What is a service Menu and should I stay away from it? (1 Viewer)

[Michael Gretton]

What is this stuff I hear about service menus on Sony Wegas? I have a 32HS500 and just wondering I will need this screen in the future? I don't want to muck with anything now but just in case....

What features do they provide?

Mike

 

[BruceSpielbauer]

As a general rule, the service menus are special menus set up by the manufacturer to allow service personnel (a repairman, for instance), to adjust things beyond what is possible using the simple adjustments available to the user in the regular control menus. Manufacturers insist that the home user "not access these," and they will also warn you that any violations can and will probably void your warranty completely.

However, there are users and calibrators (who are not necessarily authorized factory repairmen) who do go into these and try to tweak, to improve the picture. In most cases, the set has been shipped with flaws and faults, and some people want the very best image, and are willing to assume the risks.

The problem is multiplied by the fact that the factory service techs often are not well-trained enough to be able to really tweak these settings for maximum image quality. So, those users who are truly insistent on "a properly calibrated image" are often more motivated to do an end-run around the manufacturer, and tweak themselves, or to pay for an ISF calibration, even though such a thing technically will void the warranty on their set.

I am not familiar with the things that can be "tweaked" in your service menus. I am sure some exist. I do know of several things which can only be fixed in there on mine.

A wrong move in there can result in a horrible image, or even NO IMAGE at all... So, if disaster strikes, imagine trying to go back and undo some change you made when you cannot even see a screen to see which setting you are on (Ouch!)

 

[Michael Gretton]

Thank you for your reply. It is sufficent enough for me know that it is available. I am not bold enough (or anal enough about my image quality) to risk it!

Mike

 

[James Zos]

As long as you are very methodical, and write down EVERY default setting first, even those you don't plan on adjusting (so you can put everything back the way it was), then make sure you only tweak one setting at a time, so you don't get in over your head - you should be fine.
I however, made the mistake of NOT writing EVERYthing down first, and now I'm not sure about one default setting in particular, which is driving me crazy (sigh.)

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Mike,
I'd suggest you get a copy of the AVIA dvd and go through it's calibration procedure. This is done solely in the user adjustment menu and can really make a huge difference over the default factory settings, and will not damage or mess up your set in any way. The disc has complete instructional narration along with the various test patterns.

Once you familiarize yourself with adjusting the user controls and are comfortable doing so, you may or may not feel more confident about delving into the service menu.

On the Sony, I'd recommend you start by using Movie or Pro mode and take baby steps at first.