I have a Cannon SD100 with the SD card (3.2 megapixels) and the pictures look great. Also, video at 640x480 looks pretty good too. It amazes that all that information is on that little postage stamp card.

Originally posted by 59wayne
Has anyone here tried this feature of this TV yet? I have a digital camera that uses compact flash format memory card. The Panny will accept either SD card or PC card. I know I can get the compact flash to PC card adapter, but then I can only view photos taken with the camera and saved on the compact flash card. I cannot upload photos from my PC back onto the compact flash card as far as I can figure out (get a '.....drive is locked, unlock and try again', but no unlock on compact flash). What I'd really like to do is be able to download original jpg's taken with my camera onto a card that would be accepted and read by the TV. This way I could run slide shows of special trips, outings, etc. without having to save them forever on the compact flash card. The manual for the TV says Hard Disk PC cards cannot be read.

You can save Jpegs back to the card, just make sure it's the same folder your camera saves them. Panny only reads JPegs from standard folder structure that most digi cameras use.

Originally posted by jrfuda
You should be able to use the CF card just like any other removeable media. I read and write to CF cards all the time with my digital camera and my card reader.

Save all the photos on your card to your hard drive and then try to format it and see if it fixes it.

Thanks for the idea jrfuda, but tried that and I still get the Windows msg..."the disk you are trying to write to is copy protected. Unlock the disk and try again." Unforunately, it must be a built in part of the Kodak (DC4800, 3.1 mp) camera software.

I found a ScanDisk write reader for CF for $25 (includes the USB cable and driver) and an Scandisk PC card adapter for $20. I'm in Canada so usually the prices are near double those of my southern neighbours :( THis way I could write the photos I want to back into the original root directory and all should be in accordance with the Panny to read.
My other option is to buy an SD read write and a disk soley for the Panny. That way I don't tie up my 2 CF cards and don't need the adapter. However, the SD writer is $70 and another $50 or so for some sort of decent sized (64mb= 60 - 70 images<the 100 the Panny will accept). Hmmmmm, the other option is my first and buy a 128mb CF card for about the same cost as option 2. Then I also have the extra card for the next long vacation I'm not taking this year in stead of the TV :)

Thanks again for the ideas. I'll let you know what I end up doing and post my review. This was one of the options that steered me to the Panny over the GWIII.

Originally posted by 59wayne
I found a ScanDisk write reader for CF for $25 (includes the USB cable and driver) and an Scandisk PC card adapter for $20. I'm in Canada so usually the prices are near double those of my southern neighbours... My other option is to buy an SD read write and a disk soley for the Panny. That way I don't tie up my 2 CF cards and don't need the adapter. However, the SD writer is $70 and another $50 or so for some sort of decent sized (64mb= 60 - 70 images<the 100 the Panny will accept).

Shop around, you should be able to find a flash reader/writer that can read/write every type of flash there is for around $30 US. Try some online merchants... You could order the PC Card adapter and flash reader/writer from the same place and combine the shipping to save some money.

I personnaly, would sooner run VGA or DVI cable from my PC to TV (or use one of those wireless options, like the ones X10 offer) to show my pics on my set than spend as much or more money to buy just a SD card for showing images. I currently have a 10 meter (30 foot) DVI cable running to my set and this is a much more powerfull ooption for displaying pics on yur set than the built-in card reader. You can use various windows or mac software to show the pics however you want rather than using the panny's slow, infleible interface.

Originally posted by 59wayne
Thanks for the idea jrfuda, but tried that and I still get the Windows msg..."the disk you are trying to write to is copy protected. Unlock the disk and try again." Unforunately, it must be a built in part of the Kodak (DC4800, 3.1 mp) camera software.

What OS are you running? If a version of Windows, have you tried copying the files from the hard drive using Windows Explorer? I move picture files back and forth bewteen the hard drive and the compact flash all the time... but I don't use the software that came with the camera to do it.

To avoid cluttering up the thread with non-TV related items, feel free to send me a private message to see if we can figure out what's going on.

With a little help from Ken51, I got everything working. My computer is about 40 feet away from the TV and for the few times I'll show slides I decided the simplest was to use the card slot on the Panny. So what I've done is save specific slide shows in their own folder on the PC and just drop them onto a CF card via my new $20 CF reader/writer. I also picked up the CF to PC card adapter so then it's just a simple pop into the TV and voila. Great little feature. Now I have to go dust off my old slide trays, have them all converted to jpg's and good ol fashion slide shows are alive again!

Looking at my new set, I see a piece of dust sort of flickering at the top of the screen. It is about 1cm in length, but it is visible from a distance of 6-8 feet. I am not sure what to do about this; I picked up my tv on the 4th (today is the 17th) and do not know if I should 1) return it, or 2) try and open panels and blast canned air into it. What do you guys think?

Also, I have Time Warner HD cable, and have plugged it into my system via DVI. although the pq on HD is staggering, the pq on regular cable channels looks pretty bad. Any solution to this?

Thanks!

Originally posted by razorweb
...Also, I have Time Warner HD cable, and have plugged it into my system via DVI. although the pq on HD is staggering, the pq on regular cable channels looks pretty bad. Any solution to this?

Thanks!

Man to Doctor: Doc, it hurts when I do this (making motion).

Doctor to Man: Well, don't do that.

Assuming you don't need a translation ... some have suggested that watching SD in a split window yields better (though obviously much smaller) picture quality. I agree, but it annoys me. Others have suggested that feeding the tv a different resolution (if your cable box is capable of switching) yields a better picture. My Dish 811 outputs 1080i (best pic. all channels), 720p (next best), and 480p (worst because of some squiggly line action at the top of the window).

Other than that, some SD channels are better than others.

It's not the set's fault. It's just showing you how really bad the NTSC picture is that you've been watching all along.

I have a question using DVI...

I bought a LG DV7832 that has DVI output. Using the DVI output the screen flickers at 480P, but doesn't at 720P and 1080i. At first, I thought the player was defective, but it worked fine on a friend's TV (same panny). What could be the problem? It works fine through component, but I want to use DVI.

Any one have any tweeks while using the DVI connector? It isn't the same menu as when it is connected to the Video/Component connector. You can adjust Red, Green and Blue seperately and there is no sharpness control. Also your only option is NORMAL and you cannot change it to anything else since it is greyed out.

Originally posted by syco
Any one have any tweeks while using the DVI connector? It isn't the same menu as when it is connected to the Video/Component connector. You can adjust Red, Green and Blue seperately and there is no sharpness control. Also your only option is NORMAL and you cannot change it to anything else since it is greyed out.

..really? individual r-g-b settings from just the menu?
hmm maybe it's time i tried hooking something up to the hdmi port on my set..

i don't like compromising and right now my set's color decoder has a red push which i must fix -.- since the set is so new i'm not too comfortable going into the service menu just yet :p

Last night I decided to see what my HTPC would look like with a DVI connection. Currenly I have it set up via RGB 1280X 768 and using a ATI 9800 PRo video card. Anyway when i hooked it up with the DVI cable the resolution was stuck on 640x800 (somthing like that) resolution. I coudnt change it at all.
Even powerstip was usless. I messed with it for so long that I have to do a system restore just to get my old setting back.

Has any one else run into this?

I'm happy with my currentRGB hookup, just wanted to see if I could make it better.

PS I have all current drivers

Thanks

Newmie

One issue Im having recently on my 1 month old set is that I turn the set on, and the LAMP indicator blinks red, and then the power button light flashes red. Lamp hours are <500.

I try it every five or so minutes and after a few tries it eventually lights the lamp and all is fine- so the lamp aint bad. No on-screen warnings about replacing the lamp (which should happen immediately before the bulb goes).

Got a tech coming to look at it but has anyone else seen this? Or am i just that lucky?

Newmie... I'm using DVI with this set with no problem (1280x720). I've been curious how it compares to RGB (in case I use DVI for HD). Anyway, make sure to uncheck that checkbox that says to hide resolutions that monitor can't display. That might be why you can't see 1280x720. Mine (w/ATI 9600XT) came up in the low-resolution mode at first too.

There is a sale at fry's Ati 9600se $69 is this ok for HTPC?
Diff between Pro & XT.. for price?

Originally posted by toppq
There is a sale at fry's Ati 9600se $69 is this ok for HTPC?
Diff between Pro & XT.. for price?

Depends on what you what your HTPC to do. If you just need it to play DVD's then yes it would be fine. If you want to do games and such then I'd say no. The 9600se is a 64bit card. I'd go with at least a 128bit.

Here is a great link on card comparisons.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

Hope this helps

newmie

Thanks... I see I need at least the 9600 pro... good price point for power/performance

Toppq-

I went with the 9800 pro for my HTPC but I game as much as I watch TV.
The 9600 pro is a good card.....

newmie

just got my pt50lc13 a few days ago and trying to tweak my different inputs.

on one input i have my directivo connected to the tv with s-video. i have my mode set to dynamic and video nr turned to "on" because i thought it wasnt a hd input.

anyone else have the directivo input with svideo and use these settting or should i try a different mode and turn video nr off?

thanks
greg

Dynamic, Normal, and Cinema are just the names of three picture settings you can save. You can set each one to any combination of settings you'd like. Video NR should be OFF whether HD or not (see manual).

the manual says video nr should be turned off when a "high quality" source is used. by high quality i thought they meant hd receiver with dvi input. i have it off there.

but what i'm referring to is a directivo via s-video input. do they also consider that a high quality source? i think it looks better with video nr turned on...personally

greg

My manual says, "It is important to note that Video NR should remain OFF for maximum picture detail when receiving a strong signal or viewing high-quality video."

In other words, it's only needed if you have a weak signal, such as that from an OTA analog antenna (even then, if the signal is strong, turn it off). The NR stands for Noise Reduction. If there's no noise (e.g., snow) in the picture, then it's not needed.

was wondering if there are any burn in problems with the pt50lc13?

greg

Originally posted by gregftlaud
was wondering if there are any burn in problems with the pt50lc13?

greg

Absolutely not. LCD does not burn in.

http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/experttips/guykuo/burnin_lcd.html

http://www.sharpusa.com/products/lcd_vs_plasma/0,2340,,00.html

FYI, for any prospective buyers of this set in FL, a south florida electronics/appliance retailer with stores in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties has a VERY attractive sale price on this today thru 6/22. Free stand too!

is the pt50lc13 hdcp/compliant?

thanks

It has an DVI-HDCP interface. Details here:

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=F&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=64592&catGroupId=11254&modelNo=PT-50LC13&surfModel=PT-50LC13&ignoreRedirect=1

anyone have the new HD DIRECTIVO hooked up to the pt50lc13 using dvi? how's it look?

greg

I have the PT-50LC13 and the picture is fuzzy even with component video to a DVD player. Am I doing something wrong? The Cable signal is fuzzy and I expect that but the DVD I expected to be crystal clear.

Also, the power light blinks red when it is turned off and then can't be turned back on for a while. Seems to randomly occur. Wonder if anyone else has seen this. Thanks for the help.

Hello all, I see that Best Buy is having a close out sale on the Panny 50...Are they discontinuing? Is there a new model coming out soon?

Thanks for all responses.

Cheers,
Brad

Originally posted by BradSontag
Hello all, I see that Best Buy is having a close out sale on the Panny 50...Are they discontinuing? Is there a new model coming out soon?

Thanks for all responses.

Cheers,
Brad
The PT-50LC13 is being replaced with the PT-50LC14.

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelList?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&catGroupId=11254

Originally posted by cabrams
I have the PT-50LC13 and the picture is fuzzy even with component video to a DVD player. Am I doing something wrong? The Cable signal is fuzzy and I expect that but the DVD I expected to be crystal clear.

Also, the power light blinks red when it is turned off and then can't be turned back on for a while. Seems to randomly occur. Wonder if anyone else has seen this. Thanks for the help.

The picture should definitely not be fuzzy - mine is very sharp w/HD signal and DVD, and surprisingly sharp w/SD as well - the clarity of SD on this set is one of the things I like best about it. How far away from the set are you sitting?

Check out page 26 of your manual for info on the power light...the blinking is normal, and indicates a cooling phase. What do you mean by "a while?"

Dana

Originally posted by Foxbat121
You can save Jpegs back to the card, just make sure it's the same folder your camera saves them. Panny only reads JPegs from standard folder structure that most digi cameras use.

The Panny's memory card display is more flexible than their manual would lead you to believe. I've found the Panny will read just about anything on the SD card no matter where I put it...I stuck the SD card into my printer's SD card slot and I copied images into the root of the card, and into each subfolder in the card, and I believe (if I remember correctly) that I even created a new folder and put some images into it. All of them came up just fine on the screen. Following strict folder structures was not required.

Dana

"The PT-50LC13 is being replaced with the PT-50LC14."

When is this new model due to arrive?

Cheers,
Brad

Originally posted by gregftlaud
anyone have the new HD DIRECTIVO hooked up to the pt50lc13 using dvi? how's it look?

greg

I do. I have it connected to the DVI port on the pt50lc13. It looks great.

Has anyone used an Iscan HD w/their pt50lc13? I was wondering if the DVI input could handle the frame rate conversion to 48 or 72 Hz @ 720p?

Originally posted by cabrams
I have the PT-50LC13 and the picture is fuzzy even with component video to a DVD player. Am I doing something wrong? The Cable signal is fuzzy and I expect that but the DVD I expected to be crystal clear.

Also, the power light blinks red when it is turned off and then can't be turned back on for a while. Seems to randomly occur. Wonder if anyone else has seen this. Thanks for the help. Can't help much with "fuzzy," have you tried different cables? My aunt recently bought a DLP set which I set up for her, and I was having a terrible time with the DVD picture for a while. Most of the problem turned out to be the cables, which really surprised me. Didn't think they'd make so much difference. Also, try putting the DVD player in progressive mode if it isn't (or try turning it off if it already is), make sure other settings in the DVD player setup menu are correct (TV aspect ratio, etc.).

As for the power light, that's normal. The bulb has a cool-down cycle. When you turn it off, the screen goes blank but the bulb stays on for a few seconds. During that time you can instantly turn the set back on. After those few seconds, the bulb goes off and the fan stays running until it cools down. Once you reach that point, you can't turn the set back on until it's completed the cooling cycle.

Originally posted by BradSontag
"The PT-50LC13 is being replaced with the PT-50LC14."

When is this new model due to arrive?

Cheers,
Brad
Last I heard, it was supposed to be the end of July. But, it is hard to tell for sure, especially after visiting all the online etailers. Seems like every company has a new set coming up that is marked as "coming soon" or "TBA."

Does anybody know if its supposed to have a major upgrade kinda like the new sammy's? Or is it all cosmetic for the most part..

Originally posted by BradSontag
Does anybody know if its supposed to have a major upgrade kinda like the new sammy's? Or is it all cosmetic for the most part..
What, like 1080p? From what everyone has pooled together, there are no major changes.

Originally posted by BradSontag
Does anybody know if its supposed to have a major upgrade kinda like the new sammy's? Or is it all cosmetic for the most part.. Just looked at the specs on the website, and the only difference I could find was that they've replaced the DVI-HDCP interface with an HDMI-HDCP interface. Oh, and 2 extra speakers.

Here a comparison of the two from Panasonic's website: LC13vs.LC14 (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CompareModels?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&catGroupId=11254&surfCategory=LCD%20Projection%20HDTVs%20and%20HDTV%20Monitor s&items=64592|71397|)

Originally posted by Bookworm
Here a comparison of the two from Panasonic's website: LC13vs.LC14 (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CompareModels?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&catGroupId=11254&surfCategory=LCD%20Projection%20HDTVs%20and%20HDTV%20Monitor s&items=64592|71397|)

Wow!

The 50LC13 is tiny compared to the 50LC14 ;)

Heheheh

Must be those extra 2 speakers ....

Originally posted by doggiedog
Wow!

The 50LC13 is tiny compared to the 50LC14 ;)
LOL, I didn't notice that when I posted the link.:D

I got the Video essentials dvd lastnight. I tried to calibrate my tv but I use DVI through my pc for dvd and the pc color controls don't lend themselves to color corection with DVE. I connected through component but the overlay has it's own set of color controls so again no go. I thought the component is from the cable box so this really defeats the purpose since I should be calibrating with the video source used on the input.

I luckily got a hd channel signal lost late last night. It had the color pattern on it though, the color pattern off the air channels show. I then immediately n oticed the red, blue, green and yellow push. I then quickly while the pattern was on, set my tv to normal and warm set everything to default. I then got into the service menu to adjust the colors. I tried at first the red reduction on the last page 6/6 but noticed it threw off the other colors ie the picture would turn green bias or blue bias. I then with that pattern on decided to connect DVI and component out of my Motorola 5100 hd box and compare the results. What I found was that DVI was worse than component. In the color pattern the component looked sharper it was not an illusion as I moved to within 1 ft of the tv I could see that component had a cleaner line where the red and blue met and had less "dot crawl" than the DVI input. The component input has less I guess bleeding between contrasting colors on the color pattern. I then decided to experiment around with the service menu and stayed on component from my cable box. What I found worked best was not to mess with individual colors on page 6/6 but to reduce the hd color setting on page 5/6 I think. I took the setting from 24 to 14 and it iliminated those "hyper" colors you see. It made the red and blue look much better on the test pattern screen and I used the color filter from DVE to get close to having the colors match. I could not get them exact but they were very close. I use dvi through my pc and it looks ok so I suspect the cable boxes dvi setting are off.

Thanks for the details, Dallas Joe.

If you mean the SUB COLOR HD setting, it's on page 3/6 of video, and my default value was 22.

Page 5/6 has nothing with "color" aside from SUB COLOR TNR OFFSET which has a default of FE. :-)

Dana

oops yeah that setting

Does anyone know if the internals convert incoming 48Hz video to 60Hz for display, or will it follow the incoming framerate?

I have been browsing through this thread and the "Panasonic PT-50LC13 In Home Observations" thread after seeing this television in the store. I have seen people stating that regular cable and even digital cable can look pretty lousy. I am looking to buy this for use with a "regular" satellite TV provider (and use my Tivo), along with DVDs. Is it worth getting or will I be disappointed with the quality? Thanks for any input.

Originally posted by AcuraCL
Heheheh

Must be those extra 2 speakers ....


Actually it looks like it's the stand that's bigger, it extends beneath the speakers as opposed to the old one. It even looks like the lc13 could fit the new stand.

Originally posted by rdr
I have been browsing through this thread and the "Panasonic PT-50LC13 In Home Observations" thread after seeing this television in the store. I have seen people stating that regular cable and even digital cable can look pretty lousy. I am looking to buy this for use with a "regular" satellite TV provider (and use my Tivo), along with DVDs. Is it worth getting or will I be disappointed with the quality? Thanks for any input.

I have digital cable and this set looks good to bad depending on the channel. I honestly though don't know of any large tv that looks great with SDTV but on this set since there is no burn in I prefer to watch in 4x3 with black bars ie no stretch. DVD's through my xbox looked pretty good especially widescreen. I watch DVD's on my htpc now though with zoom player and ffdshow and it approches HDTV quality it even looks better than some HDTV shows that HBO and SHOWTIME pass as HDTV. If you have HDTV this set is nothing short of spectacular after you tweak the hyper colors. I honestly believe though if just DVD and regular tv are most of your viewing then maybe a cheaper HD RP-CRT maybe a better choice.

have you visited my site I have some pics?
http://home.comcast.net/~jose0779/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html-.html

I watch probably 80 to 90 percent SD (analog cable) on my PT-60LCX63, and the SD quality is excellent. Varies with the quality of the signal, of course, but overall I am very happy with the picture w/SD content.

DVDs look amazing, as does HD programming.

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Dana

I have the 50LC13 and don't have an issue with SD.

I even playback ReplayTV in low quality mode and it doesn't bother me.

Like people say around here garbage in = garbage out

Originally posted by rdr
I have been browsing through this thread and the "Panasonic PT-50LC13 In Home Observations" thread after seeing this television in the store. I have seen people stating that regular cable and even digital cable can look pretty lousy. I am looking to buy this for use with a "regular" satellite TV provider (and use my Tivo), along with DVDs. Is it worth getting or will I be disappointed with the quality? Thanks for any input.

Hmmm. SD looks pretty good to me, if the source is good. Also to Consumer Reports, which rated the SD picture on this set one of the best in RP sets.

Originally posted by doggiedog
I have the 50LC13 and don't have an issue with SD.

I even playback ReplayTV in low quality mode and it doesn't bother me.

Like people say around here garbage in = garbage out
I have an issue with SD-the shows that are offered are garbage. I watch maybe 1% SD. If I have to watch cable, I'll watch it on one of the other tv's in the house. I'm happy with DVD & HD.

Originally posted by NVboy
I have an issue with SD-the shows that are offered are garbage. I watch maybe 1% SD. If I have to watch cable, I'll watch it on one of the other tv's in the house. I'm happy with DVD & HD.

Oh come on! How about Seinfeld reruns and The Family Guy? ("Lucky there's a family guy...") :-)

Frankly, the quality of SD on this set is part of what sold me on it originally, since I wasn't aware until later that I would be able to get free HD locals with my basic cable service.

About the only things I don't like about it is the integrated speakers (I wish they were removable, as I'll never use 'em) and the stand, which is too small to do much more than hold up the TV (not enough room for more than two components, or a center channel speaker and one component). The new stand on the new models looks much better aesthetically, and looks like it has the necessary room to be useful.

Dana

Originally posted by Danabw
Oh come on! How about Seinfeld reruns and The Family Guy? ("Lucky there's a family guy...") :-)

Frankly, the quality of SD on this set is part of what sold me on it originally, since I wasn't aware until later that I would be able to get free HD locals with my basic cable service.

About the only things I don't like about it is the integrated speakers (I wish they were removable, as I'll never use 'em) and the stand, which is too small to do much more than hold up the TV (not enough room for more than two components, or a center channel speaker and one component). The new stand on the new models looks much better aesthetically, and looks like it has the necessary room to be useful.

Dana
The Simpsons is about the only thing I watch regularly. I usually have my tv tuner card running when I am dinking around on my PC, but I always end up watching something like the History channel or Discovery.

And, I actually use the speakers on the tv, but only when SD is tuned in. Once I pop in a DVD or watch high def, off goes the volume & on comes the Onkyo. I really like the new stand. That's what they should have had from the start. I certainly would have purchased one. Speaking of stands, I still can't get over how incredibly expensive the Sony LCD stands are. What a ripoff.

Today I set up the PT-50LC14 and was quite impressed of the HD quality compared to the Philips Cineos 55" sitting next to it. This may be the set I go with unless we get the Panny 50" DLPs in soon.

Originally posted by NVboy
The Simpsons is about the only thing I watch regularly. I usually have my tv tuner card running when I am dinking around on my PC, but I always end up watching something like the History channel or Discovery.

And, I actually use the speakers on the tv, but only when SD is tuned in. Once I pop in a DVD or watch high def, off goes the volume & on comes the Onkyo. I really like the new stand. That's what they should have had from the start. I certainly would have purchased one. Speaking of stands, I still can't get over how incredibly expensive the Sony LCD stands are. What a ripoff.



Speaking of stands, Target has a Sauder stand for (cheap) that works well with this set.

Leave out the center drawer for more component storage. Onkyo 898 has more than enough room. vOOm STB & Samsung 931 fit nicely on the top shelf. Shelves behind the doors are too small for components, but accomodate the XBOX well.


Can't post a link yet, so try a search on target dot com for frosted stand



Go figure, it's on sale now for (cheaper).:rolleyes:

I picked up a 50LC14 this weekend (was looking for a LC13 but couldn't find stock/good deal at the B&M major retailers). I upgraded from a 27" TV, so I am just in awe. Unfortunately I don't have any HD sources yet. Here are my comments without any tweaking (still waiting for AVIA):

1) SD looks surprisingly good through TiVo.
2) 480p DVD looks awesome (again remember where I am coming from - 27", S-Video)
3) 480p PS2 (SSX 3) looks great, except that the picture is significantly shifted up (by a couple of inches) and left (three or four inches). The shift seems much (fractions of an inch) when playing GT3 16:9 (not progressive).
4) The same shift also occurs with the RGB input (if I don't adjust the Position).
5) 480i PS2 maybe rotated about a degree counterclockwise (maybe less, it's barely noticeable, only irritating if I look for it).

So, I'm happy with PQ except for the shift. There doesn't seem to be much position control when using component inputs. Does anyone know if this can be tackled within the service menu? I realize this is the 50LC13 thread, but I can't imagine that the service menu is significantly different.

Thanks.

Have any of you had a stuck pixel that went away? I had a green one in the top right corner of my set that appeared a couple of months after I first got it. I revcently moved, during which the set was boxed-up for two months (moved from Korea back to the US) and when I set it back up the stuck pixel was gone. About a week later, though, a new stuck pixel appeared, and this one is right in the middle of the screen (vertically) and towards the left (about an inch in from where a 4:3 picture cuts off). It shows up really bad on my antenna, comosite and SVideo inputs, is barely noticable on my component input, and so-so on my DVI input; of course, it's only visible when the effected area is dark enough for a single green pixel to be seen from 8' away (our usual viewing distance).

Have any of you had a stuckpixel go away before (like my old one did)? Is there any trick to make it go away, or was I just lucky? Do you think that this pixel, being in the main viewing area is enough for Panny to fix under warranty?

Other than that darn pixel, the set's been doing great (although I wish the input from my DISHTV looked a little better, but that's not the sets fault).

Hey I had something similar happen. Mine comes and goes..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=422002

I have not had that problem (knocks on table). I'll add a pic of my stuck pixels to my site later. I have only ever seen green ones and the I have to be right up to the tv to see them. Are you sure it's not a cluster of them?

I'll take some pics of mine this weekend and post them.

It could be a cluster, considering that a single pixel is prety tiny. It's just so darn biright. When I get up close a look at it it appears to "bleed" over to its neigboring pixels.

Originally posted by jrfuda
...
Other than that darn pixel, the set's been doing great (although I wish the input from my DISHTV looked a little better, but that's not the sets fault).

John, if you're still in warranty I'd give them a call. Policies vary from mfr'r to mfr'r, but some allow that even one visible stuck (on) pixel is not acceptable. Even if you're just barely out of warranty, it's worth a phone call.

The set's only 8 months old. Shortly after posting I went to Panny's website and posted a request, if they don't reply in a few days I'll give them a call. I also bought an extended warranty that adds 3 years to the manufacturer's warranty (which i normally don't do, but since I got it through the PX, the warranty was only $60). but I think I'm still in the manufacturer's warranty anyway.

Originally posted by jrfuda
The set's only 8 months old. Shortly after posting I went to Panny's website and posted a request, if they don't reply in a few days I'll give them a call. I also bought an extended warranty that adds 3 years to the manufacturer's warranty (which i normally don't do, but since I got it through the PX, the warranty was only $60). but I think I'm still in the manufacturer's warranty anyway.

By the way, which Dish receiver are you using? I've managed to get a pretty dam good picture out of my 811 (SD not as good, but usually not terrible).

I'm using a DishDVR (I think its a 522, it has dual receivers). It's only available in a SD version as part of a package. They have a HD DVR, (the 921, I think) but it's only available from third parties for about $1,000.

Given my and the wife's schedules, we were willing to sacrifice quality for convinience by getting this SD DVR rather than getting an HS non-DVR.

What's funny, though, is that on the other 3 sets in the house, which are CRTs ranging from 27 to 32," the pic looks crystal clear, with artifacts and pixelation barely (but stil) noticeable. I guess the artifacts/pixels get emhpasized somehow when the Panny's converting everything to 720p. I'm running the signal from the DishDVR to the Panny via SVideo, I wonder if (ironically) it would look better through a lower-end input (composite or antenna)?

I've also noticed that Dish varies how much it compresses its shows. Our local channels, that we watch through Dish Network, are VERY artifact-filled. The non-premium channels are a little better (some better than others). We don't subscribe to any premium channels, so I can't compare to them (we buy or rent all our movies). I have seen a few shows/channels that seemed very close to DVD-quality. It seems to vary from channel-to-channel, and within channels, from show-to-show.

But this is about the panny, not the sat ;)

Originally posted by jrfuda
What's funny, though, is that on the other 3 sets in the house, which are CRTs ranging from 27 to 32," the pic looks crystal clear, with artifacts and pixelation barely (but stil) noticeable. I guess the artifacts/pixels get emhpasized somehow when the Panny's converting everything to 720p.
....
I've also noticed that Dish varies how much it compresses its shows. Our local channels, that we watch through Dish Network, are VERY artifact-filled. The non-premium channels are a little better (some better than others). Or maybe the artifacts/pixels are emphasized because the Panny has 3 or 4 times the screen surface area? <g>

DirectTV does the same thing with compression. A few channels are pretty good, but most are terrible. And a large screen really brings that out.

Originally posted by jrfuda
I'm using a DishDVR (I think its a 522, it has dual receivers). It's only available in a SD version as part of a package. They have a HD DVR, (the 921, I think) but it's only available from third parties for about $1,000.

Given my and the wife's schedules, we were willing to sacrifice quality for convinience by getting this SD DVR rather than getting an HS non-DVR.

What's funny, though, is that on the other 3 sets in the house, which are CRTs ranging from 27 to 32," the pic looks crystal clear, with artifacts and pixelation barely (but stil) noticeable. I guess the artifacts/pixels get emhpasized somehow when the Panny's converting everything to 720p. I'm running the signal from the DishDVR to the Panny via SVideo, I wonder if (ironically) it would look better through a lower-end input (composite or antenna)?

I've also noticed that Dish varies how much it compresses its shows. Our local channels, that we watch through Dish Network, are VERY artifact-filled. The non-premium channels are a little better (some better than others). We don't subscribe to any premium channels, so I can't compare to them (we buy or rent all our movies). I have seen a few shows/channels that seemed very close to DVD-quality. It seems to vary from channel-to-channel, and within channels, from show-to-show.

But this is about the panny, not the sat ;)
First of all, I would have bought a 9 year warranty at that price(if you can even do such a thing). Your regular CRT's looking better, that's just going to be a fact of life. Regular CRT resolution is so weak compared to HD displays, especially the 720p Panny. I'm actually pretty impressed with the SD on the Panny, although I pretty much watch only HD and DVD.

Originally posted by jrfuda
I'm using a DishDVR (I think its a 522, it has dual receivers). It's only available in a SD version as part of a package. They have a HD DVR, (the 921, I think) but it's only available from third parties for about $1,000....

Yep, that's a chunko money ... and the 921 is reputed to be buggier than the 811 (which is pretty buggy).

Originally posted by jrfuda
...What's funny, though, is that on the other 3 sets in the house, which are CRTs ranging from 27 to 32," the pic looks crystal clear, with artifacts and pixelation barely (but stil) noticeable. I guess the artifacts/pixels get emhpasized somehow when the Panny's converting everything to 720p. ...

AND because the Pan. is enlarging it so much. My program guide has a window that shows the current program as I browse the guide. The window is small and the picture in it (even a bad SD signal) is razor sharp ... because it is about the size that the SD (NTSC) signal was designed to display at !!

Originally posted by jrfuda
...I've also noticed that Dish varies how much it compresses its shows. Our local channels, that we watch through Dish Network, are VERY artifact-filled. The non-premium channels are a little better (some better than others). We don't subscribe to any premium channels, so I can't compare to them (we buy or rent all our movies). I have seen a few shows/channels that seemed very close to DVD-quality. It seems to vary from channel-to-channel, and within channels, from show-to-show...
Dish is really good about NOT compressing premium content. I have the HD pack which is passed virtually uncompressed. I don't have a "premium" package per se ... just the Top 180, but that comes with the Encore theme movies (commercial free). They look really really good too. PayPerViews are pretty much uncompressed too. That's one thing I like about Dish ... when you are paying a premium for a channel or show, you get a premium quality signal. But, like you say, some non-premium channels are pretty badly compressed, others not so bad.

Hopefully you can get some HD channels off the air???? You are cheating yourself if you aren't getting any HD to put on that nice 50" screen ....

Originally posted by darthemma
how long is the dvi cable that comes with the panny?

I didn't even know the LC13 came with a DVI cable. I spent over a $100 on the monster one. Is the one that comes with the TV just as good? I called the local store i got it from that delivered it and brought it in already out of box. And they said how do you know it comes with one. They though only the lc14 comes with one. So you guys are sure the LC13 comes with a DVI cable?

That is messed up if my store didn't give me it and i had to go spend more money on one.

Mine came with one and it looks good to me

FYI Fry's has the 60" version cheap "closeout" look at the sunday add.

Originally posted by Quatre
I didn't even know the LC13 came with a DVI cable. I spent over a $100 on the monster one. Is the one that comes with the TV just as good? I called the local store i got it from that delivered it and brought it in already out of box. And they said how do you know it comes with one. They though only the lc14 comes with one. So you guys are sure the LC13 comes with a DVI cable?

That is messed up if my store didn't give me it and i had to go spend more money on one. The LC13 absolutely comes with a DVI cable. If I remember right it even lists it in the manual in the "included accessories" section, with the remote, batteries, etc. You got an open box one delivered to you? I'd be complaining just about that, let alone having them cheat you out of a cable.

As far as it's being "as good," it's a digital signal cable, so it works or it doesn't. Different quality levels can't make much difference in the picture.

Quatre,

I got my PT-50LC13 delivered by Tweeter in the box (untill deboxed outside house for ease of putting into livingroom) and it definately came with a DVI cable. It was in a clear plastic "ziptop" bag by itself I believe.

why is it that the Food Channel, QVC, HSN, TWC look almost like HD, but the more popular channels look like crap?

Originally posted by Beaker1024
Quatre,

I got my PT-50LC13 delivered by Tweeter in the box (untill deboxed outside house for ease of putting into livingroom) and it definately came with a DVI cable. It was in a clear plastic "ziptop" bag by itself I believe.

mine was supposedly delivered in box and taken out of outside for carrying in. But I didn't walk outside and look in truck to see them take it out of box did you? I should have though. I am pissed at this store for other reasons as well including they would not come down in price or match. The supervisor there was a totally rude and nasty when i was buying a $2500 tv and then they were going to refund my money and come and pick up tv in a pissy way which i was fine with because i could get it for 250 cheaper from a reputable store online that also had brick and mortar store not far from me. I could have got it 500 cheaper from the cheapest source on price grabber though maybe not as reputable. Regardless the store was going to refund and pick up in a pissy way after getting into fight with me and trying to switch it onto me saying i was rude until they found out we were there to buy speakers and just hoped to make up what we overpaid on tv in the surround sound setup.

They end up selling us $900 between dvd player receiver and speakers so it really was in their best interest. I did check the prices on each item and what i got them for did compare to the lowest i could have got them on the internet and the def tech speakers which you can't get online were well below retail but still. they went from almost losing 2500 to making another 850 on top of it. But still made me wonder why the store has a good reputation. Mostly everyone there was very nice and cool except for the one guy. But still my overall experience because of him wasn't very good.

And now to find out they kept a cable that is supposed to come wiht my tv and when i called up they said how do you know, are you sure its supposed to come with one i dont think it is only the lc14. That is pretty shady of them. Finally they said ok come in store and we'll give you one. So i can return the one i got from compusa for 109. I'm going to tell them its not too cool that if i hadn't found out and asked they would have never told me.

Always see them open it with your own eyes. I used to do delivery and many dishonest in my opinion things get done. Opening a tv outside before you get there was a way to keep you from seeing it was a return. We even had a banding machine to make it look like the original bands were over the box.

Comes with a VGA cable as well :)

I'm the type that usually runs out and looks in the truck and watchs most everything. Plus they insisted that I keep the box incase I wanted to do a 30 day exchange for a different set they could put it back in the box to take back. I ended up having the box in my basement for well over 5 months until my wife insisted it get recycled. (It's a freaking huge box)

PS Oh yah.... you do get a free VGA cable too.... good call "hey ray".

Originally posted by Quatre


And now to find out they kept a cable that is supposed to come wiht my tv and when i called up they said how do you know, are you sure its supposed to come with one i dont think it is only the lc14. That is pretty shady of them.

Just tell them you know you should have a cable because the owners manual states that fact on page 7. Glad you're getting replacements anyway.

Originally posted by mossie
why is it that the Food Channel, QVC, HSN, TWC look almost like HD, but the more popular channels look like crap?

I've noticed that too. Not just satellite. Washington DC CBS is a bit less sharp than Baltimore CBS. Baltimore Fox is worse than DC Fox. I think you're just seeing variations in the station's video or MPEG encoding gear.

Happens all the time. I can be watching HBOhd with an awesome image then change over to Showtimehd and be like this is NOT hdtv.

Originally posted by klemsaba
Just tell them you know you should have a cable because the owners manual states that fact on page 7. Glad you're getting replacements anyway.

Well, I regularly would have ran out to truck to see them take it out of box. but I just overlooked it this time. In the store they told me that they had 1 new one left and the display model was already sold so i just assumed it was a new one. I did go in the store and still see the display model now with a sold sign on it that it didn't have before even when it was already sold so at least i know they didn't give me the display one.

But then the delivery guys said they had to get it from the jersey store which was wierd because i didn't even know they had a store there. This is Ed's TV btw in Hatfield. Maybe they just got it from 6ave.com in jersey who has it for 2,250 which is what i wanted them to match and they were really rude and got in this whole fight with me as i may have mentioned in a previous post. Until they found out I was there to buy a HT setup and just hope to get what i overpaid on the tv discounted off the dvd, receiver, speaker setup. I dont know how the store gets such a good rep, but my experience has been less then good especially now not having gotten the dvi cable. I think I did get good prices on the dvd, reciever, and surround sound but that is the Definitive Technology PC 60 set which isn't sold online so its hard to judge price other then the company site has a retail price on it which i got well below but still another store might have lower then i got. And to me the bottom line is we spent another 850-900 dollars instead of getting back the 250 at least I felt we overpaid on the LC13

So anyway, i pick up the cable and I asked if it was the one that came with the TV and they acted all wierd about it saying it was probably better and they didn't even apologize for the delivery guys for not giving me the cable, just saying they must have left it in the box.

Now i notice a scratch on the screen like a small cut into the plastic screen plus at least one other black spot (dead pixel) so now I am concerned where this unit came from and how new it was.

Also what is the vga cable for? connecting to a PC right? My Daewoo plasma even came with that so they really should be giving me that too. I better go check page 7 for other included accessories and call them.

ok page 7 of the manual under included accessories says RGB cable and i think that is the same as a VGA cable for connecting to PC. Not a big deal but yeah they really should have given me all included accessories. Plus the fact now i looked at it again and remember at least i got the remote with panny batteries in it but it wasn't in a baggy and it was already a little smudged. I figured it was just from teh delivery guys hands or something but the whole scene looks like it was at least a slightly used unit and not brand new like they sold it to me as. What should I do? If it wasn't so much trouble i really would just get money back and have them pick it up and order a new one for at least 250 less from reputable dealer and i could prob get it for 500 less online but from less known.

I can't believe when i went back with all these complaints and including coupon and price comparisons to match they wanted to just refund me and pick up tv and were totally nasty about it until they found out we were there to buy HT setup then they changed their tune and were all nice. Because instead of having to refund us at least 250 they ended up making 850-900 more.

Hmmm

I'd return it for a scratch on the screen ASAP.
I'd honestly return everything and purchase elsewhere from your experience. It may cost you 200-300 more but you'll get peace of mind.
JMHO

btw, what does the DVI cable that comes with teh PT-50LC13 look like. They gave me a black one wiht silver connections that said dvi dual link or somethign on it in white lettering. I exchanged it for a good monster dvi cable at another store but still I'm sure they didn't even give me the one that comes with teh TV.

It is black and has two magnet cores on each end (small cylinders on wire about 6" in). mine has no white writing. DVI is all digital so it shouldn't matter.

Originally posted by Dallas_Jose
It is black and has two magnet cores on each end (small cylinders on wire about 6" in). mine has no white writing. DVI is all digital so it shouldn't matter.

ok, yeah they definately didnt' give me the one that comes with the TV. But i guess a dvi cable is a dvi cable, though i'm sure the monster one is about the best quality.

I called up and told them that there also should have been a RGB/VGA cable included and that all this evidence including the knick in the screen and smudged remote and brining it in out of box that i never saw shows that it may likely have been a used unit not new as i was deceived to believe.

Instead of apologizing and offering the cable and/or price reduction or a return/refund. the guys starts lecturing me on why do i even need dvi cable and all this stuff which isn't the point. I mean this is a local store and its almost as if they are some online retailer who got over on me and dont' even care. Now i have to go in the store again.

I asked why the tv came from jersey where they dont have a store and they said they got it from an associate after previously telling me they have 1 new one left in the back at their store. I said yeah its prob from the store in jersey where i could have got it myself for cheaper and then they asked what store but i wouldn't say. Of course they prob have a wholesaler for even cheaper but still the whole thing just doesnt' look good. Again i dotn know how this store has a good rep as my experience has been bad.

Quatre- Sorry to hear you've been having so many problems with the store. Kinda ruins your enjoyment of your new purchase to be having so many issues. Hope you get it all worked out to your satisfaction.

Quatre, geez, that sounds like a nightmare.

I would definitely go to the store and would not hesitate to use terminology such as "Better Business Bureau" "Attorney General's Office" and "misrepresenting returned goods as new."

They may adjust their attitude.

And check out this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3222081) for directions on how to check the hours on your lamp. Unless Ed's TV installed a new lamp in a used set before delivery to you, this would show how many hours of use the set has on it, and make you feel better about returning it.

Then, never ever shop there again.

Overall everyone agrees take it back, cumultive wisdom.;)

thanks for all the help,pointers, ideas etc.

Its not as bad as it sounds. And I have still enjoyed the TV as it was a substantial upgrade from a Daewoo 42 in ED plasma. The tv is still a good price compared to what it used to be even if i feel i could have gotten it even cheaper. There are a few issues though and hopefully they will get resolved.

Especially thanks for the thread about checking bulb life. I will do that and we will see what the story is. thanks again.

Originally posted by hibricc
And check out this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3222081) for directions on how to check the hours on your lamp. Unless Ed's TV installed a new lamp in a used set before delivery to you, this would show how many hours of use the set has on it, and make you feel better about returning it.

Then, never ever shop there again.

OMG they are so caught.

825 hrs it has run. It is exactly 2 weeks (14 days) today that I have had it. That would mean over 58 hrs per day which is obviously impossible for me to have done. Some days we didnt' even use it. I would estimate only about 20 hrs of that is from my usage say even 25. That means they sold me the tv with 800 hrs of usage already on it. And claimed it was new. Is this bad? what should I do? Are you sure the tvs when they are new say 0h for lamp time? Panasonic doesnt' run them at all? I guess if they do its for just 1hr at most not 800 so i'm assuming this is bad and I guess i really should do something about it even its a pain in the ass. I guess i should make them get me a brand new model delivered and them take away the other model at which point i can check the lamps again. That would be the easiest thing for me i guess. Or a partial refund price reduction. Even though the scratch is minor i'm thinking I should demand new unit or return at this point because its still a scratch in the screen although small and the lamp hours show used and the remote was smudged and all other evidence including no cables shows used. They are caught and still denying it.

What should I do?

Originally posted by Dallas_Jose
Overall everyone agrees take it back, cumultive wisdom.;)

Yeah I called the store and they even can't believe there is that many hours on the TV, heh. I told them I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they didnt' know and weren't "misrepresenting used goods as new" Maybe they got swindled by their supplier. I am leaving it in their hands to do what is right.

The owner is going to call me. At this point i have to decide if i just want price reduction or complete new unit which if they dont have any means returning it and having to get it from somewhere else. what a mess and a pain.

I suggest everyone checks lamp hours as soon as they receive their TV

I can understand being hestitant about returning the set and asking for your money back exc. What does your instinct tell you? mine says take it back and shop eleswhere. Don't let more tha 2 days go by without getting this resolved.

I would not accept a price reduction; you don't know why it was returned in the first place. I wouldn't even take a replacement from them after that. Personally I'd demand they take it back and refund the money, then buy one someplace else. And I'd definitely complain to the Better Business Bureau too.

Originally posted by ceccacci
I would not accept a price reduction; you don't know why it was returned in the first place. I wouldn't even take a replacement from them after that. Personally I'd demand they take it back and refund the money, then buy one someplace else. And I'd definitely complain to the Better Business Bureau too.

Really? I'm trying to be nice because most of the people in the store are pretty nice and its a local store with good rep and I already had it out with them once over the price so I dont want it to look like i'm a picky customer trying to bargain down teh price etc. But yeah this is unacceptable and though i'm letting the owner decide what to do but I know what I will accept. They make me feel like i'm being anal or a bad customer like its my fault, so I really appreciate the advice to be firm and that it is the righ thing to do. Plus i highly doubt i'm their toughest most problematic customer like they act.

Problem with full refund which they said at some piont they would do is then having to get it from someplace else and its tough to find for a good price. I paid 2500 plus tax. I can get on 6ave.com which at least isn't too far in Jersey and supposedly has a brick and mortar store for 2,250. Just going to suck to be without tv while waiting for delivery and then setting up myself which i usually do but its kind of nice how this place does basic setup. Especially since i'm still waiting for my plasma under warranty to be picked up for repair as the screen has some artifacts which isn't too major but it was brand new and unacceptable and under free warranty they just make it a pain sending this beat up box to put it in and then taking forever to pickup and only sending me faxes never calling. They said something about needing cc# for collateral if we want a replacement delivered at time of pickup of defective. never found out what that means exactly. this daewoo btw.

Back to the Panny.
I dont see any risk if they can get another brand new unit of same model and then deliver it at which point i will check bulbs and thoroughly inspect and they will take away the used unit. I understand not wanting to deal with this store anymore and I never will again but in the meantime they should have to make right not just take back and give refund and say damn we didnt' get away with that one. Its more trouble for me to have to find elsewhere.

The main piece of evidence here is the bulb usage. Which the store is acting surprised adn maybe they really didnt' know but someone had to know.

My main question and concern with the bulb usage as my main point of evidence so they dont try to say i'm lying. Is that in playing around with that bulb usage screen is , it seems you can change it. Is this true? If so, then they could claim i might have and that they weren't smart enough to turn it back to O before delivering to me.

There should be regulation on bulb usage like the mileage on a car and should be illegal to change.

My wife is an attorney btw, and her whole office is saying "Fraud" and they should be penalized in the area of brand new set same model for half price. Is that too much to ask? I just want this resolved and the right thing done, i'm not trying to take advantage of the situation but they are in fairly deep this store especially since they depend on their rep.

I don't think fraud is too strong a word... And you are being far more reasonable about it than I would. I wouldn't be waiting for the manager or anyone to decide what they could do for me, I'd tell them what they were going to do. 800 hours! There is no excuse for that! BTW, I think you can reset the hours to zero (for lamp replacement), but I'm sure you can't set it to whatever you want, so they can't claim that.

I'd be so angry with them I wouldn't mind the extra effort to get a set somewhere else, but that's me. If you want them to just exchange with a new set, tell them right out that's what they are going to do. Wouldn't hurt mentioning that your wife is a lawyer either. Maybe bring in her business card for 'em.

Don't let them get off with saying you are a problem customer. You are the injured party here!

Originally posted by ceccacci
I don't think fraud is too strong a word... And you are being far more reasonable about it than I would. I wouldn't be waiting for the manager or anyone to decide what they could do for me, I'd tell them what they were going to do. 800 hours! There is no excuse for that! BTW, I think you can reset the hours to zero (for lamp replacement), but I'm sure you can't set it to whatever you want, so they can't claim that.

I'd be so angry with them I wouldn't mind the extra effort to get a set somewhere else, but that's me. If you want them to just exchange with a new set, tell them right out that's what they are going to do. Wouldn't hurt mentioning that your wife is a lawyer either. Maybe bring in her business card for 'em.

Don't let them get off with saying you are a problem customer. You are the injured party here!

I'm with Ceccacci all the way here.

Don't feel bad if you want to resolve it with this dealer. But above all be firm. Even if they are all surprised about the unit being used ... well that sure isn't your fault, and it's something THEY have to take up for their part with their supplier. You negotiated for a new unit, and that's what they need to deliver. Soon.

Keep us posted.

There are other avenues. Atty General, Consumer division, better business bureau, and of course, my personal fav, you could sue :)

I sure would like to know who the retailer was so we can burn them in effigy and so I know never to buy anything from them ever.

Thanks again guys for all the support and suggestions. It is rediculous that I was sold a used unit as new with 800hrs on it, a scratch on teh screen, a dirty remote and missing cables and accessories that are supposed to be included and noted in the manual.

I"m sick of them making it seem like I'm a pain or something when we paid a lot for this and had to use wedding money. We are newlyweds and just starting out and this was a big investment which was hard enough for me to convince my wife of without the local store that we went to based on its supposed good reputation to defrauded us like this. Among all the circumstances and instances of how I was treated rudely possibly because I was young or who knows what, I can't believe then the owners brother told me go ahead and give your money to a store in Jersey when we are the ones giving back to the local area and blah blah blah as if i should pay significantly more just to support their store who supposedly suuports the local area. Turns out they got my set from a supllier in Jersey so i found that very ironic.

Now before we go flaming the store and forewarning others not to business with them, lets wait and see how they make good and resolve this major deception they have done. Its just a shame to think that a less educated consumer might not have ever known there was supposed to be a DVI cable and actually paid $109 for one and not returned it, who might not have noticed the scratch on screen, and never checked the bulb usage. That is the case with the average consumer at their store i'm sure so I wouldn't be surprised if they got away with this before. I have noticed that the guy who was super nasty to me, my wife and , our friend (a female) included hast been extra nice in the store after I told the owner how rude he was. I will say that all the other younger guys and delivery guys were pretty cool and nice so i feel bad for them.

Regardless, if they have done this to other, maybe me taking a stand will protect other future buyers from this happening to them.

The store is Ed's TV in Hatfield, PA.http://www.eds-tv.com/
its bad enough how they've treated us and what they did even if they are claiming not to know. But lets wait and see how they make good and resolve this mess before we flame them. I guess it goes without saying to any buyer at any store no matter how good their rep is or how trustworthy to just be careful and smart. I have yet to hear back from the owner and/or his brother but I will keep you posted.

I hope this turns out ok. My prediction right now is I'll just get a refund and they will pick up tv. Which then not only does that not make up for the rude treatment , the time , the aggravation, but then i have to shop around for a new tv and be without one until then. this sucks

Is it too much to ask for delivery of a brand new version of the same model and a partial refund? How much should I be refunded? Half the price of the TV?

what is fair at this point? Or should I just tell them I'v had enough and they've been rude and nasty all along the way and they should go eff themselves and I"m going to BBB, Attorney general, consumer division, plus ruining their reputation.

Because I just have a feeling that whatever they offer is going to be crap at this point for what i have been through. And just giving me a refund and picking up tv is like them saying "DAmn he caught us, oh well, sell it to the next sucker" and they lose nothing, while I not only went through all this trouble but then have to search for a new set and deal with purchase and delivery all over again.

They better come up with a really good apology offer at this point or i'm telling them to go eff themselves and going all out to seek reconsiliation.

So far being nice has only gotten me ripped off.

Update is as follows:

I wrote a letter to the owner but hadn't sent it to the store, as my wife/attorney wanted to revise it and write it from her law office as a legal letter. I felt like this wasn't neccesary at this point and that I could just email it to the store. Before I could though, the owners brother called me and though I told him I wrote a letter to his brother and then i would send the email, I was nice enough to explain to him everything including the missing cables, scratch, 800hrs of bulb usage on the tv etc.

He was pretty nice about it and though I didn't want to get into details about how to resolve until he read the letter which stated a possible offer from me he offered for me to keep the TV until the LC14 or something comes in in September. I didn't accept or deny that offer but I really dont think it is enough at this point.

First off, isn't the LC14 already out? So i dont know what model he is speaking of that comes out in september. Also i dont think it is a good idea to take his word for it and wait until then which would then just more hours on the bulb and then it would be hader to prove how many were on it when i received it. I think they must deliver a new tv and take the used/damaged one away asap.

from what i understand even if i could get the lc14 now. One difference i know is that it comes wiht HDMI and no DVI. I know HDMI is better but right now it would be of no use as comcast is only using dvi for now. So in the meantime while waiting for hdmi to be usable I wouldn't even have a dvi interface.

What are the other differences with the lc14, i know more speakers and better sound. Will it even fit on the lc13 stand? which i prefer over the lc14 stand.

Again, what model Panny is coming out in Septemeber? Should I even wait until then for a replacement? I'm thinking definately not and especially not for the lc14 which has been out for some time now. Before that he tried to just offer a new bulb. no way not with the scratch and all. What should I accept? I still think it should be a new lc13 or 14 if they can't get the 13 and a monetary refund of up to half the purchase price and no less then $600

You can use the HDMI port with a DVI STB if you get an HDMI-DVI cable.

Originally posted by PedroBlanco
You can use the HDMI port with a DVI STB if you get an HDMI-DVI cable.

Is that like a combo cable that works with both? The Tv probably just comes with an HDMI cable though so that would mean buying a combo cable. Also if you did use that from the dvi port in the cable box to the hdmi port in the tv would you get sound or no?

what about the PT-50LCX63
In comparing it side by side on the Panasonic site with the LC13 and LC14 I can't see the difference other then that it is $600 more. If anything the LCX63 has only 3 component inputs while the other 2 have 4. It has only 2 speakers like the lc13 while the lc14 has 4 and (BBE® ViVA HD3D Sound)

Only the lc13 has DVI while the other 2 have HDMI but for the LCX63 it says Yes (with RCA L/R for audio) so whats the point of an HDMI port if you have ot use RCA for audio just like with the DVI? Other then that the LCX63 goes back slighly deeper and weighs more which is a negative to me.

So why is it $600 more? Looks like it might fit on the lc13 stand though as it is shown on what looks like the same one.

Quatre, LC14s are currently going into peoples' homes, so they are already released. I wonder if the LCX models are coming out in Sept? They would include cable card slot and built-in ATSC tuners. I don't know if that interests you ....

The more I read, the more I'm thinking I personally would just wash my hands of this dealer. If you mentioned that you knew the lamp hours, that has clued them that this can be checked ... and as soon as you know that, then it's no great stretch to figuring out that the hours can be reset. So who's to know the next set (unless brand spankin new LCX model) wouldn't also be a return????

It's hard to me to ever trust someone again who has told me a great big fat lie. No matter how much in credits they might offer. I'd always be taunted by whether their latest deal was for real ....

You have to go with your gut and own judgment. But if it were me, I'd ask for a full credit, then find yourself another dealer (Tweeter, Sears, CC, BB) and buy the set from them.

Oh i think the LCX63 models come with built in hd tuner for $600 more which is not worth to me as you use the cable box and have to anyway i think for DTV so thats crap. i think the 60lc14 adn 50 lc14 are best

Yes, it's a cable that has a DVI connector on one end and an HDMI connector on the other end. DVI doesn't have the capability of carrying sound. Monster cable makes this type of cable, although they are quite expensive. I believe that Geffen also makes this type fof cable.

Originally posted by AcuraCL
Quatre, LC14s are currently going into peoples' homes, so they are already released. I wonder if the LCX models are coming out in Sept? They would include cable card slot and built-in ATSC tuners. I don't know if that interests you ....

The more I read, the more I'm thinking I personally would just wash my hands of this dealer. If you mentioned that you knew the lamp hours, that has clued them that this can be checked ... and as soon as you know that, then it's no great stretch to figuring out that the hours can be reset. So who's to know the next set (unless brand spankin new LCX model) wouldn't also be a return????

It's hard to me to ever trust someone again who has told me a great big fat lie. No matter how much in credits they might offer. I'd always be taunted by whether their latest deal was for real ....

You have to go with your gut and own judgment. But if it were me, I'd ask for a full credit, then find yourself another dealer (Tweeter, Sears, CC, BB) and buy the set from them.

thanks for the advice, The guy did mention "If we wanted to deceive we would have reset the hours" so all that tells me is that maybe one slipped by them. I understand your point but I want to believe that they didnt' know and can make good on teh situation by making getting me a new unit and givine me a partial refund. This would be better for me i think then returning everything and searching for another dealer and price.

However, if they dont' offer something really good at this point I plan on returning all $4,000+ purchases from them and seeking monetary damages so they'd be wise to make a good offer and so far all they offered over the phone was as i said a new bulb which i said no way come pick up this used scratched unit. Why would i take a new bulb when i paid for a whole new tv. Or a new model in sept. which as I said would be dumb of me to wait that long putting more hours on the bulb and being harder to prove how many were on when i received come sept. even if they put it in writing that i receive a new model in Sept. that isn't acceptable.

Originally posted by PedroBlanco
Yes, it's a cable that has a DVI connector on one end and an HDMI connector on the other end. DVI doesn't have the capability of carrying sound. Monster cable makes this type of cable, although they are quite expensive. I believe that Geffen also makes this type fof cable.

Well the TV probably just comes with an HDMI cable and I shouldn't have to buy a diff cable. So if the store gives me an lc14 as replacment I will make sure they give me a combo cable with it.

As for their weak offers so far to make up for selling me a highly used TV as new, i guess its the usual, A dealer once caught then just tries to make lowball reconciliation offers until they know you're playing hardball and at this point I can't give in and be soft and feel bad for them wheither they knew or not doesn't matter as I was duped and being too nice will just get us taken advantage of.

I think the HDMI/DVI thing is the only major difference between the two sets. The 14 also has different speakers, if that's important to you. I suspect, but don't know, that it will fit on the same stand, as the cabinets are almost identical.

they sure are taking a long time to get back to me. I know they are going to call my bluff. I hope they realize I will return all $4k+ of merchandise and seek damges on top of that if they dont respond with a fair resolve soon. Maye i should have AVS forum ppl call and email them so they feel the pressure from teh public, heh.

1 day has gone by, don't let two. Demand they do something immediatly even if it is a refund. Just being honest, no disrespect meant.

Originally posted by Dallas_Jose
1 day has gone by, don't let two. Demand they do something immediatly even if it is a refund. Just being honest, no disrespect meant.

ok I finally had to call them back but they made an offer

1. Keep the TV for now and when they get the 50LC14 in they will deliver that and take the LC13.

OR

2. Delivery of (I think as soon as tomorrow) of the PT-60LC13


I'm thinking obviously the 60 as it is more money but for one thing we paid 2500 + tax so basically 2600 something already and I can get teh 60lc13 for as low as $2,399.79
and the PT-50LC14 for as low as 2,179
so its really only about $200 more.

And I barely have room for the 60 in fact in might be a little big for the space plus the review i read on it says
" Most of the things said about the 50" version apply here except that I never saw anyone comment on the darker corners and yellow tinge in the corners. Maybe it is a result of pushing the 50 inch unit up to 60 inches. It is pretty distracting watching B&W shows and pictures (such as History Channel)and DVDs of old movies. I have checked it against a floor model with a B&W DVD and it about the same on the floor model too. "

so that sounds like one thing where it is worse then teh 50 plus just the fact it may just be too big especially for regular non HD channels are going to look even worse.

is the 60LC14 any better picture wise then the 60lc13? and if not it does have the better sound and also the HDMI which for now would be fine with the right cable and in the future it is going to be better and we'll be screwed with teh LC13 with no HDMI only dvi.

My wife wanted delivery of a new 50LC14 and $1000 back or the 60LC14 which she though was a $1000 more, so this really isnt' that great a deal considering i could get both the 50lc14 and the 60lc13 cheaper then what we already paid for the 50lc13 maybe i should just return for full refund?

Unless, they deliver the 60lc13 now and then give me the 60lc14 when it comes in. that we might agree to. What do you guys think. I can't believe they dont have any lc14 models in yet when they have been out for awhile.

Is there another model maybe i should request at this point for exchange since that seems to be the best they are going to do and no refund. So we mine as well get our moneys worth. Maybe there is a better model we should request for exchange.

oh well, i didnt' want to wait any longer to make a decision. I talked to the actual owner himself who was way nicer even then his brother and especially the super rude supervisor.

So, they are delivering the 60LC13 tomorrow, and this was the first i talked to the real owner and he was super cool and nice so I will let them know its thanks to him. He even said he wont close the door on us, we'll see how we like the 60 and go from there. So hopefully its not ruled out that we can get the 60lc14 maybe when that comes, but for now this is better then waiting.

So, I have to clear the store Ed's TV name for now as making good on things.
But we will see how the delivery goes and I will be sure to inspect that the TV is new etc.

Open box 60LC13? :)

Originally posted by Todd76
Open box 60LC13? :)


eheheh, no supposedly new but actually i wont mind that much if its open box at this point because i'm probably taking up on his offer to take the lc14 when he gets them in which they sure are late in getting, everyoen else has. And at that point we wont want to go back down to the 50 in just for the 14 model so hopefully 60lc14 which will finally justify what we paid not to mention the turmoil we went through.

Plus check this out:

Panasonic 50" Projection LCD HDTV PT50LC14 $2240 AR at CC
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=346871

I really should just ask for the Sony KDF60XBR950
that would be sick

Also i found out for sure that the 60LC13 set can use the same stand as the 50lc13 which is pretty interesting since they are diff size, but the base is the same.

more just hangs over the sides which i think is a cool effect and makes it look more like a plasma. Its funny i see most say they like the 14 series model stand better as it is as wide as the tv and gives more width for components. Am I the only one that only has adequate room for components with teh 13 series stand and likes that it is more space saving and think it looks better?

Then the question is will teh 50 and 60lc14 also fit the 13 model stand? If so then you can either stand with all 4 models regardless of size or model which would be great and just then be up to your pref.

Originally posted by Quatre
eheheh, no supposedly new but actually i wont mind that much if its open box at this point because i'm probably taking up on his offer to take the lc14 when he gets them in

Did you get that in writing?

They gave me a 2hr time window for delivery and when it got to the end of that I got worried and called. Their delivery was way behidn schedule so they sent another guy from the store with teh TV as long as i could help him bring it in etc.

When he came and we brought in the TV. It didn't turn on. The guy had to go back to the store and bring back another 2 just to be safe. The next one worked fine and everything seemed to be new as I saw it come out of box and all accessories were in their bags etc. I later checked the bulb hrs after watching for a few hrs and it was right where i estimated it would be. 4hrs.

Also I requested a pair of stands for my Def tech speakers which sell for $100 and they brought for no extra charge. So i would say so far i think they did ok making good on their mistake/deception and I guess all the rudeness etc.

My one complaint was that when the guy moved the white subwoofer he got black dirt fingerprints all over it. I tried to clean it off with a little soap and water just like he said which got it out for the most part but it left the fabric all water stained. They are probably going to be all pissy when i bring it by and ask them to switch it out for me and then they can replace the fabric on that one themselves, but its not my fault the guy ruined and i shouldn't have to keep it looking like crap now just because i'm afraid to give them any more problems.

Originally posted by Quatre
Also i found out for sure that the 60LC13 set can use the same stand as the 50lc13 which is pretty interesting since they are diff size, but the base is the same.

more just hangs over the sides which i think is a cool effect and makes it look more like a plasma. Its funny i see most say they like the 14 series model stand better as it is as wide as the tv and gives more width for components. Am I the only one that only has adequate room for components with teh 13 series stand and likes that it is more space saving and think it looks better?

Then the question is will teh 50 and 60lc14 also fit the 13 model stand? If so then you can either stand with all 4 models regardless of size or model which would be great and just then be up to your pref.

All the 50/60 13/14 series will fit on the 13 model stand. The 43" stand is a copy of the 50/60 13 stand. Alas, this is not prescribed in the documentation that accompanies the sets or stands and possibly limits liabilty of the manufacturer in the event of misuse, failure, etc.

I just purchased a PT-60LC14 from PC Richards in Hauppauge. Got a very good deal, I think, judging by Internet prices on the piece. The manager was pushing Hitachi and Sony Grand Wega comparables, but I liked the picture and the features of the Panny best and went for it.

This is my first venture into HD. Had a very nice RCA 52" SD set purchased 7 years ago, worked perfectly until it just stopped working a couple weeks ago, my push to move forward into 21st century technology. I read tons of posts on this forum, which were tremendously helpful. Final decision was made comparing Sammy HLP displayed side-by-side with Panny LC14 at this store. The Panny was just brighter, and more pleasant to look at.

Once I realized I was liking LCD, it was Sony, Hitachi, and Panny, and I just liked to Panny picture and features better. I was much encouraged in this direction by what I read here, not that anybody had bad things to say about Hitachi or Sony, but the Panny owners seemed a pretty happy lot.

The PCRich store also had the JVC D-ILA on display, first place I'd seen it. I'm intrigued by LCOS, but watching LOTR 3 DVD fed to JVC and a Mits CRT right next to it on the same feed, the video artifacts on JVC were very prominent. An odd kind of effect where broad groups of colors break into a kind of checkerboard pattern. It's very noticeable.

The Panny input set suits me well -- HDMI for the future, component for DVD and satellite now, and VGA (2 of them) to connect to my family PC. Also the screen is very low-reflection, important in the room I have it in. Those high-gloss reflective screens completely turn me off, and I did not relish removing it as in Mits DLP.

Delivered yesterday, my first experience was last night. My Dish SD (or whatever Dish is) upconverting S-Video to component through my NAD 762 receiver looked quite good on cinema, but the Dish on-screen menu was noticeably jaggy compared to the old TV. I am also going to try S-Video straight through - not sure the up-conversion on the NAD is so great.

I've lost a bit of size overall on 4x3 images, from 31" high to 29.5" high. But movie viewing experience was quite OK, better than the old set, probably because of line-doubling.

The big thrill was DVD. Watched complete Matchstick Men and HellBoy. MM was nice, pleasant flick, well shot, maybe a little too much green, but did not fill the screen, slight letterbox effect. HellBoy used the full 16x9 and wow, I don't know if real HD could be much better. This thing is just amazing! I've never seen a picture like this in my home.

I had to play a lot with Tint, and I still have the feeling I am not set up that well. Flesh tones tended to be inconsistent from scene to scene, couldn't really find that just right place. Well, I just started playing with it, and spent more time gawking in awe than reallyl adjusting. But I'm sure I will find tips and hints on the forum for setup. If anyone can point me off hand to the best of them, I'd be grateful.

Briefly experimented with the VGA. Offhand a little disappointing, significant ghosting, could be the cable I guess, I need to experiment further with this.

I'd like to thank the many people who post on this forum whose knowledge and experience helped me to catch up with this technology and make this decision. I thought I would go for DLP RP, but I feel very happy with what I've purchased, and look forward to a lot of enjoyable viewing.

I really like that PC Richards Hauppauge store. Good collection of stuff on display, not too pushy, good deals at the end of the day. Delivery only $50 and they took my old TV.

Still have to decide what to do about real HD. Considering the Dish 921, sure has the right features, but very pricey. The 811 is available cheap, but how can I live without PVR (currently have 508)? Then there's VOOM. Decisions, decisions.

Hey Steve, nice post there !

Welcome to the happy Panny owners forum/thread :)

You chose a great set and I'm sure you will have many enjoyable hours watching it. If you like DVD, just wait until you see HD.

You might consider buying a calibration DVD such as Digital Video Essentials or Avia (info on both available at Amazon.com). These can help you calibrate your component inputs.

I have the Dish 811 and while it is still a wee bit buggy, the HD from it (satellite and OTA) are awesome. If you need a HD DVR, then the 921 or upcoming unit (I forget the model #) is it. Some people use an 811 with a regular DVR ... obviously you don't get to record HD but you do get to record, and to view HD and tune OTA.

Anyway, once you get it all figured out, GET SOME HD onto that set !!! Your eyeballs will thank you.

Nice post about about the 60LC14. I really would like the better speakers/sound of the LC14 and I know once HDMI is standard and DVI is faded out we LC13 unit owners are going to be sad. Alas, i'm probably stuck with the 60LC13 and its a pretty good thing to be stuck with I guess.

Also, nice to hear you had a good experience with your local store. Its nice to be able to go to a local non chain store that does delivery and everything but i had a bad experience as i posted on this thread when i received a set sold to me as new with 800+hrs on it and missing cables and with a scratch. I also recieved rude treatment from some of the staff. Sounds more like soemthing you would have with a shady online retailer then a local store that depends on its rep and somehow supposedly has a good one or at least their ads say they are rated #1 4 yrs in a row (maybe by themselves). Anyway the story ended for the most part when i finally spoke with the owner who was much nicer then the other rude employees who tried to intimidate and make me feel like i was a problem for discovering the deception. The owner made good delivering a bigger size of same model to make up for all the mess, to console me and save the store rep among other things.

I'm sorry to say though that it ends kind of bad just more in the way of treatment from teh store. The delivery guy who turns out to be the owners nephew or something moved my white subwoofer and got it all dirty. I didn't want to be anal and blame him but just nicely asked him how to clean it without really telling him it was him who did it. he said soap and water which i did and it ended up leaving a big water stain that we could always see where the subwoofer was.

I was hesitant to call but i figured I should and i got attitude from the guy who answered and when he realized iw as the customer who discovered the deception of the used unit he was real sarcastic. I didn't think it would be aproblem for them to refab it or switch it out with another. Later i received a call from the delivery kid (owners nephew) who proceeded to use racial slurs , curse at me and threaten to come down and beat him up. I couldn't believe it, he said he wasn't calling from the store. I really think he was out of his mind. I was ready to have him come meet me so i could fight him as i had more to be mad about at that point. But he was cowardess using caller id block and also knowing wehre i live from delivery while i didn't know where he lived.

From a professional standpoint i can't believe he would jeopardize his dad and uncles business by threatening a customer. I work for my uncle and could never talk like that to customers even if they deserved it. I still can't believe it.

So at this point i really gave up on the subwoofer and just cleaned it up some more myself. I have to recind on my statements saying that Eds TV of Hatfield , PA made good on their mistake etc. as the customer service has been so rude intimidating and now totally blowing my mind with racial slurs and threatening of violence which is really a shame because there are a few cool and nice ppl that work there. But i just can't recommend anyone buying anything from there as the prices aren't so great and if you ever have any problems they will make you feel like you are a problem for addressing them and will be super rude and maybe worse like i experienced.

Sorry to hear of the continuing issues Quatre.

I'd just try to put it behind me now ... you got a great tv and that's what matters.

And stop being silly and talking about going and fighting. Words are just words ... they only matter if you let them matter. Besides, you'd end up getting arrested and then you couldn't watch HD ... and that's WAY wrong.

Thanks for the comments and the welcome.

We purchased a calibration disk yesterday. Best Buy was out of stock on Avia, so it's something else, not sure what, my son picked it up. I did not look at it yet, but I'm looking forward to playing with it.

We watched Stargate last night, recorded from last Friday on an old DishPlayer in another room, not my 508. The one-touch Zoom function gave us gorgeous full screen from the original letterbox, and it was wonderful. We are big, long-time Stargate fans in my home.

I misspoke about my NAD 762 upconverting S-Video to Component. I might have been watching S-Video when I viewed those two DVDs. I have to check further.

I gather from your post there is a product in the pipeline to replace the Dish 921. Do you have a pointer to info about this?

Does anybody have experience with the VGA input? Recommended adjustments?

I will keep in touch and share my experiences. Thanks again for the welcome.

Quatre, I am not using the built-in speakers at all. I have 5.1 speakers. But one thing I miss is having the center channel speaker on TOP of the TV. Having it underneath does not seem to be quite the same.

One feature I've seen on some sets is a center channel input for audio, so you effectively use the TV speakers as center channel. Anybody figure out a way to do this on the Panny?

Originally posted by stevek777
...
I gather from your post there is a product in the pipeline to replace the Dish 921. Do you have a pointer to info about this?...

I will keep in touch and share my experiences. Thanks again for the welcome.

Steve, I just have the original SatelliteGuys report from the retailer summit:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=15386&highlight=summit

Do keep us posted on your experiences with the new set !

Originally posted by stevek777
...
Briefly experimented with the VGA. Offhand a little disappointing, significant ghosting, could be the cable I guess, I need to experiment further with this.

Use DVI instead of VGA, if your DVI port is open. That should get rid of most PQ problems.

I just called Ed's TV and politely told the person who ansered the phone I was calling in support of a customer who posted his complaint on the AVS Forum. I explained to him that people pay attention to this forum and that the behavior that allegedly took place was not acceptable. He was very polite himself and thanked me for the feedback.

Originally posted by stevek777
Delivered yesterday, my first experience was last night. My Dish SD (or whatever Dish is) upconverting S-Video to component through my NAD 762 receiver looked quite good on cinema, but the Dish on-screen menu was noticeably jaggy compared to the old TV. I am also going to try S-Video straight through - not sure the up-conversion on the NAD is so great.

I have had the same experience with the S-Video input. Dish SD from my 508 looks good on close-ups, but out of focus on far shots (Mariner's game). Depending on the network, however, the picture can look really good, too. True that the on-screen menu is jaggy.

Tips for this would be great, but soon I'll be setting up my 921 (yes, I spent the bucks for it), using DVI to HDMI cable conversion. I will see how this helps.

Also, in using DVE or Avia, do you have to connect the DVD player to each comp input to configure it, or just copy the settings (after writing them down) for each input? Any information would be helpful.

So far, even without DVE or Avia, my screen looks great overall. I even used the THX config off of StarWars II, and having my set on Normal for DVD playback, didn't have to change a single thing. Might be some finer tweaking that DVE or Avia does. Any help here is also welcome.

Use DVI instead of VGA, if your DVI port is open. That should get rid of most PQ problems.

I could do that with a DVI splitter, not a cheap item. I am already using DVI for flat panel. But is it necessary? VGA output should really be very good. I have a lot of experience with VGA connections to big monitors at the office, where we have old Sony LCD RP monitors 1024 x 768 and routinely use much longer cable runs than I am using now. They look fine, just like a very big computer monitor. The only time I ever saw ghosting was with a 100 foot cable run. They look lousy for TV of course. But I see no reason why Panny HD should not be really excellent with VGA.

Acura, great link to Satelliteguys, thanks much.

Vga is good DVI is best though.
What type of graphics card do you have?
Have you looked at my HTPC thread?

I've determined that my VGA ghosting was caused by a low quality VGA cable that came with the TV. Looks like a monster, but works like a piece of junk. With a decent cable, VGA is quite good. Sure DVI wd be better, but my Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro Atlantis comes with one DVI and one VGA, and I've got the DVA on my gorgeous 19" Samsung FPM, 193P.

Dallas, did not see your HTPC thread, but look forward to it. I am not really into HTPC yet, just thinking it will be nice to display web sites to a large group occasionally, maybe the odd powerpoint presentation for this, that, and the other thing.

I got my HD hooked up today and it looks stunning.

Forget everything I said during the first 6 days of trying to tune the set for my SD DirecTivo. I just take "Vivid" and calm it down a bit. (Picture and Sharpness down a bit, Brightness up a bit)

I picture on my 50lc14 is breath taking (Directv HD dvi to hdmi convertor). Considering the HD picture and the wide range on connections I wouldnt trade my set for any other display I've seen. The fact that I only paid $2339 is icing on the top!

I live about 50 miles north of Sacramento and the OTA that d* brought out only tunes in CBS HD. I applied for waivers for all four networks.

I just got the Gamecube component cable and it helped a lot. Picture looks great. I am having a bit of a lag problem with my Mario Golf swing. The picture from the TV must run slightly behind what the Gamecube is sending. I haven't noticed this with any other game???

Should I force my reciever to ouput 720p? I think 1080i looks better when I send it out 1080i and the panny scales it.

Ian

ileff,
On some threads (in the HD receiver forum) on the STB for HD cable it is generally recommended to let the HD STB send the signal through untouched and let your TV do the scaling (this adds a bit longer delay when changing from one resolution channel to the next but it's worth it for me). I know on the SA 3250HD box I have from comcast they have a video setting called "Pass-Through" and I leave mine set at that all the time (I have a Panny 50LC13) and love the results.

1024,

Yes... my Samsung 360 has a mode where it sends the content at its native resolution and that seemed to work nicely.

At first I thought force 720p output would be the best, but I dont think the 1080i shows looked quite as nice. I'll keeping playing with these options.

My OTA looks awesome too. Once I figured out a bit more about my local OTA channels I got NBC working and Leno picture was very impressive.

what is the PT50LC13's native resolution?

greg

I just tried to set my black level with the Digital Video Essentials DVD. I could never see the "blacker than black" stripe on the pluge pattern no matter what Brightness I selected.

I'm playing DVE through the DVD player on my PC (a Plextor 708), through an ATI 9600 Pro video card, via DVI to the PT-50LC14.

Do other people with LC13's or LC14's see the black stripe?
Is this maybe a problem with the PC level out versus a standard DVD player?

Also, does anyone know what the BLACK EXT. control does. It's set at +6 right now. It does have some effect on how "black" the background is, but I'd like to know exactly what it does if anyone knows.

I have use DVE on my Panny 50LC13 from an old 480i Sony dvd player and the new Zenith 318 (both component and DVI) and in all three instances easily see all three lines on the brightness test pattern. The TV easily displays "blacker than black" and my guess is what you suggested and that is you are using a PC and outputing the PC standard not the video standard. Thus giving yourself black crush much like the Sammy 931 and newer DVI upscaler players.

Originally posted by AcuraCL
Sorry to hear of the continuing issues Quatre.

I'd just try to put it behind me now ... you got a great tv and that's what matters.

And stop being silly and talking about going and fighting. Words are just words ... they only matter if you let them matter. Besides, you'd end up getting arrested and then you couldn't watch HD ... and that's WAY wrong.

Yeah, I'm totally done with that store and the couple of tough guy punks who work there. I cleaned up the subwoofer myself some more and its acceptable now. I wasn't looking for a fight. I just didn't wnat the guy to think i was intimidated by that or backing down and was just mentionning that here that I wasn't backing down. But i did tell him it was stupid thing to fight over and that he was pretty dumb for putting his uncles store in jeopardy like that his dad also is a part of. anyway it was a mess and its over and i'm not dealing with them anymore.

On a brighter note, the Olympics have been great in HD

Originally posted by stevek777
Quatre, I am not using the built-in speakers at all. I have 5.1 speakers. But one thing I miss is having the center channel speaker on TOP of the TV. Having it underneath does not seem to be quite the same.

One feature I've seen on some sets is a center channel input for audio, so you effectively use the TV speakers as center channel. Anybody figure out a way to do this on the Panny?

underneath center channle isn't bad on some setups but with the panny and the stand thats made to fit it there is no room. We used some velcro strips to fasten the center channel speaker on top of the panny and then just put something or some speakers have a pad that unscrews as a mini stand in the back to cut the angle of the downslope behind it otherwise even velcroed it lays back a little too much instead of sitting up right.

The velcring center channel works good on both teh 50 and the 60.

Originally posted by snackie
I just called Ed's TV and politely told the person who ansered the phone I was calling in support of a customer who posted his complaint on the AVS Forum. I explained to him that people pay attention to this forum and that the behavior that allegedly took place was not acceptable. He was very polite himself and thanked me for the feedback.

wow, cool thanks for the support. In the beginning of all the problems i had thought about having ppl call up to let them know they were paying attention to the situation. Like i said i dealt with different characters there some who were very cool and nice and others who were tought guy wise guy pricks so who you deal with has a lot to do with it. But it really is like night and day. Luckily the owner seems to be a good guy and was pretty nice. I did mention to him and /or his brother that there were freinds and family following the situation and awaiting the outcome and that there was a significant nationwide community as well of A/V enthusiasts/consumers paying attention as well. At one point the owners brother said to me " we wont be intimidated" i think in response to that. But I told him i was just letting them knnow and wasn't using that or anything as leverage just letting them know and it was my wife and I who were in fact intimidated in the store and over the phone by a couple of the stores personnel.

Also when I called the store up after I got threatened and called racial slurs of prejudice by the owners nephew, I talked to another guy at the store who i had dealt with and was really professional nice and down to earth. Basically just relaxed and what you would expect. By the way just to make it clear not that it should matter but the racial slurs as is the best way i can come up to describe it were basically saying "cheap jew" and "kike" and various others to that affect. He must have assumed this by my wifes maiden name as she is half. and we used her cc. Regardless of any of that its just first of all stupid of him to jeopardize his fathers and uncles business like that especially when i'm sure a large portion of their customers are jewish. Third its just crazy to think here you trust this store with your cc# and your address and they come in your home for delivery and your phone #, and then the kid cowardly calls from a blocked anonymous # and when I dont know his address. I got his # and address now and had offered at the time to fight him any time although i thought he was stupid over a subwoofer and that if anything i had more to be mad about so i probably would have won. By the end of hte convo he said he didnt' want to fight me and calmed down but it was still idiotic of him. Some of those other guys are just all uptight and tough guy punks or something i have no idea i never experienced sales reps like that anywhere ever. REgardless, the nice professional guy at the store who i dealt with before and spoke with, he apologized for the kid and said he has a problem with temper etc. (had even often yelled at a place they get lunch from saying that they overcharged him or ripped him off , maybe he is the cheap jew) and that I shouldn't be afraid to call the store and that in his honest personal opinion there was nothing wrong with calling up and explaining that the subwoofer was soiled during delivery. I mean i did it in a nice and sensitive way after everything that had happened and i dont think most ppl would have been so nice about it. And then to get the response i got which was all sarcastic followed by the cowardess anonymous call from the kid threateing and saying racial remarks or whatever you want to call it was just totatlly unbelievable.

Again, not that I even want to deal with the store anymore I never heard anything back or anything. you would think after the original deception and treatment we received etc. etc. and now the prejudice remarks and threats that they would be apologizing like mad and doing something just to avoid the whole story leaking out and them ending up boycotted or in the news in a negative light or something or sued etc. etc. They are just damn lucky that I just didn't let it bother me and didn't make a big thing of any of this, where most ppl would have gone to town on them and made them pay for all of it. Overall i just judge them as not a very smart business and can't recommend them because its too likely that will have to deal with one of the nasty rude tough guys and that godforbid you have a problem with merchandise you spent a lot of money they will act all annoyed and like you are a problem customer.

Originally posted by MLM
Has anyone successfully gotten to the service menu in the PT-50LC13?

Has anyone discovered the discrete codes, if they exist, especially for input selection?

I realize the above was an older quote but I couldn't find any answers to his questions,if anyone has a service menu how-to..please post or point me in the right direction. Thanks

Originally posted by Netrat
I realize the above was an older quote but I couldn't find any answers to his questions,if anyone has a service menu how-to..please post or point me in the right direction. Thanks

Check out this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3190604#post3190604) in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=289930).

Also note that there are apparently no discrete input codes for the LC13.

Here are some tips for macros:

To get to Video 1:
Channel Down
Video

To get to DVI:
PC
Video
Video again if RGB2 is in use

I've had this set for close to a year now and have been quite happy with it. After having regular satellite for the longest while, I decided to switch over to digital cable and get HD as well using the SA3250HD STB.

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone can help me out on.

1) Using component from the STB to TV, HD looks great and SD looks okay - marginally better PQ than satellite using s-video but the pictures are darker. The 3250HD has options to either a) passthrough the incoming signal straight to the TV w/o doing anything, b) 720p/1080i are converted to 1080i or c) 720p/1080i are converted to 720p. Which ones of these modes should I be using for best PQ? Right now I have it on the 3rd option where all HD signals are converted to a 720p signal. Also, 480i signals are converted to 480p. If I just have straight passthrough, I assume that 480i signals when sent to the TV are displayed as 480i and don't get upconverted?

2) Using DVI from STB to TV has some issues with SD channels making it almost unwatchable. I'm not sure if this also has something to do with these settings from the STB or even the TV itself. I haven't had a whole lot of time to play with the different possibilities but maybe someone who has the same setup could help me out. HD channels though look awesome.

3) In the TV setup, there's a setting called Matrix-SDTV or Matrix-HDTV. What should I set this as and should I change it when watching SD or HD material?

Thanks,
Tony

I don't have a STB, but from what everyone here has said, straight passthrough to the display is preferable.

MisterX,

I have the exact same setup: Panny 50LC13 and SA 3250HD cable STB. I would highly recommend using the "Pass-Through" mode. The TV will do a much better job with the 480i than the STB will do converting the 480i to anything higher. You should notice an improvement in SD PQ. Only thing to be aware of is changing channels between different resolution channels it will have a longer delay as the TV has to re-sync to the resolution. Changing between like resolution channels will be as fast as before.

The Color matrix question is a good one. I have left that setting as being SD matrix for 480p and greater. For me it makes sense because my DVD player is the Zenith 318 which upconverts but the upconverted signal still uses the SD color matrix instead of the HD color matrix. I then used the Zenith to calibrate the TVs settings.

So I have the TV set as SD color matrix for HD resolutions and have not noticed any issues with the HD through the cable STB.

The only thing that happens with picking the wrong color matrix is the equation for adding the three cables signals together has a different weighting factor on the green and people report a slight green under or over saturation (depending on which way they are wrong). Like I said I have not noticed anything odd with the colors in any TV or DVD viewing with the TV set as SD matrix.

For a better discussion of the SD vs. HD color matrix look in the DVD Forum and search for "Zenith" and "green". Or "318" and "green" and maybe "undersaturation".

Beaker1024,

Thanks for the input. Do you allow all resolutions in the STB? I just read in another thread that someone disabled 480i as an allowable resolution, but this was mainly for DVI issues. Right now, I have all resolutions allowed - I guess what you're saying is to let the TV do all the upconversions instead of the STB doing it.

Have you tried the DVI out yet on your 3250HD?

I have not tried the DVI output yet because I have not felt motivated to try it yet. There have been some reports of issues and tinkering to get the DVI from this box to work right and my current Component connection is completely hassle free.

I enabled everything the TV can display which I believe was _everything_. :)

I have a Radeon 9200 video card and it supports RGB and DVI output, I'm running ATI Catalyst 4.10 driver. Using RGB analog output, I can adjust the size/position of the screen(included in latest ATI driver, I don't need PowerStrip anymore) to reduce/eliminate overscan, however, I don't think I can get 1:1 pixel mapping. So I'll get some blurry text in 1280x720 mode(native resolution of my RPTV).

If I use DVI output, I can set it to 1280x720 and achieve 1:1 pixel mapping(pretty sharp/clear text), but overscan is unavoidable.

Do you guys think that using DVI is better/necessary for video viewing(like DVD, HDTV stream, RealPlayer media, etc) since it's 1:1 pixel-mapped. Or RGB output is the same(I like the fact that I can adjust the setting so RGB has minimum overscan)? If RGB doesn't matter too much(mainly for video), I want to use the DVI for my Zenith upscaling DVD player.

Thanks for any input!

It sounds like you've tried both; which looks better to you? That's all that really matters, isn't it? I personally doubt you'll see much difference.

DVI with 1:1 pixel mapping is better, especially for text. I think I will use DVI for PC connection and Component for Zenith DVB-318 DVD player. If I can make DVI's resolution to 1248x702(very small overscan), that'll be cool.

Well all, I finally have a tech coming out today to repair the dead pixels I mentioned here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4127174#post4127174

The repair folks first came out to assess the set shortly after I made the above post (almost 6 months ago). After that, I had to fax them my sales receipt before they'd order the part (light engine, they said) to repair it. Somehow, in my move from overseas, I lost the receipt. I pretty much figured it was a lost cause.

About a month ago, the repair shop calls and tells me my parts are in. I explained that I still did not have the receipt (and we bothwondered how the pars ogt ordered without it), but had placed a request with my credit card company to obtain a copy from the place of purchase.

30 days later, I get a letter from the credit card company saying that the place of purchase failed to provide them with a copy.

Coincidently, the lady from the repair shop called the next day. I explained the situation to her. I told I had no receipt, but did have a credit card statement with the purchase on it. She said she'd see what she could do.

She called back the next day and said she'd convinced Panny to accept the credit card statement as proof of purchase.

We'll see how the repair goes!

Good news John. Hope it all goes well.

The techs left about an hour ago. They did an excellent job and were very professional.

They were very patient with me as I tested their work with my Avia DVD before letting them leave. Everything tested perfectly. No dead/hot pixels. No symptoms of a bad reinstall (I heard a few folks' sets were worse AFTER a repair). I essentially have a brand new set!

I spent the last hour double-checking the settings with the Avia DVD. I had to tweak the white and black levels a bit, and recenter the image in wide-screen mode. There's a little of a red push that can't be fixed without going into the service menu (I fixed it on the "old" set using the service menu. But it is barely noticeable - actually less noticeable than the "old" set was when I originally purchased it.

I played about 20 minutes of Return of the King and it looked incredible. Can't wait to try some other movies!

I'm very happy and fortunate. Any of y'all that live in San Antonio and ever need electronics repaired, send Consumer Electronics some business. They've taken great care of me.

Just my luck ... new messages on this thread, I got ROTK EE, and my lamp just went out. Have to call the store tomorrow and/or Panasonic Canada and see how long I'll be w/o TV :( 10 months w/o problems ... I thought I'd be one of the lucky ones.

Originally posted by jrfuda
Well all, I finally have a tech coming out today to repair the dead pixels I mentioned here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4127174#post4127174



Coincidently, the lady from the repair shop called the next day. I explained the situation to her. I told I had no receipt, but did have a credit card statement with the purchase on it. She said she'd see what she could do.

She called back the next day and said she'd convinced Panny to accept the credit card statement as proof of purchase.

We'll see how the repair goes!
Wow, that's what I call going above and beyond. Excellent customer service.

Has anyone seen Consumer Reports review of rear projection LCD tvs? I was just wondering how the Panny 50 and 60 LC13 matched up.

All I have is the Dec. 04 issue which just talks about the different types and at the very end lists only a few recommendations listing a bunch of CRTs and then saying that they would test DLP and LCoS sets for the march issue.

It lists 2 50 inch LCD models as the top performers and they list the Sony Grand WEga KF-50WE610 and the Hitachi 50V500A but I would like to see their usual break down of stats/ratings in diff categories etc. and see how the Panny compared.

I still personally like the form factor of the 50/60lc13/14 over either the sony or the hitachi with the 50lc13 stand which they now mostly only use on the 43". Because i love the way especially the 60" hangs over the sides and looks like plasma instead of just a tv with a stand underneath all the way to the ends.

Btw is there any other ways the LC14 models are better then the LC13 besides the extra speaker on each side and the HDMI input. Personally i would like the extra speaker because i use the tvs speakers a good amount even in conjuction with my surround sound though i know your not really supposed to (mostly for tv i do not for movie)

But as far as HDMI i haven't missed it yet because i dont think comcast offers hd boxes with hdmi yet still so especialy for the pannies which didn't have both it would have been a waste for hdmi all this time and/or an expensive hdmi to dvi converter

Quatre, I would just like to second your opinion about the lc13 stand. I also bought one to go with my 60lc14. also there really is no diff between the 13 and 14 other then the two things you already mentioned (HDMI & sound)

"I'm very happy and fortunate. Any of y'all that live in San Antonio and ever need electronics repaired, send Consumer Electronics some business. They've taken great care of me."

I live in San Antonio and have the 50LC14. Do you know if they do calibrations, and can you even calibrate a LCD?

Thanks,

Originally posted by LowellG
I live in San Antonio and have the 50LC14. Do you know if they do calibrations, and can you even calibrate a LCD?

They do not do ISF calibration. ISF's website has a search feature: http://www.imagingscience.com/isf-trained.cfm that you can input the state and get a list of calibrators.

Looks like in San Antonio it's Bjorn's (I thought that unexpected), Concert Sound Inc., Dominion Home Networks, Edens Consulting, Galen Carol Audio, and Technovations.

I'm sure there are plenty o folks who'll disagree, but for me, I achieved satisfaction using DVE and Avia along with the user/service menu changes discussed elsewhere in this thread.

wow, do they have any houston outlets? everyone I've dealt with here is pretty useless.

Originally posted by jrfuda
I'm very happy and fortunate. Any of y'all that live in San Antonio and ever need electronics repaired, send Consumer Electronics some business. They've taken great care of me.

"I'm sure there are plenty o folks who'll disagree, but for me, I achieved satisfaction using DVE and Avia along with the user/service menu changes discussed elsewhere in this thread."

Thanks for all the info. How much do you charge? :-)

Well, 2 months after getting the light engine replaced in my set (read about it on the previous page), a new problem has appeared.

I started noticing a greenish tint on a portion of the screen. The tint is only visible when the part of the screen in question is dark (black or nearly black) and is surrounded by light colors (so, for example, it's not visible in a field of stars - like a space scene is star wars, but it is visible when someone with dark hair standing against a light background is in the right spot). The affected area is about 10" in diameter, and slightly elliptical. It is located almost halfway up the screen and centered on the right border of where a 4:3 image would have its black bars. In fact, when watching 4:3 material, the half of the field that is in the black bars is almost constantly visible.

I don't think it's a stuck pixel-type issue, since I know what that looks like (and had my set fixed under warranty previously because of it). It almost looks like what happens to a CRT set when it get too much magnetic interference.

This lead me to believe that it might be related to a UPS that was near the set (UPS giving off EMI), so I moved it. The problem persisted. The set, with the old light engine, existed for over a year without this "green field" with the UPS near it, so I really don't think it is the cause.

Now, the tinting is rather subtle, so it's possible that it has been there since the set was repaired, and I just now started noticing it, but I doubt that, as I very carefully scrutinized the image when I used DVE and Avia to calibrate the set. I'm sure I would have seen it.

I read a few other threads (actually 2: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=449429&highlight=pt50lc13 and http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=457272&highlight=pt50lc13 ) here that mentioned similar issues. They don't appear to be resolved yet.

One of the threads seemed to recommend cleaning the optics. I think I'll try a can of air on the lens and see what happens.

I read another thread (can't find it again for some reason) that seemed to hint at EMI and that degaussing might fix it. But I thought degaussing was for CRT sets, and don't even know how it could be done to an LCD set... although the thread mentioned unplugging the set for a while, perhaps I'll try that too.

So, any of y'all seen this?

The sales associate confirmed that the warranty does cover the bulb.

The lamp went out on me in about 15 months... did not live up to the 10,000 hours suggested life! There are many complaints about this in various reviews... check ************** website and search for "panbulb"
All owners check the above link!!

The lamp went out on me in about 15 months... did not live up to the 10,000 hours suggested life! There are many complaints about this in various reviews... check ************** website and search for "panbulb"
All owners check the above link!!

Check out this thread....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=353230&page=2

The lamp went out on me in about 15 months... did not live up to the 10,000 hours suggested life! There are many complaints about this in various reviews... check ************** website and search for "panbulb"
All owners check the above link!!

Panasonic has already extended the original and replacement bulb warranties. What do you want to accomplish with a petition, public flogging?

The lamp went out on me in about 15 months... did not live up to the 10,000 hours suggested life! There are many complaints about this in various reviews... check ************** website and search for "panbulb"
All owners check the above link!!


Had the TV for 15 months and just now bothered to register..... to complain.

Thanks but not thanks.

How did you recenter the image? My pic is a little crooked. thanks for your help.


The techs left about an hour ago. They did an excellent job and were very professional.

They were very patient with me as I tested their work with my Avia DVD before letting them leave. Everything tested perfectly. No dead/hot pixels. No symptoms of a bad reinstall (I heard a few folks' sets were worse AFTER a repair). I essentially have a brand new set!

I spent the last hour double-checking the settings with the Avia DVD. I had to tweak the white and black levels a bit, and recenter the image in wide-screen mode. There's a little of a red push that can't be fixed without going into the service menu (I fixed it on the "old" set using the service menu. But it is barely noticeable - actually less noticeable than the "old" set was when I originally purchased it.

I played about 20 minutes of Return of the King and it looked incredible. Can't wait to try some other movies!

I'm very happy and fortunate. Any of y'all that live in San Antonio and ever need electronics repaired, send Consumer Electronics some business. They've taken great care of me.

Panasonic was very supportive and fast replacing my lamp,they payed 2 day delivery and return shipping on replacement TY-LA1000 lamp although I would like to find a source for this lamp in the future for after the warranty period (18months=lamp)..anyone been there yet?

OK, guys, have any of y'all seen this:

My set turns itself back on shortly after being turned off when it's been turned on for a while.

At first I thought it was stray IR, but since the set does not have discrete on/off commands, stray IR would be causing it to power off unexpectidly too, so it's not IR.

What happens, is, 2-3 minutes after powering-down, it powers back up again. I've gone to bed several times this week only to here the set back on by the time I get into bed. It's happened a few times in the morning too. My wife came home from work one day and found the set on. It's been happening sporadicly for about 10 days.

Last night I left it unplugged. I plugged it back in this morning, turned it on, and, when I got ready to leave for work, turned it off and watched it for several minutes, it did notpower back up, so maybe being unplugged overnight fixed whatever was wrong with it. I guess I'll find out when I get home.

Oh, and after having my light engine replaced in November 2004, I again have a stuck pixel - this time a red one, centered verticaly and right on the border where a 4:3 picture would be, and I still have the subtle green blob.

The good news is, my original bulb is still working... same bulb since November 2003! I'd estimate it has about 2500-3000 hours on it so far, though I'd have to check the SM to be sure.

John, do you have a cat by any chance?

I think mine have stepped on remote buttons in the night/day when no one's home. The sat. receiver has been turned on, but not the tv.

Could there be some crud in the remote's power button?

I do have a cat, but I've ruled him out.

I've watched the TV come on without the cat anywhere around - always within a few minutes of turning it off. Also, if it was some sort of rogue IR signal, the TV would be randomly turning off while we're watching it.

I thought, at first, it was stray IR becuase I recenlt installed a Xantech whole-house IR distro system, but - unless there's an undocumented discrete on command for my set (that I wish I knew of) that can't be the case becuase the set NEVER turns off randomly.

I wish I could help, but Best Buy hasn't fixed my 50LC13 for over 3 weeks and counting.

It turned itself back on again last night after being powered-off with the remote. So unpluggin ti overnight did not fix it.

I then turned it off with the set's power button and it stayed off. I did the same this mornig and it stayed off too, however, it was only on for about 45 minutes this morning versus 3-4 hours last night.

I wonder if it's related to a heat issue. In the morning it usually doesn't run long enough to get really hot, but it does in the evening. It will usually stay off the second or third time I turn it off in the evening, becuase the additional run time of the fan (from it being on and off several times in a 5 minute span) cools it off more, once it reaches a certain threshold it wont turn back on? I'm going to try an turn it off exclusively with the set's power button for the next few days and see if it stops, if it does, then it's somehow related to the IR receiver of the set - and only when it's off, not on. If it still powers itself up after being turned-off by the set's button, then it might in fact be a heat issue.

Maybe I need to give its innards a dusting?

Isn't there a service menu option to increase the fan-on time after power down? I though I had read that somehwere.

Off the top of my head, there are fan settings in the SM, but the options are extremely limited. I kept mine as-is. Do you have some kind of EW? I'd have a tech come out & give it a look, although that will most likely be a very long process (order a part, come back out & replace it, repeat until fixed). I kill the power to mine all the time because the stupid tuner fan drives me nuts. Doesn't seem to hurt anything. Have you tried turning it off, then unplugging it for a minute or so, then plugging it back in (doing this every time you stop watching it)?

Steve, when you "pull the plug" then put power back on the box, does your noisy fan come on automatically, or only after you power on the set?

I noticed after my bulb blew, the regular fan would not shut off til I killed power to the circuit.

I'm going to go in the SM and see if I can increase the fan time by 30-60 seconds and see if that fixes the problem. I've never found the fan that noisy and like it for its bulb life extension benefits. Heck, maybe a longer fan time will ensure greater longevity of my bulb!

I do have an EW, but I'm not sure about using it. I only paid $60 for it, because I bought the set at a Military Exchange (PX), where they don't charge a lot for EW's. I can't remember if it added three years to the original warranty, or if it extended the total warranty to three years. If it added 3, then I have until November 2007, if total 3, then this November.

I already had the light engine replaced under Panny's warranty, though it was a bit of work. Somehow I managed to lose my sales receipt, even though EVERY darn receipt for electronics I've ever purchased is stapeled to the back cover of the component's instruction manual, I somehow lost the set's receipt. My local repair shop was able to work something out with Panasonic to accept my credit card statement as proof of purchase and did the repair. I'll have to see if the extended warranty folks will do the same, but their contract clearly says "original sales receipt required." I guess it won't hurt to call them, especially if I can arrange to get the same company to do the repair again. They were very professional. It would be sweet to get another light engine (since I have the red dot and subtle green blob) after owning the set for 3 years, and to figure out why the set turns itself on.

Steve, when you "pull the plug" then put power back on the box, does your noisy fan come on automatically, or only after you power on the set?

I noticed after my bulb blew, the regular fan would not shut off til I killed power to the circuit.

When I plug it back in, the tuner's fan won't come on until I power up the set. Yet once it's been powered on once, it will then run forever. I have "install new fan in TV" on my list of projects, but it keeps being bumped to the bottom. I might replace it with something this year if the LED arrays come with some sort of warranty from the mfr. about longevity.

LED arrays, are you saying we'll be able to retrofit existing RPTVs with LED arrays?

Well, after 3+ years of use, I am having my first problem with this set:

It powers itself off and the power button flashes red. The lamp indicator also flashes. If the power button is pressed, the picture comes back on for a couple of minutes, then it powers itself off again.

I called Panasonic and they could not tell me what the problem might be. They did say, however, that the lamp is not dead, since the picture comes on. They said to call for service.

Any suggestions???

Actually it does sound a bit like a bulb, or possibly the ballast.

I would try pulling the bulb out, cleaning it off, and vacuuming out the side vents and interior area where the bulb goes. There may not be enough air circulation, and the bulb is getting hot and shutting the set off.

My ballast went out in January (Super Easy to replace) with symptoms similar to yours. Best Buy decided to replace the ballast and bulb in March. It was nice of them to honor their warranty after waiting several months....Never again!

It powers itself off and the power button flashes red. The lamp indicator also flashes. If the power button is pressed, the picture comes back on for a couple of minutes, then it powers itself off again.

Thanks Cruiser and vhato. I'll try cleaning first, but given that I have gotten 3+ years out of the first bulb, I should probably order a new one, even as a spare.

Not sure whether I should order a ballast too, though.

Does anyone have the Service Manual that can say definitively that the ballast is bad?

Ordered the service manual for the PT-50LC13 today. It was pretty cheap, $13.69 including tax and shipping. It is back ordered for 4-6 weeks so unless somebody gets one earlier...
vfr (or anyone else who might have the service manual),
I wonder if you can help with my previous question regarding possible bad ballast.

Thanks.

vfr (or anyone else who might have the service manual),
I wonder if you can help with my previous question regarding possible bad ballast.

Thanks.

How long is the power led lit before it flashes? Same for the lamp led? I only ask because there are a ton of different blinking & timing error messages in the SM.

How long is the power led lit before it flashes? Same for the lamp led? I only ask because there are a ton of different blinking & timing error messages in the SM.
The power goes on (green led) for 1.5 minutes with the lamp lit (normal picture); at this time the lamp led is not lit. Then the power cuts out (screen goes black) and the red power led flashes; at this time the red lamp led flashes every 5 seconds.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

The power goes on (green led) for 1.5 minutes with the lamp lit (normal picture); at this time the lamp led is not lit. Then the power cuts out (screen goes black) and the red power led flashes; at this time the red lamp led flashes every 5 seconds.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

The power led flashing every 5 seconds is a ballast error. During this time, your lamp led doesn't flash at all? I'd bet on the ballast being the cause.

All of a sudden today our PT-60LC13 wouldn't turn on. When hitting the power button the green led starts blinking like it is warming up and turning on but the picture never comes on and then it shuts down I guess and it starts blinking with a red led for power like it does when shutting down. Also the Lamp led blinks I think every 5 seconds or so.

I assumed that was it that my lamp went. But when I called panasonic and told him it was probably that and that ppl with this tv in the 50 and 60 in. version were having short lamp life from these sets. He proceeded to tell me "its all junk on the internet" at which point I explained to him that it was just other users with the same tv just many of which reporting their lamp not lasting as long as it should.

He had me take out the bulb and describe it to him at which point he thought it wasn't the lamp/bulb and I didn't think it looked dead either. He then just proceeded to give me my local service provider name and number. I am over the year warranty and over the 18 mo. lamp warranty just barely.

It might be the ballast after reading the last few posts. I was worried how long it was going to take to get the local tv repair place to come out to fix it so I just ordered a new tv for delivery in a day. I may return depending on the cost to repair my 60lc13 but at least will have something until it is. Otherwise i may keep it and put it in basement but either way i'm fixing it because i know to sell it needing repair I will get even less for it then if i just pay for the repair myself. Its a pain to sell it but ideally that is what I'd like to do to offset the cost of a new better 1080p set.

The power led flashing every 5 seconds is a ballast error. During this time, your lamp led doesn't flash at all? I'd bet on the ballast being the cause.
After the picture goes black, the power led flashes (red) once per second. During this time, the lamp led flashes red once every five seconds. I'm hoping it's not the ballast, because I checked the price of a new ballast on Panasonic's website (around $390). I hope it's just the ($299) bulb. :mad:

After the picture goes black, the power led flashes (red) once per second. During this time, the lamp led flashes red once every five seconds. I'm hoping it's not the ballast, because I checked the price of a new ballast on Panasonic's website (around $390). I hope it's just the ($299) bulb. :mad:

Well, it really does look like the ballast. But, my manual is for a PT-50LCX63, although all the ballast errors I've seen on this forum have all had the same blinking of LED's. The only way to find out for sure is have a tech come out.

I just bought a Philips DVP642 dvd player and I'm using component video cables with my PT50LC13. When I try to enable progressive scan on the dvd player, the picture on my tv goes black. From what I've read, this tv has progressive scan right? Is there a way to see if it's enabled or is it enabled by default? I'm just curious to see if i can get a better picture because I'm not too impressed so far. Thanks!

Since it is a 3-LCD, everything you see is deinterlaced if necessary and scaled up/down to 720p whether you want it to or not. If you would like to see the type of INCOMING signal, press the blue action button on the remote, then move down to Information and press the blue action button again. It will show either NTSC, 480i, 480p, 720p or 1080i.

DVD's were less than spectacular to me until I did the filter mod to darken the blacks and give the colors better saturation. Just my opinion. I don't know why you are having a 480p problem with your player. I would suspect an issue with the DVD Player or just a plain incompatibility.

Un-related to this post, mine for some unknown reason shows horizontal noise only in 720p on Component. It appear on the Xbox 360, SA8300HD DVR or DVD Player. VGA, DVI and 1080i/480i-p on Component are clear as can be. Drives me crazy!!

HDMI 1.3 and LED lighting will spell the end for this TV in my living room, until then I love it.

guess i never posted that it was my ballast back then several months ago and had to have an authorized repair man come and fix it. he said they dont even have the ballast part anymore to replace and just fix it and replace a few parts/conductors on it.

worked fine again and still on orig bulb. saw the class action on the set but looked like i wouldn't qualify

thought of calling panny to try and get some reimbursement for the ballast going like that in just a little over a year but never bothered.

At this point the set still works good and gets a decent picture. just figuring on getting some more use out of it before getting a new set and moving it to the basement to live out its life though when the bulb goes i wil have to see if its worth changing though compared to buying a new set just for basement it prob will be worth it though still a pain and well after warranty or any bulb class action

i still really think ppls whose ballast went instead of bulb got screwed on the class action suit.

My ballast blew several months ago too. Took Best Buy 3 months to fix it and about $1,700.00 in lost personal income waiting for the technician to arrive on several occassions in which he didn't. Local Best Buy read my letter about this and said, "Yep, people hate our repair men at the store, send this letter to corporate!" Still no reply or appology letter.

ok, so i broke down and bought a spare lamp/bulb for my pt50lc13. i'm getting it next day service tomorrow. i have a feeling the lamp i have now is about to blow....it's taking longer and longer to light up. the reason i'm getting a spare is b/c the last time the lamp blew it took me like 4 days to get a new one thru the lamp warranty.....and i dont want to be without tv for that long. my question is.........when i get my spare lamp tomorrow is it ok to take out the lamp i have in there now.... stick the new one in the tv to make sure that it works.......then put the current one back in?

I don't see why not. WHen you do place your new lamp in permanently I recommend following the included instructions and reset the bulb life indicator. You don't have to, it jsut helps you undestand how many hours you get from a bulb.

I picked up a 50LC14 this weekend (was looking for a LC13 but couldn't find stock/good deal at the B&M major retailers). I upgraded from a 27" TV, so I am just in awe. Unfortunately I don't have any HD sources yet. Here are my comments without any tweaking (still waiting for AVIA):

1) SD looks surprisingly good through TiVo.
2) 480p DVD looks awesome (again remember where I am coming from - 27", S-Video)
3) 480p PS2 (SSX 3) looks great, except that the picture is significantly shifted up (by a couple of inches) and left (three or four inches). The shift seems much (fractions of an inch) when playing GT3 16:9 (not progressive).
4) The same shift also occurs with the RGB input (if I don't adjust the Position).
5) 480i PS2 maybe rotated about a degree counterclockwise (maybe less, it's barely noticeable, only irritating if I look for it).

So, I'm happy with PQ except for the shift. There doesn't seem to be much position control when using component inputs. Does anyone know if this can be tackled within the service menu? I realize this is the 50LC13 thread, but I can't imagine that the service menu is significantly different.

Thanks.


I'm having the same problem as #4... I have my Xbox 360 connected to my 50LC13 via VGA Cable... I just noticed that my picture is horizontally cut off to the left a little too much by the plastic front covering. I went in the menu and moved over the picture all the way to the right.

I still dont feel that the picture is perfectly centered, seems that it is still off to the left just a tad too much, but I can't move the picture anymore to the right. I seem to have only noticed this weird problem using the VGA cable with my 360, and not component, or with any other game system and dvd players. Anyone know if there is a more aggressive setting in the service menu that will allow me to futher move the horizontal position?

Hopefully someone out there still reads this thread! Thanks for any help.

Mario

I still read it and would like to know also. I get horizontal noise over Component only @ 720p. Using 1080i or switching to VGA solves the problem. There is a thread on here I think the talks about the service menu, I will see if I bookmarked it.

Okay vhato, hopefully you do have it bookmarked. I would really like to figure this out.

I do I do I do. I found it. But AVSForums is still working on their 2005 archive and can't get to it.

I know it is all in hexadecimal, so the repair manual will be necessary, unless that link had that info in it as well.

Man...I wish I could figure this out, makes no sense to me. Thanks for finding the bookmark vhato, hopefully the new archives will be finished soon.

While we wait, be aware that the 360 over VGA postioning problem affects a tremendous amount of people. Major Nelson wrote not long ago that Microsoft is working to resolve this issue as well as 1080p syncing for many TV's. So, when the archives come back up, we can fix this problem, but it will come back to haunt us again when MS releases the next update and we have to set it back.

Other people are discovering washed out colors and incorrect gamma settings on their TV's (Samsung for instance). Apparently manufacturers attempt to tune an input for a particular device. For instance some TV's still have component inputs labeled VCR. VHS recordings look as good as possible when connected to that input, but a DVD player will look horrible and vice/versa.

Aside from too much red on all inputs, I feel Panasonic did a pretty good job. My only really complaint with the PT-xxLC series is the set fails to deinterlace 1080i and downscale to 720p properly. However, when I force my cable box to output only 720p, TV shows like CSI: Miami lack that HD "punch". So my TV's Scaler is the better of the two poor scalers. Whats weird is 720p broadcasts lack that HD "punch" also, so I upscale from 720p to 1080i and then my TV brings it back down to 720p. Man I wish I could justify a VP30 Processor!!! But a new TV would be a better buy!!

Ah I'm glad to read I'm not the only person with the 360/vga screen position problem. Just knowing that makes me feel MUCH better, ty vhato.

I've been thinking about a new tv, but with Christmas less than a month away I just dont know. Considering this tv is paid for, I would rather wait a little while longer before taking a huge plunge on a new tv.

Just curious vhato, do you have a 360 connected via vga to this tv as well?

Nah, I am back to component. I placed some tape on my TV showing the usual locations for the 360 menu blades, then switched to VGA. I moved the picture as far as I could and I am still maybe 1.25-1.5" off. Which actualy helped me realize this TV has alot of overscan. I may order the service manual anyway and start tweaking.

I decided I will be replacing my TV with a 60"+ LCoS type of TV. Either JVC HD-ILA or Sony SXRD. But not until LED's replace the bulbs AND HDMI 1.3 Deep Color is adopted. I have gotten so used to the gorgeous color this TV reproduces with the Filter modification. Everyonce in a while someone in the know comments on how nicely saturated my colors are or how deep my blacks are compared to the LCD TV's they have.

Vhato, you have the filter mod done on your 50LC13? I just read something about using a filter on tvs...never heard about such a thing before. Since we have the same tv, can you please, please tell me what you used, where you got it from, how you did it, step by step? I would GREATLY appreciate if you could. Thanks.

It was discovered by Joe Perri (I think) here on AVS. There is a thread that I will find for you later. It is the best $72.00 I have ever spent on my poor mans Home Theater and probably added the most value. GOtta get to work, Write up later.

V

Hey, just wanted to let you know I found the thread you were referring to. Thanks for mentioning it. I'll have to give it go and see how it looks.

Is there a "reset" or "restore to factory default" in the service menus for this set?

I have Comcast service cabled directly into input A - no cable card, and lately my primary tuner is losing the signal entirely. The PIP tuner still works, and the TV is fine from other inputs, so it's got to be a tuner problem.

The only fix I've found is to turn the TV off for several minutes, but tonight that's not solving the problem.

I've read of other Comcast customers here locally having problems with their set top boxes freezing and having to reboot. Could something like that be happening with my internal tuner?

I wish I could help you with your problem jc, but I don't have Comcast.

so now that the court approved the settlement for the lamp failures...has anyone actually got a replacement tv yet.......and/or does anyone know what tv panasonic will be replacing us with if we get 3 lamp failures?

Does anyone know if the warranty extension on the 50LC13 covers a stuck pixel? I've got a blue one in the bottom left of my screen that drives me nuts as it's in the black area of widescreen movies.

Also, is this one of the TVs that doesn't deinterlace 1080i properly? The PS3 that I'm using to watch blu-ray movies on only outputs the movies in 1080i.

Yes, all of Panny's 3LCD tv's toss out half of the 1080i signal, then upconvert 540p to 720p. It would be nice to deinterlace to 1080p internally then scale to 720p, but I guess expense and marketing kept out that technology.

Does anyone know if the warranty extension on the 50LC13 covers a stuck pixel? I've got a blue one in the bottom left of my screen that drives me nuts as it's in the black area of widescreen movies.


This isn't very authoritative, but the Tweeter tech who installed my first two replacement lamps (I'm on #4 now) told me that Panasonic wouldn't cover a single stuck pixel in any one quadrant of the screen. So theoretically, you could have FOUR stuck pixels (one in each corner) and they wouldn't cover it; you need to have two stuck in any one quadrant.

I've been hoping for a second stuck pixel in the upper left of my TV for about two years now.....

The reason I could not find the service menu stuff is because it is in this very thread.

Yes you can reset to default as well as adjust the VGA (RGB) inputs to fit correctly (THANK GOD)

To enter the service menu:
1. Turn on TV
2. After picture is displayed press Volume Down on TV and Recall on Remote for 5 secs.
3. Now you should see Work Mode
4. Press Vol Down on TV and Move on remote until Service Menu appears.
5. Do whatever you want
Note: Use the remote for everything. up/down (channel) to scroll the menu and Left and Right (volume) to change settings.
The last option on the menu resets service menu settings to default. Pressing the recall button allows you to back up.

To Fix the VGA position follow steps 1-5 then:
a. reset the postion/size to normal settings in regular user menu first (press action goto position, select normal) You can do this while in service menu)
6. Goto "Other" Menu
7. Set Opt Hposi and Opt VPosi to your settings.
a. For my Xbox 360 I used the 16:9 resolution pattern on AVIA to set mine
b. My opt Hposi was 02. It is now 0C
c. the opt Vposi was 0A. It is now 06
8. Its not perfect yet. Turn off TV to both save settings and exit service menu.
9. Turn on TV again and enter the user adjustment menu (Press Action on Remote)
10. Goto position/size menu and adjust the H Postion all the way to the right from center and place V Postion 1 block from center.
11. My picture is merely 1 block adjustment from perfectly centered now.
Here is why it is only 1 block:
I use the DVI port for my upconverting DVD Player. The Horiztontal adjustment is very limited on this port. One block. I adjusted horizontal and verticle both all the way to the left (1 block limit). Now I am only 1 measily block off on both VGA and DVI ports. Component was out of alignment now also. Just use the service menu to find a good position that allows you to use the user menu to set final alignment.

The options in the service menu are basic settings for ALL inputs combined. The regular user menu settings are specific to the input AND resolution. For alignment I used the 16:9 Anamorphic Resolution diagram on the AVIA Disc. The is allowed me to correct DVI (480p, 720p 1080i all separately), and the RGB (VGA) Inputs 1280x720 via Xbox 360. Due to the crappy copyright laws, I was only able to align 480i/480p on Component. To do 720p and 1080i I used the HDTV Calibrator that is played on weekends on INHD (Mojo?). I stored it on my DVR and aligned 720p and 1080i perfectly. Remember, even after editing the sevice menu was I able only able to get within 1 vertical line on DVI and RGB (VGA) inputs. Which isn't even remotely noticable. The default settings when I first got it were off more anyway.

These TV's have some red Push which can be editted out in the video menu. There are six menus and I am still playing around. Due to this I was finally able to figure out what the Matrix and RGB/DVI options were about. On the Avia disc is a Color Decoder Check. With this I was able to see the difference between SDTV and HDTV Matrixes. It only applies to 480p connections via Component, S-Video and Composite. Anyway, when set to HDTV, the 480p signal for red was too high at +15%, green and blue were too low at a -5%. Setting the Matrix to SDTV, resulted in Red being reduced to +10% too high and green and blue were perfect at 0%. Again, this has no effect at 720p or 1080i, only 480p, which I don't use anyway. If you use any of the RCA Analog interfaces at 480p, I recommend leaving it at SDTV as it will be the most accurate. The Setting Below it for RGB or DVI (depending on which connection you are viewing) allows you to set Auto, RGB or VGA. I saw no COLOR difference when changing this option, however, screen position did change I think only on 480p signals. Yet again, I don't use anything at 480p, so this has no impact for me.

Pressing the TV's Volume Down and PIP on the remote resets the lamp hours automaticaly (doh!)

Pressing the TV's Volume Down and Action button on the remote prepares the TV for shipment. It resets everything to default and forces Cable channel search on next startup. You must plug in an antenna or cable wire because the TV insists on scanning for channels and will not move forward if it can find no channels. Don't do this is my recommendation unless you want it back to the way it was when it left the factory. Luckily my cable provider still uses analog for the first few channels.

Not to hijack the thread or anything but are these LCD rear projection sets becoming obsolete?

The big retailers around here don't seem to be doing much in the way of advertising them anymore and the sites that used to sell them online don't seem to carry them anymore.

Only a small hadnfull of manufacturers are building 3LCD now. Sony is probably the largest with their Grand Wega Series. Epson only markets theirs overseas and Panasonic I just don't know about anymore. I saw in the newspaper a 55" 720p Sony GW is only a $1,000.00 less than their 60" 1080p SXRD (LCoS) set. The SXRD has a better scaler, adjustable IRIS and jsut plain better everything else.

3LCD is used in alot of Projectors, but I too haven't seen too many retailers stocking 3LCD RPTV's.

Only a small hadnfull of manufacturers are building 3LCD now. Sony is probably the largest with their Grand Wega Series. Epson only markets theirs overseas and Panasonic I just don't know about anymore. I saw in the newspaper a 55" 720p Sony GW is only a $1,000.00 less than their 60" 1080p SXRD (LCoS) set. The SXRD has a better scaler, adjustable IRIS and jsut plain better everything else.

3LCD is used in alot of Projectors, but I too haven't seen too many retailers stocking 3LCD RPTV's.

So is LCoS going to suffer the same fate as 3LCD? Personally I don't need a TV on the wall and I prefer to get bigger screen size for less money in exchange for being able to mount it.

I posted the orininal Pt40LC12 version of this.

The only things I have ever done is rid it of red push, which is done,
on the older set, by setting the R-Y, B-Y, and G-Y gains all equal
and the other setting for them ... I forget what they are called
and the post with them is currently hidden in the "archive" ... but
it would be "angle" or "tilt" or something like that ... all to 0. When you find the spot it is obvious ... the red is different. Also, I changed one
gamma by one to fix green dark areas. Other than that, I was too
chicken to mess with much, and what I tried never helped anyway.

Doug McDonald

Doug,

Anyway you can repost this? Or anyone else for that matter. I can't find anything due to archiving.

Doug,

Anyway you can repost this? Or anyone else for that matter. I can't find anything due to archiving.


What would you like to know? These "EXACT" settings aren't in the LC13/LC14 tv's. They are listed as something else. The LC13 has 6 menus to choose from.

Does anyone know if the warranty extension on the 50LC13 covers a stuck pixel? I've got a blue one in the bottom left of my screen that drives me nuts as it's in the black area of widescreen movies.

Also, is this one of the TVs that doesn't deinterlace 1080i properly? The PS3 that I'm using to watch blu-ray movies on only outputs the movies in 1080i.

Dave, the "extended warranty" that resulted from the class action suit is kind of confusing.

About three weeks ago our TV would no longer come on. I'm currently in Afghanistan, so I had to help my wife over the phone/internet to get her through it. I ordered a new bulb and had it sent to the house. After ordering the bulb I learned about the class action suit and the extended warranty.

The bulb arrived an my wife installed it, the TV would still not come on routinely (maybe 1 out of 50 times it would work). I started thinking it was the ballast, and after douing some searches on the internet with the symptoms and lights that were blinking (blinking amber light which the manual says means the bulb is not fully inserted, but as I discovered on the web, can also me the ballast has gone bad).

I gave my wife the class action lawsuit info and she contacte them. They explained that the extended warranty only covered the bulb and not the other parts, which is funny, becuase I have read here and elsewhere that the actual cause of the premature bulb failure was due to bad ballasts that over-powered the bulbs, shortening both the life of the bulbs and the life of the ballast.. in reality, the bulbs were never really a problem.

Anyway, the repair guy should get the new ballast in this week and instal it. It's gonna be about $350 for parts and labor, whch is much better than I thought it would be. We had the same company (Consumer Electronics, San Antonio) repair the set when it was just under the 1-year mark due to several stuck pixels. They replaced the light engine under warranty and did a great job. Unfortunately, this new light engine developed a stuck pixel about 4 months after the repair (as posted earlier in this thread).

So, this set which we'll have had for four years this fall will have had a new light engine, bulb and ballst - practically a new set save the optics and the "shell" that holds everything together. Out of my pocket will have been the $250 for the bulb and the $350 for the ballast repair. Oh, and the repair guy said the old bulb probably has some life left in it. My wife actually got the set to start with it in in once. He recommended keeping it as a spare for when the new one goes out - to buy time between it going out and ordering a new one.. it'll be our floater.

I honestly think that Panasonic made a real lemon in this set. I've been all over the world with the military and have seen RPTVs that have been abused, are coated with mud and dust, and still work. Most of these sets are 5-10 years old, and save for a little warping in some of the CRT versions, are functioning just fine. How can these sets made by Panasonic have so many problems? I think it's just this particular model, becuase I've seen plenty of Pannys among those "hardy" sets that I've seen, just never a PT50LC13... As a matter of fact, other than my PT50LC13, I've never seen another one in anyone elses home or business. They're probably all umpster fodder by now.

It's a real shame too. At the time they became available they seemed like a great deal for the money. The picture (for a 720p set) is great when it's working and - save for the headaches - I've really enjoyed the set, however, the headaches have been really annoying!

Hopefully, this latest repair will give the TV another 2-3 years of usefullness.

I now have 7752 hours on my original lamp after 45 months and 1887 turn ons.

Picture quality seems to have deteriorated with night scenes too dark under NORMAL setting. Changing to VIVID helps the dark scenes but makes bright scenes almost unwatchable.

Is this a sign the lamp will be blowing soon or is it something else? I have a CC warranty which will expire in November.

Dave, the "extended warranty" that resulted from the class action suit is kind of confusing.

About three weeks ago our TV would no longer come on. I'm currently in Afghanistan, so I had to help my wife over the phone/internet to get her through it. I ordered a new bulb and had it sent to the house. After ordering the bulb I learned about the class action suit and the extended warranty.

The bulb arrived an my wife installed it, the TV would still not come on routinely (maybe 1 out of 50 times it would work). I started thinking it was the ballast, and after douing some searches on the internet with the symptoms and lights that were blinking (blinking amber light which the manual says means the bulb is not fully inserted, but as I discovered on the web, can also me the ballast has gone bad).

I gave my wife the class action lawsuit info and she contacte them. They explained that the extended warranty only covered the bulb and not the other parts, which is funny, becuase I have read here and elsewhere that the actual cause of the premature bulb failure was due to bad ballasts that over-powered the bulbs, shortening both the life of the bulbs and the life of the ballast.. in reality, the bulbs were never really a problem.

Anyway, the repair guy should get the new ballast in this week and instal it. It's gonna be about $350 for parts and labor, whch is much better than I thought it would be. We had the same company (Consumer Electronics, San Antonio) repair the set when it was just under the 1-year mark due to several stuck pixels. They replaced the light engine under warranty and did a great job. Unfortunately, this new light engine developed a stuck pixel about 4 months after the repair (as posted earlier in this thread).

So, this set which we'll have had for four years this fall will have had a new light engine, bulb and ballst - practically a new set save the optics and the "shell" that holds everything together. Out of my pocket will have been the $250 for the bulb and the $350 for the ballast repair. Oh, and the repair guy said the old bulb probably has some life left in it. My wife actually got the set to start with it in in once. He recommended keeping it as a spare for when the new one goes out - to buy time between it going out and ordering a new one.. it'll be our floater.

I honestly think that Panasonic made a real lemon in this set. I've been all over the world with the military and have seen RPTVs that have been abused, are coated with mud and dust, and still work. Most of these sets are 5-10 years old, and save for a little warping in some of the CRT versions, are functioning just fine. How can these sets made by Panasonic have so many problems? I think it's just this particular model, becuase I've seen plenty of Pannys among those "hardy" sets that I've seen, just never a PT50LC13... As a matter of fact, other than my PT50LC13, I've never seen another one in anyone elses home or business. They're probably all umpster fodder by now.

It's a real shame too. At the time they became available they seemed like a great deal for the money. The picture (for a 720p set) is great when it's working and - save for the headaches - I've really enjoyed the set, however, the headaches have been really annoying!

Hopefully, this latest repair will give the TV another 2-3 years of usefullness.



any update since your last repair?

For what it's worth, I still continue to own a PT50LC13. I did have to change the bulb once, 2 years after I bought it, but it was under Circuit City warranty and I didn't have to pay a dime. It has not had any other problems and I continue to be a happy user...

It has been a good run but the end is near for mine. Panny paid for the first bulb replacement after about 2 years and 7k hours. About three months ago I started noticing a full screen green color that was intermittent. That eventually went away and was replaced by evenly spaced vertical gray bars that were also intermittent. Now the bars flash the color spectrum or skew the screen.

The local Panny repair place says it is a faulty projector which will cost $$$$ to repair. For only $$$ more, I could buy a new flat screen. We contacted Panasonic CS but the case is still "active". I will likely buy a flat screen from another manufacturer since my wife is not to keen about replacing a three year old TV with another Panasonic.

You should have gotten an extended warranty when you bought the TV. I have a 6yr extended warranty from Brandsmart.

This is an odd question I know. But I ordered a lamp for my pt50lc13 for a spare in case the lamp i'm using now fails. I always like to have a spare on hand b/c I hate waiting for them to send me one. Well I got my spare today took it out of the box and tested it and it worked fine but for the life of me I cant remember how to pack it back. Does anyone remember if the lamp if placed in the box with the bulb part face down or face up?

Thanks

Just got a message saying my air filter needs cleaned and my temp light started blinking to I turned off my TV. Consulted the manual and it says call for service. I have a 5yr extended warrany from this chain named BrandsMart USA but when I called them they said cleaning of air filters isnt covered. What a scam. So I did a google about the air filter and was able to locate it but the bottom one is impossible to clean b/c of it's location. Any advice or feedback here on what I should do would be appreciated. Otherwise I guess i'm gonna call a local Panny authorized repair center and have them come over and clean it for me.

Greg

I tried a few more custom resolutions.. they were hit and miss but I got a few to work. The one that seems to display the most of the image without being smaller than the screen is 1208x692 resolution. The horizontal fits and the vertical is only about a character shy both on top and on the bottom too.
1240x694 resolution also works, but still crops two and a half to three character's worth (measuring by default icon labels on windows desktop) all around the border of the screen.
1208x692 as compared to 1280x720 seems like I am losing a good amount of viewable screen space. I am still not writing off replacing the front cover sometime.
At least now I can see nearly a full desktop, and I can see the full horizontal limits (and nearly vertical) of dvd's and full-screen slideshows run off my pc.

Thanks again for inspiring me to try powerstip again mahodson. :D

What where all the settings you used for the resolution, like the scan and all that cause i cant get that resolution to work for the life of me.

Thanks.