Tweaking my 53WX54

[SC_Sixx]

Hey peeps... :wave:

I got a new PT-53WX54 last Tuesday and have already jumped into tweaking it to get it's full PQ potential.

This site, AVS and panny.tv have been invaluable for information regarding the serviceman mode, convergance, color/greyscale and other minor/major adjustments.

The first thing I did, after reading as many FAQs and guides I could find regarding this TV, was to purchase Digital Video Essentials. After going through all the basic, advanced and troubleshooting chapters I've noticed a few minor problems with my TV.

1. Red focus seems perfect (a little out near the edges, nothing major) but green is out a bit and blue is out BIG TIME! I've tried to correct with e-focus pots but I can't get it much better. Is this typical for my model TV? Will a manual focus fix this? I'm a little intimidated regarding this procedure but willing to attempt it if I can improve my PQ. Is blue usually out of focus more than Red/Green on all RPTV's?

2. My geometry is pretty whacked. Mainly in the corners I've got Pin, Size Corner and KEY adjustments to make. Is there a simple way to fix these or am I stuck with COARSE mode to fix in both STATIC mode and then each color? Will fixing the mechanical focus help? Are most TV's usually pretty far off in the corners?

3. Red Push. I've eliminated most of it but still notice it a bit in bright red portions of certain programs. I tried using the settings that are listed on panny.tv of COLOR - 42, B-Y_G - 2A, R-Y_A - 00, but that last one just seems to throw everything WAY out. The color and B-Y_G are close to my current settings but my R-Y_A was factory set (I've left it there) at 9A, pretty much the polar opposite. Anyone know how to fix this?

4. My HD and SD PQ are already much better than when I first got this TV but I still think that HD is 'grainy'. Will this improve when the tubes/guns have aged a bit? I read somewhere that is will smooth out after a month or 100 hours...

5. Lastly, I can't seem to get my BRIGHT and PICTURE settings to work well with the greyscale pluge tests (not sure if the CUTs and DRVs in service mode would help). I can set it to work well with the standard test (3 vertical bars on either side, 4 greyscale boxes down middle) but when I switch it to the next test (much more white in it, HIGH ambient?) I can't see any of the vertical bars. If I set them correctly for the second test then the first one is way off. :( Is there a happy medium between the two? Am I missing something or doing something wrong? Again, is this typical with RPTV's or this model?



I know I've asked for a lot here but I really, really, really want to get this TV set up to it's max capability. Any help on this is very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

SC_Sixx

[SC_Sixx]

No ideas on this one guys?

I've been told by some TV technicians that blue is usually a tad bit more out of focus than the other colors straight from the factory. This is done on purpose to hid PQ flaws.

Has anyone tweaked their manual focus on any brand of television (rear projection CRT) ?

[SC_Sixx]

I guess nobody knows anything about this particular model here???

[craddie]

I'm getting a tech out under warranty to investigate similar issues I'm having with my 47WX53. The blue focus is also way out on mine, and on my model at least, the pots need to be focused manually - which I'm not doing myself if it's under warrantly.

I'm hoping to sweet-talk him into a full calibration. Will let you know how it goes.

[SC_Sixx]

I'm getting a tech out under warranty to investigate similar issues I'm having with my 47WX53. The blue focus is also way out on mine, and on my model at least, the pots need to be focused manually - which I'm not doing myself if it's under warrantly.

I'm hoping to sweet-talk him into a full calibration. Will let you know how it goes.

We seem to be posting to each other a lot here ;)

I wouldn't expect too much from the onsite tech. I have a few friends in the business and they've told me that they will only spend a few minutes on focus and convergence. All the other settings to make the picture better are only adjusted through an ISF calibration which is very pricey when you compare it to what you spent on your TV. If you really want to guarantee you have it set for the best possible PQ then by all means get it calibrated, just be ready to shell out a lot of moola!

I am curious to know what your tech actually does when he visits and how much improvement you see. Plese let me know what the results are.

[Matt27]

If you really would like to see the improvements of a full calibration, i would suggest taking a picture of your set and do a before and after thing.

Take a picture of the tv now, then when calibration is finished, take another picture and see if you can see a difference.

Also if you can find something in the service menu with the phrase "GAMMA" or "GAMM" this should help you see shadow detail in dark areas of the picture.

I hav'nt calibrated my set yet, because i'm waiting on my digital video essentials disc to come in the mail that i won off of EBAY.

When i do get the disc i'm going to take pictures and do a before and after thing to see the results.

[craddie]

Good call SC_sixx - the tech came today and actually made it worse than it was before. He actually spent a lot of time adjusting convergence, but he didn't know how to see the lines around the edges of the screen (pressing '2' to change) so the edges are actually more off than they were before - I wasn't about to tell him how to do it. Have to fix it now....yeesh!

He pulled the front off and tried to adjust the blue focus manually, but apparently it's as good as it's going to get. He said that my set was one of the best calibrated CRT's he'd seen. Even before he started working he couldn't even see any of the imperfections that I was seeing.

I must be too picky. Have to buy a direct-view LCD or something!

Thanks for the help!

[espowill]

I just purchased the Panasonic PT-53WX54. I have static and bad reception on channels 2-32, but all the other channels are fine. I watched some DVDs and they are fine also. I don't have a cable box, just the cable wire. I am getting the cable box today. Any other ideas?