Official Pioneer PRO-1540HD/1140HD/940HD Owner's thread/merged thread - Page 51

Thanks for the audio report. I've also included it in the owner's list that is linked at the bottom of my post.

Let me know when you get the video calibrated.

I have been watching the Pioneer site for word of the 2007 screens. We have to wait to buy a new TV anyway, so I decided to hold off for the next version.

Anyway, at the beginning of the week, I could swear that the MSRP of the 1140 was listed as $3500. Today it's back to $4500. Was I hallucinating?

Using ISF ccc to calibrate a display DOES NOT and CAN NOT cause problems. However, mis-using any tool can cause lots of problems.

Using ISF ccc on Pioneer's 7G Elite plasma gives you calibration controls that are not available in ANY user or ANY factory service menu. We designed our Elite displays to be professionally calibrated using ISF ccc. Using ISF ccc on Pioneer Elite allows:

Calibration without hacking or misusing any controls.
Separate ISF Day and ISF Night AV modes are added to each input that is calibrated.
Much more efficient and accurate calibrations in less time.
No changes to existing AV modes.

As ISF ccc is built into every Elite display, you would think anyone wanting there Elite calibrated would at least want to see how it works before deciding if they want to utilize it.

Joshua Kairoff
Director, Display Engineering
Pioneer Electronics

Ok. So answer me this joshk, or actually the other members here, especially those who are ISF certified....why are there several ISF professionals who choose not to use the ISF C3 calibration menu to make their adjustments?

UMR, if you can hear me, from what I understand you do not use C3 for your calibrations. If this is true, why not. I'm not saying you should, just would like your view why you choose not to.

I don't for two reasons.

First, I have had several reports directly from consumers that contradict joshk. I am sure Pioneer wants the link to not cause problems, but it appears that this has not been the case in every instance. I have no desire to go to a consumers home and connect a device that would require a service call because of my service.

Second, I do not agree with setting a display such that all of the user settings are locked. There are many good reasons a consumer should change my settings after I leave. Locking them would prevent this.

I also disagree with joshk's statement that it will be more accurate. Absolute accuracy will depend on the equipment and skill of the person doing the calibration. It has almost nothing to do with the method used to change the displays settings.

Hi Guys,

I bought a Panny 9UK a few weeks ago and am not happy with the color (still waiting to calibrate the gray scale). I spent 2 hrs. at Magnolia playing with the 1140 after the sales guy suggested it. I told him that I was never impressed with the Pio plasmas because of their soft look even on HD. He said let's crank up the sharpness(14) and sure enough it had more "pop" without a lot of junky artifacts.

The color on the Pio out of the box seems much more accurate, at medium and medium low temp. The set had more of a film look, even on hd.

This was all on a DTV hd box, the same as I have at home. I noticed that SD channels looked better, even the horrid Food channel and sci-fi. We played with the standard and pure modes and overall the 1140 had a nice smooth, even picture across the wide range of sd and hd channels.

The background and graininess and motion artifacts and that I see on the Panny were not there even with the sharpness up.


When I got home and turned on the Panny to a hd channel, I immediately saw the 3d, wow, picture window effect that I didn't get on the Pio.

So, does it get down to the fact that the Panny is a sharper, jump out of the screen, 3d picture and the Pio is a smoother, cleaner picture and I have to decide which is more important?

I don't mind paying the difference especially with the 1140 pricing now.

Help me


thx

bob

In the 1140 ISF ccc function, there is seperate control for Red, Green and Blue Gamma. WHile the equipment and skill are very importent, you can make a more accurate calibration when there are adjustments designed for it.

Josh

I had the Panny 50PX600U and ended up changing over to the 1140.

Everything you say is spot on as far as my experiences, except for maybe a couple of things.

First, I actually think the picture is more 3D-like on the 1140, just as part of it's all-around looking more "natural".

And 2nd, I think that the lower quality signal of my E* SD channels (and some of my worst OTA ones) actually looked better on the Panny, if only for the reason that the Elite is so darned revealing that it just shows more of the annoying "mosquito" noise and artifacts from the over-compression. It does have better noise control adjusability, but to get to the point where most of the noise is masked, it also masks the detail and makes the picture softer (I usually have to put the sharpness way down, too.) But really, the NR in the Panny did the same when I used it.

I'd also have to say that artifacts such as false contouring and "crawling moss" are seen nowhere near as often on the Pio. There's more detail in the blacks too, although the overall black level is slightly better in the Panny.

The colors are much better in the Pio, and so is the tweakability of course, by far.

I find that on most good HD sources, the Pio is every bit as sharp and detailed as the Panny was.

I would say that if you're satisfied with the Panny, then keep it. But I understand what you mean about the color. I had an awful "green push" in the Panny to contend with at times. The Elite had that out of the box some, too, but you can adjust the colors individually at least. If I got to the point where I adjusted it down pretty good in the Panny, I threw all the other colors and the saturation out of whack.

That only matters if it is necessary to change the RGB gamma. All of the Elites units I have worked on tracked very well post calibration without that tweek. Russ's unit was within 5 delta Eu*v* across the entire measurable range as measured by my spectroradiometer. I am still unconviced that the results would be more accurate the other way and that the risk is worth it. Others are of course free to disagree.

I think measurement wise you could prove that the Pioneer is more "pop" Same thing as Panasonics advanatge in all-screen black.

It's been consistently written and doucmented in reviews. Pioneer has a higher ANSI (Black and white at the same time) contrast and Panasonic has a better dynamic contrast (All white vs. all back).

Pioneer behaves LCD like in terms of poppiness. I didn't think either one had an advantage sharpness and detail wise once calibrated. They looked pretty similar in this regard.

I am hoping someone can share their experience with streaming video downloads from the internet to their Elite 1140. I have tried some WMV demo's and found the quality excellent. I would like recommendations on torrent software used for downloads and streaming.

Good question! I have been wondering this myself for a long time.

Considering the support for ISFccc is built into Datacolor's Colorfacts and Sencor's Autocal, and it is in the new Datacolor Spider TV PRO, AND PIONEER HAS ISF ccc TOOLKITS THAT CAN BE LOANED OUT OR PURCHASED, I really don't know why some folks would rather bash it then try it.

Josh

I've had my 1140 for one week now and am using Comcast's HD and DVR. Basketball on CBS is pretty nice and I can (to me) see the differences in some of the camera's used during the game.
I have two questions:
What are most of you setting the 1140 to, 720P or 1080i?
And if any of you are using the OPPO 981 DVD player....I've got the audio set very nicely,
however can you share with me the best settings for our display.....I know this is not an HD DVD player....but I am not sure I've gone into the setup menu correctly or deep enough. The picture looks "ok".
Any and all suggestions appreciated.
tia doug

I just got my 940 and it looks great, but I am having a problem setting up the channels. Using Ant A, I first did a preset directly into the cable without a STB. The results were good. I got digital and unscrambled HDchannels.

Next I wanted to see what I coud get over the air with an antenna. Not much luck, only one strong channel (10), so I decided that cable was the only way to go.
So, I went back and redid the channel preset for cable. BUT, now the only cable channel number that I could get was the same number as rhe strong over-the-air channel (10), none of the original cable channels show up. It's like the preset memory can't be reset. Anyone have an idea what is happening?










l

Check out post 1122 and you will see that most (including myself) recommend 480i for the Oppo DVD. You push the HDMi button with the DVD on but not playing to change it.

Thanks BigRed...will try tonight.

Problem is the 981 does not have a 480i output. Only 480p/720p/1080p/1080i

Hello:

Do the Elites have a counter that tells how many hours the set has been used?

Splotto

Yes, it's in the Service Menu. Go back a page or two I believe if you need instructions to get in the SM.

EDIT: I didn't see it a few pages back, must have been another thread I was thinking of...it's asked and answered all the time though. You can "Search This Thread" for +service +menu and find it, but since I found it already, here you go:

Pioneer service menu:

Start with the plasma turned OFF

Press DISPLAY on the remote
(just press, do not hold)
Wait 3 seconds
Press LEFT, UP, LEFT, RIGHT then POWER (on the remote)

If done correctly, the plasma turns on and the INFORMATION page is displayed.

Then use the down arrow to page through. The hours are on page 3 and 5. When you are finished looking press the home menu button.

I send my 1540 the output resolution which matches the broadcast resolution for less processing. Some STB's have pass-through which makes this easier - it automatically makes the set top box output the resolution of the broadcast. Since my box does not have pass-through, I change my output resolution depending on what station I am watching.

Reading these may help you:
HD stations list - 720p and 1080i
Which is better: 1080i or 720p

I'm set on purchasing a pioneer elite plasma in the near future but having trouble deciding between the 42" vs the 50". My viewing distance is aproximately 10 feet to 12 feet. What is the optimal viewing distance for these plasma's and what screen would you recommend from my viewing distance? I'm a newbie and this is just the beginning of a series of questions further down the road so please bare with me.

Thank you.
Brian

Got it. Thanks. :-)

Splotto

I had the same concern before for my viewing distance of 9ft and I ended up purchasing the 50" 1140HD. This a perfect size for my viewing distance.. 42" is a little small IMHO for 10 to 12 ft viewing area .. but then again it's up to you .. try it out by visiting your local magnolia or av center.

5070/1140 or even the 6070 at that distance.

I'd recommend at least a 50". 60" would be even better.
9-11' = 50"
11-14' = 60"

Thanks to all that responded. I guess I'm going to get the Pioneer Elite PRO1140HD then. I was pretty amazed when I viewed these two screens at my local dealer. I was even more amazed that the 50" was being offered for [EDIT] out the door tax free since I live in Delaware.

Thanks again.
Brian

I'm having my 1140 delivered on Thursday and my FiOS cablecard installed on Friday. After reading through 51 pages of this thread, there's not too much discussed about any possible issues, likes, dislikes, tips, tricks, etc using a FiOS CC and your 1140. I mean other than the blinking blue light scare of death TV guide thing!

Can anyone share their experiences? Tips? Anything that might help me prepare for install? Maybe things that they noticed or should have asked, etc?

I can't comment on FIOS cards specifically as TW is my cable card provider. I've had no problem with the cable card. One downside is the loss of a program guide made available when using a STB.

There is a bug with the TVGOS services and the 1140 (and I presume other current Pioneer plasmas) caused by the new daylight savings time change.

The TV Guide shows the correct times when selected however the Info button on the remote brings up standard time and no program information. Pioneer and TV Guide is supposed to be working on a fix.

I am currently waiting for Fios to be installed in my home as well. I am not going the cable card route as i really would like to have the programming guide and DVR.
I assume you already know the pros and cons of the cable card. Try searching the fios threads for tips on the fios and cable card tweaks.

The main suggestion i can give you as far as general tweaks and settings would be to check out the "Official D-Nice Pioneer 6th/7th Generation Settings Thread". This thread will assist you with the break-in if you are interested in doing one. It also seems to have more discussion on the tweaks for this set.
I did break mine in for no other reason than piece of mind.

As far as preparing for install. Putting the stand on can be a hair raising experience as you must lay the plasma down flat on its face on a table, or have three people to put the stand on while keeping it upright. Also the manual tells you to leave the two top bolts that hold the tv to the stand loose, however i did hand tighten them up once i had the tv in place. I was a little nervous having only the two lower bolts tight. Im sure its prolly fine either way.

Good luck and enjoy.

I don't think the manual intends for you to leave the top two bolts loose. They are only loose so you can slide the stand onto those two bolts as a guide to hold the stand in place as the lower two bolts are installed. I tihghtened the top two along with the bottom two once all four bolts were started in the threads.