New Sony HDTV question ? (1 Viewer)

[RussellTodd]

I recently just received my KV-36HS420 it Sony's latest 36" HD tube tv. However, I have a question about one of the features Clear Edge VM™ Wideband Velocity Modulation it supposedly lets user select levels to create better separation between object and its background for clearer edges, greater picture depth and improved overall picture quality. I comes from the factory with setting on High which seems ok for TV watching especially on high def channel the images look extremely sharp. But when I play video games the lines look to harsh. Bear in mind I am using componet cabels for TV and S-video for gaming. Does anyone have experinece with "Clear Edge VM" and found a good setting that will do both well. You can chose between high,med,low,off. What is recommeded?

Also, I have read in this forum that you must change the factory settings off of "torch mode". There are 4 choices of settings "Vivid", "Standard", "Movie", "Pro". I assume if I switch from "Vivid" to "Standard" I should be fine. However, I have to put it back into "Vivid" in order to see my video games. Will the hurt the TV if use "Vivid" for gaming only so long as only play for about an hour at a time then put it back into standard for regular TV viewing?

Sorry to be long winded but I'm just ointerested how other Sony owners have thier TV setup and what works best.

Thanks

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Do not play games in "Vivid"! This is the worst mode for burnin and damage can occur within hours.

The best thing to do is to get a calibration disk and adjust the levels to a user preference and save that. Get a copy of Avia or Video Essentials to do this. Most presets do not match the levels obtained by a calibration disk and a calibration (consumer level or ISF) is what's needed for optimum display and prevention of burnin. Make sure you adjust your contrast low and then adjust black levels with the brightness control. This will give you a good image for games without blowing the contrast to the moon, which leads to burnin.

 

[RussellTodd]

I do have a calibration disk. However, the settings that look good for TV and DVD are not bright enough for PS2 gaming. I hate having to go into the TV menu and turn up the brightness every time a play PS2 then try and remember where it was set when I calibrated it to switch it back once I'm done playing. That is why I was hoping to be able to use one of the factory presets so I could just hit one button to switch back and forth.

Do you have any experince with the presets? Is the "standard" mode ok for preventing burn in. The "vivid" mode does seem bright but the "movie" and "pro" modes are too dark to see anything. Can I play PS2 in standard mode and then turn up the brightness or will that still cause burn in. If it does then how are you supposed to view video games without causing burn in? Also, isn't the risk of burn in pretty low with this model I know it is a tube TV but it is also 4:3 aspect ratio so no black bars. I thought that black/grey bars are what caused most of the burn in problems. However, I know TV logos and video game scoreboards/life meters can also pose a problem. But I thought these tube TV's were better about burn-in than say plasma.

I have had an old RCA that I played games on with the brightness turned up for years with no burn in. However, I know these newer HD models produce a much more intense image so burn in will occur more quickly. I just wanna know how to be able to get a good picture on my games without burn in and without having to totally reset my picture settings every time I switch from TV/DVD to games.

Thanks

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yes, the direct views are less prone to burnin than RPTV's, but the same issues apply. Besides, the "vivid" mode is horrible; everything is washed out and the colors are bleeding everywhere. Use the calibration disk and adjust the brightness control, that's what I do. You'll increase the life of your set and not burn the back of your retinas at the same time.

 

[Matt_Smi]

I went though the same issue as you with my old WEGA. The picture looked great for DVD’s and TV but too dark for video games. I used “standard” for TV/DVD’s and a modified “vivid” for video games, after a while I thought that vivid looked like crap and I made “sports” have the same settings as “standard” but with increased brightness and I thought it looked great, I also liked VM on low for games. BTW I am not sure if it is because I used vivid for so long but my WEGA developed some missing phosphor that showed up like a big dead pixel on an LCD screen. Fortunately I had a service plan and Circuit City refunded me the cost. On the new Sony that I plan on getting I am not going near vivid!

 

[RussellTodd]

Matt_Smi -

How old was your WEGA? Mine does not have a sports setting only "vivid" "standard" "movie" & "pro". Also, when you adjust your settings on the "standard" mode does it save those settings so you can flip between "vivid" & "standard" or when you flip settings does it automatically revert back to the factory "vivid" & "standard" settings?

 

[Matt_Smi]

Todd,

My WEGA was 3 years old and instead of “pro” it had a “sports” setting, I guess it was supposed to look good for sports games. And my WEGA saved my different settings for each picture mode, so when I wanted to play a video game all I had to do was press the picture mode button on the remote a few times to switch it from standard to sports and my settings where there.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

You can save settings on a per-mode basis and use different modes for different sources or roomlighting conditions.

There are non-user adjustable differences between the modes, however which means even if user adustments are the same in Vivid and Pro, there are edge enhancing and other things going on in Vivid that aren't happening in Pro. Generally the most "enhancements" that you can't get rid of in the user menu are in VIVID, getting progressively less aggressive as you go down to Standard, Movie, and Pro, so you still want to avoid Vivid.

Contrast (or "Picture" on a Sony) is the setting you want to reduce to avoid burn in, not necessarily "brightness".

My sony rptv has the same problem with PS-2, I have to raise the brightness setting to bring out details in darker parts of the picture. I still maintain a quite low "picture" setting (30% or so) when playing games to help prevent burn in so I usually play with very dim ambient light. Bringing up "brightness" in this scenario doesn't hurt anything.

 

[RussellTodd]

I think the ambient light thing is actually part of my problem. We have a large floor lamp directly in line with the TV screen that produces a glare. Unfortunately, there is no where else in the room that the lamp can go and if you turn it off then the room is too dark. And frankly its I don't like sitting in a dark room just to have good picture quality. However, I found that if you use the standard setting and back the picture level down a bit and up the brightness I get good enough picture for gaming. I try to use the movie mode for TV viewing with brightness bumped up a bit. I hope this will prevent any burn.

 

[Steven.W.T]

I got a WEGA in 2000. Cost my like 400 for a 20 inch. I dont go by those settings anyways. I have it on VIVID for everything but then I changed it to my liking so it isnt the factory preset.

I think I am the only one who does this. Most people have it the other way around. I always have the contrast higher then the Brightness. On all my tvs and monitors I have it like that. On my current 20inch WEGA I got the brightness to like 45% and the contrast to like 60%.

 

[RussellTodd]

Based on what I've seen in this forum if you are setting the contrast/picture higher than the brightness you are at greater risk for burnin. I agree your settings probably yeild a slightly better picture in a well light living room but as much as a play video games I would be afriad to set the contrast ant higher than 50%.

Also I ran the Sound and Vision set up disk last night and the factory preset "movie" mode was almost dead on. No adjustment was neccsary. Has anyone else had any experince with this? Now granted once you turn the room lights on and if your playing a video game you have to adjust the brightness to get a good picture but the factory preset for movie mode was pretty accurate.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Russel,

I solve the lamp problem by placing a small spotlamp with a 40-60 watt bulb on top of the set and aiming it at the wall behind the set, then turning off all the other lights in the room.

Back in the 50s, before tvs would go very bright at all there were special lamps designed just for this purpose--to place on top of the set and shine on the wall behind it.
I've actually seen these at yard sales and such, usually shaped like a seashell.