Pioneer Elite 510 hourglass effect in HDTV (1 Viewer)

[David Kraus]

Just installed Dish 6000, OTA antenna and am concerned that HD sources are with an hourglass type shape from top to the bottom of the screen. I have a Pioneer technician on the way this week. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I also have blue leaking through on the left edge of the screen on all HD sources.
Thanks

 

[Jim Benard]

Hmmmm, never heard of that problem, have you tried the '*' key on the dish 6000 remote? If you are using the component cables it should lock in FULL mode but the '*' key will adjust the aspect ratio from the tuner itself. Also the 6000 should be in HD mode not SD mode, you can tell if the blue light is lite, meaning HD mode. Is the blue just a convergence problem? does the blue leak when you bring up that screen in the mode you are in?

 

[David Kraus]

The Dish 6000 is definitely in HD mode while experiencing this problem. I am using component video for my video connection. The problem is extremely obvious especially when the black/dark grey bars exist on non HD sources while in HD mode. It is much less obvious when watching true HD. I have tried the "*" button to see if it would effect the problem but to it did not (dish network asked me to do this as well).
As for the blue leakage. I will have to test this further. The Pioneer service center did seem to refer to a "known" problem around blue leakage. I am deeply concerned about all of these issues after all the $$$$ I spent on this "reference" equipment.
Thank GOD for the Pionneer Elite 2 year warranty. It is the only thing keeping me sane.

 

[John Tillman]

David,
No hourglass problem with my 610/6000.
Prior to a calibration performed 1 week ago, I could see a light edge bleeding onto the screen when the 610 was on with no input (black screen). I was concerned but I do not see it anymore after the ISF.

 

[Jim Benard]

Same comment about the ISF taking care of any bleeding problem. If you haven't done an ISF I highly recommend doing it. It will not be covered as part of your warranty but you will notice a big, big difference afterwards. Remember a good ISF will take the tech guy around 6-10 hours of labor. When they callibrate the picture they have to do the same adjustments for every input and EVERY mode, FULL, Natural wide, Zoom. Not something a service guy doing warranty work is about to do.

 

[EricBee]

The hourglass effect is a known defect with the pioneer elite line. The factory rep will most certainly be familiar with it. You can do a search over at the AV Science forums and read about it for days. Do not dismay, it is a simple fix, a chip the size of a pencil eraser gets soldered on a board.

 

[David Kraus]

Thank you for all the responses. I have discovered that my problem is called the "pincushion" problem and the technician is scheduled to fix it in two days. One more thing, what is ISF?
Thanks,
David

 

[Jim Benard]

go here to read about it:
http://www.imagingscience.com/
also search for the keyword on this board and avsforum.com.