I'm helping a friend break in his Panny 50UY. What settings did you folks use to break it in? What settings did you use after 100 and 1000 hours?

Thanks in advance.

Greg

Is anyone using an upconverting DVD player with a Faroudja deinterlacer/scaler --> HDMI with a 50/500U? If so, do you notice any macroblocking problems with your DVD player?

I have an Oppo 971 winging its way to me even as I type this, so in the next couple of days I'll be able to answer that.

Thanks, right now I'm looking at the:

Denon DVD-1920
Oppo OPDV971H
Panasonic DVD-S97S
Sony DVP-NS90V

and the Oppo seems like a winner to me. Did you have any other upconverting DVD players on your short list? Pros/Cons?

Is anyone using an upconverting DVD player with a Faroudja deinterlacer/scaler --> HDMI with a 50/500U? If so, do you notice any macroblocking problems with your DVD player?

I ran a Panny S77 via HDMI on my PX500 and saw very occasional MB in dark areas. I'd say around 1 minute total of an entire movie, but every once in awhile I could see it. Note, brightness had to be calibrated well to avoid seeing MB more often. Not surprisingly, the Panny XP30 I had before it had no MB issues since it had the older Faroudja chip without the bug. I sold the S77 since my HTPC running Zoomplayer with FFDshow produces similar PQ via VGA at native resolution (and it saved me $200 since I already had the HTPC).

I have a purple line running down halfway my Panny plasma - from the Panasonic technical books, looks like a "Panel" problem. Anybody have this problem, and what was the solution (replacement, repair)? I do have CC protection plan, but I'm curious as to what evryone else has experienced.
I've noticed a horizontal division between the top and bottom of my screen at times, when the screen is filled (or mostly filled) with a solid, lighter color (seen on some DVE screens as well as an HDTV broadcast, panning down from the sky). I should probably just call Panasonic but I was hoping to find out if anyone else has experienced this. I've got the TH42PX50U, built in November.

Went buy CC, got big laugh from everyone, they are coming out to try to reverse the stand and make sure there is no problems with it. On an off topic subject the Sony plasma I returned to CC with a stuck red pixel is out on "open box" for $800 less than I paid . I guess they just turn them back out as open box without noting the pixel problem.

I have an Oppo 971 winging its way to me even as I type this, so in the next couple of days I'll be able to answer that.An AVS participant: "BillP," has been providing some good advice in the "DVD Players (Standard Def) Forum." He seems to prefer the Oppo unit too. Who did you buy the OPDV971H from? When you have the chance, please follow up regarding your shipping and DVD player experience.I ran a Panny S77 via HDMI on my PX500 and saw very occasional MB in dark areas. I'd say around 1 minute total of an entire movie, but every once in awhile I could see it. Note, brightness had to be calibrated well to avoid seeing MB more often. Not surprisingly, the Panny XP30 I had before it had no MB issues since it had the older Faroudja chip without the bug.I see MB can be an issue with DVD players that use a Faroudja chip. Is there any fix for this?

Picture is great, but I've just noticed that during dialogue the quality is questionable using only the internal speakers in my 500U. Maybe it's just me getting real picky, but does anyone know the status of audio quality of television braodcasting as it relates to these high quality plasma sets? I hear a kind of raspy or rattle effect when someone is speaking. It sounds "in the background", usually when the voice drops, or at the end of a sentence. Music sounds great, but vocals can also have this rattled sound. I haven't put the tv through a home theater audio system...want to use it as a stand alone set. My thought is it may have something to do with tv broadcasting shortcomings being magnified by an above average system, but I am not sure about that, and maybe one of you can shed some light on this problem. The set is only one week old. When I adjust the various audio tweeks there is no change in the raspiness. Playing a DVD does not exhibit the noise. There does not appear to be any bad speakers either. Will Panasonic come out and check the audio under warranty? Comments anyone???

Picture is great, but I've just noticed that during dialogue the quality is questionable using only the internal speakers in my 500U. Maybe it's just me getting real picky, but does anyone know the status of audio quality of television braodcasting as it relates to these high quality plasma sets? I hear a kind of raspy or rattle effect when someone is speaking. It sounds "in the background", usually when the voice drops, or at the end of a sentence. Music sounds great, but vocals can also have this rattled sound. I haven't put the tv through a home theater audio system...want to use it as a stand alone set. My thought is it may have something to do with tv broadcasting shortcomings being magnified by an above average system, but I am not sure about that, and maybe one of you can shed some light on this problem. The set is only one week old. When I adjust the various audio tweeks there is no change in the raspiness. Playing a DVD does not exhibit the noise. There does not appear to be any bad speakers either. Will Panasonic come out and check the audio under warranty? Comments anyone???I think you partially answered your own question, if your DVD's play Ok your audio circuits, speakers, etc are fine. To go further you need to supply more information... Do you have cable, satellite, or OTA? Do you use the built-in tuner or a STB? Does this occur on both analog and digital stations?
For the record, I have this set and although the built-in sound lacks bass I don't find it raspy.

Thanks for the reply. I am using a cable card from Charter...no STB. I agree with you about the bass..however, it is adequate considering how small the speakers are, but the distortion I hear is not in the low frequency range. I am thinking it is the signal from Charter. I am pretty sure it occurs on both analog and digital channels...I'll look more closely at that late today. If it is simply the signal then others should have experienced it also. What bothers me is the small size of the speakers...I think they could easily be blown. I did watch a few music concerts, but did not have the volume above the "20s" on the screen readout scale. I would think the set would be designed to take full volume without damage. What do you think?

Thanks for the reply. I am using a cable card from Charter...no STB. I agree with you about the bass..however, it is adequate considering how small the speakers are, but the distortion I hear is not in the low frequency range. I am thinking it is the signal from Charter. I am pretty sure it occurs on both analog and digital channels...I'll look more closely at that late today. If it is simply the signal then others should have experienced it also. What bothers me is the small size of the speakers...I think they could easily be blown. I did watch a few music concerts, but did not have the volume above the "20s" on the screen readout scale. I would think the set would be designed to take full volume without damage. What do you think? It goes back to the same logic, if the speakers were blown you'd hear it on your DVD's also, the fact that you don't eliminates that possibility. If you have a STB on another TV (even if it's not HD) try running the RF signal through it to the TV via the same input that your DVD player is connected through. If the sound is Ok the problem is somewhere in the RF, IF or D/A converter circuitry (this includes the cable card). If the sound is raspy with the STB connected in the manner I described, the problem is with your cable.

Thanks, right now I'm looking at the:

Denon DVD-1920
Oppo OPDV971H
Panasonic DVD-S97S
Sony DVP-NS90V

and the Oppo seems like a winner to me. Did you have any other upconverting DVD players on your short list? Pros/Cons?


I have the Oppo. I don't like it as it has more MB than my Denons. Based on your list I would recommend the Sony.

I see MB can be an issue with DVD players that use a Faroudja chip. Is there any fix for this?

No fix for it. Some players suppress it more than others though.

jgira - Make sure you have the surround setting turned off under sound. It tends to supress dialogue and cause you to turn up the volume very high to understand speaking since it emphasizes background sounds so much. After doing this, I'm very impressed with the sound of my PX500 and typically listen in the high 20's or low 30's.

I'll give that a try...just holding off turning on the set today to try and get the guide to download. I did check my other tvs in the house and I get a similar distortion which either was there all along, or just got introduced by the cable changes. Could the cable card cause interference/distortion throughout my entire cable wiring? I have 6 tvs hooked into the system throughout the house, and never noticed anything like this before. I will call Charter out again next week...even my FM radio signal sounds distorted too...go figure.

I have an Oppo 971 winging its way to me even as I type this...My Oppo DVD player is on it's way too. I purchased mine directly from oppo DIGITAL (https://www.oppodigital.com/)

I have a 42PX50U and was wondering what is the best output setting for my Comcast cable box? It is currently at 720P...Comcast tech said it did not matter bewteen the 720p and 1080I

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

I have a 42PX50U and was wondering what is the best output setting for my Comcast cable box? It is currently at 720P...Comcast tech said it did not matter bewteen the 720p and 1080iI've found that to my eyes, 1080i looks sharper (better) than 720p. My SA8000HD (w/Passport TWC) is connected via Component and i have only 1080i and 480i passthrough enabled. I've disabled 720p and 480p. Looks great !

Your setup and your eyes may tell a different story so YMMV . . . .

I've found that to my eyes, 1080i looks sharper (better) than 720p. My SA8000HD (w/Passport TWC) is connected via Component and i have only 1080i and 480i passthrough enabled. I've disabled 720p and 480p. Looks great !

Your setup and your eyes may tell a different story so YMMV . . . . Mine also looks slightly sharper at 1080i.

In the December issue of Home Theater Magazine's review of the 42PX500:

"As you can see the from the measurements box, the resolution drops significantly when I used 720P."

The measured 480 resolution is 480 pph, 720 resolution is 380 pph and 1080i resolution is 680 pph. Holy scrap that is terrible at 720P! Why have a display that has 768 lines but only uses about half of those lines? I am not sure if the 50PX500 has the same problem but I guess the advise is not to input 720P. Panasonic may have added the 720P input capability to this year's models but it sounds like it is totally worthless. The article doesn't mention if this is also the case using the tuner or it is just the HDMI or component inputs.

Even at 1080i you are losing 88 lines and if you add 3 to 5% for typical overscan, you lose about 15% of what the panel is capable of displaying. I guess that is not much of an issue on a 42" if you are sitting more than 8 feet away, but on the 50" you would notice the difference.

In the December issue of Home Theater Magazine's review of the 42PX500:

"As you can see the from the measurements box, the resolution drops significantly when I used 720P."

The measured 480 resolution is 480 pph, 720 resolution is 380 pph and 1080i resolution is 680 pph. Holy scrap that is terrible at 720P! Why have a display that has 768 lines but only uses about half of those lines? I am not sure if the 50PX500 has the same problem but I guess the advise is not to input 720P. Panasonic may have added the 720P input capability to this year's models but it sounds like it is totally worthless. The article doesn't mention if this is also the case using the tuner or it is just the HDMI or component inputs.

Even at 1080i you are losing 88 lines and if you add 3 to 5% for typical overscan, you lose about 15% of what the panel is capable of displaying. I guess that is not much of an issue on a 42" if you are sitting more than 8 feet away, but on the 50" you would notice the difference.


That's very interesting. Is that the December edition of HT?

Another "cost cutting" idea from Panasonic, eh?

I've found that to my eyes, 1080i looks sharper (better) than 720p. My SA8000HD (w/Passport TWC) is connected via Component and i have only 1080i and 480i passthrough enabled. I've disabled 720p and 480p. Looks great !

Your setup and your eyes may tell a different story so YMMV . . . .

Seems like the consensus is towards 1080I. So if the broadcaster delivers it in 720p, like FOX NFL, I'm still better offer with the 1080I setting? CBS delivers NFL in 1080I.

I guess it is what looks best, but wasn't sure how the Panny display handled each format.

Hmmm it seems to me that any XXXp or XXXXp would be better for fast moving sports than an XXXi or XXXXi. I understand the TV will deinterlace and make it into an XXXp or an XXXXp display on your screen but you are getting disjointed pieces to put together now instead of one progressive picture per frame.

My Oppo DVD player is on it's way too. I purchased mine directly from oppo DIGITAL

Nice. I purchased mine directly from them as well. I was hoping it might come in yesterday, but I'm not sure how Express Mail works with weekends. Hopefully tomorrow then. I was impressed with how quick their site is -- I got a tracking number within two hours of placing the order.

I'm really looking forward to this. I think it's more the principle of the thing than anything else -- there's just no logic in taking a digital medium and convering it to analog for sending to the TV, only to have the TV convert it right back to digital once it gets there. It should be interesting to see how the upconversion in the player works compared to having it output 480p and letting the Panasonic scale it.

My understanding is that the "service remote" will NOT give one access to controls to adjust for under/overscanning and/or picture centering issues. Michael @ The Laser Video Experience (member: Michael TLV) informed of this.

This is quite disturbing. :(

Michael TLV's comments seem to be related to the pd50u - not the px50u/px500u. I found his posts here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6717819&&#post6717819) and here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5992215&&#post5992215).

Nobody seems to have determined this with the px50u and px500u. I've searched the forums for over an hour (including hometheaterspot) with little luck on actual details and some confusion about various models. For the px50u and px500u, can some knowledgable calibrator (or anybody) post a summary of what is and is not available in the service menu with and without the remote hack mentioned here (http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/748485/Main/739792/)

Namely:
- using the ordinary service menu, it sounds like WB and cutoffs are not available
- using the ordinary service menu, are overscan and positioning available? (huge question)
- using the secret menu using an old remote, is everything there that would be needed to do a killer calibration?
- how many calibrators actually have access to this remote and hack?

Thanks in advance!

In the December issue of Home Theater Magazine's review of the 42PX500:

"As you can see the from the measurements box, the resolution drops significantly when I used 720P."

The measured 480 resolution is 480 pph, 720 resolution is 380 pph and 1080i resolution is 680 pph. Holy scrap that is terrible at 720P! Why have a display that has 768 lines but only uses about half of those lines? I am not sure if the 50PX500 has the same problem but I guess the advise is not to input 720P. Panasonic may have added the 720P input capability to this year's models but it sounds like it is totally worthless. The article doesn't mention if this is also the case using the tuner or it is just the HDMI or component inputs.

Even at 1080i you are losing 88 lines and if you add 3 to 5% for typical overscan, you lose about 15% of what the panel is capable of displaying. I guess that is not much of an issue on a 42" if you are sitting more than 8 feet away, but on the 50" you would notice the difference.

I saw this, and to some extent it may explain my dissatisfaction with 720p input on this set assuming the 50PX50U has similar result. My 720p input overscan was also significantly higher than with 1080i input which could explain a perceived loss of resolution as well. Come to think of it, might it also partly explain the reviewer's result?

Anyway, my current fix has been to use a scaler and feed my 50PX50U 1366 x 742 via HDMI as well as using it to fix the 720p input overscan issue. As you'd expect, when I set it to "pass-thru" I can easily tell the difference with a 720p input. The difference is more subtle with a 1080i input.

Michael TLV's comments seem to be related to the pd50u - not the px50u/px500u.

I emailed Michael TLV and asked specifically about the TH-37PX50U, TH-42PX50U/500U, TH-50PX50U/500U models.

"In that post you stated that the service remote does not allow access to image positioning." Is this also true of the Panasonic consumer models: TH-37PX50U, TH-42PX50U/500U, TH-50PX50U/500U ? And if I understand correctly, this means that any under/overscanning and/or picture centering issues can't be corrected by an ISF technician even if they have this service remote?"

His reply:

"They can't be corrected by the TV since those controls are not accessible.
Only the grayscale stuff is accessible. Nothing else."

I saw this, and to some extent it may explain my dissatisfaction with 720p input on this set assuming the 50PX50U has similar result. My 720p input overscan was also significantly higher than with 1080i input which could explain a perceived loss of resolution as well. Come to think of it, might it also partly explain the reviewer's result?

That would also explain why the images look softer on the two 720p channels I get on my 50PX50U in addition to the severe overscan and having it off-centered.

Ok, so then I'd ask why these sets are arguabley THE hottest plasma - to the point of being unavailable? If so many have bought these sets and this is the first real mention of overscan/positioning problems (that I can find) on these boards, then it can't be that common to be way out of wack. Or perhaps your average viewer doesn't notice overscan/positioning problems.

So, for all you px50/0U owners out there that aren't average viewers, what say you? Overscan, positioning nightmares?

Or perhaps your average viewer doesn't notice overscan/positioning problems.

So, for all you px50/0U owners out there that aren't average viewers, what say you? Overscan, positioning nightmares?

I've been trying to figure out why 720p doesn't look so great ever since I got mine. I wouldn't call it nightmarish, but it's been frustrating because I know how good 720p sports can look.

Without test patterns, excessive overscan can easily go unnoticed. 5 percent or more is common especially with CRT's. It just looks a little blurrier than it should (think how the picture looks when you use zoom mode, although not quite to that extent).

Ok, so then I'd ask why these sets are arguabley THE hottest plasma - to the point of being unavailable? If so many have bought these sets and this is the first real mention of overscan/positioning problems (that I can find) on these boards, then it can't be that common to be way out of wack. Or perhaps your average viewer doesn't notice overscan/positioning problems.

So, for all you px50/0U owners out there that aren't average viewers, what say you? Overscan, positioning nightmares?According to my DVE disk, the overscan on my HP PL5000N (50PX500U) is barely 2% and my display is perfectly centered, so not all consumer Panasonics have overscan/centering problems.

The poor resolution of 720P inputs is probably inherent to the design though. As I mentioned in a prior post my set does look sharper at 1080i than 720P and assuming that article to be correct, now I know why. For me 720P is not an issue but kudos to Pioneer for achieving 100% of what their panels are capable of at all resolutions. I wonder how the 50" models compare, or how other brands would do in this test???

According to my DVE disk, the overscan on my HP PL5000N (50PX500U) is barely 2% and my display is perfectly centered, so not all consumer Panasonics have overscan/centering problems.

??

Are you using a 720p/1080i upconverting DVD player? Otherwise, you are measuring the overscan for the 480p/i input only. With 1080i and 480p mine was around 2 percent as well. This can also vary by input type (i.e. component, HDMI).

It certainly is possible that my situation is an exception, though.

Are you using a 720p/1080i upconverting DVD player? Otherwise, you are measuring the overscan for the 480p/i input only. With 1080i and 480p mine was around 2 percent as well. This can also vary by input type (i.e. component, HDMI).

It certainly is possible that my situation is an exception, though.

FWIW, I have a little bit over 1 percent overscan when inputing 480i/p and it's a wee bit off-centered. It then get increasingly worse as you move to 1080i and then 720p. Therefore, calibrating with the DVE/Avia disks wouldn't tip you off if one used a non-upconverting DVD player.

Are you using a 720p/1080i upconverting DVD player? Otherwise, you are measuring the overscan for the 480p/i input only. With 1080i and 480p mine was around 2 percent as well. This can also vary by input type (i.e. component, HDMI).

It certainly is possible that my situation is an exception, though.I've noticed a wee bit of over-scan/off-centering on my PX50U, for some but not all channels, when using the HDMI connection from a SA8300HD-DVR. I don't see it with component and I've never observed this with a CableCARD. Hopefully the problem is being caused by the SA8300.

I have purchased an up-converting Oppo DVD player... so I will see how the PDP behaves using the oppo's DVI --> Panasonic's HDMI connection.

My impression is many people prefer to use 720p instead of 1080i with up-converting DVD players.

FWIW, I have a little bit over 1 percent overscan when inputing 480i/p and it's a wee bit off-centered. It then get increasingly worse as you move to 1080i and then 720p. Therefore, calibrating with the DVE/Avia disks wouldn't tip you off if one used a non-upconverting DVD player.

I forgot to mention that I achieve the same results whether using the component/ HDMI connections or the OTA tuner.

I have tried to program the Panasonic TV remote to recognize my HK DVD 22 with no success. According to the manual (page 41) I tried entering codes 219, 220, 221 and 223 but the DVD 22 unit refused to cooperate. I am not looking to do anything fancy just start/stop, FF, Open/Close etc. so at this time I am not considering a universal remote.

Did anyone successfully operated a Harman Kardon DVD 22 unit using the Panny remote and if so what was the code you used?

I've noticed a horizontal division between the top and bottom of my screen at times, when the screen is filled (or mostly filled) with a solid, lighter color (seen on some DVE screens as well as an HDTV broadcast, panning down from the sky). I should probably just call Panasonic but I was hoping to find out if anyone else has experienced this. I've got the TH42PX50U, built in November.

I noticed the same thing on my TH-50PX500U that I just received on 12/17. I've only noticed it on a blank, grey screen, but certainly sounds like the same thing. I'll be looking more closely for it in real scenes and let you know if I see it. It's very slight, though.

It's not not nearly as noticeable as the annoying green push that I can't seem to dial out of my cable TV feed. I thought I had it looking pretty good via DVD (which is connected via S-video... gotta get a better one but I like my old Onkyo changer)... so maybe it's the cable signal, I have to do more testing. I FEAR it may be the TV, though.

Between the green push, the upper/lower panel variation and one dead pixel, I'm not a happy camper - and I've been accused of being a Panny fanboy up to this point, so I don't think I'm being overly critical.

I'm wondering any of these flaws will become less noticable as the phosphors age a bit, since I have under 10 hours on it.

Is it necessary to use the HDMI connection on the pd50U to get all of the shades of gradiation out of the picture to eliminate False Contouring.....???


I have been in love with this set since I bought it and just got HD over the weeked finally. I was really blown away, but on the HD movie channel I really now am noticing some Flase Contouring and noise in the darks.

I haven't noticed anything like this yet, through DVD the gradiation looks great and smooth, but now through my STB and HDTV (over component on both) ,,,I am noticing these issues way more than before.

Is this possibly the upconverted signal from the movie channel ( I don't seem to notice it as much on the true HD network stations)

Or should I think about switching over to DVI connection?


Happy Holidays Everyone,

Jeremy

I have been unable to find a PQ comparison between Panny 50U or 500U and Dell W5001C. Does anyone have a pointer or personal experience in a side by side?
thanks

It's not not nearly as noticeable as the annoying green push that I can't seem to dial out of my cable TV feed. I thought I had it looking pretty good via DVD (which is connected via S-video... gotta get a better one but I like my old Onkyo changer)... so maybe it's the cable signal, I have to do more testing. I FEAR it may be the TV, though.

I have found that the settings between those optimised for my DVD player and those for cable via the HDMI input to be substantially different. Therefore I suggest that you continue to fiddle in earnest with the settings for the cable feed.

I'm wondering any of these flaws will become less noticable as the phosphors age a bit, since I have under 10 hours on it.

I'm not sure if the 1000+ hour aging of the phosphors helped me or it was my constant fiddling until I thought the colors were at least decent.

I also have a November 2005 build TH-42PX50U and noticed the horizontal division line yesterday. Only noticeable on the blank blue DVD background screen though, I can't see it at all when any video is being displayed.

Is it necessary to use the HDMI connection on the pd50U to get all of the shades of gradiation out of the picture to eliminate False Contouring.....???
Jeremy
I can't completely answer your question but I have found that the way to eliminate false contouring is to turn down the sharpness.

Hello all, I'm hoping to get some help on some a few questions.

I've had my Panny for about 3 weeks and really enjoy the heck out of it.

But, being a newbie I've been a lurker on this forum and have learned a great deal. The knowledge of the members here is second to none.


My setup is the following (it's simple but it's a start right?)

Panny TH-42PX50U
Yamaha HTR 5860
Sony DVPNS70H (not yet hooked up)
HSU VT-12 & STF-1

Now, for the questions:

How does the Panny upscale?
Is it through only through the HDMI?
Does the Panny upscale the DVD component signal to 720p or 1080i?

Currently I'm using a 2-3 y.o. progressive DVD player hooked up via component. The picture is pretty good - not HD good but good. Definitely and upgrade from my 480i.

Using the Sony via HDMI, will the PQ be a very noticeable increase (i.e. 480i to 480p) or will it minimal?

and the last question is... I've seen many posts/lists on what it a great DVD to test out a surround sound system. What would be a good DVD to show off the plasma? I've watched some HD channels but would like to view some DVD's which I could compare the different inputs (HDMI - component).

To all: Thanks for making this a great source of info.

For all those HTPC users out there. Could I get away with purchasing a TH-50PX50U, and using my DVI to HDMI cable to the TV, or will I have to shell out the extra bucks and purchase the TH-50PX500U, just so I can get the VGA connection?

For all those HTPC users out there. Could I get away with purchasing a TH-50PX50U, and using my DVI to HDMI cable to the TV, or will I have to shell out the extra bucks and purchase the TH-50PX500U, just so I can get the VGA connection?

The PX50 will work fine, especially if you have an Nvidia card with the latest drivers. However, a few have had problems with uneven overscan causing one side of the image to hang off the edge of the screen a bit. Search this thread for PX50 and PC and you'll find plenty who have done it successfully. FWIW, I have a PX500 with a VGA connection to my HTPC at native res and it's crystal clear.

Thanks for the quick response. I do have the Nvidia 6600 with the latest drivers, so it sounds like I may be set. Hopefully, I can tweak the overscan a bit.

I have heard that the VGA connection is great with this TV.

I also have a November 2005 build TH-42PX50U and noticed the horizontal division line yesterday. Only noticeable on the blank blue DVD background screen though, I can't see it at all when any video is being displayed.

I noticed the same thing this evening, but I had to look for it. Very faint line, only visible on solid gray backgrounds. My TH-42PX50U was also built in november 2005.

I googled around for this and basically the issue of the horizontal line / darkness of top and bottom halves of screen being slightly different when the screen displays a solid gray field seems pretty common.

Apparently the top and bottom halves of these screens are in fact controlled by different boards, so if they aren't outputting exactly the same voltages, some difference will be apparent. People have returned 2 of these screens because of these problems and still have it. It doesn't seem to be tied to manufacturing date, and I've seen reports of all of the current generation 37", 42" and 50" models of the PX/PV 50/500 with this.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221163
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=538274

Unless it's visible while watching video I don't think it's worth messing with.

Apparently the top and bottom halves of these screens are in fact controlled by different boards That is the way I understand it also.


Unless it's visible while watching video I don't think it's worth messing with. Agreed.

HLDR posted earlier,

I have a 50px50u with digital cable service - no cable card - my cable co doesnt support it. They also wont give me a second hd box for this set (dont ask). So im trying to get my hd locals on my own via cable - antennae is out of the question. When i hook up the coax line directly to the back of the set and do the channel scan (analogue and digital) it zips through the analogue part then starts the digital scan. The digital part takes awhile (4-5mins) and as the progress bar fills it suddunly stops -at about 85%- before the progress bar finishes. The result is that it finds a boat load of music channels + some digital cable channels (toon disney, and cinnemax thriller) + some other blank channels w/o audio or video (I assume these are scrambled).

Here is the problem -- it also almost always finds pbd-hd and once i got it to find abc and nbc-hd. It has never found fox-hd. My hd locals are really all im concerned about getting, but i cant recapture nbc,abc,pbs and fox (never have gotton fox and only abc+nbc once) simultaniously.

I see that several others here have had issues with what seems to be a much-less-than robust QAM tuner.

I just bought a 50PX50U and set it up this weekend. Same trouble as the others...It has taken repeated auto channel set-ups to get any of the local HD channels from unscrambled cable. First time out of the box, it didn't find any. Next scan, it found only two (ABC afflilate and WGN). Today, after another scan, ABC mysteriously disappeared, and only WGN remained. I thought maybe it can only pick them up when these stations are actually broadcasting HD content, but that's not true, because WGN keeps getting "found" even when broadcasting SD.

Is it possible that Panasonic is currently shipping a $4,000 TV with a bum QAM tuner?? If there is a technical person in the house, or a Panasonic person, please let us know what we may be doing wrong.

Yes, they are shipping with a bum tuner, but will not admit it for obvious reasons. I have the same issues, with the scanning process on my direct Comcast hookup, never picking up digital channell 92 and 93 subcarriers. An LG tuner verified that here in Ft. Lauderdale PBS and Fox are on 92-1 and 92-3 and ABC and NBC are on 93-1 and 93-3. On principle, refusing to settle to resolve the problem by purchasing a HDTV Tuner STB, i have been dealing with Panasonic Customer Support, and just today, after 2 months, is my 50PX500U on the way to what seems to be an knowlwdgeble service center. Must likely they will check the tuner for sensitivity and maybe replace it.

The insane thing is that if I manually enter with the remote 92, it will change to 92-1 and display PBS. Same wth entering 93, I will get 93-1. In both cases, the sreen will display the analog channell 92 and 93, as snow no signal, BUT then it will switch to digital 92-1 and 93-1. No digital 92-3 or 93-3. I will bet that if you manually input XX as the channell where thare is HD or digital content in the XX-X, you QAM tuner will go through the same routine, picking up only XX-1.

I will keep all posted on this, as there are dozen of guys here with same or similar problems.

How does the Panny upscale?
Is it through only through the HDMI?
Does the Panny upscale the DVD component signal to 720p or 1080i?
The television will scale any signal to fit its display, and deinterlace any interlaced signal (480i or 1080i). It does this on every input. This isn't really "upconversion", it's simply taking the image and making it fit on the screen.

The Sony player you have does "upconversion" in the sense that it takes a DVD, which is 480p, scales it up, and sends it out as a 720p or 1080i HD signal. The player you have will only upconvert DVDs over the HDMI interface.

Using the Sony via HDMI, will the PQ be a very noticeable increase (i.e. 480i to 480p) or will it minimal?
HDMI is an all digital connection, while component video is analog. When displaying a DVD over component, the player has to perform a digital-to-analog conversion, then the TV has to perform an analog-to-digital conversion. This is in addition to any scaling that has to occur (the TV has to scale the image to its own resolution). So, if nothing else, HDMI alone will eliminate a certain amount of loss due to processing and prevent the insertion of analog noise.

Upconversion in the player may help PQ, but keep in mind that DVD's are 480p and they only have 480p worth of information. You cannot increase the amount of information in a signal, so upconversion in and of itself doesn't do anything. However, not all scalers are created equal, and if the scaler in the player is better than the scaler in the TV, then the picture may improve by having the player output 1080i instead of 480p.

and the last question is... I've seen many posts/lists on what it a great DVD to test out a surround sound system. What would be a good DVD to show off the plasma? I've watched some HD channels but would like to view some DVD's which I could compare the different inputs (HDMI - component).
My favorite "show off the new plasma" DVD is the second disc of the Apollo 13 Widescreen 2-Disc Anniversary Edition. The second disc is the IMAX version, which is edited to make everything look BIG, and is 1.85:1 so it fills the screen. Along with that, the soundtrack is in DTS. It's pretty spectacular.

FWIW, I have a 42px50u and was also losing channels via qam tuner. I would get the dreaded "Channel Not Available" message.

I attributed my problem to a low signal problem due to the long coax run.

Ever since I added a Electroline amp and replaced a few of the cheap push in type coax cables with quality screw on type, the problem has gone away. I get all the local HD channels and all the music channels w/o and probs.

I've had a 50px500u on backorder since September from PC Connection. They say the ship date is probably sometime in January. I emailed Panasonic to inquire on possible ship dates and their reply was:

"Unfortunately, the TH-50PX500U has been discontinued. For more information on a replacement, please call 1-800-405-0652.


Thank you,

Cinthia Alaniz
Panasonic Direct
Customer Service Representative"

Granted, this came from an underpaid, probably misinformed CSR, but is there any truth to this?

I've isolated the raspy audio to 1 or more bad tweeters. Does anyone know if tweeter replacement is an at home repair? The 1 year warranty states some repairs will require the unit to be taken away...I hope that's not the case. After it's fixed what is the reliability of these tiny tweeters?

The Sony player you have does "upconversion" in the sense that it takes a DVD, which is 480p, scales it up, and sends it out as a 720p or 1080i HD signal. The player you have will only upconvert DVDs over the HDMI interface.

Oh, that explains why it shows it's a 480p signal.

Upconversion in the player may help PQ, but keep in mind that DVD's are 480p and they only have 480p worth of information. You cannot increase the amount of information in a signal, so upconversion in and of itself doesn't do anything. However, not all scalers are created equal, and if the scaler in the player is better than the scaler in the TV, then the picture may improve by having the player output 1080i instead of 480p.

So is all this promotion of upscaling DVD players is more hype than actual benefit? I'll plug the Sony on the 25th and HOPEFULLY it will be a improvement.

Thanks for the great response!

I've had a 50px500u on backorder since September from PC Connection. They say the ship date is probably sometime in January. I emailed Panasonic to inquire on possible ship dates and their reply was:

"Unfortunately, the TH-50PX500U has been discontinued. For more information on a replacement, please call 1-800-405-0652.


Thank you,

Cinthia Alaniz
Panasonic Direct
Customer Service Representative"

Granted, this came from an underpaid, probably misinformed CSR, but is there any truth to this?

Try to find an HP PL5000N - its the exact same set with better plastics and a nicer looking base for a little less. HP OEM'd this from Matsushita. I got one online for a great deal, but they are also soon to be scarce.

Since we were talking about these Panasonic plasmas with the Oppo 971H upconverting player, here is my review:

Got my Oppo 971H this morning. To sum it up, it has a lot of nice tweakable features that other players don't, like the various zoom levels, region free, ability to play DivX and other formats, etc, but in terms of playing DVD's it's not that special.

The TV is a Panasonic TH-42PX50U plasma. The Oppo is connected to the TV's HDMI port with the included DVI-HDMI cable. The sound is connected to a Sony STR-DE898 receiver via optical PCM cable. My other DVD player is a Sony DVP-NC80VB 5-disc changer connected to the TV's component inputs and to the receiver's coax PCM input.

I was impressed with its region free feature and its ability to play PAL properly. I did the "setup - 9210 - 0 - setup" sequence to make it multiregion, and made sure to set the player to Video 2 so that it would handle PAL correctly. Then I put in the Region 2 PAL version of They Live. This looks really good on my plasma. Absolutely no issues with sound synch or frame skipping or anything like that. I had previously used a Cyberhome CH-300 to play Region 2 / PAL discs and those were definitely a problem. So the Oppo is a very good player for multi-region DVD's.

But in terms of PQ improvement over the Sony changer, there pretty much is none. I played the Imax version of Apollo 13, and there is very little difference between the Sony's and the Oppo's 480p. Likewise, 480p and 1080i on the Oppo pretty much look indistinguishable. 1080i is perhaps a hair sharper, so I'm leaving it on that setting for now. Admittedly, in my case, it is possible that the PQ similarity is due to the TV. The TH-42PX50U is a 1024x768 display, so no matter what the input resolution is, the TV has to rescale the image to fit. Surprisingly, 720p is rather poor, but I've read that the Panasonic's 720p input support was tacked on at the last minute and it actually displays in less resolution than 480p does. So I suppose it's conceivable that if this player is used with a TV whose native resolution is true 720p or 1080, it might make a real difference, but on a plasma I don't see it.

There were a couple of minor things that bothered me about the Oppo's display. It seems as though there is sometimes a bit of yellow ghosting, sort of like a Y/C delay issue, around vertical edges in some scenes. Also, the image seems a bit softer than that of the Sony, regardless of the resolution I set it to. I will try playing around with cross-color correction, true-life, and sharpness to see if these can be improved. Right now I have tru-life and cross color correction enabled, and sharpness, brightness, etc, at the default 0 settings.

I really have nothing to say about the sound processing quality, because I used the optical output to my DTS-capable receiver and set the output to "Raw". So the player does no processing to the sound, and the sound is just as good as with my other DVD player.

Overall, and this is just based on a first impression after playing a couple of discs, I don't regret buying it. It's definitely a lot nicer than any of the cheap region-hackable players like a Cyberhome CH-300 or the various Daewoo ones. The additional features are pretty compelling -- short of a HTPC there really isn't anything else that can compare in terms of versatility. And the PQ is certainly not any worse than any other player in the same price range. But the scaling really does nothing to improve PQ over a good 480p player.

I'm running a similar comparison right now as well but with a Panny HP PL5000N (same as Panny 50px500u). I'm comparing to a DLink DVD player (with home media center) and an old Sony 5 disk changer. The Oppo PQ is noticeable better than the Dlink but not much better than the old Sony. Over HDMI, the Oppo has significant green push in low light. I've compared this green push to the Oppo's component outputs as well as both other players. In dark scenes, everything seems to have a very green cast. This has been noted in other threads, and its really a deal breaker for me since the Panny's don't have RGB cutoff adjustments. I wonder if its my particular Oppo or if a firmware update can fix this?

The other thing that really bothers me about the Oppo is the cheap tray. Its so flimsy it can be bent down like one of those plastic envelopes you use to hold papers. It almost bends under its own weight - well ok not quite.

But, if the green push was fixed, I'd be sold.

I have the coax connector hooked up along with the HDMI on my Time Warner 8300 HD.

Specs on the Panny say no pic in a pic (pip) yet when I press the pip button on the cable box's remote it opens a pip window and I'm able to swap the pics.

I may not get a split screen, but isn't this a pip feature. Why would they say it does not have pip?

I have the coax connector hooked up along with the HDMI on my Time Warner 8300 HD.

Specs on the Panny say no pic in a pic (pip) yet when I press the pip button on the cable box's remote it opens a pip wind and I'm able to swap the pics.

I may not get a split screen, but isn't this a pip feature. Why would they say it does not have pip?

Cause it doesn't. You are utilizing the PIP of the SA 8300.

I'm running a similar comparison right now as well but with a Panny HP PL5000N (same as Panny 50px500u). I'm comparing to a DLink DVD player (with home media center) and an old Sony 5 disk changer. The Oppo PQ is noticeable better than the Dlink but not much better than the old Sony. Over HDMI, the Oppo has significant green push in low light. I've compared this green push to the Oppo's component outputs as well as both other players. In dark scenes, everything seems to have a very green cast. This has been noted in other threads, and its really a deal breaker for me since the Panny's don't have RGB cutoff adjustments. I wonder if its my particular Oppo or if a firmware update can fix this?

The other thing that really bothers me about the Oppo is the cheap tray. Its so flimsy it can be bent down like one of those plastic envelopes you use to hold papers. It almost bends under its own weight - well ok not quite.

But, if the green push was fixed, I'd be sold.

I wonder if the green push isn't more the plasma than the player, though? Everyone complains that Panasonic plasmas have green push; I agree that it does, but it doesn't really bother me enough to go out of my way to correct it. The green push is more pronounced with the Warm color temperature, and I keep mine in Normal. Also, note that if you're using a mode higher than 480p on HDMI, the TV will automagically set its Color Matrix to HD (and won't let you change it) which makes the green push more pronounced.

In reply to my own earlier post regarding initial impressions of the Oppo: I like it better now. I turned off Cross Color Correction and that seems to have fixed any issues I had with the PQ -- the ghosting / ringing I noticed before has definitely gone away. Also, I think the softness of the picture I had noticed is just due to the source material. Film-based movies like the Imax Apollo 13 do look a bit softer. Yesterday I watched Appleseed (cgi cell-shaded anime movie) and Resident Evil, and those did look noticeably better on the Oppo than on the Sony. The Sony changer has some edge enhancement, which makes softer DVDs look a little sharper but makes sharp DVDs like these look harsh. Both of these movies have just about perfect DVD transfers, and they looked perfect on the Oppo. We also watched a couple of 80s movies -- Repo Man and Weird Science -- and they had a very film-like appearance. And even really bad DVD transfers, like the absolutely atrocious Blade Runner Director's Cut, at least look no worse on the Oppo than on other players.

So, as much as I was initially neither disappointed nor blown away by the Oppo, a day later I am really glad I have it. It won't turn your DVDs into HD-quality movies, but it will make them look as good as they possibly can on a plasma tv.

Cause it doesn't. You are utilizing the PIP of the SA 8300.

Thx D-nice . . . I know the buttons for PIP are on the remote but so are others as it's a universal remote. I figured the TV itself had to be PIP capable in order to do this. Did not know the 8300 HD generated a PIP signal too!

I cannot seem to get my HDMI port on my 50u to work. I tried a dvd player at first, no go, so then I hooked up my pc via a hdmi/dvi cable and the only resolution that would work was 640x480. Any other resolution would show a black screen, and some would flicker on and off from black to a working screen, with some white lines in the middle... Is this common or should I have a service tech look at the hdmi port?

nm...sorry.

I wonder if the green push isn't more the plasma than the player, though? Everyone complains that Panasonic plasmas have green push; I agree that it does, but it doesn't really bother me enough to go out of my way to correct it. The green push is more pronounced with the Warm color temperature, and I keep mine in Normal. Also, note that if you're using a mode higher than 480p on HDMI, the TV will automagically set its Color Matrix to HD (and won't let you change it) which makes the green push more pronounced.

Unfortunately, I recently returned a Sony SXRD which also showed the green push just as much. I was able to test the Oppo out with it before I returned it.

I'm running a similar comparison right now as well but with a Panny HP PL5000N (same as Panny 50px500u). I'm comparing to a DLink DVD player (with home media center) and an old Sony 5 disk changer. The Oppo PQ is noticeable better than the Dlink but not much better than the old Sony. Over HDMI, the Oppo has significant green push in low light. I've compared this green push to the Oppo's component outputs as well as both other players. In dark scenes, everything seems to have a very green cast. This has been noted in other threads, and its really a deal breaker for me since the Panny's don't have RGB cutoff adjustments. I wonder if its my particular Oppo or if a firmware update can fix this?

The other thing that really bothers me about the Oppo is the cheap tray. Its so flimsy it can be bent down like one of those plastic envelopes you use to hold papers. It almost bends under its own weight - well ok not quite.

But, if the green push was fixed, I'd be sold.I received my OPPO today, connected it to my 50PX50U (DVI --> HDMI) and played "The Brothers Grimm" at 720p. I observed no macro blocking and no green push... just an excellent picture. I'm not surprised because my PDP has handled digital input from a CableCARD and component input from an SA8300 and Philips progressive scan DVD player extremely well.

IMO the OPPO OPDV971H (http://www.oppodigital.com/) is a keeper and for $200 I'm glad I bought it.

Looks like Costco is selling the "50PM50U" on its website now. Aside from the lack of tuner (which ain't that important to me), how does it appear to compare with the other 2005 models? I could be convinced to get this over Pioneer's PDP-50A5HD.

I own a 42PV500 (Asian/PAL version of 42PX500). I use it primarily as a HTPC monitor, and have come across some image "tearing" when using the PC VGA input. This is most obvious on horizontal panning shots or fast motion scenes - objects look "torn" or half-drawn when moving across the screen.

This shows that the TV display not in vertical sync with the PC output, and is very DISAPPOINTING to me! I chose the Panasonic PV500 over the Pioneer 436 because I tested the Pio and found it has even worse v-sync problems (with the PC input). But when I finally got the PV500 home, I discovered it too had v-sync problems, just not as noticeable as the Pio.

My previous 7th-gen Panasonic 42PA30 did not have this problem, so I didnt expect the current 8th-gen ones to have it.

The good news...

With a bit of tweaking using the "Juddertest" tool and Powerstrip, I was able to get rid of the tearing, by changing the refresh rate to 59.801Hz.

Juddertest tool: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=318096

Would fellow PV500 owners be so kind as to try this out the "juddertest" software and see if you can detect any tearing on the VGA input. Perhaps we can share what our "magic frequency" is, where the tearing is gone/minimized?

These are my settings:
Display: Panasonic 42PV500
PC video card: ATI X1300
PC settings: 1024x768 @ 60Hz
Tearing at default settings? Yes
Vertical refresh with no tearing: 59.801Hz (tested using Juddertest)

Another option would be to connect the PC via HDMI input, but it will be impossible to get 1:1 pixel mapping. Moreover, the best HD format to use for PC would be 720p but apparently the Panasonic's scaler cuts half the vertical resolution away on 720p input (as opposed to 1080i). - can anybody do a test and se if this is true? - DOUBLY disappointing!

In the future, I bet XBOX360 or PS3 owners intending to use the VGA input will be disappointed as well, since v-sync is especially important for gaming, and there is no Powerstrip for XBOX or PlayStation. Sigh.

The TV is a Panasonic TH-42PX50U plasma. The Oppo is connected to the TV's HDMI port with the included DVI-HDMI cable. The sound is connected to a Sony STR-DE898 receiver via optical PCM cable. My other DVD player is a Sony DVP-NC80VB 5-disc changer connected to the TV's component inputs and to the receiver's coax PCM input.

But in terms of PQ improvement over the Sony changer, there pretty much is none. I played the Imax version of Apollo 13, and there is very little difference between the Sony's and the Oppo's 480p. Likewise, 480p and 1080i on the Oppo pretty much look indistinguishable. 1080i is perhaps a hair sharper, so I'm leaving it on that setting for now. Admittedly, in my case, it is possible that the PQ similarity is due to the TV. The TH-42PX50U is a 1024x768 display, so no matter what the input resolution is, the TV has to rescale the image to fit. Surprisingly, 720p is rather poor, but I've read that the Panasonic's 720p input support was tacked on at the last minute and it actually displays in less resolution than 480p does. So I suppose it's conceivable that if this player is used with a TV whose native resolution is true 720p or 1080, it might make a real difference, but on a plasma I don't see it.

There were a couple of minor things that bothered me about the Oppo's display. It seems as though there is sometimes a bit of yellow ghosting, sort of like a Y/C delay issue, around vertical edges in some scenes. Also, the image seems a bit softer than that of the Sony, regardless of the resolution I set it to. I will try playing around with cross-color correction, true-life, and sharpness to see if these can be improved. Right now I have tru-life and cross color correction enabled, and sharpness, brightness, etc, at the default 0 settings.


Phaid, interesting review. I have nearly the exact same setup, so I thought it would be interesting to compare notes. Only difference is mine is the 500U.

I received the Oppo out of the blue as a christmas gift. I knew nothing about it, so now I'm learning as much as I can. I've only viewed 3 movies so far. Dodgeball, Fever Pitch, and Batman Begins. I thought they all looked spectacular in 1080i. With Dodgeball, I did comparisons between 480p and 1080i, and it was quite a noticeable difference. Perhaps the 480p conversion just isn't up to par with 480p DVD players? No idea. I didn't notice a large difference between 720p and 1080i, but again I was using Dodgeball. I'll need to test it with a movie that has lots of fast paced action to see if I can notice any sort of animation problems due to the progressive vs interlaced scanning.

At any rate, I realize that the scaling doesn't exactly fit our display, but I'm surprised you did not see an improvement over Oppo's 480p vs 1080i. IMO, the 480p had a very slight haze to it that the 1080i did not exhibit.

I also didn't notice the ghosting you mentioned, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

FYI - I did not change any default settings out of the box for the Oppo, and I've been very happy with it.

Thanx for the info. I hope your tweaking works out for you!

Unfortunately, I recently returned a Sony SXRD which also showed the green push just as much. I was able to test the Oppo out with it before I returned it.

Hold up, maybe I'm misinterpreting. You've said the Oppo exhibits a green push to the coloring, and that you're previous DVD did the same???

Ok, what're the common denominators? Same movie? Same TV? The fact that both DVD players did the same implies to me that it is not the Oppo's problem.

At any rate, I realize that the scaling doesn't exactly fit our display, but I'm surprised you did not see an improvement over Oppo's 480p vs 1080i. IMO, the 480p had a very slight haze to it that the 1080i did not exhibit.

I also didn't notice the ghosting you mentioned, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

FYI - I did not change any default settings out of the box for the Oppo, and I've been very happy with it.

Thanx for the info. I hope your tweaking works out for you!

Like I said in a later post, after playing a few other movies and turning off CCS, I am happy with the Oppo. There is a difference in 1080i - not a huge one, but it is an improvement over 480p. I haven't noticed macroblocking or any other problems people have complained about, and on the other hand I don't think it would be possible for current-generation DVD's to look any better than this on this TV.

Do you guys prefer 720p or 1080i with the Oppo --> Panasonic PDP?

Like I said in a later post, after playing a few other movies and turning off CCS, I am happy with the Oppo. There is a difference in 1080i - not a huge one, but it is an improvement over 480p. I haven't noticed macroblocking or any other problems people have complained about, and on the other hand I don't think it would be possible for current-generation DVD's to look any better than this on this TV.

Awesome, glad to hear it's working out for you.

I'm not an Oppo fanatic or anything, I just find the different experiences interesting, especially when the equipment is so similar. The more we understand the causes of variation, the better off we are.

Do you guys prefer 720p or 1080i with the Oppo --> Panasonic PDP?

Stupid question, what's Panasonic PDP?

For me, initial testing showed minimal improvement from 720p to 1080i. With HD cable service, I've notice 720p displays tend to have much less artifacts (I think most people call it macroblocking?) with sports, which makes sense considering progressive scan vs interlaced.

So my next test will be to use 1080i vs 720p for fast paced, action flick like Matrix, or similar movie.

Stupid question, what's Panasonic PDP?Panasonic Plasma Display Panel

And presumably all comments on this thread are related to Panasonic PDPs ;)

Will Panasonic make enough plasma displays next year to not run out or is that a contrived effort to enhance a giant cult following?

Will Panasonic make enough plasma displays next year to not run out or is that a contrived effort to enhance a giant cult following?My assumption is Panasonic simply underestimated the demand for their products given the current price structure... I'm confident there will be more than enough Panasonic PDPs available during 2006 for the astute buyer. You may want to be the first AVSF participant to acquire a Panasonic PX500 1080p series PDP. If you do... I'll even help you "toot" your own horn! :D

On my 500u I cannot figure out how to get 2 tv programs side by side. It only allows me to show 2 different sources on the screen, but not 2 different tv channels. I've read the manual over and over and I believe this feature should be available. If you tell me I can't show 2 tv channels at once I will be shocked. Afterall, that would be the most useful way to use this feature...to see when a commercial is over.

On my 500u I cannot figure out how to get 2 tv programs side by side. It only allows me to show 2 different sources on the screen, but not 2 different tv channels. I've read the manual over and over and I believe this feature should be available. If you tell me I can't show 2 tv channels at once I will be shocked. Afterall, that would be the most useful way to use this feature...to see when a commercial is over.You can only do it if you have another device with a tuner, such as a STB or DVD Recorder feeding another input.

Panasonic Plasma Display Panel

And presumably all comments on this thread are related to Panasonic PDPs ;)


Gotcha. I was playing around with my Oppo yesterday. Tweaking the settings doesn't appear to cause great changes in the display, so I left them at the defaults.

As far as the resolution goes, at the moment I'm leaning towards 720p simply for the progressive scan. I can't tell any visual difference in quality. My PDP is 42", so perhaps it would be more obvious on a large screen.

On my 500u I cannot figure out how to get 2 tv programs side by side. It only allows me to show 2 different sources on the screen, but not 2 different tv channels. I've read the manual over and over and I believe this feature should be available. If you tell me I can't show 2 tv channels at once I will be shocked. Afterall, that would be the most useful way to use this feature...to see when a commercial is over.The PX500U does not have two tuners and cannot show two channels at once. Panasonic really cheaped out on their plasma tuners - the one in my PX50U sucks.

Gotcha. I was playing around with my Oppo yesterday. Tweaking the settings doesn't appear to cause great changes in the display, so I left them at the defaults.

As far as the resolution goes, at the moment I'm leaning towards 720p simply for the progressive scan. I can't tell any visual difference in quality. My PDP is 42", so perhaps it would be more obvious on a large screen.Even though I have a 50" PDP, my conclusions are essentially the same as yours. There is still a lot to learn regarding this up converting DVD player and it's always nice to have a new "toy" to play with. :)

Have you experienced any of the dreaded MB or audio sync issues with your player & PDP?

Have you experienced any of the dreaded MB or audio sync issues with your player & PDP?

I'm happy to say, not at all. Granted, I haven't tried extremely hard. I mean, I don't pause the picture looking for MB, or other errors. I mean, what's the point? How often do you watch a movie frame by frame?

As far as audio sync is concerned, my understanding is people have seen it while messing around with settings during movie playback? I haven't seen it. But I don't plan on looking for it either.

Way I see it, if it doesn't happen under my "normal" operation, I'm not going to worry about it. That doesn't help many people out there, but that's just the way it is. I just don't do a lot with it besides play movies.

Have you had any problems with the Oppo?

On a side note, I was wondering if you've heard about this "clicking" noise that some of the Panny PDPs exhibit? I've read quite a few threads on it because mine does it. I have yet to hear of anyone claiming any AV problems with the TV as a result of this noise. I was just wondering if you've heard it? It occurs while the TV is off. In my case, I believe it happens roughly 30 minutes after I've shut it off, but sometimes it seems random. Anyway, no biggy, I'm just curious. :)

Randy,
What are running thru your PX50U tuner? Antenna or CableCard. I'm curious because I'm about to get a CableCard for mine and if you say the tuner sucks maybe I'll keep my box.
Thanks, Ken

Randy,
What are running thru your PX50U tuner? Antenna or CableCard. I'm curious because I'm about to get a CableCard for mine and if you say the tuner sucks maybe I'll keep my box.
Thanks, Ken

Hey Ken,
I know you didn't ask me, but I'll put my $.02 in anyway. :)

I use a CableCard with my 500U. I love it. I love not having another box cluttering my living room, and probably most importantly, another remote. Even if I had a Universal Remote, and extra box is just something else I have to program, etc. etc.

The 500U comes with the internal TV Guide which makes not having the box much easier. I've also heard the picture is better straight to the TV rather than having to go thru a box, but I haven't really seen anything.

Hope that helps!
-Jay

Hello -

Does anyone have a Panny TH-50PHD8UK? Do you like it? Also, I am having a cutom cabinet made for the TH-50PHD8UK, and was wondering if the dimensions listed on their website (46.7" x 3.7" x 28.5") are EXACTLY accurate. Thank you.

-Gabriel

The PX500U does not have two tuners and cannot show two channels at once. Panasonic really cheaped out on their plasma tuners - the one in my PX50U sucks.

Damn, that is really stupid! WHen PIP was first introduced you could display two stations simultaneously...was great for channel hopping when a commercial came on, or as some folks did, watch 2 football games at once. I think we have gone backwards more than forwards with some of this technology. The panny workforce must be from a new generation, and never saw the feature when it began. I can't think of any situation where I would want to go back and forth from my DVD player to the TV.....nuts!!

Randy,
What are running thru your PX50U tuner? Antenna or CableCard. I'm curious because I'm about to get a CableCard for mine and if you say the tuner sucks maybe I'll keep my box.
Thanks, KenHe's referring to the ATSC/QAM tuner for OTA broadcasts. There will be no problem using your TV's NTSC/ATSC tuner with a CableCARD. I've had a SA PowerKEY CableCARD installed in my TH-50PX50U since June and it works great.

I'm new to this technology but want to buy a plasma soon - tomorrow or within the next few days. I've narrowed it down to the Panasonic PX50U or the Hitachi 55 Hdt52? The price difference is about $650. I like the 55 inch screen, the all black color of the unit, the 2 HDMI inputs and the IEEE 1394 input but concerned about some of the negative comments on the Hitachi regarding black levels, flicker, etc. I can't afford to make a $4000 mistake. Anyone have experience comparing these units? Help would be appreciated.

Hello Everyone,
I just signed up on this message board. My eyes are killing me from reading so long. There is soooo much information on these boards, and i am loving it, but it is also driving me insane!!! I am in the market for a 50" plasma, and don't know what to get. Everytime i lean towards one, i read a post that makes me change my mind, and i do realize that everyone likes certain things about certain plasma's. Ok i watch alot of DVD movies, and primetime television. I was leaning towards the Samsung 5052, or 5072, (most likely the 5052, because the price is lower), and was wondering if there is a major difference in the two? Also the Costco website has a Panasonic Plasma that is going to be $$$ after rebate, and i think it is the TH-50PX50U, but not positive? Anyway i am looking to spend about $3,000 more, or less a few hundred. Any suggestions? I have read the posts about the samsung, and they were saying the dark levels are not that great. The Panasonic is low on features, and also i like the Panasonic commercial plasma, but no speakers, tuner, etc.
Please help, and thanks in advance

EDIT>>

mod note: no price other than MSRP. Thanks

OK - this is my first post. Have been a lurker for a bit.

I just wanted to compare TH-50PM50U with TH-50PHD8UK.

My intention was to go for the TH-50PHD8UK but it is not available currently and has a long wait.

In the meanwhile, I have come across TH-50PM50U on costco website at a discount. It has no tuners.

From what I understand, here is the equation comparing the various Pan models -

TH-50PM50U = TH-50PHD8UK + additional inputs (HDMI, component etc) + TV stand

TH-50PM50U = TH-50PX50U - NTSC tuner

1. Is the above a fair comparison? Any thoughts?

2. Also, I plan to take the TV overseas too. Will TH-50PM50U (with no in-built tuners) accept PAL signals using satellite/cable set-top box there? This is an important consideration - I would like to buy a TV that works with PAL signals.

TIA

kess91,

see above. costco has TH-50PM50U and not TH-50PHD8UK (commercial model) and not the TH-50PX50U (consumer model generally available in BB, CC).

I haven't been around here for some time so excuse me for asking. A few years ago Panny used to bring out new models around February / March. Do you know when the new models might appear in 2006 ?

Thanks a lot...AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

The PX500U does not have two tuners and cannot show two channels at once. Panasonic really cheaped out on their plasma tuners - the one in my PX50U sucks.
Let's be fair though - the tuner is largely a vestigial structure. Odds are pretty high that over half of us use either DBS (satellite) or cable for OTA content and therefore have an outboard tuner. My Panny's tuner is used only for the in-house security cameras and video distribution on eight modulated channels- for which it works fine.

This is a common complaint - with A/V receivers too. And again, same type of reason. I have a nice mid-range ($2000) Denon unit and have used the tuner portion maybe five hours over the last five years. Audio programs come from Sirius or piggybacked with video, not OTA.

You could reasonably respond that video monitors and audio separates are made for people like me, but the integrated units cost less and do a sufficient job. In reality, the outboard OTA tuners are made for folk like you! :D

I haven't been around here for some time so excuse me for asking. A few years ago Panny used to bring out new models around February / March. Do you know when the new models might appear in 2006 ?
Perhaps you mean they would announce new units in February. For all practical purposes, most of these units come out late spring or early summer. But don't bet-and-wait...

Sharp and Samsung especially are reknown for announcing new units in January (at CES, this coming week!) with release dates and then missing the release date significantly. In Samsung's case, often by several years. Check out their histories on 1080p LCD displays, especially with newer forms of backlighting, for particularly sordid examples. But all manufacturers fall prey to it; their goal is to generate buzz, excitement and the resulting press.

What does this mean to you? If you're in the market now, meaning the money and need are present, buy now - get the New Year sales. If you view each day's utility of having the new unit as worth, say, a movie ticket plus popcorn (call it $15/day for the pleasure of sitting down that evening in front of your new Panny PDP), by the time the next units come out in July you will have sacrificed $2750 of daily pleasures, or enough to buy a whole new one at today's street prices.

Good afternoon and happy holidays to everyone! I'm loving my 500U, I do have a question that I'm wondering if anyone has seen and could help.

From time to time the screen will go black, for a couple seconds then back on with the "HDMI" box in the corner as though it lost the signal, then came back. Has anyone seen this? I'm running mine with a HDTV cable box using my HDMI input to the TV. Might this point to the box, TV or cable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

Have you seen this eBay listing:?
Here's what it says:

"The winner of this bid (Buy it now for $10) will recieve access to a private site that sells Panasonic TH-50PX500U 50" HDTV Plasma TV for only 210$. This is a amazing opportunity to get a great deal on this awesome plasma TV. Also the site offers 8 other Flat Screen TV's. You can get a 40" plasma for as little as 95$.

"There is free delivery worldwide. You don't need to fill out any survey's or complete and offers. You don't even need to promote the site. You only need to wait for more people to buy the TV. You can spend a little more and have a shorter wait. Nothing on the site is more than 450$. The site is constantly adding new products."

Is this legit?

Later the same day...OK, I paid the $10. What it is is this: the eBay seller sends you to a web site (es-export) that purports to sign you up for a small amount of $ to receive a brand new plasma TV. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have any experience with this?

EDIT>> removed E-Bay listing #

Have you seen this eBay listing:?
Here's what it says:

"The winner of this bid (Buy it now for $10) will recieve access to a private site that sells Panasonic TH-50PX500U 50" HDTV Plasma TV for only 210$. This is a amazing opportunity to get a great deal on this awesome plasma TV. Also the site offers 8 other Flat Screen TV's. You can get a 40" plasma for as little as 95$.

"There is free delivery worldwide. You don't need to fill out any survey's or complete and offers. You don't even need to promote the site. You only need to wait for more people to buy the TV. You can spend a little more and have a shorter wait. Nothing on the site is more than 450$. The site is constantly adding new products."

Is this legit?
What do you think? Does it pass the smell test? BTW, would you like to buy a bridge? I can get you a good deal on one in Brooklyn.

Have you seen this eBay listing:?
Here's what it says:

"The winner of this bid (Buy it now for $10) will recieve access to a private site that sells Panasonic TH-50PX500U 50" HDTV Plasma TV for only 210$. This is a amazing opportunity to get a great deal on this awesome plasma TV. Also the site offers 8 other Flat Screen TV's. You can get a 40" plasma for as little as 95$.

"There is free delivery worldwide. You don't need to fill out any survey's or complete and offers. You don't even need to promote the site. You only need to wait for more people to buy the TV. You can spend a little more and have a shorter wait. Nothing on the site is more than 450$. The site is constantly adding new products."

Is this legit?

Later the same day...OK, I paid the $10. What it is is this: the eBay seller sends you to a web site (es-export) that purports to sign you up for a small amount of $ to receive a brand new plasma TV. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have any experience with this?

EDIT>> removed E-Bay listing #


I removed the listing #'s...no reason to direct folks towards something that doesn't pass the smell test. Plus, technically, it's against forum rules, although I realize you are trying to help.:)

No more e-bay list numbers, etc... Or any e-bay deals, please.

Thanks all

Have you seen this eBay listing:?
Here's what it says:

"The winner of this bid (Buy it now for $10) will recieve access to a private site that sells Panasonic TH-50PX500U 50" HDTV Plasma TV for only 210$. This is a amazing opportunity to get a great deal on this awesome plasma TV. Also the site offers 8 other Flat Screen TV's. You can get a 40" plasma for as little as 95$.

"There is free delivery worldwide. You don't need to fill out any survey's or complete and offers. You don't even need to promote the site. You only need to wait for more people to buy the TV. You can spend a little more and have a shorter wait. Nothing on the site is more than 450$. The site is constantly adding new products."

Is this legit?

Later the same day...OK, I paid the $10. What it is is this: the eBay seller sends you to a web site (es-export) that purports to sign you up for a small amount of $ to receive a brand new plasma TV. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have any experience with this?

EDIT>> removed E-Bay listing #Why not just empty out your savings account, pile all the money in the middle of your front yard and set it on fire? It will save time and postage over sending it bit-by-bit in ever increasing amounts to someone who ain't EVER gonna send you a plasma TV. Or you could just write-off the $10.00 and WISE UP before you lose thousands.

Have you seen this eBay listing:?
Here's what it says:

"The winner of this bid (Buy it now for $10) will recieve access to a private site that sells Panasonic TH-50PX500U 50" HDTV Plasma TV for only 210$. This is a amazing opportunity to get a great deal on this awesome plasma TV. Also the site offers 8 other Flat Screen TV's. You can get a 40" plasma for as little as 95$.

"There is free delivery worldwide. You don't need to fill out any survey's or complete and offers. You don't even need to promote the site. You only need to wait for more people to buy the TV. You can spend a little more and have a shorter wait. Nothing on the site is more than 450$. The site is constantly adding new products."

Is this legit?

Later the same day...OK, I paid the $10. What it is is this: the eBay seller sends you to a web site (es-export) that purports to sign you up for a small amount of $ to receive a brand new plasma TV. Seems too good to be true. Anyone have any experience with this?

EDIT>> removed E-Bay listing #


It looks like a pyramid type scheme. It's one of the oldest schill games around. It sorta works like this.

Let's say 1000 people pay $10 to buy into the plasma. The top people of the scheme now have $10,000 which they can keep part of for themselves and the rest of the money to buy a few plasmas which they will sell at the low price. The lucky few will tell others (usually family, friends, co-workers) "Yes, it's legit I got a plasma for $450"

Now, thinking that it is legit they dump $10 or more into the scheme. The whole scheme starts falling apart when the money dries up due to lack of investors and the only people who benefit are the ones who initially ran it and the few who got lucky enough to buy one.

Now, this is just a guess but it sounds alot like pyramid scheme.

Good luck if it isn't a scam and if it is, just be lucky it was $10.

Hello everyone,
I am really going crazy, and my wife thinks i am crazy for spending so much time researching, but anyway i keep changing my mind after reading reviews, and the message boards. Ok it is a budget of no more than about $3,000 on a 50 inch. The Vizio price is right, because i can use the extra money for something else that i will need for it. Then we have any of the Panasonic's that are in my range. The Zenith 50 inch, or a phillips 50 inch in my price range. Of coarse with the tuner built in would be great, but i would rather have a better overall tv without the tuner built in. Please help, and thank you in advance. Some of the models are from Costco.

Good afternoon and happy holidays to everyone! I'm loving my 500U, I do have a question that I'm wondering if anyone has seen and could help.

From time to time the screen will go black, for a couple seconds then back on with the "HDMI" box in the corner as though it lost the signal, then came back. Has anyone seen this? I'm running mine with a HDTV cable box using my HDMI input to the TV. Might this point to the box, TV or cable?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

I had the same problem with my Pio 43. They confirmd it is a known issue (synch problem with unprecise signals) and sorted it out by a firmware update. After 1 year or so it started again and was rectified again by software update (and motherboard exchange thx to the courtesy of a friendly engineer).

I think all the PDP are full of PC like hardware which gets clogged down with time passing.

Hello everyone,
I am really going crazy, and my wife thinks i am crazy for spending so much time researching, but anyway i keep changing my mind after reading reviews, and the message boards. Ok it is a budget of no more than about $3,000 on a 50 inch. The Vizio price is right, because i can use the extra money for something else that i will need for it. Then we have any of the Panasonic's that are in my range. The Zenith 50 inch, or a phillips 50 inch in my price range. Of coarse with the tuner built in would be great, but i would rather have a better overall tv without the tuner built in. Please help, and thank you in advance. Some of the models are from Costco.

For that price plus shipping and tax you can get the Panasonic TH50PM50U from Costco.com.

Cannot go wrong with it.

And who needs a tuner, 90% of people use a cable box these days.

wow that costco panny is pretty nice at a great price!...... one thing that it doesn't list is if it has 3:2 pulldown?
EDIT>>

mod note: no sale or discount talk, please. Thanks

how much better is TH-50PM50U over Maxent 50" plasma MX-50X3 sold by best buy using panny parts ? is it worth the extra cost?

how much better is TH-50PM50U over Maxent 50" plasma MX-50X3 sold by best buy using panny parts ? is it worth the extra cost?

well u lose the cable card slot in the panny but gain the 8th gen glass. to me, it's worth the extra 400 bucks.

I have the 50PX50U panel. When I tried this etting in AUDIO settings, the music in commercials wounds louder than the voices. Also, the volume fluctuates during regular programming (more than usual).

nc

Randy,
What are running thru your PX50U tuner? Antenna or CableCard. I'm curious because I'm about to get a CableCard for mine and if you say the tuner sucks maybe I'll keep my box.
Thanks, Ken
FWIW, I have a TH-50PX500U, and I think the tuner works quite well. I will agree it would be better if it had 2 tuners, but the tuner (using a cable card) works better (has a better picture) than the tuner in my 8300HD, which I really only use for the DVR capability and some occasional split screen (PIP) stuff.

The new 50 inch model will be coming out in March. Just spoke to a Panasonic rep and they stated that the 50px500U will no longer be shipped. According to this person that means stores that have backorders will not be shipped and thier orders will be cancelled.

Unfortunately, I have one on backorder and I had a media niche custom built in October to fit this TV. I hope the new one has like dimensions.

When the 1080p 50PX500 is available... you'll be glad you didn't buy a 720p 500U. ;)

The new 50 inch model will be coming out in March. Just spoke to a Panasonic rep and they stated that the 50px500U will no longer be shipped. According to this person that means stores that have backorders will not be shipped and thier orders will be cancelled.

Unfortunately, I have one on backorder and I had a media niche custom built in October to fit this TV. I hope the new one has like dimensions.


Greeaattt. I have one on back order as well. But I've heard so many different responses to availability of the 500U that I don't know what to believe. Last time I talked to Panasonic directly they said that they anticipated fulfilling the standing orders with their retailers on this product. The retailer I have my order with said they are expecting to get a shipment first week of Feb. Now I'm really getting nervous.

I have been reading these forums intensely for 6 months or so, and on my advice my parents purchased a 50px50u a little over a month ago. Whenever we go to stores now that have a Philips plasma on display some members of my family say, "I see nothing different in the Philips picture, we should have got that." They say this simply because they prefer the Philips from an aesthetics perspective. I've read all the threads on the forums and know about the great Panny black levels, shadow detail, etc. I also know that the source quality is not always the same at the stores and settings are not calibrated correctly either.

Anyways, are there any DVDs or things to point out in the picture when I'm in stores to prove my point that the Panny is indeed superior to the Philips or any other PDP for that matter in PQ? Some in my family seem to think my research is a bunch of crap; it' s just a little annoying to me. I must say that SD quality has astounded me because on some digital SD channels I sometimes can't tell if I'm watching SD or HD without checking what channel on I'm on.

Thanks.

I have been reading these forums intensely for 6 months or so, and on my advice my parents purchased a 50px50u a little over a month ago. Whenever we go to stores now that have a Philips plasma on display some members of my family say, "I see nothing different in the Philips picture, we should have got that." They say this simply because they prefer the Philips from an aesthetics perspective. I've read all the threads on the forums and know about the great Panny black levels, shadow detail, etc. I also know that the source quality is not always the same at the stores and settings are not calibrated correctly either.

Anyways, are there any DVDs or things to point out in the picture when I'm in stores to prove my point that the Panny is indeed superior to the Philips or any other PDP for that matter in PQ? Some in my family seem to think my research is a bunch of crap; it' s just a little annoying to me. I must say that SD quality has astounded me because on some digital SD channels I sometimes can't tell if I'm watching SD or HD without checking what channel on I'm on.

Thanks.The difference may not be that easy to demonstrate in the store unless you can see them side-by-side in a dimly lit room. You might try to show them a few of the reviews (CNet, etc) that highlight some the things you mentioned. Having been in the business for twenty years I can also attest to the fact that Panasonic builds a far more reliable product than Phillips. If they still want the Phillips, let them get it. They shouldn't have much trouble recouping most of the money spent on the Panasonic as they're in very short supply. The store may even be willing to exchange it.

Newbie here. We just bought our panny 42pd50ou and have it hooked up to basic cable (no set top box). Cox cable broadcasts CBS, NBC, and ABC in HDTV format for basic subscribers. We went to the antennaweb site and found out there are a few towers in our area that broadcast other channels of HDTV over the air.

We want to pick up all of the local HD channels and tried using a cable combiner, but that didn't work. Since the 42pd only has 1 rf input, what is the best way to hook up our OTA antenna with out having to rescan the channels everytime? Besides the basic cable input, we have a dvd player hooked up using component cables.

There is no combiner that can combine over-the-air and cable. The frequencies overlap, but are not identical. Unfortunately the answer is that you can't do what you want to do.

(You can do this with satellite because the frequencies don't overlap.)

Would it work to run the cable through a vcr? IF so, which ones are good?

The difference may not be that easy to demonstrate in the store unless you can see them side-by-side in a dimly lit room. You might try to show them a few of the reviews (CNet, etc) that highlight some the things you mentioned. Having been in the business for twenty years I can also attest to the fact that Panasonic builds a far more reliable product than Phillips. If they still want the Phillips, let them get it. They shouldn't have much trouble recouping most of the money spent on the Panasonic as they're in very short supply. The store may even be willing to exchange it.

Thanks for the reply. I'll try and do that; my family is definitely very pleased with the PQ but I guess in the store they couldn't really tell the difference so they nag me from time to time. I am going to purchase the 42" for myself very soon.

Would it work to run the cable through a vcr? IF so, which ones are good?

Yes it would. Given today's market, I doubt there is any VCR that is much better than any other.

Yes it would. Given today's market, I doubt there is any VCR that is much better than any other.

Wouldn't the VCR have to have a digital or QAM tuner? Can it be used just as a "pass-through" ?

etbull, I was/am in a simular situation, wanting to combine both cable and over the air channels, using a 42PD50U. Long story short, there isn't any "perfect" way to do this.

One way to do it, as has already been noted, is to use a VCR (connected to the TV via composite or svideo cable) as the cable tuner. This frees up the RF input for your other antenna. However, when I set mine up this way I found that the picture quality from my VCR's tuner was not quite as good as a direct cable hookup to the TV's tuner. But it does work.

Another kludge is using a combiner or a switch to have both the cable and the antenna feed the single RF input. On my TV, this worked surprisingly well except that (1) cable channels above 69 were degraded, and (2) this method requires a channel re-scan each time you switch between cable and antenna, which is not practical for most users.

If you *really* want to combine OTA HD channels with cable channels on this unit, the "best" (and most expensive) way is probably to get an HD receiver for the OTA channels, and connect it to the TV using component or HDMI cables. Then your RF input can handle the regular cable. Unfortunately this solution requires you to shell out at least a hundred bucks for the equipment.

Wouldn't the VCR have to have a digital or QAM tuner?Yes... with an NTSC tuner you can only receive analog channels... but why people buy HDTVs to watch SD programs has always confused me...

Wouldn't the VCR have to have a digital or QAM tuner? Can it be used just as a "pass-through" ?

The poster says he has "basic cable" so I assumed they want to tune analog cable. So with cable through VCR and antenna into digital RF, you would get analog cable through VCR and whatever you can get over the air as digital. That is the best that can be done with this combination. No digital over cable.

Thanks for all the helpful hints. We tried the combiner method, but did not like having to scan channels everyday. We also tested an indoor antenna with our (ancient) vcr just to see if it worked, which it did. But since our vcr has neither s video or component outputs, the picture quality wasn't that great. We were putting off upgrading our cable until we decided whether to go with cable or satellite service. Guess we may skip getting the OTA HD until we figure out which route to go.

Finally! My 42PX50U came in today and I took my Hitachi back to make the swap. So far I am VERY satisfied. I'm having a hard time telling myself I'm going to turn my settings low for the break-in period, it just looks so good.

I'll post some pics in the gallery as soon as my Sanus stand comes.

Thanks to everyone in this forum for helping me join team Panny!

My Panny 50px500u was scheduled for delievery on December 15... it's now January 6 and still nothing so I gave Best Buy (Magnolia store) to inquire about my order. I spoke to the salesman who placed my order and was floored when he said it was cancelled, and then somewhat recovered when he said, "wait, the computer shows it's sitting in store room and we should be able to deliver for you today".

I knew this was too good to be true... actually they had a 42" in stock and mine is shown to be delievered on January 11... but I'm not holding my breath. The salesman offered to get me another TV... get this- "even though it's beyond our normal 30 day return date" WTF? I haven' t even gotten the TV how can I return it?

Anyway... I don't think it'll be here next week so I may have to start looking for something else... the trouble is, I had my heart set on this 50" Panny. Do I wait it out or should I start shopping for another deal? and if so, what is everyone's recommendation on a similar, or better 50" model?

Or do I wait until spring and lineup for the 50" 600u model. Would it be that much better to wait?

I'm in the same boat as you, unfortunately I think the 50px500U boat has sailed and we need to wait for the 600u. The other panel that I was exploring is the Pio 5060, but that is 2 inches wider than the space I have available. I was really hoping to break in the panny for my super bowl party. I am thinking about inquiring the b&m's about the sale of their display models, but I'm sure they have all been on torch picture settings and I'm not sure of the long term effects on the panel.

I've also looked at the samsung 5072, Toshiba hpx95 and HP 50inch equivalent. I never saw the HP in person, but from what I've researched and seen live I still like the Panny better and have a slim bit of hope that miraculously my order will be filled.

Good luck.

I was really hoping to break in the panny for my super bowl party. Unless "your team" gets there... who cares? Now if the NY Giants make it to "The Bowl" then the party's at my house!!! :D I am thinking about inquiring the b&m's about the sale of their display models, but I'm sure they have all been on torch picture settings and I'm not sure of the long term effects on the panel.Dude... don't even go there... you're alot better off waiting for the 600U and giving it the "white gloves" treatment during the first 100 hours.

This may have already been posted, but I wanted to say how totally awesome that new 65" 1080P Panny Plasma looks with HD from BD. (today at CES)

It was by far the best plasma picture I've ever seen.

I checked out the latest NEC's as well. The screen color and thus the blacks are like a de-saturated chocolate. Not good IMO.

Ken

Hello, new member here with a TH-42PX500U. Just picked it up a few days ago from Tweeter. Got the picture settings pretty close but had a few questions.
My question is I thought I read that the widescreen movies would fill the screen in 4:3 mode if it was filmed in 1.85-1, for example, Monsters Inc.
Another question is about the Sanus Systems VMPL250B mount. Any opinions on this mount?

Thanks. Any input would be appreciated.

My Panny 50px500u was scheduled for delievery on December 15... it's now January 6 and still nothing so I gave Best Buy (Magnolia store) to inquire about my order. I spoke to the salesman who placed my order and was floored when he said it was cancelled, and then somewhat recovered when he said, "wait, the computer shows it's sitting in store room and we should be able to deliver for you today".

I knew this was too good to be true... actually they had a 42" in stock and mine is shown to be delievered on January 11... but I'm not holding my breath. The salesman offered to get me another TV... get this- "even though it's beyond our normal 30 day return date" WTF? I haven' t even gotten the TV how can I return it?

Anyway... I don't think it'll be here next week so I may have to start looking for something else... the trouble is, I had my heart set on this 50" Panny. Do I wait it out or should I start shopping for another deal? and if so, what is everyone's recommendation on a similar, or better 50" model?

Or do I wait until spring and lineup for the 50" 600u model. Would it be that much better to wait?

honestly, i'd wait 2 more months for a better pdp with more inputs and a better pq and lower price!

Another question is about the Sanus Systems VMPL250B mount. Any opinions on this mount?

Thanks. Any input would be appreciated.

Check out the Sanus web site... there you can enter the TV you have and it will recommend a mount for you.

Hello, new member here with a TH-42PX500U. Just picked it up a few days ago from Tweeter. Got the picture settings pretty close but had a few questions.
My question is I thought I read that the widescreen movies would fill the screen in 4:3 mode if it was filmed in 1.85-1, for example, Monsters Inc.
Another question is about the Sanus Systems VMPL250B mount. Any opinions on this mount?

Thanks. Any input would be appreciated.
I have the 42px500u hung on the wall in my bedroom and I used the Sanus VMPL. It worked flawlessly. However, if you need more tilt it doesn't really accomodate it due to the large back of the 500U models.

Can anyone tell me if they have a problem with the screen glass showing a "rainbow" discoloration. I just got my second Panny 500u delivered today (the first had a large black box in the upper right corner of the screen) and this one looks as though the glass wasn't cleaned thoroughly before assembly. It almost looks like when gasoline is spilled in water or how an automobile window with tinting looks when viewing with polarized sun glasses. It's definitely on the inside. The first set did not have this. This set has a November build date. Any recalls on these sets? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have the 37in Panny 50U. I currently have a cable card and get HD channels from Comcast. The Problem is in Portland,OR , CBS HD will not allow Comcast to broadcast their signal. Therefore I do not get CBS HD broadcasts - a real bummer for sports. I have been told that the signal might be able to be picked up "over the air". How? My TV has a built in HD Tuner. Can I connect a regular TV antenna (i.e cheap $10 ones from Radio Shack) and have the cable card connected. It seems like the menu would not let me do anything with the cable card connected (or to even add the channel).
Any explanation of how to do this would be great.

If you all haven't seen this yet :

panasonic 60 (http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/images/Content/pressroom/Plasma.jpg)

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/images/Content/pressroom/Plasma.jpg

Can anyone tell me if they have a problem with the screen glass showing a "rainbow" discoloration. I just got my second Panny 500u delivered today (the first had a large black box in the upper right corner of the screen) and this one looks as though the glass wasn't cleaned thoroughly before assembly. It almost looks like when gasoline is spilled in water or how an automobile window with tinting looks when viewing with polarized sun glasses. It's definitely on the inside. The first set did not have this. This set has a November build date. Any recalls on these sets? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I went through 2 50px50u's for different reasons.. both had that.. only noticable if the tv was off.. never affected performance or viewing..

-t

Do we have any information on pricing for the 65" 1080P? I'm dying for one of these!! And is summer 06 still a good estimation?

This may have already been posted, but I wanted to say how totally awesome that new 65" 1080P Panny Plasma looks with HD from BD. (today at CES)

It was by far the best plasma picture I've ever seen.

I checked out the latest NEC's as well. The screen color and thus the blacks are like a de-saturated chocolate. Not good IMO.

Ken

I went through 2 50px50u's for different reasons.. both had that.. only noticable if the tv was off.. never affected performance or viewing..

-t

Thanks for the response. Did you stick with the Panny or get something else? I'm really having second thoughts. Besides the "rainbow" discoloration there is a definite smudge on the inside of the glass as well. What ever happened to quality control?

I have the 37in Panny 50U. I currently have a cable card and get HD channels from Comcast. The Problem is in Portland,OR , CBS HD will not allow Comcast to broadcast their signal. Therefore I do not get CBS HD broadcasts - a real bummer for sports. I have been told that the signal might be able to be picked up "over the air". How? My TV has a built in HD Tuner. Can I connect a regular TV antenna (i.e cheap $10 ones from Radio Shack) and have the cable card connected. It seems like the menu would not let me do anything with the cable card connected (or to even add the channel).
Any explanation of how to do this would be great.
As I understand it, if you use the CableCard, you use the only RF input. The only way to get OTA is to plug in an antenna lead, change the menu option from "cable" to "antenna" and rescan for OTA. Then you would have to reverse the process to go back to cable. Not a very good solution. This is why some HDTVs have two RF inputs.

As I understand it, if you use the CableCard, you use the only RF input. The only way to get OTA is to plug in an antenna lead, change the menu option from "cable" to "antenna" and rescan for OTA. Then you would have to reverse the process to go back to cable. Not a very good solution. This is why some HDTVs have two RF inputs.Which leads us to question why anyone would buy the first generation Pioneer Elite Pro-FHD1 (http://www.cnet.com/4831-11405_1-6412639.html?tag=all) 50" 1080p PDP, which is MSRP'd for a mere $8,000, that does not include a tuner "to reduce interference that may result from having RF circuitry inside the panel itself."

As I understand it, if you use the CableCard, you use the only RF input. The only way to get OTA is to plug in an antenna lead, change the menu option from "cable" to "antenna" and rescan for OTA. Then you would have to reverse the process to go back to cable. Not a very good solution. This is why some HDTVs have two RF inputs.

I'm afraid you're right. The only solution to get OTA and cable is to rent a STB so the only RF input can be used for OTA.

This may have already been posted, but I wanted to say how totally awesome that new 65" 1080P Panny Plasma looks with HD from BD. (today at CES)

It was by far the best plasma picture I've ever seen.

I checked out the latest NEC's as well. The screen color and thus the blacks are like a de-saturated chocolate. Not good IMO.

Ken


I have to agree 110%. The 65" was the best picture I saw at the show. I've been a Pio fan (had three different 50" plasmas) for over five years. I even had Pio guys next to me admiring the PQ on the Panny.

If Panny delivers this by summer, I'll upgrade from my current Elite set.

Do we have any information on pricing for the 65" 1080P? I'm dying for one of these!! And is summer 06 still a good estimation?

A panny rep at CES said MSRP will be about $10K. He said expect it around June or July.

Was anyone at CES able to measure the physical dimensions of the 65" 1080p? I did a ballpark estimate with a sheet of paper and got about 67" wide (with speakers) and 39" tall. I'm building a new home and would like to fit this in some cabinetry. If anyone measured it with a tape measure I'd really appreciate those exact numbers, especially including the table stand. I forgot to measure that. Thanks.

Was anyone at CES able to measure the physical dimensions of the 65" 1080p? I did a ballpark estimate with a sheet of paper and got about 67" wide (with speakers) and 39" tall. I'm building a new home and would like to fit this in some cabinetry. If anyone measured it with a tape measure I'd really appreciate those exact numbers, especially including the table stand. I forgot to measure that. Thanks.

I am also curious about this, but on the 37". Not sure if they even had the 37" model on display at CES though.

http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/ces_2006/popup_prod_televisions.asp

Ive been noticing alot of green sparklies using HDMI, ive been testing out alot of HDMI dvd players lately and were the black bars are is where yuou notice it the most, trying different cables has no effect, is it a color adjustment?
Component has NO effects at all just black,ive got my color and tint at -3, switching light level to dark of course removes this but the pic isnt as nice for shadow detail in that mode.

Bud-man, I've noticed the same thing over HDMI from the cable box in black areas.
It's only noticeable if I'm well inside the SDE range on the PD50 so I never really worried about it, but I'm curious what that is , why it's there, and what the proper term for it is. It's like green "snow". Is this what's known as "dithering"? Why does it occur?

You say component does not have this? I never bothered to check it out.

Yea Component is fine,i just hooked my DVR back to HDMI and Component and noticed this, i'm thinking i have Color Management is ON, try to OFF, as ive been looking thru some previous post's here about the infamous "Green Push"

I have CM turned off and still get them.

My Panny 50px500u was scheduled for delievery on December 15... it's now January 6 and still nothing so I gave Best Buy (Magnolia store) to inquire about my order. I spoke to the salesman who placed my order and was floored when he said it was cancelled, and then somewhat recovered when he said, "wait, the computer shows it's sitting in store room and we should be able to deliver for you today".

I knew this was too good to be true... actually they had a 42" in stock and mine is shown to be delievered on January 11... but I'm not holding my breath. The salesman offered to get me another TV... get this- "even though it's beyond our normal 30 day return date" WTF? I haven' t even gotten the TV how can I return it?

Anyway... I don't think it'll be here next week so I may have to start looking for something else... the trouble is, I had my heart set on this 50" Panny. Do I wait it out or should I start shopping for another deal? and if so, what is everyone's recommendation on a similar, or better 50" model?

Or do I wait until spring and lineup for the 50" 600u model. Would it be that much better to wait?

Well... wonders never cease. I was expecting a call from the Magnolia dealer today telling me that my Panny didn't arrive on the shipment slated for today but never received a call so I decided to stop by the store to inquire from the salesman who promised me he'd call if it came in or not. It turns out he wasn't working but another salesman checked on my order and stated that they had received three of the 50PX500U TV's in this morning. I said "my name better be on one of them!"... and it was!

I had to go home to get the paper work to prove that I had already paid for it and clean out my Jeep Grand Cherokee so I could bring it home. The thing wouldn't fit into the back with the seats laid down so they had to take it out of the box and slide it it with a slight tilt. To say I drove very carefully home is an understatement.

Tonight I've spent the evening attaching my Sanus mounts and trying to figuire out what height I should mount it at. I've heard the suggested height is that your straight eye sight (from a seated position) should be up 1/3 from the bottom of the screen. When I laid this out it looks like it would only be about 30" above floor level which seemed low for a wall mount but seemed to make sense if I was using the table pedestal seated on a TV stand. I tried raising this up 6" to 36" above floor level but thought this looked too high. I think I've settled on 33" (a compromise) above the floor. This will allow us to put some sort of flower arrangement, or cable box (or whatever) on the TV stand sitting below and not cover or distract from the TV itself.

Even when I get it hooked up (I'm taking the afternoon off tomorrow to continue installation) I won't be able to enjoy all of it's features because Comcast won't be able to come over and install my digital and HD cable boxes until next Week (Jan 18)... oh well... at least I've gotten my dream TV and can still enjoy watching some great movies this weekend.

To all the others who are still waiting for theirs out there... hang on... Christmas may yet come twice per year!

nuff said...

Congratulations regarding the acquisition of your new panel. Make sure you treat that "puppy" gently during its first 100 hours of operation.

Here's a question I haven't found an answer for:

If sources start to output 1080p, what will our TV show? Since most Panny's do not allow you to change the resolution of a source, will we even get a picture? Will it default to some other resolution?

Anyone have any idea?

Here's a question I haven't found an answer for:

If sources start to output 1080p, what will our TV show? Since most Panny's do not allow you to change the resolution of a source, will we even get a picture? Will it default to some other resolution?

Anyone have any idea?

Since the 8th gen consumer Panny's (like most) don't accept 1080p, you won't get a picture. However, since 1080p isn't an official broadcast resolution, you don't have to worry about this becoming a new broadcast standard anytime soon. Blu-ray/HD-DVD players will output 1080p, but they'll have a progressive setting, just like today's progressive scan DVD players. This way, those who have sets who can't accept 1080p (currently the great majority) can just feed their set a 1080i signal.

Since the 8th gen consumer Panny's (like most) don't accept 1080p, you won't get a picture. However, since 1080p isn't an official broadcast resolution, you don't have to worry about this becoming a new broadcast standard anytime soon. Blu-ray/HD-DVD players will output 1080p, but they'll have a progressive setting, just like today's progressive scan DVD players. This way, those who have sets who can't accept 1080p (currently the great majority) can just feed their set a 1080i signal.

Ok, that's what I was figuring, thanx for the answer.

So hopefully 1080p will end up as the videophiles wet dream for watching movies. :) I can't imagine broadcast stations would output 1080p and screw the millions of people who spent thousands on TVs to date.

Personally, I find 720p/1080i more than acceptable. Course my screen is only 42".

Since the 8th gen consumer Panny's (like most) don't accept 1080p, you won't get a picture. However, since 1080p isn't an official broadcast resolution, you don't have to worry about this becoming a new broadcast standard anytime soon. Blu-ray/HD-DVD players will output 1080p, but they'll have a progressive setting, just like today's progressive scan DVD players. This way, those who have sets who can't accept 1080p (currently the great majority) can just feed their set a 1080i signal.

It's possible these sets will accept 1080 (24p) or 1080 (30p) through HDMI, but I haven't heard of anyone trying yet. I can confirm it won't take 1080 (60p).

I have a 1080p Kingwell dvd player and when i switch to 1080p there no signal, i would assume it's a 1080p 60p signal, this is on my 42PM50u
It all doesnt matter as when 1080p is avail my DVR/STB will have a 1080i setting anyway, if and when they do the increased PQ will still look better then standard 1080i, we''ll always be able to downconvert, in my case to 480p. :)

Hi all,

We've had our 42" ED for about 2 months. We have DirecTV standard programming and, for 90% of the channels, we are very happy with the picture quality in 16:9 JUST mode. The one thing I have noticed is that images seem to have a semi-transparent 'shadow'. It's much more noticeable with text…you really have to be looking for it on non-text images but it is there. For our connections we have S-video from a Tivo box to the TV. I tried swapping with our other standard DTV(with S-video also) box but that didn't seem to make any difference. We do have a 5x8 powered multi-switch(non-amplified)…don't know if that can cause problems. Any there any picture adjustments that can be made or does this indicate poor signal quality?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

First time poster, so hi to all.

Amazingly, local Best Buy had one TH-42PX500U in stock, we bought it on 12/31 and they delivered on New Year's Day. The set is beautiful and we are very happy with the HD and SD, once you get over the justification view as things change size when the picture pans from side to side in SD.

I have the pict set on 0 for the first 100 hours. My kids laugh at me when I leave the set on in the evening for a few hours on a HD channel to help accellerate the break-in period since "The TV is on and nobody is watching."

The next project is choosing some new furniture or a mount for the set since our current stereo bench does not have enough space to place the center channel below the Panny which is on the pedestal base and so the center channel sits off to the side of the set ....ughhh.

We are busy looking at the picts that people have posted of their setups to get some design ideas.

I have some questions. I just bought the Panasonic 42" Plasma HDTV (TH-42PX50U). First off, I am stretching all the images so as to not have sidebar burn in.

My first question is with picture calibration. Out of the box the picture looks fine for break in. Not too bright (it is set on the standard setting). Brightness is set at 0. Is it alright to leave it like this. I have no problems with it.

My second question concerns aspect ratio controls. I have noticed that my tv's aspect ratio controls seem to be disabled, which I assume is due to having the SA 8300 HD DVR (TWC NYC with Passport Echo software). I would rather have the TV stretch the image than the box but it doesn't seem like I have the ability to do so. Is there something I can do.

I have the 8300 HD DVR set to output at 1080i and 480p. What are the best settings that I should have to make SD look the best and HD. ESPNHD looked crappy when I had it pass through at 720p. It looks better at 1080i. What is my tv's native resolution?

Hi all,

We've had our 42" ED for about 2 months. We have DirecTV standard programming and, for 90% of the channels, we are very happy with the picture quality in 16:9 JUST mode. The one thing I have noticed is that images seem to have a semi-transparent 'shadow'. It's much more noticeable with text…you really have to be looking for it on non-text images but it is there. For our connections we have S-video from a Tivo box to the TV. I tried swapping with our other standard DTV(with S-video also) box but that didn't seem to make any difference. We do have a 5x8 powered multi-switch(non-amplified)…don't know if that can cause problems. Any there any picture adjustments that can be made or does this indicate poor signal quality?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

S-Video?

Use the Component or HDMI cables.
The S-Video is killing you.

S-Video?

Use the Component or HDMI cables.
The S-Video is killing you.

I can’t (at least not that I know of)…none of our DTV receivers have component outputs. I could be wrong, but I think only the HD receivers have them.

I can’t (at least not that I know of)…none of our DTV receivers have component outputs. I could be wrong, but I think only the HD receivers have them.


Time for a new DTV receiver to match your new Plasma...do it right.

I have some questions. I just bought the Panasonic 42" Plasma HDTV (TH-42PX50U). First off, I am stretching all the images so as to not have sidebar burn in......

My second question concerns aspect ratio controls. I have noticed that my tv's aspect ratio controls seem to be disabled, which I assume is due to having the SA 8300 HD DVR (TWC NYC with Passport Echo software). I would rather have the TV stretch the image than the box but it doesn't seem like I have the ability to do so. Is there something I can do.

I have the 8300 HD DVR set to output at 1080i and 480p. What are the best settings that I should have to make SD look the best and HD. ESPNHD looked crappy when I had it pass through at 720p. It looks better at 1080i. What is my tv's native resolution?If the TV is getting an HD signal (720p or 1080i) then Aspect Control is not available.

However with the 8300HD set to 480p you should be able to stretch any of the non-HD channels. If you can't, then your new plasma's aspect control is "stuck" and you have to unstick it using information from This Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=538357)

What version of Passport does your 8300HD have onit? I have 2.5.xx and 480i passthrough is now available and i've found the best settings for my 8300HD is 480i and 1080i. If you use 480p, the DVR is doing the scaling and doesn't do as good a job as the TV does if you send it a 480i signal from the DVR.

I have the 8300 HD DVR set to output at 1080i and 480p. What are the best settings that I should have to make SD look the best and HD. ESPNHD looked crappy when I had it pass through at 720p. It looks better at 1080i. What is my tv's native resolution?

The native res is 1024 x 768, which is close to 720p. However, most have found feeding the set 1080i from the DVR looks better than passing through 720p, myself included.

I can’t (at least not that I know of)…none of our DTV receivers have component outputs. I could be wrong, but I think only the HD receivers have them.

How is the picture with your DVD player? You should own a Progressive scan DVD player with Component outputs. If this picture is good, then you know you DTV needs to be updated.

480i....hmmmm have to try that one, but HD channels would have top and bottom bars if i set my dvr to 480i.
Ive tried on my Moto 6412 1080i out preserve 480i for the SD channels, or 1080i out and Stretch which makes all channels outputed to 1080i, seems to look the best without any signal transition from HD to SD, wish there was a way top turn off Panny's annoying popup windows when a resolution is switched.

This is interesting. My Cablevision Box is the SA 8300 HD. I believe it is set for passthrough on all settings. I know that the aspect control on my Panny Remote will change the aspect for SD, but am I getting a double effect from the cable box and the TV. Should the cable box be set differently for the SD???

I am using the component inputs so the HD is just fine.

When using the component output from an SA8300 the best approach is to configure the STB to pass 480i (standard), 720p and 1080i signals only. On the STBs settings menu set the picture format to pass through. You can use the Panasonic TVs stretch/zoom aspect ratio controls for 480i SD and the SA8300s stretch/zoom (if necessary) aspect ratio control options for 720p/1080i HD programs.

During the first month or so my 42PX50 did retain images, but now that it's fully broken in it no longer does this.

I watch the local FOX news for an hour or two each weekday morning before work and they use an obnoxious FOX logo which also displays the current time and temperature. I also watch a lot of SPEED channel sportscar racing and the SPEED logo was retained in the upper right corner but not as prevalent as the FOX logo in the lower right corner. Within the first week i noticed these logos could be seen when watching other shows that displayed a bright scene or shot of the sky and for the next month or so i could still see the "ghost" of these logo from time to time, but apparently as the panel aged the SPEED logo slowly faded away leaving the FOX logo still there, and that one soon faded away as well. Now that the panel is fully broken in i no longer see it even though i still watch the same FOX show every morning and SPEED racing on the weekends. It had me scared for a while but now it's a non-issue and i no longer see any images retained for more than maybe an hour or so till it disappears, if that.

This is a little encouraging because I'm in a state of dread right now... I've had my 42PX50 for 1-1/2 months now and I too had logo ghosting after the first 1-2 weeks from watching Fox Soccer Channel. My horror has compounded recently after looking at a dark gray (no signal) screen and discovering many shadows. The FSC logo, some from games and a line across the middle of the screen from who knows what. From what I recall I kept my Xbox gaming fairly sparse during the first 2 weeks (having a GF helps!) and I eased up on the FSC channel a bit and noticed the ghosting go away. Although I never looked at a blank dark screen until recently so it could've still been there.

I'm a bit angry with Panasonic for not knowing about the "break in" periods of 100 to 1000 hours and the steps to take. There's absolutely no mention of this in the manual, only in an obscure white paper I found through Google a bit too late to say the least. Not to mention Panasonic does the consumer a disfavor by shipping the screen with the rediculous "torch" settings on Vivid and Standard! If they're suggesting "break in" on the one hand with reduced settings then don't ship it with them cranked up, OR at least emphasise the break in steps/settings reduction in the manual or with a sticker on the wrapper or something!!! :mad:

I did adjust the picture setting gradually downward during the first month as I tweaked the settings to my eye. My guess is I've logged around 300-350 hours and now I've brought the settings down considerably and plan on keeping it that way for a while with video sources only and avoiding games and static logos in the hope the shadows will clear. My fear is this may be burn in damage as it's been present the last couple nights. Maybe it will take some time to fade? Any other suggestions on settings or what to do would be appreciated.

WAINGR0 - Wow, it's very rare to hear reports of image retention on a Panny. I'd tune in a channel with no bugs and leave the set on overnight. See if that helps fade. But it'll likely take longer than that to completely disappear. Ironically, you can speed the removal of the retention by continuing to run in Vivid, but watching a wide variety of content.

And regarding the sets shipping in Vivid, it's a simple reason: Many stores don't touch the settings on their displays so Panny wants their set to catch eyes with the most vivid picture possible. People are drawn to bright, sharp, outrageously colorful displays.

After reading the latest posts I got to thinking: is the risk lessened by a medium gray image on the screen? I have tried to vary the programming during the first 100 hours, and felt I was over the risk period. I get the Charter digital music channels (MusicChoice) which will show a gray static image during the time I have digital music playing on the display and through the audio system. The image is varied only in the text area which changes ever so slightly each time a different song is played. So, essentially the whole screen is static while listening to music from Charter. There is no way to turn off the video leaving just the audio. I haven't noticed anything yet as far as burn in, but maybe it is an issue if left on one image too long. Has anyone got experience with a problem when the signal is basically a bland image?

Question for you 500u owners. If I purchased a rgb>DVI adapter, could I connect a DVI based DVD player (Oppo) into the RGB connection? My worry is whether it's HDCP compliant. I'm probably not going to hook my computer up through the rgb connection, so I'd like to make use of it.

Thanks for your help.

Oppo states that the 971H DVI is digital only and cannot be used with a DVI to VGA adapter. I can't personally vouch for this one way or the other as I have the TH42PX50U with no VGA input.

In any case, the Oppo's DVI output does not use HDCP. I'm using my Oppo with a DVI to HDMI cable with no problems.

This is a little encouraging because I'm in a state of dread right now... I've had my 42PX50 for 1-1/2 months now and I too had logo ghosting after the first 1-2 weeks from watching Fox Soccer Channel. My horror has compounded recently after looking at a dark gray (no signal) screen and discovering many shadows. The FSC logo, some from games and a line across the middle of the screen from who knows what. From what I recall I kept my Xbox gaming fairly sparse during the first 2 weeks (having a GF helps!) and I eased up on the FSC channel a bit and noticed the ghosting go away. Although I never looked at a blank dark screen until recently so it could've still been there.

The line across the middle of the screen isn't burn in, it is due to the way the PX50's are designed. The top and bottom halves of the screen are controlled by different boards, and on most (or all) of these sets, this leads to a slight difference in brightness between the top and bottom halves and a faint horizontal line between the two, which is usually only noticeable on a dark medium gray background (a solid field roughly the color of the gray boxes that display "channel not available"). It becomes more noticeable the brighter you set the tv.

Which leads me to ask... exactly how bright did you have your plasma set? Out of curiosity I decided to see for myself at what point I could see the line with no signal, so I set tv/video to an empty input and I had to pretty much turn the Brightness up to 30 to be able to make it out.

I keep my plasma at Brightness 10, Picture 12 in Cinema mode for DVDs, and Brightness 10, Picture 10 for TV viewing. I arrived at that Brightness by using the THX calibration feature from a DVD, and the Picture is just where I thought it looked the best without going overboard. I've had my plasma for about a month and a half and have watched mostly TV full screen and DVD's, a few of which were 2.35:1 so they had the bars above and below. I've had not a hint of burn in.

I have the Toshiba 42hpx95 and noticed the seperation between the top and bottom half of the screen. There is a slight difference in brightness between the two. I can see it while watching movies sometimes on foggy or dark backgrounds or if I turn to an input without a source and turn the brightness up a little. I thought this was a defect with the set and am returning it but it is good to know why it was displaying that.

I had adjusted the Standard and Vivid settings down slightly over the first couple weeks. I brought the Standard Picture setting down from it's default of +20 to +18... then eventually +15. I brought Vivid down from default of +30 to +28 then +24... but rarely had it in Vivid mode.

Now I've got Vivid at +10, Standard at +5 and Cinema at 0. I didn't notice the middle line until it was down to +15 at least. I actually haven't noticed it lately. I've been running the screen on the Discovery HD Theater channel and while I can still see all the same shadows it looks like they might be fading and getting fuzzy very slowly. The Fox scoreboard bar from the playoff game the other day was in there the next day but has faded since. Hopefully everything else will do the same, it may just take longer.

We have the 42pd50u display. It is hooked up to the panasonic sc-ht700 HTIB which I am looking to replace with another receiver. I would like a receiver that could control the speakers in my living room, as well as two outdoor speakers. I have read through the posts and am not sure which receiver would be best for me. I don't want to spend more than $400 or so. I am planning on connecting either the DVD player from the HTIB (connected with component right now) or use a Sony NS400d dvd player from our den.

Any suggestions?

We have the 42pd50u display. It is hooked up to the panasonic sc-ht700 HTIB which I am looking to replace with another receiver. I would like a receiver that could control the speakers in my living room, as well as two outdoor speakers. I have read through the posts and am not sure which receiver would be best for me. I don't want to spend more than $400 or so. I am planning on connecting either the DVD player from the HTIB (connected with component right now) or use a Sony NS400d dvd player from our den.

Any suggestions?
Try the Audio area, under Amps, Receivers... This is the wrong forum.

I have had a th50px500u since around august or september2005. Like everyone else I'm still amazed at the PQ. My concern is switching from an hd channel to an analog channel. Not only does the tv take a while to process the information but sometimes it simply doesn't work. I get a colorful snowy picture. I'll usually just turn it off and then back on again. The connections are fine and so is the audio. Should I be concerned. FYI it's hooked to a scientific Atlanta COX cable box using HDMI. Anyone else notice this.

Navin:

I have the 42PD50U and love the PQ, wife loves it as well except for changing from digital to non digital channels, it takes like 2-4 seconds to change, from SD channel to another is quick and from a digital channel to another is OK, but interchanging is slow.

I have cable plug directly in.

Neil

Ok, just hooked up an HDMI cable between my 42PD50U and SA8300HD. Channel changing is the same as when i was using component. Chaning to any digital channel even from a digital channel is slow. Once you switch to an analog channel and to other analog channels, it's much faster.

What about the colorful snow (NO PICTURE JUST AUDIO) Rarely

I haven't had the problem in the 1hr I've been using it. :)

Hello. This is my first post, although I have been a member of this forum for several months and read quite often. I need some advice. I think we are finally going to take the plunge after much research, etc and buy the panny 50u. We waited and waited and thought to purchase the hard to find 500u, but really want to act now and not wait any longer. So I went to circuit city ( I know I wish I would of acted earlier and had a chance to get one at a much lower price with tv authority), anyway, this is the deal that he is proposing:
Panny 50u
tilt omni mount
5 years protection plan
monster cable (2)
full surround sound 5 speaker installation
price with tax and delivery is $5623.00
Is this reasonable? Is it really necessary to get the protection plan?
Thanks,
Anne

Hello. This is my first post, although I have been a member of this forum for several months and read quite often. I need some advice. I think we are finally going to take the plunge after much research, etc and buy the panny 50u. We waited and waited and thought to purchase the hard to find 500u, but really want to act now and not wait any longer. So I went to circuit city ( I know I wish I would of acted earlier and had a chance to get one at a much lower price with tv authority), anyway, this is the deal that he is proposing:
Panny 50u
tilt omni mount
5 years protection plan
monster cable (2)
full surround sound 5 speaker installation
price with tax and delivery is $5623.00
Is this reasonable? Is it really necessary to get the protection plan?
Thanks,
AnneIt better be a heck of a surround sound system. Seriously, a five channel surround sound system can cost from $199.00 to as much as you're spending on the whole package (or more). You'd have to be more specific as to what you're getting but a quick calculation suggests that the surround sound should be worth at least $1,000.00 for this to be a decent deal. TV Authority is advertising a good price on this set but you have to wait for it. Still, you should compare the prices to see what kind of deal you're getting. The extended warranty will greatly benefit a few people while most get nothing for their money, but if you turn out to be one of the few you'll be glad you have it. The saying about insurance (which is what this is), is if you can afford to take the loss don't buy it, otherwise you should. As for the Monster Cables, they're WAY overpriced. Those you definitely don't need. Good luck with your decision.

Navin:

I have the 42PD50U and love the PQ, wife loves it as well except for changing from digital to non digital channels, it takes like 2-4 seconds to change, from SD channel to another is quick and from a digital channel to another is OK, but interchanging is slow.

I have cable plug directly in.

Neil

On my 500U all I do is enter the number THEN HIT THE 'OK" BUTTON...it changes immediately. This is not in the owner's manual. It might also work on your unit...let me know:)

One thing I have noticed using HDMI from my 8300HD to the PD50U is the audio is much better. With the analog cables before I would get bass distortion on my right speaker during certain dialogs. Now with the HDMI cable it's non existant and I've really had the volume cranking tonight.

It better be a heck of a surround sound system. Seriously, a five channel surround sound system can cost from $199.00 to as much as you're spending on the whole package (or more). You'd have to be more specific as to what you're getting but a quick calculation suggests that the surround sound should be worth at least $1,000.00 for this to be a decent deal. TV Authority is advertising a good price on this set but you have to wait for it. Still, you should compare the prices to see what kind of deal you're getting. The extended warranty will greatly benefit a few people while most get nothing for their money, but if you turn out to be one of the few you'll be glad you have it. The saying about insurance (which is what this is), is if you can afford to take the loss don't buy it, otherwise you should. As for the Monster Cables, they're WAY overpriced. Those you definitely don't need. Good luck with your decision.

Thanks your reply.
I must clarify, we already have the surround sound system, (sony, nothing special) the price was to include installation (mounting) of the system (5 speakers) and of course the plasma with concealment of all wires.
I agree with your theory about the protection plan, I guess I wanted to know how many people have it vs. don't.
Also I have called, looked online etc. to get this plasma and of course it is NOT IN STOCK, so that leaves me nothing to compare this deal with (It's a miracle that I can actually get my hands on this one!) I am not one to rush things, that is why I'm in this situation!
So that leaves me with the monster cable issue. Are all cables the same? Do some deliver a better "signal" than others? What are my other options?
Thanks,
Anne

Hi Anne,

Cables are a big topic around here, let me give you my take on them and I think most will agree.

Monster cables are of good quality, just they cost 4 times what they should. Acoustic Research found at BB is also decent but does have a mark up although not as much as Monster. If you must purchase locally I'd say thats the lesser of two evils. Heck, I think RCA has a decent cable and can be found at Walmart, Home Depot, Sears... I've never used their rca/component cables but I do have their coax through my house.they are priced a little higher than online but it's an option, espically if you need it today.

Otherwise order online. cablewholesale.com has Monster identical cables for reasonable prices if you like that "look". Otherwise I say use one of the forum sponsers. Monoprice.com is highly recommended for cables with very reasonable prices and quick shipping. I just bought a 15' HDMI cable for under $15 shipped to my door. I ordered it on the 13th and it arrived yesterday the 17th. If it weren't for the holiday I would of had it on the 16th.

Some of the other forum sponsers like Impact, Blue Jeans, Better Cables, also sell cables and some will do custom work too. Just take a look around and see what you like.

As for quality, there have been quite a few tests of cables from the high dollar Monsters to low cost cables and while there maybe small measureable differences using test equipment, usually when it comes to the eyes and ears you'd never know. Some may argue that but I'd say unless you are putting together a studio quality home theather I'd forgo the real expensive cables. Also when it comes to digital signals, a cable is a cable is a cable, but analog signals can be a bit more fussy so just make sure you get a cable designed for the purpose and not any old thing that fits.

Jay

Hello. This is my first post, although I have been a member of this forum for several months and read quite often. I need some advice. I think we are finally going to take the plunge after much research, etc and buy the panny 50u. We waited and waited and thought to purchase the hard to find 500u, but really want to act now and not wait any longer. So I went to circuit city ( I know I wish I would of acted earlier and had a chance to get one at a much lower price with tv authority), anyway, this is the deal that he is proposing:
Panny 50u
tilt omni mount
5 years protection plan
monster cable (2)
full surround sound 5 speaker installation
price with tax and delivery is $5623.00
Is this reasonable? Is it really necessary to get the protection plan?
Thanks,
Anne

Not enough details, but it appears to be a complete rip off unless that surround system is just insane. Drop the monster cable, drop the install on the surround (it's not hard), drop the protection plan (use your credit card which will double the warranty), and check prices at online retailers for the equipment. P.S. you didn't even list the size of the Panny.

I have the 42px500u hung on the wall in my bedroom and I used the Sanus VMPL. It worked flawlessly. However, if you need more tilt it doesn't really accomodate it due to the large back of the 500U models.

i agree! i hung mine up last night. i ended up removing the plastic cable guides for more tilt.


--ryan

Not enough details, but it appears to be a complete rip off unless that surround system is just insane. Drop the monster cable, drop the install on the surround (it's not hard), drop the protection plan (use your credit card which will double the warranty), and check prices at online retailers for the equipment. P.S. you didn't even list the size of the Panny.


Sorry, the size is 50inch (TH-50PX50U). I think I will take your advice, and just purchase the plasma itself ($$$) and look to online resources for everything else. I know it's not the lowest price but it's in stock and we could have it by Friday. If we don't get this one I'm thinking we might as well wait until the 600U comes out. What do you mean by using my credit card and doubling the warranty?

Anne

EDIT>>

mod note: no price other than MSRP, please. Thanks

What do you mean by using my credit card and doubling the warranty?Many higher end credit cards have a feature that doubles the manufacturer warranty on any product that you buy using their card. Check with your card provider and if they do have such a feature, get it in writing.

Sorry, the size is 50inch (TH-50PX50U). I think I will take your advice, and just purchase the plasma itself ($$$) and look to online resources for everything else. I know it's not the lowest price but it's in stock and we could have it by Friday. If we don't get this one I'm thinking we might as well wait until the 600U comes out. What do you mean by using my credit card and doubling the warranty?

AnneUnless you require PC input you will be very happy with the 50PX50U. The 60/600Us are essentially the same 720p PDPs as their 50/500U predecessors, so you won't gain a lot by waiting. I don't know if the moderator will let your price quote stand... but the lowest price I've seen for the 50PX50U at a major B&M was approximately 10% less at Sears (my brother in-law jumped on that one) last fall. Considering I paid Panasonic's original MSRP ($4999.95) for this TV last May, a $1200/25% reduction seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Sorry, the size is 50inch (TH-50PX50U). I think I will take your advice, and just purchase the plasma itself ($$$) and look to online resources for everything else. I know it's not the lowest price but it's in stock and we could have it by Friday. If we don't get this one I'm thinking we might as well wait until the 600U comes out. What do you mean by using my credit card and doubling the warranty?

Anne

Unless you require PC input you will be very happy with the 50PX50U. The 60/600Us are essentially the same 720p PDPs as their 50/500U predecessors, so you won't gain a lot by waiting. I don't know if the moderator will let your price quote stand... but the lowest price I've seen for the 50PX50U at a major B&M was approximately 10% less at Sears (my brother in-law jumped on that one) last fall. Considering I paid Panasonic's original MSRP ($4999.95) for this TV last May, a $1200/25% reduction seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.


Annew, try your local Sears again.. We pickup 3 of TH-50PX50U for less then $$$ each.

less than $$$???

EDIT>>

mod note: no price discussions involving anything other than MSRP, please. Thanks

I have a slight problem with my HP PL5000N (500U). When watching SD, I can clearly see A LOT of after-image especially in blacks. Looks like ghosting and stays on the screen for up to 5 seconds (very visible in LOST). I have no such problems when watching HD material. Is this normal?

If you are seeing evidence of temporary image retention it’s best to turn down your brightness & contrast levels and be careful how you watch your PDP during it's first 100 hours of operation. Read and follow Panasonic's guidelines for the proper care and maintenance of your new PDP.

Plasma Facts and Myths Panasonic Presents Advice From the Video Purist Perspective (http://www.fcw.com/vendorsolutions/panasonicplasma.pdf#search='panasonic%20plasma%20white%20pap er')

I have a slight problem with my HP PL5000N (500U). When watching SD, I can clearly see A LOT of after-image especially in blacks. Looks like ghosting and stays on the screen for up to 5 seconds (very visible in LOST). I have no such problems when watching HD material. Is this normal?I have the same TV and have never experienced any image retention. I just watched Lost last night. I watched it in HD but can't imagine why watching it in SD would make a difference (BTW, why are you watching Lost in SD???!!!) My TV was manufactured in Japan, July of 2005, do you know the build date on yours? Is it very new? Do you see this just between scenes or does it persist after the next scene (or commercial) comes on? Sorry I have more questions than answers but I'm trying to figure out what we could be doing different.

I love the picture on this set. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is my speaker grilles have dents (or dimples if you prefer) on both sides. I know several people with the same build date have the same issue. HP says it's "designed that way, they all have them". Does yours have these too?

...drop the protection plan....

Well, give this some SERIOUS consideration - especially, since you will be spending some serious bucks on this TV and 'warranty' coverages really vary between warrantors.

For example, I bought a 42" panny in April 05 from a national electronics chain store and had a choice of standard panny warranty, store off-site service, or store in-home service plans. I got the store's in-home service plan for an extra $350 or so. This turned out to be wise because by November, I began having problems with the set. After one in-home service trip, the unit improved but another problem developed a few weeks later. The second trip required replacement of the tuner board and another major component ... problems persisted. BTW, the TV brand/model had otherwise been excellent - I simply got what I consider a lemon. The technicians eventually picked up the unit from my home in a final effort fix the issues in their shop - otherwise a replacement or credit will be provided.

I strongly encourage a good protection plan in this case - definately the in-home service plan and really query all coverage details and fine prints before purchase. Afterall, I would have really hated transporting or shipping this set back and forth to an authorized service center at my expense and damage risk.

Just my opinion :)

I have had a th50px500u since around august or september2005. Like everyone else I'm still amazed at the PQ. My concern is switching from an hd channel to an analog channel. Not only does the tv take a while to process the information but sometimes it simply doesn't work. I get a colorful snowy picture. I'll usually just turn it off and then back on again. The connections are fine and so is the audio. Should I be concerned. FYI it's hooked to a scientific Atlanta COX cable box using HDMI. Anyone else notice this.
have the SA box do the upconversion instead of the tv, only pass certain signals to the tv from the box's settings. EX: set the box to only output 720p 1080i, or whatever you feel comfortable with. I dont even know what mine passes any more since I dont watch ANY SD.

I have had the HP PL5000N for about 1 month and have seen no image retention (I also so no image on Lost in HD). I do not have any dents in the areas of the speakers.

Can someone tell me if the PQ on the 50PHD8UK is equal to that of the TH-50PX50U? Are they the same generation? Any big problems? I know it's the commercial model. Is the only difference lack of cable card, speakers and stand?
Thanks,
Anne

Well, give this some SERIOUS consideration - especially, since you will be spending some serious bucks on this TV and 'warranty' coverages really vary between warrantors.

For example, I bought a 42" panny in April 05 from a national electronics chain store and had a choice of standard panny warranty, store off-site service, or store in-home service plans. I got the store's in-home service plan for an extra $350 or so. This turned out to be wise because by November, I began having problems with the set. After one in-home service trip, the unit improved but another problem developed a few weeks later. The second trip required replacement of the tuner board and another major component ... problems persisted. BTW, the TV brand/model had otherwise been excellent - I simply got what I consider a lemon. The technicians eventually picked up the unit from my home in a final effort fix the issues in their shop - otherwise a replacement or credit will be provided.

I strongly encourage a good protection plan in this case - definately the in-home service plan and really query all coverage details and fine prints before purchase. Afterall, I would have really hated transporting or shipping this set back and forth to an authorized service center at my expense and damage risk.

Just my opinion :)

Panny offers in-home service for the first year for free. So if this happened within your first year of ownership (and it usually does) that $350 merely bought you coverage you already had for free Then factor in that most cards double factory warranties, and any extended becomes far less attractive. The chances of a set having issues after 2 years of faithful service are far lower than in the first year. FWIW.

I was messing around with my Oppo 970H upconverting player, which is connected with a DVI to HDMI cable to my TH-42PX50U. I noticed that DVDs seem to be shifted over about 1/2" to the left -- there is a 1/2" wide black bar on the right side of the screen -- but only if I set the Oppo to output 1080i or 540p. 480p and 720p are unaffected, and the same discs playing over component from another player are also not affected.

On the DVD player forum there was mention of image shift with the Oppo; the suggested solution is to downgrade to the 1022 firmware. I did that but it did not fix the problem.

Has anyone else seen this on this model plasma, either with the Oppo or with other 1080i external sources? I have no other HDMI gear, so my options for testing are limited.

Have you tried resetting the OPPO DVD player to its default settings? I haven't seen any image shift problems at 1080i with my OPDV971H & 50PX50U w/firmware Version: OP971-D-1111B. I use the 720p up convert setting because IMO with this player it makes DVDs look best.

Have you tried resetting the OPPO DVD player to its default settings? I haven't seen any image shift problems at 1080i with my OPDV971H & 50PX50U w/firmware Version: OP971-D-1111B. I use the 720p up convert setting because IMO with this player it makes DVDs look best.

It doesn't do it in 720p, only in 1080i or 540p. I had the 1111B firmware before and that had the problem also.

I tried more discs, and it turns out the problem is only noticeable on Superbit DVD's (I saw it with Heavy Metal and The Fifth Element), I guess because of the way they are mastered. This is probably why I never noticed it before now. The Oppo logo definitely shifts over by about 1/2" when you switch between 720p and 1080i with the DVI button though, so it isn't just the discs causing it. The whole display is shifted left slightly at 540p / 1080i.

Either way, I can't tell whether the player or the TV is causing it.

man i wish i can get a x500 right now

Can someone tell me if the PQ on the 50PHD8UK is equal to that of the TH-50PX50U? Are they the same generation? Any big problems? I know it's the commercial model. Is the only difference lack of cable card, speakers and stand?
Thanks, AnneBoth share the same PDP so PQ should be virtually identical, however the 8UK has more picture adjustability, adjustable size and position, and a better stretch mode for SD.

...and lacks tuner as well, Anne, not just cablecard. In other words you have to have a set top box or other external tuner (DVD-recorder / VCR).

I have had a th50px500u since around august or september2005. Like everyone else I'm still amazed at the PQ. My concern is switching from an hd channel to an analog channel. Not only does the tv take a while to process the information but sometimes it simply doesn't work. I get a colorful snowy picture. I'll usually just turn it off and then back on again. The connections are fine and so is the audio. Should I be concerned. FYI it's hooked to a scientific Atlanta COX cable box using HDMI. Anyone else notice this.

I have a similar issue with a Motorola 6200 STB using HDMI to my Panny 50px50u. In my case I get the snowy picture a few times a day even when not switching channels so I'm not sure it has to do with switching between analog and digital channels. I don't see this issue using the component input so it seems to be some kind of HDMI handshaking issue or something.

I have a similar issue with a Motorola 6200 STB using HDMI to my Panny 50px50u. In my case I get the snowy picture a few times a day even when not switching channels so I'm not sure it has to do with switching between analog and digital channels. I don't see this issue using the component input so it seems to be some kind of HDMI handshaking issue or something.HDMI signaling problems often occur with cheap STBs. I use the component connection with a SA8300HD-DVR that works fine and the HDMI connection for my OPPO OPDV971H (http://www.oppodigital.com) DVD player, which renders a great picture through this interface. man i wish i can get a x500 right nowCheer up. In a few short months… you will be able to buy an x600 instead. :)

Did you get this problem resolved? If so how? I just purchased the Panny 42PX50U and at this point cannot get a display from my new H20 receiver using HDMI. When I first hooked it up it worked fine. When I got up in the morning I had a loss of audio and then video. I thought it to be the cable so I purchased a new one, installed it and still nothing. I am currently using component video as a means to display.

I do not have any other components that have HDMI so I am at a loss and dread calling either Panasonic, or Direct TV. Thanks in advance for any information that you share!

I received my 50PX500u on Janurary 11 and took the following afternoon off to mount the TV on the wall. That evening when I turned it on I was VERY impressed with the picture quality (PQ) on all of the stations.

I had called Comcast the day I brought it home to sign up for the digital TV package and HDTV. I guess I was talked into getting the HDTV box (Motorola DCT5100) because of the features such as the "On Demand" (OD) and Pay Per View (PPV) features. As it was, they were not able to schedule a technician to come to hook up the set until the following week.

For the next week I enjoyed the PQ of the set as I viewed our standard definition TV stations. For some reason, I was able to also capture the local PBS station signal on HD and was also very impressed with the HD PQ.

On January 18 the Comcast technician arrived and installed the HD tunner box and configured everything for digital cable. I was again impressed with the PQ of the HD channels and OD features BUT I was very disappointed with the extreme down grade of PQ on the SD stations. They were now unbearable to watch which was a very saddening experience after the enjoyment I had with the TV the previous week. I tried bypassing the HD box and again used the 500u's tuner and received a 100% improvement in SD PQ>

I called Comcast the following day and scheduled another technician to come out to look at the PQ because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to look that bad. I had recalled reading on this and other sites that the SD PQ was not as sharp but I never expected this much of an extreme reduction in PQ. The technician arrived an hour before his scheduled arrival so I was not home to ask questions. My wife showed him the PQ and he just stood there and shrugged and said "it looks good to me!" My wife asked him to hook up the cable direct to see the difference but he said only the customer could hook the cable up in case something got broke. (Comcast hooked up everything a few days earlier). The tech then admitted that yes, maybe it did look a little hazy but there was nothing he could do. To top this all off my wfie was afraid to confront him anymore without me around because he looked like a gangbanger, with his red doorag and tattoos all over his neck and arms. She called and complained to a Comcast Manager about the appearnace of the tech and also the total waste of our time. I also called and laid into them about the bad PQ and threatened to pull all the cable out of our house, including our internet service and replace it with satalite HDTV.

Today (Janurary 21) another tech arrived and admitted that Comcast has a lot of complaints about the SD PQ but there is nothing much they can do with it using that HDTV cable box. I asked about a cable card and he told me that would probably give me my best quality for HD and SD as it would be using the 500u's tunner instead of Comcast's HD tuner.

He did give me a splitter and short length of coax and suggested I try using the TV's split screen option to watch SD using one screen and switching to HD on the other screen. While this works, it's a pain switching remotes.

I called Comcast back this afternoon and decided to try the cable card option. I'll lose the OD and PPV options but we never had them before so we won't probably miss them now. I'll take improved PQ over those options any day! Besides, I'd also like to get away from mutliple remote controls.

I was curious if anyone else has experienced similar problems, and if so what was your solution? The HDTV cable box also offered a TV guide type schedule option but I got that with the Panny anyway and it seemed to work fine.

The cable guy also mentioned that they can have troble configuring a cable card. Many times it can take up to 4-5 hours to configure properly.... I thought they just plugged in and you were ready to go...

This drama may not be over yet...

nuff said...

The HDTV cable box also offered a TV guide type schedule option but I got that with the Panny anyway and it seemed to work fine....
Never had a cable box, but SD with the cable card is very watchable. The tv guide feature may not work with CC as the information comes attached to the PBS analog feed in at least some areas.

I was curious if anyone else has experienced similar problems, and if so what was your solution? The HDTV cable box also offered a TV guide type schedule option but I got that with the Panny anyway and it seemed to work fine.

I had the same experience and chose to keep both a cablecard and an HD box. Many others do the same setup so you can have the "best of both worlds". The cablecard is dirt cheap and SD looks much better.

The cost to lease my CableCARD is $1.75 per month. Not only does it enable my 50PX50U to render a better picture but it also provides a third tuner so when desired I can use the SA8300HD-DVR to record two programs at the same time and flip channels through the TVs antenna input.

I asked about the image shift issue I'm seeing on my TH-42PX50U with my Oppo 971H in 1080i on the DVD forum, and it turns out that this is reproducible. Another person put in The Fifth Element with the same TV and player, and sure enough, in 1080i he also sees a half-inch black bar down the right side of the screen.

I would like to determine the actual cause of this.

Does anyone here have a different model of upconverting DVD player who could try reproducing this issue with a Panny 50U panel, preferably a TH-42PX50U ? The problem only occurs in 540p or 1080i.

On January 18 the Comcast technician arrived and installed the HD tunner box and configured everything for digital cable. I was again impressed with the PQ of the HD channels and OD features BUT I was very disappointed with the extreme down grade of PQ on the SD stations. They were now unbearable to watch which was a very saddening experience after the enjoyment I had with the TV the previous week. I tried bypassing the HD box and again used the 500u's tuner and received a 100% improvement in SD PQ>

I had the same problem. Then I upgraded to the DVR service which uses a newer box (DCT-6412 III) and the quality of SD is great. No complaints.

You should think about a programmable remote (Harmony is my favorite). You can quickly switch between viewing modes and sources with a touch of a single button.

i have th-42pd50u plasma and when using a LG upconverting dvd player the image is shifted to left about inch offscreen in 1080i mode, with all movies, your not alone with image shifting is not uncommon for me at least, either these panny tvs are very poor at handling high resolutions and cant correct for minor errors, or most upscale dvd players are crap? i dont know i give up

I asked about the image shift issue I'm seeing on my TH-42PX50U with my Oppo 971H in 1080i on the DVD forum, and it turns out that this is reproducible. Another person put in The Fifth Element with the same TV and player, and sure enough, in 1080i he also sees a half-inch black bar down the right side of the screen.

I would like to determine the actual cause of this.

Does anyone here have a different model of upconverting DVD player who could try reproducing this issue with a Panny 50U panel, preferably a TH-42PX50U ? The problem only occurs in 540p or 1080i.
i have th-42pd50u plasma and when using a LG upconverting dvd player the image is shifted to left about inch offscreen in 1080i mode, with all movies, your not alone with image shifting is not uncommon for me at least, either these panny tvs are very poor at handling high resolutions and cant correct for minor errors, or most upscale dvd players are crap? i dont know i give up

I have the same TV and have never experienced any image retention. I just watched Lost last night. I watched it in HD but can't imagine why watching it in SD would make a difference (BTW, why are you watching Lost in SD???!!!) My TV was manufactured in Japan, July of 2005, do you know the build date on yours? Is it very new? Do you see this just between scenes or does it persist after the next scene (or commercial) comes on? Sorry I have more questions than answers but I'm trying to figure out what we could be doing different.

I love the picture on this set. The only thing I'm not thrilled about is my speaker grilles have dents (or dimples if you prefer) on both sides. I know several people with the same build date have the same issue. HP says it's "designed that way, they all have them". Does yours have these too?

I think the problem may be in it being RECORDED on my DVR (Dish 622) and that's why I see the image retention. I went to a hockey game, so I had to record it, I'm not sure if it actually has image retention during live SD.
My speakers also have dimples, but considering I usually watch TV with the light off, there is no way to notice this imperfection.

I have had the HP PL5000N for about 1 month and have seen no image retention (I also so no image on Lost in HD). I do not have any dents in the areas of the speakers.Interesting, you're the first person to report no dents in their speaker grilles, even the HP reps I spoke to had them on the sample sets. Do you know the build date of your set? It's located on the label with the model/serial number on the back of the set. Most of the HP's seem to have been built in July '05.

Any one ever figure out how to adjust overscan on the PX50/PX500's?

Any one ever figure out how to adjust overscan on the PX50/PX500's?

It can't be done through the set AFAIK. I looked hard too. Even bought the service manual. Nada. :(

Interesting, you're the first person to report no dents in their speaker grilles, even the HP reps I spoke to had them on the sample sets. Do you know the build date of your set? It's located on the label with the model/serial number on the back of the set. Most of the HP's seem to have been built in July '05.


The build date for my PL5000N is also July. I looked again and see no dents.

i have th-42pd50u plasma and when using a LG upconverting dvd player the image is shifted to left about inch offscreen in 1080i mode, with all movies, your not alone with image shifting is not uncommon for me at least, either these panny tvs are very poor at handling high resolutions and cant correct for minor errors, or most upscale dvd players are crap? i dont know i give up

Thanks.

Yeah after wading through dozens of threads on this type of issue, I'm still pretty much not convinced one way or the other of what the exact issue is.

On the one hand, image shift seems pretty common, if not in fact universal, on the Panasonic 50U series over HDMI. And there is definitely no way to fix it.

On the other hand, it also seems that these upconverting players tend to cause image shift. Apparently, the 1226 firmware for the European players (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6976879&&#post6976879) from Oppo addresses image shift issues. It seems as though it's a real common problem with all the Faroudja based players.

I suspect what's really going on is a combination of the two. The PDP is probably shifting the image slightly to the left all the time, and then the DVD player is also shifting to the left in certain modes. I verified that when the player is set to 1080i, the Oppo logo is in fact shifted a bit less than 1/2" to the left compared to 480p. Using the grid on the color calibration test from a THX optimizer, I see that 720p is the closest to correctly centered, 480p is a hair more to the left, and 1080i is about 1/2" more to the left.

In my case, this shift has no noticeable effect on most discs, and the onscreen menus and the Oppo screens themselves never have a black bar. But there are a few discs, particularly Superbit ones, where the main movie is particularly narrow, which leads to the narrow but visible black bar on the right side of the screen.

So I'll wait and see what happens when Oppo releases the 1226 (or later) firmware for the US version of the player. I'm not sure I want to try the European version firmware in my player.

What service menu adjustments are available for the PX50U? Can the green push be reduced via the service menu? I tried turing the tint to -5 and the green push is still noticeable. Sometimes blonde hair has a green tint.

i have th-42pd50u plasma and when using a LG upconverting dvd player the image is shifted to left about inch offscreen in 1080i mode, with all movies, your not alone with image shifting is not uncommon for me at least, either these panny tvs are very poor at handling high resolutions and cant correct for minor errors, or most upscale dvd players are crap? i dont know i give up

It's the latter. The player is at fault for shifting the image and the minimal overscan on the Panny (which is a good thing) displays the LG's fault. I'd recommend a different player.

I guess I was talked into getting the HDTV box (Motorola DCT5100) because of the features such as the "On Demand" (OD) and Pay Per View (PPV) features.
Most Muscular:
You should ask Comcast for the newer DCT6200 (this is what I have). Then see if you can tweak the "4:3 Override" setting. Here's the user's guide for the DCT6200 -- tells you how to configure the STB.

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct6200/downloads/DCT6200_User_Guide.pdf

What service menu adjustments are available for the PX50U? Can the green push be reduced via the service menu? I tried turing the tint to -5 and the green push is still noticeable. Sometimes blonde hair has a green tint.Make sure your color management is turned off.

I have 50PX50U w/ SA 8300 HD Box via Time Warner Cable - Can anyone help me diagnose why I sometimes get a white/black broken line on 1/64th inch or less of the very top of my display. This line will go away as commercials change and scenes change. It is irritating and I would be so grateful if someone could explain how to correct this.

I have 50PX50U w/ SA 8300 HD Box via Time Warner Cable - Can anyone help me diagnose why I sometimes get a white/black broken line on 1/64th inch or less of the very top of my display. This line will go away as commercials change and scenes change. It is irritating and I would be so grateful if someone could explain how to correct this.

Almost everyone notices this ... we answer this at least a couple times a week. It is information like the closed captioning data that is sent in between frames. Ideally your TV set would overscan it away but especially with HDMI connections they don't always. If your set has no picture size adjustment, you may have to live with it, or try component if you are using HDMI. After a week or so you may find that you don't notice it as much.

Any one ever figure out how to adjust overscan on the PX50/PX500's?

It can't be done through the set AFAIK. I looked hard too. Even bought the service manual. Nada.

Thanks. I had pretty much decided on an 8uk, but I wanted to check one last time if this could be done with the PX50's. :) 'Course I'm not even going to ask about the PX60's... ;)

Almost everyone notices this ... we answer this at least a couple times a week. It is information like the closed captioning data that is sent in between frames. Ideally your TV set would overscan it away but especially with HDMI connections they don't always. If your set has no picture size adjustment, you may have to live with it, or try component if you are using HDMI. After a week or so you may find that you don't notice it as much.

Also it only typically happens via HDMI while watching an SD show on an HD channel.

Martyj19 & Snowjay - Thanks!

Changing the Picture Modes doesn't help.
It seems this problem is Uncorrectable on my PX50U and that really sucks!
Am I wrong?
Would a better quality HDMI cable improve this defect?

Martyj19 & Snowjay - Thanks!

Changing the Picture Modes doesn't help.
It seems this problem is Uncorrectable on my PX50U and that really sucks!
Am I wrong?
Would a better quality HDMI cable improve this defect?

The px50u has very little overscan on it's HDMI input. This is actually preferrable as you see more of the picture and there is less apparent blurring of the image from over- magnification. The downside is that you'll occasionally see the closed caption data, irregular picture margins, etc at the edges of the screen.

If the "underscan" lines are too distracting, you might be able to rig up a "mask" or narrow strip of something to block off the affected part of the screen. Of course it would have been preferable for Panasonic to MAKE THE IMAGE SIZE/POSITION ADJUSTABLE so this would not be an issue.

I have an "underscan" white line at the bottom of the screen on my 42PD50U when I play some DVDs over component at 480i. If I change the DVD player output to 480p the line goes away.

You might also want to look at the HP PL5000N which apparently uses Panny PX500U glass and electronics, but has a nicer looking cabinet
How sure are you about HP is using the same electronics as Panasonic. I was told by someone at HP that the glass is Panny's but HP has its own electronics.

I agree, Panasonics specifications look the same as the HP Pavilion PL5000N
(http://www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/pdf/pw778aa.pdf) but this is out of stock too (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?storeName=storefronts&landing=entertainment&category=flat_panel_tvs&subcat1=plasma&catLevel=2&product_code=PW778AA%23ABA)... remember it's really a Panasonic, sorry.

...and lacks tuner as well, Anne, not just cablecard. In other words you have to have a set top box or other external tuner (DVD-recorder / VCR).

IIRC, the TH-50PX500U (had a typo when it read TH-50PH500U) adds speakers, a stand, tuners and AI volume leveling over the TH-50PHD8UK.

I don't think set-top cable units (like the Motorola DCT6208 dual-tuner DVR offered in my area) have volume leveling.

So it seemed to me the 500U could be a better value than the 8UK.

Got into the "service mode" on Panasonic 37" 50U. Every time I turn on the unit, it comes up with the CAS screen, with the options to do an EPROM check and some type of download. Turning the unit off and back on does not work. To get to viewing mode, must hit the return key on the remote. How do I stop this from happening????

Thanks! :eek:

Got into the "service mode" on Panasonic 37" 50U. Every time I turn on the unit, it comes up with the CAS screen, with the options to do an EPROM check and some type of download. Turning the unit off and back on does not work. To get to viewing mode, must hit the return key on the remote. How do I stop this from happening????

Thanks! :eek:

I had this happen to me as well. Freaked me out. I even reset to factory defaults and it still happened. I finally cured it by unplugging the TV from the electrical outlet.

Good Luck!

David

Last night the TV guide on my PX500 wouldn't come up. The button was completely unresponsive. A little later, the pdp stopped responding to the recall button as well so I couldn't get the info banner to pop up on screen. Very strange. I pulled the plug and power cycled which restored the recall button's functionality, but ever since last night the TV Guide button produces no response. Anyone else seen this glitch? I hope the new firmware addresses this.

Well, after hearing conflicting news on whether Panasonic would ship any more 500U's in lieu of the 06' models coming out I was holding hope that my order placed in Dec. would be fulfilled in February. I even recall recently that someone was able to get delivery of one just a week or two ago. But that apparently is not my scenario; the retailer computers4sure now tells me that they will not be getting any more in and they have to cancel my order. Frustrating to say the least to wait a month and half to find out this information, dummies could have at least let me know earlier. Meanwhile I could have picked up another model during the holidays at good prices. I could of got the 50U for $3300 locally, but as happens often with me I always want the next better model.

Guess I'll have to wait till Spring and hope that I can get a hold of one of the new models, but even then I'm sure I'll have to pay MSRP.

Sorry, just venting my frustrations. :mad:

I had this happen to me as well. Freaked me out. I even reset to factory defaults and it still happened. I finally cured it by unplugging the TV from the electrical outlet.

Good Luck!

David


Worked!

Thanks alot! :p

Christie, I hope this help. Fry's has the px500u in stock for $$$, just picked up mine today. I had them called Sears down the street and match Sears' price for the px50u of $$$. You better hurry tho, I saw someone also buying one when I was checking out.

EDIT>>

mod note: no price other than MSRP, please. Thanks

Christie, I hope this help. Fry's has the px500u in stock for $$$, just picked up mine today. I had them called Sears down the street and match Sears' price for the px50u of $$$. You better hurry tho, I saw someone also buying one when I was checking out.



Thanks for the heads up Bevo, but unfortunately there are no Fry's in my neck of the woods in Miami.

Is there any way to tell how many hours the unit has been on? I want to make sure I'm over the 100 hour burn in period before calibrating my 37" 50U.

Thanks.