Welcome to the Jungle

[Rickster71]

I'll have to phone Cheryl and see if she wants to place bets on the completion date of this cabinet.

 

[Alex2507]

I'll have to phone Cheryl and see if she wants to place bets on the completion date of this cabinet.

Good one! I've never had anybody bust my balls about that before.

Actually I'm a little afraid of all the work involved in putting that thing in with the electrical, trim, wall repair and paint. It's freakin' major. Here's a sample of what the rest of the joint turned into when I did Mantown.

Living Room

Dinning Area

The other thing is that it takes money. Not like big money but way more than is floating around. What's messed up is that when the money comes I will have no time. I'm gonna go with this for th ... hey, I just had a thought. I could probably work on one wall at a clip without turning our household completely apart and save the TV wall for last ??? I don't know.

I want to do a few other things first like:

1. Read and understand that post by MDS, read a link that Swerd sent me, respond in the Coaxial Cable Thread and spread some rep love around to people who don't bust my balls !!!

2. Rearrange the gear in Mantown.

3. Get Flac, MP3, WAV, iTunes, FTP Client, IT and IP Networks figured out. Scott and Jeff are tying to help me but remote assistance is kind of like pushing a string ... and I'm lazy. Ambition and laziness are strange bedfellows.

4. Run my DVE Calbration Disc ... for the first time ever.

5. Get REW figured out once and for all.

6. Get a passport.

7. Change the oil in Cheryl's car.

... yeah, it's not looking good for that entertainment center.

 

[jostenmeat]

Alex, would you kindly link/post any plans or posts regarding your speaker stands? I'm going to need to raise mine in the future, three of them. Probably in the ballpark of a foot high, maybe a tad bit less.

I remember a Stereophile review of the matching bookshelves that I used* to have, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something similar going on with my towers too . . . and here's the part regarding speaker height's effect:

In the vertical plane (fig.5), a big suckout develops in the crossover region more than 5 degrees above the tweeter axis, suggesting that high stands will work better than lower ones. However, given the slight flare in the tweeter's off-axis output between 3kHz and 7kHz, it's possible that the listener could ameliorate the effect of this on the perceived balance in very live rooms by sitting just above the tweeter axis.

Passport? Where are you going?

I own Avia, DVE, and Spears. The first is very much the easiest to follow for video I think, but I've only done Spears since I've had it. If you ever rent the BD from Netflix, I'll post/link the "easy-to-follow" instructions that Stacey Spears posted here at AH. Oh, but now that I think of it, I wonder if the rental would come with the blue filter or whatever it was (I had to contact them to get my free one). Otherwise, the BD is devoid of instructions; just a crap-ton of tests.

If you tell me your TV model #, I will try to find you a suggested reference setting from a pro calibrator, but no promises on finding one.

 

[Alex2507]

My stands are an assortment of junk and garbage that I scavenged from job sites. Various rubber and gummy stuff tin knocker use to join ducts and some vibration isolators along with 3 or 4 different types of wood/wood products. No links, no instructions, no way for even me to replicate them. Besides, I'm sure there is a better way.

I need a passport to go pick up my Integra from Dave.

My TV is a Panny THPZ77U. I used an Avia II disc a few times on it already ... before and after the break in disc and just recently upon getting a BR player. I didn't think using other people's settings worked because of lighting conditions and it just being a different display. I've got a couple of AVS threads on my Panny bookmarked but that's like looking in a Chinese telephone directory. I gave the Avia disc away but have the DVE one kicking around and just want to get familiar with it. Jeff the mod has a link to a Grey Scale primer that I have yet to read and understand but I didn't want my to-do list to have a #8. If you and I got into this hobby at the same time with no prior experience you must be way smarter than me and that's sayin' somethin' cause I'm not just a pretty face.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

My stands are an assortment of junk and garbage that I scavenged from job sites. Various rubber and gummy stuff tin knocker use to join ducts and some vibration isolators along with 3 or 4 different types of wood/wood products. No links, no instructions, no way for even me to replicate them. Besides, I'm sure there is a better way.

I need a passport to go pick up my Integra from Dave.

My TV is a Panny THPZ77U. I used an Avia II disc a few times on it already ... before and after the break in disc and just recently upon getting a BR player. I didn't think using other people's settings worked because of lighting conditions and it just being a different display. I've got a couple of AVS threads on my Panny bookmarked but that's like looking in a Chinese telephone directory. I gave the Avia disc away but have the DVE one kicking around and just want to get familiar with it. Jeff the mod has a link to a Grey Scale primer that I have yet to read and understand but I didn't want my to-do list to have a #8. If you and I got into this hobby at the same time with no prior experience you must be way smarter than me and that's sayin' somethin' cause I'm not just a pretty face.

I'm curious to see how close your settings are to these.

 

[jostenmeat]

My stands are an assortment of junk and garbage that I scavenged from job sites. Various rubber and gummy stuff tin knocker use to join ducts and some vibration isolators along with 3 or 4 different types of wood/wood products. No links, no instructions, no way for even me to replicate them. Besides, I'm sure there is a better way.

I need a passport to go pick up my Integra from Dave.

My TV is a Panny THPZ77U. I used an Avia II disc a few times on it already ... before and after the break in disc and just recently upon getting a BR player. I didn't think using other people's settings worked because of lighting conditions and it just being a different display. I've got a couple of AVS threads on my Panny bookmarked but that's like looking in a Chinese telephone directory. I gave the Avia disc away but have the DVE one kicking around and just want to get familiar with it. Jeff the mod has a link to a Grey Scale primer that I have yet to read and understand but I didn't want my to-do list to have a #8. If you and I got into this hobby at the same time with no prior experience you must be way smarter than me and that's sayin' somethin' cause I'm not just a pretty face.

You must be talking about this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=938089

If possible, I would try calibrating two different modes, one for night, one for day.

The one bang-for-buck piece of advice I have for any Pana plasma owner is to ALWAYS DEFEAT ANY KIND OF NR YOU SEE ANYWHERE WITH ANY PICTURE MODE, and some are set to apply it as the default depending on the mode. This happens even with last year's flagship, the V10.

 

[Alex2507]

I'm curious to see how close your settings are to these.

* Picture Modes
o Picture Mode : Standard ............... same
o Color Temperature : Warm ............ same
o Aspect Ratio : Full ....................... same
* Picture Settings
o Picture (Contrast) : 20 ................. same
o Brightness : +9 ........................... +12
o Color : -5 .................................. -1
o Tint : -2 .................................... +5
o Sharpness : -5 ... mine is 0 but there is no visible difference with any setting
o Color Temperature : Warm ............. same
o Color Management : Off ................. same
* Other Adjustments
o Video NR : Off .............................. same
o Mosquito NR : Off ......................... same
o Black Level : Light ........................ Dark (I can't remember why)
o HD Size : 2 ................................. 1 (not adjustable on my set)

Also worth noting:

Y/C Filter: ON (I can't remember why)
3:2 PullDown: On (I can't remember why)

You must be talking about this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=938089

Yep, that one plus another with almost 3,000 posts. I have a hard time reading one post with 30 words.

If possible, I would try calibrating two different modes, one for night, one for day.

I'll give that a go with Cinema Mode for night viewing with the DVE disc.

The one bang-for-buck piece of advice I have for any Pana plasma owner is to ALWAYS DEFEAT ANY KIND OF NR YOU SEE ANYWHERE WITH ANY PICTURE MODE, and some are set to apply it as the default depending on the mode. This happens even with last year's flagship, the V10.

Gotcha. You can see what my settings are above. Look alright?

 

[jostenmeat]

I can't comment on +/- settings. I cannot specifically recall if Full is the best AR. Good on you to already have all NR defeated (and always check every time you try a new pic mode).

As for HD mode, I wonder if being unable to change has something to do with having a digital/HDMI input. Because with the S1 (couple of gens later?), I think, if I'm not mistaken that this is the setting in question, it's 2 that you want. 1 would be overscan for eliminating visible noise at the pic's border; obviously a non-issue with HD signals, and most particularly BDs.

Y/C is used to reduce signal noise on analog connections, which I haven't used in longer than I can remember. I believe this it totally irrelevant to digital/HDMI.

3:2 pulldown, I'd be surprised if you actually even had a choice in the matter. If you do, then you'd want to see if your player (or anything else), can do this better. However, I would bet that your TV can do it better than your player for instance, but who knows. The Spears disc will have patterns that you can try to check out subjectively. To not have to concern yourself with 3:2, you would need a TV that can output at a multiple of 24.

I would bet that Cinema mode will have the most accurate colors.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

* Picture Modes
o Picture Mode : Standard ............... same
o Color Temperature : Warm ............ same
o Aspect Ratio : Full ....................... same
* Picture Settings
o Picture (Contrast) : 20 ................. same
o Brightness : +9 ........................... +12
o Color : -5 .................................. -1
o Tint : -2 .................................... +5
o Sharpness : -5 ... mine is 0 but there is no visible difference with any setting
o Color Temperature : Warm ............. same
o Color Management : Off ................. same
* Other Adjustments
o Video NR : Off .............................. same
o Mosquito NR : Off ......................... same
o Black Level : Light ........................ Dark (I can't remember why)
o HD Size : 2 ................................. 1 (not adjustable on my set)

Also worth noting:

Y/C Filter: ON (I can't remember why)
3:2 PullDown: On (I can't remember why)

Thanks. It goes to show that you need to calibrate every TV individually.

The settings for my 42" Panny S1 are as followed compared to that site:

# Picture Modes

* Picture Mode : Cinema-------------same
* Aspect Ratio : Full-------------same
* Color Temperature : Warm-------------same

# Picture Settings

* Contrast : +85-------------+43
* Brightness : +58-------------+61
* Color : +42-------------+33
* Tint : +5-------------0
* Sharpness : 0-------------0

# Advanced Settings

* MPEG NR : Off-------------same
* Black Level : Light-------------same
* HD Size : HD Size 2-------------same


I calibrated using the Spears & Munsil Blu-ray at night with all the lights out shades drawn. (black as black and not easy using a non-backlit remote) I'm going to calibrate another Picture mode for full daylight use but I'm more lazy than you.

It bugs the heck out of me that the sharpness setting doesn't seem to have any affect...

 

[jostenmeat]

It bugs the heck out of me that the sharpness setting doesn't seem to have any affect...

Don't let it bug you. I think maybe mine doesn't do much either, IIRC. Then I'm pretty sure I have other settings that don't do much, even with some color setting (I need much more advanced equipment to do so).

IMO, just sitting down, once, ever, as an amateur on their first cal disc, will make your display look better than 99 out of 100 displays across the world.

 

[lsiberian]

For a guy always joking around you got a seriously nice setup that only improves over time. Keep it coming dude.

 

[Davemcc]

I need a passport to go pick up my Integra from Dave.

For the record, I have applied for a passport and it is racing to me at the speed of the Canadian government. I was thinking that once I could get across the border, I could drop off a spare equipment rack but your's looks much better than anything I have.

I still need to see the USS Massachusetts and I know better than to arrive not bearing gifts.

 

[Alex2507]

I still need to see the USS Massachusetts and I know better than to arrive not bearing gifts.

Nonsense! I'd love to meet you. No gifts allowed. Any more gear comes in and my g/f is going out. The USS Mass must be a ship or a Star Trek prop but either way I'll go see it with you. I want to hear you say some of that super smart sounding conservative speech writer stuff.

As for HD mode, I wonder if being unable to change has something to do with having a digital/HDMI input. Because with the S1 (couple of gens later?), I think, if I'm not mistaken that this is the setting in question, it's 2 that you want. 1 would be overscan for eliminating visible noise at the pic's border; obviously a non-issue with HD signals, and most particularly BDs.

I went and looked into my manual and checked my TV. I was using a composite video source to look at the menu. Guess what, each source has it's own settings. Once I went into an HDMI source and changed it to HD Mode 2, it changed to 2 in the greyed out area under the composite source. I wonder what all I missed in that 5%. It makes a big difference in size. That's huge, dude. Much appreciated.

Y/C is used to reduce signal noise on analog connections, which I haven't used in longer than I can remember. I believe this it totally irrelevant to digital/HDMI.

I turned that off across the board. I'll change it if needed later. I'm using Component Video for the STB due to a lack of HDMI inputs.

3:2 pulldown

The factory preset is OFF and I put it back to that. I'll see ... I've seen your posts on all that but haven't read them. There is simply too much to read: too much to know.

I would bet that Cinema mode will have the most accurate colors.

It's just a set of factory presets (I think) that I can still adjust and make look like anything I want. Right now everything is set to my adjustments of the Standard mode. I guess I'll tweak Cinema mode for night viewing. I can't adjust red/green/blue though. Do you think Cinema and Standard have different values for that? I believe the Avia II disc said to use Standard mode.

It bugs the heck out of me that the sharpness setting doesn't seem to have any affect...

This is my 2nd HDTV and it didn't do anything on the other one either.
Hey, less stuff for us to worry about.

I need much more advanced equipment ...

Jeff, our radical right mod has a $150 toy that he used on his 720p projector and House of the Flying Daggers is his wow BR for video. It's not like the rocket scientist kits you get for $3g I'm sure but it looked very good to me. Funny thought: Jeff is so right he won't watch NASCAR. ... cause they're always going left?

Oh, and my Black Level was set to light on everything but the Composite input that I use to see my rec'r's OSD. This has been a great refresher and eye opener about what all is going on with my TV. I certainly didn't expect that today. Thanks for motivating me to learn.

 

[jostenmeat]

It's my pleasure to help you. Regarding setting black level to light, I completely forgot to address that though I did mean to. I've never once ever read that the dark setting was superior to light. I know that would sound counter-intuitive to many. Fortunately, every Pana product that I've come across has the light setting as the default, and that includes your bluray player too. You can recheck that too next time if you feel like it, heh.

Well, without knowing what's going on at Jeff's, all I can say is that not only do I need measuring equipment, laptop, etc, but I actually need an outboard component to handle my color/grayscale. It would be a very intense learning curve for me too, I do not pretend otherwise. Therefore, I sometimes think OTB accuracy is never an underrated thing. But um HOFD, that was pretty much at the very bottom of the barrel of BD PQ since it ever came out. It must be some special import, perhaps? Maybe you get it confused with another Asian title like Curse of the Golden Flower? HOFD looks terrible in every format I've seen it in, including the Superbit DVD years ago.

The 3:2 is actually simple, sorta. Film/DVD/BD is recorded at 24 fps (really 23.976 or something but anyways), and most displays output at 60 fps. So the VP has to get the 24 to somehow look good spread over 60. Some "smudge" it in better than others. 3:2 was standard fare for many years, for all of us, but with the advent of all of our fancy schmany equipment, it will soon perhaps become a thing of the past. One day, 3:2 will no longer be cheaper than to have a multiple of 24 available. (I know the older/primitive method actually sounds more complex, but, well, I'll save you the story right now). Well, cheers dood.

 

[Davemcc]

Nonsense! I'd love to meet you. No gifts allowed. Any more gear comes in and my g/f is going out. The USS Mass must be a ship or a Star Trek prop but either way I'll go see it with you. I want to hear you say some of that super smart sounding conservative speech writer stuff.

http://www.battleshipcove.org/directions.htm

I like to visit naval ship museums when on vacation. It is simply a fascinating bit of history to me.

 

[Alex2507]

http://www.battleshipcove.org/directions.htm

I like to visit naval ship museums when on vacation. It is simply a fascinating bit of history to me.

Oh, cool. Fall River is close. Where would you stay? Boston is pretty cool. I'm not really well versed on the historical aspects but I know where some of the best looking women in the world shop and they don't ask for tips.

 

[Davemcc]

Oh, cool. Fall River is close. Where would you stay?

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I hope you sleep on your back.

 

[majorloser]

I hope you sleep on your back.

Wouldn't do any good.

 

[Alex2507]

The couch isn't very comfortable but Fall River and New Bedford at low tide are gruesome. I would definitely work high tide into my plans for visiting there. I was only ever out there once but I'll never forget.