Toshiba xxZD26P - Complete summary

[bibooo]

Due to the unfeasibly long thread on the Toshiba 32/36ZD26P, I thought it would be useful to have a quick reference guide. It is now impossible to find any information easily without spending an entire weekend reading through the 1000+ posts.

This will hopefully save any more unnecessary questions/queries about this set which have already been answered.
Moderators, it may be worth making this a "sticky".

Picture problem summary. (3rd post)

More information on the "flaring" problem, and a possible solution (thanks to Juboy). (last post)

A rough guide to picture settings. (2nd post)
MAKE ALL ADJUSTMENTS FROM PICTURE MODE 3, this will disable SVM and other "enhancements".

The importance of using Progress Mode.

Accessing the service menu and useful geometry tips.

Designer menu.

Using Cinema/Wide/Superlive/4:3 picture modes.

Brief progressive scan info. (4th post)

The xxZD26P DOES NOT accept Pal progressive scan from an external source.

NTSC Widescreen switching issues.

Online retailers. (3rd and 5th post)

P, B and Q suffixes. e.g 36ZD26 P

If anyone can think of a topic not covered, please feel free to add any useful information.

bibooo

[gmt steve]

What a guy!

[RiskyLuca]

Excellent idea Bibooo and thanks for the tips at the end of the previous thread.

[Soy1]

Thanks m8. I've just ordered one of these and this guide will be very handy.

[ditton15]

biboo,

my nomination for 2002

[Willy]

Feel free to move this to wherever is most relevant. Just thought I should let you know that I got this TV for £910 including delivery & installation using the John Lewis pricematch. Got them to pricematch RGB Direct's Ilford store price of £880.

JL were v helpful & sent me a letter so I could take it along & buy at the reduced price.

Thanks to all those who posted pricematch information. Would never have managed it without you.

For additional info, here's the process I used:

Step 1: Find the TV you want. Chances are JL will stock it somewhere. They don't have to have it in your local (mine didn't) - they can get it delivered from elsewhere at no additional cost.

Step 2: Find it cheaper at one of the online shops. For the purposes of the pricematch (more on this later), the retailer must have a shopfront. Robertsons Online and RGB Direct (who I used) are 2 that do. Just do a google search for them.

Step 3: Call the shop version of the online store and confirm the price and that they have it in stock. Important - it must be in stock.

Step 4: Call your local JL and tell them you want to buy the TV from them, but that you have seen it cheaper elsewhere. Ask them to pricematch and give them the store name & phone no.

Step 5: Wait for JL to get back to you. If all goes well then they will send you a letter confirming that you can have the tv for the lower price.

Step 6: Take the letter with you to JL and buy the TV.

Very much appreciated bibooo!!!!

Thanks!

[bibooo]

Thanks for everyone's comments; they are greatly appreciated.
I have added a couple more links; any further useful information I find will be included for future reference.

bibooo

Bibooo,

You do seem to be very up on the 32zd26p. I have now got mine and am awaiting an engineer. I also have a sloping black border going down from left to right, I can see the scan lines and when in my DVD menu (Denon f-100) I can see 'hatching' around text moving left to right.

I have read alot of your previous notes but I am wondering if you think it should go back?

Cheers and thanks for all the advise.

Yugo1

[Willy]

Hi, my Tosh 32ZD26P got delivered this morning. Overall I am delighted, but I have one concern that I don't think I have read about here.

My TV seems to work fine - I've tried it with my Xbox, PS2 & video player. I don't seem to have any of the problems some people have reported, but I do seem to get 'framerate' issues when playing ro Evolution Soccer 2. Basically, every time a long pass is played across the screen (left to right or vice versa) the whole screen jerks and it looks a bit like a game looks when it was struggling to keep up a decent framerate.

However, when I put the TV in progessive mode (from the menu) this problem goes away! Has anyone else experienced this, and is there a reason why it is happening?

Cheers.

[ian-sharp]

I have seen the 32" for £859.00. Having read previous posts, is the general feeling that this tv is worth buying or has anyone got a better suggestion for this price?

Ta

[bibooo]

Yugo1,

If the black bars are sloping, which means the top black bar and bottom black bar are parallel, you should get the effect that the whole screen has been rotated by a few degrees. The 36ZD has a Geomagnetic feature, which allows minimal rotation of the screen to rectify this problem, however the 32ZD does not. A service engineer should be able to fix this, but don't quote me on that.
However if you mean that the top and bottom black bars bow/bend up or down there is nothing you or a service engineer can do. I think Toshiba's tolerance on this is +/- 5mm, so technically if your black borders are within this tolerance, the TV is fine (in Toshiba's view). This wasn't fine with me and I had two replacements (as well as four others for different reasons) until I settled for my current TV; even this one is not perfect, it's probably out by 1 or 2mm at various points.

If you can see scan lines, switch the TV to Progress mode, this will eliminate any trace of line structure even with NTSC material.

"Hatching" around the text (if I understand you correctly) suggests you are watching a composite video source (as opposed to a crisp RGB source). Make sure the DVD player is connected to AV1 (the only RGB input) and also make sure the DVD is set to output RGB (not video or S-Video).

Willy,

I don't own any consoles at the moment so I can't test this. However, did you see this problem on your previous TV?
If it was apparent on your old TV, then it's good news that using Progress Mode eliminates it now.

In my opinion Progress Mode is the only picture mode you should ever need to use, regardless of what the source is.

ian-sharp,

Yes it is worth getting, nothing comes close in the same price range (IMO). Just pray that you get one without any of the numerous faults.

[Willy]

Thanks for the response Biboo - you are a star. I'd insert a star emoticon but I can't find one, so you'll just have to use your imagination!

Anyway, no - my old TV never used to do this - that's why I'm a little concerned. However, I'll just keep it in progress mode & hope for the best.

Cheers...

Thankyou very much bibooo for the reply. You do seem to know your stuff and if they were still doing 'Heart of Gold' on BBC1 I would vote for you .

I am going to wait till I get SKY fitted and then get an engineer out. Generally the TV is fab but as always with these things I think we all get too excited. I think they should deliver on the day you order and not put us through the wait.

Cheers again.

Yugo1

OH and I forgot to say I am using RGB, AV1 and the DVD is set to Video because I can only choose that or S-video.

Cheers

Yugo1