Question about my TV (Hi Def RPTV)

AsSiMiLaTeD

I have a Toshiba 57h93. This is a 57" 1080i HDTV, but is a rear projection set. The issue that I'm having really consists of two pieces:

1 - On all my inputs and sources, the outside edges of the picture are cut off. I'd say about 2 inches of the picture is being cut off. Again this is on all inputs and sources. I can tune to a channel or put a dvd on both this tv and the 32" Aquos in the bedroom and I can see the material that's missing.
2 - The screen is just a bit blurry, really only noticeable when reading text and stuff. It has an auto adjust to the convergence and that seems to work as I don't think it's a color allignment issues, just blurry.

I've checked all the zoom, aspect, picture size, etc settings on the tv and nothing fixes it. I'm almost thinking that the picture is being zoomed in on somehow, which would explain both scenarios above.

Is that possible? Could the TV think that the front screen that's being projected onto is closer to the projections guns than it really is?

Any thoughts? I may have someone come look at it, depends on how much that's going to cost and have to decide if at some point I just let the thing go and move on to a plasma. The thing is that the colors on this TV are better than anything I can afford on the market today...

TIA

Roy Munson

It's called "overscan" and it can be adjusted to about 4% to 5% over depending on the brand of tv. Some sets can get to within 2%. (overscan is normal on a set like yours) It will require a calibration to adjust the amount of overscan you have and after it's calibrated for the "overscan" the geometry and convergence will have to be adjusted. It'll tighten up the picture some and you should notice an improvement!

thsmith

Also, if you have not cleaned the optics that could be the problem with Text.

leroyjr1

Might be time for a new LCD.

Serendipity

First of all, in my experience auto convergence sucks. You really have to do it yourself - that produces much better results.

Have you cleaned the lenses and the mirror? Have you tried any of the focus adjustments? There are one or two nuts on each lens that allows it to rotate to be focused; the one closest to the CRT is the focus adjustment and the one furthest away from the CRT adjusts the edges.

Also, Do you have any electronic focus adjustments in the menu? On my KD-34XBR960 direct view set I can adjust the EM focus through the service menu which made a HUGE impact on the picture. You don't even have to open up the set to focus it - it's all accessible from the remote control.

Serendipity

BTW, that Toshiba is a very good TV. This page outlines most of the adjustments you would probably need:

http://www.curtpalme.com/Advanced_Procedures.shtm

Although it is for CRT projectors many things hold true for rear projection sets too.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Thanks for the info guys. I don't know anything about these adjustments, and I haven't cleaned anything, wouldn't even know where to start with that stuff.

I'll take a look tonight and see what I can come up with. I'm gonna call around and see if I can find someone to come take a look. Does anyone know of a good place in the Dallas area? If I can get it fixed for under a couple hundred bucks or so I may do that, more than that and I may start looking at a plasma set.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I love this tv. Other than this issue, which sounds like it can be corrected, I've yet to see another television that I'd be willing to replace this one with, at least that I can afford.

Serendipity

I don't think you need to call anyone, as most of the adjustments are fairly straightforward and simple.

I can walk you through some of the procedures, and also the link I posted provides some extremely valuable information.

Serendipity

1st thing: Clean the lenses and mirror. Just use a microfiber cloth or a lens cleaning cloth for camera lenses, and wipe the back of the mirror and screen.

This is very easy to do and only takes a few minutes...

edbert

Maybe a shot in the dark, but my father-in-law does has the same issue and I know the problem. Have you tried adjusting the settings on your cable/satellite/FiOS/Uverse box? He sets his to zoom or something like that and it cuts off a portion of the picture all the way around. He also has a Polk home theater setup and keeps the receiver on 7-ch stereo! I change it anytime I am over there but he inevitably will switch it back. Hopefully this will work for you.

Good luck.

Serendipity

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I love this tv. Other than this issue, which sounds like it can be corrected, I've yet to see another television that I'd be willing to replace this one with, at least that I can afford.

Are you talking about the overscan issue? Overscan can be adjusted to around 2% for normal viewing, which on my TV is less than 1" around the sides.

Serendipity

edbert wrote: »

Maybe a shot in the dark, but my father-in-law does has the same issue and I know the problem. Have you tried adjusting the settings on your cable/satellite/FiOS/Uverse box? He sets his to zoom or something like that and it cuts off a portion of the picture all the way around. He also has a Polk home theater setup and keeps the receiver on 7-ch stereo! I change it anytime I am over there but he inevitably will switch it back. Hopefully this will work for you.

Good luck.

He said it affects DVD also - I think it may be an overscan issue.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I know the top comes off this thing, because I took it apart when I moved it. Let me start by taking that off tonight and cleaning the lenses and mirror, then I'll move on to the adjustments you linked me to. If I have any questions from there I'll let you know, thanks again for the info and offer to help.

edbert

appadv wrote: »

He said it affects DVD also - I think it may be an overscan issue.

Oops, read it too quickly. I think I had an overscan issue on his first post. I can make my own adjustments though, no links necessary on how to read.

Serendipity

Good start. I just use a lens cleaning kit from B&H Photo but any microfiber cloth or camera lens cleaning kit will do.

You will be surprised as to how dirty it is in there!!

Also don't forget to clean the screen.

thsmith

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I know the top comes off this thing, because I took it apart when I moved it. Let me start by taking that off tonight and cleaning the lenses and mirror, then I'll move on to the adjustments you linked me to. If I have any questions from there I'll let you know, thanks again for the info and offer to help.

There was an execellent ISF calibrator in Dallas but he no longer does this work, it made a huge improvement on my 73" Mits. I clean my optics every 6 months. You will be surprised how much dust is collected on the lens.

As far as cleaning you mirror make sure it is not Mylar, no not use lens cleaner on Mylar. I live in Plano and think you live in Dallas, if I can help let me know. I had the first gen Toshiba 57", sold it 2 years ago and is still going strong.

Serendipity

thsmith wrote: »

As far as cleaning you mirror make sure it is not Mylar, no not use lens cleaner on Mylar.

+1

Don't use lens cleaner if the mirror is Mylar, but you can still clean the mirror.

billbillw

All RPTVs have some amount of optical overscan. In addition, the older CRT based sets like yours have additional signal overscan that can add up to more than 10% of the image.

My suggestion, retire that old sucker. I had the 51" version of your TV. I tweaked everything on that TV, cleaned optics, minimal overscan, service menu convergence, lens focus, you name it. It still was blurry with text and looked like (rap compared to my Panny Plasma in the bedroom.

I replaced it last January with a newer LCoS RPTV and couldn't be happier. Of course, Sony discontinued my TV, but the newest LED DLP sets from Samsung are also supposed to be quite amazing. I believe they are the A750 series.
You can get the 61" version delivered for well under $1500.

Oh yeah, the colors on that Samsung are supposed to be perfect out of the box with a few minor changes to the settings (read the reviews for the HL61A750 or HL67A750). No bulbs to change, no convergence to worry about. Excellent black levels too. All in all, I think it would put that old Toshiba to shame. Its not a 'flat panel', but IMHO, if you don't plan to wall mount it, there are not many reasons to choose a flat panel over these slim RPTVs other than possible viewing angle problems.

AsSiMiLaTeD

thsmith wrote: »

I live in Plano and think you live in Dallas, if I can help let me know. I had the first gen Toshiba 57", sold it 2 years ago and is still going strong.

I'm in Plano as well, just west of Midway on Parker Rd. I'll take it apart tonight and see what I can come up with.

Serendipity

billbillw,

I would have to disagree. You can't beat a CRT rear projection set when it comes to color, black level, and overall realism.

There's a reason why broadcast studios still use CRT monitors and projectors - the picture quality is unmatched.

Just my opinion...

thsmith

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'm in Plano as well, just west of Midway on Parker Rd. I'll take it apart tonight and see what I can come up with.

Kewl, I live on the poor side of Plano, east of Jupiter off Park.

thsmith

appadv wrote: »

billbillw,

I would have to disagree. You can't beat a CRT rear projection set when it comes to color, black level, and overall realism.

There's a reason why broadcast studios still use CRT monitors and projectors - the picture quality is unmatched.

Just my opinion...

+100. If your room can handle the size. I had a Toshiba 57" I bought and 2000 but wanted a bigger size, 73". I had to find a used Mits 73" with 9" CRTs.

After a $300 ISF calibration I will put it up againest any similar sized HDTV.

Serendipity

If I were you, I'd hold on to that set as IMO the digitals haven't surpassed CRT sets with regards to black level yet. The older Toshiba RPTV's are amazing!!

AsSiMiLaTeD

I agree as well. I really don't want to get rid of it, like I said I've yet to find a tv that I like as much that I can afford.

billbillw

I held onto my CRT for a long time, but it was time to go. I had some burn in in my phosphors and it drove me nuts.

I have found that my Sony SXRD is better in every way than my Toshiba H93 was. Brighter, better colors, better contrast, more detail, better realism, and even black levels are better. While it doesn't go completely pitch black, the level of shadow detail is much better than my Toshiba CRT was. When the CRT was adjusted to get good black, much of the shadow detail was gone. Whites are not really white on CRTs either (same for plasma).

1st of all, you can't really judge how the newer RPTVs look by the displays in the store. The lighting in there is awful, the sets are adjusted poorly out of the box, and they usually have poor signal feed. If you can get one in a darkened room with a direct BluRay or high def satellite/cable feed, and adjust the thing properly, I think you will be blown away.

billbillw

thsmith wrote: »

+100. If your room can handle the size. I had a Toshiba 57" I bought and 2000 but wanted a bigger size, 73". I had to find a used Mits 73" with 9" CRTs.

After a $300 ISF calibration I will put it up againest any similar sized HDTV.

Most of the tuners want more than $300 to do a CRT RPTV properly these days, especially if you have them clean and focus the optics.

Those Mits with the 9" CRTs are very nice though. Those are/were really the only CRT RPTVs that could actually resolve a full 1080 lines.

thsmith

billbillw wrote: »

Most of the tuners want more than $300 to do a CRT RPTV properly these days, especially if you have them clean and focus the optics.

Those Mits with the 9" CRTs are very nice though. Those are/were really the only CRT RPTVs that could actually resolve a full 1080 lines.

Steve Martin (not the commedian) does an excellent job. Mine was probably one of the last he perfromed ISF cal on. He said most of the newer sets were 90% there out of the box using user I/F menu.

I had already cleaned my optics and removed screen protector and I had him only calibrate the 1080 scanrate since all my input were set to 1080 not native. That was how I was able to get it done so cheap. He spent 5 hours at the house checking each input sources and making changes to their settings for best possible picture.

I hate the thoughts of having to replace it when it dies. If Sony still made the series you have and actually made the 70+" version it would be difficult if not impossible to refrain from getting one.

AsSiMiLaTeD

It's a bummer that Steve isn't doing the calibration any longer, doesn't seem to be anyone around here anymore that does.

BlueFox

billbillw wrote: »

I held onto my CRT for a long time, but it was time to go. I had some burn in in my phosphors and it drove me nuts.

I have found that my Sony SXRD is better in every way than my Toshiba H93 was.

It really is a shame Sony dropped SXRD RPTVs. They had the technology nailed for a great picture, large screen, and low price.

Anyone have any experiece with JVC and their LCOS TVs, which is supposedly another name for SXRD.

thsmith

Steve refers you to http://www.lionav.com/services.php on his page.

This guy is good but you have to fly him in from Cali, if you decide to do this I might be interested in some of his tweaks and could share the cost, maybe be able to put together a Texas tour.

http://www.imageperfection.com/