Darbee vision darblet - Page 165

Originally Posted by 42Plasmaman 

Another 3D title with picture drop outs for me.
Was trying to watch Nemo 3D lastnight and the picture kept dropping out about every 4-5 minutes.
I tried turning the Darbee to off/0% and that didn't help(I did this on Avengers 3D and it stopped the drop outs).
I had to completely remove the Darbee from the signal chain to stop the picture drop outs.
The LED(blue ?) on the Darbee that indicates signal present would go out when this would happen.
I've watched Hugo, A Christmas Carol , Avatar, Polar Express, Captain America, and various other 3D blu-ray titles with no picture drop outs.
I've had no issues when watching standard blu-ray or DVD as well.
One thing common is that Avengers and Nemo are new Disney 3D blu-ray titles.
I still like the Darbee & will continue to use it but it's disappointing to have issue like this.
I will be getting me one of THESE to toggle the Darbee in/out of my HDMI chain to my projector as needed.

Originally Posted by terminal33 

Ok Darbee Nation, I need your help. To recap, I've been debating whether to Darbee or to pro-calibrate. Well I received the Darbee yesterday and played with it for a few hours...
Directv- very subtle difference. I tried sports, news, and nature channels. All weren't impressive at all. I started with HD at 50%, then bumped it to 80% to create more of a difference.
Xbox- more of a difference. I used HD at 80-90% and I can tell there was more detail. But still not that impressed.
Blu ray- I played Avatar, I Am Legend, Toy Story 3, and True Grit. The difference was more noticeable with blu rays. However, I can't say that I'm impressed yet. The most impressive part was probably with True Grit and the beard on Jeff Bridges. I set the Darbee to HD 70-80%, that seemed to provide a satisfying difference in the beard. Another noticeable difference was with Mr. Pricklepant's hair in Toy Story 3. With the Darbee set to HD 90%, I can see more detail.
I also viewed Avatar in 3D and once again, I saw a difference, but nothing impressive in my eyes.
Below are some reasons why I think I'm not that impressed:
- I'm just hard to impress.
- I expected too much.
- My display (65GT50) is already that impressive and the little enhancements from the Darbee just don't do that much for my display.
- The Darbee doesn't benefit plasmas as much as a projector/LCD.
- I need to give the Darbee more time and just watch more content.
I can see why people say that the Darbee makes it seem like a veil has been lifted from the picture, or that it's like washing your windshield. I do notice that difference, usually after setting the Darbee to HD 70%. But am I seeing a $269 difference? Obviously that is subjective and to me, it's just not that impressive. I'm having a hard time justifying to myself that it's worth the money.
I'm looking for suggestions or advice from the Darbee Nation...
- Does anyone else have a GT50 that is truly impressed with the Darbee?
- Are there any scenes from movies that I should demo? (assuming I have the movie)
- Should I lower my setting on the Darbee?
The last thing I want to do is return the Darbee. I really want to be impressed by it. But right now, I'm not. I get 30 days to try it out so perhaps I just need more hours with it. I was hoping for more of an improvement with Directv, but oh well. As of now, I'm really curious as to how much a pro-calibration would help. I got a quote for $400 for my display. But if a pro-calibration is only going to benefit my display as much as the Darbee did, then I will pass on that as well. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by terminal33 

Ok Darbee Nation, I need your help. To recap, I've been debating whether to Darbee or to pro-calibrate. Well I received the Darbee yesterday and played with it for a few hours...
Directv- very subtle difference. I tried sports, news, and nature channels. All weren't impressive at all. I started with HD at 50%, then bumped it to 80% to create more of a difference. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by chadsdsmith 

I have the exact same set as you (65"gt50) and I would have to say that I am more impressed by the Darbee than you are. I usually stay between HD 55 and 65% with live action stuff then kick it up to as much as 100% when watching a clean cgi animated movie. I think a calibration will get colrs more accurate as well as dial in the best contrast for the set, but probably wont add a lot of detail like the darbee seems to do. I imagine the calibration would help with shadow detail but not to the extreme that the darbee does. I think if the darbee doesn't knock your socks off, a calibration likely won't either. I don't really think either option is going to make drastic changes to the mmaterial you watch, because with blu ray you don't want a bunch of unecessary artifacts messing upi the picture. I find that the darbee does next to nothing for dvd (which is fine since I don't watch much dvd anymore) and does help a bit on cable, but unless you watch a lot of blu ray I don't think it would have been worth the money. I sit about 9-10' from my set and can notice a sizeable improvement. Some movies I like to watch to see differences are Up, monsters inc., and can notice a sizeable difference on the original tranformers. So much so that my wife wanted me to turn it down because meagan fox looks like a mess in that one once the darbee brings out all the flaws (well, the outer flaws, dont need a darbee to see her inner flaws lol). Anyways, if you don't expect too much, it is hard for me to believe you won't ultimately like it on our set.

Originally Posted by threed123 

I had the same impression with my Optoma HD3300 projector and 159" High Power screen when I first bought one 3 months ago and returned it. I reconsidered when I started to watch more 3D blu-ray and also looking at 3D images taken with a 3D digital camera, so I gave it another try couple weeks ago. Yes it's subtle, but where I see the difference is when I relook at past blu-ray, and just have the Darbee switched on (ie. don't compare on and off). Then a sit back and see if I like the experience as well as the first time or better, and in all cases, the second look with the Darbee on was more satisfying. I can't explain it, but my brain liked it better. I found myself looking around "into" the scene at things I missed the first time because the noticeable detail was lacking first time around--yet I still find the effect very subtle at times. Like others have said. Keep it on and watch for a week or so, they turn it off and watch again for another week and see if your brain still likes the result with it off. If you can say yes, then you probably don't need it, but I find that turning it off after just a few days leaves me trying to "see" more...ie. that slight veil effect gets annoying. This for blu-ray movies only. Most TV shows, where the scenes are all inside rooms or near, don't need it, and I never watch movies on cable anyway.

Originally Posted by terminal33 

Thanks for your replies. I will adjust my expectations and then spend a week of watching blu rays. I'm hoping it will make me want to keep the Darbee. I'm also leaning towards not getting my set pro-calibrated. (I did Disney-calbrate it myself already. ) I just don't think I will appreciate the difference, especially at a non-refundable $400. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by fjames 

I guess frame of reference is all I called my calibrator to make sure he would still travel to me before buying my last display. The idea of using something like the darblet on a non cal'd display is just weird to me, but I understand everyone has their own thing.
As to the effect of the device - find a good quality BD (I'll nominate Thin Red Line as it has both panoramic nature shots as well as dramatic human close-ups and is reference quality BD) and get it just right and enjoy the movie. Then watch it again, doing the toggle thing - get it firmly in your mind what the before/after is (after already determining the exact right level for you.)
Then, imagine you were shopping for a new display, and two were side by side. The were the same, except one had the Darbee picture and the other didn't (not because of the Darbee, but just the nature of the thing.) Which would you buy if the sharper one was $300 more?
For me, (I have a similar set to yours - 64" sammy plasma) HD used in moderation is a subtle, global change that looks like something that should have been there to begin with. There's no down side when it works. By that I mean, the better the picture, the better the effect, but that seems right to me since I limit my viewing a lot by the quality of the picture anyway.

Originally Posted by trailblazer 

I have had problems with Drop Outs on 2D and turned off Deep Color on my OPPO BDP83 and since than no further issues. Everytime I tried using Deep Color problems would arise occasionally. Running Darblet from Marantz AV8003 to Epson 1080 Pro using the Marantz to switch various devices.

Originally Posted by terminal33 

I need to give the Darbee more time and just watch more content.

Originally Posted by Josh Z 


This one. ^
When I first got the Darblet, I had mixed feelings. It took a couple weeks to settle in with it until I really felt that it was improving almost everything I watched with no negative side effects.
You have 30 days to return the unit. Turn it on and leave it on for a couple weeks. Then turn it off again. Once you've gotten used to it, you'll find yourself rubbing your eyes because everything looks so hazy without it.

Originally Posted by fjames 

I guess frame of reference is all I called my calibrator to make sure he would still travel to me before buying my last display. The idea of using something like the darblet on a non cal'd display is just weird to me, but I understand everyone has their own thing.......

Then, imagine you were shopping for a new display, and two were side by side. The were the same, except one had the Darbee picture and the other didn't (not because of the Darbee, but just the nature of the thing.) Which would you buy if the sharper one was $300 more?...

By that I mean, the better the picture, the better the effect, but that seems right to me since I limit my viewing a lot by the quality of the picture anyway.

Originally Posted by suffolk112000 

Anyone using the Darbee with a JVC-RS2?
What are your findings?

Originally Posted by terminal33 

Ok Darbee Nation, I need your help. To recap, I've been debating whether to Darbee or to pro-calibrate. Well I received the Darbee yesterday and played with it for a few hours...
Directv- very subtle difference. I tried sports, news, and nature channels. All weren't impressive at all. I started with HD at 50%, then bumped it to 80% to create more of a difference.
Xbox- more of a difference. I used HD at 80-90% and I can tell there was more detail. But still not that impressed.
Blu ray- I played Avatar, I Am Legend, Toy Story 3, and True Grit. The difference was more noticeable with blu rays. However, I can't say that I'm impressed yet. The most impressive part was probably with True Grit and the beard on Jeff Bridges. I set the Darbee to HD 70-80%, that seemed to provide a satisfying difference in the beard. Another noticeable difference was with Mr. Pricklepant's hair in Toy Story 3. With the Darbee set to HD 90%, I can see more detail.

Originally Posted by fleaman 

HD mode is the most subtle mode. Try Game mode at lower numbers. Those of us here that aren't on HD mode are using Game mode instead.
I'm at Game 50%, and it seems to be the most popular setting for that mode here....

Originally Posted by 5mark 

I recently added an Epson 5010 for mostly 3D duties and have had a couple of the flashing dropouts. I don't remember the titles, but both occured after some long 3D watching/testing sessions (5+ hrs). In both cases, powering the Darbee off/on fixed it. Since then I haven't had any during more normal 3D viewing. I also had no problem with Avengers 3D (which I would have remembered since I had company) Nemo is coming in the mail so that should be interesting...

Originally Posted by terminal33 

A question just popped into my head: Can setting the contrast level on the TV too high reduce the Darbee effect? With my GT50 I have the contrast at 100 for my daytime viewing. I was wondering if setting it lower will allow the Darbee to make more of an impact.

Originally Posted by tampa8 

I'll give my honest opinion... It's so important to try and get the best calibrated setting. Setting one aspect on it's own like Contrast, or Brightness just isn't going to do any justice to the best viewing picture. The Darbee works best the better the PQ. So if you put the picture out of calibration, it could theoretically not only make the picture look worse, but possibly hinder the effectiveness of the Darbee imho.
Rarely would simply turning up brightness or contrast on their own be a true improvement, if a brighter screen is wanted using a calibration disc and adjusting everything - brightness, contrast, color saturation and tint is really needed. Since too bright or too much contrast can reduce shadows it would seem possible it could hinder the Darbee. (As would too dark)

Originally Posted by frostylou 

Hello all!
A quick question I have had my Darrby for a few months . I absolutely love it. It is hooked up to a 50 inch Panasonic plasma. I sit at about 8 feet away. I think the difference set at 45% HD is absolutely stunning. I know it is very subtle, but that subtle difference makes all the difference in the world. I have it hooked up for Blu-ray and streaming. ( not hd cable)
I am now thinking about getting one for my upstairs bedroom. I have a 47 inch LCD television. It is about 9 feet viewing distance. Do you think I could still appreciate what the Darby could do for me with a slightly smaller television and a slightly further viewing distance?
Thanks for any opinions...

Originally Posted by frostylou 

I am now thinking about getting one for my upstairs bedroom. I have a 47 inch LCD television. It is about 9 feet viewing distance. Do you think I could still appreciate what the Darby could do for me with a slightly smaller television and a slightly further viewing distance?
Thanks for any opinions...

Originally Posted by terminal33 

Thanks for your thoughts. I did calibrate my set with Disney's WOW disc and having my contrast at 100 didn't negatively affect the picture. I believe other 50GT owners have their contrast at 100 also.