Page 1 of Question for Bear or anyone else who has a Sony TV

Hi Bear (and anyone else for that matter!),

I have a problem with cropping on my Sony 28" widescreen TV (see earlier thread) - the image geometry at the edges is also not what it should be. It has been suggested that the problem may be rectified through accessing the service menu, and that other people who have Sony TV`s may be able to advise me how to get to this.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Nick

It depends on the exact model of your TV.

If you wander off to:-

http://members.accessus.net/~090/awh/sonypal.html
http://www.kv32tweak.freeuk.com/

you should find plenty of information to help you out, including combinations for different TVs and explanations of some of the meanings of the options.

BE VERY CAREFUL IN THE SERVICE MENU - you can seriously mess up your TV if you tweak things you shouldn`t.

Rich

Cheers for the info Rich. I`ll wander off now and have a peek at the sites you mention. I also heed your words of warning!

Nick

Ooh-err, I`ve looked at these sites and seen I`m not the only Sony TV owner who has problems with cropping, ghosting and poor screen geometry. VERY tempted to play with service menu myself but will almost certainly wimp out and ask Mastercare to send out an engineer to do the job properly!

Very useful info though, I`ll certainly be revisiting these sites.

Cheers,

Nick

Ah ha! I`ve discovered from these sites that the technical term for the cropping problem I`ve described is `overscan` and it should be possible to sort it from within the hidden Service Menu. I`m feeling braver about having a go! Incidently, my Sony is a KV28DS20. Does anyone know of a site that deals with that model?

Thanks for your help Rich.

Nick

Once you`re inside the service menu they seem to be pretty similar across the range - it`s getting into them that differs.

For a DS20 you`ll either need to follow the instructions for the DS60 (pressing the "dimpled" buttons on the top of the case) or for the FX20/DX20 (a combination of keys on the remote).

Rich

Rich, sorry to be dim, but what "dimpled" buttons on the top of the case? I can`t see any (need new glasses!). Can`t access service menu no matter how hard I try...sob! Can you help more??

Gratefully,

Nick

If you can`t see them, they`re probably not there!

Which means you probably need the following combination whilst the TV is in standby:-

[i+] (the button that brings up onscreen info about current channel)
[5]
[vol+]
[teletext off]

Depending on your remote this can be tricky (I don`t know about the DS20 remote). The one that comes with the DX20 for example doesn`t include a "tv on/teletext off" button (the button that`s there simply cycles through the modes), so you need another remote to provide that!

Allegedly, by opening the little hatch on the front, holding [P+] and [P-] (prog. button) and switching main power on then pressing menu twice enters the service menu. I`ve never tried that one though.

That`s about as far as my knowledge stretches.

Rich

Thanks Rich. I tried the trick with the front hatch but it didn`t work. I`m at work, but I don`t think my remote has a teletext off button - it just cycles through options as you say. As for dimpled buttons on top of the case? I can`t see them on the TV, but the P+ and P- buttons on my remote have dimples, as does the 5 button. However, pressing any combination of these whilst the TV is in standby simply brings it to life!

I`ll keep persevering, thanks for your help.

Nick

Sounds like you need another remote to provide the TV on/teletext off functionality - the STR-DB930 Amp remote can do this, and possibly remotes for Sony DVD players.

Rich