Owners ONLY thread - >>>KDS-A2000's<<< - Settings/Tweaks - Page 72

I'm thinking it is an issue with the DVD Player, because the TV itself displays 1080i and 720p fine via my XBox 360.

Very weird.

You said 480P was OK...meaning it fills the entire screen, right? I have no suggestions other than maybe double check that your DVD player is set for 'widescreen'. I'm not sure how this would lead to your phenomenon (especially since 480P looks OK), but it's worth checking anyway.

If I had to guess, I would say your DVD player is at fault. Sorry I couldn't help more.

Yeah, I have the DVD player set on widescreen. I'm going to return the DVD player and try a different one. I think I'll try a sony. BTW, thanks for the replies, raptor. I appreciate it. I just basically wanted to make sure no one thought it was the TV that was the problem.

Folks here rave about the Oppo unconverting DVD players...but I have no experience with them.

Well, I just ordered a panasonic upconverting DVD player. I read reviews and most people rated it as good or better than the sony

As it turns out, it is the TV. The upper left corner of the picture is about 1/2 inch lower than the right side. I called the place I bought it from, and they of course stood behind it 100 percent, and are sending me a new one. Hopefully I don't have the same problem again. I read on here that it was an issue, but I don't know how widespread.

But the problem didn't show up on any other inputs...right?

I checked the other inputs, such as a banner on Directv, and it is also off by about 1/2 inch on the left corner, just like the DVD. Also on my XBox 360, it is off by about 1/2 inch...there isn't a letterbox, but that's just due to the overscan. You follow me? I read in another thread on here that it has to do with the screen being for a lack of a better word, "warped." When I push on the upper left side of the screen, and push it back, it moves the image up, almost to the correct spot. But when I let go of it, it moves back down. I called sony and they were aware of the problem, but said it isn't too widespread. I called the company I purchased it from, and as expected they stood behind it, and already have the new one on its way.

When the A2000 is calibrated properly, the Oppo 981HD is a dream in the realm of upconversion.

There are some macroblocking issues, but again, if the tv is properly calibrated they are mitigated. The Oppo does a supreme job of upconversion and the 981 allows your native 1080p to take a 1080p signal of upconversion. It's as good as it's going to get for the price IMO and the quality. Considering the source material, the 981 is nothing short of remarkable.

What is everyone's thoughts on line/power conditioning? Are alot of people using something? I saw mention of someone saying they used the Belikin PF30 and thought it made some improvements. I live in an apartment....not sure if that makes a difference? Any thoughts?

Take a look at the end of the XBR2 Owners thread.

I think it comes down to how much the equipment it worth to you. I am onlyl using a power surge strip at a fairly high joule rating.

I do own a Furman Power Conditioner for my pro-audio/live-sound gear, but the difference in equipment, monetarily is in the neighborhood of $8k. And, to be honest, it's a necessity in that rack, because it travels to different venues where you never know what the power will be like.

Personally, IMO all you need is a good power surge strip. The line conditioning is not necessary unless the power in your apartment is absolute ****, which I'm doubting it is.

FYI... I called Sony support last night, and they are sending me a firmware update for the A2000 (my firmware is from July 2006 right now). When I called them last August/September I couldn't get them to send me anything (it wasn't in their computer yet). Now, it was easy as cake. I have no idea what the date will be on the firmware they are sending me. The guy I talked to said that he only had one update listed in the system. I suspect it will be newer than what my July 2006 TV had installed upon in initially.

This is one of those things I guess people have mixed feelings about. On Waldorfsalad's recommendation I checked out the XBR2 thread and it seems they feel there is a definite PQ benefit to be had. I don't know if I am just crazy (probably), but it seems when I have the washer/dryer going the picture doesn't look quite as good? Right now I am using some cheapo surge protector.

any idea what is in the firmware and any potential problems/issues for those that have calibrated their sets thru either the service menu or thru the user menus?...

APC it up then...

I imagine only people with early firmware (like me) will notice much of a difference, though this is just my guess. I think any system settings will be erased/reset when I update the firmware.

I suspect that the infamous "Low Pass Filter" fix is in this firmware. Googer lists a method of fixing the low pass filter manually in this thread by changing a single system menu variable. However, umr told me that the low pass filter required more than one setting to change (before Googer posted this fix). I didn't notice any high def test pattern enhancement with Googer's fix (on my PS3 Blu-ray test patterns or on the HDNET test patterns), so I'm not sure if that change is enough. I suppose it is possible that Googer's suggestion has unknown dependencies on other changes he might have made. For me, this firmware update is all about confirming that I have the low pass filter fixed (even if I can't see it). Anything else is a bonus.

Wow, their website is not very intuitive

I didn't find it to be that bad...

Although in looking at the product specs I noticed that while UPS's provide surge protection, it seems that most run of the mill surge protectors ($40+) provide a much higher joule rating (2000+ vs. 1000-) of protection. Of course, a surge protector won't keep your components up and running for proper shut-down in case the power should go out.

I'm wondering if to get the best out of both worlds you just plug all of your equipment into the UPS and have the UPS run to the surge protector and then have the surge protector run to the wall outlet...

Interesting. Anyone know?

If you live in an area prone to serges it is best to have surge protection installed on your circuit breaker box. This will protect the motors in your major appliances, etc., and do the best job of keeping major surges out of your HDTV. They are not all that expensive you you have the knowledge to install one yourself. Best to install one like a circuit breaker at the very top of the line of breakers with direct connection to ground. If you have low voltage or dirty current a call to your utility may find a bad transformer or connection on the distribution side of their line. Start there first and don't rely upon a conditioner to clean up a bad utility connection (which is quite common).

Richard.

Richard.

Yeah, I don't have any of those problems. Based on the readings from my power conditioner the power with relatively nothing on sits at 122. With normal usage we're at 120. Only with everything completely maxed -- I'm talking 3 TV sets on and two computers and the washer/dryer and things going down in the kitchen, and every lamp on in the house (roughly 8) are we at 118.

The power is clean, I was just wondering about the merits of the two systems. I've only ever had just surge protectors on my setups, but they never had this much money on them. The pro-audio was much more of a difference because like I said, with the equipment frequently being plugged into different sources and never knowing the stablity of those sources or what unforeseen developments might occur (someone accidently interrupting the power source), it was a NECESSITY.

I don't think it's a necessity to have a UPS, but the merits of being able to properly shut down equipment that is ON during a power outage (remember, CA likes to pull rolling blackouts in the summer, cause Arnold has all of his hummers plugged into the grid) seemed quite alluring.

At any rate, thx.

That might be the only change in there.

Use a 1080i alternating one-pixel black and white pattern and you will see the LPF fix work. I made the change while the test pattern was displayed...it's neat to watch it change with the setting change.

BTW, you only have to change it in one place, but it may have to be changed for each input (all I cared about was my HD DVD input).

You can get the test pattern here:

http://www.w6rz.net

I have a Jan, 2007 build. I love the picture, except for the green shadowing/tinging that shows up on mostly SD programming. Is it the source? Why does HD seem to be OK? How would I try to get rid of this with gain, bias? Would it only be the green that gets adjusted? Where do I start with the adjustments? Thanks from newbie.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have an HD-DVD drive or a laptop that can output 1080p.

You are hosed, my friend, unless you can get an alternating single pixel test pattern over cable/satellite.

I can see the difference in a THX test pattern as well, but unless you are upconverting to 1080i, it won't make a difference. I forgot, do you have an upconverting DVD player? If so, try the THX test pattern with the series of short vertical lines (there's a name for that which is slipping my mind right now). Try that while making the change. The pattern wigs out while you change the LPF from 5 to 6.

If it's any comfort, the LPF fix really doesn't make any noticeable changes except on test patterns!

Edit: I just noticed you have a PS3 player...try the THX test pattern. I'm assuming the PS3 upconverts to 1080i or 1080P?

Sorry AVBill. I just tried the THX test pattern with the LPF fix and the change is so subtle, I'm embarrassed I recommended it.

I must have changed something since I last tried it, but dang if I can't figure out what that was. I tried different combinations in noise reduction, detail enhancement, etc...still looks almost unnoticeable, even at 2 feet.

I had the tripod and the DSC all set up for photos, too...

Again, the point of this experiment is only that you can confirm that the LPF change is actually doing something, even if it's only noticeable in a test pattern.

HEY...just thought of something, why can't you use the WR6net test patterns? They are in MPEG2, which (I think) means you can burn them on a standard DVD burner and play them on your PS3! If I can burn them on my standard DVD burner, I'm not sure why you couldn't do the same...

Sorry; it's still early here on the West Coast...

You can test the LPF tweak on PS3 by playing the 'horzpix1.ts' back on the PS3 set to output 1080i (tried it this morning and got expected result). Here is what I did:

1. Download horzpix1.ts from the mpeg-2 HD test pattern link: http://www.w6rz.net
2. Rename to horzpix1.mpg so the PS3 will play it back
3. Change PS3 to output 1080i resolution
4. Play back the file and toggle the "LPF" setting between 5 and 6. At 5 you should see a solid gray screen, at 6 thin vertical lines.

Btw, my June 06 set thanks you and everyone else who gave the tip on the firmware update available for these early builds from Sony (if nothing for the peace of mind).

If you are using Custom (not Vivid or Standard) you can go into the Advanced settings and adjust the white balance. As a user setting this should be source dependant, (in some cases adjustments are also specific to the signal - that is able to be different for 480i than 720p or 1080i on the same source - but I don't know that that is true for the WB).

SD sources will tend to show more problems than HD so I don't know that I'd do too much adjusting for them. But, if you want to, either using a grey scale test pattern or by setting 'color' to zero (so your picture is B&W) adjust the white balance so everything is shades of grey with no tint of any color. Then turn the color back up. Whatever color issues you now see are in the source.

I have the exact problem w/ my Oct '06 build. I have yet to test it out with an HD player-- My A2 is coming hopefully next week--We'll see then.
Most HD ota programming doesn't have the green tint. It's really frustrating. I'm considering exchanging it at CC, but afraid I'll get a worse set.