The OFFICIAL Toshiba 56MX195/62MX195/72MX195 OWNER'S THREAD - Page 3

I'd mostly be using the TV to watch upconverted DVD's through an OPPO DVD Player or one of the Samsung HD950's or something similiear... haven't decided on a model yet. I'd also be using it to play XBOX once in awhile and then watching HDTV through TimeWarner STB.

When I saw it in the store, unfortunately I didn't have the sense to measure the viewing distance that was set up. On standard cable channels, the picture appeared grainy and could definitely see some macro blocking. HD Channels looked excellent... The didn't have the 62" on display.

I guess if I'm mostly watching HD sources the closer the better???

The following is in response to realdeal99's question on page 1 of this thread about why there are still black bars on the screen even after putting in a "widescreen" DVD.

See the links at the bottom of this message to find out everything you want to know about aspect ratios.

This is why - even on 16X9 Widescreen TV's, some black bars MAY be present. 16X9 Widescreen TV's aspect ratios are 1.78 X 1 - meaning that the screen is 1.78 times wider than it is tall.

Movies are filmed in either:

1.33 X 1 (a/k/a 4X3 aspect ratio) - what existing non-widescreen TVs are. Old movies up to about the early '50s were filmed at 1.33 X 1 aspect ratio which matched the 4X3 aspect ratio of TVs. This is the existing NTSC analog broadcast over the airwaves. It is also the way analog over the air TV broadcasts are shown.

1.85 X 1 = A/K/A "Academy Flat". The movie was filmed in a ratio that is 1.85 times as wide as it is tall. This is wider than 4X3 and wider than 16X9.

2.35 X 1 = A/K/A "Panavision or Cinemascope". This is the widest of all. It is much wider than 4X3, and wider than both 1.85X1 and 1.78 X 1 (16X9 widescreen TVs).

Whether or not there will be black bars depends on what aspect ratio the DVD movie that you are playing is and whether or not you want the TV to show the image in its "native" aspect ratio as its being fed to the TV or if you want the TV to electronically manipulate the image to "force" it to fill your screen. If its in its "native" aspect ratio with no manipulation there WILL be black bars (unless its native content is 1.78X to 1 which again matches the 16X9 widescreen).

Go to the forum topic titled:

AVS Forum > Display Devices > Rear Projection Units > **Popular Threads ** FAQ - Rules READ BEFORE POSTING

Once there scroll down to the link that says: "Where did those black bars come from".

PS: Sorry that I can't give you the direct URL links. Since this is only my 5th post, the forum will not allow me to post URL links until after 5 posts.

Not necessarily. I basically only watch HD and upconverted DVD's on my 72mx195 and I still say anything less than 11 feet or so and you'll be looking at source artifacts. Not all HD is created equal.

Well, general rule for TV distance is twice the diagonal. For a 72" screen, you should be back around 144" or 12 feet back. This has to deal with eye and head movement while watching the TV. Also, you get to close to the tv and you can start seeing the pixels :-)

Ken

I read somewhere in these forums that the twice the viewing distance rule didn't necessarily apply to these 1080P DLP's and one could sit much closer. I guess I'll have to make another trip to the store and actually measure the distances for different inputs... thanks

If all you are watching is high quality HD material I would agree. However, I have experienced big differences in the quality of HD sources and also continue to view some material at SD so I wouldn't want to get any closer than 10' - 12'. I have the 62MX195 and I'm 13' away and I think it works fantastic; depending on the quality of the signal source.

Nevertheless, the eye/neck fatigue still applies to twice the diagonal.

Ken

Yes, with great HD sources you can sit very close and see smooth, artifact free pictures. But, like people have said before, you get eye fatigure really quick when you have to scan the whole picture side to side to see everything.

I bought a 62mx195, it will arrive on Saturday. What cables and connections should I use to connect it to a Denon 3806 and Denon 1920 dvd player. I am new and want the best possible picture to the set through full surround. thanks in advance.

How did you connect the PC to the display? - VGA, DVI-HDMI, S-Video, etc.

What kind of video card did the PC have and what type of outputs did that have?

Did you try any custom resolutions and timings with the video card's drivers and/or a program like PowerStrip?

I believe Toshiba's (and most other manufacturer's) owner's manual warnings and disclaimers about how to connect a PC and at what resolutions are to keep the inexperienced from messing up the display by applying timings and resolutions improperly. I think that is why these specs seem so conservative.

I believe Samsung has similar warnings about it's DLP TVs but on the Sammy HMX threads many people have successfully connected the PC to the display at very good resolutions for both gaming and HTPC.

I have been reviewing the HTPC threads and it seems like all that is likely needed is a good video card with DVI out, a DVI/HDMI cable, PowerStrip (or good native drivers like NVIDIA has) and some tweaking with the timings and resolutions.

I have a 62MX195 on order and it will hopefully be arriving on 11/25/05. I plan to try it with my PC and it's NVIDIA 6800GT OC which has DVI output. I already have the DVI/HDMI converter cable that came with my OPPO DVD player and will try it with that cable directly into the HDMI input on the display.

CAUTION: Do ALOT of research on HTPC, learn about using custom timings and resolutions BEFORE trying this and start out conservatively so that you don't damage the display.

Some good links that I have found in the course of researching this are:

The AVS forums on HTPC and HD Gaming

Powerstrip FAQ

Powerstrip Timings 101

NVIDIA's PureVideo

More on NVIDIA's PureVideo

Tiger Dave's Widescreen Gaming List

Once I get my set I'll do a quick review and after I play aroud with the PC connection and resolutions and timings specific to it I'll post those as well.

EDIT:

I looked at the manual (link to PDF version earlier in this thread) and it states:

The HDMI input on the Toshiba recieves "digital audio and uncompressed digital video from an HDMI device or uncompressed digital video from a DVI device.

This input is designed to accept HDCP program material in digital form from EIA/CEA-861/861B - compliant consumer electronic devices.

The HDMI input is designed for best performance with 720p signals but will also accept and display 1080i, 480i, and 480p signals."

In my NVIDIA driver's advanced settings there are pre-configured and custom settings for many 861B timings and resolutions. There is also the ability to manually set custom timings and resolutions. Powerstrip allows much of the same - probably more. Some of these settings include 1080p. Although the manual and posts on the forum have said these MX series' can not take native 1080p signals ..... I wonder.......

Starting on page 85 of the manual it also indicates alot of flexibility for PQ adjustments as follows:

Dynamic Contrast
MPEG Noise Reduction
CableClear -digital noise reduction
Color Temp - cool, medium, warm
Lamp Mode - low, high

Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan
Hue
Saturation

Some posts in other threads about these displays inaccurately reported very limited ability to adjust these types of settings. I suspect that is because in store displays they lock out access to the advanced menus.....

Do's anyone know if the mx series 1080p sets have 3 chips or a color wheel? Is there a 1080p input? Thank you for any help with these questions.

MX is single chip with colorwheel. No 1080p input, but has 2 HMDI, 2 Colorstream, 2 1EEE1394/Firewire and PC input.

This may be a dumb question, but regarding 1080p input based on what I've read, this is what I think is the overall situation right now. Any comments are welcome:

- There is no clear 1080p input standard at this time, and there are a lot of debates on the feasibility of 24, 30, 48, 60, 72 frames per second which creates a the real restriction in broadcast bandwidth and compatibility with the majority of existing TVs.

- Wouldn't the current 1080p sets, by deinterlacing 1080i, basically be providing 1080p 30fps resolution anyway regardless of the input format. I'm sure true 1080p 30fps might be slightly better, and higher frame rates would be much better, but again you get into the limitations of recording and transmission of content (bandwidth) incompatibility with existing sets (very few could view it) and manufacturers would have to support a new standard (still an open item). Only proprietary players could interface to a TV at true 1080p, but then the content would still be limited.

I puchased a 56MX195 on Tuesday and it was delivered on Wednesday. I spent a while hooking up my antiquated receiver (Denon 3600) and other components. I also picked up a Toshiba 4980 upconverting DVD player.

So far I have been quite happy with the unit. I am currently hooked up to the local Insight cable (not digital or High Def, yet...) as well as off the air with an amplified Phillips antenna. The OTA HD is simply wonderful. I watched the Thanksgiving Day football games, even though I am not much of a sports fan. The images from the DVD player (via HMDI) are also very good. The SD is okay but a little grainy looking. It doesn't help that I record quite a bit on my TIVO at high quality (not the best quality). The fan noise is noticable on startup but usually the audio is loud enough that I easily forget it's there.

I upgraded from a rear projection 50" Pioneer (about 14 years old)..

Two questions..

How long before the average users cover up the irritating blue power on light? That was my wife's first comment... It does seem to be distracting especially in dark scenes.


I can't seem to keep the closed captioning from appearing. I shut off all of the CC menus, even the digital CC. I haven't spent enough time with it to see what the specifics are when it occurs. When I go to the menu, it says the CC is off, yet is appearing on the screen... Odd...

No, blue light has not been too annoying to me.

As for CC, if you put full MUTE on (Mute occurs 2 steps: 1/2 Mute then Full Mute when you press the button twice), CC will automatically start to work even though it is turned off. That's a feature of Mute which I think is pretty cool. In the Menu/Preferences/Closed Caption Mode, I assume you're saying it's set to OFF.

Also, for non-digital cable, make sure you set the following:

Menu/Video/Advanced Picture Settings/Mpeg Noise Reduction to HIGH.
Menu/Video/Advanced Picture Settings/CableClear-DNR to AUTO.

The first option makes a big difference with lower quality channels.

Thanks a bunch. I WAS muting the Toshiba to use the AV receiver for sound. Now I will just turn down the volume or shut the speakers off in the menu.

The noise reduction has also helped.

I appreciate the insight....

If you only get the CC when using a cable box then it is a setting you need to change in the cable box. I had the same problem using a digital cable box and it was happening with all channels even though I had set CC to off. I got the cable box manual online and was able to fix this problem.

Let me ask a question. I just went from a 4 year old Toshiba CRT 57" to a Toshiba 62" 1080p DLP. With all this new, great technology, why do we still have to wait 5 seconds after pressing the split screen mode button before the pictures are displayed? In this world of +3 GHz computers, seems like we could make it instantanious. I assume it's just a price point thing?

As a slightly humerous aside, I bought mine from Vann's in Montanna. I live in the same county that the Toshiba TVs are manufactured in. Wilson CO, TN. So this set was shipped from 10 miles from my house to MT and then back here I wish I had thought to ask if they could have drop shipped it.

One of these days, everything will be instantaneous. I'm an older fkr, and can only hope to see the day

Hi

I have the 56 Cinema and i run into a problem... I have TWCNYC watching it on ColorStream1 HD... I go to Advanced Video Setting to tune the redness a bit but i dont have the Color Managment Menu, i try to change to HDMI 1 to see if maybe its there and i also dont have that menu.. Anyone know whats going on? How can i get to that menu red, blue etc

Thanks

Appears ercservice now has the DMP-L95 lamps in stock and they're only $475! Good grief... http://www.ercservice.com/lamps/tosh.../23311153.html

I had thought this feature was unavailable on these sets, despite initial press indicating otherwise . Anyone else?

I didn't think it was available either and I haven't been able to find it if it is.

The 62mh195 at cnet shows it to have 1080p inputs,check it out.

Question for this forum...has anyone seen a shelf unit, other than the Toshiba one, that works with the 72MX195? I have a large center speaker (25.5 inches wide) and a high-end A/V receiver that is 8.5 inches high but needs a few more inches of heat clearance. I've looked at a lot of shelf units and haven't seen anything even close to my needs, eve if the 66 inch width needed for the set wasn't a constraint. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I got the Tosh 72MX195 because it looked great on paper, and good in the shop.

I am pretty disappointed in the PQ and am returning it to the dealer.

From every source I see constantly moving speckles (MPEG artifacts) at a distance of 12'. It is most noticeable on large evenly colored areas like sky, painted walls, and even skin). Yes I ran the Digital Video Essentials calibrations, played with the MPEG noise filter, etc.

Also, I found the Softness of the picture (poor focus / blurred) a letdown. This thing should do 1080p and I expected to see razor sharp text on the internally generated menus. At 1920x1080 the pixels should be less than 1mm / 0.04" - right?

The only thing that looks "excellent" is cartoons (DVD and HD) like family guy. Everything else crawls with speckles and is very distracting.

I am comparing the picture with my previous TV - a 1-year-old Panasonic 60" HD2+ DLP (PT-60DL54, a 720p model). The Panasonic had none of the problems I mention, even at 8'. The picture was totally *bleep*ing awesome on the Panasonic. And you could see the square pixels on screen in the menu system. What I mean by this is a "V" in the word "Video" should look like a staircase - jaggies if you will. It does on all the 720p machines I looked at this week, but doesn't on the 1080P ones.

I have run it with a Sony upconverting DVD player (HDMI and component) and a Shaw HD-PVR. I have run it with 480P from the DVD player (to let the TV upconvert) and also 1080i from the DVD player in case the DVD did better upconversion.

I'm considering switching to the Samsung 1080p (maybe a 61" just to shrink the pixels and boost the brightness) or maybe go back to Pansonic, they just released the PT-61DLX75 720P 61" TV .

Comments? Anyone else see the massive amounts of crawling noise? Is it my imagination or were the 720p chips brighter and punchier than the wobulated 1080p chips?

I could never figure out how many colors were in the color wheel of the 72MX195. I know the Panasonic 720p machines have 8 colors.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/html/configurator.jsp

This link was posted on the Mitsubishi 1080P Forum... Seems someone is using it and you can build and customize the unit as you see fit. I think it is more expensive than the Shelf Unit that matches the tv...

Eric

Sorry to hear about your experience. I don't see the issues on my 62MX.

Please add me to the list of owners for the 56MX195.

OK, I've done tons of research to the point that I am ready to pull hte trigger and invest $3k in a TV. Thinking the Toshiba 62mx95. Can you guys help me with a few of my questions concerning regular cable feeds (SD)? BB says that can't show me a SD feed on the TV.

1) Is there a noticable delay when you change channels whether it is HD or SD?
2) What is the picture quality like on the 62mx195 when watching SD? I expect the Tosh to be my regular TV as well.
3) Is there a processor that upconverts the SD signal to a 1080 looking signal?
4) Can the speakers of the Tosh be used as the center channel speaker for a 5.1 system?

Thanks in advance. I am looking forward to replacing my 27" tube with the Tosh, but I don't want to make a $3k mistake.

I am thinking about purchasing a 72MX195 but I read that the DLP sets out today use the 960X1080P DMD . So instead of 1920X1080P like say the JVC's these only have in reality 960X1080P. I can't confirm this on Tohsiba's web site or TI's as they only show the spec as 1080P.
Does anyone have any info on this?

I think the JVC set you're referring to is LCoS, not DLP. The Toshiba as most if not all 1080p DLPs use the 960x1080 DMD. The wobulation technique uses one row of mirrors to generate 2 rows of pixels, hence the screen image is actually 1920x1080.

People continue to imply this is some kind of cludge, but it is merely how a very fast light processor generates the 1080p image - the speed at which these pixels are generated is so high that there is no visible difference, and the picture quality is very high.