Brightness adj on Sony WEGA

M

Mike

Guest
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having some
problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the TV is
chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I could fix
this with the brightness control, but even setting the brightness range to
63 in the service menu and then turning the brightness all the way up, only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with the
Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little bit.
Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous levels (i.e.
to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray areas and to see the
slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of the SMPTE test pattern. It
appears that the control I really need is to raise the 50% gray level
higher so that there are more gradations in the dark areas. Doing this
using the Picture control to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also
raises the white level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want
to keep the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it
currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e.
the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be
appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked
to increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't know
what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
 
Let me get this right..
You have just purchased a New Sony Vega
and you are already into the Service Menu,s.
If the TV which obviously does not meet
your specs why not return it for another.

kip

--
"Watch the return E-Mail addy its false"
"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having some
problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the TV is
chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I could fix
this with the brightness control, but even setting the brightness range to
63 in the service menu and then turning the brightness all the way up,
only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with the
Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little bit.
Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous levels (i.e.
to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray areas and to see the
slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of the SMPTE test pattern. It
appears that the control I really need is to raise the 50% gray level
higher so that there are more gradations in the dark areas. Doing this
using the Picture control to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also
raises the white level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want
to keep the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it
currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e.
the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be
appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked
to increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't know
what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
 
"john" <va3mmTAKEOUTTHIS@niagara.com> wrote in news:newscache$350nph$mnl$1
@newsfeed.niagara.com:

Let me get this right..
You have just purchased a New Sony Vega
and you are already into the Service Menu,s.
If the TV which obviously does not meet
your specs why not return it for another.

kip
Click to expand...
Because it is perfect in every respect other than the simple fact that I
want to open up the dark grays a little by moving the 50% gray point up in
the brightness scale, which I bet is a simple service menu single parameter
change. I just don't know which parameter that is. No TV is perfect. I am
quite happy with this one.

Mike
 
Without the exact service manual, it would be hard to tell you the exact way
for your set. Being a new set, I would call the dealer to find out the
authorized service rep for it, and ask them to come out and adjust it for
you.

Do you have a grey scale test patter from the proper test generator to make
sure that the set is correct or not? If you are watching a station through
a cable or sat service, you have the provider that runs their signals
through various equipment, plus you have the box feeding the set. You can
also look at the demodulated feed in baseband that is feeding the set with a
scope to make sure that the input signals are good before touching any
adjustments. The adjustments should be done with the proper grey scale test
pattern. Going by sight from an unverified source is not the way to set up a
set!

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having some
problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the TV is
chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I could fix
this with the brightness control, but even setting the brightness range to
63 in the service menu and then turning the brightness all the way up, only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with the
Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little bit.
Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous levels (i.e.
to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray areas and to see the
slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of the SMPTE test pattern. It
appears that the control I really need is to raise the 50% gray level
higher so that there are more gradations in the dark areas. Doing this
using the Picture control to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also
raises the white level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want
to keep the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it
currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e.
the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be
appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked
to increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't know
what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
 
Exchanging it for another won't necessarily fix it since most of
these come with screwy factory defaults. These sets can be made
to look much better with a little care. For example, the Sonys
all seem to have a "red boost" setting that is turned on from the
factory. This looks really wiz-bang in the store but makes it
near impossible to get good full latitude color adjustment unless
it is turned off.

Anyway, to the original poster, check to see if there is a Y-DC
(DC trans ratio switching) register in your service menu. If I
remember correctly, many of the earlier flat screen trinitrons
could have their black level improved by turning this off (i.e.,
changing it's default of "1" to "0"). This actually darkens the
absolute black level on the screen which in the original poster's
case MIGHT add the extra latitude that he wants in the grey
range. It's easy to change back if it doesn't work so it might be
worthwhile to try it out.

I have a 36XBR250 that I've done this with and I love the rich
blacks that it gives relative the the fairly grey blacks that it
came with from the factory.

- Jeff


john wrote:
Let me get this right..
You have just purchased a New Sony Vega
and you are already into the Service Menu,s.
If the TV which obviously does not meet
your specs why not return it for another.

kip

--
"Watch the return E-Mail addy its false"
"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having some
problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the TV is
chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I could fix
this with the brightness control, but even setting the brightness range to
63 in the service menu and then turning the brightness all the way up,
only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with the
Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little bit.
Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous levels (i.e.
to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray areas and to see the
slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of the SMPTE test pattern. It
appears that the control I really need is to raise the 50% gray level
higher so that there are more gradations in the dark areas. Doing this
using the Picture control to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also
raises the white level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want
to keep the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it
currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e.
the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be
appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked
to increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't know
what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
 
"Jerry G." <jerryg50@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:br55u2$ap$1@news.eusc.inter.net:

Without the exact service manual, it would be hard to tell you the
exact way for your set. Being a new set, I would call the dealer to
find out the authorized service rep for it, and ask them to come out
and adjust it for you.

Do you have a grey scale test patter from the proper test generator to
make sure that the set is correct or not? If you are watching a
station through a cable or sat service, you have the provider that
runs their signals through various equipment, plus you have the box
feeding the set. You can also look at the demodulated feed in
baseband that is feeding the set with a scope to make sure that the
input signals are good before touching any adjustments. The
adjustments should be done with the proper grey scale test pattern.
Going by sight from an unverified source is not the way to set up a
set!
Click to expand...
I've tried with an SMPTE pattern that is provided on a channel by my cable
provider (no cable box in use) and I have a DVD with a test pattern. Both
show the grays near black to be compressed so as to be indistiguishable.

Mike
 
Jeff Wiseman <wisemanja@earthlink.net> wrote in
news:3FD61D0A.CD67C3ED@earthlink.net:

Exchanging it for another won't necessarily fix it since most of
these come with screwy factory defaults. These sets can be made
to look much better with a little care. For example, the Sonys
all seem to have a "red boost" setting that is turned on from the
factory. This looks really wiz-bang in the store but makes it
near impossible to get good full latitude color adjustment unless
it is turned off.

Anyway, to the original poster, check to see if there is a Y-DC
(DC trans ratio switching) register in your service menu. If I
remember correctly, many of the earlier flat screen trinitrons
could have their black level improved by turning this off (i.e.,
changing it's default of "1" to "0"). This actually darkens the
absolute black level on the screen which in the original poster's
case MIGHT add the extra latitude that he wants in the grey
range. It's easy to change back if it doesn't work so it might be
worthwhile to try it out.

I have a 36XBR250 that I've done this with and I love the rich
blacks that it gives relative the the fairly grey blacks that it
came with from the factory.

- Jeff


john wrote:

Let me get this right..
You have just purchased a New Sony Vega
and you are already into the Service Menu,s.
If the TV which obviously does not meet
your specs why not return it for another.

kip

--
"Watch the return E-Mail addy its false"
"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having
some problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that
the TV is chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I
thought I could fix this with the brightness control, but even
setting the brightness range to 63 in the service menu and then
turning the brightness all the way up,
only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with
the Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little
bit. Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous
levels (i.e. to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray
areas and to see the slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE
of the SMPTE test pattern. It appears that the control I really
need is to raise the 50% gray level higher so that there are more
gradations in the dark areas. Doing this using the Picture control
to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also raises the white
level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want to keep
the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since
it currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5
IRE (i.e. the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice
would be appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that
can be tweaked to increase the amount of gradations in the dark
grays, I just don't know what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I'll see if I have the Y-DC offset and will try
toggling to see if there is an improvement. I'm less concerned about the
red boost, since I only seem to notice it in the SMPTE bars, for now. I'm
more concerned with the loss of detail in the 25 IRE to black tones,
since it really makes dark scenes look way too dark.

Mike
 
Are you using a pattern generator or a test disc on a dvd player? If the
latter you may not have a player capable of producing proper blacks. not an
uncommon scenario.

Leonard Caillouet

"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having some
problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the TV is
chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I could fix
this with the brightness control, but even setting the brightness range to
63 in the service menu and then turning the brightness all the way up,
only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with the
Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little bit.
Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous levels (i.e.
to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray areas and to see the
slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of the SMPTE test pattern. It
appears that the control I really need is to raise the 50% gray level
higher so that there are more gradations in the dark areas. Doing this
using the Picture control to expand the dynamic range, unfortunatelly also
raises the white level, which I do not want to do due to blooming. I want
to keep the white level the same and just raise the middle gray point so
that the brightness curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it
currently appears to be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e.
the lighter than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be
appreciated. I am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked
to increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't know
what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
 
"Leonard G. Caillouet" <lcaillo_ns_@devoynet.com> wrote in
news:TfqBb.6691$Yt2.1015@bignews3.bellsouth.net:

Are you using a pattern generator or a test disc on a dvd player? If
the latter you may not have a player capable of producing proper
blacks. not an uncommon scenario.

Leonard Caillouet

"Mike" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns944C67A83759Dnospamnospamnet@64.62.191.97...
I just purchased a new Sony WEGA TV (model KV24FV300) and am having
some problems with the black level and dark grays. It seems that the
TV is chopping dark grays below around 10.5 IRE. At first I thought I
could fix this with the brightness control, but even setting the
brightness range to 63 in the service menu and then turning the
brightness all the way up,
only
produces a dark gray instead of black. I then decided to play with
the Picture (contrast) control, which opens up the blacks a little
bit. Unfortunatelly, I have to increase the Picture to ridiculous
levels (i.e. to the point of blooming) to see details in dark gray
areas and to see the slightly lighter than black bar in the PLUGE of
the SMPTE test pattern. It appears that the control I really need is
to raise the 50% gray level higher so that there are more gradations
in the dark areas. Doing this using the Picture control to expand the
dynamic range, unfortunatelly also raises the white level, which I do
not want to do due to blooming. I want to keep the white level the
same and just raise the middle gray point so that the brightness
curve has more slope in the dark areas, since it currently appears to
be completely flat upto something like 10.5 IRE (i.e. the lighter
than black stripe in the PLUGE). Any advice would be appreciated. I
am sure there is a service mode option that can be tweaked to
increase the amount of gradations in the dark grays, I just don't
know what it is.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...
I am using both methods. A cable TV generated signal and a DVD based one.
They are in accord, so it's the TV.
 
no tv comes adjusted well from the factory and no amount of returning it
will help.

randy

"john" <va3mmTAKEOUTTHIS@niagara.com> wrote in message
news:newscache$350nph$mnl$1@newsfeed.niagara.com...
Let me get this right..
You have just purchased a New Sony Vega
and you are already into the Service Menu,s.
If the TV which obviously does not meet
your specs why not return it for another.

kip
Click to expand...
 
After cycling through the service menu twice last night I finally found
what I was looking for. The latest crop of Vega TVs has a VP1 group in
the service menu which contains a lot of "interesting" things that can be
set. The setting that fixed my dark grays are black problem was the SBRT
setting, which was set right in the center at 32. I had to increase it to
50, to basically make the TV perfect as far as black level adjustment
goes. Also, in the VP1 group I discovered individual on/off controls for
the red, green, and blue guns. Using these you can perfectly adjust color
and hue, by shutting off the red and green guns while viewing SMPTE color
bars. I can't remember the setting acronyms, but they are quite obvious.
There was no Y-DC setting anywhere, so I couldn't turn that off. After
adjusting the geometry settings (there was a huge amount of overscan
which I reduced and miscellaneous bad geometry which I corrected) last
night, and with the brightness fixed, this TV is awesome!

Just goes to show that perseverence pays off.

Mike

Note:

To enter the service menu, you use this combination on the remote while
the TV is off: Display, 5, Vol +, PWR

To save your changes: Mute, Enter

To get the TV out of the service menu, simply shut the TV off

WARNING: Changing settings in the service menu can permanently damage
your TV and will most likely void the warranty. Do so at your own risk!


Keywords, so that other people with a similar problem can find this
message:

Sony KV24FV300 WEGA dark tones brightness picture gray black service menu
PLUGE SMPTE
 
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