Problem With Green Hue

[sgonwa]

I recently purchased an LG brand 50" plasma HDTV television model 50PX5D.  
I am using DirecTV for satellite reception using the Samsung SIR-TS360 HDTV
receiver.  I am using a Monster brand DVI/HDMI cable to connect the receiver and the set.

Here is my problem...

HDTV signals are excellent with true colors and great definition.  However, many of the non-HDTV channels, local and otherwise, have a slight to moderate green tint or hue to the picture. Flesh tomes are not completely drowned out by the green tint, but it very noticeable and irritating given the capabilities of the television.  I have gone to a number of plasma related websites and this seems to be a problem with some plasma televisions. Some people experience this green tint problem but others don't and the brand doesn't seem to make a difference.  

I read that unshielded speakers can cause interference so I removed them from the area of my set with no improvement. I also tried switching to component cables with no improvement.

I purchased the set at Flanners in Milwaukee and I had their tech come out and check the set. He connected a piece of equipment to the set and looked at a gray scale and color chart. He did this by eye only. He checked some channels and felt that the set was working properly and suggested that this was something that he sees on similar plasma sets, but the problem is in the signal, not the set.

I am not a video expert, just an average person who thought they had researched enough to make an informed purchase.  Now I am perplexed.  Is there a piece of equipment I should look at purchasing to correct this problem ? Should I bother calling DirecTV to see if anything can be done at their end ?  Is there a specialist that can "calibrate" the set internally to adjust for or correct the problem ?  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I live in West Bend.

[jfelbab]

I have a Pioneer 43" HDTV and I have no green issues.  I think it is an issue with the green drive of your set.  You can have an ISF calibration done and this should correct it.  You may want to contact this gentleman.

http://www.cir-engineering.com/

You can also contact Flanner's and tell them you want another set which is what I would attempt first..

[tazman]

My first question is.  How is the color definition using the the built in tuner of the set it self.  Compare that to the Sammy receiver your using for Direct TV.  The reason I say this is because I have 2 othe HD tuners connected to my Sony.  The built in tuner has normal, natural colors as well as my Hauppauge Win-TV HD tuner card.  But all channels tuned with my Integra receiver have the green shift or tint that you mention.  Unfortunatly my Integra has no color correction controls of it's own.  The point I'm trying to make is that by having other receivers to compare to including the sets own tuner.  I determined that is was not the color balance controls of the set is self but rather the tuner connected to my set.  Also if you have a DVD player connected.  Compare the colors of the picture produced by that to your Direct TV tuner.  I also notice a difference in color saturation on my Integra receiver between the HD channels and SD non HD channels.  Seems that each receiver acts a little differently.  The SD channels being duller and darker than the HD ones.  On my HD tuner card, just the opposite is true.  You also mentioned that you use the DVI connection to your set.  If you have YPP component connections try those as a comparision.  Some people have reported a big difference in hue and color saturation between using the YPP component versus the DVI connection.

[picopir8]

Im probably stating the obvious here, but have you checked your cable?  Unseat and reseat the connections and/or try a different cable.  If you are using component video and the red connection comes loose, then you will get a green tint.  The cable I use for my xbox sometimes comes loose and causes the same problem.

[sgonwa]

I wound up taking my LG set into Flanners where I purchased it, just to see if the green tint problem could be reproduced there. We hooked it up via component cables to their DirecTV system and everything worked fine. No problems with green hues in the picture.

Next step was to call DirecTV. It was clear that they knew of a problem with their current receiver software that causes a green tint in the picture using the HDMI cable. But they didn't seem too surprised when I said that switching to component cables didn't solve the problem.  They suggested that DirecTV would be downloading new software upgrades to their existing receivers to address the problem, but they had no idea exactly when they would be doing that, only that it should be in the fall sometime. Pretty vague.

The DirecTV techs advised me that switching to a different receiver could solve the problem entirely. I eventually opted to purchase a different receiver from DirecTV that should have more current software than my year old Samsung. Not happy about paying $150 for it, but my warranty was long expired.  I hope that solves the problem. They tried to attach a two-year commitment to DirecTV as part of the purchase, but I argued long enough that they waived that requirement. Should know if I wasted the money in about a week !

Thanks for your responses.

[murdoc]

Should have told them you were having audio sync issues.  I got a new RCA DTC-210 out of it.