Toshiba 50HM66, 56HM66 Discussion - Page 3

Excellent! I too decided to take the plunge with the 50HM66! Got it from HH Gregg here in Atlanta for $1749. I will be getting it this afternoon. Looking forward to it since this is my first HDTV. I'm planning on using the built-in QAM tuner to pick up the cable in the clear HD channels that aren't encrypted. Is anyone else using the QAM on the Toshiba 50HM66? Any problems? From what I understand, I don't need an antenna to pick up the QAM type broadcasts. Is this correct?

I just recently noticed that on Toshiba's website the 50hm66 should have "HD Window POP" split screen, but I don't see it listed anywhere in the manual or an option on the remote. Am I missing something?

So, I just got the 50HM66 delivered yesterday. Didn't have much time to fiddle with it last night, but with the little time I had, I was impressed. Out of the box, the SD signal actually does look pretty good. Some channels are better than others, but I found the picture quality on SD to be as good as if not better than any other MD RPTV I've seen. I wasn't able to pick up my local digital channels via the QAM tuner (kept getting a "low signal" display when browsing to these channels. Anyone else experience this?), so I can't comment on HD. However, I did check out The Matrix on dvd really quick just to see how it looked. PQ was very film like with dvd. I was expecting a little better jump in PQ from 480i to 480p, but for the most part, I'm pleased. I have the Pioneer DV-588 dvd/sacd/dvd-a player.

One thing that bothers me a bit is the fan. I guess since I'm new to this technology, I didn't realize that the fan runs all of the time. Is that normal? It's not loud by any means, but I'm more concerned for durability of the fan.

The continuos fan.............I had the same question so i called Toshiba. This is the answer I got.

There are 2 fans, one for the bulb and one for the tuner. If you look around on the back of the set, you will notice which one is running. The one for the tuner, is just a tiny fan that never shuts off.
We don't notice it, because we don't sit around our TV when it's off. Also if you are concerned about the power draw, he told me that it would run on a 9V battery for at least a year, so that shouldn't be a concern either.
There is some info in the manual about the bulb fan.

What is the difference between the 50HM66 and the 50HMX96 other than the cabinet color?

I know the 50HMX96 has a PC input and ethernet port. Of course contrary to what Toshiba says I am fairly certain you can still hook a CP up to the 50HM66.

I have the unit and there is No "pop split screen".

I have noticed that on some websites that are selling the unit, it shows that it does have it.

I thought because of that, it would have it.

I was wrong.

Mike

Is there an auto-iris in the 50HMX96? I have reviewed the specs but have been unable to determine if it is included.

To all the 50hm66 owners, especially Pexley, since we emailed back and forth about the Toshiba a couple of months ago trying to figure out the dimensions of the TV. Congrats on the purchase by the way.

I have also joined the 50hm66 community. Got mine on 05-11. HD channels are amazing. SD is also good unless you get too close (less than 6'). I have got a question for everybody out there: My comcast box connects to the TV via a cheap version of a component cable (came with the box). The box does have an HDMI output. Should I buy an HDMI cable? Will an uncompressed signal improve PQ/sound noticeably? Also, my home theater is 3 1/2 years old. No progressive scan, no HDMI, but it connects to the TV via a component connection. Will progressive scan technology and/or HDMI improve the PQ significantly? Thanks!

When is the 12-14bit 1080P version comming out?

u can pre order them

manchine
of course progressive scan technology and/or HDMI improve the PQ significantly.

Anyone know when the 50HMX96 will be released? I can't find much information on this model. I would like to check it out before buying a 50HM66

Manchine, congrats on your purchase as well! This is my first HDTV, and going to the 50HM66 from a 27" CRT set has been quite impressive.

I recently just purchased the Pioneer DV588 dvd player, so this was my first chance to test our the prog scan as my old Sony CRT set couldn't accept 480p. I must say that the prog scan does improve the picture noticeably on the 50HM66. To me, it just makes the picture much more film-like and smooth. I can't comment on HDMI as I currently don't have an HDMI connection, but I would have to imagine that it would definitely improve PQ. I have an old Comcast cable box as well. I'm thinking of getting the cable card, as I think they don't charge you anything for it (at least that's what I'm being told in the local HDTV forums for Atlanta). I think I'll lose my on demand features if I go with the cable card, but I could always keep the old cable box and move it to another tv for accessing the on demand features. I know one person posted their picture settings for their 50HM66. Anyone else want to comment on this? I need to calibrate my set, but the settings are pretty good out of the box. Can't quite find the right contrast and brightness that I prefer.

Thanks for the response, Pexley. I also went from a 27" CRT to HDTV. What a difference! The reason why I did not go with the cable card is the fact that comcast in Michigan does NOT offer DVR with it. There was no way I would keep our 10 year old VCR with this great TV. Based on the comment from Domingos1965 (thanks for the response) I will get an HDMI cable for the comcast box. I will post a message on this forum to let everybody know if it was worth the money.

How does cable card work with the 50hm66?

Got my unit delivered today.. so far we're very happy.

Hi, Does any one have the lamp part number and the lamp replacement cost for the 50HM66? There is a chance that the lamp type/part number might be in the owners manual but these are not available for download. Thanks

i just bought a 56hm66 at sears,and i have to say the picture on it is not as good as my 52hm84,its very noisy i am very disappointed,and i am talking about the hd channels too,The picture on the 52hm84 on the hd channels comes out at you but the 56hm66 does not,anybody with some tips,i think i will bring it back and wait for the 1080p

i just figured out that the only way to make the picture look better on the 56hm66,is to put the bulb setting from low to high,this will eliminate the artifacts in the picture,also the fan noise is some what loud

I've got the 50HM66, and I really haven't noticed much noise in the HD and DVD sources. Occasionally, I'll notice a little noise in the background scenery on some of the HD channels (seems more prevalent on ABC and Fox versus NBC, CBS, WB, and Discovery HD). Granted, this is my first HDTV, but I find the picture quality to be outstanding with HD and DVD, and very good with SD as well. I actually haven't even tried the hi bright lamp setting yet. I may do that to see if there is a big difference. Did you calibrate your 56HM66 with AVIA or DVE? If so, what settings did you come up with? I'm trying to tweak mine, and maybe it's just me, but I found it difficult to set the contrast and sharpness.

I had the same comment initially about the fan. I don't hear it at all now when watching the TV. It's only when the TV is off that I hear the fan for the cable card. I didnt' realize that this fan ran continuously prior to buying the set. However, I think this is common with all RPTVs that have a cable card slot, and someone mentioned in this thread that Toshiba says that the fan uses minimal power (could run on a 9V battery).

Is anyone using an upconvert dvd player with the 50HM66 or 56HM66? If so, please comment on the PQ and list which one you're using. I'm trying to decide if I should just wait until the HD DVD vs. Blueray war is over before getting a better dvd player. Right now, I have the Pioneer DV588. I'm pretty happy with it's prog scan performance, but I've also been reading good things about the Oppo and other upconvert dvd players.

Thanks!

Does anybody know when the 56HM66, 56" DLP, will be hitting the stores ?? I was at Best Buy today and they had the 50HM66, the 50" model setup. I asked the salesman, who looked it up on his computer, and he said it was listed but didn't give an available date.

Thanks

Has anyone been able to successfully program the remote for the 50HM66 or 56HM66 to control a Motorola cable box? I've tried all of the codes that were given in Toshiba's manual, but none of them work.

Thanks!

I am using the Panasonic S97 DVD player. It's a pretty good, but not blow me away picture. A friend of mine brought over his new Toshiba HD DVD player and that was a blow me away picture. As long as you're investing the money, I'd go with one of the new HD formats.

Thanks bslep! I would imagine that the new HD DVDs do have that blow me away picture on the 50HM66. I think I'm going to stick with my Pioneer DV-588A for right now. One thing that I've noticed with my setup is that the picture looks better if I have the dvd player output to 480i and let the TV's video processor handle the de-interlacing rather than setting the dvd player to output 480p. Does anyone know what video decoder is in the 50HM66? Faroudja? I know my Pioneer DV-588A has the Mediatek chip.

I've seen them in the stores (not BB) here in Canada, BB only carries the models they can mass market.

How is the PQ in SD with these TVs with no cable box? Does the PQ improve with a cable card?

Thanks in advance, Tom

Depends on the source, but I think it's pretty decent. I don't think that the cable card makes a difference.

Does HDMI from TV to DVD work well with these TVs and has anyone used a cable card, and does it work well?

Thanks, Tom