Toshiba's "white line" problem??? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Marx]

I am looking to buy a new 36-inch tv, because the movers damaged my old Toshiba while moving me to a new apartment. UGH! I am considering getting either the Sony WEGA or Toshiba HD flatscreen. However, the consumer opinions I am reading for the Toshiba 36HFX71 say they complain of a "white line" that sometimes appears during certain programs or sports.

I have a friend who has a Toshiba flat-screen and he doesn't complain of this. Is this an isolated problem? Is the Song WEGA a vast improvement over the Toshiba?

 

[Allan Jayne]

You mean a bright white line either at the very top or very bottom of the picture?
This is usually seen only because overscan is not as great. When the overall picture content is darker, the picture shrinks slightly on many TV sets and things like ragged edges or this bright line may come into view..
Ideally the way to fix it is using electronic matting (increasing the vertical, and/or also horizontal, retrace interval blanking duty cycle) but not all service menus have this.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[John-Miles]

Dave I believe i can help you with this Issue. I am planning on purchasing the Toshiba 36-HFX71 in a few short weeks (i want to pay cash so i gotto wait a little) the white line you have ehard about in my opinion is a very minor issue. it is only evident on very white backgrounds, i was only able to notice it in either sports or movie mode, i cant remember which. while watching hockey or other ice sports (since the ice is more or less white it provides the right background.) what youy will notice if you look closely is that there is a line maybe 1-2 cm thick runing down the middle of the screen, in this line colors are slightly faded (actually only the white is because you cant see this problem otherwise.)

as far as I am aware toshiba does not yet have a fix for this problem, but are aparently working on it. again i cant stress enough that this is not a very noticable problem, i was standing about 2 feet away from the tv, and it took someone pointing it out to me while searching through different channels and tv modes to find a show where it would be evident. in my opinion this problem is certainly no worse than the inability to turn off the velocity scan modulation on the panisonic tau's or the cable artifacting on the XBR's. however if you plan on watching alot of sports particularly ice sports then you may want to consider something other than the Toshiba.

but all things considered i think the toshiba is the best of the three i have mentioned, and it is certainly the cheapest, which is a huge bonus for those of us without huge cash reserves (wait isn't that all of us?)

cheers
john

Hope this was of some help

 

[Dave Marx]

John, thank you for your very informative post. I am currently deciding between that Toshiba set and the Sony 36-HS20. I know the Sony doesn't have the 3:2 pulldown, but I like what I've seen so far. Have u checked out the Sony? The only thing I didn't like is that the Hi-Def signal on it at Best Buy looked elongated, because it took up the whole screen. For some reason, they couldn't switch it to 16:9. Oh well. Again, thanks for the input!

 

[John-Miles]

I havent looked at the HS models, however I have compared the Toshiba to the XBR and personally i find the cable artifacting to be a bigger downfall than the white line, that is mainly because right now i use my tv for some dvd's cable tv and gaming. I am not a big sports fan, so the little hockey i do watch i likely wont even notice the white line.

If you dont plan on watch much cable (or even sattilite cause i have noticed toshiba looks better on both sources) then you might want to go for the Sony (id say the HS looks about the same for cable and sattilite as the XBR, the 3:2 pull down is th ebig difference i believe.)

But ask yourself this question is the sony worth the money? I personally find the toshiba picture quality better for my viewing habits, but either way i think the difference is marginal at best no matter what your viewing habits they all ahve their bonuses and plusses. but the bottom line for me was the fact that i could buy a 36" toshiba for the same price as the 32" XBR and i just plain cant afford the 36" XBR. and as far as the HS models go, well the 32HS500 is cheaper than the toshiba 36, but i still couldn't afford the 36HS20 and i am definitely convinced that the toshiba is better than the HS.

thats my two cents
john

*afterthought* i seem to be a crusader for toshiba, but this is just what my eyes tell me. if you request it i should be able to track down the spreadsheet i used to compare the toshiba panisonic and sony HDTV's i looked at.