MX300 LCD color problem?

[Steven Khong]

Hi, all. Could any of you with a MX300 check the following for me? Panasonic Malaysia's been trying to sort out the correct color balance for my LCD 'cos it got messed up when they upgraded my MX300 firmware & replaced my LCD.

With the MX300 set in AUTO mode, or even MANUAL mode with manual white balance, and in a dimly lit place, look through your LCD. When vidcamming the twilight / scenes with shadows, does it show reddish / sepia tones instead of black or grey?

My viewfinder shows the same scene as various shades of grey. In fact, at 12db gain the viewfinder will show a sort of milky grey cast, but with well lighted places the viewfinder looks OK.

I notice that shadows on LCD tend towards reddish / sepia tones when my MX300 sets to 1/50 shutter, Open iris with 12db gain. It does not do this with gain settings less than 12db i.e. when the light is good or in direct sunlight. To quickly see what the cam's selected shutter & iris & gain is, in MANUAL mode, press the thumbwheel twice.

I'm just wondering if it's normal for the LCD to do this.

Thanks in advance.

[Frank Granovski]

Okay, I had some time today and played around with my MX300A, with the version 1.5 firmware upgrade via Stuart, Pana AU.

I could not see any bleeding reds in the viewfinder nor the LCD. Everything looked "normal" to me.

There was none of this either: "12db gain the viewfinder will show a sort of milky grey cast."

So I think that something's not correct with your cam. Sorry you've had so many problems since you bought your MX300.

You might also want to check with Terrence and his MX300---with the original firmware.

[Steven Khong]

Thanks for checking, Frank.
It's not bleeding reds as in the reds bleed beyond it's outline as Sony 1CCD digital vidcams tend to do. Actually when vidcamming in very very low light instead of showing black in areas which are of lacking in light, my LCD shows reddish purple-ish.


When I first got my cam (before the firmware upgrade & LCD change), I noticed that in low light (12db onwards) the LCD would show a bit of reddish instead of pure black in areas where there are shadows or greyish objects. For the record, the MX300 in auto mode will not boost greater than 12db when the light is too low. You have to go into manual mode to choose 15db or 18db. So the cam could be stuck in 12db when you need to manually push it to 15 or 18db 'cos it's too dark.

And in low light (12db onwards) the viewfinder tends to have a very very light greyish blueish cast on pure white objects - as if there is light shining on the viewfinder but the rest of the colors are correct. I guess it's the way the viewfinder handles the gain / extra bright boost. Anyways, the blue is so very light that it's negligible to me. It's just me being picky ;)


The good news is, when the light is good i.e. nice sunny day or very brightly lit daylight florescent room, open aperture to F16, then both viewfinder & LCD looks great!. That's when I can see the colors in the LCD & viewfinder is so realistic & true to the scene being vidcammed :) :) ah, pure joy in owning a MX300 comes rushing through me! :) :) :) Also there's no funny inverse / negative effect seen on the LCD even when I view it at extreme angles (almost 180 degrees!), unlike Sony's LCD technology....


One more test before I complain to Panasonic. Can anyone do this test for me?
If I use Digital Effect-> B/W, I see on viewfinder & TV everything in black (or rather very dark green) & white. But the LCD shows a kind of reddish purpleish & white. Does that happen with any one else's MX300 LCD?

Thanks in advance :)

[Frank Granovski]

I'll do that test for you in about 3 or so hours, and then post what I see.

[Frank Granovski]

Okay, I just did this. In my viewfinder, all I see are blacks, grays and whites. I see no greens whatsoever. In other words, everything looks normal.

In the LCD I see exactly the same thing. I see no reds, purples---no colors at all...my how I love my MX300A. Move over DVX, go away VX2. (Sorry, I couldn't myself!)

So I think your cam has a problem(s). Probably the firmware version 1.6 was put in incorrectly? When I had my version 1.5 put in by Stuart, he double checked everything via tests. Perhaps this was not done with your cam.

Re: "If I use Digital Effect-> B/W, I see on viewfinder & TV everything in black (or rather very dork green) & white. But the LCD shows a kind of reddish purpleish & white. Does that happen with any one else's MX300 LCD?"

[Steven Khong]

Thanks, Frank, for your tireless help.

I've sent the unit back to Panasonic Malaysia for recalibration of color for my LCD & my viewfinder too.

They are new to this firmware upgrade & LCD replacement & color recalibration. I'm their first guinea pig (squeel, squeel! ;). They get much better at the color calibration each time I sent it back with my comments what colors still need readjusting...
I didn't see any studio monitors, just normal 21" Panasonic TVs at the techie's workbench. But then, I've only got a 21" TV myself 8-O

Anyways, they'll get the LCD colors right soon enough, by process of elimination 8-O I was happy with the last one except for the slight reddish problem, the rest of the colors were OK.

From what I remember the last time I met Terrence, his MX300 LCD & viewfinder did look better compared to mine!

Maybe I just got bad luck and perhaps got a rather old display unit which has been extensively "used" as well.


Hey, Frank, what that about very dork greens... hah I saw that ;) haha ;) ;)

[Yow Cheong Hoe]

Hahaha, the 'dork' thing is Frank's joke, probably from talking too much to BB of EE Plaza. ;)

Hey Steven, please confirm your shopping list, some 43mm items my need to order for 1 week plus. Send e-mail to me. I got myself an ND+4 52mm for SGD10.50 and another UV 52mm for SGD10.00 (my original UV tarnished).

Chinese New Year is coming! Lion dances to shoot! :D :D

And back to LCD story: My MX350 has some darkening on the left and right sides of the LCD. I have been told that this is normal in the life of LCDs. The captured footage is not affected, so it is not the CCD problem. Any advice?

I am planning to wait until my cam is 10 months old (now only 2 months) before sending in for repairs, to use the warranty optimally! :)

Comments please.

[Steven Khong]

Hi, YowCH!

OK I will email you with the list later.

As for the dork thing, I know about that joke with BB... haha ;) Though I don't go to DV.com's forums any more. Miss those funny gif uploads of Frank (can we do that here?) but fortunately (unfortunately?) we don't have BB here.
When I was typing the replies I was wondering if Frank would make some fun out of it... :) ;) Yes, we need some humour as well as "straight talk".

LCDs do get darker at the sides and a brighter "spot" in the middle - and with time, it gets worst. I got a new LCD installed on my MX300 and it still does the "darker at the sides" thing. It may be more noticable on your 3.5" LCD versus the MX300's 2.5" LCD.

What works for my MX300 & also my Sony is to put LCD Brightness from Normal to Bright. That will brighten up the sides.

Expect dead or always lit pixels on LCDs to appear after a year or two. Does anyone know if the brighter the LCD is, the quicker it will fail? Or maybe it has to do with heat? If so, the sides of the MX300 does get rather warm within a few minutes, and if I exclusively use the viewfinder with the LCD closed...

Comments, anyone?

[Frank Granovski]

Click here for Billy Bob:

http://www.dvfreak.com/dah.gif

Comments? Let me see...

Okay, re: "Expect dead or always lit pixels on LCDs to appear after a year or two. Does anyone know if the brighter the LCD is, the quicker it will fail? Or maybe it has to do with heat?"

You know, I really don't know. I've never had any dead pixels anywhere, except for a few upstairs. (stupid_smile.gif) Perhaps this is a question for Terrence? Adam Wilt? Peter Utz? Any takers? http://www.8palm.com/sadsingl.gif

Click here to see a pic of the cam we are talking about: http://www.8palm.com/mx3side.jpg