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New Firmware 4.0 HD-XA2/HD-XF2/HD-A20 - Page 6

post #151 of 553
9/28/08 at 7:12am
Upgraded my XA2 (already hacked to play PAL) to 4.0 and it works great.

Thanks Toshiba - you're the best
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post #152 of 553
9/28/08 at 7:13am
Just updated my XA2 via the ISO. Everything is working great. Thanks Tosh.

My monoprice 5x1 HDMI switch is working fine.

The Searchers menu is also fine. Never had a problem with it before though.
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post #153 of 553
9/28/08 at 7:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GmanAVS View Post

XA2 upgrade to fw 4.0 successful

Now my Monoprice 4x1 HDMI switcher is having handshake problems with the XA2's new fw, causing intermittent flashes (white) - wether a disc is playing or not - and frequent video drop-outs.

When connected straight to my Panny 50PZ700U all works fine.

I may roll-back to fw 2.7 as I had no problems for over 1 year.

fyi, I have the Product ID: 4088
"MonoPrice 4X1 Enhanced 1.3b Certified HDMI Switch with built-in Equalizer and Remote (REV.3.0)

I have the exact same Monoprice HDMI switcher between my A20 and my HK AVR-247. I have no such issues. However, my A20 doesn't have HDMI 1.3 (neither does my receiver or display).
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post #154 of 553
9/28/08 at 8:20am
Note for the Mac OS X users: The Finder will not be able to mount the .iso file. However, you can still burn the disc with Disk Utility. Don't try to mount it. Just burn the .iso file directly.

Went successfully with my HD-A2.

Then I ran out of CD-Rs, and it doesn't work on DVD-Rs, so I have to go shopping before I can update my Venturer SHD7000. (Hopefully it will work with the HD-A3 firmware.)
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post #155 of 553
9/28/08 at 9:05am
so Autoframe rate works, but doesnt work because the discs dont support it?

so again, is there anything new in 4.0 that anyone needs? I understand if you are on 2.8or higher you need to get to 4.0 or 2.7 top eliminate jaggies on some material

but can anyone who went from 2.7 to 4.0 identify the upside to the upgrade?

Like everyone else, really happily surprised that Toshiba continues support, and I generally like to be running on latest and greatest, but after moving from 2.7 to 2.8 then back to 2.7 I am a litte gun shy and I am trying to identify at least one positive reason to go from 2.7 to 4.0 before upgradin

anyone?
thanks
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post #156 of 553
9/28/08 at 9:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

so Autoframe rate works, but doesnt work because the discs dont support it?

so again, is there anything new in 4.0 that anyone needs? I understand if you are on 2.8or higher you need to get to 4.0 or 2.7 top eliminate jaggies on some material

but can anyone who went from 2.7 to 4.0 identify the upside to the upgrade?

Like everyone else, really happily surprised that Toshiba continues support, and I generally like to be running on latest and greatest, but after moving from 2.7 to 2.8 then back to 2.7 I am a litte gun shy and I am trying to identify at least one positive reason to go from 2.7 to 4.0 before upgradin

anyone?
thanks

So far it seems positive! I plan to upgrade mine tonight and have a look. I also use DVI connections so I'll check to see if the BTB and WTW issue is resolved compared to v 2.7. If not no big deal since I can fix it with the XA2 brightness control. I just never went beyond 2.7 because of the jaggies using 1080p/24. That seems to be fixed in 4.0.
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post #157 of 553
9/28/08 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuGsArEtAsTy View Post

Then I ran out of CD-Rs, and it doesn't work on DVD-Rs, so I have to go shopping before I can update my Venturer SHD7000.

Got the CD-Rs. The update went fine on the Venturer too.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ressom View Post

Just updated my XA2 via the ISO. Everything is working great. Thanks Tosh.

My monoprice 5x1 HDMI switch is working fine.

The Searchers menu is also fine. Never had a problem with it before though.

Same here. Searchers' menu works fine with 4.0 on both my Venturer SHD7000 and my HD-A2.

IIRC it also worked fine before on my A2, but I don't think I ever tested it on my SHD7000. The menu also worked fine on my Xbox 360.
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post #158 of 553
9/28/08 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronomy View Post

So far it seems positive! I plan to upgrade mine tonight and have a look. I also use DVI connections so I'll check to see if the BTB and WTW issue is resolved compared to v 2.7. If not no big deal since I can fix it with the XA2 brightness control. I just never went beyond 2.7 because of the jaggies using 1080p/24. That seems to be fixed in 4.0.

Ronomy,

Some of us with DVI connection will surely appreciate your feedback of how it goes with the 4.0 updrade.

Thanks.
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post #159 of 553
9/28/08 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuGsArEtAsTy View Post

Got the CD-Rs. The update went fine on the Venturer too.



Same here. Searchers' menu works fine with 4.0 on both my Venturer SHD7000 and my HD-A2.

IIRC it also worked fine before on my A2, but I don't think I ever tested it on my SHD7000. The menu also worked fine on my Xbox 360.

What is it about this disc (The Searchers) that makes the menu access disappear on some A2s but not others for FW 3.0/4.0? Did you initialize and clear persistent storage after the upgrade? I didn't try that, I must confess.
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post #160 of 553
9/28/08 at 4:43pm
Hmmm... Before 4.0, the last time I tested The Searchers on my A2 might have been 2.x not 3.

I don't think I've ever cleared the persistent storage.
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post #161 of 553
9/28/08 at 5:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiifac View Post

Ronomy,

Some of us with DVI connection will surely appreciate your feedback of how it goes with the 4.0 updrade.

Thanks.

Well it does allow me to use standard video levels and PC levels compared to 2.7 which forced me to use PC levels. I still need to use +1 brightness and -1 contrast in the XA2 to fix blacks but I can see below black now so it might be my Lumagen HDQ. I have to raise my blacks with my new 51FD blu-ray player too. When I use +1 brightness I have to use -1 contrast or I get white clipping otherwise 0 contrast and 0 brightness in the XA2 doesn't clip white any more. Like I said my black issue may be my Lumagen. I probably have to recalibrate my gamma using the Lumagen since the change.

Ron
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post #162 of 553
9/28/08 at 5:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronomy View Post

Well it does allow me to use standard video levels and PC levels compared to 2.7 which forced me to use PC levels. I still need to use +1 brightness and -1 contrast in the XA2 to fix blacks but I can see below black now so it might be my Lumagen HDQ. I have to raise my blacks with my new 51FD blu-ray player too. When I use +1 brightness I have to use -1 contrast or I get white clipping otherwise 0 contrast and 0 brightness in the XA2 doesn't clip white any more. Like I said my black issue may be my Lumagen. I probably have to recalibrate my gamma using the Lumagen since the change.

Ron

Overall that sounds like great news.
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post #163 of 553
9/28/08 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronomy View Post

Well it does allow me to use standard video levels and PC levels compared to 2.7 which forced me to use PC levels. I still need to use +1 brightness and -1 contrast in the XA2 to fix blacks but I can see below black now so it might be my Lumagen HDQ. I have to raise my blacks with my new 51FD blu-ray player too. When I use +1 brightness I have to use -1 contrast or I get white clipping otherwise 0 contrast and 0 brightness in the XA2 doesn't clip white any more. Like I said my black issue may be my Lumagen. I probably have to recalibrate my gamma using the Lumagen since the change.

Ron

Hi Ron,

Thanks for your observations.

Before the 2.8 firmware upgrade I had to use settings Brightness +6, Contrast -6 to achieve proper black and white levels. So your results appear very encouraging. Your slightly non-zero settings might be attributable to your display being very slightly off in calibration.

Thanks again.

Larry
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post #164 of 553
9/28/08 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronomy View Post

Well it does allow me to use standard video levels and PC levels compared to 2.7 which forced me to use PC levels. I still need to use +1 brightness and -1 contrast in the XA2 to fix blacks but I can see below black now so it might be my Lumagen HDQ. I have to raise my blacks with my new 51FD blu-ray player too. When I use +1 brightness I have to use -1 contrast or I get white clipping otherwise 0 contrast and 0 brightness in the XA2 doesn't clip white any more. Like I said my black issue may be my Lumagen. I probably have to recalibrate my gamma using the Lumagen since the change.

Ron

I have a Lumagen Vision Pro HDP, and am running firmware 2.8 because it finally fixed the BTB and WTW issues.

I do not have to make any brightness or contrast adjustments on the XA2. I just set the RGB output range to "Enhanced", since my display accepts RGB 0-255 (aka PC video levels). I also have the Lumagen video level set to PC on both the input and the output.

With firmware 2.8, the XA2 works correctly with my DVI-based VP and display. Based on your obervations, they missed the mark with 4.0, but since there was only one firmware release to ever get this right, I expected as much.

Mark
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post #165 of 553
9/28/08 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by giomania View Post

Based on your obervations, they missed the mark with 4.0, but since there was only one firmware release to ever get this right, I expected as much.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Aren't you jumping to conclusions prematurely? Ron's adjustments are very minor. Couldn't they be accounted for by a minor misadjustment of any device in the video path?

Larry
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post #166 of 553
9/29/08 at 4:49am
Mark I use similar setting to you but keep in mind my Bluray player also needs a boost in the blacks. +1 is minor on the XA2. I never tried 2.8 because of the jaggies. I want to use 24p.

Larry your numbers are real bad. Mine were never that bad with 2.7. Maybe your display was set to Video levels and the XA2 was PC levels? I had settings like yours before i switched my Lumagen to PC levels even though the XA2 was set to normal video levels it still output PC levels.

Keep in mind that with 2.7 I couldn't see BTB at all when I increased brightness on the display. Now I can see it so the crush is eliminated.

I think this release looks pretty solid so far. In 2.7 I had to decrease my color settings to get proper color saturation and now with 4.0 I can return color it its default position.

Ron
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post #167 of 553
9/29/08 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

2.7 to 4.0 identify the upside to the upgrade?

Like everyone else, really happily surprised that Toshiba continues support, and I generally like to be running on latest and greatest, but after moving from 2.7 to 2.8 then back to 2.7 I am a litte gun shy and I am trying to identify at least one positive reason to go from 2.7 to 4.0 before upgradin

anyone?
thanks

There are certain titles that will not play with 2.7, but with 2.8 or greater (Opus Arte Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne is one title that did not play with 2.7).
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post #168 of 553
9/29/08 at 7:48am
Can anyone tell me if the Integra DHS-8.8 uses the same firmawre as the XA2? I am interested in updating, but need to know first!

Thanks.
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post #169 of 553
9/29/08 at 8:53am
is there any posting of what this officially fixes? I have had a lot of trouble with my HD-A3 and rentals from Blockbuster. On at least half of the HD-DVDs, I have had to return them because they wouldn't make it through a movie but was never sure if it was a player issue or the actual HD-DVD. Will this fw help at all?
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post #170 of 553
9/29/08 at 9:11am
Anyone having any luck getting this off the internet through the ethernet port? Not having any luck through the burned CD's. It won't go to the verup page and has been trying to load the disc for 10minutes.
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post #171 of 553
9/29/08 at 9:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PRO-630HD View Post

Anyone having any luck getting this off the internet through the ethernet port? Not having any luck through the burned CD's. It won't go to the verup page and has been trying to load the disc for 10minutes.

I pretty much gave up on the ethernet update so I tried burning a cd using Nero Express 7. I had the same results as you...player stuck on Loading. I then downloaded ImgBurn and burned a new cd-r and the player displayed VERUP almost immediately and updated perfectly.
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post #172 of 553
9/29/08 at 9:51am
I have the original FW 2.7 in my XA2 and have been reluctant to change since it has been working well. If I load the 4.0, and it does not work well for me for any reason, can I roll the FW to the hex-editted 2.7 ?. Also, how many times can one roll back to that modified 2.7? Is it a one-time deal or can it be repeated ? Thanks in advance.

John
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post #173 of 553
9/29/08 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryChanin View Post

Hi Mark,

Aren't you jumping to conclusions prematurely? Ron's adjustments are very minor. Couldn't they be accounted for by a minor misadjustment of any device in the video path?

Larry

Larry, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions. However, I recall that the only way to make the display properly display WTW and BTB was to adjust the XA2's Brightness and Contrast controls. I was not able to adjust my video processor or display to make the XA2 behave properly. This statement applies to firmware 2.7 and earlier and when used with DVI-based displays.

My projector has been Optimized by William Phelps, so there is no way it is the fault of the display.

Mark
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post #174 of 553
9/29/08 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zodon View Post

I pretty much gave up on the ethernet update so I tried burning a cd using Nero Express 7. I had the same results as you...player stuck on Loading. I then downloaded ImgBurn and burned a new cd-r and the player displayed VERUP almost immediately and updated perfectly.

ImgBurn not working either, same results. Toshiba needs to get this firmware available through the ethernet port!
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post #175 of 553
9/29/08 at 10:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ihifi View Post

I have the original FW 2.7 in my XA2 and have been reluctant to change since it has been working well. If I load the 4.0, and it does not work well for me for any reason, can I roll the FW to the hex-editted 2.7 ?. Also, how many times can one roll back to that modified 2.7? Is it a one-time deal or can it be repeated ? Thanks in advance.

John

I believe in the old saying of if it isn't broke then don't fix it. But if you do update to 4.0 and don't like it. You can go back to 2.7 by editing the 2.7 firmware with a hex editor like HxD from 0A8C (2700) to something higher than 0FA0 (4000). For example 0FA1 (4001). Then burn it on a good CDR with ImgBurn at a slow speed like 4x. Then update while your player is plugged into a UPS just to be safe.

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post #176 of 553
9/29/08 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PRO-630HD View Post

ImgBurn not working either, same results. Toshiba needs to get this firmware available through the ethernet port!

Do you have the latest version (2.4.2.0) installed? Did you burn it as a image file at a slower speed on a good CDR?
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post #177 of 553
9/29/08 at 1:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by N8YWF View Post

I believe in the old saying of if it isn't broke then don't fix it. But if you do update to 4.0 and don't like it. You can go back to 2.7 by editing the 2.7 firmware with a hex editor like HxD from 0A8C (2700) to something higher than 0FA0 (4000). For example 0FA1 (4001). Then burn it on a good CDR with ImgBurn at a slow speed like 4x. Then update while your player is plugged into a UPS just to be safe.


Thanks for both pieces of advice.

John
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post #178 of 553
9/29/08 at 2:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronomy View Post

Mark I use similar setting to you but keep in mind my Bluray player also needs a boost in the blacks. +1 is minor on the XA2. I never tried 2.8 because of the jaggies. I want to use 24p.

Larry your numbers are real bad. Mine were never that bad with 2.7. Maybe your display was set to Video levels and the XA2 was PC levels? I had settings like yours before i switched my Lumagen to PC levels even though the XA2 was set to normal video levels it still output PC levels.

Keep in mind that with 2.7 I couldn't see BTB at all when I increased brightness on the display. Now I can see it so the crush is eliminated.

I think this release looks pretty solid so far. In 2.7 I had to decrease my color settings to get proper color saturation and now with 4.0 I can return color it its default position.

Ron

Hi Ron,

My projector is supposed to automatically select the appropriate video levels in its AUTO setting that I use. When I tried to manually force PC levels I got a greenish cast to the image.

Even before version 2.8, I never had a situation where adjusting Bringhtness upward didn't permit me to see BTB. That is, I never had black crush issues as you did. Therefore, after adjusting Brightness upward I was able to see all the bars on the PLUGE patterns and properly adjust the Black Levels. White levels were corrected by reducing Contrast as needed.

My pre version 2.8 settings of +6, -6, are consistent with other forum members results. My current version 2.8 settings are consistent with your reported settings after version 4.0. My projector is known to have excellent calibration "out of the box", so I never got around to having it professionally calibrated. Of course, that could account for why my current adjustments are +1, -1 rather than 0, 0.

I agree with you that your results are encouraging enough for me to try 4.0 when it becomes available via Ethernet, or until Toshiba sends me the upgrade disc.

Thanks again for your remarks.

Larry
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post #179 of 553
9/29/08 at 2:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryChanin View Post

Hi Ron,

My projector is supposed to automatically select the appropriate video levels in its AUTO setting that I use. When I tried to manually force PC levels I got a greenish cast to the image.

Even before version 2.8, I never had a situation where adjusting Bringhtness upward didn't permit me to see BTB. That is, I never had black crush issues as you did. Therefore, after adjusting Brightness upward I was able to see all the bars on the PLUGE patterns and properly adjust the Black Levels. White levels were corrected by reducing Contrast as needed.

My pre version 2.8 settings of +6, -6, are consistent with other forum members results. My current version 2.8 settings are consistent with your reported settings after version 4.0. My projector is known to have excellent calibration "out of the box", so I never got around to having it professionally calibrated. Of course, that could account for why my current adjustments are +1, -1 rather than 0, 0.

I agree with you that your results are encouraging enough for me to try 4.0 when it becomes available via Ethernet, or until Toshiba sends me the upgrade disc.

Thanks again for your remarks.

Larry

Gotta love HDMI! Different results on every projector model. Oh well! I hated the fact that I was forced to use PC levels and for some reason I also had to lower my color saturation. It's all fixed now. I noticed with Video Essentials on HDDVD that the menu is much faster now too.

Regards,

Ron
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post #180 of 553
9/29/08 at 3:00pm
Toshiba added SRT into the new firmware for SD playback. Watch SD DVD in your HD DVD will notice the difference
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