Customer Reviews

PixelProtector DVD Edition V2

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought this because I had a "stuck pixel" on my somewhat older Pioneer Plasma monitor model 5030 HD. This monitor was over 7 grand, so I must say I FREAKED OUT when there was a tiny red blinking star on the screen! My eye went right to it EVERY time. At first I thought this DVD was a ripoff (3 screen washers and various "calibrators"). I think patience is the key with this product....I first used a software called JScreen Fix (as the 50" display is my pc monitor too!) This did not work on its own. After running the various WASHERS on Pixel Protector, much of the plasma ghosting was gone. After a few times, the stuck pixel was gone too. Don't try to use this for a 1/2 hour and say it didn't work. Patience is the key. Let it run for the 6 to 7 hours, then try the other washers (2 & 3). I did see an improventment and the red dot is thankfully gone! Would it have gone away on its own? Not sure. But it is gone now!

There are about 4 different discs out there for setting up a Plasma TV. Plasma screens are set up for in store viewing and are to bright for the home. This one is the best, it is also the most exspensive. It can be used to set up Plasma, LCD, front and rear projection and the standard CRT screen. All the instructions are on the disc and an easy to follow setup menu. If you are buying this for a new Plasma screen, check owner's manual first. You may not need this disc. I just bought a 50 inch Panasonic plasma and the 1st time on sreen has you selecting store or home. Selecting home, resets all the video aspects to a different level. When I checked them with this disc, everything was already setup properly.

To make a long story short I messed up both of our tv playing video games and watching movies from the internet..ok, The screen were badly burned and the Electronic Place where I bought them wanted over $200.00 just for the visit, parts and labor not included. I was desperate, my wife she's always browsing here @Amazon and found PIXEL PROTECTOR DVD. I said let me give it a try for $40.00 I thought it was worth it ( better $40.00 than over $700.00 that I was looking to pay for both tv sets )And to my amazement, IT WORKED! This DVD does what it was made to do. In less that 12 hrs I had my Hitachi big screen as new as the day I got it. I'M NOT KIDDING and my Samsung Slim Fit TV also all in less that a week I'm glad to say both sets are working just fine.. :)

It make take some time to work on tvs depending on how bad the damage is, if you can't fix it with this DVD then you may need to replace your screen. :(

I don't like to write bad reviews, and I always try to look for the silver lining in every situation. Unfortunately, that kind of positivity isn't always possible without being dishonest with yourself. That being said, I want to start by making it clear that I purchased this product for calibration only. I've never had any experience with its advertised ability to fix dead pixels, picture burn-in, etc., so if that's what you're looking for, you may stop reading now.

I bought a 46" LCD HDTV, and I was having trouble configuring the brightness and contrast in a way that would accommodate both bright and dark scenes. I'd heard about calibration DVDs, and since this one had the highest rating, I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. Truth be told, it didn't do much of anything.

If you don't have a printer, or at least access to one, don't bother buying this DVD for calibration. You need the manual to do it properly, but they didn't include a printed copy, despite the exorbitant price. If you want to calibrate your TV, you must either work with the instructions on your computer's monitor, or use up precious paper and ink.

It might be worth printing if the instructions worked, but they're extremely vague, and they leave you fumbling through the program trying to figure out how to get to each screen. Even after an hour of tinkering, I couldn't find several of the calibration screens depicted in the instructions, and 80% of the calibration screens I did find weren't described in the manual. Am I supposed to intuitively know how to calibrate each screen? Isn't that why I bought the DVD? If I knew how to do it, I'd just calibrate it based on normal television.

At the end of the day, this product didn't help my picture at all. Maybe it was my fault, but I honestly don't see how an average person could reasonably be expected to use this tool effectively. If you don't already know how to calibrate your television set, don't waste your money on this product. If you already know what you're doing, find some calibration images online and burn them to a DVD. You'll save yourself a lot of money.

I purchased this product to refresh a 2-year-old Samsung plasma TV that had experienced some burn-in/ghosting issues. Ran the screen washers as recommended by others here (i.e., several hours) and the screen was clear as new again. Used the video calibration tools on the plasma TV and a new lcd unit and was able to fine tune both pictures. Had a few questions so I contacted the company directly and received very helpful responses almost immediately (including one over the weekend!). Would recommend this product without reservation.

Let me start by saying that I spent nine years in the broadcast television industry as a production engineer so I know a good product when I see one. Seeing the need to better calibrate my TV's picture and not wanting to rely strictly on sight based adjustments I set out to find a good setup disc. I couldn't pull the trigger on the other discs available at Amazon. They would be either too difficult to use or too simplistic. My search lead me to PixelProtector. Bingo! It has exactly what you need to optimize your picture. There are a variety of test screens with clear instructions (on a printable PDF file) that show you how to maximize your set's brightness, contrast, color, & sharpness. If you don't use a disc with test patterns and standards but rely upon subjective images to make setting judgments, then why bother with a setup disc? Anybody can say "I like when the picture has a lot of color" and many do, not realizing that they're cheating themselves out of a superior viewing experience. Ask yourself if you remember the picture looking like that at the theater. The director of the show or movie you're watching knows exactly how much color, brightness, etc. the scene needs to create the response he/she wants you to experience. That's why you'll notice changes in the way scenes are shot. Besides, TV sets with artificially boosted settings consume a lot of power costing you in a higher electrical bill. You can save money and have a better picture for the cost of purchasing PixelProtector and investing 30 min. of your time. The single hardest DVD I have to make look good on my TV is the movie "Hitch" starring Will Smith. There are more subdued color scenes in this movie than any other I own. The improvement is noticeable. It now looks like I'm back in the theater.

Another benefit of this disc are the included screen washes. I've used all three for half an hour each and I now notice how much whiter the whites are. Even the black level looks better. I plan to make screen washing a routine event to preserve a good looking TV. You'd do well to pick up a copy of PixelProtector and use it. You won't regret it.

I have tried other calibration DVD's before and have not been impressed.
I only bought Pixel Protector for its screen burn fix claim.

To my surprise this DVD is pretty good. I ended up using most of the stuff on it to calibrate my Plasma and also used it on my second TV which is an LCD. They both look better then they did before I used this disk on them.
I found it easy to use with its well laid out menus that guide you through the different processes, simple and effective just the way I like things.

The burn removal screens look a bit strange but they did work. The 4:3 burn on my 42" plasma has gone and I am very pleased about that as you can imagine. The burn took a bit longer to remove then the instructions in the DVD said but we got there in the end.

I purchased this product for one reason only, but wound up using it for so much more. I needed it because my 1-year-old 16:9 plasma TV had two vertical lines that outlined the 4:3 frame that was "burned in" from watching regular non-widescreen content. PixelProtector's "wash" options were reported as being able to remove this burn-in, as long as there was even the slightest chance that it was not permanent. I had tried the TV's built-in burn-protection and burn-removal features, but the lines were still there. I was not optimistic, but for the price, I didn't have much to lose.

When I received the NTSC DVD, I read the entire manual (a PDF file on the DVD, accessed via a PC). I was supposed to start with "Wash 2" (a pure white screen) to see how much damage there was to deal with. Then I was to run "Wash 1" (flashing pixels very randomly) for a few hours, multiple times if necessary. When I popped in the DVD and started "Wash 2", it was a 4:3 picture. This was very strange because the packaging specifically said "Widescreen" , and the opening menu was 16:9. I checked "Wash 1" and "Wash 3" and they were both 16:9.

I went on to the product's website and filled out a support form. Within a few hours, I had a response to supply my mailing information and a new one would be sent out immediately. It was only a few days later that I received a new copy. Sadly, it exhibited the same problem. After viewing the properties of the video file for "Wash 2", it showed that the DVD was authored incorrectly. I sent another e-mail explaining exactly what the issue was, and the response from the author was incredible. He thanked me for pointing out the problem, and told me that he would have a new batch produced. One week later, he had a new batch and promptly sent me a DVD from that new batch. "Wash 2" was perfectly authored in 16:9. This is the type of customer service that you rarely see anymore. Instead of companies that keep you on hold for a half-hour or more, or never answer your e-mails, this company had the author himself take the interest to work with me to resolve the problem. My e-mails never went more than a few hours before being answered.

As for the product itself... simply amazing. With "Wash 2", I saw the lines as clear as day. I ran "Wash 1" for 8 hours, and then checked it again. It was slightly (but noticeably) better. I couldn't believe it - I thought that the damage was permanent, but seeing the slight reduction was proof that this problem could be taken care of. I ran "Wash 1" for 16 hours, gave it an 8-hour rest, and ran it again for 16 hours. Only then did I check "Wash 2" and THE LINES WERE GONE. I will now run "Wash 1" 8 hours weekly, and "Wash 3" for 20 minutes weekly (read the documentation both in the PDF and in the program itself - it contains a wealth of information).

Although many people will be using this program to calibrate their systems, as I said before, this was NOT the reason I bought the DVD. HOWEVER... having fixed my burn-in problem, I used the calibration screens to calibrate the brightness, contrast, color, and sharpness. I have done so using both "Avia" and "Video Essentials" since I bought the TV, and they certainly improved the picture quality, but PixelProtector is much better. I guess the other two programs were for CRTs, and although they certainly helped with the plasma TV, PixelProtector was probably written with newer plasma and LCT technology in mind.

The bottom line is that I cannot believe that it got rid of the burn-in in the first place, and the TV's picture is, in a word, stunning. Both due to PixelProtector, its author, and its support team.

It has not helped with the image retention problem with my LCD TV despite running it many times for several hours.

Wish I had brought it with the television. Works very well to brighten images and would have stopped the burn in if used earlier.