OldBoy

^ perfect Jay. i just got The Incredibles, so that should work if i pop it in, no?

for the update do i just download the update to a USB flash drive and then plug that into tv and it will read it and update?

so are these HDMI cables crap?

thanks again Jay for all this help and continued support. you really do make a difference on these forums!

Jay G.

It should. It was on the Incredibles DVD, and it's on my Toy Story 3 Blu-ray on Disc 1 under Settings -> Maximize Your Home Theater.

Alternatively, all Sony Blu-rays have a series of test patterns on them as a hidden easter egg:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post12841401


You can do that, or there's instructions on that page for how to update over the network.

Those are fine. As the Gizmodo tests showed, almost any cable passes a signal fine at 6'. It's longer distances that are cause for concern.

However, Monoprice has a similar cable starting at $3.28 each + shipping, so depending on how many cables you got you may have saved some money going with them:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Thanks. It's nice to know my help is appreciated.

Spiky

It's far worse than that, Jay. My screen is only 90", not even 100.

OldBoy

so if i currently have a full up modem, how or where do i hook this extension up to and do i need another ethernet cable as well?

do i just get an ethernet cable and hook to any one of the ethernet ports on current modem and have the connection that way?

Jay G.

If you have a modem only (just 1 ethernet port), you'd need a router first. If you have a router (or combination modem/router) then you can use any LAN port on the router, and connect it to the uplink port on the switch (if it has a specific uplink port; it might not).

You'll need at least one additional short cable to go from the switch to the router. Monoprice sells them cheap:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10208

OldBoy

i do have a modem/router with 4 ethernet ports. thanks again Jay!

OldBoy

so Jay...need a little bit of help.

got my tv set up and everything is looking stellar. so far have watched mostly DVR stuff in 4:3 SD 480i. the most normal looking picture comes when i set the "Wide" setting to "Normal" however, the picture is completely boxed with all 4 black bars on sides and top/bottom and looks kinda shrunken. but, the picture looks the most normal this way.

the other settings, "Wide Zoom", "Zoom", and "Full" are widescreen but look stretched. "Full" kinda looks the best but again stretched. my mom has a HDTV in her house and the SD channels never look this way...

so am i supposed to see SD content, meaning SD only channels like i described above with the "Normal" setting and all black bars surrounding picture?

and don't even get me started on trying to calibrate the tv with The Incredibles Blu-ray tv calibration extra. i had no idea what they were talking about to adjust contrast, brightness so right rectangles show or don't show...ugh! still looked real good for the few seconds i saw of it.

and are the slightly wavy-like hairs that stem from visuals on HD channels normal? i did turn Motionflow off and CineMotion to Auto 2...

thanks in advance.

Jay G.

It depends on the content. SD material is broadcast in 4:3, so you're always going to have black bars on the sides, or pillarboxing when viewing it unstretched. However, a lot of SD channels show 16:9 material letterboxed (black bars on the top and bottom), which your TV will display in a pillarboxed frame, causing windowboxing (black bars on all sides).
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/m...08757&fes=true
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/m...35393&fes=true

According to the manual, the "Zoom" option on your TV should show letterboxed SD material at full frame without distorting the proportions of the image:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...format_uc.html


Yeah, that can be a little hard to follow. Also, you may never get your TV to perfectly match their instructions. Calibration is for advanced users who want to get the most out of their TVs. If it looks great to you with its current settings, you can leave it alone for now. Maybe have a tech-savy friend tweak the settings when they come over or something.

I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about here, but I don't see anything like that on my HDTVs. Try turning the "Noise Reduction" and "MPEG Noise Reduction" settings to "Off":
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...52_uc_col.html

OldBoy

yeah, i thought it was weird too with the hairs coming off bodies and such (hard to describe i know). could it have something to do with sharpness? i think it only happened on live content (sports). i will try those settings. what are those settings anyway? seems like i would want them on to cancel the noise reduction?

and one thing i am a little miffed about and didn't even think about it when researching...no more PiP which i loved as an option on my previous tube. oh well!

as always, you're a mensch!

Jay G.

They're a form a video processing to remove or reduce the effects of certain types of video "noise". However, any type of video processing can introduce its own type of artifacts, which may actually be less desired.

For example, on the first link here regarding MPEG Noise reduction, you can see the effect around the hairline, breaking strands of hairs into strings of dots:
http://www.sony.com.sg/support/faq/217337
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...mpegnr_uc.html

The manual says it has PiP function, although it may be limited in what inputs it's able to combine with PiP:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...03/pip_uc.html

However, since I have a dual-tuner DVR, the DVR has a PiP function for viewing two channels built into it. You should check your DVR for this functionality.

OldBoy

isn't that first link to do PiP with a PC?

how do you hook up the DVR to the tv to get the PiP to work? i have it hooked via HDMI and cable/ant input...

Jay G.

Technically, it's PiP where one input is an HDMI input, and the other is either composite or the TV Tuner. I don't know why they specify PC for the input; maybe it has to be plugged into HDMI 4.

I have only HDMI from my DVR to my TV. Again, the PIP function is built into my DVR, so I push the PIP buttons on my DVR remote, and it sends a pre-rendered PIP image to my TV. The TV doesn't do anything, and it could probably be connected to the TV any number of ways.

OldBoy

so tell me this...is it normal for some Blu-rays to show with black bars on top/bottom and some fill the screen?

The Incredibles I spun as first ever Blu in HD was balck bars and Taxi Driver filled screen...

well, i just tried hooking up composite from satellite reciever to tv and that didn't work either.

Jay, if you can figure PiP out i would literally pay you!!!

Jay G.

Yes, it is normal.

From Sony's support:
http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/m...08757&fes=true
The Incredibles was rendered at 2.35:1 (aka 2.39:1, 2.40:1, "scope," etc.). So it's normal to still see black bars when watching it on a 16:9 HDTV.

Taxi Driver was shot for/presented in 1.85:1, so there's still some minor black bars on the Blu-ray, as evidenced by screen shots in this review:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Taxi-Driver-Blu-ray/1105/

Depending on your TV and the mode it's in, these tiny black bars may have been eliminated by the overscan, which crops a fraction of the image on all sides.

Note that since 1.85:1 films are often shot open-matte, it's common for the matting to be opened up slightly to 1.78:1 for DVD/Blu-ray presentation. This gives slightly more vertical information with no loss of horizontal information, and eliminates the small black bars. However, this modification can be made moot with the overscan on some TVs.


Another commonly used aspect ratio is 1.66:1. Since this is less wide than 16:9 (1.78:1), when presented in Blu-ray or anamorphic DVD, the image will have small black bars on the sides (pillarboxing), similar to 4:3 material, but less pronounced.

OldBoy

thanks again.

any idea of making m PiP work?

Jay G.

What do you want to watch via PiP? If you want to watch two TV channels at once, and you have a cable DVR, look for the PiP function on your DVR. You won't be able to watch two TV channels via the TV's PiP.

OldBoy

basically how my old tv was set up and would like to replicate is that if i watched a DVD from the DVD player or Blu from Blu-ray player or game on xbox, i could do PiP to see the cable station from DVR in the PiP box.

that is all i want to do is be able to have that PiP function when watching anything but the cable. does that make sense? my DVR doesn't seem to have the PiP function...

Jay G.

You should be able to PiP between an HDMI connection (DVD, BD, XBox) and the DVR image coming in via the CABLE/ANT input. However, I don't own this TV, or any Sony TV, and the online manual isn't extremely clear about this function.

Like the manual says, you should go into Options -> PiP on the TV manual and see what your options are for this feature:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...03/pip_uc.html

OldBoy

ehhh...i don't think it is possible or frankly i would have and if anything else you would have figured it out. but, no worries, i am happy with everything else and can live without this one monor thing. just would have been an nice bonus!

OldBoy

Jay...

does ambient light sensor being turned on or off affect picture quality at all? i noticed a little murkiness in some shows and thought this might be the reason. does it make a difference? and should it be on or off?

thanks again!

Jay G.

The Ambient Light Sensor detects the brightness and hue of the light in the room, and adjusts the TV's brightness and color temp to offset any effects the ambient light may have. See the manual:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua...sensor_uc.html

Whether to leave it on or off depends on how well it works. Theoretically, it should be beneficial, but if the TV looks better to you with the setting off, then you can leave it off.

Also keep in mind that TV shows and channels are going to have varying levels of image quality. If a particular show looks murky, it could be because of the show, how the channel is presenting the show, how your cable network is broadcasting the channel, or your TV settings. If only a few shows look bad, it's probably something with the shows. If all shows on a particular channel look bad, then it's probably something with the channel (or the way the cable is rebroadcasting it). If it's all channels, then it's either the cable or the TV. If it's all inputs, then it's the TV.

OldBoy

hey Jay,
Here's a thinker for you that may or may not have to do with the ambient sensor.

so when credits roll on a movie or tv show and it is white lettering on a black screen, the screen turns the lettering a light grey.

i know this because when i hit any button to light up cable menu (for instance...the blue DirecTV banner comes on with program info) the lettering lights back up to white and stays that way until banner goes off.

i have seen this with and without ambient sensor on. also, with ambient sensor off the screen seems crisper and brighter with better picture under any light conditions than when it was on...

any idea what setting this could be and if i can fix it?

thanks and thanks for all the help thus far, i really have used every nugget and think i am getting the best HD experience out of this particular tv!

ps) i wish the manual were more descriptive. i know you link it but it literally is 4 pages and tells nothing of what features actually are or how it affects performance. never saw such a diminutive manual for a high tech piece of equipment.

Jay G.

I believe this is caused by the Advanced Contrast Enhancer (ACE) setting.

I found a description of it here:
http://www.abt.com/product/34858/Sony-KDL26M4000.html
You can adjust this setting by going to the Home Menu, then Picture and Display, then Picture Adjustments, then Advanced Settings:
http://esupport.sony.com/docs/imanua..._homemenu.html


If you feel this way, then leave the ambient sensor off. That's why it's an optional feature.

OldBoy

thanks Jay.

it seems i can't use this option because i have my picture set to "vivid" rather than "standard" mode as i feel this gives the better picture. i can set it in standard but then picture is duller.

oh well. it isn't a big issue, just found it curious.

Tarantino

Google is your friend, needy one.