Official KDL..EX500/501 Thread - Page 165

Ok watching the definitive shadow detail movie. Harry Potter half blood prince. The calibration holds up incredibly well. The thing is awesome. Dare I say you will be "Stupified"

Hey Mike, alright! New settings... Dude, I just used the old settings last Sunday on my 32EX500, these were awesome! Really brought out the colors. Game of Thrones via cable/comcast was good. Really makes you appreciate the matte screen. I am honestly debating getting a 40" for gaming.

Are any of you guys experiencing flashlighting on the bottom right corner?

ive been doing a little research to see what sharp panel the 60ex500 uses.

After looping the screen, and comparing pixel layout against panel samples, it is definitely an X-gen asv panel, but not the uv2a

this is x-gen asv


this is x-gen asv uv2a

Hello serialmike

Just wanted to thank you for taking all the time & trouble for coming up with these settings. They make my 40" EX500 look incredible!

I did however leave the Color Temp @ Neutral because of the different panel.

Thanks again.

Mike, I tried these settings last night and must say that you've outdone yourself. The blacks and shadow detail has improved noticably. I'm just curious ......... why is that? I mean the new settings aren't that much different from the ones posted back in January.

Again, good job Sir!

You need to take the things I said into account about the white balance and that avs shadow detail test pattern.

Basically the pattern told me I was missing some detail. I verified my old settings with the thx pattern and the dve and they told me it was good but avs told me no so I figured wth might as well play abit.

So I needed to take brightness back up to 52 to get the flashing bars to show on avs patterns. Then knowing that the white balance makes detail appear and disappear I went about adjust to get the highest showing detail bar as dim as possible while making sure that the white balance was within 3 delta e.

It took some work back and forth etc. Then I got it perfect as I could. Then I started trying some content and I was rather amazed. Sports looked brighter than ever but movies still looked like film. I also couldnt believe how rich and proper the colors looked.

Im glad you guys are diggin em . Thanks

Can someone please help me!! I just bought the 40EX500 and think it is great, but when I change the channel (and this happens about 3 out of the 5 times I change) I hear a crackling sound emitted from the speakers. I know it's coming from the speakers because when I mute the TV and change channels I do not hear a thing, no matter how many times I change. Once I'm watching the channel it's changed on everything is fine. The TV is hooked up to a Scientific Atlantic 4250 HD box via HDMI. I tried a different HDMI cable and a different HDMI input, but no luck...cracking sound remains. Anybody have any ideas what this might be or what is causing it. Is it possible to buy a TV that F%$^&ING works properly out of the box!

serielmike,

I've had your original settings since last January on my 60EX500 which I've been happy with, so I tried the new settings, however two things I noticed, one positive and one negative - the positive: for 50% of the material such as scenes shot on film and outdoor I watch it does make it look nicer, the negative: for newscasts and TV studio scenes, the new settings, for my TV anyway, tend to make some aspects picture like it's too contrasty; bright portions of faces are now a little too bright. Has anyone else had this issue? I double checked that all settings are identical to yours.

So I compromised, and used settings halfway between your old settings and your new settings, so for example if your old setting was -8 and your new is -12, i now have it at -10. So I'm not sure if it's a batch to batch variation on the 60EX500 or more likely the fact that the backlight is changing color temperature as it ages. I believe I read somewhere that one of the reasons for the white balance controls is to compensate as the backlight ages.

I would estimate my set has had about 1000 hrs of power on so far (4 months X 30 days X 8 hours) bought it in Jan 2011. At work I have 2 identical HP LCDs side by side, one with 5,000 hrs and the other with 20,000 hrs and the color of white is drastically different between at the same settings. Not sure if the Sony can display the # of hours of use, but I think it's something that should be specified at the time the settings are given.

I don't think either of us have used the set nearly enough to notice problem with bulb degradation. I run about 10-as much as 17 hr a day. Lets say 12 so around 4300 hrs as im almost a year old. But your 1000 and my 4000 some odd is not even a scratch out of 100000 hrs to half brightness rating of the set. I also know that the white balance of the set had no changed since my last calibration months ago.

I watch a lot of news on mine during the day. CNN was just on for last 2 hrs of so before I couldn't take no mores . I'm not sure about over contrasted. The in studio news shots are kind of contrasty. As are sports broadcasts.

Due to you having a 60 like me Id say that the calibration settings should put your set nearly identical to mine give or take slight tolerance differences. But very very close.

Using half way settings is going to knock your white balance off. I recommend using the new settings for a bit and getting used to them. The old settings were a little red, I think what your seeing in studio maybe the shift in faces to a little more blue at 6500. In actuality the max brightness of this vs the old calibration is pretty much the same as is the black level. In other words mostly what changed is the greyscale and that changed for the better. I assure you this time the calibration is as perfect as can be done. Unless someone puts out better patterns. It might just be you don't prefer the industry standard calibration. Ill even admit it took a few days to get used to the 6500 vs the slight reddish tint I had for the past several months. It wasn't to much of a shift but enough to jar you at first.

Last night I watched Fellowship on stars or encore another movie that I know scene in and scene out. Also another great shadow detail flick like half blood prince. I was floored again.

Id say give it a good run of a few days unless you just can't stand it. First and foremost though, enjoy your set!.

I just wanted to let you guys know. I'mm leaving the posted settings as is with contrast at 89.

I do have my own personal tweak to it with contrast down to 83. Just a personal flavor probably drops the screen to around 30ftl.

I just wanted to thank serialmike and cburbs for the calibration settings. I used that as a baseline to tweak mine. I thought I hat some legit settings until now. It's like a new TV all over again!! I've had my model about a year now. I changed it from warm2 to neutral and notched the sharpness to 3 and a few other minor tweaks. I prefer to keep the ambient sensor on too which I think I'm in the minority there. I have to say though the color is absolutely vivid and the blacks are just lush. I streamed some HD from Netflix via my PS3 (Valhalla Rising) and watched Thin Red Line with the new settings and I am absolutely blown away. I also use the same settings to game with. In any case, thanks a lot!!! I lurked here for quite a while and set up an account just to say thanks.

Here are my altered settings if anybody is interested (I am not a PRO at all nor do I have any calibration gear, this is just want suits my tastes):

Scene General
Picture Mode Custom
Backlight 2
Picture 89
Brightness 52
Color 50
Hue 0
Color Temperature Neutral
Sharpness 3
Noise Reduction Off
MPEG Noise Reduction Off
Motionflow High
Cinemotion Off
Ambient Sensor On

Adv. Contrast Enhancer Low
Black Corrector Off
Gamma 0
Clear White High
Live Color Off

R-Gain -1
G-Gain 0
B-Gain 0
R-Bias -1
G-Bias -3
B-Bias -7

I hooked my PC to the TV the other day and played The Witcher 2 and that has to be the best looking game I've ever played. I continue to be impressed by this modestly priced TV. I can't imagine what a higher end TV would look like...

Serialmike, I just picked up a 55EX500 the other day and your settings look great. We also have an xbox hooked up and I was curious why you chose the graphics picture mode rather than game mode.

Picked up the 46ex500 the other day, although the 55 was on clearance @ target
Picture seems solid, I think my previous vizio xvt was a little better, but the rvr resulted in that set going back.
I have minor flashlighting in the upper corners, maybe 2" out max? Not quite a deal breaker.
Mated it with a sony ct350, didn't realize other sony models actually allow the bar to mount under the tv, unfortunately all those tvs are more $ or not as good pq.

Overall, for the price my only other options were plasma, and based on this set, glare would have drove me nuts with plasma.

Eta:
Just popped in the dark knight. Looks great, in my amateur opinion. Handles the opening scene panning of the buildings better than the xvt. This set doesn't exhibit soe with the standard/auto combo, which would be to my parents dismay, but I appreciate it more after having seen a bluray on a good plasma and always being distracted by artifacts on the xvt while trying to achieve that video-y look for my step dad.

I guess I'm going to have to wait until we have a movie cave to get a plasma.

I felt game mode slightly crushed black. Graphics did not seem to.

Just a quick question... looking at a clouseout 60EX500 at Hhgregg... how is the reliability on these sets? A lot of people have theirs go out, or no?

Also... is it a good set for the price? I mean I realize it's not a top-end model, but for what it is, a decent purchase? It's at $1350 or so.

I haven't heard of anyone posting here with a set failing. There have been a few who have had various flashlighting issues but if you scour other threads for similar TVs, they ALL seem to have these issues with some brands much more so than the ex500 series.

For the price this set can't be beat for PQ. It rivals others costing thousands more and is the last decent ccfl backlit TV as this year they most all have switched to LEDs. I too have a 60EX500 and am in love with the PQ and thus far have had no issues other than a VERY minor flashlight. Using serialmike's setting found in his signature (he's spent months perfecting them) this set totally rocks!

Highly recommended!

Grab it! . . . before I do. (Where are you?)

In regards to flashlighting, is loosening the screws the only user tweak that can be tried?
Assuming it's worthwhile, approximately how many turns should it be backed out?

My only substantial complaints are the flashlighting, and the contrast reduction when only viewing 25-30° off center. I was hoping for a little better.

What's considered normal for flashlighting on a ccfl lcd? Is it rare to get one that doesn't exhibit any?

Haha, I got it.

Was in Charlotte, NC at Hhgregg. Floor model I suppose, on closeout price. 60" of awesomeness!

OK guys and gals, I have been sending native video from my D* STB (model HR21-100) to the EX500, thereby letting it do the work of the 720p to 1080i conversion for those stations that broadcast in 720p (e.g. ABC, FOX, ESPN). It struck me that perhaps the D* box may be better at this conversion than the EX500. I then tried it both ways, and couldn't really tell with my (albeit old) eyes if there was any difference in quality one way or the other.

Has anybody done a critical evaluation of the difference? Of course it depends which STB is being used for camparison, as some are likely to be better than others, so I'm specifically interested in the D* HR2x series of boxes (I believe they all use the same video circuitry).

Thnaks for your help!

Hey cburbs. Thanks for posting this! Just to clarify, these are based on SerialMike's OLD settings that were posted back in July2010, correct? So if we want to apply these to our sets, we need to start with his old settings, not his newest ones (posted 5/20/2011)? Although, looking at his old and new settings side by side, there really isn't much different aside from wb...so maybe I've answered my own question!

Does the EX500 upconvert? I see no reference to this feature in any of my menu settings or the owner's manual.

Well it's a 1080 panel, so it would have to convert all 720p signals it receives, right?

The 1080 means it handles up to 1080, not that it converts everything to 1080. Try this. With your STB on native and tuned to ESPN hit "Display" on the TV remote. In the upper left hand corner you should see 720p as the resolution.

Mine were based off of his old settings. I haven't tested again with some of his recent changes to see if it changes anything on my 55". Hopefully soon though.

Still working with meter some. Today I realized that there was a newer dll for the eyeone. Its one month newer than the one I had for some reason. I dont know why. It wasnt on the disc but it is what it is.

Then I got to wondering today about the method that was given as acceptable to calibrate the meter when you connect it. The method is to use a dvd case. I looked at this and decided this is not black and I dont like it. So I found the blackest thing I could find that looked true black. Its alot blacker than the dvd case. Imo the dvd case as not being black looks off as to its rgb evenness.

The only thing I had that looked deeper and truer black was the ex500 bezel LOL. So I used the bezel to calibrate the sensor.

My results are different. And they seem even better. More to follow.

Its a 1080p panel. It converts everything to 1080p. The display you mention is the resolution of the INPUT signal. 720p or 480p input is upconverted to 1080p. 1080i input is deinterlaced to 1080p. 480i input is deinterlaced and upconverted to 1080p.

Yes, the bezel is VERY black and a good subject provided there's no reflection issues.

So should we be expecting an update to the update soon? I think these last settings of yours look pretty unbeatable but am always open to new stuff.

I think Im leaving the choice of the original and the new already posted. I still cant beat the overall results so far. The bezel provides deep black. When you stick the sensor to the bezel it seals the senor in the center of from light.

Ill still be playing around for a few days. we will see.

As I think Will Rogers said, it's not what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you think you know that's just flat wrong. Thanks for straightening me out.