The Official Pioneer 8G KURO Owner's Discussions Thread - Page 268

None, which is the main reason that made me reluctant to buy another PDP until interactive devices are available.

I am using a CableCARD with my PRO-150FD and the HD picture it renders is really amazing. As cable providers migrate more of their programming to SDV there will come a point where I will have to front end this display with another DCR device. Hopefully some kind of high-end TiVo like DVR that provides native support for M-Card services will become available during 2008-2009.

I had a question regarding CableCard, does 5080 support Open Cable two way CableCard which should be capable of SDV,TWC is going to start offering that soon.

Taking these two paragraphs together suggests what your ("future") impressions will be.

We are looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks. Ned.

No

I don't think its the noise you describe. I've seen that too on some sources and not there on good sources like Discovery HD. What I see it looks like is the pixels are actually shimmering or moving. That is why I thought it was the oribter but I turned that off and it still does it. Fingers crossed it goes away in another 100 hours.

There already is, it's called the Tivo HD. It does support M-cards already.

If you can use it, D* is now a decent alternative. The Mpeg4 channels are supposedly of pretty good quality now. Of course you'll still be stuck with the existing, compressed Mpeg2s, but it might be better than what you've got now.

I am under the impression that M-Cards are backward compatible with the TiVo Series 3 & TiVo HD, however both are one way devices that do not support PPV, on-Demand or SDV interactive CATV services.

I thought only the TiVo HD supported M-Cards. The Series 3 does, also?

D-Nice (or someone else)

Do you have an idea as to why I can't choose 1080p 24/25/50Hz as output from my VP50 to my 1080p Kuro?

The options are grayed out.

I can only choose the 1080p 60Hz option.

Is there a menu setting I need to change on the Kuro?

I'm running HDMI, Video mode, Dot by Dot.

Thanks
Martin

Did you go through Canadian Sound for the ISF calibration?

Thanks,
Basheer

The Tivo S3 requires a software upgrade to support M-card. There were many conflicting stories whether this was even possible, but the last I heard was that it was. The Tivo HD comes already capable for M-card.

The M-card supports the ability to use just 1 card where 2 were required. So for a Tivo HD, you can use 2 of the regular CCs or 1 M-card if your provider can get them.

The only 'negative' issue I've ever seen related to the PRO-150 is that some panels seem to have a relatively loud buzzing sound that is loud enough to at times disturb the viewing experience.

Other than that...it does indeed seem that they'rrrre GREAT!

Nope, but I wish. I believe you'd have to use TVERSITY instead of WMP 11.
Even then, the conversion process is kinda slow and not worth it.

I actually hooked up a USB drive to my TV to check out the quality of the gallery
and found I prefer hooking up my laptop for media. It's faster, looks better,
far more flexible, and supports everything (obviously).

Since the ASIC processor is identical to the 5080 (with the exception of supporting dot-by-dot)...processing/upscaling of SD should not be any better.

In fact, SD should look slightly worse on the 5010 as you're taking a 480i signal and trying to fill 1080 lines with it.

Versus taking 480i and trying to only fill 768 lines with it.

YMMV. Good luck with your decision, they're both great panels.

Basheer

Why not split the signal and use both a cable card and STB?

Interestingly it indicates that the PRO-1150HD has 1:1 mode....is that the same as dot-by-dot....I thought only the 1080p models supported this.

Basheer

From the PDP-5010FD Product Brochure ...

New ASIC video processing and scaling for the ultimate in Standard Definition and High Definition video performance

The literature gives the impression that the video processing has been upgraded ... some of the comments have indicated that the SD is no better ...

so what gives here ...

Is there a new ASIC or isn't there ?

Is there new processing or isn't there ?

Could we get some clarification from Pioneer here?

As I understand it....

All of the KURO's have the new ASIC processor.

The ELITEs have some additional features enabled on the processor.

My point was that they both have identical/almost identical processors...but due to the fact that you're upscaling to a much higher resolution...SD should naturally look worse on the 5010 than it would on the 5080.

Irrespective of the processor since they both have the same SD processing capabilities.

Basheer

Based on the difference in size alone from 42" to 60", you obviously will still see more 'noise' on the Kuro versus your Panny plasma when feeding it SDTV. I am surprised that you actually need an external processor at all, because if Danish TV at 576i is as 'clean' as the British broadcasts, I'd say that the Kuro would do an incredible job of scaling/up-converting the OTA broadcasts in 576i.

I have to agree with D-Nice here; you will see little to no improvement and perhaps might even see an actual degradation in picture quality by processing the signal twice. Yes, SDTV 'might' be marginally better, BUT pristine 1080i/p sources feed directly into the Kuro would look better than being processed prior to the display. Also, you may increase the chances of A/V synch problems as well. Bottom line: the processing is so excellent in the Pio alone, your $5K would be far better spent elsewhere imho.

Bish

$5k for a scaler?

That's not much less than the cost of the panel itself. For that much stash, the thing better "scale" the picture up to 1080p, into holographic 3D, and then right out of the TV and into my living room.

TiVo is currently attempting to reverse engineer two-way digital cable services w/M-Card(s) for its Series 3 & HD models:

Information about CableCARDs and Switched Digital Technology

Hi. I have the Pro 150 and I see the noise you are talking about. It is the only thing I am unhappy about with the TV. I am close to 200 hours and I am hoping it goes away. It is the tv and not the source because if you pause the program you can still see it. Even if you have a menu up you can see the noise in the video. I am going to be really unhappy if this noise does not go away. I have not really played with the picture adjustments yet so maybe it is my settings. But I am just using DNICE's breakin settings for the pure mode. I thought I saw a little less noise using the Standard mode. Just a slight bit less noise but it was still there. If I find a solution I will be sure to post it. I will not give up untill I try everything.

maybe you should use some of the noise reduction settings.

I have the same noise on my 110FD. I see it quite clearly when watching ESPN-HD - the people look perfectly clear, but the background is literally "crawling"


Anyone have some recommendations as to which ones and at what level?

Also - why doesn't D-Nice's setting include them if they are necessary for a picture without the "crawling ants" background?

The crawling ants has to do with the source. Also some films produce noise for effect ie 300, check out the kuro pics thread.

Is this crawling something you can see at normal viewing distance or do you have to get up to the screen to see it? Thanks

Basheer:


I asked Canadian Sound, but they were a little vague on what they could do, and ultimately couldn't recommend an ISF certified calibrator for plasmas.
Instead I went with Michael Chen (aka AVS user "Michael TLV", who's occasionally been called "Calibrator Extraordinare" at AVS)
My observations about my FHD1 calibration

I have and it does not seem to help.