[Kane D Williams]

When auditioning a PJ for faults such as severe VB, dead pixels or colour 'staining', what test patterns are the most useful? What if the person doing the testing does not have any test discs and has no PC connected? Are there any movie discs containing and test patterns or simply menu screens or scenes that can be used?

I assume when looking for dead pixels, it would be best to project a pure black picture? This is easy obviously easy to do with no test disc!

What is the best method to find stuck pixels? Would it be projecting a solid red, then blue and finally green picture? What is the best way with no test disc? Any tricks, or just watch a few scenes from a movie?

Is a solid grey picture the best for detecting VB and white for colour staining? By staining, I mean when a certain area of the screen can have a yellow or green tinge? Any normal discs with scenes that will do? I suppose for white, one could zoom in (on DVD player) on the white box on a THX Optimiser?

Are there any other picture problems to look out for? I realize convergence may be a problem and I assume any THX Optimiser disc can be used for this?

[fred123go]

haha kane since i will be doing it i'll tell you what i will do
the best way to look for dead pixels is to hit the no show button on the pj that, on the z2 anyway, produces a uniform grey screen - so it is very easy to look for dead pixels.
I have an Avia disc so i could spend some time going through the patterns with you, making sure colours are fine, frequency response...basically everything
I can also show clips of films where, IMO, vb is very much there, mainly grey scenes show up vb.
not sure how to show up convergence problems if there are any, but normally only con rear projections tvs
cheers
fred

[KraGorn]

Originally posted by Kane D Williams
Is a solid grey picture the best for detecting VB and white for colour staining?

AIUI yes to both .. easy to do with an HCPC, simply open a Windows application like Notepad and maximize .. full white then simply twiddle the pallet and get solid grey for the VB check, my Z2 shows no VB worth speaking of, very mild mis-alignment towards the left half, again not in the least concerning.

[inzaman]

Kragorn, what do you mean by very mild mis-alignment towards the left half? Thanks

[Kane D Williams]

Nice one Fred, I was only asking so I could ask you to perform a few of the tests. Stuck pixels can sometimes be hard to spot, only showing up on certain colours etc. Please look out for them! I'm glad you have Avia, I'm sure there is a crosshatch pattern of some sort to look for convergence problems?

Some of the Sony HS20's have had convergence issues so it is still a consideration.

You seem to know your stuff, so I trust you Fred!!! PS. can't wait to get the Z2 next week. If my 365DivX is here by then (should be), I'll bring it round, so that you can see 720p from DVI and see how it compares to your current DVD player! If you want that is?

Cheers

[fred123go]

yeah Kane that would be great, i am sure my dvd player is causing slight loss of picture quality and i am sure it can be shown up by that dvd player, or it could be that crappy 10m £10 component cable i use, dunno. I also would like to see what a 720p signal can produce as i might decide to get the Samsung DVI dvd player.
cheers and i will probs have it by thursday/friday
fred

[CrispyXUK]

Get an HCPC fred

[fred123go]

can't afford one, plus i really can't be bothered to research them.
but thanks for the suggestion!
fred

[Dimmy]

Originally posted by fred123go
can't afford one, plus i really can't be bothered to research them.
but thanks for the suggestion!
fred

You can build one for little more than the money you'd raise through selling your DVD player.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Less than £200 to build a basic model, and use your current OS disc to get it running. PDVD 5 can be got for next to nothing, so you'll still be at the £200 mark.

Gary.

[fred123go]

yeah but a basic model wouldn't exactly rivel something like the Denon 2200/2900 and it would be a lot more hassle and i don't want to start up a comp just to watch a film.
thanks for the info but i do not want to go the hcpc way.
fred

[Gary Lightfoot]

A basic model with Radeon 7000 is only marginaly inferior to a model with a 9600, and it'll still produce an image better than a Deno 2900.

But each to his own.

Gary.

[buns]

I find that a 50 IRE mid grey field works well for seeing VB/FPN. For colour problems, you need a stepped grey field of some sort so that you can see greys of various IRE values..... a single grey field wont help because it is feasible that colors are alot more accurate in some places than others.

A word of advice..... spend a second to recognise a problem and you'll spend a lifetime of irritation at it. Forget it and just watch, then you'll never know it is there! Trust me, I have been looking at problems solidly for 3 days and I now just cant watch anything until I get them sorted. Most wont be as lucky as beig able to sort them!

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[WeirdFish]

A word of advice..... spend a second to recognise a problem and you'll spend a lifetime of irritation at it. Forget it and just watch, then you'll never know it is there! Trust me, I have been looking at problems solidly for 3 days and I now just cant watch anything until I get them sorted. Most wont be as lucky as beig able to sort them!

Yeh, know what you mean. I spent a week thinking wot VB? then i went looking for it, found it, now can't not notice it.


Still once you've sorted yours and start up the charity PJ set up service all will be well

[buns]

Originally posted by WeirdFish
Still once you've sorted yours and start up the charity PJ set up service all will be well

so that means i should get donations like any good charity!

do you notice the VB all the time? I can see the squares all over mine really only on still images.....

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[WeirdFish]

No not all the the time. Basically on large areas of dull colour with the image panning, if that makes sense. Its one of those things that catch your eye and you have to look at it. Bit like Liv Tyler