The Official Pioneer 9G Elite KURO Owner's Discussion Thread - Page 47

I'm willing to bet there are millions of people who'd love to be sitting their butts in front of that set up right now.

I just finished my night-time viewing session of my Friends 151.

The contrast on this panel is just amazing. We watched the SOX game and it really looked great. Detail was incredible, you can see the stitches of the ball during the slow-motion playback. Much better than at home on my 657UY. The extra 1-million pixels help.

We played some Blu-Rays and they looked grat. Artifacts that I am used to are fixed like occasional banding and horizontal bleeding when there are white letters are gone.

Lights out with no signal does show some uneven blotching but this is a minor effect that was not viewable during regular content.

To my eye, the color temperature was too low in "low" a too high in Mid-Low.
That should be easy to correct with the Manual settings.

I did find the black level adjustment was not very granular. +1 added detail, though I am not sure if I prefer it to 0, and +2 turns the picture gray.

Lastly, I could not get used to the facial tones. They seemed too white and I felt that something was missing. Perhaps there is something going on with the gamma tracking, I am not sure. I was not able to get the film look I was hoping for, but of course, I had only a couple of hours to play with it and there are an astounding number of options.

Would I buy one. Sure, but not right now. The downsize from my 65 is really evident when viewing wide-screen movies. Looks like I will have to wait until '09.

- Rich

I have tried enabling/disabling when in optimum mode and have wondered the same thing. I cannot detect any discernable difference after trying several times...I may not be doing something correct I guess...but if I am doing it right I cannot tell any difference.

I have not tried the color sensor yet. I am still watching everything in pure mode and letting the break-in disc run on standard mode. No complaints yet. I tried to take some pictures last night, but I am apparently not savvy enough to get a good picture out of my wife's new Canon EOS XSI Rebel. Will try again tonight.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac-AV View Post
Well after lurking for so long I am ready to pull the trigger on a PRO-151 FD! Couple of questions for you owners if you don't mind.

1. Where can I get the best deal on one? If this is against forum rules then maybe a PM?

2. Initial findings show that I can get the PRO 150 for $500 less and both sub $5k here locally. Would you guys pay $500 extra to get the 151? Once again, a PM would be great.

3. How much do these things weigh and what mounts are you guys using?

4. Does the break in DVD come with the set? If not, where can I get one?

Sorry for the noobie ?'s but I would appreciate any help.


Thanks. So was it sub $5k? Anyone else? I am really excited about this set. I have never spent so much $$ on a display and I am thrilled the wife is down! Please chime in if you can.

I've tried Optimum with the color sensor and while the overall picture quality is incredibly punchy, it seemed a bit much, to my eyes. Colors were way overblown and the sharpness was turned up way too high.

Color differences with the color sensor off and on seemed to make a slight difference, but that was with me going back and forth over and over again. It toned down some of the blues, which was the most easily noticed change. Most other colors changed only slightly. Still, colors were too overblown overall for my taste.

RichB, you're correct, from what it seems the Low tempurature setting, if the Elites are the same as the non-Elites, is tracking at 6300K instead of 6500K. I found using the Manual setting to achieve something inbetween Low and Mid-Low to be just right.

As for blotching, as I've used my set, the blotching became less apparent. To my eyes, it has been pretty drastic. When I first got my replacement set, the blotching with just a black screen was pretty obvious, but after the 70 hours of burn-in that I've already got on my replacement, plus the hours I've put on it with regular viewing material, as well, has reduced the blotching.

The detail level on this set is astounding. I've owned two 1080p sets prior to this set, a Sony 60A2000 and a Sony 52XBR5, and the resolve that the 151 has compared to those sets is amazing; motion resolution, especially!

Personally, I really like the optimum mode, which relies on the color sensor. Sure, the color might be a bit "saturated," as some people suggest, but it definitely wows my friends and family. I have used the pure mode (with aetherhole's settings) on some DVDs (well, mostly the Dirty Harry Blu-ray set), but I find myself using the optimum mode more often than not.

I noticed a HUGE difference watching the Wimbledon "gentlemen's championship" (love how they call it "gentlemen's" instead of "men's"). The court looked so much more pleasing to the eye in the optimum mode than in the pure mode (where the green looked kinda washed out).

It most certainly is a personal preference. A punchy image will definitely impress, but for movies, I find that it distracts from the movie experience quite a bit more.

Of all "Punchy" settings on any television I've seen throughout the years, Optimum certainly is the best, if you desired a "Punchy" image.

I thought I would offer an quick update to my experience with the 151 (for those of you keeping score at home):

As I have logged more hours on the TV (both watching regular content and the break-in CD for about 90 hrs), the "blotching" or slight color uniformity issue (visible only when viewing the break-in slides) appears to have corrected itself.

Also, the during the past couple days, the buzzing seems to (though still somewhat variable) have stabilized within an acceptable range. I will be very pleased if it remains at current levels.

PQ remains amazing (& pixel perfect), though I still haven't gotten around to using the blu-ray HD basics disc to calibrate the picture.

Thanks for listening!

Finally got my 151 set up. I am very happy to report I have no dead/stuck pixels. As far as the buzz, I have to put my ear up to the glass to hear any type of buzz or hum. I am currently running the break-in disc, so, have not watched much actual content yet.

Agreed

I'd like to check in with you folks regarding a situation I have with my 111. When I turn the display on, the screen is grey; then just before it transitions to black, it smears ever so briefly like a histograph before going completely black. Has anyone else seen this? Is it normal or something I should be concerned about?

Thanks.

I have the 151. I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but using the calibration tool in Rock Band (using drums), I typically get about 120-145 ms lag as a result. I think I set it at about 130 ms. I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to calibration, but no professional.

With our 111, we're painfully running the break-in disc (painfully because I wish the break-in time was over), but the few times we've sneaked peeks at other programming (like NBC's pre-Olympic trials in HD), the picture is nothing less than stunning. And I thought our old crt-based RPTV was good! No comparison!

I also worried about reflection because we're in a well-lit room. No problem!! The RPTV, with it's protective plastic covering, was much worse.

Totally impressed. Can't thank D-Nice, Aetherhole, HDPeet, Robert, Roman, and all the other enthusiasts enough for leading us astray.

My 111 was delivered earlier this morning and I'm happy to report that it appears pixel perfect. Also, there is a faint buzz (read: barely audible with head behind screen) when the white backgrounds are displayed while using the break-in dvd.

Setup went well...I was able to lift the TV onto the stand myself as the driver was not interested in helping out...even after offering a pretty good tip. I'll try and post some pics sometime later.

Thanks go to Robert and Wendy at VE... My second purchase from VE went as smoothly as the first. They'll be getting more business from me in a few weeks when I order the Pio 51/Elite 05 blu-ray player to replace my Panny bd30.

I'm sure I've missed it but do any of you guys have any recommended settings in advance of the D-Nice calibration?

My 151 arrives today!

Aetherhole posted some settings that others have tried and liked. Try searching his posts.

Found them, Thanks!
....and thanks to you too Aetherhole.

You guys are not interested to delve into DIY Calibration?



.

I'm actually really interested, but I'm a total newbie about that. Where should I start?

I don't use it or want it on my set. I don't like the way it looks and I'm using a mode on the 151FD that would not use it anyway.

Hardware (some cost involved):

Meters and Meter Comparison Discussion (Plasma Related)

Keyspan USB to Serial Adapter - If Needed

Serial Cable.


Software:

ColorHCFR - Free

CalMAN - Some Cost

ColorHCFR vs CalMAN Comparison Discussion

ControlCAL and the Pioneer 9G ISFccc Display Profiles - Free for Personal Use (your own Display).

Test Patterns / Pattern Generators - PC and Disc Based


More Info:

Additional Calibration Related Links

Good DIY Guide

Discussion and Information about Calibrating the Pioneer Displays with the ISFccc Interface


and finally:

TIME!

I've been running the break-in DVD since Saturday, and last night I checked up on it and noticed a stuck pixel as well.

Thank you! I'll start reading up on it.

If anyone here is an organizational freak like me, you might want to download the attached file; it's a worksheet I made up for Kuro Elite picture settings.

It has all of the parameters related to image adjustment on the 151 (and I'm assuming they're the same on the 111), but not energy settings, or settings related to image retention, like the orbiter, side masks, etc.

Just right click on the attachment to download it to your desktop, and print a bunch of them out. You may have to shrink it a bit to fit on to a standard sheet of paper, since it got resized slightly when it was posted.

I'm keeping them in a (black) looseleaf binder, along with the paper work, manual, etc., that came with my 151.

Wow good job, but do you know why I-P Mode is ALWAYS blocked out on my 151? What does it do anyway?

Yeah Mike, I'm an organizational freak, too, so I actually did the same thing a few days ago. But it's not just organizational necessity- there are so many parameter permutations that I needed an overview of what seems to do what. Your sharing the info should be a big help to many here.

I see Gary agrees with my long time assertion that CS1 provides a more natural (relative to the real world) color palette than CS2. CS2 conforms more closely with Rec709, but I live in the real world, not the Rec709 world.

I'm really glad to hear that. Mine is at 500 hours (with regular content at reference settings) and I can still see the dirty screen effect. Though I have to say it's really starting to get more of a smoothed out look to it.

There's still two horizontal and some zig zagging streaks going on but again, it's starting to look minimized.

I have a replacement coming scheduled for about 2 1/2 weeks. I'll see right away if the replacement has the same effect or not. If so, I'm going to keep the one I currently have. If not, I'll have them switched. With the new one though, I'll have to keep an eye for dead/stuck pixels and buzzing issues. At least with those two categories, with my current one those are not an issue.

Was it there before?

Also, can you see it at your normal viewing distance?