Official Westinghouse TX Series ( TX-42F430S, TX-47F430S ) Owner's Thread - Page 138

double check the 5th digit, make sure its not a letter instead of a number, I made the same mistake when I registered mine just a little bit ago. I thought it was a 1 and was actually a J

I installed the firmware and my tv is now at 5121_1.3.0, it was at 5121_1.2.0.

any noticable differences? does dynamic contrast actually turn off now? pip work? I can't seem to get it to work, maybe this tv does not have that option though.

If i turn dynamic contrast off, the only difference i can see is that my screen gets slighter dimmer. What is dynamic contrast supposed to do?

Pressing PIP on my remote does absolutely nothing.

I use my screen as my computer monitor, what the dynamic contrast does for me is as I switch to different windows the whole screen will get slightly brighter or dimmer as I bring up different windows depending on if that window is darker in color or not. I want it off but as of now it will not turn off even though I have it set to off in the menu.

IC, i just use mine for TV and xbox360. I can definitely see my screen dim when i turn it off but i cant really tell if its working dynamically while watching tv.

It would be nice if Westinghouse told you what this firmware was fixing.

I'm curious to see if 1080p/24 (forced or autodetected) works now with the PS3 in the new firmware - i.e. doesn't constantly display the "no input signal detected" box over the picture during Blu-ray playback. If so or if there are any other major noticeable benefits, then I have a compelling reason to put on this FW. Otherwise, I'm reluctant to try to "fix what ain't broke" so to speak.

Eagerly awaiting reports from the more adventurous!

Im seeing nothing as an improvement so far. I was hoping it would fix that damn white static line on the top of some channels but it didnt.

I just did a search and it seems that people in this thread posted that they have June builds running the same firmware i just updated to. So, im not really sure what the deal is now. Youd think my build being a september build would have came with what a june build had?

On the tutorial images posted on Westinghouse the file is susanii_v1.3.0 but the download link is definitely for susanii_v1.2.0. Westinghouse cant even get the right download link on their website.

EDIT:

Got a solution for the wrong link they posted. Right click the download firmware update button and copy the links location. Replace the filename with the correct one shown in the pictures on how to install it and you should be fine. I have the new firmware installed now but other than being able to turn dynamic contrast on and off I haven't noticed any difference. I havent really messed with it much yet either. I do know it hasn't fixed my HDMI problem. Still cant get the Samsung HT-X70 player to display on the TV via HDMI. :/

Oh yeah the link should be edited so the end looks something like ...SusanII_v1.3.0_20071026.rar

This has been covered quite a few times in this thread. That is the closed captioning information sent by the broadcaster. It is an encoded stream that is at the very edge of the screen. The reason you can see this now is because you can see every single pixel of the transmission.

I think Westinghouse should have put a black mask around the edge, or over scanned by 1% to get rid of these complaints. Of course if they did that they would have people with a magnifying glass complaining it isn't truly 1080P.

Riiight so Westinghouse wants me to revert back to the lockup firmware?

Thanks but no thanks.

Are there any other fellow canadian owners who have successfully navigated the Westinghouse Warranty RMA? I was informed today (good news I guess) that Canadian owners of this particular model do not ship there defective units to the USA (Santa Fe CA)...but they stopped short of telling me what the RMA steps would be...They filled out a "Non Best Buy Issue Form", which would lead me to believe that I'm either going to be serviced by Best Buy here in Canada regardless, or some other Canadian repair facility.

Any experience would be appreciated.

Kirk - Ottawa

Thanks for the update, Cheesehead Dave. I checked a few days ago, but it wasn't there, and now it is.. so of course I had to run the update...

I updated a set to the new firmware. System info now shows build on 2007 Oct 25, Software Version 5121_1.3.0. It was previously a Sept 2007 build.

I'm not sure what this update does exactly, since they didn't provide a list of changes/fixes.

As an aside, I did notice that the TX appears to run busybox linux based on the firmware contents, which I think is very cool.

Back to the problems I (still) have with the set.. The five issues that concerned me the most, in order of most-to-least annoyance, were apparently not addressed/fixed in this particular update. To recap, these are:

1. Blue-on-black and Red-on-black "smear" / "blur"


2. Simulated "Burn In" when going from normal scenes to black screen (or even partially black screen).. effect can be lessened by turning down backlight:
->

3. Halo brightening effect with dark text on a light background:


4. "Sparkle" up-down subpixel effect


5. "Jittering" at the first of Harry Potter 5 Blu-Ray DVD, when they're doing the aerial pan over the park, particularly the road going horizontally across the top of the screen. I have no photo/video example of this, but it doesn't bug me nearly as much as the other stuff.

..others have mentioned lock ups.. I haven't really had this problem with the Sept firmware, but if I start noticing it with the new firmware, I'll let you all know. It's also not comforting to hear stories about the HDMI hub suddenly dying. That's crap even if you do have a warranty.

At the very least, I think it's encouraging to see that Westinghouse is now providing firmware to its users, and I'd love to see another update that actually lists the changes/fixes.. especially if they include any of the 5 I listed above.

-Burgerleg

For those who were able to update the firmware, can you explain how you did it?

Did your drive have the safe-kernel.img1 and the updateXXXX.rar?
Did you unzip what was in the .rar and have the board_root folder on the drive?

I've tried every combination and I see nothing happen when I insert the drive in the TV and then plug it in. The thumb drive blinks a few time like the TV is trying to access something, but nothing happens...I press the power button and nothing comes on the screen nor do I see the LED light blink or turn blue.
If I hold down the power button, the drive starts blinking again, but then stops and nothing happens.

What's the deal here? I have the September 07 firmware, and I tried both SusanII1.20.rar and SusanII1.30.rar

havin' some issues.

copy the shortcut for the download and replace the last part with susanii_v1.3.0.rar

so how exactly did u do the update? whatever it states on the website does not work for me

I noticed there were two files after they were extracted. One of which that was still zipped. So I unzipped that file and stuck it on the flash drive as well. They don't really explain that in the directions. Not sure if that's what did it but you could try it.

Yea....I can't get this update to work.

Tried using only the DL'd file.

Tried using the extracted files only.

Tried using the fully extracted folder only.

Nothing.

Is this because I have a 5112 system and not the 5121 the rest of you have?

my system was a 5112 sept build and it worked fine updating. Had to go out and buy a usb memory stick but worked. I turned the power on plug option off. once I plugged the tv back in with the usb stick in I pressed and held the power button for 3 or so seconds.. amber light for 30 seconds or so, then flashed blue for a couple minutes.. then solid blue, nothing ever was on the screen during this. removed the usb stick, held the power button again for a few seconds and it turned off, held again and on it went with new firmware. I notice no difference with the tv though since the update.

So dooz what files did you have on the flash drive? Just the final unzipped? I mean didi you have any .rar files on the drive or just the folder.

Just the two files in the main rar, no further extracting after that. I put them in the root of the usb memory stick.


safe-kernel.img1
update_LCD1080CX.tgz

Doesn't work for me, the USB drive doesn't even light up.(Have the same files on my USB that you had doom)



I must have a defective service port.

Same here. Basically I followed their online instructions and it worked just fine, but here's more detail on what I did, in case you're still having problems:

It's probably not important, but my usb memory stick was a 512 meg Sandisk Cruzer Mini (looks very similar to the one in their photo), and I formatted it with FAT32 under winxp just prior to copying those two files to the root of the disk, per the online instructions. File I downloaded was SusanII_v1.3.0_20071026.rar, updated a Sept 2007 build. I also noticed that the instructions said that there would be status shown on-screen during the procedure, but my screen was black the entire time. I unplugged from the wall prior to plugging in the USB stick. After re-inserting the power cable to the back of the TX, I pressed the power button on the right side of the set itself for about 1 sec. LED was flashing purple while update took place, then turned solid blue when finished (they said it'd be 3 mins.. I didn't time it, but it was probably about that long). Once the LED on the front of the set had turned solid blue, I yanked the USB stick and pressed the power button.. a few seconds later, I had the W logo on the screen and new firmware installed.

-Burgerleg

[EDIT 1]: To confirm, if you have the 1.1.0 firmware, you must first do the 1.2.0 firmware upgrade. Then you can do the 1.3.0 upgrade. Be sure to write down your settings as the TV goes back to factory reset.

[EDIT 2]: My build date has now changed from September 7 to October 25. It had remained September 7 when I did the first upgrade. Let's hope I did not somehow screw myself. The set does work and is adding channels as I type, will let you know if anything strange or abnormal occurs.

[EDIT 3]: I had some issues with the PS3 during video playback, namely a flashing 1 or 2 pixel thick line at the bottom of the screen. This would happen every once in a while with the 1.1.0 firmware but could be fixed with a warm reboot/e.saver mode. With the 1.3.0 nothing would get rid of it. I am currently rolling back to the 1.2.0 firmware ... thank goodness it lets you!

[EDIT 4]: I am going back to the 1.3.0 firmware, gonna play with it for a day or two and see if I notice any major differences and maybe get rid of the flashing white line. Will report back soon. I hope to hear from the rest of you soon.

[EDIT 5]: Now that we have two different firmwares to play with, how about we start working on making some custom firmware? Maybe we can start tweaking the settings to see if we can eliminate certain issues the majority of us have been having. Seems like a fun project! I will not be available to do this until mid February so no rush.

Here is the link for the 1.3.0 --> Please go to the site to get firmware to prevent bricking.

Here is the link for the 1.2.0 --> Please go to the site to get firmware to prevent bricking.

Couple of things:

I had to use the 1.2.0 firmware as my original firmware was 1.1.0, don't know if I can use th 1.3.0 or not because every time I tried, nothing happened. Maybe you have to do 1.2.0 THEN 1.3.0??? I also had to go and rescan all my channels.

-- Alex

P.S. I had to use two different thumb drives before I found one that worked. The second one was a newer USB 2.0 compliant drive.

Do I need to disconnect EVERYTHING from my set or just the power cord?

Yup, that was it. About 5 hours of messing around and borrowing a few of my co-workers USB drives all I had to do was disconnect all inputs.

I just removed my power cord.

What firmware are you guys running after the update?

I have one of the earliest models of the TX-42 and Westinghouse's web site is offering me a different firmware download than the "SusanII" files others have discussed. Here's my TV info (pre firmware upgrade):

Software version: 5110_1.1.0
Build-on date: 2007 April 13
Part number: TW-51101-L042A

Here's the firmware link I see on Westinghouse's web site after I enter my serial number and reach the support page:

http://207.38.27.164/firmware/SW/42%...0%20v1.2.0.rar

Important: Do not download and install this firmware file on your TV! Use the Westinghouse web site to register your TV set and download the firmware for your particular model. This link is provided so others can examine the firmware files for comparison. Your set may need a different firmware download and may stop working if you install this one.

I haven't applied any firmware updates yet, but downloading the "SusanII" firmware from the links posted above and comparing to the "LX" firmware files gives some interesting information.

Older hardware ("LX"):

Firmware version as labeled: 1.2.0
Firmware update archive filename: update_WDE42.tgz
Contents of /board_root/model (inside tgz): LCD1080
File modification date of /board_root/images/mtd0: 6/24/2007 (1.2.0)

vs. Newer hardware ("CX" or "SusanII"):

Firmware version as labeled: 1.2.0 or 1.3.0
Firmware update archive filename: update_LCD1080CX.tgz
Contents of /board_root/model (inside tgz): LCD1080CX
File modification date of /board_root/images/mtd0: 9/11/2007 (1.2.0) / 10/31/2007 (1.3.0)

The fact that there are separate downloads (with apparently incompatible firmware) depending on when the TV was manufactured lends evidence to the theory that Westinghouse switched the type of panel/video processor used in the TV.

Trident and Westinghouse announced that the TX series was initially using the Trident HiDTV Pro LX video processor (press release) but it now looks like they've switched to the lower-end Trident SVP-CX video processor. Trident's product page has some information about the CX but it only claims to support up to 720p, so either their web site is out of date or maybe there's a newer variation used by Westinghouse.

As others have mentioned, it's interesting that the firmware is Linux-based. Inside the TGZ are some plaintext shell scripts which carry out the upgrade and that opens up the possibility of adding custom commands to be run during a firmware upgrade. It might be possible to gather some information about the filesystem and hardware and save it back to the USB key.

I'm pretty sure that Imit hit the nail on the head.

What kind of a performance loss are we seeing because of this?

Too bad they don't give complete spec's on the CX series chip.