new TV up and running (1 Viewer)

[Chris Shelly]

Hello All,

I got my 57HDX82 up and running. The only concern I had after packing was some very minor scratches on the outer edge of the screen on the lower right side and a few of the same thing on the left side. These are very minor buff marks. I was able to clean most of them off or hide them with Plexus. You can only see them when you are about 5 inches away. You can't even see them when you watch it. I don't think it was from shipping. More likely they rubbed against the plastic case during install. I would not be surprised if this kind of thing is common actually.

Minutes after turning the set on I turned down the contrast. It is set at 34 right now but I think I can go down a little more. It is still pretty bright in bright shots.

After 45 minutes I set the color and sharpness controls. I turned off all the special enhancement modes for picture quality. After that I did the 9 point convergence. It looks a lot better now then out of the box. Tomorrow I will do Avia.

This is my first 16x9 set. I am a little lost on the zoom options and every manufacture does it a little differently. If want the best picture quality and don't want to loose anything it looks like Theater Wide 1 is the best option. Depending on the aspect ratio you will get very thin black bands or slightly larger ones for 2.35:1 movies. Theater Wide 2 zooms in more. Theater Wide 3 does something completely different as does Full picture size. I will learn more about these as time goes on.

During my first 100 hours I will be making sure I am zoomed in as much as necessary to prevent any sort of burn in. After that I will mostly use Theater Wide 1.

As for picture quality I am really happy with it. I am sure I will be even more happy after running Avia.

Some of the minor issues I see could be because I am using an old DVD player. It does not support progressive scan or even have component outputs. It does not even have a 16x9 mode. After I am done typing this I am going to try my Sampo DVE-611. It does not have progressive scan but it does have 16x9 and component outputs. I will see how this looks but to be honest I should really upgrade.

I do have the buzz at low volume levels in my left speaker. After I register I am going to call Toshiba and have it fixed. Fortunately it goes away when you turn the sound all the way down. This is good because I will mostly be using my 5.1 set up.

Overall I am very happy with this set.

Chris

 

[Jack Briggs]

Chris, all DVD players output a 16:9 image. Go into the player's setup menu and select "16:9" (as opposed to "4:3 letterbox").

Now, were those scuff/scratch marks on the set when you took the Tosh out of the box? If so, replace the set now. You paid for a scratch-free RPTV.

 

[Chris Shelly]

Now, were those scuff/scratch marks on the set when you took the Tosh out of the box? If so, replace the set now. You paid for a scratch-free RPTV.

One of the disadvantages of buying online :frowning:
When I pulled the top of the box off and removed some of the plastic that's when I noticed it. I called OneCall and they said that's a tricky one. The manufactures always blame install or shipping when it comes to screen scratches. We are going to try though. If not OneCall offered to issue me a monetary credit.
Luckly they don't affect the picture quality at all. You can't even see them. The only time they show up is when you are 5 inches away when the grain of the screen itself starts to show. The scratches are on the plastic protector screen and are on the edge between the grey plastic cabinet. My guess is the protector screen is not mounted tightly an shifted during transit or they moved it around during assembly before tightening it down. Either way it should be a warrantee item. I am going to call Toshiba on Monday. I have to get the hiss fixed anyway.
Chris

 

[Brian Barnesky]

Chris.......congrats on the set!

I have the same unit and am going through EXACTLY what you are. This however is my second set. The first had issues and went back. The second has about 50 scratches dwon the side about 1/8" long next to the border. I bought local for a great price and am very glad. First the store told me that I signed off and toshiba will replace the protective screen......Then Toshiba said no way and said it happened during shipping and wasn't they're fault. My store is now sending me a THIRD unit .......cuz they don't wan't to replace the screen. I'm assuming they will blame the company that shipped to them or something. I don't know about onecall but DON'T just blow it off. You paid big bucks for a "NEW" unit!

I personally think my sctaches came in the factory while installing or more than likely the unit got wailed in the side forcing the screen trim to scratch the protective layer. The box and packaging is very weak?

Good Luck....b

 

[Chris Shelly]

Hey Brian,

I have been following some of your post. I see that you purchased from Video Only in Lynnwood. I thought about buying there but they had some really pushy salesman when I went in. I live over in Lake Forest Park, WA.

I am starting to see a possible manufacture problem with this set. What you describe is exactly what I have. Let me guess it first looked like a powder residue? Toshiba really should come clean and replace the screen for us. I really don't think a full exchange is necessary. It is not really possible for me to return the whole set. Other then these scratches my set works perfectly (well..I got the hiss but that can be fixed).

I can't believe Toshiba is being such brats. Problem with these large Corporations is customer service. If they want me to buy another Toshiba product in the future then it would be in there best interest to replace it. Regardless of how it happened.

I am going to send an e-mail to OneCall and see if we can make some progress on this.

If you have not tried it yet take a very soft cloth like a diaper and spray it down with Plexus. Plexus is a plastic cleaner available at Home Depot. It takes the power residue completly off and hides those scratches very well.

Everyone is correct though. I should not have set with scratches.

BTW...I calibrated with Avia today. Looks even better now then yesterday.

CONTRAST: 41
BRIGHT: 51
COLOR: 45
TINT: -2
SHARP: 22

It will probably need to be tweaked some more in a few weeks.

 

[Guy Usher]

Dont worry about the little scratches if the TV works to your satisfaction, take the money!!
You might exchange it (some places give you a re-furb no matter if it is only 5 minutes old) and get something that looks good but doesn't work as well as what you have.
Your set will change as it "burns in" this process sometimes takes a month or so, it will get better as time goes by. Don't tweak on it too much at first as you are trying to hit a moving target, let it settle down. Keep contrast, sharpness, and to a lesser degree brightness down as you are doing.

 

[Michael BC]

I have the same model and also have the described scratches- actually this is my second set and they both were delivered with scratches on the protective screen (scratches were not the reason for the return). A tech came out to look at a "speed bump" seen during panned scenes and while there ordered a replacement protective screen. It will be replaced on Thursday. The tech had no clue how to get rid of the speed bump however- quite incompetent! He recommended I exchange the set for a third one- I declined. After he left, I went into the service menu and adjusted the geometry myself- no more speed bump.

I am fairly confident that these scratches are quite common, considering the amount of play that exists in the protective screen.

Mike

 

[Chris Songdahl]

I am new to this board, but I also just got my Toshiba 57 HDX82 yesterday. I am not sure what all the tweaking is about, but it seems that everyone here knows about it. Is there something I should be doing special with this set?
I turned the contrast, sharpness, and others down to reasonable levels, but what is this Avia thing? My TV is in great shape, but I bought it locally because I heard that Toshiba would not warrantee HDX models bought off the internet. Got a great deal anyway.
I have to say that the picture quality is similar to a regular TV it seems, but I am buying some new good coaxial cable because I think that might be a problem. One thing I notice is that when I change the channel with my cable box, it flashes a great picture for a split second and then changes to a normal picture. Anyone have any idea what coudl be causing this? I want the best picture I can get out of this TV and it irritates me that I can get it myself.

Thanks in advance guys. Chris

 

[Norman B]

Picked up my 57hdx82 yesterday & tried to set it up. I have scratches about 1/4 inch wide along the left border on the inside of the protective screen almost all the way down. All 4 corners of the screen are cracked. As it sits it is unviewable because the alignment is way off & I'm trying to do the 9 point convergence but when I press the # that I want to align, it defaults to previous menu. I bought local which is good, but had to pick up myself because I'm too far out. Not looking forward to exchanging it, but because of the cosmetic damage, I think I will have to. NormanB :frowning:

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Chris, welcome to HTF!
There are 2 popular DVD's that help you set up both the audio and video parts of your HT system. They are:
Video Essentials
Avia
They each include tutorials and various test patterns that help you adjust the brightness/contrast/sharpness/color/etc. It's well worth the price for either of these.

when I change the channel with my cable box, it flashes a great picture for a split second and then changes to a normal picture

That TV is doing a LOT of processing on the incoming signal. It converts the analog signal to digital, examines it for 3:2 pulldown, up-converts/line-doubles the signal and then converts it back to analog for display.
It's doing all this with every frame of video.
When you switch channels on the CATV box you suddenly interupt the signal, there is some garbage, then a new signal appears. The electronics is trying it's best to keep up, but that small bit of interuption is enough to create a screen or two of garbage.
Have you tried plugging in the CATV feed directly to the TV? This may solve the channel-change issue.
The other problem: your TV is a much better display device than your CATV system was designed to handle. You now see the result of a poor-quality signal that is compressed and then de-compressed at your CATV box.
You might start looking at a DSS system for ordinary TV channels and even HD programming.
Another thing to check is your CATV coax. Here is a thread about
Picture Quality that had loose coax cables as the source of the problem.
Good Luck.