[bcpc]

So our family recently purchased a new TH-50PX80U for our living room. For the first 20 hours, we watched a lot of TV, some movies, and I did about 8 hours of gaming on there. That resulted in 22 hours of use without break-in. I got break-in images and put them on an SD card. TV's been breaking in since last night on Cinema with 50s all around for the settings, and all auto image/color stuff turned off.


Anyway, on to my question. I've read the posts on the calibration disk, and unfortunately, I cannot burn DVDs or have Blu-Ray or an upscaling DVD player.


I used the THX Optimizer and set the settings for Cinema and Game. I then went on these forums and checked out ALL of the settings that other people use for the model TV that we have. Their brightness and color seemed to be significantly lower than the settings I used. Both settings that I used were around +15-20 up than the other users settings. I posted on that thread, and someone said that the brightness I was using (75-80s) was WAY too high for the set and would definitely cause burn-in, especially with the games.


Now, with the THX optimizer on SD DVDs, the brightness test was to make the drop shadow disappear and still see the THX. I did that, but added a bit of brightness because the Cinema setting is way too dark for my tastes. I've run the white line test and again, have been breaking in the set when no one is using it.


I like the colors to be bright and vivid, but the average setting for color that all the user settings I've seen was around 45. I used 65 and up. Game mode's brightness was set a bit high, and will lower that down in the future after break-in.


Any input or opinions on this? Is this just a preference thing? Could I cause any long term damage if I set the settings higher AFTER break-in? I don't game for more than an hour and a half or 2 hours. The THX Optimizer seemed to work very well, but I heard that it's movie specific, can anyone confirm this? What can I expect for the brightness and quality of the image after break-in?

 

[bcpc]

Anything at all?

 

[StinDaWg]

Break in is not needed. Set the brightness at 50 and contrast at 70 on Cinema and tweak from there.

 

[bcpc]

Thank you for the reply, StinDaWg. Even though you said break-in's not needed, I just went with it anyway since I was in the middle of it already. TV's at 108 hours, and I used the THX Optimizer to make my settings using The Empire Strikes Back DVD.


The brightness for Cinema and Game modes were almost the same. But, I'm going to be using Cinema for everything now, since my eyes have gotten used to it. It does look much nicer now. And my settings have gone way down.

 

[Bill1313]

What were your final picture settings? I'm also looking for "Sound" settings until it gets hooked up to some kind of a Sound Bar or Receiver.

 

[bcpc]

I'm at work right now, but they're pretty close to as follows:


Cinema Mode

Picture: 75-80.

Brightness: 58

Color: 52-54. (I like a more vivid color, most peoples are in the mid-range 40s for color).

Tint: -2 or +2. I can't really tell all that much. Go with whatever you prefer.

Sharpness: Anything 80s+ I think. Judging by the THX test at least. Could be better set lower.

Black level: Light

Everything else: Off.

 

[googleme7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bcpc /forum/post/15537468


I'm at work right now, but they're pretty close to as follows:


Cinema Mode

Picture: 75-80.

Brightness: 58

Color: 52-54. (I like a more vivid color, most peoples are in the mid-range 40s for color).

Tint: -2 or +2. I can't really tell all that much. Go with whatever you prefer.

Sharpness: Anything 80s+ I think. Judging by the THX test at least. Could be better set lower.

Black level: Light

Everything else: Off.

Hello, that was me who said your settings were way too high. I just saw your private message. I just used the Empire Strikes Back DVD to calibrate, because it was recently on SPIKE TV in HD and I wanted to compare the original formatted DVD to the "stretchovision" HD broadcast. I actually used CUSTOM to set the THX specs, because I wanted to keep the current CINEMA mode I had set to the Tweak TV settings posted in the main thread so I could compare back and forth.


Here is what I came up with for THX (I used a 1080i upconvert player for the calibration):


CUSTOM


Picture: 67

Brightness: 51

Color: 43

Tint: -8

Sharpness: 53

Color Temp: Warm

Advanced: Black Level LIGHT

Everything Else: OFF


*I was unable to see the THX letters at all with Black Level set to DARK. I was a big fan of setting it to DARK, but I have noticed with CUSTOM I can tolerate it set to LIGHT a lot better than on Cinema, especially with the tweak tv settings that look too washed out to me with it set to LIGHT.


The Empire Strikes Back DVD looked very good, I wouldn't say great because it is afterall a DVD. The Spike TV broadcast didn't look that much better. Checking out some other HD broadcasts like Pirates of The Caribbean as well as some NBA games gave me an excellent picture. I would say at this point that the settings above are the best I have found thus far.


*Also note that I have the 42" and Tweak TV had the Contrast up 5 ticks higher on the 50":

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post13749684


Hope this helps.

 

[bcpc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by googleme7 /forum/post/15538399


Hello, that was me who said your settings were way too high. I just saw your private message. I just used the Empire Strikes Back DVD to calibrate, because it was recently on SPIKE TV in HD and I wanted to compare the original formatted DVD to the "stretchovision" HD broadcast. I actually used CUSTOM to set the THX specs, because I wanted to keep the current CINEMA mode I had set to the Tweak TV settings posted in the main thread so I could compare back and forth.


Here is what I came up with for THX (I used a 1080i upconvert player for the calibration):


CUSTOM


Picture: 67

Brightness: 51

Color: 43

Tint: -8

Sharpness: 53

Color Temp: Warm

Advanced: Black Level LIGHT

Everything Else: OFF


*I was unable to see the THX letters at all with Black Level set to DARK. I was a big fan of setting it to DARK, but I have noticed with CUSTOM I can tolerate it set to LIGHT a lot better than on Cinema, especially with the tweak tv settings that look too washed out to me with it set to LIGHT.


The Empire Strikes Back DVD looked very good, I wouldn't say great because it is afterall a DVD. The Spike TV broadcast didn't look that much better. Checking out some other HD broadcasts like Pirates of The Caribbean as well as some NBA games gave me an excellent picture. I would say at this point that the settings above are the best I have found thus far.


*Also note that I have the 42" and Tweak TV had the Contrast up 5 ticks higher on the 50":

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post13749684


Hope this helps.

I'm actually very happy with my settings as of right now on Cinema. I would also like to set my Black settings to dark, but it is just too dark to have it set to that. Just watched Return of the Jedi with the settings I've posted, and it looked extremely nice.


Exact settings are:


Cinema Mode

Picture: 80 - Again, Cinema is a little dark for my taste, and with the Contrast/Picture test for the THX Optimizer, no matter if it was 100 or 20, I can see the different colored squares. I think 80 is a nice number for me. I could lower it if it may be harmful for the TV.

Brightness: 58 - This is the setting where the shadow on the THX is completely gone. I think I may have set it a bit lower, too.

Color: 52 - Again, I like a bit more vivid and bright color. 60 had too much saturation, but 52 has a nice balance of bright and vivid, but not too much saturation.

Tint: I really can't tell. I have it set at -2.

Sharpness: 70 - Again, I can't really tell with this. I have set it lower to try and see anything. I'll play around with it more.


I will give those TweakTV settings a try, though. Thanks for the info, googleme7.

 

[duffman13]

I was initially using some suggested settings from larryinRI but ended up changing them alot later on. I have my tint at -7 and color temp set to cool. It made my whites look a bit brighter while still pushing towards wht seemed like natural colors fo the other parts of the spectrum. Is the THX optimizer on the Empire Strikes Back in the boxed set that has the silver Darth Vader outer box? I have it at home and might try it tonight.

 

[bcpc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by duffman13 /forum/post/15541686


I was initially using some suggested settings from larryinRI but ended up changing them alot later on. I have my tint at -7 and color temp set to cool. It made my whites look a bit brighter while still pushing towards wht seemed like natural colors fo the other parts of the spectrum. Is the THX optimizer on the Empire Strikes Back in the boxed set that has the silver Darth Vader outer box? I have it at home and might try it tonight.

We recently just purchased the old Trilogy from Costco, it's a newer box set that has all three movies in very thin DVD boxes, that also include a Special Features DVD for each movie. The front of the box set has Darth Vader on the top and Vader and Luke having a Lightsaber duel. A newer box apparently, but I think that same movie will work.


You can probably also try Return of the Jedi as I did the test there also, and it came out pretty much the same.


And a note of when I watched Return of the Jedi. Even with the Black settings to Light, Darth Vader's blacks were as black as can be, but you can still get the details from the light bouncing off his armor and whatnot. Very nice.

 

[dhewie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bcpc /forum/post/15505057


I used the THX Optimizer and set the settings for Cinema and Game. I then went on these forums and checked out ALL of the settings that other people use for the model TV that we have. Their brightness and color seemed to be significantly lower than the settings I used. Both settings that I used were around +15-20 up than the other users settings. I posted on that thread, and someone said that the brightness I was using (75-80s) was WAY too high for the set and would definitely cause burn-in, especially with the games.


Now, with the THX optimizer on SD DVDs, the brightness test was to make the drop shadow disappear and still see the THX. I did that, but added a bit of brightness because the Cinema setting is way too dark for my tastes. I've run the white line test and again, have been breaking in the set when no one is using it.

I tried that from one of our dvd's a couple days ago. I couldn't believe it when I got to the brightness test and couldn't even see the THX. I had to crank it way up, and didn't leave it there since I like where it's set now.

 

[PrimeTime]

bcpc,


No one else here will say it, so I will.


Sounds like you would have been happier with an LCD.

 

[bcpc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PrimeTime /forum/post/15546243


bcpc,


No one else here will say it, so I will.


Sounds like you would have been happier with an LCD.

And why would that be? I'm very happy with our TV right now.

 

[PrimeTime]

If you're happy, I'm happy. Its just that, when you said:

"I like the colors to be bright and vivid, but the average setting for color that all the user settings I've seen was around 45. I used 65 and up."


You seem to prefer things set closer to the so-called "Torch Mode." Which is how plasmas are set when they are trying to compete with the augmented brightness range of LCDs in stores. So...


...Why try to emulate an LCD when you can have the real thing?

 

[googleme7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PrimeTime /forum/post/15548406


If you're happy, I'm happy. Its just that, when you said:

"I like the colors to be bright and vivid, but the average setting for color that all the user settings I've seen was around 45. I used 65 and up."


You seem to prefer things set closer to the so-called "Torch Mode." Which is how plasmas are set when they are trying to compete with the augmented brightness range of LCDs in stores. So...


...Why try to emulate an LCD when you can have the real thing?

But you also don't take into consideration the source he was using. He was using a standard DVD player with no upconversion. When using a source like that, your eyes can't see the vivid colors you would expect in a brand new Plasma and thus you are tempted to turn the color up a bit. When you switch from that over to an HD source, you will see how good this tv looks. And believe me, it starts to look better after the first month or so of use.


And an LCD would look absolutely horrible with the source he is running.

 

[bcpc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PrimeTime /forum/post/15548406


If you're happy, I'm happy. Its just that, when you said:

"I like the colors to be bright and vivid, but the average setting for color that all the user settings I've seen was around 45. I used 65 and up."


You seem to prefer things set closer to the so-called "Torch Mode." Which is how plasmas are set when they are trying to compete with the augmented brightness range of LCDs in stores. So...


...Why try to emulate an LCD when you can have the real thing?

True, I used color up to 65. But, after I broke in the TV, and it has over 120 hours on it I believe, I've toned down the settings quite a bit. 52 has very nice color, a bit of saturation that I do not mind and that's only if it's a really intense red/orange/pink (X-Wing thrust was the only time I saw a bit of saturation). Gaming wise, everything looks crisp and vivid, even in Cinema.


This is why I was asking if there was going to be any difference after break-in. Also, my eyes have gotten used to Cinema mode and I'm liking it very much. Game mode may be a bit too much now. I've tried messing with the settings, but I think I'm just going to keep at Cinema mode.


I watched the Star Wars movies through my Xbox 360 set at 720p (which looked AMAZING by the way). I did the calibration using the Xbox, too, after break-in. My current settings have drastically changed from the out of the box settings I used to have through the same calibration. Although it is still a bit higher than most people, that's how I like it. And what's wrong with using settings that I personally like, anyway? Why does the fact that I wanted to use higher settings to suit my taste factor in me "being happier with an LCD"? I did lots of research, and for the amazing picture quality and the price (500 off of regular price believe it or not), why would I have gone for an LCD?


Like I said, after break-in, my settings have gone down.

 

[googleme7]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bcpc /forum/post/15550428


True, I used color up to 65. But, after I broke in the TV, and it has over 120 hours on it I believe, I've toned down the settings quite a bit. 52 has very nice color, a bit of saturation that I do not mind and that's only if it's a really intense red/orange/pink (X-Wing thrust was the only time I saw a bit of saturation). Gaming wise, everything looks crisp and vivid, even in Cinema.


This is why I was asking if there was going to be any difference after break-in. Also, my eyes have gotten used to Cinema mode and I'm liking it very much. Game mode may be a bit too much now. I've tried messing with the settings, but I think I'm just going to keep at Cinema mode.

I watched the Star Wars movies through my Xbox 360 set at 720p (hich looked AMAZING by the way). I did the calibration using the Xbox, too, after break-in. My current settings have drastically changed from the out of the box settings I used to have through the same calibration. Although it is still a bit higher than most people, that's how I like it. And what's wrong with using settings that I personally like, anyway? Why does the fact that I wanted to use higher settings to suit my taste factor in me "being happier with an LCD"? I did lots of research, and for the amazing picture quality and the price (500 off of regular price believe it or not), why would I have gone for an LCD?


Like I said, after break-in, my settings have gone down.

Set it to 1080i or 1080p you will be much happier

And you will probably have to change your settings again.

 

[bcpc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by googleme7 /forum/post/15552071


Set it to 1080i or 1080p you will be much happier

And you will probably have to change your settings again.

Will that make a difference? I've tried setting it that way before, 1080i I couldn't tell any difference. When I tried setting it to 1080p, the Xbox took a while to get going and display an image. But, I'll try it again and experiment. Thanks for the tip

 

[darklordjames]

"Set it to 1080i or 1080p you will be much happier

And you will probably have to change your settings again."


The correct answer would have been 480i. Send the display the disc's native signal and let it do the scaling. I'm just saying, if you're going to try to correct someone's resolution choice due to scaling, then it would be best to correct them into using the best scaler at their disposal.

"Any input or opinions on this? Is this just a preference thing? Could I cause any long term damage if I set the settings higher AFTER break-in?"


I just picked up my PX80 on Monday, and took today off work to play with it all day. My non-movie-specific THX Optimizer will be the first calibration disc that goes in, so I'll come back with settings after I play around a bit.

 

[bcpc]

I was looking around on the Xbox's display options, and new options that weren't there before have popped up. I switched from VGA to HDMI, so that's the reason these new options came up. Anyway, had a question on one of the options. It's the "HDMI Color Spacing" options. Here's what each option has to offer:


HDMI Colour Space options:


* Auto: Automatically use RGB or YCbCr based on HDMI recommendations for resolution and content type

* Source- Automatically use RGB or YCbCr based on game or video source

* RGB-Always display games and videos in GRB format. RGB is supported by all HDMI- compliant displays

* YCbCr709- Always display.... YCbCr709 is typically used for HD movies

* YCbCr601- Always display......YCbCr601 is typically used for SD movies


Not too sure what to set it to. I'm thinking Source or Auto. It's default setting was RGB. What do you guys think? And I set it to 1080p and watched the same scene in Return of the Jedi. Didn't notice any difference, really.


EDIT: I found a lengthy thread here on AVS that is dedicated to this option, but I still don't get it too much. I'll keep on reading, though.