Trouble with new Toshiba 42HP95

[HDNoobie]

Hi guys,
I recently purchased a refurbished Toshiba 42HP95 plasma HDTV television. The normal (non-HD) channels work great.

My cable service provider is Cablevision, who gave me a new HDTV cable box to hook up to my TV. I now have doubts whether the image I am receiving (on the HD channels) is truly HD or not.

The cable box can operate in several "picture formats" - 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i...and I notice that the image clarity when I use 480i format to view NBC-HD or CBS-HD is much better than when I set the format to 720p. Also the size of the image does not expand to fill up the screen, i.e - the left and right sides of the screen are blank bands.

Am I doing something wrong ? Any help appreciated.

[mjones73]

What type of cables are you using to hook the box to the TV?

Also, please don't cross post, your duplicate post has been removed.

[HDNoobie]

Thanks for your reply mjones73. I'm using the component video cables that came with the set to hook up TV to the cable box. (3 rca cables for video, 2 for audio)

[mjones73]

Your TV is 720p native, keep in mind not all programming on HD channels is HD, most daytime programming is upconverted with the bars on the side to maintain the 4:3 aspect ratio. Try watching a show you know is in HD and see how it looks with the different resolutions.

[57U]

Have a read through the HDTV FAQs:

- Black Bars
- What you need to do to your new HDTV
- What's on in HD (as Matt said, a lot of programming on the HD channels is upconverted 4:3)
- Tips for SA STBs (if you have SA)
- Motorola Tips (if you have Motorola)

Etc.

[HDNoobie]

Thanks for your respoonses 57U and mjones73.

My cable box is a Scientific-Atlanta cable box. My problem is that when I switch the cable box to the 720p picture mode and switch to one of the HD channels such as NBC-HD, CBS-HD or ABC-HD, the picture takes on a deep red tinge.

As soon as I switch back to 480i, everything becomes normal.

Is this more likely to be a cabliration problem, or could it be something wrong with the TV set itself (I bought it refurbished) ?

[57U]

Try a different set of cables and/or make sure the ones you're using are well seated. Any RCA cables will do as a test, just don't mix up the colours.

See the HDTV FAQ "Things to check first". Sounds like the TV's input could be shot for 720P. What does it do at 1080i, or passthrough? Most HDTVs, even ones that are 720P native, seem to prefer 1080i as the incoming signal.

[HDNoobie]

Hi guys,
Thanks for your responses so far. I have done some more digging around and fooled around with the settings on the Toshiba 42HP95 these last few days.

Changing the brightness, contrast, tint or color levels does not change anything. What I observe is when I set the 'color' all the way left to 0, i.e- a B&W or grayscale image, (in 720p and 1080i modes) the shadow details and fine gray shades are not there and they appear as one blob of black.
As a result, the image looks a bit 'burned' ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burned_(image) ).
From some other sites, I understand this effect is sometimes known as 'black crushing'.

I am currently using the ColorStream HD inputs from my cable box to the TV; I am going to go to the Cablevision store today and get a DVR cable-box with HDMI output, to see if hooking up the cable signal to the HDMI input makes any difference.

But my question is, is this effect something that can be salvaged ? Could the ColorStream input have been wrongly calibrated by the factory ? Can a professional calibration or a DIY calibration attempt fix this ?

Thanks!!!

[Ratman]

But my question is, is this effect something that can be salvaged ? Could the ColorStream input have been wrongly calibrated by the factory ? Can a professional calibration or a DIY calibration attempt fix this ?

Yes, yes and yes. Professional is recommended.

[HDNoobie]

Thanks Ratman. Know any good professional calibration experts in NJ ? How much does it cost (ballpark) ?

[kevinw]

http://www.imagingscience.com/isf_results.cfm?temp=5&Country1=none&State1=NJ&dlr_status=CAL
One of the best in NJ or Ny ie Eliab

[Ratman]

Ballpark? Starting ~$250 and higher. Depends on the number of inputs you want calibrated and incidentals (travel, time... etc. call or EMail Eliab to discuss. He is one of the best.)