Sony VPL-VW60 Tweakers Thread - Page 5

It looks like the 2000ES is going to be excellent. I believe it will have Master Audio through a firmware update. My local A/V guy who sold me the projector has one in, if it's not due out on a job I'm taking it tomorrow (Monday). Within this week, I'll finally be set. Denon 3808 supporting 1.3a and all audio formats is en route, as is my Toshiba A35. Add this Sony and my home theater is complete for a good while to come! After seven years of continual upgrades and tweaking, I will finally have a home theater and audio system that is transparent. Set it and forget it. Enjoy my movies and music rather than fiddle with equipment trying to fix problems. Can't wait

The sony should be good then. I know Pioneer has mae their first few Blu ray units for them. Not sure about this one though. There does come a time when it it time to take a break or leave of absence from upgrading... Hopefully one day I will.

Thanks for posting the service menu. I used to access it with my Ruby a lot. Looks like I really won't need to as much for the Black Pearl...

What does changing from Standard picture mode to Cinema picture mode really do? Lower maximum contrast so that no primaries run out of dynamic range? Does it change the gamma? Or does it just change the color temperature?

I'm using the complete listing of settings you provided earlier. If I use this tweak should I do it with gamma3 or gamma off?

It effects gamma regardless of which you have selected including off. I use gamma 3 as it is closest to 2.2

From what I have tested over the weekend, it looks like Sony sets the gamma before letting the bulb warm up as when I tested the gamma right after turning on the VW60 it was almost dead on at 2.2 but after the 30 minute warmup it dropped down to around 2.15

I am going to be messing around with Imagine Direct 3.0 and see of I can get it dialed into 2.2 when warmed up. I will try to do this this evening but no garranties.

Out of curiosity, does the user adjust allow for gamma modification at say low. middle and high IRE or is this solely with Image Direct? Also is this applicable to each channel or Master gain only?

ted

Thanks dude. I'll get this professionally calibrated as soon as I'm done with the theater completely but it's nice to dial it in somewhat in the mean time.

The user adjust is acrossed the board. You can adjust the gamma in the service menu but as I pointed out it is way to complicated with so many steps. That is were Image Director comes in.

Does anyone have a suggestion of a cheap photometer that would use to measure the lumen output for the projector? I have read that many are typically in the 600 to 1000 dollar range, but that seems steep for what my use would be.

I just want to gauge the VW60's light output over time and graph it at least somewhat accurately (using a constant projector setting, of course). That way I would know better when to think about changing the bulb, and could even track this for others.

I know that there are dirt cheap devices out there, but I have read that most of them are inappropriate for gaging light off of a reflective screen, which is what anyone checking a projector would need. Perhaps there really isn't a "bargain" solution. I just thought that I would check.

For lumens you can use a light meter. Many swear by the AEMC CA813 for ~$170.

If you have not yet read, TomHuffman's calibration thread is extremely helpfull.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=852536

Thanks for the quick reply. I took a look at that thread and was concerned about the possibility of using this unit with a front projector. I found another thread that addressed that point, so it should be fine. Now to look for the cheapest price (at work Ebay is blocked, so I'll have to wait until later).

Anyone interested in the other thread can find it here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ront+projector

Cool. Could check to see if you could adjust the R, G, and B gammas independently? Also, I was thinking, if all that the picture mode changes is the gamma, then you could conceivably go with the Standard picture mode to get more lumens, and then just use the Image Director 3 to change the gamma to 2.2 & voila you've gained lumens. No?

Joe, got my Sony 2000ES today...wow. It's just a perfect picture. Spot on. Not over-sharp/"enhanced"-looking (as the Samsung 1400 was), not soft. Just right. Great color representation, perfect fluid motion, no frame drops, stutters, etc. (even during Spiderman 2 on BR!). And a very, very detailed picture. I'm tickled

Wednesday my Toshiba A35 comes, and I'm all set for players.

(Mark, I highly suggest you check out this Sony I got. It looks to me like two top of the line separates is the way to go.)

[NOTE: I would advise anyone to stay away from Samsung. During Spiderman 2 I got the stuttering, stalling video/audio issue, but it wasn't present anywhere else (except for a couple small glitches in 2001). Then I updated the firmware this weekend and WHAM!, EVERY movie I played on it had stutters and drops in sound and motion--even the ones that played fine before the firmware "upgrade". That sucker went right back to Circuit City.]

Omar

I have the Pioneer 95FD but I will still check into the sony 2000ES. Where did you purchase it at?

Yes you can.

And yes your were correct in your thoughts.

I was able to take gamma 3 and use "Image Director" and adjust it to get a perfect 2.2 gamma across the spectrum. The black level detail that I have now is all but perfect.... I was able to check out some BluRay last night after adjusting the gamma and must say it looked fantastic. I also watched some of Hero's in HD from cable and it looked as good, if not better then my 42" plasma.

OK, how about some links and pricing on this Sony 2000ES piece???? I did a google and come up with nothing????

Here it is:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665228713

No DTS-HD MASTER? Ouch...

No SACD either. Bummer!

ES my A__!

Looks like I can scratch that one from my short list..... Back to looking at the Samsung dual or LG dual players....

How can sony release this unit with a msrp of 1299 and it still do less then players that cost less than half of it? Sony is not doing themselves any favors...

I just got a VW60 and am trying to catch up with this thread. Thanks to all for posting the settings. Just wanted to warn people about posting color temp settings.

My previous PJ was a Sony HS-51 and there seem to be a lot of similarities in the menus and settings. Early on in the tweak thread for the HS-51 we discovered that the standard color temp settings in the service menu varied from one PJ to another. It wasn't clear if this was intentional to compensate for variations from unit to unit, or just sloppy configuration on Sony's part. It also wasn't clear how this would affect testing someone's user menu color temp settings which seem to be relative to the service menu settings. I had to send my HS-51 into a Sony service center for a firmware upgrade and when it came back the standard Low, Medium and High settings in the service menu were very different and much worse.

I'm not really sure what to make of all this, but the moral might be to only post and use service menu settings and realize that they may not look the same on every unit.

Whoa whoa!!! Hehe...I go away for a few hours and there's a mutiny!

The 2000ES will add HD Master as a firmware update. Don't fear! Regarding SACD, well I don't worry about that because I have a Denon 2930 that does SACD and DVD-A via Denon Link...only need the 2000ES for movies. And the pic is FANTASTIC...blows away the 1400 I had for several days. At least go check one out. They are only available, I believe, though high end audio/video dealers, so look to your local home theater installer for a sample. Don't pass it by without at least seeing it first. The build quality is excellent, as is the picture.

(Crutchfield has the 2000ES, and they have a 30 day return policy)

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...+2000ES&tp=171

Pioneer made their original players so I wonder if they had their hand in this one. I still will check one out to see the picture. DTS-HD Master is my favorite though and I have that with the Pioneer 95FD and also with the A35...

Thanks for the link. I will try one and report back.

What did you use to connect to the projector? A standard serial to serial?

Omar

Cool Joe Now that's the objective spirit!

Omar

Yes, pins 2,3 and 5 with 2 and 3 crossed.

Can your 1930 pass SACD sound over HDMI?