Pioneer 9G Owners Thread - Present & Future

[ShockWave]

I see the ones on eBay but want to know if anyone has used them?

[fuwa]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

The right grille is out of stock at the Pioneer parts department, however the left grille is in stock and can be replaced for $43.50.

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/model.asp?modelNum=PRO%2D151FD

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/part.asp?productNum=SMG1895

Thank you very much. I will check this out. It is the left grill that is damaged.

[Drew664]

Question on getting my KRP500m ISF calibrated:

I finally am deciding to do this, and want to know a few things first.

- Are Best Buy ISF calibrations good? The cost is $250

- Do I need to have this 'controlcal' installed and patched before I have Best Buy come out and calibrate or will they do it for me?

If anyone has experience with the 500m or Best Buy ISF calibration, input would be appreciated. I have used D-nice's settings from AVS since I have had the TV and found little need to spend the extra money, however I am in a place where I want to see how far this set will go and can fund the venture.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by Drew664

Question on getting my KRP500m ISF calibrated:

I finally am deciding to do this, and want to know a few things first.

- Are Best Buy ISF calibrations good? The cost is $250

- Do I need to have this 'controlcal' installed and patched before I have Best Buy come out and calibrate or will they do it for me?

If anyone has experience with the 500m or Best Buy ISF calibration, input would be appreciated. I have used D-nice's settings from AVS since I have had the TV and found little need to spend the extra money, however I am in a place where I want to see how far this set will go and can fund the venture.

The most consistently and persistently home theater legend is that a new television will look like {insert expletive here} until a professional calibrator comes out and plays games with your new television.

The adjustments on most modern televisions can be sufficiently altered by the user to fit the environment, with various disks available to give signal settings that can be changed to meet the standard.

Your set is not going to go any further, and if you need to do that, get a larger or more expensive set. Unless your goal is to just keep people employed in the calibration business, go by some blu-ray discs instead. You'll get more bang for your buck.

[punisher]

Originally Posted by Drew664

Question on getting my KRP500m ISF calibrated:

I finally am deciding to do this, and want to know a few things first.

- Are Best Buy ISF calibrations good? The cost is $250

- Do I need to have this 'controlcal' installed and patched before I have Best Buy come out and calibrate or will they do it for me?

If anyone has experience with the 500m or Best Buy ISF calibration, input would be appreciated. I have used D-nice's settings from AVS since I have had the TV and found little need to spend the extra money, however I am in a place where I want to see how far this set will go and can fund the venture.

I hear they are not good. You can download ControlCal and purchase the keys for your tv on the avs forum. I did that with my Elite pro 111 fd. I installed the program on my laptop and down loaded D-nices settings for Day and Night. Cost me about 60 bucks and about an hour's time. Looks great in Day, but not the Night settings. Any tweaking to those settings in ISF mode has to be done through Control Cal not the regular TV settings menu. I messed with it a few times till I got what I felt was best to my taste, just a slight reduction in amount of color. It is important to follow the directions so the settings are confirmed. You can also purchase another Control Cal key to see the hours and other settings on your tv.

[Tech-UK]

Its not just about tapping in settings found online. Every display is slightly different i.e. ones 500m will differ from another's. The only way to get the best possible out of it is to use specialised equipment for example; i1 display pro, SpectraCal and CalMAN, which you could purchase yourself or pay someone who knows how to use the equipment and their experience with calibrating.

Lots of information can be found on the controlCAL forum including this thread which lists calibrators who can install the patch as well as calibrate your set:

http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=486

Edit, just looked and the calibrator in north Dakota doesn't provide the patch install. You could contact them to make sure or perhaps a calibrator close by may be able to come out.

Info here regarding the patch:

http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363

[Member-38928]

I recently noticed a black 4:3 image with grey sidebars when I am changing sources, TV to DVD etc., I do not remember if this is how it has always been, I have owned it since ~12/08 and my memory is worthless so I forget.

I have tried playing around with the settings quite a bit and I cannot make it stop, id prefer to see just a blank 100% black screen when changing sources.
pic of what I am talking aboutvv

[Show spoiler]

[TheFactor]

Originally Posted by bentvalve

I recently noticed a black 4:3 image with grey sidebars when I am changing sources, TV to DVD etc., I do not remember if this is how it has always been, I have owned it since ~12/08 and my memory is worthless so I forget.

I have tried playing around with the settings quite a bit and I cannot make it stop, id prefer to see just a blank 100% black screen when changing sources.
pic of what I am talking aboutvv

[Show spoiler]

I think it might be your settings for screen size depending on the signal I believe you can change it on the menu .Hopefully that's the issue .

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by bentvalve

I recently noticed a black 4:3 image with grey sidebars when I am changing sources, TV to DVD etc., I do not remember if this is how it has always been, I have owned it since ~12/08 and my memory is worthless so I forget.

I have tried playing around with the settings quite a bit and I cannot make it stop, id prefer to see just a blank 100% black screen when changing sources.
pic of what I am talking aboutvv

[Show spoiler]

I don't know if this is down to 4:3 content being displayed with grey bars to limit uneven wear/IR etc. The only way to change it is to either obtain ControlCAL see here for more details; http://www.controlcal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120 or change it via the service menu (only for people with steel balls ).

Btw what are your settings for screen size?

Edit. This person has (had) the same problem:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1053444/th...#post_15434162

The sidemask change may stop this.

[saprano]

Originally Posted by bentvalve

I recently noticed a black 4:3 image with grey sidebars when I am changing sources, TV to DVD etc., I do not remember if this is how it has always been, I have owned it since ~12/08 and my memory is worthless so I forget.

I have tried playing around with the settings quite a bit and I cannot make it stop, id prefer to see just a blank 100% black screen when changing sources.
pic of what I am talking aboutvv

[Show spoiler]

From page 63 of the owners manual-

Lighten Side Masks

"If content appears with bars (side mask) on each side of a picture when the screen size is 4:3 and side mask detection is set to mode 1 or mode 2, the bars automatically change from black to gray. However, the gray is fairly dark. To change the bars to a lighter shade of gray, follow the steps below.

1) Access the option through setup.

2) Select side mask from the option menu.

3) Select brightness sync. From the submenue.

4) Select the desired parameter."

Fixed- sets the same brightness for gray side mask.

Auto- Adjust the side mask brightness according to the brightness of screen images.

You can change the gray bars to black by playing with those settings.

[TheFactor]

^^Good find I thought I remembered something in the owners manual about that.

[Tech-UK]

Saprano, have you tried this yourself? I thought that just adjusts how light the grey bars appear and not darken them to black?

[saprano]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

Saprano, have you tried this yourself? I thought that just adjusts how light the grey bars appear and not darken them to black?

Yes i have. On 4:3 content the bars are black.

I was surprised by this cause i thought you needed controlcal to do that.

[Tech-UK]

Originally Posted by saprano

Yes i have. On 4:3 content the bars are black.

I was surprised by this cause i thought you needed controlcal to do that.

That's interesting.

When you watch 4:3 content, what is your setting for screen size?

[saprano]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

That's interesting.

When you watch 4:3 content, what is your setting for screen size?

Off. I don't use any zoom functions.

[saprano]

I think this is a better explanation of the side mask on the kuro:

From page 62-

Detect Mask

"Some HD broadcast transmit in 4:3 content with side mask. Side mask are black bars that appear on the pictures left and right sides. If the panel TV's screen size is set to normal during the Auto Size process, gray bars replace the black bars. When the panel is set to Wide-Zoom, the bars are hidden. These responses reduce after image concerns.

1) Access the option through the setup.

2) Select side mask from the option menu.

3) Select detection from the submenu.

4) Select Mode 1 or Mode 2 to activate side mask detection.
Mode 1 detects only black side mask and mode 2 detects both black and illustrated side mask. Select off to deactivate this function.

5) Press Home Menu to exit the menu.

6) Confirm that the word AUTO appears in the info banner.

Video signals can affect the side mask detection function differently. For High Definition broadcast, if side mask detection is on, the panel automatically detects images containing side mask and shows thd picture in full screen. Cycle the screen size to select auto for vide signals without aspect ratio information.

Video content can also affect the side mask detection function. If a detection error occurs when trying to watch HD content, manually change the screen size to the proper setting for content."


I don't know why people use controlcal. Changing the bars to black is built into the TV.

[Member-38928]

Thanks for all of the replies guys! ... I have read your posts several times over the last few days but I have not had time to try and figure this out. I found some time today.
First thing I did this morning was see if my firmware was up to date, it had 0905-0401 and it now has the latest software installed which is 0907-0401 which has been out since ~2011 sometime. Anyhow the software update went smoothly then I sat down and was going to figured out my problem no matter how much time it took! After going thru all of the settings like ~10 more times as I have already done way too many times I finally decided to hit the 'screen size' button on the Pioneer remote. (I use a Harmony One so that Pioneer remote never gets used. Anyhow I was in '4:3' mode and I switched it to 'Full' ......boom! Problem solved!

I am not exactly sure what that 'Screen Size' button does because all my cable TV HD channels and my Blu-rays were already in 'Full', I only saw that 4:3 image with grey side bars when I was switching sources. Oh well, its fixed so I am happy. Oh and I decided to give her a very thorough dusting and cleaning and my baby looks as good as she did when I got it in 2008. I hope she keeps working for at least another 10 years or better.

[JJ]

You know, it occurs to me I've never updated firmware since I bought the TV in February of 2009 - where could one find updated firmware for the 5020, and what does it actually, well, do?

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by JJ

You know, it occurs to me I've never updated firmware since I bought the TV in February of 2009 - where could one find updated firmware for the 5020, and what does it actually, well, do?

For Pioneer PDP-5020FD, PDP-6020FD, PRO-111FD & PRO-151FD

Firmware Update Instructions

Firmware Upgrade

[oppopioneer]

Hi...

I'm thinking of selling my Pioneer Elite Kuro 151FD 60" inch plasma.

I bought it around end of 2010/Jan 2011 from Natural Sound:
http://www.natural-sound.com/

It's excellent condition, not used often. Sometimes I'll go almost a month without turning it on. It's not an everyday tv. Rarely do I ever watch letterbox format. It's been hooked up to a SurgeX XF2 flatpak surge protector. No scratches, no nothing.

What can I get for it on Amazon, ebay, craigslist and on these forum websites?

I'm located in Massachusetts, an hour west of Boston and 25 minutes north or Worcester.

I have the box and manuals.