Picture Quality Question?

[Don480]

Hi everyone...I am new to this forum and I have a question. I purchased a used Yamaha RX-V663 from Craigslist. Unfortunately, the guy I purchased it from never told me that it was a refurbished model. The receiver said B Stock and I asked him what it ment and he made some lie up and I believed him. Anyways I'll get to the point. I own a 50" Pioneer Kuro Plasma and a Playstation 3. I connected the new receiver via HDMI and I noticed a difference in the brightness of the picture to the point where the blacks don't look so black. It looks like when you turn up the brightness to much that it makes the picture look more whiter. FYI...I also purchase an additional HDMI cable for ten bucks that was generic to hook up the PS3 to the receiver. The old HDMI cable was purchased from Radio Shack used to be connected to the tv from the PS3 which worked fine before.

Do you think it is a receiver issue or the generic HDMI cable is no good?

Thank you all!

Don

[swordfishblue]

Assuming that you got yout PS3 connected to the receiver via hdmi then from the receiver to the TV via Hdmi. I would check the video and display settings on the PS3 just be sure it default my settings (yours), i would also check the picture setting on the TV to see if the hdmi black level is set to low or something lower than normal depends on your TV.

I'm no expert but that's what i would do.

[blujacket]

Are you able to disable the scaler in the Onkyo? I would look into that and pass the video through untouched.

[Don480]

Yeah...I went through and changed the settings on the PS3 to automatic setup for audio and video. The only thing I had to change was the Linear PCM to Bitstream since my receiver decodes. But I noticed immediately a difference in the brightness after I hook it up to my receiver. It makes my black look almost faded because its too bright. The Pioneer came with preset settings (ex. movies, games, etc) and I have been happy with the settings. However, should I lower the brightness on the TV itself? That just seems weird. I'm more worried that the receiver is defective. Or do I have video controls on the receiver? I don't think it has anything to do with the generic HDMI cable or is that a possibility as well? Sorry so many questions...I am so frustrated!

Thanks!

Don

[Don480]

Oh BTW I am passing the HDMI signal through the receiver to my TV is when I have brightness issues. To add to that, the brightness isn't like too bright where it hurts my eyes but just makes the blacks look faded and the colors a bit faded as well. It looks like their is too much white passing through if that makes any sense.

Thanks,

Don

[prankster]

on your ps3, try changing your rgb setting from 'limited' to 'full'

[dukenukem]

Have you turned off that option o the ps3 that makes blacks brighter?Forget exactly what it's called.

[Squozen]

The PS3 cannot send bitstreams of lossless codecs by the way, so change it back to PCM or you won't hear TrueHD or DTS HD.

I noticed the same issue with I connected my PS3 through my Yamaha. I believe that all Yamahas clip the blacker-than-black video - at least, I never found a way to get my blacker-than-black back. I just recalibrated my projector and got on with it.

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by Squozen

The PS3 cannot send bitstreams of lossless codecs by the way, so change it back to PCM or you won't hear TrueHD or DTS HD.

i was just about to write this...

[prankster]

Originally Posted by dukenukem

Have you turned off that option o the ps3 that makes blacks brighter?Forget exactly what it's called.

see my previous post above.

[Johk]

Originally Posted by Squozen

I believe that all Yamahas clip the blacker-than-black video - at least, I never found a way to get my blacker-than-black back. I just recalibrated my projector and got on with it.

This is probably the best answer. The ABT1010 chip on the RXV-663 clips BTB and WTW information from the signal (limits the range from 0-255 to 16-235).

Using the DVE calibration disc (and perhaps other tests patterns), you could see that the chip removes this information (try running the pattern straight to your TV from the player and then running it through the receiver).

This is actually not a default since the accepted color range is 16-235 and movies should be authored within that specific range. However some games are using these values (this is perhaps a result of the transfer from PC which I'm not mistaken use the full range).

The easy solution: disable WTW and BTB on the PS3 and redo your calibration.

[GunZenBomZ]

Good reply

[Don480]

Okay all great advice. I will try them out and let you know the results. I am a little confused though...What is a DVE calibration disc? And how do I run it? So does anyone know what the best settings I should use for my PS3 when connecting to my Yamaha receiver? I noticed there is a super-white option for HDMI. Does anyone know what that means and if I should have it on?

Thanks again everyone...

Don

[Squozen]

http://www.jkpi.net/DVE_HDBasics.php

As mentioned above, turn off super-white and RGB full.

[Don480]

I just took at look at my PS3 settings and I have an option to turn on or off: Cross color reduction filter, RGB Full Range(HDMI), and Y Pb/Cd Pr/Cr Super-White(HDMI) Does anyone know what the best setting would be when passing the signal through my Yamaha Receiver to Tv to possibly eliminate this issue?

Thanks,

Don

[Johk]

RGB Full Range (HDMI)
Limited RGB output signal is output in the range from 16 to 235.
Full RGB output signal is output in the range from 0 to 255.

Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr Super-White (HDMI)
Off Disable super-white output.
On Enable super-white output.

I put the settings in bold

[Don480]

Problem solved! Thank you all so much. Changing the full to limited corrected the blackness issue. I noticed a diiference immediately. Thank you so much.


Thanks again


Don

[Don480]

A little confused about the PCM statement. So I should leave my PS3 at PCM setting and not bitstream? I heard it the other way around in past forums. When I have it set at PCM it no longer says it dolby digital on the Yamaha receiver screen.

Thanks,

Don