30HF84 in stock 7/22/2004

[machismo63]

According to the specs on Crutchfield's website:

"All non-HD signals (antenna, cable, VHS/S-VHS VCR, etc.) are upconverted to 1080i by Toshiba's CrystalScan HDSC™ circuitry"

Does this mean all non 1080i signals will be converted to 1080i (including 480p), or is this referring to all interlaced signals.

I was thinking maybe some 30HF83 owners might know, then again, this could be a new feature.

"...displays them at 1080i or 540p"

Also does this mean you have the individual option to use either timing (i thought 1080i and 540p were the same), or are they just telling consumers that these timings are the same thing?

Once again, maybe some 30HF83 owners could help out as well.

Thanks for your help!

[TysonL]

My understanding after just recently setting up this set and reviewing the manual is that the display is natively 1080i, and by default will convert all other inputs to 1080i ... with one exception.

There is a 540p option, that if selected will change the native scan rate to 540p ONLY for 480p inputs. This allows this progressive source to be displayed in a progressive manner. When choosing this option the set does seem to switch over to a different scan method, so I do believe it is doing something different even though I find the difference hard to detect in the picture. This particular option was probably added because it was easy to impliment and 480p is a very common output from DVD players.

540p is the progressive equivalent of 1080i

[tony2000]

How do you like the set. I'm waiting for the new 26" to come out and I think the PQ & Features should be about the same. Let me know what you think of your set.

[TysonL]

Post2

[TysonL]

Post3 (Now I can include a link as a new user)

[TysonL]

I am very happy with the Toshiba 30HF83 set so far. I think the upcoming model 30HF84 should be very similar, and hopefully the 26" as well. Because this 30" set is so low profile with regard to the tube bezel it isn't as monsterous as other vendors of the same screen size with the speakers on the side (however the 30HF84 is slightly wider in the bezel by the specs I saw which is why I didn't even consider waiting and jumped on the 30HF83 since I only had a fraction of an inch clearance in my cabinet). I really like that it doesn't have the speakers on the side, especially when I don't intend to use them much. They are built in below the set, and sound ok after adjusting some of the settings on the built in subwoofer as it had too much bass at the factory setting. The weight, at 120 lbs., also is not too bad. Because of this, if space & money allow, I would strongly consider the 30" if you are thinking of the 26", just as I considered the 34" ... but I didn't have the space or money.

I calibrated the set to my DVD player, and it went very well. The set held its black level very well, test patterns with extreme contrast variations showed little or no distortion, and there was very little blooming even at the highest contrast level. It saves the settings for each input separately, which is important but sometimes not there for even some higher end equipment (making it almost worthless, but many consumers don't adjust monitors/TV, especially for each input).

For watching widescreen, this 30" set has 45% more screen area than on my old 27" 4:3 set. I also upgraded my DVD player to a well reviewed progressive player from Onkyo (Don't spend the money on an HDTV and then skimp on the DVD player - good ones are relatively low priced these days). The combination of these two made for an impressive improvement over my old setup.

My only complaint is the DVI problems when interfacing to a computer (which is specifically mentioned many times by Toshiba as not supported and DON'T do it). But, what is the difference ... especially when using for video playback such that burn in shouldn't be an issue. With my ATI Radeon 9000 in my HTPC the DVI is recognized and a working low resolution default comes up on the screen. The low resolution (unusable for anything really) seems to come up reliably. By unchecking the option to show supported resolutions only, I can then set 1920 x 1080. The picture is there, but my vertical sync is off and scrolls at a rate of about 1 full screen every 10 seconds. I think I can dial something in if I try Powerstrip but I haven't gotten to this yet. Because I doen't see the supported resolutions that are in the EDID info in the TV, I believe there is a problem as reported by others reading this info by a video card. However, unlike others, my video card hardware/driver setup must detect the "hotplug detect" pin and know that a DVI device is plugged in and enable this as a selectable output device but without knowing supported resolutions. This problem can be overcome by hacking an eeprom with the proper programming into the cable. See link:

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB21&Number=477534&fpart=&PHPSESSID=

I hope this info helps.

[machismo63]

I'm glad you like your set TysonL. I too will be upgrading from a 27" television. It's a Toshiba as well. I plan on hooking my PC to the set, and there is a hot topic in the HTPC forum as to whether DVI inputs accept 1080i resolutions. I have been watching it closely.

Though I have been worrying about the 540p conversion, I hear Toshiba has some awesome stretch modes, and I like the fact that it's cheaper than Sony's equivalent model.

I too, like the aesthetics of the set, it sure is a pretty TV.

[tilt3daxis]

Tyson -- Do you have any game consoles, by chance? I'm trying to gauge the distortion level when a game's 480p signal is upconverted. Comments? =/

[Tyjo]

I have the same television. I've had it for about 7 months. I have the xbox connected by the High Definition AV pack. You don't notice any distortion. The upconversion to 540p/1080i is done well. The only problem I find is you do see some pixelization on the far left and right of the screen when in 540p. Also known as the Screen Door Effect I think. The problem does go away when you change to 1080i.

[TysonL]

I have not hooked up a game console.

I do output 480p from my DVD player, and the 30HF83 is set up to display 480p as 540p (vs 1080i option), and the picture looks very good. I see no distortion either on test/calibration DVD or with movies.

I am interested if others have an opinion of 540p vs 1080i settings for a 480p input. Tyjo posted here that there is some pixellation seen at 540p, but I found that I couldn't see much difference between the settings. Both looked good.

machismo63 - Could you post a link to the thread talking about DVI and 1080i?

[machismo63]

Originally posted by TysonL

machismo63 - Could you post a link to the thread talking about DVI and 1080i?

Sure, I think the consensus now is that can display 1080i, but there are many people who just can't get it working. Though the point might be mute for Toshiba owners who aren't willing to do the EDID hack in the link you posted. Nice thread by the way, I wasn't even aware this problem existed. I wonder if this was fixed in this year's model? I highly doubt it though....

The DVI thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=420510&perpage=20&pagenumber=1)

Does Toshiba direct view sets use the same upscaling technology as their current RPTV sets? I remember hearing how the old RPTVs had upscaling problems, and the newer models have fixed those issues.

[mchiasson]

I happened to go look at the Toshiba web site to see if I could find any newer specs/pictures for the new xxHF84 sets. What do I find but the manuals for the 26HF84, 30HF84, 34HF84 and 34HFX84. The manuals can be found here:

http://tacpservice.toshiba.com/ConsumerProductSupport/Manuals/TV/2000tvct.htm

[machismo63]

Nice find mchiasson. I see they have the same options regading upscaling of 480p material, as well as the "This TV is not intended for connection to and should not be used with a personal computer."

Not a bad TV, especially with an MSRP of $899 (according to Toshiba's press release).

[tony2000]

TysonL
How does the standard 4x3 image look. Is it highly distorted or does putting it in wide or stretch mode work well. Any bad bowing of the pix?
Thanks to all you folks for putting up the manuals great find.

[TysonL]

I haven't spent much time looking at 4:3 material. Only 4:3 I have looked at is from SIR-T165 HDTV box, and that is sending 4:3 already inside a 16:9.

I have looked at the 4:3 from the internal antenna only for a few minutes and it is ok.

There is some minor bowing of the vertical edge, but not too noticeable if you are not looking for it. It is very minor compared to what you see on a cheap set. If a person wants to watch a lot of 4:3 material, then a 4:3 set is a better option. I watch predominately HDTV material and widescreen DVD's and for this it is excellent.

The stretch mode options are pretty good. One that stretches the midde none, and progressively more towards the edges is pretty good with 4:3 material and many have commented they like it on this set. I too think it is pretty good for what it is achieving, but in general I don't like any distortion

[UTVguy]

WARNING: fanboy gushing alert!
[QUOTE=tilt3daxis]Tyson -- Do you have any game consoles, by chance? I'm trying to gauge the distortion level when a game's 480p signal is upconverted. Comments? =/[/QUOTE]Hey tilt, FWIW I am a proud owner of the Toshiba 46h84 HD monitor and can sum up game play on this unit in one word: WOW! The video is crisp and clean from my XBOX. You have to set the XBOX to output 480p after you connect the HD cable from XBOX to the Toshiba. I didn't even splurge on the expensive XBOX HD cables.

Halo 2 looks even more awesome than usual! Detail on the XBOX Live maps is incredible and 'jaggies' are practically eliminated. Minor criticism is that menus still seem to be in 480i??? Not sure about this but they look identical to the 'standard' menus.

Can't wait for the XBOX 360 to come out! It will be natively Hi-Def at both 720p and 1080i and EVERY game will look awesome on this set!