Pioneer PDP-505CMX / 507CMX / 607CMX monitor - Page 14

Any results yet?

Are the built-in processors that the 507cmx and 5070 have the same? It seems they are called PureDrive and PureDriveII. The 507 seems to have 12 bit processing,whereas the 5070 is 10 bit. So which is better

I just received the pioneer card this afternoon, I will try to get it in sometime later tonight and take a look.
Jay

hey jayv,
did you happen to get a chance to compare your pioneer board with your kd board? also, any luck with nr? we're all holding our breath.

btw, i should receive my panel and mount today, with the kd board scheduled for thursday. i will definitely put in my $0.02 once i get everything set up.

thanks,
bA

Hey bA, I have got the Pioneer card installed, but I have not had a chance to do much comparison. I will say that I have NOT been able to get NR with component into the card in slot 3, but I have to try a few more things and see. I look forward to hearing your thoughts once your gear arrives.
Jay

These are questions that have been raised several times before, but with little in the way of concrete answers (hence, the continuing inquiries). In theory, PureDriveII should be better than it's predecessor, PureDrive I, but the likelyhood is that the improvements made in the newer version are rather modest in the grand scheme of things. Now, where the PureDrive "Pro" of the 507cmx stacks up to these others, I don't know. I would think that the "Pro" would be considered the best of them all, but my previous statement about minimal quality differences probably applies here as well.

And 12 bit should be better than 10 bit, but chances are that most of our various source material hasn't been good enough to reveal the differences, or, simply going from 10 to 12 isn't dramatic enough for our human eyes to recognise most of the time, regardless of the quality of the source material feeding the displays.

Bare in mind, these are only speculations on my part, but I think reasonable speculations given how little we've heard or read about any direct comparisons, or when there have been comparisons, little in the way of meaningful feedback have been provided on these questions.

I had been leaning toward the Panny 9uk, but may be thinking about a 507cmx instead. I'd rather stay away from all this kd board garbage, so would it be possible for me to simply use a DVI to HDMI adapter, and run an HDMI cable to an AV receiver? I'd use the display strictly as a display, and run my xbox 360, wii, oppo 970, and satellite through the receiver. Would this work well? I'm leaning more toward the 507cmx than the 5070, since plan to wall mount so i dont need a stand, and will use external speakers. Is this possible?

well, i took delivery of my 507cmx today. it looks beautiful, even with the power off. i can't wait to get my kd card so i can actually start watching some tv!

for those of you already setup, what settings are you using? the main d-nice thread does not seem to have any commercial panels listed. should i use the recommended settings for the 5070?

i have made a copy of the burn-in dvd and plan on running that for about a week straight. after that, i'll pull out my copies of avia and dve. however, i understand that during the break-in period, i should dial back the contrast/brightness. if anybody has any recommended settings, i would love to hear them.

thanks in advance,
bA

Hey bA, I didn't really concern myself with the contrast and brightness settings at the first as they did not appear to be out of line. What I would look at are the screen mgt. settings(orbiter and soft focus)-manual pages 29-30, as well as energy save settings-manual page 31. I think looking at these as well as keeping the screen filled up will work fine. That is one of the very best things about the KD card- there are about 6 modes too choose from to get a good full screen picture.
Jay

According to the spec sheets the 507/427 is 120V 60 Hz. While in the tech manual it says:

Power requirements ............ AC 100 V to 120 V, 50 Hz/60 Hz
(The power unit range is from AC100 V to 240 V (50 Hz/60 Hz))

To me this means the unit can be run from a 240V power source too (such as overseas), can anyone confirm this as it is not mentioned anywhere else in any literature for the display.

Thanks

Hey guys/gals, just got my 507cmx yesterday (Thanks Chris!). I'm trying to get it setup and I am having an issue. I can't get my dvd player to work through the hdmi inputs of the kd2 card. I've gone through all the settings for the dvd and kd2 and I think it's set up correctly. I get a picture with s-video, but really want to use the hdmi for the kd2 because of it's raved about upconverting ability. I'm going to stop at Fry's later and get an hdmi to dvi adapter and try that, but otherwise I am at a loss as to the problem. Funny thing is, when I first turn on the dvd player, it will display the Oppo logo via the hdmi but when it starts to load the dvd it goes blank. I have a Oppo 981. I've also tried all four hdmi inputs and four different hdmi cables with the same results. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Edit: I've also upgraded the kd2 to the latest software 2.07b, but I had this problem before upgrading it. Thought this might fix it.

Hey Huggies, What signal are you sending out from the Oppo. I don't have that dvd player, but when I was playing around with mine I think I had similar issues when I switched between 480i/p. I think 480p was the problem if I remember correctly. If that is not it post again, I am sure nothing is wrong, there are just a large amount of settings to configure between the KD card the panel itself and your sources.
Jay

Well I installed a hdmi to dvi adapter and I can get 480p, 750p and 1080p outputs to play but strangely not 1080i, all via the dvi connector on the plasma itself and not the kd2. So I know my Oppo is outputing correctly. Just need to figure out the hdmi ports on the kd2. If I don't figure it out, I'll be calling Chris tomorrow, He said he might be able to help. Right now I've got too much work to be doing... sucks....

Called Pioneer to query this (only took 13 minutes for an answer ) and they said that yes the panel will work in countries with 240V supplies without any modifications.

Thanks to Chris, I purchased the CMX w/ KD Card but haven't been able to enjoy it as I'm renovating the family room. Can anyone tell me where I can find the remote codes for both the monitor and the card to program into my universal remote?

Thanks,

Key Digital has its codes on their website under downloads. If you use a Harmony Remote both the cmx (under monitor) and KD-PC2 (under set top box) are there. You may have to set delays to switch between the board's inputs, but it seems to work.

macbro

Any results comparing the PQ of both cards? How about NR?

Thanks

Hey Guys, I haven't abandoned this, just been very busy. I will try to get back tonight and post my thoughts on the Pioneer card, Key digital card and an external processor.
Jay

hey guys/gals,
i have an update. i, too, have been too busy to play with my new toy. plus, i've been traveling, so i haven't even had time to enjoy it that much. in any case, here are a few things i've noticed as well as new questions i've come up with.

just yesterday, i finally had directv install my new dish. while they were up on the roof, i asked them to install a cm4221 off-air antenna for my locals. although it is obvious, the hr20 connected via hdmi to my kd card absolutely knocked the socks off of the r15 connevected via s-video. upon first viewing, i got a tingly feeling which somehow acted as reassurance of all the funds that have been pledged to this cause. i have to say, i'm very happy! i have to say, too, that my directv-provided hd locals are very close in pq to my ota hd locals. i don't regret getting the antenna because i can pick up far more stations, but i would've been happy with the pq had i not added the ota antenna.

i will put myself into the group of posters who have said don't worry about the double-scaling. the pq is so good that i can't understand what effect the double-scaling is having, if any. comparing the dot-by-dot to the full modes on the panel produces virtually identical images, with respect to pq. of course, the aspect ratio is different, but rescaling seems to have no noticeable effect. for those of you worried about it, you shouldn't be.

also, one more comment about the kd card: the manual clearly states that 1360x768 is not currently supported by the kd-pc2, but will be made available in a future firmware upgrade. i remember reading earlier that people were unhappy with the kd documentation. however, i thought i recalled people being unhappy because the documentation stated that the board supported nr, even though it didn't. i guess my question is: do other kd owners see the same note in their manuals? is this a good sign, or a red herring?

next, i actually have a few answers to questions i raised myself: when pressing the display button on the 507cmx remote, the signal displayed is what is being output by the kd-pc2. in my case, this always reads 1280x768. however, the remote for the kd card has an info button. pressing that displays the signal going into the kd card. therefore, it is easy to see the chain of processing going on. i can see what is being output by my hr20, and then what is being output by my kd card.

speaking of the kd card, i do have a question. the documentation for the aspect menus is not too great. what i would like to know is if there is a way to control aspect ratios based upon input signal. right now, if i set the aspect to horizontal stretch, the image is stretched whether it is 4:3 or 16:9. obviously, i don't want my hd material to stretch. this seems kind of bizarre to me. the way i am currently handling it is to have the stretching done by the hr20.

and finally, one last question about the actual build quality if the panel. one thing i've noticed about the glass is that it is not smooth. i have never owned a plasma before, so i'm not sure if this is expected. i only notice it when looking at reflections. the reflections of my crt are smooth as glass, but the reflections on my 507cmx are a little wavy. is this something to be concerned about?

thanks for all your help, guys/gals. once i calibrate my panel, i will post the settings. if anybody else has settings, it would be nice to see those, too.

thanks,
bA

[the documentation for the aspect menus is not too great. what i would like to know is if there is a way to control aspect ratios based upon input signal. right now, if i set the aspect to horizontal stretch, the image is stretched whether it is 4:3 or 16:9. obviously, i don't want my hd material to stretch. this seems kind of bizarre to me. the way i am currently handling it is to have the stretching done by the hr20.]

Does anyone else have any insight on this question? I have the 507cmx with the 5003 and KD-PC2 boards and was assuming that the PC2 would include an option to automatically stretch the SD and not the HD, but I haven't found it. I find it very odd that my Time Warner HD DVR box can do this but my $1000 PC2 can't.

The 5003 seems to have a better stretching algorithm and there is no remarkable difference to me between the 5003 and PC2, so I am up in the air as to which card I will use all the time in the end. In fact, aside from the HDMI inputs, I'm not so sure I see how the PC2 is worth buying at all.

That being said, with either card, the tv looks amazing. If i could just find a way to auto adjust the aspect on the SD and not the HD without doing it through the substandard scaler in my cable box, I would be pretty happy. Any insights?

This is certainly something I am interested in knowing as well, as someone who is strongly considering the 507/KD Card combo.

I certainly don't want to have to switch back and forth manually if I swap channels.

What you are looking at is the front glass filter of the panel. It serves several functions including EMI Shielding, Near-InfraRed Emission Shielding, and Color correction (in some panels). The glass used for these filters is almost always tempered glass for safety reasons. The tempering process leads to those modulations that you are seeing. You will find these on almost on all the panels to some extent. There is nothing unusual about it.

This is interesting but I believe we are discussing a Pioneer here. Unlike other makes, Pioneer does not use a glass filter but rather a thin film layer bonded or laminated directly to the plasma glass. So a tempered filter glass does not apply to Pioneer displays.

Cheers,

Gary

Silly question, but I'm curious:

Is the cabinet on the 507CMX the same glossy finish as the 5070HD, or a matte black?

I am trying to tell from the pictures, but can't really tell.

Thanks!

I just bought this TV from you. I'm not sure you know the level of excitement I am feeling right now.

Review will be posted when TV is up and running!

Thanks everyone, and Chris especially!

Good Point. Maybe the plasma glass is tempered then. I have worked with these filters in the past and the wavy nature of the glass we purchased was quite evident at certain viewing angles.

Can someone please comment on the quality of computer output (HTPC) through the DVI port at the native panel resolution.

I currently have a 52 inch aquos and the windows desktop looks amazingly crisp at 1920x1080 resolution with very good text readability at 6-8' distance. However, I am not happy with the banding on my set and SD picture from Dish network looks like utter crap when compared to my old Toshiba 50 inch RPTV (CRT based).

Therefore, I am seriously considering this panel with the Xplorer card.

Thanks.

I am a proud new owner of a 427CMX with PDA-5003. I'm piping HD from my SA 8300 via HDMI to the DVI input. It looks fantastic and required very little fine tuning from the moment it was installed. SD can look great, but really does vary from channel to channel - thanks to Time Warner for this annoyance. Additionally, the box doesn't automatically scale the picture to full screen.

I'm also considering the KD-PC2, but if what I'm reading from Livinus21 is any indication, then I may stick with my current set-up and invest in an auto switcher for all of my other HDMI components for a less expensive, but equal result.