46H84 PQ question

[AceE3]

First of all, want to say that these forums have provided me with very useful info and opinions leading up to my first rptv purchase.

I bought a 46H84 last week, it was a toss between this Tosh and the Hitachi 46F500 - personally, I found the Tosh PQ to be a little crisper in the showroom, but then again, who knows what a showroom PQ will look like at home.

SD on analog cable is just that - I wasn't expecting anything special, and I have been able to live with it (not too bad). Progressive DVD is amazing, so no issues there.

My concern is that while watching SD Dish Network, I notice a fog like distortion around areas of high contrast - such as faces on a darker background, also seems out of focus and moving in a jerky manner at times. The other issue is with darker areas, particularly shaded backgrounds, I notice that the background has lots of artifact - Don't know if this can be called micro-pixelization or what, but it is almost like the image was being put through a solarizing filter - sort of concentric rings each having different shades of a similar color. Also, during commercials with the small print at the bottom, it is extremely difficult to make out the text.

I spoke with Toshiba local service manager, he attributes these phenomenons to overcompression on some Dish channels. I asked if upgrading to a Cinema Series model would provide better quality, and his answer was probably not - seems the 2004 Cinema Series is pretty much identical (except for an enhanced wide band video amp and some more user control over SVM). He suggested maybe having a tech come by and service the set.

I've turned down brightness, sharpness and contrast, tried both film & video modes, DNR on and off, as well as TW1 and full modes, but still notice these problems.

Being my first rptv, is this to be expected with non hd dvb broadcasts? I have a 30 satisfaction guarantee with the store - while I have always happily owned Tosh crt's, I'm now wondering if maybe Hitachi would be an option to consider? This tosh 46" claims to have 1600 lines horizontal res, while the Hitachi 46" claims 1280 lines. Is this accurate - as every retailer seems to say that hitachi is the higher res brand?

Appreciate any info you wish to share. Thanks!

[Blaster]

seems the Hitachi's get a lot of top grades by a lot of people

I almost bought Hitachi , then went with SONY in the end because of the connections/inputs
that was on the back of tv,at that time,was better...

I read some good stuff about the Sony 46" , it is what hooked/drew me into the HD realm-later went with 51"

heres some good reading you might not have seen:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4504-6475_7-0.html?tag=pageNav&orderby=-7eRating&qt=&100021id=&500965id=&501490id=&500961id=11438&id=20688347&500963id=5334021&1000036id=&id=20890030&id=21225804&id=31001148&x=37&y=3

hope to hear how it turns out :)

[mfabien]

AceE3,

I have 1600 lines resolution with my Toshiba and I would compare the PQ with most HDTV without shame.

As for your problem, may I suggest you conduct picture convergence adjustments (In my case, I click Menu then Picture and scroll down to the second page). If that does not resolve your problem, and even if it does, I would recommend you employ an ISF certified technician to calibrate your set. The fee can be close the $ 300 but it is worth it. And this applies to all RPTV's, not only Toshiba's.

[57U]

Resolution:

Michel, although the spec on your TV may say 1600 lines, the only way you can truly tell is with an HD test pattern. Unfortunately, most people don't have a device that will generate that test pattern.

Most RPTVs, with 7" CRTs, when tested, have a horizontal resolution of about 1100-1200 lines, although some have tested slightly higher.

Most Direct View HDTVs have between 700-1000 lines of horizontal resolution (there have been a couple like the most expensive Sonys??) that have been higher - I believe somewhere around 13-1400 lines, but again, very rare and very expensive for the size.

With fixed pixel displays the resolution is that of the "chip(s)", and is published - usually around 1300 pixels.

[kevinw]

AceE3,

I have 1600 lines resolution with my Toshiba and I would compare the PQ with most HDTV without shame.

As for your problem, may I suggest you conduct picture convergence adjustments (In my case, I click Menu then Picture and scroll down to the second page). If that does not resolve your problem, and even if it does, I would recommend you employ an ISF certified technician to calibrate your set. The fee can be close the $ 300 but it is worth it. And this applies to all RPTV's, not only Toshiba's.
I second what Michel has said about convergence. You need to to do the multi point manual convergence. I think it is called Accu-View 56 point. NOT the touch Focus. (It is only 9 points)
Then get use a HT setup disk to properly set up color-contrast etc. Just lowering is of no use but the proper calibration does wonders.

Start your adjutments in Movie mode then save as Custom. DNR on and film helps some.

[AceE3]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I failed to mention in my 1st post that I had done the auto convergence a few times - but in manual mode, there is nothing that needs adjusting- at least nothing to my eye, all crosses appear right on. Something else seems to be messing things up. And that white line problem people have mentioned - don't knwo if I also have it, but I do notice a faint vertical white line, near the center, when the screen is filled with a light / white image

I just spoke to a friend with a 65" Toshiba - watching the same satellite source he does not expeirence any of the poor focus or detail problems I am having. I think I'm going back to the store to have it swapped - don't feel like having a 5 day old set requiring its guts played with.

Regarding the resolution question I asked - so between the 1280 Hitachi res or 1600 on Tohshiba, it shouldn't make a difference to the average naked eye? I'm kind of split between the Tosh and Hitachi sets.

[kevinw]

FIVE DAYS...replace it