First time Plasma owner

[evident]

fwiw, i went to avsforum's thread for my plasma and followed their burn in / calibration guide, basically running a slideshow for 100 hours nonstop and then adjusting the settings. tv has been great for the last 2 years.

 

[Raincity]

No, with a 720p TV you are always going to have to deal a little bit with overscan. No big deal.

Good call I forgot the sets resolution was 768P.

 

[tinpanalley]

Good call I forgot the sets resolution was 768P.

How exactly does that affect overscan?
Unrelated: Every time I unplug the TV, obviously, the settings all go back to default. So, if I just copy all the settings down that I've changed, I can always just input those levels again another time, right?

 

[Raincity]

The panel native resolution can not handle a 1080P signal to create a 1.1 pixel map so all the video sources have to re-scaled to its native resolution. I would just use the setting that gives the least amount of overscan.

There is a reset option in the menu to reset it back to factory settings. I would create a calibration spreadsheet to help guide you through the process and track your results. The calibration process will probably take a few weekends of tweaking if your planing to set the color and grayscale with a meter. Having the spreadsheet will give you a base reference to refer to. Also here is a AVS thread on your set http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-p.../1474305-samsung-pnxxf4500-owners-thread.html that may be worth reading.

 

[tinpanalley]

The panel native resolution can not handle a 1080P signal to create a 1.1 pixel map so all the video sources have to re-scaled to its native resolution. I would just use the setting that gives the least amount of overscan.

Ok, I'll check out the settings on the Boxee. I must have set the boundaries too far inside the TV's frame.

There is a reset option in the menu to reset it back to factory settings...Also here is a AVS thread on your set http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-p.../1474305-samsung-pnxxf4500-owners-thread.html that may be worth reading.

So, I'll create a spreadsheet of factory settings to know where things are and what they're set to and then to note next to each setting what I changed. Sound good?
And for that thread, I can safely assume then that the F4500 is the same as the H4500?

 

[Raincity]

I believe that the H4500 is the Euro version of the F4500 that is sold in North America. The specs are the same and they look the same except the H4500 has the football mode and I would be interested in what it does since it looks to be more than a video preset.

 

[tinpanalley]

With regards to the screen sizes on the AVCHD disc, this is my Screen Fit setting (sorry about the moiré)...

And this one is my 16:9...

Should the 16:9 be that cropped?

 

[Raincity]

Yes your are getting the same results as me on all my Samsung plasmas in my house. Screen fit is the correct setting is the correct setting for your set also.

 

[tinpanalley]

Yes your are getting the same results as me on all my Samsung plasmas in my house. Screen fit is the correct setting is the correct setting for your set also.

Ok, so I definitely need to redo the settings for overscan on my Boxee to eliminate the 1 inch black border around the picture.

 

[Raincity]

I would set the Boxee to 1080P output and the tv should re-scale the video correctly.

 

[tinpanalley]

I would set the Boxee to 1080P output and the tv should re-scale the video correctly.

I was JUST doing that. I chose the "1080-24p" option.

 

[tinpanalley]

Finally figured out the border of black issue. I guess it's the dealing with overscan ingrained into my head from years of CRT use. While I had all other settings correct, I was still manually telling the Boxee what the edges of my screen were which I assume it was factoring into its own algorithm for what to crop. When I chose directly "No overscan", everything fits perfectly when I select Screen Fit. However, thinking this video I have is clearly something slimmer than exact 16X9, I looked it up and it was in fact encoded as a 16X9 fitting the original 1.66:1 inside. It originally aired in 1994 as a BBC miniseries. I suppose they just aired a pan and scan of it at the time. Although they might have just gotten away with this ratio because of the added PAL vertical resolution on TVs then.

 

[ruben_c]

Is there some affordable device I can buy that will calibrate my new plasma and my IPS LED PC monitor?

Thanks to anyone that can help me get my feet wet with this.

If you want a reliable calibration you need a hardware device with sensors that will measure objectively. The only affordable tool I know that is out there and gives good results is the Spyder4TV HD.

I don't know if this one is affordable enough for you?

 

[tinpanalley]

If you want a reliable calibration you need a hardware device with sensors that will measure objectively. The only affordable tool I know that is out there and gives good results is the Spyder4TV HD.
I don't know if this one is affordable enough for you?

Thanks for the advice. I'm a bit further along, having already gotten one. But an eyeone not a spyder

 

[tinpanalley]

Approaching 100 hours of slides and full screen viewing.. My TV is now in a place where the cable of the colorimeter can't reach. If I unplug the TV, bring it close to the computer and just write down everything I change, can I then just replug it in where it belongs and go through putting those settings back where I moved them during calibration? Is it as simple as that?

 

[Raincity]

Approaching 100 hours of slides and full screen viewing.. My TV is now in a place where the cable of the colorimeter can't reach. If I unplug the TV, bring it close to the computer and just write down everything I change, can I then just replug it in where it belongs and go through putting those settings back where I moved them during calibration? Is it as simple as that?

Yes if the lighting conditions are the same but you wont need to re plug the settings again. Its really best to bring the pc and the I1 pro to the set where the viewing will take place. If this cant be done then do your best to re-create the lighting conditions of the viewing room with the lighting condition's in the room where the calibration will take place.

 

[tinpanalley]

Yes if the lighting conditions are the same but you wont need to re plug the settings again. Its really best to bring the pc and the I1 pro to the set where the viewing will take place. If this cant be done then do your best to re-create the lighting conditions of the viewing room with the lighting condition's in the room where the calibration will take place.

I had to reread your post a few times before I finally understood what was confusing me. Clearly, you have enough room to have the TV and computer in different rooms. :biggrin:
No no, when I say that the TV is too far, I mean that it's by about 2 meters. It's just not long enough. I guess I could run a USB extension cable but, ugh... The lighting conditions will be identical to where the TV usually is: 2 meters to the right.

 

[tinpanalley]

I'm tempted to find a cheap i1 Display Pro or a Colormunki. I feel like I got a redish reading on my laptop with the Display LT when I calibrated it with its own software yesterday. I may have done something wrong because when I use it on my Asus LED monitor on my desktop it works great. In any event, if I were to invest in a new Display Pro or Colormunki, how long are they going to last? Seems everyone tells me about how the LT degrades with time by just sitting there. Any reason, since they're so similar hardware-wise that I can't just get the Colormunki? Especially if I use this third party software to calibrate my TV anyway, what the stock software of each does isn't really of much concern to me. I know that only HCFR will work with it, but that's fine with me. The way I see it, any of this is better than doing nothing and letting ly TV deteriorate over time and age poorly, no?

I was told by someone to use a plasma correction matrix. And to use a spectro to better profile my colorimeter to the spectro on my display. I have no idea what these mean. But I'll look them up if they're relevant parts of the process.

 

[tinpanalley]

I am nor expert on this but congratulation for your first plasma tv

Thanks.

 

[tinpanalley]

UPDATE: I got the Color Munki. Looking forward to it arriving next week. Thanks for all the help and input guys. I've learned more than I ever expected in the past two weeks and definitely feel that I'm in a better place for knowing how to properly set and maintain my new TV.

 

[tinpanalley]

Exactly. Its all about avoiding black bars, channel logos, or game huds during the TVs crucial first 100 hours.

Finally finished the break-in period. Didn't cheat once.
Can you tell me what it is someone else is telling me about using HCFR, I don't get it as much as I've read around online. They're saying to use a plasma correction matrix and to use a spectro to profile it to the spectro on my display. That last part makes no sense to me. ??
By the way, I decided to invest in a Colormunki.