Official Westinghouse TX Series ( TX-42F430S, TX-47F430S ) Owner's Thread - Page 155

I'd like to try your settings. Can you post them here?

James

sure, i'll try to get them soon and post. would love some feedback. hopefully i can do it tomorrow night

I'd like to try them, too- none of the settings posted here have mentioned the white or black levels.

ok, here are the settings i'm currently at. the input i've adjusted is the direct CABLE feed.

remember you have to adjust the settings for
user,game,sports,movie as the calibration settings affect them all. also i found out that the westy treats high def and standard def signals as seperate and therefore for this input you'll have to adjust for both. ie: if you adjust for high def channels, standard def channels on the same cable input is a separate adjustment.

you may think at first that this is alot of trouble but actually it gives you further flexiblity for adjusting for a better picture!


after adjusting the calibration settings, the picture will be very bright and i'm not kidding so don't be alarmed.

adjusting down the user settings will bring it all back into balance. of course you can do the user settings (outside calibration mode) first.

please note that these calibrations have been done soley by eye. the color balance is decent but i'm sure it can be better had i used a calibration disk. overall i'm satisfied for now til i have more time to use a disk on another input and then transfer them to the cable input.

other than that, give these settings a try and give some feedback


settings inside "calibration mode"

skin tone 12

warm-----------red 178
-----------------green 205
----------------blue 184

neutral-----red183
-------------green183
------------blue175

cool----------red180
---------------green184
--------------blue191

now for the regular video adjustment menu

settings for "user"

brightness 40
contrast 46
saturation 36
hue 52
sharpness 36
backlight 0
color temp warm


sports

brightness 31
contrast 43
saturation 41
hue 47
sharpness 40
backlight 0
color temp neutral

game

brightness 36
contrast 45
saturation 43
hue 45
sharpness 30
backlight 20
color temp warm

movie

brightness 31
contrast 43
saturation 37
hue 48
sharpness 20
backlight 0
color temp warm

Just to update for those curious about Westinghouse service: I have been talking with their support people (who are very helpful and friendly I should add) and after they authorized the RMA I mentioned the warranty statement and that shipping costs for me to get it there undamaged were crazy high. The gal I was talking to on that call said she would try to authorize shipping labels for me (aka pre-paid shipping) but couldn't guarantee that her supervisor would approve it. I was told to wait 7-10 days for authorization and that's what I'm currently doing.

The most surprising thing about it all was that it wasn't too hard to adapt back to the 25" 14 year old CRT set I borrowed from somebody as a substitute. Glad I kept all my analog cables anyway.

Is the SPDIF output on the TX42 a coax or optical connector?

I have the original model, June 2007 purchase and no firmware update. So far it is working flawlessly. Im going to be using a Logitech Z-5500 speaker setup and am working out the connection scheme... sources are:

FIOS HD-DVR box, Phillips 1080p upconverting DVD, and HTPC, all on HDMI. For the FIOS and Phillips I can either use the seperate digital outs OR I was thinking I could use the TV's digital out (as the original firmware passes the HDMI digital audio thru to the SPDIF output) and save a cable. But I look at it, it is covered by a piece of black plastic, and I can't tell whether I should pry it off, or what. Is it an optical SPDIF connector or a coax? The manual says basically NOTHING about the connector other than calling it "SPDIF output".

Also, the USB port seems to be concealed by a piece of plastic. If I wanted to update the firmware, do I need to pry off this plastic... just wondering if I got one with no actual USB connector? Or did everyone have to pop the cover off?

Been 9+ months, TV is great, had the HDMI lock up a couple of times.... SD vs HD switching, man does that HDMI/HDCP handshaking suck, worst design and programming ever... no doubt all FIOS (Motorola's) fault though. Power cycle with everything unplugged fixes it. So Im very very happy. Not one single dead/stuck pixel, no lines, no screendoor, no nothing, just spiffy.

Im thinking of putting a quiet fan on it, powered by my HTPC, just to make sure the processor/powersupply out back is kept cool and happy. Given the replacements now seem to NOT have the good IPS panels, I dont want to ever lose this to heat failure.

pop it off and find out, inquiring minds want to know.

Mine didn't have the cover on it. Pop it!

I prefer contrast to be much higher, around 75, but I've seen some ppl who keep it about where you are. Not sure if it's a panel/processor difference or just personal preference. You and just about everyone else prefer 'warm' color temp, but I think it looks horribly red. I'm all neutral. FWIW, I used a 3M Vikuiti DVD for calibration.


Mine (June build) is optical. I assume they all are.

under normal circumstances i would agree with you but have you noticed what i did in the calibration menu for r g b values. the set outputs insane amount of brightness at this level.

the lowered contrast is about normal 75-90 range for contrast with previous settings.

i'm sure there is some kind of loss going on with the punchier pq i'm going for but i believe it's making the westinghouse achieve a black level that is better than before.

the verdict is not in yet. i'm hoping for extra sets of eyes to help evaluate.

well, I am royally bummed. I have two TX47s both connected via HDMI to a denon 4308. This evening one wouldn't display any input. I tried all the hdmi and component ports. It will display TV. It appears to properly detect inputs, but then says "no input source" after a few seconds. I have tried multiple cables and multiple sources. I've tried power-cycling.
It worked this morning (before going to work... Hmm, maybe my work is the problem! :-)

Does anyone have any advice, other than returning it? Anybody seen any problem like this?

I've been very pleased up until now, and I really don't want to think about pulling it off the mount... Nor explaining to my wife why my "av improvement" hasn't made av entertainment any easier...

have you tried taking the denon out of the chain and using direct feed hdmi? after that i would try a separate hdmi source like a blu ray, ps3, hd dvd, pc source (to rule out your first one).

I was pretty skeptical about these settings just looking at the numbers on paper. The low skin tone and brightness, in particular. But cranking the RGB settings like you did actually results in a pretty nice picture, and I'd say they are a bit better than the settings I did myself. I like'em.

Also, thanks for the info about the TV using separate settings for SD broadcasts. While this doesn't help when a station like NBC (which is always broadcasting in 1080i even if it is showing SD programming), I was able to tweak them on a lot of secondary-dot stations like CW and the three extra PBS stations.

weird, the reply I posted last night isn't here...
my problem got resolved by leaving the tv unplugged from power for a long time - hour+

TX-42f430s

finally used the 2GB Sans Disk Cruzer Micro, and the update worked from 1.2.0 to 1.3.0.

No longer have the dreaded image retention thing which is nice. It was really starting to get on my nerves. I think I might go back and re-calibrate. I punched in the same settings as before, but the colors seem different.

Picked up the TX-42F430s two weeks ago. Finally, had time to install it last weekend. I've got HD through satellite on order. However, in the meantime, I've hooked up the 360 with HD DVD drive and an old DVD through the receiver and using the monitor out on the receiver connect into one of the two component inputs. I've got my PC running into HDMI 1, with an optical connection running to the receiver. Then I have a optical cable running from the TV out into the receiver and cable TV running into the tuner.

Everything is running awesome. I had some sizing issues with the PC to TV through the DVI to HDMI connection, however, I was able to use the NVidia software to fix that problem and is now running beautifully at 1080p full screen. HD through the HD DVD add-on drive for the 360 looks beautiful on the Westy.

My only complaint right now, is I have a Sony HDR-SR1, it has HDMI out with 5.1 surround sound, but when I connect the HDMI to the TV. I hear audio out of the TV speakers but when I change the setting to external. The audio is not going out of the receiver so I hear nothing. Only when I change it to mixed or internal do I hear sound, but only out of the TV. So obviously the camera is passing sound through the HDMI connection, but for some reason the tv isn't sending it to the reciever, in either 2 channel or 5.1 channel audio.

Thoughts?

I would bitch at you for asking something that has been answered many times in this thread already, but the AVS search function sucks so I won't hold it against you.

Ever since the original firmware (Apr '07 builds), Westinghouse disabled re-transmission of HDMI signals out from the TV in order to be HDCP-compliant. You may thank the scumbags who run Hollywood and their bought-and-paid-for Congresscritters for this wonderful 'feature'.

The optical out of this TV is one of its worst "features." With how neutered it is (even with using the internal tuner) I'm not sure why they even bothered adding it all.

After having read so many 'nightmare posts' here...believe me I've had some concerns about investing in a Harmony remote for my Westy 47 recently purchased for my bedroom. Especially regarding folks noting the HDMI sourcing issues. However, as amazon.com recently offered a sub-$100 price for an 880, I figured worst-case, I'd have a replacement for the 880 in my living room.

Today I opted to 'toughen up' and take a whack at setting up the new 880 for the bedroom. Not too much equipment to resolve: Westy 47" ; D*TiVo HR10-250 DVR ; Pioneer DV-400V-K DVD player ; and a hold-out Sony VCR for those oh-so-old titles that I just don't wish to double-dip on just yet.

Long story short...everything works just fine with the new 880 and the above equipment. The *only* goofy thing I had happen...wasn't even part of the equipment setup! At my headboard, I have an iPod docked into an iHome radio. Yeah...so sometimes it turns on when the 880 sends signals to the TV/equip. Whatever... I'm already 'there'...so I just press the 'off' button on the iHome base to shut it up. Silly.

- Dave

PS. I deleted an earlier post from this week about connecting the RCA inputs of a Sennheiser wireless headphone base to the Westy 47". I've since ironed that out. It was as easy RTFM and paying better attention to output vs input at the rear of the Westy. Connected correctly, now I just scroll the Audio -> Speaker selections on the Westy to Internal when I want to listen via the headphones (and not bother the wife).

I had the same plastic square covering my service port. I popped it off. After several attempts I am unable to upgrade the firmware. When I powered up the set the light turned from amber, to purple, then to blue. But I am still stuck on v. 1.2.

I may try to call Westinghouse. I hate this TV more every day.

I have given up on connecting anything to my HDMI ports. They are always dropping frames and HD content will eventually cause the set to lose the signal completely. So I have moved everything over to the 2 component inputs.

Ironically, I bought the set because I wanted 1080p. But my set can't handle that content. Ah, the regrets.

Thanks for not holding against me, I used the search, then started reading all the posts from the start of this thread. I read that Westy was putting out 2 channel through the optical out, just not 5.1 channel. Wondered if it was solve, but gave up reading after about 500 posts and decided to ask. Looks like they did solve it by disabling any sound coming out of the HDMI ports.

I appreciate the information, and since my Westy is pretty new I am guessing I have a more up-to-date firmware - hence the lack of any sound. Sucks, but I don't blame Westinghouse, I blame the idiots in Hollywood that actually believe the HDCP crap is going to fix anything.

Also, it seems like I have going to have to try and upgrade to the new firmware as well, because I was watching a movie through my PC last night and I was getting the screen burn that other people have mentioned on here. See, I do some of the messages.

hey guys just a little question, is there another way to do the tvblink thing than through a dvd player hooked up via composite or S-video? Like if i have my westy hooked up as a monitor to my computer, or to use it to test monitors? thanks

Hi, All, and thanks for all the helpful posts.

I'm trying to get my Apple Powerbook G4 1.33ghz 17" with a Radeon 9600 Mobility card to display well with my Westy TX-42. I can do 720p at 60hz, but when I do any interlaced output from the computer, such as 1080i at 60 hz (highest output possible from my mac's DVI), the screen is fuzzy. The TV does show it as an HDMI 1080i source on the Westy (I'm using a DVI-HDMI cable). And the computer does recognize the monitor, giving quite a bit of info on it. The computer also does 720p on my Westy 32". Any advice to take out the blur on the 42" using 1080i? I'm not able to alter the hz on the computer output for some reason. I have not yet tried using a DVI-VGA adapter, but I'll give that a shot as well.

Thanks!

Diz

I'm pretty sure VGA looks worse. But I am yet to hook up a computer to the TV, so I can't help you. Sorry

Xcalibur
Some things just bring you home, in head, in heart, and in forum. Sorry to hear of the misadventure.

Warm Regard.
Woobieizer

hey everybody:

i've had a little problem with my TX-42F430S for quite some time now, and have never been able to figure it out..

when i first got the TV, i hooked up my PC to it using a DVI-HDMI cable. everything worked really well and i was really happy with it.. then one day, my PC wouldn't display at all on the TV (i get the "no input signal").. after trying numerous settings and spending many hours trying to figure this out, i ended up switching to a DVI-SVGA cable, and of course i was very disappointed.

recently i decided to revisit this issue, and i read on this thread that someone tried unplugging their TV for a while and it reset things.. that didn't work for me. i've also tried using other cables..

the video card on the PC is an EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS and my firmware on the TV is the april 2007 build.

thoughts?

thanks!

OHMIGOD.. leaving it unplugged DID work!!!!!!!!!!! i just had to set up the video properly on the PC.. my apologies for the premature post, but suffice it to say i've got a HUUUUGE smile on my face now..

Sorry to hear your not getting far with them, This shouldn't even be a question for you getting them to pay to ship it since they are not going to honor the INHome service on the warranty. I sure hope mine doesn't brake on me.

Okay, I think I've run into something strange on my 47". If I'm viewing a local [non-HD] station, no matter how I adjust the ASPECT to Fill / Overscan...the pillar bars remain on the sides of the display. Shouldn't they go away with Fill / Overscan? More to the point, when I adjust the ASPECT to what should technically be 'normal' view for that non-HD broadcast, its as though I have DOUBLE pillars...and changing the ASPECT only, at best, gets me to single pillars.

Strange...

Are you using the tuner or a set top box?