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Mark

This notion makes sense, since Panasonic was all set to produce the raw plasma panels for Pioneer just before that company exited the display business. However, Panasonic representatives with whom I've discussed this very subject said that no transfer of Pioneer's intellectual property was undertaken, so I accepted that as fact and based my original response to this question on what I was told by Panasonic.

Fortunately, reader Jacob Kaad has unearthed the real story in Pioneer's 2009 annual report, which clearly states that its plasma patents are to be transferred to Panasonic. This tidbit is buried on page 50 of the PDF, which you can download from Pioneer's Japanese website.

I suppose it's possible that, while Pioneer "resolved to transfer its patents for plasma display panels and modules to Panasonic Corporation" as it says in the annual report, the transfer never actually took place, making my sources correct as well, but this seems very unlikely to me.

Two for the Price of One
I have two questions. First, we have two Samsung LCD TVs, an LN-T2354H in the kitchen and a recently added LN46A650 in our family room. We have been using an RCA D935 infrared extender to control our DirecTV receiver for years. As soon as we turn on the LN46A650, the light on the extender turns solid red, as if it was receiving a signal from the remote. The light stays red for 10-20 minutes, during which the remote no longer works. After a period of time, the signal from the TV stops and the extender function begins working. Is there something I can turn off in the TV menu that is producing an RF or infrared signal?

Second, we need some wireless means to get our DirecTV HDMI to our new family room. I have been looking at the Brite-View DV2500 ($337 on Amazon.com). Have you looked into any wireless HDMI units ?

John Thorne

I assume the LN46A650 is in the same room as the extender. If so, the TV is apparently emitting an IR signal for 10-20 minutes, but I can't see why that would be. I looked through the manual, but I could find nothing in it that might explain this strange behavior. My first guess is that the TV is defective, so I would try to replace it.

I have not tried any so-called "wireless HDMI" products, so I can't advise you from direct experience. I can say that if you need to send the signal wirelessly from one room to another, you can't use anything based on 60GHz WirelessHD technology, which is limited to in-room use only. Another technology called WHDI works in the 5GHz band and can theoretically transmit from one room to another. All of these are very new, so I have no idea of how reliable they are.

Dimming Darkness
I am a graphic and web designer, and I recently got rid of my old high-res CRT and bought a ViewSonic VX2433wm 24-inch full-HD LCD monitor. I'm loving it for work, and I've also started watching movies online from Netflix.

When watching movies, I'm having trouble with darker scenes. When a dark scene comes on—a night scene, for instance—the screen remains at normal brightness for about 1 to 2 seconds, then the entire screen goes dims by about 50 percent, making it very hard to see what's happening in the scene. Is this a setting that can be changed? It seems to be an intentional feature and not a malfunction, since it is so precise and predictable. It's frustrating to watch movies and miss what's happening.

Mark Jefferson

This sounds like a poorly implemented dynamic-contrast feature. I was unable to find the owner's manual online, so I can't advise you regarding specific control settings. Look in the menu for some sort of dynamic-contrast control and turn it off. Then, be sure to set the brightness and contrast using a setup disc like HD Benchmark on Blu-ray or HDTV Wizard on DVD.

If you have a home-theater question, please send it to scott.wilkinson@sorc.com.