The Official Pioneer 9G North American KRP-500M / KRP-600M Owner's Discussion Thread - Page 60  

Originally Posted by carftopher

Could you please clarify? Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by YOTR

Well I finally got to test my 500m from Vanns and so far so good . It turned on fine but man was that free stand a pain to install. I missed the old 5020 stand where you could just slide the tv down on the stand. I have a slight buzzing that is a little louder than my older 5020 but honestly I can only hear it if I go behind the plasma. If I am sitting in front of it even at 1 foot, I can't hear it (and that is without any speakers or audio connected). All my kuro's have buzzed to some extent but this is the most noticeable. I'm just glad it doesn't effect normal viewing. I also don't particularly like the placement of the HDMI ports. First it was hard to insert the cable (I had to physically push harder than I would have wanted) and the cable is almost cramped back there and has a little to much give for my liking (and I am using the thin, flexible tartan cables from bluejeans). You can tell the HDMI cable actually moves a little after you insert it. I just worry down the road of having a bad HDMI port but hopefully that won't happen. Otherwise I love it so far. The free stand is way better than my old 5020 stand quality wise.

Originally Posted by mfb

I have been away from the thread for about a week. How are we doing on panel buzz?

I have noticed a pretty decent buzz with mine. Yes, going to power save 1 does help but I don't want to compromise the PQ.

I didn't notice this much noise when I was running thru the breakin process.

Should the buzz increase or decrease (or neither) as we add more hours to the set?

comments?

Originally Posted by -FuSioN-

Hi YOTR,
I too ordered from vanns and will be receiving the stand as well. What was difficult about getting the stand on?
Also, this is my first plasma coming from a 47' Panny RPTV. How "apparent" and "annoying" is this kuro buzz? Would someone coming from no buzz be affected by it?

a newbie here. after reading about the 500m here for the last few days, I was sold that this would be a very cost effective way for me to have an awesome set for a while to come. can't wait to get mine.

Originally Posted by Roberto

Yeah, my 600m buzzes. The volume of buzz depends on what's on the screen. Brighter scenes with lots of contrast seem to buzz more. And as someone else mentioned, the buzz is directional (ie. it's loudest when the panel is pointed directly at you).

Just guessing here, but I wouldn't think the buzzing would increase or decrease based on the age of the set. The only thing I've heard that can affect buzzing is elevation (the higher the elevation, the louder the buzz -- and I'm at 4500 ft).

The buzz bothered me when I first got my 600m, but I don't think about it much any more. I also leave my set on Power Save mode 2 which attenuates the buzzing quite a bit. Occasionally, I'll flip back to Standard (Power Save off) just to see how the picture changes. More often than not, the picture looks identical. Sometimes it's a bit brighter with power save off, but it's not significant enough for me to worry about. And if I want more brightness/pop, I just switch from Pure to Standard picture mode.

For me, buying a Kuro is kind of like buying a new car. In the beginning, you stress over every tiny detail and every perceived flaw -- no matter how small. You spend the first couple of months washing your car every other day lest it get a spot on it. But after a while, you settle down and just enjoy it for what it is. That's where I'm at with my Kuro. Just enjoying it for what it is -- a sweet display.

Contrary to what some people suggest, a Kuro won't change your life (unless you lead a pretty limited life). But if you enjoy film and (quality) television, it WILL make that part of your life a heck of a lot more enjoyable.

Anyway, sorry for waxing philosophical... It's late, Roberto go leepy now

Originally Posted by jdbimmer

I set up my 500M on its stand yesterday and I am very impressedby the PQ so far. I plan on calibrating it with my i1Pro, but even uncalibrated, the color and black levels (which are amazing) are excellent. It will be interesting to see how it measures before and after compared to Elite and ChrisHerberts.

As far as some the items that people have mentioned:
- The free stand from Vann's is odd in that you don't slide the display onto it, but if you have a safe elevated surface to lay the display face down, it is fairly easy to attach. They key is to follow the instructions - even if they don't seem to make sense at first. The display does appear to have slots for a stand, maybe one of the swivel stands slide into those slots?
- I can hear a low buzzing if I place my ear within 6 inches of the back panel, but it is nothing unusual or audible from even 1 foot in front of the display.
- I haven't seen any lines or judder from any sources, including a Sony blu-ray set to 1080p/24.
- I didn't notice any unusual resistance with the HDMI connectors - I am using Monoprice cables. It is a little awkward that they face down, but the Panny monitors are like this too. It comes in handy if you want to wall mount it with a low profile mount.

Originally Posted by YOTR

..They definitely aren't like component or s video where once it is plugged in, it has pretty much no give at all. This is what has always bugged me about HDMI. I worry because of the looseness on the inputs that eventually they will be damaged or wear out..

Originally Posted by mfb

I have been away from the thread for about a week. How are we doing on panel buzz?

I have noticed a pretty decent buzz with mine. Yes, going to power save 1 does help but I don't want to compromise the PQ.

I didn't notice this much noise when I was running thru the breakin process.

Should the buzz increase or decrease (or neither) as we add more hours to the set?

comments?

Originally Posted by chrisherbert

Last night I finally dug out my i1 and did some preliminary measurements to my 500m.

PURE MODE

As expected, Pure mode measures very, very well. With Gamma set to "2," it's pretty much a perfect 2.2 gamma. Grayscale was also good using the "low" preset, though I was able to improve it with some minor adjustments.

Primary and secondary color points measured well, though not perfectly. I'm not going to mess around with the CMS controls after reading about how easy it is to negatively affect other PQ areas when that's done (that was certainly true of my 8G Elite). Subjectively the color looks great to me anyway.

The ONLY problem that I have with Pure is that it's relatively dim -- I get 37 ftl on a 100% white window at 40 contrast. Much higher than that starts to clip whites and doesn't get any brighter anyway.

SPORTS & STANDARD

Anyway, since Pure was so good, I moved on to "Sports" and "Standard" mode, which are much brighter. Both are easily able to do well over 50 ftl. To me that increased light output really makes the image look great, it really is a "looking through a window" effect (sorry for the cliche).

Of course by default those modes also look horrible...edge enhanced, way too blue, oversaturated, etc.

I made some common sense adjustments to Sports mode (turned sharpness all the way down, turned off all noise reduction and image enhancement, etc) and did some measurements. At first they were encouraging. At gamma mode "1," the gamma measured a respectable 2.1 and was relatively flat. Color temp could be brought in line. I lowered the contrast to 38 (which significantly improved color temp and gamma vs contrast at 40) and still got an awesome 50 ftl peak brightness. Primary and secondary color points were fine.

The problem? The color decoder is way off.

I switched to Standard mode and made similar adjustments (standard is a little brighter -- 36 contrast got me 50 ftl). Its color decoder seems somewhat better than Sports mode. I didn't have time to really get the best of of either sports or standard, but I will definitely be revisting them in the near future. The increased brightness is just too great to ignore.

I thought I'd share my results with people interested in an alternative to ISF Day mode. I'd say that a tweaked standard or sports mode should be very satisfying for many of you. I'll post my settings later.

Originally Posted by PBJunior2

I spent some time last night with Standard mode.

With 32 Contrast I was getting around 40 fL. Gamma was off in the higher IRE range, but color was on target with the CMS controls at 0. I'll tweak it more tonight.

Let me ask you all, is 40 fL good enough for most?

Thanks

Originally Posted by NCoastTweaker

Do any of you KRP -xxxM owners use a receiver as a switcher for HDMI? I'm asking because many receivers come with the ability to 'scale' Standard Def' input signals to 1080I or 720p (some higher end receivers even convert 1080i to 1080p)

I still receive alot of SD content, and some broadcasters even send SD material out on their HD channels which results in a cropped image. Since the KRP - is a 'monitor' I was
hoping for some feedback with your experiences using builtin receiver scalers or even
outboard scalers...(but those are priced out of my league) I know that many DVD players also have this 'up-rez' feature as well....

I have a Denon AVR-5308CI with the Silicon Optix Realta chip. I know that other brands
use the same, or , the Faroudja brands.. How well do these 'scalers' perform on SD material out to this specific KURO monitor.... is the cleanup decent?

How does it compare to SD material (480i /480p) without upconversion?

Thanks

Originally Posted by notoriousmatty

This problem is eating at me. Im getting extreme judder from all sources. Its most noticeable on quick pans left and right you can literally see the objects stuttering. Its giving me a headache. On pans up and down im getting a picture that looks like someone wiped sulfuric acid in some spots of the screen. Mostly noticeable on whites. Maybe the phosphors have to settle across the screen? Figures I wouldnt get a cracked screen but have everything else wrong internally.

The ONLY problem that I have with Pure is that it's relatively dim -- I get 37 ftl on a 100% white window at 40 contrast.

I find 30 fL-35 fL "just right" for viewing in a DARK room.

Originally Posted by PBJunior2

I spent some time last night with Standard mode.

With 32 Contrast I was getting around 40 fL. Gamma was off in the higher IRE range, but color was on target with the CMS controls at 0. I'll tweak it more tonight.

Let me ask you all, is 40 fL good enough for most?

Thanks

Originally Posted by PBJunior2

MFB, I have buzz as well. I hear it very well when the sound volume is very low or off. I'm living with it. I have probably 250+ hours on it.

Originally Posted by Shawn1

Can anyone give me a logical reason as to why Pioneer would limit Pure's light output to only 37 fL?

Originally Posted by PBJunior2

I spent some time last night with Standard mode.

With 32 Contrast I was getting around 40 fL. Gamma was off in the higher IRE range, but color was on target with the CMS controls at 0. I'll tweak it more tonight.

Let me ask you all, is 40 fL good enough for most?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Shawn1

Can anyone give me a logical reason as to why Pioneer would limit Pure's light output to only 37 fL?

Originally Posted by chrisherbert

Could be to create a market for the Elites, I guess. Or maybe the lower birghtness is considered more appropriate for a serious videophiles. I think the G1's THX peaks at under *30* footlamberts.

Originally Posted by FlashJordan

I think Pioneer's intent with Pure mode was to, as the manual says, "reflect input signals as faithfully as possible". From what I have seen, ~37fL of light output is in the target range of what the majority of professional calibrators and "studio monitors" would suggest is the correct level for a light controlled environment. More is not necessarily better in an optimal viewing environment.

Originally Posted by danimals


Also, regarding the buzz issue. My set's got an audible buzz. Tone and volume of buzz vary based on what's being displayed (bright screens, etc.) Certainly noticeable in a dead quiet room. Not really noticeable when there's any sound. And yes, using Power Save 2 cut the buzz in half at least. With Power Save 2 and any volume whatsoever, the buzz is not an issue. I do not notice a change in picture quality from Standard (no Power Save) to Power Save 2.

Originally Posted by g.mauriello

Can anyone give me a height measurment for the KRP-500M with the PDK-TS23 stand offered by Vann's? This is for my bedroom and I only have 31 1/4" to play with. I have been told that the height with stand is 31 1/32"...if that is accurate, I'd like to go for it. Can anyone help?