Warning: Do this reset at your own risk!
I take no responsibility to what happends to your tv!
it worked for me and many other Kuro users and should work for others with the similar aging problems (red tinted poor blacks)
Note: if your Kuro have replaced parts such as the Digital Assy board you can get into trouble after the reset!
you must be sure that the new Assy Board have the data from the panels sensor backup.
if your Kuro only has original parts and nothing is replaced you should be safe.
Purpose of a Reset:
To get rid of the Red Tinted blacks and to get back the real Kuro Blacklevel.
i Bought my first LX5090 Kuro 2 months ago and the blacklevel was really bad at 0.0145fL
and it also had the red tint to it.
Now after the reset and some other tweaks the blacklevel is unmeasurable with a Xrite i1 Display Pro colormeter.
that means that the blacklevel is now under 0.00058fL
the ANSI contrast ratio is three to four times as high as it was before the reset.
What you need:
Get controlcal and activate it after registration
www.controlcal.com
you must register for the "Kuro Tv Special Profile" to be able to get into the service menu
Another Solution is to use KuroControl
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1240606/kurocontrol-program-for-pioneer-krp500m-600m-and-elites
(This guides workflow is from using controlcal but the commands for the reset is the same.)
Also you must get a "straight" rs232 serial cable (not a null modem cable)
and probably a usb to rs232 adapter (more info on the controlcal forums)
Adapter:
http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RS-232-Serial-Converter-TU-S9/dp/B0007T27H8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389882111&sr=8-1&keywords=straight+rs232+serial+cable
Serial Cable:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-10-Feet-Straight-Through-Serial/dp/B000A7NROO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389886710&sr=8-2&keywords=straight+rs232+serial+cable
Pioneer 8G 9G Kuro Reset Guide
(8Gs will look different in the Servicemenu
this is from a 9G Kuro)
1: Start controlcal and Tick AUTO SEND and untick ERROR DIALOGS
2: Open the kuro tv special profile and press SM ON
3: Quit controlcal
you should now see an error on the tv screen but you are still in the service menu
4: Start controlcal again
5: Untick HEX input
6: Now you can start to send the reset commands.
You need to look at the tv when you have sent a command to see that the command is showing up on the tv.
you should get one error from these when you send it.
i cant remember which now.
write down the one/ones that gets an Error.
7: Write these commands one by one and hit Enter (on your keyboard) after each one.
CHM
CHR
CNG
CMT
CPC
CPD
CPM
CSD
8: Check that every command is sent (no error) except maybe for CHR.
9: When done open the kuro tv special profile again and press SM OFF.
10: Press Power OFF.
11: Unplug the power cable from the kuro for about 5 min.
12: Reset Done!
IF voltage adjustments is needed after the reset here is the way to get to the voltages in the service menu
i dont know how your service menu is build compared to mine LX5090 but you need to navigate to PANEL FACTORY (+)
here is my path to get there
Press Mute twice on the remote until it says PANEL FACTORY (+)
Press ENTER
Press Page down 4 times until it says PANEL -1 ADJ (+)
Press ENTER
SM ON
Press Mute here
1st Press Mute
2nd Press Mute
Press ENTER here
and you will get to this screen
Press Page down here
1st Page down
power-on time and current/max temp
2nd Page down
History of the last 8 Power Downs
(this list was full after i had adjusted the voltage regulators so one more reset was needed to clean it up
)
3rd Page down
History of the last 8 Shut Downs
4th Page down
Press Enter here to get into the Voltages
inside PANEL -1 ADJ (+)
VOL SUS first voltage setting in the list
To change the setting of the current voltage use left or right arrow keys on the remote
Down arrow to get to the next voltage
Adjustments to some voltages after the reset may be needed if you experience artifacts in the picture or if you want to lower MLL even more.
the ones that should be adjusted inside the adjustment ranges from the servicemanual is these.
VOL SUS
YKNOFS1D
YKNOFS3D
YKNOFS4 D
Adjustment Ranges for the European LX5090 non "H":
Adjustment Ranges for the KRP 500m:
YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D must be adjusted at the same amount/distance between them up or down inside the adjustment range.
lower both will lower the blacks.
(to get out from PANEL -1 ADJ (+) hold ENTER on the remote)
When you are done with the Voltage Tweaks DO ANOTHER RESET and then leave the voltages!
/Cred to Stu03 for the workflow for the Reset.
/ Cred to wxman for testing and tips
Test: How Black is your Kuro? To get even lower blacks after the reset you dont need any expencive colormeter to measure them,just use your eyes for this test.
(Note: The 111 Elites will not go as low as the KRPs or the LX5090)
you need to put up a 5% white window to see the glow/light at the black parts of the screen.
you will not see it with a 10% window.
your eyes are far more sensitive to light in a complete dark room
you will see even the slightest glow if you wait long enough
so thats why this is perfect
everyone can do it
download the MP4 testpatterns from AVSHD709
http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration
put up the 5% white window (found in \MP4-2c\ChromaPure Windows\5% Grayscale)
use a complete dark room
you can not have any light at all except for the 5% window.
wait for a few minutes so your eyes get used to the dark
what you see now at the black parts of the screen is probably a low uneven glow with some blotches.
put up the service menu and Lower YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D (same amount) some
do the test again.
when you only see the 5% window and nothing more you are done.
if you lower YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D to much you will get artifacts/black rain in the picture.
Note:
To compensate for the lower black level(details near black) when lowering YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D
you can raise the brightness setting from 0 to +1
if you now go back you can still see that you have those great blacks with with 5% window but you will have a much better black level if you watch the "black clipping" MP4 file.
flashing up to the "20" point.
or you can just leave the brightness setting at 0 default
what happends is that you will get a higher gamma around IRE 10 (10% black)
most of the time a higher gamma near black looks better even if you lose some details.
just try and see what looks best.
if you still see a glow with low APL scenes in a pitch dark room its probably because you have a white wall reflecting light from the wall to the display.
Solution: paint the wall black
The Only downside with these lower Blacks is that you will see some "black rain" as seen in the picture
but thats only when you entering the menu or if you change aspect ratio from 2.35:1 to 16:9
it will not appear with regular viewing.
After the reset you should calibrate the tv with the ISFccc profiles to get the most out of your Kuro.
every Kuro should have a flat gamma curve at 2.3
with the ISFccc profiles and 9 point IRE settings you can have it.
For a complete guide to what i have done with the kuro check here:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1507182/guide-how-to-get-the-best-out-of-your-pioneer-9g-kuro#post_24107748
Examples of the lower blacks and the 40000:1 ansi contrast ratio i got after the reset.
I take no responsibility to what happends to your tv!
it worked for me and many other Kuro users and should work for others with the similar aging problems (red tinted poor blacks)
Note: if your Kuro have replaced parts such as the Digital Assy board you can get into trouble after the reset!
you must be sure that the new Assy Board have the data from the panels sensor backup.
if your Kuro only has original parts and nothing is replaced you should be safe.
Purpose of a Reset:
To get rid of the Red Tinted blacks and to get back the real Kuro Blacklevel.
i Bought my first LX5090 Kuro 2 months ago and the blacklevel was really bad at 0.0145fL
and it also had the red tint to it.
Now after the reset and some other tweaks the blacklevel is unmeasurable with a Xrite i1 Display Pro colormeter.
that means that the blacklevel is now under 0.00058fL
the ANSI contrast ratio is three to four times as high as it was before the reset.
What you need:
Get controlcal and activate it after registration
www.controlcal.com
you must register for the "Kuro Tv Special Profile" to be able to get into the service menu
Another Solution is to use KuroControl
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1240606/kurocontrol-program-for-pioneer-krp500m-600m-and-elites
(This guides workflow is from using controlcal but the commands for the reset is the same.)
Also you must get a "straight" rs232 serial cable (not a null modem cable)
and probably a usb to rs232 adapter (more info on the controlcal forums)
Adapter:
http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-RS-232-Serial-Converter-TU-S9/dp/B0007T27H8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389882111&sr=8-1&keywords=straight+rs232+serial+cable
Serial Cable:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-10-Feet-Straight-Through-Serial/dp/B000A7NROO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389886710&sr=8-2&keywords=straight+rs232+serial+cable
Pioneer 8G 9G Kuro Reset Guide
(8Gs will look different in the Servicemenu
this is from a 9G Kuro)
1: Start controlcal and Tick AUTO SEND and untick ERROR DIALOGS
2: Open the kuro tv special profile and press SM ON
3: Quit controlcal
you should now see an error on the tv screen but you are still in the service menu
4: Start controlcal again
5: Untick HEX input
6: Now you can start to send the reset commands.
You need to look at the tv when you have sent a command to see that the command is showing up on the tv.
you should get one error from these when you send it.
i cant remember which now.
write down the one/ones that gets an Error.
7: Write these commands one by one and hit Enter (on your keyboard) after each one.
CHM
CHR
CNG
CMT
CPC
CPD
CPM
CSD
8: Check that every command is sent (no error) except maybe for CHR.
9: When done open the kuro tv special profile again and press SM OFF.
10: Press Power OFF.
11: Unplug the power cable from the kuro for about 5 min.
12: Reset Done!
IF voltage adjustments is needed after the reset here is the way to get to the voltages in the service menu
i dont know how your service menu is build compared to mine LX5090 but you need to navigate to PANEL FACTORY (+)
here is my path to get there
Press Mute twice on the remote until it says PANEL FACTORY (+)
Press ENTER
Press Page down 4 times until it says PANEL -1 ADJ (+)
Press ENTER
SM ON
Press Mute here
1st Press Mute
2nd Press Mute
Press ENTER here
and you will get to this screen
Press Page down here
1st Page down
power-on time and current/max temp
2nd Page down
History of the last 8 Power Downs
(this list was full after i had adjusted the voltage regulators so one more reset was needed to clean it up
3rd Page down
History of the last 8 Shut Downs
4th Page down
Press Enter here to get into the Voltages
inside PANEL -1 ADJ (+)
VOL SUS first voltage setting in the list
To change the setting of the current voltage use left or right arrow keys on the remote
Down arrow to get to the next voltage
Adjustments to some voltages after the reset may be needed if you experience artifacts in the picture or if you want to lower MLL even more.
the ones that should be adjusted inside the adjustment ranges from the servicemanual is these.
VOL SUS
YKNOFS1D
YKNOFS3D
YKNOFS4 D
Adjustment Ranges for the European LX5090 non "H":
Adjustment Ranges for the KRP 500m:
YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D must be adjusted at the same amount/distance between them up or down inside the adjustment range.
lower both will lower the blacks.
(to get out from PANEL -1 ADJ (+) hold ENTER on the remote)
When you are done with the Voltage Tweaks DO ANOTHER RESET and then leave the voltages!
/Cred to Stu03 for the workflow for the Reset.
/ Cred to wxman for testing and tips
Test: How Black is your Kuro? To get even lower blacks after the reset you dont need any expencive colormeter to measure them,just use your eyes for this test.
(Note: The 111 Elites will not go as low as the KRPs or the LX5090)
you need to put up a 5% white window to see the glow/light at the black parts of the screen.
you will not see it with a 10% window.
your eyes are far more sensitive to light in a complete dark room
you will see even the slightest glow if you wait long enough
so thats why this is perfect
everyone can do it
download the MP4 testpatterns from AVSHD709
http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration
put up the 5% white window (found in \MP4-2c\ChromaPure Windows\5% Grayscale)
use a complete dark room
you can not have any light at all except for the 5% window.
wait for a few minutes so your eyes get used to the dark
what you see now at the black parts of the screen is probably a low uneven glow with some blotches.
put up the service menu and Lower YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D (same amount) some
do the test again.
when you only see the 5% window and nothing more you are done.
if you lower YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D to much you will get artifacts/black rain in the picture.
Note:
To compensate for the lower black level(details near black) when lowering YKNOFS3D and YKNOFS4D
you can raise the brightness setting from 0 to +1
if you now go back you can still see that you have those great blacks with with 5% window but you will have a much better black level if you watch the "black clipping" MP4 file.
flashing up to the "20" point.
or you can just leave the brightness setting at 0 default
what happends is that you will get a higher gamma around IRE 10 (10% black)
most of the time a higher gamma near black looks better even if you lose some details.
just try and see what looks best.
if you still see a glow with low APL scenes in a pitch dark room its probably because you have a white wall reflecting light from the wall to the display.
Solution: paint the wall black
The Only downside with these lower Blacks is that you will see some "black rain" as seen in the picture
but thats only when you entering the menu or if you change aspect ratio from 2.35:1 to 16:9
it will not appear with regular viewing.
After the reset you should calibrate the tv with the ISFccc profiles to get the most out of your Kuro.
every Kuro should have a flat gamma curve at 2.3
with the ISFccc profiles and 9 point IRE settings you can have it.
For a complete guide to what i have done with the kuro check here:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1507182/guide-how-to-get-the-best-out-of-your-pioneer-9g-kuro#post_24107748
Examples of the lower blacks and the 40000:1 ansi contrast ratio i got after the reset.