Price Picture

When the power goes off the speaker on-off switch turns the speakers back on. Input1 is NOT two different inputs. IT IS ONLY ONE INPUT. S-video OR Composite.

I have had the Av36230 for about 8 months now and have thourghly enjoyed it. You simply cant get a better picture for the money. As far as sound quality goes I cannot comment because I dont use the speakers in the TV. I have done some of the tweaks listed below and they helped as well, Thanks guys. The thing that I absolutely hate about this TV is that the Input 1 on the back configured so that you can either use a composite input OR an S-video. This doesnt seem like a big deal until you get a really nice AV reciever like my Denon AVR-3802 that switches the video output for you ie: If the input comes in on S-video it goes out on S-video, If it comes in on composite it goes out on composite etc. So if your sattelite reciever is an S-video input but your VCR is composite than you have to unplug the S-video to watch VCR and vice-versa to watch sattelite. To me this defeats the purpose of having multiple input capabilities. Had I known this before I bought it I would have bought something else. If anybody knows a way around this in the service menu or even actually breaking out the soldering iron please let me know

Price Picture

When the power goes off the speaker on-off switch turns the speakers back on. Input1 is NOT two different inputs. IT IS ONLY ONE INPUT. S-video OR Composite.

I have had the Av36230 for about 8 months now and have thourghly enjoyed it. You simply cant get a better picture for the money. As far as sound quality goes I cannot comment because I dont use the speakers in the TV. I have done some of the tweaks listed below and they helped as well, Thanks guys. The thing that I absolutely hate about this TV is that the Input 1 on the back configured so that you can either use a composite input OR an S-video. This doesnt seem like a big deal until you get a really nice AV reciever like my Denon AVR-3802 that switches the video output for you ie: If the input comes in on S-video it goes out on S-video, If it comes in on composite it goes out on composite etc. So if your sattelite reciever is an S-video input but your VCR is composite than you have to unplug the S-video to watch VCR and vice-versa to watch sattelite. To me this defeats the purpose of having multiple input capabilities. Had I known this before I bought it I would have bought something else. If anybody knows a way around this in the service menu or even actually breaking out the soldering iron please let me know

I have now learned how to fix red push for all inputs by adjusting settings in the service menu. 1. Select the Video 1 Input (composite) 2. Enter the service menu as described below and select Picture mode. 3. Adjust the #36 R Y GAIN to 000. 4. Adjust the #40 CD MATRIX to 000. 5. Exit the service menu. 6. Select the Video 2 Input (Component Input). 7. Enter the Service menu again and select Picture mode. 8. Adjust the #37 CMP R Y GAIN to 000. 9. Adjust the #41 CMP CD MATRIX to 000. This will fix red push for all inputs.

Excellent picture and features (component input) at the price point. Easy to access service menu. Anamorphic squeeze relatively easy to do and effective (Thanks Tom)

Not a 65" 16x9 :) At the price point, none.

****ATTENTION TOM HUFFMAN: PLEASE CONTACT ME, MY EMAIL IS
justmax2156@hotmail.com *******

The Wega killer!! I just don't know why you'd pay over $2000 for a "36 tube that does just a few more things than this JVC. For $1200 less, I'll take the hit on HD ready and progressive scan for now and save up for a big 16x9 projection! In the meantime, I feel like I'm doing anything but "slumming it" with this JVC. Behold the glorious JVC as the perfect interim solution at the price point.

I thought it looked good before, after Tom Huffman's tweaks, I am speachless.

****Note for you trying to get to the service menu, make sure both switches at the top of the remote are in the left position!!!****
before hitting sleep timer (leave at or set to 0) and then display and video status simultaneously while sleep timer still shows.

I could not get into the service menu when I went to do Tom's tweaks and I was like "man I know I got into this thing when I first got the TV." Luckily someone in another JVC review on audioreview mentioned needing both switches to be to the left and I was like "oh yeah." Suffice it to say that not knowing that little detail almost derailed my whole TV tweaking Friday night (the wife was out of town and that was my critical window of opportunity to "break the TV" as she would have accused me of doing if she were there. So I pay it forward for those who might dare and you absolutely should dare.

I do recommend that you use Tom's tweaks as guidelines and not absolute numbers, as my optimal settings varied a bit from his. Remember, as long as you write down the factory defaults before you change things, you can tweak to your hearts content and still go back to square one! I find that the degree of vertical shrink I do for the anamorphic squeeze changes depending on whether or not the movie is 1:185 or 1:235 but the bottom line is TOM IS VERY VERY RIGHT, the difference IS NOT SUBTLE. You may not think the picture looks banded and choppy on the horizontal (a testament to the TV's overall quality) but when you see the post squeeze results YOU WILL NOTICE!!

I always figured a TV had at least some adjustments similar to those you can easily do on a computer monitor (Horizontal and Vertical size and posistion, pincushion and trapezoid) and I do those adjustments all the time on computer monitors (I am a computer tech) I just needed somebody to give me a little nudge into the service menu (thanks Tom) and I at this point have extensively adjusted the pincushion and other settings. Wow, looks great. looking forward to more tweaks once I get the Avia and Video Essentials disks I have now ordered. If you don't have one of these, any THX certified disk comes with a basic calibration feature, use that.

Certainly the service menu can be intimidating as there are are 130 different line items in the picture category alone! Only about 8 are recognizable to me (H size, V size etc..)and I REALLY want to know what at least most of the other settings are. But be brave, do the tweaks, I can easily say that it doubles the look and value of the TV for a few hours (at most) of tweaking; a good investment in time.

All in all a top level TV (post tweaks anyway) at a great price for a modest home theater. Until the budget supports a big 16x9 projection, this TV is entirely adequate for a HT on a budget. Go get it, you will not regret it!

Similar Products Used:

'95 Magnavox 27"

Price, excellent picture quality

No second composite input, contrast hard to set, 16x9 mode hard to set.

I just finished calibrating this TV and I'm really stunned by what's it's capable of when fully adjusted.

Modern JVC analog direct view TVs are very high quality displays that sell for a very reasonable price. For example, Best Buy sells the AV-36230 for $799.99. However, several out-of-the-box settings keep the TV from achieving its full potential.

The following comments are based on experiments with the AV-36230. However, the same issues and solutions should exist for all of the other modern JVC displays, including:
AV-27D202
AV-27D302
AV-27D502
AV-32D202
AV-32D302
AV-32D502
AV-36D202
AV-36D302
AV-36D502

I do not list the flat screen models not because I know that the steps I suggest won't work, but only because I'm not sure that they will. I encourage those with flat screen models to experiment and discover for themselves. If you follow the instructions here, you cannot harm the TV.

Home calibration
Manufacturers generally set the Brightness and Contrast defaults much too high. They do this so that the sets will look good while on display in strongly-lighted retail environments. These settings result in washed-out colors, loss of detail, and poor contrast between dark and light areas. To maximize the value of your television, you should calibrate the display.

First, you should rent the Moulin Rouge DVD (this is just one good example). This disk's Special Features menu includes THX Optimode test patterns that allow any user to correctly set:
Brightness (Black Level)
Contrast (White Level)
Tint (Hue)
Color (Saturation)
Sharpness (Detail)
You'll likely find that the factory settings are generally set too high. These exaggerated settings detract from a pleasing, accurate image and lead to premature wear on the set's Tube.

An even better solution than relying on the THX Optimode test patterns is to purchase Avia's Guide to Home Theater DVD. It's available from Amazon for about $40.00. It includes tons of test patterns, and, more importantly, red, green, and blue filters without which you will not be able to properly adjust the color settings.

Adjusting Contrast
When attempting to set the Contrast properly on your JVC televisions, you will probably notice that the available range of adjustment is very small and set much too high. Even setting the Contrast at zero leaves the contrast too high. To fix this problem, you'll have to access the TV's service menu.

Enter the JVC service menu by pressing the SLEEP TIMER button on the remote control and, when 0 min is displayed, press DISPLAY and VIDEO STATUS simultaneously.
The Service Menu will appear on screen.

Select the Picture menu.
Setting #2 is Picture (Contrast). You'll notice that Brightness, Color, etc. are all set in the low 60s, whereas Picture is set at the high 80s. Adjust Picture downward to 62.

Exit the service menu and readjust your contrast using the standard user control and a test pattern. It will now have a reasonable range of adjustment and you'll be able to set it properly.

Fixing Red Push
When looking at the color decoding section of Avia, you'll notice that the JVC set has an exaggerated level of Red, compared to the Green and Blue output. This very common problem is called Red Push. The most common symptom is poorly rendered flesh tones that results in all the faces looking like they suffer from sun burn.

Adjusting the color decoder is no simple task and requires that you hire a professional calibrator. However, you can easily fix the red push problem yourself for DVD signals fed through Component inputs without adjusting the set's color decoder.

Go to hometech.com and purchase a 3db and a 6db line attenuator. You'll only need one of these, but since Red Push may vary from set to set, it's best to get both. They only cost a couple of dollars each.

Next, from hometech.com or your local radio shack buy a couple of phono-to-F plug adapters so you can insert one of the attenuators in line with a component plug.

Finally, place the adapters on the attenuator and then insert the attenuator in the Red Component cable between the DVD output and the TV input. This effectively reduces the level of the red signal while leaving the other signals alone. This fixes Red Push.

Check the results with the Color Decoder section of Avia. It should have fixed the problem. Flesh tones will now appear naturally on DVDs. Unfortunately, this fix works only for the Component input, so you will not be able to fix the problem with either an S-Video or Composite input without hiring a professional calibrator to adjust the color decoder.

Anamorphic Squeeze
All DVDs labeled "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" or "Anamorphic Widescreen" are mastered to be shown on 16x9 widescreen televisions. Playing these DVDs on a 4x3 television (such as the JVC) with letterboxing reduces the resolution by about 25% and introduces very annoying digital scaling artifacts.

Contemporary JVC models have an aperture grill CRT that allows for raster compression. The advantage of this technology is that manufacturers of 4x3 televisions can offer a feature in that squeezes all of the available pixels into a 16x9 window that fully exploits the advantages of "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" DVDs. Unfortunately, JVC failed to see the value of this technology and does not include it as a feature easily accessed by consumers (as Sony does, for example). This means you have to manually adjust the TV using the service menu to take advantage of the full resolution of anamorphic widescreen DVDs.
1. Set your DVD player for 16x9 (Widescreen) display.
2. Enter the JVC service menu, Picture section as described above. You'll need to make 3 adjustments (write down the defaults before you make changes so you'll know what to set it back to):
a. Option 66 V Size: Change this to 03. This squeezes the full resolution of the monitor into a 16x9 window.
b. Option 76 Side Pin: Change this to 022. This fixes some bowing distortion that results from the anamorphic squeeze.
c. Option 86 V BLKUP: Change this to 001. This removes a white line at the top of the display that appears when reducing V Size.

Exit the service menu and play an "Enhanced for Widescreen TVs" DVD.

The resolution of the image will be noticeably higher than in the conventional display mode and, more importantly, virtually all annoying artifacts, moiré patterns, shimmering lines, etc. will have been eliminated. This adjustment is the single most important step you can take to improve the quality of DVD playback on this set. The improvement is not subtle.

You'll have to reset the TV back to the original settings when watching any other type of programming.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 27A51

Excellent Picture. Considering I am only using this as a monitor, it's fine.

Remote control is very weak in features. Also the cabinet isn't well shielded from magnetic interference from speakers.

Picture is excellent. But the unit that I received was defective. The picture was crooked!!!! Well I'll get a new one in the next week and see if it fixed the problem.

Picture quality is great though, and for the price, you can't go wrong!

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 36" H90 model

excellent picture, easy to use menu, well designed remote.

none.

I believe in quality that offers good value-and the newest and latest and greatest will always cost you more than you need to spend..as soon it will dramatically drop in price.After researching televisons for a modest home entertainment center,I came to the conclusion this JVC set offers the best value. It makes sense to also buy an audio unit, as no tv offers great sound, and sound is 50% of the experience. For audio, I recommend cambridge soundworks for great quality anfd value. At this time, with hdtv becoming mainstream in the next few years (which means pricing on sets will plummet, and broadcasts more readily available). Dvd's aoffer incredible picture and sound, but most movies look best in widescreen, which reduces the size of the picture, so it is wise to buy a modestly priced large tv with a 3 line digital filter, and component video outputs to see the dvd's at their best. Having video jacks in the front is important for video games and camcorders-this has it.

Similar Products Used:

panasonic