for me so I don't have to deal with it."

I did not know that about the 16:9 block. I use the 16:9/Full combo too, the squeeze/unsqueeze seemed to be the best combo after several experiments, as if the converter boxes were designed for it (widescreen TVs without ATSC tuners). Couldn't get a perfect fit though as even this combo cuts off all edges some but did it the least. Here the converter box cuts off the top and bottom and the Panny over-stretches the sides. My biggest pain is the Panny reverts back to Auto on power-up and video input changes but only on s-video although I haven't tried component yet (just got some cables for the blu-ray); I'm afraid I'm gonna wear out that Aspect button.
Letterbox/Auto works but cuts off even more pic. Plus I noticed the converter boxes screw up the pic somewhat in Letterbox (I observed horizontal line/gaps in white block-lettered text e.g. The Weather Channel). I'm guessing 16:9 requires less conversion by a converter box. Oh yeah, Panny Auto uses one called Wide when I do this but I don't see anything called Wide when toggling the Aspect button (or in the manual).
As far as which of those two combos gave me the best geometry (e.g. heads look normal) it was hard to tell but slightly in favor of 16:9/Full.
Panny Normal is what I used to see what the converter box pic looks like without being altered as the Panny isn't 'supposed' to do anything to the incoming image.
Panny Just is 'just' weird, the middle is normal but it elongates the sides. Sorta works but then I noticed a weird hourglass affect when scenes are panned.
The flexible combos are nice though as I've had movies come in with a sort of forced 4:3 that I could manipulate to fill most of the screen without distortion. Probably similar to your postage stamp solution although I'm changing the converter box aspect too.
Superzoom: Zoom the converter box and zoom the Panny .


Hmmm, I'll have to try that on my CM but my comparator will have to be a Zinwell. I stored away my Artec (Zenith clone).


Yeah the factory settings on my Panny were torch city. I wish I could get into the service menu and back off the red so I didn't have to back the color off so much. The best I could do was set COLOR TEMP to COOL. Watch out for that Normal selection in the menu as it'll wipe out your painstaking customization; plus I wish they'd recessed that Normal button on the remote.
That Dynamic pic setting gives some bodacious white/black dynamic range. I like this one for my converter box but had to back PICTURE way down, was going snow blind.
I like the Auto pic setting for my VCR as Dynamic is too strong (see too much of the VCR's color/noise artifacts). But I actually turn up PICTURE and the brightness to partially compensate. And lower sharpness is of even more help to reduce the VCR noise. Of course a big reason for all this is so I don't have to adjust the pic settings each time I change video input. Too bad they didn't give each input its own unique pic setting menu or user memory as it would be nice to change pic setting depending on the show, not the input. Auto is cool in that it activates the photo sensor on the front of the TV to auto-adjust brightness when lights are on or off.


Me too - CL addict. A couple of nice scores and GL with the Samsung working OK (I suspect it does, folks just don't need VCRs much anymore and can play DVDs on their blu-rays). My friend sounds open to giving me one or both of his Toshiba SVHS units if I come over and help 'sort' his storage unit. He's all modern now with satellite/DVR, new TVs, etc. Keeps talking of buying one of these Sharp Aquos 80 inchers, I guess his year old ~50" isn't good enough anymore .
Yeah the price depreciation is amazing. I showed my neighbor a Fry's ad for a $300 Onkyo AVR to make him feel better about the one he paid $800 a couple of years ago; and now this 'lower-end' $300 one does 3D, Wi-Fi, etc.

THIS station looked the same here on CM and Zinwell. Pillarbox - sounds like black blocks on sides but not on top and bottom? (took me a little to think about it - lol). BTW I figured out how to set the other Split Screen pic to something other than the Panny's tuner (RF in), had to change Video Input while SS is active (I 'think' I had to swap the pics though). SS works nice to compare the CM and Zinwell although it doesn't allow much aspect ratio change in this mode and both pics change aspect together except for the PoutP mode (also no aspect that corrects the stretch-goofiness of the converter boxes when they're set on 16:9 and one actually stretches them worse). The Channel Search SS function is cool, unfortunately this Panny's NTSC-only tuner renders it useless to me.

Another weird aspect discovery: Can set the AUTO 4:3 mode to choose between NORMAL and JUST in the Video menu. The weird part is that it doesn't work for s-video (this TV seems to treat s-video as its own entity). Now I understand JUST, if you're inputting pure 4:3 (i.e. not one of the converter box modified-aspect varieties) you may want it wide but still look normal in the middle (stretches the L&R edges only). Might try it with the converter box set to one of its own zoom modes (CM Zoom1 and Zoom2, I'm guessing it's called Cropped on a Zenith).

Saw a weird one last night. There was a severe weather text scroll bar running on the bottom of the screen and the text was jittering like it was trying to play catch-up. Thought I saw it clear up when I switched the Panny to NORMAL aspect. Wanted to play with it more but it didn't last long enough (plus I was watching a show). I'm guessing its the Panny's processor not sampling fast enough for these 'widening' apsect modes. Why do I care? Because I might be able to come up with a preferred combo for fast-action, sports, etc. The various converter box aspect modes may treat fast-action differently too.

Very interesting info and I really appreciate your sharing. Man, you have really inspired me to further experimentation!

I'm beginning to think my CM-7000 has a bad S-video output. I moved it to the Panny from the Sony and the picture was still fuzzy, as if someone needed to focus it. I was getting the same on the Sony. Today I should have time to try switching to composite and see how that works. Would hate to have paid $20 for a defective unit.

Right now it is hooked-up to my yesterday-acquired free Samsung TX-R3265 HDTV. This is an odd beast, a 32" 4:3 HDTV, it says monitor on the front but it still has a NTSC tuner? I thought monitor was classified as not having a tuner. Anyhow, it's a nice set and sitting next to my Sony KV-30HS420 the picture in widescreen is nearly as large. Luckily my son is home for the weekend so was able to help me cart the monster up the stairs.

I don't have any more space for televisions, and of course now the KV-27FS120 is on the floor while I ponder where it will go. Oh yeah and yesterday I cleaned the free Samsung DVD-V6700 and hooked it to it's "new" namesake TV and to my pleasure everything works. The VCR plays old Disney tapes just fine, and the DVD was running well, though for some unknown reason it won't load Independence Day. I found a firmware update on the Samsung website, but my image burning software says that it can't work with the file. Maybe I'm just supposed to burn directly to CD-R? The instructions are bare bones, to be sure.

I put a DTT-901 back on the Panny because it looks so much better than the CM-7000. I am running it through my DVD recorder instead of the CM-7000; I intended to run S-video to the recorder but that looks like a bad idea so now I have an extra S-video splitter and way too many short S-video cables. I'll keep testing, though, starting with using some different cables to rule out a line problem.

unplugging the CM's power while it is up and running, wait 10 seconds or so before plugging back in. Sort of a hard reset and I see what looks like the CM new unit screen come up. I've had mine go off in the weeds a few times and that does the trick. Pic gets all twittery/jittery looking.

Yet another score for ya! It seems around here lately folks are 'trying' to get more for their sets than usual and I'm certainly not seeing any free HDTVs. Yeah I don't understand the monitor classification, my old NTSC GE says Stereo Monitor on the front. I thought maybe no speakers either but not the case here.

Yeah DVD sounds like a version issue. Might check out the firmware upgrade instructions for a Sony. I haven't touched on that stuff yet but recall something about certain type of disk and they suggest not having anything else on the disk. Disk format? Sony manuals/instructions are sweet from what I've seen so far, really impressed with the Blu-ray manual.

Hooked the Sony Blu-ray up to the Panny, played a BR disk and WOW! I think it's spitting out 1080i in that video mode (shows 1080/60i in () below the 1080i mode?). Couldn't get rid of the black bars on the top and bottom though (Casino Royale), maybe that was Sony Pictures way of giving me HD on component (the HDMI/component copy-guard issue I mentioned before); 34" became a 32", oh well. The factory picture settings are WAY more in line with where they need to be vs s-video and composite (unless the converter boxes are the culprits). Also, the Panny's Aspect button does nothing when a 480p or 1080i signal is on a component input. Panny audio sounded great too, don't know if there's any Dolby Digital decoding going on as I didn't think this Panny had it then. The Sony BR has lots of auto-detection and taking over control that it's hard to tell what's going on.
This Sony BR disk has what they call a Picture Calibration Easter Egg with test patterns, insert says it's on all of their BR disks. Type 7669 when the disk menu appears. Have to pause each pattern or it goes through them in sequence and then ends. I'm gonna hook the BR up via s-video and composite and see how the Panny's factory pic settings hold up.

Was at my neighbor's yesterday and I wasn't impressed with their 55" Vizio LCD on U-verse no less although it was on NBC (1080i OTA but what does AT&T do to their signal?). My Panny looked better with a converter box for the most part. Granted I was sitting to the side somewhat, maybe too close, and that is a much bigger screen. Hopefully they have it hooked up and set right too.

After further research the black bars are due to the film format. Some of the disks are done real wide, I guess to retain as much as possible of the original mastering for the movie theater with their super-wide screens. This disk is 2.40:1. No wonder folks want such giant TVs now, to overcome black bar shrinkage .

I played around with that Sony Pic Cal and noticed quite a bit of twitter on 1080i but none at all on 480p or 480i (but Panny upscales 480i to 480p). I'm guessing that's just the nature of the interlace beast. This is using the chart that has lots of lines placed close together and with various angles and shapes. Also, s-video and composite was still too strong on the reds using the blu-ray as a source so it looks to be the Panny's treatment of those ports.

BTW I discovered the Panny DOES have a different set of pic menu settings for component vs the other video inputs but the component one doesn't become active until there is a signal. I don't know about Component 1 vs Component 2, etc. I do know s-video and composite share pic menu settings (must be why they lump the two as "Video Inputs" in the manual); I think the internal tuner shares with them too.

Thanks for the CM-7000 advice, I will definitely give that a try. I hooked it up via composite yesterday and it looked better, but still not up to what I expected based on reviews rating its PQ as superior to the DTT-901. I sure hope your fix works as my primary motivation for buying the CM-7000 was for the S-video output. I will report back with results.

The Samsung DVD player takes more time to load a DVD than any other player I've ever used. It actually runs a little LOADING graphic on the bottom of the screen. Never seen that before and even the el-cheapo players I've owned over the years started a DVD straight away. I don't know if this is typical for Samsung DVD players, but I doubt it. I will burn the firmware file straight to CD-R and see if it does anything since my image burning software won't recognize it.

I don't know anything about U-verse but I am not surprised by the lack of PQ. I own a Sony LCD (by far the most expensive TV I ever purchased - for the wife and mother-in-law) and it is stunning with the right input and settings but can be downright awful without them. I'm no expert but one thing for sure is that CRT HDTV is a lot more forgiving with various input resolutions.

Congratulations on the great Blu-ray picture on your Panny! I love the PQ of mine on Blu-ray as well, though when the aspect ratio is wider than 16:9 I do have a little pincushion issue top and bottom, though it is only noticeable if I look at it specifically. I see that Casino Royale is 2.35:1 aspect ratio, so if your Panny is like mine you will have the letterbox bars and no way to ZOOM since all those aspect ratio settings are disabled with 1080i input. Look on the bright side, you are getting the whole picture as originally intended (well, except for overscan, which I assume you have some as I do).

I am loving the "new" TX-R3265. For watching old 4:3 TV shows it can't be beat. I especially enjoy X-Files via Netflix streaming, and it looks far better on this set than on either my LCD or plasma, and the picture is considerably bigger than on my widescreen Panny or Sony CRT sets. For the 34" Panny the 4:3 picture is 28", and on the Sony 30" only 24", so there is a lot more screen real estate for 4:3 content using the Samsung. Even with 16:9 material the Samsung equals a 29" set, nearly as big as the 30" Sony right next door.

The Samsung sounds old but I haven't done much with DVDs and the like.

Ah I see, good to know (2nd pgh). So it could be an unfair judgement depending on all those points I mentioned before, I need to go over and watch a blu-ray>HDMI. Yeah my Panny wasn't a huge difference vs resolution, I noticed the twitter more.

That Sony Pic Cal Egg also has a geometry chart. Panny looked pretty good with a very slight curve top and bottom. Amazing they can get the sides and corners that good.

Yeah my Panny blows the source up too much, used NORMAL to verify. But looks like the converter boxes blow up top and bottom too much on 16:9 which only makes the matter worse. Don't know about component input yet, forgot to check during blu-ray days.

That's a good point on 4:3 watching. I've started getting into the widescreen now since I mostly watch newer shows. I had thought about going for one of those BIG 4:3 tube sets that came out around the same time as the 16:9 tubes (and with ATSC tuners) since it would still have good 16:9 size but realized they weigh so much more than a 34" 16:9 set, not that those are light either. I started thinking when I get to the point that I need three people to move it...
Man you got a lot of TVs dude! I suddenly have a glut of computer monitors, need to clear half of them out in the rotation program.

Someone in my area has a Loewe Aconda for $60, says it's a 40". Replied back this morning the model number is AC09383, I need to see if I can 'net any info on it (German). Real pretty in the pic but curvy picture tube. I read somewhere on AVS that they're great TVs but I don't know about input port, format compatibility, etc. (unless these were made for the US).

Wow! I have only heard of these, never seen one. I figure they are like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, so you better catch a sighting while you can. The only thing I know about that set for sure is you'll probably have to hire some movers if you decide to buy it!

Yes, the number of televisions in my house is ridiculous, though in fairness they all are used regularly and three of them are freebies, so what the hey. My sickness extends to daydreaming about different ways to move components to and from the various TVs for the "best" situation. At least I have stopped searching for free televisions, but am now looking for more free components to attach to them, as if I don't have enough already. Speaking of which, I could use another VCR and a Laserdisc player would be really cool, even if it was only a shelf decoration.

Tonight I plan to try your advice of turning off the CM-7000 while on for the big old hard boot to the head. Hopefully it will clear up the picture. If not I suppose the CM-7000 will be coming to work with me to show me the morning news on the KV-27FS120 that I still need to haul in. It will replace my oldest TV, a KV-27V10, in my office. I have started asking around to see if anyone wants it. I know it's pathetic but the KV-27V10 was our main TV for a decade and it makes me sad that I don't really have a use for it anymore. It has some moire' in the upper corners but for the widescreen TV stations the picture is still very good.

...the Loewe is 38", I don't know if anyone made a 40" widescreen CRT. Folks either don't know what they have or round the numbers. Three sightings in the past month: $60, $290, and $1000 (this one looks like new and says it's a demo unit but...); could be different models but pics look kinda the same. Hard to find info but appears to be ~2002, only one component input, a VGA input that may even be required for HD (?), and 220 lbs so not hugely more than my 174 lb Panny. Spectacular PQ at its time but since it's about the same vintage as my Panny, may have had reliability issues if I trust the blogs, curvy tube, and I hate to use up my lifting help quota I may hold out for a Sony HDMI ATSC Super Fine Pitch. But those extra 4 inches...

All your TVs being used definitely trumps my computer monitor hoard. I have a similar techno-malady - how can I achieve the best performance with minimal pain?

I hope to come across that issue with my old '93 GE TV. It actually didn't get much use as a bedroom TV until my 31" died, so probably similar hours as your V10. Funny a simliar corner issue but with color blobs in corners after the Panny rotation that are aided by letterbox black stripes (I used to always watch it full but...); geomagnetic center is a little off too. I thought I saw this years ago after 'change in direction' but it corrected itself. I think its brain is partly hosed, can't get into the service menu anymore either.

Best of luck with the CM reboot!

The reboot was successful in restoring standard operation, so thanks again for the advice! However, it does not look any better to me than the DTT-901, and I now know for sure that the Panny is WAY better at handling the 480i than either of my Sonys or the "new" Samsung. I realize that I have been spoiled with near-HD OTA TV due to the Panny's superior line doubling and who-knows-what. Last night I even put the Zenith HD tuner on the Panny just to see, and could hardly tell the difference between the 1080i and the 480i from the DTT-901! Yes, there was a little more detail with 1080i, but from my viewing distance of 12 feet or so it is hardly worth the bother. In contrast, the Sony KV-30HS420 looks drastically better with the Zenith HD tuner than when fed with 480i from a converter box, and slightly better than any source looks on the Panny.

The Samsung TX-R3265 has the oddest configuration of inputs I've ever seen, with overlapping component, composite, and S-video which limit the number of components that can be connected. All of the sets in the house with the exception of the plasma are in a state of flux right now as I tinker around with options as far as which component will be connected to which TV. Right now it looks like when I am all done I will have the extra TV Sony KV-27V10 and an extra freebie DVD player.

Whatever shall I do?

You're welcome! Also, my CM occasionally goes blurry on subs but an easy fix via retuning the main; I don't remember if my other brand boxes do this too.
I thought I might be spoiled with the Panny on SD, that's some good info - thanks! I could hardly tell the difference between a Zinwell and s-videoized CM other than when twitter rears its ugly head (mostly football/astroturf&gridlines).
Check and see if there's some kind of 3:2 pulldown/internal scaler/deinterlacer menu on the Sony, some have it but I don't know what version starting point. I read about it during my Loewe research, says it made that TV at the time one of the best at making SD look HD. A reviewer was comparing it with one on his fancy DVD player, makes me wonder if AVRs and the like with HDMI processing have a feature like this.

If I understand overlapping, my TVs are like that on s-video and composite. I can use them in multiple but have to turn the higher priority device off (ex: s-video device off for composite to work). On my old GE I also have to retune the 'channel' (00) when making a switch. Of course some TVs detect if there's just a connector plugged in even if the device is off so may not work.

There's always the bathroom for a setup . I remember when I was house hunting decades ago this couple had little cubby-holes with little CRTs in all the bathrooms. Of course 27" is not so little. I guess give back to the charity we call Craigslist since it gave to us.

I passed on the Loewe due to no HD tuner and no HDMI coupled with my concern about asking for moving help down the road (don't want to use up all of my bullets). It has some weird connection stuff too - only one component input and some kind of restriction on what type of device can be plugged in where. Has a VGA input and a digital audio out but no digital audio in though . Odd mythological beast. The lady even replied back again this morning "Any interest in the TV. will sell very cheap"; I don't know if she meant she would lower the price even more or if was just playing salesman. Now if they'll offer to deliver it to me...

I posted a query yesterday on the Sony 960 thread - Loewe vs holdout for Sony? But no replies. I guess I should have made it a new message on top of all the CRT threads except it would have been trumped by the newbie posters.

Old info but is new to me and maybe others here using and/or considering buying used TVs with nothing higher than component input:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/indu...component-2010

I suspect applies to DVD players too.

Also note the part about disks after a certain date vs older disk players.

Thanks for posting that, good to know. At least my only Blu-ray player connected via component is my recently purchased Sony BDP-N460, which was manufactured before the cut-off date. I am curious to know if any of the Blu-ray manufacturers have "voluntarily" put the flag in there to eliminate HD on new discs. Seems like shooting oneself in the foot to get rid of a headache.

Yes, I thought about giving away the KV-27V10, which I may end up doing. However, I am quite certain there is no bathroom television in my house's future. Though of course as soon as you mentioned that I started thinking about how it could be done.

You're welcome.
And I suspect that disk flag is backward compatible to affect older players.
Of course the Blu-ray player manufacturers that also make TVs get extra added bonuses: cost-reduced players and it persuades some folks to upgrade their TVs to HDMI. Hmmmm, who sits on this industry panel?

Upgraded my firmware on the Sony BDP-S301. So far so good but no BD to try anymore as I had borrowed it from my neighbor. Scary because it didn't do per the instructions and was much faster than what they suggested. These things can get bricked if not done right. At least it played a DVD and displays the new version number in the system menu.

Well done with the upgrade. From my experience I would say everything went fine. I recall that of the few upgrades for my BDP-S350 some took several minutes and others were done quickly, so I guess the rapidity of the process is not cause for worry.

All of the Blu-rays I have watched so far over component on the Panny have been 1080i, confirmed by nothing happening when pushing the zoom button. Then again most of my BR discs are not all that new in terms of when they were released, so may be a concern in the future.

Watched an HD movie from Netflix on my "new" BDP-N460 last night, and the PQ was very good on the Panny. Had to wait until now because I needed to buy a flat ethernet cable from Amazon to run from the router under the floor mat and rug to the Sony. It's actually my first time streaming anything hard-wired, my other streamers are all wireless. I did a good job finding an ethernet cable that is close to the color of our carpet; my wife hasn't said a word about it running under the clear chair mat.

Good, whew!

Yeah I noticed that too (nada zoom). When I changed the Video Format on the BR I noticed various Panny zoom varieties so I guess that means all the formats were changing as required. Speaking of which, do your Sony BR players show a format in () below the selected format? I'm assuming the info in () is what actually happened (I noticed when I tried an invalid format it defaulted to (480i)). Great manual but I couldn't find anything on the (). Seems odd though that it went to 480i on Auto while Source Direct went to 1080i (Casino Royale 2007 2.40:1 1080p). So much for Auto - force it!

the wife part!
More good info (Netflix PQ Panny). Too bad Netflix requires a monthly fee...
Yeah they suck the money out of us for cables. Ironically I just read a 'component vs HDMI' article, says it depends on devices/internal processing, etc. as to which is better for each setup, i.e. try them both; article was by a company selling cables.
Hard to stop the desire to tinker with this stuff. I keep messing with the Panny's pic settings when I'm supposed to be just watching TV. When will it wear off?

Darn, there was one chance of me grabbing that Loewe anyway. Roomie of a neighbor who was always happy to help, throw him a few beers, actually helped me with the Panny on the fly. But he moved away a month ago. Today I see his truck over there but the Loewe is probably gone by now.

Sorry about the Loewe, would have been a lot of fun experimenting with that thing. I wonder how many of those are up and running still?

My Panny picture still makes me smile, so I'm actually afraid to mess with it. Just last night I was watching Howl's Moving Castle (animated) on Netflix over the BDP-N460 with my wife's second cousins, a boy 11 and a girl 10. About 2 or 3 minutes in the girl said out of the blue "Look at that great picture!" These kids have been living with us for a month and a half and have watched TV on the Sony LCD, Insignia plasma, and all the CRT sets in the house without any comments regarding picture quality, until last night. I was quite proud. The HDMI was broken when I got the set, so Netflix is going over component. It would be interesting to compare in regard to your comments about HDMI vs. component, but I find it hard to imagine the picture would be any better over HDMI.

I did get some buffering on Saturday night using the BDP-N460 to watch Netflix. I can't say for sure but I believe the Sony is forcing the highest resolution or nothing. With the Roku and my other streamers they will step down the PQ as the webernet gets throttled. I have not seen this in the slightest with the Sony. On other nights I have not seen any buffering, so I imagine it is an issue with number of users and the BDP-N460 demanding the highest level feed. I'm not going to complain because the Netflix PQ with this Sony going into the Panny is just fantastic.

To feed my craigslist addiction I picked-up a Hisense HDTV tuner for $25. Unfortunately it is susceptible to multipath problems, which I apparently have because about half of the channels pop in and out as the tuner doesn't know how to deal with the duplicate signals. When the kids go back home I will have time to experiment with it more and see if I can eliminate the multipath issues. I intend to use it with the Samsung 32" 4:3 HDTV - I think.

My BDP-N460 shows on the display 1080i when I turn it on; I actually haven't paid attention to what it displays for different sources. I will check it out and let you know. If it is like my big fat liar Insignia BR player it will show 1080i even when playing a DVD over component, which I know for sure is only 480p.

Oh, I don't think it ever wears off...

Ironically I see she reposted it the other day, down to $30; ah a woman's scorn towards clutter . I replied to her with some review/spec links to help her sell it but nothing new in the post. Yeah I would jump on the experimenting par tof it except for the inconvenience. Too bad she isn't throwing in the nice cabinet it resides in.
There's still three in CL DFW ads. I'm wondering if they made any HDMI or even HD tuner-ed? There was one mentioned on AVS called a Balta or somesuch, looked completely different than these three.


Indeed, I'd just like to tone the red down on mine. I see there's a couple of the pic menus that have an Advanced Settings sub-menu, maybe like a quasi-service menu for a few items that can be re-normalized to factory settings, and one adjusts color temp (i.e. computer monitor).
Sorry to hear it's HDMI-disadvantaged. As well as these Pannys process video it may not matter, could even be better. The only catch might be the Netflix movie HD copyright thing if it's like the BRs.


Maybe try Auto in Video Format? Could be stuck in Source Direct. I don't have a screamer though.


Man I must be in the wrong area for HD tuners. One guy has an old Samsung SIR-T150 for $5 but it would cost me $25 after gas, he only knows that it powers up, and no remote. I'd take the $5 gamble but...


Check the TV OSD for the () info when you hit Video Format, mine doesn't show the () info on the Sony BR display (just the selection I made). The () info sometimes lies to me too at first as I see it sometimes change when I hit Video Format again (have to wait for the OSD to disappear first or you'll change the format); I think the processor needs time to make its move and by that time the OSD has disappeared.

No not that kind!

Free RCA HD27F754T: In the CL pic I thought it was just a plain 27" but when I got home low and behold! TruFlat 1080i with HD AND QAM tuner, component input, and built-in surround audio. 4:3 with 16:9 enhanced mode. Some other fancy video features. Odd, it has a seperate analog and digital RF connectors, of course this is my first and only HD-tunered TV so what do I know? . Good bedroom TV especially with the ol' GE color-blobbing and tilting. Will be interesting to compare the tunerism with the converter-boxed Panny. I know, it's just an RCA .

Free Sony KV-20FS120: Cute little flat 20" dude but really loaded with 10 W speakers/surround, a component input (480i), and also has some fancy video features. 4:3 but says it increases the resolution 25% in 16:9 enhanced mode. Weird it doesn't have s-video.

Both from the same folks. The funny thing was I saw the ad Monday but was too busy and the ads 'appeared' to disappear later in the day (refresh CL often!). Then that evening the 27" ad was there but no 20" ad. Wasn't really that big on a 27" SD but said what the heck and went for it. Made a joke about "too bad about the 20" and she replies neither of the two people came thru for either TV. Both of these TVs look like the type I normally see for sale but these folks recently moved from D.C. and tired of stumbling over boxes and such. Could be transplants to my area are more generous than locals too . Heck the guy even carried them out to my van when I went to go grab a dolly (big dude, I think he was in a hurry and dinner cooking). I even got both remotes.

Coming soon: Anti-clutter neighbor offered me his Bose surround speaker system yesterday as well, said it cost him over two grand a few years ago. He's the one that gave me the Sony BR player and broken-audio Onkyo AVR; the AVR is the reason for the Bose activity as he bought one of those sound bars instead of a new AVR (says they're so old they can't hear that well anyway). Normally his relatives get first stab but he said they won't hook the system up - just collect dust. I'm glad he likes the good stuff, I'm using his old Sony VAIO PC as I type (new HD and all that BS required though).

Time to go clean some TVs inside and out and start tinkering...

Sweet free finds and amazing that you got them so long after they were posted. Around here the tweakers are on the free section like maggots on roadkill. Literally 30 seconds can be the difference between being first and 31st. All of my best finds have been free items buried in the electronics section.

Congratulations on the RCA HDTV! Must be nice to have a CRT with a built-in ATSC tuner; I haven't managed to score one of those yet. I expect a full report as to its sensitivity, PQ, etc.

The KV-20FS120 sounds like the little brother to my KV-27FS120 since they both have that 16:9 feature. Really sharp "little" TV, I think you will like yours. I still can't decide if I'm taking mine to work to replace my old KV-27V10 or if it will stay at home as the "quick test" TV or the guest room (AKA never used) TV. I don't think I can stand to let it sit dormant, so it probably won't end up in the guest room.

Good luck and have fun with the cleaning and tinkering. I have such a backlog that I will be busy for weeks once our little visitors leave a week from now.

Same here especially with Bernie's Bargain Bin trolling in real-time (Mexican Sanford&Son with storage buildings they 'resell' out of). I think I got lucky since she pulled the ad when someone else said they would show but didn't. Good point on the freebies not in the Free section; I saw a Samsung 30" WS HD the other day and appeared to last a couple of days, was even throwing in a converter box, another 'too far to drive' though.


Thanks! Thus far the tuner pic is stretched but the TV pic is normal with external inputs; time for service mode if I can access it and hope there's an adjustment for the tuner pic only. I thought I saw it break up on a strong channel too but there's no info box for signal strength, station format, etc. (no video input display either). Pretty basic TV and I'm not impressed with the menuing/display, etc. May be slightly out of focus but I can adjust that at the HV transformer.
It has that same 'too strong' color on the video inputs as the Panny leading me to think that they sacrifice this on these HDTVs for better performance with HD (HD tuner, component and HDMI). It may be me that's thinking it's just a red problem. So I gave in to my color piggishness and backed the Panny Color to -26 (was -20) and it looks much better. The color steps off real fast down there though (BR on component was MUCH closer to the factory settings). I can definitely see the Panny SD superiority vs the RCA, of course we're talking something like 5 grand vs $500 although 5 years apart.


Indeed and sounds good. Can't wait to tinker with it and all it's features. Yeah it should make a good portable quick-test reference TV if the pic is still that good. For now no home other than as a "coon-ass picture-in-picture" next to the Panny (Cajun neighbor coined that one for their setup). Now a couple of simple 19"ers need a new home and probably not here, getting too much clutter.

I finally got the new hard drive in, hopefully no more problems for a while.. I know a few of you like these finds.

Princeton Arcadia AR3.0CTW - 32" CRT TV

http://reviews.cnet.com/direct-view-...-30565567.html

Interesting piece of equipment, I can't find if it actualluy had a Tuner, but it's predacessor did have a ASTC tuner on board. I'm assuming it's a ASTC, since that was it's predecessor (30") had, no mention of an analog tuner on that one. It did have an antenna jack too, though since my eyesight is shot I couldn't read the details on the back.

It was $50, I still can't lift it, (132 akward #) it was an unusual looking set a wide screen CRT with a parabolic tube, no projection for the picture tube in the rear, a metal cabinet, & this one had handles though so if I could get a second person to help I a lot easier to move. No, I wouldn't buy this I really need something I can move myself. Really I was curious on this sets history & manufacturer.

I did pick up a like new Sony DVP-NS50P DVD player, claims there is a region hack for this one , though I'll need to locate a factory remote to do this if already not done.