The Official Kd-34xbr960 Thread - Page 256

Nice! Thanks for the links. I think i opened a rabbit hole of info now, been digging around for a couple hours now on other things like convergence and service menu stuff...

I am offering my Kd-34xbr960N for local pickup in NJ. Please contact me if interested. Entertaining reasonable cash offers. Montclair, NJ.

I got the KV34XBR960 2 years ago at a great price.
I was able to stream YouTube with my phone through a HDMI to HDMI-micro cable. Then after a while, it stopped working. I blamed the cheap cable (that was not able to work on my Dell monitor too) and I stopped trying.

But today, I bought a LG BP620C Blue Ray player and even if I tried all possible setting on the HDMI I can only use it through the composite output. I wonder if the HDMI of the KV34XBR960 has problems or it is just incompatible. I also wonder if a firmware upgrade of the KV34XBR960 would solve the problem. But I haven't been able to find a site to download the SW ver 1.76 described in http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=17026 (or even an earlier version).

Can anybody help?

Best,
Camicia

Have you turned on the hdmi output on the player?

I use component myself, but I have seen these sets used with hdmi and dvi.

As I wrote, I tried all sort of different setting for the HDMI output.
BTW, I jsut noticed that when I turn the KV34XBR960 on, the red light blink 10 times. Is it an error code? What does it mean?

Best,
Chris

Just making sure.
Many don't realize it can be turned off.

The lights are an error code.
There are charts posted somewhere on the forum.

It's possible the hdmi card has failed, but component will work.
The error code may be unrelated or not.

Also make sure none of the source devices are set for 720p or 1080p as I 'think' these sets could only accommodate 480i, 480p, and 1080i (I'm basing this on my Panny version of one of these CRTs).

The sonys take a 720P feed in component.
Actually seems slightly better.
Can't speak for hdmi.

I used Y Pb Pr for the DVD and it looks quite good. However my new Blue Ray player (LG BP620C) has only a HDMI or a composite output (one 2 contacts connector for all 3 colors) that is not so good.
I tried 1080i, 700i, 480i and 480p as well as the "auto" option and I cannot see no image. The menu has an option for the HTMI frequency (60Hz) and 3D (on) that cannot be altered. Maybe it is not backward compatible :-/ I wonder if the Sony BDP-BX59 ( http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-BX59-Blu-ray-Player-Included/dp/B008BA2UTU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top ) is better

Best,
Chris.

i suggest trying it with another tv.
It sounds like a problem with the set though.

Newer bluray players are defective by collusion of the manufacturers, 2011 or later??
Component outputs are disabled or removed, so no high quality picture over them.
I don't buy any of the later defective units myself, and never plan to.
Getting an older unit is an option for you.
Make sure it hasn't been crippled by the maker.
The date will usually tell you.

A new foreign unit may still have full capability, if you can get one.
Otherwise, you will have to convert to component from hdmi.
Or fix the set.

Ask the manufacturer if they have any reason to think it shouldn't work with hdmi.

I have had discs refuse to play due to new software.
i won't be buying any newer units because of this issue either.
As with macro rentals, I inform the distributor that they have a very secure dead disc.
ironically, THX-1138, the bluray disc, won't play on my 2010 panasonic.
After five returns, gave up.
Will bluray be macroed to death like tapes?
Already a dead format?
As with vhs, I don't have to pay for dead discs.

I recently sent a BD+R homemade BluRay disc (of a SYTYCD show) to an AVS member who had an old Panasonic DMP-35 player (perhaps 3 years out-of-date in firmware). He was unable to play the disc, although I pre-tested it on my Oppo BDP-83 before mailing it and it played perfectly.

He ultimately ordered a firmware upgrade from Panasonic, and after it arrived and got installed he was now able to play my disc without a problem.

So if you have an old Panasonic BluRay player of your own, perhaps it too needs a firmware upgrade to deal with inability to play certain commercial BluRay discs.


Personally, after many years of using component video into my XBR960 (from 2004 through early 2009) via a Zektor 4-in-1-out component video switch, I moved to HDMI for my XBR960 when I acquired a Yamaha RX-V863 AVR in April 2009. I've never gone back to component video since, and feel strongly that the HDMI input provides more "punch" to the picture, appearing somewhat sharper and more "alive".

Note that my 960 is very much tweaked (in service menu and user menu, and magnet job on picture tube to address curvature and bowing which cannot be fixed by the service menu, etc.,etc.) and I feel the picture to be stunning and superb on all inputs (both component video and HDMI). So when I say "HDMI has more punch" it's not because I didn't bother to tweak component video, which I used as my only input for 5 years. It's because I really feel HDMI looks better, especially with BluRay movies as the source.

I already had the latest update, but panasonic was very helpful and sent me the latest update on disc to be sure.
Had no effect.
I've had no other software issues, if that's what it is.
The disc is from a distributor that I have screened other blurays from without problems.

Is there any technical justification for hdmi looking better on this set?
It's my understanding that this set just converts hdmi to component feed, adding another layer of processing?
Why do you think the hdmi is displaying better?

I have seen a 910 run on an hdmi/dvi feed, and it looked very good.
I'm willing to try it.
I haven't had the chance to do any tuning so far with this set.

I have other tvs that need component, so I still would feel any deck lacking component out is a gutted unit.
The projectors I have use component, and I have some HS and older XBR sonys too, dvi and hdmi.
I won't support bad practice from dvd manufacturers.

Sweet! Wish my Panny could do 720p assuming it would improve fast motion stuff. Do you know if the Sony displays in native 720p or does it convert to something else? (I'd heard that most if not all CRTs could not p anything above 480).

I had read that the lack of component on more recent blu-ray players had to do with the HD copyright BS (and I suspect some cost reduction to boot). The problem with the older BR players is they keep adding new features and such to new disks which causes compatibility issues. I had one disk that kept giving me a lot of pain on my Sony BDP-S300, could play but would hang up on certain routines and was real slow to start; and I had done all the firmware updates available.

I can't vouch for it, but it's called 720P.
I am led to believe crts can't do P at all.
Don't know.
The difference seems to be with motion.
I can tell no difference without motion, and 1080i setting may be cleaner with no motion.
I have used some settings others might consider sacreligious, which may have some effect.
It's a fine point, and may have to do with the way the disc is processed, but it does seem to make a difference with really sharp pictures and motion.

Re component access:
The arbitrary denial of services and quality already paid for will bite distribution companies once again.


Bluray discs that can't be played at all, will certainly be secure, as were every macro vhs tape I ever rented, returned and got a refund for.
The worst I ever saw was The Time Machine, which strobed and flickered like a japanese cartoon.
Big piracy problem with forgotten 1962 films?

Netflix told me the worst they saw was on sony decks with sony blurays.
Seems sony media is incompatible with sony hardware.

I predict a public reaction to anti-copy practice of total indifference to ALL copying, similar to ongoing political reactions to other abuse of law.
The nine year old girl fined and prosecuted for piracy isn't winning hearts and minds.
A violent swing in the other direction is coming.
So predictable.

At least from what I just read (search - forums but didn't see an official article) they can do 480p but 720p is too fast for the bigger CRTs to do 'economically' (electron gun speed and required circuitry, etc.). In that case your 720p is probably a conversion to 1080i. It also sounded like PC CRT monitors could do it but of course they're smaller.
Yeah the 1080i will have a little better resolution than 720p but the progressive scan is cleaner for motion and has much less (if any?) interline twitter. Now in the case of a 720p-to-1080i conversion it seems like the motion blur would still be generated since the final processing is i. If I interpreted it right the interlace motion blur is caused by the image processing used to reduce interline twitter (and that makes me wonder if this processing can be adjusted on some sets, i.e. trade off twitter for cleaner motion).

It does seem wrong that the 720P setting would look better.
I could be wrong.
That's my impression though.
Maybe there is an explanation?

It does seem wrong that the 720P setting would look better.
I could be wrong.
That's my impression though.
Maybe there is an explanation?

IME, wether it is 720 or 1080 this is still a killer TV. I have owned my 960 for 8 years now. Hope to have it another 8 years, at least!

Deja vu post.

I don't know but if I had my choice between 'native' 720p and 1080i on a 34" set I would choose 720p as I can't stand interline twitter and motion blur, especially with me football games (the gridlines at certain camera angles can become a mess, flickering artificial turf (the new stuff) is no fun especially when wet, and motion issues are obvious). If you want to see an amplified version of what I'm talking about flip on a game through a converter box (480i). Now I imagine if the set were much bigger I might prefer 1080i as the resolution difference would be more noticeable (unfortunately there's no 1080p for OTA broadcasts, i.e. football games).

In my case there is no choice. 720p does not work either. I read that Sony has some service bulletins on the kd-34xbr960 that include firmware updates.
I do not have a lot of hopes that they will fix the problem but I wonder if somebody here can email me the latest version of the firmware ( v1.76 ?) to belloinchat at hotmail so I can try it

I too have found the picture has more punch using the HDMI rather than component inputs.

Only problem might be is that I did tweak my set using the service menu but for HDMI only - not component - so HDMI has an added advantage or component an added dis-advantage.

Don't know about Blu-ray but up-converted DVDs look great on this set. And what is equally amazing is that I do a lot of recording onto DVD-R for movies since otherwise it would cost me an arm and a leg to accumulate even a small portion of my collection. I have a panasonic recorder and the signal is fed through my DVR via s-video. It is, of course, a down-converted signal being output and then its a home made DVD-R up-converted to 1080i from the set - but boy, do even those recordings look great, thanks to both the XBR960 and the Panasonic's great flexible recording mechanism. Dubbed John Carter a few weeks back and compared to the original source would say on a scale of 1-10, the recording was around an eight - very acceptable for a forty cents blank disc.

They also look better on the 960 than my 32 inch LCD in the den, also played back up-converted.

Just a great set till this day!

I just picked up a XBR960. Won't be able to use it until I take it to my parents house (My apartment is way too small).

Anything I should know about the unit?

Big, heavy and hard to move.

It's lighter than some.

Don't drop it.
It is supposed to have some fragile internal parts in the tube.

Put it in your apartment if you can.
You can sit really close to these.

Lucky day for you.

Yeah it's only about a 28" 4:3 set based on the height of the screen. That bummed me out when I got my Panasonic version of one of these as my old 4:3 CRT was a 31" set, so I moved the Panny closer (now 9' viewing distance). And these Sony Super Fine Pitch tubes have even higher resolution so could be closer. Of course mine could be a little closer for HD but I positioned it based on how it looked using my VCR .

We didn't get it up to my room Saturday and I wanted to give it awhile to acclimate to the indoor temperature.

I had to leave early so I didn't get to mess with it very long. The TV turned on fine. I tried using a Fat 60GB PS3 I haven't used for a year or so and hooked it up to the unit. No video came out and only very glitchy sound was coming out. I was worried. I tried to use the cable auto program but the thing was taking too long. I waited awhile until it got a couple of digital channels. I hit cancel but none of the channels that were available showed anything. I then selected autoprogram while I got ready to leave. It got a bunch as well as Shown channels. I cancelled it because I didn't have enough time for the whole thing. It worked! I got the local channels! I unboxed a Sony Google TV Device that I have had forever and plugged that in. The HDMI input worked!

I believe the PS3 wasn't working because it was probably used last in a 1080P device and was set to 1080P. I was also using a power cable that I wasn't sure 100% was the PS3's one, but it fit.

I paid $250 for the unit.

Ouch if that's for the TV.

Did I pay too much?

Based on what I see on Craigslist, yes. Your mileage may vary depending on supply&demand in your area (I'm in the large D/FW market). I'd say $50-100 depending on condition, stand, and remote control; the stands may actually be worth more than the set especially if it's nice like the factory one that matched with these, they can hold a lot of weight (folks want them for their large new flat panels). The sets are somewhat an albatross due to the weight and then one has to get help to move it. $250 can buy a new flat panel around this size. I saw a 30" 960 with stand go for free but it went real fast; I've seen a few others free but probably older versions (i.e. no DTV tuner, HDMI, etc.). The free is because they got their new TV and don't want to pay to have the old CRT moved out.

I paid about that.
Rare here.
Drove 250 miles to get it.

A 910 showed up.
I offered $100 for it.
Someone paid $110 and wants to make a profit.
Hadn't sold last I checked.
Nice picture though.