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Star Wars DVD Trilogy - THX Calibration Menu

Anyone who has this collection(Episodes 4-6 + Bonus DVD) know there is a "THX" link in the options menu. What I didn't know is that it WAS a link; and I was all set to go out and spend an arm and a leg on "Video Essentials" or something.

So I opened it, and there were a series of screens for calibrating Contrast, Color, Sharp, and so on. Then there are two screens, each with concentric rectangles about an inch from the edge of the screen - one for oldie "4:3" viewers like me, and one for HD 16:9ers. Each has a circle in the center, about 8 inches in diameter on a 24" diagonal NTSC screen.

When I displayed it on my Toshiba 24af43 flat and the Sony 24" flat WEGA, I was shocked by how bowed out and overscanned both sets were. I cracked the internal menus on each set, and brought those rectangles back on to the screens(!) let alone properly sizing them to achieve a height and width ratio of 4:3, or, 1.33333333~ This certainly involved a lot of "trapezoidal" and "pincushion" adjustments to get it right, but once I did, it looked as ruler straight as I could get it.

Now here is the weird part: The concentric squares, one one inch inside the other, were perfectly square, as measured diagonally and vertical/horiz. The circle was perfectly round - I have a protractor to check these things. And, everything was equally distant on all sides. BUT: when I switch to broadcast TV - IE the Weather Channel forecasts or other channels that use a lot of frames and boxes, the main box may be off center, and on other channels the boxes would appear pincushioned(some cases in or out) or even parallelogram shaped!

So I performed the secret menus adjustments according to THOSE images, and went back to THX - Now the THX images were once again out of whack, even worse than before.

I now have reached a compromise between the Star Wars THX calibrations and broadcast TV - slightly out of whack between the two.

And no - neither set has geometry adjustments PER input. After all, these are "smaller" 24" sets, not 27" or larger that probably do have internal geometry for each input. So anyone reading this - PLEASE don't suggest checking for adjustments for each input.

Anybody have any clues? Is it something the cable or broadcast channels are doing to the signal? Or are both DVD players or the THX test patterns themselves to blame?

Thanks,

ChrisCoaster

Reply to
ChrisCoaster
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For the Sony, you can also check the forums at

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I assume on the Sony you made your adjustments in the DEF group? Be aware that there may also be a 16:9 group, which would be active if the DVD is sending an anamorphic signal. This section includes some geometry settings of it's own. If the TV cannot override the anamorphic mode, you may need to temporarily set your DVD player to letterbox mode and make adjustments under DEF, then set to widescreen/anamorphic/16:9 and and make adjustments under 16:9.

I would still consider getting Avia and/or DVE (Digital Video Essentials.) They contain nice instructions on how to perform settings, MANY more patterns, filters for setting tint/color if you don't want to mess with turning guns on and off, and extensive audio adjustments.

Also, especially with the 24" Sony, too much brightness could overload the TV's power supply, causing bowing and other issues. Both DVD's have needle pulse patterns designed to help find your maximum white level (Contrast or Picture) that the TV can properly handle.

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Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

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I was DEFinitely in DEF - Dre! Actually, if there were settings in the other modes, as you suggested, they use names or code#s with which I am not familiar.

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I may have exaggerated the extent of the errors, Andrew. More realistically, on the Toshiba, when I center the rectangles, any cable channel that uses frames will appear more to the right. On the Sony, the patterns are to the right, just not as much. Additionally, I should point out the on the Lucas frame just before the squares, there is a grid pattern - squares that are supposed to be about 2" square across the screen. On the Toshiba, the squares on the left side are almost THREE INCHES WIDE, although heights are consistant with no bowing or trapezoid. That means when I center it acc. to THX using the frame with the rectangles and the circle, TV channels will all be too far right. Alas there is no adjustment for this, at least in the Toshiba.

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No worries there! Using a scale of 0-100, Picture is at 60 and brightness 55. The factory had picture at 90, so I knew enough to take care of that. Color = 40, Sharp = 55.

replying!

Reply to
ChrisCoaster

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________________________

Regarding the Sony 24": I paid more attention to the grid pattern with a dot in the middle of each square and also noticed that the dots two inches or less from the sides and top/bottom of screen are severely "flared", almost doubled.

Does this imply convergence issues, and how can I *attempt* to get those dots as sharp as those in the center of the screen. No wonder this thing is so blurry all the time!

Otherwise, the Toshiba 24" is great - the closest I guess one can get to a "mini-cini".

Thanks for any suggs on the Sony convergence. I never thought I'd see convergence issues on a good ole' CRT!

-CC

Reply to
ChrisCoaster

It's mostly an effect of a flat screen with minimal, or no, dynamic focus adjustment. If the dots stay mostly white, it's just the focus issue. If the colors start to separate, it's also a convergence issue. Unfortunately, the FS/FV series have minimal adjustments, and those are mainly on the CRT or yoke itself. You typically need to use special magnets glued to the CRT.

Manufacturers have announced even thinner CRT screens, with even bigger sweep angles. They are using higher powered CPU's to help with the dynamic focus. One future resolution is to have the main scanning VERTICAL instead of horizontal. A frame would have to be buffered then translated. This would reduce the amount of CPU power needed to adjust focus as you have a full 1/60th of a second for the large horizontal sweep.

Convergence has always been a problem with color CRT's. With 3 different beams to make the colors, you always run into problems. It may not get as bad as a CRT projector can get, but it's always an issue.

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Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

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_____________________ Thanks. Very informative. The best I can do is make sure the focus is dead on with dots in the center.

Can't wait for that SED flat panel to finally go to market! Focusing and convergence(and burn-in assoc. with plasma) will be as gone as the dodo bird!

-CC

Reply to
ChrisCoaster

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