Okay, I have the new panel in its proper home now. Took the cabinet out of the right-hand side, leaving about 6" on each side of the set. Luckily it fits height-wise with about a half inch to spare. Haven't decided whether to put something decorative in there (like Flames/Stampeders banners, LOL) or fill it in with some DVD storage. As you can see, I have plenty of that already.

Components, left to right are: BD player, 5-DVD changer (for playing non-BD's and CD's, though the BD player will play both), Technics receiver and Pace cable box/puny 1TB expander. Next to be replaced may be the receiver as it has never heard of HDMI; luckily I was able to find a combination of coax/optical/component that allowed me to make everything work without resorting to mere stereo on anything.

I also found the THX Optimizer feature on a DVD and used it to tune the TV, I think I've improved the picture significantly, but I'll know for sure when the Flames play the Stars tonight! I considered picking up the Monster DVD for LCD tuning, but it was 50 bucks at Soundsaround and I know I can get it for 20-ish online somewhere. Not even sure it's the best one out there, I've also run across Digital Video Essentials and Avia Guide to Home Theatre. Anyone used either of these?

Anyway, here are some shots of the new unit in situ.

 

^^ Looks awesome, Wayne. Maaaahvelous!

What differences do you see on the LED vs. an LCD or plasma? --- Resolution? Sharpness? Contrast? Colour? Blacks? All of the above? None of the above?

 

I'm not sure I can really tell at this point. All I have to compare to is my Hitachi 42" LCD which has a really nice picture right out of the box. But after watching the Sharp, I come upstairs and think 'this Hitachi sure is small' LOL!

I think after watching some hockey, maybe a few BD movies I'll be able to judge better. Out of the box it was rather dark, and decreasing the backlight actually helped the picture. I think the 120 Hz/4ms refresh also helps with fast-moving sports; less ghosting than I see with the 60 Hz/6ms Hitachi (which is barely noticable, but it's there). I've never sat down and watched a plasma so I can't compare.

 

Wayne,

Are you going to have the set calibrated professionally?

Looky here.... http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm

 

Wayne, I have the Avia DVD and calibrate my home theatre myself. While it will calibrate both audio and video, I noticed a bigger improvement with video. I can't say it will calibrate your home theatre like a professional can (as I've never had mine professionally done) but it does a great job considering how little it costs.

 

Thanks a tonne for the link, Bill, I also have a reference from interalian here in Calgary. I probably won't have it done professionally right away, but maybe later on. Shane, I'll watch for that DVD as well.

 

You can take that sticker off of the right side of the TV now.... :P

 

No, I'm scared to. Isn't that like removing the "New Material Only" sticker from your mattress? Don't the Sticker Police drag you screaming into the night??

OTOH, I could put it on my car for +3.14 hp

 

Bought the 756D/1TB expander at Soundsaround. Hooked them up, carefully following the instructions provided by Shaw. Took me several tries (like 6) to get the 'format hard drive?' prompt, then after I formatted, I could view the List, so I recorded a movie. When I went to play it back, the Pace box rebooted, then next time I tried to use any DVR functions, it came back with "DVR function not Enabled, call your service provider"

Which I did. By the time Shaw was finished resetting it, all I had onscreen were scattered pixels. Great. We'll send a service guy out in 2 days.

Service guy was good; he checked for signal strength, replaced the wall-to-Pace cable, hooked me up to the strongest signal...still no joy, I could get TV again, but no PVR. After an hour of investigation, he says I need to get the Pace box replaced, so I go to Soundsaround. After ten seconds of questions they say "oh no, you need to replace the expander since it won't format". Whatever, couldn't convince them to replace the box instead. So I got the new expander and after a couple of tries, got it to format. But same story, soon as I tried to record something, "DVR function not enabled".

Sooooo, I go back to SA. They have no more Pace boxes. I was not pleased.

So here I sit, brokenhearted.

Anyway, has anyone else had these sorts of problems? Is it signal strength? Bad Pace box? Any thoughts?

 

^^ Sorry bud, no idea. You're now officially in Customer Service Hell.

Try your best laid back approach, patience and calm demeanor. Give it a chance to work (at least half an hour) then...

 

^^ That was my exact expression as I stood at the SA counter. My parting words were "Well then, we had both better hope this works." they still have no Pace boxes. "Maybe later this week."

I also signed up to the Cdn AV forum (forget what it's called) to see if anyone on there knows. I should know better than to be an Early Adopter, but damn it was an attractive package (which I now see Future Slop has on for $70 less, but that's ANOTHER cat poster...)

 

^^ Gluck with that. Fargin' Bastages. Iceholes.

I wonder... would an orchestrated G35Driver mass email writing campaign help us in these situations, or would we just go to jail for a Denial Of Service attack? Hmmm...

 

All I can add is good luck Swivel. I'm way out of my league with this newer technology stuff.

 

So yesterday before I was about to pack up my Pace DCT and return it, just for ***** and giggles I decided to re-initialize and try to get it going one more time. Well with the help of phone tech I got it reset, hit the 'list' button and lo and behold there was one of my old recordings. Better yet, it played back fine! I was so happy. So I set a few more recordings.

Now I get the phenomenon where programs seem to record, but on playback they are 21-22 min long, the progress bar is at end minus one minutes and nothing I can do about it.

FML.

I'm returning this Pace POS today and getting a Motorola box.

 

G/L Swivel. That's got to be frustrating.