Complications & frustrations Sears sent me a dolt. Is my Malata defecttive? (1 Viewer)

[Matt_Stevens]

"I just adjust your gray scale by eye. It's the best way to do it." That's what the Sears tech just said to me. I am about ready to go Postal. I cannot believe the utter incompetence of Sears Service, or my luck. This dolt, who is a very nice guy, admitted my set looked much "too hot." He made some internal adjustments and my Red Push is certainly less as a result. Maybe 10% (it was 25% before), But Blue is about 25% UNDER and Green is also 25% under (using Avia test pattern). How do we fix that? The tech guy hadn't a clue and had no equipment. He actually said to me, "I have a hard time with green & blue." How the hell is he going to do it by eye if he cannot tell green from blue?!!
The Streaking problem I have had, well, it does not show up while using S-Video on my Malata DVD player. I hooked up my old Toshiba and it doesn't show it either. But the Malata using Component cables DOES show streaks on the Panny. So I am taking it down to Sears to see if it exhibits the problem on their floor HDTV's.
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[Edited last by Matt_Stevens on August 17, 2001 at 12:46 PM]

 

[Deane Johnson]

Matt:
I'm not sure how this might apply to your situation, but I finally concluded I had to get into the service menu of my front projector and learn to do the adjustments myself, without instruments. The factory people do not have a clue what things should look like. I learned that by spending a bunch of money and getting a worse picture every time they touched it.
While mine is a front projector and probably differs considerably with your situation, I got the codes to get into the service menu and carefully wrote every setting down on a chart. This way I could always get back to where it was. I then defaulted everything and wrote down the default numbers. These both went on an Excel spreadsheat to make a chart. By the way, going to default improved things a bunch over the technician's settings.
From there I spent a bunch of time learning what moving each setting up or down did. Then I began to change the settings to cure my picture shortcomings. It took a number of days working on it a couple of hours at at time. I used the gray scale on VE plus I kept a half dozen DVDs at hand that I was very familiar with and kept going back and forth between them to check my setting results.
Now I have a great picture and I know how I got it. If I need to tweak something, I can do it myself.
Like I say, I'm not sure how this applies to your situation, but I can tell you I no longer fear going into the service menu and experimenting. With my projector, it was easy to gain confidence since I could always restore the old settings.
Deane

 

[ThomasL]

Matt, sounds like he just turned down the overall color saturation and didn't actually do anything to lower the red saturation relative to blue and green.
cheers,
--tom

 

[Jim Klabechek]

To fix red-push you need to be able to access the color decoder which requires being able to access the service menu. What TV do you have? I know the Mits doesn't allow full access to the service menu so correcting the the color decoder red-push can't be done via the service menu.
Jim

 

[Matt_Stevens]

He did not access the service menu at all. It was an absolute joke. He opened up the front and played with 3 small, round controls.
However, the plot has thickened. I just went to SEARS and the MALATA exhibits the STREAKING problem on the floor model Panasonic 47". It also does it on the version with the contrast screen. I thought, OK, my player is bad.
But!... It does NOT do the streaking on the 43" Sony HDTV or the 36" Wega! Needless to say, this makes no sense at all.
I really need the Malata owners that have RP HDTV's to check the following DVD's for me...
In particular, check out the DTS Trailer from T2 (it's also on Shiri & many other titles). The Blue part will streak to the right on my TV. Just pause it when the logo is about finished. It's clear as day on my screen.
The opening credits from SUPERMAN streak to the right. Once each credit goes into focus, the streaking is visible.
On PRINCESS MONONOKE, play it with Japanese & English subtitles. The opening Yellow title and some subtitles will streak to the right.
I need to know if this is an issue of player & TV incompatibility, or that my player is somehow screwed up and replacing it will solve my problem.
Thanks

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[Jim Klabechek]

dbl post
[Edited last by Jim Klabechek on August 17, 2001 at 04:40 PM]

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Panasonic PT 47WX49.
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[tommy_esq]

Matt- sounds like you are having a rough go of it my friend! i know how much it burns when things aren't working up to snuff after spending a bunch of money on equipment. just keep at it until you're satisfied...or until you go insane

 

[Brian Mello]

Matt, the probability of a Sears Tech being trained properly to perform adjustments or troubleshoot these brand new sets are slim to none. You either are going to have to work yourself through the issues, find a new TV or pay a calibrator to set the TV up for you. I'm not unhappy with my set but I'm not completely satisfied either. Therefore, I am going to take the 3rd option and get it ISF'd in a couple of weeks. I don't see any major issues with my set but the picture does need some help. Good Luck!

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I finally nailed down the problem. When an S-Video cable is also plugged into the Malata, it causes interference. Pulled it out and presto, no more streaking. Bloody incredible. Right in front of me the entire time.
Now I need to deal with the disaster the Sears Service guy left me. My set is so out of whack now that I fear I will need it ISF'd to fix. The three little knobs he messed with inside the set (behind the speaker grill) are for red, green and blue. By turning them, I now have a set that, according to Avia, needs color at 44! But that is wrong, because it only looks normal around 24. After a night of using Avia and VE, I have determined that the Service guy completely screwed up my set!
Is it possible to set everything back to defaults, so that I can start from scratch? I tried setting the sub-menu's to defaults, but that made everything look worse than Torch Mode. This guy truly f***ed things up for me and I AM NOT PAYING AN ISF TO FIX IT! This is SEAR's responsibility.
Should I call Panasonic and tell them what happened and ask for assistance, or should i just tell Sears to get a trained ISF guy out here or I want another set?
I cannot stress how bad things are now that this "do it by eye" nimrob got his hands inside my brand new baby.

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[ThomasL]

Matt, was this guy trying to adjust the grayscale or fix the red push when he mucked with the knobs? These are two entirely different problems. I would say if he physically turned knobs inside the set then there is no way to get it back to the defaults without knowing where the knobs were positioned before he mucked with them. I'm also wondering if these knobs are for grayscale adjustment or color decoder adjustment. I think you have every right to complain to Sears and tell them you'd like them to have an ISF calibrationist come re-adjust the set or you want a new set.
good luck,
--tom

 

[Matt_Stevens]

He said it was for gray-scale, but the knobs are for red, blue and green. Right now, my eyes are killing me from trying to adjust this thing. I honestly wish to God I never bought it. It is simply too much work. No TV should be so completely bad out of the box with so many issues. Yes, I understand it CAN look phenomenal, but I have been more than patient with this set and with Sears, only to have them show up and screw me over more.
Those boy's are not gonna be happy to hear from me on Monday. That I can assure you.
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[Matt_Stevens]

My sales guy offered to replace the set, no questions asked, once I told him what happened with the Service guy. He's an HDTV owner himself and knew my set was screwed, so he stepped to the plate to fix things. THAT is service.
Of course, he just wants me to buy DISH from him.
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