Reducing VB (on Panny 900) (1 Viewer)

[Bart_R]

Hi everyone,

I've got a Panny 900 projector now for about 8 months and while I adore this thing for the most part, I do get some slight VB in large brightly colored blocks (light green or blue, mostly) or whenever clouds and smoke are on screen. And it does irritate me.

Now, even though I've accepted I will be stuck with this affliction until, well, until I get another PJ eventually (some years from now), I still thought I'd ask if anyone knew of ways to lessen VB, or make it disappear.

I recently upgraded to a dvd-player with hdmi, and I was hoping it would help my problem. Well, it doesn't really. I tried to switch between all the different hdmi-settings, but it doesn't amount to anything (apart from the fact that upconverting to 1080i causes slight "hickups" in the image). I tried adjusting the panels in the service menu, but no cigar (not much, at least). I think I've tried most options available to me. Should I try adjusting the flicker levels? (but as far as I can tell, it only results in a less stable image)Maybe other cables? And, will HD-DVD or Blue-Ray eventually garner better results, perhaps?

I'm all out of ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to improve my "condition"? Thanks.

Bart.



p.s. I guess it's no biggie and in some movies you won't even notice it's there, but whenever I do see it my eyes inevitably get drawn to it, annoying me and taking me out of the film. I'm trying not to notice it, but it doesn't work. Once you know it's there (and in which instances) you'll look for it, and see it immediately when there is any sign of it.

 

[pearlyred]

Hi Bart,

I just recently purchased this projector myself and am totally loving it! Can you explain what you mean by VB?

I thought it looked pretty cool myself, but thats just my untrained eyes. I run my pj off a Harmon Kardon DVD22 player using Component (sadly no HDMI output on it).

I'm up to 77hrs lamp runtime now after a few weeks, but safe in the knowledge I have a spare bulb packed away too. I figure the 2 bulbs should be good for a total 4-5+ years.

PR

 

[Bart_R]

Hi PR,

What I mean by VB is Vertical Banding. It was said (in most reviews) to be non-existent in this PJ, but I think it is more apparent in European models (which I have, living in the Netherlands). So you could be safe.

Anyway, I don't know if you've heard about vertical banding and if I even should tell you. I mean, I don't want to point your eyes to something you might never notice if you're not actively looking for it (but I guess the name is descriptive enough). In any case, it's a common problem in a lot of lcd projectors, and only lately have they been able to greatly reduce or even get rid of this artefact (in budget players, that is. I don't know about the high end, expensive models).

And I agree, it does look pretty cool . The Smooth Screen technology works wonders for me as I like to sit fairly close to a large picture (about 90"). I've seen it next to the Panny 700 and it's decidedly sharper. Great colors, brightness, shadow detail, sharpness. I love it. That is, if you discount the VB issue. It's the one thing that can disturb my nice little viewing experience for me. But if you don't have it, all the more power to you!

Anyway, I use a marantz dv6600 dvd-player, and I have around 500 hours on the lamp now, and it's still looking good and bright. No problems there. But yeah, those 2 bulbs should last your for quite some years to come.

Bart.

 

[pearlyred]

Ah ok, well I haven't yet noticed any sort of banding (though I don't know what it should look like and I haven't been looking ).

The one single problem I have with my projector so far is that due to where I've had to position it, I can't quite get it centred to the screen. This has resulted in a slight parallelogram type effect on the screen which I don't seem to be able to get rid of. Pity there isn't a keystone type function for this. Its only an inch or two out of shape, but like you say.. when you know its there you always notice it..

PR

 

[Allan Jayne]

What does vertical banding look like? How wide are the "bands" and how many are there"

Admittedly I have heard the term for quite awhile but have never seen any examples yet.