I have recently got this set and am still learning about it. My question is, I tried calibrating it with THX Optimizer (I still need an Avia disc, I know, but I'm really short on any cash after the holidays), but the settings still don't look right too me. DVDs look a little fuzzy, and gamecube looks kind of bad. Regular TV looks good, as good as analog cable is going to get. I'm wondering what setting others are using for this set for the picture, brightness, color, hue, sharpness etc. Also any tips on how to converhge this set or is the flash focus good enough? Also, I have a Pioneer DV45A DVD player, if I have this set for progressive, what should I set the DRC mode on the Sony to (interlaced, progressive, or cinemotion). Any other tips anyone can offer is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
hey, how do you like this tv? I may try to get one......any other problems with it? How does 4:3 tv material look on it? and your gamecube plays in 4:3 too, with gray bars on the sides, right?
Geoff, Be sure the set is in Pro or Movie mode when calibrating. The other modes add edge enhancement and other picture mods that don't look great with high quality sources but can help with mediocre analog stuff. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Sonys can take a sharpness setting of 30-40% or so, not 0. When fed a progressive scan signal, the DRC modes are not usuable. DRC is the set's built-in de-interlacing for 480i inputs and is not necessary if the incoming signal is already de-interlaced (already 480p) from the player. If that Pioneer is the infamous model that lacks 3/2 pulldown, you will probably get a better picture using it's interlaced output and letting the set do the de-interlacing as the set does have 3/2 pulldown. FYI, the DRC modes are as follows: Interlaced--converts incoming 480i to 960i, used mostly for regular incoming tv signals like your analog cable, best for 480i sources with lots of movement. Progressive--converts incoming 480i to 480p with no 3/2 pulldown, used for viewing video-based dvds or 480i stuff with little movement. Cinemotion--converts 480i to 480p and applies 3/2 pulldown when necessary for film based dvds. 3/2 pulldown is necessary because video is natively 30 frames per second while film is 24 fps. This can cause a digital artifact that looks like jagged edges or a sort of sawtooth effect when 480i film based material is converted to 480p. 3/2 pulldown reconciles the difference in framerate between film based and video based material to get rid of this artifacting.
Jeremy, So far so good, except trying to get all the levels right. I got some calibration settings from another HTF'er and it has improved the picture. The gamecube is my girlfriend's brother's and we used it a few nights ago, and it looked ok, but could have looked better I thought, but with lack of calibration and having it blown up on a big screen some quality can be lost. This set has four video modes, 4:3 normal (with gray bars on the sides), Full (for stretching the 4:3 image to fill screen and for anamorphic DVDs) Zoom (you loose some of the top and bottom in making a 4x3 image 16x9) and the best mode for 4x3 is Wide Zoom, which does a combination of the last two. 4x3 analog looks very nice on this set actually. EDIT: Also if you want more quality out of the Cube, buy some component video cables for it. They're about $30. I'm going to take this route for improved quality. Just discovered this today. Steve, this is the first I heard about the DV-45A not having 3:2 pulldown. It is a progressive player and specs says it has 3:2 pulldown. However I do notice some of these jaggies on some DVDs right off. I know this player does not have true bass managment for DVD-A and SACD like they say they do... but is this the same case with the 3:2???
Geoff, Pioneer did produce a progressive scan player that did not do 3/2 pulldown, and was roundly criticized for it but I could not remember the model number which is why I wrote "If that pioneer is the infamous model that lacks 3/2 pulldown"--emphasis on the IF. Even the best progressive scan player can get that jaggy effect briefly on some poorly mastered dvds, especially during special features sections that rapidly alternate between video based interviews and clips from films. If Pioneer says the DV-45A has 3/2 pulldown I believe them--although I have read that they were wrong about the bass management nobody's ever posted that they were wrong about the pulldown. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
That's a relief. The 45A is their Elite series, so I would expect it to be able to handle everything it says it does with exceptional quality. I did a test yesterday on which does better Progressive/3:2 pulldown. Conclusion is it is the Pioneer Elite, and I'd rather make it progressive from the source anyhow. The Sony Cinemotion mode did a good job but the image looked a bit softer than what the Pioneer Elite DVD player put out IMHO.
