Perfect settings for PV500 Model (or PX500 in US) are:

Mode: Auto
Contrast: 58,8%
bright: 44,1%
Color: 51,5%

Sharpness: 60-100% (60% with TV or RGB - 100% when HDMI)
3D Color M.: on
MPEG and P NR: off !!!

Recommended from "Video" - the biggies Video/TV Magazine in Europe (origin: Germany)

Note: for every source Pana save the settings separately. Once you made you perfect settings for Tuner, you will also have to ajusted, separately for all other sources. They will be autom. saved.

Perfect settings for PV500 Model (or PX500 in US) are:

Mode: Auto
Contrast: 58,8%
bright: 44,1%
Color: 51,5%

Scharpness: 60-100% (60% with TV or RGB - 100% when HDMI)
3D Color M.: on
MPEG and P NR: off !!!

Recommended from "Video" - the biggies Video/TV Magazine in Europe (origin: Germany)

Sharpness at 100%?! I feel compelled to offer an alternative view. On SD I've found around -18 to reduce noise and artifacts. Anything much higher produces a harsh, processed, and digital look to my eyes. On HD I keep sharpness even a bit lower as turning up sharpness just adds false edges and makes the picture look unaturally sharp to my eyes. Avia confirms my settings are in the ballpark. To each his own.

Also, your foriegn model apparently has different settings altogether - US models don't have "Auto" anymore.

The problem I have:
The best PQ is with Scart/RGB - sharp, vivid, perfect!
When i change to HDMI the whole Picture get "milky" (not so sharp) and not that vivid.
to optaine the same (or almost the same) PQ like on RGB, I must (MUST) put sharpness on max. (In Pana) and in DVD Player (Denon DVD-3910) Mid and hi sharpness on +4.

But maybe it's only me who have those "problems".

Taking delivery on a 50PX500 tomorrow; unit will be delivered inside. What do you suggest I do regarding inspection?

Do most people actually ask the delivery guys to unbox with you to check it out?

Assuming the box is in good condition with no dents, scrapes, etc. is that necessary? I really won't have time to play with it until later.

Do people hook it up to a video source before accepting it?

On a completely separate note, do people tip the delivery guys?

Thanks in advance.

Can anyone suggest a wall mount for a 50PX500. Mountsdirect.com suggested the SolidMounts UF60 which sounds fine and advertises that its less than 1 inch from the wall, but I'm worried that the 'bulge' in the PX500 will cause a problem.

Thanks.

Taking delivery on a 50PX500 tomorrow; unit will be delivered inside. What do you suggest I do regarding inspection?

Do most people actually ask the delivery guys to unbox with you to check it out?

Assuming the box is in good condition with no dents, scrapes, etc. is that necessary? I really won't have time to play with it until later.

Do people hook it up to a video source before accepting it?

On a completely separate note, do people tip the delivery guys?

Thanks in advance.When your PDP arrives, if the box looks like this:

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/damaged.JPG

I recommend you refuse to accept the delivery, however if it arrives in this condition:

http://home.nycap.rr.com/nessus/DSC00761.JPG

accept it, then set it up and test it's performance when convenient. I'm assuming there must be some sort of operation guarantee/return policy associated with this item.

After spending more than $5000 at CC, I was not inclined to tip the delivery people.

Can anyone suggest a wall mount for a 50PX500. Mountsdirect.com suggested the SolidMounts UF60 which sounds fine and advertises that its less than 1 inch from the wall, but I'm worried that the 'bulge' in the PX500 will cause a problem.

Thanks.

I had to put a 3/4 wood spacer between the wall and the mount to get enough clearance
for the bulge. I increased the lag bolt length by an inch as well.

Greg

It’s here! My TH-42PX500U finally arrived on Thursday last week, so I’ve had enough time to form my impressions and throw together a (not so) mini-review. I previously owned the 6th gen TH-42PD25U Panny ED plasma so some of my comments involve comparisons between these two sets.

The unit was shipped via Pilot Air and the box arrived in excellent condition. Previous packaging concerns seem unwarranted. The set is very well protected with plastic cling and Styrofoam in a box with plenty of “elbow room”.

My Setup:
Scientific Atlanta CableCard from TWC
SA 8300HD DVR connected via component and HDMI – more on this below
Panasonic S77 DVD via HDMI at 720p
Onkyo 6.1 HTiB

Okay, on with the dirt!

The Good:
1. Picture quality on HD is absolutely breathtaking. The PQ on the PX500 is a sizable step up from my PD25 – and I was always impressed by that ED set. Colors are richer, more vibrant, shadow detail is much improved with the additional grayscale, false contouring is very nearly MIA. As one of many who felt HD and ED were comparable at around 10’, I must say that with this in my home, the picture on the HD set has depth and dimensionality that the ED couldn’t achieve at 10’ This is truly a “looking out the window” experience on HD that my ED set couldn’t deliver with it’s more limited color palette and resolution.. On HD, this set just feels 3D. The additional resolution is most noticeable in people’s eyes and on text which is crisper. I also like how the new 8th gen glass doesn’t have a deep purple tint like the 6th gen glass. Instead, it is a natural looking dark gray. While I acknowledge sets typically look most impressive in the calibrated home environment, I must say this is the most spectacular HD PQ I’ve seen on any display.

2. Minimal overscan. Though it’s disappointing to see that overscan doesn’t appear to be adjustable via the SM like the old units, the new units are shipping with very minimal overscan of around 2.5%.

3. TV Guide pulled in my programming data in only 12 hours. Works as expected and is very handy. Search is a nice touch for finding shows. A few annoyances are covered below under “The bad”.

4. Excellent on screen info display. The set now displays the picture setting, aspect, resolution, show name, rating, channel, call letters, and time when info key is pressed regardless of input. The show name is particularly handy and it is a pleasant surprise to see this integration with the TV Guide.

5. Upgraded speakers – I admittedly wasn’t as impressed by these as I hoped. They still sound pretty thin and lack any low end reproduction, but they are strong and clear in the mids and highs. I placed them in the “good” list since they are a notable step up from the speakers on the PX50/PD50 models. However, these sound very similar to the speakers on my PD25. Their stealth placement keeps the front of the panel very sleek looking and the BBE adds a nice dimensionality to the sound. The 3D surround does a fairly convincing job of faking a surround effect though it’s still painfully clear to me that a few small speakers are doing all the work and the lower frequencies are MIA.

6. Excellent SD PQ. As a former ED owner, this one shocked me. SD PQ via CC is actually slightly better on this HD panel than my ED! For those who aren’t pleased, check your brightness and sharpness settings. IMHO, these are the two most essential tweaks for SD PQ. Sharpness in particular is far too high from the factory. At first I noticed some digital noise around logos on the factory settings, but notching back sharpness to -20 produces a smooth, noise free image that bests both my old ED pdp and my 32” SD CRT Toshiba.

Processing and noise reduction appear to have improved on the new gen as well – I watch NBC Nightly News every day at 5:30 and noise on red areas – particularly horizontal lines in their graphics - was formerly an annoying problem. This is no longer the case. SD is noise free and vibrant. Red push that plagued my PD25 also appears reduced though I’ve yet to check Avia to confirm. The larger grayscale/color palette on the 8th gen panels has really smoothed out SD and virtually eliminated the false contouring that was a problem on previous generations. The additional resolution paired with its good scalar actually make SD look smoother and clearer than the ED it replaced.

7. Adjustable zoom control is handy on various aspect ratio movies (to avoid burn-in if you’re concerned), though it’s a bit annoying the adjustment is buried in a menu.

8. Formerly called “Auto” and a separate picture setting, the contrast automatic tracking system (C.A.T.S) is now available on all picture settings. Enabling CATS automatically adjusts screen contrast based on ambient room light.

9. Silent and runs very cool. My PD25 would get quite warm after an hour or so and I could actually feel my small living room was warmer than the rest of the house after watching a movie. The PX500 feels nearly cool to the touch after hours of viewing. In addition, it produces virtually no noise at all. Even muted I can’t detect any noise unless my head is behind the panel. In fact, this is the first set I’ve seen that makes no click or noises of any kind when powered on – the only way you can tell it has been powered on is the LED.

10. The larger bezel and taller frame actually make the screen feel bigger than other 42's. Admittedly, this may be a negative to some who prefer thin bezels, but the black glossy bezel is attractive and not distracting during viewing so the extra heft of the unit doesn't detract from the viewing experience to my eyes.

The Bad:
1. As outlined in the manual, picture by picture requires an external input even though the set has both an NTSC and ATSC tuner. There is no setting to display the two pictures side by side full screen like last years PD25. In the standard PBP mode where both images are of equal size, each window is rather small and I find it frustrating to waste so much screen real estate. Therefore, there are always gray/black (depending on sidebar settings) on at least part of the screen. But thankfully, there are 2 different PBP modes, the second of which is basically a PIP setup with dedicated real estate down the right hand side. At first I was frustrated that this second image isn't placed over the other content like a typical PIP setup or zoomed to fill the screen, but I’ve realized it is nice that both shows can be fully seen at the same time - no content is cut off or masked with this setup. The PD25 series could display two shows full screen side by side by cropping the edges and utilized dual NTSC tuners so no additional tuners were required. Some may find this new setup more useful, depends on your habits. Admittedly, the PBP mode is growing on me, but the lack of PIP is a disappointment at this price point. Thankfully, my 8300HD provides this so it’s no biggie for me.

2. I have a number of issues with the TV guide. It doesn’t order the channels automatically and appears to have no settings to do so. You can do so manually but it is VERY time-consuming and moving one channel up to it’s proper place bumps others you moved to the correct position down another spot. I would hope a firmware upgrade would resolve this down the road. I wonder if other units with this feature have the same issue. I know Samsungs have been flakey on even pulling in the program info so I suppose we have some things to celebrate here.

Also, the built-in TV Guide remains the same torch level brightness regardless of picture settings. For someone who uses this feature often, burn-in could be a concern in the long term. In a dark room, it’s painfully bright.

3. The first adjustment in the picture settings menu sets all adjustments back to default. Why Panny decided to put this rarely used feature on the first page where it can be easily toggled accidentally is beyond me. I’ve already accidentally cleared my settings twice. This should be buried on the last page or the bottom of the menu like the previous generation.

4. Very limited picture adjustment options on VGA PC input. Only contrast and brightness can be adjusted. This produces a PC desktop with absolutely “cartoonish” levels of saturation. I’m experimenting with color profiles in Powerstrip but all I really need is a color saturation adjustment and neither Powerstrip nor my video card offers this. My former PD25 PC input had all the same picture adjustments as other inputs. Without these adjustments results from the VGA input are far too garish to view pictures or surf the net without eye strain. However, the extra resolution and subpixel control do produce nicely readable text at 1024x728 from 10’. This is a great step up from my ED which could only produce readable content from this distance in 720x480.

5. As others have reported, the PX500 appears to read the broadcast flag on CC output and disable the optical audio output on certain copy protected ATSC content. This is absolutely maddening. INHD and HDNET cannot be enjoyed in DD5.1 due to this asinine policy. It’s hard to say where to point fingers at this point – Panny, Scientific Atlanta’s card, or TWC content or head end. I would suspect all new units with CC would perform similarly but I plan to pursue a solution.

I am able to get DD5.1 from my STB when utilizing its optical audio output, but only when HDMI isn’t connected. So, in effect, the only way to consistently view content in DD5.1 is from a STB connected via component and an optical audio cable rather than HDMI. Am I missing something here or is this really the current sad state of affairs? Component looks slightly softer than both HDMI and CC so I’m not happy with this option. The only vague reference I can find to this issue in the manual is this “Depending on your DVD player and DVD-Audio software the copyright protection function may operate and disable optical output.” But we’re not talking DVD here. I know others complained of optical output disabling earlier – anyone get anywhere on this issue or have suggestions?

6. Labeling an input replaces any reference to the input’s physical name in the on-screen menu. So, for example, if you rename HDMI to DVD, the on screen display only shows “DVD” as the input, not both HDMI and DVD. I preferred the old setup that listed both the physical connection name and the “alias”.

7. As a top of the line Viera model, the PX500 has a number of features missing compared to last year’s ED model:
• Full screen picture by picture – though the new setup is more robust in some ways.
• PIP. No dual tuner support either.
• Freeze screen
• Aforementioned picture adjustments on PC input

I have a couple of other gripes like no per input picture memory and only 1 HDMI but I knew this going in and accepted these limitations as a small price to pay for such impressive PQ at this price point. In the end, the “bad” list above consists of primarily minor complaints. I certainly have no regrets and can wholeheartedly recommend this panel to anyone who is willing to accept its generally minor feature limitations in exchange for what is arguably the current pinnacle of PQ in this size.

The new setup:
http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/PX500/images/img_4548.jpg

I just purchased this mount, curious if anyone has an problems with it because of the bottom bulge on the Plasma

http://www.mountsdirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=53

It’s here! My TH-42PX500U finally arrived . . . . . .

3. The first adjustment in the picture settings menu sets all adjustments back to default. Why Panny decided to put this rarely used feature on the first page where it can be easily toggled accidentally is beyond me. I’ve already accidentally cleared my settings twice. This should be buried on the last page or the bottom of the menu like the previous generation.

Hah, i thought the same exact thing when i was first adjusting the settings on my 42PX50U - just when i thought it had it looking good i inadvertently selected the NORMAL setting and it wiped out all my hard work. Twice ! So after the 2nd time i wrote all my settings down for each input and it came in handy because i ended up hitting NORMAL again a few times since. Why couldn't Panasonic name this function DEFAULT or DANGER or sumthing. I suggest everybody with a new consumer Panny write down all of their settings in case you ever hit the NORMAL icon. It really pissed me off when i did this.

It's kinda ironic that the bezel of your new PX500U looks freakishly like the custom acrylic black bezel you made for your 42PD25U a few months ago :D

My Setup:

Scientific Atlanta CableCard from TWC
SA 8300HD DVR connected via component and HDMI – more on this below
Panasonic S77 DVD via HDMI at 720p
Onkyo 6.1 HTiB

Picture quality on HD is absolutely breathtaking. Another happy CableCARD user... ;) and the royalties flow to the OpMiester... :) oops did I just let that Cat out??? :eek: (never mind)

As others have reported, the PX500 appears to read the broadcast flag on CC output and disable the optical audio output on certain copy protected ATSC content. This is absolutely maddening. INHD and HDNET cannot be enjoyed in DD5.1 due to this asinine policy. It’s hard to say where to point fingers at this point – Panny, Scientific Atlanta’s card, or TWC content or head end. I would suspect all new units with CC would perform similarly but I plan to pursue a solution. Sucks BIG-time... but at least you've confirmed what I already know.

I am able to get DD5.1 from my STB when utilizing its optical audio output, but only when HDMI isn’t connected. So, in effect, the only way to consistently view content in DD5.1 is from a STB connected via component and an optical audio cable rather than HDMI. Am I missing something here or is this really the current sad state of affairs? Component looks slightly softer than both HDMI and CC so I’m not happy with this option. The only vague reference I can find to this issue in the manual is this “Depending on your DVD player and DVD-Audio software the copyright protection function may operate and disable optical output.” But we’re not talking DVD here. I know others complained of optical output disabling earlier – anyone get anywhere on this issue or have suggestions? Your Onkyo receiver may have (3) (2 optical / 1 coax) digital inputs; which in theory could support direct connections from your TV/STB/DVD player. The SA 8300s support either HDMI or Dolby Digital sound output (but not both at the same time, which makes sense because if using the DD 6.1 receiver you don’t need your TVs speakers), which is selectable on the 2nd menu, options settings from your SA remote.

Housecor, that's a very purdy setup. Like that cabinet.

Here's something that has me stumped with my PX50U. So far all my HD reception is off-air, and it looks like that will remain so for a while. Fortunately for reception I live high in the hills and my rooftop antenna can reach out and pick up a great many HD channels. Unfortunately, the channels come from all different directions. Now, it appears that I can manually add/delete all the analog channels I want, but I haven't found any way of adding digital channels except by initiating an automatic channel scan. So when I scan channels to the South, my directional antenna attenuates the signals from the North so much that the tv doesn't see them and doesn't add them to the scanned channels. This prevents me from tuning the northern (and eastern and western) channels either by using the up-channel on the remote's tuning/volume disc or by inputting the channel manually.

When I aim the antenna to the North, the opposite happens, and I lose many of the southern channels. Etc. No matter how I nudge the antenna direction, I can't find a place that will cause the automatic scan to register all the digital channels I want to receive. It's a pain to have to re-scan just to receive an HD channel from the Northwest, and then re-scan again to receive a different channel from the South.

I can see from the discussion of CC's and STB's here that not many of you are concerned with OTA reception, but if anyone has discovered a method of manually entering digital channels you would make this geezer happier. Thanks a bunch. JK

Another happy CableCARD user... ;) and the royalties flow to the OpMiester... :) oops did I just let that Cat out??? :eek: (never mind)



If the CC frenzy continues, you'll be able to retire in 5 years instead of 7 :)

Also, just an FYI for anyone looking for relatively inexpensive on-wall thin plasma speakers. Athena Technologies WS-60 are only 4" deep, 4" wide and about 2 feet in length. They have a black fabric cover with silver (aluminum) body. They seem to match the PX50U quite well and can hang on the wall in a L/C/R arrangement. Price is < $200 per speaker, available at Best Buy. I'll take some pictures once I get them installed. I haven't checked out how they sound yet either.

Can someone post their best 42" 500U settings?
I have mine at VIVID (this is all via pc input)
Picture +25
Brightness +2
Sharpness +25
and color temp normal

Other settings:
VNR on
Mpeg NR off

Just want to milk the best picture I possibly can from this model.

Thanks, Mo!

I can tell you right away that vivid is probably not a good setting for color reproduction.

If the CC frenzy continues, you'll be able to retire in 5 years instead of 7 :)Perhaps as soon as three... after my 2-way CCs come out! :)

I just purchased this mount, curious if anyone has an problems with it because of the bottom bulge on the Plasma

http://www.mountsdirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=53


tinytool - i'm going to be purchasing that mount as well, the solidmounts UF 60. gmardsman a couple of posts before yours indicated that he put in a piece of wood between the mount and the wall. I think that is going to be necessary. If the mount is only 1 inch deep, the bulge definitely sticks out beyond that. Not sure I'm thrilled about that solution.

PX500 Plastic Film

Just wanted some input on the Plastic Film. I know there are horozontal plastic film strips on the top and bottom of the unit, and I think people have posted that there is a vertical film over the outside bezel on the sides. Some posters have said their appears to be one on the inside over the speakers. Has that been confirmed? Should I be trying to remove something there?

Can anyone confirm whether the new Pannies pass DD5.1 out of their optical audio out when fed audio via HDMI?

I've had no luck thus far as all my reciever sees is 2 channels being passed from my Panny, but would like to confirm I'm not the only one.

Can anyone confirm whether the new Pannies pass DD5.1 out of their optical audio out when fed audio via HDMI?

I've had no luck thus far as all my reciever sees is 2 channels being passed from my Panny, but would like to confirm I'm not the only one.


Yes it does!

I can ajuste on my DVD Player 2CH or MuliCH (is that it?)
Both ways go! If your DVD has a DTS Sound, you can hear it also over HDMI.

Josh

Jacx, I can't really help with your problem, other than to agree that the tuner functionality on these Panasonics should be more flexible. There needs to be a way to manually add individual channels. In addition I wish you could switch from CABLE mode to ANTENNA mode and vice versa without doing a channel rescan. There should also be two RF inputs on equipment of this caliber. It's like Panasonic had no idea that people might want a combined cable/OTA setup. (and using my VCR as a cable tuner does not work nearly as well as the Panasonic tuner)

A couple questions:

For those of you with a 42px50u and using a SA8300 HD DVR connected via HDMI, are you able to control the volume with the remote from the DVR? I have Cablevision mind and it's pretty annoying to have to always have to go back and forth from one remote to the other.


On another note has anyone found a place to get good entertainment centers at a decent price? I like what terminated put together for himself it would be nice to find something like that. I checked Salamander Designs.com and they had some nice stuff but a little pricey for me.


Thanks

Jacx, I can't really help with your problem, other than to agree that the tuner functionality on these Panasonics should be more flexible...

The channel handling on my 42PD50 is very clunky. I don't know of a way to manually add new channels either. As far as I can tell, you only get to delete/re-add from whatever the scanning finds to begin with.

I use analog cable and get digital channels via QAM. For me, the digital channels are very quirky. A couple of channels were misidentified in the label and channel. There are a couple of digital channels I can't remove from the list. The channel up/down will get stuck on some digital channels, tune to digital channels that are deleted, and not get to other digital channels at all.

My workaround is to just put what I want on the Favorites list and select them from there. Once I get the Favorites set up with everthing we watch, I'll switch the channel scan to that.

While I'm griping, has anyone else had the sound go out when switching channels? Once in a while when changing channels, the video is tuned but no sound. Switching to another channel or two and back will bring it back. This has happened even switching between analog channels, so I don't think it's related to digital/QAM issues.

Both the digital channel handling and sound tuning are annoying, but I can live with them. If these are general problems, I hope there will be a firmware update someday to fix them.

afa3, on my PD50, there have been one or two times when I've temporarily lost audio output from the AUDIO OUT jacks when changing channels, but I've never had the set's speakers themselves go quiet. However when switching from analog channels to a HDTV channel the closed captioning often turns itself on--figure that one out.

The channel scan has done a few odd things for me as well; it won't pick up the local FOX or PBS over QAM, but other networks come in OK. And I get duplicates of seemingly identical channels (where the same channel shows up multiple times).

I hope these are fixable glitches, and if so I also hope somebody is working on a firmware update (assuming it's updatable).

Can anyone recommend a good surge protector/conditioner for the 500u. I have considered the monster ht700. It sells for around 80 dollars. I just cant see spending 300 or 400 dollars that some stores are trying to push on me, or am I just ignorant about the importatance of surge protection.

Number_6 - sounds like we're seeing the same things. I'm using Audio Out, not the speakers. Always comes right back after another channel change or two. I also saw the closed-captioning come on once for no reason (pretty hard to do by accident, since it's buried in the menus).

I don't know if these are fixable. I thought I'd wait a few months and then check with Panasonic service.

Can anyone recommend a good surge protector/conditioner for the 500u. I have considered the monster ht700. It sells for around 80 dollars. I just cant see spending 300 or 400 dollars that some stores are trying to push on me, or am I just ignorant about the importatance of surge protection.

I'm using an APC ES 650 UPS/Surge Projector that i got at CC for about $80. Everything i've read gave it good reviews. It has 4 battery receptacles which i use for my two DVRs, my PC, and my cordless phone. The other four receptacles are surge-protected and i have my Plasma plugged into one of these.

I don't believe that the HDMI or PC input on the PX500 can be displayed in a split screen. If you hook up your DVR via component input, you can view both sources in split screen though.

i thought housecor confirmed that it did work?

the panny manual is a bit misleading:

"Split function is not available when HDMI input and PC input is displayed. HDMI signal and PC input cannot be displayed in Split frame."

I take that to mean you can't do HDMI and PC split screen....but HDMI with anything else will work. If it read -

Split function is not available when HDMI input OR PC input is displayed. HDMI signal OR PC input cannot be displayed in Split frame.

- then i would think...ok....you can't use HDMI or PC when doing split screen ever....which is stupid! i don't understand the rational for panny to limit this display like that given the price!

On another note has anyone found a place to get good entertainment centers at a decent price? I like what terminated put together for himself it would be nice to find something like that. I checked Salamander Designs.com and they had some nice stuff but a little pricey for me.

Try http://www.racksandstands.com/ for a fairly large selection.

Rich

Can anyone confirm whether the new Pannies pass DD5.1 out of their optical audio out when fed audio via HDMI?

I've had no luck thus far as all my reciever sees is 2 channels being passed from my Panny, but would like to confirm I'm not the only one.


Is this a feature of HDCP (content protection)? If it is I will be really turned off by this setup. I was hoping to have a CC (hopefully in a 500u) and pass the audio back to my receiver via the optical out. I would also keep my Comcast STB. I would be surprised if the Pannies cut off the optical out or downgrade the signal based on a content broadcast flag. Has anyone been able to reproduce this?

Bob,

There is a lot of information on AVSF and ecoustics.com regarding CableCARDs and CCI (copy control information) flags that do indeed disable the Panasonic PX50/500Us optical digital audio out interface whenever the CCI byte value is set to "copy never."

This is a:

"BIG PAIN IN THE ASS"

where legitimate "subscribers" of digital cable are being "punished" / shortchanged for God knows what reason(s)? :mad:

BTW... I don't use an STB anymore, but I would not be surprised if the CCI flags are passed through the HDMI interface to disable the Panasonic's optical audio out. I believe the same principal applies for any uncompressed digital input a.k.a. HDMI.

Wow!!!

It sounds as if I will be going back to the drawing board. Thank you optivity and Cory for bringing this to my attention. Has anyone called Panny to the floor on this issue? I guessing that I will wait till the industry shakes out a little more. I am not going to shell out this kind of $$ for a plasma with this restriction in place.

Right now, in my particular case, Albany Time Warner --> Scientific Atlanta --> Panasonic are each involved in the "finger pointing" game. Just like trying to achieve a superior digital/audio experience... obtaining "quality" support from these organizations is problematic. :rolleyes:

Hey guys, I new to this and a new owner of a 42PD50U, I have had it for 3 days so far and very impressed with the TV. I just want to make sure after reading almost 3000 posts :cool: that I treat the Tv right.

First off, run the TV in zoom mode so that it fills the screen, so there is no black lines.
2) don't run in vivid mode for the first 300 hr's
3) is there anything else I am forgetting???

Also, while playing DVD's (they are WS versions) they all seem to have the bars on the top and bottom..other then if I use zoom on the TV..is that right? Zoom looks a bit stretched so I am not watching it that way. I always thought that with a 16:9 TV and widescreen movie it should fill the screen?? Should I zoom on the DVD player instead and leave the Tv on just or full mode?

Anyway any help or anything else that I left out that would be helpfull would be great.
thanks

Hey guys, I new to this and a new owner of a 42PD50U, I have had it for 3 days so far and very impressed with the TV. I just want to make sure after reading almost 3000 posts :cool: that I treat the Tv right.

First off, run the TV in zoom mode so that it fills the screen, so there is no black lines.
Correct

2) don't run in vivid mode for the first 300 hr'sActually, for best picture quality, most would recommend never running in vivid mode, but rather standard or cinema and calibrating the display with Digital Video Essentials or Avia DVD. At first it may look too dim if you've been accustomed to vivid, but trust me, after viewing the screen properly calibrated, Vivid will look very wrong to you.
Also, while playing DVD's (they are WS versions) they all seem to have the bars on the top and bottom..other then if I use zoom on the TV..is that right? Zoom looks a bit stretched so I am not watching it that way. I always thought that with a 16:9 TV and widescreen movie it should fill the screen?? Should I zoom on the DVD player instead and leave the Tv on just or full mode? 16:9 is a 1.85:1 ratio, which is the standard for HDTV broadcasts, but films often use other ratios, most oftem 2.35:1, which will display with thin letterboxing. The Panny plasma's zoom function only allows you to adjust the vertical dimension, so its not a true 'zoom', but rather a vertical stretch. So you will need to do the zooming in your DVD player if you do not want a distorted picture.

Correct

Actually, for best picture quality, most would recommend never running in vivid mode, but rather standard or cinema and calibrating the display with Digital Video Essentials or Avia DVD. At first it may look too dim if you've been accustomed to vivid, but trust me, after viewing the screen properly calibrated, Vivid will look very wrong to you.
16:9 is a 1.85:1 ratio, which is the standard for HDTV broadcasts, but films often use other ratios, most oftem 2.35:1, which will display with thin letterboxing. The Panny plasma's zoom function only allows you to adjust the vertical dimension, so its not a true 'zoom', but rather a vertical stretch. So you will need to do the zooming in your DVD player if you do not want a distorted picture.

Sorry for asking because I am new to this but what is and how do I use the Digital Video Essentials or Avia DVD? and where do i get them?

Originally Posted by housecor
It’s here! My TH-42PX500U finally arrived . . . . . .

...3. The first adjustment in the picture settings menu sets all adjustments back to default. Why Panny decided to put this rarely used feature on the first page where it can be easily toggled accidentally is beyond me. I’ve already accidentally cleared my settings twice. This should be buried on the last page or the bottom of the menu like the previous generation...

Interesting that you and RandyWalters saw this as a negative. When I read the 50 manual a few months ago, I was wishing my 42PD25/U worked that way, as I revert to factory settings most of the time and don't like digging down the menu to reset. No way to please everyone, I guess! :)

Anyway, thanks for the review. I found it quite informative.

(Now if you'd share how you convinced Panasonic to make the trade-up... ;) )

Okay folks, I love my new Panasonic plasma (42PX500U), but the lack of individual settings for each input is inexcusable in a product that's north of $3,000. I am a software engineer involved in some pretty heavy stuff and I can't imagine this simple, basic functionality taking more than a couple of days to implement. I'll do it for free!

In all honesty, if I were in the market again for a plasma TV right now, I would not go with one of the consumer Pannies specifically for this reason. One of the reasons I went with what I did was because of the PC input. It's pretty much unusable because there are so few adjustments to the PC input that I'm afraid the hot colors will burn a hole in my screen.

If I ever add a fourth input, I'm going to have to share one of the measly three settings (vivid, standard, cinema) between two inputs

What do you guys think? Am I being unreasonable? Am I underestimating the complexity of the task?

Come on Panasonic! Take a day or two and get this done.

I just purchased a new 42PX50U and would like to know what some peoples settings are.

I am color deficient and need help in setting my new plasma up so family and freind do not come over and think that I got ripped off. :)

I have a Sony GWII and UMR's tweaks helped me greatly going into the picyure menu and service menu.

I looked at Bruzzis site but apparently there is no such information for Panasonic plasma 37/42/50 PX units.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

TIA

Okay folks, I love my new Panasonic plasma (42PX500U), but the lack of individual settings for each input is inexcusable in a product that's north of $3,000.

What do you guys think? Am I being unreasonable? Am I underestimating the complexity of the task?

Come on Panasonic! Take a day or two and get this done.

I almost did not buy the PD50U for the exact same reason. Luckily, I am only using two inputs (DVD and SA8300HD) and the same standard setting works for both these inputs.

Still, no per input setting memory is a huge oversite on pannys part. Also, no overscan adjustment - blah!


JCPZero

Sorry for asking because I am new to this but what is and how do I use the Digital Video Essentials or Avia DVD? and where do i get them?

I haven't used DVE, but I have Avia and it has pretty good instructions on the disc for the basic set up (contrast, brightness, color saturation, tint, sharpness). There are however a whole slew of advanced patterns that they don't say anything about. But the basic setup alone is definitely worthwhile. There is also a whole section on setting up your audio system. One thing to remember when they talk about blooming, that is for CRTs not digital sets. You can get both from Amazon and probably Ebay. Enjoy. :)

Sorry for asking because I am new to this but what is and how do I use the Digital Video Essentials or Avia DVD? and where do i get them?DeepDiscountDVD.com (http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=VMG010712) is a good site, but any online site which sells DVDs should carry them. Avia costs more, but has more patterns and has a more easily navigated chapter/menu structure. I have DVE, because I am cheap, but it does the job. Basically the discs consist of a set of test patterns with instructions to adjust your settings until the pattern looks correct. There are test patterns for adjusting brightness, contrast, color, sharpness, overscan, etc. Its not hard, but it does take a little time to tweak the settings. But the results are well worth it.

Does anyone know if the panasonic 42" 500u model has any pulldown (3:2)?

If not is this important?

I still have some time to take it back and return it,
any thoughts, or any better plasmas out there in this price range (3500)
for 42"? (has to have pc input)


Thanks

MO!

Okay folks, I love my new Panasonic plasma (42PX500U), but the lack of individual settings for each input is inexcusable in a product that's north of $3,000.

If I ever add a fourth input, I'm going to have to share one of the measly three settings (vivid, standard, cinema) between two inputs
If your playback devices are that far off each-other, at least one is broken or mis-designed. For example, there's a lot of talk here about 0 vs. 7.5 IRE for black levels. Those are voltage levels, I believe, and standardized. That's one benefit of "digital".

And then Panny has to deal with complexity and supporting U.S. consumers. Sad-but-true, some Japanese products are never released here due to support costs, while they are released in Japan because consumers have different expectations. Give users five inputs and some will get confused.

So...
There's no need if you have quality playback devices
Too many would cost them beyond just the software/memory increment due to support.

IMHO - Panny deliberately doesn't offer per input memory on their consumer sets out of concern of confusing consumers. Commercial units offer this feature so I doubt it's a price issue.

And to some degree I agree w/ you Technocat - I've found my settings vary primarily based on whether the input is HD or SD so 2 settings are generally sufficient for me, but I would still certainly appreciate per input memory for that final minor tweaking. I've found black level (brightness) and saturation require the biggest changes between SD and HD settings. SD requires lower brightness and higher saturation generally speaking, in addition to lower sharpness to help hide artifacts and noise.

Does anyone know if the panasonic 42" 500u model has any pulldown (3:2)?

If not is this important?

I still have some time to take it back and return it,
any thoughts, or any better plasmas out there in this price range (3500)
for 42"? (has to have pc input)


Thanks

MO!

Yes, the PX500 has 3:2 pulldown. See Vanns, which is well respected and an authorized dealer for confirmation and explanation: http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/463496142

IMHO - You have the best option at that price point. The Pio 43" is the only other panel I'd recommend in that price range. Most others are plagued by either image retention, noise, or poor black levels. Pick up about any other competitors and I'm willing to bet you'll realize why Panny has such a following in pdp's.

IMHO - Panny deliberately doesn't offer per input memory on their consumer sets out of concern of confusing consumers. Commercial units offer this feature so I doubt it's a price issue.

And to some degree I agree w/ you Technocat - I've found my settings vary primarily based on whether the input is HD or SD so 2 settings are generally sufficient for me, but I would still certainly appreciate per input memory for that final minor tweaking. I've found black level (brightness) and saturation require the biggest changes between SD and HD settings. SD requires lower brightness and higher saturation generally speaking, in addition to lower sharpness to help hide artifacts and noise.

I think by not having individual input memory that actually is more confusing as we have to spend so much time trying to find just the right combination of color/tint/sharpness/temperature settings to work within a particular picture mode (Vivid, Standard, Cinema) and ultimately end up having to compromise on one device or another. I think the absense of input memory is the biggest shortcoming on the consumer models, but i was pretty sure that i'd be able to work around it since i had to do the same thing with the Panny tube TV i had before.

The settings and modes i use for SD sources (SD DVR, VCR) are completely different than the ones i use for my HD DVR and DVD player. I would love to be able to use Standard mode for everything, but i ultimately had to set up a Vivid mode for HD and DVD and a Standard mode for SD. When i spend this much on a TV i would like to not have to compromise on my fine tuned settings.

IMHO - Panny deliberately doesn't offer per input memory on their consumer sets out of concern of confusing consumers. Commercial units offer this feature so I doubt it's a price issue...
I think by not having individual input memory that actually is more confusing as we have to spend so much time trying to find just the right combination of color/tint/sharpness/temperature settings to work within a particular picture mode (Vivid, Standard, Cinema) and ultimately end up having to compromise on one device or another.
...If your playback devices are that far off each-other, at least one is broken or mis-designed...
I'm sure housecor is right.

RandyWalters point is well taken for AVS types, but 99% of of Panasonic's customers probably have never heard of AVS, and it's a safe guess the overwhelming majority of them are unconcerned about custom settings for each input.

I can't totally agree with TechnoCat's point, though, at least in practical terms. External device quality is often beyond our control. The most commonly used input devices for most of us are cable boxes or satellite receivers. There is little we can do about the quality of these, although the real culprit is more likely the signal they receive than the STB itself. (Maybe CableCard helps, but not for satellite or cable DVR users.)

My most commonly used signals come from OTA HD, OTA digital SD, D* SD, DVD, and Laserdisc. Each requires a different setting. On D*, I even use different settings for different channels. I solve my problem with an iScan Ultra, but lack of input memory on the set itself would have been very frustrating if I hadn't invested in a processor.

By the way, my DVD and Laserdisc settings were calibrated by DVE and VE respectively. DVD runs "flat" on Panasonic's factory settings, while Laserdisc requires several adjustments.

An easy and inexpensive solution, I would think, would be to have an "Advanced" menu built into the TV. The defaults would remain as they are, but those who were so inclined could find a way to change them if they wished.

Guys I have a quick question, I was asking about the bars on the top and bottom of the screen before and since my Tv is new I was told not to watch it like that, which is fine, but I was also told to "zoom" it using the dvd rather then the TV and that will fill up the screen, well if I zoom the DVD, it goes 2X and the picture looks retarded, if I zoom on the TV it's not bad but you can tell the the faces are stretched up and down..what am I doing wrong? are all wide screen DVD's played with a bar on the top and bottom even on a 16:9 TV??

IMHO - Panny deliberately doesn't offer per input memory on their consumer sets out of concern of confusing consumers. Commercial units offer this feature so I doubt it's a price issue.


As I already said, PV500 (and yes it is a commercial model - looks the same as PX500) has a individual memory for each input.

Price (here in Europe) 3700€ and street price 2600-2900€

Josh

Got my 50PX500U yesterday and so far I am very happy. Picture looks great even with SD and the "JUST" mode doesn't make the stretching too crazy.

I have 2 problems :

My building has a cable system where all the channels are already included without the need of any cablebox. I am using only the RF input to receive all the channels but the HD locals. Since there is only one RF input, I can't have both the cable and a OTA antenna hooked together so I'm thinking about adding a DVD recorder with a NTSC tuner to receive the cable channels and using the components output from the DVD recorder to the components IN on the TV. This should free the RF IN for the OTA digitals. Do you guys think this can work?

The second problem. I did everything yesterday to setup the channel guide , turned the TV off overnight (leaving it on standby) but so far no guide has been populated. Is it normal? Can it take more than a day to fill at least some info?

Many thanks

Sergio

Guys I have a quick question, I was asking about the bars on the top and bottom of the screen before and since my Tv is new I was told not to watch it like that, which is fine, but I was also told to "zoom" it using the dvd rather then the TV and that will fill up the screen, well if I zoom the DVD, it goes 2X and the picture looks retarded, if I zoom on the TV it's not bad but you can tell the the faces are stretched up and down..what am I doing wrong? are all wide screen DVD's played with a bar on the top and bottom even on a 16:9 TV??

I believe that Widescreen could be 2.35:1 or 1.85:1.... The latter would fill your screen. The 2.35:1 will still have the bars at the top and bottom.
RA

Out of curiousity, how many of you are successfully using a "Time Warner" Cable Card w/ your current Panasonic Plasma's?

How many of you are getting both picture and sound from your "Time Warner" cable set top boxes? There seems to be an audio issue w/ the boxes here locally (Triangle, NC.)

BTW, I am going to show these responses to Time Warner's local head office for technical issues. A couple of my customers are having issues and I am not letting Time Warner claim that these Panasonic models are defective... unless they are.

Thanks everyone.

Out of curiousity, how many of you are successfully using a Time Warner Cable Card w/ your current Panasonic Plasma's?

How many of you are getting both picture and sound from your cable set top boxes? There seems to be an audio issue w/ the boxes here locally (Triangle, NC.)

Many are successfully using a CC on their Panny PDP's w/out issue. Optivity and I are 2 examples, but there are many others. Do a search for CC or Cablecard in this thread. There is an issue w/ the optical audio out being disabled on a couple channels, but it's unclear who is at fault. Again, search. IIRC, no one has reported issues w/ STB's specific to Panny pdp's.

…
The second problem. I did everything yesterday to setup the channel guide , turned the TV off overnight (leaving it on standby) but so far no guide has been populated. Is it normal? Can it take more than a day to fill at least some info?

Gemstar TV Guide International’s TV Guide On Screen system doesn’t take one day to populate. The supposed 24 hours is to ensure that you get a transmission before freaking out. I read that the 3-hour transmission is sent once overnight and that it is repeated in the afternoon. However, it is populated when the TV is off (but plugged in).

Some cable companies BLOCK the Gemstar TV guide. Give your cable company a call and ask them if they do, it may give you an answer quickly. Oh yea, make sure that your cable box is on when the TV is off.

Also, how is the cable box is connected? I am not sure that older cable boxes with RF outputs work. It may require that you connect the TV to the box with other than the RF output.

Good luck.

Thanks Hdidiot

I don't have a cable box. My building is serviced by a MDU company that provides al the channels , including the premium ones, through the RF cable. It's like a cable service without cable box and all the channels included. I am using the plasma with the RF input only and in near future I will have Directv. I just want the guide to work with my RF channels since Directv has a good guide. I don't believe that the TV Guide is blocked, just something I'm doing wrong.

Here is what I have done:

I scanned all the channels without any problem.
I do have PBS on channel 13
I setup the guide using "cable" and my zip code. No other question was present at setup besides the VCR which I didn't select. At setup there was no option regarding my cable company or cable box.

Thanks again for your help.

Sergio

Thanks Hdidiot
…I don't have a cable box,
…RF cable [into the 500],
…I setup the guide using "cable”

You hit the exact point of my inquiries. Some Panasonic devices with TV Guide On Screen don’t work with “Cable” selected in setup, but NO stb (as the RF connection is used).

However, I didn’t find that mentioned in the PX500 manual as a problem?

I would confirm that any other PX500 owner has done that. Consider posting a separate thread with that question. Eg. Panny PX500 with cable, but NO STB! - Anyone get the TV guide to download with cable, but no STB (RF only input into the PX500)?

Good luck.

P.S. As I said, I don’t know for sure it is an issue, but your condition matches. I found on page 13 of a DMREH50 manual what I am mentioning “These connections to IN3 are required for the TV Guide On Screen to work [do not use the RF IN]. Good luck.

Hi guys,

hopefully this is the best place for this question. So I'm about to take the plunge on a 50" panasonic plasma and I had already decided on the TH-50XVS30. A friend of mine has this TV and it looks great. Well, I went to the store and the salesman directed me to the panasonic TH-50PX500U, saying it's the newer version of the same TV and that the XVS30's were on their way out. I took a look at the prices of each and started the head scratching--the "new model" (50PX500U) was selling for a decent amount less than the one that was being replaced.

I went home and looked at the panasonic site, and even there, the the XVS30 is listing for like $8K and the PX500U for $5,500. Now, I know that the prices for these TVs keep dropping but does it make sense that the older models that they're trying to move out would be MORE than the brand spanking new ones?? Am I somehow dropping a level of quality by buying this newer one?

Lo and behold, I went to the specs of each and indeed the cheaper PX500U is slightly more advanced (8th generation plasma vs. 7th, 8.58 billion colors vs. 3.62 billion, etc.)

Can anyone shed some light on this issue? Should I go with the newer, cheaper, PX500U? Is it really the newest (and better) model?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-Steve

ps: I know one of the big differences is that the XVS comes with the media receiver box and the other doesnt, but frankly I think the box sounds like a good idea--when I mount the TV on the wall, don't I want the media box in the cabinet below so I can switch inputs in and out there (ie, only one cable going out of the media box and up thru the wall to the tv)?

Hi guys,


Lo and behold, I went to the specs of each and indeed the cheaper PX500U is slightly more advanced (8th generation plasma vs. 7th, 8.58 billion colors vs. 3.62 billion, etc.)

Can anyone shed some light on this issue? Should I go with the newer, cheaper, PX500U? Is it really the newest (and better) model?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
-Steve

ps: I know one of the big differences is that the XVS comes with the media receiver box and the other doesnt, but frankly I think the box sounds like a good idea--when I mount the TV on the wall, don't I want the media box in the cabinet below so I can switch inputs in and out there (ie, only one cable going out of the media box and up thru the wall to the tv)?

I would get the 500. In addition to being newer and cheaper, it also accepts 720P which will look better in sports on ABC and FOX HD.

-- Rich

The concensus here seems to be that there's nothing technically superior about the Onyx (XVS30) to justify the price. Same glass and (afaik) electronics as the 7th-generation consumer models. Looks very nice, and the media box can be a convenience in some situations, but nothing to justify the premium. And now that the 8th-gen (PX500) is available with superior PQ and a very nice aesthetic for less money, it seems a no-brainer.

As is so often true, the high-end line offers little more than cosmetics and status and an outrageous price over the mainstream product.

anybody konw the weight of the 50px500u WITH the stand? I see some numbers, not sure if they are with or without the stand, which by the way feels like it weighs more then the f'in tv. I got a glass stand for it, and it supposedly holds 200 lbs,. thanks

According to the manual, it's about 115 lbs for the TV, the stand shouldn't way too much. I think you are safe with it.

According to the manual, it's about 115 lbs for the TV, the stand shouldn't way too much. I think you are safe with it.

thats what i was going by when i bought it, you apparently havent tried lifting that stand though. Thats 1 serious stand. It probably weights about 40-50 pounds i guess, i should be ok, just be alot happier knowing for sure.

slimoli

Just speak to the sales personnel at CC, if you have any doubt about difficulties in setup of Gemstar’s TV Guide On Screen system (aka RETURNS).

The quick set up guide for the “TV Guide On Screen System” indicates these TOLL FREE phone numbers have hours of operations for questions Monday-Friday 9am-9pm and Saturday-Sunday 10am-7pm EST:

• In the U.S.A 1-800-211-PANA(7262), &

• In Canada: 1-800-561-5505.

Good luck Sergio

thats what i was going by when i bought it, you apparently havent tried lifting that stand though. Thats 1 serious stand. It probably weights about 40-50 pounds i guess, i should be ok, just be alot happier knowing for sure.

I've been searching everywhere and I can't find any specs that pertain to the stand.

anybody konw the weight of the 50px500u WITH the stand? I see some numbers, not sure if they are with or without the stand, which by the way feels like it weighs more then the f'in tv. I got a glass stand for it, and it supposedly holds 200 lbs,. thanks


The TY-ST50PX500 Stand supplied with the TH-50PX500U weights 31 Lbs. :)



.
Check Out the all-new BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ (http://www.glaucobruzzi.com/plasma-faq/index.php?)
The FAQ plus links to Plasma Stands, Wallmounts, Murals, Lifts, Speakers, Frames, Bezels & More.
Also links to Audio/Video Faqs, Comparisons, News, Reviews, Shootouts, Tutorials, Tweaks & Many More.

Hi, I am brand new here, but have been reading posts for some time. I am actually a regular member of the Home Theater Forum. They suggested I go here for plasma TV help.

I have been reading on and off the postings on the new Panasonic plasmas. Specifically, this thread has been helpful and convinced me it was the right choice for me, thanks! I am very close to having my set-up ready to add a plasma and I wanted some advise. Please excuse the questions if they seem old hat.

The TH 50PX50U was my choice till recently, now that the TH 50PX500U is out. I talked to a local chain here in California who can better the prices at big box stores. I can get the 50PX50U for roughly $4500.00, plus we can work out a deal where he'll take my dead Sony 32" tube TV away upon delivery. When I asked about the 50PX500U, he said he doesn't carry it, nor will he carry it. It's more expensive, between $500 to 1000.00 over the PX50U and no one really wants to pay the premium for it when you can get the PX50U for less. The only difference he tells me is the black bezel and a card reader. Now I need to study up on the technical difference, but one factor for me is that I really like the black bezel on the PX500U.

Any advise? Should I just shop elsewhere to get what I want, or is the difference not enough to get the black bezel! I think I was confused by the sales guy when I spoke to him by phone, I thought the PX50 also has a black bezel. He says the glass is the same. From the postings here, the PX500u looks terrific! If I go elsewhere, my preference is a B&M store where I can see and talk to the staff rather then on-line. But I'm not totally ruling out on-line. Of course there's other brands too, the Sony's are dropping prices now. But I know from postings here that Sony's are over priced.

Thanks so much, I look forward to joining the conversations here! Nelsun

PS, one other thing, I am totally new to the world of fixed resolution displays. I will not have cable or satallite. I am hoping that over the air HD and SD broadcasts will be acceptable to view. I have read other postings here about the marginal quality of SD broadcasts on these displays, but was somewhat relieved that posts here are saying SD broadcasts are acceptable on these screens, true? I'm mostly viewing DVD's and regular network and local broadcasts. Hoping the upcoming HD DVD's will be okay too on this screen!

The TY-ST50PX500 Stand supplied with the TH-50PX500U weights 31 Lbs. :)



.
Check Out the all-new BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ (http://www.glaucobruzzi.com/plasma-faq/index.php?)
The FAQ plus links to Plasma Stands, Wallmounts, Murals, Lifts, Speakers, Frames, Bezels & More.
Also links to Audio/Video Faqs, Comparisons, News, Reviews, Shootouts, Tutorials, Tweaks & Many More.
wow thanks, i checked your faq couldnt find it. guess im safe then, I cant see how a glass stand with no support under it could hold this heavy a$$ thing up but i guess it can

Just received my new TH-50PX50U this afternoon. It replaced a Mits WS55857 RPTV. In additon I purchased a new HD TIVO unit to replace my Sony HD-200 & Hughes TIVO units. I tried to get everything disconnected and labeled before they arrived with the new TV, but I didn't make it. Pretty strange, complaining about a TV arriving too fast.

Anyway, I have three RGB cables at the great room location for this set up. Two are for satellite and one is for the antenna, which is hanging in the attic. The helpful delivery guys were assisting in assembling the stand, and were hooking up RGB cables before I could label them. So, I am not confident I have them hooked up properly. I am thinking about going down to the multiswitch tomorrow and unplugging to identify.

Here are my initial problems; I know I should read this entire thread, but it is 120 pages long! Please direct me to the right links for resolutions.

- When I turn to a HD station, there is a loud clicking sound coming from the TV, making it unbearable to watch. When I turn the sound off on the TV and listen through my Denon AVR4800 receiver, everything is fine.

- The TV & new HD-TIVO unit are connected to one another via HDMI. When I scan through the channels after selecting HDMI input all non-HD channels have the gray bars on the side, and are showing in 4:3. Nothing happens when I select the Aspect button. I would rather view in stretch or zoom mode, and not see the bars. Also worried about burn in.

- When I change the TV input from HDMI to Antenna, I only see three channels and they are horrible. But, I can change the Aspect ratio in this mode. I used to be able to see local channels in HD.

- Burn in - right off I notice the burn in look when a channel without programming is displayed. Is that common to notice burn in from the last channel you viewed? I am worried about burn-in and what to take proper precautions.

First impressions - it's a nice picture, but not fantasitically better than my 55" RPTV. I am sure once the kinks are worked out it will be great. Any suggestions or suggested links to read would be appreciated.

- The TV & new HD-TIVO unit are connected to one another via HDMI. When I scan through the channels after selecting HDMI input all non-HD channels have the gray bars on the side, and are showing in 4:3. Nothing happens when I select the Aspect button. I would rather view in stretch or zoom mode, and not see the bars. Also worried about burn in.


Kathy, try changing the video settings in your HD Tivo to "Full" instead of "Panel". You can change this by hitting the Ratio button on your remote control. Also check what format you're sending to the panel (480p, 720p, or 1080i). This may help you, too.


- Burn in - right off I notice the burn in look when a channel without programming is displayed. Is that common to notice burn in from the last channel you viewed? I am worried about burn-in and what to take proper precautions.


Dial down the picture settings for your panel from the default torch mode. You'll lessen the chance of burn-in by lowering the brightness that's output by the display.

Nelsun, just a thought as you're new to the plasma world: have you considered the 'commercial' (aka 'industrial', 'monitor') models? No tuners or speakers; more limited inputs but various 'blades' available for various inputs (e.g. DVI, HDMI, component etc.) that fit in slots, so you can customize it to your equipment. Simple, clean, narrow dark grey bezel. The equivalent model to the PD50 is TH50PHD7UY; the ...8UK may be out momentarily according to some rumours (the 37" and 42" ED models are already available), or possibly not until September(ish) as in past years. Used to be considerably cheaper than the consumer models, though I understand that's not necessarily true in the USA anymore (still true in spades here in Canada, though).

Since you're coming from the HT forum, I thought a monitor option might appeal to you.

Cheers... Perry.

Kathy, what you're referring to as burn-in sounds more like 'image retention': a temporary effect (burn-in is permanent) where the last-seen picture persists for a time on the screen; most visible when there's no signal or an all-white or -grey image. Fades quickly with other content. Some manufacturers have been known for image retention issues, but not Panasonic.

There's a good article about break-in; do a search for 'panasonic white paper' and you'll find links to it. Basically for the first 100 hours you should dial down your brightness and try to watch everything full-screen (stretched to fill). These precautions are to avoid the permanent burn-in, but if there's any image retention happening, turning down the brightness should lessen it too.

Kathy, what you're referring to as burn-in sounds more like 'image retention': a temporary effect (burn-in is permanent) where the last-seen picture persists for a time on the screen; most visible when there's no signal or an all-white or -grey image. Fades quickly with other content. Some manufacturers have been known for image retention issues, but not Panasonic.

There's a good article about break-in; do a search for 'panasonic white paper' and you'll find links to it. Basically for the first 100 hours you should dial down your brightness and try to watch everything full-screen (stretched to fill). These precautions are to avoid the permanent burn-in, but if there's any image retention happening, turning down the brightness should lessen it too.

PerryU, You are correct, this sounds more like 'image retention', and I have dialed down the brightness. We'll see how it looks today.

I'm trying to choose a 42 inch between the PD50 and PX50/500 and getting majorly confused. First off, they are the PE50(SD) and PV500(HD) in the UK; I haven't seen a PV50 equivalent for the PX50 which is a shame because I prefer the design and especially the pedestal stand. I might actually like the PV500 in the PX50 stand if that'll work!

So on the one hand I hear people saying if you don't get HD compatible now you're a fool, and then others I imagine pickier than the general public saying that from outside 6-8ft or whatever you can't tell the difference. In that case I don't see what all the HD fuss is about if you're supposed to watch 42's from about 10ft away anyway. Combine that with the extortionate price I imagine Sky will charge for this service and it doesn't excite me.

I can't say how much time will be spent viewing SD and HD but only that we aren't great Sky fanatics, theres quite a bit of terrestrial, some UK Gold, Sky One, occasional sport and then all DVD's. I basically figured that the HD would be better all round and future proof me, but then read that SD's will perform better with SD material. In that case I can't see why PV500's are selling in droves when you'll get better for the most part with the SD model! Can anyone clear this up for me as I kinda had my heart set on the PV500 anyway :D

Is the problem that the PE50 won't accept the HD signals at all, and these signals look far better than SD signals even if scaled down. If this is the case maybe the PWD8 is an option but I actually prefer the look of the tv's to the panels unlike most I'm sure! Who'd have thought choosing a TV could be so stressful ;)

Perry-

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the option for the Panny display that is a monitor only crossed my mind for a brief time. There are a lot of times I want to just watch TV without the audio system turned on!

There are a lot of pluses for your thoughts though, like fully customizing blades to my needs and a simpler display visually too. I'll look at that model your suggested.

Nelsun

What many people are after is perfection. There is a perfect picture color, tint, brightness, contrast, color temperature etc., and it is not "VIDID" mode. Do yourself a favor and invest in one of the set up dvd's like Digital Video Essentials or Avia. Set up your display like they say, and no matter how dark and soft you think the picture looks, watch it that way for a month. After a month, set the tv to VIVID mode. Make sure you have a bucket close by before you set it to VIVID because you will likely puke. My point is, once you get used to the way a picture should look, you will never go back to a high contrast, high sharpness look again. Your display will look more perfect.

I am ordering a copy of Video essentials today. I have turned down the settings on my plasma to much lower than I thought i wiuld have been comfortable with when I got it. So far the TV is Awesome! Cant wait to see a HD NFL game on it. I understand that the Hall of Fame game tomorrow night is being broadcast in HD. I will be sitting front and center for it.

I am ordering a copy of Video essentials today. I have turned down the settings on my plasma to much lower than I thought i wiuld have been comfortable with when I got it. So far the TV is Awesome! Cant wait to see a HD NFL game on it. I understand that the Hall of Fame game tomorrow night is being broadcast in HD. I will be sitting front and center for it.

As a prelude, you may want to check out some baseball in HD tonight... May not be all that great of a game, but at least it's HD sports! :)

Kathy
I don't know if this will help you but I had the same Aspect problem on my new 50U. The Aspect button would not operate and the Cable box showed 1080i and would not change. The Pound key on the remote changed the Aspects and that solved the problem

guys, after the 300 or so burn in hrs is it ok to watch tv with the bars on the top and botttom? or should I always be stretching it?

I am running rogers digital cable and some of the channels have the bars and some don't, so at the moment I am zooming the picture because I am under the 300 hr's but after that can i just leave the aspect ratio alone on full or not?

received my 50px500u on friday from TVA - first impressions like everybody else says was WOW this is big. Im sitting about 10 feet, and right now it looks like it may be a little too big, im sure i will grow into it. HD is rediculous, but I already have a 37px50u in the bedroom, so i knew what to expect, its pretty much equal. TVA did a pretty good job, saved me some money from B&M, but cost a little more then some other "shady" internet dealeres, but I would definatly recomend them. The true test would be if there were some type of problems, but I am confident they would have made it right if there were. Luckily I had no dead pixels. 1 difference I noticed from the 37 is that it doesn't "click" when turning it on and off, thats starting to make me think the 37 has a problem. Does anybody elses make a clicking sound when turning on/off? I also hear a clicking sound once in a while on the 37 while its running, i just dismissed it as it's not too loud, sounds more like the plastic heating up/contracting while its running. I also noticed that since i hooked up the 50, they both seem to 'freeze" while watching HD more. The 37 always had the problem, every once in a while i would loose sound for a second or 2, but now it seems to have been alot worse, im guessing its a signal strength issue now that i have 2 hd's going at once? I'll call Time warner. I can also say that these speakers are alot better then the 37, even though i thought they were pretty good too. Im no audio enthusiast, but I was very impressed watching reggae music fest or something like that on HDNET, put the sound up to about 45 and it really sounded like i had a stereo on.

I hear the click on my 42pd50...according to the manual it's normal expansion/contraction.
I don't think it's a big concern.

Congrats on your new beast!

received my 50px500u on friday from TVA - first impressions like everybody else says was WOW this is big. Im sitting about 10 feet, and right now it looks like it may be a little too big, im sure i will grow into it. HD is rediculous, but I already have a 37px50u in the bedroom, so i knew what to expect, its pretty much equal. TVA did a pretty good job, saved me some money from B&M, but cost a little more then some other "shady" internet dealeres, but I would definatly recomend them. The true test would be if there were some type of problems, but I am confident they would have made it right if there were. Luckily I had no dead pixels. 1 difference I noticed from the 37 is that it doesn't "click" when turning it on and off, thats starting to make me think the 37 has a problem. Does anybody elses make a clicking sound when turning on/off? I also hear a clicking sound once in a while on the 37 while its running, i just dismissed it as it's not too loud, sounds more like the plastic heating up/contracting while its running. I also noticed that since i hooked up the 50, they both seem to 'freeze" while watching HD more. The 37 always had the problem, every once in a while i would loose sound for a second or 2, but now it seems to have been alot worse, im guessing its a signal strength issue now that i have 2 hd's going at once? I'll call Time warner. I can also say that these speakers are alot better then the 37, even though i thought they were pretty good too. Im no audio enthusiast, but I was very impressed watching reggae music fest or something like that on HDNET, put the sound up to about 45 and it really sounded like i had a stereo on.

Clicking on an off is normal no need for concern. I set 12 feet from my 65. At first I though it was huge. After a couple of weeks, it just feels right :)

Freezing on HD is most likely a signal problem or a problem with the source. See if it happens on all channels or just some, that should confirm it.

-- Rich

Clicking on an off is normal no need for concern. I set 12 feet from my 65. At first I though it was huge. After a couple of weeks, it just feels right :)

Freezing on HD is most likely a signal problem or a problem with the source. See if it happens on all channels or just some, that should confirm it.

-- Rich
seems like it happens on all HD chanells, thats why im guessing its a signal issue since HD uses more bandwith.

seems like it happens on all HD chanells, thats why im guessing its a signal issue since HD uses more bandwith.

Time warner is probably you best option.

-- Rich

guys, after the 300 or so burn in hrs is it ok to watch tv with the bars on the top and botttom? or should I always be stretching it?

I am running rogers digital cable and some of the channels have the bars and some don't, so at the moment I am zooming the picture because I am under the 300 hr's but after that can i just leave the aspect ratio alone on full or not?

As long as brightness is at a reasonable level I don't think it should be a problem. I think Panny recommends that no more than 15% of your viewing be with the bars until 1,000 hours. My TV probably has around 300 hours too and I've been watching a good bit of 2.35:1 movies (bars on top and bottom) with no problem. I keep the black level setting (the setting where there is two choices) at the blackest level and brightness and picture at 10 and 0.

As long as brightness is at a reasonable level I don't think it should be a problem. I think Panny recommends that no more than 15% of your viewing be with the bars until 1,000 hours. My TV probably has around 300 hours too and I've been watching a good bit of 2.35:1 movies (bars on top and bottom) with no problem. I keep the black level setting (the setting where there is two choices) at the blackest level and brightness and picture at 10 and 0.

thank you :thumbs up:

guys, after the 300 or so burn in hrs is it ok to watch tv with the bars on the top and botttom? or should I always be stretching it?

I am running rogers digital cable and some of the channels have the bars and some don't, so at the moment I am zooming the picture because I am under the 300 hr's but after that can i just leave the aspect ratio alone on full or not?

After the first 200 hours of use i stopped zooming and stretching all SD and HD content that didn't broadcast in HD Widescreen format. I do not like the STB zoom and stretch modes. I have over 800 hours and have owned the TV since early April. I use the Pic. Mode as Standard and keep the picture around +15 and leave the Sharpness at +10. I have had no issues with burn-in leaving the black/grey bars watching 4:3 format TV. It is a call you will have to make but i wanted to let you know that if you are like me and do not like the effect that zooming and stretching the picture have that so far i have not had any indication of burn-in on my TV set. Hopefully one day soon they will get there act together and start broadcasting HD Widescreen as it was truly meant to be seen on a HD Widescreen TV set :mad:
Good luck with your new Panasonic Plasma.

1 difference I noticed from the 37 is that it doesn't "click" when turning it on and off

My PX500 makes no click when powered on/off either. It seems the "click free on-off" are a distinctive of the 500 series, as I've seen reports of clicks from 50 series owners. Enjoyed the review - I need to try cranking my speaks up - I've yet to hear them at near 45 since I typically only use the TV speaks for news.

received my 50px500u on friday from TVA - first impressions like everybody else says was WOW this is big. Im sitting about 10 feet, and right now it looks like it may be a little too big, im sure i will grow into it.


Give it 2 weeks and it will be too small!!!!!

Give it 2 weeks and it will be too small!!!!!

yea thats what they say. I know when i first received my 37 i thought it was perfect, but after watching the 50 yesterday for 10 minutes, the 37 looked tiny.

Same for me. I just got my 42", and within 2 days I figured that a 50" would have been fine, too. :)

Kathy
I don't know if this will help you but I had the same Aspect problem on my new 50U. The Aspect button would not operate and the Cable box showed 1080i and would not change. The Pound key on the remote changed the Aspects and that solved the problem

Thanks for the advice, I'll check it out soon.

If you have seen my posts over the past few days, first about aspect ratios then about the unability to scan channels via antenna, and about the picture not much better than my old RPTV...well I am now is AW stage. Still need to figure the whole aspect ratio thing, the antenna problem turns out to be a cable problem (fixed the cable), and for the picture not being much better than my old RPTV...I was wrong. The HD picture is Outstanding. Right now I am watching Monday Night Football and oh my what a beautiful picture. The only problem is watching Nick Sabin as Miami's coach rather than watching him coaching Michigan State University. Darn him.

Anyways, this TV is fantastic! I have agonized over this purchase for almost a year. So very close to buying a DLP because of the size/cost scenario, but this picture is better than expected.

Kathy, as a big Dolphin fan, I am very happy he's now our coach. But as an LSU Alumni, the other side of me wishes he was still there in Baton Rouge to give us Tigers another National Championship! Yeah, great Hall Of Fame Game in HD, for sure!

Hello Cajieboy my fellow LSU Alum. I think us tigers will always bleed purple and gold for life. I can't waite to see them on HD this year with our new plasma. I'm still on the fence on which to purchase but since we have a little one coming pretty soon I'm going to have to decide soon.

You bet, and thanks for the reply. It's always a great pleasure to meet another Tiger. HDTV & Sports are a "match made in Tigerland", and I know you'll love it. The PQ is stunning to say the least. How far do you plan to sit from the display? I always ask this question to narrow down the size considerations. BTW, congratulations w/a baby tiger cub on the way!

After the first 200 hours of use i stopped zooming and stretching all SD and HD content that didn't broadcast in HD Widescreen format. I do not like the STB zoom and stretch modes. I have over 800 hours and have owned the TV since early April. I use the Pic. Mode as Standard and keep the picture around +15 and leave the Sharpness at +10. I have had no issues with burn-in leaving the black/grey bars watching 4:3 format TV. It is a call you will have to make but i wanted to let you know that if you are like me and do not like the effect that zooming and stretching the picture have that so far i have not had any indication of burn-in on my TV set. Hopefully one day soon they will get there act together and start broadcasting HD Widescreen as it was truly meant to be seen on a HD Widescreen TV set :mad:
Good luck with your new Panasonic Plasma.

I feel the same. I hate the stretching, but I only have about 30 hr's on it so far so i will wait for a bit before going on my own. I Just ordered the AVIA DVD, so hopefully it will help with the picture. BTW, do you need to calibrate the TV seprately for every input...like HDMI and component? or once is all you need?

Sorry if this has already been posted...

CED is reporting that Panasonic is going to be dropping the MSRP of their consumer plasmas by $500-$1000 on 8/28 to grab more market share this XMAS. They also plan to try and widen their distribution reach (e.g., Target). Since we're talking MSRP, hopefully no forum rules are being broken.

The article was a little vague if *all* models would see the drop. However, they did hint at the following MSRP changes to the 50U lineup starting 8/28:

TH-42PD50U MSRP $1999
TH-42PX50U MSRP $2499
TH-50PX50U MSRP $3999

Good timing on my recent TH-50PX50U purchase! :)

EDIT: CED is usually spot on with their reports, although for full disclosure, Panasonic refused to comment.

I am looking to buy a Panasonic Plasma in the 50-55 inch range for $5k or less. What is the best one for my money. I will need one with attached speakers, at least one HDMI, DVI, VGA and component inputs.

Thanks,

Sorry if this has already been posted...

CED is reporting that Panasonic is going to be dropping the MSRP of their consumer plasmas by $500-$1000 on 8/28
TH-42PD50U MSRP $1999
TH-42PX50U MSRP $2499
TH-50PX50U MSRP $3999

Thanks amillians; good news. I hope panny Canada follows suit.

Anybody care to predict whether the 8UKs will drop as well? Seems likely, given that the 42PWD7UY MSRP is currently $300 more than the 42PD50U per Panasonic.com (I couldn't find the 8UKs...)

(In Canada (panasonic.ca) the PWD7UY is almost $800 less than the PD50U. WUWT??)

...and finally my buyer's remorse sets in.

Oh well, it's been a great 4 months. Could've waited and got the 42" HD instead of the ED at those prices...

I feel the same. I hate the stretching, but I only have about 30 hr's on it so far so i will wait for a bit before going on my own. I Just ordered the AVIA DVD, so hopefully it will help with the picture. BTW, do you need to calibrate the TV seprately for every input...like HDMI and component? or once is all you need?

Definitely follow the Panasonic white sheet and turn your picture, brightness and contrast down for at least the first 200 hours and zoom/stretch the picture. After that you will be alright just leaving it as is in it's native format if you prefer. I never did the AVIA calibrate as many people have suggested but from what i have read and from changing inputs myself, you will have to unfortunately unless someone can claim otherwise. Last night i was watching Monday night Football in it's full glory widescreen HD filling out the screen when the picture goes from widescreen to 4.3. Did anyone else experience this? Not sure if it was Time Warner or the ABC Broadcast itself? You just can't win with this widescreen HD stuff, lol. :rolleyes:

I LOVE YOU AMILLIANS!!!!!

Those prices are fantastic!!!

$1000 bucks off the px50u?? WOW!

I will be getting a new tv sooner than I thought if this is true!

I wonder what the internet prices will be... I'm drooling...

YAHOOO!!!!!

damit not to hate on everybody who didnt get one yet, but i will be pretty pissed if it drops 1k less then a month after i bough it!!!!

Was this during the game? I didn't notice it but it was a struggle to pay attention anyway. Preseason is a little dull.

Usually it's somebody "falling asleep at the switch" at your local affiliate although sometimes it's a network problem.

I just AVIA'd my display this weekend. A half hour or 45 minutes well spent. Sorta like training camp for your TV.

damit not to hate on everybody who didnt get one yet, but i will be pretty pissed if it drops 1k less then a month after i bough it!!!!

Yeah, is it wrong for me to secretly (or not so secretly) hope that this report is incorrect? ;)

...and finally my buyer's remorse sets in.

Oh well, it's been a great 4 months. Could've waited and got the 42" HD instead of the ED at those prices...

Yes, but you knew it was bound to happen.
And just think, what are they going to cost a year from now?

I picked up the ED two weeks ago and have no regreats considering the great deal I got at CC. At these new prices, I would have got the HD version. I can see spending $500 more, but not $1000.

damit not to hate on everybody who didnt get one yet, but i will be pretty pissed if it drops 1k less then a month after i bough it!!!!
Hey just remember you spent far less on your tv than some other people did!

And no doubt Panny will be introducing new models in the spring that will have some advantages plus additional price drops. So I will be hating on the guys who buy those :(

But it's like computers, once you buy never, never look at the prices again - until your ready for an upgrade.

...Last night i was watching Monday night Football in it's full glory widescreen HD filling out the screen when the picture goes from widescreen to 4.3. Did anyone else experience this? Not sure if it was Time Warner or the ABC Broadcast itself...
I'd give Time Warner a pass on this one, as the same thing happened here OTA on our Chicago O&O. Lot's of problems with their DD 5.1, as well. Hey, it's preseason for the MNF technicians, too.

The picture was only 4:3 briefly. The rest of the time the picture was beautiful. First time seeing a Bears game in HD... and they even won. :D (Yeah, it's only preseason, but we'll take any kind of win we can get. They are rare events around here.)

Yes, but you knew it was bound to happen.
And just think, what are they going to cost a year from now?

I picked up the ED two weeks ago and have no regreats considering the great deal I got at CC. At these new prices, I would have got the HD version. I can see spending $500 more, but not $1000.

I knew it would happen, sure...but those were some pretty steep price drops when they introduced the new models late Spring, I didn't expect another one so quickly (if it happens).

No matter. In all honesty today I would probably still go for the ED because I didn't see $1000 worth of difference then, and I don't see $500 difference today. Considering the MSRP on the ED of $1999 is STILL $500 over my original *intended* budget...I would feel bad about blowing that much on a TV regardless.

Based on what I've read on this forum, I see how important it is to callibrate your PDP using one of the reputable callibration DVDs out there.
My question is: do you wait until after the break-in period before you do the full-blown callibration? Or do you do it immediately?
Thanks
Mark
PS: My Panny 500U is on its way to my house right now!

...I picked up the ED two weeks ago and have no regreats considering the great deal I got at CC. At these new prices, I would have got the HD version. I can see spending $500 more, but not $1000.
If true, they have hit what I've always thought was the magic price point to move ED buyers (like myself) up to HD.

Still, I get a great picture on my ED, and only would want the HD on general principles, rather than any sense I'm missing anything while watching my set. I have rarely, if ever, bought anything that gave me more pleasure, so I can't complain about how much I paid.

received my 50px500u on friday from TVA

I'm just curious, how long did it take to arrive after you ordered it from TVA? I orded at 42px500 from them on 7/25, was told it was in stock...and as of now, I'm still waiting. I've made numerous calls, first it was, "it should be coming anytime now", to now, where they are trying to figure out where it is :(

...My question is: do you wait until after the break-in period before you do the full-blown callibration? Or do you do it immediately?
It's not that big a chore to do a calibration. I'd do one right away, then do it again after break-in. Just keep the Picture control to 50% or less initially. You should be able to get pretty good settings even with that limitation.

Things seem to change a little during the break-in period, so some fine tuning later will be worthwhile, no matter how satisfied you are with the original results.

I'm just curious, how long did it take to arrive after you ordered it from TVA? I orded at 42px500 from them on 7/25, was told it was in stock...and as of now, I'm still waiting. I've made numerous calls, first it was, "it should be coming anytime now", to now, where they are trying to figure out where it is :(
If true, this is totally unacceptable.

If I were in your shoes, I would start a new thread in view of God and everybody titled, "TVA, WHERE THE HELL IS MY PLASMA??!!". I bet you would get an answer pretty quick. :)

Good luck to you.

If true, this is totally unacceptable.

If I were in your shoes, I would start a new thread in view of God and everybody titled, "TVA, WHERE THE HELL IS MY PLASMA??!!". I bet you would get an answer pretty quick. :)

Good luck to you.

I did leave another thread about it about 4 days ago, but it died out. I called them last week, and they told me to wait, because I would get a shipping call. I called on Saturday and was promised that I would get a call back Monday morning. Monday morning came and went...no call. I finally called at about 4pm, they said they would check with their customer service dept. and call me right at 8:30am today. They called around 9:30 and said that their customer service is talking to the shipping company right at that moment and I would get a call back right a way...It is now 5 hours later...no call

I'm very tempted to call and demand my money back, and go somewhere who would actually deliver.

This is my first experience with TVA, and probably my last. It's too bad for them and me, as this TV was for my "home office", and in Oct-Nov I was buying a larger one for my family room. This disaster may cost them this sale, plus my next

I just purchased a new 50U 42" panny and s97 dvd player from Abt.
I also just purchased online the Gefen 2x1 switcher that I plan on hooking my HD Direct tv set and my s97 through.....has anyone tried this and have you found any problems doing so.....Also - can I just put my cablecard into the panny and will this work better or should I just stick with the HD receiver?
Thanks
first post!!!!
joe

I did leave another thread about it about 4 days ago, but it died out. I called them last week, and they told me to wait, because I would get a shipping call. I called on Saturday and was promised that I would get a call back Monday morning. Monday morning came and went...no call. I finally called at about 4pm, they said they would check with their customer service dept. and call me right at 8:30am today. They called around 9:30 and said that their customer service is talking to the shipping company right at that moment and I would get a call back right a way...It is now 5 hours later...no call

Wow...if this is true, this speaks VERY poorly for TVA. Consider them off my list. I'll just go buy elsewhere if this is the kind of service that forum members are getting. Sorry to hear you're getting the runaround. Personally, I'd demand money back and go elsewhere. I hate places that promise, and don't deliver.

Mr. John,
I have not been on the AVS forum for a while and have noticed your posts that were regarding your order. I asked some of our sales consultants here if they had assisted anyone on that date for that model. The best I have done from this time of day for you is contact your sales consultant and make a note on your order. They will be able to look into it more for you, but you can reach the customer service department regarding your order at 1.888.286.5353 ext.2
Thanks for your concerns and they have not gone unheard!
Best Regards,
Cambryn Courson

Mr. John,
I have not been on the AVS forum for a while and have noticed your posts that were regarding your order. I asked some of our sales consultants here if they had assisted anyone on that date for that model. The best I have done from this time of day for you is contact your sales consultant and make a note on your order. They will be able to look into it more for you, but you can reach the customer service department regarding your order at 1.888.286.5353 ext.2
Thanks for your concerns and they have not gone unheard!
Best Regards,
Cambryn Courson

Thanks for responding. I've been talking to Aaron, but he was to call me back this morning to tell me what happened to my shipment....he never did.

It's not that big a chore to do a calibration. I'd do one right away, then do it again after break-in. Just keep the Picture control to 50% or less initially. You should be able to get pretty good settings even with that limitation.

Things seem to change a little during the break-in period, so some fine tuning later will be worthwhile, no matter how satisfied you are with the original results.

Personally, I just adjusted the out of the box settings down from torch mode and turned down the ridiculous amount of sharpness without the aid of a calibration disc and was pretty satisfied, thought I did a good job. Until I did it right with Avia. I didn't move things that much, but it pretty much dialed out everything I thought may have been inherent in the set, perhaps a limitation of an ED like screen door effect (and...that little wee bit of green...shhh...don't want to get that started again) ;)

I'm no pro but it looks considerably better to my improving eye. Calibrating with the disc the first time is a little confusing so maybe doing it with a disc straight out of the box is good practice for when you fine-tune after break in.

BTW, all the consumer panny models (50U, 500U) can not be ISF calibrated from a specialist. You can get a calibration CD or a specialist to do a basic, but you can not get it ISF calibrated. Only the commercial panels you can do this. I ran into this with one of my CM's per Gregg Lowen from Lionav.com none of us were aware of it until after the fact that the guy had his consumer panel in route towards his direction.

jsfofec- I am the director of sales for TV Authority and I spend a considerable amount of time on this forum and feel very confident this is NOT an indication of how we do business and especially not an indication of how we treat forum members. Are we perfect, nope. But I'm not aware of any company that is. I have discussed your order with Aaron and he mentioned that he has made several calls to you since Monday but you are welcome to call me directly if you want to discuss this and we WILL take care of you.

valkyrie - I hope you'll re-consider and give us an opportunity!

Kirk Punches
Director of Sales

Hi jsfofec. I apologize for the fact that we have not been able to provide you with the tracking information. When we spoke this morning I didn’t have the information I was hoping for but I gave you a call just to let you know we hadn’t forgotten about you. Apparently the PO had been sent but the panel had not been shipped out from the warehouse. We really were not trying to give you or anyone else the run around; it was a simple shipping mistake that had caused some confusion. Unfortunately the panel will arrive just outside of the estimated delivery window; however you will receive it this Thursday. Once again I would like to apologize for the shipping fiasco and I will follow up with you again on Thursday to make sure everything arrived smoothly. I am stepping out of the office for the evening but feel free to send me an email aaron@tvauthority.com or give me a call if you have any questions at all. Have a good night!

You can also reach me at 888.286.5353 x 521

…all the consumer panny models (50U, 500U) can not be ISF calibrated from a specialist…
…you can not get it ISF calibrated.
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Eek.

Price drop- I wonder what the 37" HD set will go for? If I drag my heels long enough, sooner or later there *will* be a display that I want for the price that I want to pay. ;)

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Eek.
I couldn't have put it better myself. :)

Why on Earth would Panasonic manufacture a PDP that cannot be ISF calibrated? This is very strange.

I own two Panny commercial PDP's and would never have considered them if they were not capable of being calibrated.

:eek: indeed.

Hi jsfofec. I apologize for the fact that we have not been able to provide you with the tracking information....

Thank for calling me back giving me the good news! I'll be waiting for my 42px500 to arrive on Thursday.

I also want to thank you for following up with me. I realize that the "black hole" that this order fell into was in no way the fault of any of the sales or customer service people at TVA...it was just one of those things.

I guess I could look at it this way, I'd rather have a problem with the TV before it ever arrives rather than have a problem after I receive it.

One thing I'll mention, that once everybody figured out something was wrong, the response I received here is head over heals beyond anything I've ever heard of from any other company.

I was planning to pull the trigger on the px50u this weekend...but a $1k drop in MSRP seems worth waiting for. Based on experience, can anyone tell me how long these things generally take to work their way through the chain? (how long before retail prices follow suit?)

On one hand I would expect it to take a while, while current inventory is liquidated, but on the other hand, it seems like most stores don't have too much stock, so maybe it would happen faster???

and does anyone have a link to the CED article?

Thanks so much

Sorry if this has already been posted...

CED is reporting that Panasonic is going to be dropping the MSRP of their consumer plasmas by $500-$1000 on 8/28 to grab more market share this XMAS.....

The article was a little vague if *all* models would see the drop. However, they did hint at the following MSRP changes to the 50U lineup starting 8/28:

TH-42PD50U MSRP $1999
TH-42PX50U MSRP $2499
TH-50PX50U MSRP $3999

Good timing on my recent TH-50PX50U purchase! :)



Alex, you should hang out here more often. The plasma vs. LCD world is much more civil than BluRay vs. HD-DVD. :)

While I won't count this chicken until it hatches, this news is very consistent with everything I've been hearing so given the source, I'll presume it's true for not.

This is pretty significant stuff and is incredibly consistent with some forecasting done around here -- with the help of some major firm's prediction, I confess to give credit where it's due -- years ago. IIRC, I had some post with 42 inches reaching $1500, 50 inch going to $3000 and 60 inches going to $4500 by 2007.



Anyway, this is 2005 pricing we're talking about and would potentially allow for the 2007 prices on the 42s to be something like $1250 for ED and $1750 for HD [i]from a tier one brand. It would seem to allow for the 50 inch units to be less than $3000 in that time frame.

I'll just surmise a total 35% decline from those prices over the subsequent two years, which would be about 19% compounded over the next two years. That'd leave us with a 50 inch that's around $2600.... Could we see:

42 ED: $1000
42 HD: $1500
50 HD: $2500

???

Well, I'd say yes and within 36 months to boot. Add a 57 to the mix for $3500 a 65 for $4500.... Even if those numbers need to be $1500, 2000, 3000, 4000, and 5000, I think we've seen the future of tier-one pricing in the flat-panel market. There is a potential wild card in that 50s may come in two resolutions over time, but this is the future.

Or as Panasonic's plans seem to indicate: The future is now!

The state of the art RPTV, the Sony SXRD, is going to be $4K at 50 inches. And so is the Panasonic plasma.... Wow.

In May I purchased a 42PD50u and immediately notice a green push, more on some SD channels than others. I played with the setting some but couldn't do much to change the green hallo effect on some yellows. Sometimes a yellow goal post in a football game appeared to have a neon green shadow line. Shodows on faces appeard to be a greenish cast. I called Panasonic and they were no help. I then returned the PDP back where I purchased it and got another PD50, The new set still exhibited the green push problem, but maybe to a lesser degree. Other than the slight green push, the PD50 outshines all other in PQ. I really want to keep it and find a fix. After reading all the other post, I see I am no alone. I called Panason back yesterday and explained the green push problem to ehm and they played dumb. They said they had never heard of any problems, which is a lie, because I had previously called them to report it several months earlier. They are sending a service person to come to my house. I doubt if he can do anything, but its worth a try. Somehow I feel the green push is a "garbage in...garbage out problem, reflecting various degrees of signal input. I only have standard Time Warner digital cable....which at times is horrible. My 50U does not seem to exhibit problems dispalying DVD's so that makes me think the problem is signal realated. As far as Panasonic helping....I wouln't hold my breath. If anyone ever find a solution to the green goblin probem ,,,please post. By the way..my 50U was manufactured in Feb. (Japan) and has a serial number YB5162.... This is my first post.

Teach, no you are not alone but there are some things that help, and yes it is garbage in>>>garbage out to an extent.

One thing to try is to turn "color management" off.
Also pick up a calibration DVD like Avia Guide to Home Theater, or Digital Video Essentials (available from Amazon, eBay). It took calibrating my PD50 with Avia to get it right.

I only noticed the green push on one (yes, ONE) commercial (or group of commericals) in particular...for Subway restaurants. It has the Subway logo superimposed on a bright yellow full screen (well, 4:3 pillarboxed on HD) background at the end after Jared goes on and on about friggin' lunchmeat vs. fried chicken...anyway...that sucker was neon green every time, no matter what I tried. I calibrated Saturday and when it came on during the Brickyard on Sunday...hot damn, it was yellow. Real yellow.

and does anyone have a link to the CED article?They don't post their articles online--it's a pretty pricey annual subscription--but they do post the headlines for the day at www.warren-news.com (unfortunately, they only keep one day's headlines online, so the Panny price drop headline is gone).

I have no idea if the article will come to fruition, but as I have said, they usually do their homework. I would suspect that an MSRP change would be immediate...there's really nothing to do to the supply chain other than change the price.

Alex, you should hang out here more often. The plasma vs. LCD world is much more civil than BluRay vs. HD-DVDYes, it is. It certainly is. :)

I watch this thread because I recently purchased a TH-50PX50U, and I have to constantly validate my purchase and have my ego stroked...all the CRT FP guys laugh at me now and try and trip me on my way to class. :)

The CED article did spend some time postulating what other Tier 1 gusy would do in response...the presumption was that Panasonic is trying to grab market share and pants the competition in the process.

====

Check me if I'm wrong, but the "you can't ISF calibrate a 50U/500U" warning focuses solely on the inability to dial in greyscale tracking on these units, due to service menu issues (I'm not clear if it's just that no one has found the "hidden" controls or if indeed there *are* no such hidden controls). It should be noted that not all ISF calibrations de facto include greyscale tracking...for someone lacking the time/patience, having an external entity perform a calibration can be valuable, even if it doesn't address uniform greyscale tracking adjustments.

Anyone using the Dish 811 receiver with the PX500u connected through a HDMI-DVI cable such as at http://www.svideo.com/dvihdmi.html? I've heard about audio issues with this connection.

Other than the slight green push, the PD50 outshines all other in PQ. I really want to keep it and find a fix. After reading all the other post, I see I am no alone.

If you have in fact read all the other posts then you would know that this is a 'color management' setting issue. Set it to 'off.' Or maybe you have and just didn't mention that in your post. The only person I know of in this forum that keeps it on is optivity, our Panny 50u zen master who's ways elude and mystify common folk such as myself. ;)

Hi everyone, I have been shadowing the 50" Vizio thread the past month, primarily because of the bang-for-buck price at Costco. Now, with this news of the "potential" lowering of msrp pricing I am looking at the 50U/500U :D . I talked with a couple of online distributors and they hinted themselves that prices were going to come down for the shopping season. I can wait a bit to save alot on high quality products.

... I would suspect that an MSRP change would be immediate...there's really nothing to do to the supply chain other than change the price...
Manufacturers typically compensate retailers for inventory on hand when they drop prices.

I watch this thread because I recently purchased a TH-50PX50U, and I have to constantly validate my purchase and have my ego stroked...



How about this, then:

When you are not talking about future high-def DVDs, you are one smart guy. :)

Walmart is now saling the following Panasonic plasma TVs:

1) 37-, 42-, and 50-inch 50U
2) 42- and 50-inch 500X

Prices are not all that great. Previuos posts have the MSRP being lowered up to $1000. If so, count me in.

Walmart is now saling the following Panasonic plasma TVs:

1) 37-, 42-, and 50-inch 50U
2) 42- and 50-inch 500X

Prices are not all that great. Previuos posts have the MSRP being lowered up to $1000. If so, count me in.


You saw them at a local B&M or read this somewhere? They are not listed on their website.

You saw them at a local B&M or read this somewhere? They are not listed on their website.
yes they are

Just searched for panasonic on walmarts site and it came up. They don't list it if you go into from the links in their menu.

Panny dropping prices and now being sold at Walmart? Geez, it almost seems like they want to sell lots of tvs :)

Maybe they're trying to clear inventory for the new lineup in the spring (assuming there is one)?

What Mark pointed out is really interesting, with the new Panny prices (assuming it actually happens) it puts their plasma prices almost right in line with HD rear projection sets. It will be interesting to see how the industry reacts.

I remember like a month or two ago there was a really strange news release about how panny was going to drop prices that would send shockwaves through the industry. Well that story seemed to be false because we never did get any price drops. But if these price drops really do happen I think it will indeed send shockwaves through the industry.

I wonder if we will get any sweet xbox360 / HDTV combo packages this winter? Seems like another great way to sell some product.

Wow, it's true. Wal-Mart is selling the PX50 and 500 online. And pricing looks impressive. Wally World has the PX500??! I am shocked.

PX500:walmart.com

[Direct Retail Links Are Not Allowed]

I guess I'm amazed that from checking the comparison engines, you can buy the 50 inch for <$4,000 from a reputable reseller.

Last year at CEDIA, I was impressed that Sony put out a $7000 50-inch unit and that the Panasonic's could be had for less at times.

Now we are talking $4000 as being the interesting price for a 50-inch unit from a tier-one brand and <$3,000 from a tier-two brand.

I know I'm soundng the same note over and over, but this is pretty amazing.

I wonder where commercial units -- in particular the new Pioneer -- will fall. That could be a delicious pickup for some....

I was about to pull the trigger on the 42PX for about 2700 from an online vendor, but I rather wait and see if these prices come to fruition. If they do, then maybe online prices will drop, if not, then I can at least buy the unit from a BM store that I can return the unit to if there are any problems.

Looking forward to the end of the month....

Walmart now says "out of stock and not available" for the Panasonic.

Hehehe.... even though walmart is out of stock they are still advertising below MSRP prices. This will pressure the other B&Ms to drop their prices too, I would think.

Most B&Ms lately have been offering nothing but MSRP. Good ol' Wally World to play the pricing pressure game...

Online shops will have to go even lower.

Manufacturers typically compensate retailers for inventory on hand when they drop prices.Good point...I wasn't thinking like the guy stuck in the middle, just as a customer on the outside.

When you are not talking about future high-def DVDs, you are one smart guy.Ego is stroked, purchase is validated. All is right in the world. :)

I was so close...this being the tax free "back to school" shopping weekend in MA, and a friend offering me his Sears "friends and family" discount 10%, and the potential price match + 10% of the difference (thanks to the wally world printout from earlier today)....AND my wife is flying out Sunday morning, so I would have had ALL day to hook it up and watch it.....

and now...I'll spend the day reading this forum and looking for any more info on a "potential" price drop...

4. Very limited picture adjustment options on VGA PC input. Only contrast and brightness can be adjusted. This produces a PC desktop with absolutely “cartoonish” levels of saturation. I’m experimenting with color profiles in Powerstrip but all I really need is a color saturation adjustment and neither Powerstrip nor my video card offers this. My former PD25 PC input had all the same picture adjustments as other inputs. Without these adjustments results from the VGA input are far too garish to view pictures or surf the net without eye strain. However, the extra resolution and subpixel control do produce nicely readable text at 1024x728 from 10’. This is a great step up from my ED which could only produce readable content from this distance in 720x480.

I briefly tried hooking my PC up to my 50PX500U via the VGA input and noticed the same thing about the colors. I played a little bit of Need for Speed Underground (1024x768), Half-Life 2 and Guild Wars (both at 1366x768), which all looked awesome except for the colors being "off". The games were a little on the dark side as well, but I didn't try adjusting the brightness.

Have you had any luck adjusting the colors? I have a 9800 Pro graphics card but haven't looked into whether the colors can be adjusted.

Ter

I was so close...this being the tax free "back to school" shopping weekend in MA, and a friend offering me his Sears "friends and family" discount 10%, and the potential price match + 10% of the difference (thanks to the wally world printout from earlier today)....AND my wife is flying out Sunday morning, so I would have had ALL day to hook it up and watch it.....

and now...I'll spend the day reading this forum and looking for any more info on a "potential" price drop...

Don't feel to bad the tax holiday is limited to $2,500.

-- Rich

Walmart is now saling the following Panasonic plasma TVs:

1) 37-, 42-, and 50-inch 50U
2) 42- and 50-inch 500X

Prices are not all that great. Previuos posts have the MSRP being lowered up to $1000. If so, count me in.


Yuck, I'll take my chances on an online purchase any day over Walmart...

Hey:

Can anyone explain to me why the picture on the 7UY's are so much better than the picture on the consumer 50U and 500U?

I really would like to make my purchase as simple as possible, but the 7UY seems like it has so many advantages in picture control and quality over the consumer plasmas.

Those price drops sound great!

Is there any information about what the 65" Pany is going to cost, come 28th of August?

If pricing hits that low I would say that the projection based televisions will take quite a hit or be on there way out.

I'm just thinking: Poor Toshiba and Canon! They'll really have a hard time catching up...

Can anyone explain to me why the picture on the 7UY's are so much better than the picture on the consumer 50U and 500U?

I really would like to make my purchase as simple as possible, but the 7UY seems like it has so many advantages in picture control and quality over the consumer plasmas.

What makes you say one is better? Have you compared the two in person with the same feed? The 7UY/8UY has more picture adjustments (most notably gamma, RGB cuts/drives, & overscan) but in the end the difference in PQ between the two should be minor - they use the same glass and should be comparable internally. If you have links to posts where people have done side by side comparisons, I'd love to see them.

Have you had any luck adjusting the colors? I have a 9800 Pro graphics card but haven't looked into whether the colors can be adjusted.

Ter

Ter - You should be able to adjust saturation via your graphics card. I'll be interested in hearing the results as I plan to pick up a HTPC with an ATI card that offers adjustable saturation to resolve this problem of no color adjustments on the display via the VGA input.

Walmart is now saling the following Panasonic plasma TVs:

1) 37-, 42-, and 50-inch 50U
2) 42- and 50-inch 500X

Prices are not all that great. Previuos posts have the MSRP being lowered up to $1000. If so, count me in.

Wow, how rich is this? I want to print the webpage out and take it to the BSS where the snooty salesman told me that it was such a high end unit (the px500 line) that even Tweeter had passed on it. (It's in the new Tweeter catalog by the way, although they got the specs wrong - they say it has no speakers and no ATSC tuner ...lol). He graciously offered it to me at MSRP, but would throw in a warranty. Maybe I will take the Tweeter catalog and the Wal-Mart web page printout to show him. Of course he might have a stroke, so maybe I'd better not.

Darren

I posted my problem elsewhere in the forum but was not aware of this thread. Perhaps you might know...
I've just got a 42PD50U, an LG DVD hdmi ready and the monster cable to hook (all suggested as best buys by the sales person at Best Buy). Upon turning the DVD on I get a loading screen but with a pink hue and once the players starts running the screen goes black. I've tried disconnecting an connecting several times, been trough the whole menu on both, tried resetting, etc. Others have posted the same issue on the Forum. Anyone knows what to do? I'm a new memeber.

I believe this another one of those handshake protocol issues. If so, it has to do with what gets powered on first.

I posted my problem elsewhere in the forum but was not aware of this thread. Perhaps you might know...
I've just got a 42PD50U, an LG DVD hdmi ready and the monster cable to hook (all suggested as best buys by the sales person at Best Buy). Upon turning the DVD on I get a loading screen but with a pink hue and once the players starts running the screen goes black. I've tried disconnecting an connecting several times, been trough the whole menu on both, tried resetting, etc. Others have posted the same issue on the Forum. Anyone knows what to do? I'm a new memeber.

I seem to recall earlier in this thread that someone was told by Panasonic that their plasmas are not compatible with two types of DVD players via HDMi. I think it was LG and Samsung. You might try a search.

Darren

I just purchased one of these from CC. I'm having blotchiness/macroblocking in dark scenes and background which is visible from my seating position at 15 ft. It's really obvious if you get within 5 ft. or so. It occurs regardless of source (Sat, OTA, DVD) and both via component and HDMI. At first, I suspected over-compression of the signal as the culprit but it was there even for Lost last night on ABC OTA (720p, only multicasting weather radar). I've adjusted and adjusted (including AVIA and THX optimizer) to no avail. It looks great in well-lit scenes but I'm probably going to return it and wait on the 50 inch Sony SXRD. This is my first plasma so I"m not sure if this is associated with the technology, just with Panasonic, or just with this model but my wife hates it (bad) and prefers the GWIII which I used up to now.

The shadow detail and black levels are certainly better than the GWIII but the macroblocking is just unacceptable to me.

Ter - You should be able to adjust saturation via your graphics card. I'll be interested in hearing the results as I plan to pick up a HTPC with an ATI card that offers adjustable saturation to resolve this problem of no color adjustments on the display via the VGA input.

You may want to consider a GeForce card. I was unable to get my 9800 or X800XT to properly display 1366x768. ATI syncs to that resolution but displays 1360 columns (multiple of 8) and repeats the 1360 column 6 times. Fun house mirror.

Unusable for full-screen Video on the PC.

-- Rich

Yuck, I'll take my chances on an online purchase any day over Walmart...

Why? Granted, there's still a price difference between Walmart and (some of) the Internet dealers, but they seem to offer a better return policy than the BB/CC/etc stores (though not equal to Costco's), and they're carrying the current models.

Why is Walmart a "yuk"?

-Chris

If the 42PX50 and 50PX50 drop in price to $2500 and $4000 respectively, that really has to put a lot of pressure on DLPs at 50" and less.

Regarding the HDMI input on the TH-50PX500U:

I was trying to setup a new Denon DVD-1920 last night at my dad's house. It is connected to a 50PX500U via HDMI. This is my first HDMI configuration and...I can't get it to work. There is nothing showing on the display when I select the HDMI input.

The HDMI light on the 1920 lights up so it seems it is communicating with the display. If I unplug either end, the HDMI light goes out. If I turn off the 1920, the input message (HDMI DVD) shows up on the display.

Suggestions? How can I figure out if the problem is the HDMI output from the DVD player or the HDMI input on the display? Have I missed some setup option?

I just purchased one of these from CC. I'm having blotchiness/macroblocking in dark scenes and background which is visible from my seating position at 15 ft. It's really obvious if you get within 5 ft. or so. It occurs regardless of source (Sat, OTA, DVD) and both via component and HDMI. At first, I suspected over-compression of the signal as the culprit but it was there even for Lost last night on ABC OTA (720p, only multicasting weather radar). I've adjusted and adjusted (including AVIA and THX optimizer) to no avail. It looks great in well-lit scenes but I'm probably going to return it and wait on the 50 inch Sony SXRD. This is my first plasma so I"m not sure if this is associated with the technology, just with Panasonic, or just with this model but my wife hates it (bad) and prefers the GWIII which I used up to now.

The shadow detail and black levels are certainly better than the GWIII but the macroblocking is just unacceptable to me.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't macroblocking occur at the signal processing phase? The TV simply displays the processed signal sent to it by the DVD player, satellite receiver, etc. Isn't it those things which are the culprit.

Wow, how rich is this? I want to print the webpage out and take it to the BSS where the snooty salesman told me that it was such a high end unit (the px500 line) that even Tweeter had passed on it. (It's in the new Tweeter catalog by the way, although they got the specs wrong - they say it has no speakers and no ATSC tuner ...lol). He graciously offered it to me at MSRP, but would throw in a warranty. Maybe I will take the Tweeter catalog and the Wal-Mart web page printout to show him. Of course he might have a stroke, so maybe I'd better not.

Darren


I'm having the same problem but, my BSS guy says walmart isn't selling it even though it's advertised online! There's no way this can be true, right? Talk about false advertising!?

I'm having the same problem but, my BSS guy says walmart isn't selling it even though it's advertised online! There's no way this can be true, right? Talk about false advertising!?

The BSS person you spoke to is full of it. First of all, what would be the point of listing it if they don't sell it? A company as notoriously frugal as Wal-Mart would not waste the time or expense to add an item to the website if they were not going to carry it.

I have only had bad experiences with BSS, starting from the owner down the food chain there. I personally would never buy anything from them. They are run by some folks who used to run Luskin's, if you remember them, so my advice is stay away. I only stopped in the store to actually see the unit, because it is hard to find locally here in Baltimore, although I suspect once the Best Buy in Towson finishes getting their AV section converted to Magnolia they will carry it. They were doing construction and I spotted Def-Tech Pro-100's boxes in the Magnolia area, a high end item thet BB never used to carry.

Darren

What makes you say one is better? Have you compared the two in person with the same feed? The 7UY/8UY has more picture adjustments (most notably gamma, RGB cuts/drives, & overscan) but in the end the difference in PQ between the two should be minor - they use the same glass and should be comparable internally. If you have links to posts where people have done side by side comparisons, I'd love to see them.

Sorry, I am just flying by the seat of my pants. Yes, I have seen the 7UY and the 500U side by side with the same feed. I thought the 7UY looked noticeabley sharper and less noisy. I have no links, although several other folkson the board here seem to make the same conclusion. I'd like to think that it was a matter of calibration or something, hence my asking.

Sorry, I am just flying by the seat of my pants. Yes, I have seen the 7UY and the 500U side by side with the same feed. I thought the 7UY looked noticeabley sharper and less noisy. I have no links, although several other folkson the board here seem to make the same conclusion. I'd like to think that it was a matter of calibration or something, hence my asking.

Interesting. Calibration is the only way I could logically explain the additional noise you percieved on the consumer. The consumer models are all shipped with very high sharpness levels that accentuate noise and give the display a rather gritty look. Properly adjusting sharpness should make all the difference. But given, the ability to optimize overscan on the commercial could still help it render a slightly sharper image.

However, regarding several folks reaching the same conclusion, I certainly haven't seen such posts - hence why I surprised by your findings. Very few have even gotten the opportunity to view consumer and commercial side by side since virtually no B&M's carry both. I've seen posts from a few rare owners of both consumer and commercial Pannies and they mentioned no such discrepencies. The commercial units should in theory be capable of a slightly better HD image with their adjustable overscan and color adjustments, but your's is the first report I've seen of this difference being striking so I'd chalk it up to calibration.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't macroblocking occur at the signal processing phase? The TV simply displays the processed signal sent to it by the DVD player, satellite receiver, etc. Isn't it those things which are the culprit.

Yes, macroblocking is a source issue.

If it's described as "blotchiness" in addition, it could be false contouring, which could be introduced in the scaler.

Interesting. Calibration is the only way I could logically explain the additional noise you percieved on the consumer. The consumer models are all shipped with very high sharpness levels that accentuate noise and give the display a rather gritty look. Properly adjusting sharpness should make all the difference. But given, the ability to optimize overscan on the commercial could still help it render a slightly sharper image.

However, regarding several folks reaching the same conclusion, I certainly haven't seen such posts - hence why I surprised by your findings. Very few have even gotten the opportunity to view consumer and commercial side by side since virtually no B&M's carry both. I've seen posts from a few rare owners of both consumer and commercial Pannies and they mentioned no such discrepencies. The commercial units should in theory be capable of a slightly better HD image with their adjustable overscan and color adjustments, but your's is the first report I've seen of this difference being striking so I'd chalk it up to calibration.

Thanks, that could be the answer. I am kind of hoping it is the answer. But I was also hoping to hear wether someone could confirm that they do indeed contain the same panel and processing.

As for folks saying they see a difference. I have not kept tally on it, but there are certainly a few folks on here that mentioned they had purchased the 7UY over the consumer sets based on PQ.

When I went to BSS recently, I literally felt like I was in a shark tank. The guy circled me as he spat off specifications and features of the 50px500u as I stood there trying to look at it. Half the stuff he said was BS anyway.... such as "it has 2 HDMI's".... he also said something about the set having a feature where it can sense stationary images, and it will shift them by 1 pixel in order to prevent burn-in. This sounds cool, but I haven't seen it written anywhere. Probably more BS.
THEN, he rudely stormed off after he "graciously" offered to sell it to me for MSRP (plus a "free" extended warranty), and I didn't bite. I can't wait 'til CC or WM finally get this set in stock.

Yes, macroblocking is a source issue.

If it's described as "blotchiness" in addition, it could be false contouring, which could be introduced in the scaler.

Then why don't I have it with my Sony GWIII?

If it's a "source issue" then I'm not sure what better source I have available other than OTA through the 50U's tuner. It also happens through the LG 3510a OTA tuner I have.

I really *want* to keep this plasma, but it isn't satisfactory at this point.

The macroblocking appears as "fuzziness" (my wife's description) in the background especially noticeable in dark scenes. When you look at it close up, it looks like the macroblocking I've seen through DVI on my LG DVD player. Basically, it's like pixellation in the dark areas that's independent of movement.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't macroblocking occur at the signal processing phase? The TV simply displays the processed signal sent to it by the DVD player, satellite receiver, etc. Isn't it those things which are the culprit.


It occurs during scaling and deinterlacing. The major known culprit is the Faroudja scaler in Denon DVD players. The plasma has to scale the signal to it's native resolution so could certainly introduce the same effect. I'm not saying I know for sure that's what's happening, but that seems the likely problem to me. I'm just not sure what other explanations are available but I'd certainly be willing to entertain other ideas.

Regarding the HDMI input on the TH-50PX500U:

I was trying to setup a new Denon DVD-1920 last night at my dad's house. It is connected to a 50PX500U via HDMI. This is my first HDMI configuration and...I can't get it to work. There is nothing showing on the display when I select the HDMI input.

The HDMI light on the 1920 lights up so it seems it is communicating with the display. If I unplug either end, the HDMI light goes out. If I turn off the 1920, the input message (HDMI DVD) shows up on the display.

Suggestions? How can I figure out if the problem is the HDMI output from the DVD player or the HDMI input on the display? Have I missed some setup option?

I'm not familiar with the 1920, but my Sat HTB has a switch on the back panel which toggles between component and DVI(HDMI). Check for similar on yours. Also, check to be sure you've enabled HDMI on the Denon's setup menu.

Also, be sure the HDMI input on the display is not set to "skip" in which case it's disabled.

You could also post this question in the DVD player forum.

If what you are seeing is independent of movement, then it is not macroblocking.

What you are describing in the dark areas is some other kind of artifact. Maybe it is false contouring or quantization error. Let's see, what else is there? Difficult to diagnose without seeing it.

I do wish you well on finding a display that is satisfactory.

If what you are seeing is independent of movement, then it is not macroblocking.



That is my understanding also. I can say on my 50px50u I don't notice blotching of any kind. I have as a reference point my Pioneer Elite 510 CRT which is very well regarded.

Regarding false contouring, I haven't noted that either. And the grayscale gradients from the Avia disk is quite smooth for a plasma. My only guess to the problem is that the TV is defective.....or we all see things differently. H*ll, some people see rainbows in the new Pannys so I don't doubt anything that anyone sees. Good luck in whatever TV you end up with.

My wife and I recently went to a CC, where they had the 50px50u right next to the latest Pioneer 50", the LG 50px4dr and the LG 50px1d. The Panny and Pioneer both displayed what my wife also called "fuzziness". It was mostly in the background in dark areas, and was definitely independent from movement. It almost looked like you were looking through a thin wall of water. It could be seen even when standing 12-15 feet from the screen.
The LG's did not display this, however, their color and overall picture quality weren't what I'd expect for a $5000 set.
Not sure what the technical reason is, but I'm hoping the 500u wouldn't have the same problem, as that's the set I'm hoping to get.

My wife and I recently went to a CC, where they had the 50px50u right next to the latest Pioneer 50", the LG 50px4dr and the LG 50px1d. The Panny and Pioneer both displayed what my wife also called "fuzziness". It was mostly in the background in dark areas, and was definitely independent from movement. It almost looked like you were looking through a thin wall of water. It could be seen even when standing 12-15 feet from the screen.
The LG's did not display this, however, their color and overall picture quality weren't what I'd expect for a $5000 set.
Not sure what the technical reason is, but I'm hoping the 500u wouldn't have the same problem, as that's the set I'm hoping to get.

What was the sharpness settings on the Panny and Pioneer? What was the screen resolution?

My wife and I recently went to a CC, where they had the 50px50u right next to the latest Pioneer 50", the LG 50px4dr and the LG 50px1d. The Panny and Pioneer both displayed what my wife also called "fuzziness". It was mostly in the background in dark areas, and was definitely independent from movement. It almost looked like you were looking through a thin wall of water. It could be seen even when standing 12-15 feet from the screen.
The LG's did not display this, however, their color and overall picture quality weren't what I'd expect for a $5000 set.
Not sure what the technical reason is, but I'm hoping the 500u wouldn't have the same problem, as that's the set I'm hoping to get.

Yep, sounds like what I'm seeing.

And macroblocking *is* independent of movement. Otherwise, I don't see how you'd tell it from pixellation. I guess it could be in dark areas only, but what I'm seeing happens with still images and moving images and seems to be more dependent on gamma (black).

My guess is it's not a defective set, as I've seen other scattered reports of this.
I'm not sure if I'm willing to risk going through the hassle of returning it and getting another only to see the same problem again.

What the *(*&&^ I go away for a few days and check back and now Walmart is selling these displays and the price is dropping a grand. I knew I should have stopped reading after I bought mine.

My wife and I recently went to a CC, where they had the 50px50u right next to the latest Pioneer 50", the LG 50px4dr and the LG 50px1d. The Panny and Pioneer both displayed what my wife also called "fuzziness". It was mostly in the background in dark areas, and was definitely independent from movement. It almost looked like you were looking through a thin wall of water. It could be seen even when standing 12-15 feet from the screen.
The LG's did not display this, however, their color and overall picture quality weren't what I'd expect for a $5000 set.
Not sure what the technical reason is, but I'm hoping the 500u wouldn't have the same problem, as that's the set I'm hoping to get.


I was at my local CC yesterday and no plasmas looked good - they had a horrendous feed. I don't know what was going on, I didn't stick around long enough to find out if it was a loop, or their D* feed. (I DO NOT need to be hanging around in the plasmas for a while!!.)

Maybe you should check them out another time. Could've been an isolated incident...

What the *(*&&^ I go away for a few days and check back and now Walmart is selling these displays and the price is dropping a grand. I knew I should have stopped reading after I bought mine.

Stop reading? Ha. How are you going to find out what else to nitpick?
Or when to agonize over price drops? ;)

The BSS person you spoke to is full of it. First of all, what would be the point of listing it if they don't sell it? A company as notoriously frugal as Wal-Mart would not waste the time or expense to add an item to the website if they were not going to carry it.

I have only had bad experiences with BSS, starting from the owner down the food chain there. I personally would never buy anything from them. They are run by some folks who used to run Luskin's, if you remember them, so my advice is stay away. I only stopped in the store to actually see the unit, because it is hard to find locally here in Baltimore, although I suspect once the Best Buy in Towson finishes getting their AV section converted to Magnolia they will carry it. They were doing construction and I spotted Def-Tech Pro-100's boxes in the Magnolia area, a high end item thet BB never used to carry.

Darren


Well I think i'm okay with this outcome.... Although at first I seriously felt that this BSS guy was full of BS, after doing a bit of research on my own and contacting panny's and Wally's HQ's, there definitely seems to be a bit more to the story that I think we all know. Not sure what it is, but it's certainly smells a bit fishy and here’s why.

I spoke to several Panny Rep's giving them all the same sob story about me not being able to get my "price match" unless I prove that Panny has allowed Wally to sell the px500 line(which is true). I have to say, everyone was very helpful until I mentioned the word "wally"! As soon as the word came out of my mouth, everyone got quiet. Very weird! I got responses like, "They might have them, but lets just say they don't get them from us directly...." or "between you and me, it might be a while before you see them have it again..." or "oh they have them, but that's all I can say about that..." or "I'm not allowed to get into or comment on that.....". So I can definitely see a bit of big corporate america playing a hand in all of this. It was truly strange, the more bizarre responses I got, the more I wanted to dig deeper and find out the truth!

You know, you always hear about big corporate companies, Wally in particular, slashing prices which in turn forces the little boutique shops, who truly cant afford the same discounted prices, do so as well and slowly force them out of business! Look, I'm certainly speculating here, but from what I've gathered, the only stores that really carry this set ARE the little boutique shops, which as many have posted here on this forum, is a bit strange in its self!

So before I start getting any further along into who I REALLY feel is behind all of this ;) , let me just say, BSS actually compromised with me and gave me a 5 year warranty, which they claim is worth close to $700. Normally I would have told him where to go, but after getting a really weird run around from Panny and Wally, I think I'm okay with it. Actually, when I initially bought the set, the sales guy told me they could either give me $500 off MSRP and free shipping or the warranty and I opted to take the former. So now I have all 3! Oh and did I mention I was 3 days over the "30 day price match guarantee"?! :D

....So before I start getting any further along into who I REALLY feel is behind all of this ;) , let me just say, BSS actually compromised with me and gave me a 5 year warranty, which they claim is worth close to $700. Normally I would have told him where to go, but after getting a really weird run around from Panny and Wally, I think I'm okay with it. Actually, when I initially bought the set, the sales guy told me they could either give me $500 off MSRP and free shipping or the warranty and I opted to take the former. So now I have all 3! Oh and did I mention I was 3 days over the "30 day price match guarantee"?! :D

Wow $700 is a LOT for a 5-year warranty!! (it's actually probably 4 years and takes effect after the one-year manufacturers warranty). Panasonic keeps calling me to buy their extended warranty for $600. No thanks.

You can buy a 4-year Repairmaster warranty (which takes effect after the factory warranty expires) for under $300 from forum sponsor TVAuthority.

Yep, sounds like what I'm seeing.

And macroblocking *is* independent of movement. Otherwise, I don't see how you'd tell it from pixellation. I guess it could be in dark areas only, but what I'm seeing happens with still images and moving images and seems to be more dependent on gamma (black).

My guess is it's not a defective set, as I've seen other scattered reports of this.
I'm not sure if I'm willing to risk going through the hassle of returning it and getting another only to see the same problem again.

FWIW - My PX500 has no noise issues in dark scenes. My set is noise free in the shadows - even on SD. Couldn't be happier. Not sure what to tell you other than you could try another - perhaps it's a sporadic issue.

My PX500U will be delivered today and I have a question or two regarding the break in procedure found in Panasonics White Paper. When it says to not watch the same channel for extended periods of time for the first 100 hours to prevent burn in from channel logos, etc, exactly how long is an extended period of time? Like a couple of hours or like only one show and then change the channel. Also, in regards to DVD's, what will happen when watching a TV series on DVD that is kept in 4:3. Is it possible to stretch it to fill the screen, or are you pretty much stuck with 4:3 for those kinds of DVD's?

My fiancee and I are likely going to purchase a 500U this weekend and have a question regarding the break in period.

Are you folks casually watching the pdp in order to achieve the 100-300 break in period or are you watching it/leaving it on for extended periods of time during the day on a station without an anchored information (e.g., station nomenclature, tickers, news bars, &etc.)?

I work during the day while my fiancee remains at home, working on her PhD dissertation. Barring electrical storms or brown outs, has anyone left the unit on for about 10 hours/day in stretched mode in order to advance along the break in process (while minimizing the number of hard ons/offs)? The pdp will be connected to an HTPC, so I could have the HTPC automatically flip channels, say, every 15 minutes, too, in order to minimize any possibility of a "Coming up next" graphic spending too much time on the pdp unbeknownst to us. She would be available to check on it periodically, and certainly to unplug it in the event of any abhorrent weather.

Thanks!

How do you get to menu that will show the Hour Meter?

I'm breaking in my PD50 and would like to keep track of the hours. Hopefully I'll have enough hours log in before the XBOX 360 comes out on Nov 1st.

The pdp will be connected to an HTPC, so I could have the HTPC automatically flip channels, say, every 15 minutes, too, in order to minimize any possibility of a "Coming up next" graphic spending too much time on the pdp unbeknownst to us. She would be available to check on it periodically, and certainly to unplug it in the event of any abhorrent weather.


Alternatively, you could have the HTPC run a fullscreen video loop... However, if something happened and the video stopped, you'd probably be worse off by having PC icon image retention. Just a thought.

Definitely good points re: loop and a possible freeze.

Otherwise, however, do you believe that this is an acceptable solution to the question of "how many more hours until XXX?!" query?

Thanks!

Alternatively, you could have the HTPC run a fullscreen video loop... However, if something happened and the video stopped, you'd probably be worse off by having PC icon image retention. Just a thought.

Alternatively, you could have the HTPC run a fullscreen video loop... However, if something happened and the video stopped, you'd probably be worse off by having PC icon image retention. Just a thought.
yea i have been looping a dvd since i got mine to speed up the break in process, I am a little nervous everyday i get home that the dvd stopped looping and its stuck on the main screen all day. So far so good though, but definatly a concern, i wouldnt leave it looping if i was going away for a few days, but i figure the worst case it will only be stuck there for 8 or 9 hours.

You know, you always hear about big corporate companies, Wally in particular, slashing prices which in turn forces the little boutique shops, who truly cant afford the same discounted prices, do so as well and slowly force them out of business! Look, I'm certainly speculating here, but from what I've gathered, the only stores that really carry this set ARE the little boutique shops, which as many have posted here on this forum, is a bit strange in its self!...

So before I start getting any further along into who I REALLY feel is behind all of this ;) , let me just say, BSS actually compromised with me and gave me a 5 year warranty, which they claim is worth close to $700....

I for one am not a big fan of conspiracy theories. The fact that Tweeter (also owns Hi-Fi Buys and a couple of other stores) which is a national retail chain has these sets clearly shows it is not a "boutique" item.

My personal theory is that these highly anticipated sets are selling like hotcakes, and are hard to come by. I know of one internet vendor (related to Office Depot) which sold out in less than two days after getting some in. it took several weeks before they got any more, and now they are down to just a few in stock.

I have been waiting patiently for the wholesaler my connection uses to get these in stock, but still no luck. I don't think they have ever gotten any in. And they are authorized to sell Panny, as is my connection. Which is fine now that there may be a significant price drop. If the 500's don't drop, just the 50's, I may get that, as the current wholesale difference is about $250, but if it is much more than that I am not sure it is worth it.

Darren

I'm sure this has already been answered ...but I didn't see it when I searched (here or elsewhere)

Is there a source for the shipping box sizes for the 42 px50u and the 42px500u?

I'm wondering if I can get it home myself or if i need delivery

20.5 d 37 h 50 w i had help do to the bulk it is not that heavy less than 80lbs

Thanks for the measurements....it would have fit nicely into my car and I could have used my wife or brother in law to help with the bulky size.....

I couldn't get tweeter to match the price on the PX500 and no one else here seems to be stocking it so I ordered it online...

seemed almost too good to be true - I've shopped in their retail stores in NJ before, and my parents still live there, so I figured if i have a problem, it's not that far to go to complain

would have been great to pick up today though....

Hopefully the delivery goes smoothly

Thanks to all of those who helped me make my decision!

How do you get to menu that will show the Hour Meter?

I'm breaking in my PD50 and would like to keep track of the hours. Hopefully I'll have enough hours log in before the XBOX 360 comes out on Nov 1st.

"While pressing the VOLUME - (minus) button on the Plasma,
press the "RECALL" button on the Remote Control 3 times in a row (within 2 seconds).
Then press "1" on the remote two times until you see OPTION BOOT ROM.
Now press and hold the MUTE key on the remote for 3 seconds.
TIME = Hours of Operation (Hex Numbers)
COUNT = How many times the Plasma was powered on
Switch off the power (Using the remote or the plasma button) to exit the service menu."

[QUOTE=RickInMA]Thanks for the measurements....it would have fit nicely into my car and I could have used my wife or brother in law to help with the bulky size.....

(20.5 d 37 h 50 w)QUOTE]

Rick,
Those measurment match my 42PD50 box.

Because of the way its packaged, you should keep the box upright and not lay it on its side.

Not just the way it's packaged; it's a bad idea to transport any pdp lying down. The manuals of some advise laying it down carefully to install the stand, but transporting it that way is a very bad idea... partly for the same reason you wouldn't carry any large pane of glass horizontally.

cpcat,

How are you doing with "your Macro Blocking issue"? If it's existed then nogo for me on the PX500. I currently have an older 42PX20 with the Panny S97 DVD player combination and the macro blocking is notorious. The residential Panny plasma line seems to be more sensitive to macro blocking than other plasmas. Guess I'll read up on the Commercial Pany threads to see any report on Macro Blockings.

cpcat,

How are you doing with "your Macro Blocking issue"? If it's existed then nogo for me on the PX500. I currently have an older 42PX20 with the Panny S97 DVD player combination and the macro blocking is notorious. The residential Panny plasma line seems to be more sensitive to macro blocking than other plasmas. Guess I'll read up on the Commercial Pany threads to see any report on Macro Blockings.

No changes, still present. I'm considering exchanging it for another PX50 but my suspicion is it's not a defective set. It's a 70 mile drive for me to CC. The first chance I'll have will be mid-next week. I love the contrast, black level of this thing but I may not be able to keep it.

I've been reading through the Samsung 1080p DLP as well as the Sony SXRD threads. Like I said though, if I could have the overall PQ of the PX50 but without the macroblocking I'd be a happy camper.

Housecor said his px500 doesn't have this problem at all. I'm just not sure what to think as there shouldn't be a difference in PQ between the two.

Macroblocking originates in the player, but can be "magnified" by the display. Any player with Faroudja processing is a bad combo with a Panny plasma.

FYI: properly calibrating the display, does help a bit.

It's not just from a DVD player. It's also happening with Satellite and OTA (including via the plasma's tuner) as well. I posted the details a few pages back.

Anywhere there is scaling/deinterlacing etc. (including the set's scaler) it can be produced. The Faroudja scaler in the Denon DVD players is one well known source, but not the only one (apparently).

i am using the integra 10.5 with hdmi with 1080i upconversion and so far no problems yet and warner cable thru box via component but noticed picture looked better in sd without the box was told it is because everything goes through the harddrive first.

a modest bit of evidence on the panny upcoming price reduction rumor.

been checking the price comparison web sites on the 42PD and 42PX for a couple months now. prices have been in a consistant range since they were released. however, i noticed that a handful of the ultra cheap online vendors just dropped their prices $200 on both of these units, creating a "new bottom"...could be that they're doing it in anticipation of the cut....

I am contemplating picking up the 42px50u tomorrow. 3 questions:

1. Is there a memory function so the Tv remembers that I like to watch 4:3 shows in a certain aspect mode (ie, full or just mode)? Or do I have to manually adjust aspect ratio per input?

2. I want to hook this tv up to a home theatre system.

If I go HDMI cable from directtv set top box to TV and then digital audio connection from TV to audio receiver, will that work?

Or do I have to use component cables for picture from set top box to TV and then audio cable from set top box to receiver? I prefer using HDMI but will the TV transfer back a 5.1 signal to my receiver via the audio out cable?

3. WILL THERE BE AUDIO LAG? I thought these TVs were really made for home theatre set ups and I am so surprised by the many, many complaints of audio lag. Don't most people hook these big screen TVs up to a 5.1 system? What are the manufacturers thinking

Stopped by the BB I mentioned in my post a page or two ago, and the Magnolia Store is finished (they were hanging the last plasma on the wall). And what did I see but a 50PX500U right there smack dab in the middle of the Pioneer Elite's and the Fujitsu's. Slight price break off MSRP. Hate to say I told you so...but :cool:

And as a gutton for punishment, I stopped by Walmart today (well actually yesterday since the system will show this as a Sunday post- I went on Saturday)and inquired about the 500 on the website. The salesguy said it was probably just out of stock, but that every B&M store carries different products, so he could not say for sure if they were getting any, but that if it was listed on the website, it was definitely for sale.

Darren

CC is offering a 10% off price in their Sunday circular for the Boston area, as well as a $300 rebate for the 42PX50 and 50PX50. Brings the price down very nicely. Interestingly, the deal ends on August 27, which is the day before Panasonic is supposedly going to lower the MSRP!

Yes, I noticed the price breaks in sundays add. Panny dropped their prices at the end of Aug one year ago on their consumer line, so it seems reasonable if they drop msrp soon this year.

My PD50U is worth every penny I paid over the current available price, but hopefully some other AVSrs can enjoy the reduced price (or at least price match!).


JCPZero

Interestingly, the deal ends on August 27, which is the day before Panasonic is supposedly going to lower the MSRP!

very interesting indeed

Wow $700 is a LOT for a 5-year warranty!! (it's actually probably 4 years and takes effect after the one-year manufacturers warranty). Panasonic keeps calling me to buy their extended warranty for $600. No thanks.

You can buy a 4-year Repairmaster warranty (which takes effect after the factory warranty expires) for under $300 from forum sponsor TVAuthority.

Those considering warranties may want to check out the discussions in the separate Extended Warranty thread...
It appears that RepairMaster, for example, requires separate warranties for electronics, screen, and bulb (for those considering microdisplays)... :confused:
It would be prudent to clarify what is covered and who will do the fixing before any EW purchase.

Panny dropped their prices at the end of Aug one year ago on their consumer line, so it seems reasonable if they drop msrp soon this year.
jcpzero (or anyone else): was the price on the industrial line affected by that? I'm still wondering if the 8UK price will come down at all, especially since they're going to be so close to (or over?) the consumer prices (at least in the US).

jcpzero (or anyone else): was the price on the industrial line affected by that? I'm still wondering if the 8UK price will come down at all, especially since they're going to be so close to (or over?) the consumer prices (at least in the US).


i don't know for sure on this, but i have yet to see the commercial models pricing higher than the consumer, so i assume so (i'm talking street price here, the MSRPs on the commercial units tend to be much, much higher than the street prices, perhaps for the benefit of panasonic when they do direct sales to corporations that don't shop around?)

Just picked up a 50PX500 a few weeks ago....
For the break in period I just ran a DVD in repeat mode, with the zoom feature enabled, for the first 100 hundred hours, without shutting off the TV. No problems...

I did notice that the 50PX500 runs extremely cool, even after having the TV on for 100 straight hours the TV only felt warm, a far cry from some plasmas which can reach temps that will easily burn an unprotected forearm.

The ultimate wall mounted bracket would have to be the Peerless PLA-1. I had no problems with interference from the "hump" on the back of the TV and it is the most versatile mount I have seen for any plasma, being fully articulated and with the ability to extend about 2.5 feet away from the wall. MSRP-$699.95

The 500PX is really a great TV with amazing PQ, however, not having source specific picture settings and a PC input which you can't control color settings is a real drawback, in my opinion. Having said that if watching TV is of little importance to you grab the 7UY or 8UY PDP, as the 500PX offers some great features for the channel surfer but definitely has it's limitations.

Trying to get rid of a flickering scan line at the top of my 42PX50U screen by vertical adjustment. When I go into the picture adjustment menu, I cannot select Zoom adjust (selection is grayed out). Does anyone have any suggestion as to how to adjust vertical position/size on the 42PX50U ? Not sure this will resolve my problem but its worth a try.

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting....
I went into the service menu of my brand new 42px500u to check for how long it's being on.
I'm not sure if I followed the right sequence at first, but I eventually got in. Ok, to the point, I want to make sure I didn't change any of the settings in the service menu or screwed anything up in the process. I swear the picture looks a bit "different" now, but it could be my mind playing tricks on me. Can someone please post or email me the default settings for the service menu on the 42px500u? I know is kind of asking a lot, but it would be greatly appreciated. I even bought the service manual for it, but I'm not sure if the values shown for the different options are default values or sample data. I feel like an ass asking for this, since I'm usually a lot more carefull and write things down, but I guess I was way too excited playing with my new toy.
Thanks in advance.

CC is offering a 10% off price in their Sunday circular for the Boston area, as well as a $300 rebate for the 42PX50 and 50PX50. Brings the price down very nicely. Interestingly, the deal ends on August 27, which is the day before Panasonic is supposedly going to lower the MSRP!...i guess it's worth it to wait until the 28th. they sure know how to tempt us though!

A friend is shopping for a plasma and went into a local shop that pushes Pioneer...he came back and asked me how many planes of glass the Panasonic has. Apparently, the sales guys were saying Pioneer is better because it has less layers of glass. I got this off the Pioneer web site:
"To reproduce the most brilliant lifelike colors, Pioneer uses a First Surface Pure Color Filter. This filter is bonded directly to the plasma glass instead of adding an additional layer of glass, thereby reducing environmental waste while enhancing the image quality. Since there are fewer layers of glass, there is less refraction of light to distort the images; however, there may be a slight increase in audio noise from the plasma."

Can someone comment on this and tell me if this makes any differenece relative to the Panasonic's.

After over a year lurking here and there, and contemplating a Panny kirk, a Sony GIV, and a couple EDTV plasmas, I hunkered down and bought the 42px50u. Major factor was PQ. One factor was the potential for a price-drop in the next month. Another was that my wife was embarassed the guy in CC knew us. But whatever the reason, I got it and am very happy. I'm still figuring everything out and unfortunately am stuck with SD-only cable until Comcast comes in 2 weeks, but AVS has been invaluable in getting me this far. Thanks everyone.

I've read this forum up to the 60's [EDIT: I thought this forum went up to the 120's. If not, 60 was almost there], plus some towards the end, but one question goes unanswered for me: Gray sidebars? Is there a way to darken these? I'm trying to view most things as zoom or just, but when it does go to 4:3, the gray sidebars look really really odd. Can I change these to black somehow? Is this a bad idea burn-in wise?

Another question: Video games. I love Halo but again, am worried about burn-in. I may be just being paranoid, but considering the bank these things cost, I'd rather err on the side of caution, especially during the break-in period. So, how long is safe to play a game? I figure 30 minutes isn't too bad, but is that over-paranoid? Under-paranoid?

Thanks in advance, and I'm glad to FINALLY be posting as an owner and not a seeker.

-p-

PS Anyone in the North Shore area of Mass know what HD DVR Comcast sends out, sepcifically with which outputs?

Gray sidebars? Is there a way to darken these? I'm trying to view most things as zoom or just, but when it does go to 4:3, the gray sidebars look really really odd. Can I change these to black somehow? Is this a bad idea burn-in wise?

Yes, go to menu>setup>other adjust>sidebar. I'd recommend stretching 4:3 during break-in. (first 100 hours). You'll likely find you prefer to stretch it always, which I'd recommend.

Another question: Video games. I love Halo but again, am worried about burn-in. I may be just being paranoid, but considering the bank these things cost, I'd rather err on the side of caution, especially during the break-in period. So, how long is safe to play a game? I figure 30 minutes isn't too bad, but is that over-paranoid? Under-paranoid?

A couple hours of gaming is just fine, even during break-in. Keep in mind, I (and many) watched multiple letterboxed movies during the first 100 hours and had no image retention. Just vary your viewing during the first 100 hrs. and you'll be fine. In fact, you could probably do far worse and still be fine - this is conservative advice.

Yes, go to menu>setup>other adjust>sidebar. I'd recommend stretching 4:3 during break-in. (first 100 hours). You'll likely find you prefer to stretch it always, which I'd recommend.

Huzzah! I saw the setting but could not select it (which is why I was having difficulty to begin with). But then I figured I actually had to be _in_ 4:3 mode to select it. I changed it from Zoom (my normal, shifted down a bit to move channel logos off screen) to 4:3 and lo! I was able to change it. Too bad there isn't a selection between dark and off since that is where "black" seems to fall. Ah well.

Since I've got at least your attention Cory, any thoughts on using a Comcast CableCard? It means giving up HD DVR capabilities, which I'm not too keen on, but the wife really really hates wires and isn't thrilled about the boxes around the TV having another sibling.

Thanks again.

-p-

any thoughts on using a Comcast CableCard?Costs less / better picture.

Received my 50PX500U yesterday and am VERY pleased with the choice. Some initial comments:

The picture in HD is simply amazing. Watched NFL HD last night and it was incredible, even with brightness/contrast dailed way down. We sit about 12 feet away and no flaws that I can see (green push/artifacts/etc). In fact, I am not sure my 7 month old can tell the difference between the TV and real life (not that I can either).

I have a HR10-250 and trying to get the aspect correct so that it fills the entire screen during break in has been confusing to say the least. If anyone has any useful input, I would appreciate it. It seems that you have to continually adjust the HR10 with the 500U on each individual channel depending on input signal. As you can imagine, the wife is not happy about the complexity.

I had hopes of a work around so that I could watch PC and HDMI in split screen, but I have not found a good way to do it yet. PC looks fine if you have a fairly robust video card.

I have both Comcast and Direct TV and have played back and forth with each and the hookups. In short, I can't tell a difference between HDMI and Component with DTV. HD looks great on both. SD looks better on DTV then Comcast, but not by much.

Absolutely 2 people to move/unpack/mount at a bare minimum, preferably one should not be a 5 foot tall 110 pound Italian with a hot temper that you are married to..............

Also, I have one more plug for TVAuthority. Ordered it from Cammy, who was great during the entire process. Had a major issue with the shipping company in terms of when I would be able to get delivery and alerted customer service. Within 2 hours, I got a call from the shipping company stating that it was on a van heading towards my house. As someone stated above, the true test is how they handle adversity and they came through with flying colors. I would recommend them highly.

MG

Hello all, new member. First off I would like to thank everyone that's taken the time to share their knowledge on this forum. I've spent the better part of a year researching plasma TV's and watching the pricing drop into a range that I could live with. This forum has been extreamly helpful, so based on a lot of what has been posted here, as well as my own comparisons, I took delivery of the TH-42PX5U last week. The panel is everything I hoped it would be however I am having a couple of problems that I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with.

1. I have the panel conected to a Comcast digital cable box via DVI to HDMI connection, the problem is that every time I turn the panel and cable box off, I have to re-boot the box to get a picture when I turn it on again. My first thought is that it's the cable box, I hope.

2. This is just a general question, but I was looking into buying an upconverting DVD player like the panny S97S, but dosn't the panel itself upconvert the signals it receives? If so what is the advantage of having DVD player with this ability?

If anyone has any insite into any of this I would really appreciate hearing what you have to say. Thanks

Hello all, new member. First off I would like to thank everyone that's taken the time to share their knowledge on this forum. I've spent the better part of a year researching plasma TV's and watching the pricing drop into a range that I could live with. This forum has been extremely helpful, so based on a lot of what has been posted here, as well as my own comparisons, I took delivery of the TH-42PX5U last week. The panel is everything I hoped it would be however I am having a couple of problems that I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with.

1. I have the panel conected to a Comcast digital cable box via DVI to HDMI connection, the problem is that every time I turn the panel and cable box off, I have to re-boot the box to get a picture when I turn it on again. My first thought is that it's the cable box, I hope.

2. This is just a general question, but I was looking into buying an upconverting DVD player like the panny S97S, but dosn't the panel itself upconvert the signals it receives? If so what is the advantage of having DVD player with this ability?

If anyone has any insite into any of this I would really appreciate hearing what you have to say. Thanks

After months of research, I took advantage of the Sunday circulars spotlighting CC's reduced prices. Thankfully, they even price matched Best Buy's delivery options, so the price was even lower than advertised. The 42PX50U will arrive tomorrow!

As I normally do not order from B&M, I am unclear as to the price drop protection argument. The salesperson suggested that it is 30 days, and I recall (from a purchase long ago) that 30 days was also stated (I actually took advantage of this). Is this still the case? I could not find any data on the CC website.

Thanks!

I have had my 42-500U for almost 2 -3 weeks now and noticed that the brightness has increased? No instead of watching in v ivid, I have to set it to standard mode because it is just way too bright.
Is it common for plasmas to get brighter initially? Breaking it in or something?

Thanks

I have had my 42-500U for almost 2 -3 weeks now and noticed that the brightness has increased? No instead of watching in v ivid, I have to set it to standard mode because it is just way too bright.
Is it common for plasmas to get brighter initially? Breaking it in or something?

ThanksThis is a rather strange phenomenon that I have experienced on my 50PX50U. I purchased my PDP on May 1st and at times recently, the picture seemed rather "bright" but checking the picture settings shows the panel is set to Standard mode with the picture & brightness turned down. :confused:

You shouldn't be watching vivid anyway during the first month or so while the TV breaks in. There is some controversy whether or not you need to break in a plasma.....apparently the Pio camp says no and Panny camp says yes.

Regarding the perceived brightness level, it may just be that your eyes got tired of vivid or 'torch mode.' Unless you live in a very bright environment, I don't see a practical use for that setting. Not only is the image too bright, it washes out colors and causes clay faces, among other things. I haven't noticed any changes in brightness.

You shouldn't be watching vivid anyway during the first month or so while the TV breaks in. There is some controversy whether or not you need to break in a plasma.....apparently the Pio camp says no and Panny camp says yes. The only logical conclusion is the "rocket scientists" of the AVS Forum know more than the manufacturers regarding the proper care & maintenance for their PDPs. :rolleyes:

Regarding the perceived brightness level, it may just be that your eyes got tired of vivid or 'torch mode.' Unless you live in a very bright environment, I don't see a practical use for that setting. Not only is the image too bright, it washes out colors and causes clay faces, among other things. I haven't noticed any changes in brightness.Perhaps I have become so accustomed to watching the PDP in Standard mode it appears rather bright to me. The Steelers/Eagles game on ESPN-HD last night looked "exceptional." :)

You shouldn't be watching vivid anyway during the first month or so while the TV breaks in.

While Vivid's default settings are indeed higher contrast, there is nothing inherent to the Vivid mode that makes it necessarily wrong for break-in. Just notch down the picture and sharpness settings on it like you would any other mode and it's quite comparable to standard and cinema - though cinema is softer to produce a more filmlike image. Point is, it's high picture levels during the first 100 hours that should be avoided to minimize risk of image retention/burn. So since Vivid's picture level can be easily adjusted like the others, it's certainly not worthless like some have inferred. However, since the Vivid mode's sharpness is naturally higher, I'd recommend dropping sharpness to near the miniumum and using it on HD sources rather than SD since the additional sharpness tends to emphasize artifacts in SD.

Vivid, AFAIK, is simply a preset of brightness, picture, and sharpness settings. And if I remember correctly, the picture setting is maxed out.....something that I found to be inadvisable if you want anything near a good looking image.

While Vivid's default settings are indeed higher contrast, there is nothing inherent to the Vivid mode that makes it necessarily wrong for break-in. Just notch down the picture and sharpness settings on it like you would any other mode and it's quite comparable to standard and cinema - though cinema is softer to produce a more filmlike image. Point is, it's high picture levels during the first 100 hours that should be avoided to minimize risk of image retention/burn. So since Vivid's picture level can be easily adjusted like the others, it's certainly not worthless like some have inferred. However, since the Vivid sharpness is naturally higher, I'd recommend dropping sharpness to near the miniumum and using it on HD sources rather than SD.

I do not belive this is correct. At least on my 7UY, Vivid turns on ACG, sets the Gamma to S-Curve, and increases the Picture (contrast). Together they crush blacks, increase contrast, and definitely increase brightness. That means the panel is turned up. Thus the name Vivid.

On the 7UY, the advanced settings can be used to turn off these functions making Vivid just like any other input. The best method is to stay away from vivid since it ruins the image with artificial processing.

-- Rich

Since I've got at least your attention Cory, any thoughts on using a Comcast CableCard? It means giving up HD DVR capabilities, which I'm not too keen on, but the wife really really hates wires and isn't thrilled about the boxes around the TV having another sibling.
-p-

I highly recommend getting the CC. SD looks much cleaner via CC and I find even HD appears slightly better to my eyes. And actually, you don't have to give up the HD DVR. I have both. I use the CC for normal viewing and only use the DVR when I want to watch a recorded program. Ah, best of both worlds. And not pricey since the CC is only 1.75 a month anyway.

Speaking of, I've watched Leno in HD for around a year now but it has never looked more impressive to my eyes than last night on the new PX500. It is so smooth, so vibrant, so noise free that it often feels 3-dimensional. I'm awe'd by this set. After toying with settings a few weeks, this is what I've found produces the coveted "window effect" via CC on my set. FWIW:

Standard
22
8
-6
0
-23
CM - Off

Hello all, new member. First off I would like to thank everyone that's taken the time to share their knowledge on this forum. I've spent the better part of a year researching plasma TV's and watching the pricing drop into a range that I could live with. This forum has been extremely helpful, so based on a lot of what has been posted here, as well as my own comparisons, I took delivery of the TH-42PX5U last week. The panel is everything I hoped it would be however I am having a couple of problems that I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with.

1. I have the panel conected to a Comcast digital cable box via DVI to HDMI connection, the problem is that every time I turn the panel and cable box off, I have to re-boot the box to get a picture when I turn it on again. My first thought is that it's the cable box, I hope.

2. This is just a general question, but I was looking into buying an upconverting DVD player like the panny S97S, but dosn't the panel itself upconvert the signals it receives? If so what is the advantage of having DVD player with this ability?

If anyone has any insite into any of this I would really appreciate hearing what you have to say. Thanks

Bump

While Vivid's default settings are indeed higher contrast, there is nothing inherent to the Vivid mode that makes it necessarily wrong for break-in. Just notch down the picture and sharpness settings on it like you would any other mode and it's quite comparable to standard and cinema - though cinema is softer to produce a more filmlike image. Point is, it's high picture levels during the first 100 hours that should be avoided to minimize risk of image retention/burn. So since Vivid's picture level can be easily adjusted like the others, it's certainly not worthless like some have inferred. However, since the Vivid mode's sharpness is naturally higher, I'd recommend dropping sharpness to near the miniumum and using it on HD sources rather than SD since the additional sharpness tends to emphasize artifacts in SD.True. Vivid, Standard, Cinema are just factory pre-sets that work as a good starting point from where the owner can customize the options to suit their individual taste. ;)

With the sales on now and projected MSRP change at the end of August, I'm considering the 42PX50 and 500. I've seen the X50 at CC, and thought the image was wonderful.

Anyway, I have what might be a stupid question about the resolution of these Pannys. Everywhere I've seen this spec listed, it is cited as 1024x768. That's a 4:3 ratio, folks, and this is clearly a widescreen display. Shouldn't we expect the resolution spec to follow a 16:9 ratio?

I'm aware of onboard scalers that are probably upconverting everything to native, but is the resolution really 1024x768? Are the pixels oval or something?

Pardon me if this was covered in the previous 130+ pages of this thread. I searched for this info, but didn't find the answer to this.

1. I have the panel conected to a Comcast digital cable box via DVI to HDMI connection, the problem is that every time I turn the panel and cable box off, I have to re-boot the box to get a picture when I turn it on again. My first thought is that it's the cable box, I hope.


This likely has to do with a HDCP handshake failure caused by the DVI->HDMI cable. Does comcast offer a STB with HDMI so you can run HDMI->HDMI? If not, you may have to go with a component connection, which should look very nearly as good. You're apparently caught on to the workaround. You must turn on the set, then turn on the STB to assure the HDCP handshake occurs properly. This isn't needed with HDMI->HDMI.

2. This is just a general question, but I was looking into buying an upconverting DVD player like the panny S97S, but dosn't the panel itself upconvert the signals it receives? If so what is the advantage of having DVD player with this ability?

Yes, the panel itself converts all signals to its native res of 1024x768. An upconverting player is useful if it does a better job converting the 480i DVD to 720p than your set does. I've found I prefer my Panny S77 outputting 720p over HDMI which means the Faroudja deinterlacer and scaler in the S77 are better than the one in my set, but YMMV.

I have the panel conected to a Comcast digital cable box via DVI to HDMI connection, the problem is that every time I turn the panel and cable box off, I have to re-boot the box to get a picture when I turn it on again. My first thought is that it's the cable box, I hope.Everything I read indicates digital signaling from DVI --> HDMI seems to be rather problematic. You may have to live with the workaround you're using. Does Comcast offer any STBs that include an HDMI connection?

This is just a general question, but I was looking into buying an upconverting DVD player like the panny S97S, but dosn't the panel itself upconvert the signals it receives? If so what is the advantage of having DVD player with this ability?None. Why not wait until HD-DVD is available before investing significant $$ into another DVD player? Use your HDMI connection for the HD-DVD player and component input for the STB. Better yet, have a CableCARD installed. ;)

Anyway, I have what might be a stupid question about the resolution of these Pannys. Everywhere I've seen this spec listed, it is cited as 1024x768. That's a 4:3 ratio, folks, and this is clearly a widescreen display. Shouldn't we expect the resolution spec to follow a 16:9 ratio?

The pixels are rectangular. Sounds strange, but don't worry. It still looks awesome.

Everything I read indicates digital signaling from DVI --> HDMI seems to be rather problematic. You may have to live with the workaround you're using. Does Comcast offer any STBs that include an HDMI connection?

None. Why not wait until HD-DVD is available before investing significant $$ into another DVD player? Use your HDMI connection for the HD-DVD player and component input for the STB. Better yet, have a CableCARD installed. ;)


Thanks for the response, Comcast dosen't offer an STBs with HDMI outputs yet but the serivice rep said that he suspects they will soon. I think your right, now that I've thought about it, HD -DVD is on the near horizon and if the gain of an upconverting player is minimal, it would be a waste of $$$ to get one now. I also considered a Cable card but I don't want to lose my on demand ability, as far as I can tell, I'm in one of the only areas that offer HD programing on demand. I'll either have to deal with the work around or go to a componant hook up untill Comcast offeres the HDMI output. Thanks again for everyones help.

psxndc

Quote:
"Another question: Video games. I love Halo but again, am worried about burn-in. I may be just being paranoid, but considering the bank these things cost, I'd rather err on the side of caution, especially during the break-in period. So, how long is safe to play a game? I figure 30 minutes isn't too bad, but is that over-paranoid? Under-paranoid?


-p-

PS Anyone in the North Shore area of Mass know what HD DVR Comcast sends out, sepcifically with which outputs? "



I'm along the western 128 belt and my STB uses Component and DVI for HD. I use the Monster HDMI-->DVI cable to connect my PD50 to the Comcast Mot. STB.

I have no problems with the HDMI-->DVI connection.

Ozzman, as far as I know there does not seem to be a way to adjust image size or image position on the 42PD50 or 42PX50. The service menu has no obvious settings for it. I had/have a problem with a flickering white line at the very bottom of my 42PD50 when playing some DVDs on a 480i DVD player. Switching to a DVD player with progressive output cured it, but it also cost me a few bucks.

After months of research, I took advantage of the Sunday circulars spotlighting CC's reduced prices. Thankfully, they even price matched Best Buy's delivery options, so the price was even lower than advertised. The 42PX50U will arrive tomorrow!

As I normally do not order from B&M, I am unclear as to the price drop protection argument. The salesperson suggested that it is 30 days, and I recall (from a purchase long ago) that 30 days was also stated (I actually took advantage of this). Is this still the case? I could not find any data on the CC website.

Thanks!

Yes, CC's price guarantee is 30 days. However, the rebate technically is taken into consideration so if the price is (using hypothetical numbers) $10 - $3 rebate = $7....and MSRP drops to $5 within 30 days then you will get the additional $2.20 (110% of the difference) back. In other words, the price guarantee is based on the after rebate price. Every Sunday for 30 days just go to CC's website and see if the after-rebate price is lower than what you paid. IF so, simply bring your receipt to the customer service counter at CC and they'll make the adjustment and refund the difference to you in the payment form you used (i.e. credit card, cash).

Should I be worried about people saying that the resolution is not true HD because it is only 1024x780? I really like the 42"and with the price reduction, it seems to be a good fit for me. Is there a big difference between the 50"and 42" in PQ. Thanks guys!