Disappointed with Toshiba 65H82 (1 Viewer)

[Mike Nagle]

As a preamble: my decision to purchase the product was NOT based on whimsy but based on digesting reviews about this particular model as well as hearing the Toshiba name popping up very favorable in the Home Theater circles. But I only viewed the TV live once....this might have been my mistake....It did look good in the store but then again I only witnessed 1 input source.
Anyway....
I just purchased the TV two weeks ago. The clarity or quality is poor in aggregate. I am utilizing component video hookups as HD Color Stream 1 and 2...respectively digital cable and DVD (Philips 5-Disc Multiformat DVD Changer with Progressive-Scan Output). And the only sources that look clear (not crystal) are HD DVDs and 5 stations that broadcast some HD programs....ABC, HBO...etc All other stations as well as older-movie DVDs look out of focus- as if a slight adjustment could bring the picture forward. Even the startup DVD screen looks blurry. Most noticeably, any writing on the screen is almost unreadable as letters seem blurry/out of focus; almost like there are 2 layers of letters slightly off of one another.
I purchased the TV at BEST BUY (12/02/2002) as well as their 4 year service plan. With the latter, I spoke to the supporting tech and he stated confidently that all Rear Projection HDTV compatible TVs have that look and that there was nothing that can be done for those input sources that are not HD. Simply I would have to wait to 2006 when all programs will be broadcast HD. He also stated that if I was to pay for a professional to come out to tweak my TV...such would void my warranty.
I tried using the AVIA dvd but to no avail.
Before returning the TV, I wanted to inquire if there was anything that could be done and whether the tech was absolutely correct in his statements.
Chagrined Mike:frowning:

 

[Ken Custodio]

This may be a stupid question, but did you do the convergence from the user menu? I just bought a Toshiba 50h82, and I find that the Auto-Convergence "Touch Focus" doesn't work that great right off the bat, but has to be "trained" to how you want it to focus the screen. (Although I haven't done that yet). I am pretty happy with the picture, the analog channels from my cable look kinda crappy, but the digital channels look fairly good. And DVDs look great.

BTW what are HD DVD's?

Ken

 

[Mike Nagle]

Hey thanks for the reply.

My terminology is probably off as I am new to this
What I meant by HD DVDs are those with Higher Resolution such as Pink Floyd the Wall/Memento/Lord of the Rings...they look good not great but are far better than many of other movies in terms of clarity such as Woody Allen and many of Kubricks films


I did try the touch focus several times.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Well, first, if you're expecting anything to measure up to HDTV, you'll be disappointed.
Other than that, I highly recommend that you do a service menu convergence or get an ISF calibration (and don't tell Best Buy about it).
Also, give it 100 hours or so to settle in. Then do the convergence and see if your opinion of the set doesn't improve. It definitely sounds like the convergence needs to be adjusted. Writing on the screen should not be "unreadable," but if the CRTs aren't adjusted properly, you'll get that two-layer effect...with the Tosh or any other RPTV.
Jan

 

[Mike Nagle]

I was contemplating ISF calibration but I heard it voids the Toshiba 1 year warranty and probably the Best Buy service Plan. I have no problem not disclosing such to the parties above but..and this could be fiction, I heard they remove part of the screen or plastic ...to rid the glare. What if I ever need to exercise the warranty after this was done. I need to read further on ISF

The testimonials make it tempting though.

I did try convergence...I will try again.

Thanks much.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Many stores also remove the protective screen for the customers. This is nothing new.

I have not encountered any clients that have had their warranties voided due to calibration. What revealing this information will do for you is give you a lot of grief ... for many months as you battle the manufacturer over this issue. In the end you will win. Now ask yourself whether this aggrivation is worth it revealing a point that usually has no impact on the problem at hand.

Warranty voiding is also an issue with car manufacturers as you take your car to a jiffy lube and void your warranty. (obviously not.)

Regards

 

[Ken Custodio]

I did try the touch focus several times

I would definitely try atleast the 9 point convergence in the user menu. Since the automatic "touch focus" doesn't work that great. It's pretty easy although not documentend in the manuals.
Just go to the convergence menu under the "Picture/Video" Section of the user menu. A White cross hair will pop up on the screen, if you look closely you will see a blue crosshair and a red crosshair behind the white cross hair, these are used to help align your set. Just follow the screen menus to move the blue crosshair and the red crosshair so you can barely see them behind the white crosshair. Then hit "exit" and you'll see a screen with several numbers accross the screen. Press a number on the screen (Just do them in order) and you get another crosshair to calibrate. Do the same thing as you did before for all the positions. This is a basic convergence, but it should help if your convergence is that out of whack. If you feel comfortable you can find how to access the service menu after a quick search on the web. But this is a little more advanced. I think I will just have mine isf calibrated after my tv is broken-in and Greg from HTF is in my area
Ken

 

[Sheldon C]

For non-HD or DVD, I highly recommend using either the regular coax cable, or composite. On my Mits 65311 the picture on digital and regular cable looks like crap (out of focus) if I use s-video or the upconvert using component. However, it looks quite good using either coax or composite.
Hope this helps!

 

[Eric Samonte]

Doing a 56 point convergence on it shouldn't be too hard. I get to do mine at least once a month and usually takes me like 5 minutes or so. Bear in mind though that I used to do this for my old TP61H95 for 2 years and now on my year old 65HX81.
On another note, getting one of those templates really helps out.

 

[Mike Huber]

I have the Toshiba 50H82, and i found out that you really gotta tweak your settings to get a good picture. What are your display settings at? Like brightness, contrast...etc
mine are:
Contrast:30
brightness:42
color:50
tint:0
sharpness:25

I found the picture is greaty improved from there default settings, like movie,sports. Im not sure why your dvds arnt looking good. I love the picture quality of all my dvds, and watching sports never looked better. I havnt had to adjust my convergince at all and my picture looks great.

 

[Ken Custodio]

I have a 50H82 also, here are my settings:
Contrast: 30
Brightness:44
Color:46
Tint:-5
Sharpness:22
and I have the color temperature set to warm.
I just bought the tv and have had it for only a week, so I turn down the contrast to 26 when watching TV, just in case

 

[Mike Huber]

nice tv huh ken.

 

[Ken Custodio]

Mike, Yes I like it a lot. There are better TV's out there, but for the price it is a great TV. Have you heard or seen anything about its DVI upgrade capability? I have been having a hard time finding anything about it....I don't see a blank spot in the back of the set for it either.

 

[Mike Nagle]

First and Foremost - I want to thank all that have offered advice. I appreciate it. I have been watching DVDs and all have looked stellar save for one or two. Some blow my socks off.
For those inquiring into my display settings...I will get back to you shortly.
The Tech came to look at my tv today.
He did a 72 point convergence. Only the Full and HD1 viewing's were out of whack...the former by 40%. This made some difference but it did not remove the graininess for those NON-HD sources. Albeit premature, hard to discern a difference thus far.
He appeared very knowledgeable (hard to judge when I am not). He restated his thought that a broadcast in which the original source was an analog recording will ALWAYS appear grainy and out of focus despite the cable box converter. "True" HD sources will look great...as they do.
I asked about:
ISF Calibration - He highly recommends against it as it definitely voids the warranty - He mentioned his close associations with all major TV makers which I will take at face value but may provide solid corroboration of his statement. Also he just restored one person's TV that had the ISF calib done - he charged $400 for this service - that included putting back the protective screen - supposedly there are 3 screens - he mentioned the one that has the lenses is very very thin and breaks very easy. He claims the whole ISF process buys you very very little - less than 1% in clarity - not discernible with eyes but works more with the power of suggestion. The customer is satisfied mentally.
SVM - Toshiba does NOT give the opportunity to turn on/off. I suggested he disengage it. He said he cannot do anything that violates the warranty. He said if the manufacturer thought it hindered the utmost in picture clarity - they would have never had engaged such a feature in the first place. "After all Toshiba wants their TVs to be best in terms of clarity for the sales factor." - Mr Tech. Found out from a buddy of mine that the manual does have directions on how to shutdown this feature.
Protective Screen - removing it would only remove the glare - again the warranty business - and the claim that this would be very little value-add.
Use composite connection to the Digial cable box converter - He laughed and said "with all due respect....wrong" to the suggestion that a lesser connection would better stabilize a poor broadcast - plus Comcast (my digital cable company) will not even allow for such - INPUT Component Video has to be utilized.
I am still pondering ISF. However I am much happier with the TV as the HDTV broadcasts and DVDS (reason I bought the TV) are impeccable in clarity. Non HD broadcasts are not. Plain ol' digital broadcasts are not bad either...not great.
PLEASE NOTE: The Views above are not my own - this I what I got from Mr Tech.
Have a great day.

 

[jeff peterson]

For non-HD or DVD, I highly recommend using either the regular coax cable, or composite. On my Mits 65311 the picture on digital and regular cable looks like crap (out of focus) if I use s-video or the upconvert using component. However, it looks quite good using either coax or composite.

I [rant]definately[/rant] agree with Sheldon here. I've got the Tosh 50H81 and just upgraded to TW digital cable. I tried the S-video connection, the coax, and the composite. To my eyes, the composite looked the best. The S-video was 50% WORSE than the composite.
I don't think this is a situation where YMMV. It only takes a minute to try it.

 

[Tim OK]

The guys that are saying to use the composite out of the digital box for analog viewing are right on.
If you have Comcast, I'm going to make the leap that you have the Motorola DCT5100?

If you view analog channels on the component input of your TV, they'll look much worse than if you view them on the composite's, or even straight coax to Antenna input of your set. Only use the component input for digital/high def.

I also have a 65H82, and have used both the DCT5100 and the seperate Motorola sidecar for the DCT2000 on it.

 

[Dick N]

Tim Ok, I'm changing the subject a here but I'm not sure how to weave this into a new thread.

You said "and have used both the DCT5100 and the seperate Motorola sidecar for the DCT2000 on it."

I own a DCT2000 and my cable company has just started offering the DCT5100HD but at $600 CDN or about $400 US. So what can you tell me about the sidecar for the DCT2000 will it give me all that a 5100 will?

Anyone know of any suppliers of these boxes other than the cable companys? Maybe I'd like to get a 5200 rather than a 5100.

Thanks Dick

 

[Alan M]

i just bought the 65h82 2 weeks ago,and id have to agree w/the other posts.dvd's and hd tv looked great on this set,but reg tv off my antenna looked soft(antenna goes thu hd sat reciever).by switching to composite input for standard tv,it really sharpened the focus.picture is much clearer.

settings are
contrast 36
brightness 46
sharpness 50
tint-6

 

[Alan M]

by the way,fry's electronics in socal has the 65h82 for $1999.well worth the money.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

RE: all the suggestions to use composite (or RF coax) connection for non-HD and non-DVD sources, maybe this has to do w/ an inferior comb filter in the cable box or sat receiver. Sure sounds like it.

It's good to hear that somebody gets good results this way from Time Warner Cable in NY state. I'll probably give them a try also here in the NYC area.

_Man_