About to set up my Pioneer 436 XDE

harryt

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Just received delivery of my new 436 XDE and would like to know any info about do's / don'ts in the 1st few weeks, how to avoid image retention/burn and any advice i can give my good lady about using the tv when i'm at work.

Any advice, greatly received.

Many thanks

Harryt
 
Main thing is to ensure you don't have any logos on for a significant period of time and drop the contrast level down to about 20.
I had to run my 506XDE in for 100hrs before getting it ISF calibrated; left it on day & night. Reviewed programme listings to see what's on especially when leaving on through the night so that no logos showing (ie. BBC news 24 - avoid!!) or where films are showing, set plasma to zoom so there are no black lines showing for films at top.
Recommend ISF as it prolongs life and gives a more natural and sharper pic!
 
What id give to be in your shoes! Cant wait til my xde comes, 25 odd days to go!
 
What is ISF calibration? Until hi def dvd arrives I'm running component lead into media box - this is best for dvd picture quality.

Final point - the screen can seem a little noisy - is this common.

Many thanks

Harryt
 
My 436XDE came on Monday and got it wall mounted yesterday, wow the picture from either Freeview or DVD looks fantastic, much better than I was expecting :clap:

My install has not been finished but I have attached a few snaps to show where it is.

I've taken some of the advice regarding lowering the contrast level and am running it at 15, might bring it back to 20 in the next couple of days. Should I change any other setting to help things in the first few weeks?

Have to say I am worried about image retention/screen burn. Can I watch a true widescreen film yet without risking any problems with the black bars top and bottom, I'm thinking of films such as LOTRs?
 

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If you're worried about screen burn, just leave the screen off and play the sound track. The people on the far sofa will never no the difference unless they make like the exorcist video and spin their heads through 180 degrees :D

On the other hand..... general consensus is to limit any black bands/static images during the first 200 or so hours of use. I personally hate using stretch or zoom modes, but stuck with it and now use my pv500 like a normal telly with no problem at all. Whether this 'run in' is beneficial or not seems to be a bit of a contentious issue, but 200 hours goes pretty quick, and from my point of view it was worth the hassle since £2.5k is a big chunk of anybody's hard earned.
 
LOL :D

I've not found the stretch option on the screen yet, anyone know whether it exists on the 436?
 
It's called "Wide"
 
Just tried wide and it helped but did not fill the screen, the only setting that did was zoom
 
Yeah, zoom is what I used. Looks rubbish, but seems to do the trick. Even with evening/weekend viewing only I racked up 200 hours in about 6 weeks, so worth the effort just to be on the safe side.

Harryt, check out http://www.convergent-av.co.uk/calibration.html to find out about ISF calibration. Gordon is a highly respected member of the forum who is qualified to carry out screen calibration using the service menus rather than just the basic colour/contrast/brightness adjustments. Basically optimises your settings taking into account lighting/kit you use etc. :thumbsup:

Just giving my screen a few more hours use and I'll be contacting him.
 
thanks for that - i guess 200 hours is the mark before ISF ?
 
I think 200 hours is just a reasonable 'bedding in' time for the panel to settle down. There are different opinions, but this seems to be the most popular
 
Where is the zoom option. I can't seem to find it.
 
Press the button in the bottom right hand corner of the remote to switch through the screen modes.
 
harryt said:
Just received delivery of my new 436 XDE and would like to know any info about do's / don'ts in the 1st few weeks, how to avoid image retention/burn and any advice i can give my good lady about using the tv when i'm at work.

Any advice, greatly received.

Many thanks

Harryt

Somewhere in the menu (I forget where, maybe in the power saving section) you can get the screen to turn itself off if a remote button hasn't been pressed for three hours. Safe and sure.
Other than screen 'care', some does and dont's. Basically, turn every one of the 'image enhancement features' like DNR, MPEG noise reduction etc off. They ruin the image. Also, turn Pure Cinema off. Make sure you have Sky/Freeview connected to RGB Scart sockets and make sure the box is outputing RGB via the scarts (check the Sky/Freeview setup menu).
Get a good DVD player if you dont already and connect via three lead component or even better HDMI/DVI. Set DVD player to progressive output. If you have a lesser DVD player then output interlaced and try maybe turning on Advanved Pure Cinema.

Watched Sin City yesterday and I have to say the image was jaw dropping and my screen has an allegedly lower contrast rating to yours, although I do have the Lumagen working its wonder.

Get an ISF, if nothing else then for peace of mind- you'll know the screen is set up as best it can and there will be no more need for constant fiddling with the settings.

Damo

PS, as an aside, I do think a good DVD player (if you cant stretch to a scaler) makes a big difference. My £200 CA Azure was a very well recieved DVD player at the time, but its progressive output was pretty poor actually- the Diner scene in Star Wars Episode II showed horrendous stepping of building edges in the initial panoramic pan. The £600 Pioneer showed none of this nonsense.
 
Panzer22 said:
Press the button in the bottom right hand corner of the remote to switch through the screen modes.

Cheers. Was wonderin about that. Maybe I'd better read the manual at some point. :)
 

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