The Official Pioneer 9G non-Elite KURO Owner's Discussion Thread - Page 337

Originally Posted by Clint S.

Ok that makes sense. And would seem to imply that the Orbiter (at least mode 2) does indeed interfere with the PQ, contrary to what the manual says--"Orbiter automatically changes the position of the picture imperceptibly while the image is on screen."

Originally Posted by stedmakr

Buzz - upon receipt there was absolutely no buzz. After the 150 hour breakin and use for a month I have a buzz. Its noticable when there is a menu on the screen and no other noise coming from the TV. I can live with it.

Calibration - I calibrated the gray scale with control cal using D-Nice's settings. I don't think that you should have to calibrate a new $2000 TV. But I did and it makes a difference. The first thing I noticed was the whites were whiter. I purchased the $60 setup from Turbe. The purchase procedures with the "donation" process are awkward and the actual instructions leave something to be desired. If you chose to calibrate, suggest reading the Pioneer non-elite thread on the control cal site until you are comfortable. I still had to go through the calibration process twice to get it right. My experience is that the picture is noticeably better after calibration. Do it!

SD Viewing - Terrible until I took a recommendation from this board and changed from:
TIVOHD > HDMI > Receiver
to
TIVOHD > component > Receiver.
There was a very noticeable improvement in quality. I use HDMI from the receiver to the flat pannel.

I did not install the TV's speaker. If you have a 5.1 speaker system the TV's speaker isn't necessary. I did connect an optical sound cable from the TV to the receiver for HMG sound through the TV's USB port.

There are alot of comments about the TVs remote. I use the Harmony 880 and can control 90% of the commands from the TIVO, TV, and receiver.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that I also purchased a Pioneer VSX-03 at the same time I purchased the 5020. I have a good set of speakers and the sound is fantastic. I highly recommend the VSX-03 (the 01 is functionally almost identical).

I'm not happy with Pioneer's decision to stop plasma production. This may mean that we won't see further firmware updates or the potential to improve the HMG application. I am happy with the 5020 and its beautiful picture. Hopefully it will last at least half a dozen years.

Originally Posted by turbe





What's wrong with the step-by-step?

Originally Posted by stedmakr

Yesterday I posted the following: I did not install the TV's speaker. If you have a 5.1 speaker system the TV's speaker isn't necessary. I did connect an optical sound cable from the TV to the receiver for HMG sound through the TV's USB port.

Clint S responded: Careful of that. I don't know if this TV's amp will do it, but many amps will blow if you don't have any load (speakers) connected to them while it's trying to output power. If there's an option to turn them off without affecting audio to your receiver, then I'd do it.

The 5020 manual doesn't address this issue.

So the situation is that the 5020 speaker is not attached to the TV. All audio is routed through a Pioneer receiver. Since the 5020 can not produce audio by itself (no speaker) when I input content via the USB port on the TV (eg. an mpg) I can see the content but can't hear anything. I've solved this problem by connecting an optical cable from the TV to the receiver. When I do this the video and audio are good.

Clint S. is advising caution (as stated above). Does anyone know for sure (or think they know for sure) if this connection is putting the tv at risk?

For Clint S - I also had a great picture. After calibration it is noticeably better.

Thanks,
Keith

Originally Posted by KCinWhitby

TURBE, did you ever tweak and post those specific instructions I e-mailed you? Or did you decide to just leave it the way it was? The way it was is very confusing and tedious. I had a hard time figuring out how to download the software and then how to get the profile. It really was not spelled out that clearly. Just my opinion, you need everything in one place.

Originally Posted by RichB

Either a 500M or 600M (If I can find one).

- Rich

Originally Posted by KCinWhitby

Maybe a stupid question, but what is a 500M or 600M? Who makes it?

Originally Posted by Doug Blackburn

HDTV via broadcast, cable, or satellite are actually QUITE poor compared to Blu-ray... they are roughly half-way between SD and Blu-ray. The problem is so bad, people are calling it HD-Lite. The problem is bandwidth and compression... even broadcast HDTV adds compression which is quite visible as block artifacts within the image. Broadcast has about half the bits per second of Blu-ray and very few cable or satellite channels match broadcast's HD bit rate. Cable and satellite end up quite often delivering the equivalent of 6-bit or 7-bit color when the source was originally 8-bits and 8-bits is BARELY enough to render images well (color-wise).

It is true that way too many "HD" channels pass off anything in 16:9 format as HD, including stretched 4:3 programming or DVD-res movies.

The review sample 111 model I had was lighter on the top, right side and bottom - easily noticeable. A spray-paint effect like the coating was thicker on the left and down the middle where black was noticeably blacker.

Originally Posted by petmic10

The Orbiter function has an affect on PQ, I confirmed this with test patterns. With the Orbiter function engaged the picture is not as sharp and you don't get full resolution. I used the Spears & Munsil test disc that came with my Oppo BDP-83 for testing.

I turn it "OFF" and run the video pattern once or twice a week instead.

The only time I turn it "ON" is when I game.

Originally Posted by Doug Blackburn

Buying a TV is EASY. You don't buy from ANYBODY who won't provide prompt replacements within at least the first 30 days. And you don't buy from any dealer that voids the factory warranty.

And you never, ever, never, ever pay for an extended warranty from some fly by night company that changes their name every year or two so they don't have to honor extended warranties they have previously sold. BUYING an extended warranty is EASY. Getting coverage if you need it is a WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY.

Originally Posted by Jim Hef

Perhaps the mods broke the link because it's copyrighted material???

Originally Posted by stedmakr

Yesterday I posted the following: I did not install the TV's speaker. If you have a 5.1 speaker system the TV's speaker isn't necessary. I did connect an optical sound cable from the TV to the receiver for HMG sound through the TV's USB port.

Clint S responded: Careful of that. I don't know if this TV's amp will do it, but many amps will blow if you don't have any load (speakers) connected to them while it's trying to output power. If there's an option to turn them off without affecting audio to your receiver, then I'd do it.

The 5020 manual doesn't address this issue.

So the situation is that the 5020 speaker is not attached to the TV. All audio is routed through a Pioneer receiver. Since the 5020 can not produce audio by itself (no speaker) when I input content via the USB port on the TV (eg. an mpg) I can see the content but can't hear anything. I've solved this problem by connecting an optical cable from the TV to the receiver. When I do this the video and audio are good.

Clint S. is advising caution (as stated above). Does anyone know for sure (or think they know for sure) if this connection is putting the tv at risk?

For Clint S - I also had a great picture. After calibration it is noticeably better.

Thanks,
Keith

Originally Posted by GrandMasterJ

Maybe someone can help me answer a minor question.

Just got the 5020 today. The panel came in good condition; no dead pixels. It most definitely does buzz...the brighter the color, the louder the buzz.

Anyway,I got the break in slide show and put it on my USB, plugged that in on the side and am now running through it. But between each slide, the screen goes blank for a few seconds and the buzzing stops, so I assume it "shuts off" before it puts up the next slide.

Is it supposed to do this? Or is there some setting I've missed? Or should I be using one of the screen wipes?

Thanks for replies in advance.

Originally Posted by GrandMasterJ

Maybe someone can help me answer a minor question.

Just got the 5020 today. The panel came in good condition; no dead pixels. It most definitely does buzz...the brighter the color, the louder the buzz.

Anyway,I got the break in slide show and put it on my USB, plugged that in on the side and am now running through it. But between each slide, the screen goes blank for a few seconds and the buzzing stops, so I assume it "shuts off" before it puts up the next slide.

Is it supposed to do this? Or is there some setting I've missed? Or should I be using one of the screen wipes?

Thanks for replies in advance.

Originally Posted by GrandMasterJ

Just got the 5020 today. The panel came in good condition; no dead pixels. It most definitely does buzz...the brighter the color, the louder the buzz.

Anyway,I got the break in slide show and put it on my USB, plugged that in on the side and am now running through it. But between each slide, the screen goes blank for a few seconds and the buzzing stops, so I assume it "shuts off" before it puts up the next slide.

Is it supposed to do this? Or is there some setting I've missed? Or should I be using one of the screen wipes?

Thanks for replies in advance.

Originally Posted by Clint S.

What are the best places to get an extended warranty? ....

Originally Posted by KCinWhitby

I appreciate the technical points made but personally, from my viewing experience, I find that too many Blu-Ray movies are not that great. The quality is often disappointing. After seeing some great Blu-Ray, watching a mediocre one really bothers me. I've seen many HD channels / shows that surpass some of the blu-rays I have seen. But it depends on the day for the show and channel. I've only bought about 15 blu-ray, watched about 30, and I would say half I would never buy, or should have not bought. Now the same argument goes from watching HD to watching SD. SD can be unwatchable after seeing a near perfect picture.

I just hope blu-ray gets to be a standard that can always be made fantastic.

Originally Posted by hwakin

strange that you mention this GEE
i had my 5020 set to game mode, let the kids play wii the whole morning (prolly 3-4 hours), had lunch, started to watch transformers blu ray in the afternoon (by now the set had rested for at least 4 hours), then the set dies with 2 blinks of red led. see my previous post:



i browsed the user manual when i first set up the tv, but did not read the whole thing. why in the world would pioneer enable that mode in the first place if it risks damaging the unit?

grrrr........

Originally Posted by Clint S.

I'd be interested in knowing as well....

Originally Posted by GEE 04

that sucks man. hope it gets resolved. That would suck if game mode screws your panel up.

Does anyone actually know what game mode does? I was playing formula 1 on my ps3 last night with it off,an didn't a difference in game play.

Originally Posted by Jim Hef

I think you may be mixing up the connections. The external speakers are powered by the internal amp, but the optical out wouldn't be using that. So, if you have no speakers attached, you're not involved with the internal amp.

Originally Posted by lunaticpuma

...Does anyone know if the 5020 can pass through DD 5.1 from HDMI to it's optical out....

Originally Posted by Jim Hef

From page 111 of the manual:
The flat panel TV's digital audio output terminal (optical) can output Dolby Digital signals. Using an optical digital cable, connect an AV receiver to the digital audio output terminal (optical) on the rear of the flat panel TV. This connection allows audio such as from digital TV broadcasts to play back in high quality.

Originally Posted by lunaticpuma

Game mode minimizes any processing done to the image (scaling, noise reduction, etc.). Feeding a 1080p signal should provide a laglass gameplay experience since no real process needs to be done. Anything lower res or interlaced will have a bit of delay, but not as much if it was in a non-game mode.


Does anyone know if the 5020 can pass through DD 5.1 from HDMI to it's optical out. I tried to set up my xbox this way, but the signal it passed was stereo and not 5.1. Is there a menu option I may have missed?