Zenith Z50PX2D [Text View]

Shedrock

11-07-05, 03:20 AM

I was at a local sports bar on saturday and watched this 50" display for over 2 hours. There was a college football game playing on ESPN-HD the whole time. The picture was really stunning! The two things that really impressed me were the white "whites", and the overall smoothness of the picture.

Today I went to CC to compare the Zenith to the competition. For the price, it is a bargin compared to most 50" displays, and it has an impressive set of features. I wanted to compare it to an 8th gen Panasonic, and they had one near by. The short review is that the Zenith has better whites, and that great smooth picture; the Panny has less bold whites, but a far superior black level. I didn't notice the black issue until a shot of the Las Vegas Strip at night came up for a few minutes on both screens. With the Panny, it looked like you were standing right there on the Strip, the Zenith didn't have that 3D look at all.

Thinking back, the Zenith would be a great set for the price, especially if you watched a lot of HDTV sports. The Panasonic would be a better choice for a movie nut who appreciates truly black "blacks".

It seems the movies I watch tend to have a lot of dark scenes in them.........

Byron Walter

11-09-05, 02:30 PM

My Panasonic 50LC13 just popped a bulb. Since I can't currently check how many hours I have on it (the screen being a might dark), I'd guess less than 4000. Anyhow the picture is great except for the low-light scenes. Popped back to this forum and read the good stuff on the new Panasonic 50 inch plasmas. Went to BB and immediately was drawn to the less costly Z50PX2d... and that's what I ordered. Naturally there is no way to apple/apple it but the combination of picture quality and price got me. And even if the blacks aren't as good as the Panny, I'm betting that they will be way better than my now sold 50LAC13.

And out of fear, I went for the extended warranty (one year factory and three added on). I'm looking forward to setting the Zenith up on Saturday and want to thank everyone for all those informative posts.

Byron

Byron Walter

11-13-05, 12:52 PM

Yesterday the BB boys dropped off (not literally) my Z50PX2D. Will it work? Will it look as nice as the floor model at BB?

Yes and Yes.

I hooked up my STHD box to component 1 and my 480p DVD player to component 2. I immediately dialed down the contrast, sharpness, and brightness to a tad below the 50% mark. Didn't touch the other settings (yet).

My previous set was the Panasonic 50LC13. The Panasonic is great with well lit scences, such as sporting events and Discovery "Meet the Moose" material. But as we know, the 50LC13 doesn't do so well with low contrast or night time settings. By contrast this Zenith has very nice blacks and is better suited for films. Even SD TV is respectable and, I would add, better than my previous Panasonic.

But is this set better than the current Panasonic plasma? Don't know but I have 30 days to contemplate that question. But based on my one night stand, I doubt that this set will be going back. Even a very picky friend of mine thought that the picture quality was excellent.

So far this set is da bomb...

Byron

ClarkeBar

11-14-05, 01:01 PM

Byron Walter

11-14-05, 04:03 PM

Glad things are working out. I'm sure the set will be a keeper.

Funny thing...yesterday the wife and I were at BB checking out the storage cubes and I walked her past the plasmas (we already have the 42" ED Zenith) and she says, "...42" seems small now that I see the 50"...it looks a lot bigger...much nicer!"

I wonder where that attitude was when I was showing her sets back in June and July? :( Oh well.

ClarkeBar,

Yeah, I'm sure that it's a keeper too. The Zeniths seem to be sleepers... great PQ and an excellent price. After I bought my 50LC13 Panny I pretty much didn't bother following HD for a couple of years. In that time the price on the plasma sets has fallen to the point where I felt that they were within my price range.

You know, you really should try to keep your other half happy. Why not retire that 42 to the bedroom and make her happy with the 50? But you'd only be doing that for her, right?

Byron

Joe Q

11-14-05, 07:27 PM

Hi Folks,

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on this set Saturday at BB. They were running a rebate on it in addition to it already being one of the lowest priced 50" plasmas they had on the floor.
J

I pulled the trigger on this TV today at CC.
They have it on sale for $3149 BEFORE the $200 rebate.

Brought it home and hooked it up to the HDMI on my HDTIVO.

I had a 52" LG DLP in the spot where the Zenith now occupies.

My first 2 reactions when I played back a Discovery HD show that I watched last night from my HDTIVO were:
1) Looks smaller than the LG
2) Picture is MUCH,MUCH better than the LG

After fiddling with making sure I have all my input source's connected, the smaller impression has gone away.

Couple of quick comments till I get to play with this some more.

1) This thing is LG all the way. I had my MX800 programmed for the LG DLP and all the buttons on my remote work including the 2 that get me into the Service mode.

2) Like the LG, this Zenith Z50PX2D does NOT let you have a picture setting for each input.

3) This ine surprised the heck out of me: I had the AM radio on while I was setting this thing up and when I turned it on, the AM radio was completely wiped out with static.
Walked out to the car and the AM radio in it does the same thing.
The neighbors are not going to like me and I am in a fully detached house.

4) I was worried when I spotted that shiny screen at CC.
My experience has been that these shiny screens act like a mirror like the old days with my MITS RP HDTV. Could NOT stand it.

The LG DLP has a matte finish so it never acted like a mirror. More like a black hole.
The Z50PX2D does reflect some light but I do not find it bothersome.

5) I was not going to fiddle with the tuner but thought I would just hook up a 3 foot wire so it could tune to the really close PBS station for time syncing.
To my surprise, this TV scanned for DTV signals and found 2 of them.

6) I never paid attention to the fact that this TV had a built in HDTV tuner - nice addition.
Besides scannning NTSC,CATV,DTV, It also scanned for something it displayed as "CADTV" which I assume is HDTV off of cable but I have Directv so can't speak for that.

7) The red push is a bit strong out of the box so between that and the jacked up Contrast, I have some calibration to do with AVIA.

To get a 50" 720P Plasma with a great picture and a built in HDTV tuner for under $3K is a real bargain. Just turn off your AM radios:)

More Later,
Joe

mmpotash

11-14-05, 09:33 PM

Referring to the above post:

#2. Picture IS adjustable separate for each input.
#7. Agree with the red.

Rod W

11-14-05, 10:50 PM

Lately I've been very close to getting a 5060. A couple weeks ago I was in BB looking at the 5060, and this Zenith was underneath. I thought the Zenith looked better, but I couldn't believe it because of everything everyone says about the 5060. I went last Friday, and I still thought the Zenith looked better...text was smoother. I could see the "jaggies" on text and graphic elements on the Pio. These same elements were very smooth and sharp on the Zenith. The Pio remote was there, so I dialed back the settings a bit. Watching for awhile, I noticed that the blacks were much better on the Pio. Colors a bit better, too, now that I had it adjusted a bit. I didn't get a chance to adjust the Zenith. All in all, the Zenith seemed to be better with graphics and text, but the Pio was the overall better picture. Some HD underwater scenery was playing, and it looked stunning on the Pio...the Zenith had a bit of "noise" in the image occasionally. I began to think that maybe the jaggies on text/graphics had to do with scaling or deinterlacing of non-native HD material. I have heard that there are some LG models that have a Faroujda (sp?) VP in it. Does anyone know if this Zenith does also?

Also, if any of the owners of this Zenith out there could comment on how the Zenith handles SD stuff, I'd appreciate it. I've surmised that the 5060 might be better than the Panny offerings in this area, and that's why it is currently at the top of my list. But if this Zenith was all-black, and indeed handles the SD material well due to superior scaling, I'd be hard-pressed to pass it up.

Rod W.

I was at a local sports bar on saturday and watched this 50" display for over 2 hours. There was a college football game playing on ESPN-HD the whole time. The picture was really stunning! The two things that really impressed me were the white "whites", and the overall smoothness of the picture.

Today I went to CC to compare the Zenith to the competition. For the price, it is a bargin compared to most 50" displays, and it has an impressive set of features. I wanted to compare it to an 8th gen Panasonic, and they had one near by. The short review is that the Zenith has better whites, and that great smooth picture; the Panny has less bold whites, but a far superior black level. I didn't notice the black issue until a shot of the Las Vegas Strip at night came up for a few minutes on both screens. With the Panny, it looked like you were standing right there on the Strip, the Zenith didn't have that 3D look at all.

Thinking back, the Zenith would be a great set for the price, especially if you watched a lot of HDTV sports. The Panasonic would be a better choice for a movie nut who appreciates truly black "blacks".

It seems the movies I watch tend to have a lot of dark scenes in them.........

Byron Walter

11-15-05, 10:55 AM

Rod W,

It's too bad that you couldn't tweak the settings on the Zenith. Perhaps the blacks would have approached the Pio? I'm happy with the blacks on my Zenith but I didn't have the opportunity to twiddle the settings on the the Panny, Pioneer, or Zenith while in the store.

Byron

Joe Q

11-15-05, 01:09 PM

Referring to the above post:

#2. Picture IS adjustable separate for each input.
#7. Agree with the red.

Yes - on #2. Now that I have had time to play with the TV, I see you are 100%correct.

dcrowley

11-15-05, 04:24 PM

Well, I finally broke down and purchased the Zenith. I was always tempted to go with the bigger DLP or LCD rear projection tv's, but every time my wife saw the picture next to a plasma, she always said the plasmas looked better. So we decided to look at plasmas.

We ended up with a great deal on the Zenith as it ended up after all rebates and coupons and tax and such to cost below 2.4k. My wife told me that she was very happy with that price point for the quality of the display. Anyway, it was delivered today and the first thing she noticed was how large it was compared to how it looked in the store. So she is glad we went with a 50inch rather than one of the 62"+ tv's out there. Plus she likes the fact that it can be mounted on the wall away from our little ones hands. :)

I guess the next step is to get the new xbox 360 next week and see how it looks on the system. I do love the tv though. Of course I only have a little bit of viewing time, but we went from a 27" crt to a 50" plasma. anything has to be better than a 27" :)

Thanks all for your recommendations and pointing out this tv to me. It was definitely worth the long wait.

David

pj2004

11-15-05, 04:29 PM

That deal was for a 50"? Wow...nice...I wouldn't mind that at all.

Byron Walter

11-15-05, 04:44 PM

David,

Wow!... we aren't supposed to discuss price but I gotta tell ya that you really did great on that unmentionable subject. I ended up a good ways above that but I also went for the extended three year service contract (out of fear!).

Make sure that you dial back the brightness, sharpness, and contrast. I'm running under 50% on all of 'em.

Byron

mmpotash

11-15-05, 05:04 PM

I realize that few people with this plasma have more then the 100 hours needed for the burn in. I assume that professional calibration should not be done till then. When that happens, could they post the settings, (at least the one's for the basic settings), that the calibrator ended up with.

Rod W

11-15-05, 09:35 PM

Byron,

Yes, I would have liked to make some adjustments. Maybe dial back the contrast a bit to see if the noise I saw would dissipate somewhat (if contrast is cranked too high, it can add noise in those dark areas). I don't know that the blacks were that much worse on the Zenith, but darker areas were noisier. I would also boost the color to see if I could get the color to "pop" like the Pio's. I work in video production, so I'm pretty handy at "dialing in" settings. I had the Pio looking gorgeous in about 2 minutes.

I'm so, so close to ordering the Pio, but jeez, the Zenith is making it hard. Isn't that kinda weird? I had narrowed the brands down from the various Panny's, the HP that is made by Panny, ruled out Samsung, considered NEC but can't find one to look at physically, would like a Fujitsu, but nowhere to see that either. I had ruled out LG as I really don't like the PQ of any of the LGs, so when people say the Zenith is an LG, it's almost a turn-off for me. But then I saw it recently at BB, and it just looks good. If ONLY it were black instead of silver. The price difference is so extremely significant, and I think that based on PQ for the dollar, the Zenith might win. I can't believe that price alluded to on the Zenith...yikes! If I could get it for that, I'd be spending twice as much on the Pio with the best deal I could find! That almost hurts...

Back to BB tomorrow to stare at the two (maybe persuade them to give me the Zenith remote for awhile).

Anyone ever spray-paint a silver piece of electronics to a nice black :)

Rod W.

Rod W,

It's too bad that you couldn't tweak the settings on the Zenith. Perhaps the blacks would have approached the Pio? I'm happy with the blacks on my Zenith but I didn't have the opportunity to twiddle the settings on the the Panny, Pioneer, or Zenith while in the store.

Byron
:)

ghwk

11-16-05, 01:25 AM

Hey David, Ok I'll bite, where did you buy the Zenith? I have bounced back and forth between the Panasonics and the Toshibas but after reading the reveiw here and seeing the Zenith at BB I may be willing to sacrifice a little PQ for a slghly less costly set.

Steve

Shedrock

11-16-05, 02:07 AM

.....If ONLY it were black instead of silver....

.....Anyone ever spray-paint a silver piece of electronics to a nice black?

Get out your paint roller! :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5715735&&#post5715735

Byron Walter

11-16-05, 10:47 AM

Byron,

Yes, I would have liked to make some adjustments..... :)

Rod,

Unlike me, you have a trained eye (or two) and are probably more sensitive to artifacts than I am. With the sharpness dialed down to around 47% (can't recall exactly where I have it now) I don't notice any noise. And I'm not too concerned about punching up the color as I like a slightly more subdued look. Even now, with my conservative settings, the whites are impressive and I don't have an issue with the blacks. Considering the price differential between this set and the Pio, it's no contest for me.

I'll be very interested in reading your future comments on this set. Hope you get your hands on the remote:)

Byron

dcrowley

11-17-05, 12:13 AM

I went back to Circuit City to pick up a Samsung DVD-VR325 dual DVD/VCR., since that is where i had picked up the Zenith Plasma. It has HDMI support and allows my wife to copy all our vhs camcorder videos over to dvd. Plus we can record some of our television shows to dvd. Anyway, I hooked everything up with the included HDMI cable directly to the tv. The big question I had was it is a Upconverter DVD player. And forgive this really dumb question, but is it better to go into 720p or 1080i mode? Does my zenith support both?

I have an optical cable for sound from the dvd player to my receive to get the 5.1 surround sound going also. Could that in any way degrade the signal I have from the HDMI cable that is plugged directly into the tv? I basically have the sound muted on the tv, when I play a dvd, and turn it up when I have the Xbox going from the side RCA inputs.

Anyway, I do love the tv. It was an awesome purchase, and I would have never taken the plunge without this great forum.

David

mmpotash

11-17-05, 10:45 AM

Since you have a HDMI output for your DVD player, you can calibrate the HDMI video mode of your Zenith with a calibration DVD. I can only calibrate the Component and the S-Video video modes using my DVD player, and have to guess as to the HDMI video adjustments.

ClarkeBar

11-18-05, 09:02 AM

Why not retire that 42 to the bedroom and make her happy with the 50? But you'd only be doing that for her, right?

That is the plan...but will likely move it to the computer room instead...and not for a couple of years. Want to get the sizes bigger and the prices lower. :D

Enjoy the new toy.

Joe Q

11-18-05, 03:58 PM

robert123

11-18-05, 06:46 PM

Has anyone mounted this TV on the wall yet?

I hate to be the pioneer but may have to be.

The manual mentions wall mounting and says to "see optional wall mounting bracket installation" but I can't find even a reference to wall mounting on their website.

Peerless makes for them a universal tilting wall mount that fits all Zenith plasma TVs. It is Zenith model PWMT-200 (http://www.zenith.com/sub_prod/product_Display.asp?cat=10&id=130). I'm sure the universal mount you have will work fine as long as you have the right size hardware.

It also makes reference to the desktop stand manual but I can not find such a beast on the Zenith website.

This is probably a reference left over from when speakers and the table stands were optional accessories. Ignore it.

Stand removal:
Looks to me like there are 2 phillips screws on each side that you would remove and lift the TV up off the stand's 2 posts.

There are usually 4 screws that hold the stand to the panel. Look for 2 screws that go through the sheet metal on the back of the set directly above the 2 that go directly into the stand. It is possible there are only 2 for this model though.

Wall Mounting:
I bought a Omnimount stand that supports up to 200 lbs and the spec sheet says the TV with stand is ~115 lbs so I should be set there.

The Omnimount has 2 brackets that you bolt onto the back with the 4 provided bolts. The TV has 6 mounting holes so I bought two additional bolts from Home Depot.

So, it looks straightforward to me but I am puzzled as to what the point of the 2 handholds on the back near the top are for.

The handholds can be useful for lifting the set out of the box or moving it around.

I do hope that I am not supposed to remove any of the plastic back panels and add some strengthening part from Zenith. Found no reference to such a thing on either the Zenith or the LG website.

You do not need to remove anything but the table stand and then attach the mount.

If anyone has any words of wisdom for me before I tackle this job tomorrow, please give a holler.

Thanks

Robert

Joe Q

11-18-05, 07:28 PM

Robert,

Thank you very much for the detailed reply.

The mount I have at home to install is the Omnimount U3 Tilt.

Since you do know a LOT about Plasma's/LCD's, perhaps you could answer 2 other questions.

I have been searching and reading various posts that adresss my question's but the answer's are all over the map.

1) How far from the bottom of the TV to the floor should it be mounted?
I see posts that go all the way from 27" to 6.5 Feet.

There must be plenty of studies done on optimal viewing height but I can not find any.

Currently as it sits on the table with it's stand, the height from the floor is 23" and I am staring at the top 1/3 of the picture.

I would like to mount it above the height of a sofa at around 36" but am worried that it may cause one to have to look up at the TV.

BTW, from one survey I found in avsforum, 36" was considered LOW for a 50" TV.

2) After reading your response above, I did bolt the brackets to the back of the TV and attached the wall bracket to it so I could see how it went together and such.

The mounting depth (3") plus the depth of the TV (4") would make this be 7" of total depth of the assembly.

Is 7" too deep to not look stupid hanging on the wall? Would you recommend a more flush mount (Sanus makes one that is 1.25" deep (total = 5.25) ?

Joe Q

11-18-05, 08:09 PM

Thanks to the great FAQ, I managed to find these 2 great calculators:

Viewing distance:

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

and the one I really need - height of the display:

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/Verticalviewing.html

The interesting thing (well, to me at least:)) is the distance calculator says that the 50" is NOT big enough for my viewing distance of 11'.

Now I need to use that height calculator and figure it out.

Rod W

11-19-05, 12:10 AM

Well, I did get my hands on the remote today. Like my previous trip to BB, the Pio was on the top, the Zenith underneath. I wanted to see just where the sharpness on the Zenith was set at. Before I made any adjustments, I discovered that it was set to pretty much a "normal" mode with most of the settings near the middle. The contrast was bumped up a bit. Overall, this setting was pretty pleasing. I decided to change both the Zenith and the Pio to the "Cinema" settings, thinking that those settings would push the black levels to their best, while keeping color saturation to moderate levels. I double-checked that that neither of the sets pushed their sharpness or contrasts too high to introduce "artifacts" or noise. I watched most of the BB source material, with my eyes jumping back and forth while I was standing about 7 or 8 feet away. Both sets looked really good. I just couldn't believe how well the Zenith stacked up to the much more espensive Pio. I glanced over at other sets a few times, too, and I think both of these sets looked the best out of the bunch. It took me quite some time before I finally noticed what I noticed the last time: the Zenith sometimes has trouble with dark colors...blues, greens, blacks. By trouble, I mean a bit of "posterization" or "noise" or "striation" or "banding"...take your pick. It just doesn't look as silky smooth as the Pio. The Pio showed no banding or striation in those same dark-colored areas. But the strength of the Zenith was still there, also: colors were nice, maybe a bit more natural. Text and graphics had a very smooth look...maybe a bit soft, but a very lower instance of any "jaggies". The Pio's image was always very sharp, nice looking...but like last time, text and graphics suffered from "jaggies" at times. My main problem with the LG models is that their PQ isn't nearly as "sharp" or crisp. It looks blurry to me. And at a "neutral" sharpness, it should be sharper, because if you try to compensate by increasing sharpness, it can start to negatively affect the picture. Since this Zenith is made by LG, I was especially looking for this. But I have to say that the Zenith really looks better than any of the LGs I've seen. Even on my second visit comparing these two (the Zenith and Pio), I really had to look close and watch for awhile, very critically to notice the differences. The vast majority of people would be very pleased with the Zenith. And if I wasn't LOOKING for the noise I mentioned, I don't think I would notice it during day to day viewing...especially since I'll be watching from 10-11 feet, not 7 or 8 like in the store today. BTW, I saw the Panny 50U again today in a different store, and it almost seems overly sharp. And I could see some of the "clayface" effect in it that people talk about. But I didn't have access to a remote, so I don't know how it was set.

All in all, I'd say the Zenith is one heck of a buy. I'd certainly be happy watching it. I'm still going for the Pio, just because I love the black piano finish and the Media Center, among other things. I hate spending that much more on the Pio, but I just love its looks and combination of features, and I have heard that does the best with SD material (the source material I saw at BB isn't very similar to what I'll be viewing at home, which will be a lot of SD OTA/Dish Network). But if the Zenith had a black bezel (that maybe wasn't so big), I'd buy it tomorrow.

Rod W.

Rod,

Unlike me, you have a trained eye (or two) and are probably more sensitive to artifacts than I am. With the sharpness dialed down to around 47% (can't recall exactly where I have it now) I don't notice any noise. And I'm not too concerned about punching up the color as I like a slightly more subdued look. Even now, with my conservative settings, the whites are impressive and I don't have an issue with the blacks. Considering the price differential between this set and the Pio, it's no contest for me.

I'll be very interested in reading your future comments on this set. Hope you get your hands on the remote:)

Byron

ghwk

11-19-05, 12:38 PM

I am very interested in this unit as well and torn between it and the Panasonic models. I called the main LG service center out here in N. Calif. and just a general Zenith repair center trying to get more info on this unit. The main comments i got were to make sure the unit gets plenty of ventilation as the main servicing seemed to be on the circuit boards which failed due to heat and that the Zenith tended to have some of the lower end LG components in them that maybe tended to not handle SD as well as the stuff they put in the LG models.

Only other comment I got was to definitely buy an extended warranty, this wasn't just directed at the Zenith btw, it was in the context of any plasma and the replacement boards tended to run in the $700+ range.

They didn't steer me away for the unit and since I called a repair center of course I was only going to get info on problems as opposed to good things about the TV.

So for those of you who own it how is the SD picture? I am having a hard time walking away from this due to the price point.

Steve

Byron Walter

11-19-05, 12:39 PM

I enjoyed reading your detailed post. I was back at BB and the Zenith was just below the 42 inch Panasonic... no 50 inch Pannies to be seen. With the store settings the Zenith did seem to lack just a little of the detail in the blacks but overall the set sure looked fine. It's kinda weird that the less costly Zenith with LG innards would top the LG for PQ.

My one week old Z50PX2D seems to have "CRT-like" PQ which I like. Even with my rather poor eyes and sitting ten feet away, I did occasionally notice the screen door effect on my previous Panasonic 50LC13. Obviously dark and low contrast scenes are better on this set as well.

But the Pioneer seems to be the current king of the hill. However for me the price is a little too steep. Have fun with that future Pioneer!

Byron

Joe Q

11-19-05, 03:46 PM

I am very interested in this unit as well and torn between it and the Panasonic models.
So for those of you who own it how is the SD picture? I am having a hard time walking away from this due to the price point.

Steve

Having owned the following HDTV's over the past number of years:

34" Pansonic 1080I Direct View (back when it cost $3500)
46" Mitsubishi 1080i RP HDTV
52" LG (HD2/720P) DLP - going up on ebay this weekend

and now this Zenith 50" Plasma, all I can tell you is that SD pictures look the best (except for the Direct View) on this Plasma.

Both the Mits and the LG had what I now know (it is a perfect description) is called "clayface effect " on SD broadcasts.

After having this Zenith for nearly a week and watching my usual assortment of High Def,DVD and SD material, I am really pleased with it's Standard Def performance.

I am sure that it is not as as good in the PQ department as a much more expensive unit but I will be darned if these eyes could tell the difference when I A/B'd this TV against other 50" models at both BB and CC where I was able to tweak the picture.

I actually was looking at buying a much more expensive 50" but when I spotted this Zenith, I could not justify the extra money for the other sets particulary when I could not tell the difference.

A very important thing to think about with these 50" or greater Plasma's/LCD's:
If you are going to get a large Plasma or LCD now or in the near future, why spend a lot of money on ANY of them when the best they can do is 1366x768P?

This Zenith fits the bill just fine for me now until a few years from now when large 1080P Plasma's/LCD become available and affordable.

Why 1080P? HDDVD + they can resolve all of the 1080i signal that we get from Satellite/Cable or OTA.

BTW, Thanks for those that PM'd and posted about my wall mounting project with this TV. I ended up mounting it 34" from the floor. The viewing distance is 11'

Here are a set of Before and After Pictures.
I just finished hanging the Zenith so excuse the mess and I now have equipment re-arranging to do.

Rod W

11-19-05, 10:09 PM

Joe,

A few questions and thoughts:

You say the SD looks best on this plasma (except the Direct View). I think you could say that about most, if not all of the plasmas I've seen. DLPs and RPs just don't handle SD very well.

Also, I was wondering about your comparisons in BB and CC. Did you get a chance to tune in or input some SD material in these stores, and then compare the SD picture quality on various plasmas? In my experience, the BB feed isn't your typical SD source...they play it back from a hard drive, and the source is a mixture of HD and other material (probably some SD, but SD that has been created at 16 x 9...does that make sense?). In other words, I don't think that's the same as watching OTA SD or, say your typcial SD Dish Network channel. I would be interested in whether you chose the Zenith for its SD PQ compared to others you saw, or your satisfaction with the SD PQ is based on what you see on it now that you have it home. One of my biggest considerations is SD PQ, and I've decided to go with a Pioneer because from what I've read and heard, it supposedly is the leader in SD processing/scaling/deinterlacing/stretch modes.

I agree that the Zenith looks good in the store next to all the other models. I was also drawn to it based on seeing it next to several other displays. But I could definitely see some differences between the Zenitha and the Pio. Nothing most people would see, especially at 11 feet. But I plan on getting the best possible plasma that is available right now, even if it costs more. That's because I typically keep my electronics purchase longer than most. My original Onkyo stereo receiver lasted 18 years! I have a 19" RCA CRT which is on the fritz after 16 years! I plan on moving my 27" Sony CRT (our "main" TV) to the kids' room, and this plasma replaces that one in our main living room. If and when newer, bigger, cheaper 1080p plasmas appear, I may have a different house that has an actual "theater" room, at which point I can add that, while keeping whatever plasma I buy now in a living room or bedroom or den. So, I don't buy nearly as often, but when I do, I research like crazy and get what I think is the best possible product for the money. So I'm a bit diffirent that way...I get new stuff when I need it, not necessarily when something better comes out. Different strokes for different folks!

This is a whole 'nother issue, but I wouldn't base ANY TV purchase decision on 1080p. There's no content for it now; it's likely that broadcast/cable/satellite will NEVER be 1080p, and the emerging HD DVD formats have NOT specified whether they'll be 1080p. People are quite satisfied with HD material on these plasmas that are 768. Just think: we're scaling 480i DVDs up significantly and they look pretty darn good. Scaling down will be much better. Maybe the "purist" would notice. And in a home theatre set-tup where you're trying to get a huge screen (projection or 65" or more) you'll need that extra resolution. But for the 50" area...1366x768 will do just fine for a lotta years.

BTW, I'm also at about 11 feet viewing distance. From your photo, 34" looks about right!

Thanks,

Rod W.

Having owned the following HDTV's over the past number of years:

34" Pansonic 1080I Direct View (back when it cost $3500)
46" Mitsubishi 1080i RP HDTV
52" LG (HD2/720P) DLP - going up on ebay this weekend

and now this Zenith 50" Plasma, all I can tell you is that SD pictures look the best (except for the Direct View) on this Plasma.

Both the Mits and the LG had what I now know (it is a perfect description) is called "clayface effect " on SD broadcasts.

After having this Zenith for nearly a week and watching my usual assortment of High Def,DVD and SD material, I am really pleased with it's Standard Def performance.

I am sure that it is not as as good in the PQ department as a much more expensive unit but I will be darned if these eyes could tell the difference when I A/B'd this TV against other 50" models at both BB and CC where I was able to tweak the picture.

I actually was looking at buying a much more expensive 50" but when I spotted this Zenith, I could not justify the extra money for the other sets particulary when I could not tell the difference.

A very important thing to think about with these 50" or greater Plasma's/LCD's:
If you are going to get a large Plasma or LCD now or in the near future, why spend a lot of money on ANY of them when the best they can do is 1366x768P?

This Zenith fits the bill just fine for me now until a few years from now when large 1080P Plasma's/LCD become available and affordable.

Why 1080P? HDDVD + they can resolve all of the 1080i signal that we get from Satellite/Cable or OTA.

BTW, Thanks for those that PM'd and posted about my wall mounting project with this TV. I ended up mounting it 34" from the floor. The viewing distance is 11'

Here are a set of Before and After Pictures.
I just finished hanging the Zenith so excuse the mess and I now have equipment re-arranging to do.

Rod W

11-19-05, 10:20 PM

Byron,

Based on what I've seen, I'm sure I'd be very happy with the Zenith. It'll be kinda hard to spend that much more money on the Pio. I have it on order, but it won't be shipped until mid to late December. So, in the meantime, I'm going to "keep shopping", and if I come across something better that I can get in my hands sooner, I'll do that. I'm kinda intriqued by the new Mitsubishi plasmas. I'm looking at the PD-5065. It's all-black, uses the NEC/Pioneer glass; and it seems to have a lot going for it. It's a monitor-no tuners, but that's OK because I plan on getting the Dish Network 942 unit which wil do all the tuning I need. I haven't had chance to see it...I don't even know if it's out yet. It would probably be about 1k less than what I'm going to pay for the Pio, so it's worth looking into. Information is hard to find. I have a call in to my local dealer.

And hey, I have about a month for Zenith to release a black bezel version!

I sure wish more A/V manufacturers would give you a choice between silver and black so you could match all your components more easily.

Rod W.

I enjoyed reading your detailed post. I was back at BB and the Zenith was just below the 42 inch Panasonic... no 50 inch Pannies to be seen. With the store settings the Zenith did seem to lack just a little of the detail in the blacks but overall the set sure looked fine. It's kinda weird that the less costly Zenith with LG innards would top the LG for PQ.

My one week old Z50PX2D seems to have "CRT-like" PQ which I like. Even with my rather poor eyes and sitting ten feet away, I did occasionally notice the screen door effect on my previous Panasonic 50LC13. Obviously dark and low contrast scenes are better on this set as well.

But the Pioneer seems to be the current king of the hill. However for me the price is a little too steep. Have fun with that future Pioneer!

Byron

Timjs21

11-19-05, 10:54 PM

Rod,

I'm new to this forum and have been going crazy comparing the Zenith Z50PX2D against the Samsung HPR5052 and the Panasonic TH50PX50U. I think for the price and features that the Zenith is going to win out for me but like many others I'm not crazy about the silver bezel. I see that you say a black bezel model will be available soon. Do you know that for sure? I checked the Zenith website and couldn't find any mention of it. If you can let me know I'd appreciate it!

CPotatoe

11-19-05, 11:56 PM

I just recieved my Zenith 50" from CC and have it on a temp base to see how high it should be hung. 34 " off the floor looks about right to me also. I have the swivle/tilt mount to be able to combat any ambient reflections and have access to the rear of the set. Used the older Video Essentials on my Zenith DVB318 at 1080i through the component I was able to get a very smooth and natural gray scale. All the adjustments came in close,but not perfect. I ran StarWars Episode III right after. Very happy with the results. Can't complain as I maximized my savings up to 30% more than what it was on sale for with direct mailing coupons,rebates and signing up for CC credit. Just couldn't pass it up!

The QAM tuner found a couple of digital channels, so I was able to watch the Ohio buckeye game.......WOW! Really nice! Can't get OTA where I live so can't comment on that. Cable SD is a bit noisey, but didn't really expect too much, due to the size of the display (I'm sure it would have looked better on 42"). Being able to get some digital network channels negates the poorer analog SD. The are more than enough stretch modes on set and it does do a very good job with the cable channels. Will not stretch out the HD 4:3 though.

There is just not enough HD content availble for me to justify spending more than I have to on a 50" plasma. As the content increases in the future and the the PDPs get better and cheaper I wil have the money to upgrade in a few years and not feel that I wasted my hard earned clams.

I don't understand why people just don't get this set and try it at home. You have a 30 day garuantee on it from BB or CC. Just have everything ready to hook up to evaluate it. It's a keeper for me.

Rod W

11-20-05, 09:32 PM

Sorry if my post was misleading. What I said was that I have a month to wait for the Zenith to come out in black. That's because I've already ordered a Pioneer, that won't be in for at least a month. So, IF Zenith came out with a black bezel during that time-period, I'd definitely think about cancelling the order for the Pioneer. Sorry if the way I worded it made it sound like Zenith was going to come out with a black version. I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe they will.

Rod W.

Rod,

I'm new to this forum and have been going crazy comparing the Zenith Z50PX2D against the Samsung HPR5052 and the Panasonic TH50PX50U. I think for the price and features that the Zenith is going to win out for me but like many others I'm not crazy about the silver bezel. I see that you say a black bezel model will be available soon. Do you know that for sure? I checked the Zenith website and couldn't find any mention of it. If you can let me know I'd appreciate it!

murphyjp

11-20-05, 10:05 PM

Hey dcrowley,

can you email me. I would be very interested myself.

clangro

11-21-05, 12:27 PM

I recently got this plasma this past Friday, and have so far been disappointed. The picture on DVDs and HD content is just very soft and disappointing. I calibrated the DVD player with DVD and compared both the Zenith and my Mits 52" DLP 52725, and the Mits seems to blow it away in regards to sharpness. The Zenith does seem to have far better brightness and blacks. Color I'm tossed up between, because the Zenith looks more vibrant sometimes, but that vibrancy also seems to over-saturate colors where people look orange or red.

Right now, unless someone can give me some feedback, this is going back in the box and being replaced with a Mits 52628 DLP. :(

CPotatoe

11-21-05, 03:19 PM

clangro

11-21-05, 03:49 PM

Clangro,

What type of DVD player and which input are you using on your sets? The Mits may have a better chipset than the Zenith if you are going through any of the analog inputs. My Zenith DVB318 at 1080i is very sharp using the component input. If the color looks over saturated then you may have not calibrated the Zenith properly. I used the older DVE disk. What disk di you use?

The DVD player is a Panasonic RP-82 plugged in through monster component. As for the color saturation, this is after a calibration with DVE, I believe the 2003 version.

I got the red and blue to match up, but green is way off. However, I had the same problem with my Mits and that even allowed green to be adjusted independently via PerfectColor.

I copied over the same settings to my HDMI Motorola 6412 HD DVR Phase 3 and have similar problems with color. Granted, you can make the argument that its a different unit and thus, settings cannot be copied as such, but that doesn't explain the softer picture on both the HD DVR and DVD player unless the Mits has a far better chipset.

CPotatoe

11-21-05, 09:54 PM

Timjs21,

I sent you a PM

CPotatoe

11-21-05, 10:05 PM

The DVD player is a Panasonic RP-82 plugged in through monster component. As for the color saturation, this is after a calibration with DVE, I believe the 2003 version.

I got the red and blue to match up, but green is way off. However, I had the same problem with my Mits and that even allowed green to be adjusted independently via PerfectColor.

I copied over the same settings to my HDMI Motorola 6412 HD DVR Phase 3 and have similar problems with color. Granted, you can make the argument that its a different unit and thus, settings cannot be copied as such, but that doesn't explain the softer picture on both the HD DVR and DVD player unless the Mits has a far better chipset.

JoeQ in this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282 has done alot more than I have on this set than I have and I really don't have anything to compare it with at home. I won't have time to hook up my XP50 till after the weekend to see if I can see what you see. I'll let you know soon.

Joe Q

11-22-05, 07:55 AM

I got the red and blue to match up, but green is way off. However, I had the same problem with my Mits and that even allowed green to be adjusted independently via PerfectColor.

Can't explain both the MITS and the Zenith having incorrect Green except for the common source - the RP82.
I have an RP91 in the closet I coudl hook up and see if I can duplicate if you know that the RP91 and 82 use the same inarrds.

PM me if you want me to try.

The DVD player that I DO have hooked up is a much cheaper Pioneer which I got for it's DVDA and SACD capability.
I use MYHD for watching my DVD's because it upscales DVD's to 720P/1080i

What I do know for sure is that MY Zenith has no issue at all with Green.
It does have a red push (my previous MITS was infamous for that) but I was able to calibrate it to a staisfactory level.

By satisfactory, it passes DVE and AVIA color patterns and faces are no longer sunburned but it still has a bit too much red compared to the 52" LG DLP that this replaced.

As far as sharpness goes, that is like discussing which speaker sounds best. It is a matter of personal preference.
I chuckled when I saw that great 'pop' of a sharp and artifact clear picture with the Sunrise series on Discovery HD compared to my LG DLP, which I will admit is not at the high end of DLP sets.

BTW,If you are not satisfied with the Zenith and really like the Mits, what is the issue anyway?
You can't return the Zenith or what?

Joe

gby

11-23-05, 11:30 PM

I picked up the Z50PX2D last Sunday at CC and have found a couple of quirks that I wonder if anyone can shed any light on.

Setup:
Comcast cable direct to the TV (no set top box)
DVD player to goes to component 1 input
TV Audio out stereo pair in the back goes to an older Dolby Prologic receiver.

When I tune a digital station (CADTV) everything is fine. However, when I tune an analog station (CATV) there is a delay between the sound from the built in TV speakers and the audio signal going to the receiver. :( The sound in the room is then very echoey. :mad: Since the connection to the stereo is just from the RCA analog outputs to a receiver that has no delay mechanism the delay issue must be inside the TV. Like CADTV stations the DVD audio is fine. Then, as an experiment I tried putting an antenna on the antenna input and found that stations there also had the delay and echoey sound like cable input on analog stations. It seems like using the NTSC tuner adds delay between the on board speakers and the rear signal out.

Any ideas how to fix this or a better explanation about what is going on? I know I could just stop using the built in speakers but I was using them as a poor man's center channel like I had for years done with my old Panasonic SD CRT TV.

gby

PS I have a newbie question. I find the channel numbers for the CADTV stations confusing. For example, here in Boston ABC is channel 5 over the air and on Comcast's cable I find the DTV version at CADTV 86-1. For WSBK Channel 38 it is at 85-5. Comcast only publishes the channels by their set top box number. For example channel 5 is Comcast STB # is 805 and 38 is 838. Is there some way to get the channel numbers for cable direct feed other than watching each channel, decoding it, and writing it down myself?????

CPotatoe

11-27-05, 05:56 PM

gby,

The cable company will be using thier own set of numbers for the "must carry" digital channels. They do not want to make it easy for anyone getting "free" stuff I guess. So there is no way to change these. You may be able to use the "favorite" button for those.

As for the delay, your digital channels should be lagging your analog channels, due to the extra processing involved in the digital domain. You can't over come that, but if the analog is lagging, you can delay it using a reciver with a delay function built for that purpose. These types of recievers are common now a days. You may have to invest on a newer one. Good luck.

jjsf

11-29-05, 08:10 AM

Well I just bought the Zenith over the weekend. Will return my Maxent and pick up the Zenith on Thursday. I hope it's better than the Maxent. My Maxent X3 looks somewhat like the crappy old Maxent models that BB has on display. (they don't have the X3 on display.) I spent about 10 minutes watching the Zenith next to the 5060 in store, and it looked pretty good after dialing down the color, contrast and sharpness. The signal fed into the TVs weren't very good, so hard to say much. But at least I don't see as much color shade banding as the Maxent X3 has. Others have good experience with the Maxent, but mine wasn't that good. However it's hard to believe my unit is defective though.

mmpotash

11-29-05, 09:30 AM

I've now had the Zenith for about 60 hours, (much of it not being watched but used for quicker burn-in). I adjusted the HDMI input using the HDNet Test Pattern, (found 6am-6:10am on Tuesday's). with instructions found at:
"http://www.smartcalibration.com/hdnetpatterns.html" mixed with the “Steaming Rat" method. The picture is really impressive. Next week I'll have the Avia DVD to calibrate the Component 1 input hooked up to the DVD player and also the home theater sound system I have. Then I'll fine tune both inputs.

The settings I have so far:
Contrast 32
Bright 48
Color 32
Sharp 55
Tint G2

We'll see if the Avia has anything better to offer.

pj2004

11-29-05, 10:18 AM

Some pretty nice deals on this one right now. It's very tempting - anyone care to post some pictures of their Zenith in action or just mounted on the wall? It's a tough choice between this one and something like the 50" Panasonics but the price difference makes this Zenith hard to pass up. I've also seen conflicting information about this plasma having PIP...anyone have the correct answer on that? Thanks for any info or pictures. I might have to give this one a shot but I'm a little hesitant for some reason. Some people love the Zenith but I've also seen some bad reviews.

mmpotash

11-29-05, 10:32 AM

No PIP in the Zenith.

The Fly

11-29-05, 11:32 AM

Just saw this Plasma at my local CC last night. It was right under the LG and beside the Panny. I gotta say that the Zenith looks just as good if not better than both the LG and the Panny. It might be a subjective thing but I have decided to take the plunge. In my opinion it's is a really incledible picture and you just can't beat the price. $$$ plus no interest till 2008 at BB, I'll be going to buy tonight :D

EDIT>>

Mod note: no price talk, please. Thanks

pj2004

11-29-05, 11:44 AM

If you buy it online at BB right now they throw in a Toshiba DVD recorder for free, and you can pick everything up at the store. Just an extra bonus for buying online which adds to the deal.

Joe Q

11-29-05, 03:26 PM

No PIP in the Zenith.

Good. A useless feature which adds cost. Glad they used the money saved for the HDMI input.

Had it on my last few TV's and only use it on Election night to get 2 or 4 news feeds at once.

jjsf

11-30-05, 11:11 AM

Anyone has opinion comparing this set with the Maxent X3? Did anyone know how many colors can this set display? Thanks.

wildland1

11-30-05, 09:47 PM

The Maxent x3 has some good points, BUT IT GETS HOOOOTTTTTT!!!! microblocking was really noticible in dark seens, but the colors were really great. I watched NEMO, and Toy story, and the incredibles on it and liked the PQ, but the heat was too intense. So I am now looking at the zenith... I was going to go cheap and get the Panny ed, then switched went into buy the 4K Panny 50u but like everyone else saw this deal......

maxent uses panny glass....BUT other cheaper internals....

jjsf

11-30-05, 10:06 PM

I seem to have somewhat a different experience with the Maxent from most of them who posted here. I don't think mine is too hot. It's been one for 3 hours, and I just touched it, on back top of the pannel, the left side is just warm enough, slightly higher than body temperature. The right side is a little warmer, probably 50 degree C to the touch.

In terms of dark scene, I have been having a lot problem with patches and bands. I don't think it can be explained by macroblocking, since the bands really indicate the boundary of different color shade.

jjsf

12-01-05, 11:56 AM

LG told me it has 1.07 billion colors.

Sammylow

12-01-05, 10:06 PM

I bought one of these from CC last week. So far very happy with the set. I believe that it is a great deal < $$$. Price was the main reason I chose this model over the LG and Panny.

Don't have the HD box from the cable company yet, but I'm getting a great picture over the air for all 4 networks. Really enjoyed watching NFL over the weekend and Monday night. HD is a whole new experience!!

What is everyone's opinion on the service option for these plasma TV's? I have not decided if I want to add it. It is almost $600 for 3 years. Also, is a DVD player that does upconversion worth it?

EDIT>>

Mod note: no price talk, please. Thanks.

Joe Q

12-02-05, 08:57 AM

What is everyone's opinion on the service option for these plasma TV's? I have not decided if I want to add it.

I did NOT get it. If it were a DLP with a Bulb that is guranteed to burn out in 2 years then that would be a totally different story.

I figure if the TV makes it during the standard 1 year warranty it will last way past the length of time I plan on owning it.

In less than 2 years,we will be discussing the great price on a 50"/55" Brand X Plasma that does full 1080P and I will be buying it and selling the Zenith.
So, I see no reason to spend extra on a service contract for the TV.

I do have one for my Car and my 2005 Yamaha Outboard though so don't think I am anti extended warranty.

I bought my TV at my local CC 2 weeks ago and they called me two nights ago (corporporate 800 #) asking about buying the extended warranty. That said a lot to me.

Of course, everyone has vastly different opinions on this topic.

The Fly

12-02-05, 11:32 AM

What is everyone's opinion on the service option for these plasma TV's? I have not decided if I want to add it. It is almost $600 for 3 years. Also, is a DVD player that does upconversion worth it?

I opted not to get the extended warranty. I also figure if something is gonna go wrong it will happen in the first year covered by manuf. I figure if one of the main reasons for getting the Zenith was price, why drive it up by getting the EW. I bought the EW for my CRT which I've now had for 10 years with absolutely no probles so boy was that a waste of money... I'll pass unless I hear of any issues. I still have a month to decide..

cgoldens

12-02-05, 02:11 PM

I went with the 3 year for $550 at CC...it's a replacement plan, so if they can't fix it they give you credit. In their definition, if the picture no longer looks like it did when you bought it, they will fix or replace...in most cases, this means replace (i.e. credit). $183/year for 3 years was worth it, if the TV stays pristine for 3 years then I got my money's worth, otherwise in a year or two I can upgrade to a bigger better plasma for the same price.

FYI - this TV is the best buy for the money and is a really nice set.

jjsf

12-03-05, 01:17 AM

Tonight I returned the Maxent and brought back the Zenith. I adjusted the component and Svideo input using an old video essential disc. A few interesting observations:

1. There are some nice sound processing effects for the builtin speakers. They sound much much better than the Maxent.

2. I still see some color banding, but so much better than the Maxent.

3. On first sight after setting up, the Zenith seemed to be smaller. I measured the diagnal length, and it is 50inch.

4. For Svideo input, I had to dial the brightness almost down to zero. After more tweaking, I settled at contrast 25 and brightness 15. This seems to be very low. but it gives me a picture equivalent to the 50 and 50 settings for component input. I don't have an HDMI capable DVD player, so I eyeballed the HDMI singal from the Motorola DVR box, and the two settings are 45 and 45.

5. The sharpness setting is not as sensative as the Maxent. On the Maxent, you really need to turn it all the way down to 1. With the Zenith I didn't see much change below 40. If anything it seemed to make the picture a bit too soft when the sharpness is all the way down. So I settled at 40.

elfedz

12-03-05, 10:46 AM

Hello Everyone

I have been following this thread for quite sometime now. I have been researching three models in the 50" size. The panny 50U, the Samsung HP-R5052. For the price and feutures the Zenith seems to be the best bang for the bucks. I will be looking into purchassing the Zenith at a local BB. I also will probably get the extended warranty as part of this thread and I also have confirmed that with any minor failure on this model, you are looking at least a few hundredd dollars. BB offers 4 years PSP for $399.00 in home which appears to covers everything. $100.00 a year for peace of mind should be worth it. This model is in fact just about the same as the LG 50PX1D withou PIP, who cares really, and a couple of extra inputs i.e. IEEE 1394. It is LG all the way. The only thing I wish they would do is offer a 2 year warranty just as LG does. I have been looking at DLP for quite some time but the wife does not want a huge set in the familly room. For less than $$$$ with 4 years warranty, this appears to definetely be the best bang for the buck. Any additional input would be appreciated.

BTW, Rod W, your set up have great potential. and jjsf, my wife and I love your set up. Enjoy....

elfedz

Viventis

12-03-05, 02:07 PM

The local BB and CC both carry this model. It is apparantly made by LG but sells at a lower price point. Anyone have experience with this model? It looks great at the store display.

jjsf

12-03-05, 04:20 PM

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=599668

michelleSBsam

12-03-05, 06:01 PM

After a lot of thought, I bought this tv on Thursday. I had it up and running last night. First what i paid:

BB is selling it for $$$ - $$$ mail in rebate for a total of $$$. If you purchase online with BB they'll throw in a Toshiba DVD recorder for free (retail value $182).

I went to my local BB and asked if they could give me the same deal in the store, but they could not. They offered me a $$$ discount off the above price instead of the DVD recorder, making the tv now just $$$.

I also purchased the wall mount that has full movement (don't know the official name. ) It pulls out from the wall, moves left to right and up and down. It had a sticker of $350 and they discounted it 10%, so I saved $35 making it a total of $$$.

A good thing about BB is they have customer rewards (costs $10 to join, but they'll throw it in for free) and you can earn a pretty good amount of cash back in certificates with this purchase. In my case it came to another $$$.

I am thrilled with the set. Looks fantastic on the wall and the PQ is as good as I had hoped. Have it hooked up to the Dish 942 HD DVR receiver. Using component cable from the receiver to the tv and hdmi from the dvd player to the tv.

I'll provide more detail as I explore it during the next week. For those of you still shopping, I searched and searched and really considered the Panny, Samsung and Philips, but ultimately considering the money/features/cabinet style/PQ/customer feedback... I couldn't find a better tv.

EDIT>>

Mod note: no price or discount talk, please. MSRP only, thanks.

wildland1

12-03-05, 09:22 PM

I took back the Maxent, and got this! I was going to get the Panny, but I liked all the features this has compared to the Panny. I have had this for 2 days and calibrated it today and I really like the Blacks, and color decoding. This stays cool as a cucumber too. That damn Maxent....HOT.

ghwk

12-03-05, 10:27 PM

Hey Wildland, where did you purchase and I sent you a private message.

Thanks,

Steve

wildland1

12-03-05, 11:45 PM

PM'd ya...

mattsoft

12-04-05, 12:15 AM

Hey, Z50PX2D owners:

Are the speakers detachable?

And anyone running this bad-boy connected to an HTPC over VGA? I'm curious what resolutions the plasma supports and how it looks?

Was checking out the Maxent, but the Zenith looks to be a nicer screen. Thanks!

jjsf

12-04-05, 12:55 AM

No, the speakers are not detachable.

ddipas

12-04-05, 01:18 AM

I'm considering this TV, but I really would like the option of black sidebars on 4:3 material. I looked at the set at CC and read the owner's manual, but I believe gray is the only option. Can anyone confirm this? Is it an option in the service menu?

mfan

12-04-05, 02:55 AM

Hello everyone! I just ordered this set from CC last night after comparing its PQ with Maxent, Pioneer, Samsung, and Pany in local BB and CC. To my novice eyes, the PQ looked comparable to the more expensive units. I did notice, as someone else mentioned in this thread, that the Pioneer is a "sharper" display. In comparison (Pio was across the aisle), the Zenith PQ seemed a little bit softer to me. However, I just couldn't pass up the price I was able to get for the Zenith. The slightly sharper Pio display is not worth a few thousand $ to me. I'm hoping someone here has figured out the settings to improve on the display defaults. :p

I'll call CC tomorrow to arrange for delivery. What is the required/recommended setting for the break-in period? :confused:

TIA

gby

12-04-05, 11:12 AM

I have had this TV for two weeks. I have not been able to get the electronic program guide to work. Whenever I hit the Guide button on the remote it always says no guide channel available. I have the Comcast cable feed plugged direct to this TV with no cable box and I have a small UHF antenna on the antenna input.

Has anyone been able to get the Electronic Guide to work? Particularly interested in North of Boston. Any tricks to pass along?

gby

Joe Q

12-04-05, 11:55 AM

Hey, Z50PX2D owners:

And anyone running this bad-boy connected to an HTPC over VGA? I'm curious what resolutions the plasma supports and how it looks?

I am.

I have my Radeon 9200 connected to the VGA input. The manual is very explicit that when connecting to the VGA input, that you run 1024x768,60Hz.

I set my PC to 1024x768 and have Zero over/underscan and the Windows desktop looks great. No more Powerstrip and all that hoorah.

The Zenith does have image resizing controls via the remote for the PC input which I guess is for slightly oout of spec timings but I did not need to use it.

I did try 75Hz and that works as well.

If you try any other resoution than 1024x768 on the VGA input, the TV will display "out of range"

I have NOT yet tried the ATI 1080i/720P component adaptor to the component input into the TV. I have that 'rig' and it did work with my now for sale DLP so I do not see why it wouldn't but not sure it is worth going back to my using my component switch box for a few extra pixels.

I watched a DVD with TT on the PC input and it looked great.
Granted, the TV is capable of 1366x768 pixels and to use a PC you must set the output to 1024x760 so you do lose some resolution but I will be darned if I could tell the loss of 2400 pixels on a 50" display (8 x 300)

The windows desktop is much sharper and easier to read than when I ran it into my 720P DLP.
I am no 'kid' and have never been into games but for the first time, I am actually thinking about getting an Xbox 360 to play those High Def auto racing games on this Plasma.
I was always a tad disapointed in how the DLP's picture looked with Windows so never felt the motivation but this Plasma has really changed my tune.

A high def auto race on a 50" display would be awesome. I know that my 16x9 Aquarium looks GREAT on this thing.

Feel free to PM me with any HTPC questions since I have an Irman and a MYHD Ir controlller connected so I can use MYHD/TT/etc. as well as having mouse control with my MX 800.

Here is a picture of my nearly finished install of the Zenith:

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3596/almostfinishedinstall3ci.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=almostfinishedinstall3ci.jpg)

The seating distance is 11'.

jbirney

12-04-05, 03:08 PM

Folks I have been lurking on this form for some time now trying to figure out which HDTV to get. Lots of good info. I have been thinking about getting this model as its price is very nice atm.

We have the digital comcast cable with both SD/HD programming that will be using to supply part of the input. How does SD content look on this set? And HD content should be great?

The current DVD player is on its way out and looking at the other forums we have here for a nice replacement. I dont think that will be any big issue as it image quality should look great right?

And someday will have an xbox360 :) What I am really concerned about is if/when I get that xbox hooked up will I loose all the AA the xbox360 is suppose to have? I use AA on all the games I play on the PC since the Voodo 5500 days and hate to go back to jaggies. Or is that not really an issue?

Thanks for time!

mattsoft

12-04-05, 04:16 PM

Ugh! It's too bad the VGA port won't do the native 1366x768 resolution. That's a huge negative for those of us with HTPCs. :( If anyone can get 1366x768 with VGA or DVI, please post. Thanks!

Joe Q

12-04-05, 05:17 PM

How does SD content look on this set?

---> Looks a whole lot better than on my DLP. The DLP had that dreaded 'clay face' look on SD material.

What I am really concerned about is if/when I get that xbox hooked up will I loose all the AA the xbox360 is suppose to have? I use AA on all the games I play on the PC since the Voodo 5500 days and hate to go back to jaggies. Or is that not really an issue?

--->What is AA?

See coments in the text

Joe Q

12-04-05, 05:20 PM

And HD content should be great?

Not trying to be a smart a** but this is a 720P HDTV.
If HD content did not look great on this TV then this thread would have died a quick death.

Joe Q

12-04-05, 05:31 PM

Ugh! It's too bad the VGA port won't do the native 1366x768 resolution. That's a huge negative for those of us with HTPCs. :( If anyone can get 1366x768 with VGA or DVI, please post. Thanks!

I tried the 1366x768 resolution via Component and DVI from MYHD and got "Invalid Signal"

The only thing I have not tried,as I said before, was the ATI HDTV 1080i/720P adaptor over component.
I see no reason why that would not work.

Edit:
You got me curious so I fired up Powerstrip and simply tried the various built in resolutions.

I was able to get 1280x768P to work but did have to resize the picture to get it to be centered.

The varations on 1366x768P kept asking me to reboot and usually that means that it does not work but I could keep fiddling.

So the PC resolutions throught the VGA port that I got work with a Radeon 9600 are:
1024 x 720P (Recommended by Manufacturer)
1280 x 768P (Powerstrip)

jbirney

12-04-05, 06:03 PM

See coments in the text

Thanks JoeQ on the SD info.

AA = Anti-alasing. The xbox360 is suppose to have it on all titles with at least x2. I just asked as I saw one of the xbox360 systems at the local story driving a LCD and it was a jaggied mess. I wanted to find out more about this but the wify pulled me away...something about me not needing one... :) But before I spent the money wanted to make sure it would look good for games. I was fearing that the LCDs maybe a bit slower with their respone time and thus lead to ghosting...

Not trying to be a smart a** but this is a 720P HDTV.
If HD content did not look great on this TV then this thread would have died a quick death.

Doh, point taken :)

mattsoft

12-04-05, 11:53 PM

Thanks for testing out the PC input Joe Q.

Joe Q

12-05-05, 04:02 PM

I wonder if CC has caught on that this TV is a hot seller.

I bought mine about November 15.
It had a particluar list price which then had an instant mark down price and a mail in rebate.

I was thinking that maybe it was stupid to not have waited for the Christmas sales so I just checked CC's website because the curiosity got the best of me.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the price I paid for the TV on November 15 was LESS than what is showing on their website now.

I am sure one can find a better price on the Net but I feel better knowing that the store I bought this TV from is 15 minutes from where I live and I have a P/U to take it there if it F's up.

---------------------------------------------------------

On another subject related to this TV. I watched my first DVD on it the other night (I have an HDTIVO so I normally watch a lot of High Def material and a few favorite SD shows)

I use the MYHD HDTV card for most of my DVD watching because it does the best job of any DVD player I have seen of upsampling.

I watched "The Ring Two" and was quite taken with the Image quality of this DVD on the TV. There was one scene where I did spot some color ringing on the sunshine coming in a window but other than that, it was a REALLY great picture.

Is "The Ring Two" considered a good,great or average DVD in the PQ department?

The Fly

12-05-05, 06:40 PM

If anyone is on the fence about which 50" plasma to buy (especially the money challlenged like me :D ), I would really suggest you go look at this Zenith in person. It absolutely stands it's ground with the Pioneer, Panny, LG, etc..

I will only really be watching HD TV and DVD movies on it so other features weren't even a concern to me.

I do notice that the price at both CC and BB seems to have gone up quite a bit given all the incentives that were available just a week ago but it's still a good price. I have now had mine for a week and I'm really happy with the purchase.

wildland1

12-05-05, 07:13 PM

me too:)

Joe Q

12-05-05, 08:41 PM

Me three :D

mfan

12-05-05, 09:21 PM

Me four! ;)

Actually, I bought it, but hasn't received it yet. It's scheduled to arrive this Thursday. I placed the order with CC on Friday night, but didn't have time to call them until today. Thursday will be the earliest I can meet the delivery person at home during daytime... :(

What is the required/recommended picture settings during the break-in period? Also, has anyone tuned it using DVE? Would you be kind enough to share your settings? Was there anything you need to do under the service menu? I ordered DVE, but won't get it for another week. Thanks!

Joe Q

12-06-05, 06:05 AM

Me four! ;)

Actually, I bought it, but hasn't received it yet. Thursday will be the earliest I can meet the delivery person at home during daytime... :(

---> Reason # 854 why I own a pickup truck as a second vehicle:)

What is the required/recommended picture settings during the break-in period?

-----> At the very minium, Knock the contrast down from 100 to 50

Also, has anyone tuned it using DVE? Would you be kind enough to share your settings? Was there anything you need to do under the service menu? I ordered DVE, but won't get it for another week. Thanks!

---> See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282

See comments in the text.

Joe

Byron Walter

12-06-05, 08:35 AM

...exactly my settings (to say the least) but I have the sharpness under 40%, brightness & contrast under 50% (prob around 40 - 45) and tint at R2 on component 1 (STB) and R2 on comp 2 (DVD). I spent quite a bit of time fiddling with the settings since I don't have a cal DVD and every film has its own look. Ultimately there's a degree of subjectivity on these settings and possibly not all these sets look exactly the same with identical settings.

BTW, WotWorlds wth Tom C had a grainy look, like war footage and a rather high contrast ratio which didn't look particularly good, unlike other DVDs that I've watched that look very nice on the Zenith.

Great set at great price and no more stinkin' bulbs to replace.

Byron

Me four! ;)

Actually, I bought it, but hasn't received it yet. It's scheduled to arrive this Thursday. I placed the order with CC on Friday night, but didn't have time to call them until today. Thursday will be the earliest I can meet the delivery person at home during daytime... :(

What is the required/recommended picture settings during the break-in period? Also, has anyone tuned it using DVE? Would you be kind enough to share your settings? Was there anything you need to do under the service menu? I ordered DVE, but won't get it for another week. Thanks!

Joe Q

12-06-05, 08:55 AM

I just learned of this over the weekend and it may be of use to folks.

If you get HDNET, they broadcast a color bar calibration pattern on Thursday morning that you can use to calibrate your High Def input.

You will need the blue filter that comes with Video Essentials to get the color right but until you get that you can still set your Black level as I beleieve it has the pluge pattern on it also..

I have an HDTIVO connected to the HDMI input and have my HDTIVO scheduled to record the test pattern this Thursday.

jjsf

12-06-05, 09:12 AM

Thanks for the info, but do you have a more precise time on Thursday? Thanks.

Joe Q

12-06-05, 01:01 PM

Thanks for the info, but do you have a more precise time on Thursday? Thanks.

Oops - it was today.

" 6:00 AM ET
3:00 AM PT HDNet Test Patterns
Wonder how your home theatre is doing? Wish you had test patterns to help set it up? Well, HDNet is here to help. This short program will help you get the most out of your home theatre setup by providing you with the same professional test patterns HDNet uses to set their gear."

Sorry, I guess we will have to wait until next week.

http://www.hd.net/schedule_sevenday.html

rubb3rtoe

12-06-05, 01:51 PM

Joe Q

12-06-05, 04:13 PM

Joe Q- in the picture you attached above, is that a computer game your displaying? My friend is to take delivery of his Zenith 50" tomorrow and he now isnt sure if he made the right decision if it only does 1024x768. He's new to the HTPC scene and wants to do it right when it comes to purchasing something this expensive.

When you set it to 1024x768, does it pillar box the picture? Or just stretch it to fit the screen?

Thanks for any help.

That is a Christmas Screensaver being output by my PC at 1280 x 768P and since 1280 x 768P is a 16:9 ratio (720P), it simply displayed it that way.

Read my above post where I talked about what Zenith recomends on that VGA input versus what I was able to get to work.

Also, I see no reason why one could not use the ATI HDTV adaptor and do 720P into the component input. I have the stuff and used to do it on my DLP but have not bothered to try it with this Plasma becuase of the PC input.

Hope that helps

mmpotash

12-06-05, 04:19 PM

Anyone calibrate the Zenith via Avia or another DVD?

remotepc

12-06-05, 06:31 PM

mfan

12-06-05, 07:31 PM

I was a former plasma owner until mine broke (hitachi) and couldn't be fixed last year. Replaced with DLP (toshiba), but my wife has been hinting at getting another plasma lately because it looks better in our living room. After a lot of research, looking to get this unit as a Xmas present. Haven't found many reviews on it yet. This forum has the most info on the net that I've found so far. Thanks for all the informative posts.

I placed my order for this last Friday because I came across a deal that was just too tempting to pass up. I mean, I couldn't find another 50" plasma HDTV (with ATSC/NTSC/QAM tuners and HDMI, RGB, RS232, Component, & other inputs) delivered to my house at a price that's within ~$1000 of it! :eek:

But, you're right, I wasn't able to find any reviews on it either. I think it's too new. Hopefully, somone can. I heard this is the same as the LG 50PX1D, minus a few features.

In any case, I pulled the trigger after spending over an an hour at BB/CC playing with the settings of various plasma brands/models (incl. Zenith) and comparing their PQs, and realizing that I can't really tell much difference between them with my untrained eyes...certainly not enough to justify the ~$1000 price difference. So, I placed the order before the deal expired. :p

remotepc

12-06-05, 08:47 PM

I just pulled the trigger also. I went down to the local BB, since they're already having a sale. Still getting the rebate too. Sweet deal. An interesting thing I noticed on the receipt. The item is described as Z50PX2D LG 50" HDTV. Now I already knew this was made by LG, but pretty funny they would say so on the receipt.

EDIT>>

mod note: no coupon talk, please. Thanks.

dane2525

12-06-05, 09:37 PM

I picked up the Zenith at CC a week ago. My first plasma replacing a Mitsubishi 55" HD projection unit. Could not pass up the price with the rebate. So far no complaints. Great picture, easy menu setup, quite fans (I can't hear them run at all), and best of all... NO BIG BLACK BOX in my living room.

ogbuehi

12-08-05, 06:44 AM

Joe Q

12-08-05, 08:41 AM

Were any of those other resolutions tried at different refresh rates? It may have already but I want to make sure that you can't send the sets native resolution to it through both the vga and hdmi slot.

They were. If you have played with Powerstrip before, you will know that it has a bunch of pre-built in timings induing 4 variation's on 1366.

Each one of those 1366 resolutions asked me to reboot and after the first one (which did nothing) I merely just tried ALL resolutions in the list that were >= 1280.

I suppose with further tweaking I may be able to get 1366x768 to work over VGA.

I am not going to try the DVI input because The DVI connection from my Radeaon 9600 STAYS on my LCD monitor cause it is SO much clearer than the VGA.

To me 1280x768P is fine for PC use. Do the math.
Do you really think that you can tell the difference of the missing 66,000 pixels (1049088 vs 983040) on either the Windows desktop or an upscaled 480i DVD?

For those that do not have this TV, I have some 720P screensavers designed just for high def TV's and they are AMAZING so please don'ty let the PC input resolution make you pass on a sub 3K Plasma.

Also, the manual is very explicit on setting your PC to 1024x720,60Hz (it says 75Hz is okay too) so I am not too keen on frying something in my TV set by overdriving the 'innards'. Don't you just love that technical jargon:)

Joe

jjsf

12-08-05, 10:42 AM

The manual says 720p is the preferred setting for input. Do you guys know any reason behind that? The 1080i seem to give better PQ to my eyes, (on still image, text at least), maybe just due to more horizontal resolutions?

jjsf

12-08-05, 10:45 AM

Also I didn't find explanations in the manual about the different zoom features. Did I miss that? Also why the HD image (from Motorola 3412) is compressed vertically when connected via Svideo? Svideo always assume the TV is 4:3? The zoom 1 option seem to just stretch vertically, which is neat.

jjsf

12-08-05, 10:53 AM

Joe,

Have you done more exploration with service menu, calibration settings? I used an old video essential disc to calibrate the Svideo and component inputs, the color setting is around 50, tint is around 0 to slightly into the green zone, sharpness I also prefer 40. However I have to set the brightness to much lower than you have posted. My contrast is set to 45-50 and brightness is around 20 for component and 40 for HDMI. This is viewed in a dark room with my own poor man's ambient light.

mfan

12-08-05, 12:44 PM

Has anyone seen the Gary Merson's article in the December 2005 issue of THE PERFECT VISION? There is a whole discussion link here about it:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608670

The jist of it is MOST HDTVs do not process 1080i signals properly. They only process half of the lines of each frame (540 vs. 1080). It goes on to say that many newer model HDTVs are now capable of fully processing 1080 lines. I'm not a techie, so I didn't understand much of the discussion. But, what I did get was that Gary tested 2 LG models (not sure which ones, they could've been plasma, LCD or microdisplay) and both failed. I know this Zenith is basically a LG panel, so I'm now wondering if it has the newer chipsets that Merson mentioned?? Does anyone know?

iCreate

12-08-05, 07:49 PM

The Fly

12-08-05, 09:36 PM

From what I can tell with my untrained eye. My set looks better if I set my HD cable box to 1080i than 720p?? It could just be that I'm imagining this but I also have my upconverting DVD player to 1080i.

Does this sound right? I guess ultimately what looks best to me is what counts right? But reading all this stuff about the set not being able to process the 1080i signal properly made me wonder if I had the right settings.

Ultimately I'm very pleased with this set so I guess I'll just leave the DVD and HD cable box set to 1080i

I have the Avia calibrating DVD and still can't set it up right so I've given up. If anyone has calibrated their set with the Avia please post your settings.

thanks

Byron Walter

12-09-05, 07:22 AM

Fly,

I think that my set looks slightly better at 1080i than 720p with feed from my STB. Since I know the settings that I'm looking at, this is not exactly controlled buy, hey... who cares!

BTW, I just "eyeballed" my cal settings with a variety of material. And now My Z has very good blacks and bright, detailed whites.

Byron

Red89gt

12-09-05, 10:01 AM

Hello everyone, I have been reading on here for quite a while but this is my first post.

I just bought the Zenith from BB at a deal that was great! I purchased online to take advantage of the free dvd recorder not knowing they have a no interest plan until Jan 2008 if you purchase in store. When I got to the store they somehow botched up the order so they had to cancel the online purchase. The store GM still honored the free dvd for the hassle. There was a coupon for 10% off stapled to the box for any purchases made at pick up. I burried the retail price after the rebate and BB sale price combined. I was also given a $50 gift check for the store for making me wait over an hour while they tried to get everything straightened out. I also signed up for the Frequent rewards program which was a no brainer, $9.99 to join and I have a ton of gift checks coming for a significant amount. I know the mod doesn't like price but if curriousity is there send me a pm and I will let you know. All in all BB has my business locked up for their great customer service.

Dell Corp. on the other had stiffed myself and two friends. They had an apparent error on their website advertising the 50" for a great price. At first they took the order. The following day I called back and up the order to qty 2. They cancelled the order 3 days later without even an email. I called back and they didn't know why so they replaced the order. Again cancelled. I finally got a manager at Dell and he said Dell decided they just couldn't honor the order? WTF I thought. This was after a long initial call. They gave me an order number and ship date both times and just decided they would change their mind with no regard to try and even right the obvious poor customer service. My other buddy went through the same hassle on his order. My other friend took delivery of his 50" Dell plasmas this week. They are a horrible company with horrible customer service. They basically told me to take a flying leap after they took the order. :mad: I have posted this on here to further make people aware of the business practice Dell has. They were unreasonable and really upset my wife and I after going back on a done deal.

Can't wait to get my Zenith going this weekend on a lighter note. Cable guy is coming with the digital box on Saturday, woo who :)

JHawk

12-09-05, 12:36 PM

Red:

I know a lot of people hate BB but the local store has been great to me as far as customer service and good deals. I buy a lot, treat their staff with respect and it has paid off.

I've got a cablecard in my Zenith and it works great. If your cable company provides that as an option you might want to consider it.

Red89gt

12-09-05, 02:05 PM

mlandau

12-09-05, 05:06 PM

jhawk-I thought the z50px2d doesn't take a cablecard. I don't see a slot for it.

mfan

12-09-05, 05:44 PM

I've got a cablecard in my Zenith and it works great. If your cable company provides that as an option you might want to consider it.

Hmmm... I just took delivery of mine yesterday afternoon. I'm pretty sure it didn't have cablecard slot??!! Does Zenith have another 50" plasma model that does??? I got mine from CC also at an excellent deal! ;)

JHawk

12-09-05, 11:02 PM

My bad--I've got the 42"--sorry about that.

jjsf

12-09-05, 11:37 PM

The Fly

12-10-05, 01:02 AM

What are you guys take on DVD PQ on this TV? I wasn't too thirlled by it. also when I am viewing a widescreen DVD that is not anamorphic, The image seemed to be compressed vertically. Is this the way it is?

I think the DVD picture quality is great. You need to have an upconverting DVD player though. When I first got the TV I used my regular progressive scan DVD player and I wasn't htrilled about it. Then I did some research here on upconverting DVD players and went and bought the Samsung 850. I have it connected through HDMI and upconverting to 1080i and the movies look great. The good thing about this player is that it has the capability (with a hack) to upconvert through component also if needed.

Joe Q

12-10-05, 09:41 AM

@ Joe Q:

Can you tell me what screws are holding in the stand? Just the bottom two? Orr is it a little more involved to remove the stand? I may set mine up this weekend and would like to know if there's any pitfalls I need to know about before I proceed.

There are 3 screws on each side.

There are the 2 that you see going into the post from the stand and there is 1 that is screwed into the back of the TV.

The TV will lift straight up off the stand with NO effort when you remove the 6 screws BUT I would recommend some help to hang onto to it just in case.

You will of course need someone to help hang the TV.

PM me for ANY details you want because if you look back a page or two, you will see that I have wall mounted mine and know what to look out for (like making sure ALL cables are connected first)

Edit:
Sorry, I was in a hurry because I had an Ebay auction for my now sold DLP which was ending while I was typing.

I have enclosed a picture of the mounting post.
The 2 holes (the ones with no screws) are seen below the TV itself.
The one with the screw in it is up inside the TV and can be a bit confusing because their are several screws around it.
With this picture, it shuld be clear as to how to remove the stand.

Here was how I installed the TV:

What we did was slide the TV stand that this TV was sitting on out away from the wall.
Then we installed the Omnimount adjustable mount on the wall as well as the backing plates on the TV.
The longest part of the job was finding the EXACT center of the wall stub (even with an ultrasonic stud finder).

Then we pushed the TV stand really close to the wall, took out the 6 screws on the base ,prayed and then using the hand holds behind the TV, lifted it straight up and onto the Wall Mount.

You can get to the power socket and the DVI connection but other than that, I would have to take the TV off the wall to fiddle with the cables so get that right first.

The TV is 34" off the floor and today I am going to mount the center speaker ABOVE the TV.

I do want to raise the TV about 3 inches more which can easliy be done with the mount I used.

Final comment - the Omnimount comes with 4 screws to bolt the back plates to the TV.
However, the TV actually has 6 mounting holes and that bugged me because those bolts are not really very big anyway.
So I bought 2 extra bolts so the TV is attached with 6 bolts now.

Joe

jjsf

12-10-05, 09:48 AM

I think the DVD picture quality is great. You need to have an upconverting DVD player though. When I first got the TV I used my regular progressive scan DVD player and I wasn't htrilled about it. Then I did some research here on upconverting DVD players and went and bought the Samsung 850. I have it connected through HDMI and upconverting to 1080i and the movies look great. The good thing about this player is that it has the capability (with a hack) to upconvert through component also if needed.

Really? You see much difference there? I am kinda skeptical about the upscaling DVD player. When I first move from 480i to 480p, I didn't see much difference (well My TV was a 480 p set, so it deinterlaces 480i image anyway). Last week I got a new Onkyo SACD DVD player (480p as well), I don't think it shows a better image than my 4 year old Sampo player. Hmmm, maybe I should exchange the Onkyo for a Samsung?

ogbuehi

12-10-05, 10:14 AM

I use the same player and upconverting is the way to go until some version of HD dvd becomes mainstream. Upconverting dvd players were the edge to push me over into the HD side (even though upconverting DVD players are not true HD).

Joe Q

12-10-05, 10:18 AM

Joe,

Have you done more exploration with service menu, calibration settings? .

See what you think of these:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282

The picture will seem dark to you.

Joe

Joe Q

12-10-05, 10:49 AM

I think the DVD picture quality is great. You need to have an upconverting DVD player though. When I first got the TV I used my regular progressive scan DVD player and I wasn't htrilled about it. .

Agree 100%.

I was disapointed with my Prog scan DVD player but then I watched a DVD with MYHD and was REALLY impressed.

MYHD is my regular DVD player and does upscaling to 1080i/720P/etc.

The DVD player is only really used for SACD and DVD-A but I was curious about how it would look on the Zenith.

Joe

Joe Q

12-10-05, 10:51 AM

Really? You see much difference there? I am kinda skeptical about the upscaling DVD player.

No need to - they work and quite well :)

jjsf

12-10-05, 11:25 AM

Thanks. I will give samsung 850 a try then. But from early morning to now, CC has uped its price by $10. I notice CC changes online discount quite often. When I bought the TV a couple weeks ago, the amount of online discount will change a couple times daily during the week.

mfan

12-10-05, 10:23 PM

Hi, all! This is my first HDTV. I upgraded from a 17-yr old JVC CRT, which is still going strong. But, I've wanted to upgrade for a long time, and this was too good a deal to pass up.

I've played around with it for a couple of days and have a few questions that I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable about this unit or HD in general can enlighten me:

1. What is the low power setting used for? I noticed it darkens the entire picture, but how is that better/different than just turning down the brightness/contrast settings?

2. How long is the break-in period? I reduced all settings to ~35 and, not surprisingly, the picture is now quite flat. I wonder how long I have to endure this before I can safely fine tune them to something more realistic?

3. I noticed some temporary (like over an hour) image retentions. Is that normal? I was editing the channels to delete the ones I don't want for about 10-15 minutes, and when I switched back to viewing, the black bar at the bottom of the editing menu left a distinct image. I think it took over an hour (or more) of watching regular programs before it eventually disappeared.

4. Is there another way to stretch the image besides the "Ratio" setting? #3 above got me worried, so now I'm paranoid about trying to fill the entire screen when watching TV programs. However, that's when I noticed many OTA channels cannot be stretched to fill the entire screen. Many "HD" channels have black bars on both sides and some programs even have black bars on all four sides. These black bars will not disappear regardless what "Ratio" setting I tried. Is this normal? Is there another way to stretch the image?

Any help you can provide on these questions will be greatly appreciated!

TIA! :D

ClarkeBar

12-11-05, 01:18 AM

Chilli_Dog

12-11-05, 08:37 AM

Add me to the list of new owners. Replaced a troublesome Sony GWIII with this bad boy. HD basketball was just jawdropping last night. I'm still trying to tweak my SD and DVD picture, but am confident I'll get those dialed in soon. So far, very very satisfied.

mfan

12-11-05, 10:21 PM

Use the Orbiter function in the ISM menu at all times. It must be reset after each use of Whitewash. Image retention lasts much longer with the ISM at Normal.

I have the 42" ED with over 2000 hours on it now and have no burn-in at all. After 100-200 hours of use, you should be better able to raise the levels without concern. As you have discovered, some HD content still presents bars even at 16:9. Don't worry about any of this. And don't be troubled by the image retention...the set retains what the last screen content held for quite a long time. You can prove this simply by turning off the set on a channel with heavy graphics. Turn it back on even after hours of down time and the last screen images will present themselves on the darkish screen just before imagery kicks in.

I recommend routinely using Whitewash every so often, whether you see anything or not. I will often just set up the Whitewash and leave it on for 10-20 minutes or so, especially if there has been long sessions of Menu use such as during calibration checks.

I sometimes use the Low Power setting for analog SD channels with my HD Comcast service. This content has such variation and can have so many different kinds of problems I find Low Power often helps deliver a smoother, cleaner SD picture. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks, ClarkeBar! Implying from what you said, I guess there is no other way of stretching non-16:9 images to full screen on this unit... That's too bad.

I understand what you said about whitewash, but if my understanding of the plasma/CRT technology is correct, too much whitewash will shorten the display life. It's essentially an accelerated wearing of the glowing plasma element (don't know exact terms). So, I'd use it strategically as the last resort on stubborn retention problems.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the analog SD images. They look much better than I had expected. At my viewing distance of ~12', they're quite watchable...bigger and sometimes better than the 16-yr old CRT it replaced!

I'll keep it on the Low Power setting until after the break-in period.

jjsf

12-12-05, 11:07 AM

See what you think of these:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282

The picture will seem dark to you.

Joe

Yeah I saw your post. You said 'more to come', and that's why I asked if you have done more. :) I tried your settings before. Actually at brightness setting at 68, and contrast setting low, the pictures looked too dull/washed out to me. I had to turn the brightness down to below 40 and maintain the contrast around 45-50 with HDMI input. With Svideo, my brightness was further down to 20-30 range. It would be hard to believe that's due to the personal preference. I tend to think it's the difference in internal service setting variation between the sets.

ClarkeBar

12-12-05, 12:51 PM

Thanks, ClarkeBar! Implying from what you said, I guess there is no other way of stretching non-16:9 images to full screen on this unit... That's too bad.

I understand what you said about whitewash, but if my understanding of the plasma/CRT technology is correct, too much whitewash will shorten the display life. It's essentially an accelerated wearing of the glowing plasma element (don't know exact terms). So, I'd use it strategically as the last resort on stubborn retention problems.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the analog SD images. They look much better than I had expected. At my viewing distance of ~12', they're quite watchable...bigger and sometimes better than the 16-yr old CRT it replaced!

I'll keep it on the Low Power setting until after the break-in period.

You're welcome. :)

Actually you can use the cinema zoom on some of that HD 16:9 material but by the time you minimize or remove the sidebars the image is either too truncated, distorted and/or soft.

I agree about the Whitewash and didn't mean to give the wrong impression. I generally use it for very short periods of time (<1 min.) for any temporary imagery which normal Orbiter use is not removing quickly. And the few occasions I use a long session of Whitewash always occur due to special circumstances. One involves heavy menu usage during calibration runs (the Zenith internal menus can interfere rather significantly with some of the test DVD images - no adjustable transparency level as with some DVD players) and it can take a good bit longer than I would like to get things right. Or sometimes I stupidly fall asleep and leave the set on and up comes some heavy box graphics during the night or some content with dark sidebars. Then I have to use a longer session to reduce the effect down to where the Orbiter will deal with it. But glad to say nothing has stuck onscreen...only lingered for awhile.

When powering up you can get a very good idea of your screen condition. After reaching the secondary (but lighter) dark screen, the last panel imagery (if any lingers - usually graphics or bars are required) is identifiable for a second or two before full imagery kicks in. Orbiter useage generally removes all of this during normal operation...except for the circumstances I related above which can linger far longer and cause more concern. At other times when powering up one can also see some form of channel pre-imagery, especially if the content contains graphical bars.

I too am generally impressed with SD on these sets but apparently providers make all the difference in results. When something comes up on SD that I can't watch anywhere else I usually use either/both the low power setting and 4:3 to improve things.

Good Luck with the set. It sure is a great buy.

Joe Q

12-12-05, 04:15 PM

Yeah I saw your post. You said 'more to come', and that's why I asked if you have done more. :) I tried your settings before. Actually at brightness setting at 68, and contrast setting low, the pictures looked too dull/washed out to me. I had to turn the brightness down to below 40 and maintain the contrast around 45-50 with HDMI input. With Svideo, my brightness was further down to 20-30 range. It would be hard to believe that's due to the personal preference. I tend to think it's the difference in internal service setting variation between the sets.

It was not personal preference that I used but the fact that I can feed AVIA and VE through Component 1 using MYHD,Component 2 using my DVD player, PC input using WinDVD/TT.

I also have some Transport Stream test patterns that were generated with a High Def generator and published in avsforum.

I guess one could argue that I did use personal preference on the HDMI input.
I set it to the Component1 setting and then played back Smallville on HDNET and the Sunrise series on Discovery HD. I used those to tweak the HDMI seting.

Smallville is good to use because (besides having an amazing PQ), it has a lot of RED's in it.

My Svideo is connected to the OSD of my Amplifier so I have those setting's merely turned waaaay down.

By more to come, I meant that I am carefully experimenting with the Service menu settings but I am not ready to publish any results yet. Eg. I can nail the Red push via the service menu whereas you do have to do some tradeoff on the other colos when just using the User Controls.

There are literally hundreds of setting's in the service menu A and B. Some have names which makes sense (like GMMA or RCUT) and other's I am clueless about.

I have been writing down what the setting is before I mess with it - assuming the name makes some sense to me. Otherwise, I don't touch it.

As far as what you said about the service settings, perhaps we could somehow publish what both of our sets are set to?
I am not writing all those down. I was thinking of taking some photos of the service display settings.

Ideas?

jjsf

12-12-05, 04:26 PM

As far as what you said about the service settings, perhaps we could somehow publish what both of our sets are set to?
I am not writing all those down. I was thinking of taking some photos of the service display settings.

Ideas?

Thanks. Yeah, I should check my service menu settings. I will post those when I get around to do it. Does LG sell service manual? When I first bought my Panny XF series 480p CRT set, I was able to order a service manual from them.

I came to my settings (Component and Svideo) using the original Video Essentials DVD. I mainly used it for checking blooming, pluge ( I couldn't get the black bar to show, so I set the brightness to a point where I barely see the gray bar. ), color and tint.

vpass24

12-14-05, 02:15 AM

mfan

12-14-05, 02:26 AM

Does LG sell service manual?

I just bought one for the Z50PX2D. It has 33 page in a pdf file format. It uses terminologies that I don't understand, and things like schematics, diagrams, flow charts, specifications, are all Greek to me... :confused:

I'd be willing to provide a copy to anyone who can make use of it to help non-techies, like me, in fine tuning our TVs. Just PM me. The only condiiton is you must publish your findings and settings in this forum... ;)

Cheers!

Byron Walter

12-14-05, 08:39 AM

Hi,
Thank you all for great input. Finally I pulled the trigger and purchased one from Circuit City. It has great picture qualities with both HD signal and DVD, in comparison with my old 31" CRT TV. Haven't try some of the fancy setting I read in this thread.

One thing I haven't read, but bothering me, is that I can hear some kind of noise coming from back of the panel. The noise sounds like some old fluorescent tubes would make, and sometimes is louder than other. I can hear it probably 15 feet away with audio off. (Yes, I am the one cannot withstand any loose part in a car and can hear it if there is a nail in the tire.)

Have you guys hear the same noise? or it is by chance I get a noisy panel? or it is just me? My friend's 42 Panny don't have this issue.

Thanks.

I'm about 10 feet back from my Z and I don't hear any noise. But maybe you have very good hearing? OTOH I haven't read of any one else hearing the set's innards humming away (although this is a characteristic of 'some' plasmas and might be considered normal).

Last night I hooked up a Samsung 850 DVD plalyer via the HDMI connection. My previous two and a half year old Panasonic player was feeding component 2. I considered the Sony DVD player (priced identically to the Samsung) but the Sammy came with the HDMI cable. That made the choice pretty easy as the Circuit City HDMI cables were really expensive.

At either 720p or 1080i I really didn't notice any increase in picture detail but the colors and black detail seemed much better. My initial settings were/are brightness 40, contrast 50, sharp 40 (I like increments of '5') and cool color temp. Can't recall my other settings.

Byron

jjsf

12-14-05, 09:19 AM

I just bought one for the Z50PX2D. It has 33 page in a pdf file Cheers!

Great. How much did it cost? How did you get it? from LG customer service?
Joe seems to be the only person who have looked into the service menu here. Do he want to take on this? I haven't tried to tried yet myself.

mmpotash

12-14-05, 10:11 AM

vpass24,

My Zenith is quiet.

jjsf

12-14-05, 11:41 AM

Mine is quiet too.

I have one question. I used the original video essential DVD to adjust the TV. I really only used a few patterns such as pluge, and color bars. For those who have had experience, do you think buying the new DVE will help more? Also the Borders store computer lists DVE for NTSC, 720p and 1080i, and it only has the NTSC in stock. Are there really different versions? Thanks.

Joe Q

12-14-05, 02:16 PM

I just bought one for the Z50PX2D. It has 33 page in a pdf file format. It uses terminologies that I don't understand, and things like schematics, diagrams, flow charts, specifications, are all Greek to me... :confused:

I'd be willing to provide a copy to anyone who can make use of it to help non-techies, like me, in fine tuning our TVs. Just PM me. The only condiiton is you must publish your findings and settings in this forum... ;)

Cheers!

Please use PM and I will give you my email address.

I will publish my findings - I promise

Joe Q

12-14-05, 02:18 PM

Joe Q

12-14-05, 02:23 PM

Hi,
(Yes, I am the one cannot withstand any loose part in a car and can hear it if there is a nail in the tire.)

Like my brother always says in his old car when a squeak appears "Turn the radio up"

Seriously though, my Zenith is quiet as a church mouse. I did not even know it had a fan until someone posted about it.

The ONLY time mine makes any noise is when I turn on an AM radio when the TV is on and it is not the TV but the radio.
I posted about this before but no one seemed to care or have a problem but the AM static that this TV produces makes it totally impossible to listen to the radio when the TV is on.

If I could post an mp3 of it you would be astounded at how bad it is.

It has a solid 35 foot range of effect.

mfan

12-14-05, 02:43 PM

The ONLY time mine makes any noise is when I turn on an AM radio when the TV is on and it is not the TV but the radio.
I posted about this before but no one seemed to care or have a problem but the AM static that this TV produces makes it totally impossible to listen to the radio when the TV is on.

If I could post an mp3 of it you would be astounded at how bad it is.

It has a solid 35 foot range of effect.

I remember reading your post. But, since we don't listen to AM radio any more (except occasionally in a car), it's not an issue for us, and I suspect the same for most people. Just for my curiosity, I'll try it tonight... ;)

vpass24

12-14-05, 02:45 PM

Thanks for prompt replies. I am thinking I may have a noisier Z panel. I peered through the venting holes at the back of the panel , and looks like most of the noise is coming from a circuit board (with three green led lights) in the middle. The noise became less obvious only after I turned up the TV volume to 30s.

I hate to do it, but I'll try to replace with another one to see can get quieter. I'll keep you posted.

ClarkeBar

12-14-05, 05:44 PM

Definitely sounds like something either too tight or too loose causing some harmonics. I know the Zenith Cablecard models have a noise associated with Card use but it is very low and likely some kind of venting fan. You should not have to turn up the volume that much to mask a noise under any circumstances. I agree you should get yourself another one.

Joe Q

12-14-05, 06:47 PM

Joe Q

12-14-05, 06:53 PM

I remember reading your post. But, since we don't listen to AM radio any more (except occasionally in a car), it's not an issue for us, and I suspect the same for most people. Just for my curiosity, I'll try it tonight... ;)

I would appreciate it cause I would like to see if my TV has a problem.

I like to listen to a particular all talk radio station while I am doing stuff around the house.
If I turn the Zenith on (I like to run it in low power mode with some Super resolution Nature scene screen savers ), the sound on the radio is nearly 100% static.

A PITA.

jaypb

12-16-05, 11:09 AM

mfan

12-16-05, 01:52 PM

Just purchased this model after deciding to return a Samsung 50" Pedestal DLP to Circuit City. I noticed while perusing the manual (online) that the TV comes with 2 wall clips that you can utilize to attach wires to the back of the unit if you are locating the TV on a stand/table . I was wondering if the base of the unit is metal or plastic, as I'm thinking about drilling holes in the base to secure it to the stand I bought. Not sure if this is even an option based on the material/design of the base but I have an 18 month old and a 5 year old and I'm not yet ready to wall mount the TV so I'm just trying to lay out some options in advance (safety wise).

Thanks

Welcome aboard, jaypb! Joe Q is our resident expert on this unit. You might want to take a look at his thread on fine tuning the picture settings:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282

Of course, everyone's preference is different, so YMMV.

Mine is still in the break-in period. I got it about 2 weeks ago when it was on sale at CC. I think I'm now up to ~50 hours. Once I break 150, I'll play around with DVE to see how my preferred setting match Joe's... ;)

Joe Q

12-16-05, 07:50 PM

JI noticed while perusing the manual (online) that the TV comes with 2 wall clips that you can utilize to attach wires to the back of the unit if you are locating the TV on a stand/table . I was wondering if the base of the unit is metal or plastic, as I'm thinking about drilling holes in the base to secure it to the stand I bought. Not sure if this is even an option based on the material/design of the base but I have an 18 month old and a 5 year old and I'm not yet ready to wall mount the TV so I'm just trying to lay out some options in advance (safety wise).

Thanks

The clips they refer to are for you to put a tie back on the top of the TV set to a wall.

Best description I can come up with is this is the same thing one does to secure a Christmas tree. Tie a rope to the top and then secure rope to something.

The stand is a very heavy plastic (look at the weight specs with and without the stand ) stand that is quite well constructed.

If you secure the TV with the tie back so it can not be tipped over then the only worry you would have is when the 5 year old decided it made a great crayon drawing surface.

I see no reason to ruin that nice looking stand just to bolt the stand down but I don't have any small kids.

Joe

Joe Q

12-16-05, 07:55 PM

I started a thread on calibration and stuff for this TV in case anyone is interested.

It will continue to be a work in progress so if you have an interest, I would subscribe to the thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=604282

Joe Q

12-16-05, 08:03 PM

You are all aware that you can take a standard VGA connection from your PC and connect it to the Zenith's PC input. The only kicker is that you must set the resolution to 1024x768 but it is a simple setup to mdo.

That is fine for most things but if you are into HTPC use, you probably want to get closer to the TV's pixel spec.

I have the YPB Dongle for the ATI Radeon (I use a 9600).

I connected that up to Component input 1 and between ATI Catalyst and Power Strip, I am able to get a 1280x720P display ie. 720P which is the HDTV spec.

I have about 1/2 of an Icon's worth of oversscan on the top and on the left side but I am sure if I kep putszing, I can get it nearly perfect.

I put up a true 720P still image that I have (I am puting together a killer 720P screensaver) and you can really tell the improvement in PQ with the 720P setting. I was surprised.

I knew my Ir controlled component switch box would still be needed and it is cause now I have 3 component sources.

Joe

mfan

12-16-05, 11:58 PM

I would appreciate it cause I would like to see if my TV has a problem.

I like to listen to a particular all talk radio station while I am doing stuff around the house.
If I turn the Zenith on (I like to run it in low power mode with some Super resolution Nature scene screen savers ), the sound on the radio is nearly 100% static.

A PITA.

Joe,

I finally had a chance to test the AM reception at my house. Sorry it took so long. I just had too many holiday stuffs to take care of. Anyway, my experience was very different from yours.

I tuned a small pocket AM radio to a strong local news station and walked toward the TV. The reception was fine until I got within 4'-5' of the TV, that's when static started. By the time I was 2' away, it was 100% static. This same pattern was repeated from both sides and from the front. I couldn't test the rear because there wasn't enough space there. Turning the TV on/off does not appeared to affect radio receptions elsewhere in the house.

You may want to test a simple pocket radio. If you still have problem, then it's likely that your TV is missing some sort of shields.

Cheers!

Joe Q

12-17-05, 08:51 AM

Thanks - that sucks.

I spotted this because I have a 'pocket' radio that I had on in the background when I fired upn the TV to do some testing. Nearly jumped out of my skin it was so loud.

Then I went upstairs and turned on the AM Clock Radio Alarm Clock - LOTS of static.

I did not bother with checking front/back,etc. as it is like a giant force field around the TV.

FM reception had NO static.

I really don't want to have to take this TV off the wall and back to CC where I bought it.

gby

12-17-05, 10:42 AM

I started looking into the service menu to see what was there. I recognized an Ananlog Devices part number AD9883A. In looking it up I saw that it was an A/D to interface to a VGA input. What I find interesting in looking at this chip was that this chip is directly capable of 1280x1024 at 75Hz. This could explain Joe Q's partial sucess with doing 1280x720 on the VGA input.

I then googled AD9883A and found an interesting thread on another forum for an LG plasma using this chip that looks to have a very deep dive into the service menu for that TV. There are likely to be a number of simularities of those menu items to our TV :) .

can't post URL's yet so just google AD9883A and LG. For me it was the first link which is to a Digital Home Forums page.

gby

For those interested in techie details on this chip below is a short blurb from the chip manufacturer.

From Analog Devices web site:

AD9883A - Highly Integrated Graphics Interface Chip Includes Three
8-Bit/110 MSPS ADCs

Product Description:

The AD9883A is a complete 8-bit 140 MSPS monolithic analog interface
optimized for capturing RGB graphics signals from personal computers and
workstations. Its 140 MSPS encode rate capability and full-power analog
bandwidth of 300 MHz supports resolutions up to SXGA (1280 x 1024 at 75
Hz). The AD9883A is sold in both industrial and commercial temperature
grade products.

Check out Analog Devices web site and search on AD9883A for full details.

Joe Q

12-17-05, 12:58 PM

Just a point of clarification, the AD9883A is an A/D convertor to handle any RGB input's into the TV.
It is NOT used for anything already in the digital domain like the HDMI input on the Zenith.

Point being that tweaking it for the HDMI input (in my case, my HDTIVO) will do Nada.

The A version is an improved version of the original one and here is the press release:

"Analog Devices, Inc. announced a highly integrated graphics interface IC that includes three 110 MSPS 8-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with on-chip phase-locked loop (PLL) circuitry and RGBIN clamps. The AD9883, with its higher level of functional integration, has excellent performance with fully specified ADC and PLL characteristics that reduce design complexity and risk, while lowering the cost of the end system, a company news release said.

Fully compatible with advanced RGB graphics standards, the AD9883 is optimized for XGA and SXGA applications including LCD monitors, plasma display panels, digital projectors, and digital TVs (DTVs). The device supports high-resolution display monitors up to 1280 x 1024 pixels at 60-Hz refresh rates."

jaypb

12-17-05, 01:02 PM

My TV just arrive and out of the box the picture looks very nice. I did a quick scan for OTA channels and found most of the ones that my D* HD Tuner finds, but some are missing....got a little scared when realizing just how long the scan took (burn-in paranoia :eek: ) .

Question: I have a D* STB hooked up via component and the picture looks very nice right now without futzing with any settings. Went to hook up the DVI---->HDMI wiring and noticed that the only audio for DVI was an "analog" input---a single one at that. I'm assuming I have to go get a L/R audio ---->single RCA Jack dongle at Radio Shack or something along those lines.

Anyone else running an HDMI--->DVI video input care to share some info regarding the audio connection?

Thanks

Joe Q

12-17-05, 06:54 PM

Anyone else running an HDMI--->DVI video input care to share some info regarding the audio connection?

Thanks

I run an HDMI connection from my D* HDTIVO to the TV.

The sound will come out through the TV's speakers because audio and video is carried on HDMI.

95% of the time, I just play all my audio through the 5.1 surround setup but ocassionally when just watching the news and stuff (or worrying about somebody messing with the Power amp knob) , it is nice to be able to get the audio right from the TV over that HDMI cable.

Hope any of this helps.

vpass24

12-18-05, 12:13 PM

To get back my earlier post. I replaced the "noisy" at CC yesterday. I still can hear the "humming" sound from the new one, but only within 5', I can live with that.

To Joe Q, I tested the AM radio interference by both panels, as mfan had observed, the interference appeared only within 4' of Z in both cases. I used a paperback book sized AM/FM/SW radio.

I also have a question about how to use Avia calibration DVD (not very user friendly to me): What aspect ratio should I use? It doesn't look right using 16:9 setting. Only the white and black levels make sence to me. Most likely, I will end up with using numbers post earlier on this thread.

Joe Q

12-18-05, 04:23 PM

A) To get back my earlier post. I replaced the "noisy" at CC yesterday. I still can hear the "humming" sound from the new one, but only within 5', I can live with that.

B) To Joe Q, I tested the AM radio interference by both panels, as mfan had observed, the interference appeared only within 4' of Z in both cases. I used a paperback book sized AM/FM/SW radio.

C) I also have a question about how to use Avia calibration DVD (not very user friendly to me): What aspect ratio should I use? It doesn't look right using 16:9 setting. Only the white and black levels make sence to me. Most likely, I will end up with using numbers post earlier on this thread.

A) That is indeed very odd because I can not hear a peep out of mine. I did not know there was even a fan until I was told about it. I have to get right behind ther set and a few inches away to hear that fan.

5' is pretty far away considering that a lot of people like to watch a 50" HDTV at 8 or less feet.

Check this out:
http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Did you check out the Zenith at CC for the humming noise before you took it home?
I ask because I am wondering if you have a ground problem at your house.

I know I do. I have to use a 3 prong to 2 prong adaptor for the Power plug on my main amp otherwise I get a slight hum from it.

B) Thanks - that makes 2 that don't have a probelm with AM static and to me it is a big deal because i listen to talk radio a lot.
Could not listen to it for nearly 3 hours this morning as I was messing with Powerstrip on the component input trying to nail 1280x 720P

Not sure what if anything I am going to do about it.

C) I agree that AVIA is a PITA so I end up using VE or some high def color bar patterns that I have posted on my website.
If interested, go here:
http://southriver.web.aplus.net/

and choose the High Definition Calibration Pattern's" link

jaypb

12-18-05, 05:21 PM

Just curious as to how is everyone changing inputs with the remote (i.e going from HDMI to DVD or internal tuner). Are you just using the remote and scrolling from Component to Component to HDMI etc...? Or is there an easier way that I missed in the manual? I'm only currently using Component 2/HDMI and the internal tuner and it's a bit of a pain to keep hitting TV/Video multiple times to get from the internal tuner back to HDMI when I go from local HD to D* HD.

The Samsung DLP that I returned before getting this TV allowed you to only have a choice of the inputs that currently had a signal, while a friends Sony allows him to "skip" inputs from a setting in the menu.

Thanks

Joe Q

12-18-05, 06:56 PM

Just curious as to how is everyone changing inputs with the remote (i.e going from HDMI to DVD or internal tuner). Are you just using the remote and scrolling from Component to Component to HDMI etc...? Or is there an easier way that I missed in the manual?
Thanks

I did not bother with the manual since I use an MX800 to control all my HT gear.

I was able to find an MXF file for this TV on remotecentral.com that had discrete setting's for each input.

I took that and made more updates to my MX800 with everthing for the TV including,for example, a button that says "DVD" which will switch the input to component 1.

I am sure someone will chime in to tell you how to use the Zenith remote to do what you want but if you have a Pronto or a Home Theater Master MX series, I can give you my MXF file if you want.

I also have a setting called ServA and ServB that will put you into the the 2 service menus if you are intersested.

gby

12-19-05, 08:53 PM

Joe Q,

If the grounding in your house is messed up that might explain the TV interfering with your AM radio more than others. Before reading your post about having grounding problems and having to float your main amp with a 3 to 2 adapter I thought that you might have a poor ground on the TV chassis.

Just a thought.

gby

mfan

12-20-05, 02:19 AM

Joe Q

12-20-05, 07:14 AM

Has anyone mounted their Zenith on the wall? Which mount are you using? Does it cover up the access to cable/wire connectors? Right now my TV is sitting on top of a dresser. We'll be moving in a month. I plan to mount it on the wall after the move.

Joe Q,
I know your Zenith is mounted on the wall. What mount did you use? Does it work well?

Thanks,
Mark

I used the Ominmount Tilt 4 (I think it was the 4, it is the biggest that they make)

Mounting the TV covers up access to the top row of connectors but you can get to the power plug and the HDMI connector.

It is not so much that it covers them up but that there is not enough clearance to get back there once mounted. If you had hands the size of a 4 year old, I suppose you get get at them.

Future proof it:

I simply connected cables to EVERY connector back there and wire tied the unused ones into a loop that I put up behind the bottom of the panel but is hidden by the panel.

The mount I used works really well. It was simple to install and is VERY sturdy.

The hardest part was using the sonic stud finder to get to the exact center of the stud since the mount comes with Monster sized bolts and I did not want to hear the dread crack of splitting wood when I put them on with the socket wrench.

You find the stud edges with the stud finder and them use a nail to poke through the wall and find the edges of the stud and then run a square up the wall to draw a line over top of the center of the stud for a few feet,

Nice thing about installing this thing was that it did not matter how much marking or mess making you did because the bracket hides almost everything and the Plasma panel hides the rest:)

Red89gt

12-20-05, 10:50 AM

jaypb

12-20-05, 10:10 PM

Is anyone else using a Samsung HD receiver with this TV? I tried setting up the remote using the Samsung code under "STB's" (only one code given in the manual) and it didn't "take". Anyone else run into any similar issues when trying to program the remote?

Thanks

mfan

12-21-05, 01:05 AM

Here is my set up. I was going to put the cables in the wall but I will probably just hang them in the middle and they won't be noticable.

My basement is still under finishing remodel, thus no doors, baseboard, etc.

Thanks for the picture. It looked like a good setup. What mount did you use? Does it work well?

mfan

12-21-05, 01:09 AM

I used the Ominmount Tilt 4 (I think it was the 4, it is the biggest that they make)

The hardest part was using the sonic stud finder to get to the exact center of the stud since the mount comes with Monster sized bolts and I did not want to hear the dread crack of splitting wood when I put them on with the socket wrench.

Thanks, Joe! I got a Sanus from Costco that I'm gonna try out. If it doesn't work, I'll try the Omnimount. Thanks for point out about the stud center.

Red89gt

12-22-05, 08:55 AM

Thanks for the picture. It looked like a good setup. What mount did you use? Does it work well?

Mount was great and pretty good quality for a universal application.

It was made by Peerless Industries.

I was happy with it.

gby

12-22-05, 09:31 AM

jaypb

12-22-05, 09:50 AM

If anyone's interested, I shot an e-mail off to Zenith regarding not being able to get the Samsung STB code listed in the manual to control my D* HD STB. Not sure I expected to ACTUALLY get a useful answer, but at least they do read the e-mails.... :D

"Thank you for inquiring of Zenith Electronics. The STB function is simply 'SET TOP BOX'. If there is a compatible code for a DirecTV receiver then it should be listed. However, these are the only codes which we have available. If you do not find a compatible code, then we have no others, and the units will be incompatible. For further information or troubleshooting, you may contact us at 800-243-0000 for LG Customer Service assistance. An agent will be glad to assist you. Thank you again for contacting LG Electronics. Neil E-mail Administrator Customer Interactive Center LGEAI"

jjsf

12-22-05, 10:25 AM

I couldn't find the remote code for the Motorola DVR box initially. I ended up just trying the combinations from 000. If any one is interested, I think I got it at 074. Not too much work. :)

mfan

12-22-05, 01:22 PM

I couldn't find the remote code for the Motorola DVR box initially. I ended up just trying the combinations from 000. If any one is interested, I think I got it at 074. Not too much work. :)

Yup, I find the last resort of using the "brute force" method usually works... :p

Thanks for sharing...

mfan

12-22-05, 01:36 PM

I ran across a remote code that gives access to what looks like a full calibration menu for the Z50PX2D that includes the standard items such as Brightness, Contrast, etc but also Red, Green, Blue gain, offset and horizontal, verticle size, position. I did a fairly detailed posting with the details in Joe Q's Zenith Z50PX2D 50" Plasma Settings thread where he first posted info about 2 other service menu screens which seems to give low level access to hardware/software details.

For those interested check it out.

For those who have programmable remotes and want to see this screen now:

EA is code that would be listed in the manual if it were listed. (= 234 decimal)
335 is the One For All/Radio Shack advanced code

gby

Joe Q's setting thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6769423#post6769423

Wow! That's great! Thanks for sharing your finding! :D

Pls educate a newbie like me... What are these remote codes you listed? What kind of programmable remote do I need to go get? Is there a thread/forum on programmable remotes for me to better acquaint with the various alternatives?

TIA!

gby

12-22-05, 02:07 PM

To find out more about the remote codes, go to www.remotecentral.com. The whole site is dedicated to remote controls ranging from the $20-$30 cheapie's to the multi hundred super fancy. They even have tons of reviews of individual remotes and a tool where you input your preferences including price and they make recommendations including links to their reviews.

Another good resource is a Home Theater Magazine article "Universal Remote Roundup" from September. Here's the link:

http://www.hometheatermag.com/accessories/905remote/

To play with these codes one of the best less expensive easier to use ones IMHO is the One For All brand that is also sold under the Radio Shack brand name. If you know their code (which is not the same number as that listed in the Zenith manual but which I gave you) you hit the SETUP key and then the three digit code and voila you sent it to the TV. Of course, you can also program it to a key but so far I don't think its a good idea to have calibration/service menus on remote keys!

Have fun!

gby

Joe Q

12-22-05, 05:56 PM

Mfan,
I agree with the advice that gby gave you plus his pointer to remotcentral is a good idea.

Remotecentral is just like avsforum but only for remote controls (friendly,lots of very knoweldgable people,etc.)

The one are that I may disagree is that if you you have a decent amount of HT gear, you may want to think about investing in a high end remote.

Personally, I am very biased towards the HTM line and have the MX800.
It is a hard button lcd type remote with the emhpasis on hard buttons.

You can use Pronto files in the HTM remotes and you can usually snag a great deal on an HTM on Ebay.
I think it is because a few of the models are really for custom installs and I guess the dealers get good prices on the few custom install models (MX700,800,1000) that they unload on the market.

I got both my MX700 and later, the 800 at a HUGE delta from the MSRP on Ebay.

I have an MXD file with all the features (plus some macros to simplify a few things) for the Zenith. It is part of my complete MXF file for all 10 of my variaous devices.
The one for the Zenith that was on remocentral was not so hot so I used a few items and then did the rest myself.

Have not gotten around to uploading mine to remotecentral.

On the subject of the service menu codes, I did snarf the * key out of a Pronto CCF file that I found on remotecental to use for my HTM since the HTM does not have that * key.

Sorry to go OT but:

To give you an idea of the HTM's versatility, after 9 months of owning my Nikon D70 camera, I found out that it had a remote that allowed remote firing of the shutter.
I was too cheap to spend the money on it plus I figured the HTM must be capable of doing that.

I heard that someone on remotecentral had taught (either the HTM or the Pronto as I forget now) the IR code for the NIkon D70 remote controller trigger.
As usual, I went to remotecentral, grabbed the code and now also use my MX800 to remotely fire the shutter on my camera.

A Home Theater remote being used to control a digital camera :)

If you have a digital camera with remote control capabilitiliy, look into the HTM as a possible alternative.

mfan

12-22-05, 06:50 PM

Joe Q

12-23-05, 09:18 AM

Does it provide the functions needed for accessing the Zenith service menus?

On all these learning remotes:
If it has the * key programmed into it like the One For All does then YES otherwise, you will simply need to get that hex code into it.

Like I said, it is not an issue with the HTM line because you can get the codes from remotecentral or even better - get the MXD files from me since I have every function (including 2 'button's called SERVA & SERVB) for the Zenith programmed

nis240sxt

12-23-05, 04:27 PM

Just got my Zenith not too long ago and finally able to mount on entertainment center. So far i'm loving the Zenith for the money. It was between this or the panny but the $$ difference and also the panny did not support PC connections made it a no brainer. There is some red push on this display but that can be calibrated out I hope. Standard def is actually not bad but HD and DVD via HTPC is where it's at. Very happy so far.

Zenith Z50PX2D
Onkyo HT-S670
DVine HTPC-AMD/Nvidia Nforce/TheaterTek
Dish 811 Receiver

JohninTonawanda

12-28-05, 11:52 AM

I just bought this Zenith set 2 days ago. I am pretty new to this HD stuff and I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
I purchased an HDMI cable (mucho $$$) and hooked this TV up to my SA8300HD STB. Everything is fine except no sound coumes out the TV speakers when STB is tuned to the "standard" cable channels (Adelphia CH2-99).
Any advice you folks could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Currently I have the TV fed using component cables and it looks fine, I just assumed the HDMI cable would work better.

ClarkeBar

12-28-05, 01:05 PM

As posted by DoubleDaz in this long post on the 8300:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4682052&&#post4682052

"Audio Out Using HDMI Connection. An HDMI>HDMI or HDMI>DVI connection will automatically select 2 channel stereo if your TV does not support Dolby Digital (DD). In order to restore DD audio out to your receiver, you need to change the automatic setting. Press the Settings button twice and scroll to Audio: Digital Out. Change the setting from HDMI to Dolby Digital. This will force DD audio to the HDMI, as well as the digital/optical audio outs."

Since you say you are receiving the proper signal with Digital content but no 2 channel analog with SD...something seems amiss in the setup. Have you tried running analog cables from the STB as well as the HDMI just to check? I assume you are connected straight from the STB to the set and are not using a receiver? In connection with the quoted section above, is there an STB pass through for Audio as well as Video? Sounds like you need it set to pass through as it seems fixed on digital.

JohninTonawanda

12-28-05, 01:30 PM

Thanks for the quick reply, I did read DoubleDaz's post and I thought this section was related to getting Dolby Audio rather than Stereo Audio out of the 8300STB. In any event, I did change the selection in the 8300 STB and it did not make a difference, no audio on CH2-99 through the HDMI.
I added audio cables and still could not get audio into the Zenith (but I had TV set to HDMI input - I didnt see a way to get video from HDMI connection and Audio from another). When I changed to the appropriate input I did get the audio (but obviously no video because that was coming on another input - the HDMI).

Someone at the store told me that you cant send analog signals through the HDMI and that Adelphia's CH2-99 are analog channels. That makes sense but what confuses me is that I DO get the video on those channels.

I guess I am wondering if anyone is using just an HDMI cable to get HD and SD audio and video into their Zenith.

jjsf

12-28-05, 03:28 PM

I use HDMI cable and got both video and audio from all the channels. However mine is comcast service and the STB is motorola 3412. I read it somewhere about digital simcast of lower analog channels by comcast, but I haven't been following the cable technology these days, so I don't know.

74Capri

12-28-05, 05:34 PM

I got video only.....I had to run a seperate set of audio cables next to the hdmi port on the set.

I have a comcast stb, don't know the model # of hand.

By the way, not too crazy about hdmi anyhow, too many glitches.......
I'm running all component.......

Check out the: not ready for prime time, on hdmi , 1st page

Joe Q

12-28-05, 09:48 PM

I guess I am wondering if anyone is using just an HDMI cable to get HD and SD audio and video into their Zenith.

I have my HDTIVO hooked up via the HDMI cable and being able to get the sound from the TV speakers is a bonus.

When my folks come over to visit, my father HAS to have a TV on.

Used to be a PITA keeoing an eye on him because he goofed up one time on my MX800 and floored the amplifier.
I was so po'd because I assumed he had to have blown a speaker besides giving us all a heart attack with a gigawatt sound output.

I got lucky that time,though.

Now, all I have to do is give him the Tivo remote which I also learned the Zenith volume control into.
Now I can leave all the Home Theater gear turned off and he can listen to Directv through the TV speakers.

I love HDMI (besides the cost of the darn cable)

74Capri

12-28-05, 11:51 PM

Don't have to spend a lot of $$$ on a cable.........

Monoprice, excellent quality................

fishwater

12-30-05, 06:02 PM

Hello, I just purchased this set after doing a bunch of research. Thanks to all you folks for helping me in my decision. I liked the picture quality in the store but once I got it home I have been less than impressed. I have a few questions/problems that may be why I am not as pleased as I hoped.

My cable provider (metrocast, NH) is HORRIBLE. I just moved into this town in June, I had Comcast cable at my old house 10 minutes away. I have no choice other than Metrocast & the signal/picture quality is horrible. They tested the line when I moved in & said it was more than acceptable. I have the same cable box as I had before with comcast, a Motorola DCT 6200. Part of the reason why I went with the "lower" cost Zenith set was because of my poor reception. Why feed a poor signal to a super high quality set? I have digital cable as well as some HD programing.

Now my first problem(the big one), the cable box a has DVI output. I bought a monster DVI>HDMI cable & have to run a seperate analog rca into stereo 1/8 jack for audio. Being an audiophile this troubles me more than I care to admit, I hate to say it around here but I have three times more invested in my two chanel rig than I do my TV So the problem I am having is that I can only get my HDTV chanels to display with this method. My input on the TV is set for HDMI/DVI, my cable box is configured for DVI output. The only chanels I can display are HDTV chanels, the rest will show "invalid format" & the screen will be blacked out. The only way I can get all my chanels is to use the componet inputs, is this correct or am I missing something here? The picture quality is OK with this method but it still doesn't come close to what I saw in the store from a signal that is probably split 85 times.***** EDIT************* OK, I played with the output settings on the cable box & was able to get all my chanels while using the DVI/HDMI cable if I set the output to 480p. Now I can see my digital cables but they look horrible, fuzzy & with alot of ghosting, really poor but I can see them. ***************

The next issue was when I tried to adjust the contrast & brightness down to help break in. The factory settings are 85-100 for brightness & slightly less for contrast. When I turn everything down around 50 I get a HORRIBLE picture, where have the users of this set found the "sweet spot" to be? I certainly do prefer the picture quality with everything jacked up like that but know it will decrease the set life. I don't believe a TV should have to have such high levels of brightness & contrast to achieve a striking picture. Maybe mine is defective & I need to go back to the stores that I like the picture quality at to see where the levels are? I am sure they are jacked up as well.

I played the Nemo DVD through my spare Sony cheapo DVD & the picture was certainly better than my cable signal but not that impressive, kind of grainey still with exagerated reds, not much detail.

The final issue that I am seeing is a very red screen, I guess it is called red push? I don't know but it is very exagerated on this set. I have played with the temp settings & it does help some.

Overall I guess I just need to tweak it & make sure it is set up properly first before I can judge it's quality. I just replaced a 2002 Toshiba Grand Cinema HDTV with this & while I know it is hard to beat the tube picture quality I figured I would be alot closer than I am at this point. That set was plug & play, simple. Please show me how to set this up so I don't have to return it, I know it can produce a better pic than it has so far.

fishwater

12-30-05, 06:03 PM

I have moved this from another thread I started:

OK, either I am getting used to the picture or it is getting better somehow? the picture is still too dark for my tastes unless the brightness & contrast are up over 75%.

The digital chanels still look poor but the HDTV is acceptable over DVI/HDMI.

RobertDed

12-30-05, 07:54 PM

I just purchased the Z50PX2D earlier today. I compared it with several other models, many of which were more expensive. This unit certainly appeared to have to most bang for the buck. I was also informed that this is the exact same TV as a more expensive LD. The only difference are minor differences in the case. The LG has a slightly wider black frame around the picture. The unit is being delivered tomorrow and then I will really get to test the unit :)

Paychekk

12-30-05, 08:40 PM

nis240sxt

12-30-05, 11:21 PM

I have my HD Dish Receiver set to output 1080i via component to my Zenith and find that this shows the best quality in my eyes. My receiver also has a DVI output and I have tried it using a DVI>HDMI cable and the PQ was not as sharp or vibrant (color) as the component. You should also be able to output 1080i on your cable box, try that and see if it makes a difference. I do not use an upconverting dvd player so I cannot comment on the PQ. Instead, I play my dvds through a HTPC via DVI>HDMI cable and the PQ is excellent. I also prefer a brighter picture so I have my settings higher than most people here. There is alot of tweaking you should do before you give up on this set. Good luck!

Joe Q

12-31-05, 10:39 AM

I was also informed that this is the exact same TV as a more expensive LD. The only difference are minor differences in the case. The LG has a slightly wider black frame around the picture.

I read this statement all the time and it is NOT true.

The more expensive LG model uses the Farouda chip which is NOT in the Zenith.

With that said, I do own this TV and am pleased with it.

Granted, I compared it against a nearly 2x more $$$ Panasonic and the Panny was better but not 2x.

Plus, I refuse to spend a lot of money on any of today's big screen LCD or Plasma offerings (>= 50 ") because the best any of them can do is 720P.

Take a look some time at the price on the Fujitsu Plasma which does have the best PQ of any Plasma I have seen but why spend that kind of money on just 720P?

Byron Walter

12-31-05, 04:53 PM

I am looking at purchasing the Zenith plasma at BB by the end of January. The BB sales rep told me today that I need a upconverted DVD player(Samsung model) to get the best DVD quality of the 50" plasma. Does the upconverted DVD player make that big of difference in DVD playback picture quality, or should I go with a regular DVD player. And should I go with HDMI out to TV or component. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both. Also how does the zenith handle movies other than 16:9 anamorphic. Do you have to deal with black borders with partial screen picture or can you zoom these formats to where you get a full 50". I am a newbie researching.
Thanx
Mikey

Mikey,

Well I just returned a Samsung 850 upconverting playar and reconnected my 2 1/2 year old Panasonic DVD player (not sure of the model number). I tried the Samsung via component and HDMI (480p, 720p, & 1080i). Couldn't tell the difference. Worse, my old Panny produces a more detailed image. I will grant that the Samsung had a greater dynamic color range... better whites and blacks... but not enough to keep it.

I suggest you check out the standard def DVD section here and base your selection accordingly.

Byron

notorious_BUC

12-31-05, 06:41 PM

I am interested in this plasma, but I have limited depth available on my plasma tv stand. Would the base of the stand fit on a 11.5" deep shelf? There is a lip behind the shelf about 3 inches high that the stand would have to clear if it were any deeper than the 11.5 "

Thanks for honoring such a bizarre request from a newbie.

mlandau

12-31-05, 07:29 PM

it is 11.5" at its deepest point, the center.

notorious_BUC

12-31-05, 07:32 PM

Thanks for the info, mlandau. Hopefully I can ring in the new year with one tomorrow.

mfan

01-01-06, 03:30 AM

Do you have to deal with black borders with partial screen picture or can you zoom these formats to where you get a full 50". I am a newbie researching.
Thanx
Mikey

The Zenith has a cinema zoom where you can adjust the zoom factor. It's not a stretch, so if you want to cover up all black borders, you may lose some of the edges (either upper & lower or the sides depending on the original picture ratio).

jaypb

01-02-06, 04:27 AM

For those who bought this TV at CC within the last 30 days:

Just happened to notice that CC has the z50px2d on sale in this weeks circular. I'll be stopping by tomorrow for my price match. Hopefully I don't run into any issues as I've never tried CC's Customer Service on price matching a product that I had already bought from them. Coupled with the mail in rebate this price is making me happier and happier as the days go on..... ;)

A new issue I have noticed: I'm running my Samsung D* STB via a DVI--->HDMI cable. I'm now noticing a green tint on the HDMI input. When I switch back to Component output on the Samsung, there is no green tint. So I'm not sure if it's my D* receiver, the cable or the TV itself. I'll have to get my hands on another DVI--->HDMI cable and try that. My DVD player doesn't have an HDMI output....and I don't have an HDMI capable D* receiver to test out.

I also still haven't found a way to easily/quickly toggle from (i.e) the HDMI input to Component 2 or Component 1 without hitting the button on the top right of the remote and "scrolling" through ALL the inputs....or bringing up the menu and choosing the appropriate input that I want to switch to.

On my Toshiba HDTV's and the Philips HDTV I own I can simply hit "previous channel" and it will go back to the previous input....which this TV doesn't seem to do. No big deal....but just something I figured wouldn't be so difficult to do :p

A friend of mine (sight unseen) bought this TV after hearing my "review" as well as a few of my Xmas guests. Go figure.... :D

Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks!

jaypb

01-02-06, 06:43 PM

I ran across a remote code that gives access to what looks like a full calibration menu for the Z50PX2D that includes the standard items such as Brightness, Contrast, etc but also Red, Green, Blue gain, offset and horizontal, verticle size, position. I did a fairly detailed posting with the details in Joe Q's Zenith Z50PX2D 50" Plasma Settings thread where he first posted info about 2 other service menu screens which seems to give low level access to hardware/software details.

For those interested check it out.

For those who have programmable remotes and want to see this screen now:

EA is code that would be listed in the manual if it were listed. (= 234 decimal)
335 is the One For All/Radio Shack advanced code

gby

Joe Q's setting thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6769423#post6769423

I have yet to go out and pick up a one for all remote....but I did stumble across a few threads on other forums regarding a service menu for zenith LCD's/DLP's. Holding the menu on the front of the TV while holding the menu on the remote simultaneously for 5 seconds is supposed to open up a service menu on those TV's....but I haven't had a chance to try it yet on my TV (I'll have to wait until the kids....and the wife are asleep ;) )

Has anyone tried this....or at least came across it whilst perusing the web??

Thanks

Joe Q

01-02-06, 09:11 PM

Holding the menu on the front of the TV while holding the menu on the remote simultaneously for 5 seconds is supposed to open up a service menu on those TV's....

Thanks

I used to own the LG RU-52SZ51D DLP and to get into the service menu, you pressed Menu on TV and remote simultaneously for 5 seconds.

The thing is that only gives you an abbreviated set of menus plus it is a PITA cause you will find yourself popping out of the service menu a LOT.

That is why I asked/searched around and found that there are 2 service menus (the front panel deal gives a subset of those) and how to get into them using the * key.

I was pleasently surprised to find that the programmed codes for Service mode A and B that I had saved in my MX800 for the DLP worked identically for the Zenith Plasma. Not really a surprise I suppose considering they are the same manufacturer.

So I guess the point of my replying is that I see no reason why the front panel button trick should not work on the Plasma but I have not bothered to try because I already have my remote programmed for full access to both menus + you will quickly find that your choices in settings are very limited when you get in that way and will want Service mode A and B.

BTW, I have not forgotten about further updates to the calibration thread that I started.
I have been very busy for weeks with completely reararranging the den,sun rooom and living room thanks to this Plasma.

Hanging it on the wall opened up a whole host of options and I have had to re-run a zillion wires,setup a truly dedicated HTPC,etc.
Including spackling and painting.

The dual duty HTPC in the den is now just for PC use and I set one up in the sun room next to the living rom as well as moving ALL the Audio gear into a bookshelf in the sunroom so the Living room only has the Plasma and the speakers.

Sorry for going a bit OT but I am really pleased with how this project turned out.

Joe Q

01-02-06, 09:26 PM

Now that I am done my re-arranging project,I was able to get my HTPC all set up.

Thought I would pass on a few useful things I stumbled upon during the process.

I am able to use the component dongle for the ATI Radeon and get a screen resolution on the component iputs on the Plasma that works.

I get a tad of overscan but it is only a few pixels (Like 1/4 of an icon size).

I am running at 1248 x 702.

It is a proper 16x9 aspect ratio unlike the RGB input which only accepts the standard windows timings (640x480,etc.) with 1024 x 768 being the largest and is closer to being a 4:3 type aspect ratio.

Divide the 2 resolutions and you will see what I mean

The display looks great at 1248x702

I was able to get the TV to sync at 1366x 768 (native resolution of the TV) but I got a LOT of overscan which made it useless.

Also,Girder was not cutting it for everything that I wanted to do in PC mode so I bought the Gyroscope mouse and it's tiny keyboard.

Really cool mouse. It all runs on the 2.4 Ghz band so it has really good range.

Joe

mfan

01-02-06, 09:35 PM

vpass24

01-05-06, 03:08 AM

At the bottom of the TV, there is a On/Off switch, which I use sometimes to turn on/off TV. The switch on my panel worked randomly. One time it works fine, but at the other time, it does not work at all (Power button on the remote controller works all the time). Does any of you have similar experience? I would not drag this thing to do a replacement again because of this, but I am curious.

jjsf

01-05-06, 10:49 AM

Does any of you have similar experience?

No, it has been working fine for me. I always push it all the way and I think there is a click sound.

fishwater

01-05-06, 11:25 PM

Joe Q

01-06-06, 05:45 AM

I am seriously considering returning this set. The display does not seem bright enough for me unless I set the brightness all the way up.

Perhaps you have a bad one.

The specs indicate that it is very bright and I can attest personally that it is very bright.

I have posted my settings elsewhere and am not near the TV to check but I do have the Contrast and Brightness cranked down.

All the way up is in one of the built in pre-sets and it is so biright as to be very annoying.
You could read a book in the dark with the Daylight setting.

I do use that one to show the TV off to friends because until one get's serious about displaying films properly by getting the TV set to the darker film look , folks think a really bright and contrasty picture is better.

Doesn't AVIA have a brightness IRE test? If you have that disk, you could test your TV out.

Be a shame to get a new TV home only to find that your room is too bright for the TV and you say the same thing about the new one.

jaypb

01-06-06, 06:24 AM

I am seriously considering returning this set. The display does not seem bright enough for me unless I set the brightness all the way up. I checked the sets in the stores & of course they are turned up to 100% Will this decrease the life of the set? I imagine it would? I wish I could have seen the Maxent 50" at BB, the threads indicate it has a bright vibrant display.

Silly question, but did you check the menu to make sure that the "low power" setting (or whatever it's called) is set to "off"? When I first saw this set at CC I couldn't understand why it was so much "darker" than the other plasmas on the same wall. Then I grabbed the remote and went through the menu and saw the low power setting was on "on". Popped it to "off" and voila it instantly had a better picture.

For me, I'm still trying to figure out just WHY my picture is SUPER green on EVERY input (HDMI, OTA tuner, Component 1/2) ...unless I set the temp to "medium"? And this is AFTER going into the service menu and lowering the values of the G-Cut and G-Gain an absurd amount.

I really don't want to return the set and I don't have the time to futz around too much so I'll have a decision to make by the 14th (get another one or work with this one).

:confused:

fishwater

01-06-06, 07:11 AM

I have checked the low power setting. I keep thinking that the darker display is a more natural display overall but the color balance doesn't seem right. When looking quickly at the display my first instinct is that it is too dark. The old tube I had in the same room didn't seem to dark so I can't imagine the room is too bright? I guess my fear is that I end up past my 30 days & never fall in love with the set & get "stuck" with it.

Would it make sense for me to try the same settings that were posted here about this set in the service menu or doesn't each set require individual calibration?

gby

01-07-06, 09:31 AM

Is there a specific One for All remote I need to get? I was at Fry's and saw about 6-8 different models of One for All, each claimed different functionality and flexibility.

Do I need one that's programmable, upgradeable, macro capable, or any will do? Is there a specific key I need to look for on the remote?

Thanks!

mfan,

To my knowledge any One For All remote has the ability to send these codes. They all have a SETUP key that is used to program/set them up. The differences between models are memory capacity, number of buttons, backlighting, etc

Set the remote to TV, hit the SETUP key, and then press the three digit code and the remote sends that code. You just need to make sure that the device mode is already set. That is, when you set the remote to TV and push the power button (or whatever) the TV responds.

gby

eddiwill

01-09-06, 10:04 AM

Bought this set yesterday and am returning it today. All in all, I think it can be a good buy for the right viewer. Very nice on HD (OTA), though a bit soft for my tastes, particularly when compared to the sharpness of some recent RPTVs I have seen. Unfortunately, on DVD movies, false contouring is, for me, a big deal breaker. I watched two movies "Batman Begins" and "About a Boy" and the FC was extremely pronounced. Changes in contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc were of no help.

Very dark scenes were fine, as were very light scenes. The problem is readily apparent on scenes that are composed mostly of shadows and muted colors. It wasn't too bad on Batman Begins until the scene where they begin vaporizing Gotham's water, covering the city in a blanket of smoke. That entire section of the film was downright unwatchable. (see image attached, though a photograph, resized and compressed, doesn't have nearly the impact when viewed live on a 50" screen). Many of the scenes in "About a Boy" are set in dimly lit interiors, and there was an awful lot of color banding throughout, as well as what I refer to as "screen crawlies" where the plasma can't seem to "decide" what the actual color it is that it is rendering. Very distracting.

I tried the component connection with my Pioneer universal player and also the HDMI connection on a friend's Denon and the issue persisted. From what I have read, this is the Achille's Heel of plasma's--it certainly is for me! I definitely don't want to trash this set; all in all, I still think it can be a tremendous value for many folks, it's just not all that good on more critical movie watching.

Hope this helps some folks; this forum has been very helpful to me.

Joe Q

01-09-06, 11:04 AM

Bought this set yesterday and am returning it today. Unfortunately, on DVD movies, false contouring is, for me, a big deal breaker. I watched two movies "Batman Begins" and "About a Boy" and the FC was extremely pronounced. Changes in contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc were of no help.

Interesting - Thanks.

You are referring to Chapter 33 on Batman.

I can see the effect that you are referring to.

I did find some interesting things about this.

1) It was very pronounced if I set the TV to the Daylight mode but not so pronounced on my calibrated Normal mode.

2) The effect was almost (but not completely) gone when I watched that chapter with my Upconverting DVD Player. Not so with my standard Progressive scan player.

fishwater

01-09-06, 12:50 PM

jaypb

01-09-06, 02:13 PM

I returned mine yesterday & replaced it with the Toshiba 50HP95. In all fairness I don't think the Zenith was ever working correctly. The colors never seemed vibriant & display always looked dim. The final straw was excessive red's when I powered the set on yesterday, it was fine the night before. All that being said I never found the Zenith glass to look as nice as the higher priced LG.

Speaking of reds, I freaked out on Saturday night when I was watching a DVR'd recording of "Alexander" with Colin Farrell....towards the end there's a battle scene where EVERTYING goes into a blood red hue for not just seconds....but like minutes!!! I thought the TV had hit the $*it can!!! Started panicking fumbling for the remote....all my wife could do was laugh at my neuroticness.

I'm still trying to massage the green tint/hue out of dark scenes...but it's a work in progress. Last resort: I may go for the ole' ISF calibration....if only because this TV is going to be _THE_ main one in the house since it's right next to the kitchen. And I'm ready to start WATCHING TV....instead of playing with it :p

eddiwill

01-09-06, 04:00 PM

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

One question, if I go to an upconverting DVD player, do I HAVE to connect via HDMI, or will component suffice? (only have one on this TV and use it for DirecTV input).

The Fly

01-09-06, 04:06 PM

Hmmm... Tried the Batman Begins scene with JoeQ's settings and although I did see a Tiny bit of contouring it was only obvious if I "looked" for it and no where near to the pic you posted. I'm using the Samsung 850 upconverting DVD player through HDMI connection. Maybe you're having this problem because of a regular progressive scan DVD player?

Again, I'm really happy with the PQ of this set. I'm still fussing a bit with the calibration but I'm 100% happy. I looked at the set at my local CC and saw it right next to the LG, Panny and the Pioneer and it was only really beaten for PQ by the 2X more expensive Pioneer. No where near to where I would pay so much more for a slight improvement.

Now if someone could reccomend a universal remote for under $100. I'm feeling too lazy to do alot of research into it....

Joe Q

01-09-06, 04:42 PM

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

One question, if I go to an upconverting DVD player, do I HAVE to connect via HDMI, or will component suffice? (only have one on this TV and use it for DirecTV input).

As far as I know you do need to go to HDMI since the MPAA will not allow non copy protected high res video from DVD players.

HDCP over HDMI is the only way I am aware that this this protection is possible.

Course, if you were into HTPC's, you could get a MYHD card and use that for upconverting DVD's. That allows component OR DVI.

I now have 2 HDMI sources and am going to buy a switcher.
Check this out:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10106&cs_id=1010602&p_id=2721&style=&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

I ordered the 4 port HDMI switcher to be future proof.
I also ordered a 10 foot HDMI cable for a fantastic price.

This place has amazing prices but the website is a bit tricky to navigate.

Funny story:
I ordered the Switch just now but could not find an HMDI - HDMI cable so I was on another website getting ready to order the cable when the phone rang.

It was Monoprice who said that my card info was wrong. I told him that I was posting a link on a forum called avsforum about their switch and he thanked me for the referal.
Then he proceeds to tell me that they are an avsforum sponsor!

I explained that the sponsor list at the top of avsforum is so full of logos that I never look at it.

While I was talking to him, he told me that they DID carry HDMI cables and gave me the part number to type in so I could see the price.

Stuff gets shipped on Wednesday.

Joe

Joe Q

01-09-06, 05:08 PM

I'm still trying to massage the green tint/hue out of dark scenes...but it's a work in progress.

I don't have that issue but for what it is worth, I was playing around in the service mode (very carefully) and there is a setting for Gamma that you might want to mess with.

I can't say I recall seeing anything that had green in it's name though.

jaypb

01-09-06, 05:12 PM

I don't have that issue but for what it is worth, I was playing around in the service mode (very carefully) and there is a setting for Gamma that you might want to mess with.

I can't say I recall seeing anything that had green in it's name though.

I can recall seeing Gamma mentioned when gamers talk about adjusting PQ. I *think* I recall seeing Gamma in the SM I was popping in and out of (which was different visually/structurally apparently than the one you access with your remote).

I'll have to see if I can muster the anger/energy to futz around some more :D

Joe Q

01-09-06, 05:26 PM

Now if someone could reccomend a universal remote for under $100. I'm feeling too lazy to do alot of research into it....

EBAY - That is where I got my MX700 for an amazing price. Bit more than $100 though.

Regarding the comments about the Batman scene:
It is very subtle and I never noticed it when I watched the movie for the first time 2 weeks ago.

Now that it is pointed out, I can see what eddiwill saw but he did say that the photo he posted exagerated the effect because what I see is pretty subtle.
$5 bucks says I can calibrate that effect out:)

However, he said that perfection in DVD playback was an absolute requirement so it makes sense that this TV is not for him.

As for me, I have said it before - I refuse to pay a lot of money for a Plasma or LCD in the 50" + range that only does 720P.
Now that the specs are sneaking out on the PS3, it will have 1080P Blue Ray so this Zenith is 'good enough' until I can buy a 55" 1080P Plasma or LCD once they hit the $5000 mark.

Sure, you can buy a projection TV that does 1080P.
However, After having had everything from Direct Views/RP CRT HDTV's monsters and DLP's, I am now spoiled. To be able to hang a TV on the wall and not have it take over my living room makes my wife and me very pleased.

I have had so many friends over who remark how nice my Living Room looks now that it does not look like an AV store. Plus I have a LOT more room.

Joe Q

01-09-06, 09:30 PM

The problem is readily apparent on scenes that are composed mostly of shadows and muted colors. It wasn't too bad on Batman Begins until the scene where they begin vaporizing Gotham's water, covering the city in a blanket of smoke. That entire section of the film was downright unwatchable. .

Not to beat a dead horse but I am really curious about this.

Have you watched Chapter 33 of Batman Returns on another TV set?

If so, did you see hints of the problem?

I ask because I got to thinking about (this is out of my league but here's the idea) when the pros start talking about DVD's having bad flags in the data that confuse the decoder and you get wierd but subtle effects in the picture.

I played that chapter on my HTPC using Theatertek which is generally thought to be the best DVD player (software or standalone) that one can get and unless my eyes are tired, I could NOT see that effect which I could with other sources.

Since TT was using the overlay on my Graphics card, it upscales DVD's to 720P.

I remember reading something to the effect that TheaterTek does some kind of adaptive stuff to the picture using various algorithms and ignores the flags in the data. BY adaptive, I think it examines the entire picture and applies some algorithms to the whole scene.

This got me wondering if you are seeing a problem with the Disc Mastering or the Plasma since TT ignores the flags on the disc.

I have read nothing bad about this movie but obviously, a 50" picture is going to exagerate any errors.
PLus, I have not really looked for any reviews cause it was not going to change my mind about owning it- It is Batman and I will watch/own ANY Batman movie:)

Time to ask around and see if what other folks are seeing on big screen TV's with this movie.

Joe

The Fly

01-09-06, 09:33 PM

Now that it is pointed out, I can see what eddiwill saw but he did say that the photo he posted exagerated the effect because what I see is pretty subtle.
$5 bucks says I can calibrate that effect out:)

I think what he meant with his statement was that the it looked worse in person on a 50" screen than in the photo

(see image attached, though a photograph, resized and compressed, doesn't have nearly the impact when viewed live on a 50" screen).

KUJayhawk20659

01-09-06, 10:21 PM

Hello guys,
I bought this plasma on Sunday and love it so far.
The only issue I have found so far is the red push, what exactly can I do to fix this problem?
Thats for the tweaks so far Joe!

eddiwill

01-10-06, 07:31 AM

Thanks to all who responded! I ran out and bought an inexpensive upconverting DVD player (Sony from CC-- open-boxed at $119.00!) and the problem is greatly reduced in Batman Begins. The "screen crawlies" in "About a Boy" are practically undetectable; no longer a distraction at all.

In scene 33 of Batman, instead of band after band of contour, I have 2 large (and faint) bands, one slightly tinged red, the other green. They are extremely subtle and that is the only time I see them. I'd like to lose them altogether-- Joe, I'll send you that 5 spot if you can help me get rid of the effect! :-)

BTW, I WAS saying the effect was worse/more visible in person; sorry I wasn't more clear.

As for the softness, I learned something interesting: on everyTV I have ever owned, I set the sharpness to "0" and that's how this one was set. However, I played around and took it up into the 50s and 60s and WOW, this picture, particularly on HD looks AMAZING. I am becoming a big fan of this "bargain-priced" plasma! Thanks to all for your help!

Oh,and I will check out that scene on other boxes just to see what it looks like.

LUGE

01-10-06, 09:16 AM

Plan to purchase this set this week. DTV sent me a 10% coupon for CC and I would love to use it. I just replaced a 3 yr old Fujitsu Plasma Monitor that crapped out on me. The estimate was $1300 to fix so for me replacement was the best option.
I love what I have seen and heard about this unit and I am far from an expert on these matters so I look to the Gurus on this site to help me out
My questions are these. I had the fujitsu mounted over my Gas Fireplace ( which is very seldom used. For my room it is my best ( but not only) option.
I know its not the perfect height but how much injustice am i doung to this set by mounting it a little high??.
Also I currently have a Samsung HDTV box from Direct TV. Will this be what I need to get the picture I am looking for ? I would like to get a HD DVR recorder from them instead. Will this be a good choice. what is the best hook up option for this config.
I need to update my DVD Player to one that upscans also. Any reasonably priced models that you can reccomend ?
I know these are basic questions but that is at the stage I am at and after spending the bucks I dont wnt to hear my wife say " that pic isnt so good for the money"..I am reading this forum and learning so if you could help get me started i will try to catch up soon.. Thank you all for sharing great information

LUGE

Joe Q

01-10-06, 09:55 AM

I think what he meant with his statement was that the it looked worse in person on a 50" screen than in the photo

Well, if it looked worse in person than in the picture, I would start to wonder if I had a bum TV set.

Joe Q

01-10-06, 10:05 AM

Hello guys,
I bought this plasma on Sunday and love it so far.
The only issue I have found so far is the red push, what exactly can I do to fix this problem?
Thats for the tweaks so far Joe!

I was able to get a dead on blue filter result,and hence a normal red, with VE by just adjusting the Tint and Color controls.

There is a service menu setting for Red but I have not found the need to fiddle with it.

If the red really bugs you and you are using Component, there is a trick that I used to do on my Mits RP HDTV because it had a REALLY bad red push.

I could not do it on the replacement DLP because that particular DLP TV was such that if you setup all the user picture settings, it affected ALL the inputs so I could not use the attenuator.

This Zenith has independent controls for each input so you could on this TV.
I ended up with 3 of the attenuator's laying behind the MITS HDTV - they are in my parts bin now.

Here is what you do:

You spend a few $ and get a variable attenuator with RCA plugs on each end from Radio Shack (I will look up the exact one if you are interested) and you stick it in line on the Y input of the TV.
It might be the P or B input because I I forget which one at the moment.

You adjust the attenuator just a smidgen past Zero and it gets you a perfect RED without messing up any of the other colors.

That trick does not work on RGB or HDMI.

Come to think of it, I am going to try that on my 2 component sources on this TV and see if I can get Perfect Color.

My HDTIVO is going into the HDMI input but I have 3 component sources (I use an IR component switcher)

Besides having a great picture for under $3K, this TV is turning into an interesting toy to fiddle with:)

Joe