Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP Home Theater
This home theater has…
- 2 SONY DVP-CX995V 400 Disk Changers,
- 1 Onkyo TX-SR803-B THX Certified 7.1 Receiver,
- a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD High Def DVR, and
- a 500GB eSATA drive attached to it.
The speakers are a 7.1 Dolby surround sound setup and are Polk Audio. Video is from a Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP. The remote is a Sony AX4000.
The home theater PC and TV are connected using Gigabit LAN to my 3 Media Servers (over 8 TB storage between them) and WHS (2TB).
Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP Home Theater
Don’t worry about the washed out colors… It’s hard to take a good picture in the dark with my camera.
Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP Home Theater movie matrix
Enjoying the Matrix on my nice home theather setup!
Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP Home Theater setup
There is nothing quite like browsing the web, playing video games, and watching movies in 1080P.
Toshiba 56MX195 Cinema Series DLP Home Theater xbox pc windows xp
MonCaso 932 Case with the 7 inch Pixel Perfect Touch Screen LCD
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS4 Rev. 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Ram
POWERCOLOR 26XT512M/D3HDMI Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB HDCP Ready Video Card (only for the Toshiba DLP)
POWERCOLOR 2400XT 256MB HDCP Ready Video Card (for the 7 inch touch screen)
HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 PCI Express SATA II Controller Card
4x 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS SATA 3.0Gb/s (1.5 TB Available)
ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply
XBOX 360 HD-DVD Player Connected via USB
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black PATA Model SH-S202G
Logitech diNovo Edge 2-Tone Bluetooth Wireless Mini Keyboard
Logitech MX Revolution Mouse
Vista Ultimate
Everything is connected to 3 Sony VGPXL1B3 200 Disk DVD Changers. They are controlled using MyMovies. It’s great that you can turn the home theater PC on with a remote (via IMON). There is more than enough power for playing HD-DVD’s and x264 encoded Blue-Ray movies.
Popularity: 22%
You’ve made an investment in advanced TV technology, the HDTV lamp. To get the most life out of your set, here are some important issues to consider.
Heavy Vibrations.
A DLP is sensitive when…
- kids jump up and down on the floor,
- there are heavy footsteps that vibrate the floor where the TV sits, and
- excessive volume comes from a home theater system subwoofer.
The above causes vibration to the display. If your display vibrates, so does your lamp. That COULD cause an instant failure.
Power On/Power Off.
Do not regularly turn your TV on and off. Lamps are arc-based. This means when you turn the power on, it “strikes” the lamp.
This is THE most destructive process to your lamp. It is one of the biggest causes of shortened lamp life. Limit this to 2-3 times a day, at most. Instead of turning the TV off for a few hours, just leave it on. This is also true for old CRT technology.
Give It Air.
Watch out for enclosed settings/rooms without good ventilation. Air movement is key to the transfer of outgoing warm air with incoming cool air.
A Clean Filter.
Not all DLPs have filters. For those that do, the owner’s manual has instructions on how to replace it. This is important, if you want to make your lamp last longer. It keeps the light path cool and at peak efficiency. With LCD projection, it stops debris from getting into the light path, which degrades image performance.
Turn It Off.
Most sets have a 10-60 second delay when starting a power down sequence. This is to prevent unnecessary lamp striking in the case of unintented power down commands.
For Toshiba, they have an “Instant Startup” menu item. Using it is easy. While the set is on, press the power button. In 10 seconds, press the power button again. In just a few moments, the picture returns (at least it should). If it takes a minute or longer, or the power on is being ignored, it means the lamp was turned off. It will not turn on again until the sequence completes. Older displays do this. For Toshiba, they may have a menu item to address this.
Surge Suppressor.
Anything with an electric motor in the same AC outlet, or an outlet on the same circuit, generates spikes. This can disturb the ballast in the TV. This causes a burst of additional current to the lamp.
Some have reported lamps failing as vacuum cleaners or window air-conditioning units are turned on! Your best bet is to get a surge suppressor. If you want protection against lightning, you need an AC Surge or Lightning Suppressor.
Losing Power.
Do not unplug or remove AC power to turn off your TV. Your set requires a typical 2 minute process to turn off so it can cool the lamp. Other electronics, like a cable box or satellite receiver, provide a switched AC outlet. Supposedly, you can “conveniently” turn the TV set off or on.
DO NOT USE IT!
If your electric utility company has problems with the power, get an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), the same as for your computer.
On the other hand, Toshiba claims this is unnecessary. Their sets do not need a cool down process. When the lamp is off, so is the fan.
Power Settings.
Generally, displays have two power levels for the lamp. For longer lamp life, set it to low power. However, this produces less light output. In nearly all cases, lamp-based rear projection sets are brighter than necessary. So, lower light output is not as bad as it appears and slightly improves black levels.
Dying Lamps.
With lamp age, light output drops. You will notice it doesn’t seem as bright as it was. To fix this, go in the menu and switch to high power. At this point, getting a replacement lamp is not a bad idea.
When To Replace.
As you continue to use the lamp, light output continues to drop. It will start to change color. You will see a yellowish overcast that is most evident on whites. When this happens, you need a new lamp.
Expect to lose 25% of light output in the first 500 hours of use. By the time you see yellow whites, you have used well past 75% of the lamp’s life. If you want a sharp, bright image, replace the lamp well before it gets to ths point.
Toshiba Exception.
Toshiba has a different view. They suggest ignoring the above. Toshiba recommends the high power setting, since they designed the lamp and calculated its life span for a high power setting.
This seems to go against logic. However, Toshiba claims it is based on experience from customers and electronics stores. They use the lamps all day long, in high power mode, with just one power cycle all day. In some cases, they are never turned off!
Toshiba found dealer demo displays can get 7000-8000 hours from a lamp. It is also claimed ordinary incandescent light bulbs get this kind of life when used with a dimmer. So, it’s something to keep in mind, regarding your lamp.
Popularity: 33%
My TV does not show anything when I press the power button. Why is it not working?
Common Problem.
What you may be experiencing is a problem with your lamp. The lamp is used to light the images that appear on your screen. If there is no light, namely no illumination from your lamp, the screen will be dark.
Like a light bulb, lamps burn out after a certain amount of use. Just like light bulbs, they can be replaced. The cost of these lamps vary by manufacturer and model. But, expect to pay around $300 or more.
Diagnosing Your Problem.
This may sound strange, but you may need to read the owners manual for your TV. It will (at least if the manual is any good) describe what each light, or series of lights, or light behavior mean for your set. This will help you determine if there is a problem, and help you to decide what to do next (or not to do).
For instance, a DLP HDTV may have two lights on the front panel. There is an ‘OFF’ light which is red. There is an ‘ON’ light that is green. After you turn the TV screen off, the green lights blinks. The owner’s manual tells you this means the fan is cooling the bulb. Do not turn the set on until the blinking green light is gone, if you want the bulb to cool down.
If both lights are on (red and green), with one of them blinking, the set may be re-setting itself. This may indicate a bad bulb or another problem.
What Is Happening In There?
The big drawback to DLPs are the lamps. While it makes for spectacular viewing, you have to understand that all bulbs have to be replaced. If you believe the bulb needs to be replaced, try this…
- Go to the main menu on your TV.
- Find the ‘picture’ quality option.
- Change your picture quality brighness or intensity to something less bright or vivid.
What you are trying to do is conserve bulb life by minimizing its use. Your projection bulb may last a while longer. This keeps it from running hot and wearing out faster.
Popularity: 19%
Toshiba 50HM66 50 in. HDTV DLP TV
Giving My Back A Break.
After many years with a CRT, I gave up my monster Sony 32” Television (bye bye tubes) and went shopping for a hi-definition big screen television.
It would be nice not to have to move that CRT monster. When you consider I had to move it myself (weighing well over 120 pounds), a flat-screen would be welcome relief.
Earlier, my massive Sony CRT computer monitor was replaced with a flat panel. It effectively gave up 72 pounds for less than 16. So, my back would thank me for the lighter screen.
Measuring My Options.
There has been astounding progress in the nearly seven years since I purchased a television. Now there is High Definition Liquid Crystal, Plasma, and Digital Light Projection (DLP). On top of that, there are so many options that it is not hard to get a headache researching and shopping.
Well, my research was enough to justify an honorary engineer’s degree. After thinking about the side effects of taking a bottle of aspirin to relieve the throbbing from all the technical jargon, I was finally ready to visit a store.
Research led me to limit my brand shopping to Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba. To avoid the boredom or make your head hurt, let me cut to the chase. I got the Toshiba 50” Rear Projection, model 50HM66.
Initially, the Sony Rear Projection was my choice. However, the Toshiba 50HM66 was the one I took home.
Getting the DLP.
It was immediately clear the weight was much better than my CRT. It was not too difficult to haul it to my truck to bring it home. Nobody in the store offered to help so it was just me and the HDTV. To my relief, lifting the somewhat large and bulky box up in to the bed of the truck was manageable.
It was nicer once home since the house required climbing a full flight of wooden steps to get to the front door. Getting the TV up the stairs and on a stand in the living room was fairly easy. Just remember to take the TV out of the box, first.
Compared to my old CTR which required me to summon all my strength, this Toshiba was easy! It didn’t matter that the Toshiba was much larger out of the box. The weight did not prevent me from putting it whereever I wished.
Set-up.
The Toshiba is easy to install and set-up. This is assuming you have the correct cables. The remote and menus are simple and easy to use. Of course, this assumes you actually read the manual… well at least the important parts.
Using the DLP.
I tried 2 smaller LCD televisions. Neither appealed to me. The picture sharpness and clarity were lacking. Plus, it was difficult to get the color right. The Toshiba has no such problems.
High-definition digital light projection (DLP) technology seems to have taken TV viewing to a higher level of enjoyment. This is particularly true with high definition channels from your cable or satellite provider. Colors just jump out at you.
Sharpness and clarity is phenomenal. Also, the Toshiba model allows one to change the “lamp mode” to different settings, such as ‘sports’, ‘cool’, ‘warm’ and so on. It just depends on your preference.
The Gotchas.
The integrated speakers are of poor quality. You won’t want to watch this with the built in sound. So, I suggest immediately getting a nice surround sound system.
My sound system has a total of thirteen satellites. Watching a movie on that 50 inch screen is almost better than going to the movies. The only things you need are popcorn, a date, and noisy rude cell phone users. (The popcorn is easy, the date is another matter.)
Uh Oh!
After having the Toshiba for a few weeks, two strange things showed up one day.
1) A thin pie wedge of a shadow appeared. It begins at approximately the center top of the screen while gradually widening to a couple of inches toward the right hand side.
2) There is a high pitched whining noise. It varies in pitch when the changing channels.
Over the next couple of weeks, I called around the problems. Should it be taken back to the store? Or, do you wait for Toshiba?
In the meantime, the shadow began to grow until it extended all the way across the screen. It got wider too! It was gradually blacking out a sizable portion of the screen!
Return to the Store.
I returned the TV to the store. They replaced it with the identical model. After returning home and installing it, everything was fine. This lasted for a few days. Then, this one started to do the same thing as the 1st one!
By this time, the return period at the store had expired. So, I called Toshiba. This led to one of those classic customer nightmares no one should have to endure.
Toshiba Customer Service.
First, Toshiba denied any inherent problems in this model. They claimed my particular problems were limited to me, out of every customer who ever used this model. I even played the whining sounds over the phone for them because they refused to believe me.
After a lot of persistence and numerous soul-sucking phone calls, Toshiba finally sent a repairman. At the time, Toshiba had no procedure in place to deal with customers who did not live near an authorized service center. It took over 2 weeks, but they decided to just pay a repairman. He came from a city 120 miles away to drive to my home to see what was wrong.
The Repairman.
The repairman tried to fix the problem by adjusting (in his words) the “light engine” of the TV. Apparently, something in it was not made very well. It kept slipping out of place. This caused this pie wedge shadow on the screen.
He seemed confident when he left that he had repaired the TV. This did not solve the strange whining, but at least the picture was okay. BUT… a few days later, the problem re-appeared. This time it was worse than ever!
Several weeks later, I turned on the TV. Within a few seconds, there was a rather loud pop and the screen went black. Believe it or not, the lamp had actually blown up inside the TV. After another set of phone calls, the repairman came to my house and replaced the lamp. He tried to fix the TV shadow again. However, he could do nothing about the whining.
More Toshiba Customer Service.
More calls to Toshiba and the repairman followed. The repairman and Toshiba went back and forth about the problems and how to fix them. Eventually, he told me Toshiba was designing and manufacturing a “new light engine” for my model.
Toshiba was getting lots of calls about the problem with the black wedge. The channel whining was another story. At this point, all I wanted was a viewable TV.
The Frustration Is Building.
All this time, I was paying over $80.00 a month for high-definition satellite programming. It was becoming rather frustrating staring at a blank wall and an empty TV stand.
A few weeks later, I got a call from the repairman. He told me he had a “newly designed” light engine. So, I drove the TV to him and spent the day in the city while he installed it.
Once again he could do nothing about the whining. At least I went back home with a TV to watch. But, you had to hold your ears while changing channels.
Yet Another Call To Toshiba.
I believe Toshiba would have let the issue go away because they never contacted me about my problems, after meeting with the repairman. So, I called them back weeks later. After reminding them that the TV whined between channels, they continued insisting was not the TV.
The satellite provider and Toshiba refused to take responsibility for thewhining. At first, Toshiba said it their problem, then changed their story to bad cables. Next, Toshiba and the satellite provider said it was something in my stereo system.
Will Someone Fix This Whining?
Round and round I went with Toshiba and my satellite provider. It got more and more frustrating. BEFORE calling customer service, I like to think the “stupid stuff” is already covered. I check the cables. I eliminate things and consider the possibilities. I investigate and try to repair. Only after all that and feeling utterly lost, at a dead end do I finally call customer service.
When they continue to blame all the “stupid stuff” when it’s already been checked… well, let’s just say I am not a happy puppy.
Will Toshiba Finally Fix This?
After several weeks, I worked up the customer service ladder and spoke to various supervisors. Finally, I got a call informing me that Toshiba had decided to ‘replace’ my television.
They offered no reasons and no explanations. They simply told me they were delivering a TV from a far away city. Later, I learned, like the faulty light engine, Toshiba found out these TVs “whined.” They just did not want to tell me!
It seems I had been one of the first to own this particular Toshiba model. You could say this is why Toshiba customer service refused to acknowledge the problem. They were not aware of these problems until unfortunate customers, like myself, beat them over the head with complaints. Rather than fix the problem, they decided to blame everyone and everything else.
What An Experience.
Currently, my Toshiba DLP HDTV is working fine. Overall, I am pleased with its performance. With a more understanding, receptive and proactive manufacturer, the customer service would not have been a nightmare.
The Good.
The picture is awesome. The size and portability are great. My living room is now a private theater. Just be sure to research the brand for a quality TV manufacturer.
You will need high definition compatible equipment. This means cables (high definition media input and fiber optic audio,) and a high definition channel package from your provider. It is like computers, cell phones and other such modern technologies. If everything is not compatible, you will not get the full potential and enjoyment from the product as advertised.
The Bad.
You may need to upgrade your stereo system because the TV audio is not good. My previous receiver was only seven years old with an old 3 speaker surround sound system. It was not compatible with the new TV.
The receiver only had RCA inputs and outputs. There were no optical audio plugs. So, I purchased a new receiver, new surround sound system and a bunch of too-expensive cables for my new and existing devices.
You need high definition media input cable, optical audio cable, and a good surge protector. Don’t forget to allocate space for your new giant TV. But, it is not impossible to move, so you can if your wife does not like where it is.
Be prepared for customer service. They may or may handled your problems in a professional and productive manner. The repairman advised me that everyone who buys one of these televisions should purchase an extended protection plan.
The repairman’s reasoning for the extended protection was the cost of a new lamp, when the OEM blows. He siad many of them cost hundreds of dollars and they blow like light bulbs. In other words, you never know when.
The Ugly.
If you buy a TV from a retail store, they only care about you until the return policy expires. Know what that is BEFORE you buy the TV. After that, it’s you and the manufacturer.
When that happens, you could find yourself stuck on the automated menu from hell (press 10 if you would like to talk to real human). Worse yet, the manufacturer may fight you tooth and nail to not fix the problem or replace your TV.
Be aware the manufacturer would rather commit suicide then admit to an intrinsic and inherent design problem. If your new device has a problem and it persists, the manufacturer usually knows. They just do not want to tell you.
It is why Toshiba called me (“out of the blue”) and told me they were replacing my whining TV. They knew there was indeed an audio problem. On the phone, I asked the representative whether Toshiba was sure the replacement TV would not “whine.” She guaranteed me it would not.
Sure enough, the “NEW” Toshiba 50HM66 has no “whine.”
Popularity: 56%
Toshiba TALEN 65HM167 65-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
Lamp Issues.
After using this TV for about a week, it suddenly stopped working. I called Toshiba and was walked through their quick fix. This involved removing the lamp housing door and the lamp houseing. Then, I was directed to tap on all sides of the housing (NOT the glass).
After that and it still didn’t work. So, my tv was registered and was set-up to get a replacement lamp sent. This was Friday morning. Several hours later, I decided to give it one last shot. I took the housing out and tapped it again. This time it worked!
I called Toshiba back and cancelled the replacement lamp.
Start Cycle.
A month or so later and the same problems returned. It would work in the morning but let it do its eight start cycle and it came back to life.
A week later it did its trick again. I tried the fix but no success. So, it meant another call to Toshiba. They again set me up for a replacement lamp. Once again, later that day it came back. This time, I let the order go through, for the replacement lamp. The TV worked fine the next day and the morning after.
That evening it was tempermental again but came on during its mandated 8 attempts.
The next morning, Sunday, it decided it was not going to come on.
Replacement Lamp.
Hopefully, the new lamp will arrive tomorrow. Replacing the lamp every 4,000 or so hours or maybe twice a year is fine. However, it shouldn’t be this time consuming after only a couple of months.
Like I said, these lamp probelms aside, the tv is absolutely beautiful and for me 65″ is just the right size.
Other concerns.
It’s too bad the VGA input didn’t take 1080p. I wanted to use a VGA cable with my Xbox 360 to get 1080p. Can’t do it with this set.
There might be a small defect in the upper right corner of the screen. It bows in slightly, which gives the corner a rounded rather than straight edge like the other 3 corners. I don’t know if this is a defect with my TV or the model.
Finding a stand was a bit of a pain.
Good TV.
The speakers inside the TV have a nice sound quality. That is unusual for most HDTVs.
Overall,if you want BIG and 1080p, go for this TV. But you need at LEAST 9ft of viewing distance for HD to look good. Increase it to at least 12ft for Standard Definition to look decent (as good as standard can look).
The dimensions of this TV say it is 22″ deep. However, the footprint is actually closer to 19″ deep. When you get your stand, keep that in mind.
Compared to SONY, SAMSUNG and MITSUBISHI, this TV had the best side viewing angle. It didn’t darken like the others when standing from the side (at least not nearly as much).
Popularity: 31%
