Quick question on KDF-42WE655

[clarksonknight]

Hi everyone,

I've posted over on the Panasonic forum because I had originally bought the PT-43LC14 model but exchanged it for the KDF-42WE655, which I'm very pleased with. My only question...

I've noticed that DVDs along with my Xbox just don't seem very sharp, i.e., the level of detail isn't as good as what I'd seen with the other TV. Both the DVD player and Xbox are set in 16:9 mode, both are set up with component cables and are going into our home theater system. The picture mode is set to "full" and the display shows that it's running in 480p but it just doesn't seem to be a very good picture. Watchable but not great. Does anyone know what I might be able to do to improve this?

Thanks!

[scherer326]

I did the same thing as you. Bought and returned the Pt-43LC14. Such a loud fan noise, couldnt take it. The sony KDF-42WE655 is so much better. PQ is better, no fan noise also. dont worry if you just got the tv, give it about 100 hrs to kick in. the xbox quality will get a lot better, same with dvd. I had the same opinion when I was playing call of duty-finest hour on my new kdf-42we655. Now it is awesome. Dont worry the picture will get better.

also make sure you have widescreen set on your tv for xbox settings. Also make sure all the HD settings are checked.

[clarksonknight]

Cool thanks for the advice! I didn't really notice much fan noise on the Panny, I returned it because I couldn't take the nasty pincushion effect I was seeing that couldn't be adjusted. I would have exchanged it for the same thing but after a survey of all the BB's and CC's in the area, I found that the effect was inherent in almost every LCD and DLP TV to some extent - the Sony was the only one I could find that didn't have it! Now that I've switched I'm glad I did... it's such a nicer setup!

[scherer326]

trust me you wont be disappointed. The Panny was so loud in my apartment (fan noise that is). The best decision to switch to the Sony. Know regrets at all. Much better picture quality. Keep me posted how you like it.

Enjoy your new toy!!!!!

[clarksonknight]

Okay... made a few discoveries.

My roommate finally admitted that his DVD player isn't progressive scan when I noticed that the TV display read "480i" and I actually went to the manual and found nothing there about progressive scan. Once I hook my DVD player up, the picture should be much sharper and improved.

As far as the Xbox goes, though, it gets a little strange. The Xbox is and has been set to wide screen mode since I had the previous TV. What's interesting is, while the TV display indicates that it's running in 480p, it says next to it that it's in 4:3 mode. The picture itself is the right aspect, 16:9, and I don't have any of the widescreen display modes on, i.e., the display mode is set to "full". It almost feels like the games are stretched (I noticed this playing Halo CE) which is kind of strange. Shouldn't the display read 16:9 if I have the widescreen setting enabled on the Xbox? Does yours show 16:9?

Let me know what you think...

[scherer326]

not all xbox games are in 16:9, widescreen. I would try to stretch those. But again, not all xbox games are formatted to 16:9.

Also, get the HD pack for Xboxfrom best buy or circuit city or anywhere that sells it. They will give you a tremendous difference than using the cables that came with the xbox.

[mikem74]

[QUOTE=clarksonknight]Okay... made a few discoveries.

My roommate finally admitted that his DVD player isn't progressive scan when I noticed that the TV display read "480i"

Where are you seeing a TV display that tells resolution? I have the 610 and would like to see this feature or is it just on the 655? Thanks

[clarksonknight]

Just hit the "Display" button, it should be in the lower right-hand corner...

scherer326: Actually it is a problem with the Xbox not sending the proper flag to the TV - I discovered this on the xbox.com forums. MS is working on a fix for this but if the Xbox is set in widescreen mode, the display on the TV should always read 16:9 and not 4:3. FYI the game in question that I used to test it is Halo 2 which is indeed a 16:9 game.

[scherer326]

yours should worked. I played halo 2 last night on my tv, and it fit the whole screen(16:9). was awesome with the xbox hd pack.

[teds12]

As soon as I got my KDF-50WE655 I went out and bought a Toshiba SD3960 progressive scan (PS) DVD player ($50); playback of several DVDs was sub-par compared (less-sharp to the point of bluriness at times) to my Toshiba non-PS SD1600 unit. I exchanged the 3950 for an SD5790 ($170) and got the same disappointing results (My Best Buy now has 2 open-boxes up for sale). Note that even when I turned of PS on both new units, playback was much inferior to the SD1600 - which I consider (LUCKILY) to be satisfactory.

Note that Consumer Reports (CR) just rated the KDF-50WE655 only "fair" for DVD playback (9 of 13 units beat the set out in this regard).

So I agree with you (as does CR); now what do we do? Or are we both nuts?

[clarksonknight]

I've yet to hook up my PS DVD player to the TV, probably will this weekend. It looks like MS is working on a fix for the Xbox compatibility problem, although the fix will probably have more bugs than the original :-p I'll keep everyone up to date... I'll try to post once I hook the PS DVD player up and see what kind of difference there is...