Hi

I am new to this forum and not very TV savy, so please excusse my ignorance.

Having looked around for ages for a HD TV I think the LG RT-44SZ60DB looks pretty good at a resaonalbe price ($3400) but would appreciate some asstiatane with the following as the sales people are a little vague.


I think this model will support the following.

SD & HD free to air. (with the use of a set top box)
UHF/VHF analog
Can connect to a PC Video card.

Has anyone purchased this model. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

G'day

I'd also like to know more about this TV as I'm having TV dillemas at the moment.

I want a VERY high quality picture under 60cm or under depth of TV plus over 86cm widescreen

I hate LCD and plasma so it's RP LCD, DLP and SOME CRT's for me

This TV sounds nice, anyone seen one in the flesh?

I purcahsed the LG DLP TV, LG HD Receiver(LST-4100p) and Pan DVD Home theater sound system(SC-HT878) on Saturday. Finisnhed installing on Sunday and am really happy.


I have also connected Playstaion 2 and Pan video cassette recorder but havent worked out how to record to the it yet but no problems play through to AV2.

I will keep you posted in the follwoing week but so far it al looks great...better than the Teac crt.

Price TV 3350
5year warty 385
Set top 545
DVD Home 500
Theatre
Betta Electrical

Chandlers would have done the same deal.

So far so good.

Did speak to an LG sevice tech who informed me that there was a bad patch of power supplies but it was to an earlier model.

The only real problem I have had is with ABC in the morning were some out of sync reception is noted but suspect this is more to do with ABC broad cast than the set top box or TV.

My final comment is that I am very happy with the TV and system that I have put together, great picture and hope it remains stable and reliable in the future.

If I have any problems i will post them.

Got this model as a replacement for my RT-44SZ80LB LCD Rear Pro - as described in this thread. Paid $3400 for my LCD Rear Pro, then got this set as a straight replacement so in effect I paid $3400 for a new RT-44SZ60DB

So far I'm loving the picture quality and overall look of the set. Virtually the same as a good Plasma set, with a nice "plasma-like" screen appearance too.

Here's my custom settings for the TV if anyone wants to try em. I'm still calibrating the image:

Contrast: 75
Brightness: 75
Color: 55
Sharpness: 37
XD: On

^Updated after playing around with them some more

Seems to work well for me on both DVD and HDTV tuner through component inputs. All in all I hope this set holds up in the quality control department because performance-wise it's a great set - and believe me I've seen a fair few different sets from all the major brands in the last few months!

Just an update for anyone with the same TV, after calibration with Digital Video Essentials my settings are now:

Contrast: 50
Brightness: 89
Color: 76
Sharpness: 0
XD: On

It's an amazing difference and the image quality now is near perfect!

Thanks PersianImmortal....will try those settings you have recommened.

I really like this TV the only comment so far is that when your viewing a sporting event e.g football, the grass is very fluorescent and plurry compared to a crt. Could be my settings.

It sounds like your settings. Definitely no colour problems here. However I did have to calibrate the colours using DVE's colour filter, and then I went into the actually TV's service menu and turned down the Red Gain value which was set much higher than the Blue or Green gain (RG was 111, BG 105, GG 103 - so I set RG to 105). Now the colors look fantastic!

Sounds like you know what you are doing.

Could you please clarify what is 'Digital Video Essential', 'DVE colour filter' and where is TV's service menu?

Digital Video Essentials is a DVD designed to let you know more about how to set up your home theater, as well as containing a step by step tutorial for adjusting your settings and giving you more info about what they're meant to do. Lots of test patterns and a special color filter as well so that you can fine tune everything. Well worth getting, but hard to find in DVD stores - I'd recommend trying JB Hifi - they should have a copy in one of their stores.

I don't really know that much about what I'm doing, I just realised that after calibrating my colours the red was still far too high. You can get to the Service Menu by pressing your Menu button on the remote and the Menu button on the TV at the same time for around 5 seconds. However do not alter anything in there if you're not confident as unauthorized changes can technically void your warranty not to mention screw up your system.

The Red, Blue and Green Gain values were under the second service menu entry, and I saw straight away the red was much higher than the others. DVE tells you that ramping up the red is a trick manufacturers do to make flesh tones more vibrant when their sets are on the showroom floor. So I altered it and lo and behold the color become normal in "reddish" scenes (like faces by a campfire).

Get DVE, it is well worth it - I spent $28 buying it.

Thanks for the info.

I tried your recommeneded settings and already it has improved what was already a good picture put find that the 0 setting for sharpness does not work for me.

Will try the service menu and to obtain DVE. What setting have you adjusted for Tint?

My current settings are as follows:

Contrast: 60

Brightness: 75

Colour: 70

Sharpness: 30

Tint: 0

XD: On

If your set has the same preset factory settings as mine (which it should) then you should definitely go into the Service Menu and turn down Red Gain to 105 from 111, as that both greatly improves picture quality and allows you to turn up your color a bit more.

My Tint is on 0, mainly because I fixed the red up in the service menu.

Once you get DVE you'll find that you can calibrate your contrast and brightness a bit better, and you'll also see by using the test patterns that sharpness of around 0 (or even up to about 5 or 10) is optimal because anything after that is just adding noise (white ghosting around lines, jaggedness, and "grain").

Also the settings depend on your DVD player and what type of connection you're using. I'm using a cheaper Sony 575P with PAL Progressive Scan, and Monster Component cables, which improves the picture quality and sharpness naturally, hence my lower sharpness settings don't result in a blurry picture.

Ok...sounds logical. I am using componet 1 with supplied cables.

I will try to obtain DVE during the week and let you know how I go....might be a able to download on the internet.

I have a few questions, I hope you don't mind.

Have you heard about THX optimizer? it apparently checks for audio and video settings by performing tests e.g patterns.

Before I try to go into the service menu, is it easy to save and get out of it without affecting other fatory settings?

I have a Panasonic DVD SA-HT520 home theater sound system. It also has adjustment for contrast, colour etc.....should I leave that alone and just adjust the TV settings?

Thanks for your advice...appreciate it.

No point in downloading DVE - you need the special plastic color filter it comes with, plus you would have to download the high-res version of it which would be 4+ GB so I doubt it is available in warez form.

THX Optimizer is a very, very basic version of what DVE does. Nowhere near as complex and I've used it in the past without any real improvement in my settings.

I suggest you turn off all other forms of color/sharpness/etc. enhancement on your DVD player and home theater gear. Turn off any "Cinema" or "Dynamic" etc. modes on your DVD player etc. Then try to calibrate your TV using DVE, then only if you can't reach a good compromise should you use the additional processing the other equipment adds.

When you make a change in the service menu it automatically "saves" it - you don't have to save it as such. Just note down what the original settings are before changing them. You will have to open and see the service menu for yourself and familiarize yourself with it to see what i mean.

/EDIT

Did some more calibrating to get better black levels last night and my settings are now:

Contrast: 62
Brightness: 88
Color: 70
Sharpness: 5
XD: On

Basically I increased the contrast and lowered color to compensate. Looks roughtly the same as before, except blacks are richer and there's less 'washed out' appearance

Ok....I did some research on the web last night and realized that I would not be able to download.

The prices vary considerably for DVE $74.99 - $26.99.

There are two versions:

1 DVD PAL home theater Setup DVDI-01710

2 DVE High Definition 1080i DVDI-3005 at $159.99

I am guessing that I will need the 2nd option?

What PSM setting and screen type are you using.

My PSM is user and 16:9 for screen type...dont know what this means?

Thanks again for your information and help.

Will keep in touch.

I got the PAL Component version. It's already presented in high resolution anyway, and to be honest I don't think it's worth an extra $120 for the HDTV version.

I use 16:9 (pretty much have to for a widescreen TV), and PSM is user because as soon as you change a setting like color or contrast it automatically becomes User.

Thanks....will keep in touch

After more messing around, I've settled back close to my original "calibrated" settings (fine tuned) - which are:

Contrast: 50
Brightness: 88
Color: 74
Sharpness: 10
XD: On

I will try those settings.

Latest update.

My settings are as follows:

Red gain 106.

Blue gain 108.

Green gain 102.

Contrast 74

Brightness 88

colour 75

sharpness 10

Just about what you have recommened.

When I turened red gain down I also found that the blue and green also needed minor adjustment.

The all round picture is fantastic when playing DVD or watching HD TV.

Thanks for all your help....much appreicated and have learn't a lot. I will contiune to keep this post updated.

Sounds good! I've settled on:

Contrast: 51
Brightness: 88
Color: 72
Sharpness: 15
XD: On

(basically almost identical to before with a few more tweaks again).

The main reason I keep my contrast low is because I've found that higher contrast levels both add "grain" to images and also just make the screen look "glarey" in my eyes.

I would also love to lower Sharpness to 10 for DVDs and raise it to around 25-30 for HDTV, but this set doesn't allow different settings for different sources so I've settled for 15 as a compromise.

At the moment playing back a good DVD, especially one with a clean source such as the Star Wars or Indiana Jones sets looks absolutely perfect. Beats the pants off any Standard Definition Plasma screens, and HDTV on the High Definition channels looks way better than on HD Plasmas!

Very happy with this set, no problems just enjoyment

I agree with your observation, that the picture is great.

Will try to tweaking the contrast again and wait for a few days to view different media and will let you know how I go.

Glad I purchased this set.

After recently buying the Rocky box DVD set and watching it, I did some more fine tuning

Current settings are now:

Contrast: 53
Brightness: 87
Color: 71
Sharpness: 17
XD: On

Because the Rocky movies are a bit older, the above settings helped remove "grain" from the film without reducing image quality. In fact other films and HDTV look better too

Experimented some more, turned off the XD Engine (As per this thread) and now my current settings are:

Contrast: 60
Brightness: 84
Color: 60
Sharpness: 18
XD: Off

This has reduced the graininess of almost every type of DVD (old or new). The grain was getting to me, and it was because XD turns up the gamma (the overall brightness of the scene) and hence really highlights every single grain and dot on the screen. Turning off XD and adjusting my settings as above to increase contrast and brightness has made a great difference. Colors look more natural too

OK...thanks for the information.

Will try your suggested settings for a few days. I have already noticed the grain has decreased.

Have you left your colours in the service menu the same?

Yes, everything else is exactly the same. Turning off XD is the best thing I've done on this set! The picture quality now is almost the rival of a proper CRT screen. The colors and contrast are so much more stable now! My current settings after even more experimentation are:

Contrast: 65
Brightness: 83
Color: 57
Sharpness: 24
XD: Off

Watched some older/less perfect DVDs such as Terminator 1, Speed and Army of Darkness over the last few days - these movies usually have a bit of noticeable grain. Now there's virtually no noticeable grain, picture is sharp, blacks are detailed but dark.

XD is a good idea in theory, but unfortunately it just results in a bright grainy picture with generally low contrasts and no true blacks.

Hi guys,

I've been browsing this forum for quite a while now and following PersianImmortals posts both on here and ocau as I was deciding on which new tv to get. Buying a tv these days is so difficult as they all have their pros and cons, but I'm happy to say that I am now the owner of an LG DLP rearpro.

What can I say, using the settings in this thread I've been able to get an excellent picture, way better than the standard def plasmas I mucked around with in the many stores I visited.

I'm currently using the same settings as PersianImmortal except I have turned the Brightness down to 65 as it seemed a bit too bright for my eyes.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to you guys for helping to make my decsion easier

My only complaint with this set is that I can see the rainbow effect quite easily but only on dark scenes with something really bright eg, white text on black background. It's not really bothering me because I forget about it when watching programs anyway and its only when I move my eyes quickly across the screen.

Cheers

Hi mate, I think you'll find this set is an excellent DLP rear pro, and no need to pay $5K plus for a Samsung DLP or even more for an HD plasma when this set does an equivalent job in the Picture Quality department.

I'm very fussy about image quality, that's why I've been constantly experimenting and recording the results here. I use to lurk on these forums for quite a while so I know others may read this and be tempted to experiment too.

The best results I've had so far is turning off XD a few nights ago. It has made an absolute world of difference. The "XD engine" completely crippled my attempts at calibrating my set because it dynamically alters contrasts and gamma and increases grain, ghosting and the neon-brightness of colors, including the over saturation of reds. Increasing contrasts with XD on actually results in a drop in the overall richness of blacks for example!

Tonight I've finally calibrated the set to precisely how I want it. I have almost 100 DVDs and I've tried a vast range of them (old and new) just now to see what they all look like, and they are now all almost identical to a CRT image. My final settings are:

Contrast: 70
Brightness: 84
Color: 51
Sharpness: 36
XD: Off

Turning Off XD has let me ramp up the contrast and sharpness where as previously I had to settle for a contrast around 50 and sharpness in the low teens. I am very, very, VERY happy with the Picture Quality now.

I guess the moral of the story is turn OFF all digital image processing options on your DVD player, TV etc. as they almost always make PQ unnatural and "digital". I'm off to enjoy the TV and stop constantly posting new settings here

PS - I was a bit worried about being able to see the rainbow effect too, but trust me after around 2-3 weeks it becomes completely unnoticeable. I started off being completely distracted by it and now I don't see it at all. The human brain seems to ignore it, or perhaps your eyes adjust. Either way, it's not an issue at all. I was given the option of returning this set for a refund, and I steadfastly wanted to keep it - no regrets.

PPS - For anyone wondering why I frigged around with the settings so much, I run a website called TweakGuides.com, so tweaking is what I do when it comes to electronic equipment.

Hi PersianImmortal,

Thanks for your comments re your pq improvements.

But a special "thank you" for your link to "TweakGuides" as it will be a great source of "How-to's" for the "techno challenged" like myself.

Regards,

eyestrain

Yeah I second that, cheers for taking the time to post your settings. Even though people will differ greatly with their viewing preferences, the recent LG offerings come pretty poorly calibrated from factory IMO and tweaking is definatley required.

I have been looking everywhere for some user calibrated GAMMA, RGB gain values for my departing LG LCD but couldn't find any.

I'll definatley be buying VE or Avia when I get the new set.

Thanks again for all your help....I realised early on in our conversations that you knew what you were doing.

I have applied your recommended settings which has improved the picture considerably.

Have found that the standard settings in the PSM menu are not too bad but not as good as your yours.

I have briefly checked out your web site and look forward to learning more.

Just another quick update - in my search for perfection I've changed the Gamma settings in the TV's service menu and the results are excellent. Basically the summary of changes I've made to this TV from stock to get awesome picture are below.

Under the Service Menu
(Press Menu button on Remote and Menu button on TV together for 5 seconds)

GAMMA sub-menu

Changed R gamma to 7, G gamma to 6 and B gamma to 8 (originals are 10,6,9).
Lowering Red Gamma in particular reduces the glare from reds on this TV.

DDP1010 sub-menu

Changed R Gain to 105, G Gain to 103, B Gain to 105 (originals are 111,103,105).
Lowering the Red Gain value made a significant difference and fixed the over-saturation of reds on this TV along with the Red Gamma change above.

Changed the H Position to 77 and V Position to 26 to center the image on the TV better. Still problems with the vertical position not being spot-on for some DVDs but it seems to vary, so 26 is a compromise value to make almost all DVDs appear vertically centered.

TV Settings

Contrast: 70
Brightness: 83
Color: 53
Sharpness: 36
XD: Off

DVD Player/HDTV Set Top Box

Disable (or set to 'standard') all image enhancement, sharpness, color etc. enhancment features or added digital processing options on the player or HDTV box. If enabled these usually increase color banding, ghosting and pixellation/grain. So aside from turning the XD Engine off on the TV, turn off all similar options on the inputs.

Just recording these changes here for others and for myself. The picture is now absolutely spot-on for me, and the settings above should suit most people.

I've racked up over 400 hours of viewing pleasure on this TV and hopefully many more to come

Haha I too have been searching for the perfect settings for this TV, the problem for me seems to be that the differences between watching DVD, playstation and DTV are so great that it's hard for me to find the perfect "compromise" as you say. I wish there were multiple User settings.

Overall I'm very happy and I'm using bascially the same settings although I can't wait to get home and try out the gamma adjustments.

BTW, has anyone had any experience with console games through this tv namley PS2?

Using the standard composite connectors, it looks pretty terrible, will the picture improve dramatically by using component? Also is it worth getting one of those VGA box thingos so I can connect it via the VGA-PC input? I'm looking for a high resolution picture in anticipation of Gran Turismo 4!!!!!!

OK, sorry to go off track.

Cheers

During my break I did some more experimenting and my Service Menu settings have remained the same. My TV settings have changed again, and this time I really do think it's final

Contrast: 83
Brightness: 82
Color: 46
Sharpness: 36
XD: Off

Give it a try - I ramped up the Contrast to the point where there was more visible grain, then backed it down again to 83 which I think is the highest contrast without causing massive glare/grain.

Changing contrast meant I had to recalibrate the Color again to get it looking normal, which meant a color of 46 for me.

Dropped Brightness down 1 notch since higher contrast also increased the general brightness of the picture.

Now I'm loving it even more

PersianImmortal,

was i glad to find this thread. some good service menu tweaks here. i have recently purchased a toshiba 44NHM84 which appears to be the same (or very similar) to the LG 44" model (in fact I have read that the tosh is a relabelled LG).

anyway, initially i was not all that happy with the picture, with what i considered a weak black point and some "solarization" effects in shadow areas. i got to poking poking around in the service menu to try to alleviate some of these effects. i think i made progress, but in the end i put faith in the "load defaults" switch to return me to the factory default settings. it worked for some parameters (the couple parameters that i checked beforehand) but not others. some cruel and wicked person setup that function.

in short i am looking for some default settings so i can tweak the defaults with what i have learned rather than trying to pull 40 different parameters back to reasonable settings without a shred of documentation. i posted this request on another forum but didn't get much help. possibly those peeps were a little intimidated by the service menu and i certainly didn't want to push anyone in.

i've used a few of the past posts to record defaults, but i am looking for a few more. i was wondering if you (or some other brave soul) could provide me with:

DLP Driver > DDP1010 >

CWI =
Colour Temp = (let's start with medium and if you have the patience/time i can get more later)
R gain =
G gain =
B gain =
R offset =
G offset =
B offset =
<next page>
GAMMA table =


AD9883A Main >

R gain =
G gain =
B gain =
R offset =
G offset =
B offset =
Sync Control =
Sync on G Thr. =
Sync Sep. Thr. =
<next page>
Pre-Coast =
Post-Coast =
Phase =
Target Y-Offset =
Target Cb-Offset =
Target Cr-Offset =
Target Y-Gain =
Target Cb-Gain =
Target Cr-Gain =


it's a bit of time but hopefully someone will find it in their heart...

btw, i need to confirm this by reverting back to the default settings, but i found that working the "offset" values really pulled in the black levels nicely...

smm.

I'd love to help, unfortunately I really don't want to reset my TV to factory defaults. I've got it to the sweet spot now and I don't want to risk unsettling it - sorry

I can give you my existing settings for these, but I can't guarantee they are the stock factory defaults. It also depends on the driver version, my versions are:

DDP1010 Ver 1.41
SubMiCom Ver 2.0
MainMicom Ver 3.01

not to worry, if you didn't record your defaults then i'll take what you've got. i had been throttling some of the parameters to get a clear idea of what they were doing thinking that the "load defaults" would bring me back home. most of the parameters don't seem to return.

if you could pass along your settings i would appreciate it. my version numbers are also a bit different:

DDP1010 Ver 1.81
SubMiCom Ver 3.00
MainMicom Ver 3.03

DLP Driver > DDP1010 >

CWI = 148
Colour Temp = (No Color Temp settings on this TV)
R gain = 105 (default is 111)
G gain = 103 (default is 105)
B gain = 105 (default is 107)
R offset = -21
G offset = -20
B offset = -19
GAMMA table = 2


AD9883A Main > (mine is AD9883 not AD9883A)

R gain = 105
G gain = 131
B gain = 108
R offset = 138
G offset = 102
B offset = 134
Sync Control = 182
Sync on G Thr. = 189
Sync Sep. Thr. = 32
Pre-Coast = 0
Post-Coast = 0
Phase = ? (only have Coast Select = 0 here)
Target Y-Offset = (Target ROffset=16)
Target Cb-Offset = (Target GOffset=128)
Target Cr-Offset = (Target BOffset=128)
Target Y-Gain = (Target RGain=219)
Target Cb-Gain = (Target GGain=240)
Target Cr-Gain = (Target BGain=240)

That's about it. The fact that you have a different DDP version, and other subtle differences means my default settings may not look right on your screen, but if you find any decent tweaks let us know!

Hi PersianImmortal/Koroush

Checked out your tweak site and downloaded XPTC...loved it and used a lot of your recommneded tweaks. I also checked out your links and downloaded a fair few of the software recommendations....great stuff.

My computer is now running at least 10% faster and cleaner than before...thanks. My friends also are checking your site and good feed back from them as well.

I haven't changed my TV settings since my last post because I am really happy with the picture quailty...so are my friends who are now wanting the same system but will try your lastest settings since every suggested change or tweak you have recommneded has signinfcantly improved the picture quility.

I cant wait to see the results has I already think I am looking at a great picture.

Thanks mate, glad the site helped. Note that TweakGuides.com may be unreachable for a little while because my former web host suddenly went down without warning, and I'm now hosting the site on another host - it can take up to another 24 hours before the DNS Servers update the address (i.e. the address 'TweakGuides.com' will point to the wrong host until it is updated) - that means that for some people, TweakGuides.com appears unreachable, so tell them to try again in around 24 hours because it's definitely up again

As for your TV settings, I know how you feel, but the newer settings I posted make contrasts better and brighter so I think you'll like em.

well, my toshiba 44NHM84 saga has ended. i ended up returning the tv. when i went through the process of selecting a tv from the dizzying array of sets available, i originally narrowed in on DLPs, was looking in the 40" to 50" range, and ideally a set with no side speakers. the toshiba fit the bill nicely.

of course, seeing it in the store and living with it at home are two different things. in the end i think i am just not happy with the DLP technology. the rainbows i saw once i got it home, but i could live with it (however, my significant other was starting to express her displeasure). what really irked me was what i perceived as a lack of smooth tonal transitions. i mostly found this on skin tones, where patchy colour artifacts of red and green could be made out across people's faces when going from highlights to shadow. i was also not impressed with general colour reproduction in dimly lit areas/scenes.

i have spent the last 3 weeks rifling through the service menus and popping into local bestbuys / futureshops / friends to have a look at other displays in comparison. the obvious other DLP contenders are the Samsungs, but while the Sammys i observed in the store did seem to handle low light levels better, i could still see the same issues, especially the green tinting in shadows. the Sammy's might have been good enough in this department but i don't like the soft images.

so, in the end, i think that consumer-level DLPs are not a good match for me. i think i am going to move on an LCD projection in the near future (and welcome a whole new set of annoying limitations i'm sure...).

as for service menu musings, in the end i didn't come up with a finely tuned set of parameters, but what i did find improved the picture on my set to my eyes was to take the G offset in AD9883A and drop it to 22 (from what appears to be factory settings of 90-110'ish). a whole lot of black level is lost when this is done, so then in the DDP1010 menu i would have to lower the R G and B offset values from ~-10 to something around -40 to -60. then i would calibrate the set using the standard controls and the avia disk, starting with the "standard" picture setting. to my eye this significantly improved the green colourization of shadow detail and made dim and desaturated movies like Master & Commander watchable (but not up to comparison to CRTs).

m.

Sorry it didn't work out for you, but at least you got to return the set and you can get something which suits you better.

I went from an LCD Rear Pro and the problems I had with that (blacks aren't as good, see more green tints in blacks, dead/stuck pixels, screendoor etc.) and found that the DLP once calibrated to my tastes is almost perfect for me.

Only in very poor sources do I see transition or banding issues on skin tones. On about 90% of my 120 DVDs the image quality is almost perfect to me. I sit around 2.5m away from the screen and I am very happy with the image quality.

The biggest single improvement for me was switching off the LG 'XD Engine' digital processing which made things glarey, grainy and generally oversaturated. With that one single change and the associated recalibation the set is fantastic!

Anyway good luck finding a new set and hope you find the right one