The Official "PIO 4312/4304" Thread!!!

Pioneer might be afraid that alot of people have learned about the existence of the 4312 and are questioning why other Pioneer models are ridiculously overpriced!

I hope they drop the prices on the remaining units they have in-store

I hope they replace it.
I got the 30" Sceptre but may return it for the Pio.

Just got the 4312 on Weds. after ordering it from Costco.com a month ago and I LOVE it!

My 3 local Costco's have had a 4312 in stock or on display for more than a month now. The 4312 is essentially now a discontinued model as Pio is now bringing out new models (Best Buy seems to be the only local dealer that actually has received the new models - their consumer model 4351) with next generation glass and electronics. Once Pio gets their new commercial models out the door (the 4312 is based on a Pio commercial model) then Costco may carry the new Pio model. I suspect we'll need to wait a couple of months to find out.

Ron Jones

The set has quite a phenomenal picture and I have overcome the 1 component input issue by adding an D-Sub to Component converter.

My only issue is:

There seems to be no way to decrease the picture overscan on the set. I have tried through the service menu, but no dice.

Any thoughts?

I'll bet you that the new EL Cheapo Pioneer model at Costco WILL NOT be cheaper than the current one. Pioneer will want to maintain their profit margins. They'll give the lame excuse that it isn't cheaper because of added features and will be supported in that lie by the usual plant suspects here. If it really is true that Plasma prices are dropping precipitously as many here have claimed--then why wouldn't it be true in this case?

Just had mine calibrated, bought it two weeks ago. Interestingly, only minor tweaking was required. Thought it had great PQ out of the box, ISF calibration made it even better.

Not all calibrations can be made; interesting that this (42") and the 50" are very simliar to the commercial models, but they include stand and speakers.

Only one HDMI input, but when I upgrade my DVD I'll get a box that will provide two connections for one HDMI input to the monitor.

If this is your attitude about the 4312 and Pioneer in general, why bother following the thread? That statement helps no one from a Pio or any other camp.

Just came back to the forum, been watching NCAA's on CBS in HD. WOW!!

thought my Sony, 1st gen HD 36" CRT was good, this things great!!

My calibrator thought so too. He reviews flat panels for "The Perfect Vision", and was really impressed with the picture and the price.

Hope this helps those of you who are close to making a decision.

This forum really helped me. I was sold on the Panny, 42 in HD "7UY". It has better blacks, but I think the PIO's color are more vibrant and dimensional. To say nothing of the value.

Thanks to all

How do you find a calibrator?
Also how do you start a thread here?

To register, go to the top of the forum page, hit Register.

Check out the ISF forum to learn more.

Wabkab: If it makes any Video consumer skeptical of Pioneer's pricing practices or if it causes any pressure at all for Pioneer to lower prices on models in the future then I have done a service to the video consumer--that may not be a service to the video producers but what's more important--video producer's profit margins or video consumers knowledge and satisfaction? Yes it doesn't have to be an either/or situation but to the extent that it is one or the other I will pick the Video Consumer's interests any time!

Fair enough.

Could you please post your ISF settings? It seems like my set is a little green and I am not sure which of the RGB's in the service menu to change, there is like 6 different sets.

Input #2, HDMI all at "0" except for contrast at + 12!!, sharpness at -2.

I know, I questioned my calibrator about torching it. He said not to worry.

He showed me examples of why the greyscale was so important and I can see the difference in PQ.

Input #5, DVD via component is at:

Contrast +10
Brightness -5
Color -3
Tint 0
Sharpness -2
MPEG NR on
DNR Med
CTI on
Color Temp low
Pure Cinema - Advanced
DVD @ 4801

All settings at Standard
Greyscale at 6500k across the board

XMLTOK:

I just realized I did not give you the answer you were looking for.

He did not leave me with the actual ISF settings.

This was his 1st Costco Pio, their tech rep would not e mail the srevice manual.
He was not able to set calibrated adjusments to 0, which he would like to have done.

Not sure if I mentioned this but he did get into the service manual for grey scale, but apparently the set won't let you in for geometry.

The grey bars on ESPN HD look like they should, per him.

He may be reporting in a future edition of The Perfect Vision on this set.

He said color was excellant, which is good cause he said there's not much he could adjust.

Thanks kenlong,

The Service menu is available by turning the set off, pressing Display, waiting 3 seconds, pressing Left, Up, Left, Right and then Power. It is a little messy, you have to press mute to go through different sets of settings, but if you have the patience to do it sometime I am sure several of us would find it helpful.

I'm surprised at the color settings on your HDMI input, I have my color down to -11 and Tint the same!

XMLTOK

I'm watching the NCAA's and drinking a nice Cab. (Liberty School)

I'm a papermaker/papersalesman, so thanks for not pointing out that I'm stupid.

Thanks for telling me how to provide the ISF's, I'll try it and let you know before my next glass.

Why don't we have a Pio thread like the Panny guys?

It didn't work, but I just remembered, my calibrator had to turn the set off between each change/setting he adjusted.

I asked if this was normal, he said, no!!

Since I'm not technically inclined, I'll wait and try this again after a few more pops.

At least I'll convince myself that I know what I'm doing!!

I'll cut and paste the directions since it seems to do a better job at explaining than I did. I had to try it a few times to get it to work. Take your time, there is quite a few settings to look at once you do get in there.

Plasma Pioneer 5040 and probably other models service menu entry:

Make sure the plasma and the media box is in standby.
Press DISPLAY on the remote (just press, do not hold)
Wait 3 seconds
Press LEFT, UP, LEFT, RIGHT and POWER (on the remote)
If done correctly, the plasma turns on and the INFORMATION page is displayed.

Press MUTE to move through the levels of menus (which are INFORMATION, FUNCTION CHECK, COMMON ADJ, OPTION, INITIALIZE).

Press the DOWN key to move through individual menus.

Thanks much for this as this is quite a bit different than I've seen recommend(which hasn't been much). Two questions: Do you think or could you ask your tech guy if those settings on input 5 would be OK for HD(1080i vs 720p--there's a third!). And, why can't the the advanced scaling work via 480p?

Think I've got this right. He hooked up his V? DVD in 720p with the HDMI cable after calibrating with my DVD in component. He looked at the input readings on his PC in this setting, 720p; all were close to flat lines, (red/blue?).

He said he would not expect to have to make much adjustment, as he expected gray scale ton remain almost constant when changing scan rates. Apparently not all sets do this.

I'm not an expert obviously, so please excuse my ignorance. But I do know more than I knew yesterday.

IMLXTOK:

Will keep trying to get the ISF settings. I did see a white page on screen with black letters, after my calibrator left the 1st day after trying to access the service menu. This may be what you're trying to get me to find?

He left and came back after getting all he could from Pio folks the next day.


IMO, he could have charged extra for two trips, but did not.

I'm not sure what you saw, on my set the service menu is a purple shaded background with white text, sometimes black text when the option is unavailable. If you press mute to change through the menus, under the Individual Adjustment you can change RY GAIN, GY GAIN, and BY GAIN, then under Cmmon Adjustment/RGB 1 (+)/ there is a few AD MAIN R GAIN, AD MAIN G GAIN, and AD MAIN B GAIN. My AD MAIN gains are all around 198 or so, and the Individual Adj *Y GAIN's are in the low 130's.

I'd really like to know if anyone has access to different blades for the commercial version of this set, having another DVI or HDMI input instead of svideo and whatever else is on that blade would be great!

I've noticed different settings are blacked out with different inputs in the service menu, so it seems like each input has its own settings. Furthermore, I have the Samsung HD841 with the black crush, I do not get black crush when I am in the service menu and I can see blacker than black when I use my AVIA disc. However as soon as I exit the menu everything changes a LOT. Maybe I am doing things wrong.

kenlong,

I changed my set to those settings and wow! It is really beautiful now. I thought my user settings I had were good, but this must be doing something for gray-scale. I was a little worried about the cranked up contrast, but it still isn't as bright(and it's a better PQ) as the Dynamic mode. My wife now sees the wow factor, which she didn't before(original comment- that's hi-def?). Thanks and let me know if any other good tweaks come your way.

I turned my contrast up to about 9, seemed like 12 was whitening up skintones too much, and I still have my color cut down to -8.

Has anyone else noticed their component inputs being darker than HDMI? It happens with both my VOOM box and Samsung HD841.

I typed up the Service Menu settings that seem to be important to color and brightness. With the HDMI input only the PANEL2 settings can be changed for color. Can anyone shed some light on what the PANEL1 settings are all about? I'd like it very much if some people could go through and post their settings for RGB1 using the component input. Also kenlong if you can post your INDIVIDUAL ADJ/RGB1/PANEL2 settings it would be great. I think that all changes from the ISF would be in here.

How to enter the Service Menu:

Make sure the plasma and the media box is in standby.
Press DISPLAY on the remote (just press, do not hold)
Wait 3 seconds
Press LEFT, UP, LEFT, RIGHT and POWER (on the remote)
If done correctly, the plasma turns on and the INFORMATION page is displayed.

Press MUTE to move through the levels of menus (which are INFORMATION, FUNCTION CHECK, COMMON ADJ, OPTION, INITIALIZE).



My Settings:

INDIVIDUAL ADJ.
------------------------
CVY GAIN
CVY OFFSET
RY GAIN
GY GAIN
BY GAIN

COMMON ADJ.
---------------------
-RGB1
IC1 MAIN GAIN
IC1 MAIN OFFSET
AD MAIN R GAIN
AD MAIN G GAIN
AD MAIN B GAIN
AD MAIN R OFFSET
AD MAIN G OFFSET
AD MAIN B OFFSET

-RGB2
AD MAIN CONTRAST

-PANEL1
X-SUS U1 <=> 128
X-SUS U2 <=> 129
X-SUS D1 <=> 128
X-SUS D2 <=> 128
Y-SUS U1 <=> 128
Y-SUS U2 <=> 129
Y-SUS D1 <=> 128
Y-SUS D2 <=> 128
Y-SUS D3 <=> 128
Y-SUS D4 <=> 128
VLT-SUS <=> 107
VLT-OFS <=> 157

-PANEL2
PANEL R HIGH <=> 256
PANEL G HIGH <=> 257
PANEL B HIGH <=> 255
PANEL R LOW <=> 514
PANEL G LOW <=> 511
PANEL B LOW <=> 513
ABL LEVEL <=> 081