DLP and black bars

[Atreyu]

I just got my Mitsubishi 65 inch DLP and am really happy with my purchase but I noticed something and am not sure if it is normal or perhaps just my blu ray player. It is this: When I see the black bars on a full screen image or widescreen, 2:35.1 or bigger, right where the image ends and the black bars are I notice I very thin line that is a bit lighter than the rest of the picture. It also appears on standard dvds but is not as noticable due to the lower definition. Is this normal for DLPs or do I just need a new blu ray player? It is hooked up via an HDMI cable.

[Mirage29]

there is a button on your remote controll that you push for the 3 different picture types you have zoom,stretch and normal. The zoom mode will take away the black bars.

[bruce73]

And a lot of the picture.

[Atreyu]

I am not concerned with the black bars, but the small lighter band on the image right where it meets the bars.It's like a very thin light border at the top and bottom of the image.

[bruce73]

So you're seeing a thin horizontal line on both the top and bottom of letterboxed material? What about 1:85 films (on my Samsung DLP, I have it set to "Just Scan" which minimizes overscan, so that 1:85 material will have very thin black bars on top/bottom)?

The only time I've ever seen something similar is with recorded TV commercials -- a thin line of white "noise" on top, which is visible because I've minimized overscan. But that's something different.

What Bluray player do you have? Any video settings with it that could be a clue? Also, I'm not clear on what you mean by its not being so noticeable on SD DVDs.

[Atreyu]

No I do not see it on 1:85.1 because there are no black bars. I only notice it when there are black bars on the top and bottom or on the sides with a full screen presentation. It's where the image ends and the black bar begins. What I mean about it not being as noticable on standard dvds is because standard dvds do not have the same clarity/sharpness/definition as a blu ray.
I am thinking it is just something inherint with the type/model of TV as I don't think it's a defect with the set.
I have a calibration disc that I will be using later this week to see if this helps.

[Atreyu]

Here is a picture, not the greatest quality, from part of the bottom of the screen from the Chitty Chitty Bang Banfg blu ray, to show you an example.Still0000ccbb.jpg

[bobbydrugar]

That alomost looks like somewhere in the chain either on the player the receiver or the TV you have an edge enhancement feature enabled. I would look for a setting like EE or edge enhancement and turn it off. Just a thought

Thanks,
T

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I am not concerned with the black bars, but the small lighter band on the image right where it meets the bars.It's like a very thin light border at the top and bottom of the image.

It sounds like you need to go into the display menu and adjust the overscan. You might want to check into getting a calibration disc like Avia or some others that are available. They have many test patterns to help you calibrate several settings... including the overscan.

My bad... I just read more carefully and saw where the lines are between the image and the bars... not between the bars and the end of the screen. I'm not sure what that might be... but certainly use the calibration disc you said you have in a later post and see if that helps.

I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang this weekend too!

[octagon]

EE is worth checking, maybe dial sharpness down too.

You could also google your specific model and see if there's a relatively easy way to adjust manual focus. This was a couple generations ago but I remember a post from an ISF calibrator talking about how often brand new projection sets needed the focus adjusted.

[Atreyu]

I googled focal adjustment and it's not quite that simple. I read that when you go access the service menu there are many many things that can go wrong if you don't know what you are actually looking for and you could severly screw up the image.
I do not have edge enhancement on my TV or blu player, but fixed the output on my player to 24 fps and that seems to make them diminish somewhat as I hardly noticed them during It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Still have to use my calibration disc first though.

[Kryptron]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I googled focal adjustment and it's not quite that simple. I read that when you go access the service menu there are many many things that can go wrong if you don't know what you are actually looking for and you could severly screw up the image.
I do not have edge enhancement on my TV or blu player, but fixed the output on my player to 24 fps and that seems to make them diminish somewhat as I hardly noticed them during It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Still have to use my calibration disc first though.

My guess as mentioned earlier is that it may be your sharpness is set too high. Even with edge enhancement disabled a lot of tv's will show lines like that with 2:35 or wider content when sharpness is set high.

[nickoakdl]

Unfortunately, it is normal. I think most people just don't notice it though.

When I first got my 73838 I thought something was wrong with it because of this. I called Mitsubishi and they sent out a repair man. He didn't know what it was or why it was there, but said nothing was wrong. Frustrated, I went to Ultimate Electronics and noticed that all of the Mitsubishi DLPs that were showing a movie with a 2:35:1 ratio had this as well. I asked a employee there why this was and he didn't know, but said it's normal.

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I just got my Mitsubishi 65 inch DLP and am really happy with my purchase but I noticed something and am not sure if it is normal or perhaps just my blu ray player. It is this: When I see the black bars on a full screen image or widescreen, 2:35.1 or bigger, right where the image ends and the black bars are I notice I very thin line that is a bit lighter than the rest of the picture. It also appears on standard dvds but is not as noticable due to the lower definition. Is this normal for DLPs or do I just need a new blu ray player? It is hooked up via an HDMI cable.

I don't think anything is "wrong," but it's just one of the drawbacks of DLP. I have a samsung LED DLP and it does the same thing. I read up alot on it over at the avsforum before i bought it, but that was 3 years ago. Basically, you gotta remember that these sets are REAR projection, so in essence there's a ton of light inside the REAR of your tv and it's being shone back at you from inside. What you're seeing is simply "leakage" or some say a reflection of the light thats inside your tv shining back on the black bars.

Messing with the scan or "centering" options that your tv has might minimize this effect, but i doubt it will go away entirely.
If you like the picture on your tv and you got a good deal, my advice would be try to put it out of your mind. I don't even notice it anymore, because i'm not looking for it. Honestly, i love DLP, but they do have many flaws. This problem you're having, silk screen effect, and general centering issues are the most common for DLP. My screen has never been exactly centered, and i really don't expect it to be perfect because the actual screen has so much "flex."

[BStecke]

I went through the same thing with my Mitsu DLP, although mine only does this with the top black bar. I had two Best Buy techs and an independent Mitsubishi tech come out and they all said it's normal for these sets. I don't even notice it anymore, but in the beginning it really pissed me off.

I still don't understand how you can design and sell a whole line of TVs that, really, don't work properly by said design. My Samsung never had this issue.

[Riff Magnum]

Some of the guys over at AVS actually made black "skirts" that they attach to their tvs for black bar material. Seemed a little over the top but apparently they work at eliminating the light bleed. That's all it is man, light bleed. I can't be bothered to do that, but you might be well served to head over there and at least read up on your particular set. I learned a ton before buying my sammy.